Search results for: monitoring blood bank center

Authors: Begum Rokeya, Rahelee Zinnat, Fatema Jebunnesa, Israt Ara Hossain, A. Rahman

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Background and Aims: Arsenic in drinking water is a global environmental health problem, and the exposure may increase dyslipidemia and cerebrovascular diseases mortalities, most likely through causing atherosclerosis. However, the mechanism of lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis formation, arsenic exposure and impact in pregnancy is still unclear. Recent epidemiological evidences indicate close association between inorganic arsenic exposure via drinking water and Dyslipidemia. However, the exact mechanism of this arsenic-mediated increase in atherosclerosis risk factors remains enigmatic. We explore the association of the effect of arsenic on serum lipid profile in pregnant subjects. Methods: A total 200 pregnant mother screened in this study from arsenic exposed area. Our study group included 100 exposed subjects were cases and 100 Non exposed healthy pregnant were controls requited by a cross-sectional study. Clinical and anthropometric measurements were done by standard techniques. Lipidemic status was assessed by enzymatic endpoint method. Urinary As was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and adjusted with specific gravity and Arsenic exposure was assessed by the level of urinary arsenic level > 100 μg/L was categorized as arsenic exposed and < 100 μg/L were categorized as non-exposed. Multivariate logistic regression and Student’s t - test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure both were significantly higher in the Arsenic exposed pregnant subjects compared to the Non-exposed group (p<0.001). Arsenic exposed subjects had 2 times higher chance of developing hypertensive pregnancy (Odds Ratio 2.2). In parallel to the findings in Ar exposed subjects showed significantly higher proportion of triglyceride and total cholesterol and low density of lipo protein when compare to non- arsenic exposed pregnant subjects. Significant correlation of urinary arsenic level was also found with SBP, DBP, TG, T chol and serum LDL-Cholesterol. On multivariate logistic regression showed urinary arsenic had a positive association with DBP, SBP, Triglyceride and LDL-c. Conclusion: In conclusion, arsenic exposure may induce dyslipidemia like atherosclerosis through modifying reverse cholesterol transport in cholesterol metabolism. For decreasing atherosclerosis related mortality associated with arsenic, preventing exposure from environmental sources in early life is an important element.

Keywords: Arsenic Exposure, Dyslipidemia, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Serum lipid profile

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Mahmood Naghizadeh, Maryam Memarian, Hourshad Irvash

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Following the rise in the world population and the upward growth of urbanization, the design, planning, and management of the site scenery for the purpose of presentation and expansion of sustainable site scenery has turned to be the greatest concern to experts. Since the fundamental principles of the site scenery change more and less haphazardly over time, sustainable site scenery can be viewed as an ideal goal because both sustainability and dynamism come into view in urban site scenery and it wouldn’t be designed according to a set of pre-determined principles. Sustainable site scenery, as the ongoing interaction between idealism and pragmatism with sustainability factors, is a dynamic phenomenon created by bringing cultural, historical, social and natural scenery together. Such an interaction is not to subdue other factors but to reinforce the aforementioned factors. The sustainable site scenery is a persistently occurring event not only has attenuated over time but has gained strength. The sustainability of a site scenery or an event over time depends on its site identity which grows out of its continuous association with the past. The sustainability of a site scene or an event in a time frame intertwined with the identity of the place from past to present. This past history supports the present and future of the scene. The result of such a supportive role is the sustainability of site scenery. Isfahan Naqsh-e-Jahan Square is one of the most outstanding squares in the world and the best embodiment of Iranian site scenery architecture. This square is an arena that brings people together and a dynamic city center comprising various urban and religious complexes, spaces and facilities and is considered as one of the most favorable traditional urban space of Iran. Such a place can illustrate many factors related to sustainable site scenery. One the other hand, there are still no specific principles concerning sustainability in the architecture of site scenery. Meanwhile, sustainability is recognized as a rather modern view in architecture. The purpose of this research is to identify factors involved in sustainability in general and to examine their effects on site scenery architecture in particular. Finally, these factors will be studied with taking Naqsh-e-Jahan Square into account. This research adopts an analytic-descriptive approach that has benefited from the review of literature available in library studies and the documents related to sustainability and site scenery architecture. The statistical population used for the purpose of this research includes square constructed during the Safavid dynasty and Naqsh-e-Jahan Square was picked out as the case study. The purpose of this paper is to come up with a rough definition of sustainable site scenery and demonstrate this concept by analyzing it and recognizing the social, economic and ecological aspects of this project.

Keywords: Naqsh-e-Jahan Square, site scenery architecture, sustainability, sustainable site scenery

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: Javier Muro, Anja Linstadter, Florian Manner, Lisa Schwarz, Stephan Wollauer, Paul Magdon, Gohar Ghazaryan, Olena Dubovyk

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Monitoring the trade-off between biomass production and biodiversity in grasslands is critical to evaluate the effects of management practices across environmental gradients. New generations of remote sensing sensors and machine learning approaches can model grasslands’ characteristics with varying accuracies. However, studies often fail to cover a sufficiently broad range of environmental conditions, and evidence suggests that prediction models might be case specific. In this study, biomass production and biodiversity indices (species richness and Fishers’ α) are modeled in 150 grassland plots for three sites across Germany. These sites represent a North-South gradient and are characterized by distinct soil types, topographic properties, climatic conditions, and management intensities. Predictors used are derived from Sentinel-1 & 2 and a set of topoedaphic variables. The transferability of the models is tested by training and validating at different sites. The performance of feed-forward deep neural networks (DNN) is compared to a random forest algorithm. While biomass predictions across gradients and sites were acceptable (r2 0.5), predictions of biodiversity indices were poor (r2 0.14). DNN showed higher generalization capacity than random forest when predicting biomass across gradients and sites (relative root mean squared error of 0.5 for DNN vs. 0.85 for random forest). DNN also achieved high performance when using the Sentinel-2 surface reflectance data rather than different combinations of spectral indices, Sentinel-1 data, or topoedaphic variables, simplifying dimensionality. This study demonstrates the necessity of training biomass and biodiversity models using a broad range of environmental conditions and ensuring spatial independence to have realistic and transferable models where plot level information can be upscaled to landscape scale.

Keywords: ecosystem services, grassland management, machine learning, remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Rana Tabassum, Ravi Kant, Banshi D. Gupta

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Malic acid is an extensively distributed organic acid in numerous horticultural products in minute amounts which significantly contributes towards taste determination by balancing sugar and acid fractions. An enhanced concentration of malic acid is utilized as an indicator of fruit maturity. In addition, malic acid is also a crucial constituent of several cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. An efficient detection and quantification protocol for malic acid is thus highly demanded. In this study, we report a novel detection scheme for malic acid by synergistically collaborating fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (FOSPR) and distinctive features of nanomaterials favorable for sensing applications. The design blueprint involves the deposition of an assembly of malate dehydrogenase enzyme entrapped in ZnO nanowires forming the sensing route over silver coated central unclad core region of an optical fiber. The formation and subsequent decomposition of the enzyme-analyte complex on exposure of the sensing layer to malic acid solutions of diverse concentration results in modification of the dielectric function of the sensing layer which is manifested in terms of shift in resonance wavelength. Optimization of experimental variables such as enzyme concentration entrapped in ZnO nanowires, dip time of probe for deposition of sensing layer and working pH range of the sensing probe have been accomplished through SPR measurements. The optimized sensing probe displays high sensitivity, broad working range and a minimum limit of detection value and has been successfully tested for malic acid determination in real samples of fruit juices. The current work presents a novel perspective towards malic acid determination as the unique and cooperative combination of FOSPR and nanomaterials provides myriad advantages such as enhanced sensitivity, specificity, compactness together with the possibility of online monitoring and remote sensing.

