Search results for: decreased libido

Authors: Beata Skibska, Andrzej Stanczak, Agnieszka Skibska

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Nanodiamond (ND) is a carbon nanomaterial that has high biocompatibility, and it has a very positive effect on a number of biochemical processes. NDs have great potential in treating multiple inflammation-associated diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of nanodiamonds and lipoic acid (LA) (as antioxidants) on rats' cardiovascular systems after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. Animal experiments enabled the determination of how nanodiamonds act when applied independently or in combination with lipoic acid. The effect of NDs and LA on C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and heart edema was evaluated. NDs and LA administered after LPS administration attenuated heart edema and significantly decreased the CRP level. The results suggest that NDs and LA play an important role in LPS-induced inflammation in the heart. NDs find new applications in modern biomedical science and biotechnologies.

Keywords: nanodiamonds, lipoic acid, inflammation, cardiovascular system

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Melissa Dorsey

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Moral distress and compassion fatigue plague nurses in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) and cause an unnecessary level of turnover. Dueling Burnout describes an initiative that was implemented in the CTICU to reduce the level of burnout the nurses endure by encouraging dual roles with collaborating departments. Purpose: Critical care nurses are plagued by burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue due to the intensity of care provided. The purpose of the dual role program was to decrease these issues by providing relief from the intensity of the critical care environment while maintaining full-time employment. Relevance/Significance: Burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue are leading causes of Cardiothoracic Critical Care (CTCU) turnover. A contributing factor to burnout is the workload related to serving as a preceptor for a constant influx of new nurses (RN). As a result of these factors, the CTICU averages 17% nursing turnover/year. The cost, unit disruption, and, most importantly, distress of the clinical nurses required an innovative approach to create an improved work environment and experience. Strategies/Implementation/Methods: In May 2018, a dual role pilot was initiated for nurses. The dual role constitutes .6 full-time equivalent hours (FTE) worked in CTICU in combination with .3 FTE worked in the Emergency Department (ED). ED nurses who expressed an interest in cross-training to CTICU were also offered the dual role opportunity. The initial hypothesis was that full-time employees would benefit from a change in clinical setting leading to increased engagement and job satisfaction. The dual role also presents an opportunity for professional development through the expansion of clinical skills in another specialty. Success of the pilot led to extending the dual role to areas beyond the ED. Evaluation/Outcomes/Results: The number of dual role clinical nurses has grown to 22. From the dual role cohort, only one has transferred out of CTICU. This is a 5% turnover rate for this group of nurses as compared to the average turnover rate of 17%. A role satisfaction survey conducted with the dual role cohort found that because of working in a dual role, 76.5% decreased their intent to leave, 100% decreased their level of burnout, and 100% reported an increase in overall job satisfaction. Nurses reported the ability to develop skills that are transferable between departments. Respondents emphasized the appreciation gained from working in multiple environments; the dual role served to transform their care. Conclusions/Implications: Dual role is an effective strategy to retain experienced nurses, decrease burnout and turnover, improve collaboration, and provide flexibility to meet staffing needs. The dual role offers RNs an expansion of skills, relief from high acuity and orientee demands, while improving job satisfaction.

Keywords: nursing retention, burnout, pandemic, strategic staffing, leadership

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: N. Najafi, Laleh Maleknia , M. E. Olya

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An aqueous conductive ink of single-walled carbon nanotubes for inkjet printing was formulated. To prepare the homogeneous SWCNT ink in a size small enough not to block a commercial inkjet printer nozzle, we used a kinetic ball-milling process to disperse the SWCNTs in an aqueous suspension. When a patterned electrode was overlaid by repeated inkjet printings of the ink on various types of fabric, the fabric resistance decreased rapidly following a power law, reaching approximately 760 X/sq, which is the lowest value ever for a dozen printings. The Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectra revealed that the oxidation of the SWCNTs was the source of the doped impurities. This study proved also that the droplet ejection velocity can have an impact on the CNT distribution and consequently on the electrical performances of the ink.

