Search results for: gold concentration areas

Authors: Claire Williams

Abstract:

Randomised controlled Trials (RCTs) of efficacy are still perceived as the gold standard for the generation of evidence, and whilst advances in data collection methods are well developed, this progress has not been matched for the reporting of adverse events (AEs). Assessment and reporting of AEs in clinical trials are fraught with human error and inefficiency and are extremely time and resource intensive. Recent research conducted into the quality of reporting of AEs during clinical trials concluded it is substandard and reporting is inconsistent. Investigators commonly send reports to sponsors who are incorrectly categorised and lacking in critical information, which can complicate the detection of valid safety signals. In our presentation, we will describe an electronic data capture system, which has been designed to support clinical trial processes by reducing the resource burden on investigators, improving overall trial efficiencies, and making trials safer for patients. This proprietary technology was developed using expertise proven in the delivery of the world’s first prospective, phase 3b real-world trial, ‘The Salford Lung Study, ’ which enabled robust safety monitoring and reporting processes to be accomplished by the remote monitoring of patients’ EHRs. This technology enables safety alerts that are pre-defined by the protocol to be detected from the data extracted directly from the patients EHR. Based on study-specific criteria, which are created from the standard definition of a serious adverse event (SAE) and the safety profile of the medicinal product, the system alerts the investigator or study team to the safety alert. Each safety alert will require a clinical review by the investigator or delegate; examples of the types of alerts include hospital admission, death, hepatotoxicity, neutropenia, and acute renal failure. This is achieved in near real-time; safety alerts can be reviewed along with any additional information available to determine whether they meet the protocol-defined criteria for reporting or withdrawal. This active surveillance technology helps reduce the resource burden of the more traditional methods of AE detection for the investigators and study teams and can help eliminate reporting bias. Integration of multiple healthcare data sources enables much more complete and accurate safety data to be collected as part of a trial and can also provide an opportunity to evaluate a drug’s safety profile long-term, in post-trial follow-up. By utilising this robust and proven method for safety monitoring and reporting, a much higher risk of patient cohorts can be enrolled into trials, thus promoting inclusivity and diversity. Broadening eligibility criteria and adopting more inclusive recruitment practices in the later stages of drug development will increase the ability to understand the medicinal products risk-benefit profile across the patient population that is likely to use the product in clinical practice. Furthermore, this ground-breaking approach to AE detection not only provides sponsors with better-quality safety data for their products, but it reduces the resource burden on the investigator and study teams. With the data taken directly from the source, trial costs are reduced, with minimal data validation required and near real-time reporting enables safety concerns and signals to be detected more quickly than in a traditional RCT.

Keywords: more comprehensive and accurate safety data, near real-time safety alerts, reduced resource burden, safer trials

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Authors: Rafia Asghar, Abdul Hafeez

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The current research was related with natural dyes’ extraction from the powder of Neem (Azadirachta indica) bark and studied characterization of this dye under microwave radiation’s influence. Both cotton fabric and dyeing powder were exposed to microwave rays for different time intervals (2minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes and 10 minutes) using conventional oven. Aqueous, 60% Methanol and Ethyl Acetate solubilized extracts obtained from Neem (Azadirachta indica) bark were also exposed to different time intervals (2minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes and 10 minutes) of microwave rays exposure. Pre, meta and post mordanting with Alum (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%) was done to improve color strength of the extracted dye. Exposure of Neem (Azadirachta indica) bark extract and cotton to microwave rays enhanced the extraction process and dyeing process by reducing extraction time, dyeing time and dyeing temperature. Microwave rays treatment had a very strong influence on color fastness and color strength properties of cotton that was dyes using Neem (Azadirachta indica) bark for 30 minutes and dyeing cotton with that Neem bark extract for 75 minutes at 30°C. Among pre, meta and post mordanting, results indicated that 5% concentration of Alum in meta mordanting exhibited maximum color strength.

Keywords: dyes, natural dyeing, ecofriendly dyes, microwave treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 678

Authors: Hasan Keshavarzian, Tayebeh Nesari

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Bolted rail joint is one of the most vulnerable areas in railway track. A comprehensive approach was developed for studying the reliability of fatigue crack initiation of railroad bolt hole under random axle loads and random material properties. The operation condition was also considered as stochastic variables. In order to obtain the comprehensive probability model of fatigue crack initiation life prediction in railroad bolt hole, we used FEM, response surface method (RSM), and reliability analysis. Combined energy-density based and critical plane based fatigue concept is used for the fatigue crack prediction. The dynamic loads were calculated according to the axle load, speed, and track properties. The results show that axle load is most sensitive parameter compared to Poisson’s ratio in fatigue crack initiation life. Also, the reliability index decreases slowly due to high cycle fatigue regime in this area.

