Search results for: variation orders

Authors: Amin AminiKhafri, James M. Dawson-Edwards, Ryan M. Simpson, Simaan M. AbouRizk

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Earned value management (EVM) has been introduced as an integrated method to combine schedule, budget, and work breakdown structure (WBS). EVM provides various indices to demonstrate project performance including the cost performance index (CPI). CPI is also used to forecast final project cost at completion based on the cost performance during the project execution. Knowing the final project cost during execution can initiate corrective actions, which can enhance project outputs. CPI, however, is not constant during the project, and calculating the final project cost using a variable index is an inaccurate and challenging task for practitioners. Since CPI is based on the cumulative progress values and because of the learning curve effect, CPI variation dampens and stabilizes as project progress. Although various definitions for the CPI stability have been proposed in literature, many scholars have agreed upon the definition that considers a project as stable if the CPI at 20% completion varies less than 0.1 from the final CPI. While 20% completion point is recognized as the stability point for military development projects, construction projects stability have not been studied. In the current study, an empirical study was first conducted using construction project data to determine the stability point for construction projects. Early findings have demonstrated that a majority of construction projects stabilize towards completion (i.e., after 70% completion point). To investigate the effect of CPI stability on cost forecast accuracy, the correlation between CPI stability and project cost at completion forecast accuracy was also investigated. It was determined that as projects progress closer towards completion, variation of the CPI decreases and final project cost forecast accuracy increases. Most projects were found to have 90% accuracy in the final cost forecast at 70% completion point, which is inlined with findings from the CPI stability findings. It can be concluded that early stabilization of the project CPI results in more accurate cost at completion forecasts.

Keywords: cost performance index, earned value management, empirical study, final project cost

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Authors: Mamidi Ramakrishna Rao

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Doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) is currently the choice for many wind turbines. These generators, when connected to the grid through a converter, is subjected to varied power system conditions like voltage variation, frequency variation, short circuit fault conditions, etc. Further, many countries like Canada, Germany, UK, Scotland, etc. have distinct grid codes relating to wind turbines. Accordingly, following the network faults, wind turbines have to supply a definite reactive current. To satisfy the requirements including reactive current capability, an optimum electrical design becomes a mandate for DFIG to function. This paper intends to optimize the equivalent circuit parameters of an electrical design for satisfactory DFIG performance. Direct search method has been used for optimization of the parameters. The variables selected include electromagnetic core dimensions (diameters and stack length), slot dimensions, radial air gap between stator and rotor and winding copper cross section area. Optimization for 2 MW DFIG has been executed separately for three objective functions - maximum reactive power capability (Case I), maximum efficiency (Case II) and minimum weight (Case III). In the optimization analysis program, voltage variations (10%), power factor- leading and lagging (0.95), speeds for corresponding to slips (-0.3 to +0.3) have been considered. The optimum designs obtained for objective functions were compared. It can be concluded that direct search method of optimization helps in determining an optimum electrical design for each objective function like efficiency or reactive power capability or weight minimization.

Keywords: direct search, DFIG, equivalent circuit parameters, optimization

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Authors: Ester B. Onag, Manuel Morga, Belen Tangco

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Evidence-based research attested that Climate Change is a global phenomenon that has a massive impact on the economy, the government and the people. To minimize its impact, the national government must undertake social orders to ensure the needs of the people by implementing developmental policies that provide adequate social service to improve the quality of life for all. This research attempts to evaluate the political accountability of the Sangguniang Barangay of Malabon on its readiness for climate change. Which, the theory of decentralization takes an active participation, where the the national policies for climate change are adopted by local ordinances and it is enforced, monitored, and reported through the Barangay ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Barangay. This paper also analyzes certain factors anchored on the political accountability of the Sangguniang Barangay which determines the state of their readiness in climate change, such as the gravity of their accountability which extends beyond the lines of their responsibility as stated in the local government code. It also evaluated the degree of their capabilities in actual legislation, the nature of their prioritization through their enacted ordinances and the extent of participation from different stakeholders of barangay such as the sectoral representatives and the citizens in which their participation is a means that leads to community awareness.

Keywords: climate change, local government, Sangguniang Barangay, government

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Authors: Antonio Gioiosa, Simone Doanti, Eric Flumerfelt, Luca Morescalchi, Elena Pedreschi, Gianantonio Pezzullo, Ryan A. Rivera, Franco Spinella

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The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab aims to measure the charged-lepton flavour violating neutrino-less conversion of a negative muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. With the expected experimental sensitivity, Mu2e will improve the previous limit of four orders of magnitude. The Mu2e data acquisition (DAQ) system provides hardware and software to collect digitized data from the tracker, calorimeter, cosmic ray veto, and beam monitoring systems. Mu2e’s trigger and data acquisition system (TDAQ) uses otsdaq as its solution. developed at Fermilab, otsdaq uses the artdaq DAQ framework and art analysis framework, under-the-hood, for event transfer, filtering, and processing. Otsdaq is an online DAQ software suite with a focus on flexibility and scalability while providing a multi-user, web-based interface accessible through the Chrome or Firefox web browser. The detector read out controller (ROC) from the tracker and calorimeter stream out zero-suppressed data continuously to the data transfer controller (DTC). Data is then read over the PCIe bus to a software filter algorithm that selects events which are finally combined with the data flux that comes from a cosmic ray veto system (CRV).

