Search results for: physicochemical attributes

Authors: K. Kusakana

Abstract:

A hybrid energy system is a combination of renewable energy sources with back up, as well as a storage system used to respond to given load energy requirements. Given that the electrical output of each renewable source is fluctuating with changes in weather conditions, and since the load demand also varies with time; one of the main attributes of hybrid systems is to be able to respond to the load demand at any time by optimally controlling each energy source, storage and back-up system. The induced optimization problem is to compute the optimal operation control of the system with the aim of minimizing operation costs while efficiently and reliably responding to the load energy requirement. Current optimization research and development on hybrid systems are mainly focusing on the sizing aspect. Thus, the aim of this paper is to report on the state-of-the-art of optimal operation control of hybrid renewable energy systems. This paper also discusses different challenges encountered, as well as future developments that can help in improving the optimal operation control of hybrid renewable energy systems.

Keywords: renewable energies, hybrid systems, optimization, operation control

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Authors: Somia Lakehal Ayat, Ibtissem Samai, Srara Lakehal Ayat, Chaima Dahmani

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The aim of this work relates to the physicochemical diversity and the characterization of the different types of soils of the edough massif (North East of Algeria) and to the evaluation and characterization of the existing organic matter as well as to the evolution. and the dynamics of the latter, also on its influence on changes in the physical properties of soils. In order to know the soil properties of seraidi forest, we established a stratified sampling plan. The results obtained show that we are in the presence of a great diversity of soils, such as neutral to alkaline, whose adsorbent complex is sufficiently saturated. Also, the presence of limestone offers the soil a fairly significant buffering capacity. In our study region, the texture of the soils is varied between clayey and silty, where it offers medium porosity, there is a strong accumulation of organic matter, therefore soils rich in organic matter.The fractionation of the organic matter of the soils allowed to obtain a very high rate of humification. The soil characteristics of the edough massif (North East of Algeria) are controlled by the contribution of organic matter, which presents a dynamic and an important evolution and which varies with the climatic conditions and the nature and the type of plant formation, and these the latter have a capital and important role in the rate of mineralization of organic matter.

Keywords: organic matter, soil, foresty, diversity, mineralization

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Authors: Siziwe Monica Zuma

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The Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) is an instrument that the South African Government uses to reduce unemployment and poverty and also stimulate economic growth. However, due to the limited budget and programs in the EPWP, the program has had challenges in reducing unemployment, poverty and stimulating economic growth. The EPWP Vuk’uphile program had positive outcomes in developing Black emerging contractors, in order for them to participate in the main stream economy far better than when the EPWP program was not introduced. The Skills component of the program particularly the EPWP Infrastructure, which is the most funded program under EPWP has had limited success in transferring appropriate skills to ensure labour participants can penetrate the labour market after participating in the EPWP. Education and skills are important attributes that can contribute to labour absorption, however, the EPWP particularly the infrastructure program needs to strengthen skills development over a longer period of time suggested a year with multi skills relevant to the labour market. Longer and more sustained employment provides a safety net and reduces poverty better that short term employment. The EPWP program can be expanded in the infrastructure sector, focusing on rural infrastructure, agricultural infrastructure, infrastructure related components like property, ownership, management, and other services. These can stimulate the Economic sector Infrastructure of EPWP, offer longer term and more sustained employment and rural enterprise development and further employment. The Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) is an instrument that the South African Government uses to reduce unemployment and poverty and also stimulate economic growth. However, due to the limited budget and programs in the EPWP, the program has had challenges in reducing unemployment, poverty and stimulating economic growth. The EPWP Vuk’uphile program has had positive outcomes in developing Black emerging contractors, in order for them to participate in the main stream economy far better than when the EPWP program was not introduced. The Skills component of the program particularly the EPWP Infrastructure, which is the most funded program under EPWP has had limited success in transferring appropriate skills to ensure labour participants are able to penetrate the labour market after participating in the EPWP. Education and skills are important attributes that can contribute to labour absorption, however, the EPWP particularly the infrastructure program needs to strengthen skills development over a longer period of time suggested a year with multi skills relevant to the labour market. Longer and more sustained employment provides a safety net and reduces poverty better that short term employment. The EPWP program can be expanded in the infrastructure sector, focusing on rural infrastructure, agricultural infrastructure, infrastructure related components like property, ownership, management, and other services. These can stimulate the Economic sector Infrastructure of EPWP, offer longer term and more sustained employment and rural enterprise development and further employment.