Keywords: rail-wheel tribology, rolling contact mechanic, finite element modeling, reliability analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Cansu Kandemir, Marco Franchino

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To attain sustainability goals, the manufacturing industries must assess and improve their processes, adopt the latest technologies, and ensure minimal environmental impact. Ongoing debates claim that the definition of sustainability and its assessment is vague. Companies struggle with understanding which processes they should prioritise and necessitate a methodology to aid decision-making. For that reason, our investigation focused on defining a prioritisation guide to help to manufacture engineers identify areas of a facility to prioritise de-carbonisation efforts based on existing sources of data. The authors at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) worked with a range of major businesses, including Food and Drink (Moy Park), Automotive (Nissan), Aerospace and Defence (BAE, Meggitt, Leonardo, and GKN) and Technology (Accenture and Intellium AI). Collected information has been integrated into a prioritisation guide framework that helps process comparison and decision-making. The framework developed in this study aims to ensure that companies have guidance on where to focus their efforts whilst striving to fulfil their environmental and societal obligations.

Keywords: decision making, sustainability, carbon emissions, manufacturing

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Authors: Xuechen Gui, Jian Ge, Senmiao Li

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In recent years, green buildings in China have been developing rapidly and have developed into a wide variety of types, of which office building is a very important part. In many green office buildings, the energy consumption of building operation is high; the indoor environment quality needs to be improved, and the level of occupants’ satisfaction is low. This paper conducted a one-year measurement of operational performance of a green office building in Zhejiang Province. The measurement includes energy consumption of the building's one-year operation, the quality of the indoor environment and occupants’ satisfaction in different seasons. The energy consumption is collected from the power bureau. The quality of the indoor environment have been measured at different measuring points including offices, meeting rooms and reception for the whole year. The satisfaction of occupants are obtained from questionnaires. The results are compared with given standards and goals and the reasons why occupants are dissatisfied with the indoor environment are analyzed. Regarding energy consumption, the energy consumption of the building operational performance is much higher than the standard. Regarding the indoor environment, the temperature and humidity meet the standard for most of the time, but fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration is pretty high. Regarding occupants satisfaction, occupants have a higher expectation for indoor air quality even when the indoor air quality is well and occupants prefer a relatively humid environment. However the overall satisfaction is more than 80%, which indicates that occupants have a higher tolerability.

Keywords: green office building, energy consumption, indoor environment quality, occupants satisfaction, operational performance

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Authors: William Abiodun Duyile

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It is common knowledge that marine food has always been found from the sea, energy can also be found underneath and, to a growing extent; other mineral resources have come from the sea spaces. It is the importance of the sea and the sea lines of communication to littoral nations that has made concepts such as sea power, naval power, etc., significant to them. The study relied on documentary data. The documentary data were sourced from government annual departmental reports, newspapers and correspondence. The secondary sources used were subjected to internal and external criticism for authentication, and then to textual and contextual analyses. The study found that the differential level of seamanship amongst states defined their relationship. It was sea power that gave some states an edge over the others. The study proves that over the ages sea power has been core to the development of States or Empires. The study found that the Nigerian Navy was centre to Nigeria’s conquest of the littoral areas of Biafra, like Bonny, Port-Harcourt, and Calabar; it was also an important turning point of the Nigerian civil war since by it Biafra became landlocked. The research was able to identify succinctly the Nigerian Navy’s contribution to the security and development of the Nigerian State.

Keywords: sea power, naval power, land locked states, warship

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Authors: S. Zenia, L. Bitta, O. Bouhamam, H. Brines, M. Boudriaa, F. Haddadj, F. Marniche, A. Milla, H. Saadi, A. Smai

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The bee Apis mellifera intermissa is a major social insect, in addition to its honey production, it is a pillar of our biodiversity. Several living organisms can come into contact with it: bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, mites, and insects. In Algeria, many beekeepers have reported unusual mortality of local bees, loss of foragers and significant losses of their livestock. Despite the presence of a varied honey-bearing flora and a favourable Mediterranean climate, honey production remains low. This phenomenon can be attributed to the excess winter mortality, but also to the increasing difficulties that beekeepers face in maintaining healthy bee colonies, particularly bee diseases and their transmission facilitated by trade and beekeeping practices. Our survey is based on a questionnaire composed of several parts. The results obtained show that the disease that most affects bees according to beekeepers is varroa mite with 93% followed by fungi with 26%. The most replied enemy of bees is the false ringworm with 73%, followed by the bee-eater with 63%. Our goal is to determine the causes of this low production in two areas: Bejaia and Tizi-Ouzou.