Keywords: trigger, daq, mu2e, Fermilab

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Sanat K. Dash, Rama S. Verma, Sarit K. Das

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A logarithmic microfluidic shear device was designed and fabricated for cellular mechanotransduction studies. The device contains four cell culture chambers in which flow was modulated to achieve a logarithmic increment. Resistance values were optimized to make the device compact. The network of resistances was developed according to a unique combination of series and parallel resistances as found via optimization. Simulation results done in Ansys 16.1 matched the analytical calculations and showed the shear stress distribution at different inlet flow rates. Fabrication of the device was carried out using conventional photolithography and PDMS soft lithography. Flow profile was validated taking DI water as working fluid and measuring the volume collected at all four outlets. Volumes collected at the outlets were in accordance with the simulation results at inlet flow rates ranging from 1 ml/min to 0.1 ml/min. The device can exert fluid shear stresses ranging four orders of magnitude on the culture chamber walls which will cover shear stress values from interstitial flow to blood flow. This will allow studying cell behavior in the long physiological range of shear stress in a single run reducing number of experiments.

Keywords: microfluidics, mechanotransduction, fluid shear stress, physiological shear

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Authors: Fethi Bouksila, Nessrine Zemni, Fairouz Slama, Magnus Persson, Ronny Berndasson, Akissa Bahri

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Electromagnetic sensor EM 38 was used to predict and map soil salinity (ECe) in arid oasis. Despite the high spatial variation of soil moisture and shallow watertable, significant ECe-EM relationships were developed. The low drainage network efficiency is the main factor of soil salinization

Keywords: soil salinity map, electromagnetic induction, EM38, oasis, shallow watertable

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Authors: Natalia Strobel, Jan Kratzer

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In this paper, we test whether different types of research and development (R&D) alliances positively impact the radical innovation performance of firms. We differentiate between the R&D alliances without extern R&D orders and embeddedness in knowledge source network. We test the differences between the domestically diversified R&D alliances and R&D alliances diversified abroad. Moreover, we test how non-price competition influences the impact of domestically diversified R&D alliances, and R&D alliance diversified abroad on radical innovation performance. Our empirical analysis is based on the comprehensive Swiss innovation panel, which allowed us to study 3520 firms between the years between 1996 and 2011 in 3 years intervals. We analyzed the data with a linear estimation with Swamy-Aurora transformation using plm package in R software. Our results show as hypothesized a positive impact of R&D alliances diversity abroad as well as domestically on radical innovation performance. The effect of non-price interaction is in contrast to our hypothesis, not significant. This suggests that diversity of R&D alliances is highly advantageous independent of non-price competition.

Keywords: R&D alliances, partner diversity, knowledge source diversity, non-price competition, absorptive capacity

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Authors: Tanzil Ansari

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A dictionary is often considered as a list of words, arranged in alphabetical orders, providing information on a language or languages and it informs us about the spelling, the pronunciation, the origin, the gender and the grammatical functions of new and unknown words. In other words, it is first and foremost a linguistic tool. But, the research across the world in the field of linguistic and lexicography proved that a dictionary is not only a linguistic tool but also a cultural product through which a lexicographer transmits the culture of a country or a linguistic community from his or her ideology. It means, a dictionary does not present only language and its metalinguistic functions but also its culture. Every language consists of some words and expressions which depict the culture of its language. In this way, it is impossible to disassociate language from its culture. There is always an ideology that plays an important role in the depiction of any culture. Using the orientalism theory of Edward Said to represent the east, the objective of the present research is to study the representation of Indian culture through the lexicographical discourse of Hindi-French Dictionary of Federica Boschetti, a French lexicographer. The results show that the Indian culture is stereotypical and monolithic. It also shows India as male oriented country where women are exploited by male-dominated society. The study is focused on Hindi-French dictionary, but its line of argument can be compared to dictionaries produced in other languages.

Keywords: culture, dictionary, lexicographical discourse, stereotype image

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Authors: B. Shahzamanian, S. Varga, D. C. Alarcón-Padilla

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Desalination is considered the primary alternative to increase water supply for domestic, agricultural and industrial use. Sustainable desalination is only possible in places where renewable energy resources are available. Solar energy is the most relevant type of renewable energy to driving desalination systems since most of the areas suffering from water scarcity are characterized by a high amount of available solar radiation during the year. Multi-Effect Desalination (MED) technology integrated with solar thermal concentrators is a suitable combination for heat-driven desalination. It can also be coupled with thermal vapour compressors or absorption heat pumps to boost overall system performance. The most interesting advantage of MED is the suitability to be used with a transient source of energy like solar. An experimental study was carried out to assess the performance of the most important life-size multi-effect desalination plant driven by solar energy located in the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA). The MED plant is used as a reference in many studies regarding multi-effect distillation. The system consists of a 14-effect MED plant coupled with a double-effect absorption heat pump. The required thermal energy to run the desalination system is supplied by means of hot water generated from 60 static flat-plate solar collectors with a total aperture area of 606 m2. In order to compensate for the solar energy variation, a thermal storage system with two interconnected tanks and an overall volume of 40 m3 is coupled to the MED unit. The multi-effect distillation unit is built in a forward feed configuration, and the last effect is connected to a double-effect LiBr-H2O absorption heat pump. The heat pump requires steam at 180 ºC (10 bar a) that is supplied by a small-aperture parabolic trough solar field with a total aperture area of 230 m2. When needed, a gas boiler is used as an auxiliary heat source for operating the heat pump and the MED plant when solar energy is not available. A set of experiments was carried out for evaluating the impact of the heating water temperature (Th), top brine temperature (TBT) and temperature difference between effects (ΔT) on the performance ratio of the MED plant. The considered range for variation of Th, TBT and ΔT was 60-70°C, 54-63°C and 1.1-1.6°C, respectively. The performance ratio (PR), defined as kg of distillate produced for every 2326 kJ of thermal energy supplied to the MED system, was almost independent of the applied variables with a variation of less than 5% for all the cases. The maximum recorded PR was 12.4. The results indicated that the system demonstrated robustness for the whole range of operating conditions considered. Author gratitude is expressed to the PSA for providing access to its installations, the support of its scientific and technical staff, and the financial support of the SFERA-III project (Grant Agreement No 823802). Special thanks to the access provider staff members who ensured the access support.

