Search results for: medium entropy alloy matrix composite

Authors: Safitri Nur Wulandari, M. Ivan Adi Perdana, Prathisto L. Panuntun Unggul, R. Dary Wira Mahadika

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In road construction on the soft soil, we need a soil improvement method to improve the soil bearing capacity of the land base so that the soil can withstand the traffic loads. Most of the land in Indonesia has a soft soil, where soft soil is a type of clay that has the consistency of very soft to medium stiff, undrained shear strength, Cu <0:25 kg/cm2, or the estimated value of NSPT <5 blows/ft. This study focuses on the analysis of the effect on preloading load (embarkment) to the amount of settlement ratio on the under of embarkment that will impact on the building cracks around of embarkment. The method used in this research is a superposition method for embarkment distribution on 27 locations with undisturbed soil samples at some borehole point in Java and Kalimantan, Indonesia. Then correlating the results of settlement plate monitoring on the field with Asaoka method. The results of settlement plate monitoring taken from an embarkment of Ahmad Yani airport in Semarang on 32 points. Where the value of Cc (index compressible) soil data based on some laboratory test results, while the value of Cc is not tested obtained from empirical formula Ardhana and Mochtar, 1999. From this research, the results of the field monitoring showed almost the same results with an empirical formulation with the standard deviation of 4% where the formulation of the empirical results of this analysis obtained by linear formula. Value empirical linear formula is to determine the effect of compression heap area as high as 4,25 m is 3,1209x + y = 0.0026 for the slope of the embankment 1: 8 for the same analysis with an initial height of embankment on the field. Provided that at the edge of the embankment settlement worth is not equal to 0 but at a quarter of embankment has a settlement ratio average 0.951 and at the edge of embankment has a settlement ratio 0,049. The influence areas around of embankment are approximately 1 meter for slope 1:8 and 7 meters for slope 1:2. So, it can cause the building cracks, to build in sustainable development.

Keywords: building cracks, influence area, settlement plate, soft soil, empirical formula, embankment

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Authors: Akanksha Singh, Mahesh Kumar, Shailesh N. Sharma

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Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) such as CdSe, CdS, InP, etc. have gained significant interest in the recent years due to its application in various fields such as LEDs, solar cells, lasers, biological markers, etc. The interesting feature of the QDs is their tunable band gap. The size of the QDs can be easily varied by varying the synthesis parameters which change the band gap. One of the limitations with II-VI semiconductor QDs is their biological application. The use of cadmium makes them unsuitable for biological applications. III-V QD such as InP overcomes this problem as they are structurally robust because of the covalent bonds which do not allow the ions to leak. Also, InP QDs has large Bohr radii which increase the window for the quantum confinement effect. The synthesis of InP QDs is difficult and time consuming. Authors have synthesized InP using a novel, quick synthesis method which utilizes trioctylphosphine as a source of phosphorus. In this work, authors have made InP composites with P3HT(Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl))polymer(organic-inorganic hybrid material) and gold nanoparticles(metal-semiconductor composites). InP-P3HT shows FRET phenomenon whereas InP-Au shows charge transfer mechanism. The synthesized InP QDs has an absorption band at 397 nm and PL peak position at 491 nm. The band gap of the InP QDs is 2.46 eV as compared to the bulk band gap of InP i.e. 1.35 eV. The average size of the QDs is around 3-4 nm. In order to protect the InP core, a shell of wide band gap material i.e. ZnS is coated on the top of InP core. InP-P3HT composites were made in order to study the charge transfer/energy transfer phenomenon between them. On adding aliquots of P3HT to InP QDs solution, the P3HT PL increases which can be attributed to the dominance of Förster energy transfer between InP QDs (donor) P3HT polymer (acceptor). There is a significant spectral overlap between the PL spectra of InP QDs and absorbance spectra of P3HT. But in the case of InP-Au nanocomposites, significant charge transfer was seen from InP QDs to Au NPs. When aliquots of Au NPs were added to InP QDs, a decrease in the PL of the InP QDs was observed. This is due to the charge transfer from the InP QDs to the Au NPs. In the case of metal semiconductor composites, the enhancement and quenching of QDs depend on the size of the QD and the distance between the QD and the metal NP. These two composites have different phenomenon between donor and acceptor and hence can be utilized for two different applications. The InP-P3HT composite can be utilized for LED devices due to enhancement in the PL emission (FRET). The InP-Au can be utilized efficiently for photovoltaic application owing to the successful charge transfer between InP-Au NPs.

Keywords: charge transfer, FRET, gold nanoparticles, InP quantum dots

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Authors: Levicatus Mugenyi, Joaniter Nankabirwa, Emmanuel Arinaitwe, John Rek, Niel Hens, Moses Kamya, Grant Dorsey

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Background: Indoor residual spraying (IRS) reduces vector densities and malaria transmission, however, the most effective spraying intervals for IRS have not been well established. We aim to estimate the optimal timing interval for IRS using a modeling approach. Methods: We use a generalized additive model to estimate the optimal timing interval for IRS using the predicted malaria incidence. The model is applied to post IRS cohort clinical data from children aged 0.5–10 years in selected households in Tororo, historically a high malaria transmission setting in Uganda. Six rounds of IRS were implemented in Tororo during the study period (3 rounds with bendiocarb: December 2014 to December 2015, and 3 rounds with actellic: June 2016 to July 2018). Results: Monthly incidence of malaria from October 2014 to February 2019 decreased from 3.25 to 0.0 per person-years in the children under 5 years, and 1.57 to 0.0 for 5-10 year-olds. The optimal time interval for IRS differed between bendiocarb and actellic and by IRS round. It was estimated to be 17 and 40 weeks after the first round of bendiocarb and actellic, respectively. After the third round of actellic, 36 weeks was estimated to be optimal. However, we could not estimate from the data the optimal time after the second and third rounds of bendiocarb and after the second round of actellic. Conclusion: We conclude that to sustain the effect of IRS in a high-medium transmission setting, the second rounds of bendiocarb need to be applied roughly 17 weeks and actellic 40 weeks after the first round, and the timing differs for subsequent rounds. The amount of rainfall did not influence the trend in malaria incidence after IRS, as well as the IRS timing intervals. Our results suggest that shorter intervals for the IRS application can be more effective compared to the current practice, which is about 24 weeks for bendiocarb and 48 weeks for actellic. However, when considering our findings, one should account for the cost and drug resistance associated with IRS. We also recommend that the timing and incidence should be monitored in the future to improve these estimates.

