Search results for: stress measurement

Authors: A.H.Y. Lai, C. Teyra

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In Taiwan, there are 16 official indigenous groups, accounting for 2.3% of the total population. Like other indigenous populations worldwide, indigenous peoples in Taiwan have poorer mental health because of their history of oppression and colonisation. Amid the negative narratives, the ethnic identity of cultural minorities is their unique psychological and cultural asset. Moreover, positive socialisation is found to be related to strong ethnic identity. Based on Phinney’s theory on ethnic identity development and social support theory, this study adopted a strength-based approach conceptualising ethnic identity as the central organising principle that linked perceived social support and mental health among indigenous adults in Taiwan. Aims. Overall aim is to examine the effect of ethnic identity and social support on mental health. Specific aims were to examine : (1) the association between ethnic identity and mental health; (2) the association between perceived social support and mental health ; (3) the indirect effect of ethnic identity linking perceived social support and mental health. Methods. Participants were indigenous adults in Taiwan (n=200; mean age=29.51; Female=31%, Male=61%, Others=8%). A cross-sectional quantitative design was implemented using data collected in the year 2020. Respondent-driven sampling was used. Standardised measurements were: Ethnic Identity Scale(6-item); Social Support Questionnaire-SF(6 items); Patient Health Questionnaire(9-item); and Generalised Anxiety Disorder(7-item). Covariates were age, gender and economic satisfaction. A four-stage structural equation modelling (SEM) with robust maximin likelihood estimation was employed using Mplus8.0. Step 1: A measurement model was built and tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Step 2: Factor covariates were re-specified as direct effects in the SEM. Covariates were added. The direct effects of (1) ethnic identity and social support on depression and anxiety and (2) social support on ethnic identity were tested. The indirect effect of ethnic identity was examined with the bootstrapping technique. Results. The CFA model showed satisfactory fit statistics: x^2(df)=869.69(608), p<.05; Comparative ft index (CFI)/ Tucker-Lewis fit index (TLI)=0.95/0.94; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.05; Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual (SRMR)=0.05. Ethnic identity is represented by two latent factors: ethnic identity-commitment and ethnic identity-exploration. Depression, anxiety and social support are single-factor latent variables. For the SEM, model fit statistics were: x^2(df)=779.26(527), p<.05; CFI/TLI=0.94/0.93; RMSEA=0.05; SRMR=0.05. Ethnic identity-commitment (b=-0.30) and social support (b=-0.33) had direct negative effects on depression, but ethnic identity-exploration did not. Ethnic identity-commitment (b=-0.43) and social support (b=-0.31) had direct negative effects on anxiety, while identity-exploration (b=0.24) demonstrated a positive effect. Social support had direct positive effects on ethnic identity-exploration (b=0.26) and ethnic identity-commitment (b=0.31). Mediation analysis demonstrated the indirect effect of ethnic identity-commitment linking social support and depression (b=0.22). Implications: Results underscore the role of social support in preventing depression via ethnic identity commitment among indigenous adults in Taiwan. Adopting the strength-based approach, mental health practitioners can mobilise indigenous peoples’ commitment to their group to promote their well-being.

Keywords: ethnic identity, indigenous population, mental health, perceived social support

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Authors: Amer Ait Sidhoum

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Interest in sustainability has gained ground among practitioners, academics and policy-makers due to growing stakeholders’ awareness of environmental and social concerns. This is particularly true for agriculture. However, relatively little research has been conducted on the quantification of social sustainability and the contribution of social issues to the agricultural production efficiency. This research's main objective is to propose a method for evaluating prices of social outputs, more precisely shadow prices, by allowing for the stochastic nature of agricultural production that is to say for production uncertainty. In this article, the assessment of social outputs’ shadow prices is conducted within the methodological framework of nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). An output-oriented directional distance function (DDF) is implemented to represent the technology of a sample of Catalan arable crop farms and derive the efficiency scores the overall production technology of our sample is assumed to be the intersection of two different sub-technologies. The first sub-technology models the production of random desirable agricultural outputs, while the second sub-technology reflects the social outcomes from agricultural activities. Once a nonparametric production technology has been represented, the DDF primal approach can be used for efficiency measurement, while shadow prices are drawn from the dual representation of the DDF. Computing shadow prices is a method to assign an economic value to non-marketed social outcomes. Our research uses cross sectional, farm-level data collected in 2015 from a sample of 180 Catalan arable crop farms specialized in the production of cereals, oilseeds and protein (COP) crops. Our results suggest that our sample farms show high performance scores, from 85% for the bad state of nature to 88% for the normal and ideal crop growing conditions. This suggests that farm performance is increasing with an improvement in crop growth conditions. Results also show that average shadow prices of desirable state-contingent output and social outcomes for efficient and inefficient farms are positive, suggesting that the production of desirable marketable outputs and of non-marketable outputs makes a positive contribution to the farm production efficiency. Results also indicate that social outputs’ shadow prices are contingent upon the growing conditions. The shadow prices follow an upward trend as crop-growing conditions improve. This finding suggests that these efficient farms prefer to allocate more resources in the production of desirable outputs than of social outcomes. To our knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to compute shadow prices of social outcomes while accounting for the stochastic nature of the production technology. Our findings suggest that the decision-making process of the efficient farms in dealing with social issues are stochastic and strongly dependent on the growth conditions. This implies that policy-makers should adjust their instruments according to the stochastic environmental conditions. An optimal redistribution of rural development support, by increasing the public payment with the improvement in crop growth conditions, would likely enhance the effectiveness of public policies.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, shadow prices, social sustainability, sustainable farming

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Authors: Jessie Rapoza, Petr Moroshkin, Jimmy Xu

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Chirality is omnipresent, in nature, in life, and in the field of physics. One intriguing example is the homochirality that has remained a great secret of life. Another is the pairs of mirror-image molecules – enantiomers. They are identical in atomic composition and therefore indistinguishable in the scalar physical properties. Yet, they can be either therapeutic or toxic, depending on their chirality. Recent studies suggest a potential link between abnormal levels of certain D-amino acids and some serious health impairments, including schizophrenia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and potentially cancer. Although indistinguishable in their scalar properties, the chirality of a molecule reveals itself in interaction with the surrounding of a certain chirality, or more generally, a broken mirror-symmetry. In this work, we report on a system for chiral molecule detection, in which the mirror-symmetry is doubly broken, first by asymmetric structuring a nanopatterned plasmonic surface than by the incidence of circularly polarized light (CPL). In this system, the incident circularly-polarized light induces a surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave, propagating along the asymmetric plasmonic surface. This SPP field itself is chiral, evanescently bound to a near-field zone on the surface (~10nm thick), but with an amplitude greatly intensified (by up to 104) over that of the incident light. It hence probes just the molecules on the surface instead of those in the volume. In coupling to molecules along its path on the surface, the chiral SPP wave favors one chirality over the other, allowing for chirality detection via the change in an optical rectification current measured at the edges of the sample. The asymmetrically structured surface converts the high-frequency electron plasmonic-oscillations in the SPP wave into a net DC drift current that can be measured at the edge of the sample via the mechanism of optical rectification. The measured results validate these design concepts and principles. The observed optical rectification current exhibits a clear differentiation between a pair of enantiomers. Experiments were performed by focusing a 1064nm CW laser light at the sample - a gold grating microchip submerged in an approximately 1.82M solution of either L-arabinose or D-arabinose and water. A measurement of the current output was then recorded under both rights and left circularly polarized lights. Measurements were recorded at various angles of incidence to optimize the coupling between the spin-momentums of the incident light and that of the SPP, that is, spin-momentum locking. In order to suppress the background, the values of the photocurrent for the right CPL are subtracted from those for the left CPL. Comparison between the two arabinose enantiomers reveals a preferential signal response of one enantiomer to left CPL and the other enantiomer to right CPL. In sum, this work reports on the first experimental evidence of the feasibility of chiral molecule detection via optical rectification in a metal meta-grating. This nanoscale interfaced electrical detection technology is advantageous over other detection methods due to its size, cost, ease of use, and integration ability with read-out electronic circuits for data processing and interpretation.