Keywords: multi-effect distillation, performance ratio, robustness, solar energy

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Authors: E. Gandomkar, S. Sabbaghi

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In this paper, the effects of variation synthesized methods on morphology and size of silica nanostructure via modifying sol-gel and precipitation method have been investigated. Meanwhile, resulting products have been characterized by particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. As result, the shape of SiO2 with sol-gel and precipitation methods was spherical but with modifying sol-gel method we have been had nanolayer structure.

Keywords: modified sol-gel, precipitation, nanolayer, Na2SiO3, nanoparticle

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Surya R. Niraula, Devendra B Chhetry, Girish K. Singh, S. Nagesh, Frederick A. Connell

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Background: Although random sampling is generally considered to be the gold standard for population-based research, the majority of drug abuse research is based on non-random sampling despite the well-known limitations of this kind of sampling. Method: We compared the statistical properties of two surveys of drug abuse in the same community: one using snowball sampling of drug users who then identified “friend controls” and the other using a random sample of non-drug users (controls) who then identified “friend cases.” Models to predict drug abuse based on risk factors were developed for each data set using conditional logistic regression. We compared the precision of each model using bootstrapping method and the predictive properties of each model using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. Results: Analysis of 100 random bootstrap samples drawn from the snowball-sample data set showed a wide variation in the standard errors of the beta coefficients of the predictive model, none of which achieved statistical significance. One the other hand, bootstrap analysis of the random-sample data set showed less variation, and did not change the significance of the predictors at the 5% level when compared to the non-bootstrap analysis. Comparison of the area under the ROC curves using the model derived from the random-sample data set was similar when fitted to either data set (0.93, for random-sample data vs. 0.91 for snowball-sample data, p=0.35); however, when the model derived from the snowball-sample data set was fitted to each of the data sets, the areas under the curve were significantly different (0.98 vs. 0.83, p < .001). Conclusion: The proposed method of random sampling of controls appears to be superior from a statistical perspective to snowball sampling and may represent a viable alternative to snowball sampling.

Keywords: drug abuse, matched case-control study, non-probability sampling, probability sampling

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Authors: Fereshteh M. Haskouei, Habib Alimohammadian

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Magnetic susceptibility (χ) is operational to identify of late quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles in loess-paleosol sequences. It is well accepted that many loess-paleosol sequences bear witness to cold-dry/warm-humid periods, well known as glacial-interglacial cycles, respectively. For this study, loess-paleosol sequence of north-east of Iran was magnetically investigated. The study area is situated at about 8 km away of Neka city, on the main road of Sari-Behshahr, in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran. The youngest deposits of study area are the late Quaternary wind-blown accumulations. In this study, the total number of 117 samples was collected from loess-paleosols units. After that, the natural remnant magnetization (NRM) and magnetic susceptibility (MS) of the samples were measured. Variation of MS of more than 110 loess samples was plotted to reveal the correlation of the MS and paleoclimatic changes. This study aims reconstruction of climatic changes (glacial-interglacial and stadials-interstadials cycles). To confirm our results we compared MS (χ) and the curves of other investigations in paleoclimatology. This correspondence abled us to recognize worldly events in the study area such as: Younger Dryas, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), deglaciation of Northern Hemisphere etc. The obtained magnetic data indicate that during almost 50 ka, at least two glacial-interglacial periods occurred in north-east of Iran. Further, variation of χ values revealed short period of climatically cycles known as stadials-interstadials. We recognized 4 stadials and a single stadial as colder sub-periods for S₀ (recently soil-paleosol) and S₂ (lower paleosol), respectively, Moreover, we recognized 6 warmer sub-periods (interstadials) for L₁ (upper loess) and one interstadial L₂ (lower loess).

Keywords: glacial-interglacial cycles, Iran, last glacial maximum (LGM), loess, magnetic susceptibility (χ), Neka, stadials-interstadials sub-periods, younger dryas

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Authors: Barbara Kilosanidze, George Kakauridze, Levan Nadareishvili, Yuri Mshvenieradze

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A new method for determining the distribution of birefringence and linear dichroism in optical polymer materials is presented. The method is based on the use of polarization-holographic diffraction grating that forms an orthogonal circular basis in the process of diffraction of probing laser beam on the grating. The intensities ratio of the orders of diffraction on this grating enables the value of birefringence and linear dichroism in the sample to be determined. The distribution of birefringence in the sample is determined by scanning with a circularly polarized beam with a wavelength far from the absorption band of the material. If the scanning is carried out by probing beam with the wavelength near to a maximum of the absorption band of the chromophore then the distribution of linear dichroism can be determined. An appropriate theoretical model of this method is presented. A laboratory setup was created for the proposed method. An optical scheme of the laboratory setup is presented. The results of measurement in polymer films with two-dimensional gradient distribution of birefringence and linear dichroism are discussed.