Keywords: incidence, indoor residual spraying, generalized additive model, malaria

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Authors: Gherbi Khadidja

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In the Mediterranean region, water resources are limited and very unevenly distributed in space and time. The main objective of this project is the development of a wireless network for the management of water resources in northern Algeria, the Mitidja plain, which helps farmers to irrigate in the most optimized way and solve the problem of water shortage in the region. Therefore, we will develop an aid tool that can modernize and replace some traditional techniques, according to the real needs of the crops and according to the soil conditions as well as the climatic conditions (soil moisture, precipitation, characteristics of the unsaturated zone), These data are collected in real-time by sensors and analyzed by an algorithm and displayed on a mobile application and the website. The results are essential information and alerts with recommendations for action to farmers to ensure the sustainability of the agricultural sector under water shortage conditions. In the first part: We want to set up a wireless sensor network, for precise management of water resources, by presenting another type of equipment that allows us to measure the water content of the soil, such as the Watermark probe connected to the sensor via the acquisition card and an Arduino Uno, which allows collecting the captured data and then program them transmitted via a GSM module that will send these data to a web site and store them in a database for a later study. In a second part: We want to display the results on a website or a mobile application using the database to remotely manage our smart irrigation system, which allows the farmer to use this technology and offers the possibility to the growers to access remotely via wireless communication to see the field conditions and the irrigation operation, at home or at the office. The tool to be developed will be based on satellite imagery as regards land use and soil moisture. These tools will make it possible to follow the evolution of the needs of the cultures in time, but also to time, and also to predict the impact on water resources. According to the references consulted, if such a tool is used, it can reduce irrigation volumes by up to up to 40%, which represents more than 100 million m3 of savings per year for the Mitidja. This volume is equivalent to a medium-size dam.

Keywords: optimal irrigation, soil moisture, smart irrigation, water management

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Authors: Francesca Nicolosi, Teresa Cosola

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Climate changes in Mediterranean areas, such as the increase of average seasonal temperatures, the urban heat island phenomenon, the intensification of solar radiation and the extreme weather threats, cause disruption events, so that climate adaptation has become a pressing issue. Due to the strategic role that the built heritage holds in terms of environmental impact and energy waste and its potentiality, it is necessary to assess the vulnerability and the adaptive capacity of the existing building to climate change, in order to define different mitigation scenarios. The aim of this research work is to define an optimized and integrated methodology for the assessment of resilience levels and adaptation scenarios for existing buildings in Mediterranean urban areas. Moreover, the study of resilience indicators allows us to define building environmental and energy performance in order to identify the design and technological solutions for the improvement of the building and its urban area potentialities. The methodology identifies step-by-step different phases, starting from the detailed study of characteristic elements of urban system: climatic, natural, human, typological and functional components are analyzed in their critical factors and their potential. Through the individuation of the main perturbing factors and the vulnerability degree of the system to the risks linked to climate change, it is possible to define mitigation and adaptation scenarios. They can be different, according to the typological, functional and constructive features of the analyzed system, divided into categories of intervention, and characterized by different analysis levels (from the single building to the urban area). The use of software simulations allows obtaining information on the overall behavior of the building and the urban system, to generate predictive models in the medium and long-term environmental and energy retrofit and to make a comparative study of the mitigation scenarios identified. The studied methodology is validated on a case study.

Keywords: climate impact mitigation, energy efficiency, existing building heritage, resilience

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Authors: Ariel Vilchez, Francisca Acevedo, Rodrigo Navia

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The wound healing process can be accelerated and improved by the action of antioxidants such as curcumin (Cur) over the tissues; however, the efficacy of curcumin used through the digestive system is not enough to exploit its benefits. Electrospinning presents an alternative to carry curcumin directly to the wounds, and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is proposed as the matrix to load curcumin owing to its biodegradable and biocompatible properties. PHB is among 150 types of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) identified, it is a natural thermoplastic polyester produced by microbial fermentation obtained from microorganisms. The proposed objective is to develop electrospun bacterial PHB-based microfibers containing curcumin for possible biomedical applications. Commercial PHB was solved in Chloroform: Dimethylformamide (4:1) to a final concentration of 7% m/V. Curcumin was added to the polymeric solution at 1%, and 7% m/m regarding PHB. The electrospinning equipment (NEU-BM, China) with a rotary collector was used to obtain Cur-PHB fibers at different voltages and flow rate of the polymeric solution considering a distance of 20 cm from the needle to the collector. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the diameter and morphology of the obtained fibers. Thermal stability was obtained from Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was carried out in order to study the chemical bonds and interactions. A preliminary curcumin release to Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) pH = 7.4 was obtained in vitro and measured by spectrophotometry. PHB fibers presented an intact chemical composition regarding the original condition (dust) according to FTIR spectra, the diameter fluctuates between 0.761 ± 0.123 and 2.157 ± 0.882 μm, with different qualities according to their morphology. The best fibers in terms of quality and diameter resulted in sample 2 and sample 6, obtained at 0-10kV and 0.5 mL/hr, and 0-10kV and 1.5 mL/hr, respectively. The melting temperature resulted near 178 °C, according to the bibliography. The crystallinity of fibers decreases while curcumin concentration increases for the studied interval. The curcumin release reaches near 14% at 37 °C at 54h in PBS adjusted to a quasi-Fickian Diffusion. We conclude that it is possible to load curcumin in PHB to obtain continuous, homogeneous, and solvent-free microfibers by electrospinning. Between 0% and 7% of curcumin, the crystallinity of fibers decreases as the concentration of curcumin increases. Thus, curcumin enhances the flexibility of the obtained material. HPLC should be used in further analysis of curcumin release.

Keywords: antioxidant, curcumin, polyhydroxybutyrate, wound healing

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Authors: H. Khomri, A. Bentellis

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Since century of the Development Activities extraction and a dispersed mineral processing Toxic metals and much more contaminated vast areas occupied by what they natural outcrops. New types of metalliferous habitats are so appeared. A species that is Lygeum spartum attracted our curiosity because apart from its valuable role in desertification, it is apparently able to exclude antimony and other metals can be. This species, green leaf blades which are provided as cattle feed, would be a good subject for phytoremediation of mineral soils. The study of absorption and translocation of chromium by the Lygeum spartum in the mining region of Djebel Hamimat and the interaction soil-plant, revealed that soils of this species living in this region are alkaline, calcareous majority in their fine texture medium and saline in their minority. They have normal levels of organic matter. They are moderately rich in nitrogen. They contain total chromium content reaches a maximum of 66,80 mg Kg^(-1) and a total absence of soluble chromium. The results of the analysis of variance of the difference between bare soils and soils appear Lygeum spartum made a significant difference only for the silt and organic matter. But for the other variables analyzed this difference is not significant. Thus, this plant has only one action on the amendment, only the levels of silt and organic matter in soils. The results of the multiple regression of the chromium content of the roots according to all soil variables studied did appear that among the studied variables included in the model, only the electrical conductivity and clay occur in the explanation of contents chromium in roots. The chromium content of the aerial parts analyzed by regression based on all studied soil variables allows us to see only the variables: electrical conductivity and content of chromium in the root portion involved in the explanation of the content chromium in the aerial part.

