Search results for: open source code

Authors: Sarmiza Stanca, Wolfgang Fritzsche, Christoph Krafft, Jürgen Popp

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Independent of the cell type a thin layer of a few nanometers thickness surrounds the cell interior as the cellular membrane. The transport of ions and molecules through the membrane is achieved in a very precise way by pores. Understanding the process of opening and closing the pores due to an electrochemical gradient across the membrane requires knowledge of the pore constitutive proteins. Recent reports prove the access to the molecular level of the cellular membrane by atomic force microscopy (AFM). This technique also permits an electrochemical study in the immediate vicinity of the tip. Specific molecules can be electrochemically localized in the natural cellular membrane. Our work aims to recognize the protein domains of the pores using an AFM probe as a miniaturized amperometric sensor, and to follow the protein behavior while changing the applied potential. The intensity of the current produced between the surface and the AFM probe is amplified and detected simultaneously with the surface imaging. The AFM probe plays the role of the working electrode and the substrate, a conductive glass on which the cells are grown, represent the counter electrode. For a better control of the electric potential on the probe, a third electrode Ag/AgCl wire is mounted in the circuit as a reference electrode. The working potential is applied between the electrodes with a programmable source and the current intensity in the circuit is recorded with a multimeter. The applied potential considers the overpotential at the electrode surface and the potential drop due to the current flow through the system. The reported method permits a high resolved electrochemical study of the protein domains on the living cell membrane. The amperometric map identifies areas of different current intensities on the pore depending on the applied potential. The reproducibility of this method is limited by the tip shape, the uncontrollable capacitance, which occurs at the apex and a potential local charge separation.

Keywords: AFM, sensor, membrane, pores, proteins

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Authors: D. Ficai, A. Ficai, D. Gudovan, I. A. Gudovan, I. Ardelean, R. Trusca, E. Andronescu, V. Mitran, A. Cimpean

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In the last years, scientists struggled hardly to mimic bone structures to develop implants and biostructures which present higher biocompatibility and reduced rejection rate. One way to obtain this goal is to use similar materials as that of bone, namely collagen/hydroxyapatite composite materials. However, it is very important to tailor both compositions but also the microstructure of the bone that would ensure both the optimal osteointegartion and the mechanical properties required by the application. In this study, new collagen/hydroxyapatites composite materials doped with Cu, Li, Mn, Zn were successfully prepared. The synthesis method is described below: weight the Ca(OH)₂ mass, i.e., 7,3067g, and ZnCl₂ (0.134g), CuSO₄ (0.159g), LiCO₃ (0.133g), MnCl₂.4H₂O (0.1971g), and suspend in 100ml distilled water under magnetic stirring. The solution thus obtained is added a solution of NaH₂PO₄*H2O (8.247g dissolved in 50ml distilled water) under slow dropping of 1 ml/min followed by adjusting the pH to 9.5 with HCl and finally filter and wash until neutral pH. The as-obtained slurry was dried in the oven at 80°C and then calcined at 600°C in order to ensure a proper purification of the final product of organic phases, also inducing a proper sterilization of the mixture before insertion into the collagen matrix. The collagen/hydroxyapatite composite materials are tailored from morphological point of view to optimize their biocompatibility and bio-integration against mechanical properties whereas the addition of the dopants is aimed to improve the biological activity of the samples. The addition of transitional metals can improve the biocompatibility and especially the osteoblasts adhesion (Mn²⁺) or to induce slightly better osteoblast differentiation of the osteoblast, Zn²⁺ being a cofactor for many enzymes including those responsible for cell differentiation. If the amount is too high, the final material can become toxic and lose all of its biocompatibility. In order to achieve a good biocompatibility and not reach the cytotoxic effect, the amount of transitional metals added has to be maintained at low levels (0.5% molar). The amount of transitional metals entering into the elemental cell of HA will be verified using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometric system. This highly sensitive technique is necessary, because, at such low levels of transitional metals, the difference between biocompatible and cytotoxic is a very thin line, thus requiring proper and thorough investigation using a precise technique. In order to determine the structure and morphology of the obtained composite materials, IR spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS) were used. Acknowledgment: The present work was possible due to the EU-funding grant POSCCE-A2O2.2.1-2013-1, Project No. 638/12.03.2014, code SMIS-CSNR 48652. The financial contribution received from the national project “Biomimetic porous structures obtained by 3D printing developed for bone tissue engineering (BIOGRAFTPRINT), No. 127PED/2017 is also highly acknowledged.

Keywords: collagen, composite materials, hydroxyapatite, bone tissue engineering

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Authors: Soumya S., Manju Nidagodu Jayakumar, Vellore Kannan Gopinath

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Dental pulp inflammation resulting from dental caries often leads to a pathologic condition known as irreversible pulpitis and the currently managed by root canal treatment. Extirpation of the entire pulp tissue is done during this procedure, and the canal space is filled with synthetic materials. Recent studies in the stem cell biology state that some portion of the irreversibly inflamed pulp tissue could be viable with progenitor cells, having the properties similar to that of Mesenchymal stem cells. Hence, we aim to isolate Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) from patients diagnosed with severe irreversible pulpitis and characterize the cells for the MSC specific markers. The pulp tissue was collected from the dental clinic and subjected to collagenase/dispase digestion. The isolated cells were expanded in culture, and the phenotypic characterization was done using flow cytometry. MSC specific markers such as CD-90, CD-73, and CD-105 were analysed along with negative markers such as CD-14 and CD-45. The isolated cells expressed positive expression for CD markers with CD90 and CD105 ( > 95%) and CD73 (19%). The cells did not express the negative markers CD-14 and CD-45. The commercially available DPSCs from vital extracted teeth, preferably molar/wisdom teeth with large pulp cavity or incomplete root growth in young patients (aged 15-30 years) showed more than 90% expression for all the CD markers such as CD-90, 73 and 105, whereas negative for CD-14 and CD-45. The DPSCs isolated from inflamed pulp tissue showed a less expression for CD-73 compared to the commercially available DPSCs whereas, as the other two markers were found to show similar percentage of positive expression. This could be attributed to the fact that the pulp population is very heterogeneous and we used the pooled tissue from different patients. Hence the phenotypic characterization and comparison with the commercially available DPSCs proved that the inflamed pulp tissue is a good source of MSC like cells which can be utilized further for regenerative application.

