Search results for: family function

Authors: Skyler Kim

Abstract:

An early diagnosis of leukemia has always been a challenge to doctors and hematologists. On a worldwide basis, it was reported that there were approximately 350,000 new cases in 2012, and diagnosing leukemia was time-consuming and inefficient because of an endemic shortage of flow cytometry equipment in current clinical practice. As the number of medical diagnosis tools increased and a large volume of high-quality data was produced, there was an urgent need for more advanced data analysis methods. One of these methods was the AI approach. This approach has become a major trend in recent years, and several research groups have been working on developing these diagnostic models. However, designing and implementing a leukemia diagnostic system in real clinical environments based on a deep learning approach with larger sets remains complex. Leukemia is a major hematological malignancy that results in mortality and morbidity throughout different ages. We decided to select acute lymphocytic leukemia to develop our diagnostic system since acute lymphocytic leukemia is the most common type of leukemia, accounting for 74% of all children diagnosed with leukemia. The results from this development work can be applied to all other types of leukemia. To develop our model, the Kaggle dataset was used, which consists of 15135 total images, 8491 of these are images of abnormal cells, and 5398 images are normal. In this paper, we design and implement a leukemia diagnostic system in a real clinical environment based on deep learning approaches with larger sets. The proposed diagnostic system has the function of detecting and classifying leukemia. Different from other AI approaches, we explore hybrid architectures to improve the current performance. First, we developed two independent convolutional neural network models: VGG19 and ResNet50. Then, using both VGG19 and ResNet50, we developed a hybrid deep learning architecture employing transfer learning techniques to extract features from each input image. In our approach, fusing the features from specific abstraction layers can be deemed as auxiliary features and lead to further improvement of the classification accuracy. In this approach, features extracted from the lower levels are combined into higher dimension feature maps to help improve the discriminative capability of intermediate features and also overcome the problem of network gradient vanishing or exploding. By comparing VGG19 and ResNet50 and the proposed hybrid model, we concluded that the hybrid model had a significant advantage in accuracy. The detailed results of each model’s performance and their pros and cons will be presented in the conference.

Keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hybrid model, leukemia diagnostic system, machine learning

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Authors: Lakshmidevi Sreeramareddy, Komalpreet Kaur, Nane Pothier

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Graphical-based passwords have existed for decades. Their major advantage is that they are easier to remember than an alphanumeric password. However, their disadvantage (especially recognition-based passwords) is the smaller password space, making them more vulnerable to brute force attacks. Graphical passwords are also highly susceptible to the shoulder-surfing effect. The gesture-based password method that we developed is a grid-free, template-free method. In this study, we evaluated the gesture-based passwords for usability and vulnerability. The results of the study are significant. We developed a gesture-based password application for data collection. Two modes of data collection were used: Creation mode and Replication mode. In creation mode (Session 1), users were asked to create six different passwords and reenter each password five times. In replication mode, users saw a password image created by some other user for a fixed duration of time. Three different duration timers, such as 5 seconds (Session 2), 10 seconds (Session 3), and 15 seconds (Session 4), were used to mimic the shoulder-surfing attack. After the timer expired, the password image was removed, and users were asked to replicate the password. There were 74, 57, 50, and 44 users participated in Session 1, Session 2, Session 3, and Session 4 respectfully. In this study, the machine learning algorithms have been applied to determine whether the person is a genuine user or an imposter based on the password entered. Five different machine learning algorithms were deployed to compare the performance in user authentication: namely, Decision Trees, Linear Discriminant Analysis, Naive Bayes Classifier, Support Vector Machines (SVMs) with Gaussian Radial Basis Kernel function, and K-Nearest Neighbor. Gesture-based password features vary from one entry to the next. It is difficult to distinguish between a creator and an intruder for authentication. For each password entered by the user, four features were extracted: password score, password length, password speed, and password size. All four features were normalized before being fed to a classifier. Three different classifiers were trained using data from all four sessions. Classifiers A, B, and C were trained and tested using data from the password creation session and the password replication with a timer of 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and 15 seconds, respectively. The classification accuracies for Classifier A using five ML algorithms are 72.5%, 71.3%, 71.9%, 74.4%, and 72.9%, respectively. The classification accuracies for Classifier B using five ML algorithms are 69.7%, 67.9%, 70.2%, 73.8%, and 71.2%, respectively. The classification accuracies for Classifier C using five ML algorithms are 68.1%, 64.9%, 68.4%, 71.5%, and 69.8%, respectively. SVMs with Gaussian Radial Basis Kernel outperform other ML algorithms for gesture-based password authentication. Results confirm that the shorter the duration of the shoulder-surfing attack, the higher the authentication accuracy. In conclusion, behavioral features extracted from the gesture-based passwords lead to less vulnerable user authentication.

Keywords: authentication, gesture-based passwords, machine learning algorithms, shoulder-surfing attacks, usability

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Authors: Sigal Gat-Lazer, Ronny Geva, Dan Ramon, Eitan Gur, Daniel Stein

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Introduction: Eating disorders (ED) are common psychopathologies which involve distorted body image and eating disturbances. Binge-purge eating disorders (B/P ED) are characterized by repetitive events of binge eating followed by purges. Patients with B/P ED behavior may be seen as impulsive especially when relate to food stimulation and affective conditions. The current study included innovative modification of the day-night task targeted to assess inhibitory control among patients with B/P ED. Methods: This prospective study included 50 patients with B/P ED during acute phase of illness (T1) upon their admission to specialized ED department in tertiary center. 34 patients repeated the study towards discharge to ambulatory care (T2). Treatment effect was evaluated by BMI and emotional questionnaires regarding depression and anxiety by the Beck Depression Inventory and State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaires. Control group included 36 healthy controls with matched demographic parameters who performed both T1 and T2 assessments. The current modification is based on the emotional day-night task (EDNT) which involves five emotional stimulation added to the sun and moon pictures presented to participants. In the current study, we designed the food-emotional modification day night task (F-EDNT) food stimulations of egg and banana which resemble the sun and moon, respectively, in five emotional states (angry, sad, happy, scrambled and neutral). During this computerized task, participants were instructed to push on “day” bottom in response to moon and banana stimulations and on “night” bottom when sun and egg were presented. Accuracy (A) and reaction time (RT) were evaluated and compared between EDNT and F-EDNT as a reflection of participants’ inhibitory control. Results: Patients with B/P ED had significantly improved BMI, depression and anxiety scores on T2 compared to T1 (all p<0.001). Task performance was similar among patients and controls in the EDNT without significant A or RT differences in both T1 and T2. On F-EDNT during T1, B/P ED patients had significantly reduced accuracy in 4/5 emotional stimulation compared to controls: angry (73±25% vs. 84±15%, respectively), sad (69±25% vs. 80±18%, respectively), happy (73±24% vs. 82±18%, respectively) and scrambled (74±24% vs. 84±13%, respectively, all p<0.05). Additionally, patients’ RT to food stimuli was significantly faster compared to neutral ones, in both cry and neutral emotional stimulations (356±146 vs. 400±141 and 378±124 vs. 412±116 msec, respectively, p<0.05). These significant differences between groups as a function of stimulus type were diminished on T2. Conclusion: Having to process food related content, in particular in emotional context seems to be impaired in patients with B/P ED during the acute phase of their illness and elicits greater impulsivity. Innovative modification using such procedures seem to be sensitive to patients’ illness phase and thus may be implemented during screening and follow up through the clinical management of these patients.

Keywords: binge purge eating disorders, day night task modification, eating disorders, food related stimulations

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Authors: William Kerua

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The PNG University of Technology (Unitech) has mandatory access to teaching, research and extension education. Given such function, the Agriculture Department has established the ‘South Pacific Institute of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SPISARD)’ in 2004. SPISARD is established as a vehicle to improve farming systems practiced in selected villages by undertaking pluralistic extension method through ‘Educational Institutional Approach’. Unlike other models, SPISARD’s educational institutional approach stresses on improving the whole farming systems practiced in a holistic manner and has a two-fold focus. The first is to understand the farming communities and improve the productivity of the farming systems in a sustainable way to increase income, improve nutrition and food security as well as livelihood enhancement trainings. The second is to enrich the Department’s curriculum through teaching, research, extension and getting inputs from farming community. SPISARD has established number of model villages in various provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and with many positive outcome and success stories. Adaption of ‘educational institutional approach’ thus binds research, extension and training into one package with the use of students and academic staff through model village establishment in delivering development and extension to communities. This centre (SPISARD) coordinates the activities of the model village programs and linkages. The key to the development of the farming systems is establishing and coordinating linkages, collaboration, and developing partnerships both within and external institutions, organizations and agencies. SPISARD has a six-point step strategy for the development of sustainable agriculture and rural development. These steps are (i) establish contact and identify model villages, (ii) development of model village resource centres for research and trainings, (iii) conduct baseline surveys to identify problems/needs of model villages, (iv) development of solution strategies, (v) implementation and (vi) evaluation of impact of solution programs. SPISARD envisages that the farming systems practiced being improved if the villages can be made the centre of SPISARD activities. Therefore, SPISARD has developed a model village approach to channel rural development. The model village when established become the conduit points where teaching, training, research, and technology transfer takes place. This approach is again different and unique to the existing ones, in that, the development process take place in the farmers’ environment with immediate ‘real time’ feedback mechanisms based on the farmers’ perspective and satisfaction. So far, we have developed 14 model villages and have conducted 75 trainings in 21 different areas/topics in 8 provinces to a total of 2,832 participants of both sex. The aim of these trainings is to directly participate with farmers in the pursuit to improving their farming systems to increase productivity, income and to secure food security and nutrition, thus to improve their livelihood.

