Search results for: moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity

Authors: D. M. W. Munasinghe

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This study focuses on how teachers view and use play to influence creativity in preschool children. Play is strongly featured in most of the discussions about creativity in young children. Hence, it was noted through direct observation that most preschool teachers are not concerned with promoting play to develop the child’s creativity. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate how the teachers use play, for the development of creativity in the preschool environment. The survey method was used as the research design and interviews, observations and document perusal were used as data collection methods. The sample consisted of 20 preschools from selected administrative divisions in the Colombo district. It was revealed that a majority of preschool teachers used folk games as a means of involving children in play. Teachers assume that this type of guided play will motivate the child learn new words, memorization and provide enjoyment. Eighty percent of the preschool teachers used the play equipment installed in the preschool premises to encourage children to get involved in activities calculated at promoting the physical development of the child. In 40% of the preschools visited it was noticed that when children were given their break they created their own forms of free play and enjoyed themselves thoroughly in the little time available to them. Also, about 20% of preschool teachers promoted imaginative play with their preschoolers. There was also the situation where the role of play was interpreted negatively by the teachers who assigned the children to copy letters and numerals during the time assigned for play. This has a negative impact on the child’s creativity. In conclusion, it was felt that the teachers do not make the best use of the opportunity available to use the child’s enthusiasm to stimulate creative actions his/her and that there is no suitable environment to develop creativity through play.

Keywords: creativity, preschool children, preschool environment, play method

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Authors: Muhammad Nooraiman bin Noorashid, Mohd Sharizuan bin Mohd Omar, Mohd Zabri Adil bin Talib, Aswami Fadillah bin Mohd Ariffin

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Nowadays cryptocurrency has become a global phenomenon known to most people. People using this alternative digital money to do a transaction in many ways (e.g. Used for online shopping, wealth management, and fundraising). However, this digital asset also widely used in criminal activities since its use decentralized control as opposed to centralized electronic money and central banking systems and this makes a user, who used this currency invisible. The high-value exchange of these digital currencies also has been a target to criminal activities. The cryptocurrency crimes have become a challenge for the law enforcement to analyze and to proof the evidence as criminal devices. In this paper, our focus is more on bitcoin cryptocurrency and the possible artifacts that can be obtained from the different type of digital wallet, which is software and browser-based application. The process memory and physical hard disk are examined with the aims of identifying and recovering potential digital evidence. The stage of data acquisition divided by three states which are the initial creation of the wallet, transaction that consists transfer and receiving a coin and the last state is after the wallet is being deleted. Findings from this study suggest that both data from software and browser type of wallet process memory is a valuable source of evidence, and many of the artifacts found in process memory are also available from the application and wallet files on the client computer storage.

Keywords: cryptocurrency, bitcoin, digital wallet, digital forensics

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Authors: Yi-Hui Lai, Chih-Hsiang Yang, Li-Chung Hsu

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The inflammasome is a protein complex that modulates caspase-1 activity, resulting in proteolytic cleavage of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18, into their bioactive forms. It has been shown that the inflammasomes play a crucial role in the clearance of pathogenic infection and tissue repair. However, dysregulated inflammasome activation contributes to a wide range of human diseases such as cancers and auto-inflammatory diseases. Yet, regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation remains largely unknown. We discovered a novel DEAD box protein, whose biological function has not been reported, not only negatively regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation by interfering NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and cellular localization but also mitigate pyroptosis upon pathogen evasion. The DEAD-box protein is the first DEAD-box protein gets involved in modulation of the inflammasome activation. In our study, we found that caspase-1 activation and mature IL-1β production were largely enhanced upon LPS challenge in the DEAD box-containing protein- deleted THP-1 macrophages and bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). In addition, this DEAD box-containing protein migrates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm upon LPS stimulation, which is required for its inhibitory role in NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The DEAD box-containing protein specifically interacted with the LRR motif of NLRP3 via its DEAD domain. Furthermore, due to the crucial role of the NLRP3 LRR domain in the recruitment of NLRP3 to mitochondria and binding to its adaptor ASC, we found that the interaction of NLRP3 and ASC was downregulated in the presence of the DEAD box-containing protein. In addition to the mechanical study, we also found that this DEAD box protein protects host cells from inflammasome-triggered cell death in response to broad-ranging pathogens such as Candida albicans, Streptococcus pneumoniae, etc., involved in nosocomial infections and severe fever shock. Collectively, our results suggest that this novel DEAD box molecule might be a key therapeutic strategy for various infectious diseases.