Keywords: diseases, Apis mellifera L., varroa, European foulbrood

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Authors: Mohammad H. Ahmadi, Vahid Haghighatdoost

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Given a set of source locations for a group of friends, and a set of trip plans for each group member as a sequence of Categories-of-Interests (COIs) (e.g., restaurant), and finally a specific COI as a common destination that all group members will gather together, in Meeting Point Based on Trip Plans (MPTPs) queries our goal is to find a Point-of-Interest (POI) from different COIs, such that the aggregate travel distance for the group is minimized. In this work, we considered two cases for aggregate function as Sum and Max. For solving this query, we propose an efficient pruning technique for shrinking the search space. Our approach contains three steps. In the first step, it prunes the search space around the source locations. In the second step, it prunes the search space around the centroid of source locations. Finally, we compute the intersection of all pruned areas as the final refined search space. We prove that the POIs beyond the refined area cannot be part of optimal answer set. The paper also covers an extensive performance study of the proposed technique.

Keywords: meeting point, trip plans, road networks, spatial databases

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Authors: Lynndee Kemmet

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The U.S. military plays an increasing role in supporting political stability efforts, and this includes efforts to prevent the food insecurity that can trigger political and social instability. This paper presents a model that assists military commanders in identifying variables that impact food production and distribution in their areas of operation (AO), in identifying connections between variables and in assessing the impacts of those variables on food production and distribution. Through use of the model, military units can better target their data collection efforts and can categorize and analyze data within the data categorization framework most widely-used by military forces—PMESII-PT (Political, Military, Economic, Infrastructure, Information, Physical Environment and Time). The model provides flexibility of analysis in that commanders can target analysis to be highly focused on a specific PMESII-PT domain or variable or conduct analysis across multiple PMESII-PT domains. The model is also designed to assist commanders in mapping food systems in their AOs and then identifying components of those systems that must be strengthened or protected.

Keywords: food security, food system model, political stability, US Military

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Lyamine Guezouli, Kamel Barka, Zineb Seghir

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Wireless sensor and actor networks (WSANs) present a research challenge for different practice areas. Researchers are trying to optimize the use of such networks through their research work. This optimization is done on certain criteria, such as improving energy efficiency, exploiting node heterogeneity, self-adaptability and self-configuration. In this article, we present our proposal for BIFSA (Biologically-Inspired Framework for Wireless Sensor and Actor networks). Indeed, BIFSA is a middleware that addresses the key issues of wireless sensor and actor networks. BIFSA consists of two types of agents: sensor agents (SA) that operate at the sensor level to collect and transport data to actors and actor agents (AA) that operate at the actor level to transport data to base stations. Once the sensor agent arrives at the actor, it becomes an actor agent, which can exploit the resources of the actors and vice versa. BIFSA allows agents to evolve their genetic structures and adapt to the current network conditions. The simulation results show that BIFSA allows the agents to make better use of all the resources available in each type of node, which improves the performance of the network.

Keywords: wireless sensor and actor networks, self-management, genetic algorithm, agent.

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Authors: Violina R. Angelova, Sava G. Tabakov, Aleksander B. Peltekov, Krasimir I. Ivanov

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A field study was conducted to evaluate the chemical composition and quality of the Aronia fruits, as well as the possibilities of Aronia cultivation on soils contaminated with heavy metals. The experiment was performed on an agricultural field contaminated by the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works (NFMW) near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The study included four varieties of Aronia; Aron variety, Hugin variety, Viking variety and Nero variety. The Aronia was cultivated according to the conventional technology on areas at a different distance from the source of pollution NFMW- Plovdiv (1 km, 3.5 km, and 15 km). The concentrations of macroelements, microelements, and heavy metals in Aronia fruits were determined. The dry matter content, ash, sugars, proteins, and fats were also determined. Aronia is a crop that is tolerant to heavy metals and can successfully be grown on soils contaminated with heavy metals. The increased content of heavy metals in the soil leads to less absorption of the nutrients (Ca, Mg and P) in the fruit of the Aronia. Soil pollution with heavy metals does not affect the quality of the Aronia fruit varieties.