Keywords: surface plasmon resonance, optical fiber, sensor, malic acid

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Giannis Arnaoutis, Dimitra Efthymiopoulou, Maria-Foivi Nikolopoulou, Yannis Manios

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AIM: Nitrate-containing supplements have been used extensively as ergogenic in many sports. However, extract fractions from plant-based nutritional sources high in nitrate and their effect on athletic performance, has not been systematically investigated. The purpose of the present study was to examine the possible effect of acute consumption of a “smart mixture” from beetroot and rocket on exercise capacity. MATERIAL & METHODS: 12 healthy, nonsmoking, recreationally active, males (age: 25±4 years, % fat: 15.5±5.7, Fat Free Mass: 65.8±5.6 kg, VO2 max: 45.46.1 mL . kg -1 . min -1) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial study, in a randomized and counterbalanced order. Eligibility criteria for participation in this study included normal physical examination, and absence of any metabolic, cardiovascular, or renal disease. All participants completed a time to exhaustion cycling test at 75% of their maximum power output, twice. The subjects consumed either capsules containing 360 mg of nitrate in total or placebo capsules, in the morning, under fasted state. After 3h of passive recovery the performance test followed. Blood samples were collected upon arrival of the participants and 3 hours after the consumption of the corresponding capsules. Time until exhaustion, pre- and post-test lactate concentrations, and rate of perceived exertion for the same time points were assessed. RESULTS: Paired-sample t-test analysis found a significant difference in time to exhaustion between the trial with the nitrate consumption versus placebo [16.1±3.0 Vs 13.5±2.6 min, p=0.04] respectively. No significant differences were observed for the concentrations of lactic acid as well as for the values in the Borg scale between the two trials (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the present study, it appears that a nutritional supplement derived from vegetable extracts rich in nitrate, improves athletic performance in recreationally active young males. However, the precise mechanism is not clear and future studies are needed. Acknowledgment: This research has been co‐financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE (project code:T2EDK-00843).

Keywords: sports performance, ergogenic supplements, nitrate, extract fractions

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Sanjay Singh, Parameswara Rao Vuddanda

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The aim of the present study is study the factual benefit of nano size and surface coating of p-gp efflux inhibitor on enhancement of bioavailability of Berberine chloride (BBR); a p-gp substrate. In addition, 28 days sub acute oral toxicity study was also conducted to assess the toxicity of the formulation on chronic administration. BBR loaded polymeric nanoparticles (BBR-NP) were prepared by nanoprecipitation method. BBR NP were surface coated (BBR-SCNP) with the 1 % w/v of vitamin E TPGS. For bioavailability study, total five groups (n=6) of rat were treated as follows first; pure BBR, second; physical mixture of BBR, carrier and vitamin E TPGS, third; BBR-NP, fourth; BBR-SCNP and fifth; BBR and verapamil (widely used p-gp inhibitor). Blood was withdrawn at pre-set timing points in 24 hrs study and drug was quantified by HPLC method. In oral chronic toxicity study, total four groups (n=6) were treated as follows first (control); water, second; pure BBR, third; BBR surface coated nanoparticles and fourth; placebo BBR surface coated nanoparticles. Biochemical levels of liver (AST, ALP and ALT) and kidney (serum urea and creatinine) along with their histopathological studies were also examined (0-28 days). The AUC of BBR-SCNP was significantly 3.5 folds higher compared to all other groups. The AUC of BBR-NP was 3.23 and 1.52 folds higher compared to BBR solution and BBR with verapamil group, respectively. The physical mixture treated group showed slightly higher AUC than BBR solution treated group but significantly low compared to other groups. It indicates that encapsulation of BBR in nanosize form can circumvent P-gp efflux effect. BBR-NP showed pharmacokinetic parameters (Cmax and AUC) which are near to BBR-SCNP. However, the difference in values of T1/2 and clearance indicate that surface coating with vitamin E TPGS not only avoids the P-gp efflux at its absorption site (intestine) but also at organs which are responsible for metabolism and excretion (kidney and liver). It may be the reason for observed decrease in clearance of BBR-SCNP. No toxicity signs were observed either in biochemical or histopathological examination of liver and kidney during toxicity studies. The results indicate that administration of BBR in surface coated nanoformulation would be beneficial for enhancement of its bioavailability and longer retention in systemic circulation. Further, sub acute oral dose toxicity studies for 28 days such as evaluation of intestine, liver and kidney histopathology and biochemical estimations indicated that BBR-SCNP developed were safe for long use.

Keywords: bioavailability, berberine nanoparticles, p-gp efflux inhibitor, nanoprecipitation method

Procedia PDF Downloads 390

Authors: Dounya Barrit, Ming-Chun Tang, Hoang Dang, Kai Wang, Detlef-M. Smilgies, Aram Amassian

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Several deposition methods have been developed for perovskite film preparation. The one-step spin-coating process has emerged as a more popular option thanks to its ability to produce films of different compositions, including mixed cation and mixed halide perovskites, which can stabilize the perovskite phase and produce phases with desired band gap. The two-step method, however, is not understood in great detail. There is a significant need and opportunity to adopt the two-step process toward mixed cation and mixed halide perovskites, but this requires deeper understanding of the two-step conversion process, for instance when using different cations and mixtures thereof, to produce high-quality perovskite films with uniform composition. In this work, we demonstrate using in situ investigations that the conversion of PbI₂ to perovskite is largely dictated by the state of the PbI₂ precursor film in terms of its solvated state. Using time-resolved grazing incidence wide-angle X-Ray scattering (GIWAXS) measurements during spin coating of PbI₂ from a DMF (Dimethylformamide) solution we show the film formation to be a sol-gel process involving three PbI₂-DMF solvate complexes: disordered precursor (P₀), ordered precursor (P₁, P₂) prior to PbI₂ formation at room temperature after 5 minutes. The ordered solvates are highly metastable and eventually disappear, but we show that performing conversion from P₀, P₁, P₂ or PbI₂ can lead to very different conversion behaviors and outcomes. We compare conversion behaviors by using MAI (Methylammonium iodide), FAI (Formamidinium Iodide) and mixtures of these cations, and show that conversion can occur spontaneously and quite rapidly at room temperature without requiring further thermal annealing. We confirm this by demonstrating improvements in the morphology and microstructure of the resulting perovskite films, using techniques such as in situ quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, SEM and XRD.