Keywords: inflammasome, inflammation, innate immunity, pyroptosis

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Authors: S. Srednyak

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We study a class of functional partial differential equations(FPDEs). This class is suggested by Quantum Field Theory. We derive general properties of solutions to such equations. In particular, we demonstrate that they lead to systems of coupled integral equations with singular kernels. We show that solutions to such hierarchies can be sought among functions with regular singularities at a countable set of subvarieties of the physical space. We also develop a formal analogy of basic constructions of differential geometry on functional manifolds, as this is necessary for in depth study of FPDEs. We also consider the case of linear overdetermined systems of functional differential equations and show that it can be completely solved in terms of formal solutions of a functional equation that is a functional analogy of a system of determined algebraic equations. This development leads us to formally define the functional analogy of algebraic geometry, which we call functional algebraic geometry. We study basic properties of functional algebraic varieties. In particular, we investigate the case of a formally discrete set of solutions. We also define and study functional analogy of discriminants. In the case of fully determined systems such that the defining functionals have regular singularities, we demonstrate that formal solutions can be sought in the class of functions with regular singularities. This case provides a practical way to apply our results to physics problems.

Keywords: functional equations, quantum field theory, holomorphic functions, Yang Mills mass gap problem, quantum chaos

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Authors: Magdalena Blachnio, Viktor Bogatyrov, Mariia Galaburda, Anna Derylo-Marczewska

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Agricultural waste materials from traditional oil mill and after extraction of natural raw materials in supercritical conditions were used for the preparation of carbon nanomaterials (activated carbons) by two various methods. Chemical activation using acetic acid and physical activation with a gaseous agent (carbon dioxide) were chosen as mild and environmentally friendly ones. The effect of influential factors: type of raw material, temperature and activation agent on the porous structure characteristics of the materials was discussed by using N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms at 77 K. Furthermore scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to examine the physicochemical properties of the obtained sorbents. Selection of a raw material and an optimization of the conditions of the synthesis process, allowed to obtain the cheap sorbents with a targeted distribution of pores enabling effective adsorption of the model organic pollutants carried out in the multicomponent systems. Adsorption behavior (capacity and rate) of the chosen activated carbons was estimated by utilizing Crystal violet (CV), 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA), 2.4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2.4-D) as the adsorbates. Both rate and adsorption capacity of the organics on the sorbents evidenced that the activated carbons could be effectively used in sewage treatment plants. The mechanisms of organics adsorption were studied and correlated with activated carbons properties.

Keywords: activated carbon, adsorption equilibrium, adsorption kinetics, organics adsorption

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Authors: M. Belhadj Lachachi, Tayeb Benabdallah, M. Hadj Youcef, Jason M. Lynama