Keywords: Chirality, detection, molecule, spin

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Authors: Ludmila Polechonska, Agnieszka Klink

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The biogeochemical studies of macrophytes shed light on elements bioavailability, transfer through the food webs and their possible effects on the biota, and provide a basis for their practical application in aquatic monitoring and remediation. Measuring the accumulation of elements in plants can provide time-integrated information about the presence of chemicals in aquatic ecosystems. The aim of the study was to determine and compare the contents of micro- and macroelements in two cosmopolitan macrophytes, submerged Ceratophyllum demersum (hornworth) and free-floating Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (European frog-bit), in order to assess their bioaccumulation potential, elements stock accumulated in each plant and their role in nutrients cycling in small water reservoirs. Sampling sites were designated in 25 oxbow lakes in urban areas in Lower Silesia (SW Poland). In each sampling site, fresh whole plants of C. demersum and H. morsus-ranae were collected from squares of 1x1 meters each where the species coexisted. European frog-bit was separated into leaves, stems and roots. For biomass measurement all plants growing on 1 square meter were collected, dried and weighed. At the same time, water samples were collected from each reservoir and their pH and EC were determined. Water samples were filtered and acidified and plant samples were digested in concentrated nitric acid. Next, the content of Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni and Zn was determined using atomic absorption method (AAS). Statistical analysis showed that C. demersum and organs of H. morsus-ranae differed significantly in respect of metals content (Kruskal-Wallis Anova, p<0.05). Contents of Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn were higher in hornwort, while European frog-bit contained more Ca, Fe, K, Mg. Bioaccumulation Factors (BCF=content in plant/concentration in water) showed similar pattern of metal bioaccumulation – microelements were more intensively accumulated by hornwort and macroelements by frog-bit. Based on BCF values both species may be positively evaluated as good accumulators of Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn. However, the distribution of metals in H. morsus-ranae was uneven – the majority of studied elements were retained in roots, which may indicate to existence of physiological barriers developed for dealing with toxicity. Some percent of Ca and K was actively transported to stems, but to leaves Mg only. Although the biomass of C. demersum was two times greater than biomass of H. morsus-ranae, the element off-take was greater only for Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn. Nevertheless, it can be stated that despite a relatively small biomass, compared to other macrophytes, both species may have an influence on the removal of trace elements from aquatic ecosystems and, as they serve as food for some animals, also on the incorporation of toxic elements into food chains. There was a significant positive correlation between content of Mn and Fe in water and roots of H. morus-ranae (R=0.51 and R=0.60, respectively) as well as between Cu concentration in water and in C. demersum (R=0.41) (Spearman rank correlation, p<0.05). High bioaccumulation rates and correlation between plants and water elements concentrations point to their possible use as passive biomonitors of aquatic pollution.

Keywords: aquatic plants, bioaccumulation, biomonitoring, macroelements, phytoremediation, trace metals

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Authors: M. Kozłowski, M. Kadela

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Foamed concrete is known for its low self-weight and excellent thermal and acoustic properties. For many years, it has been used worldwide for insulation to foundations and roof tiles, as backfill to retaining walls, sound insulation, etc. However, in the last years it has become a promising material also for structural purposes e.g. for stabilization of weak soils. Due to favorable properties of foamed concrete, many interests and studies were involved to analyze its strength, mechanical, thermal and acoustic properties. However, these studies do not cover the investigation of fracture energy which is the core factor governing the damage and fracture mechanisms. Only limited number of publications can be found in literature. The paper presents the results of experimental investigation and numerical campaign of foamed concrete based on three-point bending test of beams with initial notch. First part of the paper presents the results of a series of static loading tests performed to investigate the fracture properties of foamed concrete of varying density. Beam specimens with dimensions of 100×100×840 mm with a central notch were tested in three-point bending. Subsequently, remaining halves of the specimens with dimensions of 100×100×420 mm were tested again as un-notched beams in the same set-up with reduced distance between supports. The tests were performed in a hydraulic displacement controlled testing machine with a load capacity of 5 kN. Apart from measuring the loading and mid-span displacement, a crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) was monitored. Based on the load – displacement curves of notched beams the values of fracture energy and tensile stress at failure were calculated. The flexural tensile strength was obtained on un-notched beams with dimensions of 100×100×420 mm. Moreover, cube specimens 150×150×150 mm were tested in compression to determine the compressive strength. Second part of the paper deals with numerical investigation of the fracture behavior of beams with initial notch presented in the first part of the paper. Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) was used to simulate and analyze the damage and fracture process. The influence of meshing and variation of mechanical properties on results was investigated. Numerical models simulate correctly the behavior of beams observed during three-point bending. The numerical results show that XFEM can be used to simulate different fracture toughness of foamed concrete and fracture types. Using the XFEM and computer simulation technology allow for reliable approximation of load–bearing capacity and damage mechanisms of beams made of foamed concrete, which provides some foundations for realistic structural applications.

Keywords: foamed concrete, fracture energy, three-point bending, XFEM

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Authors: Chris Neale, Jenny Roe, Peter Aspinall, Sara Tilley, Steve Cinderby, Panos Mavros, Richard Coyne, Neil Thin, Catharine Ward Thompson

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This research directly assesses older people’s neural activation in response to walking through a changing urban environment, as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). As the global urban population is predicted to grow, there is a need to understand the role that the urban environment may play on the health of its older inhabitants. There is a large body of evidence suggesting green space has a beneficial restorative effect, but this effect remains largely understudied in both older people and by using a neuroimaging assessment. For this study, participants aged 65 years and over were required to walk between a busy urban built environment and a green urban environment, in a counterbalanced design, wearing an Emotiv EEG headset to record real-time neural responses to place. Here we report on the outputs for these responses derived from both the proprietary Affectiv Suite software, which creates emotional parameters with a real time value assigned to them, as well as the raw EEG output focusing on alpha and beta changes, associated with changes in relaxation and attention respectively. Each walk lasted around fifteen minutes and was undertaken at the natural walking pace of the participant. The two walking environments were compared using a form of high dimensional correlated component regression (CCR) on difference data between the urban busy and urban green spaces. For the Emotiv parameters, results showed that levels of ‘engagement’ increased in the urban green space (with a subsequent decrease in the urban busy built space) whereas levels of ‘excitement’ increased in the urban busy environment (with a subsequent decrease in the urban green space). In the raw data, low beta (13 – 19 Hz) increased in the urban busy space with a subsequent decrease shown in the green space, similar to the pattern shown with the ‘excitement’ result. Alpha activity (9 – 13 Hz) shows a correlation with low beta, but not with dependent change in the regression model. This suggests that alpha is acting as a suppressor variable. These results suggest that there are neural signatures associated with the experience of urban spaces which may reflect the age of the cohort or the spatiality of the settings themselves. These are shown both in the outputs of the proprietary software as well as the raw EEG output. Built busy urban spaces appear to induce neural activity associated with vigilance and low level stress, while this effect is ameliorated in the urban green space, potentially suggesting a beneficial effect on attentional capacity in urban green space in this participant group. The interaction between low beta and alpha requires further investigation, in particular the role of alpha in this relationship.

Keywords: ageing, EEG, green space, urban space

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Authors: Lina Wu

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The excessive discharge of nitrogen in sewage greatly intensifies the eutrophication of water bodies and poses a threat to water quality. Nitrogen pollution control has become a global concern. Currently, the problem of water pollution in China is still not optimistic. As a typical high ammonia nitrogen organic wastewater, landfill leachate is more difficult to treat than domestic sewage because of its complex water quality, high toxicity, and high concentration.Many studies have shown that the autotrophic anammox bacteria in nature can combine nitrous and ammonia nitrogen without carbon source through functional genes to achieve total nitrogen removal, which is very suitable for the removal of nitrogen from leachate. In addition, the process also saves a lot of aeration energy consumption than the traditional nitrogen removal process. Therefore, anammox plays an important role in nitrogen conversion and energy saving. The process composed of short-range nitrification and denitrification coupled an ammo ensures the removal of total nitrogen and improves the removal efficiency, meeting the needs of the society for an ecologically friendly and cost-effective nutrient removal treatment technology. Continuous flow process for treating late leachate [an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB), anoxic/oxic (A/O)–anaerobic ammonia oxidation reactor (ANAOR or anammox reactor)] has been developed to achieve autotrophic deep nitrogen removal. In this process, the optimal process parameters such as hydraulic retention time and nitrification flow rate have been obtained, and have been applied to the rapid start-up and stable operation of the process system and high removal efficiency. Besides, finding the characteristics of microbial community during the start-up of anammox process system and analyzing its microbial ecological mechanism provide a basis for the enrichment of anammox microbial community under high environmental stress. One research developed partial nitrification-Anammox (PN/A) using an internal circulation (IC) system and a biological aerated filter (BAF) biofilm reactor (IBBR), where the amount of water treated is closer to that of landfill leachate. However, new high-throughput sequencing technology is still required to be utilized to analyze the changes of microbial diversity of this system, related functional genera and functional genes under optimal conditions, providing theoretical and further practical basis for the engineering application of novel anammox system in biogas slurry treatment and resource utilization.