Keywords: ink-jet printing, carbon nanotube, fabric ink, cotton fabric, raman spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dozen printings

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: Ampe Mohottige Sachinthi Sandaruwani Amarasiri, Anoja Priyadarshani Attanayake, Kamani Ayoma Perera Wijewardana Jayatilaka, Lakmini Kumari Boralugoda Mudduwa

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The search for alternative pharmacological therapies based on natural extracts for renal failure has become an urgent need, due to paucity of effective pharmacotherapy. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the acute nephroprotective effect of aqueous leaf extract of Plectranthus amboinicus (Roxb.) (Family: Lamiaceae), a medicinal plant used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine for the management of renal diseases in Sri Lanka. The study was performed in adriamycin (ADR) induced nephrotoxic in Wistar rats. Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups each with six rats. A single dose of ADR (20 mg/kg body wt., ip) was used for the induction of nephrotoxicity in all groups of rats except group one. The treatments were started 24 hours after induction of nephrotoxicity and continued for three days. Group one and two served as healthy and nephrotoxic control rats and were administered equivalent volumes of normal saline (0.9% NaCl) orally. Group three and four nephrotoxic rats were administered the lyophilized powder of the aqueous extract of P. amboinicus (400 mg/ kg body wt.; equivalent human therapeutic dose) and the standard drug, fosinopril sodium (0.09 mg/ kg body wt.) respectively. Urine and blood samples were collected from rats in each group at the end of the period of intervention for the estimation of selected renal parameters. H and E stained sections of the kidney tissues were examined for histopathological changes. Rats treated with the plant extract showed significant improvement in biochemical parameters and histopathological changes compared to ADR induced nephrotoxic group. The elevation of serum concentrations of creatinine and β2-microglobulin were decreased by 38%, and 66% in plant extract treated nephrotoxic rats respectively (p < 0.05). In addition, serum concentrations of total protein and albumin were significantly increased by 25% and 14% in rats treated with P. amboinicus respectively (p < 0.05). The results of β2 –microglobulin and serum total protein demonstrated a significant reduction in the elevated values in rats administered with the plant extract (400 mg/kg) compared to that of fosinopril (0.09 mg/kg). Urinary protein loss in 24hr urine samples was significantly decreased in rats treated with both fosinopril (86%) and P. ambonicus (56%) at the end of the intervention (p < 0.01). Accordingly, an attenuation of morphological destruction was observed in the H and E stained sections of the kidney with the treatments of plant extract and fosinopril. The results of the present study revealed that the aqueous leaf extract of P. amboinicus possesses significant nephroprotective activity at the equivalent therapeutic dose of 400 mg/ kg against adriamycin induced acute nephrotoxicity.

Keywords: biochemical assessment, histopathological assessment, nephroprotective activity, Plectranthus amboinicus

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Smita Lakhotia, C. Kew, S. H. M. Siraj, B. Chern

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Up to 50% of those with endometriosis may suffer from infertility due to either distorted pelvic anatomy/impaired oocyte release or inhibit ovum pickup and transport, altered peritoneal function, endocrine and anovulatory disorders, including LUF, impaired implantation, progesterone resistance or decreased levels of cellular immunity. The dilemma continues as to whether the surgery or IVF is the optimal management for such recurrent endometriomas. The core question is whether surgery adds anything of value for infertile women with recurrent endometriosis or not. Complete and detailed information on risks and benefits of treatment alternatives must be offered to patients, giving a realistic estimate of chances of success of repetitive surgery and of multiple IVF cycles in order to allow unbiased choices between different possible optionsAn individualized treatment plan should be developed taking into account patient age, duration of infertility, previous pregnancies and specific clinical conditions and wish.

Keywords: recurrent endometriosis, infertility, oocyte release, pregnancy

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Ibrahim I. Elshahawy

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The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of green tea extract on serum oxidant and antioxidant profile, liver and kidney function. 40 Friesian calves are included in this study and allocated into two groups: Group I (n=20) clinically healthy calves showing no clinical abnormalities, not receiving any treatment and served as control; group II (n=20) received green tea extract (GTE) for 30 days. Non-significant changes in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were detected between groups, on contrary, serum creatinine and activities of liver enzymes aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were significantly different between two groups. There were significant increases in the mean values of serum antioxidative parameters (total antioxidant capacity, catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and glutathione peroxidase) in group II. Whereas, the activity of lipid peroxidase significantly decreased in GTE treated calves when compared to control.

Keywords: green tea extract, antioxidants, oxidants, calves

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Al-Molhem, Y.

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This work aimed to study the influence of a geotextile material under sprinkler irrigation on the availability of soil moisture content and salinity of 40 cm top soil profile. Field experiment was carried out to measure soil moisture content, soil salinity and water application efficiency under sprinkler irrigation system. The results indicated that, the mats placed at 20 cm depth leads to increasing of the availability of soil moisture content in the root zone. The results further showed increases in water application efficiency because of using the geotextile material. In addition, soil salinity in the root zone decreased because of increasing soil moisture content.