Keywords: Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP), VUKÚPHILE, youth, Public Works Programs (PWP), Infrastructure Sector of EPWP (EPWP Infrastructure)

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Authors: SeyedMohammad Hosseini, Amirhossein Moghanian

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The main purpose of this research was to design a biomimetic system by freeze-drying method for evaluating the effect of adding 5 and 10 mol. % of zinc (Zn)in 58S bioactive glass and gelatin (5ZnBG/G and 10ZnBG/G) in terms of structural and biological changes. The structural analyses of samples were performed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Also, 3-(4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide(MTT) and alkaline phosphate (ALP) activity test were carried out for investigation of MC3T3-E1cell behaviors. The SEM results demonstrated the spherical shape of the formed hydroxyapatite (HA) phases, and also HA characteristic peaks were detected by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD)after 3 days of immersion in the simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. Meanwhile, FTIR spectra proved that the intensity of P–O peaks for 5ZnBG/G was more than 10ZnBG/G and control samples. Moreover, the results of alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) test illustrated that the optimal amount of Zn (5ZnBG/G) caused a considerable enhancement in bone cell growth. Taken together, the scaffold with 5 mol.% Zn was introduced as an optimal sample because of its higher biocompatibility, in vitro bioactivity, and growth of MC3T3-E1cellsin in comparison with other samples in bone tissue engineering.

Keywords: scaffold, gelatin, modified bioactive glass, alp, bone tissue engineering

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Authors: Rashad Al-Gaashani

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The physicochemical activation method was used to produce high-quality activated carbon (AC) with a large surface area of about 2000 m2/g from low-cost and abundant biomass wastes in Qatar, namely date seeds. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis was used to evaluate the AC samples. AC produced from date seeds has a wide range of pores available, including micro- and nano-pores. This type of AC with a well-developed pore structure may be very attractive for different applications, including air and water purification from micro and nano pollutants. Heavy metals iron (III) and copper (II) ions were removed from wastewater using the AC produced using a batch adsorption technique. The AC produced from date seeds biomass wastes shows high removal of heavy metals such as iron (III) ions (100%) and copper (II) ions (97.25%). The highest removal of copper (II) ions (100%) with AC produced from date seeds was found at pH 8, whereas the lowest removal (22.63%) occurred at pH 2. The effect of adsorption time, adsorbent dose, and pH on the removal of heavy metals was studied.

Keywords: activated carbon, date seeds, biomass, heavy metals removal, water treatment

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Authors: S. Said, Asmaa A. Abdulrahman

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MoOₓ/Al₂O₃ based catalyst has long been widely used as an active catalyst in oxidative desulfurization reaction due to its high stability under severe reaction conditions and high resistance to sulfur poisoning. In this context, 4 & 9wt.% MoO₃ grafted on mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ has been synthesized using the modified atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. Another MoO₃/Al₂O₃ sample was prepared by the conventional wetness impregnation (IM) method, for comparison. The effect of the preparation methods on the metal-support interaction was evaluated using different characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N₂-physisorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), H₂- temperature-programmed reduction and FT-IR. Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) reaction of the model fuel oil was used as a probe reaction to examine the catalytic efficiency of the prepared catalysts. ALD method led to samples with much better physicochemical properties than those of the prepared one via the impregnation method. However, the 9 wt.%MoO₃/Al₂O₃ (ALD) catalyst in the ODS reaction of model fuel oil shows enhanced catalytic performance with ~90%, which has been attributed to the more Mo⁶⁺ surface concentrations relative to Al³⁺ with large pore diameter and surface area. The kinetic study shows that the ODS of DBT follows a pseudo first-order rate reaction.

Keywords: mesoporous Al₂O₃, xMoO₃/Al₂O₃, atomic layer deposition, wetness impregnation, ODS, DBT

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Authors: Nawel Ouennoughi, Kamel Daoud

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During recent years, new pharmaceutical dosage forms were developed in the research laboratories and which consists of encapsulating one or more active molecules in a polymeric envelope. Several techniques of encapsulation allow obtaining the microparticles or the nanoparticles containing one or several polymers. In the industry, microencapsulation is implemented to fill the following objectives: to ensure protection, the compatibility and the stabilization of an active matter in a formulation, to carry out an adapted working, to improve the presentation of a product, to mask a taste or an odor, to modify and control the profile of release of an active matter to obtain, for example, prolonged or started effect. To this end, we focus ourselves on the encapsulation of the antidiabetic. It is an oral hypoglycemic agent belonging to the second generation of sulfonylurea’s commonly employed in the treatment of type II non-insulin-dependent diabetes in order to improve profile them dissolution. Our choice was made on the technique of encapsulation by complex coacervation with two types of polymers (gelatin and the gum Arabic) which is a physicochemical process. Several parameters were studied at the time of the formulation of the microparticles and the nanoparticles: temperature, pH, ratio of polymers etc. The microparticles and the nanoparticles obtained were characterized by microscopy, laser granulometry, FTIR and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The profile of dissolution obtained for the microparticles showed an improvement of the kinetics of dissolution compared to that obtained for the active ingredient.