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The application of inorganic chemistry to catalysis and environmental chemistry is a rapidly developing field, and novel catalytic metal complexes are now having an impact on the industrial development practice. Advances in organometallic chemistry are crucial for improving the design of compounds to reduce toxic side effects and understand their mechanisms of action. The reaction of platinum(II) organometallic complexes with bidentate Schiff bases derived from 2-Hydroxynaphtalydeneaniline have been carried out. It concerns N,N’-naphtalidene para-nitroaniline (1-a), the, the N,N’-naphtalidene para-ethoxyaniline (1-b), the N,N’-naphtalideneaniline (1-c), the N,N’-naphtalidene para-chloroaniline (1-d) and the N,N’-naphtalidene para-methoxyaniline (1-e). The ligands were fully characterized by I.R., elemental analysis, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, ESI Mass Spectrometry and X-Ray Diffraction. The resulting metal complexes were obtained as a cationic species, through a simple substitution reaction, leading to two geometric isomers [1, 2], and characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, LIFDI Mass Spectrometry and supported by Elemental Analysis and X-Ray diffraction. Furthermore, a bimetallic platinum complex was prepared from the same ligands and dichloro(1,5-cyclooctadiene)platinum and characterized by X-Ray diffraction [3]The catalytic properties of the prepared platinum complexes in the hydrogenative and dehydrogenative silylation of styrene were investigated, and reaction kinetics conversion to products was determined by 1H-NMR and confirmed by GC-MS. This presentation will detail a comparison of the catalytic activity of five platinum organometallic complexes bearing different Schiff base ligands in the hydrosilylation of styrene, varying the experimental conditions of temperature, nature of the complex and the loading of the catalyst.

Keywords: catalysis, hydrosilylation, organometallic, schiff base

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Authors: Sheng-Hung Chen, Grace Mmametena Mahlangu, Hui-Cheng Wang

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This study aims to explore the trends of the Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions (EFCs) in the five African regions. The Global Entrepreneur Monitor (GEM) is the primary source of data. The data drawn were organized into a panel (2000-2021) and obtained from the National Expert Survey (NES) databases as harmonized by the (GEM). The Methodology used is descriptive and uses mainly charts and tables; this is in line with the approach used by the GEM. The GEM draws its data from the National Expert Survey (NES). The survey by the NES is administered to experts in each country. The GEM collects entrepreneurship data specific to each country. It provides information about entrepreneurial ecosystems and their impact on entrepreneurship. The secondary source is from the literature review. This study focuses on the following GEM indicators: Financing for Entrepreneurs, Government support and Policies, Taxes and Bureaucracy, Government programs, Basic School Entrepreneurial Education and Training, Post school Entrepreneurial Education and Training, R&D Transfer, Commercial And Professional Infrastructure, Internal Market Dynamics, Internal Market Openness, Physical and Service Infrastructure, and Cultural And Social Norms, based on GEM Report 2020/21. The limitation of the study is the lack of updated data from some countries. Countries have to fund their own regional studies; African countries do not regularly participate due to a lack of resources.

Keywords: trend analysis, entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFCs), African region, government programs

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Authors: Selim Kermasha

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A process for the synthesis of structured lipids (SLs) by the lipase-catalyzed interesterification of selected endogenous edible oils such as flaxseed oil (FO) and medium-chain triacylglyceols such as tricaprylin (TC) in non-conventional media (NCM), including organic solvent media (OSM) and solvent-free medium (SFM), was developed. The bioconversion yield of the medium-long-medium-type SLs (MLM-SLs were monitored as the responses with use of selected commercial lipases. In order to optimize the interesterification reaction and to establish a model system, a wide range of reaction parameters, including TC to FO molar ratio, reaction temperature, enzyme concentration, reaction time, agitation speed and initial water activity, were investigated to establish the a model system. The model system was monitored with the use of multiple response surface methodology (RSM) was used to obtain significant models for the responses and to optimize the interesterification reaction, on the basis of selected levels and variable fractional factorial design (FFD) with centre points. Based on the objective of each response, the appropriate level combination of the process parameters and the solutions that met the defined criteria were also provided by means of desirability function. The synthesized novel molecules were structurally characterized, using silver-ion reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrophotometry (APCI-MS) analyses. The overall experimental findings confirmed the formation of dicaprylyl-linolenyl glycerol, dicaprylyl-oleyl glycerol and dicaprylyl-linoleyl glycerol resulted from the lipase-catalyzed interesterification of FO and TC.

