Search results for: water stress regions

Authors: Abdulmannan Fadel

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Arabinoxylan is a non-starch polysaccharide (NSP), which is one of the most important polysaccharides contained within cereal grains. Wheat endosperm pentosan and rice bran contain a significant amount of arabinoxylan (7% in rice bran and 10-12% in wheat endosperm pentosan). Several methods have been used for arabinoxylan extraction with varying degrees of success e.g. enzymatic and alkaline treatment. Yet, the use of extrusion alone as a pre-treatment to increase the yield and reduce the molecular weight in wheat endosperm pentosan and rice bran has not been investigated. The samples (wheat pentosan and rice bran) were extruded using a Twin-screw extruder at a range of screw speeds (80 and 160 rpm) and barrel temperatures range (80 to 140°C) with a throughput of 30 Kg hr-1 and moisture content of 25%. Arabinoxylans were extracted with water and the extraction yield and molecular weight was determined using size exclusion high-pressure liquid chromatography system. It was found that increasing screw speed from 80 rpm to 160 rpm, did not effect the extraction yield (p < 0.05) of arabinoxylan from either the wheat endosperm pentosan or the rice bran. However, the molecular weight of the extracted arabinoxylans from pentosan was found to decrease with increasing screw speed in wheat endosperm pentosan. These low molecular weight arabinoxylans have been suggested as immunomodulators.

Keywords: arabinoxylans, extrusion, wheat endosperm pentosan, rice bran

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Authors: M. A. Ben Messaoud, A. Bouzid, N. Ellouze

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Speech Segmentation is the measure of the change point detection for partitioning an input speech signal into regions each of which accords to only one speaker. In this paper, we apply two features based on multi-scale product (MP) of the clean speech, namely the spectral centroid of MP, and the zero crossings rate of MP. We focus on multi-scale product analysis as an important tool for segmentation extraction. The multi-scale product is based on making the product of the speech wavelet transform coefficients at three successive dyadic scales. We have evaluated our method on the Keele database. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our method presenting a good performance. It shows that the two simple features can find word boundaries, and extracted the segments of the clean speech.

Keywords: multiscale product, spectral centroid, speech segmentation, zero crossings rate

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Authors: Raminder Kaur

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This paper considers the emerging area of integrating Virtual Reality (VR) technologies into the teaching of Visual Anthropology, Research Methods, and the Anthropology of Contemporary India in the University of Sussex. If deployed in a critical and self-reflexive manner, there are several advantages to VR-based immersive learning: (i) Based on data available for British schools, it has been noted that ‘Learning through experience can boost knowledge retention by up to 75%’. (ii) It can tutor students to learn with and from virtual worlds, devising new collaborative methods where suited. (iii) It can foster inclusive learning by aiding students with SEN and disabilities who may not be able to explore such areas in the physical world. (iv) It can inspire and instill confidence in students with anxieties about approaching new subjects, realms, or regions. (v) It augments our provision of ‘smart classrooms’ synchronised to the kinds of emerging immersive learning environments that students come from in schools.

Keywords: virtual reality, anthropology, immersive learning, university

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Authors: Noah Yusuf

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The present paper examined the current level of socio-political and economic development in Africa. Models and experiences from other regions of the world, especially, developing ones with similar historical experience with Africa, were explored. The paper concluded that recommendations emanating from past conferences, seminars and symposia on the continent’s socio-economic and political challenges have been poorly implemented because of lack of strong political will; the donor syndrome; weak resource base; capacity constraints in institutions; and lack of accountability, transparency and poor governance. It is, therefore, recommended that African countries need implement sound policies and reforms on a comprehensive basis, if they are to achieve the desired socio-economic and political transformation; and the African in Diasporas represent critical instruments in attaining the socio-economic and political objectives of the continent.

Keywords: Africa, political transformation, economic transformation, Africans in diasporas

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Authors: Ali Sinan Soğancı

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Expansive soils are often encountered in many parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid fields. Such kind of soils, generally including active clay minerals in low water content, enlarge in volume by absorbing the water through the surface and cause a great harm to the light structures such as channel coating, roads and airports. The expansive soils were encountered on the path of Apa-Hotamış conveyance channel belonging to the State Hydraulic Works in the region of Konya. In the research done in this area, it is predicted that the soil has a swollen nature and the soil should be filled with proper granular equipment by digging the ground to 50-60 cm. In this study, for purpose of helping the other research to be done in the same area, it is thought that instead of replacing swollen soil with the granular soil, by stabilizing it with polypropylene fiber and using it its original place decreases effect of swelling percent, in this way the cost will be decreased. Therefore, a laboratory tests were conducted to study the effects of polypropylene fiber on swelling characteristics of expansive soil. Test results indicated that inclusion of fiber reduced swell percent of expansive soil. As the fiber content increased, the unconfined compressive strength was increased. Finally, it can be say that stabilization of expansive soils with polypropylene fiber is an effective method.

Keywords: expansive soils, polypropylene fiber, stabilization, swelling percent

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Authors: Robi Lou Logarta, Meliz Ann Marilag, Kristyl Lee Nisnisan, Felipe Lula Jr.

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Nowadays, alcohol is consumed widely around the globe for plenty of reasons. College years are the time that the students really decide if whether they will or will not engage into alcohol, although alcohol drinking begins before students arrive at college. The reasons on why college students consume alcohol vary in many categories. The norms on alcohol drinking are addiction, emotional pain reliever, popularity purposes, socialization, and a medium of euphoria for most students; college students in particular are most likely to feel this need. After tons of requirements to be complied and courses to be reviewed, they felt a need for celebration and relaxation which ends up in drinking with college mates and a few old friends. A lot of reasons consist the consumption of alcohol and this research determined the reasons behind the students’ onset for alcohol consumption; the main reason for such action and the experiences they encountered after in-take, furthermore, the correlation of alcohol drinking to the average allowance of the involved participants; Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology Students whether it affects their spending towards alcohol or not. This study assumes that alcohol drinking for MSU-IIT students’ is done to relieve emotional pain caused by flunking in particular subjects as well as dealing with romance, as part of the student body, these acts are noticeable enough which made this hypothesis be formulated. Selected MSU-IIT students were asked about their opinions regarding reasons of alcohol consumption. There were 100 respondents consisting of first year to fifth-year students aging 17-23 years old. Choices were given to the students to mark their most favorable reason for drinking that is adult influence, curiosity, family/personal problems, peer pressure, stress. Using the bar and pie chart illustrations, the collected data was then analyzed and among the given choices, the result has invalidated the hypothesis. The outcome shows that curiosity is the topmost reason why students start to drink and not due to emotional pain. With this, another hypothesis is formulated stating that millennial is a curious generation; this generation has changed the norm of drinking. One of the characteristics of the Y generation is being adventurous which correlates to how they get curious about things and the same goes for alcohol consumption, compared to the latter, this generation can be considered early drinkers in this manner. Therefore, it is concluded that MSU-IIT students which are part of the generation Y are adventurous enough to try unfamiliar beverages to satisfy their curious minds.