Keywords: in situ GIWAXS, lead iodide, mixed cation, perovskite solar cell, sol-gel process, solvate phase

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Daifeng Hao, Guang Feng, Jingfeng Zhao, Tao Li, Xiaoye Tuo

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Objective: To retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics of incision infection with sternal osteomyelitis sinus tract after cardiac surgery and the operation method and therapeutic effect of filling and repairing with activated PRP gel. Methods: From March 2011 to October 2022, 142 cases of incision infection after cardiac surgery with sternal osteomyelitis sinus were retrospectively analyzed, and the causes of poor wound healing after surgery, wound characteristics, perioperative wound management were summarized. Treatment during operation, collection and storage process of autologous PRP before debridement surgery, PRP filling repair and activation method after debridement surgery, effect of anticoagulant drugs on surgery, postoperative complications and average wound healing time, etc.. Results: Among the cases in this group, 53.3% underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, 36.8% underwent artificial heart valve replacement, 8.2% underwent aortic artificial vessel replacement, and 1.7% underwent allogeneic heart transplantation. The main causes of poor incision healing were suture reaction, fat liquefaction, osteoporosis, diabetes, and metal allergy in sequence. The wound is characterized by an infected sinus tract. Before the operation, 100-150ml of PRP with 4 times the physiological concentration was collected separately with a blood component separation device. After sinus debridement, PRP was perfused to fill the bony defect in the middle of the sternum, activated with thrombin freeze-dried powder and calcium gluconate injection to form a gel, and the outer skin and subcutaneous tissue were sutured freely. 62.9% of patients discontinued warfarin during the perioperative period, and 37.1% of patients maintained warfarin treatment. There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative wound hematoma. The average postoperative wound healing time was 12.9±4.7 days, and there was no obvious postoperative complication. Conclusions: Application of activated PRP gel to fill incision infection with sternal osteomyelitis sinus after cardiac surgery has a less surgical injury and satisfactory and stable curative effect. It can completely replace the previously used pectoralis major muscle flap transplantation operation scheme.

Keywords: platelet-rich plasma, negative-pressure wound therapy, sternal osteomyelitis, cardiac surgery

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Chiling Chen, Chiaoying Chou, Siyang Wu

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Taiwan locates at the west of Pacific Ocean and intersects between continental and marine climate. Typhoons frequently strike Taiwan and come with meteorological disasters, i.e., heavy flooding, landslides, loss of life and properties, etc. Global climate change brings more extremely meteorological disasters. So, develop techniques to improve disaster prevention and mitigation is needed, to improve rescue processes and rehabilitations is important as well. In this study, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are applied to take instant images for improving the disaster investigation and rescue processes. Paddy rice fields in the central Taiwan are the study area. There have been attacked by heavy rain during the monsoon season in June 2016. UAV images provide the high ground resolution (3.5cm) with 3D Point Clouds to develop image discrimination techniques and digital surface model (DSM) on rice lodging. Firstly, image supervised classification with Maximum Likelihood Method (MLD) is used to delineate the area of rice lodging. Secondly, 3D point clouds generated by Pix4D Mapper are used to develop DSM for classifying the lodging levels of paddy rice. As results, discriminate accuracy of rice lodging is 85% by image supervised classification, and the classification accuracy of lodging level is 87% by DSM. Therefore, UAVs not only provide instant images of agricultural damage after the meteorological disaster, but the image discriminations on rice lodging also reach acceptable accuracy (>85%). In the future, technologies of UAVs and image discrimination will be applied to different crop fields. The results of image discrimination will be overlapped with administrative boundaries of paddy rice, to establish GIS-based assist system on agricultural damage discrimination. Therefore, the time and labor would be greatly reduced on damage detection and monitoring.

Keywords: Monsoon, supervised classification, Pix4D, 3D point clouds, discriminate accuracy

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Alexander A. Osmolovskiy, Anastasia V. Orekhova, Daria M. Bednenko, Yelyzaveta Boiko

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Micromycetes from Aspergillus genus can produce proteases capable of promoting proteolysis of hemostasis proteins or, along with hydrolytic activity, to show the ability to convert proenzymes of this system activating them into an active form. At the same time, practical medicine needs specific activators for quantitation of the level of some plasma enzymes, especially protein C and factor X, the lack of which leads to the development of thromboembolic diseases. Thus, some micromycetes of the genus Aspergillus were screened for the ability to synthesize extracellular proteases with promising activity for designing anti-thrombotic and diagnostic preparations. Such standard methods like salting out, electrophoresis, isoelectrofocusing were used for isolation, purification and study of physicochemical properties of proteases. Enzyme activity was measured spectrophotometrically fibrin as a substrate of the reaction and chromogenic peptide substrates of different proteases of the human hemostasis system. As a result of the screening, four active producers were selected: Aspergillus janus 301, A. flavus 1, A. terreus 2, and A. ochraceus L-1. The enzyme of A. janus 301 showed the greatest fibrinolytic activity (around 329.2 μmol Tyr/(ml × min)). The protease produced by A. terreus 2 had the highest plasmin-like activity (54.1 nmol pNA/(ml × min)), but fibrinolytic activity was lower than A. janus 301 demonstrated (25.2 μmol Tyr/(ml × min)). For extracellular protease of micromycete A. flavus a high plasmin-like activity was also shown (39.8 nmol pNA / (ml × min)). Moreover, according to our results proteases one of the fungi - A. terreus 2 were able to activate protein C of human plasma - the key factor of the human anticoagulant hemostasis system. This type of activity was 39.8 nmol pNA/(ml × min)). It was also shown that A. ochraceus L-1 could produce extracellular proteases with protein C and factor X activator activities (65.9 nmol pNA/(ml × min) and 34.6 nmol pNA/(ml × min) respectively). The maximum accumulation of the proteases falls on the 4th day of cultivation. Using isoelectrofocusing was demonstrated that the activation of both proenzymes might proceed via limited proteolysis induced by proteases of A. ochraceus L-1. The activatory activity of A. ochraceus L-1 proteases toward essential hemostatic proenzymes, protein C and X factor may be useful for practical needs. It is well known that similar enzymes, activators of protein C and X factor isolated from snake venom, South American copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix and Russell’s viper Daboia russelli russeli, respectively, are used for the in vitro diagnostics of the functional state of these proteins in blood plasma. Thus, the proteases of Aspergillus genus can be used as cheap components for enzyme thrombolytic preparations.

Keywords: anti-trombotic drugs, fibrinolysis, diagnostics, proteases, micromycetes

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Ahmed S. Fayed, Umima M. Mansour

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Three polyvinyl chloride membrane sensors were developed for the electrochemical evaluation of ferrous, manganese and zinc ions. The sensors were used for assaying metal ions in cervical mucus (CM) of Egyptian river buffalo-cows (Bubalus bubalis) as their levels vary dependent on cyclical hormone variation during different phases of estrus cycle. The presented sensors are based on using ionophores, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and sulfocalix-4-arene (SCAL) for sensors 1, 2 and 3 for Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺ and Zn²⁺, respectively. Dioctyl phthalate (DOP) was used as the plasticizer in a polymeric matrix of polyvinylchloride (PVC). For increasing the selectivity and sensitivity of the sensors, each sensor was enriched with a suitable complexing agent, which enhanced the sensor’s response. For sensor 1, β-CD was mixed with bathophenanthroline; for sensor 2, porphyrin was incorporated with HP-β-CD; while for sensor 3, oxine was the used complexing agent with SCAL. Linear responses of 10^-7-10^-2 M with cationic slopes of 53.46, 45.01 and 50.96 over pH range 4-8 were obtained using coated graphite sensors for ferrous, manganese and zinc ionic solutions, respectively. The three sensors were validated, according to the IUPAC guidelines. The obtained results by the presented potentiometric procedures were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometric method (AAS). No significant differences for either accuracy or precision were observed between the two techniques. Successful application for the determination of the three studied cations in CM, for the purpose to determine the proper time for artificial insemination (AI) was achieved. The results were compared with those obtained upon analyzing the samples by AAS. Proper detection of estrus and correct time of AI was necessary to maximize the production of buffaloes. In this experiment, 30 multi-parous buffalo-cows were in second to third lactation and weighting 415-530 kg, and were synchronized with OVSynch protocol. Samples were taken in three times around ovulation, on day 8 of OVSynch protocol, on day 9 (20 h before AI) and on day 10 (1 h before AI). Beside analysis of trace elements (Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺ and Zn²⁺) in CM using the three sensors, the samples were analyzed for the three cations and also Cu²⁺ by AAS in the CM samples and blood samples. The results obtained were correlated with hormonal analysis of serum samples and ultrasonography for the purpose of determining of the optimum time of AI. The results showed significant differences and powerful correlation with Zn²⁺ composition of CM during heat phase and the ovulation time, indicating that the parameter could be used as a tool to decide optimal time of AI in buffalo-cows.