Keywords: geotextile, moisture content, sprinkler irrigation

Procedia PDF Downloads 397

Authors: Akintayo Emmanuel Temitope, Akintayo Cecilia Olufunke, Ziegler Thomas

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Bio-polyols are important components in polyurethane industries. The preliminary studies into the synthesis of bio-polyol products (epoxy-polyol and epoxyl-polyurethanes) from Jatropha curcas were investigated. The reactions were followed by both infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance. Physico-chemical characterisation of the samples for iodine value (IV), acid value (AV), saponification value (SV) and hydroxyl value (HV) were carried out. Thermal transitions of the products were studied by heating 5 mg of the sample from 20ºC to 800ºC and then cooling down to -500ºC on a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The preparation of epoxylpolyol and polyurethane from Jatropha curcas oil was smooth and efficient. Results of film and solubility properties revealed that coatings of Jatropha curcas epoxy-polyurethanes performed better with increased loading of toluylene 2, 4-diisocyanate (TDI) up to 2 wt% while their solvent resistance decreased beyond a TDI loading of 1.2 wt%. DSC analysis shows the epoxy-polyurethane to be less stable compared to the epoxy-polyol.

Keywords: synthesis, epoxy-polyol, epoxy-polyurethane, jatropha curcas oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: E. Ataye-Salehi, P. Taghinia, Z. Sheikholeslami

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In this research, roasted and sonicated rice bran were added at 0, 5%, 10%, and 15% (w/w) in wheat flour for the production of Barbari bread (semi-voluminous Iranian bread). Dough's rheological properties and textural and sensory characteristics of bread were investigated. The results showed that water absorption, development time and the degree of dough softening were increased, but dough stability was decreased by adding pretreated rice bran. Adding pretreated rice bran was increased, the moisture content and L* value of bread crust. The texture of samples which contained 10% pretreated rice bran during 3 hours after baking was less stiff than of control. But 48 hours after baking there was no significant difference between samples which contained 5%, 10% of rice bran and the sample without rice bran. Finally, the samples with 10% rice bran were selected as the best productive samples in this research by panelists.

Keywords: Barbari bread, rice bran, roasting, ultrasound

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: CarlyWill Sloan

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Racial disparities in criminal justice outcomes are well-documented. However, there is little evidence on the extent to which racial bias by prosecutors is responsible for these disparities. This paper tests for racial bias in conviction by prosecutors. To identify effects, this paper leverages as good as random variation in prosecutor race using detailed administrative data on the case assignment process and case outcomes in New York County, New York. This paper shows that the assignment of an opposite-race prosecutor leads to a 5 percentage point (~ 8 percent) increase in the likelihood of conviction for property crimes. There is no evidence of effects for other types of crimes. Additional results indicate decreased dismissals by opposite-race prosecutors likely drive my property crime estimates.

Keywords: criminal justice, discrimination, prosecutors, racial disparities

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: Salesabil Labihi, Adil Eddiai, Mounir El Achaby, Mounir Meddad, Omar Cherkaoui, M’hammed Mazroui

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Piezoelectric materials provide a promising renewable energy source by converting mechanical energy into electrical energy through pressure and vibration. This study focuses on improving the conversion performance of poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) and lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The dispersion of PZT and GO within the PVDF-HFP matrix was found to be homogeneous, resulting in high piezoelectric performance with an increase in the β-phase content. The thermal stability of the PVDF-HFP polymer also improved with the addition of PZT/GO. However, as the percentage of PZT/GO increased, the young's modulus of the composite decreased significantly. The developed composite demonstrated promising performance as a potential candidate for energy harvesting applications.

Keywords: energy harvesting, mechanical conversion, piezoelectric composite, solvent casting method

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: P. Taghinia, E. Ataye-Salehi, Z. Sheikholeslami

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In this research, roasted and sonicated rice bran were added at 0, 5%, 10%, and 15% (w/w) in wheat flour for the production of Barbari breead (semi-voluminous Iranian bread). Dough's rheological properties and textural and sensory characteristics of bread were investigated. The results showed that water absorption, development time and the degree of dough softening were increased but dough stability was decreased by adding pretreated rice bran. Adding pretreated rice bran was increased, the moisture content and L* value of bread crust. The texture of samples which contained 10% pretreated rice bran during 3 hours after baking was less stiff than of control, but 48 hours after baking there was no significant difference between samples which contained 5%, 10% of rice bran and the sample without rice bran. Finally, the samples with 10% rice bran were selected as the best productive samples in this research by panelists.

