Search results for: traditional dry-cured meat products

Authors: Wenjun Zhang, Yunqing Du, Steven W. Cranford, Ming L. Wang

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The beginning of 21st century has witnessed new advancements in the design and use of new materials for biosensing applications, from nano to macro, protein to tissue. Traditional analytical methods lack a complete toolset to describe the complexities introduced by living systems, pathological relations, discrete hierarchical materials, cross-phase interactions, and structure-property dependencies. Materiomics – via systematic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation – can provide structure-process-property relations by using a materials science approach linking mechanisms across scales and enables oriented biosensor design. With this approach, DNA biosensors can be utilized to detect disease biomarkers present in individuals’ breath such as acetone for diabetes. Our wireless sensor array based on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-decorated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) has successfully detected trace amount of various chemicals in vapor differentiated by pattern recognition. Here, we present how MD simulation can revolutionize the way of design and screening of DNA aptamers for targeting biomarkers related to oral diseases and oral health monitoring. It demonstrates great potential to be utilized to build a library of DNDA sequences for reliable detection of several biomarkers of one specific disease, and as well provides a new methodology of creating, designing, and applying of biosensors.

Keywords: biosensor, DNA, biomarker, molecular dynamics simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 463

Authors: E. Soboleva, E. Sergachyova, S. G. Davydenko, T. V. Meledina

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Problem of food preservation is extremely important for mankind. Viscous damage ("illness") of bread results from development of Bacillus spp. bacteria. High temperature resistant spores of this microorganism are steady against 120°C) and remain in bread during pastries, potentially causing spoilage of the final product. Scientists are interested in further characterization of bread spoiling Bacillus spp. species. Our aim was to find weather yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that are able to produce natural antimicrobial killer factor can preserve bread illness. By diffusion method, we showed yeast antagonistic activity against spore-forming bacteria. Experimental technological parameters were the same as for bakers' yeasts production on the industrial scale. Risograph test during dough fermentation demonstrated gas production. The major finding of the study was a clear indication of the presence of killer yeast strain antagonistic activity against rope in bread causing bacteria. After demonstrating antagonistic effect of S. cerevisiae on bacteria using solid nutrient medium, we tested baked bread under provocative conditions. We also measured formation of carbon dioxide in the dough, dough-making duration and quality of the final products, when using different strains of S. cerevisiae. It is determined that the use of yeast S. cerevisiae RCAM 01730 killer strain inhibits appearance of rope in bread. Thus, natural yeast antimicrobial killer toxin, produced by some S. cerevisiae strains is an anti-rope in bread protector.

Keywords: bakers' yeasts, killer toxin, rope in bread, Saccharomyces cerevisiæ

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Sanjeet Kumar Singh, Shanatanu Bhattacharaya

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Design of high- efficiency low, frequency (<1000Hz) soundproof window or wall absorber which is transparent to airflow is presented. Due to the massive rise in human population and modernization, environmental noise has significantly risen globally. Prolonged noise exposure can cause severe physiological and psychological symptoms like nausea, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia. There has been continuous growth in building construction and infrastructure like offices, bus stops, and airports due to urban population. Generally, a ventilated window is used for getting fresh air into the room, but at the same time, unwanted noise comes along. Researchers used traditional approaches like noise barrier mats in front of the window or designed the entire window using sound-absorbing materials. However, this solution is not aesthetically pleasing, and at the same time, it's heavy and not adequate for low-frequency noise shielding. To address this challenge, we design a transparent hexagonal panel based on Sierpiński fractal triangle, which is aesthetically pleasing, demonstrates normal incident sound absorption coefficient more than 0.96 around 700 Hz and transmission loss around 23 dB while maintaining e air circulation through triangular cutout. Next, we present a concept of fabrication of large acoustic panel for large-scale applications, which lead to suppressing the urban noise pollution.

Keywords: acoustic metamaterials, noise, functional materials, ventilated

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Authors: Zahow Muoftah

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Traditional manual visual grading of fruits has been one of the agricultural industry’s major challenges due to its laborious nature as well as inconsistency in the inspection and classification process. The main requirements for computer vision and visual processing are some effective techniques for identifying defects and estimating defect areas. Automated defect detection using computer vision and machine learning has emerged as a promising area of research with a high and direct impact on the visual inspection domain. Grading, sorting, and disease detection are important factors in determining the quality of fruits after harvest. Many studies have used computer vision to evaluate the quality level of fruits during post-harvest. Many studies have used computer vision to evaluate the quality level of fruits during post-harvest. Many studies have been conducted to identify diseases and pests that affect the fruits of agricultural crops. However, most previous studies concentrated solely on the diagnosis of a lesion or disease. This study focused on a comprehensive study to identify pests and diseases of apple and banana fruits using detection and classification defects on Banana and Apples by Computer Vision. As a result, the current article includes research from these domains as well. Finally, various pattern recognition techniques for detecting apple and banana defects are discussed.