Keywords: adult influence, curiosity, family/personal problems, peer pressure, stress

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Authors: Morteza Ghanbarpour, Rahmatollah Khodabandeh

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In this study, second law of thermodynamic is employed to evaluate heat pipe thermal performance. In fact, nanofluids potential to decrease the entropy generation of cylindrical heat pipes are studied and the results are compared with experimental data. Some cylindrical copper heat pipes of 200 mm length and 6.35 mm outer diameter were fabricated and tested with distilled water and water based Al2O3 nanofluids with volume concentrations of 1-5% as working fluids. Nanofluids are nanotechnology-based colloidal suspensions fabricated by suspending nanoparticles in a base liquid. These fluids have shown potential to enhance heat transfer properties of the base liquids used in heat transfer application. When the working fluid undergoes between different states in heat pipe cycle the entropy is generated. Different sources of irreversibility in heat pipe thermodynamic cycle are investigated and nanofluid effect on each of these sources is studied. Both experimental and theoretical studies reveal that nanofluid is a good choice to minimize the entropy generation in heat pipe thermodynamic cycle which results in higher thermal performance and efficiency of the system.

Keywords: heat pipe, nanofluid, thermodynamics, entropy generation, thermal resistance

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Authors: Jaroslav Kraus

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Spatial information about demographic processes are a standard part of outputs in the Czech Republic. That was also the case of Population and Housing Census which was held on 2011. This is a starting point for a follow up study devoted to two basic types of households: single person households and households of one completed family. Single person households and one family households create more than 80 percent of all households, but the share and spatial structure is in long-term changing. The increase of single households is results of long-term fertility decrease and divorce increase, but also possibility of separate living. There are regions in the Czech Republic with traditional demographic behavior, and regions like capital Prague and some others with changing pattern. Population census is based - according to international standards - on the concept of currently living population. Three types of geospatial approaches will be used for analysis: (i) firstly measures of geographic distribution, (ii) secondly mapping clusters to identify the locations of statistically significant hot spots, cold spots, spatial outliers, and similar features and (iii) finally analyzing pattern approach as a starting point for more in-depth analyses (geospatial regression) in the future will be also applied. For analysis of this type of data, number of households by types should be distinct objects. All events in a meaningful delimited study region (e.g. municipalities) will be included in an analysis. Commonly produced measures of central tendency and spread will include: identification of the location of the center of the point set (by NUTS3 level); identification of the median center and standard distance, weighted standard distance and standard deviational ellipses will be also used. Identifying that clustering exists in census households datasets does not provide a detailed picture of the nature and pattern of clustering but will be helpful to apply simple hot-spot (and cold spot) identification techniques to such datasets. Once the spatial structure of households will be determined, any particular measure of autocorrelation can be constructed by defining a way of measuring the difference between location attribute values. The most widely used measure is Moran’s I that will be applied to municipal units where numerical ratio is calculated. Local statistics arise naturally out of any of the methods for measuring spatial autocorrelation and will be applied to development of localized variants of almost any standard summary statistic. Local Moran’s I will give an indication of household data homogeneity and diversity on a municipal level.

Keywords: census, geo-demography, households, the Czech Republic

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Authors: Bharti Saini, Sukanta K. Dash

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In this work polymeric Nanofiltration (NF) membranes of polysulfone (PSF) (average molecular weight of 22400 Da) were prepared using polyethylene glycol (PEG) (average molecular weight of 200 Da) as an organic additive and ZnCl2 as an inorganic additive. Dimethyl acetamide (DMAc) was used as the solvent, and Deionised water as nonsolvent. The membranes were prepared by phase inversion (immersion precipitation) method. PEG 200 and ZnCl2 in varying concentration are directly added into the casting solution of PSF and DMAc. PEG 200 was used in concentration varying from 0 to 10 % (w/w) in the solution of PSF and DMAc, while ZnCl2 is varied from 0 to 2% (w/w). Membranes were characterized for surface morphology, water uptake, porosity and contact angle, with respect to concentration of PEG and ZnCl2. It was observed that with the increase in additive PEG 200, the porosity and hence, hydrophilicity increase. As a result, the number of pores increases as justified by the SEM analysis as well. The study revealed that the synergistic effect of PEG with ZnCl2 is more effective, and the best results were produced by the solution containing 2% PEG 200 and 1% ZnCl2. It was inferred that with the increase in concentration of additives, the pore size goes on decreasing. The membranes obtained gradually move from microfiltration range to nanofiltration range, and this change is primarily brought about by the addition of ZnCl2.

Keywords: membrane, phase inversion method, polysulfone, porous structure

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Authors: Alberto Hananel

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The aim of this work is to modelize the occlusion of a person with temporomandibular disorders as an evolutionary equation and approach its solution by the construction and characterizing of discrete variational splines. To formulate the problem, certain boundary conditions have been considered. After showing the existence and the uniqueness of the solution of such a problem, a convergence result of a discrete variational evolutionary spline is shown. A stress analysis of the occlusion of a human jaw with temporomandibular disorders by finite elements is carried out in FreeFem++ in order to prove the validity of the presented method.