Keywords: development, educational institutional approach, livelihood improvement, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Raja Lahiani

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This study is concerned with scrutinising translations into English and French of references to locations in the desert of pre-Islamic Arabia. These references are used in the Source Text (ST) within a poetic image. Reference is made to the names of three different mountains in Arabia, namely Qatan, Sitar, and Yadhbul. As these mountains are referred to in the context of the poet’s description of the density and expansion of the clouds, it is crucial to know that while Sitar and Yadhbul are close to each other, Qatan is far away from them. This distance was functional for the poet to describe the expansion of the clouds. This reflects the spacious place (desert) he handled, and the fact that it was possible for him to physically see what he described. The purpose of this image is for the poet to communicate the vastness of the space he managed to see as he was in a moment of contemplation. Thus, knowledge of this characteristic about the setting is capital for the receiver to understand the communicative function of the verse. A corpus of eighteen translations is gathered. These vary between verse and prose renderings. The methodology adopted in this research work is comparative. Comparison is conducted at both the synchronic and diachronic levels; every translation shall be compared to the ST and then to previous translations. The comparative work will prove at the end that the translators who target historical facts do not necessarily succeed in preserving the image of the ST. It also proves that the more recent the translation is, the deeper the translator’s awareness is the link between imagery, setting, and point of view. Since the late eighteenth century and until nowadays, pre-Islamic poetry has been translated into Western languages. Translators differ as to motives, sources, priorities and intellectual backgrounds. A translator's skopoi undoubtedly affect the way s/he handles aspects of the ST. When it comes to culture-specific aspects and details related to setting, the problem is even more complex. Setting is a very important factor that reveals a great deal of the culture of pre-Islamic Arabia as this is remote in place, historical framework and literary tradition from its translators. History is present in pre-Islamic poetry, which justifies the important literature that has been written to extract information and data from it. These are imbedded not only by signalling given facts, events, and meditations but also by means of references to specific locations and landmarks that used to exist at the time. Spatial setting is an integral part of a literary text as it places it within its historical context. The importance of the translator’s awareness of spatial anthropological data before indulging in the process of translation is tested. This is also crucial in measuring the effect of setting loss and setting gain in translation. The findings of this research would ultimately evaluate the extent to which a comparative methodology is reliable in investigating the role of spatial setting awareness in translation.

Keywords: historical context, translation, comparative literature, spatial setting

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Authors: Zain Ul Abadeen, Muhammad Zargham Khan, Muhammad Kashif Saleemi, Ahrar Khan, Ijaz Javed Hassan, Aisha Khatoon, Qasim Altaf

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Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced by toxigenic fungi, and there are four types of aflatoxins include AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is considered as most toxic form. It is mainly responsible for the contamination of poultry feed and produces a condition called aflatoxicosis leads to immunosuppression in poultry birds. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a single cell microorganism and acts as a source of growth factors, minerals and amino acids which improve the immunity and digestibility in poultry birds as probiotics. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is well recognized to cause the biological degradation of mycotoxins (toxin binder) because its cell wall contains β-glucans and mannans which specifically bind with aflatoxins and reduce their absorption or transfer them to some non-toxic compounds. The present study was designed to investigate the immunosuppressive effects of aflatoxins in broiler chicks and the reduction of severity of these effects by the use of Baker’s Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). One-day-old broiler chicks were procured from local hatchery and were divided into various groups (A-I). These groups were treated with different levels of AFB1 @ 400 µg/kg and 600 µg/kg along with different levels of Baker’s Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) 0.1% and 0.5 % in the feed. The total duration of the experiment was six weeks and different immunological parameters including the cellular immune response by injecting PHA-P (Phytohemagglutinin-P) in the skin of the birds, phagocytic function of mononuclear cells by Carbon clearance assay from blood samples and humoral immune response against intravenously injected sheep RBCs from the serum samples were determined. The birds from each group were slaughtered at the end of the experiment to determine the presence of gross lesions in the immune organs and these tissues were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for histological investigations. The results showed that AFB1 intoxicated groups had reduced body weight gain, feed intake, organs weight and immunological responses compared to the control and Baker’s Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) treated groups. Different gross and histological degenerative changes were recorded in the immune organs of AFB1 intoxicated groups compared to control and Baker’s Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) treated groups. The present study concluded that Baker’s Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) addition in the feed helps to ameliorate the immunotoxigenic effects produced by AFB1 in broiler chicks.

Keywords: aflatoxins, body weight gain, feed intake, immunological response, toxigenic effect

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Authors: Harpreet Singh Kainth

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Rubidium salts have been commonly used as an electrolyte to improve the efficiency cycle of Li-ion batteries. In recent years, it has been implemented into the large scale for further technological advances to improve the performance rate and better cyclability in the batteries. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a powerful tool for obtaining the information in the electronic structure which involves the chemical state analysis in the active materials used in the batteries. However, this technique is not well suited for the industrial applications because it needs a synchrotron X-ray source and special sample file for in-situ measurements. In contrast to this, conventional wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer is nondestructive technique used to study the chemical shift in all transitions (K, L, M, …) and does not require any special pre-preparation planning. In the present work, the fluorescent Lα, Lβ₁ , Lβ₃,₄ and Lγ₂,₃ X-ray spectra of rubidium in different chemical forms (Rb₂CO₃ , RbCl, RbBr, and RbI) have been measured first time with high resolution wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer (Model: S8 TIGER, Bruker, Germany), equipped with an Rh anode X-ray tube (4-kW, 60 kV and 170 mA). In ₃₇Rb compounds, the measured energy shifts are in the range (-0.45 to - 1.71) eV for Lα X-ray peak, (0.02 to 0.21) eV for Lβ₁ , (0.04 to 0.21) eV for Lβ₃ , (0.15 to 0.43) eV for Lβ₄ and (0.22 to 0.75) eV for Lγ₂,₃ X-ray emission lines. The chemical shifts in rubidium compounds have been measured by considering Rb₂CO₃ compounds taking as a standard reference. A Voigt function is used to determine the central peak position of all compounds. Both positive and negative shifts have been observed in L shell emission lines. In Lα X-ray emission lines, all compounds show negative shift while in Lβ₁, Lβ₃,₄, and Lγ₂,₃ X-ray emission lines, all compounds show a positive shift. These positive and negative shifts result increase or decrease in X-ray energy shifts. It looks like that ligands attached with central metal atom attract or repel the electrons towards or away from the parent nucleus. This pulling and pushing character of rubidium affects the central peak position of the compounds which causes a chemical shift. To understand the chemical effect more briefly, factors like electro-negativity, line intensity ratio, effective charge and bond length are responsible for the chemical state analysis in rubidium compounds. The effective charge has been calculated from Suchet and Pauling method while the line intensity ratio has been calculated by calculating the area under the relevant emission peak. In the present work, it has been observed that electro-negativity, effective charge and intensity ratio (Lβ₁/Lα, Lβ₃,₄/Lα and Lγ₂,₃/Lα) are inversely proportional to the chemical shift (RbCl > RbBr > RbI), while bond length has been found directly proportional to the chemical shift (RbI > RbBr > RbCl).

Keywords: chemical shift in L emission lines, bond length, electro-negativity, effective charge, intensity ratio, Rubidium compounds, WDXRF spectrometer

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Authors: P. Naderi, M. N. Ouarzazi, S. C. Hirata, H. Ben Hamed, H. Beji

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The stability of mixed convection in a Newtonian fluid medium heated from below and cooled from above, also known as the Poiseuille-Rayleigh-Bénard problem, has been extensively investigated in the past decades. To our knowledge, mixed convection in porous media has received much less attention in the published literature. The present paper extends the mixed convection problem in porous media for the case of a viscoelastic fluid flow owing to its numerous environmental and industrial applications such as the extrusion of polymer fluids, solidification of liquid crystals, suspension solutions and petroleum activities. Without a superimposed through-flow, the natural convection problem of a viscoelastic fluid in a saturated porous medium has already been treated. The effects of the viscoelastic properties of the fluid on the linear and nonlinear dynamics of the thermoconvective instabilities have also been treated in this work. Consequently, the elasticity of the fluid can lead either to a Hopf bifurcation, giving rise to oscillatory structures in the strongly elastic regime, or to a stationary bifurcation in the weakly elastic regime. The objective of this work is to examine the influence of the main horizontal flow on the linear and characteristics of these two types of instabilities. Under the Boussinesq approximation and Darcy's law extended to a viscoelastic fluid, a temporal stability approach shows that the conditions for the appearance of longitudinal rolls are identical to those found in the absence of through-flow. For the general three-dimensional (3D) perturbations, a Squire transformation allows the deduction of the complex frequencies associated with the 3D problem using those obtained by solving the two-dimensional one. The numerical resolution of the eigenvalue problem concludes that the through-flow has a destabilizing effect and selects a convective configuration organized in purely transversal rolls which oscillate in time and propagate in the direction of the main flow. In addition, by using the mathematical formalism of absolute and convective instabilities, we study the nature of unstable three-dimensional disturbances. It is shown that for a non-vanishing through-flow, general three-dimensional instabilities are convectively unstable which means that in the absence of a continuous noise source these instabilities are drifted outside the porous medium, and no long-term pattern is observed. In contrast, purely transversal rolls may exhibit a transition to absolute instability regime and therefore affect the porous medium everywhere including in the absence of a noise source. The absolute instability threshold, the frequency and the wave number associated with purely transversal rolls are determined as a function of the Péclet number and the viscoelastic parameters. Results are discussed and compared to those obtained from laboratory experiments in the case of Newtonian fluids.