Keywords: Barbari bread, rice bran, roasting, ultrasound

Procedia PDF Downloads 405

Authors: W. Staiano, S. Marcora

Abstract:

Introduction: It has been proposed that acute negative effect of mental fatigue (MF) could potentially become a training stimulus for the brain (Brain endurance training (BET)) to adapt and improve its ability to attenuate MF states during sport competitions. Purpose: The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of 6 weeks of BET on cognitive and cycling tests in a group of well-trained subjects. We hypothesised that combination of BET and standard physical training (SPT) would increase cognitive capacity and cycling performance by reducing rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and increase resilience to fatigue more than SPT alone. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial design, 26 well trained participants, after a familiarization session, cycled to exhaustion (TTE) at 80% peak power output (PPO) and, after 90 min rest, at 65% PPO, before and after random allocation to a 6 week BET or active placebo control. Cognitive performance was measured using 30 min of STROOP coloured task performed before cycling performance. During the training, BET group performed a series of cognitive tasks for a total of 30 sessions (5 sessions per week) with duration increasing from 30 to 60 min per session. Placebo engaged in a breathing relaxation training. Both groups were monitored for physical training and were naïve to the purpose of the study. Physiological and perceptual parameters of heart rate, lactate (LA) and RPE were recorded during cycling performances, while subjective workload (NASA TLX scale) was measured during the training. Results: Group (BET vs. Placebo) x Test (Pre-test vs. Post-test) mixed model ANOVA’s revealed significant interaction for performance at 80% PPO (p = .038) or 65% PPO (p = .011). In both tests, groups improved their TTE performance; however, BET group improved significantly more compared to placebo. No significant differences were found for heart rate during the TTE cycling tests. LA did not change significantly at rest in both groups. However, at completion of 65% TTE, it was significantly higher (p = 0.043) in the placebo condition compared to BET. RPE measured at ISO-time in BET was significantly lower (80% PPO, p = 0.041; 65% PPO p= 0.021) compared to placebo. Cognitive results in the STROOP task showed that reaction time in both groups decreased at post-test. However, BET decreased significantly (p = 0.01) more compared to placebo despite no differences accuracy. During training sessions, participants in the BET showed, through NASA TLX questionnaires, constantly significantly higher (p < 0.01) mental demand rates compared to placebo. No significant differences were found for physical demand. Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidences that combining BET and SPT seems to be more effective than SPT alone in increasing cognitive and cycling performance in well trained endurance participants. The cognitive overload produced during the 6-week training of BET can induce a reduction in perception of effort at a specific power, and thus improving cycling performance. Moreover, it provides evidence that including neurocognitive interventions will benefit athletes by increasing their mental resilience, without affecting their physical training load and routine.

Keywords: cognitive training, perception of effort, endurance performance, neuro-performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Mehrnaz Alibeikloo, Hajar Share Isfahani, Hadi Khabbaz

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In recent years, by developing cities and increasing population, reconstructing on closed landfill sites in some regions is unavoidable. Long-term settlement is one of the major concerns associated with reconstruction on landfills after closure. The purpose of this research is evaluating the effect of preloading in various patterns of height and time on long-term settlements of closed landfills. In this regard, five scenarios of surcharge from 1 to 3 m high within 3, 4.5 and 6 months of preloading time have been modeled using PLAXIS 2D software. Moreover, the numerical results have been compared to those obtained from analytical methods, and a good agreement has been achieved. The findings indicate that there is a linear relationship between settlement and surcharge height. Although, long-term settlement decreased by applying a longer and higher preloading, the time of preloading was found to be a more effective factor compared to preloading height.

Keywords: preloading, long-term settlement, landfill, PLAXIS 2D

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Geoffrey Gilfillan, Peter Barham, Lisa Smallwood, David Harper

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The ‘Welland for People and Wildlife’ project aimed to improve the River Welland’s ecology and water quality, and to make it more accessible to the community of Market Harborough. A joint monitoring project by the Welland Rivers Trust & University of Leicester was incorporated into the design. The techniques that have been used to measure its success are hydrological, geomorphological, and water quality monitoring, species and habitat surveys, and community engagement. Early results show improvements to flow and habitat diversity, water quality and biodiversity of the river environment. Barrier removal has increased stickleback mating activity, and decreased parasitically infected fish in sample catches. The habitats provided by the berms now boast over 25 native plant species, and the river is clearer, cleaner and with better-oxygenated water.