Keywords: approximation, evolutionary PDE, Finite Element Method, temporomandibular disorders, variational spline

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Authors: Hasan Alp Sahin, Ergin Ozturk

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The effects of raw bee propolis (RP) and water (WEP) or ethanol (EEP) extract of propolis on growth performance, selected immune parameters (IgA, IgY and IgM) and some blood parameters such as aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, trygliceride, total protein, albumin, calcium, phosphorus, total antioxidant status and total oxidant status were determined. The study was conducted between 15th and 20th weeks (6 weeks) and used a total of 48 broiler breeder pullets (Ross-308). The broiler breeder in control group was fed diet without propolis whereas the birds in RP, WEP and EEP groups were fed diets with RP, WEP and EEP at the level of 1200, 400 and 400 ppm, respectively. All pullets were fed mash form diet with 15% crude protein and 2800 ME kcal/kg. All propolis forms had not a beneficial effect on any studied parameters compared to control group (P > 0.05). The results of the study indicated that both the level of the active matters supplied from the bee propolis has no enough beneficial effect on performance, some immune and blood parameters on broiler breeders or they did not have such a level that would cause a beneficial effect on these variables.

Keywords: antioxidant, bee product , poultry breeders, growth performance, immune parameters, blood chemistry

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Authors: Chi-Feng Lai, Wen-Chun Liao Liao

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Many people are bothered by sleep difficulties in Taiwan’s society. However, majority of patients get medical treatments without a comprehensive sleep assessment. It is still a big challenge to formulate a comprehensive assessment of sleep difficulties in clinical settings, even though many assessment tools have existed in literature. This study tries to implement reliable and effective ‘comprehensive sleep assessment scales’ in a medical center and to explore differences in sleep-related factors between clinic clients with or without sleep difficulty complaints. The comprehensive sleep assessment (CSA) scales were composed of 5 dimensions: ‘personal factors’, ‘physiological factors’, ‘psychological factors’, ‘social factors’ and ‘environmental factors, and were first evaluated by expert validity and 20 participants with test-retest reliability. The Content Validity Index (CVI) of the CSA was 0.94 and the alpha of the consistency reliability ranged 0.996-1.000. Clients who visited sleep clinic due to sleep difficulties (n=32, 16 males and 16 females, ages 43.66 ±14.214) and gender-and age- matched healthy subjects without sleep difficulties (n=96, 47 males and 49 females, ages 41.99 ±13.69) were randomly recruited at a ratio of 1:3 (with sleep difficulties vs. without sleep difficulties) to compare their sleep and the CSA factors. Results show that all clinic clients with sleep difficulties did have poor sleep quality (PSQI>5) and mild to moderate daytime sleepiness (ESS >11). Personal factors of long working hours (χ2= 10.315, p=0.001), shift workers (χ2= 8.964, p=0.003), night shift (χ2=9.395, p=0.004) and perceived stress (χ2=9.503, p=0.002) were disruptors of sleep difficulties. Physiological factors from physical examination including breathing by mouth, low soft palate, high narrow palate, Edward Angle, tongue hypertrophy, and occlusion of the worn surface were observed in clinic clients. Psychological factors including higher perceived stress (χ2=32.542, p=0.000), anxiety and depression (χ2=32.868, p=0.000); social factors including lack of leisure activities (χ2=39.857, p=0.000), more drinking habits (χ2=1.798, p=0.018), irregular amount and frequency in meals (χ2=5.086, p=0.024), excessive dinner (χ2=21.511, p=0.000), being incapable of getting up on time due to previous poor night sleep (χ2=4.444, p=0.035); and environmental factors including lights (χ2=7.683, p=0.006), noise (χ2=5.086, p=0.024), low or high bedroom temperature (χ2=4.595, p=0.032) were existed in clients. In conclusion, the CSA scales can work as valid and reliable instruments for evaluating sleep-related factors. Findings of this study provide important reference for assessing clinic clients with sleep difficulties.

Keywords: comprehensive sleep assessment, sleep-related factors, sleep difficulties

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Authors: Roman Matejka, Vaclav Prochazka, Tibor Izak, Jana Stepanovska, Martina Travnickova, Alexander Kromka

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Cell-based impedance spectroscopy is suitable method for electrical monitoring of cell activity especially on substrates that cannot be easily inspected by optical microscope (without fluorescent markers) like decellularized tissues, nano-fibrous scaffold etc. Special sensor for this measurement was developed. This sensor consists of corning glass substrate with gold interdigitated electrodes covered with diamond layer. This diamond layer provides biocompatible non-conductive surface for cells. Also, a special PPFC flow cultivation chamber was developed. This chamber is able to fix sensor in place. The spring contacts are connecting sensor pads with external measuring device. Construction allows real-time live cell imaging. Combining with perfusion system allows medium circulation and generating shear stress stimulation. Experimental evaluation consist of several setups, including pure sensor without any coating and also collagen and fibrin coating was done. The Adipose derived stem cells (ASC) and Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were seeded onto sensor in cultivation chamber. Then the chamber was installed into microscope system for live-cell imaging. The impedance measurement was utilized by vector impedance analyzer. The measured range was from 10 Hz to 40 kHz. These impedance measurements were correlated with live-cell microscopic imaging and immunofluorescent staining. Data analysis of measured signals showed response to cell adhesion of substrates, their proliferation and also change after shear stress stimulation which are important parameters during cultivation. Further experiments plan to use decellularized tissue as scaffold fixed on sensor. This kind of impedance sensor can provide feedback about cell culture conditions on opaque surfaces and scaffolds that can be used in tissue engineering in development artificial prostheses. This work was supported by the Ministry of Health, grants No. 15-29153A and 15-33018A.