Keywords: collagenase/dispase, dental pulp stem cells, flow cytometry, irreversible pulpitis

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Authors: Akkasit Jongjareonrak, Supansa Namchaiya

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Unripe green coffee cherry (UGCC) accounting about 5 % of total raw material weight receiving to the coffee bean production process and is, in general, sorting out and dump as waste. The UGCC is known to rich in phenolic compounds such as caffeoylquinic acids, feruloylquinic acids, chlorogenic acid (CGA), etc. CGA is one of the potent bioactive compounds using in the nutraceutical and functional food industry. Therefore, this study aimed at optimization the extraction condition of CGA from UGCC using Accelerated Solvent Extractor (ASE). The ethanol/water mixture at various ethanol concentrations (50, 60 and 70 % (v/v)) was used as an extraction solvent at elevated pressure (10.34 MPa) and temperatures (90, 120 and 150 °C). The recovery yield of UGCC crude extract, total phenolic content, CGA content and some bioactivities of UGCC extract were investigated. Using of ASE at lower temperature with higher ethanol concentration provided higher CGA content in the UGCC crude extract. The maximum CGA content was observed at the ethanol concentration of 70% ethanol and 90 °C. The further purification of UGCC crude extract gave a higher purity of CGA with a purified CGA yield of 4.28 % (w/w, of dried UGCC sample) containing 72.52 % CGA equivalent. The antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity of purified CGA extract were determined. The purified CGA exhibited the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity at 0.88 mg Trolox equivalent/mg purified CGA sample. The antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli was observed with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) at 3.12 mg/ml and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) at 12.5 mg/ml. These results suggested that using of high concentration of ethanol and low temperature under elevated pressure of ASE condition could accelerate the extraction of CGA from UGCC. The purified CGA extract could be a promising alternative source of bioactive compound using for nutraceutical and functional food industry.

Keywords: bioactive, chlorogenic acid, coffee, extraction

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Authors: Kobus-Cisowska Joanna, Flaczyk Ewa, Gramza-Michalowska Anna, Kmiecik Dominik, Przeor Monika, Marcinkowska Agata, Korczak Józef

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Cereal products, including mainly bread is a staple food known from the beginning of history throughout the world. It is now believed that there is no replacement of the basic food. Bread, due to the high content of starch is the energy source for the proper functioning of our body. It also contains proteins, fats, vitamins, especially of the B group and vitamin E, a number of minerals, and fiber. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of new developed bread premixes with mulberry fruits for people with anemia, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. From the finished product-bread, aqueous and methanol extracts was prepared, which in next step were analyzed to assess the activity of the radical DPPH test, ABTS, chelating activity, the ability to reduce metals. Extracts were prepared from bread were acquired with premixes directly after production and stored for three months. The resulting trial breads effect by different mechanisms of antioxidant. They showed the ability to scavenge radicals ABTS and DPPH and chelating activity. Methanol extracts showed significantly greater antioxidant activity in comparison with aqueous extracts, and the largest effect was estimated for sample of bread for anemia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The greatest ability to scavenging ABTS radicals showed breads for anemia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, while smaller for anemia and control sample. It was shown that the methanol extracts of the breads samples showed no ability to chelate iron (II). These properties are observed only in the aqueous extracts. The greatest ability attempt had anemia while the lowest control sample. Financial supported by the UE Project no POIG 01.01.02-00-061/09.

Keywords: morus alba, antioxidant activity, free radicals, polyphenols

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Authors: Hyeuk Ju Ko, Eui Ju Lee

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Many electronic devices are powered by various rechargeable batteries such as lithium-ion today, but occasionally the batteries undergo thermal runaway and cause fire, explosion, and other hazards. If a battery fire should occur in an electronic device of vehicle and aircraft cabin, it is important to quickly extinguish the fire and cool the batteries to minimize safety risks. Attempts to minimize these risks have been carried out by many researchers but the number of study on the successful extinguishment is limited. Because most rechargeable batteries are operated on the ion state with electron during charge and discharge of electricity, and the reaction of this electrolyte has a big difference with normal combustion. Here, we focused on the effect of ions on reaction stability and pollutant emissions during combustion process. The other importance for understanding ionized fuel combustion could be found in high efficient and environment-friendly combustion technologies, which are used to be operated an extreme condition and hence results in unintended flame instability such as extinction and oscillation. The use of electromagnetic energy and non-equilibrium plasma is one of the way to solve the problems, but the application has been still limited because of lack of excited ion effects in the combustion process. Therefore, the understanding of ion role during combustion might be promised to the energy safety society including the battery safety. In this study, the effects of an ionized fuel on the flame stability and pollutant emissions were experimentally investigated in the hydrocarbon jet diffusion flames. The burner used in this experiment consisted of 7.5 mm diameter tube for fuel and the gaseous fuels were ionized with the ionizer (SUNJE, SPN-11). Methane (99.9% purity) and propane (commercial grade) were used as a fuel and open ambient air was used as an oxidizer. As the performance of ionizer used in the experiment was evaluated at first, ion densities of both propane and methane increased linearly with volume flow rate but the ion density of propane is slightly higher than that of methane. The results show that the overall flame stability and shape such as flame length has no significant difference even in the higher ion concentration. However, the fuel ionization affects to the pollutant emissions such as NOx and soot. NOx and CO emissions measured in post flame region decreased with increasing fuel ionization, especially at high fuel velocity, i.e. high ion density. TGA analysis and morphology of soot by TEM indicates that the fuel ionization makes soot to be matured.

Keywords: battery fires, ionization, jet flames, stability, NOx and soot

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Authors: Parvez Sattar

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There are around 150,000 female sex workers in Bangladesh, and the country hosts one of the largest brothels in the world. There are 20 brothel-villages in the country, of which 14 are recognized to be ‘official’, and at least 11 are currently operational. Although the national Constitution adopts a preventive policy against prostitution, law does not, as such, prohibit commercial sex work by an adult woman working in a brothel having made an affidavit in this regard. But, at the same time, the law renders at least some forms of floating and hotel based sex work illegal, while sex between males has been termed as sodomy and made culpable offence even on its own. All forms of sex works by MSM and Hijra are thus branded as criminal acts. Observations and findings drawn in this article are based on both primary and secondary sources collecting data from a series of field-based empirical studies conducted by the author through questionnaire survey, FGDs, key informant consultations and other PRA/PLA tools. General and specific conclusions have been based on analysis guided by international standards of human and labour rights approaches. It has been noted that neither the community attitudes nor the cultural mind-sets, or the State's institutional set up is supportive of the causes of sex workers engaged in the most exploitative forms of labour. Lack of respect for fundamental rights continues to diminish any chances of sex workers' reintegration to the mainstream of the society, perpetuates poverty, and increases their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. To aggravate the scenario, the endemic practice of a complex debt-bondage masked by the so-called 'entry-cost' and ‘legal license’ to the industry is considered to be a somewhat accepted 'open secret' and that the police and administration keep their eyes off from such practices treating these as 'their internal affairs'. Often these practices are used by the Sardarni/Khala (landlady) and other 'managing' actors as the tool for further exploitation of the sex workers as well as a 'control strategy'. The paper concludes with the observation that the tabooed truths of commercial sex and sex workers are inherently embedded in the very factors that compel them into this endemically ostracised profession itself. While denial of both recognition and enjoyment of the fundamental human rights of sex workers is widespread, it is the same cycle of social vulnerability and economic exclusion that often confines these people within a continuous process of servitude and modern day slavery.