Keywords: coacervation, gum Arabic, microencapsulation, gelatin

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Authors: Sathish Sundar Dhilip Kumar, Nicolette Houreld, Heidi Abrahamse

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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are classified as metal-based nanomaterials and have received considerable attention globally for wound healing and tissue engineering applications. Naturally available materials are a significant source of medicinal products to treat numerous diseases; polysaccharides are among them. Polysaccharides are non-toxic, safe, and inexpensive, and it has good biocompatibility and biodegradability. Most polysaccharides are shown to have a positive effect on wound healing processes, including chitosan and gum tragacanth. The present study evaluated the improvement of cellular wound healing by nanosilver-loaded polysaccharide-based biomaterial (CGT-NS) in WS1 cells. The physicochemical properties of prepared CGT-NS were studied using different characterization techniques, and it exhibited better stability and swelling properties in various pH conditions. Surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy, and it revealed the porous morphology of the synthesized CGT-NS. The synthesized biomaterial displayed acceptable antibacterial properties against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, and it may prevent infection. The biocompatibility of the synthesized CGT-NS biomaterial was studied in WS1 cells, where it may lead to promote increased cell adhesion and proliferation properties. Thus, the CGT-NS biomaterial has good potential as a biomaterial in wound healing applications.

Keywords: biomaterial, wound healing, nano, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: I. Ben Kaddour, S. Larbaoui

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Since their first synthesis, the Silicoaluminophosphates materials have proved their efficiency as a good adsorbent and catalyst in several environmental and energetic applications. In this work, the photocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting reactions has been conducted under visible radiations in the presence of a series of iron and/or titanium-containing microporous silico-alumino-phosphates materials synthesized by hydrothermal method, using triethylamine as an organic structuring agent to obtain the AFI structure type. These photo-catalysts were then characterized by various physicochemical methods to determine their structural, textural and morphological properties such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with X rays microanalysis, nitrogen adsorption measurements, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS), and X-rays photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the analysis revealed that these materials have significant photocatalytic properties. The hydrogen production process has been followed by photoelectrochemical characterization (PEC). The results showed that hydrogen is the only gas produced, and the reaction takes place in the conduction band where water is reduced to hydrogen. The electron recombination has also been avoided, as holes are entrapped using hole scavengers. In addition, these catalysts have been shown to remain stable during reuse for up to five cycles.

Keywords: photocatalysis, SAPO-5, hydrothermal synthesis, hydrogen production

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Authors: Qiuwen Ma, Sai On Cheung

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Incentive contracting has been developed to push the agent team for extra effort. Generally, there are three types of incentive arrangement, namely incentive/penalty for super performance/underperformance, risk/reward sharing and future business opportunities. It is found that there are significant differences in the use of incentive arrangement in private and public projects. In Hong Kong, very few public projects have used future business as incentivizer whereas private developers often signal repeated business coupled with heavy penalty. This study was conducted to identify various attributes affecting the use of I/D in both private and public engineering sectors of Hong Kong. The diverging preferences were unveiled with reference to a literature review and semi-structured interviews with industry experts. The findings reveal the public/private sectors would consider the implementation issues regarding the various performance targets. The most deterministic factor for the public sector is about accountability. The private sector is in general skeptical about the need to provide extra for the contractors for what they have already contracted to perform.

Keywords: construction incentive, public/private projects, semi-structured interview, hong kong

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Authors: Hossein Arfaeinia, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Sina Dobaradaran, Sadegh Niazi, Mojtaba Ehsanifar, Amir Zahedi

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Street dust and surface soil samples were collected from very heavy, heavy, medium and low traffic areas and natural site in Tehran, Iran. These samples were analyzed for some physical–chemical features, total and chemical speciation of selected metals and metalloids (Zn, Al, Sr, Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd, Co, Ni, and V) to study the effect of traffic on their mobility and accumulation in the environment. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), carbonates and organic carbon (OC) values were similar in soil and dust samples from similar traffic areas. The traffic increases EC contents in dust/soil matrixes but has no effect on concentrations of metals and metalloids in soil samples. Rises in metal and metalloids levels with traffic were found in dust samples. Moreover, the traffic increases the percentage of acid soluble fraction and Fe and Mn oxides associated fractions of Pb and Zn. The mobilization of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr in dust samples was easier than in soil. The speciation of metals and metalloids except Cd is mainly affected by physicochemical features in soil, although total metals and metalloids affected the speciation in dust samples (except chromium and nickel).

Keywords: street dust, surface soil, traffic, metals, metalloids, chemical speciation

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Authors: Susmita Sharma, Pankaj Pathak

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Biosolids are by-products of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment process. The generation of the biosolids is increasing at an alarming rate due to the implementation of strict environmental legislation to improve the quality of discharges from wastewater treatment plant. As such, proper management and safe disposal of sewage sludge have become a worldwide topic of research. Biosolids, rich in organic matter and essential micro and macronutrients; can be used as a soil conditioner, to cut fertilizer costs and create favorable conditions for vegetation. However, it also contains pathogens and heavy metals which are undesirable as they are harmful to both humans and the environment. Therefore, for safe utilization of biosolids for land application purposes, categorization of the contaminant and pathogen is mandatory. In this context, biosolids collected from a wastewater treatment plant in Maharashtra are utilized to determine its physical, chemical and microbiological attributes. This study would ascertain, if the use of these materials from the specific site, are suitable for agriculture. Further, efforts have also been made to present the internationally acceptable legal standards and guidelines for biosolids management or application.