Keywords: PVC Sensors, buffalo-cows, cyclodextrins, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, artificial insemination, OVSynch protocol

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Amy Pullen, Samantha Rodrigues, David Kieser, Brian Shaw

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The aim of the study was to determine if a projectile interacting with the lungs increases the severity of injury in comparison to a projectile interacting with the ribs or intercostal muscle. This comparative study employed a 10% gelatine based model with either porcine ribs or balloons embedded to represent a lung. Four sample groups containing five samples were evaluated; these were control (plain gel), intercostal impact, rib impact, and lung impact. Two ammunition natures were evaluated at a range of 10m; these were 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm. Aspects of projectile behavior were quantified including exiting projectile weight, location of yawing, projectile fragmentation and distribution, location and area of the temporary cavity, permanent cavity formation, and overall energy deposition. Major findings included the cavity showing a higher percentage of the projectile weight exit the block than the intercostal and ribs, but similar to the control for the 5.56mm ammunition. However, for the 7.62mm ammunition, the lung was shown to have a higher percentage of the projectile weight exit the block than the control, intercostal and ribs. The total weight of projectile fragments as a function of penetration depth revealed large fluctuations and significant intra-group variation for both ammunition natures. Despite the lack of a clear trend, both plots show that the lung leads to greater projectile fragments exiting the model. The lung was shown to have a later center of the temporary cavity than the control, intercostal and ribs for both ammunition types. It was also shown to have a similar temporary cavity volume to the control, intercostal and ribs for the 5.56mm ammunition and a similar temporary cavity to the intercostal for the 7.62mm ammunition The lung was shown to leave a similar projectile tract than the control, intercostal and ribs for both ammunition types. It was also shown to have larger shear planes than the control and the intercostal, but similar to the ribs for the 5.56mm ammunition, whereas it was shown to have smaller shear planes than the control but similar shear planes to the intercostal and ribs for the 7.62mm ammunition. The lung was shown to have less energy deposited than the control, intercostal and ribs for both ammunition types. This comparative study provides insights into the influence of the lungs on thoracic gunshot trauma. It indicates that the lungs limits projectile deformation and causes a later onset of yawing and subsequently limits the energy deposited along the wound tract creating a deeper and smaller cavity. This suggests that lung impact creates an altered pattern of local energy deposition within the target which will affect the severity of trauma.

Keywords: ballistics, lung, trauma, wounding

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Syahrir Andi Mangga

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During 1989–1993, the Geological Research and Development Center (recent Geological Survey Institute) Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Republic of Indonesia was the collaboration with British Geological Survey, the United Kingdom to do technical assistance in order to collect data of geology in Sumatra Island. The overall corporation of technical programs was larger concern in stratigraphy, geochemical and age-dating studies. Availability of new data has been stimulated to reassessment of tectonic evolution of Sumatra Island. The study area located in Southern Sumatra within at latitudes 0°-6° S and 99°40’-106’00 E longitudes. The study tectonic is situated within along South Western margin of Sunda land, The Southeast Asia Continental extension arc of the Eurasian Plate and formed as part of Sunda Arc. The oceanic crust of Indian-Australian plate recently is being oblique subduction along the Sunda Trench off the West coast Sumatra. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic of the volcanic and granitic rocks can be divided into northern and southern plutons, defining a series subparallel, controlled by fault, northwest-southeast trending belts, some of the plutons are deformed and under-formed. They are widely exposed along the south-eastern side of the Barisan mountain. Based on the characteristic of minerals and crystallography, rocks found in this study area were granite, granitic, monzogranite and andesitic-Basaltic Volcanic Rock. It belongs to calc Alkaline was predominantly metalumina, I-Type Granite, Volcanic arc granites, Syncollisonal Granites (Syn_COLG) and tholeiitic basalt. It was formed since 169±5 to 20±1 Ma. The origin of magmas in interpreted to be derived from partial melting of igneous rock. The occurrence of the gratoid and volcanic rocks supposed to be closely related to the subduction of the Australian-Hindia oceanic crust beneath the Eurasia/Sunda land Continental Crust as Volcanic arc or continental margin granitic and shown youngest to the southwest. The subduction process having probably been different in position between one terrane to others led to the occurrence of segmentation subduction system. The positional discontinuities of the subduction are probably caused by the difference in time of emplacement and mechanism of volcanic and granitic rock between segments.

Keywords: tectonic setting, I-type granitic, subduction, Southern Sumatra

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Sonya Barzgar, J. Patrick, A. Hettiaratchi

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Methane (CH4) is reputed as the second largest contributor to greenhouse effect with a global warming potential (GWP) of 34 related to carbon dioxide (CO2) over the 100-year horizon, so there is a growing interest in reducing the emissions of this gas. Methane biofiltration (MBF) is a cost effective technology for reducing low volume point source emissions of methane. In this technique, microbial oxidation of methane is carried out by methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) which use methane as carbon and energy source. MBF uses a granular medium, such as soil or compost, to support the growth of methanotrophic bacteria responsible for converting methane to carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O). Even though the biofiltration technique has been shown to be an efficient, practical and viable technology, the design and operational parameters, as well as the relevant microbial processes have not been investigated in depth. In particular, limited research has been done on the effects of sulphur on methane bio-oxidation. Since bacteria require a variety of nutrients for growth, to improve the performance of methane biofiltration, it is important to establish the input quantities of nutrients to be provided to the biofilter to ensure that nutrients are available to sustain the process. The study described in this paper was conducted with the aim of determining the influence of sulphur on methane elimination in a biofilter. In this study, a set of experimental measurements has been carried out to explore how the conversion of elemental sulphur could affect methane oxidation in terms of methanotrophs growth and system pH. Batch experiments with different concentrations of sulphur were performed while keeping the other parameters i.e. moisture content, methane concentration, oxygen level and also compost at their optimum level. The study revealed the tolerable limit of sulphur without any interference to the methane oxidation as well as the particular sulphur concentration leading to the greatest methane elimination capacity. Due to the sulphur oxidation, pH varies in a transient way which affects the microbial growth behavior. All methanotrophs are incapable of growth at pH values below 5.0 and thus apparently are unable to oxidize methane. Herein, the certain pH for the optimal growth of methanotrophic bacteria is obtained. Finally, monitoring methane concentration over time in the presence of sulphur is also presented for laboratory scale biofilters.