Keywords: bio-impedance measuring, bioreactor, cell cultivation, diamond layer, gold interdigitated electrodes, tissue engineering

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Authors: M. M. Essa, S. Subash, M. Akbar, S. Al-Adawi, A. Al-Asmi, G. J. Guillemein

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Transgenic (tg) mice which contain an amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene mutation, develop extracellular amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition in the brain, and severe memory and behavioral deficits with age. These mice serve as an important animal model for testing the efficacy of novel drug candidates for the treatment and management of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several reports have suggested that oxidative stress is the underlying cause of Aβ neurotoxicity in AD. Date palm fruits contain very high levels of antioxidants and several medicinal properties that may be useful for improving the quality of life in AD patients. In this study, we investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of Omani date palm fruits on the memory, anxiety and learning skills along with inflammation in an AD mouse model containing the double Swedish APP mutation (APPsw/Tg2576). The experimental groups of APP-transgenic mice from the age of 4 months were fed custom-mix diets (pellets) containing 2% and 4% Date palm fruits. We assessed spatial memory and learning ability, psychomotor coordination, and anxiety-related behavior in Tg and wild-type mice at the age of 4-5 months and 18-19 months using the Morris water maze test, rota rod test, elevated plus maze test, and open field test. Further, inflammatory parameters also analyzed. APPsw/Tg2576 mice that were fed a standard chow diet without dates showed significant memory deficits, increased anxiety-related behavior, and severe impairment in spatial learning ability, position discrimination learning ability and motor coordination along with increased inflammation compared to the wild type mice on the same diet, at the age of 18-19 months In contrast, PPsw/Tg2576 mice that were fed a diet containing 2% and 4% dates showed a significant improvements in memory, learning, locomotor function, and anxiety with reduced inflammatory markers compared to APPsw/Tg2576 mice fed the standard chow diet. Our results suggest that dietary supplementation with dates may slow the progression of cognitive and behavioral impairments in AD. The exact mechanism is still unclear and further extensive research needed.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, date palm fruits, Oman, cognitive decline, memory loss, anxiety, inflammation

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Authors: R. N. Astya, E. S. Nugraha, S. P. Nurheni, Hoerudin

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Vitamin A deficiency remains to be among the major malnutrition problems in Indonesia. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin which renders it difficult to be fortified in water-based foods and beverages. Furthermore, its low solubility and stability in aqueous system may limit its bioaccessibility in the gastrointestinal tract. Nanoemulsification of vitamin A may solve these problems. The objective of this study was to investigate bioaccessibility of vitamin A (retinyl palmitate/RP) nanoemulsion as influenced by two types of carrier oil (Virgin Coconut Oil/VCO and corn oil/CO) and surfactant concentrations (polysorbate 20/Tween 20 3% and 6%). Oil in water (o/w) nanoemulsions of vitamin A was produced through a combination of high shear-high pressure homogenization technique. The results showed that RP-VCO nanoemulsions were 121.62 nm (3%) and 115.40 (6%) nm in particle size, whereas RP-CO nanoemulsions were 154.72 nm (3%) and 134.00 nm (6%) in particle size. As for VCO nanoemulsions, the bioaccessibility of vitamin A was shown to be 89.84% and 55.32%, respectively. On the other hand, CO nanoemulsions produced vitamin A bioaccessibility of 53.66% and 44.85%, respectively. In general, VCO nanoemulsions showed better bioaccessibility of vitamin A than CO nanoemulsions. In this study, RP-VCO nanoemulsion with 3% Tween 20 had the highest ζ-potential value (-26.5 mV) and produced the highest bioaccessibility of vitamin A (89.84%, P<0.05). Additionally, the vitamin A nanoemulsion was stable even for after a week of freeze and thaw treatment. Following the freeze and thaw treatment, the vitamin A nanoemulsion showed good stability without aggregation and separation. These results would be useful for designing effective vitamin A delivery systems for food and beverage applications.

Keywords: bioaccessibility, carrier oil, surfactant, vitamin A nanoemulsion

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Authors: Wenyu Guo, Malachy O’Rourke, Mark Bowkett, Michael Gilchrist

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Many devices for real-time monitoring of surface water have been developed in the past few years to provide early warning of pollutions and so to decrease the risk of environmental pollution efficiently. One of the most common methodologies used in the detection system is a colorimetric process, in which a container with fixed volume is filled with target ions and reagents to combine a colorimetric dye. The colorimetric ions can sensitively absorb a specific-wavelength radiation beam, and its absorbance rate is proportional to the concentration of the fully developed product, indicating the concentration of target nutrients in the pre-mixed water samples. In order to achieve precise and rapid detection effect, channels with dimensions in the order of micrometers, i.e., microfluidic systems have been developed and introduced into these diagnostics studies. Microfluidics technology largely reduces the surface to volume ratios and decrease the samples/reagents consumption significantly. However, species transport in such miniaturized channels is limited by the low Reynolds numbers in the regimes. Thus, the flow is extremely laminar state, and diffusion is the dominant mass transport process all over the regimes of the microfluidic channels. The objective of this present work has been to analyse the mixing effect and chemistry kinetics in a stop-flow microfluidic device measuring Nitride concentrations in fresh water samples. In order to improve the temporal resolution of the Nitride microfluidic sensor, we have used computational fluid dynamics to investigate the influence that the effectiveness of the mixing process between the sample and reagent within a microfluidic device exerts on the time to completion of the resulting chemical reaction. This computational approach has been complemented by physical experiments. The kinetics of the Griess reaction involving the conversion of sulphanilic acid to a diazonium salt by reaction with nitrite in acidic solution is set in the Laminar Finite-rate chemical reaction in the model. Initially, a methodology was developed to assess the degree of mixing of the sample and reagent within the device. This enabled different designs of the mixing channel to be compared, such as straight, square wave and serpentine geometries. Thereafter, the time to completion of the Griess reaction within a straight mixing channel device was modeled and the reaction time validated with experimental data. Further simulations have been done to compare the reaction time to effective mixing within straight, square wave and serpentine geometries. Results show that square wave channels can significantly improve the mixing effect and provides a low standard deviations of the concentrations of nitride and reagent, while for straight channel microfluidic patterns the corresponding values are 2-3 orders of magnitude greater, and consequently are less efficiently mixed. This has allowed us to design novel channel patterns of micro-mixers with more effective mixing that can be used to detect and monitor levels of nutrients present in water samples, in particular, Nitride. Future generations of water quality monitoring and diagnostic devices will easily exploit this technology.