Keywords: enzymatic interesterification, non-conventinal media, nutraceuticals, structured lipids

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Authors: Carmen M. Gonzalez-Henriquez, Mauricio A. Sarabia-Vallejos, Juan Rodriguez-Hernandez

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DMAEMA, as a monomer, has been widely studied and used in several application fields due to their pH-sensitive capacity (tertiary amine protonation), being relevant in the biomedical area as a potential carrier for drugs focused on the treatment of genetic or acquired diseases (efficient gene transfection), among others. Additionally, the inhibition of bacterial growth and, therefore, their antimicrobial activity, can be used as dual-functional antifogging/antimicrobial polymer coatings. According to their interesting physicochemical characteristics and biocompatible properties, DMAEMA was used as a monomer to synthesize a smart pH-sensitive hydrogel, namely poly(HEMA-co-PEGDA575-co-DMAEMA). Thus, different mole ratios (ranging from 5:1:0 to 0:1:5, according to the mole ratio between HEMA, PEGDA, and DEAEMA, respectively) were used in this research. The surface patterns formed via a two-step polymerization (redox- and photo-polymerization) were first chemically studied via 1H-NMR and elemental analysis. Secondly, the samples were morphologically analyzed by using Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques. Then, a particular relation between HEMA, PEGDA, and DEAEMA (0:1:5) was also characterized at three different pH (5.4, 7.4 and 8.3). The hydrodynamic radius and zeta potential of the micro-hydrogel particles (emulsion) were carried out as a possible control for morphology, exploring the effect that produces hydrogel micelle dimensions in the wavelength, height, and roughness of the wrinkled patterns. Finally, contact angle and cross-hatch adhesion test was carried out for the hydrogels supported on glass using TSM-silanized surfaces in order to measure their mechanical properties.

Keywords: wrinkled patterns, smart pH-sensitive hydrogels, hydrogel micelle diameter, adhesion tests

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Authors: Jonathan Galvan-Colin, Ariel Valladares, Renela Valladares, Alexander Valladares

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Both porous materials and bulk metallic glasses have been studied due to their potential applications and their exceptional physical and chemical properties. However, each material presents certain drawbacks which have been thought to be overcome by generating bulk metallic glass foams (BMGF). Although some experimental reports have been performed on multicomponent BMGF, still no ab initio works have been published, as far as we know. We present an approach based on the expanding lattice (EL) method to generate binary amorphous nanoporous Cu64Zr36. Starting from two different configurations: a 108-atom crystalline cubic supercell (cCu64Zr36) and a 108-atom amorphous supercell (aCu64Zr36), both with an initial density of 8.06 g/cm3, we applied EL method to halve the density and to get 50% of porosity. After the lattice expansion the supercells were subject to ab initio molecular dynamics for 500 steps at constant room temperature. Then, the samples were geometry-optimized and characterized with the pair and radial distribution functions, bond-angle distributions and a coordination number analysis. We found that pores appeared along specific spatial directions different from one to another and that they differed in size and form as well, which we think is related to the initial structure. Due to the lack of experimental counterparts our results should be considered predictive and further studies are needed in order to handle a larger number of atoms and its implication on pore topology.

Keywords: ab initio molecular dynamics, bulk mettalic glass, porous alloy

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Authors: Armanul Hoque Shaon, Md Baizid Mahmud, Askander Nobi, Md. Raju Ahmed, Md. Jiabul Hoque

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In the Internet of Things (IoT), devices are linked to the internet through a wireless network, allowing them to collect and transmit data without the need for a human operator. Agriculture relies heavily on wireless sensors, which are a vital component of the Internet of Things (IoT). This kind of wireless sensor network monitors physical or environmental variables like temperatures, sound, vibration, pressure, or motion without relying on a central location or sink and collaboratively passes its data across the network to be analyzed. As the primary source of plant nutrients, the soil is critical to the agricultural industry's continued growth. We're excited about the prospect of developing an Internet of Things (IoT) solution. To arrange the network, the sink node collects groundwater levels and sends them to the Gateway, which centralizes the data and forwards it to the sensor nodes. The sink node gathers soil moisture data, transmits the mean to the Gateways, and then forwards it to the website for dissemination. The web server is in charge of storing and presenting the moisture in the soil data to the web application's users. Soil characteristics may be collected using a networked method that we developed to improve rice production. Paddy land is running out as the population of our nation grows. The success of this project will be dependent on the appropriate use of the existing land base.