Keywords: nutrient removal and recovery, leachate, anammox, partial nitrification

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Authors: David X. Dong, Qingming Zhang, Meng Lu

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Nitrites enter waterways as runoff from croplands and are discharged from many industrial sites. Excessive nitrite inputs to water bodies lead to eutrophication. On-site rapid detection of nitrite is of increasing interest for managing fertilizer application and monitoring water source quality. Existing methods for detecting nitrites use spectrophotometry, ion chromatography, electrochemical sensors, ion-selective electrodes, chemiluminescence, and colorimetric methods. However, these methods either suffer from high cost or provide low measurement accuracy due to their poor selectivity to nitrites. Therefore, it is desired to develop an accurate and economical method to monitor nitrites in environments. We report a low-cost optical sensor, in conjunction with a machine learning (ML) approach to enable high-accuracy detection of nitrites in water sources. The sensor works under the principle of measuring molecular absorptions of nitrites at three narrowband wavelengths (295 nm, 310 nm, and 357 nm) in the ultraviolet (UV) region. These wavelengths are chosen because they have relatively high sensitivity to nitrites; low-cost light-emitting devices (LEDs) and photodetectors are also available at these wavelengths. A regression model is built, trained, and utilized to minimize cross-sensitivities of these wavelengths to the same analyte, thus achieving precise and reliable measurements with various interference ions. The measured absorbance data is input to the trained model that can provide nitrite concentration prediction for the sample. The sensor is built with i) a miniature quartz cuvette as the test cell that contains a liquid sample under test, ii) three low-cost UV LEDs placed on one side of the cell as light sources, with each LED providing a narrowband light, and iii) a photodetector with a built-in amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter placed on the other side of the test cell to measure the power of transmitted light. This simple optical design allows measuring the absorbance data of the sample at the three wavelengths. To train the regression model, absorbances of nitrite ions and their combination with various interference ions are first obtained at the three UV wavelengths using a conventional spectrophotometer. Then, the spectrophotometric data are inputs to different regression algorithm models for training and evaluating high-accuracy nitrite concentration prediction. Our experimental results show that the proposed approach enables instantaneous nitrite detection within several seconds. The sensor hardware costs about one hundred dollars, which is much cheaper than a commercial spectrophotometer. The ML algorithm helps to reduce the average relative errors to below 3.5% over a concentration range from 0.1 ppm to 100 ppm of nitrites. The sensor has been validated to measure nitrites at three sites in Ames, Iowa, USA. This work demonstrates an economical and effective approach to the rapid, reagent-free determination of nitrites with high accuracy. The integration of the low-cost optical sensor and ML data processing can find a wide range of applications in environmental monitoring and management.

Keywords: optical sensor, regression model, nitrites, water quality

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Authors: Kenechukwu Ikebuaku

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Entrepreneurship has long been offered as the panacea for poor economic growth and high rate of unemployment. Business incubation is considered an effective means for enhancing entrepreneurial actitivities while engendering socio-economic development. Information Technology Developers Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA), is a software business incubation programme established by the Nigerian government as a means of boosting digital entrepreneurship activities and reducing unemployment in the country. This study assessed the contribution of iDEA Nigeria’s entrepreneurship programmes towards enhancing the capabilities of its tenants. Using the capability approach and the sustainable livelihoods approach, the study analysed iDEA programmes’ contribution towards the expansion of participants’ entrepreneurial capabilities. Apart from identifying a set of entrepreneurial capabilities from both the literature and empirical analysis, the study went further to ascertain how iDEA incubation has helped to enhance those capabilities for its tenants. It also examined digital entrepreneurship as a valued functioning and as an intermediate functioning leading to other valuable functioning. Furthermore, the study examined gender as a conversion factor in digital entrepreneurship. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used for the study, and measurement of key variables was made. While the entire population was utilised to collect data for the quantitative research, purposive sampling was used to select respondents for semi-structured interviews in the qualitative research. However, only 40 beneficiaries agreed to take part in the survey while 10 respondents were interviewed for the study. Responses collected from questionnaires administered were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS. The study developed indexes to measure the perception of the respondents, on how iDEA programmes have enhanced their entrepreneurial capabilities. The Capabilities Enhancement Perception Index (CEPI) computed indicated that the respondents believed that iDEA programmes enhanced their entrepreneurial capabilities. While access to power supply and reliable internet have the highest positive deviations around mean, negotiation skills and access to customers/clients have the highest negative deviation. These were well supported by the findings of the qualitative analysis in which the participants unequivocally narrated how the resources provided by iDEA aid them in their entrepreneurial endeavours. It was also found that iDEA programmes have a significant effect on the tenants’ access to networking opportunities, both with other emerging entrepreneurs and established entrepreneurs. While assessing gender as a conversion factor, it was discovered that there was very low female participation within the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem. The root cause of this gender disparity was found in unquestioned cultural beliefs and social norms which relegate women to a subservient position and household duties. The findings also showed that many of the entrepreneurs could be considered opportunity-based entrepreneurs rather than necessity entrepreneurs, and that digital entrepreneurship is a valued functioning for iDEA tenants. With regards to challenges facing digital entrepreneurship in Nigeria, infrastructural/institutional inadequacies, lack of funding opportunities, and unfavourable government policies, were considered inimical to entrepreneurial capabilities in the country.

Keywords: entrepreneurial capabilities, unemployment, business incubators, development

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Authors: Tomas Makaras

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Sticklebacks (Gasterosteiformes) are increasingly used in ecological and evolutionary research and become well-established role as model species for biologists. However, ecotoxicology studies concerning behavioural effects in sticklebacks regarding stress responses, mainly induced by chemical mixtures, have hardly been addressed. Moreover, although many authors in their studies emphasised the similarity between three-spined and nine-spined stickleback in morphological, neuroanatomical and behavioural adaptations to environmental changes, several comparative studies have revealed considerable differences between these species in and their susceptibility and resistance to variousstressors in laboratory experiments. The hypothesis of this study was that three-spined and nine-spined stickleback species will demonstrate apparent differences in response patterns and sensitivity to metal-based chemicals stimuli. For this purpose, we investigated the swimming behaviour (including mortality rate based on 96-h LC50 values) of two ecologically similar three-spined (Gasterosteusaculeatus) and nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitiuspungitius) to short-term (up to 24 h) metal mixture (MIX) exposure. We evaluated the relevance and efficacy of behavioural responses of test species in the early toxicity assessment of chemical mixtures. Fish exposed to six (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni and Cr) metals in the mixture were either singled out by the Water Framework Directive as priority or as relevant substances in surface water, which was prepared according to the environmental quality standards (EQSs) of these metals set for inland waters in the European Union (EU) (Directive 2013/39/EU). Based on acute toxicity results, G. aculeatus found to be slightly (1.4-fold) more tolerant of MIX impact than those of P. pungitius specimens. The performed behavioural analysis showed the main effect on the interaction between time, species and treatment variables. Although both species exposed to MIX revealed a decreasing tendency in swimming activity, these species’ responsiveness to MIX was somewhat different. Substantial changes in the activity of G. aculeatus were established after 3-h exposure to MIX solutions, which was 1.43-fold lower, while in the case of P. pungitius, 1.96-fold higher than established 96-h LC50 values for each species. This study demonstrated species-specific differences in response sensitivity to metal-based water pollution, indicating behavioural insensitivity of P. pungitiuscompared to G. aculeatus. While many studies highlight the usefulness and suitability of nine-spined sticklebacks for evolutionary and ecological research, attested by their increasing popularity in these fields, great caution must be exercised when using them as model species in ecotoxicological research to probe metal contamination. Meanwhile, G. aculeatus showed to be a promising bioindicator species in the environmental ecotoxicology field.

Keywords: acute toxicity, comparative behaviour, metal mixture, swimming activity

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Authors: Saba Rahman, Arvind K. Jain, S. D. Bharti, T. K. Datta

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Chimneys are generally tall and slender structures with circular cross-sections, due to which they are highly prone to wind forces. Wind exerts pressure on the wall of the chimneys, which produces unwanted forces. Vortex-induced oscillation is one of such excitations which can lead to the failure of the chimneys. Therefore, vortex-induced oscillation of chimneys is of great concern to researchers and practitioners since many failures of chimneys due to vortex shedding have occurred in the past. As a consequence, extensive research has taken place on the subject over decades. Many laboratory experiments have been performed to verify the theoretical models proposed to predict vortex-induced forces, including aero-elastic effects. Comparatively, very few proto-type measurement data have been recorded to verify the proposed theoretical models. Because of this reason, the theoretical models developed with the help of experimental laboratory data are utilized for analyzing the chimneys for vortex-induced forces. This calls for reliability analysis of the predictions of the responses of the chimneys produced due to vortex shedding phenomena. Although several works of literature exist on the vortex-induced oscillation of chimneys, including code provisions, the reliability analysis of chimneys against failure caused due to vortex shedding is scanty. In the present study, the reliability analysis of chimneys against vortex shedding failure is presented, assuming the uncertainty in vortex shedding phenomena to be significantly more than other uncertainties, and hence, the latter is ignored. The vortex shedding is modeled as a stationary random process and is represented by a power spectral density function (PSDF). It is assumed that the vortex shedding forces are perfectly correlated and act over the top one-third height of the chimney. The PSDF of the tip displacement of the chimney is obtained by performing a frequency domain spectral analysis using a matrix approach. For this purpose, both chimney and random wind forces are discretized over a number of points along with the height of the chimney. The method of analysis duly accounts for the aero-elastic effects. The double barrier threshold crossing level, as proposed by Vanmarcke, is used for determining the probability of crossing different threshold levels of the tip displacement of the chimney. Assuming the annual distribution of the mean wind velocity to be a Gumbel type-I distribution, the fragility curve denoting the variation of the annual probability of threshold crossing against different threshold levels of the tip displacement of the chimney is determined. The reliability estimate is derived from the fragility curve. A 210m tall concrete chimney with a base diameter of 35m, top diameter as 21m, and thickness as 0.3m has been taken as an illustrative example. The terrain condition is assumed to be that corresponding to the city center. The expression for the PSDF of the vortex shedding force is taken to be used by Vickery and Basu. The results of the study show that the threshold crossing reliability of the tip displacement of the chimney is significantly influenced by the assumed structural damping and the Gumbel distribution parameters. Further, the aero-elastic effect influences the reliability estimate to a great extent for small structural damping.