Keywords: aronia, chemical composition, fruits, quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Gihan Mosaad, Bakr Gomaa, Rana Elbadri

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Modern parts of Alexandria city lack in vibrancy, causing a number of problems such as urban areas with poor security measures as well as weak economic state. Vibrancy provides a livable, attractive and secure environments; it also boosts the city’s economy and social life. Vibrant city is a city full of energy and life. To achieve this, a number of resources are needed; namely specific urban density, the availability of alternative modes of transportation and finally diversity of land-uses. Literature review shows no comprehensive study that assesses vibrancy in the streets of modern Alexandria. This study aims to measure the vibrancy potential in Sidi-Gaber station area thought the assessment of existing resources performance. Methods include literature reviews, surveying of existing case, questionnaire as well as GIS techniques. Expected results include GIS maps defining the vibrancy potentials in land use, density and statistical study regarding public transportation use in the area.

Keywords: Alexandria, density, mixed use, transportation, vibrancy

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Authors: Magda Cepeda, Frances Hodgson, Ann Jopson

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There are different barriers people face when choosing to cycle for commuting purposes. This study examined the role of psycho-social factors predicting the intention to cycle to commute in Mexico City. An extended version of the theory of planned behaviour was developed and utilized with a simple random sample of 401 road users. We applied exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and after identifying five factors, a structural equation model was estimated to find the relationships among the variables. The results indicated that cycling attributes, attitudes to cycling, social comparison and social image and prestige were the most important factors influencing intention to cycle. Although the results from this study are specific to Mexico City, they indicate areas of interest to transportation planners in other regions especially in those cities where intention to cycle its linked to its perceived image and there is political ambition to instigate positive cycling cultures. Moreover, this study contributes to the current literature developing applications of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.

Keywords: cycling, latent variable model, perception, theory of planned behaviour

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Authors: Rabih Al-Kaysi

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When quasi-stable solutions of 9-methylanthracene (pi-electron donor, 0.0005 M) and 1,2,4,5-Tetracyanobenzene (pi-electron acceptor, 0.0005 M) in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, 0.025 M) were gently mixed, uniform-shaped rectangular charge-transfer nanocrystals precipitated out. These red colored charge-transfer (CT) crystals were composed of a 1:1-mole ratio of acceptor/ donor and are highly insoluble in water/SDS solution. The rectangular crystals morphology is semi hollow with symmetrical twin pockets reminiscent of nanocapsules. For a typical crop of nanocapsules, the dimensions are 21 x 6 x 0.5 microns with an approximate hollow volume of 1.5 x 105 nm3. By varying the concentration of aqueous SDS, mixing duration and incubation temperature, we can control the size and volume of the nanocapsules. The initial number of CT seed nanoparticles, formed by mixing the D and A solutions, determined the number and dimensions of the obtained nanocapsules formed after several hours of incubation under still conditions. Prolonged mixing of the donor and acceptor solutions resulted in plenty of initial seeds hence smaller nanocapsules. Short mixing times yields less seed formation and larger micron-sized capsules. The addition of Doxorubicin in situ with the quasi-stable solutions while mixing leads to the formation of CT nanocapsules with Doxorubicin sealed inside. The Doxorubicin can be liberated from the nanocapsules by cracking them using ultrasonication. This method can be extended to other binary CT complex crystals as well.

Keywords: charge-transfer, nanocapsules, nanocrystals, doxorubicin

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Authors: Antonio Espingardeiro

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It is likely that robots will cross the boundaries of industry into households over the next decades. With demographic challenges worldwide, the future ageing populations will require the introduction of assistive technologies capable of providing, care, human dignity and quality of life through the aging process. Robotics technology has a high potential for being used in the areas of social and healthcare by promoting a wide range of activities such as entertainment, companionship, supervision or cognitive and physical assistance. However, such close Human Robotics Interactions (HRIs) encompass a rich set of ethical scenarios that need to be addressed before Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) reach the global markets. Such interactions with robots may seem a worthy goal for many technical/financial reasons but inevitably require close attention to the ethical dimensions of such interactions. This article investigates the current HRI benchmark of social success. It revises it according to the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and justice aligned with social care ethos. An extension of such benchmark is proposed based on an empirical study of HRIs with elderly groups.