Keywords: global warming, methane biofiltration (MBF), methane oxidation, methanotrophs, pH, sulphur

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Seong Gu Hwang, Young Kyoon Oh, Joseph F. dela Cruz

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Marbling, or intramuscular fat, has been consistently identified as one of the top beef quality problems. Intramuscular adipocytes distribute throughout the perimysial connective tissue of skeletal muscle and are the major site for the deposition of intramuscular fat, which is essential for the eating quality of meat. The stromal vascular fraction of the skeletal muscle contains progenitor cells that can be enhanced to differentiate to adipocytes and increase intramuscular fat. Primary cultures of bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells were used in this study to elucidate the effects of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid concentration on adipocyte differentiation. Cell viability assay revealed that even at different concentrations of calcium and retinoic acid, there was no significant difference on cell viability. Monitoring of the adipocyte differentiation showed that bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells cultured in a low concentration of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid had a better degree of fat accumulation. The mRNA and protein expressions of PPARγ, C/EBPα, SREBP-1c and aP2 were analyzed and showed a significant upregulation upon the reduction in the level of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid. The upregulation of these adipogenic related genes means that the decreasing concentration of calcium and retinoic acid is able to stimulate the adipogenic differentiation of bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells. To further elucidate the effect of calcium, the expression level of calreticulin was measured. Calreticulin which is known to be an inhibitor of PPARγ was down regulated by the decreased level of calcium and retinoic acid in the culture media. The same tendency was observed on retinoic acid receptors RARα and CRABP-II. These receptors are recognized as adipogenic inhibitors, and the downregulation of their expression allowed a better level of differentiation in bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells. In conclusion, data show that decreasing the level of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid can significantly promote adipogenesis in intramuscular stromal vascular cells of Hanwoo beef cattle. These findings may provide new insights in enhancing intramuscular adipogenesis and marbling in beef cattle.

Keywords: calcium, calreticulin, hanwoo beef, retinoic acid

Procedia PDF Downloads 305

Authors: Pichaya Poonlarp, Danai Boonyakiat, C. Chuamuangphan, M. Chanta

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Current consumers’ behavior trends have changed towards more health awareness, the well-being of society and interest of nature and environment. The Royal Project Foundation is, therefore, well aware of organic agriculture. The project only focused on using natural products and utilizing its highland biological merits to increase resistance to diseases and insects for the produce grown. The project also brought in basic knowledge from a variety of available research information, including, but not limited to, improvement of soil fertility and a control of plant insects with biological methods in order to lay a foundation in developing and promoting farmers to grow quality produce with a high health safety. This will finally lead to sustainability for future highland agriculture and a decrease of chemical use on the highland area which is a source of natural watershed. However, there are still shortcomings of the postharvest management in term of quality and losses, such as bruising, rottenness, wilting and yellowish leaves. These losses negatively affect the maintenance and a shelf life of organic vegetables. Therefore, it is important that a research study of the appropriate and effective postharvest management is conducted for an individual organic vegetable to minimize product loss and find root causes of postharvest losses which would contribute to future postharvest management best practices. This can be achieved through surveys and data collection from postharvest processes in order to conduct analysis for causes of postharvest losses of organic pak-choi, baby pak-choi, and choy sum. Consequently, postharvest losses reduction strategies of organic vegetables can be achieved. In this study, postharvest losses of organic pak choi, baby pak-choi, and choy sum were determined at each stage of the supply chain starting from the field after harvesting, at the Development Center packinghouse, at Chiang Mai packinghouse, at Bangkok packing house and at the Royal Project retail shop in Chiang Mai. The results showed that postharvest losses of organic pak-choi, baby pak-choi, and choy sum were 86.05, 89.05 and 59.03 percent, respectively. The main factors contributing to losses of organic vegetables were due to mechanical damage and underutilized parts and/or short of minimum quality standard. Good practices had been developed after causes of losses were identified. Appropriate postharvest handling and management, for example, temperature control, hygienic cleaning, and reducing the duration of the supply chain, postharvest losses of all organic vegetables should be able to remarkably reduced postharvest losses in the supply chain.

Keywords: postharvest losses, organic vegetables, handling improvement, shelf life, supply chain

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Authors: Mohd Zaki Hamzah, Roslan Rani, Ahmad Bazli Razali, Satiful Bahri Mamat, Abdul Hadi Ripin, Mohd Harun Esa

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Ever since 1901, forest management and silviculture practices in Malaysia have been frequently reviewed and updated to take into account changes in forest conditions, markets, timber demand/supply and technical advances that can be achieved in industrial processes, logging and forest harvesting, and currently, the forest management system practiced in Peninsular Malaysia is the Selective Management System (SMS) which was introduced in 1978. This system requires the selection of management regime (felling) based on Pre-Felling Forest Inventory (Pre-F) data to ensure economical harvesting and also ensuring adequate standing stands for subsequent rounds of felling, while maintaining ecological balance and environmental quality. SMS regulates forest harvesting through area and volume controls, with the cutting cycle 30 years. Most of the forest management units (FMU) (in Peninsular Malaysia) implementing SMS have been certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and one such FMU belongs to Kumpulan Pengurusan Kayu Kayan Terengganu (KPKKT). KPKKT, a timber management subsidiary of Golden Pharos Berhad (GPB), adopts the SMS to manage its 108,900 ha of timber concessionary areas in its role as logs’ supplier for the consumption of three subsidiaries of GPB. KPKKT is also responsible for the sustainable development and management of its concession in accordance with the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) standards to ensure that it addresses the loss of forest cover and forest degradation, forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, and ecologically protecting forests while mobilising financial resources for the implementation of sustainable forest management planning, harvesting, monitoring and the marketing of products. This paper will detail out the management and harvesting guidelines imposed by the controlling government agency, and harvesting processes taken by KPKKT to comply with guidelines and eventually supplying timber to the relevant subsidiaries (downstream mills under GPB).

Keywords: sustainable forest management, silviculture, reduce impact logging, forest certification

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Authors: Arif Budiman

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Any organization or company that wishes to achieve vision, mission, and goals of the organization is required to implement a performance management system or known as the Performance Management System (PMS) in every part of the whole organization. PMS is a tool to help visualize the direction and work program of the organization to achieve the goal. The challenge is PMS should not stop merely as a visualization tool to achieve the vision and mission of the organization, but PMS should also be able to create a high-performance culture that is inherent in each individual of the organization. Establishment of a culture within an organization requires the support of top leaders and also requires a system or governance that encourages every individual in the organization to be involved in any work program of the organization. Keywords of creating a high-performance culture are the formation of communication pattern involving the whole individual, either vertically or horizontally, and performed consistently and persistently by all individuals in each line of the organization. PT Pertamina (Persero) as the state-owned national energy company holds a system to internalize the culture of high performance through a system called Performance Management System Cycle (PMS Cycle). This system has 7 stages of the cycle, those are: (1) defining vision, mission and strategic plan of the company, (2) defining key performance indicator of each line and the individual (‘expectation setting conversation’), (3) defining performance target and performance agreement, (4) monitoring performance on a monthly regular basis (‘pulse check’), (5) implementing performance dialogue between leaders and staffs periodically every 3 months (‘performance dialogue’), (6) defining rewards and consequences based on the achievement of the performance of each line and the individual, and (7) calculating the final performance value achieved by each line and individual from one period of the current year. Perform PMS is a continual communication running throughout the year, that is why any three performance discussion that should be performed, include expectation setting conversations, pulse check and performance dialogue. In addition, another significant point and necessary undertaken to complete the assessment of individual performance assessment is soft competencies through 360-degree assessment by leaders, staffs, and peers.