Keywords: computer vision, banana, apple, detection, classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Botshelo Rachel Sebola

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Unintended pregnancy often results in pregnancy termination. Most countries have legalised the termination of a pregnancy and pregnant adolescents can visit designated clinics without their parents’ consent. In most African and Asian countries, certain cultural practices are performed following any form of childbirth, including abortion, and such practices are ingrained in societies. The aim of this paper was to understand how women who terminated a pregnancy during adolescence coped by embracing cultural practices. A descriptive multiple case study design was adopted for the study. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and reflective diaries were used for data collection. Thirteen women aged 25 to 35 who had terminated a pregnancy in adolescence participated in the study. Three women kept their soiled sanitary pads, burned them to ash and waited for the rainy season to scatter the ash in a flowing stream. This ritual was performed to appease the ancestors, ask them for forgiveness and as a send-off for the aborted foetus. Five women secretly consulted Sangoma (traditional healers) to perform certain rituals. Three women isolated themselves to perform herbal cleansings, and the last two chose not to engage in any sexual activity for one year, which led to the loss of their partners. This study offers a unique contribution to understanding the solitary journey of women who terminated a pregnancy. The study challenges healthcare professionals who work in clinics that offer pregnancy termination services to look beyond releasing the foetus to advocating and providing women with the necessary care and support in performing cultural practices.

Keywords: adolescence, cultural practices, case study, pregnancy

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Authors: Jui-Chien Hsieh

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Background:12-lead electrocardiography(ECG) is one of frequently-used tools to detect atrial fibrillation (AF), which might degenerate into life-threaten stroke, in clinical Practice. Based on this study, the AF detection by the clinically-used 12-lead ECG device has only 0.73~0.77 positive predictive value (ppv). Objective: It is on great demand to develop a new algorithm to improve the precision of AF detection using 12-lead ECG. Due to the progress on artificial intelligence (AI), we develop an ECG deep model that has the ability to recognize AF patterns and reduce false-positive errors. Methods: In this study, (1) 570-sample 12-lead ECG reports whose computer interpretation by the ECG device was AF were collected as the training dataset. The ECG reports were interpreted by 2 senior cardiologists, and confirmed that the precision of AF detection by the ECG device is 0.73.; (2) 88 12-lead ECG reports whose computer interpretation generated by the ECG device was AF were used as test dataset. Cardiologist confirmed that 68 cases of 88 reports were AF, and others were not AF. The precision of AF detection by ECG device is about 0.77; (3) A parallel 4-layer 1 dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed to identify AF based on limb-lead ECGs and chest-lead ECGs. Results: The results indicated that this model has better performance on AF detection than traditional computer interpretation of the ECG device in 88 test samples with 0.94 ppv, 0.98 sensitivity, 0.80 specificity. Conclusions: As compared to the clinical ECG device, this AI ECG model promotes the precision of AF detection from 0.77 to 0.94, and can generate impacts on clinical applications.

Keywords: 12-lead ECG, atrial fibrillation, deep learning, convolutional neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Meisam Zargar, Yurii Pleskachov, Mostafa Abdelkader, Aldaibe Ahmed, Maryam Bayat, Malek H. Walli, Shimendi Okbagabir

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The increased need of humankind for foodstuffs highlights the intensification of agricultural production. It is necessary either to increase the size of the sown area or to look for new approaches to improve agricultural land productivity. Developing new areas for cultivation is possible due to the intensification of soil cultivation. Nevertheless, this will decrease the effectiveness of de-carbonization programs since this approach will inevitably increase greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, searching for new solutions to conserve natural resources while obtaining stable predicted crop yields is a vital scientific and technical task. For a long time, destructive land use methods have been used in crop production. The present stage of civilization's development and implementation of new techniques and methods of tillage and crops require the solution of technological, economic, and environmental problems simultaneously with the possibility of creating conditions for the regeneration of soil resources. Implementing these approaches became possible due to the development of new technology for the cultivation of crops based on the exact selective impact on the object of processing. This technology of particular effects of TIV combines the positive accumulated experience of traditional farming systems and resource-saving approaches. Particularly high-quality indicators and cost savings with introducing TIV can be achieved when used on row crops, including vegetables and melons.

Keywords: agricultural machinery, vegetable, irrigation, strip system

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Authors: Atiq Zaman

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The high contamination rate in the recycling waste stream is one of the major problems in Australia. In addition, a lack of reliable waste data makes it even more difficult for designing and implementing an effective waste management plan. This article conceptualizes the opportunity to improve resource productivity by integrating smart resource tracking system (SRTS) into the Australian household waste management system. The application of the smart resource tracking system will be implemented through the following ways: (i) mobile application-based resource tracking system used to measure the household’s material flow; (ii) RFID, smart image and weighing system used to track waste generation, recycling and contamination; (iii) informing and motivating manufacturer and retailers to improve their problematic products’ packaging; and (iv) ensure quality and reliable data through open-sourced cloud data for public use. The smart mobile application, imaging, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and weighing technologies are not new, but the very straightforward idea of using these technologies in the household resource consumption, waste bins and collection trucks will open up a new era of accurately measuring and effectively managing our waste. The idea will bring the most urgently needed reliable, data and clarity on household consumption, recycling behaviour and waste management practices in the context of available local infrastructure and policies. Therefore, the findings of this study would be very important for decision makers to improve resource productivity in the waste industry by using smart resource tracking system.