Keywords: instability, mixed convection, porous media, and viscoelastic fluid

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Authors: Sinead Impey, Gaye Stephens, Lucy Hederman, Declan O'Sullivan

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Continued paper use in the clinical area post-Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption is regularly linked to hardware and software usability challenges. Although paper is used as a workaround to circumvent challenges, including limited availability of a computer, this perspective does not consider the important role paper, such as the nurses’ handover sheet, play in practice. The purpose of this study is to confirm the hypothesis that paper use post-EHR adoption continues as paper provides both a cognitive tool (that assists with workflow) and a compensation tool (to circumvent usability challenges). Distinguishing the different motivations for continued paper-use could assist future evaluations of electronic record systems. Methods: Qualitative data were collected from three clinical care environments (ICU, general ward and specialist day-care) who used an electronic record for at least 12 months. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 22 nurses. Data were transcribed, themes extracted using an inductive bottom-up coding approach and a thematic index constructed. Findings: All nurses interviewed continued to use paper post-EHR adoption. While two distinct motivations for paper use post-EHR adoption were confirmed by the data - paper as a cognitive tool and paper as a compensation tool - further finding was that there was an overlap between the two uses. That is, paper used as a compensation tool could also be adapted to function as a cognitive aid due to its nature (easy to access and annotate) or vice versa. Rather than present paper persistence as having two distinctive motivations, it is more useful to describe it as presenting on a continuum with compensation tool and cognitive tool at either pole. Paper as a cognitive tool referred to pages such as nurses’ handover sheet. These did not form part of the patient’s record, although information could be transcribed from one to the other. Findings suggest that although the patient record was digitised, handover sheets did not fall within this remit. These personal pages continued to be useful post-EHR adoption for capturing personal notes or patient information and so continued to be incorporated into the nurses’ work. Comparatively, the paper used as a compensation tool, such as pre-printed care plans which were stored in the patient's record, appears to have been instigated in reaction to usability challenges. In these instances, it is expected that paper use could reduce or cease when the underlying problem is addressed. There is a danger that as paper affords nurses a temporary information platform that is mobile, easy to access and annotate, its use could become embedded in clinical practice. Conclusion: Paper presents a utility to nursing, either as a cognitive or compensation tool or combination of both. By fully understanding its utility and nuances, organisations can avoid evaluating all incidences of paper use (post-EHR adoption) as arising from usability challenges. Instead, suitable remedies for paper-persistence can be targeted at the root cause.

Keywords: cognitive tool, compensation tool, electronic record, handover sheet, nurse, paper persistence

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Authors: Marius Nygaard, Ona Flindall

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The Palisaden student housing project was completed in August 2013 and was, with its eight floors, Norway’s tallest timber building at the time of completion. It was the first time cross-laminated-timber (CLT) was utilized at this scale in Norway. The project was the result of a concerted effort by a newly formed management company to establish CLT as a sustainable and financially competitive alternative to conventional steel and concrete systems. The introduction of CLT onto the student housing market proved so successful that by 2017 more than 4000 individual student residences will have been built using the same model of development and construction. The aim of this paper is to identify the key factors that enabled this breakthrough for CLT. It is based on an in-depth study of a series of housing projects and the role of the management company who both instigated and enabled this shift of CLT from the margin to the mainstream. Specifically, it will look at how a new building system was integrated into a marketing strategy that identified a market potential within the existing structure of the construction industry and within the economic restrictions inherent to student housing in Norway. It will show how a key player established a project model that changed both the patterns of cooperation and the information basis for decisions. Based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with managers, contractors and the interdisciplinary teams of consultants (architects, structural engineers, acoustical experts etc.) this paper will trace the introduction, expansion and evolution of CLT-based building systems in the student housing market. It will show how the project management firm’s position in the value chain enabled them to function both as a liaison between contractor and client, and between contractor and producer. A position that allowed them to improve the flow of information. This ensured that CLT was handled on equal terms to other structural solutions in the project specifications, enabling realistic pricing and risk evaluation. Secondly, this paper will describe and discuss how the project management firm established and interacted with a growing network of contractors, architects and engineers to pool expertise and broaden the knowledge base across Norway’s regional markets. Finally, it will examine the role of the client, the building typology, and the industrial and technological factors in achieving this breakthrough for CLT in the construction industry. This paper gives an in-depth view of the progression of a single case rather than a broad description of the state of the art of large-scale timber building in Norway. However, this type of study may offer insights that are important to the understanding not only of specific markets but also of how new technologies should be introduced in big and well-established industries.

Keywords: cross-laminated-timber (CLT), industry breakthrough, student housing, timber market

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Authors: S. Hatamikia, A. Biguri, H. Furtado, G. Kronreif, J. Kettenbach, W. Birkfellner

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Nowadays, three dimensional Cone Beam CT (CBCT) has turned into a widespread clinical routine imaging modality for interventional radiology. In conventional CBCT, a circular sourcedetector trajectory is used to acquire a high number of 2D projections in order to reconstruct a 3D volume. However, the accumulated radiation dose due to the repetitive use of CBCT needed for the intraoperative procedure as well as daily pretreatment patient alignment for radiotherapy has become a concern. It is of great importance for both health care providers and patients to decrease the amount of radiation dose required for these interventional images. Thus, it is desirable to find some optimized source-detector trajectories with the reduced number of projections which could therefore lead to dose reduction. In this study we investigate some source-detector trajectories with the optimal arbitrary orientation in the way to maximize performance of the reconstructed image at particular regions of interest. To achieve this approach, we developed a box phantom consisting several small target polytetrafluoroethylene spheres at regular distances through the entire phantom. Each of these spheres serves as a target inside a particular region of interest. We use the 3D Point Spread Function (PSF) as a measure to evaluate the performance of the reconstructed image. We measured the spatial variance in terms of Full-Width-Half-Maximum (FWHM) of the local PSFs each related to a particular target. The lower value of FWHM shows the better spatial resolution of reconstruction results at the target area. One important feature of interventional radiology is that we have very well-known imaging targets as a prior knowledge of patient anatomy (e.g. preoperative CT) is usually available for interventional imaging. Therefore, we use a CT scan from the box phantom as the prior knowledge and consider that as the digital phantom in our simulations to find the optimal trajectory for a specific target. Based on the simulation phase we have the optimal trajectory which can be then applied on the device in real situation. We consider a Philips Allura FD20 Xper C-arm geometry to perform the simulations and real data acquisition. Our experimental results based on both simulation and real data show our proposed optimization scheme has the capacity to find optimized trajectories with minimal number of projections in order to localize the targets. Our results show the proposed optimized trajectories are able to localize the targets as good as a standard circular trajectory while using just 1/3 number of projections. Conclusion: We demonstrate that applying a minimal dedicated set of projections with optimized orientations is sufficient to localize targets, may minimize radiation.

Keywords: CBCT, C-arm, reconstruction, trajectory optimization

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Authors: Jana Andzane, Gunta Kunakova, Margarita Baitimirova, Mikelis Marnauza, Floriana Lombardi, Donats Erts

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Bismuth selenide (Bi₂Se₃) is known as a narrow band gap semiconductor with pronounced thermoelectric (TE) and topological insulator (TI) properties. Unique TI properties offer exciting possibilities for fundamental research as observing the exciton condensate and Majorana fermions, as well as practical application in spintronic and quantum information. In turn, TE properties of this material can be applied for wide range of thermoelectric applications, as well as for broadband photodetectors and near-infrared sensors. Nanostructuring of this material results in improvement of TI properties due to suppression of the bulk conductivity, and enhancement of TE properties because of increased phonon scattering at the nanoscale grains and interfaces. Regarding TE properties, crystallographic growth direction, as well as orientation of the nanostructures relative to the growth substrate, play significant role in improvement of TE performance of nanostructured material. For instance, Bi₂Se₃ layers consisting of randomly oriented nanostructures and/or of combination of them with planar nanostructures show significantly enhanced in comparison with bulk and only planar Bi₂Se₃ nanostructures TE properties. In this work, a catalyst-free vapour-solid deposition technique was applied for controlled obtaining of different types of Bi₂Se₃ nanostructures and continuous nanostructured layers for targeted applications. For example, separated Bi₂Se₃ nanoplates, nanobelts and nanowires can be used for investigations of TI properties; consisting from merged planar and/or randomly oriented nanostructures Bi₂Se₃ layers are useful for applications in heat-to-power conversion devices and infrared detectors. The vapour-solid deposition was carried out using quartz tube furnace (MTI Corp), equipped with an inert gas supply and pressure/temperature control system. Bi₂Se₃ nanostructures/nanostructured layers of desired type were obtained by adjustment of synthesis parameters (process temperature, deposition time, pressure, carrier gas flow) and selection of deposition substrate (glass, quartz, mica, indium-tin-oxide, graphene and carbon nanotubes). Morphology, structure and composition of obtained Bi₂Se₃ nanostructures and nanostructured layers were inspected using SEM, AFM, EDX and HRTEM techniques, as well as home-build experimental setup for thermoelectric measurements. It was found that introducing of temporary carrier gas flow into the process tube during the synthesis and deposition substrate choice significantly influence nanostructures formation mechanism. Electrical, thermoelectric, and topological insulator properties of different types of deposited Bi₂Se₃ nanostructures and nanostructured coatings are characterized as a function of thickness and discussed.