Keywords: commercial sex work and human rights, Labor protection in sex industry, Prostitution Law in Bangladesh, Sex work as modern day slavery

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Authors: Shirin jalili, Hadi Shirzad, Mahasti Modarresi, Samaneh Nabavi, Somayeh Khanjani

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Identifying the source tissue of biological material found at crime scenes can be very informative in a number of cases. Despite their usefulness, current visual, catalytic, enzymatic, and immunologic tests for presumptive and confirmatory tissue identification are applicable only to a subset of samples, might suffer limitations such as low specificity, lack of sensitivity, and are substantially impacted by environmental insults. In addition their results are operator-dependent. Recently the possibility of discriminating body fluids using mRNA expression differences in tissues has been described but lack of long term stability of that Molecule and the need to normalize samples for each individual are limiting factors. The use of DNA should solve these issues because of its long term stability and specificity to each body fluid. Cells in the human body have a unique epigenome, which includes differences in DNA methylation in the promoter of genes. DNA methylation, which occurs at the 5′-position of the cytosine in CpG dinucleotides, has great potential for forensic identification of body fluids, because tissue-specific patterns of DNA methylation have been demonstrated, and DNA is less prone to degradation than proteins or RNA. Previous studies have reported several body fluid-specific DNA methylation markers.The presence or absence of a methyl group on the 5’ carbon of the cytosine pyridine ring in CpG dinucleotide regions called ‘CpG islands’ dictates whether the gene is expressed or silenced in the particular body fluid. Were described methylation patterns at tissue specific differentially methylated regions (tDMRs) to be stable and specific, making them excellent markers for tissue identification. The results demonstrate that methylation-based tissue identification is more than a proof-of-concept. The methodology holds promise as another viable forensic DNA analysis tool for characterization of biological materials.

Keywords: DNA methylation, forensic science, epigenome, tDMRs

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Authors: Andres Nieto-Leal, Victor N. Kaliakin, Tania P. Molina

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The nature of most engineering materials is quite complex. It is, therefore, difficult to devise a general mathematical model that will cover all possible ranges and types of excitation and behavior of a given material. As a result, the development of mathematical models is based upon simplifying assumptions regarding material behavior. Such simplifications result in some material idealization; for example, one of the simplest material idealization is to assume that the material behavior obeys the elasticity. However, soils are nonhomogeneous, anisotropic, path-dependent materials that exhibit nonlinear stress-strain relationships, changes in volume under shear, dilatancy, as well as time-, rate- and temperature-dependent behavior. Over the years, many constitutive models, possessing different levels of sophistication, have been developed to simulate the behavior geomaterials, particularly cohesive soils. Early in the development of constitutive models, it became evident that elastic or standard elastoplastic formulations, employing purely isotropic hardening and predicated in the existence of a yield surface surrounding a purely elastic domain, were incapable of realistically simulating the behavior of geomaterials. Accordingly, more sophisticated constitutive models have been developed; for example, the bounding surface elastoplasticity. The essence of the bounding surface concept is the hypothesis that plastic deformations can occur for stress states either within or on the bounding surface. Thus, unlike classical yield surface elastoplasticity, the plastic states are not restricted only to those lying on a surface. Elastoplastic bounding surface models have been improved; however, there is still need to improve their capabilities in simulating the response of anisotropically consolidated cohesive soils, especially the response in extension tests. Thus, in this work an improved constitutive model that can more accurately predict diverse stress-strain phenomena exhibited by cohesive soils was developed. Particularly, an improved rotational hardening rule that better simulate the response of cohesive soils in extension. The generalized definition of the bounding surface model provides a convenient and elegant framework for unifying various previous versions of the model for anisotropically consolidated cohesive soils. The Generalized Bounding Surface Model for cohesive soils is a fully three-dimensional, time-dependent model that accounts for both inherent and stress induced anisotropy employing a non-associative flow rule. The model numerical implementation in a computer code followed an adaptive multistep integration scheme in conjunction with local iteration and radial return. The one-step trapezoidal rule was used to get the stiffness matrix that defines the relationship between the stress increment and the strain increment. After testing the model in simulating the response of cohesive soils through extensive comparisons of model simulations to experimental data, it has been shown to give quite good simulations. The new model successfully simulates the response of different cohesive soils; for example, Cardiff Kaolin, Spestone Kaolin, and Lower Cromer Till. The simulated undrained stress paths, stress-strain response, and excess pore pressures are in very good agreement with the experimental values, especially in extension.

Keywords: bounding surface elastoplasticity, cohesive soils, constitutive model, modeling of geomaterials

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Authors: Zhang Tao, Si Tang, Zhang Yufeng, Jin Jiahua

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Work pressure is an emerging research of organizational behavior. Many factors associated with this study also attracted the interest of scholars. Macao is surrounding by open micro-capitalist economy which has a high internationalization level and Mature operation system. And there is no doubt that tourism and hotel service industry is the pillar of the Macao economy with the developing of the mainland individual tourist visa. More and more cities are willing to inclusive culture diversity which lead to the amount of inbound tourists present high-speed up trend cause the hotel industry has a strong customer base and development space. At the same time, the hotel staff is an important role in the service. However, affected by some adverse factors, the hotel staff face a variety of pressures. This study combs the concept and theory of pressures relevant influencing factors and puts forward the purpose of this research. The focus of this study will be organizational supported by work efficiency and work pressure, using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Through questionnaires and interviews, 10 hotels in Macao were selected and 500 questionnaires were distributed to the employees. Statistical analysis software SPSS was used for descriptive statistics. By exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, effect. And the relevant practitioners on behalf of the interview content analysis. The innovation of this research lies in the empirical study of the relationship between the working pressure, organizational support and working efficiency of Macau hotel practitioners, and constructs and validates the structural model of the relationship among them. This model will be helpful for people to use more research methods to study hotel practitioners pressure in the future. At the same time, we can draw the following conclusions: 1. There is a significant negative correlation between salary level and job stress; 2. There is a significant negative correlation between job stress and performance; 3. Different organizational support can interfere the relationship between job stress and performance; 4. Put forward the strategy of relevance adjustment, which provides a reference value for the hotel industry in human resource management. It would be helpful to improve their service standard by training their practitioners more scientifically and rationally.