Keywords: smart devices, mobile application, smart sensors, resource tracking, waste management, resource productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: N. Choobkar, M. Rezaeimanesh, A. M. Emami Rad, M. Ghaeni, H. Norouzi, S. Pahlavani, M. S. Tamasoki, E. Nezafatian

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Antibiotics are used to increase the immune and wound healing in many animals . But due to the residual effects of a drug , researchers sought to replace them with natural materials such as Plant extracts. Falcaria vulgaris is the most attractive sources of the new drugs. Falcaria vulgaris (locally named Ghazzyaghi/Poghazeh) is a member of Umbelliferae family which grows near farmlands and is consumed as a vegetable in some regions of Iran. In the West of the country, in the wound healing and irregularities in the digestive system is also used. There were no scientific reports available in literature in support of the traditional claims of F. vulgaris in fish. The present study is therefore an attempt to assess the efficacy of this indigenous herb for its healing effect in common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Falcaria vulgaris at concentrations of 0, 2 and 10 % with Lophag foods used on wound healing of common carp and immune response, and weight grow and survival during periods of 21 days with feeding 2 times per day on the basis of body weight. The results showed that, compared with the control group, using of concentration 10 % F. vulgaris have significant effect on wound healing and stimulates the immune system by increasing white blood cells (WBC) and weight grow and survival of carp. The herb can used in wound healing, increased resistance to disease and weight grow in fish and the beneficial effects of this combination goes back to man.

Keywords: common carp, falcaria vulgaris, immune response, wound healing

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Authors: Mohsen Farhadloo, Majid Farhadloo

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Aspect-level opinion mining that aims at discovering aspects (aspect identification) and their corresponding ratings (sentiment identification) from customer reviews have increasingly attracted attention of researchers and practitioners as it provides valuable insights about products/services from customer's points of view. Instead of addressing aspect identification and sentiment identification in two separate steps, it is possible to simultaneously identify both aspects and sentiments. In recent years many graphical models based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) have been proposed to solve both aspect and sentiment identifications in a single step. Although LDA models have been effective tools for the statistical analysis of document collections, they also have shortcomings in addressing some unique characteristics of opinion mining. Our goal in this paper is to address one of the limitations of topic models to date; that is, they fail to directly model the associations among topics. Indeed in many text corpora, it is natural to expect that subsets of the latent topics have higher probabilities. We propose a probabilistic graphical model called focus-LDA, to better capture the associations among topics when applied to aspect-level opinion mining. Our experiments on real-life data sets demonstrate the improved effectiveness of the focus-LDA model in terms of the accuracy of the predictive distributions over held out documents. Furthermore, we demonstrate qualitatively that the focus-LDA topic model provides a natural way of visualizing and exploring unstructured collection of textual data.

Keywords: aspect-level opinion mining, document modeling, Latent Dirichlet Allocation, LDA, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Solomon Tilahun Desisa, Muktar Seid Hussen

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Hibiscus macranthus is one of family Malvaceae and genus Hibiscus plant which grows mainly in western part of Ethiopia. Hibiscus macranthus is the most adaptable and abundant plant in the nation, which are used as an ornamental plant often a hedge or fence plant, and used as a firewood after harvesting the stem together with the bark, and used also as a fiber for trying different kinds of things by forming the rope. However, Hibiscus macranthus plant fibre has not been commercially exploited and extracted properly. This study of work describes the possibility of mechanical and retting methods of Hibiscus macranthus fibre extraction and characterization. Hibiscus macranthus fibre is a bast fibre which obtained naturally from the stem or stalks of the dicotyledonous plant since it is a natural cellulose plant fiber. And the fibre characterized by studying its physical and chemical properties. The physical characteristics were investigated as follows, including the length of 100-190mm, fineness of 1.0-1.2Tex, diameter under X100 microscopic view 16-21 microns, the moisture content of 12.46% and dry tenacity of 48-57cN/Tex along with breaking extension of 0.9-1.6%. Hibiscus macranthus fiber productivity was observed that 12-18% of the stem out of which more than 65% is primary long fibers. The fiber separation methods prove to decrease of non-cellulose ingredients in the order of mechanical, water and chemical methods. The color measurement also shows the raw Hibiscus macranthus fiber has a natural golden color according to YID1925 and paler look under both retting methods than mechanical separation. Finally, it is suggested that Hibiscus macranthus fibre can be used for manufacturing of natural and organic crop and coffee packages as well as super absorbent, fine and high tenacity textile products.

Keywords: Hibiscus macranthus, bast fiber, extraction, characterization

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Authors: Bhaskar Chakravorti, Christopher Tunnard, Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi

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This report introduces the Digital Evolution Index (DEI) as a way to gauge the transformation of economies in the advanced and developing world from traditional brick-and-mortar to digitally enabled. The DEI measures the digital trajectories of 50 countries to provide actionable, data-informed insights for businesses, investors and policymakers. Created by The Fletcher School, in collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide and DataCash, the DEI analyzes the key underlying drivers and barriers that govern a country’s evolution into a digital economy: Demand, Supply, Institutional Environment and Innovation. A longitudinal analysis of these four drivers during the years 2008 to 2013 reveals both the current state of a country’s digital economy, as well as changes over time. Combining these two measures allows us to assign each country to one of four Trajectory Zones: • Stand Out countries have shown high levels of digital development in the past and continue to remain on an upward trajectory. • Stall Out countries have achieved a high level of evolution in the past but are losing momentum and risk falling behind. • Break Out countries have the potential to develop strong digital economies. Though their overall score is still low, they are moving upward and are poised to become Stand Out countries in the future. • Watch Out countries face significant opportunities and challenges, with low scores on both current level and upward motion of their DEI. Some may be able to overcome limitations with clever innovations and stopgap measures, while others seem to be stuck.