Keywords: bismuth seleinde, nanostructures, topological insulator, vapour-solid deposition

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Authors: Amit Bhunia, Mohit Kumar Singh, Maryam Al Huwayz, Mohamed Henini, Shouvik Datta

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We report [https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.13518] experimental detection and control of Schrodinger’s Cat like macroscopically large, quantum coherent state of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate of spatially indirect electron-hole pairs or excitons using a resonant tunneling diode of III-V Semiconductors. This provides access to millions of excitons as qubits to allow efficient, fault-tolerant quantum computation. In this work, we measure phase-coherent periodic oscillations in photo-generated capacitance as a function of an applied voltage bias and light intensity over a macroscopically large area. Periodic presence and absence of splitting of excitonic peaks in the optical spectra measured by photocapacitance point towards tunneling induced variations in capacitive coupling between the quantum well and quantum dots. Observation of negative ‘quantum capacitance’ due to a screening of charge carriers by the quantum well indicates Coulomb correlations of interacting excitons in the plane of the sample. We also establish that coherent resonant tunneling in this well-dot heterostructure restricts the available momentum space of the charge carriers within this quantum well. Consequently, the electric polarization vector of the associated indirect excitons collective orients along the direction of applied bias and these excitons undergo Bose-Einstein condensation below ~100 K. Generation of interference beats in photocapacitance oscillation even with incoherent white light further confirm the presence of stable, long-range spatial correlation among these indirect excitons. We finally demonstrate collective Rabi oscillations of these macroscopically large, ‘multipartite’, two-level, coupled and uncoupled quantum states of excitonic condensate as qubits. Therefore, our study not only brings the physics and technology of Bose-Einstein condensation within the reaches of semiconductor chips but also opens up experimental investigations of the fundamentals of quantum physics using similar techniques. Operational temperatures of such two-component excitonic BEC can be raised further with a more densely packed, ordered array of QDs and/or using materials having larger excitonic binding energies. However, fabrications of single crystals of 0D-2D heterostructures using 2D materials (e.g. transition metal di-chalcogenides, oxides, perovskites etc.) having higher excitonic binding energies are still an open challenge for semiconductor optoelectronics. As of now, these 0D-2D heterostructures can already be scaled up for mass production of miniaturized, portable quantum optoelectronic devices using the existing III-V and/or Nitride based semiconductor fabrication technologies.

Keywords: exciton, Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum computation, heterostructures, semiconductor Physics, quantum fluids, Schrodinger's Cat

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Authors: Rizvi Hasan

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Male factor infertility due to abnormalities in prolactin levels is encountered in a significant proportion. This was a case-control study carried out to determine the effects of prolactin abnormalities in normal males with infertility, recruiting 297 male infertile patients with informed written consent. All underwent a Basic Seminal Fluid Analysis (BSA) and endocrine profiles of FSH, LH, testosterone and prolactin (PRL) hormones using the random access chemiluminescent immunoassay method (normal range 2.5-17ng/ml). Age, weight, and height matched voluntary controls were recruited for comparison. None of the cases had anatomical, medical or surgical disorders related to infertility. Among the controls; mean age 33.2yrs ± 5.2, BMI 21.04 ± 1.39kgm-2, BSA 34×106, a number of children fathered 2±1, PRL 6.78 ± 2.92ng/ml. Of the 297 patients, 28 were hyperprolactinaemic while one was hypoprolactinaemic. All the hyperprolactinaemic patients had oligoasthenospermia, abnormal morphology and decreased viability. The serum testosterone levels were markedly lowered in 26 (92.86%) of the hyperprolactinaemic subjects. In the other 2 hyperprolactinaemic subjects and the single hypoprolactinaemic subject, the serum testosterone levels were normal. FSH and LH were normal in all patients. The 29 male patients with abnormalities in their serum PRL profiles were followed up for 12 months. The 28 patients suffering from hyperprolactinaemia were treated with oral bromocriptine in a dose of 2.5 mg twice daily. The hypoprolactinaemic patient defaulted treatment. From the follow-up, it was evident that 19 (67.86%) of the treated patients responded after 3 months of therapy while 4 (14.29%) showed improvement after approximately 6 months of bromocriptine therapy. One patient responded after 1 year of therapy while 2 patients showed improvements although not up to normal levels within the same period. Response to treatment was assessed by improvement in their BSA parameters. Prolactin abnormalities affect the male reproductive system and semen parameters necessitating further studies to ascertain the exact role of prolactin on the male reproductive tract. A parallel study was carried out incorporating 200 male white rats that were grouped and subjected to variations in their serum PRL levels. At the end of 100 days of treatment, these rats were subjected to morphological studies of their male reproductive tracts.Varying morphological changes depending on the levels of PRL changes induced were evident. Notable changes were arrest of spermatogenesis at the spermatid stage, a reduced testicular cellularity, a reduction in microvilli of the pseudostratified epithelial lining of the epididymis, while measurement of the tubular diameter showed a 30% reduction compared to normal tissue. There were no changes in the vas deferens, seminal vesicles, and the prostate. It is evident that both hyperprolactinaemia and hypoprolactinaemia have a direct effect on the morphology and function of the male reproductive tract. The morphological studies carried out on the groups of rats who were subjected to variations in their PRL levels could be the basis for infertility in male human beings.

Keywords: male factor infertility, morphological studies, prolactin, seminal fluid analysis

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Authors: Syed Asif Hassan, Tabrej Khan

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Tuberculosis (TB) caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) continues to take a disturbing toll on human life and healthcare facility worldwide. The global burden of TB remains enormous. The alarming rise of multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis calls for an increase in research efforts towards the development of new target specific therapeutics against diverse strains of M. tuberculosis. Therefore, the discovery of new molecular scaffolds targeting new drug sites should be a priority for a workable plan for fighting resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Mtb non-acylated lipoprotein LprG (Rv1411c) has a Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonist actions that depend on its association with triacylated glycolipids binding specifically with the hydrophobic pocket of Mtb LprG lipoprotein. The detection of a glycolipid carrier function has important implications for the role of LprG in Mycobacterial physiology and virulence. Therefore, considering the pivotal role of glycolipids in mycobacterial physiology and host-pathogen interactions, designing competitive antagonist (chemotherapeutics) ligands that competitively bind to glycolipid binding domain in LprG lipoprotein, will lead to inhibition of tuberculosis infection in humans. In this study, a unified approach involving ligand-based virtual screening protocol USRCAT (Ultra Shape Recognition) software and molecular docking studies using Auto Dock Vina 1.1.2 using the X-ray crystal structure of Mtb LprG protein was implemented. The docking results were further confirmed by DSX (DrugScore eXtented), a robust program to evaluate the binding energy of ligands bound to the Ligand binding domain of the Mtb LprG lipoprotein. The ligand, which has the higher hypothetical affinity, also has greater negative value. Based on the USRCAT, Lipinski’s values and molecular docking results, [(2R)-2,3-di(hexadecanoyl oxy)propyl][(2S,3S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-2,6-bis[[(2R,3S,4S,5R,6S)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6 (hydroxymethyl)tetrahydropyran-2-yl]oxy]cyclohexyl] phosphate (XPX) was confirmed as a promising drug-like lead compound (antagonist) binding specifically to the hydrophobic domain of LprG protein with affinity greater than that of PIM2 (agonist of LprG protein) with a free binding energy of -9.98e+006 Kcal/mol and binding affinity of -132 Kcal/mol, respectively. A further, in vitro assay of this compound is required to establish its potency in inhibiting molecular evasion mechanism of MTB within the infected host macrophages. These results will certainly be helpful in future anti-TB drug discovery efforts against Multidrug-Resistance Tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Keywords: antagonist, agonist, binding affinity, chemotherapeutics, drug-like, multi drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB), RV1411c protein, toll-like receptor (TLR2)

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Authors: Adaku Thelma Olatise

