Search results for: cable type selection

Authors: Masoud Mahdavi, Mojtaba Farzaneh Moghadam

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The seismic forces caused by the waves created in the depths of the earth during the earthquake hit the structure and cause the building to vibrate. Creating large seismic forces will cause low-strength sections in the structure to suffer extensive surface damage. The use of new steel shear walls in steel structures has caused the strength of the building and its main members (columns) to increase due to the reduction and depreciation of seismic forces during earthquakes. In the present study, an attempt was made to evaluate a type of steel shear wall that has regular holes in the inner sheet by modeling the finite element model with Abacus software. The shear wall of the steel plate, measuring 6000 × 3000 mm (one floor) and 3 mm thickness, was modeled with four different pores with a cross-sectional area. The shear wall was dynamically subjected to a time history of 5 seconds by three accelerators, El Centro, Imperial Valley and Kobe. The results showed that increasing the distance between the geometric center of the hole and the geometric center of the inner plate in the steel shear wall (increasing the R_CS index) caused the total maximum acceleration to be transferred from the perimeter of the hole to horizontal and vertical beams. The results also show that there is no direct relationship between R_CS index and total acceleration in steel shear wall and R_CS index is separate from the peak ground acceleration value of earthquake.

Keywords: hollow steel plate shear wall, time history analysis, finite element method, abaqus software

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Authors: Sih-Li Chen, Chih-Hao Chen, Chi-Tong Chan

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Poor ventilation and high carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations lead to the formation of sick buildings. This problem cannot simply be resolved by introducing fresh air from outdoor environments because this creates extra loads on indoor air-conditioning systems. Desiccants are widely used in air conditioning systems in tropical and subtropical regions with high humidity to reduce the latent heat load from fresh air. Desiccants are usually used as a packed-bed type, which is low cost, to combine with air-conditioning systems. Nevertheless, the pressure drop of a packed bed is too high, and the heat of adsorption caused by the adsorption process lets the temperature of the outlet air increase, bringing about an extra heat load, so the high pressure drop and the increased temperature of the outlet air are energy consumption sources needing to be resolved. For this reason, the gas-solid fluidised beds that have high heat and mass transfer rates, uniform properties and low pressure drops are very suitable for use in air-conditioning systems.This study experimentally investigates the performance of silica gel fluidized bed device which applying to an air conditioning system. In the experiments, commercial silica gel particles were filled in the two beds and to form a fixed packed bed and a fluidized bed. The results indicated that compared to the fixed packed bed device, the total adsorption and desorption by amounts of fluidized bed for 40 minutes increased 20.6% and 19.9% respectively when the bed height was 10 cm and superficial velocity was set to 2 m/s. In addition, under this condition, the pressure drop and outlet air temperature raise were reduced by 36.0% and 30.0%. Given the above results, application of the silica gel fluidized bed to air conditioning systems has great energy-saving potential.

Keywords: fluidized bed, packed bed, silica gel, adsorption, desorption, pressure drop

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Authors: H. Aldewachi, M. Hines, M. McCulloch, N. Woodroofe, P. Gardiner

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DPP-IV is an enzyme whose expression is affected in a variety of diseases, therefore, has been identified as possible diagnostic or prognostic marker for various tumours, immunological, inflammatory, neuroendocrine, and viral diseases. Recently, DPP-IV enzyme has been identified as a novel target for type II diabetes treatment where the enzyme is involved. There is, therefore, a need to develop sensitive and specific methods that can be easily deployed for the screening of the enzyme either as a tool for drug screening or disease marker in biological samples. A variety of assays have been introduced for the determination of DPP-IV enzyme activity using chromogenic and fluorogenic substrates, nevertheless these assays either lack the required sensitivity especially in inhibited enzyme samples or displays low water solubility implying difficulty for use in vivo samples in addition to labour and time-consuming sample preparation. In this study, novel strategies based on exploiting the high extinction coefficient of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are investigated in order to develop fast, specific and reliable enzymatic assay by investigating synthetic peptide sequences containing a DPP IV cleavage site and coupling them to GNPs. The DPP IV could be detected by colorimetric response of peptide capped GNPs (P-GNPS) that could be monitored by a UV-visible spectrophotometer or even naked eyes, and the detection limit could reach 0.01 unit/ml. The P-GNPs, when subjected to DPP IV, showed excellent selectivity compared to other proteins (thrombin and human serum albumin) , which led to prominent colour change. This provided a simple and effective colorimetric sensor for on-site and real-time detection of DPP IV.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, synthetic peptides, colorimetric detection, DPP-IV enzyme

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Authors: Neslihan Beyazit, Sahin Bayraktar, Cahit Demetgul

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Transition metal ions have an important role in biochemistry and biomimetic systems and may provide the basis of models for active sites of biological targets. The presence of copper(II), iron(II) and zinc(II) is crucial in many biological processes. Tetradentate N2O2 donor Schiff base ligands are well known to form stable transition metal complexes and these complexes have also applications in clinical and analytical fields. In this study, we present salient structural features and the details of cathecholase activity of Fe(II) complex of a new Schiff Base ligand. A new asymmetrical N2O2 donor Schiff base ligand and its Fe(II) complex were synthesized by condensation of 4-nitro-1,2 phenylenediamine with 6-formyl-7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-2-methylbenzopyran-4-one and by using an appropriate Fe(II) salt, respectively. Schiff base ligand and its metal complex were characterized by using FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, UV-Vis, elemental analysis and magnetic susceptibility. In order to determine the kinetics parameters of catechol oxidase-like activity of Schiff base Fe(II) complex, the oxidation of the 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (3,5-DTBC) was measured at 25°C by monitoring the increase of the absorption band at 390-400 nm of the product 3,5-di-tert-butylcatequinone (3,5-DTBQ). The compatibility of catalytic reaction with Michaelis-Menten kinetics also investigated by the method of initial rates by monitoring the growth of the 390–400 nm band of 3,5-DTBQ as a function of time. Kinetic studies showed that Fe(II) complex of the new N2O2 donor Schiff base ligand was capable of acting as a model compound for simulating the catecholase properties of type-3 copper proteins.