Keywords: nitride detection, computational fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics, mixing effect

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Authors: Yudo Prasetyo, Hana Sugiastu Firdaus, Diyanah Diyanah

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The phenomenon of the lack of clean water supply in several big cities in Indonesia is a major problem in the development of urban areas. Moreover, in the city of Semarang, the population density and growth of physical development is very high. Continuous and large amounts of underground water (aquifer) exposure can result in a drastically aquifer supply declining in year by year. Especially, the intensity of aquifer use in the fulfilment of household needs and industrial activities. This is worsening by the land subsidence phenomenon in some areas in the Semarang city. Therefore, special research is needed to know the spatial correlation of the impact of decreasing aquifer capacity on the land subsidence phenomenon. This is necessary to give approve that the occurrence of land subsidence can be caused by loss of balance of pressure on below the land surface. One method to observe the correlation pattern between the two phenomena is the application of remote sensing technology based on radar and optical satellites. Implementation of Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DINSAR) or Small Baseline Area Subset (SBAS) method in SENTINEL-1A satellite image acquisition in 2014-2017 period will give a proper pattern of land subsidence. These results will be spatially correlated with the aquifer-declining pattern in the same time period. Utilization of survey results to 8 monitoring wells with depth in above 100 m to observe the multi-temporal pattern of aquifer change capacity. In addition, the pattern of aquifer capacity will be validated with 2 underground water cavity maps from observation of ministries of energy and natural resources (ESDM) in Semarang city. Spatial correlation studies will be conducted on the pattern of land subsidence and aquifer capacity using overlapping and statistical methods. The results of this correlation will show how big the correlation of decrease in underground water capacity in influencing the distribution and intensity of land subsidence in Semarang city. In addition, the results of this study will also be analyzed based on geological aspects related to hydrogeological parameters, soil types, aquifer species and geological structures. The results of this study will be a correlation map of the aquifer capacity on the decrease in the face of the land in the city of Semarang within the period 2014-2017. So hopefully the results can help the authorities in spatial planning and the city of Semarang in the future.

Keywords: aquifer, differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DINSAR), land subsidence, small baseline area subset (SBAS)

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Authors: Jeremy Moloney

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A major oil and gas operator in western Canada producing approximately 50,000 BOE per day of sour fluids was experiencing increased water production along with decreased oil production over several years. The higher water volumes being produced meant an increase in the operator’s incumbent corrosion inhibitor (CI) chemical requirements but with reduced oil production revenues. Thus, a cost-effective corrosion inhibitor solution was sought to deliver enhanced corrosion mitigation of the carbon steel pipeline infrastructure but at reduced chemical injection dose rates. This paper presents the laboratory work conducted on the development of a corrosion inhibitor under the operator’s simulated sour operating conditions and then subsequent field testing of the product. The new CI not only provided extremely good levels of general and localized corrosion inhibition and outperformed the incumbent CI under the laboratory test conditions but did so at vastly lower concentrations. In turn, the novel CI product facilitated field chemical injection rates to be optimized and reduced by 40% compared with the incumbent whilst maintaining superior corrosion protection resulting in significant cost savings and associated sustainability benefits for the operator.

Keywords: carbon steel, sour gas, hydrogen sulphide, localized corrosion, pitting, corrosion inhibitor

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Authors: A. Chellil, A. Nour, S. Lecheb, H.Mechakra, A. Bouderba, H. Kebir

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In this paper, the numerical study for the instability of a composite rotor is presented, under dynamic loading response in the harmonic analysis condition. The analysis of the stress which operates the rotor is done. Calculations of different energies and the virtual work of the aerodynamic loads from the rotor is developed. The use of the composite material for the rotor, offers a good Stability. Numerical calculations on the model develop of three dimensions prove that the damage effect has a negative effect on the stability of the rotor. The study of the composite rotor in transient system allowed to determine the vibratory responses due to various excitations.

Keywords: rotor, composite, damage, finite element, numerical

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Authors: M. M. Alsharif

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4-Nonylphenol Compound is widely used as an element of detergents, paints, insecticides and many others products. It is known that the existence of this compound may lead to the emission of estrogenic responses in mammals, birds and fish. It is described as pollutant since it causes disorder of endocrine glands. In previous studies, it was proven that this compound exists in water and in the materials precipitated in Red Sea coast in Jeddah near the drains of processed drainage water and near the drainage site of the residuals of paper factories. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the cytogenetic aberrations caused by 4-nonylphenol through exposing Talapia Fishes to aquatic solution of the compound with 0, 15, 30 microgram/liter for one month. Samples of gills and liver were collected for micronuclei, nuclear abnormalities and measuring DNA and RNA amount in the treated fish. The results pointed out that there is a significant increase in the numbers of micronuclei in the fish exposed to the former concentrations as compared to the control group. Exposing fishes to 4-nonylphenol resulted in an increased amount of both DNA and RNA, compared to the control group. There is a positive correlation between the amount of the compound (i.e. dosage dependent effect) and the inspiring for cytogenetic effect on Talapia fishes in Jeddah. Therefore, micronucleus test, DNA and RNA contents can be considered as an index of cumulative exposure, which appear to be a sensitive model to evaluate genotoxic effects of 4-Nonylphenol compound on fish.

Keywords: genotoxic, 4-nonylphenol, micronuclei, fish, DNA, RNA

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Authors: Ji Wenzhan, Zhang Tao, Li Guoyou

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Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. At the same time, the world produces a large amount of construction waste each year. Waste concrete is processed and treated, and the recycled aggregate is used to make pervious concrete, which enables the construction waste to be recycled. Pervious concrete has many advantages such as permeability to water, protection of water resources, and so on. This paper tests the recycled aggregate obtained by crushing high-strength waste concrete (TOU) and low-strength waste concrete (PU), and analyzes the effect of porosity, amount of cement, mineral admixture and recycled aggregate on the strength of permeable concrete. The porosity is inversely proportional to the strength, and the amount of cement used is proportional to the strength. The mineral admixture can effectively improve the workability of the mixture. The quality of recycled aggregates had a significant effect on strength. Compared with concrete using "PU" aggregates, the strength of 7d and 28d concrete using "TOU" aggregates increased by 69.0% and 73.3%, respectively. Therefore, the quality of recycled aggregates should be strictly controlled during production, and the mix ratio should be designed according to different use environments and usage requirements. This test prepared a recycled aggregate permeable concrete with a compressive strength of 35.8 MPa, which can be used for light load roads and provides a reference for engineering applications.