Keywords: 360-degree assessment, expectation setting conversation, performance management system cycle, performance dialogue, pulse check

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Authors: Suneet Jagdev, Siddharth Singhal, Dhrubajyoti Bordoloi, Peesari Vamshidhar Reddy

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There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a Smart City. It means different things to different people. The definition varies from place to place depending on the level of development and the willingness of people to change and reform. It tries to improve the quality of resource management and service provisions for the people living in the cities. Smart city is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage the assets of a city. But most of these projects are misinterpreted as being technology projects only. Due to urbanization, a lot of informal as well government funded settlements have come up during the last few decades, thus increasing the consumption of the limited resources available. The people of each city have their own definition of Smart City. In the imagination of any city dweller in India is the picture of a Smart City which contains a wish list of infrastructure and services that describe his or her level of aspiration. The research involved a comparative study of the Smart City models in India and in China. Behavioral changes experienced by the people living in the pilot/first ever smart cities have been identified and compared. This paper discussed what is the target of the quality of life for the people in India and in China and how well could that be realized with the facilities being included in these Smart City projects. Logical and comparative analyses of important data have been done, collected from government sources, government papers and research papers by various experts on the topic. Existing cities with historically grown infrastructure and administration systems will require a more moderate step-by-step approach to modernization. The models were compared using many different motivators and the data is collected from past journals, interacting with the people involved, videos and past submissions. In conclusion, we have identified how these projects could be combined with the ongoing small scale initiatives by the local people/ small group of individuals and what might be the outcome if these existing practices were implemented on a bigger scale.

Keywords: behavior change, mission monitoring, pilot smart cities, social capital

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Authors: N. Khursheed, M. Fatima, S. Jamal, A. Raza, S. Rattani, Q. Ahsan, A. Rasheed, M. Jawed

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Introduction: Antibiotics are among the commonly prescribed medicines to treat bacterial infections. Their misuse intensifies resistance, and overuse incurs heavy losses to the healthcare system in terms of increased treatment costs and enhanced disease burden. Studies show that 40% of empirically used antibiotics are irrationally utilized. The objective of this study was to evaluate prescribing pattern of antibiotics at six public sector tertiary care hospitals across Pakistan. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional point prevalence survey (PPS) was conducted in selected wards of six public sector tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan as part of the Clinical Engagement program by Fleming Fund Country Grant Pakistan in collaboration with Indus Hospital & Health Network (IHHN) from February to March 2021, these included Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital from Karachi, Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, Nishtar Medical University Hospital Multan, Medical Teaching Institute Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, and Provincial Headquarters Hospital Gilgit. WHO PPS methodology was used for data collection (Hospital, ward, and patient level data was collected). Data was entered into the open-source Kobo Collect application and was analyzed using SPSS (version 22.0). Findings: Medical records of 837 in-patients were surveyed, of which the prevalence of antibiotics use was 78.5%. The most commonly prescribed antimicrobial was Ceftriaxone (21.7%) which is categorized in the Watch group of WHO AWaRe Classification, followed by Metronidazole (17.3%), Cefoperazone/Sulbactam (8.4%), Co-Amoxiclav (6.3%) and Piperacillin/Tazobactam (5.9%). The antibiotics were prescribed largely for surgical prophylaxis (36.7%), followed by community-acquired infections (24.7%). One antibiotic was prescribed to 46.7%, two to 39.9%, and three or more to 12.5 %. Two of six (30%) hospitals had functional drug and therapeutic committees, three (50%) had infection prevention and control committees, and one facility had an antibiotic formulary. Conclusion: Findings demonstrate high consumption of broad-spectrum antimicrobials and emphasizes the importance of expanding the antimicrobial stewardship program. Mentoring clinical teams will help to rationalize antimicrobial use.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, point prevalence survey, antibiotics

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Authors: Daria Karasalihovic Sedlar, Lucija Jukic, Ivan Smajla, Marija Macenic

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This paper analyses possible geothermal energy production from a mature oil reservoir based on exploitation of underlying aquifer thermal energy for the purpose of heating public buildings. Research was conducted based on the case study of the City of Ivanic-Grad public buildings energy demand and Ivanic oil filed that is situated in the same area. Since the City of Ivanic is one of the few cities in the EU where hydrocarbon exploitation has been taking place for decades almost entirely in urban area, decommissioning of oil wells is inevitable; therefore, the research goal was to investigate how to extend the life-time of the reservoir by exploiting geothermal brine beneath the oil reservoir in an environmental friendly manner. This kind of a project is extremely complex in all segments, from documentation preparation, implementation of technological solutions, and providing ecological measures for environmentally acceptable geothermal energy production and utilization. New mining activities that will be needed for the development of geothermal project at the observed Hydrocarbon Exploitation Field Ivanic will be carried out in order to prepare wells for increasing geothermal brine production. These operations involve the conversion of existing wells (well completion for conversion of the observation wells to production ones) along with workover activities, installation of new heat exchangers, and pipelines. Since the wells are in the urban area of the City of Ivanic-Grad in high density populated area, the inhabitants will be exposed to the different environmental impacts during preparation phase of the project. For the purpose of performing workovers, it will be necessary to secure access to wellheads of existing wells. This paper gives guidelines for describing potential impacts on environment components that could occur during geothermal production preparation on existing mature oil filed, recommends possible protection measures to mitigate these impacts, and gives recommendations for environmental monitoring.

Keywords: geothermal energy production, mature oil filed, environmental impact assessment, underlying aquifer thermal energy

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Authors: Nardjes Hamini, Mohamed Bachir Yagoubi

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Precision agriculture has revolutionized farming by enabling farmers to monitor their crops remotely in real-time. By utilizing technologies such as sensors, farmers can detect the state of growth, hydration levels, and nutritional status and even identify diseases affecting their crops. With this information, farmers can make informed decisions regarding irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide application. Automated agricultural tasks, such as plowing, seeding, planting, and harvesting, are carried out by autonomous robots and have helped reduce costs and increase production. Despite the advantages of precision agriculture, its high cost makes it inaccessible to small and medium-sized farms. To address this issue, this paper presents an open-source guidance system for an autonomous planter robot. The system is composed of a Raspberry Pi-type nanocomputer equipped with Wi-Fi, a GPS module, a gyroscope, and a power supply module. The accompanying application allows users to enter and calibrate maps with at least four coordinates, enabling the localized contour of the parcel to be captured. The application comprises several modules, such as the mission entry module, which traces the planting trajectory and points, and the action plan entry module, which creates an ordered list of pre-established tasks such as loading, following the plan, returning to the garage, and entering sleep mode. A remote control module enables users to control the robot manually, visualize its location on the map, and use a real-time camera. Wi-Fi coverage is provided by an outdoor access point, covering a 2km circle. This open-source system offers a low-cost alternative for small and medium-sized farms, enabling them to benefit from the advantages of precision agriculture.

Keywords: autonomous robot, guidance system, low-cost, medium farms, open-source system, planter robot, precision agriculture, real-time monitoring, remote control, small farms

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Authors: Beloulou Mohamed Lamine, Fedili Benamar, Meliani Walid, Chaid Dalila

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Introduction: The risk factors for the chronicization of postoperative pain are numerous and often intricately intertwined. Among these, the severity of acute postoperative pain is currently recognized as one of the most determining factors. Mastectomy and thoracotomy are described as among the most painful surgeries and the most likely to lead to chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP). Objective: To examine the aspects of acute postoperative pain potentially involved in the development of chronic pain following breast and thoracic surgery. Patients and Methods: A prospective study involving 164 patients was conducted over a six-month period. Postoperative pain (during mobilization) was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at various time points after surgery: Day 0, 1st, 2nd, 5th days, 1st and 6th months. Moderate to severe pain was defined as a VAS score ≥ 4. A comparative analysis (univariate analysis) of postoperative pain intensities at different evaluation phases was performed on patients with and without CPSP to identify potential associations with the risk of chronicization six months after surgery. Results: At the 6th month post-surgery, the incidence of CPSP was 43.0%. Moderate to severe acute postoperative pain (in the first five days) was observed in 64% of patients. The highest pain scores were reported among thoracic surgery patients. Comparative measures revealed a highly significant association between the presence of moderate to severe acute pain, especially lasting for ≥ 48 hours, and the occurrence of CPSP (p-value <0.0001). Likewise, the persistence of subacute pain (up to 4 to 6 weeks after surgery), especially of moderate to severe intensity, was significantly associated with the risk of chronicization at six months (p-value <0.0001). Conclusion: CPSP after breast and thoracic surgery remains a fairly common morbidity that profoundly affects the quality of life. Severe acute postoperative pain, especially if it is prolonged and/or with a slow decline in intensity, can be an important predictive factor for the risk of chronicization. Therefore, more effective and intensive management of acute postoperative pain, as well as longitudinal monitoring of its trajectory over time, should be an essential component of strategies for preventing chronic pain after surgery.