Keywords: Macau, perceived organizational support, work stress, work efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Alan Collins

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This study explains how The People’s Tribunal empowered survivors of child abuse. It examines how People’s tribunals can be effective mean of empowerment; the challenges of empowerment – expectation v. reality; the findings and how they reflect other inquiry findings; and the importance of listening and learning from survivors. UKCSAPT “The People’s Tribunal” was established by survivors of child sex abuse and members of civil society to investigate historic cases of institutional sex abuse. The independent inquiry, led by a panel of four judges, listened to evidence spanning four decades from survivors and experts. A common theme throughout these accounts showed that a series of institutional failures prevented abuse from being reported; and that there are clear links between children being rendered vulnerable by these failures and predatory abuse on an organised scale. It made a series of recommendations including the establishment of a permanent and open forum for victims to share experiences and give evidence, better links between mental health services and police investigations, and training for police and judiciary professionals on the effects of undisclosed sexual abuse. The main findings of the UKCSAPT report were:-There are clear links between children rendered vulnerable by institutional failures and predatory abuse on an organised scale, even if these links often remain obscure. -UK governmental institutions have failed to provide survivors with meaningful opportunities for either healing or justice. -The vital mental health needs of survivors are not being met and this undermines both their psychological recovery and access to justice. -Police and other authorities often lack the training to understand the complex reasons for the inability of survivors to immediately disclose a history of abuse. -Without far-reaching changes in institutional culture and practices, the sexual abuse of children will continue to be a significant scourge in the UK. The report also outlined a series of recommendations for improving reporting and mental health provision, and access to justice for victims were made, including: -A permanent, government-funded popular tribunal should be established to enable survivors to come forward and tell their stories. -Survivors giving evidence should be assigned an advocate to assist their access to justice. -Mental health services should be linked to police investigations to help victims disclose abuse. -Victims who fear reprisals should be provided with a channel though which to give evidence anonymously.

Keywords: empowerment, survivors, sexual, abuse

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Authors: Sawsan Domi

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Identifying urban patterns of traditional settlements perfumed in various ways. One of them through the three-dimensional ‘reading’ of the urban web: the density of structures, the construction materials and the colors used. Objectives of this study are to paraphrase and understand the relation between the formation of the traditional settlements and the shape and structure of their structural method. In the beginning, the study considered the components of the historical neighborhood, which reflected the social and economical effects in the urban planning pattern. Then, by analyzing the main components of the old neighborhood which included: analysis of urban patterns & streets systems, analysis of traditional architectural elements and the construction materials and their usage. ‘’Hamasa’’ Neighborhood in ‘’Al Buraimi’’ Governorate is considered as one of the most important archaeological sites in the Sultanate of Oman. The vivid features of this archaeological site are the living witness to the genius of the Omani person and his unique architecture. ‘’Hamasa’’ Neighborhood is also considered as the oldest human settlement at ‘’Al Buraimi’’ Governorate. It used to be the gathering area for Arab and Omani tribes who are coming from other governorates of Oman. In this old settlement, local characters were created to meet the climate problems and the social, religious requirements of the life. Traditional buildings were built of materials that were available in the surround environment and within hand reach. The Historical component was containing four main separate neighborhoods. The morphological structure of ‘’Hamasa’’ was characterized by a continuous and densely built-up pattern, featuring close interdependence between the spatial and functional pattern. The streets linked the plots, the marketplace and the open areas. Consequently, the traditional fabric had narrow streets with one- and two- storey houses. The material used in building facilities at ‘’Hamasa’' historical are from the traditionally used materials. These materials were cleverly used in building of local facilities. Most of these materials are locally made and formed, and used by the locals. ‘’Hamasa’’ neighborhood is an example of analyzing the urban patterns and geometrical features. The old ‘’ Hamasa’’ retains the patterns of its old settlements. Urban patterns were defined by both forms and structure. The traditional architecture of ‘’Hamasa’’ neighborhood has evolved as a direct result of its climatic conditions. The study figures out that the neighborhood characterized by the used construction materials, the scope of the residential structures and by the streets system. All formed the urban pattern of the settlement.

Keywords: urban pattern, construction materials, neighborhood, architectural elements, historical

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Authors: Siewchuiang Sia, Gimcheong Tan

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Bacteriophages are the most abundant and genetically diverse living entities on earth; they help in regulating and maintaining microbial diversity and balance in its natural ecosystem. In this study, the infectivity of SFN6B tailed phage was investigated in various water samples. Host bacteria (Shigella flexneri) were spiked in sterilized environmental and domestic water samples, followed by SFN6B treatment. Two incubation conditions were selected for this study, 37 oC and room temperature. S. flexneri and SFN6B viability were monitored hourly for consecutive 7 hours and extended viability study for consecutive 4 days. Absorbance of all bacteria spiked water samples were taken to monitor the bacteria count. Results showed reduction in the absorbance of the SFN6B treated water sample as compared to negative control, indicating reduction in bacterial count either due to negative growth or lysis by the lytic bacteriophage. Consistent with the result, SFN6B titer increases for first two days. However, prolong incubation of these cultures reaches equilibrium, between phage and bacteria. Temperature and water sample source also influence the interaction between S. flexneri and SFN6B. Stronger interaction was observed in 37oC as compared to room temperature, where higher bacteria count and phage titer increase were recorded. Availability of nutrient in water sample also plays a crucial role in the interaction between bacteria and phage. Higher nutrient level, such as lake and river waters were observed to give better infectivity and viability of both bacteria and phage as compared to tab water. It is believed that S. flexneri continue to remain viable and able to grow in the present of SFN6B bacteriophage, but the number was closely regulated by surrounding phages. This allows better understanding of the characteristics of SFN6B that could serve as the basis for future studies and applications.

Keywords: bacteriophage, Shigella flexneri, infection, microbial diversity

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Authors: Siqin Wang, Jonathan Corcoran, Yan Liu, Thomas Sigler

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Australia is a quintessentially immigrant nation with 28 percent of its residents being foreign-born. By 2011, People’s Republic of China (PRC) overtook the United Kingdom to become the largest source country in Australia. Significantly, the profile of PRC-born migrants has changed to mirror broader global shifts towards high-skilled labour, education-related, and investment-focussed migration, all of which reflect an increasing trend in the mobility of wealthy and/or educated cohorts. Together, these coalesce to form a more complex pattern of migrant settlement –both spatially and socio-economically. This paper focuses on the PRC-born migration, redresses these lacunae, with regard to the settlement outcomes of PRC migrants to Australia, with a particular focus on spatial evolution and residential mobility at both the metropolitan and national scales. By drawing on Census Data and migration Micro Datasets, the aim of this paper is to examine the shifting dynamics of PRC-born migrants in Australian capital cities to unveil their socioeconomic characteristics, residential patterns and change of spatial concentrations during their transition into the new host society. This paper finds out three general patterns in the residential evolution of PRC-born migrants depending on the size of capital cities where they settle down, as well as the association of socio-economic characters with the formation of enclaves. It also examines the residential mobility across states and cities from 2001 to 2011 indicating the rising status of median-size Australian capital cities for receiving PRC-born migrants. The paper concludes with a discussion of evidences for policy formation, facilitates the effective transition of PRC-born populations into the mainstream of host society and enhances social harmony to help Australia become a more successful multicultural nation.