Keywords: e-commerce, digital evolution, digital commerce ecosystems, e-consumer

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Authors: Mohamed Saeed Ahmed Salman

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The aim of this Current Study is to reveals the impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Innovation in Mobile Jordanian Communication Companies, (Zain; Orange; Umniah and Xpress). The study depends on descriptive and analytical mothodize using the practical manner, study sample consists of Head of section and Experts from all Specializations in Mobile Jordanian Communication Companies amounted (120). A major study finding all Transformational Leadership Behaviors was median extent. The innovation adoption and innovation abilities availability was high extent. Besides there is a significant statistical impact of Transformational Leadership Behaviors, (Idealized Influence; Intellectual Stimulation; Individualized Consideration and Empowerment), on Organizational Innovation (innovation adoption & innovation abilities availability). It can be said that organizational creativity is the adoption of new ideas and behaviors that are applied in the organization, whether this is in creating new products or services, or new technology that is used at work. Transformational leadership is a process that occurs when one or more people engage with others in a way that enables leaders and followers to raise each other to higher levels of morals, motivations, and behaviors (desires, needs, ambitions, and followers' core values). An effective leader under transformational leadership is one who has a high ability to communicate, motivate, delegate, and listen to others, and is characterized by great flexibility in solving problems and dealing greatly with variables. The difference between creativity and innovation, in conclusion, innovation, invention, and creativity are three important elements for any institution or organization, and there is a fine line that separates them, which is that creativity works to generate new ideas, while invention makes them tangible, and innovation makes them valuable.

Keywords: leadership, organizational, transformational, creativity

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Authors: Lila Boulekbache-Makhlouf, Fatiha Brahmi

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This study was carried out with the aim of enriching fresh cheese with the food by-products, which are the leaves of shallots and the peels of potatoes. Firstly, the conditions for extracting the total polyphenols using ultrasound are optimized. Then, the contents of total polyphenols PPT , flavonoids and antioxidant activity were evaluated for the extracts obtained by adopting the optimal parameter. On the other hand, we have carried out some physicochemical, microbiological and sensory analyzes of the cheese produced. The maximum total polyphenols value of 70.44 mg GAE gallic acid equivalent / g of dry matter DM of shallot leaves was reached with 40% (v/v) ethanol, an extraction time of 90 min and a temperature of 10 °C. While, the maximum TPP total polyphenols content of potato peels of 45.03 ± 4.16 mg gallic acid equivalent / g of dry matter DM was obtained using an ethanol /water mixture (40%, v/v), a time of 30 min and a temperature of 60 °C and the flavonoid contents were 13.99 and 7.52 QE quercetin equivalent/g dry matter DM, respectively. From the antioxidant tests, we deduced that the potato peels present a higher antioxidant power with the concentration of extracts causing a 50% inhibition IC50s of 125.42 ± 2.78 μg/mL for 2,2-diphényl 1-picrylhydrazyle DPPH, of 87.21 ± 7.72 μg/mL for phosphomolybdate and 200.77 ± 13.38 μg/mL for iron chelation, compared with the results obtained for shallot leaves which were 204.29 ± 0.09, 45.85 ± 3,46 and 1004.10 ± 145.73 μg/mL, respectively. The results of the physicochemical analyzes have shown that the formulated cheese was compliant with standards. Microbiological analyzes show that the hygienic quality of the cheese produced was satisfactory. According to the sensory analysis, the experts liked the cheese enriched with the powder and pieces of the leaves of the shallots.

Keywords: shallots leaves, potato peels, ultrasound extraction, phenolics, cheese

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Authors: Thilivhali Emmanuel Tshikalange, Phiwokuhle Mamba

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Ten medicinal plants used traditionally in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and urinary tract infections (UTIs) were selected from an ethnobotanical database developed in Mpumalanga. The plants were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against five bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Staphylococcus aureus) and one fungal strain (Candida albicans). Eight of the plants inhibited the growth of all microorganisms at a concentration range of 0.4 mg/ml to 12.5 mg/ml. Acacia karroo showed the most promising antimicrobial activity, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.4 mg/ml on Staphylococcus aureus and 0.8 mg/ml on Neisseria gonorrhoeae. All ten plants were further investigated for their antioxidant activities using the DPPH scavenging method. Acacia karroo and Rhoicissus tridentata subsp. cuneifolia showed good antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 0.83 mg/ml and 0.06 mg/ml, respectively. The toxicity of plants was determined using the XTT reduction method against Vero cells. None of the ten plants showed toxicity on the cells. The obtained results confirmed that Acacia karroo and possibly Rhoicissus tridentata subsp. cuneifolia have the potential of being used as antimicrobial agents in the treatment of STDs and UTIs. These results support and validate traditional use of medicinal plants studied.