Keywords: birefringence, linear dichroism, graded oriented polymers, optical polymers, optical anisotropy, polarization-holographic grating

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Authors: Lakhminandan Kakati, Merenjungla Jamir

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Rearing of six strains of Samia ricini (eri silk worm) i.e. Yellow plain (YP), Yellow spotted (YS), Yellow Zebra (YZ), Greenish blue plain (GBP), Greenish blue spotted (GBS) and Greenish blue zebra (GBZ) was conducted on Ricinus communis (Castor), Heteropanax fragrans (Kesseru), Evodia fraxinifolia (Payam) and Manihot utilissima (Tapioca) to evaluate the effect of seasonal pattern on larval duration and cocoon parameters in Nagaland, India. Larval duration during spring season was maximum in all strains in all food plants; however minimum for all strains was recorded during summer season on Castor, Kesseru and Tapioca. Cocoon weight was recorded to be minimum (2.8 ± 2 0.55 gm) in YP on Kesseru and maximum (4.06 ± 0.68 gm) in GBZ on Castor during spring season; shell weight fluctuated between 0.34 ± 0.08 gm during spring in GBS on Kesseru and 0.58 ± 0.09 gm during summer in YZ on Castor and percentage of silk ratio was found to be minimum and maximum in YP on Payam during spring (11.37 ± 1.29) and in GBS on Castor during summer (16.05 ± 1.59) respectively. The variation in larval duration and cocoon parameters reflected variation in nutrient composition of food plants and dynamic environment conditions prevailing in different seasons of the year. Payam and Tapioca plants could be fed either singly or alternately with Castor or Kesseru to attain the commercial advantage to ensure more value added production. While there were differences in the productivity parameters with respect to strains and seasons, the present study shows that all the strains on four host plants expressed adaptability and suitability for commercial rearing under Nagaland climatic condition.

Keywords: alternative food plants, Larval and cocoon parameters, Nagaland Inia, six strains of Samia ricini

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Authors: Madeleine Gadd, Rose How, Edward Mathews, John Buchanan, Vicky Cottrell, Andre Coetzee, Karuna Katti

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Introduction: Triphallia, a congenital anomaly describing the presence of three distinct penile shafts, has been reported only once in the literature. This case report describes the serendipitous discovery of the first reported human case of partial orthotopic triphallia during cadaveric dissection. Case Summary: Despite the normal appearance of external genitalia on examination, the dissection of a 78-year-old male revealed a remarkable anatomical variation: two small supernumerary penises situated in a transverse orientation postero inferiorly to the primary penis. The main and the larger supernumerary penile shafts displayed their own corpora cavernosa and glans penis, sharing a single urethra, which coursed through the secondary penis prior to its passage through the primary penis. The smallest of the supernumerary penises was similar in dimension to the secondary penis, at 3.7cm long and 1.2cm wide (compared to the secondary penis at 3.8cm long and 1.3cm wide). However, it lacked a urethra and a typical arrangement of the corpora cavernosa and spongiosum, making this a case of partial triphallia rather than true triphallia. Conclusion: This case report provides a comprehensive anatomical description of partial triphallia in a cadaver, shedding light on the morphology, embryology, and clinical implications of this anomaly. This case report underscores the importance of meticulous anatomical dissections, particularly since, without dissection, this anatomical variation would have remained undiscovered. Although we can only speculate the functional implications of this condition, understanding such anatomical variations contributes to both knowledge of human anatomy and clinical management, should the condition be encountered in living individuals.

Keywords: triphallia, diphallia, congenital abnormalities, genitourinary abnormalities, urology

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Authors: Hicham Amine, Abdelouahab Mesnaoui

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Electronic data interchange EDI is the computer-to-computer exchange of structured business information. This information typically takes the form of standardized electronic business documents, such as invoices, purchase orders, bills of lading, and so on. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact EDI might have on supply chain and typically on customer satisfaction keeping in mind the constraints the organization might face. This study included 139 subject matter experts (SMEs) who participated by responding to a survey that was distributed. 85% responded that they are extremely for the implementation while 10% were neutral and 5% were against the implementation. From the quality assurance department, we have got 75% from the clients agreed to move on with the change whereas 10% stayed neutral and finally 15% were against the change. From the legal department where 80% of the answers were for the implementation and 10% of the participants stayed neutral whereas the last 10% were against it. The survey consisted of 40% male and 60% female (sex-ratio (F/M=1,5), who had chosen to participate. Our survey also contained 3 categories in terms of technical background where 80% are from technical background and 15% were from nontechnical background and 5% had some average technical background. This study examines the impact of EDI on customer satisfaction which is the primary hypothesis and justifies the importance of the implementation which enhances the customer satisfaction.

Keywords: electronic data interchange, supply chain, subject matter experts, customer satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Naso Isaiah Thanavisuth

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Introduction: Medical cannabis can be used for treatment, including anorexia, pain, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, cancer, and metabolic syndrome-related disorders. However, medical cannabis leads to adverse effects (AEs), which is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In previous studies, the major of THC metabolism enzymes are CYP2C9. Especially, the variation of CYP2C9 gene consist of CYP2C9*2 on exon 3 (C430T) (Arg144Cys) and CYP2C9*3 on exon 7 (A1075C) (Ile359Leu) to decrease enzyme activity. Notwithstanding, there is no data describing whether the variant of CYP2C9 genes are a pharmacogenetics marker for prediction of THC-induced AEs in Thai patients. Objective: We want to investigate the association between CYP2C9 gene and THC-induced AEs in Thai patients. Method: We enrolled 39 Thai patients with medical cannabis treatment consisting of men and women who were classified by clinical data. The quality of DNA extraction was assessed by using NanoDrop ND-1000. The CYP2C9*2 and *3 genotyping were conducted using the TaqMan real time PCR assay (ABI, Foster City, CA, USA). Results: All Thai patients who received the medical cannabis consist of twenty four (61.54%) patients who were female and fifteen (38.46%) were male, with age range 27- 87 years. Moreover, the most AEs in Thai patients who were treated with medical cannabis between cases and controls were tachycardia, arrhythmia, dry mouth, and nausea. Particularly, thirteen (72.22%) medical cannabis-induced AEs were female and age range 33 – 69 years. In this study, none of the medical cannabis groups carried CYP2C9*2 variants in Thai patients. The CYP2C9*3 variants (*1/*3, intermediate metabolizer, IM) and (*3/*3, poor metabolizer, PM) were found, three of thirty nine (7.69%) and one of thirty nine (2.56%) , respectively. Conclusion: This is the first study to confirm the genetic polymorphism of CYP2C9 and medical cannabis-induced AEs in the Thai population. Although, our results indicates that there is no found the CYP2C9*2. However, the variation of CYP2C9 allele might serve as a pharmacogenetics marker for screening before initiating the therapy with medical cannabis for prevention of medical cannabis-induced AEs.