Keywords: absorption, translocation, analysis of variance, chrome, Lygeum spartum, multiple regression, the soil variables

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Authors: Radu Soflau, Lia-Ecaterina Oltean

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Background: Increasing evidence supports the efficacy of psychological interventions for psychosis. However, it is unclear which one of these interventions is most likely to address negative psychotic symptoms and related outcomes. We aimed to determine the relative efficacy of psychological and psychosocial interventions for negative symptoms, overall psychotic symptoms, and related outcomes. Methods: To attain this goal, we conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis. We searched for potentially eligible trials in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases up until February 08, 2022. We included randomized controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of psychological for adults with psychosis. We excluded interventions for prodromal or “at risk” individuals, as well as patients with serious co-morbid medical or psychiatric conditions (others than depressive and/or anxiety disorders). Two researchers conducted study selection and performed data extraction independently. Analyses were run using STATA network and mvmeta packages, applying a random effect model under a frequentist framework in order to compute standardized mean differences or risk ratio. Findings: We identified 47844 records and screened 29466 records for eligibility. The majority of eligible interventions were delivered in addition to pharmacological treatment. Treatment as usual (TAU) was the most frequent common comparator. Theoretically driven psychological interventions generally outperformed TAU at post-test and follow-up, displaying small and small-to-medium effect sizes. A similar pattern of results emerged in sensitivity analyses focused on studies that employed an inclusion criterion for relevant negative symptom severity. Conclusion: While the efficacy of some psychological interventions is promising, there is a need for more high-quality studies, as well as more trials directly comparing psychological treatments for negative psychotic symptoms.

Keywords: psychosis, network meta-analysis, psychological interventions, efficacy, negative symptoms

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Authors: Eslam Mohammed Abdelkader, Mohamed Marzouk, Tarek Zayed

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Infrastructure systems are crucial to every aspect of life on Earth. Existing Infrastructure is subjected to degradation while the demands are growing for a better infrastructure system in response to the high standards of safety, health, population growth, and environmental protection. Bridges play a crucial role in urban transportation networks. Moreover, they are subjected to high level of deterioration because of the variable traffic loading, extreme weather conditions, cycles of freeze and thaw, etc. The development of Bridge Management Systems (BMSs) has become a fundamental imperative nowadays especially in the large transportation networks due to the huge variance between the need for maintenance actions, and the available funds to perform such actions. Deterioration models represent a very important aspect for the effective use of BMSs. This paper presents a probabilistic time-based model that is capable of predicting the condition ratings of the concrete bridge decks along its service life. The deterioration process of the concrete bridge decks is modeled using semi-Markov process. One of the main challenges of the Markov Chain Decision Process (MCDP) is the construction of the transition probability matrix. Yet, the proposed model overcomes this issue by modeling the sojourn times based on some probability density functions. The sojourn times of each condition state are fitted to probability density functions based on some goodness of fit tests such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Anderson Darling, and chi-squared test. The parameters of the probability density functions are obtained using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). The condition ratings obtained from the Ministry of Transportation in Quebec (MTQ) are utilized as a database to construct the deterioration model. Finally, a comparison is conducted between the Markov Chain and semi-Markov chain to select the most feasible prediction model.

Keywords: bridge management system, bridge decks, deterioration model, Semi-Markov chain, sojourn times, maximum likelihood estimation

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Authors: Aliya Sekenova, Vyacheslav Ogay

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The derivation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from somatic cells by direct reprogramming opens wide perspectives in the regenerative medicine. It means the possibility to develop the personal and, consequently, any immunologically compatible cells for applications in cell-based therapy. The purpose of our study was to develop the technology for the production of NK cells from T cell-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (TiPSCs) for subsequent application in adoptive cancer immunotherapy. Methods: In this study iPSCs were derived from peripheral blood T cells using Sendai virus vectors expressing Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. Pluripotent characteristics of TiPSCs were examined and confirmed with alkaline phosphatase staining, immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR analysis. For NK cell differentiation, embryoid bodies (EB) formed from (TiPSCs) were cultured in xenogeneic serum-free medium containing human serum, IL-3, IL-7, IL-15, SCF, FLT3L without using M210-B4 and AFT-024 stromal feeder cells. After differentiation, NK cells were characterized with immunofluorescence analysis, flow cytometry and cytotoxicity assay. Results: Here, we for the first time demonstrate that TiPSCs can effectively differentiate into functionally active NK cells without M210-B4 and AFT-024 xenogeneic stroma cells. Immunofluorescence and flow cytometry analysis showed that EB-derived cells can differentiate into a homogeneous population of NK cell expressing high levels of CD56, CD45 and CD16 specific markers. Moreover, these cells significantly express killing activation receptors such as NKp44 and NKp46. In the comparative analysis, we observed that NK cells derived using feeder-free culture system have more high killing activity against K-562 tumor cells, than NK cells derived by feeder-dependent method. Thus, we think that our obtained data will be useful for the development of large-scale production of NK cells for translation into cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords: induced pluripotent stem cells, NK cells, T cells, cell diffentiation, feeder cell-free culture system

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Authors: Vasilis Andriopoulos, Maria D. Gkioni, Elena Koutra, Savvas G. Mastropetros, Fotini N. Lamari, Sofia Hatziantoniou, Michalis Kornaros

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In the present study, the antioxidant activity of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Chlorella minutissima, Dunaliella salina, Isochrysis galbana, Nannochloropsis oculata and Tisohrysis lutea, as well as the proximate composition and fatty acid profile were evaluated, with the aim to select species suitable for co-production of antioxidants and aquaculture feed. Batch cultivation was performed at 25oC in a modified f/2 medium under continuous illumination and aeration with ambient air. Biomass was collected via centrifugation and extracted first with H2O and subsequently with methanol at two growth phases (early and late stationary). Total phenolic content and antioxidant and reducing activity of the extracts were evaluated. The highest phenolic content was found in the methanolic extract of C. minutissima at the early stationary phase (9.04±0.68 mg Gallic Acid Equivalent g-1 dry weight), and the aqueous extract of D. salina at the late stationary phase (8.78±1.49 mg Gallic Acid Equivalent g-1 Dry weight). Antioxidant activity, measured as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity, and Ferric reducing antioxidant power assay of methanolic extracts were comparable to the literature and correlated to Total phenolic content and Chlorophyll content of the biomass. No such correlation was found in the aqueous extracts. N. oculata and T. lutea were high in protein (39.88±1.72% Dry weight and 43.30±1.33% Dry weight, respectively) and carotenoids (0.64±0.13% and 0.92±0.02%, respectively). Additionally, they presented high eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid levels (33.74±9.98 mg eicosapentaenoic acid g-1 DW and 31.31±2.92 mg docosahexaenoic acid g-1 dry weight, respectively). N. oculata and T. lutea are promising candidates for the co-production of antioxidants and aquaculture feed, while C. minutissima and D. salina showed promise due to their higher antioxidant content.