Keywords: HRI, SARs, social success, benchmark, elderly care

Procedia PDF Downloads 505

Authors: Ki Hyun Park, Hye Min Park, Jeong Ho Kim, Chan Jong Park, Koan Sik Joo

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In the modern days, the use of radioactive substances is on the rise in the areas like chemical weaponry, industrial usage, and power plants. Although there are various technologies available to detect and monitor radioactive substances in the air, the technologies to detect underwater radioactive substances are scarce. In this study, computer simulation of the underwater detection system measuring beta-ray, a radioactive substance, has been done through MCNP. CaF₂, YAP(Ce) and YAG(Ce) have been used in the computer simulation to detect beta-ray as scintillator. Also, the source used in the computer simulation is Sr-90 and Y-90, both of them emitting only pure beta-ray. The distance between the source and the detector was shifted from 1mm to 10mm by 1 mm in the computer simulation. The result indicated that Sr-90 was impossible to measure below 1 mm since its emission energy is low while Y-90 was able to be measured up to 10mm underwater. In addition, the detector designed with CaF₂ had the highest efficiency among 3 scintillators used in the computer simulation. Since it was possible to verify the detectable range and the detection efficiency according to modeling through MCNP simulation, it is expected that such result will reduce the time and cost in building the actual beta-ray detector and evaluating its performances, thereby contributing the research and development.

Keywords: Beta-ray, CaF₂, detector, MCNP simulation, scintillator

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Authors: Marta Fernández Olmos, Jorge Fleta, Talia Gómez

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This article shares the results of a temporal analysis of the literature on imports of intermediate inputs based on review techniques. The aim of this paper is to identify the main lines of research, their trends, topics, and the research agenda. The internationalization field has attracted considerable scholars and practitioners’ attention in recent years and has grown, rapidly, resulting in a large body of knowledge scattered in different areas of specialization. However, there are no studies that are entirely restricted to imports, intermediate inputs and innovation performance. The performance analysis provided an updated overview of the evolution of the importing literature from 1970 to 2022 and quantitatively identified the most productive and influential journals, articles, authors, and countries. The results show that the current topics are mainly based on modes of importing, innovation performance of importing intermediate imports and collaborations. Future lines of research are identified from topics with lower co-occurrence, such as artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, and alternative business models such as multinational enterprises (MNEs) versus non-MNEs.

Keywords: imports, intermediate inputs, innovation performance, review

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Authors: Lee Bih Ni, Kiu Su Na

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This paper discusses the Chinese Language Teaching as a Second Language by focusing on Immersion Teaching. Researchers used narrative literature review to describe the current states of both art and science in focused areas of inquiry. Immersion teaching comes with a standard that teachers must reliably meet. Chinese language-immersion instruction consists of language and content lessons, including functional usage of the language, academic language, authentic language, and correct Chinese sociocultural language. Researchers used narrative literature reviews to build a scientific knowledge base. Researchers collected all the important points of discussion, and put them here with reference to the specific field where this paper is originally based on. The findings show that Chinese Language in immersion teaching is not like standard foreign language classroom; immersion setting provides more opportunities to teach students colloquial language than academic. Immersion techniques also introduce a language’s cultural and social contexts in a meaningful and memorable way. It is particularly important that immersion teachers connect classwork with real-life experiences. Immersion also includes more elements of discovery and inquiry based learning than do other kinds of instructional practices. Students are always and consistently interpreted the conclusions and context clues.

Keywords: a second language, Chinese language teaching, immersion teaching, instructional strategies

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Authors: Neda Azimi, Masoud Rahimi, Faezeh Mohammadi

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Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was performed to investigate the effect of ferrofluid stimulation on hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of two immiscible liquid phases in a Y-micromixer. The main purpose of this work was to develop a numerical model that is able to simulate hydrodynamic of the ferrofluid flow under magnetic field and determine its effect on mass transfer characteristics. A uniform external magnetic field was applied perpendicular to the flow direction. The volume of fluid (VOF) approach was used for simulating the multiphase flow of ferrofluid and two-immiscible liquid flows. The geometric reconstruction scheme (Geo-Reconstruct) based on piecewise linear interpolation (PLIC) was used for reconstruction of the interface in the VOF approach. The mass transfer rate was defined via an equation as a function of mass concentration gradient of the transported species and added into the phase interaction panel using the user-defined function (UDF). The magnetic field was solved numerically by Fluent MHD module based on solving the magnetic induction equation method. CFD results were validated by experimental data and good agreements have been achieved, which maximum relative error for extraction efficiency was about 7.52 %. It was showed that ferrofluid actuation by a magnetic field can be considered as an efficient mixing agent for liquid-liquid two-phase mass transfer in microdevices.