Keywords: antimicrobial, antioxidant, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, sexually transmitted diseases

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Authors: Mathias Ebot, Päivi Harinen

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This article focuses on challenges of parenthood for Sub-Saharan African fathers in Finland. In this analysis Finland represents a Nordic welfare society where family relationships are strongly guided by national family policies and discourses. These policies are based on both traditional ideas of a proper Finnish family, as well as on the contemporary waves of female liberation and emphasis on children’s rights. We analyze how especially Cameroonian fathers perceive their parenthood positions and how they characterize and frame their fathering experiences in relation to the mainstream sociopolitical, cultural and national representations of fatherhood in Finland. The analysis is based on interviews and narrative reports collected among Cameroonian fathers living in Finland with their African spouses. The scrutiny shows that in the context where the mainstream cultural and national family representation is created by equality between parents and also between parents and their children, and where “good fatherhood” is created by embodied presence and warm relationships with children these fathers have difficulties: They have to fulfill another fatherhood duty – bread-winning – and thus ensure their labor possibilities all the time, from very marginalized positions of the labor market. When comparing their fatherhood position with the one in Cameroon they also feel embarrassed as the Finnish educational system teaches and encourages their children to challenge their authority as up-raising adults, which in Cameroon could not be possible.

Keywords: Cameroonian fathers, perception, fathering experiences, Finland

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Authors: Mikko Hänninen

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This paper explores the effect online retail platforms have on customer behavior and retail patronage through an inductive multi-case study. Existing research on retail platforms and ecosystems generally focus on competition between platform members and most papers maintain a managerial perspective with customers seen mainly as merely one stakeholder of the value-exchange relationship. It is proposed that retail platforms change the nature of customer relationships compared to traditional brick-and-mortar or e-commerce retailers. With online retail platforms such as Alibaba, Amazon and Rakuten gaining increasing traction with their platform based business models, the purpose of this paper is to define retail platforms and look at how leading retail platforms are able to create value for their customers, in order to foster meaningful customer’ relationships. An analysis is conducted on the major global retail platforms with a focus specifically on understanding the tools in place for creating customer value in order to show how retail platforms create and maintain customer relationships for fostering customer loyalty. The results describe the opportunities and challenges retailers face when competing against platform based businesses and outline the advantages as well as disadvantages that platforms bring to individual consumers. Based on the inductive case research approach, five theoretical propositions on consumer behavior in online retail platforms are developed that also form the basis of further research with this research making both a practical as well as theoretical contribution to platform research streams.

Keywords: retail, platform, ecosystem, e-commerce, loyalty

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Authors: Almutasim Billa A. Alanazi, Hal S. Tharp

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Safe performance and efficient energy consumption are essential factors for designing a control system. This paper presents a reinforcement learning (RL) model that can be applied to control applications to improve safety and reduce energy consumption. As hardware constraints and environmental disturbances are imprecise and unpredictable, conventional control methods may not always be effective in optimizing control designs. However, RL has demonstrated its value in several artificial intelligence (AI) applications, especially in the field of control systems. The proposed model intelligently monitors a system's success by observing the rewards from the environment, with positive rewards counting as a success when the controlled reference is within the desired operating zone. Thus, the model can determine whether the system is safe to continue operating based on the designer/user specifications, which can be adjusted as needed. Additionally, the controller keeps track of energy consumption to improve energy efficiency by enabling the idle mode when the controlled reference is within the desired operating zone, thus reducing the system energy consumption during the controlling operation. Water temperature control for a hydroponic system is taken as a case study for the RL model, adjusting the variance of disturbances to show the model’s robustness and efficiency. On average, the model showed safety improvement by up to 15% and energy efficiency improvements by 35%- 40% compared to a traditional RL model.

Keywords: control system, hydroponics, machine learning, reinforcement learning

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Authors: Martha Wilson

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With the peak of Computer-Assisted Language Learning slowly coming to pass and Mobile-Assisted Language Learning, at times, a bit lacking in the communicative department, we are now faced with a challenging question: How can we engage the interest of our digital native students and, most importantly, sustain it? As previously mentioned, our classrooms are now experiencing an influx of “digital natives” – people who have grown up using and having unlimited access to technology. While modernizing our curriculum and digitalizing our classrooms are necessary in order to accommodate this new learning style, it is a huge financial burden and a massive undertaking for language institutes. Instead, opting for a more compact, simple, yet multidimensional pedagogical tool may be the solution to the issue at hand. This paper aims to give a brief overview into an existing device referred to as Student Response Systems (SRS) and to expand on this notion to include a new prototype of response system that will be designed as a mobile application to eliminate the need for costly hardware and software. Additionally, an analysis into recent attempts by other institutes to develop the Mobile Response System (MRS) and customer reviews of the existing MRSs will be provided, as well as the lessons learned from those projects. Finally, while the new model of MRS is still in its infancy stage, this paper will discuss the implications of incorporating such an application as a tool to support and to enrich traditional techniques and also offer practical classroom applications with the existing response systems that are immediately available on the market.