Keywords: aquaculture fee, antioxidant activity, fatty acids, microalgae, total phenolic content

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Authors: Andreas Aceranti, Stefano Costa

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The aim of this study was to demonstrate that manipulative treatment combined with therapeutic exercisetherapywas more effective than isolated therapeutic exercise in the short-term treatment of eye convergence disorders in boxers. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) pilot trial was performed at our physiotherapy practices. 30 adult subjects who practice the discipline of boxing were selected after an initial skimming defined by the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) test (results greater than or equal to 10) starting from the initial sample of 50 subjects; The 30 recruits were evaluated by an orthoptist using prisms to know the diopters of each eye and were divided into 2 groups (experimental group and control group). The members of the experimental group were subjected to manipulation of the lateral strain of sphenoid from the side contralateral to the eye that had fewer diopters and were subjected to a sequence of 3 ocular motor exercises immediately after manipulation. The control group, on the other hand, received only ocular motor treatment. A secondary outcome was also drawn up that demonstrated how changes in ocular motricity also affected cervical rotation. Analysis of the data showed that the experimental treatment was in the short term superior to the control group to astatistically significant extent both in terms of the prismatic delta of the right eye (0 OT median without manipulation and 10 OT median with manipulation) and that of the left eye (0 OT median without manipulation and 5 OT median with manipulation). Cervical rotation values also showed better values in the experimental group with a median of 4° in the right rotation without manipulation and 6° with thrust; the left rotation presented a median of 2° without manipulation and 7° with thrust. From the results that emerged, the treatment was effective. It would be desirable to increase the sample number and set up a timeline to see if the net improvements obtained in the short term will also be maintained in the medium to long term.

Keywords: boxing, basilar spheno synchondrosis, ocular convergence deficit, osteopathic treatment

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Authors: T. R. Bandara, H. Jaelani, G. J. Griffin

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The conversion of lignocellulosic waste materials, such as sugar cane bagasse, to biofuels such as ethanol has attracted significant interest as a potential element for transforming transport fuel supplies to totally renewable sources. However, the refractory nature of the cellulosic structure of lignocellulosic materials has impeded progress on developing an economic process, whereby the cellulose component may be effectively broken down to glucose monosaccharides and then purified to allow downstream fermentation. Ionic liquid (IL) treatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been shown to disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose thus potentially enabling the cellulose to be more readily hydrolysed to monosaccharides. Furthermore, conventional hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials yields byproducts that are inhibitors for efficient fermentation of the monosaccharides. However, selective extraction of monosaccharides from an aqueous/IL phase into an organic phase utilizing a combination of boronic acids and quaternary amines has shown promise as a purification process. Hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse immersed in an aqueous solution with IL (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) was conducted at different pH and temperature below 100 ºC. It was found that the use of a high concentration of hydrochloric acid to acidify the solution inhibited the hydrolysis of bagasse. At high pH (i.e. basic conditions), using sodium hydroxide, catalyst yields were reduced for total reducing sugars (TRS) due to the rapid degradation of the sugars formed. For purification trials, a supported liquid membrane (SLM) apparatus was constructed, whereby a synthetic solution containing xylose and glucose in an aqueous IL phase was transported across a membrane impregnated with phenyl boronic acid/Aliquat 336 to an aqueous phase. The transport rate of xylose was generally higher than that of glucose indicating that a SLM scheme may not only be useful for purifying sugars from undesirable toxic compounds, but also for fractionating sugars to improve fermentation efficiency.

Keywords: biomass, bagasse, hydrolysis, monosaccharide, supported liquid membrane, purification

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Authors: Dharminder Singh, Sanjeev Yadav, Pravakar Mohanty

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In this work, study of temperature profile in a pilot scale air bubbling fluidized bed (ABFB) gasifier for rice husk gasification was carried out. Effects of different factors such as multiple cyclones, gas cooling system, ventilate gas pipe length, and catalyst on temperature profile was examined. ABFB gasifier used in this study had two sections, one is bed section and the other is freeboard section. River sand was used as bed material with air as gasification agent, and conventional charcoal as start-up heating medium in this gasifier. Temperature of different point in both sections of ABFB gasifier was recorded at different ER value and ER value was changed by changing the feed rate of biomass (rice husk) and by keeping the air flow rate constant for long durational of gasifier operation. ABFB with double cyclone with gas coolant system and with short length ventilate gas pipe was found out to be optimal gasifier design to give temperature profile required for high gasification performance in long duration operation. This optimal design was tested with different ER values and it was found that ER of 0.33 was most favourable for long duration operation (8 hr continuous operation), giving highest carbon conversion efficiency. At optimal ER of 0.33, bed temperature was found to be stable at 700 °C, above bed temperature was found to be at 628.63 °C, bottom of freeboard temperature was found to be at 600 °C, top of freeboard temperature was found to be at 517.5 °C, gas temperature was found to be at 195 °C, and flame temperature was found to be 676 °C. Temperature at all the points showed fluctuations of 10 – 20 °C. Effect of catalyst i.e. dolomite (20% with sand bed) was also examined on temperature profile, and it was found that at optimal ER of 0.33, the bed temperature got increased to 795 °C, above bed temperature got decreased to 523 °C, bottom of freeboard temperature got decreased to 548 °C, top of freeboard got decreased to 475 °C, gas temperature got decreased to 220 °C, and flame temperature got increased to 703 °C. Increase in bed temperature leads to higher flame temperature due to presence of more hydrocarbons generated from more tar cracking at higher temperature. It was also found that the use of dolomite with sand bed eliminated the agglomeration in the reactor at such high bed temperature (795 °C).

Keywords: air bubbling fluidized bed gasifier, bed temperature, charcoal heating, dolomite, flame temperature, rice husk

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Authors: Paul V. Thomas, Mostafa S. A. Elsayed, Denis Walch

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Airframe structural optimization at different design stages results in new mass and stiffness distributions which modify the critical design loads envelop. Determination of aircraft critical loads is an extensive analysis procedure which involves simulating the aircraft at thousands of load cases as defined in the certification requirements. It is computationally prohibitive to use a Global Finite Element Model (GFEM) for the load analysis, hence reduced order structural models are required which closely represent the dynamic characteristics of the GFEM. This paper presents the implementation of Component Mode Synthesis (CMS) method for the generation of high fidelity Reduced Order Model (ROM) of complex airframes. Here, sub-structuring technique is used to divide the complex higher order airframe dynamical system into a set of subsystems. Each subsystem is reduced to fewer degrees of freedom using matrix projection onto a carefully chosen reduced order basis subspace. The reduced structural matrices are assembled for all the subsystems through interface coupling and the dynamic response of the total system is solved. The CMS method is employed to develop the ROM of a Bombardier Aerospace business jet which is coupled with an aerodynamic model for dynamic aeroelasticity loads analysis under gust turbulence. Another set of dynamic aeroelastic loads is also generated employing a stick model of the same aircraft. Stick model is the reduced order modelling methodology commonly used in the aerospace industry based on stiffness generation by unitary loading application. The extracted aeroelastic loads from both models are compared against those generated employing the GFEM. Critical loads Modal participation factors and modal characteristics of the different ROMs are investigated and compared against those of the GFEM. Results obtained show that the ROM generated using Craig Bampton CMS reduction process has a superior dynamic characteristics compared to the stick model.