Keywords: catecholase activity, Michaelis-Menten kinetics, Schiff base, transition metals

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Authors: Laura E. Monroe

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As more non-native English-speaking students enroll in English-medium universities, even more faculty will instruct students who are unprepared for the rigors of post-secondary academic writing in English. Many faculty members lack training and knowledge regarding the assessment of non-native English-speaking students’ writing, as well as the ability to provide effective feedback. This quantitative study investigated the possible attitudinal factors, including demographics, which might affect faculty preparedness and grading practices for both native and non-native English-speaking students’ academic writing and plagiarism, as well as the reasons faculty do not deduct points from both populations’ writing errors. Structural equation modeling and SPSS Statistics were employed to analyze the results of a faculty questionnaire disseminated to individuals who had taught non-native English-speaking students in academic subject courses. The findings from this study illustrated that faculty’s native language, years taught, and institution type were significant factors in not deducting points for academic writing errors and plagiarism, and the major reasons for not deducting points for errors were that faculty had too many students to grade, not enough training in assessing student written errors and plagiarism and that the errors and plagiarism would have taken too long to explain. The practical implications gleaned from these results can be applied to most departments in English-medium post-secondary institutions regarding faculty preparedness and training in student academic writing errors and plagiarism, and recommendations for future research are given for similar types of preparation and guidance for post-secondary faculty, regardless of degree path or academic subject.

Keywords: assessment, faculty, non-native English-speaking students, writing

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Authors: A. T. Al-Isawi, P. E. F. Collins

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The behaviour of structures exposed to fire after an earthquake is not a new area of engineering research, but there remain a number of areas where further work is required. Such areas relate to the way in which seismic excitation is applied to a structure, taking into account the effect of soil-structure interaction (SSI) and the method of analysis, in addition to identifying the excitation load properties. The selection of earthquake data input for use in nonlinear analysis and the method of analysis are still challenging issues. Thus, realistic artificial ground motion input data must be developed to certify that site properties parameters adequately describe the effects of the nonlinear inelastic behaviour of the system and that the characteristics of these parameters are coherent with the characteristics of the target parameters. Conversely, ignoring the significance of some attributes, such as frequency content, soil site properties and earthquake parameters may lead to misleading results, due to the misinterpretation of required input data and the incorrect synthesise of analysis hypothesis. This paper presents a study of the post-earthquake fire (PEF) performance of a multi-storey steel-framed building resting on soft clay, taking into account the effects of the nonlinear inelastic behaviour of the structure and soil, and the soil-structure interaction (SSI). Structures subjected to an earthquake may experience various levels of damage; the geometrical damage, which indicates the change in the initial structure’s geometry due to the residual deformation as a result of plastic behaviour, and the mechanical damage which identifies the degradation of the mechanical properties of the structural elements involved in the plastic range of deformation. Consequently, the structure presumably experiences partial structural damage but is then exposed to fire under its new residual material properties, which may result in building failure caused by a decrease in fire resistance. This scenario would be more complicated if SSI was also considered. Indeed, most earthquake design codes ignore the probability of PEF as well as the effect that SSI has on the behaviour of structures, in order to simplify the analysis procedure. Therefore, the design of structures based on existing codes which neglect the importance of PEF and SSI can create a significant risk of structural failure. In order to examine the criteria for the behaviour of a structure under PEF conditions, a two-dimensional nonlinear elasto-plastic model is developed using ABAQUS software; the effects of SSI are included. Both geometrical and mechanical damages have been taken into account after the earthquake analysis step. For comparison, an identical model is also created, which does not include the effects of soil-structure interaction. It is shown that damage to structural elements is underestimated if SSI is not included in the analysis, and the maximum percentage reduction in fire resistance is detected in the case when SSI is included in the scenario. The results are validated using the literature.

Keywords: Abaqus Software, Finite Element Analysis, post-earthquake fire, seismic analysis, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Nebiyou Masebo

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The rapid conversion of an old aged agroforestry (AF) based agricultural system to monocropping farming system in southern Ethiopia is increasing. The consequence of this, combined with climate change, has been impaired biodiversity, soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and soil organic carbon (SOC). The AF system could curb such problems due it is an ecologically and economically sustainable strategies. This study was aimed to investigate different agroforestry practices (AFPs) on MBC and SOC in southern Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from homegarden based agroforestry practice (HAFP), crop land based agroforestry practice (ClAFP), woodlot based agroforestry practice (WlAFP), and trees on soil and water conservation based agroforestry practice (TSWAFP) using two depth layer (0-30 & 30-60 cm) by systematic sampling. Moreover, woody species inventorywas also collected. The chloroform fumigation extraction method was employed to determine MBC from different AFP types. In this study, the value of MBC and SOC decreased significantly with soil depth (p< 0.05). Besides, AFP type, soil depth, woody species diversity, and key soil properties also strongly influenced MBC and SOC (p< 0.05). In this study, the MBC was the highest (786 mg kg⁻¹ soil) in HAFP, followed by WlAFP (592 mg kg⁻¹ soil), TSWAFP (421 mg kg⁻¹ soil), and ClAFP (357 mg kg⁻¹ soil). The highest mean value of SOC (43.5Mg C ha⁻¹) was recorded in HAFP, followed by WlAFP (35.1Mg C ha⁻¹), TSWAFP (22.3 Mg C ha⁻¹), while the lowest (21.8 Mg C ha⁻¹) was recorded in ClAFP. The HAFP had high woody species diversity, and the lowest was recorded in ClAFP. The finding indicated that SOC and MBC were significantly affected by land management practices, and HAFP has the potential to improve MBC and SOC through good management practices of AFP.