Keywords: chimney, fragility curve, reliability analysis, vortex-induced vibration

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Authors: Dmitry Kukushkin

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Lineaments form complex grids on Earth's surface. Currently, one particular object of study for many researchers is the analysis and geological interpretation of maps of lineament density in an attempt to locate various geological structures. But lineament grids are made up of global, regional and local components, and this superimposition of lineament grids of various scales (global, regional, and local) renders this method less effective. Besides, the erosion processes and the erosional resistance of rocks lying on the surface play a significant role in the formation of lineament grids. Therefore, specific lineament density map is characterized by poor contrast (most anomalies do not exceed the average values by more than 30%) and unstable relation with local geological structures. Our method allows to confidently determine the location and boundaries of local geological structures that are likely to contain mineral deposits. Maps of the fields of lineament distortion (residual specific density) created by our method are characterized by high contrast with anomalies exceeding the average by upward of 200%, and stable correlation to local geological structures containing mineral deposits. Our method considers a lineament grid as a general lineaments field – surface manifestation of stress and strain fields of Earth associated with geological structures of global, regional and local scales. Each of these structures has its own field of brittle dislocations that appears on the surface of its lineament field. Our method allows singling out local components by suppressing global and regional components of the general lineaments field. The remaining local lineament field is an indicator of local geological structures.The following are some of the examples of the method application: 1. Srednevilyuiskoye gas condensate field (Yakutia) - a direct proof of the effectiveness of methodology; 2. Structure of Astronomy (Taimyr) - confirmed by the seismic survey; 3. Active gold mine of Kadara (Chita Region) – confirmed by geochemistry; 4. Active gold mine of Davenda (Yakutia) - determined the boundaries of the granite massif that controls mineralization; 5. Object, promising to search for hydrocarbons in the north of Algeria - correlated with the results of geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys. For both Kadara and Davenda, the method demonstrated that the intensive anomalies of the local lineament fields are consistent with the geochemical anomalies and indicate the presence of the gold content at commercial levels. Our method of suppression of global and regional components results in isolating a local lineament field. In early stages of a geological exploration for oil and gas, this allows determining boundaries of various geological structures with very high reliability. Therefore, our method allows optimization of placement of seismic profile and exploratory drilling equipment, and this leads to a reduction of costs of prospecting and exploration of deposits, as well as acceleration of its commissioning.

Keywords: lineaments, mineral exploration, oil and gas, remote sensing

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Authors: Elif Erdem, Nalan Kaya, Gonca Ozan, Durrin Ozlem Dabak, Enver Ozan

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This study was carried out to determine the histological and biochemical changes in the lungs of the rat pups exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy period and to investigate the protective effects of alpha lipoic acid, which is administered during pregnancy, on these changes. In our study, 24 six-week old Spraque-Dawley female rats weighing 160 ± 10 g were used (n:7). Rats were randomly divided into four equal groups: group I (control), group II (tobacco smoke), group III (tobacco smoke + alpha lipoic acid) and group IV (alpha lipoic acid). Rats in the group II, group III were exposed to tobacco smoke twice a day for one hour starting from eight weeks before mating and during pregnancy. In addition to tobacco smoke, 20 mg/kg of alpha lipoic acid was administered via oral gavage to the rats in the group III. Only alpha lipoic acid was administered to the rats in the group IV. Once after the delivery, all administrations were stopped. On the 7 and 21th days, the seven pups of all groups were decapitated. A portion of the lung was taken and stained with HE, PAS and Masson. In addition to immunohistochemical staining of surfactant protein A, vascular endothelial growth factor, caspase-3, TUNEL method was also used to determine apoptosis. Biochemical analyzes were performed with some part of the lung tissue specimens. In the histological evaluations performed under light microscopy, inflammatory cell increase, hemorrhagic areas, edema, interalveolar septal thickening, alveolar numbers decrease, degeneration of some bronchi and bronchial epithelium, epithelial cells that were fallen into the lumen and hyaline membrane formation were observed in tobacco smoke group. These findings were ameliorated in tobacco smoke + ALA group. Hyaline membrane formation was not detected in this group. The TUNEL positive cell numbers a significant increase was detected in the tobacco smoke group, whereas a significant decrease was detected in the tobacco smoke + ALA group. In terms of the immunoreactivity of both SP-A and VEGF, a significant decrease was observed in the tobacco smoke group, and a significant increase was observed in the tobacco smoke + ALA group. Regarding the immunoreactivity of caspase-3, there was a significant increase in the group of tobacco smoke and a significant decrease in the group of tobacco smoke + ALA. The malondialdehyde levels were determined to be significantly increased in the tobacco smoke group, and a significant decreased in the tobacco smoke + ALA. Glutathione and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities showed a significant decrease in the group of tobacco smoke and a significant increase in the tobacco smoke + ALA group. In conclusion, we suggest that the exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy leads to morphological, histopathological and functional changes on lung development by causing oxidative damage in lung tissues of neonatal rats and the maternal use of alpha lipoic acid can provide a protective effect on the neonatal lung development against this oxidative stress originating from tobacco smoke.

Keywords: alpha lipoic acid, lung, neonate, tobacco smoke, pregnancy

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Authors: John Dimopoulos

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This proposal attempts a refabrication of Heidegger’s classic thing-being and object-being analysis in order to provide better ontological tools for understanding contemporary culture, technology, and society. In his work, Heidegger sought to understand and comment on the problem of technology in an era of rampant innovation and increased perils for society and the planet. Today we seem to be at another crossroads in this course, coming after postmodernity, during which dreams and dangers of modernity augmented with critical speculations of the post-war era take shape. The new era which we are now living in, referred to as hypermodernity by researchers in various fields such as architecture and cultural theory, is defined by the horizontal implementation of digital technologies, cybernetic networks, and mixed reality. Technology today is rapidly approaching a turning point, namely the point of no return for humanity’s supervision over its creations. The techno-scientific civilization of the 21st century creates a series of problems, progressively more difficult and complex to solve and impossible to ignore, climate change, data safety, cyber depression, and digital stress being some of the most prevalent. Humans often have no other option than to address technology-induced problems with even more technology, as in the case of neuron networks, machine learning, and AI, thus widening the gap between creating technological artifacts and understanding their broad impact and possible future development. As all technical disciplines and particularly design, become enmeshed in a matrix of digital hyper-objects, a conceptual toolbox that allows us to handle the new reality becomes more and more necessary. Weaponized design, prevalent in many fields, such as social and traditional media, urban planning, industrial design, advertising, and the internet in general, hints towards an increase in conflicts. These conflicts between tech companies, stakeholders, and users with implications in politics, work, education, and production as apparent in the cases of Amazon workers’ strikes, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Facebook and Microsoft data scandals, and more are often non-transparent to the wide public’s eye, thus consolidating new elites and technocratic classes and making the public scene less and less democratic. The new category proposed, weapon-being, is outlined in respect to the basic function of reducing complexity, subtracting materials, actants, and parameters, not strictly in favor of a humanistic re-orientation but in a more inclusive ontology of objects and subjects. Utilizing insights of Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) and its schematization of technological objects, an outline for a radical ontology of technology is approached.

Keywords: design, hypermodernity, object-oriented ontology, weapon-being

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Authors: K. S. Poutanen, P. Dussort, A. Erkner, S. Fiszman, K. Karnik, M. Kristensen, C. F. M. Marsaux, S. Miquel-Kergoat, S. Pentikäinen, P. Putz, R. E. Steinert, J. Slavin, D. J. Mela

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Dietary fiber (DF) intake has been associated with lower body weight or less weight gain. These effects are generally attributed to putative effects of DF on appetite. Many intervention studies have tested the effect of DFs on appetite-related measures, with inconsistent results. However, DF includes a wide category of different compounds with diverse chemical and physical characteristics, and correspondingly diverse effects in human digestion. Thus, inconsistent results between DF consumption and appetite are not surprising. The specific contribution of different compounds with varying physico-chemical properties to appetite control and the mediating mechanisms are not well characterized. This systematic review aimed to assess the influence of specific DF characteristics, including viscosity, gel forming capacity, fermentability, and molecular weight, on appetite-related outcomes in healthy humans. Medline and FSTA databases were searched for controlled human intervention trials, testing the effects of well-characterized DFs on subjective satiety/appetite or energy intake outcomes. Studies were included only if they reported: 1) fiber name and origin, and 2) data on viscosity, gelling properties, fermentability, or molecular weight of the DF materials tested. The search generated 3001 unique records, 322 of which were selected for further consideration from title and abstract screening. Of these, 149 were excluded due to insufficient fiber characterization and 124 for other reasons (not original article, not randomized controlled trial, or no appetite related outcome), leaving 49 papers meeting all the inclusion criteria, most of which reported results from acute testing (<1 day). The eligible 49 papers described 90 comparisons of DFs in foods, beverages or supplements. DF-containing material of interest was efficacious for at least one appetite-related outcome in 51/90 comparisons. Gel-forming DF sources were most consistently efficacious but there were no clear associations between viscosity, MW or fermentability and appetite-related outcomes. A considerable number of papers had to be excluded from the review due to shortcomings in fiber characterization. To build understanding about the impact of DF on satiety/appetite specifically there should be clear hypotheses about the mechanisms behind the proposed beneficial effect of DF material on appetite, and sufficient data about the DF properties relevant for the hypothesized mechanisms to justify clinical testing. The hypothesized mechanisms should also guide the decision about relevant duration of exposure in studies, i.e. are the effects expected to occur during acute time frame (related to stomach emptying, digestion rate, etc.) or develop from sustained exposure (gut fermentation mediated mechanisms). More consistent measurement methods and reporting of fiber specifications and characterization are needed to establish reliable structure-function relationships for DF and health outcomes.