Keywords: recycled aggregate, permeable concrete, compressive strength, permeability

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Authors: Hannah R. Devens, Phillip L. Davidson, Dione Deaker, Kathryn E. Smith, Gregory A. Wray, Maria Byrne

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Marine invertebrate species with calcifying larvae are especially vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) caused by rising atmospheric CO₂ levels. Acidic conditions can delay development, suppress metabolism, and decrease the availability of carbonate ions in the ocean environment for skeletogenesis. These stresses often result in increased larval mortality, which may lead to significant ecological consequences including alterations to the larval settlement, population distribution, and genetic connectivity. Importantly, many of these physiological and developmental effects are caused by genetic and molecular level changes. Although many studies have examined the effect of near-future oceanic pH levels on gene expression in marine invertebrates, little is known about the impact of OA on gene expression in a developmental context. Here, we performed mRNA-sequencing to investigate the impact of environmental acidity on gene expression across three developmental stages in the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma. We collected RNA from gastrula, early larva, and 1-day post-metamorphic juvenile sea urchins cultured at present-day and predicted future oceanic pH levels (pH 8.1 and 7.7, respectively). We assembled an annotated reference transcriptome encompassing development from egg to ten days post-metamorphosis by combining these data with datasets from two previous developmental transcriptomic studies of H. erythrogramma. Differential gene expression and time course analyses between pH conditions revealed significant alterations to developmental transcription that are potentially associated with pH stress. Consistent with previous investigations, genes involved in biomineralization and ion transport were significantly upregulated under acidic conditions. Differences in gene expression between the two pH conditions became more pronounced post-metamorphosis, suggesting a development-dependent effect of OA on gene expression. Furthermore, many differences in gene expression later in development appeared to be a result of broad downregulation at pH 7.7: of 539 genes differentially expressed at the juvenile stage, 519 of these were lower in the acidic condition. Time course comparisons between pH 8.1 and 7.7 samples also demonstrated over 500 genes were more lowly expressed in pH 7.7 samples throughout development. Of the genes exhibiting stage-dependent expression level changes, over 15% of these diverged from the expected temporal pattern of expression in the acidic condition. Through these analyses, we identify novel candidate genes involved in development, metabolism, and transcriptional regulation that are possibly affected by pH stress. Our results demonstrate that pH stress significantly alters gene expression dynamics throughout development. A large number of genes differentially expressed between pH conditions in juveniles relative to earlier stages may be attributed to the effects of acidity on transcriptional regulation, as a greater proportion of mRNA at this later stage has been nascent transcribed rather than maternally loaded. Also, the overall downregulation of many genes in the acidic condition suggests that OA-induced developmental delay manifests as suppressed mRNA expression, possibly from lower transcription rates or increased mRNA degradation in the acidic environment. Further studies will be necessary to determine in greater detail the extent of OA effects on early developing marine invertebrates.

Keywords: development, gene expression, ocean acidification, RNA-sequencing, sea urchins

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Authors: Josline Salib, Sayed El-Toumy, Abeer Salama, Enayat Omara, Emad Hassan

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Diabetic nephropathy is an important cause of morbidity and mortality and is now among the most common causes of end-stage renal failure (ESRF) in developed countries. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the phenolic compounds content of Cichorium intybus aerial parts extracts as well as the therapeutic effects on diabetic nephropathy, oxidative stress, and anti-inflammatory by characterizing biochemical, histopathological changes and immunohistochemistry in an experimental diabetic rat model as compared with Amaryl. Ten known compounds of flavonoids, coumarins and phenolic acid derivatives were isolated from the C. intybus aqueous methanolic extract. Structures of the isolated compounds were established by chromatography, UV and 1D⁄2D 1H⁄ 13C spectroscopy. The aqueous methanol extract of C. intybus aerial parts was administered to Streptozotocin diabetes rats at doses (100 and 200 mg/kg) for 21 days. After treatment, blood glucose, serum insulin, urea, creatinine, and TNF-α were evaluated. Enzymatic scavengers including catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined to evaluate the oxidative status in the renal tissue. Diabetic rats treated with C. intybus extract showed a dose-dependent reduction of fasting blood glucose and kidney antioxidant status in comparison to the diabetic control group. The extract was able to enhance the antioxidant defenses of the kidney by increasing the reduced GSH and CAT content and decreasing MDA content in addition to significantly decreasing kidney nitric oxide content compared to diabetic control rats. Furthermore, the histopathological findings in C. intybus extract administered rats were observed at markedly lesser extent than the diabetic control group. Also, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels were decreased significantly after the administration of high-dose C. intybus extract in diabetic rats. Showing significant antihyperglycemic and antioxidant properties of C. intybus aerial parts extract, which is attributed to its polyphenolic content, may offer a potential source for the treatment of diabetes.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, anti-diabetic nephropathy, cichorium intybus aerial parts, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Natalia Uribe Corrales, María Fernanda Benavides Erazo, Santiago Henao Villegas

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Introduction: Transport is a crucial link in the porcine chain because it is considered a stressful event in the animal, due to it is a new environment, which generates new interactions, together with factors such as speed, noise, temperature changes, vibrations, deprivation of food and water. Therefore, inadequate handling at this stage can lead to bruises, musculoskeletal injuries, fatigue, and mortality, resulting in canal seizures and economic losses. Objective: To characterize the transport and driving practices for the mobilization of standing pigs directed to slaughter plants in the Valle de Aburrá, Antioquia, Colombia in 2017. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with the transporters arriving at the slaughterhouses approved by National Institute for Food and Medicine Surveillance (INVIMA) during 2017 in the Valle de Aburrá. The process of obtaining the samples was made from probabilistic sampling. Variables such as journey time, mechanical technical certificate, training in animal welfare, driving speed, material, and condition of floors and separators, supervision of animals during the trip, load density and mortality were analyzed. It was approved by the ethics committee for the use and care of animals CICUA of CES University, Act number 14 of 2015. Results: 190 trucks were analyzed, finding that 12.4% did not have updated mechanical technical certificate; the transporters experience in pig’s transportation was an average of 9.4 years (d.e.7.5). The 85.8% reported not having received training in animal welfare. Other results were that the average speed was 63.04km/hr (d.e 13.46) and the 62% had floors in good condition; nevertheless, the 48% had bad conditions on separators. On the other hand, the 88% did not supervise their animals during the journey, although the 62.2% had an adequate loading density, in relation to the average mortality was 0.2 deaths/travel (d.e. 0.5). Conclusions: Trainers should be encouraged on issues such as proper maintenance of vehicles, animal welfare, obligatory review of animals during mobilization and speed of driving, as these poorly managed indicators generate stress in animals, increasing generation of injuries as well as possible accidents; also, it is necessary to continue to improve aspects such as aluminum floors and separators that favor easy cleaning and maintenance, as well as the appropriate handling in the density of load that generates animal welfare.