Keywords: component mode synthesis, craig bampton reduction method, dynamic aeroelasticity analysis, model order reduction

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Authors: Umberto Di Staso, Marco Soave, Alessio Giori, Federico Prandi, Raffaele De Amicis

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The increasing availability of information about earth surface elevation (Digital Elevation Models DEM) generated from different sources (remote sensing, Aerial Images, Lidar) poses the question about how to integrate and make available to the most than possible audience this huge amount of data. In order to exploit the potential of 3D elevation representation the quality of data management plays a fundamental role. Due to the high acquisition costs and the huge amount of generated data, highresolution terrain surveys tend to be small or medium sized and available on limited portion of earth. Here comes the need to merge large-scale height maps that typically are made available for free at worldwide level, with very specific high resolute datasets. One the other hand, the third dimension increases the user experience and the data representation quality, unlocking new possibilities in data analysis for civil protection, real estate, urban planning, environment monitoring, etc. The open-source 3D virtual globes, which are trending topics in Geovisual Analytics, aim at improving the visualization of geographical data provided by standard web services or with proprietary formats. Typically, 3D Virtual globes like do not offer an open-source tool that allows the generation of a terrain elevation data structure starting from heterogeneous-resolution terrain datasets. This paper describes a technological solution aimed to set up a so-called “Terrain Builder”. This tool is able to merge heterogeneous-resolution datasets, and to provide a multi-resolution worldwide terrain services fully compatible with CesiumJS and therefore accessible via web using traditional browser without any additional plug-in.

Keywords: Terrain Builder, WebGL, Virtual Globe, CesiumJS, Tiled Map Service, TMS, Height-Map, Regular Grid, Geovisual Analytics, DTM

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Authors: Usama Massoud, Abeer A. Kenawy, El-Said A. Ragab, Abbas M. Abbas, Heba M. El-Kosery

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Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and Transient Electro Magnetic (TEM) survey have been applied for characterizing the groundwater aquifers at El Sadat industrial area. El-Sadat city is one of the most important industrial cities in Egypt. It has been constructed more than three decades ago at about 80 km northwest of Cairo along the Cairo–Alexandria desert road. Groundwater is the main source of water supplies required for domestic, municipal, and industrial activities in this area due to the lack of surface water sources. So, it is important to maintain this vital resource in order to sustain the development plans of this city. In this study, VES and TEM data were identically measured at 24 stations along three profiles trending NE–SW with the elongation of the study area. The measuring points were arranged in a grid like pattern with both inter-station spacing and line–line distance of about 2 km. After performing the necessary processing steps, the VES and TEM data sets were inverted individually to multi-layer models, followed by a joint inversion of both data sets. Joint inversion process has succeeded to overcome the model-equivalence problem encountered in the inversion of individual data set. Then, the joint models were used for the construction of a number of cross sections and contour maps showing the lateral and vertical distribution of the geo-electrical parameters in the subsurface medium. Interpretation of the obtained results and correlation with the available geological and hydrogeological information revealed TWO aquifer systems in the area. The shallow Pleistocene aquifer consists of sand and gravel saturated with fresh water and exhibits large thickness exceeding 200 m. The deep Pliocene aquifer is composed of clay and sand and shows low resistivity values. The water bearing layer of the Pleistocene aquifer and the upper surface of Pliocene aquifer are continuous and no structural features have cut this continuity through the investigated area.

Keywords: El Sadat city, joint inversion, VES, TEM

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Authors: Y. A. Prada, Fanny Guzman, Rafael Cabanzo, John J. Castillo, Enrique Mejia-Ospino

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In this work, we show the important results about of synthesis of photoluminiscents gold nanoclusters using a small peptide as template for biosensing applications. Interestingly, we design one peptide (NBC2854) homologue to conservative domain from 215 250 residue of a galactolectin protein which can recognize the proteophosphoglycans (PPG) from Leishmania. Peptide was synthetized by multiple solid phase synthesis using FMoc group methodology in acid medium. Finally, the peptide was purified by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography using a Vydac C-18 preparative column and the detection was at 215 nm using a Photo Diode Array detector. Molecular mass of this peptide was confirmed by MALDI-TOF and to verify the α-helix structure we use Circular Dichroism. By means of the methodology used we obtained a novel fluorescents gold nanoclusters (AuNC) using NBC2854 as a template. In this work, we described an easy and fast microsonic method for the synthesis of AuNC with ≈ 3.0 nm of hydrodynamic size and photoemission at 630 nm. The presence of cysteine residue in the C-terminal of the peptide allows the formation of Au-S bond which confers stability to Peptide-based gold nanoclusters. Interactions between the peptide and gold nanoclusters were confirmed by X-ray Photoemission and Raman Spectroscopy. Notably, from the ultrafine spectra shown in the MALDI-TOF analysis which containing only 3-7 KDa species was assigned to Au₈-₁₈[NBC2854]₂ clusters. Finally, we evaluated the Peptide-gold nanocluster as an optical biosensor based on fluorescence spectroscopy and the fluorescence signal of PPG (0.1 µg-mL⁻¹ to 1000 µg-mL⁻¹) was amplified at the same wavelength emission (≈ 630 nm). This can suggest that there is a strong interaction between PPG and Pep@AuNC, therefore, the increase of the fluorescence intensity can be related to the association mechanism that take place when the target molecule is sensing by the Pep@AuNC conjugate. Further spectroscopic studies are necessary to evaluate the fluorescence mechanism involve in the sensing of the PPG by the Pep@AuNC. To our best knowledge the fabrication of an optical biosensor based on Pep@AuNC for sensing biomolecules such as Proteophosphoglycans which are secreted in abundance by parasites Leishmania.

Keywords: biosensing, fluorescence, Leishmania, peptide-gold nanoclusters, proteophosphoglycans

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Authors: Weber-Lewerenz Bianca

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Digitization is developing fast and has become a powerful tool for digital planning, construction, and operations. Its transformation bears high potentials for companies, is critical for success, and thus, requires responsible handling. This study provides an assessment of calls made in the sustainable development goals by the United Nations (SDGs), White Papers on AI by international institutions, EU-Commission and German Government requesting for the consideration and protection of values and fundamental rights, the careful demarcation between machine (artificial) and human intelligence and the careful use of such technologies. The study discusses digitization and the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) in construction engineering from an ethical perspective by generating data via conducting case studies and interviewing experts as part of the qualitative method. This research evaluates critically opportunities and risks revolving around corporate digital responsibility (CDR) in the construction industry. To the author's knowledge, no study has set out to investigate how CDR in construction could be conceptualized, especially in relation to the digitization and AI, to mitigate digital transformation both in large, medium-sized, and small companies. No study addressed the key research question: Where can CDR be allocated, how shall its adequate ethical framework be designed to support digital innovations in order to make full use of the potentials of digitization and AI? Now is the right timing for constructive approaches and apply ethics-by-design in order to develop and implement a safe and efficient AI. This represents the first study in construction engineering applying a holistic, interdisciplinary, inclusive approach to provide guidelines for orientation, examine benefits of AI and define ethical principles as the key driver for success, resources-cost-time efficiency, and sustainability using digital technologies and AI in construction engineering to enhance digital transformation. Innovative corporate organizations starting new business models are more likely to succeed than those dominated by conservative, traditional attitudes.