Keywords: Australia, Chinese migrants, residential mobility, spatial evolution

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Authors: Zayneb Kthiri, Walid Hamada

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The application of organic fertilizers is generally known to be useful to sustain soil fertility and plant growth, especially in poor soils, with less than 1% of organic matter, as it is very common in our Tunisian fields. Therefore, we focused on evaluating the effect of a new released liquid organic fertilizer named Solorga (with 5% of organic matter) compared to a reference product (Espartan: Kimitec, Spain) on tomato plant growth and physiology. Both fertilizers, derived from plant decomposition, were applied at an early stage in hydroponic system and under greenhouse. In hydroponic system, after 14 days of their application by root feeding, a significant difference was observed between treatments. Indeed, Solorga improved shoots and roots length, as well as the biomass respectively, by 45%, 27%, and 27.8% increase rate, while compared to control plants. However, Espartan induced less the measured parameters while compared to untreated control. Moreover, Solorga significantly increased the chlorophyll content by 42% compared to control and by 32% compared to Espartan. In the greenhouse, after 20 days of treatments, the results showed a significant effect of both fertilizers on SPAD index and the number of flowers blossom. Solorga increased the amount of chlorophyll present in the leaf by 7% compared to Espartan as well as the plant height under greenhouse. Moreover, the number of flowers blossom increased by 15% in plants treated with Solorga while compared to Espartan. Whereas, there is no notable difference between both organic fertilizers on the fruits blossom and the number of fruits per blossom. In conclusion, even though there is a difference in the organic matter between both fertilizers, Solorga improved better the plant growth in controlled conditions in hydroponic system while compared to Espartan. Altogether the obtained results are encouraging for the use of Solorga as a soil enriching source of organic matter to help plants to boost their growth and help them to overcome abiotic stresses linked to soil fertility.

Keywords: tomato, plant growth, organic fertilizer, hydroponic system, greenhouse

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Authors: Petra Suchovska

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The spirit of post-modernity remains chaotic and obscure. Geopolitical rivalries raging at the more extreme levels and the ability of intellectual community to explain the entropy of global affairs has been diminishing. The Western-led idea of globalisation imposed upon the world does not seem to bring the bright future for human progress anymore, and its architects lose much of global control, as the strong non-western cultural entities develop new forms of post-modern establishments. The overall growing cultural misunderstanding and mistrust are expressions of political impotence to deal with the inner contradictions within the contemporary phenomenon (capitalism, economic globalisation) that embrace global society. The drivers and effects of global restructuring must be understood in the context of systems and principles reflecting on true complexity of society. The purpose of this paper is to set out some ideas about how cybernetics can contribute to understanding international system structure and analyse possible world futures. “IS Cybernetics” would apply to system thinking and cybernetic principles in IR in order to analyse and handle the complexity of social phenomena from global perspective. “IS cybernetics” would be, for now, the subfield of IR, concerned with applying theories and methodologies from cybernetics and system sciences by offering concepts and tools for addressing problems holistically. It would bring order to the complex relations between disciplines that IR touches upon. One of its tasks would be to map, measure, tackle and find the principles of dynamics and structure of social forces that influence human behaviour and consequently cause political, technological and economic structural reordering, forming and reforming the international system. “IS cyberneticists” task would be to understand the control mechanisms that govern the operation of international society (and the sub-systems in their interconnection) and only then suggest better ways operate these mechanisms on sublevels as cultural, political, technological, religious and other. “IS cybernetics” would also strive to capture the mechanism of social-structural changes in time, which would open space for syntheses between IR and historical sociology. With the cybernetic distinction between first order studies of observed systems and the second order study of observing systems, IS cybernetics would also provide a unifying epistemological and methodological, conceptual framework for multilateralism and multiple modernities theory.

Keywords: cybernetics, historical sociology, international system, systems theory

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Authors: Shihab Ibrahim

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Geopolymer binders as an alternative binder system to ordinary Portland cement are the focus of the past 2 decades of researches. In order to eliminate CO2 emission by cement manufacturing and utilizing construction waste as a source material, clean waste clay bricks which are the waste from Levent Brick factory was activated with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution. 12 molarity of sodium hydroxide solution was used and the ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide was 2.5. Alkaline solution to clay brick powder ratio of 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, and 0.5 was studied. Alkaline solution to powder ratio of 0.4 was found to be optimum ratio to have the same workability as ordinary Portland cement paste. Compressive strength of the clay brick based geopolymer paste samples was evaluated under different curing temperatures and curing durations. One day compressive strength of 57.3 MPa after curing at 85C for 24 hours was obtained which was higher than 7 days compressive strength of ordinary Portland cement paste. The highest compressive strength 71.4 MPa was achieved at seventh day age for the geopolymer paste samples cured at 85C for 24 hours. It was found that 8 hour curing at elevated temperature 85C, is sufficient to get 96% of total strength. 37.4 MPa strength at seventh day of clay brick based geopolymer sample cured at room temperature was achieved. Water absorption around 10% was found for clay brick based geopolymer samples cured at different temperatures with compare to 9.14% water absorption of ordinary Portland cement paste. The clay brick based geopolymer binder can have the potentiality to be used as an alternative binder to Portland cement in a case that the heat treatment provided. Further studies are needed in order to produce the binder in a way that can harden and gain strength without any elevated curing.

Keywords: construction and demolition waste, geopolymer, clay brick, compressive strength.

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Authors: Lidia Kowalska, Edward Arseniuk

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Glume and leaf blotch is a disease of wheat caused by necrotrophic fungus Parastagonospora nodorum. It is a serious pathogen in many wheat-growing areas throughout the world. Use of resistant cultivars is the most effective and economical means to control the above-mentioned disease. Plant breeders and pathologists have worked intensively to incorporate resistance to the pathogen in new cultivars. Conventional methods of breeding for resistance can be supported by using the biotechnological ones, i.e., somatic embryogenesis and androgenesis. Therefore, an effort was undertaken to compare genetic variation in P. nodorum resistance among winter wheat somaclones, dihaploids and conventional varieties. For the purpose, a population of 16 somaclonal and 4 dihaploid wheat lines from six crosses were used to assess their resistance to P. nodorum under field conditions. Lines were grown in disease-free (fungicide protected) and inoculated micro plots in 2 replications of a split-plot design in a single environment. The plant leaves were inoculated with a mixture of P. nodorum isolates three times. Spore concentrations were adjusted to 4 x 10⁶ of viable spores per one milliliter. The disease severity was rated on a scale, where > 90% – susceptible, < 10% - resistant. Disease ratings of plant leaves showed statistically significant differences among all lines tested. Higher resistance to P. nodorum was observed more often on leaves of somaclonal lines than on dihaploid ones. On average, disease, severity reached 15% on leaves of somaclones and 30% on leaves of dihaploids. Some of the genotypes were showing low leaf infection, e.g. dihaploid D-33 (disease severity 4%) and a somaclone S-1 (disease severity 2%). The results from this study prove that dihaploid and somaclonal variation might be successfully used as an additional source of wheat resistance to the pathogen and it could be recommended to use in commercial breeding programs. The reported results prove that biotechnological methods may effectively be used in breeding for disease resistance of wheat to fungal necrotrophic pathogens.