Keywords: community engagement, ecological monitoring, river restoration, water quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Syed Sadique Anwer Askari, Mukul Kumar Das

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Zinc Oxide (ZnO) solar cells have drawn great attention due to the enhanced efficiency and low-cost fabrication process. In this study, ZnO thin film is used as the active layer, hole blocking layer, antireflection coating (ARC) as well as transparent conductive oxide. To improve the conductivity of ZnO, top layer of ZnO is doped with aluminum, for top contact. Intrinsic carrier concentration of silicon substrate plays an important role in enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ZnO/Si solar cell. With the increase of intrinsic carrier concentration PCE decreased due to increase in dark current in solar cell. At 80nm ZnO and 160µm Silicon substrate thickness, power conversion efficiency of 26.45% and 21.64% is achieved with intrinsic carrier concentration of 1x109/cm3, 1.4x1010/cm3 respectively.

Keywords: hetero-junction solar cell, solar cell, substrate intrinsic carrier concentration, ZnO/Si

Procedia PDF Downloads 599

Authors: Tadaaki Tomiie, Hiroki Shinkawa

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The present study was aimed to examine the structure of children’s adaptation during school transition and to identify a commonality and dissimilarity at the elementary and junior high school. 1,983 students in the 6th grade and 2,051 students in the 7th grade were extracted by stratified two-stage random sampling and completed the ASSESS that evaluated the school adaptation from the view point of ‘general satisfaction’, ‘teachers’ support’, ‘friends’ support’, ‘anti-bullying relationship’, ‘prosocial skills’, and ‘academic adaptation’. The 7th graders tend to be worse adaptation than the 6th graders. A structural equation modeling showed the goodness of fit for each grades. Both models were very similar but the 7th graders’ model showed a lower coefficient at the pass from ‘teachers’ support’ to ‘friends’ support’. The role of ‘teachers’ support’ was decreased to keep a good relation in junior high school. We also discussed how we provide a continuous assistance for prevention of the 7th graders’ gap.

Keywords: school transition, social support, psychological adaptation, K-12

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: K. Sowri Babu, P. Srinath, N. Rajeswara Rao, K. Venugopal Reddy

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The effect of gamma ray irradiation on morphology and optical properties of ZnO/Mesoporous silica (MPS) nanocomposite was studied. The ZnO/MPS nanocomposite was irradiated with gamma rays of doses 30, 60, and 90 kGy and dose-rate of irradiation was 0.15 kGy/hour. Irradiated samples are characterized with FE-SEM, FT-IR, UV-vis, and Photoluminescence (PL) spectrometers. SEM pictures showed that morphology changed from spherical to flake like morphology. UV-vis analysis showed that the band gap increased with increase of gamma ray irradiation dose. This enhancement of the band gap is assigned to the depletion of oxygen vacancies with irradiation. The intensity of PL peak decreased gradually with increase of gamma ray irradiation dose. The decrease in PL intensity is attributed to the decrease of oxygen vacancies at the interface due to poor interface and improper passivation between ZnO/MPS.

Keywords: ZnO nanoparticles, nanocomposites, mesoporous silica, photoluminescence

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Mehmet Ekici

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The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of pouring temperature on the microstructure of the cast iron. The pattern was designed with 300 mm of width, and the thickness variations are 1.25 mm and poured at five different temperatures; 1300, 1325, 1350, 1375 and 1400°C. Several cast irons, prepared with different chemical compositions and microstructures (three lamellar and three spheroidal structures) have been examined by extensive mechanical testing and optical microscopy. The fluidity of spheroidal and lamellar graphite in cast iron increases with the pouring temperature. The numbers of nodules were decreased by increasing pouring temperature for spheroidal structures. Whereas, the numbers of flakes of lamellar structures changed by both pouring temperature and chemical composition. In general, with increasing pouring temperature, the amount of pearlite in the internal structure of both lamellar and spheroidal graphite cast iron materials were increased.

Keywords: spheroidal graphite cast iron, lamellar graphite in cast iron, pouring temperature, tensile test and impact test

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Dana Abed, Mu`Tasim Abdel-Jaber, Nasim Shatarat

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This study aims at investigating the influence of cross-sectional size on axial compressive capacity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) wrapped square reinforced concrete short columns. Three sets of columns were built for this purpose: 200x200x1200 mm; 250x250x1500 mm and 300x300x1800 mm. Each set includes a control column and a strengthened column with one layer of CFRP sheets. All columns were tested under the effect of pure axial compression load. The results of the study show that using CFRP sheets resulted in capacity enhancement of 37%, 32% and 27% for the 200×200, 250×250, and 300×300 mm, respectively. The results of the experimental program demonstrated that the percentage of improvement in strength decreased by increasing the cross-sectional size of the column.