Keywords: CFD modeling, hydrodynamic, micromixer, ferrofluid, mixing

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Authors: Ajmal Khan Kassi, Humayun Javed, Syed Abdul Qadeem

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The study was conducted to find out the best management practices against American bollworm on Okra variety Arka Anamika during 2016. The three different management practices viz. Release of Trichogramma chilonis, hoeing and weeding, clipping and lufenuron insect growth regulator (IGR) which were tested individually and with all possible combinations for the controlling of American bollworm at 3 diverse areas viz. University Research Farm Koont, NARC and Farmer Field Taxila. All the treatment combinations regarding damage of fruit showed significant results. The minimum fruit infestation i.e. 3.20% and 3.58% was recorded with combined treatment (i.e. T. chilonis + hoeing + weeding + lufenuron) in two different localities. This combined treatment also resulted in maximum yield at NARC and Taxila i.e. 57.67 and 62.66 q/ha respectively. This treatment gave the best results to manage H. armigera. On the basis of different integrated pest management techniques, Arka Anamika variety proved to be comparatively resistant against H. armigera in different localities. So this variety is recommended for the cultivation in Pothwar region to get maximum yield.

Keywords: management, american bollworm, arka anamika, okra

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Authors: Badr M. Thamer

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The use of hydrogels as adsorbents for pollutants removal from wastewater is limited due to their high swelling properties and the difficulty in recovering them after the adsorption process. To overcome these problems, a new hydrogel nanocomposite based on chitosan-g-polyacrylic acid/oxidized electrospun carbon nanofibers (CT-g-PAA/O-ECNFs) was prepared by in-situ grafting polymerization process. The prepared hydrogel nanocomposite was used as a novel effective and highly reusable adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from polluted water with low cost. The morphology and the structure of CT-g-PAA/O-ECNFs were investigated by numerous techniques. The effect of incorporating O-ECNFs on the swelling capability of the prepared hydrogel was explored in distillated water and MB solution at normal pH. The effect of parameters including the ratio of O-ECNFs, contact time, pH, initial concentration, and temperature on the adsorption process were explored. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic were studied by numerous non-linear models. The obtained results confirmed that the incorporation of O-ECNFs into the hydrogel network improved its ability towards MB dye removal with decreasing their swelling capacity. The adsorption process depends on the pH value of the dye solution. Additionally, the adsorption and kinetic results were fitted using the Freundlich isotherm model and pseudo second order model (PSO), respectively. Moreover, the new adsorbents can be recycled for at least five cycles keeping its adsorption capacity and can be easily recovered without loss in its initial weight.

Keywords: carbon nanofibers, hydrogels, nanocomposites, water treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Evangelos G. Karvelas, Christos Liosis, Andreas Theodorakakos, Theodoros E. Karakasidis

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In the present work, a numerical method for the estimation of the appropriate gradient magnetic fields for optimum driving of the particles into the desired area inside the human body is presented. The proposed method combines Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Covariance Matrix Adaptation (CMA) evolution strategy for the magnetic navigation of nanoparticles. It is based on an iteration procedure that intents to eliminate the deviation of the nanoparticles from a desired path. Hence, the gradient magnetic field is constantly adjusted in a suitable way so that the particles’ follow as close as possible to a desired trajectory. Using the proposed method, it is obvious that the diameter of particles is crucial parameter for an efficient navigation. In addition, increase of particles' diameter decreases their deviation from the desired path. Moreover, the navigation method can navigate nanoparticles into the desired areas with efficiency approximately 99%.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, CFD, covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy, discrete element method, DEM, magnetic navigation, spherical particles

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Jian-Xiu Wan, Yao Yin

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In complex terrain and poor geological conditions areas, Railway, highway and other transportation constructions are still strongly developing. However, various geological disasters happened such as landslide, rock heap and so on. According to the results of geological investigation, the form of skirt (trapezoidal), semicircle and triangle rock heaps are mainly due to complex internal force and external force, in a certain extent, which is related to the terrain, the nature of the rock mass, the supply area and the surface shape of rock heap. Combined with the above factors, discrete element numerical simulation of rock mass is established under different terrain conditions based on 3DEC, and accelerated formation process of rock heap under seismic action is simulated. The fragmentation structure supply area is calculated, in which the most dangerous area is located. At the same time, the formation mechanism and development process are studied in different terrain conditions, and the structure of rock heap is judged by section, which can provide a strong theoretical and technical support for the prevention and control of geological disasters.

Keywords: 3DEC, fragmentation structure, rock heap, slope, seismic action

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Surena V.