Keywords: app, clickers, mobile app, mobile response system, student response system

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Authors: Chi-Chang Lin, Jiun-Yan Chiu

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Periodontal disease, oral cancer relating trauma is the prominent factor devastating bone tissue that is crucial to reestablishing in clinical. As we know, common symptom, osteoporosis, and infection limiting the ability of the bone tissue to recover cause difficulty before implantation therapy. Regeneration of bone tissue is the fundamental therapy before surgical processes. To promote the growth of bone tissue, many commercial products still have sophisticated problems that need to overcome. Regrettably, there is no available material which is apparently preferable for releasing and controlling of loading dosage, or mitigating inflammation. In our study, a hydrogel-based composite membrane has been prepared by using Gellan gum (GG), gamma-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) and glycerol with simple sol-gel method. GG is a natural material that is massively adopted in cartilage. Unfortunately, the strength of pure GG film is a manifest weakness especially under simulating body fluidic conditions. We utilize another biocompatible material, γ-PGA as cross-linker which can form tri-dimension structure that enhancing the strength. Our result indicated the strength of pure GG membrane can be obviously improved by cross-linked with γ-PGA (0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0 w/v%). Besides, blending with glycerol (0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 w/v%) can significantly improve membrane toughness that corresponds to practical use. The innovative composited hydrogel made of GG, γ-PGA, and glycerol is attested with neat results including elongation and biocompatibility that take the advantage of extension covering major trauma. Recommendations are made for treatment to build up the foundation of bone tissue that would help patients to escape from the suffering and shorten the amount of time in recovery.

Keywords: bone tissue, gellan gum, regeneration, toughness

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Authors: Cristina Costa-Lobo, Ana Medeiros, Ana Campina

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This study refers to the appropriateness of the psychopedagogical intervention programs focused on the adjustment and psychological well-being of children with characteristics of giftedness and the interests of promoting specialized and permanent follow-up to these children. It was intended to find out the impact on perceived self-efficacy in children with characteristics of giftedness after the frequency of a psychopedagogical intervention program. For this was applied to Multidimensional Scale Perceived Self-Efficacy, in two times (pre and post program frequency), in a quasi-experimental design. Innovative data are presented in reports to the relationship of perceived self-efficacy with giftedness, highlighting the evidence of this program focusing on the development of personal, social and emotional skills, applied to 20 children with characteristics of giftedness, in Northern Portugal, in the 2014-2015 school year, have no influence on perceived self-efficacy of children with characteristics of giftedness. The main implication of this research is congruent with the conclusions of studies that point that the greatest challenge in the education of children with characteristics of giftedness is to extend the traditional investment in intellectual production and creative capital to include an equal investment in social capital and the development of competencies of executive functions, dimensions that development programs stimulate. This study appeals to the need of children with characteristics of giftedness to be targets of psychopedagogical intervention programs with the constant specialization and constant updating of the knowledge of the professionals who work with them, motivated by being individuals with such specific and ever-changing characteristics reflecting an inclusive school life.

Keywords: giftedness, perceived self-efficacy, EMAEP, psychopedagogical intervention programs

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: K. Alaka, A. Obi

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Home garden has proved to be significant to rural inhabitants by providing a wide range of useful products such as fruits, vegetables and medicine. There is need for quantitative information on its benefits and contributions to rural household. The main objective of this study is to investigate contributions of home garden to income of rural households in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, formerly Nkonkobe Local Municipality of Eastern Cape Province South Africa. The stratified random sampling method was applied in order to choose a sample of 160 households.The study was conducted among 80 households engaging in home gardens and 80 non- participating households in the study area. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics with the use of frequency table and one way sample T test to show actual contributions. The overall model shows that social grant has the highest contribution to total household income for both categories while income generated from home garden has the second largest share to total household income, this shows that the majority of rural households in the study area rely on social grant as their source of income. However, since most households are net food buyers, it is essential to have policies that are formulated with an understanding that household food security is not only a function of the food that farming households produce for their own consumption but more so a function of total household income. The results produced sufficient evidence that home gardens contribute significantly to income of rural household.

Keywords: food security, home gardening, household, income

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Authors: Olusola Olalekan Elekofehinti, Isaac Gbadura Adanlawo, Joao Batista Teixeira Rocha

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We evaluated the potential neuroprotective effect of Phyllantus nuriri against Fe2+ and SNP induced oxidative stress in mitochondria of rats brain. Cellular viability was assessed by MTT reduction, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured using the probe 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA). Glutathione content was measured using dithionitrobenzoic acid (DTNB). Fe2+ (10µM) and SNP (5µM) significantly decreased mitochondrial activity, assessed by MTT reduction assay, in a dose-dependent manner, this occurred in parallel with increased glutathione oxidation, ROS production and lipid peroxidation end-products (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS). The co-incubation with methanolic extract of Phyllantus nuriri (10-100 µg/ml) reduced the disruption of mitochondrial activity, gluthathione oxidation, ROS production as well as the increase in TBARS levels caused by both Fe2+ and SNP in a dose dependent manner. HPLC analysis of the extract revealed the presence of gallic acid (20.54±0.01), caffeic acid (7.93±0.02), rutin (25.31±0.05), quercetin (31.28±0.03) and kaemferol (14.36±0.01). This result suggests that these phytochemicals account for the protective actions of Phyllantus nuriri against Fe2+ and SNP -induced oxidative stress. Our results show that Phyllantus nuriri consist important bioactive molecules in the search for an improved therapy against the deleterious effects of Fe2+, an intrinsic producer of reactive oxygen species (ROS), that leads to neuronal oxidative stress and neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Phyllantus niruri, neuroprotection, oxidative stress, mitochondria, synaptosome