Keywords: CFRP, columns, concentric loading, cross-sectional

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: J. Y. Lee, H. S. Lim, S. H. Yoon

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This paper presents an analysis of the diagonal crack widths of RC members with various types of materials by simulating a compatibility-aided truss model. The analytical results indicated that the diagonal crack width was influenced by not only the shear reinforcement ratio but also the yield strength of shear reinforcement and the compressive strength of concrete. The yield strength of shear reinforcement and the compressive strength of concrete decreased the diagonal shear crack width of RC members for the same shear force because of the change of shear failure modes. However, regarding the maximum shear crack width at shear failure, the shear crack width of the beam with high strength materials was greater than that of the beam with normal strength materials.

Keywords: diagonal crack width, high strength stirrups, high strength concrete, RC members, shear behavior

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Authors: H. V. Jayaprakash, P. V. Krupakara

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This paper deals with the high corrosion resistance developed by the metal matrix composites when compared with that of matrix alloy by open circuit potential test. Matrix selected is ZA-27 and reinforcement selected is red mud particulates, which is a ceramic material. The composites are prepared using liquid melt metallurgy technique using vortex method. Preheated but uncoated red mud particulates are added to the melt. Metal matrix composites containing 2, 4 and 6 weight percentage of red mud are casted. Matrix was also casted in the same way for comparison. Specimen are fabricated according to ASTM standards. The corrodents used for the tests were 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 molar sodium hydroxide solutions. They are subjected to Open Circuit Potential studies and weight loss corrosion tests. Corrosion rate was found to be decreased with increase in exposure time in both experiments. Effect of exposure time and presence of increased percentage of reinforcement red mud is discussed in detail.

Keywords: composites, vortex, particulates, red mud

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: Ikram Mohamed Eltayeb Elsiddig, Yacouba Amina Djamila, Amna El Hassan Hamad

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Hyperglycemia and diabetes have been treated with several medicinal plants for a long time, meanwhile reduce associated side effects than the synthetic ones. Therefore, the search for more effective and safer anti-diabetic agents derived from plants has become an interest area of active research. A. sativum, belonging to the Liliaceae family is well known for its medicinal uses in African traditional medicine, it used for treating of many human diseases mainly diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The present study was carried out to investigate the anti-hyperglycemic effect of the extracts of A. sativum bulb growing in Sudan on glucose-loaded Wistar albino rats. A. sativum bulbs were collected from local vegetable market at Khourtoum/ Sudan in a fresh form, identified and authenticated by taxonomist, then dried, and extracted with solvents of increasing polarity: petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol by using Soxhlet apparatus. The effect of the extracts on glucose uptake was evaluated by using the isolated rats hemidiaphgrams after loading the fasting rats with glucose, and the anti-hyperglycemic effect was investigated on glucose-loaded Wistar albino rats. Their effects were compared to control rats administered with the vehicle and to a standard group administered with Metformin standard drug. The most active extract was analyzed chemically using GC-MS analysis compared to NIST library. The results showed significant anti-diabetic effect of extracts of A. sativum bulb growing in Sudan. Addition to the hypoglycemic activity of A. sativum extracts was found to be decreased with increase in the polarity of the extraction solvent; this may explain the less polarity of substance responsible for the activity and their concentration decreased with polarity increase. The petroleum ether extract possess anti-hyperglycemic activity more significant than the other extracts and the Metformin standard drug with p-value 0.000** of 400mg/kg at 1 hour, 2 hour and four hour; and p-value 0.019*, 0.015* and 0.010* of 200mg/kg at 1 hour, 2 hour and four hour respectively. The GC-MS analysis of petroleum ether extract, with highest anti -diabetes activity showed the presence of Methyl linolate (42.75%), Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (10.54%), Methyl α-linolenate (8.36%), Dotriacontane (6.83), Tetrapentacontane (6.33), Methyl 18-methylnonadecanoate (4.8), Phenol,2,2’-methylenebis[6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methyl] (3.25), Methyl 20-methyl-heneicosanoate (2.70), Pentatriacontane (2.13) and many other minor compounds. The most of these compounds are well known for their anti-diabetic activity. The study concluded that A. sativum bulbs extracts were found to enhanced the reuptake of glucose in the isolated rat hemidiaphragm and have antihyperglycemic effect when evaluated on glucose-loaded albino rats with petroleum ether extract activity more significant than the Metformin standard drug.