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Background and Aim: Periodontal diseases are among the most common infectious diseases all around the world, even in developed countries. Considering the increased rate of microbial resistance to antibiotics and the chemical side effects of antibiotics and antiseptics used for the treatment of periodontal disease, there is a need for an alternative antimicrobial agent with fewer complications. Medicinal herbs have recently become popular as antimicrobial and preventive agents. This study aimed to assess the antibacterial effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of Lawsonia inermis, Malva sylvestris and Boswellia serrata on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans). Materials and Methods: Hydroalcoholic extracts of the three medicinal plants were obtained by the maceration technique and A. actinomycetemcomitans was cultured. The antimicrobial efficacy of the three medicinal plants was compared with that of 0.2% chlorhexidine (CHX) according to the CLSI protocol using agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution techniques. All tests were repeated three times. Results: Hydroalcoholic extracts of all three plants had antimicrobial activity against A. actinomycetemcomitans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Lawsonia inermis, Malva sylvestris, and Boswellia serrata was 78.1, 156.2, and 1666 µg/mL with no significant difference between them. The MIC of CHX was 3.33 µg/mL, which was significantly higher than that of Boswellia serrata extract. Conclusion: Given that, further in vivo studies confirm other properties of these extracts and their safety in terms of cytotoxicity and mutagenicity, hydroalcoholic extracts of Lawsonia inermis and Malva sylvestris may be used in mouthwashes or local delivery systems to affect periodontal biofilm.

Keywords: actinobacilus actinomycetem commitans, lawsonia inermis, malva sylvestris, boswellia serrata

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Authors: Hocini Yousra, Medjnoun Amal, Khiatine Mohamed, Bahar Ramdane

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The development of the regions of southern Algeria require the construction of numerous road, rail, and airport infrastructures. However, this development is very expensive given the very severe climatic conditions, the difficulty of reusing local materials, and the unavailability of water on the project sites; these regions are characterized by an arid or semi-arid climate, which means that water sources are very limited. The climatic conditions and the scarcity of water make soil compaction work very difficult and excessively expensive. These constraints related to the supply of water for irrigation of these construction sites make it necessary to examine the solution of compaction with low water content. This work studies the possibility of improving the compaction with a low water content of the soils of southern Algeria and this by using natural or recycled ecological materials. Local soils are first subjected to a series of laboratory characterization tests, then mixed with varying amounts of natural additives. The new materials are, in turn, subjected to road tests.

Keywords: compaction, low water content, sand, natural materials

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Authors: Rattanamanee Chomchan, Sunisa Siripongvutikorn, Panupong Puttarak

Abstract:

Ricegrass or young rice sprouts can be introduced as one of functional product since cereal sprouts have been much interested in this era due to their high nutritive values. Bio-fortification of selenium is one strategy to improve plant bioactive compounds. However, the level of selenium used are varied among species of plants, hence, the proper level need to be investigated. In this current study, influence of selenium bio-fortification hydroponically in the form of sodium selenite following the range 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 mg Se/L on growth characteristics, selenium content, total extractable phenolic content (TPC) accumulation, lipid peroxidation and anti-oxidative properties of ricegrass were investigated. Results revealed that selenium bio-fortified exogenously increased the accumulation of selenium in ricegrass by 5.3 fold at 40 mg Se/L treatment without significant changes in leaves biomass at harvesting day while root part weight were slightly decreased when increased selenium level, respectively. Selenium at low concentration (10 and 20 mg Se/L) can stimulate the production of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities in young ricegrass as measured by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assay. Conversely, higher level of selenium fortification reduced the accumulation of phenolics in ricegrass afterward by acting as pro-oxidant. Moreover, highest significant reduction in oxidative stress, measured as malondialdehyde content was also observed at 20 mg Se/L treatment which in correlation to high TPC and antioxidant activities. In conclusion, selenium bio-fortification can be used as a technique to improve precious to ricegrass.

Keywords: antioxidant activities, bio-fortification, ricegrass, selenium

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Barenten Suciu, Yuya Nakamoto

Abstract:

Power generation effect, obtained by inserting a piezo- electric sheet in the backlash clearance of a circular arc helical gear, is evaluated. Such type of screw gear is preferred since, in comparison with the involute tooth profile, the circular arc profile leads to reduced stress-concentration effects, and improved life of the piezoelectric film. Firstly, geometry of the circular arc helical gear, and properties of the piezoelectric sheet are presented. Then, description of the test-rig, consisted of a right-hand thread gear meshing with a left-hand thread gear, and the voltage measurement procedure are given. After creating the tridimensional (3D) model of the meshing gears in SolidWorks, they are 3D-printed in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin. Variation of the generated voltage versus time, during a meshing cycle of the circular arc helical gear, is measured for various values of the center distance. Then, the change of the maximal, minimal, and peak-to-peak voltage versus the center distance is illustrated. Optimal center distance of the gear, to achieve voltage maximization, is found and its significance is discussed. Such results prove that the contact pressure of the meshing gears can be measured, and also, the electrical power can be generated by employing the proposed technique.