Keywords: agroforestry practices, microbial biomass carbon, soil carbon, rapid conversion

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Authors: Adila Shaukat, Hussam Al Soub, Muna Al Maslamani, Abdullatif Al Khal

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Background: The aim of this study was to assess clinical presentation and antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcus (S.) anginosus group infections in Hamad General Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in the state of Qatar, which is a multinational community. The S. anginosus group is a subgroup of viridans streptococci that consist of 3 different species: S. anginosus, S. constellatus, and S. intermedius. Although a part of the human bacteria flora, they have potential to cause suppurative infections. Method: We studied a total of 101 patients with S. anginosus group infections from January 2006 until March 2012 by reviewing medical records and identification of organisms by VITEK 2 and MALDI-TOF. Results: The most common sites of infection were skin and soft tissue, intra-abdominal, and bacteremia (28.7%, 24.8%, and 22.7%, respectively). Abscess formation was seen in approximately 30% of patients. Streptococcus constellatus was the most common isolated species (40%) followed by S. anginosus(30%) and S. intermedius(7%). In 23% of specimens, the species was unidentified. The most common type of specimen for organism isolation was blood followed by pus and tissue (50%, 22%, and 8%, respectively). Streptococcus constellatus was more frequently associated with abdominal and skin and soft tissue infections than the other 2 species, whereas S. anginosus was isolated more frequently from blood. All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, ceftriaxone, and vancomycin. Susceptibility to erythromycin and clindamycin was also good, reaching 91% and 95%, respectively. Forty percent of patients needed surgical drainage along with antibiotic therapy. Conclusions: Identification of S. anginosus group to species level is helpful in clinical practice because different species exhibit different pathogenic potentials.

Keywords: abscess, bacterial infection, bacteremia, Streptococcus anginosus

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Authors: Ciro Cursio, Pio Luigi Cursio, Giulia Cursio, Isabella Chiardi, Luigi Cursio

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Introduction: Full-face aesthetic treatments often present a difficult task: since different patients possess different anatomical and tissue characteristics, there is no guarantee that the same treatment will have the same effect on multiple patients; additionally, full-face rejuvenation and beautification treatments require not only a high degree of technical skill but also the ability to choose the right product for each area and a keen artistic eye. Method: We present an artificial intelligence-based algorithm that can generate realistic post-treatment 3D models based on the patient’s requests together with the doctor’s input. These 3-dimensional predictions can be used by the practitioner for two purposes: firstly, they help ensure that the patient and the doctor are completely aligned on the expectations of the treatment; secondly, the doctor can use them as a visual guide, obtaining a natural result that would normally stem from the practitioner's artistic skills. To this end, the algorithm is able to predict injection zones, the type and quantity of hyaluronic acid, the injection depth, and the technique to use. Results: Our innovation consists in providing an objective visual representation of the patient that is helpful in the patient-doctor dialogue. The patient, based on this information, can express her desire to undergo a specific treatment or make changes to the therapeutic plan. In short, the patient becomes an active agent in the choices made before the treatment. Conclusion: We believe that this algorithm will reveal itself as a useful tool in the pre-treatment decision-making process to prevent both the patient and the doctor from making a leap into the dark.

Keywords: hyaluronic acid, fillers, full face, artificial intelligence, 3D

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Authors: Ting-Yu Lin, Han-Liang Lin

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This article is about the urban form of visualization by Cityengine. City is composed of different domains, and each domain has its own fabric because of arrangement. For example, a neighborhood unit contains fabrics such as schools, street networks, residential and commercial spaces. Therefore, studying urban morphology can help us understand the urban form in planning process. Streets, plots, and buildings seem as urban fabrics, and they configure urban form. Traditionally, urban morphology usually discussed single parameter, which is building type, ignoring other parameters such as streets and plots. However, urban space is three-dimensional, instead of two-dimensional. People perceive urban space by their visualization. Therefore, using visualization can fill the gap between two dimensions and three dimensions. Hence, the study of urban morphology will strengthen the understanding of whole appearance of a city. Cityengine is a software which can edit, analyze and monitor the data and visualize the result for GIS, a common tool to analyze data and display the map for urban plan and urban design. Cityengine can parameterize the data of streets, plots and building types and visualize the result in three-dimensional way. The research will reappear the real urban form by visualizing. We can know whether the urban form can be parameterized and the parameterized result can match the real urban form. Then, visualizing the result by software in three dimension to analyze the rule of urban form. There will be three stages of the research. It will start with a field survey of Tainan East District in Taiwan to conclude the relationships between urban fabrics of street networks, plots and building types. Second, to visualize the relationship, it will turn the relationship into codes which Cityengine can read. Last, Cityengine will automatically display the result by visualizing.

Keywords: Cityengine, urban fabric, urban morphology, visual simulation

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Authors: Masoud Soltani Hosseini, Fereshteh Rahmani, Mohammad Tajik Mansouri, Ali Zolghadr

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Climate change is accompanied with ambient temperature increase and water accessibility limitation. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of climate change on thermal power plants including gas turbines, steam and combined cycle power plants in Iran. For this purpose, the ambient temperature increase and water accessibility will be analyzed and their effects on power output and efficiency of thermal power plants will be determined. According to the results, the ambient temperature has high effect on steam power plants with indirect cooling system (Heller). The efficiency of this type of power plants decreases by 0.55 percent per 1oC ambient temperature increase. This amount is 0.52 and 0.2 percent for once-through and wet cooling systems, respectively. The decrease in power output covers a range of 0.2% to 0.65% for steam power plant with wet cooling system and gas turbines per 1oC air temperature increase. Based on the thermal power plants distribution in Iran and different scenarios of climate change, the total amount of power output decrease falls between 413 and 1661 MW due to ambient temperature increase. Another limitation incurred by climate change is water accessibility. In optimistic scenario, the power output of steam plants decreases by 1450 MW in dry and hot climate areas throughout next decades. The remaining scenarios indicate that the amount of decrease in power output would be by 4152 MW in highlands and cold climate. Therefore, it is necessary to consider appropriate solutions to overcome these limitations. Considering all the climate change effects together, the actual power output falls in range of 2465 and 7294 MW and efficiency loss covers the range of 0.12 to .56 % in different scenarios.