Keywords: animal welfare, driving practices, pigs, truck infrastructure

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Authors: Abeer Al Kalbani

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Oman is a sub-tropical country with limited water resources, harsh weather and limited soil fertility, constraining food production. Therefore, it largely depends on international markets to assure supply of food. In the light of these circumstances, food security in Oman is defined as the ability of the country to grant the staple food needs of people (e.g. rice, wheat, lentil, sugar, dates, dairy products, fish and plant or vegetable oils). It also involves exporting local goods with high production rates to exchange them with required food products. This concept of food security includes the availability of food through production and/or importing, stability of the market prices during all circumstances, and the ability of people to meet their needs within their income capabilities. As a result, most of the food security work is focused on availability and access dimensions of the issue. Not much research is focused on the utilization aspect of food security in Oman. Although women play a vital role in food security, there is limited research on women’s role in food security neither in Oman nor in neighboring Gulf countries. Women play an important role not only by carrying the responsibility of feeding their families but also by setting the consumption model for the household. Therefore, the research aims to contribute to the work done on food security in Oman and similar regions of the world by studying the role women play at the utilization level. Methods used in this research include Qualitative unstructured interviews, focus groups, survey questionnaire and an experimental study. Based on the FAO definition of food security, it consists of availability, access, utilization and sustainability. Results from a pilot study conducted for this research on two groups of women in Oman; urban and rural women, showed that women in Oman are responsible for achieving these four pillars at the household level. Moreover, awareness of women increased as their educational level increased. Urban women showed more awareness and openness to adopt healthier and proper food related choices than rural women. Urban women seem also more open than rural women to new ideas and concepts and ways to healthier food. However, both urban and rural women claim that no training and educational programs are available for them and awareness of food security in general remains relatively low in both groups. In the light of these findings, this research attempts to further investigate the social beliefs, practices and attitudes women adopt in relation to food purchase, storage, preparation and consumption as considered as important parts of the food system. It also seeks to examine the effect of educational training programs and media on the level of women awareness on the issue.

Keywords: food security, household food security, utilization, role of women

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Authors: Mohammed Fathima Shahanaaz, Shaik Fayazuddin, M. Uday Kiran

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Groundwater quality is deteriorating day by day in different parts of the world due to various reasons, toxic chemicals are being discharged without proper treatment into inland water bodies and land which in turn add pollutants to the groundwater. In this kind of situation, the rural communities which do not have municipal drinking water have to rely on groundwater though it is polluted for various uses. Tannery industry is one of the major industry which provides economy and employment to India. Since most of the developed countries stopped using chemicals which are toxic, the tanning industry which uses chromium as its major element are being shifted towards developing countries. Most of the tanning industries in India can be found in clusters concentrated mainly in states of Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and limited places of Punjab. Limited work is present in the case of tanneries of Warangal. There exists 18 group of tanneries in Desaipet, Enamamula region of Warangal, out of which 4 are involved in dry process and are low responsible for groundwater pollution. These units of tanneries are discharging their effluents after treatment into Sai Cheruvu. Though the treatment effluents are being discharged, the Sai Cheruvu is turned in to Pink colour, with higher levels of BOD, COD, chromium, chlorides, total hardness, TDS and sulphates. An attempt was made to analyse the groundwater samples around this polluted Sai Cheruvu region since literature shows that a single tannery can pollute groundwater to a radius of 7-8 kms from the point of disposal. Sample are collected from 6 different locations around Sai Cheruvu. Analysis was performed for determining various constituents in groundwater such as pH, EC, TDS, TH, Ca+2, Mg+2, HCO3-, Na+, K+, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, F and Cr+6. The analysis of these constitutes gave values greater than permissible limits. Even chromium is also present in groundwater samples which is exceeding permissible limits People in Paidepally and Sardharpeta villages already stopped the usage of groundwater. They are buying bottle water for drinking purpose. Though they are not using groundwater for drinking purpose complaints are made about using this water for washing also. So treatment process should be adopted for groundwater which should be simple and efficient. In this study rice husk silica (RHS) is used to treat pollutants in groundwater with varying dosages of RHS and contact time. Rice husk is treated, dried and place in a muffle furnace for 6 hours at 650°C. Reduction is observed in total hardness, chlorides and chromium levels are observed after the application RHS. Pollutants reached permissible limits for 27.5mg/l and 50 mg/l of dosage for a contact time of 130 min at constant pH and temperature.

Keywords: chromium, groundwater, rice husk silica, tanning industries

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Authors: Murat Zencirkıran, Elvan Ender

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Climate change, which has become effective on a global scale, is accompanied by an increase in negative conditions for human, plant and animal life. Especially these negative conditions (drought, warming, glowing, etc.) are felt more rapidly in urban life and affect the sustainability of green areas which are of great importance in terms of life comfort. In this context, the choice of woody taxa used in the design and design of green spaces in the city increase one more time. Within the scope of this study, two of four urban parks located in the city center of Bursa province were selected and evaluated for woody taxa. Urban parks have been identified as the oldest and newest urban park in Bursa, and it has been tried to emphasize the differences that may exist over time. It was determined that 54 woody taxa took place in Resat Oyal Kulturpark and 76 woody taxa in Hudavendigar Urban Park. These taxa have been evaluated in terms of water consumption and ecological tolerances by taking into account climate change, and suggestions have been developed against possible problems.