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Mental health disparities among women from diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds remain a pressing concern, particularly as current psychotherapeutic models often fail to address the unique challenges these groups face. This is of particular concern since epidemiological studies across various countries and cultures consistently demonstrate higher prevalence rates of common mental disorders amongst these groups of women because of a lack of access to culturally oriented psychotherapeutic services. This literature review aims to examine how CCAs in psychotherapy can address the specific ethnic, cultural, and religious challenges women encounter in accessing mental health care. A search of relevant articles was conducted through PsycARTICLES and PubMed databases, using terms such as ‘mental health’, ‘women’, ‘culture’, and ‘ethnic minorities’. Supplementary searches on Google Scholar were also performed to capture literature not covered by traditional databases. While the importance of cross-cultural approaches in psychotherapy has become more apparent because people from diverse ethnic backgrounds inevitably perceive the world through different lenses, influencing their interpretations of human behavior and norms, there is a notable gap in the literature in understanding the influences of using of CCAs in psychotherapy amongst women of an ethnic minority. This gap not only reflects a poor understanding of the complex stressors faced by these women—such as familial, communal, and societal expectations—but also highlights the lack of support and culturally adapted interventions available to them. Even though scholars have posited that aligning treatment approaches with patients' cultural backgrounds is important to enhance therapeutic effectiveness, and the acknowledgment of culture is crucial in psychotherapy theory and practice. As well as the increasing global focus on psychotherapy applications that integrate non-Western practices, such as spiritual healing and community-based interventions, the adaptation of these approaches in mainstream mental health care has remained limited. This review found that the expectations and experiences of ethnic minority women were heavily influenced by family and community pressures. However, there were limited evidence-based, culturally oriented psychotherapeutic interventions tailored to ethnic minority women. This gap extends to inadequate representation of minority groups in clinical research, as well as a lack of culturally validated mental health outcome measures. Furthermore, studies have shown that psychotherapeutic models have largely been Western-oriented and Euro-centric because of socially constructed hierarchies. The origin of psychology from the Western world has predominantly reflected Western cultural traditions, shaped by historical, linguistic, and sociopolitical influences. These factors have led to a lack of recognition of therapeutic approaches from minority ethnic groups and the biases that emanate from hegemonic cultural beliefs and power dynamics influence the decisions about which psychotherapeutic modalities to integrate and practice. Therefore, this plethora of factors adds to the challenges women from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds face in accessing mental health services at the individual, familial, community, and societal levels. In conclusion, a cross-cultural approach is urgently needed within psychotherapy to address these challenges, ensuring that treatment frameworks are both culturally sensitive and gender responsive. Only by considering the lived experiences of minority women, particularly in relation to their cultural and religious contexts, can mental health services provide the appropriate care necessary to support their well-being.

Keywords: mental health, women, culture, ethnicity

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Authors: Asghar Arif

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Lung cancer has been recognized as one of the greatest common cancers, causing the annual mortality rate of about 1.2 million people in the world. Lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer in men and the third-most common cancer among women (after breast and digestive cancers).Recent evidences have shown the inflammatory process as one of the potential factors of cancer. Tuberculosis (TB), pneumonia, and chronic bronchitis are among the most important inflammation-inducing factors in the lungs, among which TB has a more profound role in the emergence of cancer.TB is one of the important mortality factors throughout the world, and 205,000 death cases are reported annually due to this disease. Chronic inflammation and fibrosis due to TB can induce genetic mutation and alternations. Parenchyma tissue of lung is involved in both diseases of TB and lung cancer, and continuous cough in lung cancer, morphological vascular variations, lymphocytosis processes, and generation of immune system mediators such as interleukins, are all among the factors leading to the hypothesis regarding the role of TB in lung cancer Some reports have shown that the induction of necrosis and apoptosis or TB reactivation, especially in patients with immune-deficiency, may result in increasing IL-17 and TNF_α, which will either decrease P53 activity or increase the expression of Bcl-2, decrease Bax-T, and cause the inhibition of caspase-3 expression due to decreasing the expression of mitochondria cytochrome oxidase. It has been also indicated that following the injection of BCG vaccine, the host immune system will be reinforced, and in particular, the rates of gamma interferon, nitric oxide, and interleukin-2 are increased. Therefore, CD4 + lymphocyte function will be improved, and the person will be immune against cancer.Numerous prospective studies have so far been conducted on the role of TB in lung cancer, and it seems that this disease is effective in that particular cancer.One of the main challenges of lung cancer is its correct and timely diagnosis. Unfortunately, clinical symptoms (such as continuous cough, hemoptysis, weight loss, fever, chest pain, dyspnea, and loss of appetite) and radiological images are similar in TB and lung cancer. Therefore, anti-TB drugs are routinely prescribed for the patients in the countries with high prevalence of TB, like Pakistan. Regarding the similarity in clinical symptoms and radiological findings of lung cancer, proper diagnosis is necessary for TB and respiratory infections due to nontuberculousmycobacteria (NTM). Some of the drug resistive TB cases are, in fact, lung cancer or NTM lung infections. Acid-fast staining and histological study of phlegm and bronchial washing, culturing and polymerase chain reaction TB are among the most important solutions for differential diagnosis of these diseases. Briefly, it is assumed that TB is one of the risk factors for cancer. Numerous studies have been conducted in this regard throughout the world, and it has been observed that there is a significant relationship between previous TB infection and lung cancer. However, to prove this hypothesis, further and more extensive studies are required. In addition, as the clinical symptoms and radiological findings of TB, lung cancer, and non-TB mycobacteria lung infections are similar, they can be misdiagnosed as TB.

Keywords: TB and lung cancer, TB people, TB servivers, TB and HIV aids

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Authors: Vidar Hepsø

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The energy and oil companies on the Norwegian Continental shelf come from a situation where each asset control and manage their energy supply (island mode) and move towards a situation where the assets need to collaborate and coordinate energy use with others due to increased cost and scarcity of electric energy sharing the energy that is provided. Currently, several areas are electrified either with an onshore grid cable or are receiving intermittent energy from offshore wind-parks. While the onshore grid in Norway is well regulated, the offshore grid is still in the making, with several oil and gas electrification projects and offshore wind development just started. The paper will describe the shift in the mindset that comes with operating this new offshore grid. This transition process heralds an increase in collaboration across boundaries and integration of energy management across companies, businesses, technical disciplines, and engagement with stakeholders in the larger society. This transition will be described as a function of the new challenges with increased complexity of the energy mix (wind, oil/gas, hydrogen and others) coupled with increased technical and organization complexity in energy management. Organizational complexity denotes an increasing integration across boundaries, whether these boundaries are company, vendors, professional disciplines, regulatory regimes/bodies, businesses, and across numerous societal stakeholders. New practices must be developed, made legitimate and institutionalized across these boundaries. Only parts of this complexity can be mitigated technically, e.g.: by use of batteries, mixing energy systems and simulation/ forecasting tools. Many challenges must be mitigated with legitimated societal and institutionalized governance practices on many levels. Offshore electrification supports Norway’s 2030 climate targets but is also controversial since it is exploiting the larger society’s energy resources. This means that new systems and practices must also be transparent, not only for the industry and the authorities, but must also be acceptable and just for the larger society. The paper report from ongoing work in Norway, participant observation and interviews in projects and people working with offshore grid development in Norway. One case presented is the development of an offshore floating windfarm connected to two offshore installations and the second case is an offshore grid development initiative providing six installations electric energy via an onshore cable. The development of the offshore grid is analyzed using a capability platform framework, that describes the technical, competence, work process and governance capabilities that are under development in Norway. A capability platform is a ‘stack’ with the following layers: intelligent infrastructure, information and collaboration, knowledge sharing & analytics and finally business operations. The need for better collaboration and energy forecasting tools/capabilities in this stack will be given a special attention in the two use cases that are presented.

Keywords: capability platform, electrification, carbon footprint, control rooms, energy forecsting, operational model

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Authors: Young Ik Suh, Tywan G. Martin

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Sports apps in a smartphone provide up-to-date information and fast and convenient access to live games. The market of sports apps has emerged as the second fastest growing app category worldwide. Further, many sports fans use their smartphones to know the schedule of sporting events, players’ position and bios, videos and highlights. In recent years, a growing number of scholars and practitioners alike have emphasized the importance of interactivity with sports apps, hypothesizing that interactivity plays a significant role in enticing sports apps users and that it is a key component in measuring the success of sports apps. Interactivity in sports apps focuses primarily on two functions: (1) two-way communication and (2) active user control, neither of which have been applicable through traditional mass media and communication technologies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine whether the interactivity function on sports apps leads to positive outcomes such as intent to revisit. More specifically, this study investigates how three major functions of interactivity (i.e., two-way communication, active user control, and real-time information) influence the attitude of sports apps users and their intent to revisit the sports apps. The following hypothesis is proposed; interactivity functions will be positively associated with both attitudes toward sports apps and intent to revisit sports apps. The survey questionnaire includes four parts: (1) an interactivity scale, (2) an attitude scale, (3) a behavioral intention scale, and (4) demographic questions. Data are to be collected from ESPN apps users. To examine the relationships among the observed and latent variables and determine the reliability and validity of constructs, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized to test hypothesized relationships among constructs. Additionally, this study compares the proposed interactivity model with a rival model to identify the role of attitude as a mediating factor. The findings of the current sports apps study provide several theoretical and practical contributions and implications by extending the research and literature associated with the important role of interactivity functions in sports apps and sports media consumption behavior. Specifically, this study may improve the theoretical understandings of whether the interactivity functions influence user attitudes and intent to revisit sports apps. Additionally, this study identifies which dimensions of interactivity are most important to sports apps users. From practitioners’ perspectives, this findings of this study provide significant implications. More entrepreneurs and investors in the sport industry need to recognize that high-resolution photos, live streams, and up-to-date stats are in the sports app, right at sports fans fingertips. The result will imply that sport practitioners may need to develop sports mobile apps that offer greater interactivity functions to attract sport fans.