Keywords: CYP2C9, medical cannabis, adverse effects, THC, P450

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Authors: Maurizio E. Picarella, Ludovica Fumelli, Francesca Siligato, Andrea Mazzucato

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Studies on reproductive dynamics in crops subjected to heat stress are crucial to breed more tolerant cultivars. In tomato, cultivars, breeding lines, and wild species have been thoroughly evaluated for the response to heat stress in several studies. Here, we address the reaction to temperature stress in a panel of selected landraces representing genotypes cultivated before the advent of professional varieties that usually show high adaptation to local environments. We adopted an experimental design with two open field trials, where transplanting was spaced by one month. In the second field, plants were thus subjected to mild stress with natural temperature fluctuations. The genotypes showed wide variation for both vegetative (plant height) and reproductive (stigma exsertion, pollen viability, number of flowers per inflorescence, and fruit set) traits. On average, all traits were affected by heat conditions; except for the number of flowers per inflorescence, the “G*E” interaction was always significant. In agreement with studies based on different materials, estimated broad sense heritability was high for plant height, stigma exsertion, and pollen viability and low for the number of flowers per inflorescence and fruit set. Despite the interaction, traits recorded in control and in heat conditions were positively correlated. The first two principal components estimated by multivariate analysis explained more than 50% of the total variability. The study indicated that landraces present a wide variability for the response of reproductive traits to temperature stress and that such variability could be very informative to dissect the traits with higher heritability and identify new QTL useful for breeding more resilient varieties.

Keywords: fruit set, heat stress, solanum lycopersicum L., style exsertion, tomato

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Authors: V. Karuppaiah, J. C. Padaria, C. Srivastava

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The tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura Fab (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous pest various field and horticulture crops in India. Pest had virtually developed resistance to all commonly used insecticides. Enhanced detoxification is the prime mechanism that is dictated by detoxification different enzymes and carboxylesterase is one of the major enzyme responsible development of resistance. In India, insecticide resistance studies on S. litura are mainly deployed on detoxification enzymes activity and investigation at gene level alteration i.e. at nucleotide level is very merger. In the present study, we collected the S. litura larvae from three different cauliflower growing belt viz., IARI, New Delhi (Delhi), Palari, Sonepat (Haryana) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) to study the role of carboxylesterase activity and its gene level variation The CarE activity was measured using UV-VIS spectrophotometer with 3rd instar larvae of S. litura. The elevated activity of CarE was observed in Sonepat strain (28.09 ± 0.09 µmol/min/mg of protein) followed by Delhi (26.72 ± 0.04 µmol/min/mg of protein) and Varanasi strain (10.00 ± 0.44 µmol/min/mg of protein) of S. litura. The genomic DNA was isolated from 3rd instar larvae and CarE gene was amplified using a primer sequence, F:5’tccagagttccttgtcaggcac3’; R:5’ctgcatcaagcatgtctc3. CarE gene, about 500bp was partially amplified, sequenced and submitted to NCBI (Accession No. KF835886, KF835887 and KF835888). The sequence data revealed polymorphism at nucleotide level in all the three strains and gene found to have 88 to 97% similarity with previous available nucleotide sequences of S. litura, S. littoralis and S. exiqua. The polymorphism at the nucleotide level could be a reason for differential activity of carboxylesterase enzymes among the strains. However, investigation at gene expression level would be useful to analyze the overproduction of carboxylesterase enzyme.

Keywords: carboxylesterase, CarE gene, nucleotide polymorphism, insecticide resistance, spodoptera litura

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Authors: Qazi Sarah Rasheed

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Feminism and religion have been regarded as opposing binaries. The reason being that religion is regarded as a tool to legitimize the patriarchal control over women, and therefore, it stands in contrast with the basic feminist principle of gender equity. Hence, the issue of incompatibility between religion and gender parity is often discussed by the feminist as well as secular/liberal discourses, but the feminist discourse has suffered a serious backlash in the recent times for it alienates those women who want to liberate but not at the expense of their religious identity. Though in the Western feminist thought, religion is regarded as a tool of patriarchy that promotes women’s suppression, but for many women, religion can be a source of liberation that advances their rights. The feminists in general, fail to realize that religion, as a social phenomenon may not necessarily promote a series of dogmatic doctrines which are inevitably retrogressive or instinctively status-quoist especially when it comes to the social reforms affecting gender orders. The traditional institution of religion could be instrumental to provide what the women in contemporary situation demand. This paper highlights how the Muslim women in India negotiate and mediate this opposition in an Islamic context. To advance the socio-legal recognition of women’s rights, they question the male privilege and patriarchy in a meaningful way without challenging their Islamic doctrines and try to build a feminist consciousness from within religion.