Keywords: appetite, dietary fiber, physico-chemical properties, satiety

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Inese Trusina, Elita Jermolajeva, Viktors Gopejenko, Viktor Abramov

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Global challenges require a transition from the existing linear economic model to a model that will consider nature as a life support system for the development of the way to social well-being in the frame of the ecological economics paradigm. The objective of the article is to present the results of the analysis of socio-economic systems in the context of sustainable development using the systems power (energy flows) changes analyzing method and structural Kaldor's model of GDP. In accordance with the principles of life's development and the ecological concept was formalized the tasks of sustainable development of the open, non-equilibrium, stable socio-economic systems were formalized using the energy flows analysis method. The methodology of monitoring sustainable development and level of life were considered during the research of interactions in the system ‘human - society - nature’ and using the theory of a unified system of space-time measurements. Based on the results of the analysis, the time series consumption energy and economic structural model were formulated for the level, degree and tendencies of sustainable development of the system and formalized the conditions of growth, degrowth and stationarity. In order to design the future state of socio-economic systems, a concept was formulated, and the first models of energy flows in systems were created using the tools of system dynamics. During the research, the authors calculated and used a system of universal indicators of sustainable development in the invariant coordinate system in energy units. In order to design the future state of socio-economic systems, a concept was formulated, and the first models of energy flows in systems were created using the tools of system dynamics. In the context of the proposed approach and methods, universal sustainable development indicators were calculated as models of development for the USA and China. The calculations used data from the World Bank database for the period from 1960 to 2019. Main results: 1) In accordance with the proposed approach, the heterogeneous energy resources of countries were reduced to universal power units, summarized and expressed as a unified number. 2) The values of universal indicators of the life’s level were obtained and compared with generally accepted similar indicators.3) The system of indicators in accordance with the requirements of sustainable development can be considered as a basis for monitoring development trends. This work can make a significant contribution to overcoming the difficulties of forming socio-economic policy, which is largely due to the lack of information that allows one to have an idea of the course and trends of socio-economic processes. The existing methods for the monitoring of the change do not fully meet this requirement since indicators have different units of measurement from different areas and, as a rule, are the reaction of socio-economic systems to actions already taken and, moreover, with a time shift. Currently, the inconsistency or inconsistency of measures of heterogeneous social, economic, environmental, and other systems is the reason that social systems are managed in isolation from the general laws of living systems, which can ultimately lead to a systemic crisis.

Keywords: sustainability, system dynamic, power, energy flows, development

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Authors: Oibar Martinez, Clara Oliver, Jose Miguel Miranda

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In this paper, we discuss the standard improvements which can be made to reduce the earth resistance in difficult terrains for optimum lightning protection, what are the practical limitations, and how the modeling can be refined for accurate diagnostics and ground resistance minimization. Ground resistance minimization can be made via three different approaches: burying vertical electrodes connected in parallel, burying horizontal conductive plates or meshes, or modifying the own terrain, either by changing the entire terrain material in a large volume or by adding earth-enhancing compounds. The use of vertical electrodes connected in parallel pose several practical limitations. In order to prevent loss of effectiveness, it is necessary to keep a minimum distance between each electrode, which is typically around five times larger than the electrode length. Otherwise, the overlapping of the local equipotential lines around each electrode reduces the efficiency of the configuration. The addition of parallel electrodes reduces the resistance and facilitates the measurement, but the basic parallel resistor formula of circuit theory will always underestimate the final resistance. Numerical simulation of equipotential lines around the electrodes overcomes this limitation. The resistance of a single electrode will always be proportional to the soil resistivity. The electrodes are usually installed with a backfilling material of high conductivity, which increases the effective diameter. However, the improvement is marginal, since the electrode diameter counts in the estimation of the ground resistance via a logarithmic function. Substances that are used for efficient chemical treatment must be environmentally friendly and must feature stability, high hygroscopicity, low corrosivity, and high electrical conductivity. A number of earth enhancement materials are commercially available. Many are comprised of carbon-based materials or clays like bentonite. These materials can also be used as backfilling materials to reduce the resistance of an electrode. Chemical treatment of soil has environmental issues. Some products contain copper sulfate or other copper-based compounds, which may not be environmentally friendly. Carbon-based compounds are relatively inexpensive and they do have very low resistivities, but they also feature corrosion issues. Typically, the carbon can corrode and destroy a copper electrode in around five years. These compounds also have potential environmental concerns. Some earthing enhancement materials contain cement, which, after installation acquire properties that are very close to concrete. This prevents the earthing enhancement material from leaching into the soil. After analyzing different configurations, we conclude that a buried conductive ring with vertical electrodes connected periodically should be the optimum baseline solution for the grounding of a large size structure installed on a large resistivity terrain. In order to show this, a practical example is explained here where we simulate the ground resistance of a conductive ring buried in a terrain with a resistivity in the range of 1 kOhm·m.

Keywords: grounding improvements, large scale scientific instrument, lightning risk assessment, lightning standards

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Authors: Ana-María Gómez-Carvajal, Hernando Santamaría-García, Mateo Bernal, Mario Valderrama, Daniela Lizarazo, Juliana Restrepo, María Fernanda Barreto, Angélica Parra, Paula Torres, Diana Matallana, Jaime Silva, José Santamaría-García, Sandra Baez

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Higher levels of oxytocin are associated with better performance on social cognition tasks. However, higher levels of oxytocin have also been associated with increased levels of envy and schadenfreude. Considering these antecedents, this study aims to explore social emotions (i.e., envy and schadenfreude) and other components of social cognition (i.e. ToM and empathy), in women in the puerperal period and their respective partners, compared to a control group of men and women without children or partners. Control women should be in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle or taking oral contraceptives as they allow oxytocin levels to remain stable. We selected this population since increased levels of oxytocin are present in both mothers and fathers of newborn babies. Both groups were matched by age, sex, and education level. Twenty-two parents of newborns (11 women, 11 men) and 15 controls (8 women, 7 men) performed an experimental task designed to trigger schadenfreude and envy. In this task, each participant was shown a real-life photograph and a description of two target characters matched in age and gender with the participant. The task comprised two experimental blocks. In the first block, participants read 15 sentences describing fortunate events involving either character. After reading each sentence, participants rated the event in terms of how much envy they felt for the character (1=no envy, 9=extreme envy). In the second block, participants read and reported the intensity of their pleasure (schadenfreude, 1=no pleasure, 9=extreme pleasure) in response to 15 unfortunate events happening to the characters. Five neutral events were included in each block. Moreover, participants were assessed with ToM and empathy tests. Potential confounding variables such as general cognitive functioning, stress levels, hours of sleep and depression symptoms were also measured. Results showed that parents of newborns showed increased levels of envy and schadenfreude. These effects are not explained by any confounding factor. Moreover, no significant differences were found in ToM or empathy tests. Our results offer unprecedented evidence of specific differences in envy and schadenfreude levels in parents of newborns. Our findings support previous studies showing a negative relationship between oxytocin levels and negative social emotions. Further studies should assess the direct relationship between oxytocin levels in parents of newborns and the performance in social emotions tasks.

Keywords: envy, empathy, oxytocin, schadenfreude, social emotions, theory of mind

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Authors: Gustavo Axel Elizalde-Velázquez

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Metformin is the first line of oral therapy to treat type II diabetes and is also employed as a treatment for other indications, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, cancer, and COVID-19. Recent data suggest it is the aspirin of the 21st century due to its antioxidant and anti-aging effects. However, increasingly current articles indicate its long-term consumption generates mitochondrial impairment. Up to date, it is known metformin increases the biogenesis of Alzheimer's amyloid peptides via up-regulating BACE1 transcription, but further information related to brain damage after its consumption is missing. Bearing in mind the above, this work aimed to establish whether or not chronic exposure to metformin may alter swimming behavior and induce neurotoxicity in Danio rerio adults. For this purpose, 250 Danio rerio grown-ups were assigned to six tanks of 50 L of capacity. Four of the six systems contained 50 fish, while the remaining two had 25 fish (≈1 male:1 female ratio). Every system with 50 fish was allocated one of the three metformin treatment concentrations (1, 20, and 40 μg/L), with one system as the control treatment. Systems with 25 fish, on the other hand, were used as positive controls for acetylcholinesterase (10 μg/L of Atrazine) and oxidative stress (3 μg/L of Atrazine). After four months of exposure, a mean of 32 fish (S.D. ± 2) per group of MET treatment survived, which were used for the evaluation of behavior with the Novel Tank test. Moreover, after the behavioral assessment, we aimed to collect the blood and brains of all fish from all treatment groups. For blood collection, fish were anesthetized with an MS-222 solution (150 mg/L), while for brain gathering, fish were euthanized using the hypothermic shock method (2–4 °C). Blood was employed to determine CASP3 activity and the percentage of apoptotic cells with the TUNEL assay, and brains were used to evaluate acetylcholinesterase activity, oxidative damage, and gene expression. After chronic exposure, MET-exposed fish exhibited less swimming activity when compared to control fish. Moreover, compared with the control group, MET significantly inhibited the activity of AChE and induced oxidative damage in the brain of fish. Concerning gene expression, MET significantly upregulated the expression of Nrf1, Nrf2, BAX, p53, BACE1, APP, PSEN1, and downregulated CASP3 and CASP9. Although MET did not overexpress the CASP3 gene, we saw a meaningful rise in the activity of this enzyme in the blood of fish exposed to MET compared to the control group, which we then confirmed by a high number of apoptotic cells in the TUNEL assay. To the best of our understanding, this is the first study that delivers evidence of oxidative impairment, apoptosis, AChE alteration, and overexpression of B- amyloid-related genes in the brain of fish exposed to metformin.