Keywords: interactivity, two-way communication, active user control, real time information, sports apps, attitude, intent to revisit

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Authors: Julio Jesus Salazar, Manuel Andres Jesus De Lama

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There are very few models that serve to analyze the use of water in the socio-economic process. On the supply side, the joint use of groundwater has been considered in addition to the simple limits on the availability of surface water. In addition, we have worked on waterlogging and the effects on water quality (mainly salinity). In this paper, a 'complex' water economy is examined; one in which demands grow differentially not only within but also between sectors, and one in which there are limited opportunities to increase consumptive use. In particular, high-value growth, the growth of the production of irrigated crops of high value within the basins of the case study, together with the rapidly growing urban areas, provides a rich context to examine the general problem of water management at the basin level. At the same time, the long-term aridity of nature has made the eco-environment in the basins located on the coast of Peru very vulnerable, and the exploitation and immediate use of water resources have further deteriorated the situation. The presented methodology is the optimization with embedded simulation. The wide basin simulation of flow and water balances and crop growth are embedded with the optimization of water allocation, reservoir operation, and irrigation scheduling. The modeling framework is developed from a network of river basins that includes multiple nodes of origin (reservoirs, aquifers, water courses, etc.) and multiple demand sites along the river, including places of consumptive use for agricultural, municipal and industrial, and uses of running water on the coast of Peru. The economic benefits associated with water use are evaluated for different demand management instruments, including water rights, based on the production and benefit functions of water use in the urban agricultural and industrial sectors. This work represents a new effort to analyze the use of water at the regional level and to evaluate the modernization of the integrated management of water resources and socio-economic territorial development in Peru. It will also allow the establishment of policies to improve the process of implementation of the integrated management and development of water resources. The input-output analysis is essential to present a theory about the production process, which is based on a particular type of production function. Also, this work presents the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) version of the economic model for water resource policy analysis, which was specifically designed for analyzing large-scale water management. As to the platform for CGE simulation, GEMPACK, a flexible system for solving CGE models, is used for formulating and solving CGE model through the percentage-change approach. GEMPACK automates the process of translating the model specification into a model solution program.

Keywords: water economy, simulation, modeling, integration

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Authors: Renée M. Ripken, Johannes G. E. Gardeniers, Séverine Le Gac

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Controlling the multiphase behavior of aqueous biomass mixtures is essential when working in the biomass conversion industry. Here, the vapor/liquid equilibria (VLE) of ethylene glycol, glycerol, and xylitol were studied for temperatures between 25 and 200 °C and pressures of 1 to 10 bar. These experiments were performed in a microfluidic platform, which exhibits excellent heat transfer properties so that equilibrium is reached fast. Firstly, the saturated vapor pressure as a function of the temperature and the substrate mole fraction of the substrate was calculated using AspenPlus with a Redlich-Kwong-Soave Boston-Mathias (RKS-BM) model. Secondly, we developed a high-pressure and high-temperature microfluidic set-up for experimental validation. Furthermore, we have studied the multiphase flow pattern that occurs after the saturation temperature was achieved. A glass-silicon microfluidic device containing a 0.4 or 0.2 m long meandering channel with a depth of 250 μm and a width of 250 or 500 μm was fabricated using standard microfabrication techniques. This device was placed in a dedicated chip-holder, which includes a ceramic heater on the silicon side. The temperature was controlled and monitored by three K-type thermocouples: two were located between the heater and the silicon substrate, one to set the temperature and one to measure it, and the third one was placed in a 300 μm wide and 450 μm deep groove on the glass side to determine the heat loss over the silicon. An adjustable back pressure regulator and a pressure meter were added to control and evaluate the pressure during the experiment. Aqueous biomass solutions (10 wt%) were pumped at a flow rate of 10 μL/min using a syringe pump, and the temperature was slowly increased until the theoretical saturation temperature for the pre-set pressure was reached. First and surprisingly, a significant difference was observed between our theoretical saturation temperature and the experimental results. The experimental values were 10’s of degrees higher than the calculated ones and, in some cases, saturation could not be achieved. This discrepancy can be explained in different ways. Firstly, the pressure in the microchannel is locally higher due to both the thermal expansion of the liquid and the Laplace pressure that has to be overcome before a gas bubble can be formed. Secondly, superheating effects are likely to be present. Next, once saturation was reached, the flow pattern of the gas/liquid multiphase system was recorded. In our device, the point of nucleation can be controlled by taking advantage of the pressure drop across the channel and the accurate control of the temperature. Specifically, a higher temperature resulted in nucleation further upstream in the channel. As the void fraction increases downstream, the flow regime changes along the channel from bubbly flow to Taylor flow and later to annular flow. All three flow regimes were observed simultaneously. The findings of this study are key for the development and optimization of a microreactor for hydrogen production from biomass.

Keywords: biomass conversion, high pressure and high temperature microfluidics, multiphase, phase diagrams, superheating

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Authors: M. Verde, G. Falzarano

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The paper examines the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR), capability approach and poverty reduction; in particular, the local employment development (LED) by way of CSR initiatives. The joint action of LED/CSR results in a win-win situation, not only for the enterprises but also for all the stakeholders involved; in this regard, subsidiarity and coordination between national and regional/local authorities are central to a socially-oriented market economy. In the first section, the CSR is analysed on the basis of its social function in the fight against poverty, as a 'capabilities deprivation'. In the central part, the attention is focused on the relationship between CSR and LED; ergo, on the role of the enterprises in fostering capabilities development (the employment). Besides, all the potential solutions are presented, stressing the possible combinations, in the last part. The benchmark is the enterprise as an economic and a social institution: the business should not be combined with profit merely, paying more attention to its sustainable impact and social contribution. In which way could it be possible? The answer is the CSR. The impact of CSR on poverty reduction is still little explored. The companies help to reduce poverty through economic contribution, human rights and social inclusion; hence, the business becomes an 'agent of development' in order to fight against 'inequality'. The starting point is the pyramid of social responsibility, where ethic and philanthropic responsibilities involve programmes and actions aimed at personal development of the individuals, improving human standard of living in all forms, including poverty, when people do not have a choice between different 'life options', ranging from level of education to employment. At this point, CSR comes into play and works on two dimensions: poverty reduction and poverty prevention, by means of a series of initiatives: first of all, job creation and precarious work reduction. Empowerment of the local actors, financial support and combination of top down and bottom up initiatives are some of CSR areas of activity. Several positive effects occur on individual levels of educations, access to capital, individual health status, empowerment of youth and woman, access to social networks and it was observed that these effects depend on the type of CSR strategy. Indeed, CSR programmes should take into account fundamental criteria, such as the transparency, the information about benefits, a coordination unit among institutions and more clear guidelines. In this way, the advantages to the corporate reputation and to the community translate into a better job matching on the labour market, inter alia. It is important to underline that the success depends on the specific measures of the areas in question, by adapting them to the local needs, in light of general principles and index; therefore, the concrete commitment of the all stakeholders involved is decisive in order to achieve the goals. The enterprise would represent a concrete contribution for the pursuit of sustainable development and for the dissemination of a social and well being awareness.