Keywords: ecological hardiness, urban park, water consumption, woody plants

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Authors: Elsayed A. Elkhatib, Ahmed M. Mahdy, Mohamed L. Moharem, Mohamed O. Mesalem

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Mercury (Hg) is one of the most toxic and bio-accumulative heavy metal in the environment. However, cheap and effective in situ remediation technology is lacking. In this study, the effects of water treatment residuals nanoparticles (nWTR) on mobility, fractionation and speciation of mercury in an arid zone soil from Egypt were evaluated. Water treatment residual nanoparticles with high surface area (129 m 2 g-1) were prepared using Fritsch planetary mono mill. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the nanoparticles of WTR nanoparticles are spherical in shape, and single particle sizes are in the range of 45 to 96 nm. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results ascertained that amorphous iron, aluminum (hydr)oxides and silicon oxide dominating all nWTR, with no apparent crystalline iron–Al (hydr)oxides. Addition of nWTR, greatly increased the Hg sorption capacities of studied soils and greatly reduced the cumulative Hg released from the soils. Application of nWTR at 0.10 and 0.30 % rates reduced the released Hg from the soil by 50 and 85 % respectively. The power function and first order kinetics models well described the desorption process from soils and nWTR amended soils as evidenced by high coefficient of determination (R2) and low SE values. Application of nWTR greatly increased the association of Hg with the residual fraction. Meanwhile, application of nWTR at a rate of 0.3% greatly increased the association of Hg with the residual fraction (>93%) and significantly increased the most stable Hg species (Hg(OH)2 amor) which in turn enhanced Hg immobilization in the studied soils. Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy analysis indicated the involvement of nWTR in the retention of Hg (II) through OH groups which suggest inner-sphere adsorption of Hg ions to surface functional groups on nWTR. These results demonstrated the feasibility of using a low-cost nWTR as best management practice to immobilize excess Hg in contaminated soils.

Keywords: release kinetics, Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, Hg fractionation, Hg species

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Authors: Lamia Bouzgarrou, Amira Omrane, Naima Bouatay, Chaima Harrathi, Samia Machroughl, Ahmed Mhalla

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Background and Aims: Professionals of health care sector are exposed to psychosocial constraints like stress, harassment, violence, which can lead to many mental health problems such as, depression, addictive behavior, and burn-out. Moreover, it’s well established that caregivers affected to intensive care units are more likely to experience such constraints and mental health problems. For these caregivers, the mental health state may affect care quality and patient’s safety. This study aims either to identify occupational psychosocial constraints and their mental health consequences among paramedical and medical caregivers affected to intensive units in Tunisian public hospital. Methods: An exhaustive three months cross-sectional study conducted among medical and paramedical staffs of intensive care units in three Tunisian university hospitals. After informed consent collection, we evaluated work-related stress, workplace harassment, depression, anxious troubles, addictive behavior, and self-esteems through an anonymous self-completed inquiry form. Five validated questionnaires and scales were included in this form: Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire, Negative Acts Questionnaire, Rosenberg, Beck depression inventory and Hamilton Anxiety scale. Results: We included 129 intensive unit caregivers; with a mean age of 36.1 ± 1.1 years and a sex ratio of 0.58. Among these caregivers, 30% were specialist or under-specialization doctors. The average seniority in the intensive care was 6.1 ± 1.2 (extremes=1 to 40 years). Atypical working schedules were noted among 36.7% of the subjects with an imposed choice in 52.4% of cases. During the last 12 months preceding the survey, 51.7% of care workers were absent from work because of a health problem with stops exceeding 15 days in 11.7%. Job strain was objective among 15% of caregivers and 38.33% of them were victims of moral harassment. A low or very low self-esteem was noted among 40% of respondents. Moreover, active smoking was reported by 20% subjects, alcohol consumption by 13.3% and psychotropic substance use by 1.7% of them. According to Beck inventory and Hamilton Anxiety scale, we concluded that 61.7% of intensive care providers were depressed, with 'severe' depression in 13.3% of cases and 49.9% of them present anxious disorders. Multivariate analysis objective that, job strain was correlated with young age (p=0.005) and shorter work seniority (p=0.001). Workplace and moral harassment was more prevalent among females (p=0.009), under-specialization doctor (p=0.021), those affected to atypical schedules (p=0.008). Concerning depression, it was more prevalent among staff in job strain situation (p = 0.004), among smokers caregivers (p = 0.048), and those with no leisure activity (p < 0.001). Anxious disorders were positively correlated to chronic diseases history (p = 0.001) and work-bullying exposure (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Our findings reflected a high frequency of caregivers who are under stress at work and those who are victims of moral harassment. These health professionals were at increased risk for developing psychiatric illness such depressive and anxious disorders and addictive behavior. Our results suggest the necessity of preventive strategies of occupational psychosocial constraints in order to preserve professional’s mental health and maximize patient safety and quality of care.

Keywords: health care sector, intensive care units, mental health, psychosocial constraints

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Authors: Dua K. S. Y. Klaas, Monzur A. Imteaz, Ika Sudiayem, Elkan M. E. Klaas, Eldav C. M. Klaas

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Due to its porous nature, karst terrains – geomorphologically developed from dissolved formations, is vulnerable to water shortage and deteriorated water quality. Therefore, a solid comprehension on sub-surface flow of karst landscape is essential to assess the long-term availability of groundwater resources. In this paper, a single-continuum model using a finite difference model, MODLFOW, was constructed to represent an unconfined carbonate aquifer in a tropical karst island of Rote in Indonesia. The model, spatially discretized in 20 x 20 m grid cells, was calibrated and validated using available groundwater level and atmospheric variables. In the calibration and validation steps, Parameter Estimation (PEST) and geostatistical pilot point methods were employed to estimate hydraulic conductivity and specific yield values. The results show that the model is able to represent the sub-surface flow indicated by good model performances both in calibration and validation steps. The final model can be used as a robust representation of the system for future study on climate and land use scenarios.

Keywords: carbonate aquifer, karst, sub-surface flow, groundwater model

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