Keywords: biosolids, sewage, heavy metal, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Bahdja Guerfi, N. Hadhoum, I. Azouz, M. Bendoumia, S. Bouafia, F. Z. Hadjadj Aoul

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Background: 'Penicillin V' is a narrow, bactericidal antibiotic of the beta-lactam family of the naturally occurring penicillin group. It is limited to infections due to the germs defined as sensitive. The objective of this work was to identify and to characterize Penicillin V acid and its related compounds by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: Firstly phenoxymethylpenicillin was identified by an infrared absorption. The organoleptic characteristics, pH, and determination of water content were also studied. The dosage of Penicillin V acid active substance and the determination of its related compounds were carried on waters HPLC, equipped with a UV detector at 254 nm and Discovery HS C18 column (250 mm X 4.6 mm X 5 µm) which is maintained at room temperature. The flow rate was about 1 ml per min. A mixture of water, acetonitrile and acetic acid (65:35:01) was used as mobile phase for phenoxyacetic acid ‘impurity B' and a mixture of water, acetonitrile and acetic acid (650:150:5.75) for the assay and 4-hydroxypenicillin V 'impurity D'. Results: The identification of Penicillin V acid active substance and the evaluation of its chemical quality showed conformity with USP 35th edition. The Penicillin V acid content in the raw material is equal to 1692.22 UI/mg. The percentage content of phenoxyacetic acid and 4-hydroxypenicillin V was respectively: 0.035% and 0.323%. Conclusion: Through these results, we can conclude that the Penicillin V acid active substance tested is of good physicochemical quality.

Keywords: characterization, HPLC, Penicillin V acid, related substances

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Authors: Assefa Mitike Janko, Gosa Alemu

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The review of supply and marketing of floriculture in Ethiopia was conducted to analyses the production potential and to know the marketing share of the country. The data was collected from secondary and primary. Ethiopia has been operating in the floriculture industry for over 20 years. As is the case in many developing countries, the major export items of Ethiopia are dominated by few agricultural products that earn very small amounts in the international market. Moreover, most of the exports are destined to only few countries. Given the highly capital intensive nature of production and processing, rose farming is not a smallholder activity. It is also important to note the extremely tightly controlled time dimension of the logistics process, given the product attributes desired and the fragility and perishability of the roses. Another characteristic of the Ethiopian floriculture sector is the lack of domestically produced inputs that flower producers can access. The export volume and value of cut-flowers accounts for a small proportion of the total exports of Ethiopia. In recent years the sector is showing improvements in terms of the quality and quantity of exports to the international market.

Keywords: roses, production, value chain, floriculture, supply

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Authors: Azadeh Golshan, Craig Evans, Phillip Geary, Abigail Morrow, Zoe Rogers, Marcel Maeder

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22 physicochemical variables have been determined in water samples collected weekly from January to December in 2013 from three sampling stations located within a major drinking water reservoir. Classical Multivariate Curve Resolution Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) analysis was used to investigate the environmental factors associated with the physico-chemical variability of the water samples at each of the sampling stations. Matrix augmentation MCR-ALS (MA-MCR-ALS) was also applied, and the two sets of results were compared for interpretative clarity. Links between these factors, reservoir inflows and catchment land-uses were investigated and interpreted in relation to chemical composition of the water and their resolved geographical distribution profiles. The results suggested that the major factors affecting reservoir water quality were those associated with agricultural runoff, with evidence of influence on algal photosynthesis within the water column. Water quality variability within the reservoir was also found to be strongly linked to physical parameters such as water temperature and the occurrence of thermal stratification. The two methods applied (MCR-ALS and MA-MCR-ALS) led to similar conclusions; however, MA-MCR-ALS appeared to provide results more amenable to interpretation of temporal and geological variation than those obtained through classical MCR-ALS.

Keywords: drinking water reservoir, multivariate analysis, physico-chemical parameters, water quality

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Authors: Anudeep Appe, Bhanu Poluparthi, Lakshmi Kasivajjula, Udai Mv, Sobha Bagadi, Punya Modi, Aditya Singh, Hemanth Gunupudi, Spenser Troiano, Jeff Paul, Justin Stovall, Justin Yamamoto