Keywords: glume and leaf blotch, somaclonal, androgenic variation, wheat, resistance breeding

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

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

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, pomegranates, oman, cognitive decline, memory loss, anxiety, inflammation

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Authors: Till Gramberg, Erwin Gross, Christoph Birenbaum

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This paper presents the approach of the Easy2IoT research project. Easy2IoT aims to enable companies in the prefabrication sheet metal and sheet metal processing industry to enter the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with a low-threshold and cost-effective approach. It focuses on the development of physical hardware and software to easily capture machine activities from on a sawing machine, benefiting various stakeholders in the SME value chain, including machine operators, tool manufacturers and service providers. The methodological approach of Easy2IoT includes an in-depth requirements analysis and customer interviews with stakeholders along the value chain. Based on these insights, actions, requirements and potential solutions for smart services are derived. The focus is on providing actionable recommendations, competencies and easy integration through no-/low-code applications to facilitate implementation and connectivity within production networks. At the core of the project is a novel, non-invasive measurement and analysis system that can be easily deployed and made IIoT-ready. This system collects machine data without interfering with the machines themselves. It does this by non-invasively measuring the tension on a sawing machine. The collected data is then connected and analyzed using artificial intelligence (AI) to provide smart services through a platform-based application. Three Smart Services are being developed within Easy2IoT to provide immediate benefits to users: Wear part and product material condition monitoring and predictive maintenance for sawing processes. The non-invasive measurement system enables the monitoring of tool wear, such as saw blades, and the quality of consumables and materials. Service providers and machine operators can use this data to optimize maintenance and reduce downtime and material waste. Optimize Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) by monitoring machine activity. The non-invasive system tracks machining times, setup times and downtime to identify opportunities for OEE improvement and reduce unplanned machine downtime. Estimate CO2 emissions for connected machines. CO2 emissions are calculated for the entire life of the machine and for individual production steps based on captured power consumption data. This information supports energy management and product development decisions. The key to Easy2IoT is its modular and easy-to-use design. The non-invasive measurement system is universally applicable and does not require specialized knowledge to install. The platform application allows easy integration of various smart services and provides a self-service portal for activation and management. Innovative business models will also be developed to promote the sustainable use of the collected machine activity data. The project addresses the digitalization gap between large enterprises and SME. Easy2IoT provides SME with a concrete toolkit for IIoT adoption, facilitating the digital transformation of smaller companies, e.g. through retrofitting of existing machines.

Keywords: smart services, IIoT, IIoT-platform, industrie 4.0, big data

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Authors: Rieski Prihastuti, Meliana Depo, Trisno A. Wibowo, Misinem

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On October 19, 2017, Yogyakarta Islamic Hospital reported 38 garment employees with nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea after they had lunch on October 18, 2017, to Sleman District Health Office. Objectives of this study were to ensure the outbreak and identify source and route of transmission. Case-control study was conducted to analyze food items that caused the outbreak. A case was defined as a person who got symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea with/without vomiting, fever, and headache after they had lunch on October 18, 2017. Samples included leftover lunch box, vomit, tap water and drinking water had been sent to the laboratory. Data were analyzed descriptively as frequency table and analyzed by using chi-square in bivariate analysis. All of 196 garment employee was included in this study. The common symptoms of this outbreak were abdominal pain (84.4%), diarrhea (72.8%), nausea (61.6%), headache (52.8%), vomiting (12.8%), and fever (6.4%) with median incubation period 13 hours (range 1-34 hours). Highest attack rate and odds ratio was found in grilled chicken (Attack Rate 58,49%) with Odds Ratio 11,023 (Confidence Interval 95% 1.383 - 87.859; p value 0,005). Almost all samples showed mold, except drinking water. Based on its sign and symptoms, also incubation period, diarrheal Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens were suspected to be the causative agent of the outbreak. Limitation of this study was improper sample handling and no sample of food handler and stools in the food caterer. Outbreak investigation training needed to be given to the hospital worker, and monitoring should be done to the food caterer to prevent another outbreak.

Keywords: disease outbreak, foodborne disease, food poisoning, outbreak

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Authors: Yen-Hui Chen, Terry Walker

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As the world experiences an energy crisis, investing in sustainable energy resources is a pressing mission for many countries. Microalgae-derived biodiesel has attracted intensive attention as an important biofuel, and microalgae Chlorella protothecoides lipid is recognized as a renewable source for microalgae-derived biodiesel production. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) is a promising green solvent that may potentially substitute the use of organic solvents for lipid extraction; however, the efficiency of SC-CO₂ extraction may be affected by many variables, including temperature, pressure and extraction time individually or in combination. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the process parameters, including temperature, pressure and extraction time, on C. protothecoides lipid yield by SC-CO₂ extraction. A second order polynomial model provided a good fit (R-square value of 0.94) for the C. protothecoides lipid yield. The linear and quadratic terms of temperature, pressure and extraction time—as well as the interaction between temperature and pressure—showed significant effects on lipid yield during extraction. The optimal lipid yield from the model was predicted as the temperature of 59 °C, the pressure of 350.7 bar and the extraction time 2.8 hours. Under these conditions, the experimental lipid yield (25%) was close to the predicted value. The principal fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) of C. protothecoides lipid-derived biodiesel were oleic acid methyl ester (60.1%), linoleic acid methyl ester (18.6%) and palmitic acid methyl ester (11.4%), which made up more than 90% of the total FAMEs. In summary, this study indicated that RSM was useful to characterize the optimization the SC-CO₂ extraction process of C. protothecoides lipid yield, and the second-order polynomial model could be used for predicting and describing the lipid yield very well. In addition, C. protothecoides lipid, extracted by SC-CO₂, was suggested as a potential candidate for microalgae-derived biodiesel production.

Keywords: Chlorella protothecoides, microalgal lipids, response surface methodology, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: Amr Mohamadien, Ali Imanpour, Sylvester Agbo, Nader Yoosef-Ghodsi, Samer Adeeb

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The fracture toughness resistance curve (e.g., J-R curve and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) or δ-R curve) is important in facilitating strain-based design and integrity assessment of oil and gas pipelines. This paper aims to present laboratory experimental data to characterize the fracture behavior of pipeline steel. The influential parameters associated with the fracture of API 5L X52 pipeline steel, including different initial crack sizes, were experimentally investigated for a single notch edge bend (SENB). A total of 9 small-scale specimens with different crack length to specimen depth ratios were conducted and tested using single edge notch bending (SENB). ASTM E1820 and BS7448 provide testing procedures to construct the fracture resistance curve (Load-CTOD, CTOD-R, or J-R) from test results. However, these procedures are limited by standard specimens’ dimensions, displacement gauges, and calibration curves. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents the use of small-scale specimens and a 3D-digital image correlation (DIC) system to extract the parameters required for fracture toughness estimation. Fracture resistance curve parameters in terms of crack mouth open displacement (CMOD), crack tip opening displacement (CTOD), and crack growth length (∆a) were carried out from test results by utilizing the DIC system, and an improved regression fitting resistance function (CTOD Vs. crack growth), or (J-integral Vs. crack growth) that is dependent on a variety of initial crack sizes was constructed and presented. The obtained results were compared to the available results of the classical physical measurement techniques, and acceptable matchings were observed. Moreover, a case study was implemented to estimate the maximum strain value that initiates the stable crack growth. This might be of interest to developing more accurate strain-based damage models. The results of laboratory testing in this study offer a valuable database to develop and validate damage models that are able to predict crack propagation of pipeline steel, accounting for the influential parameters associated with fracture toughness.