Keywords: feminism, Islam, Muslim women's rights, religious identity

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Authors: Mirco Tarozzi, Giacomo Pignagnoli, Andrea Benedetti

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The design of planning maintenance of civil structures often requires the evaluation of their level of safety in order to be able to choose which structure, and in which measure, it needs a structural retrofit. This work deals with the evaluation of the stiffness reduction of a scaled steel deck due to the presence of localized damages. The dynamic tests performed on it have shown the variability of its main frequencies linked to the gradual reduction of its rigidity. This deck consists in a steel grillage of four secondary beams and three main beams linked to a concrete slab. This steel deck is 6 m long and 3 m wide and it rests on two abutments made of concrete. By processing the signals of the accelerations due to a random excitation of the deck, the main natural frequencies of this bridge have been extracted. In order to assign more reliable parameters to the numerical model of the deck, some load tests have been performed and the mechanical property of the materials and the supports have been obtained. The two external beams have been cut at one third of their length and the structural strength has been restored by the design of a bolted plate. The gradual loss of the bolts and the plates removal have made the simulation of localized damage possible. In order to define the relationship between frequency variation and loss in stiffness, the identification of its natural frequencies has been performed, before and after the occurrence of the damage, corresponding to each step. The study of the relationship between stiffness losses and frequency shifts has been reported in this paper: the square of the frequency variation due to the presence of the damage is proportional to the ratio between the rigidities. This relationship can be used to quantify the loss in stiffness of a real scale bridge in an efficient way.

Keywords: damage detection, dynamic test, frequency shifts, operational modal analysis, steel bridge

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Authors: Robert Kwame Kpaliba, Dennis Kpakpor Adotey, Yaw Serfor-Armah

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Increase in the oceanic carbon dioxide absorbance from the atmosphere due to climate change has led to appreciable change in the chemistry of the oceans. The change in oceanic pH referred to as ocean acidification poses multiple threats and stresses on marine species, biodiversity, goods and services, and livelihoods. Marine ecosystems are continuously threatened by plethora of natural and anthropogenic stressors including carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions causing a lot of changes which has not been experienced for approximately 60 years. Little has been done in Africa as a whole and Ghana in particular to improve the understanding of the variations of the carbonate chemistry of seawater and the biophysical impacts of ocean acidification on security of seafood, nutrition, climate and environmental change. There is, therefore, the need for regular monitoring of carbonate chemistry of seawater along Ghana’s coastline to generate reliable data to aid marine policy formulation. Samples of seawater were collected thrice every month for a one-year period from five study sites for the various parameters to be analyzed. Analysis of the measured physico-chemical and the carbonate chemistry parameters was done using simple statistics. Correlation test and ANOVA were run on both of the physico-chemical and carbonate chemistry parameters. The carbonate chemistry parameters were measured using computer software programme (CO₂cal v4.0.9) except total alkalinity and pH. The study assessed the variability of seawater carbonate chemistry in selected portions of the Central Atlantic Coastline of Ghana (Tsokomey/Bortianor, Kokrobitey, Gomoa Nyanyanor, Gomoa Fetteh, and Senya Breku landing beaches) over a 1-year period (June 2016–May 2017). For physico-chemical parameters, there was insignificant variation in nitrate (NO₃⁻) (1.62 - 2.3 mg/L), ammonia (NH₃) (1.52 - 2.05 mg/L), and salinity (sal) (34.50 - 34.74 ppt). Carbonate chemistry parameters for all the five study sites showed significant variation: partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) (414.08-715.5 µmol/kg), carbonate ion (CO₃²⁻) (115-157.92 µmol/kg), pH (7.9-8.12), total alkalinity (TA) (1711.8-1986 µmol/kg), total carbon dioxide (TCO₂) (1512.1 - 1792 µmol/kg), dissolved carbon dioxide (CO₂aq) (10.97-18.92 µmol/kg), Revelle Factor (RF) (9.62-11.84), aragonite (ΩAr) (0.75-1.48) and calcite (ΩCa) (1.08-2.14). The study revealed that the partial pressure of carbon dioxide and temperature did not have a significant effect on each other (r² = 0.31) (p-value = 0.0717). There was an appreciable effect of pH on dissolved carbon dioxide (r² = 0.921) (p-value = 0.0000). The variation between total alkalinity and dissolved carbon dioxide was appreciable (r² = 0.731) (p-value = 0.0008). There was a significant correlation between total carbon dioxide and dissolved carbon dioxide (r² = 0.852) (p-value = 0.0000). Revelle factor correlated strongly with dissolved carbon dioxide (r² = 0.982) (p-value = 0.0000). Partial pressure of carbon dioxide corresponds strongly with atmospheric carbon dioxide (r² = 0.9999) (p-value = 0.00000).

Keywords: carbonate chemistry, seawater, central atlantic coastline, Ghana, ocean acidification

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Authors: Arun Dhakal, Geoff Cockfield, Tek Narayan Maraseni

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This paper attempts to fulfil the gap in measuring adoption in agroforestry studies. It explains the derivation of an index of adoption rate in a Nepalese context and examines the factors affecting adoption of agroforestry-based land management practice (AFLMP) in the Dhanusha District of Nepal. Data about the different farm practices and the factors (bio-physical, socio-economic) influencing adoption were collected during focus group discussion and from the randomly selected households using a household survey questionnaire, respectively. A multivariate regression model was used to determine the factors. The factors (variables) found to significantly affect adoption of AFLMP were: farm size, availability of irrigation water, education of household heads, agricultural labour force, frequency of visits by extension workers, expenditure on farm inputs purchase, household’s experience in agroforestry, and distance from home to government forest. The regression model explained about 75% of variation in adoption decision. The model rejected ‘erosion hazard’, ‘flood hazard’ and ‘gender’ as determinants of adoption, which in case of single agroforestry practice were major variables and played positive role. Out of eight variables, farm size played the most powerful role in explaining the variation in adoption, followed by availability of irrigation water and education of household heads. The results of this study suggest that policies to promote the provision of irrigation water, extension services and motivation to obtaining higher education would probably provide the incentive to adopt agroforestry elsewhere in the terai of Nepal.