Keywords: Allium, anti-hyperglycemic, bulbs, sativum

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Authors: Amiya Kumar Thakur, Dinesh Ganvir, Prem Pal Bansal

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Industrial by product utilization has been encouraged due to environment and economic factors. Since electric arc furnace slag aggregate is a by-product of steel industry and its storage is a major concern hence it can be used as a replacement of natural aggregate as its physical and mechanical property are comparable or better than the natural aggregates. The present study investigates the effect of partial and full replacement of natural coarse aggregate with coarse EAF slag aggregate and partial replacement of cement with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) on the mechanical and durability properties of roller compacted concrete pavement (RCCP).The replacement level of EAF slag aggregate were at five levels (i.e. 0% ,25% ,50%,75% & 100%) and of GGBFS was (0 % & 30%).The EAF slag aggregate was stabilized by exposing to outdoor condition for several years and the volumetric expansion test using steam exposure device was done to check volume stability. Soil compaction method was used for mix proportioning of RCCP. The fresh properties of RCCP investigated were fresh density and modified vebe test was done to measure the consistency of concrete. For investigating the mechanical properties various tests were done at 7 and 28 days (i.e. Compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexure strength modulus of elasticity) and also non-destructive testing was done at 28 days (i.e. Ultra pulse velocity test (UPV) & rebound hammer test). The durability test done at 28 days were water absorption, skid resistance & abrasion resistance. The results showed that with the increase in slag aggregate percentage there was an increase in the fresh density of concrete and also slight increase in the vebe time but with the 30 % GGBFS replacement the vebe time decreased and the fresh density was comparable to 0% GGBFS mix. The compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexure strength & modulus of elasticity increased with the increase in slag aggregate percentage in concrete when compared to control mix. But with the 30 % GGBFS replacement there was slight decrease in mechanical properties when compared to 100 % cement concrete. In UPV test and rebound hammer test all the mixes showed excellent quality of concrete. With the increase in slag aggregate percentage in concrete there was an increase in water absorption, skid resistance and abrasion resistance but with the 30 % GGBFS percentage the skid resistance, water absorption and abrasion resistance decreased when compared to 100 % cement concrete. From the study it was found that the mix containing 30 % GGBFS with different percentages of EAF slag aggregate were having comparable results for all the mechanical and durability property when compared to 100 % cement mixes. Hence 30 % GGBFS can be used as cement replacement with 100 % EAF slag aggregate as natural coarse aggregate replacement.

Keywords: durability properties, electric arc furnace slag aggregate, GGBFS, mechanical properties, roller compacted concrete pavement, soil compaction method

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: S. Mohammadzadehmoghadam, Y. Dong

Abstract:

In this study, Bombyx mori silk fibroin/gelatin (SF/GT) nanocomposite with different GT ratio (SF/GT 100/0, 90/10 and 70/30) were prepared by electrospinning process and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) vapor. Properties of crosslinked SF/GT nanocomposites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical test, water uptake capacity (WUC) and porosity. From SEM images, it was found that fiber diameter increased as GT content increased. The results of mechanical test indicated that the SF/GT 70/30 nanocomposites had both the highest Young’s modulus of 342 MPa and the highest tensile strength of about 14 MPa. However, porosity and WUC decreased from 62% and 405% for pristine SF to 47% and 232% for SF/GT 70/30, respectively. This behavior can be related to higher degree of crosslinking as GT ratio increased which altered the structure and physical properties of scaffolds. This study showed that incorporation of GT into SF nanofibers can enhance mechanical properties of resultant nanocomposite, but the GA treatment should be optimized to control and fine-tune other properties to warrant their biomedical application.

Keywords: electrospinning, gelatin, silk fibroin, mechanical properties, nanocomposites

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: N. Kotabin, Y. Tahara, K. Issakul, O. Chunhachart

Abstract:

Cadmium (II) (Cd) is one of the major toxic elemental pollutants which is hazardous for humans, animals and plants. γ-Polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) is an extracellular biopolymer produced by several species of Bacillus which has been reported to be an effective biosorbent for metal ions. The effect of γ-PGA on growth of rice grown under laboratory conditions was investigated. Rice seeds were germinated and then grown at 30±1°C on filter paper soaked with Cd solution and γ-PGA for 7 days. The result showed that Cd significantly inhibited the growth of roots and shoots by reducing root and shoot lengths. Fresh and dry weights also decreased compared with control; however, the addition of 500 mg•L-1 γ-PGA alleviated rice seedlings from the adverse effects of Cd. The analysis of physiological traits revealed that Cd caused a decrease in the total chlorophyll and soluble protein contents and amylase activities in all treatments. The Cd content in seedling tissues increased for the Cd 250 μM treatment (P < 0.05) but the addition of 500 mg•L-1 γ-PGA resulted in a noticeable decrease in Cd (P < 0.05).