Keywords: climate, change, thermal, power plants

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Authors: Mayowa Adeyeye

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This study was conducted to investigate the psychological variables motivating sport participation and involvement among student-athletes of tertiary institutions in south-west Nigeria. One thousand three hundred and fifty (N-1350) student-athletes were randomly selected in all sports from nine tertiary institutions in south-west Nigeria. These tertiary institutions include University of Lagos, Lagos State University, Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State University, University of Ibadan, University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Federal University of Technology Akungba, University of Ilorin, and Kwara State University. The descriptive survey research method was adopted while a self developed validated likert type questionnaire named Sport Participation Scale (SPS) was used to elicit opinion from respondents. The test-retest reliability value obtained for the instrument, using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient was 0.96. Out of the one thousand three hundred and fifty (N-1350) questionnaire administered, only one thousand two hundred and five (N-1286) were correctly filled, coded and analysed using inferential statistics of Chi-Square (X2) while all the tested hypotheses were set at .05 alpha level. Based on the findings of this study, the result revealed that several psychological factors influence student athletes to continue participation in sport, which includes love for the game, famous athletes as role model and family support. However, the analysis further revealed that the stipends the student-athletes get from their universities have no influence on their participation and involvement in sport.

Keywords: sport participation, involvement, student-athletes, role model, family, peer

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Authors: Latifa Alenezi, Liz Croot, Janet Harris

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Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) is one of the most common and recurrent musculoskeletal problems that causes patients to access health care services frequently. The Bio-psychosocial Model emphasises that psychological, behavioural and social factors contribute to the development and persistence of CLBP. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychological pain management strategy that can be used by physiotherapists treating chronic low back pain. However, evidence of the effectiveness of CBT for CLBP varies between different studies. The proposed study was preceded by a mixed methods systematic review that found that CBT has a beneficial effect for CLBP patients when compared to waiting list or other treatments; however, there is variation in effectiveness across different settings. Little is known about how CBT is applied by physiotherapists in physiotherapy settings. The interest of this study is directed towards generating an explanation and understanding of why, when, and how some physiotherapists make decisions and choose to apply CBT for CLBP patients, whereas others do not. Also, how and for what type of CLBP patients does CBT work, and for whom might CBT not work? Therefore, the study will take a qualitative approach to explore CLBP patients’, physiotherapists’ and managers’ perceptions of CBT and how it is used in physiotherapy to enable a deeper understanding and richer explanation of CBT effectiveness and help to inform research and practice. The study will use grounded theory approach to generate an explanatory theory of the clinical application of CBT for CLBP in physiotherapy settings. Physiotherapists, patients and managers of physiotherapy services will be interviewed. Grounded theory techniques will be used to analyse the data. The presentation will describe findings from the interviews and the emerging theory. This research will help to further inform RCTs about the effectiveness of CBT for CLBP in physiotherapy.

Keywords: CBT, CLBP, perception, physiotherapy, theory

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Authors: Sara Hasani

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This research focuses on natural sudden onset disasters characterised as ‘occurring with little or no warning and often cause excessive injuries far surpassing the national response capacities’. Based on the panel analysis of the historic record of 4,252 natural onset disasters between 1980 to 2015, a predictive method was developed to predict the human impact of the disaster (fatality, injured, homeless) with less than 3% of errors. The geographical dispersion of the disasters includes every country where the data were available and cross-examined from various humanitarian sources. The records were then filtered into 4252 records of the disasters where the five predictive variables (disaster type, HDI, DRI, population, and population density) were clearly stated. The procedure was designed based on a combination of pattern recognition techniques and rule-based clustering for prediction and discrimination analysis to validate the results further. The result indicates that there is a relationship between the disaster human impact and the five socio-economic characteristics of the affected country mentioned above. As a result, a framework was put forward, which could predict the disaster’s human impact based on their severity rank in the early hours of disaster strike. The predictions in this model were outlined in two worst and best-case scenarios, which respectively inform the lower range and higher range of the prediction. A necessity to develop the predictive framework can be highlighted by noticing that despite the existing research in literature, a framework for predicting the human impact and estimating the needs at the time of the disaster is yet to be developed. This can further be used to allocate the resources at the response phase of the disaster where the data is scarce.

Keywords: disaster management, natural disaster, pattern recognition, prediction

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Authors: Palita Sooksamran, Katcharin Mahawong

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This research aims to offer the development of innovator teachers training curriculum to create instructional innovation according to active learning approach to enhance learning achievement. The research and development process is carried out in 3 steps: Step 1 The study of the needs necessary to develop a training curriculum: the inquiry was conducted by a sample of teachers in private schools in Phayao province that provide basic education at the level of education. Using a questionnaire of 176 people, the sample was defined using a table of random numbers and stratified samples, using the school as a random layer. Step 2 Training curriculum development: the tools used are developed training curriculum and curriculum assessments, with nine experts checking the appropriateness of the draft curriculum. The statistic used in data analysis is the average ( ) and standard deviation (S.D.) Step 3 study on effectiveness of training curriculum: one group pretest/posttest design applied in this study. The sample consisted of 35 teachers from private schools in Phayao province. The participants volunteered to attend on their own. The results of the research showed that: 1.The essential demand index needed with the list of essential needs in descending order is the choice and create of multimedia media, videos, application for learning management at the highest level ,Developed of multimedia, video and applications for learning management and selection of innovative learning management techniques and methods of solve the problem Learning , respectively. 2. The components of the training curriculum include principles, aims, scope of content, training activities, learning materials and resources, supervision evaluation. The scope of the curriculum consists of basic knowledge about learning management innovation, active learning, lesson plan design, learning materials and resources, learning measurement and evaluation, implementation of lesson plans into classroom and supervision and motoring. The results of the evaluation of quality of the draft training curriculum at the highest level. The Experts suggestion is that the purpose of the course should be used words that convey the results. 3. The effectiveness of training curriculum 1) Cognitive outcomes of the teachers in creating innovative learning management was at a high level of relative gain score. 2) The assessment results of learning management ability according to the active learning approach to enhance learning achievement by assessing from 2 education supervisor as a whole were very high , 3) Quality of innovation learning management based on active learning approach to enhance learning achievement of the teachers, 7 instructional Innovations were evaluated as outstanding works and 26 instructional Innovations passed the standard 4) Overall learning achievement of students who learned from 35 the sample teachers was at a high level of relative gain score 5) teachers' satisfaction towards the training curriculum was at the highest level.