Keywords: IoT based agriculture monitoring, intelligent irrigation, communicating network, rice production

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Authors: Ipek Gunay, Efe B. Orman, Metin Ozer, Bekir Salih, Ali R. Ozkaya

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Phthalocyanines with macrocyclic ring containing at least three heteroatoms have nine or more membered structures. Metal-free phthalocyanines react with metal salts to obtain chelate complexes. This is one of the most important features of metal-free phthalocyanine as ligand structure. Although phthalocyanines have very similar properties with porphyrins, they have some advantages such as lower cost, easy to prepare, and chemical and thermal stability. It’s known that Pc compounds have shown one-electron metal-and/or ligand-based reversible or quasi-reversible reduction and oxidation processes. The redox properties of phthalocyanines are critically related to the desirable properties of these compounds in their technological applications. Thus, Pc complexes have also been receiving increasing interest in the area of fuel cells due to their high electrocatalytic activity in dioxygen reduction and fuel cell applications. In this study, novel phthalocyanine complexes coordinated with Fe(II) and Co (II) to be used as catalyst were synthesized. Aiming this goal, a new nitrile ligand was synthesized starting from 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy benzyl alcohol and 4-nitrophthalonitrile in the presence of K2CO3 as catalyst. After the isolation of the new type of nitrile and metal complexes, the characterization of mentioned compounds was achieved by IR, H-NMR and UV-vis methods. In addition, the electrochemical behaviour of Pc complexes was identified by cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry and in situ spectroelectrochemical measurements. Furthermore, the catalytic performances of Pc complexes for oxygen reduction were tested by dynamic voltammetry measurements, carried out by the combined system of rotating ring-disk electrode and potentiostat, in a medium similar to fuel-cell working conditions.

Keywords: phthalocyanine, electrocatalysis, electrochemistry, in-situ spectroelectrochemistry

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Authors: Wai Prathumpai, Pranee Rachtawee, Sutamat Khajeeram, Pariya Na Nakorn

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The  β-glucan produced by Ophiocordyceps dipterigena BCC 2073 is a (1, 3)-β-D-glucan with highly branching O-6-linkedside chains that is resistant to acid hydrolysis (by hydrochloric acid and porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase). This β-glucan can be utilized as a prebiotic due to its advantageous structural and biological properties. The effects of using this β-glucan as the sole carbon source for the in vitro growth of two probiotic bacteria (L. acidophilus BCC 13938 and B. animalis ATCC 25527) were investigated. Compared with the effect of using 1% glucose or fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) as the sole carbon source, using 1% β-glucan for this purpose showed that this prebiotic supported and stimulated the growth of both types of probiotic bacteria and induced them to produce the highest levels of metabolites during their growth. The highest levels of lactic and acetic acid, 10.04 g·L^-1 and 2.82 g·L^-1, respectively, were observed at 2 h of cultivation using glucose as the sole carbon source. Furthermore, the fermentation broth obtained using 1% β-glucan as the sole carbon source had greater antibacterial activity against selected pathogenic bacteria (B. subtilis TISTR 008, E. coli TISTR 780, and S. typhimurium TISTR 292) than did the broths prepared using glucose or FOS as the sole carbon source. The fermentation broth obtained by growing L. acidophilus BCC 13938 in the presence of β-glucan inhibited the growth of B. subtilis TISTR 008 by more than 70% and inhibited the growth of both S. typhimurium TISTR 292 and E. coli TISTR 780 by more than 90%. In conclusion, O. dipterigena BCC 2073 is a potential source of a β-glucan prebiotic that could be used for commercial production in the near future.