Keywords: construction engineering, digitization, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, ethics, corporate digital responsibility, digital innovation

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Authors: Peter Mc Coll, Alberto Caro, Chiara Gandolfo, Montserrat Labbe, Francisca Schnaidt, Michela Palazzi

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Self-esteem and emotional intelligence are variables that are related to people's nutritional status. Self-esteem may be at low levels in people living with obesity, while emotional intelligence can play an important role in the way people living with obesity cope. The objective of the study was to measure the association between self-esteem and emotional intelligence to nutritional status in adolescent population. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 179 adolescent schoolchildren between 13 and 19 years old from a public school. The objective was to evaluate nutritional status; weight and height were measured by calculating the body mass index and Z score. Self-esteem was evaluated using the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory adapted by Brinkmann and Segure. Emotional intelligence was measured using the Emotional Quotient Inventory: short, by Bar On, adapted questionnaire, translated into Spanish by López Zafra. For statistical analysis: Pearson's Chi-square test, Pearson's correlation, and odd ratio calculation were used, with a p value at a significance level < 5%. Results: The study group was composed of 71% female and 29% male. The nutritional status was distributed as eutrophic 41.9%, overweight 20.1%, and obesity 21.1%. In relation to self-esteem, 44.1% presented low and very low levels, without differences by gender. Emotional intelligence was distributed: low 3.4%, medium 81%, and high 13.4% -no differences according to gender. The association between nutritional status (overweight and obesity) with low and very low self-esteem, an odds ratio of 2.5 (95% CI 1.12 – 5.59) was obtained with a p-value = 0.02. The correlation analysis between the intrapersonal sub-dimension emotional intelligence scores and the Z score of nutritional status presented a negative correlation of r = - 0.209 with a p-value < 0.005. The correlation between emotional intelligence subdimension stress management with Z score presented a positive correlation of r = 0.0161 with a p-value < 0.05. In conclusion, the group of adolescents studied had a high prevalence of overweight and obesity, a high prevalence of low self-esteem, and a high prevalence of average emotional intelligence. Overweight and obese adolescents were 2.5 times more likely to have low self-esteem. As overweight and obesity increase, self-esteem decreases, and the ability to manage stress increases.

Keywords: self-esteem, emotional intelligence, obesity, adolescent, nutritional status

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Authors: Marinna Madrid, Nabiha Saklayen, Marinus Huber, Nicolas Vogel, Christos Boutopoulos, Michel Meunier, Eric Mazur

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Delivering material into cells is important for a diverse range of biological applications, including gene therapy, cellular engineering and imaging. We present a plasmonic substrate for delivering membrane-impermeable material into cells at high throughput and high efficiency while maintaining cell viability. The substrate fabrication is based on an affordable and fast colloidal self-assembly process. When illuminated with a femtosecond laser, the light interacts with the electrons at the surface of the metal substrate, creating localized surface plasmons that form bubbles via energy dissipation in the surrounding medium. These bubbles come into close contact with the cell membrane to form transient pores and enable entry of membrane-impermeable material via diffusion. We use fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry to verify delivery of membrane-impermeable material into HeLa CCL-2 cells. We show delivery efficiency and cell viability data for a range of membrane-impermeable cargo, including dyes and biologically relevant material such as siRNA. We estimate the effective pore size by determining delivery efficiency for hard fluorescent spheres with diameters ranging from 20 nm to 2 um. To provide insight to the cell poration mechanism, we relate the poration data to pump-probe measurements of micro- and nano-bubble formation on the plasmonic substrate. Finally, we investigate substrate stability and reusability by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to inspect for damage on the substrate after laser treatment. SEM images show no visible damage. Our findings indicate that self-assembled plasmonic substrates are an affordable tool for high-throughput, high-efficiency delivery of material into mammalian cells.

Keywords: femtosecond laser, intracellular delivery, plasmonic, self-assembly

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Authors: W. V. W. H. Wickramaarachchi, S. Walpalage, S. M. Egodage

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Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a multifunctional polymeric material which possesses a combination of excellent properties of parent materials. Basically, TPE has a rubber phase and a thermoplastic phase which gives processability as thermoplastics. When the rubber phase is partially or fully crosslinked in the thermoplastic matrix, TPE is called as thermoplastic elastomer vulcanizate (TPV). If the rubber phase is non-crosslinked, it is called as thermoplastic elastomer olefin (TPO). Nowadays TPEs are introduced into the commercial market with different products. However, the application of TPE as a roofing material is limited. Out of the commercially available roofing products from different materials, only single ply roofing membranes and plastic roofing sheets are produced from rubbers and plastics. Natural rubber (NR) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) are used in various industrial applications individually with some drawbacks. Therefore, this study was focused to develop both TPO and TPV blends from NR and HDPE at different compositions and then to identify the best blend composition to use as a roofing material. A series of blends by varying NR loading from 10 wt% to 50 wt%, at 10 wt% intervals, were prepared using a twin screw extruder. Dicumyl peroxide was used as a crosslinker for TPV. The standard properties for a roofing material like tensile properties tear strength, hardness, impact strength, water absorption, swell/gel analysis and thermal characteristics of the blends were investigated. Change of tensile strength after exposing to UV radiation was also studied. Tensile strength, hardness, tear strength, melting temperature and gel content of TPVs show higher values compared to TPOs at every loading studied, while water absorption and swelling index show lower values, suggesting TPVs are more suitable than TPOs for roofing applications. Most of the optimum properties were shown at 10/90 (NR/HDPE) composition. However, high impact strength and gel content were shown at 20/80 (NR/HDPE) composition. Impact strength, as being an energy absorbing property, is the most important for a roofing material in order to resist impact loads. Therefore, 20/80 (NR/HDPE) is identified as the best blend composition. UV resistance and other properties required for a roofing material could be achieved by incorporating suitable additives to TPVs.

Keywords: thermoplastic elastomer, natural rubber, high density polyethylene, roofing material

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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Integration sustainability outcomes give attention to construction ecology in the design review of urban environments to comply with Earth’s System that is composed of integral parts of the (i.e., physical, chemical and biological components). Naturally, exchange patterns of industrial ecology have consistent and periodic cycles to preserve energy flows and materials in Earth’s System. When engineering topology is affecting internal and external processes in system networks, it postulated the valence of the first-level spatial outcome (i.e., project compatibility success). These instrumentalities are dependent on relating the second-level outcome (i.e., participant security satisfaction). Construction ecology approach feedback energy from resources flows between biotic and abiotic in the entire Earth’s ecosystems. These spatial outcomes are providing an innovation, as entails a wide range of interactions to state, regulate and feedback “topology” to flow as “interdisciplinary equilibrium” of ecosystems. The interrelation dynamics of ecosystems are performing a process in a certain location within an appropriate time for characterizing their unique structure in “equilibrium patterns”, such as biosphere and collecting a composite structure of many distributed feedback flows. These interdisciplinary systems regulate their dynamics within complex structures. These dynamic mechanisms of the ecosystem regulate physical and chemical properties to enable a gradual and prolonged incremental pattern to develop a stable structure. The engineering topology of construction ecology for integration sustainability outcomes offers an interesting tool for ecologists and engineers in the simulation paradigm as an initial form of development structure within compatible computer software. This approach argues from ecology, resource savings, static load design, financial other pragmatic reasons, while an artistic/architectural perspective, these are not decisive. The paper described an attempt to unify analytic and analogical spatial modeling in developing urban environments as a relational setting, using optimization software and applied as an example of integrated industrial ecology where the construction process is based on a topology optimization approach.