Keywords: training curriculum, innovator teachers, active learning approach, learning achievement

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Authors: M. Zezou

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This paper focuses on the design of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and more specifically about how teachers can use CLIL as an educational approach incorporating technology in their teaching as well. All the four weeks of the MOOC will be presented and a step-by-step analysis of each lesson will be offered. Additionally, the paper includes detailed lesson plans about CLIL lessons with proposed CLIL activities and games in which technology plays a central part. The MOOC is structured based on certain criteria, in order to ensure success, as well as a positive experience that the learners need to have after completing this MOOC. It addresses to all language teachers who would like to implement CLIL into their teaching. In other words, it presents the methodology that needs to be followed so as to successfully carry out a CLIL lesson and achieve the learning objectives set at the beginning of the course. Firstly, in this paper, it is very important to give the definitions of MOOCs and LMOOCs, as well as to explore the difference between a structure-based MOOC (xMOOC) and a connectivist MOOC (cMOOC) and present the criteria of a successful MOOC. Moreover, the notion of CLIL will be explored, as it is necessary to fully understand this concept before moving on to the design of the MOOC. Onwards, the four weeks of the MOOC will be introduced as well as lesson plans will be presented: The type of the activities, the aims of each activity and the methodology that teachers have to follow. Emphasis will be placed on the role of technology in foreign language learning and on the ways in which we can involve technology in teaching a foreign language. Final remarks will be made and a summary of the main points will be offered at the end.

Keywords: CLIL, cMOOC, lesson plan, LMOOC, MOOC criteria, MOOC, technology, xMOOC

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Authors: Rachel Hetherington, Chad Deering, Ann Maclean, Snehamoy Chatterjee

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The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a soil survey and subsequent mineralogical and geochemical analyses of over 4800 samples taken across the contiguous United States between the years 2007 and 2013. At each location, samples were taken from the top 5 cm, the A-horizon, and the C-horizon. Many studies have looked at the correlation between the mineralogical and geochemical content of soils and influencing factors such as parent lithology, climate, soil type, and age, but it seems little has been done in relation to quantifying and assessing the correlation between elements in the soil on a national scale. GIS was used for the mapping and multivariate interpolation of over 40 major and trace elements for surficial soils (0-5 cm depth). Qualitative analysis of the spatial distribution across the U.S. shows distinct patterns amongst elements both within the same periodic groups and within different periodic groups, and therefore with different behavioural characteristics. Results show the emergence of 4 main patterns of high concentration areas: vertically along the west coast, a C-shape formed through the states around Utah and northern Arizona, a V-shape through the Midwest and connecting to the Appalachians, and along the Appalachians. The Band Collection Statistics tool in GIS was used to quantitatively analyse the geochemical raster datasets and calculate a correlation matrix. Patterns emerged, which were not identified in qualitative analysis, many of which are also amongst elements with very different characteristics. Preliminary results show 41 element pairings with a strong positive correlation ( ≥ 0.75). Both qualitative and quantitative analyses on this scale could increase knowledge on the relationships between element distribution and behaviour in surficial soils of the U.S.

Keywords: correlation matrix, geochemical analyses, spatial distribution of elements, surficial soils

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Authors: Konstans Ruseva, Kristina Ivanova, Katerina Todorova, Margarita Gabrashanska, Tzanko Tzanov, Elena Vassileva

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Zwitterionic polymers (ZP) are well-known with their ultralow biofouling. They are successfully competing with poly(ethylene glycols) (PEG), which are considered as the “golden standard” in this respect. These unique properties are attributed to their strong hydration capacity, defined by the dipole-dipole interactions, arising between the ZP pendant groups as well as to the dipoles interaction with water molecules. Beside, ZP are highly resistant to bacterial adhesion thus ensuring an excellent anti-biofilm formation ability. Moreover, ZP are able to respond upon external stimuli such as temperature, pH, salt concentration changes which in combination with their anti-biofouling effect render this type of polymers as materials with a high potential in biomedical applications. The present work is focused on the development of zwitterionic hydrogels for efficient treatment of highly exudating and hard-to-heal chronic wounds. To this purpose, two types of ZP networks with different crosslinking degree were synthesized - polysulfobetaine (PSB) and polycarboxybetaine (PCB) ones. They were characterized in terms of their physico-mechanical properties, e.g. microhardness, swelling ability, smart behaviour. Furthermore, the potential of ZP networks to resist biofilm formation towards Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was studied. Their ability to reduce the high levels of myeloperoxidase and metalloproteinase, two enzymes that are part of the chronic wounds enviroenment, was revealed. Moreover, the in vitro cytotoxic assessment of PSB and PCB networks along with their in vivo performance in rats was also studied to reveal their high biocompatibility.