Keywords: beta-glucan, Ophiocordyceps dipterigena, prebiotic, probiotic, antimicrobial

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Authors: Emmanuel Okechukwu Nwafor, Folake Olubunmi Akintayo, Denis Alcides Rezende

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Decision tree models are versatile and interpretable machine learning algorithms widely used for both classification and regression tasks, which can be related to cities, whether physical or digital. The aim of this research is to assess how well decision tree algorithms can predict trip purposes in Makurdi, Nigeria, while also exploring their connection to the strategic digital city initiative. The research methodology involves formalizing household demographic and trips information datasets obtained from extensive survey process. Modelling and Prediction were achieved using Python Programming Language and the evaluation metrics like R-squared and mean absolute error were used to assess the decision tree algorithm's performance. The results indicate that the model performed well, with accuracies of 84% and 68%, and low MAE values of 0.188 and 0.314, on training and validation data, respectively. This suggests the model can be relied upon for future prediction. The conclusion reiterates that This model will assist decision-makers, including urban planners, transportation engineers, government officials, and commuters, in making informed decisions on transportation planning and management within the framework of a strategic digital city. Its application will enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and overall quality of transportation services in Makurdi, Nigeria.

Keywords: decision tree algorithm, trip purpose, intelligent transport, strategic digital city, travel pattern, sustainable transport

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Authors: Shihab Aldin Al Riyami, Khosrow Ebrahim, Sajad Ahmadizad

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Hemodynamic changes and ventricular loading during exercise lead to left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. In athletes, volume load induces enlargement of the LV internal diameter and a proportional increase of wall thickness; while, pressure load would induce thickening of the ventricular wall. These adaptations are not similar in all athletes and are related to the types of sport. Volleyball players have different types of activity and roles based on their playing. Therefore, their physiological adaptations and requirements are different. The aim of the current study was to investigate the LV adaptationsinelite volleyball players based on their playing position. Sixty male elite volleyball players (age, 30.55±3.64 years)from Brazil, Serbia, Poland, Iran, Colombia, Cameroon, Japan, Egypt, Qatar, and Tunisia were investigated (from all five volleyball play positions). All participants had the experience of at least 3 years of participation at a professional level and international tournaments. LV characteristics were evaluated and measured using the echocardiography technique. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences (P<0.05)among the five groups of players forLV internal dimension (LVID), posterior wall thickness (PWT), and intact ventricular septum (IVS). Post-hoc analysis showed that opposite position players had significant higher value of LVID, PWT, and IVS when compared with other players, including outside hitter, middle blocker, setter, and libero (p<0.05). Additionally, in libero players, PWT was significantly lower when compared with other players (p<0.05). Based on the findings of the present study, it is concluded that LV adaptations in volleyball players are related to their playing position and that the opposite players had the highest LV adaptations when compared to other positions.

Keywords: athletes, cardiac adaptations, echocardio graphy, heart, sport

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Authors: Irene M. Arora

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Hypothesis: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the result of an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex which is the primary cause for the signs and symptoms seen as defining features of ADHD. Methods: Through ‘PubMed’, ‘Wiley’ and ‘Google Scholar’ studies published between 2011-2018 were evaluated, determining if a dysfunctional prefrontal cortex caused the characteristic symptoms associated with ADHD. The search terms "prefrontal cortex", "Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder", "cognitive control", "frontostriatal tract" among others, were used to maximize the assortment of relevant studies. Excluded papers were systematic reviews, meta-analyses and publications published before 2010 to ensure clinical relevance. Results: Nine publications were analyzed in this review, all of which were non-randomized matched control studies. Three studies found a decrease in the functional integrity of the frontostriatal tract fibers in conjunction with four studies finding impaired frontal cortex stimulation. Prefrontal dysfunction, specifically medial and orbitofrontal areas, displayed abnormal functionality of reward processing in ADHD patients when compared to their normal counterparts. A total of 807 subjects were studied in this review, yielding that a little over half (54%) presented with remission of symptoms in adulthood. Conclusion: While the prefrontal cortex shows the highest consistency of impaired activity and thinner volumes in patients with ADHD, this is a heterogenous disorder implicating its pathophysiology to the dysfunction of other neural structures as well. However, remission of ADHD symptomatology in adulthood was found to be attributable to increased prefrontal functional connectivity and integration, suggesting a key role for the prefrontal cortex in the development of ADHD.