Keywords: chronic post-surgical pain, acute postoperative pain, breast and thoracic surgery, subacute postoperative pain, pain trajectory, predictive factor

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Authors: Ana Maria G. Sperandio, Murilo U. Malek-Zadeh, João Luiz de S. Areas, Jussara C. Guarnieri

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Intersectoral governance is a requirement for developing healthy cities. However, this achievement is difficult to be succeeded, especially in regions at low resources condition. Therefore, it was developed a cheap investigative procedure to diagnose sectoral wishes related to urban planning and health promotion. This procedure is composed of two phases, which can be applied to different groups in order to compare the results. The first phase is a conversation guided by a list of questions. Some of those questions aim to gather information about how individuals understand concepts such as healthy city or a health promotion and what they believe that constitutes the relation between urban planning and urban health. Other questions investigate local issues, and how citizens would like to promote dialogue between sectors. At second phase individuals stand around the investigated city (or city region) map and are asked to represent their wishes on it. They can represent it by writing text notations or inserting icons on it, with the latter representing a city element, for example, some trees, a square, a playground, a hospital, a cycle track. After groups had represented their wishes, the map can be photographed, and then the results from distinct groups can be compared. This procedure was conducted at a small city in Brazil (Holambra), in 2017 which is the first out of four years of the mayor’s term. The prefecture asked for this tool in order to make Holambra become a city of Potential Healthy Municipalities Network in Brazil. Two sectors were investigated: the government and the urban population. By the end of our investigation, the intersection from the group (i.e., population and government) maps was accounted for creating a map of common wishes. Therefore, the material produced can be used as a guide for promoting dialogue between sectors and as a tool of monitoring politics progress. The report of this procedure was directed to public managers, so they could see the common wishes between themselves and local populations, and use this tool as a guide for creating urban politics which intends to enhance health promotion and to develop a healthy city, even at low resources condition.

Keywords: governance, health promotion, intersectorality, urban planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Ran Vir Singh, Anuj Chauhan, Subhodh Kumar, Rajesh Rathore, Satish Kumar, B Gopi, Sushil Kumar, Tarun Kumar, Ramji Yadav, Donna Phangchopi, Shoor Vir Singh

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Paratuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a chronic granulomatous enteritis affecting ruminants. It is responsible for significant economic losses in livestock industry worldwide. This organism is also of public health concern due to an unconfirmed link to Crohn’s disease. Susceptibility to paratuberculosis has been suggested to have genetic component with low to moderate heritability. Number of SNPs in various candidates genes have been observed to be affecting the susceptibility toward paratuberculosis. The objective of this study was to explore the association of various SNPs in the candidate genes and QTL region with MAP. A total of 117 SNPs from SLC11A1, IFNG, CARD15, TLR2, TLR4, CLEC7A, CD209, SP110, ANKARA2, PGLYRP1 and one QTL were selected for study. A total of 1222 cattle from various organized herds, gauhsalas and farmer herds were screened for MAP infection by Johnin intradermal skin test, AGID, serum ELISA, fecal microscopy, fecal culture and IS900 blood PCR. Based on the results of these tests, a case and control population of 200 and 183 respectively was established for study. A total of 117 SNPs from 10 candidate genes and one QTL were selected and validated/tested in our case and control population by PCR-RFLP technique. Data was analyzed using SAS 9.3 software. Statistical analysis revealed that, 107 out of 117 SNPs were not significantly associated with occurrence of MAP. Only SNP rs55617172 of TLR2, rs8193046 and rs8193060 of TLR4, rs110353594 and rs41654445 of CLEC7A, rs208814257of CD209, rs41933863 of ANKRA2, two loci {SLC11A1(53C/G)} and {IFNG (185 G/r) } and SNP rs41945014 in QTL region was significantly associated with MAP. Six SNP from 10 significant SNPs viz., rs110353594 and rs41654445 from CLEC7A, rs8193046 and rs8193060 from TLR4, rs109453173 from SLC11A1 rs208814257 from CD209 were validated in new case and control population. Out of these only one SNP rs8193046 of TLR4 gene was found significantly associated with occurrence of MAP in cattle. ODD ratio indicates that animals with AG genotype were more susceptible to MAP and this finding is in accordance with the earlier report. Hence it reaffirms that AG genotype can serve as a reliable genetic marker for indentifying more susceptible cattle in future selection against MAP infection in cattle.

Keywords: SNP, candidate genes, paratuberculosis, cattle

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Authors: Sonu Rana, Jyoti Verma, A. K. Gautam

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In most developing countries like India, the majority of the population heavily relies on agriculture for their livelihood. The yield of agriculture is heavily dependent on uncertain weather conditions like a monsoon, soil fertility, availability of irrigation facilities and fertilizers as well as support from the government. The agricultural yield is quite less compared to the effort put in due to inefficient agricultural facilities and obsolete farming practices on the one hand and lack of knowledge on the other hand, and ultimately agricultural community does not prosper. It is therefore essential for the farmers to improve their harvest yield by the acquisition of related data such as soil condition, temperature, humidity, availability of irrigation facilities, availability of, manure, etc., and adopt smart farming techniques using modern agricultural equipment. Nowadays, using IOT technology in agriculture is the best solution to improve the yield with fewer efforts and economic costs. The primary focus of this work-related is IoT technology in the agriculture field. By using IoT all the parameters would be monitored by mounting sensors in an agriculture field held at different places, will collect real-time data, and could be transmitted by a transmitting device like an antenna. To improve the system, IoT will interact with other useful systems like Wireless Sensor Networks. IoT is exploring every aspect, so the radio frequency spectrum is getting crowded due to the increasing demand for wireless applications. Therefore, Federal Communications Commission is reallocating the spectrum for various wireless applications. An antenna is also an integral part of the newly designed IoT devices. The main aim is to propose a new antenna structure used for IoT agricultural applications and compatible with this new unlicensed frequency band. The main focus of this paper is to present work related to these technologies in the agriculture field. This also presented their challenges & benefits. It can help in understanding the job of data by using IoT and correspondence advancements in the horticulture division. This will help to motivate and educate the unskilled farmers to comprehend the best bits of knowledge given by the huge information investigation utilizing smart technology.