Keywords: capability approach, local employment development, poverty, social inclusion

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Authors: Amanda Gregorim Fernandes, Lorena Cardoso Cintra, Rosalia Santos Amorim Jesuino, Fabricia Paula De Faria, Marcio José Poças Fonseca

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Bioethanol is one of the most promising biofuels and able to replace fossil fuels and reduce its different environmental impacts and can be generated from various agroindustrial waste. The Brazil is in first place in bioethanol production to be the largest producer of sugarcane. The bagasse sugarcane (SCB) has lignocellulose which is composed of three major components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Cellulose is a homopolymer of glucose units connected by glycosidic linkages. Among all species of Penicillium, Penicillium echinulatum has been the focus of attention because they produce high quantities of cellulase and the mutant strain 9A02S1 produces higher enzyme levels compared to the wild. Among the cellulases, the cellobiohydrolases enzymes are the main components of the cellulolytic system of fungi, and are also responsible for most of the potential hydrolytic in enzyme cocktails for the industrial processing of plant biomass and several cellobiohydrolases Penicillium had higher specific activity against cellulose compared to CBH I from Trichoderma reesei. This fact makes it an interesting pattern for higher yields in the enzymatic hydrolysis, and also they are important enzymes in the hydrolysis of crystalline regions of cellulose. Therefore, finding new and more active enzymes become necessary. Meanwhile, β-glycosidases act on soluble substrates and are highly dependent on cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases action to provide the substrate in the hydrolysis of the biomass, but the cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases are highly dependent β-glucosidases to maintain efficient hydrolysis. Thus, there is a need to understand the structure-function relationships that govern the catalytic activity of cellulolytic enzymes to elucidate its mechanism of action and optimize its potential as industrial biocatalysts. To evaluate the enzyme β-glucosidase of Penicillium echinulatum (PeBGL1) the gene was synthesized from the assembly sequence from a library in induction conditions and then the PeBGL1 gene was cloned in the vector pPICZαA and transformed into P. pastoris GS115. After processing, the producers of PeBGL1 were analyzed for enzyme activity and protein profile where a band of approximately 100 kDa was viewed. It was also carried out the zymogram. In partial characterization it was determined optimum temperature of 50°C and optimum pH of 6,5. In addition, to increase the secreted recombinant PeBGL1 production by Pichia pastoris, three parameters of P. pastoris culture medium were analysed: methanol, nitrogen source concentrations and the inoculum size. A 23 factorial design was effective in achieving the optimum condition. Altogether, these results point to the potential application of this P. echinulatum β-glucosidase in hydrolysis of cellulose for the production of bioethanol.

Keywords: bioethanol, biotechnology, beta-glucosidase, penicillium echinulatum

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Authors: Anne M. Denton, Rahul Gomes, David W. Franzen

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High-resolution elevation data are becoming increasingly available, but typical approaches for computing topographic features, like slope and curvature, still assume small sliding windows, for example, of size 3x3. That means that the digital elevation model (DEM) has to be resampled to the scale of the landform features that are of interest. Any higher resolution is lost in this resampling. When the topographic features are computed through regression that is performed at the resolution of the original data, the accuracy can be much higher, and the reported result can be adjusted to the length scale that is relevant locally. Slope and variance are calculated for overlapping windows, meaning that one regression result is computed per raster point. The number of window centers per area is the same for the output as for the original DEM. Slope and variance are computed by performing regression on the points in the surrounding window. Such an approach is computationally feasible because of the additive nature of regression parameters and variance. Any doubling of window size in each direction only takes a single pass over the data, corresponding to a logarithmic scaling of the resulting algorithm as a function of the window size. Slope and variance are stored for each aggregation step, allowing the reported slope to be selected to minimize variance. The approach thereby adjusts the effective window size to the landform features that are characteristic to the area within the DEM. Starting with a window size of 2x2, each iteration aggregates 2x2 non-overlapping windows from the previous iteration. Regression results are stored for each iteration, and the slope at minimal variance is reported in the final result. As such, the reported slope is adjusted to the length scale that is characteristic of the landform locally. The length scale itself and the variance at that length scale are also visualized to aid in interpreting the results for slope. The relevant length scale is taken to be half of the window size of the window over which the minimum variance was achieved. The resulting process was evaluated for 1-meter DEM data and for artificial data that was constructed to have defined length scales and added noise. A comparison with ESRI ArcMap was performed and showed the potential of the proposed algorithm. The resolution of the resulting output is much higher and the slope and aspect much less affected by noise. Additionally, the algorithm adjusts to the scale of interest within the region of the image. These benefits are gained without additional computational cost in comparison with resampling the DEM and computing the slope over 3x3 images in ESRI ArcMap for each resolution. In summary, the proposed approach extracts slope and aspect of DEMs at the lengths scales that are characteristic locally. The result is of higher resolution and less affected by noise than existing techniques.

Keywords: high resolution digital elevation models, multi-scale analysis, slope calculation, window-based regression

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Authors: J. J. Rickard, A. Belli, P. Goldberg Oppenheimer

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Medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, homeland security and forensics increasingly demand specific and field-deployable analytical technologies for quick point-of-care diagnostics. Although technological advancements have made optical methods well-suited for miniaturization, a highly-sensitive detection technique for minute sample volumes is required. Raman spectroscopy is a well-known analytical tool, but has very weak signals and hence is unsuitable for trace level analysis. Enhancement via localized optical fields (surface plasmons resonances) on nanoscale metallic materials generates huge signals in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), enabling single molecule detection. This enhancement can be tuned by manipulation of the surface roughness and architecture at the sub-micron level. Nevertheless, the development and application of SERS has been inhibited by the irreproducibility and complexity of fabrication routes. The ability to generate straightforward, cost-effective, multiplex-able and addressable SERS substrates with high enhancements is of profound interest for SERS-based sensing devices. While most SERS substrates are manufactured by conventional lithographic methods, the development of a cost-effective approach to create nanostructured surfaces is a much sought-after goal in the SERS community. Here, a method is established to create controlled, self-organized, hierarchical nanostructures using electrohydrodynamic (HEHD) instabilities. The created structures are readily fine-tuned, which is an important requirement for optimizing SERS to obtain the highest enhancements. HEHD pattern formation enables the fabrication of multiscale 3D structured arrays as SERS-active platforms. Importantly, each of the HEHD-patterned individual structural units yield a considerable SERS enhancement. This enables each single unit to function as an isolated sensor. Each of the formed structures can be effectively tuned and tailored to provide high SERS enhancement, while arising from different HEHD morphologies. The HEHD fabrication of sub-micrometer architectures is straightforward and robust, providing an elegant route for high-throughput biological and chemical sensing. The superior detection properties and the ability to fabricate SERS substrates on the miniaturized scale, will facilitate the development of advanced and novel opto-fluidic devices, such as portable detection systems, and will offer numerous applications in biomedical diagnostics, forensics, ecological warfare and homeland security.

Keywords: hierarchical electrohydrodynamic patterning, medical diagnostics, point-of care devices, SERS

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Authors: Mir Jalil Razavi, Tianming Liu, Xianqiao Wang

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Cortical folding, characterized by convex gyri and concave sulci, has an intrinsic relationship to the brain’s functional organization. Understanding the mechanism of the brain’s convoluted patterns can provide useful clues into normal and pathological brain function. During the development, the cerebral cortex experiences a noticeable expansion in volume and surface area accompanied by tremendous tissue folding which may be attributed to many possible factors. Despite decades of endeavors, the fundamental mechanism and key regulators of this crucial process remain incompletely understood. Therefore, to taking even a small role in unraveling of brain folding mystery, we present a mechanical model to find mechanism of 3-hinges formation in a growing brain that it has not been addressed before. A 3-hinge is defined as a gyral region where three gyral crests (hinge-lines) join. The reasons that how and why brain prefers to develop 3-hinges have not been answered very well. Therefore, we offer a theoretical and computational explanation to mechanism of 3-hinges formation in a growing brain and validate it by experimental observations. In theoretical approach, the dynamic behavior of brain tissue is examined and described with the aid of a large strain and nonlinear constitutive model. Derived constitute model is used in the computational model to define material behavior. Since the theoretical approach cannot predict the evolution of cortical complex convolution after instability, non-linear finite element models are employed to study the 3-hinges formation and secondary morphological folds of the developing brain. Three-dimensional (3D) finite element analyses on a multi-layer soft tissue model which mimics a small piece of the brain are performed to investigate the fundamental mechanism of consistent hinge formation in the cortical folding. Results show that after certain amount growth of cortex, mechanical model starts to be unstable and then by formation of creases enters to a new configuration with lower strain energy. By further growth of the model, formed shallow creases start to form convoluted patterns and then develop 3-hinge patterns. Simulation results related to 3-hinges in models show good agreement with experimental observations from macaque, chimpanzee and human brain images. These results have great potential to reveal fundamental principles of brain architecture and to produce a unified theoretical framework that convincingly explains the intrinsic relationship between cortical folding and 3-hinges formation. This achieved fundamental understanding of the intrinsic relationship between cortical folding and 3-hinges formation would potentially shed new insights into the diagnosis of many brain disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, lissencephaly and polymicrogyria.

Keywords: brain, cortical folding, finite element, three hinge

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Authors: Hamed Yaghoubi, Esmaeil Salahi, Fateme Taati

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The effective shear and bulk viscosity, as well as dynamic viscosity, describe the rheological properties of the ceramic body during the liquid phase sintering process. The rheological parameters depend on the physical and thermomechanical characteristics of the material such as relative density, temperature, grain size, and diffusion coefficient and activation energy. The main goal of this research is to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the response of an incompressible viscose ceramic material during liquid phase sintering process such as stress-strain relations, sintering and hydrostatic stress, the prediction of anisotropic shrinkage and heterogeneous densification as a function of sintering time by including the simultaneous influence of gravity field, and frictional force. After raw materials analysis, the standard hard porcelain mixture as a ceramic body was designed and prepared. Three different experimental configurations were designed including midpoint deflection, sinter bending, and free sintering samples. The numerical method for the ceramic specimens during the liquid phase sintering process are implemented in the CREEP user subroutine code in ABAQUS. The numerical-experimental procedure shows the anisotropic behavior, the complete difference in spatial displacement through three directions, the incompressibility for ceramic samples during the sintering process. The anisotropic shrinkage factor has been proposed to investigate the shrinkage anisotropy. It has been shown that the shrinkage along the normal axis of casting sample is about 1.5 times larger than that of casting direction, the gravitational force in pyroplastic deformation intensifies the shrinkage anisotropy more than the free sintering sample. The lowest and greatest equivalent creep strain occurs at the intermediate zone and around the central line of the midpoint distorted sample, respectively. In the sinter bending test sample, the equivalent creep strain approaches to the maximum near the contact area with refractory support. The inhomogeneity in Von-Misses, pressure, and principal stress intensifies the relative density non-uniformity in all samples, except in free sintering one. The symmetrical distribution of stress around the center of free sintering sample, cause to hinder the pyroplastic deformations. Densification results confirmed that the effective bulk viscosity was well-defined with relative density values. The stress analysis confirmed that the sintering stress is more than the hydrostatic stress from start to end of sintering time so, from both theoretically and experimentally point of view, the sintering process occurs completely.