Keywords: prefrontal cortex, ADHD, inattentive, impulsivity, reward processing

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Authors: David Percy

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Landslides are a geologic phenomenon that affects a large number of inhabited places and are constantly being monitored and studied for the prediction of future occurrences. Reconstructability analysis (RA) is a methodology for extracting informative models from large volumes of data that work exclusively with discrete data. While RA has been used in medical applications and social science extensively, we are introducing it to the spatial sciences through applications like landslide prediction. Since RA works exclusively with discrete data, such as soil classification or bedrock type, working with continuous data, such as porosity, requires that these data are binned for inclusion in the model. RA constructs models of the data which pick out the most informative elements, independent variables (IVs), from each layer that predict the dependent variable (DV), landslide occurrence. Each layer included in the model retains its classification data as a primary encoding of the data. Unlike other machine learning algorithms that force the data into one-hot encoding type of schemes, RA works directly with the data as it is encoded, with the exception of continuous data, which must be binned. The usual physical and derived layers are included in the model, and testing our results against other published methodologies, such as neural networks, yields accuracy that is similar but with the advantage of a completely transparent model. The results of an RA session with a data set are a report on every combination of variables and their probability of landslide events occurring. In this way, every combination of informative state combinations can be examined.

Keywords: reconstructability analysis, machine learning, landslides, raster analysis

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Authors: T. Holecki, J. Wozniak-Holecka, K. Sobczyk

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Development, implementation, and evaluation of the effects of health policy programs, resulting from the identified health needs and health status of residents, is the own task of all local government units in Poland. This is due to the obligation to provide access to healthcare services to all residents and the implementation of tasks in the field of health promotion based on specific legal acts. Until the end of 2016 local governments financed health policy programs only with their own funds. Currently, there are additional resources available from the public health insurance subsidising up to 80% of health policy programs costs in cities with a population under 5 thousand people and up to 40% in bigger cities. Changes in legal provisions do not translate automatically to increased involvement of local government units in the implementation of public health tasks. The main objective of the study was to assess the actual impact of the new legal regulation on financing local health policy programs on the engagement of local administration in this area of public health activity. To achieve this aim, we analyzed difference in the number of local governments developing and implementing health policy programs before and after the new law came into force. The aim of the study was also to estimate the level of expenditures incurred by self-government units and the National Health Fund to cover the costs of health policy programs. In the first stage of the project, legal acts concerning the subject of research and financial data published by the National Health Fund were analyzed. The material for the second, main stage of the study was the detailed financial data obtained from the National Health Fund and data obtained from local government units. The results present the situation in Poland in territorial terms, divided into 16 voivodships.

Keywords: health care system, health policy programs, local self-governments, public health

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Authors: Zulkifli Mohamed Udin, Lee Khai-Loon, Mohamad Ghozali Hassan

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In today’s dynamic business environment, the competition is no longer between firms, but between supply chains to gain competitive advantages. The global manufacturing sector, especially the textile and apparel industry are essentially known for its supply chain dependency. The delicate nature of its business leads to emphasis on the smooth movement of upstream and downstream supply chain. The nature of this industry, however, result in huge dynamic flow of physical, information, and financial. The dynamic management of these flows requires adoption of supply chain technologies. Even though technology is widely implemented and studied in many industries by researchers, adoption of supply chain technologies in Malaysian textile and apparel industry is limited. There is relatively a handful academic study conducted on recent developments in Malaysian textile and apparel industry and supply chain technology adoption indicate a major gap in supply chain performance studies. Considering the importance given to Third Industrial Master Plan by the government Malaysia, it is necessary to understand the power of supply chain technology adoptions. This study aims to investigate supply chain technology adoption by textile and apparel companies in Malaysia. The result highlighted the benefits perceived by textile and apparel companies from supply chain technologies. The indifference of small and medium enterprises to operation management acts as a major inhibitor to the adoption of supply chain technologies, since they have resource limitations. This study could be used as a precursor for further detailed studies on this issue.