Keywords: agroforestry, adoption index, determinants of adoption, step-wise linear regression, Nepal

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Authors: R. Ondarza-Rovira, T. J. M. Boyd

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Intense femtosecond laser light incident on over-critical density plasmas has shown to emit a prolific number of high-order harmonics of the driver frequency, with spectra characterized by power-law decays Pm ~ m-p, where m denotes the harmonic order and p the spectral decay index. When the laser pulse is p-polarized, plasma effects do modify the harmonic spectrum, weakening the so-called universal decay with p=8/3 to p=5/3, or below. In this work, appeal is made to a single particle radiation model in support of the predictions from particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Using this numerical technique we further show that the emission radiated by electrons -that are relativistically accelerated by the laser field inside the plasma, after being expelled into vacuum, the so-called Brunel electrons is characterized not only by the plasma line but also by ultraviolet harmonic orders described by the 5/3 decay index. Results obtained from these simulations suggest that for ultra-relativistic light intensities, the spectral decay index is further reduced, with p now in the range 2/3 ≤ p ≤ 4/3. This reduction is indicative of a transition from the regime where Brunel-induced plasma radiation influences the spectrum to one dominated by bremsstrahlung emission from the Brunel electrons.

Keywords: ultra-relativistic, laser-plasma interactions, high-order harmonic emission, radiation, spectrum

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Authors: Yoon Kyung Song, Seung Won Han, Sang Hyun Hwang, Do Hoon Lee

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Laboratory tests is a significant part for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment of diseases. Blood collection is a simple process, but can be a potential cause of pre-analytical errors. Vacuum blood collection tubes used to collect and store the blood specimens is necessary for accurate test results. The purpose of this study was to validate Improve serum separator tube(SST) (Guanzhou Improve Medical Instruments Co., Ltd, China) for routine clinical chemistry laboratory testing. Blood specimens were collected from 100 volunteers in three different serum vacuum tubes (Greiner SST , Becton Dickinson SST , Improve SST). The specimens were evaluated for 16 routine chemistry tests using TBA-200FR NEO (Toshiba Medical Co. JAPAN). The results were statistically analyzed by paired t-test and Bland-Altman plot. For stability test, the initial results for each tube were compared with results of 72 hours preserved specimens. Their clinical availability was evaluated by biological Variation of Ricos data bank. Paired t-test analysis revealed that AST, ALT, K, Cl showed statistically same results but calcium (CA), phosphorus(PHOS), glucose(GLU), BUN, uric acid(UA), cholesterol(CHOL), total protein(TP), albumin(ALB), total bilirubin(TB), ALP, creatinine(CRE), sodium(NA) were different(P < 0.05) between Improve SST and Greiner SST. Also, CA, PHOS, TP, TB, AST, ALT, NA, K, Cl showed statistically the same results but GLU, BUN, UA, CHOL, ALB, ALP, CRE were different between Improve SST and Becton Dickinson SST. All statistically different cases were clinically acceptable by biological Variation of Ricos data bank. Improve SST tubes showed satisfactory results compared with Greiner SST and Becton Dickinson SST. We concluded that the tubes are acceptable for routine clinical chemistry laboratory testing.

Keywords: blood collection, Guanzhou Improve, SST, vacuum tube

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Authors: Ladislav Ptacek, Jan Vanek, Jan Eisner, Alexandra Pruchova, Pavel Linhart, Ludek Muller, Dana Jirotkova

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One of the essential steps of avian song processing is signal filtering. Currently, the standard methods of filtering are the Mel Bank Filter or linear filter distribution. In this article, a new type of bank filter called the Bird-Adapted Filter is introduced; whereby the signal filtering is modifiable, based upon a new mathematical description of audiograms for particular bird species or order, which was named the Avian Audiogram Unified Equation. According to the method, filters may be deliberately distributed by frequency. The filters are more concentrated in bands of higher sensitivity where there is expected to be more information transmitted and vice versa. Further, it is demonstrated a comparison of various filters for automatic individual recognition of chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita). The average Equal Error Rate (EER) value for Linear bank filter was 16.23%, for Mel Bank Filter 18.71%, the Bird-Adapted Filter gave 14.29%, and Bird-Adapted Filter with 1/3 modification was 12.95%. This approach would be useful for practical use in automatic systems for avian species and individual identification. Since the Bird-Adapted Filter filtration is based on the measured audiograms of particular species or orders, selecting the distribution according to the avian vocalization provides the most precise filter distribution to date.

Keywords: avian audiogram, bird individual identification, bird song processing, bird species recognition, filter bank

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Authors: Mechlouch Ridha Fethi

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This paper presents a recent mathematical model in political sciences concerning democracy. The model is represented by a logarithmic equation linking the Relative Index of Democracy (RID) to Participation Ratio (PR). Firstly the meanings of the different parameters of the model were presented; and the variation curve of the RID according to PR with different critical areas was discussed. Secondly, the model was applied to a virtual group where we show that the model can be applied depending on the gender. Thirdly, it was observed that the model can be extended to different language models of democracy and that little use to assess the state of democracy for some International organizations like UNO.