Keywords: construction ecology, industrial ecology, urban topology, environmental planning

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Authors: Karen Jacob

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Over the last decades, there has been a rise in the use of CLIL (content and language integrated learning) methodology as a way of reinforcing FL (foreign language) acquisition. CLIL techniques have also been transferred to the formal instruction-based FL classroom where through content-based lessons and project work it can very often say that teachers are ‘clilling’ in the FL classroom. When it comes to motivating students to acquire an FL, we have to take into account that English is not your run-of-the-mill FL: English is an international language (EIL). Consequently, this means that EFL students should be able to use English as an international medium of communication. This leads to the assumption that along with FL competence, speakers of EIL will need to become competent international citizens with knowledge of other societies, both contextually and geographically, and be flexible, open-minded, respectful and sensitive towards other world groups. Rather than ‘intercultural’ competence we should be referring to ‘transcultural’ competence. This paper reports the implementation of a content- and task-based approach to EFL teaching which was applied to two groups of 15 year-olds from two schools on the Spanish island of Mallorca during the school year 2015-2016. Students worked on three units of work that aimed at ‘internationalising’ the classroom by introducing topics that would encourage them to become transculturally aware of the world in which they live. In this paper we discuss the feedback given by the teachers and students on various aspects of the approach in order to answer the following research questions: 1) To what extent were the students motivated by the content and activities of the classes?; 2) Did this motivation have a positive effect on the students’ overall results for the subject; 3) Did the participants show any signs of becoming transculturally aware. Preliminary results from qualitative data show that the students enjoyed the move away from the more traditional EFL content and, as a result, they became more competent in speaking and writing. Students also appeared to become more knowledgeable and respectful towards the ‘other’. The EFL approach described in this paper takes a more qualitative approach to research by describing what is really going on in the EFL classroom and makes a conscious effort to provide real examples of not only the acquisition of linguistic competence but also the acquisition of other important communication skills that are of utmost importance in today's international arena.

Keywords: CLIL, content- and task-based learning, internationalisation, transcultural competence

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Authors: Rutuja Upadhyay, Anurag Mehra

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Solid food foams/cellular foods are colloidal systems which impart structure, texture and mouthfeel to many food products such as bread, cakes, ice-cream, meringues, etc. Their heterogeneous morphology makes the quantification of structure/mechanical relationships complex. The porous structure of solid food foams is highly influenced by the processing conditions, ingredient composition, and their interactions. Sensory perceptions of food foams are dependent on bubble size, shape, orientation, quantity and distribution and determines the texture of foamed foods. The state and structure of the solid matrix control the deformation behavior of the food, such as elasticity/plasticity or fracture, which in turn has an effect on the force-deformation curves. The obvious step in obtaining the relationship between the mechanical properties and the porous structure is to quantify them simultaneously. Here, we attempt to research food foams such as bread dough, baked bread and steamed rice cakes to determine the link between ingredients and the corresponding effect of each of them on the rheology, microstructure, bubble size and texture of the final product. Dynamic rheometry (SAOS), confocal laser scanning microscopy, flatbed scanning, image analysis and texture profile analysis (TPA) has been used to characterize the foods studied. In all the above systems, there was a common observation that when the mean bubble diameter is smaller, the product becomes harder as evidenced by the increase in storage and loss modulus (G′, G″), whereas when the mean bubble diameter is large the product is softer with decrease in moduli values (G′, G″). Also, the bubble size distribution affects texture of foods. It was found that bread doughs with hydrocolloids (xanthan gum, alginate) aid a more uniform bubble size distribution. Bread baking experiments were done to study the rheological changes and mechanisms involved in the structural transition of dough to crumb. Steamed rice cakes with xanthan gum (XG) addition at 0.1% concentration resulted in lower hardness with a narrower pore size distribution and larger mean pore diameter. Thus, control of bubble size could be an important parameter defining final food texture.

Keywords: food foams, rheology, microstructure, texture

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Authors: Ahmed AlNouss, Salim Ahmed

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Process control refers to the techniques to control the variables in a process in order to maintain them at their desired values. Advanced process control (APC) is a broad term within the domain of control where it refers to different kinds of process control and control related tools, for example, model predictive control (MPC), statistical process control (SPC), fault detection and classification (FDC) and performance assessment. APC is often used for solving multivariable control problems and model predictive control (MPC) is one of only a few advanced control methods used successfully in industrial control applications. Advanced control is expected to bring many benefits to the plant operation; however, the extent of the benefits is plant specific and the application needs a large investment. This requires an analysis of the expected benefits before the implementation of the control. In a real plant simulation studies are carried out along with some experimentation to determine the improvement in the performance of the plant due to advanced control. In this research, such an exercise is undertaken to realize the needs of APC application. The main objectives of the paper are as follows: (1) To apply MPC to a number of simulations set up to realize the need of MPC by comparing its performance with that of proportional integral derivatives (PID) controllers. (2) To study the effect of controller parameters on control performance. (3) To develop appropriate performance index (PI) to compare the performance of different controller and develop novel idea to present tuning map of a controller. These objectives were achieved by applying PID controller and a special type of MPC which is dynamic matrix control (DMC) on the multi-tanks process simulated in loop-pro. Then the controller performance has been evaluated by changing the controller parameters. This performance was based on special indices related to the difference between set point and process variable in order to compare the both controllers. The same principle was applied for continuous stirred tank heater (CSTH) and continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) processes simulated in Matlab. However, in these processes some developed programs were written to evaluate the performance of the PID and MPC controllers. Finally these performance indices along with their controller parameters were plotted using special program called Sigmaplot. As a result, the improvement in the performance of the control loops was quantified using relevant indices to justify the need and importance of advanced process control. Also, it has been approved that, by using appropriate indices, predictive controller can improve the performance of the control loop significantly.