Keywords: AChE inhibition, CASP3 activity, NovelTank test, oxidative damage, TUNEL assay

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Authors: Ju-Chun Chien

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Rapid aging and depopulation could lead to serious problems, including workforce shortages and health expenditure costs. The current and predicted future LTC workforce shortages could be a real threat to Taiwan’s society. By means of comparison of data from 144 nursing aide trainees and 727 general public, the main purpose of the present study was to determine whether there were any notable differences between the two groups toward engaging in LTC services. Moreover, this study focused on recognizing the attributes of the general public who had the willingness to take LTC jobs but continue to ride the fence. A self-developed questionnaire was designed based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior model. After conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability analysis, the questionnaire was a reliable and valid instrument for both nursing aide trainees and the general public. The main results were as follows: Firstly, nearly 70% of nursing aide trainees showed interest in LTC jobs. Most of them were middle-aged female (M = 46.85, SD = 9.31), had a high school diploma or lower, had unrelated work experience in healthcare, and were mostly unemployed. The most common reason for attending the LTC training program was to gain skills in a particular field. The second most common reason was to obtain the license. The third and fourth reasons were to be interested in caring for people and to increase income. The three major reasons that might push them to leave LTC jobs were physical exhaustion, payment is bad, and being looked down on. Secondly, the variables that best-predicted nursing aide trainees’ intention to engage in LTC services were having personal willingness, perceived behavior control, with high school diploma or lower, and supported from family and friends. Finally, only 11.80% of the general public reported having interest in LTC jobs (the disapproval rating was 50% for the general public). In comparison to nursing aide trainees who showed interest in LTC settings, 64.8% of the new workforce for LTC among the general public was male and had an associate degree, 54.8% had relevant healthcare experience, 67.1% was currently employed, and they were younger (M = 32.19, SD = 13.19) and unmarried (66.3%). Furthermore, the most commonly reason for the new workforce to engage in LTC jobs were to gain skills in a particular field. The second priority was to be interested in caring for people. The third and fourth most reasons were to give back to society and to increase income, respectively. The top five most commonly reasons for the new workforce to quitting LTC jobs were listed as follows: physical exhaustion, being looked down on, excessive working hours, payment is bad, and excessive job stress.

Keywords: long-term care services, nursing aide trainees, Taiwanese people, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Liliane Steiner

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Beyond the testimonial act, that sheds light on the feminine experience in the Holocaust, the survivors' writing voices first and foremost the abjection of the feminine self brutally inflicted by the Nazis in the Holocaust, and in the same movement redeems the self by the means of poetics, and brings it to an existential state of being a subject. This study aims to stress the poetics of this writing in order to promote the Holocaust literature from the margins to the mainstream and to contribute to the commemoration of the Holocaust in the next generations. Methodology: The study of the survivors' redeeming of self is based on Julia Kristeva's theory of the abject: the self-throws out everything that threatens its existence and Liliane Steiner's theory of the post- abjection of hell: the belated act of vomiting the abject experiences settles cores with the author of the abject to redeem the self. The research will focus on Ruth Sender's trilogy The Cage, To Life and The Holocaust Lady as a case study. Findings: The binary mode that characterizes this writing reflects the experience of Jewish women, who were subject(s), were treated violently as object(s), debased, defeminized and, eventually turned into abject by the Nazis. In a tour de force, this writing re-enacts the postponed resistance, that vomited the abject imposed on the feminine self by the very act of narration, which denounces the real abject, the perpetrators. The post-abjection of self is acted out in constructs of abject, relating the abject experience of the Holocaust as well as the rehabilitation of the surviving self (subject). The transcription of abject surfaces in deconstructing the abject through self- characterization, and in the elusive rendering of bad memories, having recourse to literary figures. The narrative 'I' selects, obstructs, mends and tells the past events from an active standpoint, as would a subject in control of its (narrative) fate. In a compensatory movement, the narrating I tells itself by reconstructing the subject and proving time and again that I is other. Moreover, in the belated endeavor to revenge, testify and narrate the abject, the narrative I defies itself, and represents itself as a dialectical I, splitting and multiplying itself in a deconstructing way. The dialectical I is never (one) I. It voices not only the unvoiced but also and mainly the other silenced 'I's. Drawing its nature and construct from traumatic memories, the dialectical I transgresses boundaries to narrate her story, and in the same breath, the story of Jewish women doomed to silence. In this narrative feat, the dialectical I stresses its essential dialectical existence with the past, never to be (one) again. Conclusion: The pattern of I is other generates patterns of subject(s) that defy, transgress and repudiate the abject and its repercussions on the feminine I. The feminine I writes itself as a survivor that defies the abject (Nazis) and takes revenge. The paradigm of metamorphosis that accompanies the journey of the Holocaust memoirist engenders life and surviving as well as a narration that defies stagnation and death.

Keywords: abject, feminine writing, holocaust, post-abjection

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Authors: Ali A Alshraifeen, Josie Evans, Kathleen Stoddart

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End-stage renal disease (ESRD) introduces physical, psychological, social, emotional and spiritual challenges into patients’ lives. Spirituality has been found to contribute to improved health outcomes, mainly in the areas of quality of life (QOL) and well-being. No studies exist to explore the influence of spirituality on the health outcomes and general well-being in patients with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis (HD) treatment in Scotland. This study was conducted to explore spirituality in the daily lives of among these patients and how it may influence their QOL and general well-being. The study employed a qualitative method. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with a sample of 21 patients. A thematic approach using Framework Analysis informed the qualitative data analysis. Participants were recruited from 11 dialysis units across four Health Boards in Scotland. The participants were regular patients attending the dialysis units three times per week. Four main themes emerged from the qualitative interviews: ‘Emotional and Psychological Turmoil’, ‘Life is Restricted’, ‘Spirituality’ and ‘Other Coping Strategies’. The findings suggest that patients’ QOL might be affected because of the physical challenges such as unremitting fatigue, disease unpredictability and being tied down to a dialysis machine, or the emotional and psychological challenges imposed by the disease into their lives such as wholesale changes, dialysis as a forced choice and having a sense of indebtedness. The findings also revealed that spirituality was an important coping strategy for the majority of participants who took part in the qualitative component (n=16). Different meanings of spirituality were identified including connection with God or Supernatural Being, connection with the self, others and nature/environment. Spirituality encouraged participants to accept their disease and offered them a sense of protection, instilled hope in them and helped them to maintain a positive attitude to carry on with their daily lives, which may have had a positive influence on their health outcomes and general well-being. The findings also revealed that humor was another coping strategy that helped to diffuse stress and anxiety for some participants and encouraged them to carry on with their lives. The findings from this study provide a significant contribution to a very limited body of work. The study contributes to our understanding of spirituality and how people receiving dialysis treatment use it to manage their daily lives. Spirituality is of particular interest due to its connection with health outcomes in patients with chronic illnesses. The link between spirituality and many chronic illnesses has gained some recognition, yet the identification of its influence on the health outcomes and well-being in patients with ESRD is still evolving. There is a need to understand patients’ experiences and examine the factors that influence their QOL and well-being to ensure that the services available are adequately tailored to them. Hence, further research is required to obtain a better understanding of the influence of spirituality on the health outcomes and general well-being of patients with ESRD.