Keywords: absorption properties, biocompatibility, enzymatic inhibition activity, wound healing, zwitterionic polymers

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Authors: Lila D. Sigdel, Chin J. Leo, Samanthika Liyanapathirana, Pan Hu, Minghao Lu

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Integral bridges are a class of bridges with integral or semi-integral abutments, designed without expansion joints in the bridge deck of the superstructure. Integral bridges are economical alternatives to conventional jointed bridges with lower maintenance costs and greater durability, thereby improving social and economic stability for the community. Integral bridges have also been proven to be effective in lowering the overall construction cost compared to the conventional type of bridges. However, there is significant uncertainty related to the design and analysis of integral bridges in response to cyclic thermal movements induced due to deck expansion and contraction. The cyclic thermal movements of the abutments increase the lateral earth pressures on the abutment and its foundation, leading to soil settlement and heaving of the backfill soil. Thus, the primary objective of this paper is to investigate the soil-abutment interaction under the cyclic translational movement of the abutment. Results from five experiments conducted to simulate different magnitudes of cyclic translational movements of abutments induced by thermal changes are presented, focusing on lateral earth pressure development at the abutment-soil interface. Test results show that the cycle number and magnitude of cyclic translational movements have significant effects on the escalation of lateral earth pressures. Experimentally observed earth pressure distributions behind the integral abutment were compared with the current design approaches, which shows that the most of the practices has under predicted the lateral earth pressure.

Keywords: integral bridge, cyclic thermal movement, lateral earth pressure, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Md Imtiaz, Sanchita Dei, Shubham Damke

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In recent years, there has been a rapidly accelerating shift from traditional surface processing operations to subsea processing operation. This shift has been driven by a number of factors including the depletion of shallow fields around the world, technological advances in subsea processing equipment, the need for production from marginal fields, and lower initial upfront investment costs compared to traditional production facilities. Moving production facilities to the seafloor offers a number of advantage, including a reduction in field development costs, increased production rates from subsea wells, reduction in the need for chemical injection, minimization of risks to worker ,reduction in spills due to hurricane damage, and increased in oil production by enabling production from marginal fields. Subsea processing consists of a range of technologies for separation, pumping, compression that enables production from offshore well without the need for surface facilities. At present, there are two primary technologies being used for subsea processing: subsea multiphase pumping and subsea separation. Multiphase pumping is the most basic subsea processing technology. Multiphase pumping involves the use of boosting system to transport the multiphase mixture through pipelines to floating production vessels. The separation system is combined with single phase pumps or water would be removed and either pumped to the surface, re-injected, or discharged to the sea. Subsea processing can allow for an entire topside facility to be decommissioned and the processed fluids to be tied back to a new, more distant, host. This type of application reduces costs and increased both overall facility and integrity and recoverable reserve. In future, full subsea processing could be possible, thereby eliminating the need for surface facilities.

Keywords: FPSO, marginal field, Subsea processing, SWAG

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Authors: Peter Parkinson

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The research investigates the effects of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and fabric composition on the drying times of blood and assesses the degree of blood transfer that can occur during the drying process. An assortment of fabrics, of different composition and thicknesses, were collected and stained using two blood volumes and exposed to varying environmental conditions. The conclusion reached was that temperature, humidity, wind speed, and fabric thickness do have an effect on drying times. An increase in temperature and wind speed results in a decrease in drying times while an increase in fabric thickness and humidity extended the drying times of blood under similar conditions. Transfer experimentation utilized three donor fabrics, 100% white cotton, 100% acrylic, and 100% cotton denim, which were bloodstained using two blood volumes. The fabrics were subjected to both full and low/light force contact from the donor fabrics onto the recipient fabric, under different environmental conditions. Transfer times onto the 100% white cotton (recipient fabric) from all donor fabrics were shorter than the drying times observed. The intensities of the bloodstains decreased from high to low with time during the drying process. The degree of transfer at high, medium, and low intensities varied significantly between different materials and is dependent on the environmental conditions, fabric compositions, blood volumes, the type of contact (full or light force), and the drying times observed for the respective donor fabrics. These factors should be considered collectively and conservatively when assessing the time frame of secondary transfer in casework.

Keywords: blood, drying time, blood stain transfer, different environmental conditions, fabrics

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Authors: Seongho Han, Dongkwan Kim

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The focus of regional innovation policies is shifting from a central government to local governments. The central government demands that regions enforce autonomous and responsible regional innovation policies and that regional governments seek for innovation policies fit for regional characteristics. However, the central government and local governments have not arrived yet at a conclusion on what innovation policies are appropriate for regional circumstances. In particular, even if each local government is trying to find regional innovation strategies that are based on the needs of a region, its innovation strategies turn out to be similar with those of other regions. This leads to a consequence that is inefficient not only at a national level, but also at a regional level. Existing researches on regional innovation types point out that there are remarkable differences in the types or characteristics of innovation among the regions of a nation. In addition they imply that there would be no expected innovation output in cases in which policies are enforced with ignoring such differences. This means that it is undesirable to enforce regional innovation policies under a single standard. This research, given this problem, aims to find out the characteristics and differences in innovation types among the regions in Korea and suggests appropriate policy implications by classifying such characteristics and differences. This research, given these objectives, classified regions in consideration of the various indicators that comprise the innovation suggested by existing related researches and illustrated policies based on such characteristics and differences. This research used recent data, mainly from 2012, and as a methodology, clustering analysis based on multiple factor analysis was applied. Supplementary researches on dynamically analyzing stability in regional innovation types, establishing systematic indicators based on the regional innovation theory, and developing additional indicators are necessary in the future.