Keywords: smart agriculture, IoT, agriculture technology, data analytics, smart technology

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Authors: Giulia Magi Meconi, Nicholas Ballard, José M. Asua, Ronen Zangi

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Experimental and computational studies are combined to elucidate the adsorption proprieties of ionic and nonionic surfactants on hydrophobic polymer surface such us poly(styrene). To present these two types of surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfate and poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene), commonly utilized in emulsion polymerization, are chosen. By applying quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring it is found that, at low surfactant concentrations, it is easier to desorb (as measured by rate) ionic surfactants than nonionic surfactants. From molecular dynamics simulations, the effective, attractive force of these nonionic surfactants to the surface increases with the decrease of their concentration, whereas, the ionic surfactant exhibits mildly the opposite trend. The contrasting behavior of ionic and nonionic surfactants critically relies on two observations obtained from the simulations. The first is that there is a large degree of interweavement between head and tails groups in the adsorbed layer formed by the nonionic surfactant (PEO/PE systems). The second is that water molecules penetrate this layer. In the disordered layer, these nonionic surfactants generate at the surface, only oxygens of the head groups present at the interface with the water phase or oxygens next to the penetrating waters can form hydrogen bonds. Oxygens inside this layer lose this favorable energy, with a magnitude that increases with the surfactants density at the interface. This reduced stability of the surfactants diminishes their driving force for adsorption. All that is shown to be in accordance with experimental results on the dynamics of surfactants desorption. Ionic surfactants assemble into an ordered structure and the attraction to the surface was even slightly augmented at higher surfactant concentration, in agreement with the experimentally determined adsorption isotherm. The reason these two types of surfactants behave differently is because the ionic surfactant has a small head group that is strongly hydrophilic, whereas the head groups of the nonionic surfactants are large and only weakly attracted to water.

Keywords: emulsion polymerization process, molecular dynamics simulations, polymer surface, surfactants adsorption

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Authors: Abdullah Faqihi, John Hedley

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Biosensors play a significant role in the healthcare sectors, scientific and technological progress. Developing electrodes that are easy to manufacture and deliver better electrochemical performance is advantageous for diagnostics and biosensing. They can be implemented extensively in various analytical tasks such as drug discovery, food safety, medical diagnostics, process controls, security and defence, in addition to environmental monitoring. Development of biosensors aims to create high-performance electrochemical electrodes for diagnostics and biosensing. A biosensor is a device that inspects the biological and chemical reactions generated by the biological sample. A biosensor carries out biological detection via a linked transducer and transmits the biological response into an electrical signal; stability, selectivity, and sensitivity are the dynamic and static characteristics that affect and dictate the quality and performance of biosensors. In this research, a developed experimental study for laser scribing technique for graphene oxide inside a vacuum chamber for processing of graphene oxide is presented. The processing of graphene oxide (GO) was achieved using the laser scribing technique. The effect of the laser scribing on the reduction of GO was investigated under two conditions: atmosphere and vacuum. GO solvent was coated onto a LightScribe DVD. The laser scribing technique was applied to reduce GO layers to generate rGO. The micro-details for the morphological structures of rGO and GO were visualised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy so that they could be examined. The first electrode was a traditional graphene-based electrode model, made under normal atmospheric conditions, whereas the second model was a developed graphene electrode fabricated under a vacuum state using a vacuum chamber. The purpose was to control the vacuum conditions, such as the air pressure and the temperature during the fabrication process. The parameters to be assessed include the layer thickness and the continuous environment. Results presented show high accuracy and repeatability achieving low cost productivity.

Keywords: laser scribing, lightscribe DVD, graphene oxide, scanning electron microscopy

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Authors: Mekroud Amel

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Introduction The rate of use by the elderly of emergency departments, operating rooms and intensive care units has increased worldwide. Emergency surgery is a context where evaluation is often insufficient, with incomplete information gathering. The aim of this work is to shed light on the frequent use of emergency surgeries by the elderly and their characteristics, as well as on the lack of geriatric assessment scores in the emergency room. Material : Prospective, observational and descriptive, monocentric study. Patients aged 65 and over, admitted for emergency surgery in the operating room, were counted. Emergency operating room including visceral surgery, urology, traumatology and neurosurgery. Parameters studied: Patient characteristics, degree of autonomy, type of surgical pathology, operative management times, preoperative evaluation, postoperative outcome Results : 192 patients were identified over 12 months, from 09.01.2017 to 08.31.2018 Age from 65 to 101 years, 79.81 years +/- 8.38. With predominance of the age group between [65-75 years] 41.1% Female predominance, Sexratio = 0.81 Elderly subjects with total motor autonomy are in the majority at 57.8% Subjects without pathological ATCD represent 12.5% of cases Those who are on only one type of medication or without any treatment are at 36.9% Discussion : The emergency operative care of the elderly patient for a surgical or traumatological pathology is characterized by many specificities linked first to the emergency context, where the evaluation is often insufficient, besides the fact that the elderly patient has particularities requiring reception in centers with experience in the care of this category of patient, or, failing that, a center which uses the minimum of geriatric evaluation scores which are simplified for the emergency departments. In our hospital, we have not yet made this evaluation routine in the emergency room and this delay in the introduction of these scores can be directly attributed to the covid 19 pandemic. Besides the standard preoperative assessment, only 43.2% of patients were assessed in the preoperative period by an anesthesiologist. Traumatological emergencies come first 68.2% followed by visceral emergencies 19.2% (including proctological, urological emergencies), neurosurgical emergencies 7.8% and finally peripheral emergency surgery all acts combined 4.7%. Hospital stay at 9.6 +/- 16.8 days, average operability time of 4.5 +/- 3 days. Death rate at 7.29% Conclusion This work has demonstrated the major impact of emergency surgery, which remains curable for the most part, on the elderly patient despite total motor and cognitive autonomy preoperatively. The improvement of the preoperative evaluation, the reduction of the operating time and enhanced recovery after surgery, with personalized protocols, are the only guarantee for the resumption of preoperative autonomy in these patients.

Keywords: emergency surgery, elderly patients, preoperative geriatric scores, curable emergency surgical pathologies

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Authors: Hussah Alotaishan

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In today’s globally-driven modern cities diverse groups of new visitors face various challenges when attempting to find their desired location if culture and language are barriers. The most common way-showing tools such as directional and identificational signs are the most problematic and their usefulness can be limited or even non-existent. It is argued new methods should be implemented that could support or replace such conventional literacy and language dependent way-finding aids. It has been concluded in recent research studies that local urban features in complex pedestrian spaces are worthy of further study in order to reveal if they do function as way-showing clues. Some researchers propose a more comprehensive approach to the complex perception of buildings, façade design and surface patterns, while some have been questioning whether we necessarily need directional signs or can other methods deliver the same message but in a clearer manner for a wider range of users. This study aimed to test to what extent do existent environmental and urban features through the city center area of Swansea in the UK facilitate the way-finding process of a first time visitor. The three-hour experiment was set to attempt to find 11 visitor attractions ranging from recreational, historical, educational and religious locations. The challenge was attempting to find as many as possible when no prior geographical knowledge of their whereabouts was established. The only clues were 11 pictures representing each of the locations that had been acquired from the city of Swansea official website. An iPhone and a heart-rate tracker wristwatch were used to record the route was taken and stress levels, and take record photographs of destinations or decision-making points throughout the journey. This paper addresses: current limitations in understanding the ways that the physical environment can be intentionally deployed to facilitate pedestrians while finding their way around, without or with a reduction in language dependent signage; investigates visitor perceptions of their surroundings by indicating what urban elements manifested an impact on the way-finding process. The initial findings support the view that building facades and street features, such as width, could facilitate the decision-making process if strategically employed. However, more importantly, the anticipated features of a specific place construed from a promotional picture can also be misleading and create confusion that may lead to getting lost.

Keywords: pedestrian way-finding, environmental features, urban way-showing, environmental affordance

Procedia PDF Downloads 173