Keywords: end-stage renal disease, general well-being, quality of life, spirituality

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Authors: Christabel Ihedike, John Mooney, Monica Price

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Summary: This study aims to critically evaluate effect of photochemical smog on respiratory health in Nigeria. Cohort of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients was recruited from two large hospitals in Abuja Nigeria. Respiratory health questionnaires, daily diaries, dyspnoea scale and lung function measurement were used to obtain health data and investigate the relationship with air quality data (principally ozone, NOx and particulate pollution). Concentrations of air pollutants were higher than WHO and Nigerian air quality standard. The result suggests a correlation between measured air quality and exacerbation of respiratory illness. Introduction: Photochemical smog is a significant health challenge in most cities and its effect on respiratory health is well acknowledged. This type of pollution is most harmful to the elderly, children and those with underlying respiratory disease. This study aims to investigate impact of increasing temperature and photo-chemically generated secondary air pollutants on respiratory health in Abuja Nigeria. Method and Result: Health data was collected using spirometry to measure lung function on routine attendance at the clinic, daily diaries kept by patients and information obtained using respiratory questionnaire. Questionnaire responses (obtained using an adapted and internally validated version of St George’s Hospital Respiratory Questionnaire), shows that ‘time of wheeze’ showed an association with participants activities: 30% had worse wheeze in the morning: 10% cannot shop, 15% take long-time to get washed, 25% walk slower, 15% if hurry have to stop and 5% cannot take-bath. There was also a decrease in Forced expiratory volume in the first second and Forced Vital Capacity, and daily change in the afternoon–morning may be associated with the concentration level of pollutants. Also, dyspnoea symptoms recorded that 60% of patients were on grade 3, 25% grade 2 and 15% grade 1. Daily frequency of the number of patients in the cohort that cough /brought sputum is 78%. Air pollution in the city is higher than Nigerian and WHO standards with NOx and PM10 concentrations of 693.59ug/m-3 and 748ugm-3 being measured respectively. The result shows that air pollution may increase occurrence and exacerbation of respiratory disease. Conclusion: High temperature and local climatic conditions in urban Nigeria encourages formation of Ozone, the major constituent of photochemical smog, resulting also in the formation of secondary air pollutants associated with health challenges. In this study we confirm the likely potency of the pattern of secondary air pollution in exacerbating COPD symptoms in vulnerable patient group in urban Nigeria. There is need for better regulation and measures to reduce ozone, particularly when local climatic conditions favour development of photochemical smog in such settings. Climate change and likely increasing temperatures add impetus and urgency for better air quality standards and measures (traffic-restrictions and emissions standards) in developing world settings such as Nigeria.

Keywords: Abuja-Nigeria, effect, photochemical smog, respiratory health

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Jéssica Bernegossi, Lívia Nordi Dovigo, Marlus Chorilli

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Mucoadhesive liquid crystalline systems are emerging how delivery systems for oral cavity. These systems are interesting since they facilitate the targeting of medicines and change the release enabling a reduction in the number of applications made by the patient. The buccal mucosa is permeable besides present a great blood supply and absence of first pass metabolism, it is a good route of administration. It was developed two systems liquid crystals utilizing as surfactant the ethyl alcohol ethoxylated and propoxylated (30%) as oil phase the oleic acid (60%), and the aqueous phase (10%) dispersion of polymer polyethylenimine (0.5%) or dispersion of polymer poloxamer 407 (16%), with the intention of applying the buccal mucosa. Initially, was performed for characterization of systems the conference by polarized light microscopy and rheological analysis. For the preparation of the systems the components described was added above in glass vials and shaken. Then, 30 and 100% artificial saliva were added to each prepared formulation so as to simulate the environment of the oral cavity. For the verification of the system structure, aliquots of the formulations were observed in glass slide and covered with a coverslip, examined in polarized light microscope (PLM) Axioskop - Zeizz® in 40x magnifier. The formulations were also evaluated for their rheological profile Rheometer TA Instruments®, which were obtained rheograms the selected systems employing fluency mode (flow) in temperature of 37ºC (98.6ºF). In PLM, it was observed that in formulations containing polyethylenimine and poloxamer 407 without the addition of artificial saliva was observed dark-field being indicative of microemulsion, this was also observed with the formulation that was increased with 30% of the artificial saliva. In the formulation that was increased with 100% simulated saliva was shown to be a system structure since it presented anisotropy with the presence of striae being indicative of hexagonal liquid crystalline mesophase system. Upon observation of rheograms, both systems without the addition of artificial saliva showed a Newtonian profile, after addition of 30% artificial saliva have been given a non-Newtonian behavior of the pseudoplastic-thixotropic type and after adding 100% of the saliva artificial proved plastic-thixotropic. Furthermore, it is clearly seen that the formulations containing poloxamer 407 have significantly larger (15-800 Pa) shear stress compared to those containing polyethyleneimine (5-50 Pa), indicating a greater plasticity of these. Thus, it is possible to observe that the addition of saliva was of interest to the system structure, starting from a microemulsion for a liquid crystal system, thereby also changing thereby its rheological behavior. The systems have promising characteristics as controlled release systems to the oral cavity, as it features good fluidity during its possible application and greater structuring of the system when it comes into contact with environmental saliva.

Keywords: liquid crystal system, poloxamer 407, polyethylenimine, rheology

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Authors: Ioanna Taouki, Marie Lallier, David Soto

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Metacognition refers to the capacity to reflect upon our own cognitive processes. Although there is an ongoing discussion in the literature on the role of metacognition in learning and academic achievement, little is known about its neurodevelopmental trajectories in early childhood, when children begin to receive formal education in reading. Here, we evaluate the metacognitive ability, estimated under a recently developed Signal Detection Theory model, of a cohort of children aged between 6 and 7 (N=60), who performed three two-alternative-forced-choice tasks (two linguistic: lexical decision task, visual attention span task, and one non-linguistic: emotion recognition task) including trial-by-trial confidence judgements. Our study has three aims. First, we investigated how metacognitive ability (i.e., how confidence ratings track accuracy in the task) relates to performance in general standardized tasks related to students' reading and general cognitive abilities using Spearman's and Bayesian correlation analysis. Second, we assessed whether or not young children recruit common mechanisms supporting metacognition across the different task domains or whether there is evidence for domain-specific metacognition at this early stage of development. This was done by examining correlations in metacognitive measures across different task domains and evaluating cross-task covariance by applying a hierarchical Bayesian model. Third, using robust linear regression and Bayesian regression models, we assessed whether metacognitive ability in this early stage is related to the longitudinal learning of children in a linguistic and a non-linguistic task. Notably, we did not observe any association between students’ reading skills and metacognitive processing in this early stage of reading acquisition. Some evidence consistent with domain-general metacognition was found, with significant positive correlations between metacognitive efficiency between lexical and emotion recognition tasks and substantial covariance indicated by the Bayesian model. However, no reliable correlations were found between metacognitive performance in the visual attention span and the remaining tasks. Remarkably, metacognitive ability significantly predicted children's learning in linguistic and non-linguistic domains a year later. These results suggest that metacognitive skill may be dissociated to some extent from general (i.e., language and attention) abilities and further stress the importance of creating educational programs that foster students’ metacognitive ability as a tool for long term learning. More research is crucial to understand whether these programs can enhance metacognitive ability as a transferable skill across distinct domains or whether unique domains should be targeted separately.

Keywords: confidence ratings, development, metacognitive efficiency, reading acquisition

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Authors: Marko Živanović, Jovana Bjekić, Maša Vukčević Marković

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Professionals and volunteers involved in refugee protection and support are on a daily basis faced with people who have experienced numerous traumatic experiences and, as such, are subjected to secondary traumatization (ST). The aim of this study was to provide insight into risk factors for ST in helpers working with refugees in Serbia. A total of 175 participants working with refugees fulfilled: Secondary Traumatization Questionnaire, checklist of refugees’ traumatic experiences, Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL) assessing depression and anxiety symptoms, quality of life questionnaire (MANSA), HEXACO personality inventory, and COPE assessing coping mechanisms. In addition, participants provided information on work-related problems. Qualitative analysis of answers to the question about most difficult part of their job has shown that burnout-related issues are clustered around three recurrent topics that can be considered as the most prominent generators of stress, namely: ‘lack of organization and cooperation’, ‘not been able to do enough’, and ‘hard to take it and to process it’. Factor analysis (Maximum likelihood extraction, Promax rotation) have shown that ST comprises of two correlated factors (r = .533, p < .01), namely Psychological deficits and Intrusions. Results have shown that risk factor for ST could be find in three interrelated sources: 1) work-related problems; 2) personality-related risk factors and 3) clients’ traumatic experiences. Among personality related factors, it was shown that risk factor for Intrusions could be find in – high Emotionality (β = .221, p < .05), and Altruism (β = .322, p < .01), while low Extraversion (β = -.365, p < .01) represents risk factor for Psychological deficits. In addition, usage of maladaptive coping mechanisms –mental disengagement (r = .253, p < .01), behavioral disengagement (r = .274, p < .01), focusing on distress and venting of emotions (r = .220, p < .05), denial (r = .164, p < .05), and substance use (r = .232, p < .01) correlate with Psychological deficits while Intrusions corelate with Mental disengagement (r = .251, p < .01) and denial (r = .183, p < .05). Regarding clients’ traumatic experiences it was shown that both quantity of traumatic events in country of origin (for Deficits r = .226, p < .01; for Intrusions r = .174, p < .05) and in transit (for Deficits r = .288, p < .01), as well as certain content-related features of such experiences (especially experiences which are severely dislocated from ‘everyday reality’) are related to ST. In addition, Psychological deficits and Intrusions have shown to be accompanied by symptoms of depression (r = .760, p < .01; r = .552, p < .01) and anxiety (r = .740, p < .01; r = .447, p < .01) and overall lower life quality (r = -.454, p < .01; r = .256, p < .01). Results indicate that psychological vulnerability of persons who are working with traumatized individuals can be found in certain personality traits, and usage of maladaptive coping mechanisms, which disable one to deal with work-related issues, and to cope with quantity and quality of traumatic experiences they were faced with, affecting ones’ psychological well-being. Acknowledgement: This research was funded by IRC Serbia.