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The necessity of data-driven decisions in healthcare strategy formulation is rapidly increasing. A reliable framework which helps identify factors impacting a healthcare provider facility or a hospital (from here on termed as facility) market share is of key importance. This pilot study aims at developing a data-driven machine learning-regression framework which aids strategists in formulating key decisions to improve the facility’s market share which in turn impacts in improving the quality of healthcare services. The US (United States) healthcare business is chosen for the study, and the data spanning 60 key facilities in Washington State and about 3 years of historical data is considered. In the current analysis, market share is termed as the ratio of the facility’s encounters to the total encounters among the group of potential competitor facilities. The current study proposes a two-pronged approach of competitor identification and regression approach to evaluate and predict market share, respectively. Leveraged model agnostic technique, SHAP, to quantify the relative importance of features impacting the market share. Typical techniques in literature to quantify the degree of competitiveness among facilities use an empirical method to calculate a competitive factor to interpret the severity of competition. The proposed method identifies a pool of competitors, develops Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) and feature level word vectors, and evaluates the key connected components at the facility level. This technique is robust since its data-driven, which minimizes the bias from empirical techniques. The DAGs factor in partial correlations at various segregations and key demographics of facilities along with a placeholder to factor in various business rules (for ex. quantifying the patient exchanges, provider references, and sister facilities). Identified are the multiple groups of competitors among facilities. Leveraging the competitors' identified developed and fine-tuned Random Forest Regression model to predict the market share. To identify key drivers of market share at an overall level, permutation feature importance of the attributes was calculated. For relative quantification of features at a facility level, incorporated SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), a model agnostic explainer. This helped to identify and rank the attributes at each facility which impacts the market share. This approach proposes an amalgamation of the two popular and efficient modeling practices, viz., machine learning with graphs and tree-based regression techniques to reduce the bias. With these, we helped to drive strategic business decisions.

Keywords: competition, DAGs, facility, healthcare, machine learning, market share, random forest, SHAP

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Authors: E. Roshan Ara Begum, K. Bhavani, K. Subachitra, C. Kirthika, R. Shenbagarathai

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In recent years, there has been a growing concern for the production of chitosan blend nanofibrous scaffold for its favorable physicochemical properties which mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) both morphologically and chemically. Therefore, this study focused on production of β-chitosan(β-Cts) and Poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) blend nanofibrous scaffold by electrospinning. β-Cts was extracted from the squid pen waste of locally available squid variety Loligo duvauceli (Indian Squid). To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on nanofibers preparation from the extracted β-Cts. Both the β-Cts and PVA polymers were mixed in two different proportions (30:70 and 40:60 respectively. The electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds were characterized by SEM, swelling property, in vitro enzymatic degradation, and hemo, biocompatibility properties. β-Cts/PVA nanofibers scaffolds had an average fiber diameter of 120 to 550nm.Among the two different β-Cts/PVA blends nanofibers the β-Cts/PVA (40:60) blend fibers demonstrated favourable tissue engineering properties. The β-Cts/PVA (40:60) blend nanofibers exhibited a swelling ratio of 36 ± 2.5% with mass loss percentage of 20 ± 2.71% after 4 weeks of degradation. It has exhibited good hemocompatible properties. HEK-293(Human Embryonic Kidney) cells lines were able to adhere and proliferate well in the β-Cts/PVA blends nanofibers. All these results indicated that electrospun β-Cts/PVA blends nanofibers are a suitable scaffold to be used for tissue engineering purposes.

Keywords: β-chitosan, electrospinning, nanofibers, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)

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Authors: Riddhi Trivedi, Shrenik Shah

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For Si RNA to be delivered various biodegradable polymers are trialed by many researchers. One of them is Chitosan (CS) nanoparticles which have been extensively studied for siRNA delivery but the stability and efficacy of such particles are highly dependent on the types of cross-linker used. Hence the attempts are made in this study with PGA To address this issue, three common cross-linkers; Ethylene glycol diacrylate (ED) and poly-D-glutamic acid (PGA) were used to prepare siRNA loaded CS-ED/PGA nanoparticles by ionic gelation method. The nanoparticles which were obtained were compared for its characterization in terms of its physicochemical properties i.e. particle size of the resultant particles, zeta potential, its encapsulation capacity in the polymer. Among all the formulations prepared with different crosslinker PGA siRNA had the smallest particle size (ranged from 120 ± 1.7 to 500 ± 10.9 nm) with zeta potential ranged from 22.1 ± 1.5 to +32.4 ± 0.5 mV, and high entrapment ( > 91%) and binding efficiencies. Similarly, CS-ED nanoparticles showed better siRNA protection during storage at 4˚C and as determined by serum protection assay. TEM micrographs revealed the assorted morphology of CS-PGA-siRNA nanoparticles in contrast to irregular morphology displayed by CS-ED-siRNA. All siRNA loaded nanoparticles were found to give initial burst release which after some time followed by a sustained release of siRNA which were loaded inside. All the formulations showed concentration-dependent cytotoxicity with when cytotoxicity performed by HeLa and normal vero cell lines.