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Authors: Sakapas Saengchai, Pichamon Chansuchai

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Research Thai- Myanmar Border Trade Promotion Policy, Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province The objectives of this study were to study the policy of promoting Thai- Myanmar border trade in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province. And suitable models for the development of border trade in Mae Sai. Chiang Rai province This research uses qualitative methodology. The method of collecting data from research papers. Participatory Observation In-depth interviews in which the information is important, the governor of Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai Customs Service Executive Office of Mae Sai Immigration Bureau Maesai Chamber of Commerce and Private Entrepreneurs By specific sampling Data analysis uses content analysis. The study indicated that Border Trade Promotion Policy The direction taken by the government to focus on developing 1. Security is further reducing crime. Smuggling and human trafficking Including the preparation to protect people from terrorism and natural disasters. And cooperation with Burma on border security. 2. The development of wealth is the promotion of investment. The transport links, logistics value chain. Products and services across the Thai-Myanmar border. Improve the regulations and laws to promote fair trade. Convenient and fast 3. Sustainable development is the ability to generate income, quality of life of people in the Thai border to increase continuously. By using balanced natural resources, production and consumption are environmentally friendly. Which featured the participation of all sectors of the public and private sectors in the region to drive the development of the border with Thailand. Chiang Rai province To be more competitive .

Keywords: Border, Trade, Policy, Promote

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Yen-Luan Chen

Abstract:

Maintenance has a great impact on the capacity of production and on the quality of the products, and therefore, it deserves continuous improvement. Maintenance procedure done before a failure is called preventive maintenance (PM). Sequential PM, which specifies that a system should be maintained at a sequence of intervals with unequal lengths, is one of the commonly used PM policies. This article proposes a generalized sequential PM policy for a system subject to shocks with imperfect maintenance and random working time. The shocks arrive according to a non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) with varied intensity function in each maintenance interval. As a shock occurs, the system suffers two types of failures with number-dependent probabilities: type-I (minor) failure, which is rectified by a minimal repair, and type-II (catastrophic) failure, which is removed by a corrective maintenance (CM). The imperfect maintenance is carried out to improve the system failure characteristic due to the altered shock process. The sequential preventive maintenance-last (PML) policy is defined as that the system is maintained before any CM occurs at a planned time Ti or at the completion of a working time in the i-th maintenance interval, whichever occurs last. At the N-th maintenance, the system is replaced rather than maintained. This article first takes up the sequential PML policy with random working time and imperfect maintenance in reliability engineering. The optimal preventive maintenance schedule that minimizes the mean cost rate of a replacement cycle is derived analytically and determined in terms of its existence and uniqueness. The proposed models provide a general framework for analyzing the maintenance policies in reliability theory.

Keywords: optimization, preventive maintenance, random working time, minimal repair, replacement, reliability

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Authors: Amrutha Jayan

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The cities are attractors of the human population, offering opportunities for economic activities for different linguistic, cultural, and ethnic groups. The urban form and design of the city impact the life of these people. Social and cultural exclusions result in spatial segregation and gentrification. The spaces provided in cities must be inclusive for all these communities for them to feel part of the city and contribute to society. Intercultural urbanism is a theory and practice of city building, planning, and design of urban spaces and architectures that are cognizant of the social impact of the built environment. The postulate acknowledges cultural differences and opportunities for cultural exchange. Literature on intercultural urbanism, culture and space, spatial justice, and cultural inclusion are analyzed to identify parameters contributing to intercultural placemaking. A qualitative study on Mattancherry shows how the precinct has sustained throughout the years with different communities living together within a radius of 5 km, creating a diverse and vibrant environment. The research identifies the urban elements that contribute to intercultural interactions and maintain the synergy between these communities. The public spaces, porous edges, built-form, streets, and accessibility contribute to chance encounters and intercultural interactivity. The research seeks to find the factors that contribute to intercultural placemaking.