Keywords: fracture toughness, crack propagation in pipeline steels, CTOD-R, strain-based damage model

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Authors: Iahtasham Khan, Vania Lucia De Assis Santana, Marcilia Maria Alves De Souza, Mabel Hanna Vance Harrop, Fernando Leandro Dos Santos, Cecília Maria Souza Leão E. Silva, Pedro Paulo Silveira, Marcelo Brasil, Marcus Vinícius, Hélio Cordeiro Manso Filho, Muhammad Younus, Aman Ullah Khan

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Glanders ranks high on clinical lists in some regions of Brazil as a cause of respiratory and lymphatic disease in equids. Glanders is caused by Burkolderia mallei (B. mallei) Gram-negative bacterium. B. mallei was first biological agent used in World War I in 20th century. The complement fixation test (CFT) is a serodiagnostic tool prescribed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)for the diagnosis of glanders in the international trade of equids. The aim of the present study was to monitor the serological responses in equines naturally infected with B. mallei using the CFT. A total of 574 equids were tested with CFT, 30 days apart in a total of 12 samplings. One hundred thirty-four sera tested negative in all samplings; 192 sera tested positive in one sampling and 125 sera tested positive in two or more samplings. Remaining 123 samples showed uncertain results. Thus, CFT results can vary over a period of time. These variations could be the consequence of the effects of the natural immune response in each animal. The findings of the present study demonstrate difficulties regarding the simultaneous implementation of CFT and test and slaughter policies to eradicate glanders. Another constraint to control this disease is the presence of carrier/transitory CFT-negative animals, which are a potential source of disease in glanders-free areas. Serodiagnostic tests of higher sensitivity and specificity like immunobloat should be implemented to achieve success in the eradication of glanders.

Keywords: glanders, equids, horses, immunological, mules

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Authors: Jayanta Bora, Sukhvinder Kaur, Ashok Agarwal, Sangeeta Kaul

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Background: It is important for targeted interventions to consider vulnerabilities of female sex workers (FSWs) such as poverty, work-related mobility and literacy for effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention. This paper examines the association between vulnerability and behavioural outcomes among FSWs in Thane district, Maharashtra under USAID PHFI-PIPPSE project. Methods: Data were used from the Behavioural Tracking Survey, a cross-sectional behavioural study conducted in 2015 with 503 FSWs randomly selected from 12 TI-NGOs which were functioning and providing services to FSWs in Thane district prior to April 2014 in Thane district of Maharashtra. We have created the “vulnerability index”, a composite index of literacy, factors of dependence (alternative livelihood options, current debt), and aspects of sex work (mobility and duration in sex work) as a dependent variable. The key independent measures used were program exposure to intervention, service uptake, self-confidence, and self-identity. Bi-variate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the study objectives. Results: A higher proportion of FSWs who were in the age-group 18–25 years from brothel/street /home/ lodge-based were categorized as highly vulnerable to HIV risk as compared to bar-based sex worker (74.1% versus 59.8%, P,0.002); regression analysis highlighted lower odds of vulnerability among FSWs who were aware of services and visited NGO clinic for medical check-up and counselling for STI [AOR= 0.092, 95% CI 0.018-0.460; P,0.004], However, lower odds of vulnerability on confident in supporting fellow sex worker in crisis [AOR= 0.601, 95% CI 0.476-0.758; P, 0.000] and were able to turn away clients when they refused to use a condom during sex [AOR= 0.524, 95% CI 0.342-0.802; P, 0.003]. Conclusion: The results highlight that FSWs associated with TIs and getting services are less vulnerable and highly empowered. As a result of behavioural change communication and other services provided by TIs, FSWs were able to successfully negotiate about condom use with their clients and manage solidarity in the crisis situation for fellow FSWs. Therefore, it is evident from study paper that TI prevention programs may transform the lives of masses considerably and may open a window of opportunity to infuse the information and awareness about HIV risk.

Keywords: female sex worker, HIV prevention, HIV service uptake, vulnerability

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Authors: Syed Hadi Hasan, Devendra Kumar Singh, Viyaj Kumar

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Cr (VI) is a known toxic heavy metal and has been considered as a priority pollutant in water. The effluent of various industries including electroplating, anodizing baths, leather tanning, steel industries and chromium based catalyst are the major source of Cr (VI) contamination in the aquatic environment. Cr (VI) show high mobility in the environment and can easily penetrate cell membrane of the living tissues to exert noxious effects. The Cr (VI) contamination in drinking water causes various hazardous health effects to the human health such as cancer, skin and stomach irritation or ulceration, dermatitis, damage to liver, kidney circulation and nerve tissue damage. Herein, an attempt has been done to develop an efficient adsorbent for the removal of Cr (VI) from water. For this purpose nanosorbent composed of polyvinyl alcohol functionalized graphene oxide (GO/PVA) was prepared. Thus, obtained GO/PVA was characterized through FTIR, XRD, SEM, and Raman Spectroscopy. As prepared nanosorbent of GO/PVA was utilized for the removal Cr (VI) in batch mode experiment. The process variables such as contact time, initial Cr (VI) concentration, pH, and temperature were optimized. The maximum 99.8 % removal of Cr (VI) was achieved at initial Cr (VI) concentration 60 mg/L, pH 2, temperature 35 °C and equilibrium was achieved within 50 min. The two widely used isotherm models viz. Langmuir and Freundlich were analyzed using linear correlation coefficient (R2) and it was found that Langmuir model gives best fit with high value of R2 for the data of present adsorption system which indicate the monolayer adsorption of Cr (VI) on the GO/PVA. Kinetic studies were also conducted using pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models and it was observed that chemosorptive pseudo-second order model described the kinetics of current adsorption system in better way with high value of correlation coefficient. Thermodynamic studies were also conducted and results showed that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic in nature.