Keywords: chitosan, siRNA, cytotoxicity, cell line study

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Authors: Marcelle Muriel Domkam Tchunkam, Rolin Feudjio

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This work investigates the ultrastructure, physicochemical and thermal properties evaluation of Palm Kernel Shells (PKS). PKS Tenera waste samples were obtained from a palm oil mill in Dizangué Sub-Division, Littoral region of Cameroon, while PKS Dura waste samples were collected from the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) of Mbongo. A sodium hydroxide solution was used to wash the shells. They were then rinsed by demineralised water and dried in an oven at 70 °C during 72 hours. They were then grounded and sieved to obtained powders from 0.04 mm to 0.45 mm in size. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Surface Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to characterized powder samples. Chemical compounds and elemental constituents, as well as thermal performance were evaluated by Van Soest Method, TEM/EDXA and SEM/EDS techniques. Thermal characterization was also performed using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). Our results from microstructural analysis revealed that most of the PKS material is made of particles with irregular morphology, mainly amorphous phases of carbon/oxygen with small amounts of Ca, K, and Mg. The DSC data enabled the derivation of the materials’ thermal transition phases and the relevant characteristic temperatures and physical properties. Overall, our data show that PKS have nanopores and show potential in 3D printing and membrane filtration applications.

Keywords: DSC, EDXA, palm kernel shells, SEM, TEM

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Authors: Lynda Golea, Rachid Chebaki

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Schiff bases contain heterocyclic structural units with N and O donor atoms which plays an important role in coordination chemistry. Azomethine groups are a broad class of widely used compounds with applications in many fields, including analytical, inorganic chemistry and biological. Schiff's base is of promising research interest due to the widespread antibacterial resistance in medical science. In addition, the research is essential to generate Schiff base metal complexes with various applications. Schiff complexes have been used as drugs and have antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. The various donor atoms they contain offer a special ability for metal binding. In this research on the physicochemical properties of azomethine groups, we synthesized and studied the Schiff base compounds by a condensation reaction of tryptamines and acetophenone in ethanol. The structure of the prepared compound was interpreted using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, UV-vis and FT-IR. A computational analysis at the level of DFT with functional B3LYP in conjunction with the base 6-311+G (d, p) was conducted to study its electronic and molecular structure. The biological study was performed on three bacterial strains usually causing infection, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative, for antibacterial activity. Results showed moderate biological activity and proportional activity with increasing concentration.

Keywords: azomethine, HOMO, LUMO, RMN, molecular docking

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Authors: Shekhar Chatterjee

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Architectural marvels of the Patan stepwell in Gujarat state in India were studied, to look into the cultural and design attributes in them. Direct observation, photography and interviewing the local people (especially senior citizens) were the methodology adopted. The aim was to look for clues into how culture and design affected architectural marvels of a building and convey that to the tourists. These interpretations from this building can offer many ideas to the contemporary design world in the form of design of modern day garments for various occasions, ornaments or accessory products for daily usage like bags, shoes and similar products. These monuments currently lack proper information system for guiding a tourist. Absence of any qualified tourist guides at the site compounds the problem further. This project investigates the feasibility of making the space more interactive for the tourist through proper digital information design and installations at places. Along with this, illumination and sound are also being used to narrate the history of these ancient monuments so that tourists get a flavor of the medieval past. Most importantly, all these digital interventions are low cost and done with easily available throw-away materials and can be replicated for other monuments as well.

Keywords: interaction, well, building, context

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Authors: Fatiha Atmani, Lamia Djellab, Nacera Yeddou Mezenner, Zohra Bensaadi

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Generally, bilge waters can be briefly defined as saline and greasy wastewaters. The oil and grease are mixed with the sea water, which affects many marine species. Bilge water is a complex mixture of various compounds such as solvents, surfactants, fuel, lubricating oils, and hydraulic oils. It is resulted mainly by the leakage from the machinery and fresh water washdowns,which are allowed to drain to the lowest inner part of the ship's hull. There are several physicochemical methods used for bilge water treatment such as biodegradation electrochemical and electro-coagulation/flotation.The research herein presented discusses adsorption as a method to treat bilge water and eggshells were studied as an adsorbent. The influence of operating parameters as contact time, temperature and adsorbent dose (0,2 - 2g/l) on the removal efficiency of Chemical oxygen demand, COD, and turbidity was analyzed. The bilge wastewater used for this study was supplied by Harbour Bouharoune. Chemical oxygen demand removal increased from 26.7% to 68.7% as the adsorbent dose increased from 0.2 to 2 g. The kinetics of adsorption by eggshells were fast, reaching 55 % of the total adsorption capacity in ten minutes (T= 20°C, pH =7.66, m=2g/L). It was found that the turbidity removal efficiency decreased and 95% were achieved at the end of 90 min reaction. The adsorption process was found to be effective for the purification of bilge water and pseudo-second-order kinetic model was fitted for COD removal.