Keywords: regional innovation policy, regional innovation type, region-based innovation, multiple factor analysis, clustering analysis

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Authors: Babu Veeregowda, Rongfang Liu

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The current traffic impact assessment methodology and environmental quality review process for approval of land development project are conventional, stagnant, and one-dimensional. The environmental review policy and procedure lacks in providing the direction to regulate or seek alternative land uses and sizes that exploits the existing or surrounding elements of built environment (‘4 D’s’ of development – Density, Diversity, Design, and Distance to Transit) or smart growth principles which influence the travel behavior and have a significant effect in reducing vehicular traffic. Additionally, environmental review policy does not give directions on how to incorporate urban planning into the development in ways such as incorporating non-motorized roadway elements such as sidewalks, bus shelters, and access to community facilities. This research developed a methodology to optimize the mix of land uses and sizes using the heuristic optimization process to minimize the auto dependency development and to meet the interests of key stakeholders. A case study of Willets Point Mixed Use Development in Queens, New York, was used to assess the benefits of the methodology. The approved Willets Point Mixed Use project was based on maximum envelop of size and land use type allowed by current conventional urban renewal plans. This paper will also evaluate the parking accumulation for various land uses to explore the potential for shared parking to further optimize the mix of land uses and sizes. This research is very timely and useful to many stakeholders interested in understanding the benefits of integrated land uses and its development.

Keywords: traffic impact, mixed use, optimization, trip generation

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Authors: Mohamad Reza Khodabakhsh

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Drug use and addiction are major biological, psychological, and social problems. In drug abuse treatment, it is important to pay attention to personality problems and coping methods of patients. Today, the third-wave treatments in psychotherapy emphasize people's awareness and acceptance of feelings and emotions, cognitions, and behaviors instead of challenging cognitions. For this reason, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment to self-criticism and coping strategies of people with drug use disorder. This research was a quasi-experimental type of research (pre-test-post-test design with an unequal control group), and the statistical population of this research included all men with drug use disorder in Mashhad, 174 of whom among the 75 people eligible for this research, 30 of them were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. In this research, Gilbert's self-criticism scale was used to measure self-criticism, and Andler and Barker's coping strategies questionnaire was used to measure coping strategies. Therapeutic intervention (treatment based on acceptance and commitment) was performed on the experimental group for eight sessions of 90 minutes, and then post-tests were taken from both groups, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that treatment based on acceptance and commitment significantly reduced self-criticism and improved coping strategies used by patients with drug use disorder (p>0.01). Therefore, treatment based on acceptance and commitment has been effective in reducing self-criticism and improving the coping strategies of patients with drug use disorder due to teaching clients to accept thoughts and conditions.

Keywords: treatment based on acceptance and commitment, self-criticism, coping strategies, addiction

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: J. Iqbal, Z. Zara

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Five new Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor (A-D-A) type small donor molecules (M1-M5) namely; dimethyl cyanoacetate terthiophene di(methylthiophene) dibenzosilole (DMCAO3TBS) (M1), dimelononitrile terthiophene di(methylthiophene) dibenzosilole (DMCNTBS) (M2), dimethyl rhodanine terthiophene di(methylthiophene) dibenzosilole (DMRTBS) (M3), dimelanonitrile terthiophene di(methylthiophene) methyl fluorene (DMCNTF) (M4) and dimethyl rhodanine terthiophene di(methylthiophene) methyl fluorine (DMRTF) (M5) were designed and theoretically explored their electronic, photophysical and geometrical properties via DFT best functional MPW1PW91/6-311G (d,p) level of theory with respect to reference molecules dioctyl cyanoacetate terthiophene di(octylthiophene) dioctylfluorene (DCAO3TF) (Ra) and dioctyl cyanoacetate terthiophene di(octylthiophene) octylcarbazole (DCAO3TCz) (Rb). Among the designed donor molecules (M1-M5), M2 and M4 represented lowest band gap value (2.480 eV and 2.47 eV) with distinctive broad absorption peak at 598 and 601 nm in chloroform due to the presence of stronger electron withdrawing acceptor molecule which pulls the λmax value towards red shift. Theoretically estimated reorganization energies of these molecules recommended excellent property of charge mobility. The designed donor molecules M1-M5, demonstrated lower λe value with reference to their λh, showing that these molecules could be ideal candidates for the transfer of electron with and M2, M4 are best among these as champion molecules with having lowest λe (0.006 D and 0.005 D respectively). Additionally, the Voc of M2 and M4 are 2.01 eV and 1.85 eV respectively with reference respect to PCBM. Thus, our present investigation suggested that our designed donor molecules (M1-M5) are suitable candidates for the solar cell and proposed for high and better performance for the small molecule based solar cell devices.

Keywords: dibenzisilol, donor materials, hole mobility, organic solar cells

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Authors: Ganesh K. Maurya, Reema Chaudhary, Neha Pandey, Hari S. Misra

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PprA, a pleiotropic protein participating in radioresistance, has been reported for its roles in DNA replication initiation, genome segregation, cell division and DNA repair in polyextremophile Deinococcus radiodurans. Interestingly, expression of deinococcal PprA in E. coli suppresses its growth by reducing the number of colony forming units and provides better resistance against γ-radiation than control. We employed different biochemical and cell biology studies using PprA and its DNA binding/polymerization mutants (K133E & W183R) in E. coli. Cells expressing wild type PprA or its K133E mutant showed reduction in the amount of genomic DNA as well as chromosome copy number in comparison to W183R mutant of PprA and control cells, which suggests the role of PprA protein in regulation of DNA replication initiation in E. coli. Further, E. coli cells expressing PprA or its mutants exhibited different impact on cell morphology than control. Expression of PprA or K133E mutant displayed a significant increase in cell length upto 5 folds while W183R mutant showed cell length similar to uninduced control cells. We checked the interaction of deinococcal PprA and its mutants with E. coli DnaA using Bacterial two-hybrid system and co-immunoprecipitation. We observed a functional interaction of EcDnaA with PprA and K133E mutant but not with W183R mutant of PprA. Further, PprA or K133E mutant has suppressed the ATPase activity of EcDnaA but W183R mutant of PprA failed to do so. These observations suggested that PprA protein regulates DNA replication initiation and cell morphology of surrogate E. coli.