Keywords: adsorption, GO/PVA, isotherm, kinetics, nanosorbent, thermodynamics

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Authors: Theoktisti Makridou, Konstantinos Tsaprailis, George Arvanitakis, Charalampos Kontoes

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In the literature, the data-driven approaches for mosquito abundance prediction relaying on supervised machine learning models that get trained with historical in-situ measurements. The counterpart of this approach is once the model gets trained on pointlevel (specific x,y coordinates) measurements, the predictions of the model refer again to point-level. These point-level predictions reduce the applicability of those solutions once a lot of early warning and mitigation actions applications need predictions for an area level, such as a municipality, village, etc... In this study, we apply a data-driven predictive model, which relies on public-open satellite Earth Observation and geospatial data and gets trained with historical point-level in-Situ measurements of mosquito abundance. Then we propose a methodology to extract information from a point-level predictive model to a broader area-level prediction. Our methodology relies on the randomly spatial sampling of the area of interest (similar to the Poisson hardcore process), obtaining the EO and geomorphological information for each sample, doing the point-wise prediction for each sample, and aggregating the predictions to represent the average mosquito abundance of the area. We quantify the performance of the transformation from the pointlevel to the area-level predictions, and we analyze it in order to understand which parameters have a positive or negative impact on it. The goal of this study is to propose a methodology that predicts the mosquito abundance of a given area by relying on point-level prediction and to provide qualitative insights regarding the expected performance of the area-level prediction. We applied our methodology to historical data (of Culex pipiens) of two areas of interest (Veneto region of Italy and Central Macedonia of Greece). In both cases, the results were consistent. The mean mosquito abundance of a given area can be estimated with similar accuracy to the point-level predictor, sometimes even better. The density of the samples that we use to represent one area has a positive effect on the performance in contrast to the actual number of sampling points which is not informative at all regarding the performance without the size of the area. Additionally, we saw that the distance between the sampling points and the real in-situ measurements that were used for training did not strongly affect the performance.

Keywords: mosquito abundance, supervised machine learning, culex pipiens, spatial sampling, west nile virus, earth observation data

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Authors: Mohammed Seid, Aklilu Azazh, Fikre Enquselassie, Engida Yisma

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Background: Road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of death globally, and the leading cause of death for young people. More than a million people die each year on the world’s roads, and the risk of dying as a result of a road traffic injury is highest in the Africa. Methods: A prospective hospital-based study was undertaken to assess injury characteristics and outcome of road traffic accident among victims at Adult Emergency Department of Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A structured pre-tested questionnaire was used to gather the required data. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: A total of 230 road traffic accident victims were studied. The majority of the study subjects were men 165 (71.7%) and the male/female ratio was 2.6:1. The victims’ ages ranged from 14 to 80 years with the mean and standard deviations of 32.15 and ± 14.38 years respectively. Daily laborers (95 (41.3%)) and students (28 (12.2%)) were the majority of road traffic accident victims. Long-distance travelling Minibus (16.5%) was responsible for the majority of road traffic crash followed by followed by Taxi (14.8%) and pedestrians (62.6%) accounted for the majority of road traffic accident. Head (50.4%) and musculoskeletal (extremities) (47.0%) were the most common body region injured. Fractures (78.0%) and open wounds (56.5%) were the most common type of injuries sustained. Treatment of fracture was the most common procedure performed in 57.7 % of the victims. The overall length of hospital stay (LOS) ranged from 1 day to 61 days with mean (± standard deviation) of 7.12 ± 10.5 days and the mortality rate was 7.4 %. A significant higher proportion of victims aged 14-55 years were had less likelihood of death compared to those victims aged more than 55 years of age [Adjusted OR = 0.1 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.82)]. Conclusions: This study showed diverse injury characteristics and high morbidity and mortality among the victims attending Adult Emergency Department of Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The findings reflect that road traffic accident is a major public health problem. Urgent road traffic accident preventive measures and prompt treatment of the victims are warranted in order to reduce morbidity and mortality among the victims.

Keywords: road traffic accident, injury characteristics, outcome, Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Authors: Mahboobeh Hemmati, Tahar Messadi, Hongmei Gu

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Today, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a leading method in mitigating the environmental impacts emerging from the building sector. In this paper, LCA is used to quantify the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions during the construction phase of the largest mass timber residential structure in the United States, Adohi Hall. This building is a 200,000 square foot 708-bed complex located on the campus of the University of Arkansas. The energy used for buildings’ operation is the most dominant source of emissions in the building industry. Lately, however, the efforts were successful at increasing the efficiency of building operation in terms of emissions. As a result, the attention is now shifted to the embodied carbon, which is more noticeable in the building life cycle. Unfortunately, most of the studies have, however, focused on the manufacturing stage, and only a few have addressed to date the construction process. Specifically, less data is available about environmental impacts associated with the construction of mass timber. This study presents, therefore, an assessment of the environmental impact of the construction processes based on the real and newly built mass timber building mentioned above. The system boundary of this study covers modules A4 and A5 based on building LCA standard EN 15978. Module A4 includes material and equipment transportation. Module A5 covers the construction and installation process. This research evolves through 2 stages: first, to quantify materials and equipment deployed in the building, and second, to determine the embodied carbon associated with running equipment for construction materials, both transported to, and installed on, the site where the edifice is built. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the building is the primary metric considered in this research. The outcomes of this study bring to the front a better understanding of hotspots in terms of emission during the construction process. Moreover, the comparative analysis of the mass timber construction process with that of a theoretically similar steel building will enable an effective assessment of the environmental efficiency of mass timber.

Keywords: construction process, GWP, LCA, mass timber

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Authors: Moloud Torkandam

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Any cities must be designed and built in a way that minimizes their need for fossil fuel. Undoubtedly, the necessity of accepting this principle in the previous eras is undeniable with respect to the mode of constructions. Perhaps only due to the great diversity of materials and new technologies in the contemporary era, such a principle in buildings has been forgotten. The question of optimizing energy consumption in buildings has attracted a great deal of attention in many countries and, in this way, they have been able to cut down the consumption of energy up to 30 percent. The energy consumption is remarkably higher than global standards in our country, and the most important reason is the undesirable state of buildings from the standpoint of energy consumption. In addition to providing the means to protect the natural and fuel resources for the future generations, reducing the use of fossil energies may also bring about desirable outcomes such as the decrease in greenhouse gases (whose emissions cause global warming, the melting of polar ice, the rise in sea level and the climatic changes of the planet earth), the decrease in the destructive effects of contamination in residential complexes and especially urban environments and preparation for national self-sufficiency and the country’s independence and preserving national capitals. This research realize that in this modern day and age, living sustainably is a pre-requisite for ensuring a bright future and high quality of life. In acquiring this living standard, we will maintain the functions and ability of our environment to serve and sustain our livelihoods. Electricity is now an integral part of modern life, a basic necessity. In the provision of electricity, we are committed to respecting the environment by reducing the use of fossil fuels through the use of proven technologies that use local renewable and natural resources as its energy source. As far as this research concerned it is completely necessary to work on different type of energy producing such as solar and CPVT system.

Keywords: energy, photovoltaic, termal system, solar energy, CPVT

Procedia PDF Downloads 80