Keywords: adsorption, bilge water, eggshells and kinetics, equilibrium and kinetics

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Authors: Harish Kumar Sharma, Garima Sengar

Abstract:

Rice bran oil is considered comparatively nutritionally superior than different fats/oils. Therefore, model blends prepared from pure rice bran oil (RBO) and sunflower oil (SFO) were explored for changes in the different physicochemical parameters. Repeated deep fat frying process was carried out by using dried potato in order to study the thermal behaviour of pure rice bran oil, sunflower oil and their model blends. Pure rice bran oil and sunflower oil had shown good thermal stability during the repeated deep fat frying cycles. Although, the model blends constituting 60% RBO + 40% SFO showed better suitability during repeated deep fat frying than the remaining blended oils. The quantification of pure rice bran oil in the blended oils, physically refined rice bran oil (PRBO): SnF (sunflower oil) was carried by different methods. The study revealed that regression equations based on the oryzanol content, palmitic acid composition and iodine value can be used for the quantification. The rice bran oil can easily be quantified in the blended oils based on the oryzanol content by HPLC even at 1% level. The palmitic acid content in blended oils can also be used as an indicator to quantify rice bran oil at or above 20% level in blended oils whereas the method based on ultrasonic velocity, acoustic impedance and relative association showed initial promise in the quantification.

Keywords: rice bran oil, sunflower oil, frying, quantification

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Marjan Fayyazi, Parisa Sefati

Abstract:

Audit quality is a popular topic in accounting and auditing research because recent decades’ financial crises reduce the reliability of financial reports to public investors and cause significant doubt about the audit profession. Therefore, doing research to identify effective factors in improving audit quality is necessary for bringing back public investors’ trust to financial statements as well as audit reports. In this study, we explore the relationship between audit rotation and audit quality. For this purpose, we employ the Duff (2009) model of audit quality to measure audit quality and use a questionnaire survey of 27 audit service quality attributes. Our results show that there is a negative relationship between auditor’s rotation and audit quality as we consider the auditor’s reputation, capability, assurance, experience, and responsiveness as surrogates for audit quality. There is no evidence for verifying a same relationship when we use the auditor’s independence and expertise for measuring audit quality.

Keywords: audit quality, auditor’s rotation, reputation, capability, assurance, experience, responsiveness, independence, expertise

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Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, G. A. Gevorgyan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan, K. V. Grigoryan

Abstract:

The heavy metal pollution degree in the soils around the Zangezur copper and molybdenum combine in Syunik Marz, Armenia was aessessed. The results of the study showed that heavy metal pollution degree in the soils mainly decreased with increasing distance from the open mine and the ore enrichment combine which indicated that the open mine and the ore enrichment combine were the main sources of heavy metal pollution. The only exception was observed in the northern part of the open mine where pollution degree in the sites (along the open mine) situated 600 meters far from the mine was higher than that in the sites located 300 meters far from the mine. This can be explained by the characteristics of relief and air currents as well as the weak vegetation cover of these sites and the characteristics of soil structure. According to geo-accumulation index (I-geo), contamination factor (Cf), contamination degree (Cd) and pollution load index (PLI) values, the pollution degree in the soils around the open mine and the ore enrichment combine was higher than that in the soils around the tailing dumps which was due to the proper and accurate operation of the Artsvanik tailing damp and the recultivation of the Voghji tailing dump. The high Cu and Mo pollution of the soils was conditioned by the character of industrial activities, the moving direction of air currents as well as the physicochemical peculiarities of the soils.

Keywords: Armenia, Zangezur copper and molybdenum combine, soil, heavy metal pollution degree

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Authors: Muhammad Atif Randhawa, Muhammad Nadeem

Abstract:

Kinnow (Citrus reticulate Blanco) is nutritious and perishable fruit with high juice content, and also rich source of vitamin-C. In Pakistan, kinnow export is limited due to inadequate post-harvest handling and lack of satisfactory storage practices. Considering these issues, the present study was designed to evaluate the effect of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) coating in combination with CaCl2 and MgSO4 on shelf life extension of kinnow. Fruits were treated with different levels of CaCl2 and MgSO4 followed by HPMC coating (3 and 5%) and stored at 10°C with 80% relative humidity for 6 weeks. Fruits were analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters on weekly basis. During this study lower fruit firmness (0.24Nm-2), loss in weight (0.64%) and ethylene production (0.039 µL•kg-1•hr-1) was observed in fruits treated with 1% CaCl2 + 1% MgSO4 + 5% HPMC (T6) during storage of 42 days. Minimum chilling injury indexes 0.22% and 0.61% were recorded in treatments T4 and T6, respectively. T6 showed higher values of titerable acidity (0.29%) and ascorbic acid contents (39.82mg/100g). Minimum TSS (9.62°Brix) was found in fruits of T6. Overall T6 showed significantly better results for various parameters, as compared to all other treated and control fruits.

Keywords: firmness, kinnow coating, physicochemical, storage

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Authors: Lim Lie Pin, Lin Hui Wen

Abstract:

Rural tourism has become popular in Taiwan, the villages based on agriculture including fishery have to follow the trend to develop the local economy and achieve the sustainable development of the rural areas. Through cultural festivals, the tourist could experience the benefit while promoting and stimulating the local development of rural tourism. Cigu is famous for salt history and abundant natural resources, such as lagoon, black-faced spoonbills and other fishery products. Digging clam has become the most special parent-child activities in Tainan and increasing awareness since it was initiated. Therefore, festival organizers and regional destination marketers need to identify visitors’ experiences attributes which lead to opportunities for industry professionals, community involvement to plan and organize regional festivals and their programmes for effective destination branding finding out more potential rural resources encouraging the local industry growth and sustainable development.