Keywords: democracy, mathematic, modelization, quantification

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Authors: Anne Heirman, Vincent van der Noort, Rob van Son, Marije Petersen, Lisette van der Molen, Gyorgy Halmos, Richard Dirven, Michiel van den Brekel

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Objective: Voice prosthesis leakage significantly impacts laryngectomies patients' quality of life, causing insecurity and frequent unplanned hospital visits and costs. In this study, the concept of prophylactic voice prosthesis replacement was explored to prevent leakages. Study Design: A retrospective cohort study. Setting: Tertiary hospital. Methods: Device lifetimes and voice prosthesis replacements of a retrospective cohort, including all patients with laryngectomies between 2000 and 2012 in the Netherlands Cancer Institute, were used to calculate the number of needed voice prostheses per patient per year when preventing 70% of the leakages by prophylactic replacement. Various strategies for the timing of prophylactic replacement were considered: Adaptive strategies based on the individual patient’s history of replacement and fixed strategies based on the results of patients with similar voice prosthesis or treatment characteristics. Results: Patients used a median of 3.4 voice prostheses per year (range 0.1-48.1). We found a high inter-and intrapatient variability in device lifetime. When applying prophylactic replacement, this would become a median of 9.4 voice prostheses per year, which means replacement every 38 days, implying more than six additional voice prostheses per patient per year. The individual adaptive model showed that preventing 70% of the leakages was impossible for most patients, and only a median of 25% can be prevented. Monte-Carlo simulations showed that prophylactic replacement is not feasible due to the high Coefficient of Variation (Standard Deviation/Mean) in device lifetime. Conclusion: Based on our simulations, prophylactic replacement of voice prostheses is not feasible due to high inter-and intrapatient variation in device lifetime.

Keywords: voice prosthesis, voice rehabilitation, total laryngectomy, prosthetic leakage, device lifetime

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Authors: Haytam Kasem

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The problem of quick and easy reversible attachment has become of great importance in different fields of technology. For the reason, during the last decade, a new emerging field of adhesion science has been developed. Essentially inspired by some animals and insects, which during their natural evolution have developed fantastic biological attachment systems allowing them to adhere and run on walls and ceilings of uneven surfaces. Potential applications of engineering bio-inspired solutions include climbing robots, handling systems for wafers in nanofabrication facilities, and mobile sensor platforms, to name a few. However, despite the efforts provided to apply bio-inspired patterned adhesive-surfaces to the biomedical field, they are still in the early stages compared with their conventional uses in other industries mentioned above. In fact, there are some critical issues that still need to be addressed for the wide usage of the bio-inspired patterned surfaces as advanced biomedical platforms. For example, surface durability and long-term stability of surfaces with high adhesive capacity should be improved, but also the friction and adhesion capacities of these bio-inspired microstructures when contacting rough surfaces. One of the well-known prototypes for bio-inspired attachment systems is biomimetic wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure for gecko-like attachments. Although physical background of these attachment systems is widely understood, the influence of counter-face roughness and its relationship with the friction force generated when sliding against wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure have yet to be fully analyzed and understood. To elucidate the effect of the counter-face roughness on the friction of biomimetic wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure we have replicated the isotropic topography of 12 different surfaces using replicas made of the same epoxy material. The different counter-faces were fully characterized under 3D optical profilometer to measure roughness parameters. The friction forces generated by spatula-shaped microstructure in contact with the tested counter-faces were measured on a home-made tribometer and compared with the friction forces generated by the spatulae in contact with a smooth reference. It was found that classical roughness parameters, such as average roughness Ra and others, could not be utilized to explain topography-related variation in friction force. This has led us to the development of an integrated roughness parameter obtained by combining different parameters which are the mean asperity radius of curvature (R), the asperity density (η), the deviation of asperities high (σ) and the mean asperities angle (SDQ). This new integrated parameter is capable of explaining the variation of results of friction measurements. Based on the experimental results, we developed and validated an analytical model to predict the variation of the friction force as a function of roughness parameters of the counter-face and the applied normal load, as well.

Keywords: friction, bio-mimetic micro-structure, counter-face roughness, analytical model

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Authors: Min Yu, Olivier T. Picot, Theo Graves Saunders, Ivo Dlouhy, Amit Mahajan, Michael J. Reece

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Graphene was successfully introduced into a polymer-derived silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) matrix by phase transfer of graphene oxide (GO) from an aqueous (GO dispersed in water) to an organic phase (copolymer as SiOC precursor in diethyl ether). With GO concentrations increasing up to 2 vol%, graphene-containing flakes self-assembled into a lamellar structure in the matrix leading to composite with the anisotropic property. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was applied to densify the composites with four different GO concentrations (0, 0.5, 1 and 2 vol%) up to ~2.3 g/cm3. The fracture toughness of SiOC-2 vol% GO composites was significantly increased by ~91% (from 0.70 to 1.34 MPa·m¹/²), at the expense of a decrease in the flexural strength (from 85MPa to 55MPa), compared to SiOC-0 vol% GO composites. Moreover, the electrical conductivity in the perpendicular direction (σ┴=3×10⁻¹ S/cm) in SiOC-2 vol% GO composite was two orders of magnitude higher than the parallel direction (σ║=4.7×10⁻³ S/cm) owing to the self-assembled lamellar structure of graphene in the SiOC matrix. The composites exhibited increased electrical conductivity (σ┴) from 8.4×10⁻³ to 3×10⁻¹ S/cm, with the increasing GO content from 0.5 to 2 vol%. The SiOC-2 vol% GO composites further showed the better electrochemical performance of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) than pure graphene, exhibiting a similar onset potential (~0.75V vs. RHE) and more positive half-wave potential (~0.6V vs. RHE).

Keywords: composite, fracture toughness, flexural strength, electrical conductivity, electrochemical performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 153