Keywords: advanced process control (APC), control loop, model predictive control (MPC), proportional integral derivatives (PID), performance indices (PI)

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Authors: Celestine Mbakaan, Iorkyaa Ahemen, A. D. Onoja, A. N. Amah, Emmanuel Barki

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Rice husk (RH) is a natural sheath that forms and covers the grain of rice. The husk composed of hard materials, including opaline silica and lignin. It separates from its grain during rice milling. RH also contains approximately 15 to 28 wt % of silica in hydrated amorphous form. Nanosilica was derived from the husk of different rice varieties after pre-treating the husk (RH) with HCl and calcination at 550°C. Nanosilica derived from the husk of Osi rice variety produced the highest silica yield, and further pretreatment with 0.8 M H₃PO₄ acid removed more mineral impurities. The silica obtained from this rice variety was selected as a host matrix for doping with Sm³⁺ ions. Rice husk silica (RH-SiO₂) doped with samarium (RH-SiO₂: xSm³⁺ (x=0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 molar ratios) nanophosphors were synthesized via the sol-gel method. The structural analysis by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) reveals amorphous structure while the surface morphology, as revealed by SEM and TEM, indicates agglomerates of nano-sized spherical particles with an average particle size measuring 21 nm. The nanophosphor has a large surface area measuring 198.0 m²/g, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) shows only a single absorption band which is strong and broad with a valley at 1063 cm⁻¹. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) shows strong absorptions at 319, 345, 362, 375, 401, and 474 nm, which can be exclusively assigned to the 6H5/2→4F11/2, 3H7/2, 4F9/2, 4D5/2, 4K11/2, and 4M15/2 + 4I11/2, transitions of Sm³⁺ respectively. The photoluminescence excitation spectra show that near UV and blue LEDs can effectively be used as excitation sources to produce red-orange and yellow-orange emission from Sm³⁺ ion-doped RH-SiO₂ nanophosphors. The photoluminescence (PL) of the nanophosphors gives three main lines; 568, 605, and 652 nm, which are attributed to the intra-4f shell transitions from the excited level to ground levels, respectively under excitation wavelengths of 365 and 400 nm. The result, as confirmed from the 1931 CIE coordinates diagram, indicates the emission of red-orange light by RH-SiO₂: xSm³⁺ (x=0.01 and 0.1 molar ratios) and yellow-orange light from RH-SiO₂: 0.05 Sm³⁺. Finally, the result shows that RH-SiO₂ doped with samarium (Sm³⁺) ions can be applicable in display applications.

Keywords: luminescence, nanosilica, nanophosphors, Sm³⁺

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Authors: Fumihiro Ima, Shinichi Watanabe, Shingo Maeda, Haruna Imai, Hiroki Niimi

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It is important to know growth rate of brain tumors before surgery because it influences treatment planning including not only surgical resection strategy but also adjuvant therapy after surgery. Amide proton transfer (APT) imaging is an emerging molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique based on chemical exchange saturation transfer without administration of contrast medium. The underlying assumption in APT imaging of tumors is that there is a close relationship between the proliferative activity of the tumor and mobile protein synthesis. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of APT imaging of pre-and post-treatment brain tumors. Ten patients with brain tumor underwent conventional and APT-weighted sequences on a 3.0 Tesla MRI before clinical intervention. The maximum and the minimum APT-weighted signals (APTWmax and APTWmin) in each solid tumor region were obtained and compared before and after clinical intervention. All surgical specimens were examined for histopathological diagnosis. Eight of ten patients underwent adjuvant therapy after surgery. Histopathological diagnosis was glioma in 7 patients (WHO grade 2 in 2 patients, WHO grade 3 in 3 patients and WHO grade 4 in 2 patients), meningioma WHO grade1 in 2 patients and primary lymphoma of the brain in 1 patient. High-grade gliomas showed significantly higher APTW-signals than that in low-grade gliomas. APTWmax in one huge parasagittal meningioma infiltrating into the skull bone was higher than that in glioma WHO grade 4. On the other hand, APTWmax in another convexity meningioma was the same as that in glioma WHO grade 3. Diagnosis of primary lymphoma of the brain was possible with APT imaging before pathological confirmation. APTW-signals in residual tumors decreased dramatically within one year after adjuvant therapy in all patients. APT imaging demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance for the planning of surgery and adjuvant therapy of brain tumors.

Keywords: amides, magnetic resonance imaging, brain tumors, cell proliferation

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Authors: Anil Koklu, Amin Mansoorifar, Ali Beskok

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Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is a noninvasive, label free technique for a long term real-time measurements of the impedance spectra of biological cells. DS enables characterization of cellular dielectric properties such as membrane capacitance and cytoplasmic conductivity. We have developed a lab-on-a-chip device that uses an electro-activated microwells array for loading, DS measurements, and unloading of biological cells. We utilized from dielectrophoresis (DEP) to capture target cells inside the wells and release them after DS measurement. DEP is a label-free technique that exploits differences among dielectric properties of the particles. In detail, DEP is the motion of polarizable particles suspended in an ionic solution and subjected to a spatially non-uniform external electric field. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first microfluidic chip that combines DEP and DS to analyze biological cells using electro-activated wells. Device performance is tested using two different cell lines of prostate cancer cells (RV122, PC-3). Impedance measurements were conducted at 0.2 V in the 10 kHz to 40 MHz range with 6 s time resolution. An equivalent circuit model was developed to extract the cell membrane capacitance and cell cytoplasmic conductivity from the impedance spectra. We report the time course of the variations in dielectric properties of PC-3 and RV122 cells suspended in low conductivity medium (LCB), which enhances dielectrophoretic and impedance responses, and their response to sudden pH change from a pH of 7.3 to a pH of 5.8. It is shown that microfluidic chip allowed online measurements of dielectric properties of prostate cancer cells and the assessment of the cellular level variations under external stimuli such as different buffer conductivity and pH. Based on these data, we intend to deploy the current device for single cell measurements by fabricating separately addressable N × N electrode platforms. Such a device will allow time-dependent dielectric response measurements for individual cells with the ability of selectively releasing them using negative-DEP and pressure driven flow.

Keywords: microfluidic, microfabrication, lab on a chip, AC electrokinetics, dielectric spectroscopy

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Authors: D. Castillo T., Luis F. Jimenez

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The compressed earth blocks (CEBs) constitute an alternative as a constructive element for building homes in regions with high levels of poverty and marginalization. Such is the case of Southeastern Mexico, where the population, predominantly indigene, build their houses with feeble materials like wood and palm, vulnerable to extreme weather in the area, because they do not have the financial resources to acquire concrete blocks. There are several advantages that can provide BTCs compared to traditional vibro-compressed concrete blocks, such as the availability of materials, low manufacturing cost and reduced CO2 emissions to the atmosphere for not be subjected to a burning process. However, to improve its mechanical properties and resistance to adverse weather conditions in terms of humidity and temperature of the sub-humid climate zones, it requires the use of a chemical stabilizer; in this case we chose Ca(OH)2. The stabilization method Eades-Grim was employed, according to ASTM C977-03. This method measures the optimum amount of lime required to stabilize the soil, increasing the pH to 12.4 or higher. The minimum amount of lime required in this experiment was 1% and the maximum was 10%. The employed material was clay unconsolidated low to medium plasticity (CL type according to the Unified Soil Classification System). Based on these results, the CEBs manufacturing process was determined. The obtained blocks were from 10x15x30 cm using a mixture of soil, water and lime in different proportions. Later these blocks were put to dry outdoors and subjected to several physical and mechanical tests, such as compressive strength, absorption and drying shrinkage. The results were compared with the limits established by the Mexican Standard NMX-C-404-ONNCCE-2005 for the construction of housing walls. In this manner an alternative and sustainable material was obtained for the construction of rural households in the region, with better security conditions, comfort and cost.

Keywords: calcium hydroxide, chemical stabilization, compressed earth blocks, sub-humid warm weather

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