Keywords: rural tourism, cultural festival, destination branding, tourist experience, sustainable development

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Kalinga Jagoda

Abstract:

With changing population demographics and consumer preferences, specialty crops present significant opportunities for Ontario agri-businesses to develop niche markets. However, the greater rewards offered by such opportunities come with comparable challenges that are driven by specific productmarket attributes, as well as supply and demand-side factors, including certain risks. Thus, initiatives to promote and support such sectors need to be informed by an understanding of the impact of these product-market and industry specific factors on supply chain development. To this end, this project proposes to map selected specialty crops supply chains, using a suite of tested methodological approaches to evaluate their market potential, considering total supply chain costs, lead times and responsiveness. The project will deliver comprehensive supply chain maps identifying the points of value addition and value capture that are of benefit to key stakeholders for the purposes of developing policy interventions, conducting market appraisals and identifying industry best practices.

Keywords: supply chain management, hazelnut industry, supply chain maps, market opportunity

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Authors: Amine Ganibardi, Cherif Arab Ali

Abstract:

This paper addresses the data cleaning issue as a part of web usage data preprocessing within the scope of Web Usage Mining. Weblog data recorded by web servers within log files reflect usage activity, i.e., End-users’ clicks and underlying user-agents’ hits. As Web Usage Mining is interested in End-users’ behavior, user-agents’ hits are referred to as noise to be cleaned-off before mining. Filtering hits from clicks is not trivial for two reasons, i.e., a server records requests interlaced in sequential order regardless of their source or type, website resources may be set up as requestable interchangeably by end-users and user-agents. The current methods are content-centric based on filtering heuristics of relevant/irrelevant items in terms of some cleaning attributes, i.e., website’s resources filetype extensions, website’s resources pointed by hyperlinks/URIs, http methods, user-agents, etc. These methods need exhaustive extra-weblog data and prior knowledge on the relevant and/or irrelevant items to be assumed as clicks or hits within the filtering heuristics. Such methods are not appropriate for dynamic/responsive Web for three reasons, i.e., resources may be set up to as clickable by end-users regardless of their type, website’s resources are indexed by frame names without filetype extensions, web contents are generated and cancelled differently from an end-user to another. In order to overcome these constraints, a clustering-based cleaning method centered on the logging structure is proposed. This method focuses on the statistical properties of the logging structure at the requested and referring resources attributes levels. It is insensitive to logging content and does not need extra-weblog data. The used statistical property takes on the structure of the generated logging feature by webpage requests in terms of clicks and hits. Since a webpage consists of its single URI and several components, these feature results in a single click to multiple hits ratio in terms of the requested and referring resources. Thus, the clustering-based method is meant to identify two clusters based on the application of the appropriate distance to the frequency matrix of the requested and referring resources levels. As the ratio clicks to hits is single to multiple, the clicks’ cluster is the smallest one in requests number. Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering based on a pairwise distance (Gower) and average linkage has been applied to four logfiles of dynamic/responsive websites whose click to hits ratio range from 1/2 to 1/15. The optimal clustering set on the basis of average linkage and maximum inter-cluster inertia results always in two clusters. The evaluation of the smallest cluster referred to as clicks cluster under the terms of confusion matrix indicators results in 97% of true positive rate. The content-centric cleaning methods, i.e., conventional and advanced cleaning, resulted in a lower rate 91%. Thus, the proposed clustering-based cleaning outperforms the content-centric methods within dynamic and responsive web design without the need of any extra-weblog. Such an improvement in cleaning quality is likely to refine dependent analysis.

Keywords: clustering approach, data cleaning, data preprocessing, weblog data, web usage data

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Authors: S. K. Subah, R. Tasnim, M. I. Jahan, M. R. Islam

Abstract:

While talking about how comfortable and convenient Dhaka's bus service is, the minimum emphasis is placed on the female commuters of the Dhaka city. Recognizing the contemporary situation, the supreme focus is to develop experimental model based on statistical methods. SEM has been adopted to quantify passenger satisfaction, which is affected by the perceived service quality. The study deals with 16 observed variables and three latent variables, which were correlated to identify their significance on the regulation of perceived SQ (Service Quality). To calibrate the model, a dataset of 250 responses from female users of local buses has been utilized through survey. A questionnaire structured with SQ variables was prepared in consultation with prevailing literature, practitioners, academicians, and users. The result concludes that the attributes of safe and secured environment have the most significant impact on the overall bus service quality according to the insight of female respondents. The study outcome might be a great help for the policymakers, women's organizations, and NGOs to formulate transport policy that will ensure a women-friendly public bus service.

Keywords: bus service quality, female perception, structural equation modelling, safety-security, women friendly bus

Procedia PDF Downloads 134