Keywords: intercultural urbanism, cultural inclusion, spatial justice, public space

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Authors: Adel M. Zakri, Mohammed A. Al-Saleh, Judith. K. Brown, Ali M. Idris

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Betasatellites are small circular single stranded DNA molecules found associated with begomoviruses on field symptomatic plants. Their genome size is about half that of the helper begomovirus, ranging between 1.3 and 1.4 kb. The helper begomoviruses are usually members of the family Geminiviridae. Okra leaves showing vein thickening were collected from okra plants growing in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Total DNA was extracted from leaves and used as a template to amplify circular DNA using rolling circle amplification (RCA) technology. Products were digested with PstI to linearize the helper viral genome(s), and associated DNA satellite(s), yielding a 2.8kbp and 1.4kbp fragment, respectively. The linearized fragments were cloned into the pGEM-5Zf (+) vector and subjected to DNA sequencing. The 2.8 kb fragment was identified as Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus genome, at 2780bp, an isolate closely related to strains reported previously from Saudi Arabia. A clone obtained from the 1.4 kb fragments he 1.4kb was blasted to GeneBank database found to be a betasatellite. The genome of betasatellite was 1357-bp in size. It was found to be a recombinant containing one fragment (877-bp) that shared 91% nt identity with Cotton leaf curl Gezira betasatellite [KM279620], and a smaller fragment [133--bp) that shared 86% nt identity with Tomato leaf curl Sudan virus [JX483708]. This satellite is thus a recombinant between a malvaceous-infecting satellite and a solanaceous-infecting begomovirus.

Keywords: begomovirus, betasatellites, cotton leaf curl Gezira virus, okra plants

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Rajaeifar, Oliver Heidrich

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Nowadays, Li-ion batteries are vastly disseminated and the battery market is expected to experience a huge growth during next decade especially in terms of traction batteries. As the automotive industry moving towards the electrification of the powertrain, more raw/critical materials and energy are extracted while on the other hand, concerns are made regarding the scarcity of the materials as well as environmental issues regarding the destiny of the spent batteries. In this regards, recycling could play a vital role in the supply chain, leading reutilization of key battery materials and also reducing environmental burden related to the use of batteries. The aim of this paper is to review the previous and state-of-the-art treatments for recycling of Li-ion batteries. All the treatments method from mechanical, mild-thermal, pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical as well as combined methods for recycling of Li-ion batteries were considered in the study. There are various treatment methods that are economical, but they are not environmentally friendly or vice versa. This is due to the fact that the benefits of the Li-ion batteries recycling could be affected by different factors such as the amount of spent batteries available, the quality of the recovered material, the energy and material consumption by the process itself and environmental burdens caused by required logistics. Finally, a preliminary work sheet of possible route for recycling of spent Li-ion batteries was presented through the course of this study. Overall, it is worth quoting that recycling processes generally consumes a great deal of energy and auxiliary materials. Moreover, the collection of spent products from waste streams represents additional environmental efforts. Therefore, developing and optimizing efficient collection and separation technologies is essential to achieve sustainability goals.

Keywords: hydrometallurgical treatment, Li-ion batteries, mild-thermal treatment, mechanical treatment, recycling, pyrometallurgical treatment

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Authors: Sagri Sharma

Abstract:

Analysis of diseases integrating multi-factors increases the complexity of the problem and therefore, development of frameworks for the analysis of diseases is an issue that is currently a topic of intense research. Due to the inter-dependence of the various parameters, the use of traditional methodologies has not been very effective. Consequently, newer methodologies are being sought to deal with the problem. Supervised Learning Algorithms are commonly used for performing the prediction on previously unseen data. These algorithms are commonly used for applications in fields ranging from image analysis to protein structure and function prediction and they get trained using a known dataset to come up with a predictor model that generates reasonable predictions for the response to new data. Gene expression profiles generated by DNA analysis experiments can be quite complex since these experiments can involve hypotheses involving entire genomes. The application of well-known machine learning algorithm - Support Vector Machine - to analyze the expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously in a timely, automated and cost effective way is thus used. The objectives to undertake the presented work are development of a methodology to identify genes relevant to Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) from gene expression dataset utilizing supervised learning algorithms and statistical evaluations along with development of a predictive framework that can perform classification tasks on new, unseen data.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, biomarker, gene expression datasets, hepatocellular carcinoma, machine learning, supervised learning algorithms, support vector machine

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Authors: Yang Xiao-Jun, Yu Tian-Hao, Hu Ying-Qi

Abstract:

Breathing in foreign objects during the operation of the aircraft engine, impurities in the aircraft fuel and products of incomplete combustion can produce deposits on the surface of the turbine blades. These deposits reduce not only the turbine's operating efficiency but also the life of the turbine blades. Based on the small open wind tunnel, the simulation of deposits on the leading edge of the turbine has been carried out in this work. The effect of film cooling on particulate deposition was investigated. Based on the analysis, the adhesive mechanism for the molten pollutants’ reaching to the turbine surface was simulated by matching the Stokes number, TSP (a dimensionless number characterizing particle phase transition) and Biot number of the test facility and that of the real engine. The thickness distribution and growth trend of the deposits have been observed by high power microscope and infrared camera under different temperature of the main flow, the solidification temperature of the particulate objects, and the blowing ratio. The experimental results from the leading edge particulate deposition demonstrate that the thickness of the deposition increases with time until a quasi-stable thickness is reached, showing a striking effect of the blowing ratio on the deposition. Under different blowing ratios, there exists a large difference in the thickness distribution of the deposition, and the deposition is minimal at the specific blow ratio. In addition, the temperature of main flow and the solidification temperature of the particulate have a great influence on the deposition.

Keywords: deposition, experiment, film cooling, leading edge, paraffin particles

Procedia PDF Downloads 146