Keywords: DNA replication, radioresistance, protein-protein interaction, cell morphology, ATPase activity

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Authors: Muhammad Bilal Qadir, Danish Umer, Amir Shahzad

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The use of conductive materials in smart and interactive textiles is gaining significant importance for creating value addition, innovation, and functional product development. These products find their potential applications in health monitoring, military, protection, communication, sensing, monitoring, actuation, fashion, and lifestyles. The materials which are most commonly employed in such type of interactive textile include intrinsically conducting polymers, conductive inks, and metallic coating on textile fabrics and inherently conducting metallic fibre yarns. In this study, silver coated polyester filament yarn is explored for the development of multifunctional interactive gloves. The composite yarn was developed by covering the silver coated polyester filament around the polyester spun yarn using hollow spindle technique. The electrical and tensile properties of the yarn were studied. This novel yarn was used to manufacture a smart glove to explore the antibacterial, functional, and interactive properties of the yarn. The change in electrical resistance due to finger movement at different bending positions and antimicrobial properties were studied. This glove was also found useful as an interactive tool to operate the commonly used touch screen devices due to its conductive nature. The yarn can also be used to develop the sensing elements like stretch, strain, and piezoresistive sensors. Such sensor can be effectively used in medical and sports textile for performance monitoring, vital signs monitoring and development of antibacterial textile for healthcare and hygiene.

Keywords: conductive yarn, interactive textiles, piezoresistive sensors, smart gloves

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Anyi Katherine Garzon Robles, Luis Carlos Gomez Florez

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Since the advent of the Internet, the use of Information Technologies (IT) has increased exponentially. The field of informatics and telecommunications has put on the table countless possibilities for the development of different socio-economic activities, promoting a change of social paradigm and the emergence of the so-called information and knowledge society. For more than a decade, the Colombian government has been working on the incorporation of IT into the public sector through an e-government strategy. However, to date, many technological gaps has not yet been identified in the country to our knowledge, especially in rural areas and far from large cities, where factors such as low investment and the expansion of the armed conflict have led to economic and technological stagnation. This paper presents the research results obtained from the execution of a research project, which was approach from a qualitative approach and a methodological design of a participatory action research type. This design consists of nine fundamental stages divided into four work cycles. For which different strategies for data collection and analysis were established. From which, a methodology was obtained for the identification of technological gaps and the measurement of the level of technological acceptance in the rural sector, based on the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) model, as a previous activity to the development of IT solutions framed in the e-government strategy in Colombia. The result of this research work represents a contribution from academia for the improvement of the country's technological development and a guide for the proper planning of IT solutions aimed at promoting a close relationship between government and citizens.

Keywords: E-government, knowledge society, level of technological acceptance, technological gaps, technology acceptance model

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: S. Mokhtar, R. Ibrahim, K. Abdan, A. Rashidi

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The population in the world are growing in very fast rate. It is expected that urban growth and development would create serious questions of food production and processing, transport, and consumption. Future smart green city policies are emerging to support new ways of visualizing, organizing and managing the city and its flows towards developing more sustainable cities in ensuring food security while maintaining its biodiversity. This is a survey paper analyzing the feasibility of developing a smart vertical farming system for climbing food plant to meet the need of food consumption in urban cities with an alternative green material. This paper documents our investigation on specific requirement for farming high valued climbing type food plant suitable for vertical farming, development of appropriate biocomposite material composition, and design recommendations for developing a new smart vertical farming system inside urban buildings. Results include determination of suitable specific climbing food plant species and material manufacturing processes for reinforcing natural fiber for biocomposite material. The results are expected to become recommendations for developing alternative structural materials for climbing food plant later on towards the development of the future smart vertical farming system. This paper contributes to supporting urban farming in cities and promotes green materials for preserving the environment. Hence supporting efforts in food security agenda especially for developing nations.

Keywords: biocomposite, natural reinforce fiber, smart farming, vertical farming

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Authors: Afsheen Aman, Shah Ali Ul Qader

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Dextransucrase [EC 2.4.1.5] is a glucosyltransferase that catalysis the biosynthesis of a natural biopolymer called dextran. It can catalyze the transfer of D-glucopyranosyl residues from sucrose to the main chain of dextran. This unique biopolymer has multiple applications in several industries and the key utilization of dextran lies on its molecular weight and the type of branching. Extracellular dextransucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides is most extensively studied and characterized. Limited data is available regarding cell-bound or intracellular dextransucrase and on the characterization of dextran produced by in-vitro reaction of intracellular dextransucrase. L. mesenteroides AA1 is reported to produce extracellular dextransucrase that catalyzes biosynthesis of a high molecular weight dextran with only α-(1→6) linkage. Current study deals with the characterization of an intracellular dextransucrase and in vitro biosynthesis of low molecular weight dextran from L. mesenteroides AA1. Intracellular dextransucrase was extracted from cytoplasm and purified to homogeneity for characterization. Kinetic constants, molecular weight and N-terminal sequence analysis of intracellular dextransucrase reveal unique variation with previously reported extracellular dextransucrase from the same strain. In vitro synthesized biopolymer was characterized using NMR spectroscopic techniques. Intracellular dextransucrase exhibited Vmax and Km values of 130.8 DSU ml-1 hr-1 and 221.3 mM, respectively. Optimum catalytic activity was detected at 35°C in 0.15 M citrate phosphate buffer (pH-5.5) in 05 minutes. Molecular mass of purified intracellular dextransucrase is approximately 220.0 kDa on SDS-PAGE. N-terminal sequence of the intracellular enzyme is: GLPGYFGVN that showed no homology with previously reported sequence for the extracellular dextransucrase. This intracellular dextransucrase is capable of in vitro synthesis of dextran under specific conditions. This intracellular dextransucrase is capable of in vitro synthesis of dextran under specific conditions and this biopolymer can be hydrolyzed into different molecular weight fractions for various applications.

Keywords: characterization, dextran, dextransucrase, leuconostoc mesenteroides

Procedia PDF Downloads 393