Keywords: circular arc helical gear, contact problem, optimal center distance, piezoelectric sheet, power generation

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Charity Ngoatle, Tebogo M. Mothiba, Mahlapahlapana J. Themane

Abstract:

Misapprehension of medications instructions due to poor health literacy is common in diabetic patients, predominantly leading to suboptimal medication therapy caused by taking less than expected, or getting inadequate medication concentration. Globally, 50% of adults have been reported to have misunderstood medication instructions which could be the cause of not using medication as prescribed. Reading material has been found not to improve people’s knowledge to the extent where they would be informed and knowledgeable about their health. This, therefore, depicts that instructive materials alone cannot improve health literacy but further patient education is still needed to explain what the information really mean. The aim of this study was to investigate patients’ interpretation of prescribed medication instructions at Makanye Clinic in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study used a mixed method approach. A non-probability purposive and simple random sampling strategies will be used to select ten (10) participants for the pilot study. Semi-structured interviews with a guide and self- administered structured questionnaires will be used to collect data. Tesch’s eight steps for qualitative data analysis and SPSS version 24 with descriptive statistics will be adopted. The preliminary findings from other studies show that: (a) poor health literacy negatively affect medication adherence, (b) general literacy influence health literacy, and (c) there are poor health outcomes and medication adverse effects due to poor medication comprehension.

Keywords: instructions, diabetes mellitus, patients, prescribed medication

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: G. Ozturk, B. Demirci

Abstract:

It is well known that essential oils used for therapeutic purposes for many years. In this study, five different Pharmacopoeia grade essential oils (Achillea millefolium L., Pimpinella anisum L., Matricaria recutita L., Eucalyptus globulus L., Salvia officinalis L.) which obtained from commercial sources were evaluated for chemical compositions, synergistic antimicrobial activities, and lipoxygenase enzyme inhibitions. Volatile components were determined by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector and gas chromatography/mass spectrometer, simultaneously. The potential antimicrobial activity of essential oils was tested against oral pathogenic standard strains such as Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium striatum, Candida albicans and Candida krusei by broth microdilution methods. Ciprofloxacin and ketoconazole were used positive controls. It has been observed that the essential oils tested have average inhibitory antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens with a Minimum Inhibition Concentration of 20-0.625 mg/mL. The active essential oils have been combined with antibiotics and synergistic effects have been evaluated by Checkerboard method. ƩFIC values were determined. In combination with antibiotics M. recutita essential oil has been shown to have a synergistic effect against S. aureus in combination with tetracycline (ƩFIC 0.46). In addition, 5-LOX inhibitory activity was measured by modifying the spectrophotometric method developed by Baylac and Racine. As a result, 5-LOX % inhibition of S. officinalis, E. globulus and M. recutita were calculated as 34.0 ± 6.66, 72.7 ± 2.78 and 27.7 ± 0.60, respectively.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, essential oils, synergistic activity, 5-lipoxygenase inhibition

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Shivankar Agrawal, Indira Sarangthem

Abstract:

Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains one of the major causes of healthcare-associated and community-onset infections worldwide. Hence the search for non-toxic natural compounds having antibacterial activity has intensified for future drug development. The exploration of less studied niches of Earth can highly increase the possibility to discover novel bioactive compounds. Therefore, in this study, the cultivable fraction of fungi from the sediments of natural hot springs has been studied to mine potential fungal candidates with antibacterial activity against the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. We isolated diverse strains of thermophilic fungi from a collection of samples from sediment. Following a standard method, we isolated a promising thermophilic fungus strain IBSD19, identified as Acrophialophora levis, possessing the potential to produce an anti-Staphylococcus aureus agent. The growth conditions were optimized and scaled to fermentation, and its produced extract was subjected to chemical extraction. The ethyl acetate fraction was found to display significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.5 mg/ml and 4 mg/ml, respectively. The cell membrane integrity assay and SEM suggested that the fungal metabolites cause bacteria clustering and further lysis of the cell.

Keywords: antibacterial activity, antioxidant, fungi, Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, thermophiles

Procedia PDF Downloads 124