Keywords: mental health, refugees, secondary traumatization, traumatic experiences

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Authors: Geraldine Molina, Malou Allagnat

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Entry through meteorological and climatic phenomena, technical knowledge and engineering sciences has long been favored by the research and local public action to analyze the urban climate, develop strategies to reduce its changes and adapt their spaces. However, in their daily practices and sensitive experiences, city dwellers are confronted with the climate and constantly deal with its fluctuations. In this way, these actors develop knowledge, skills and tactics to regulate their comfort and adapt to climatic variations. Therefore, the empirical observation and analysis of these living experiences represent major scientific and social challenges. This contribution proposes to question these relationships of the inhabitants to urban climate. It tackles the construction of inhabitants’ climatic experiences to answer a central question: how do city dwellers’ deal with the urban climate and adapt to its different variations? Indeed, the city raises the question of how populations adapt to different spatial and temporal climatic variations. Local impacts of global climate change are combined with the urban heat island phenomenon and other microclimatic effects, as well as seasonal, daytime and night-time fluctuations. To provide answers, the presentation will be focused on the results of a CNRS research project (Géraldine Molina), part of which is linked to the European project Nature For Cities (H2020, Marjorie Musy, Scientific Director). From a theoretical point of view, the contribution is based on a renewed definition of adaptation centered on the capacity of individuals and social groups, a recently opened entry from a theoretical point of view by social scientists. The research adopts a "radical interdisciplinary" approach to shed light on the links between social dynamics of climate (inhabitants’ perceptions, representations and practices) and physical processes that characterize urban climate. To do so, it relied on a methodological combination of different survey techniques borrowed from the social sciences (geography, anthropology, sociology) and linked to the work, methodologies and results of the engineering sciences. From 2016 to 2019, a survey was carried out in two districts of Lyon whose morphological, micro-climatic and social characteristics differ greatly, namely the 6th arrondissement and the Guillotière district. To explore the construction of climate experiences over the long term by putting it into perspective with the life trajectories of individuals, 70 semi-directive interviews were conducted with inhabitants. In order to also punctually survey the climate experiments as they unfold in a given time and moment, observation and measurement campaigns of physical phenomena and questionnaires have been conducted in public spaces by an interdisciplinary research team1. The contribution at the ICUC 2020 will mainly focus on the presentation of the presentation of the qualitative survey conducted thanks to the inhabitants’ interviews.

Keywords: sensitive experiences, ways of life, thermal comfort, radical interdisciplinarity

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Authors: Adam Gushgari

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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has catalyzed the rapid adoption of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) methodologies both domestically and internationally. To support the rapid scale-up of pandemic-response wastewater surveillance systems, multiple federal agencies (i.e. US CDC), non-government organizations (i.e. Water Environment Federation), and private charities (i.e. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) have funded over $220 million USD supporting development and expanding equitable access of surveillance methods. Funds were primarily distributed directly to municipalities under the CARES Act (90.6%), followed by academic projects (7.6%), and initiatives developed by private companies (1.8%). In addition to federal funding for wastewater monitoring primarily conducted at wastewater treatment plants, state/local governments and private companies have leveraged wastewater sampling to obtain health and lifestyle data on student, prison inmate, and employee populations. We explore the viable paths for expansion of the WBE m1ethodology across a variety of analytical methods; the development of WBE-specific samplers and real-time wastewater sensors; and their application to various governments and private sector industries. Considerable investment in, and public acceptance of WBE suggests the methodology will be applied to other future notifiable diseases and health risks. Early research suggests that WBE methods can be applied to a host of additional “biological insults” including communicable diseases and pathogens, such as influenza, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, mycotoxin exposure, hepatitis, dengue, West Nile, Zika, and yellow fever. Interest in chemical insults is also likely, providing community health and lifestyle data on narcotics consumption, use of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCP), PFAS and hazardous chemical exposure, and microplastic exposure. Successful application of WBE to monitor analytes correlated with carcinogen exposure, community stress prevalence, and dietary indicators has also been shown. Additionally, technology developments of in situ wastewater sensors, WBE-specific wastewater samplers, and integration of artificial intelligence will drastically change the landscape of WBE through the development of “smart sewer” networks. The rapid expansion of the WBE field is creating significant business opportunities for professionals across the scientific, engineering, and technology industries ultimately focused on community health improvement.

Keywords: wastewater surveillance, wastewater-based epidemiology, smart cities, public health, pandemic management, substance abuse

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Authors: Ivo Zution Goncalves, Christopher M. U. Neale, Hiran Medeiros, Everardo Mantovani, Natalia Souza

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Multispectral and thermal infrared imagery from satellite sensors coupled with climate and soil datasets were used to estimate evapotranspiration and biomass in center pivots planted to maize in Brazil during the 2016 season. The hybrid remote sensing based model named Spatial EvapoTranspiration Modelling Interface (SETMI) was applied using multispectral and thermal infrared imagery from the Landsat Thematic Mapper instrument. Field data collected by the IRRIGER center pivot management company included daily weather information such as maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, relative humidity for estimating reference evapotranspiration. In addition, soil water content data were obtained every 0.20 m in the soil profile down to 0.60 m depth throughout the season. Early season soil samples were used to obtain water-holding capacity, wilting point, saturated hydraulic conductivity, initial volumetric soil water content, layer thickness, and saturated volumetric water content. Crop canopy development parameters and irrigation application depths were also inputs of the model. The modeling approach is based on the reflectance-based crop coefficient approach contained within the SETMI hybrid ET model using relationships developed in Nebraska. The model was applied to several fields located in Minas Gerais State in Brazil with approximate latitude: -16.630434 and longitude: -47.192876. The model provides estimates of real crop evapotranspiration (ET), crop irrigation requirements and all soil water balance outputs, including biomass estimation using multi-temporal satellite image inputs. An interpolation scheme based on the growing degree-day concept was used to model the periods between satellite inputs, filling the gaps between image dates and obtaining daily data. Actual and accumulated ET, accumulated cold temperature and water stress and crop water requirements estimated by the model were compared with data measured at the experimental fields. Results indicate that the SETMI modeling approach using data assimilation, showed reliable daily ET and crop water requirements for maize, interpolated between remote sensing observations, confirming the applicability of the SETMI model using new relationships developed in Nebraska for estimating mainly ET and water requirements in Brazil under tropical conditions.

Keywords: basal crop coefficient, irrigation, remote sensing, SETMI

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Authors: Yuan Yue, Wen-Wei Wang

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The objective of this research is to comprehensively evaluate the impact of alkaline environments on the durability of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforcements in concrete structures and further explore their potential value within the construction industry. Specifically, we investigate the effects of two widely used high-performance concrete (HPC) materials on the durability of GFRP bars when embedded within them under varying temperature conditions. A total of 279 GFRP bar specimens were manufactured for microcosmic and mechanical performance tests. Among them, 270 specimens were used to test the residual tensile strength after 120 days of immersion, while 9 specimens were utilized for microscopic testing to analyze degradation damage. SEM techniques were employed to examine the microstructure of GFRP and cover concrete. Unidirectional tensile strength experiments were conducted to determine the remaining tensile strength after corrosion. The experimental variables consisted of four types of concrete (engineering cementitious composite (ECC), ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), and two types of ordinary concrete with different compressive strengths) as well as three acceleration temperatures (20, 40, and 60℃). The experimental results demonstrate that high-performance concrete (HPC) offers superior protection for GFRP bars compared to ordinary concrete. Two types of HPC enhance durability through different mechanisms: one by reducing the pH of the concrete pore fluid and the other by decreasing permeability. For instance, ECC improves embedded GFRP's durability by lowering the pH of the pore fluid. After 120 days of immersion at 60°C under accelerated conditions, ECC (pH=11.5) retained 68.99% of its strength, while PC1 (pH=13.5) retained 54.88%. On the other hand, UHPC enhances FRP steel's durability by increasing porosity and compactness in its protective layer to reinforce FRP reinforcement's longevity. Due to fillers present in UHPC, it typically exhibits lower porosity, higher densities, and greater resistance to permeation compared to PC2 with similar pore fluid pH levels, resulting in varying degrees of durability for GFRP bars embedded in UHPC and PC2 after 120 days of immersion at a temperature of 60°C - with residual strengths being 66.32% and 60.89%, respectively. Furthermore, SEM analysis revealed no noticeable evidence indicating fiber deterioration in any examined specimens, thus suggesting that uneven stress distribution resulting from interface segregation and matrix damage emerges as a primary causative factor for tensile strength reduction in GFRP rather than fiber corrosion. Moreover, long-term prediction models were utilized to calculate residual strength values over time for reinforcement embedded in HPC under high temperature and high humidity conditions - demonstrating that approximately 75% of its initial strength was retained by reinforcement embedded in HPC after 100 years of service.

Keywords: GFRP bars, HPC, degeneration, durability, residual tensile strength.

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