Keywords: polyglutamic acid, cadmium, rice, bacillus subtilis

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: A. Elbatran, Y. Ahmed, A. Radwan, M. Ishak

Abstract:

The use of WIG craft is representing an ambitious technology that will support in reducing time, effort, and money of the conventional marine transportation in the future. This paper investigates the aerodynamic characteristic of compound wing-in-ground effect (WIG) craft model. Drag coefficient, lift coefficient and Lift and drag ratio were studied numerically with respect to the ground clearance and the wing angle of attack. The modifications of the wing has been done in order to investigate the most suitable wing configuration that can increase the wing lift-to-drag ratio at low ground clearance. A numerical investigation was carried out in this research work using finite volume Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations (RANSE) code ANSYS CFX, Validation was carried out by using experiments. The experimental and the numerical results concluded that the lift to drag ratio decreased with the increasing of the ground clearance.

Keywords: drag Coefficient, ground clearance, navier-stokes, WIG

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Hyeongdo Jeong, Jong Kook Lee

Abstract:

Granule morphology and microstructure were affected by slurry viscosity, chemical composition, particle size and spray drying process. In this study, we investigated granule morphology of zirconia powder with solid content on two-fluid spray drying. Zirconia granules after spray drying show sphere-like shapes with a diameter of 40-70 μm at low solid contents (30 or 40 wt%) and specific surface area of 5.1-5.6 m²/g. But a donut-like shape with a few cracks were observed on zirconia granules prepared from the slurry of high solid content (50 wt %), green compacts after cold isostatic pressing under the pressure of 200 MPa have the density of 2.1-2.2 g/cm³ and homogeneous fracture surface by complete destruction of granules. After the sintering at 1500 °C for 2 h, all specimens have relative density of 96.2-98.3 %. With increasing a solid content from 30 to 50 wt%, grain size increased from 0.3 to 0.6 μm, but relative density was inversely decreased from 98.3 to 96.2 %.

Keywords: zirconia, solid content, granulation, spray drying

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: Mosab kh. A. A. Bashir, E. Mohamed-Ahmed

Abstract:

The aim of the study is to compare the results of the external exposure and the range of the dose spread by the patients, hospitalized in two different groups of 3-5 d receiving radioiodine therapy because of thyroid cancer, and one of group were giving the local diuretic plant (barley) as local juice. The control group was 28 patients they were isolated as international precautions after taken I-131 capsule 100 mCi, and their external exposure was recorded day by day after first 24 hrs. and the distance for external measurement was 1 m at the abdominal level. The mean of external exposure values of patients at fourth day were 30.24±12.92 µSv h−1. The second group after taking I-131 capsule 100 mCi we were given barley juice (250 mL) after every meal three times on day and their external exposure was recorded day by day after first 24 hrs. The mean of external exposure values of patients of this group at third day was 26.92±9.89 (14-55) µSv h−1. It was observed that the external exposure from the second group clearly decreased to low levels which contributed to the decrease in patient dose and also to the decrease in the exposure from the patient to his/her family.

Keywords: local diuretic juice, therapy, radiation medicine, diuretic plant

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: Ma Hongqiang, Yang Hui, Wen Haoju, Feng Jiabo, Bi Zhixian, Nie Ying

Abstract:

In order to measure thrust and torque of airship propeller, a two-component balance and data acquisition system was developed in China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics(CAAA) in early time. During the development, some problems were encountered. At first, the measuring system and its protective parts made the weight of whole system increase significantly. Secondly, more parts might induce more failures, so the reliability of the system was decreased. In addition, the rigidity of the system was lowered, and the structure was more possible to vibrate. Therefore, CAAA and the Academy of Opto-Electronics, Chinese Academy of Science(AOECAS) developed a new technology, use the propeller supporting rack as a spring element, attach strain gages onto it, sum up as a generalized balance. And new math models, new calibration methods and new load determining methods were developed.

Keywords: airship, propeller, thrust and torque, flight test

Procedia PDF Downloads 354