Keywords: anisotropic shrinkage, ceramic material, liquid phase sintering process, rheological properties, numerical-experimental procedure

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Authors: Aleksandra Dudkowska, Gabriela Gic-Grusza

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Wind wave-induced sediment transport is an important multidimensional and multiscale dynamic process affecting coastal seabed changes and coastline evolution. The knowledge about sediment transport rate is important to solve many environmental and geotechnical issues. There are many types of sediment transport models but none of them is widely accepted. It is bacause the process is not fully defined. Another problem is a lack of sufficient measurment data to verify proposed hypothesis. There are different types of models for longshore sediment transport (LST, which is discussed in this work) and cross-shore transport which is related to different time and space scales of the processes. There are models describing bed-load transport (discussed in this work), suspended and total sediment transport. LST models use among the others the information about (i) the flow velocity near the bottom, which in case of wave-currents interaction in coastal zone is a separate problem (ii) critical bed shear stress that strongly depends on the type of sediment and complicates in the case of heterogeneous sediment. Moreover, LST rate is strongly dependant on the local environmental conditions. To organize existing knowledge a series of sediment transport models intercomparisons was carried out as a part of the project “Development of a predictive model of morphodynamic changes in the coastal zone”. Four classical one-grid-point models were studied and intercompared over wide range of bottom shear stress conditions, corresponding with wind-waves conditions appropriate for coastal zone in polish marine areas. The set of models comprises classical theories that assume simplified influence of turbulence on the sediment transport (Du Boys, Meyer-Peter & Muller, Ribberink, Engelund & Hansen). It turned out that the values of estimated longshore instantaneous mass sediment transport are in general in agreement with earlier studies and measurements conducted in the area of interest. However, none of the formulas really stands out from the rest as being particularly suitable for the test location over the whole analyzed flow velocity range. Therefore, based on the models discussed a new unified formula for longshore sediment transport rate estimation is introduced, which constitutes the main original result of this study. Sediment transport rate is calculated based on the bed shear stress and critical bed shear stress. The dependence of environmental conditions is expressed by one coefficient (in a form of constant or function) thus the model presented can be quite easily adjusted to the local conditions. The discussion of the importance of each model parameter for specific velocity ranges is carried out. Moreover, it is shown that the value of near-bottom flow velocity is the main determinant of longshore bed-load in storm conditions. Thus, the accuracy of the results depends less on the sediment transport model itself and more on the appropriate modeling of the near-bottom velocities.

Keywords: bedload transport, longshore sediment transport, sediment transport models, coastal zone

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Authors: M. Doudi, M. H. Pazandeh, L. Rahimzadeh Torabi

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Bedsores are pressure ulcers that occur on the skin or tissue due to being immobile and lying in bed for extended periods. Bedsores have the potential to progress into open ulcers, increasing the possibility of variety of bacterial infection. Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen of considerable clinical importance, exhibited a significant correlation with Bedsores (pressure ulcers) infections, thereby manifesting a wide spectrum of antibiotic resistance. The emergence of drug resistance has led researchers to focus on alternative methods, particularly phage therapy, for tackling bacterial infections. Phage therapy has emerged as a novel therapeutic approach to regulate the activity of these agents. The management of bacterial infections greatly benefits from the clinical utilization of bacteriophages as a valuable antimicrobial intervention. The primary objective of this investigation consisted of isolating and discerning potent bacteriophage capable of targeting multi drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) bacteria obtained from pressure ulcers. In present study, analyzed and isolated A. baumannii strains obtained from a cohort of patients suffering from pressure ulcers at Taleghani Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. An approach that included biochemical and molecular identification techniques was used to determine the taxonomic classification of bacterial isolates at the genus and species levels. The molecular identification process was facilitated by using the 16S rRNA gene in combination with universal primers 27 F, and 1492 R. Bacteriophage was obtained through the isolation process conducted on treatment plant sewage located in Isfahan, Iran. The main goal of this study was to evaluate different characteristics of phage, such as their appearance, range of hosts they can infect, how quickly they can enter a host, their stability at varying temperatures and pH levels, their effectiveness in killing bacteria, the growth pattern of a single phage stage, mapping of enzymatic digestion, and identification of proteomics patterns. The findings demonstrated that an examination was conducted on a sample of 50 specimens, wherein 15 instances of A. baumannii were identified. These microorganisms are the predominant Gram-negative agents known to cause wound infections in individuals suffering from bedsores. The study's findings indicated a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the strains isolated from pressure ulcers, excluding the clinical strains that exhibited responsiveness to colistin.According to the findings obtained from assessments of host range and morphological characteristics of bacteriophage VbɸAB-1, it can be concluded that this phage possesses specificity towards A. Baumannii BAH_Glau1001 was classified as a member of the Plasmaviridae family. The bacteriophage mentioned earlier showed the strongest antibacterial effect at a temperature of 18 °C and a pH of 6.5. Through the utilization of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis on protein fragments, it was established that the bacteriophage VbɸAB-1 exhibited a size range between 50 and 75 kilodaltons (KDa). The numerous research findings on the effectiveness of phages and the safety studies conducted suggest that the phages studied in this research can be considered as a practical solution and recommended approach for controlling and treating stubborn pathogens in burn wounds among hospitalized patients.

Keywords: acinetobacter baumannii, extremely drug- resistant, phage therapy, surgery wound

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Authors: Samanta Kietytė

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The object of this study is the verbal derivatives stemming from the Lithuanian prefix per-. The prefix under examination can be classified as prepositional, having descended from the preposition per, thereby sharing the same prototypical meaning – denoting movement OVER. These frequently co-occur within sentences (1). The aim of this paper is to conduct a semantic analysis of the prefix per- and to propose a possible radial network of its meanings. In essence, the aim is to identify the interrelationships existing between its meanings. 1) Jis peršoko per tvorą/ 3SG.NOM.M jump.PST.3 over fence.ACC.SG. /ʻHe jumped over the fenceʼ. The foundation of this work lies in the methodological and theoretical framework of cognitive linguistics. The prototypical meaning of prefixes consistently embodies spatial dimensions that can be described through image schemas. This entails the identification of the trajectory, the landmark, and the relation between them in the situation described by the prefixed verb. The meanings of linguistic units are not perceived as arbitrary, but rather, they are interconnected through semantic motivation. According to this perspective, a singular meaning within linguistic units is considered as prototypical, while additional meanings are descended (not necessarily directly) from it. For example, one of the per- meanings TRANSFER (2) is derived from the prototypical meaning OVER. 2) Prašau persiųsti vadovo laišką man./ Ask.PRS.1 forward.INF manager.GEN.SG email.ACC.SG 1.SG.DAT/ ʻPlease forward the manager‘s email to meʼ. Certain semantic relations are explained by the conceptual metaphor and metonymy theory. For instances, when prefixed verb has a meaning WIN (3) it is related to the prototypical meaning. In this case, the prefixed verb describes situations of winning in various ways. In the prototypical meaning, the trajector moves higher than the landmark, and winning is metaphorically perceived as being higher. 3) Sūnus peraugo tėvą./ Son.NOM.SG outgrow.PST.3 father.ACC.SG/ ʻThe son has outgrown the fatherʼ. The data utilized for this study was collected from the 2014 grammatically annotated text "Lithuanian Web (LithuanianWaC v2)", consisting of 63,645,700 words. Given that the corpus is grammatically lemmatized, the list of the 793 items was obtained using the wordlist function and specifying that verbs starting with per were searched. The list included not only prefixed verbs but also other verbs whose roots have the same letter sequences as prefixes. Also, words with misspellings, without diacritical marks, and words listed for lemmatization errors were rejected, and a total of 475 derivatives were left for further analysis. The semantic analysis revealed that there are 12 distinct meanings of the prefix per-. The spatial meanings were extracted by determining what a trajector is, what a landmark is, and what the relation between them is. The connection between non-spatial meanings and spatial ones occurs through semantic motivation established by identifying elements that correspond to the trajector and landmark. The analysis reveals that there are no strict boundaries among these meanings, instead showing a continuum that encompasses a central core and a peripheral association with their internal structure, i.e., some derivatives are more prototypical of a particular meaning than others.

Keywords: word-formation, cognitive semantics, metaphor, radial networks, prototype theory, prefix

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