Keywords: supply chain technology adoption, supply chain performance, textile, apparel industry

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Authors: Ying-chang Yu, Yuan-lung Lo

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More and more building envelopes consist of the construction of balconies, canopies, handrails, sun-shading, vertical planters or gardens, maintenance platforms, display devices, lightings, ornaments, and also the most commonly seen double skin system. These components form a uniform but three-dimensional disturbance structure and create a complex surface wind field in front of the actual watertight building interface. The distorted wind behavior would affect the façade performance and building ventilation. Comparing with sole windscreen walls, these three-dimensional structures perform like distributed air portal assembly, and each portal generates air turbulence and consume wind pressure and energy simultaneously. In this study, we attempted to compare the behavior of 2D porous windscreens without internal construction, porous tubular portal windscreens, porous tapered portal windscreens, and porous coned portal windscreens. The wind energy reduction phenomenon is then compared to the different distributed air portals. The experiments are conducted in a physical wind tunnel with 1:25 in scale to simulate the three-dimensional structure of a real building envelope. The experimental airflow was set up to smooth flow. The specimen is designed as a plane with a distributed tubular structure behind, and the control group uses different tubular shapes but the same fluid volume to observe the wind damping phenomenon of various geometries.

Keywords: volumized building envelope, porous air portal, wind damping, wind tunnel test, wind energy loss

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Authors: Nitin Dewangan, Nitin Kattula, Megha Anawat

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Hydraulic reservoir is the key component in the mobile construction vehicles; most of the off-road earth moving construction machinery requires bigger side hydraulic reservoirs. Their reservoir construction is very much non-uniform and designers used such design to utilize the space available under the vehicle. There is no way to find out the space utilization of the reservoir by oil and validity of design except virtual simulation. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) helps to predict the reservoir space utilization by vortex mapping, path line plots and dwell time prediction to make sure the design is valid and efficient for the vehicle. The dwell time acceptance criteria for effective reservoir design is 15 seconds. The paper will describe the hydraulic reservoir simulation which is carried out using CFD tool acuSolve using automated mesh strategy. The free surface flow and moving reference mesh is used to define the oil flow level inside the reservoir. The first baseline design is not able to meet the acceptance criteria, i.e., dwell time below 15 seconds because the oil entry and exit ports were very close. CFD is used to redefine the port locations for the reservoir so that oil dwell time increases in the reservoir. CFD also proposed baffle design the effective space utilization. The final design proposed through CFD analysis is used for physical validation on the machine.

Keywords: reservoir, turbulence model, transient model, level set, free-surface flow, moving frame of reference

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Authors: Shabnam Alizadeh, Hatice Dumanoglu

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Plant tissue culture is a substantial plant propagation technique for mass clonal production throughout the year, regardless of time in fruit species. However, the rooting achievement must be enhanced in the difficult-to-root genotypes. Classical auxin applications in clonal propagation of these genotypes are inadequate to solve the rooting problem. Nanoparticles having different physical and chemical properties from bulk material could enhance the rooting success of controlled release of these substances when loaded with auxin due to their ability to reach the active substance up to the target cells as a carrier system.The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles loaded with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA-nZnO) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA-nZnO) on in vitro rooting of microcuttings in a difficult-to-root apple genotype (Malus domestica Borkh.). Rooting treatments consisted of IBA or IAA at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 mg/L; nZnO, IAA-nZnO and IBA-nZnO at doses of 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 mg/L were used. All components were added to the Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium at strength ½ with 2% sucrose and 0.7% agar before autoclaving. In the study, no rooting occurred in control and nZnO applications. Especially, 1.0 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L IBA-nZnO nanoparticle applications (containing 0.5 mg/L and 0.9 mg/L IBA), respectively with rooting rates of 40.3% and 70.4%, rooting levels of 2.0±0.4 and 2.3±0.4, 2.6±0.7 and 2.5±0.6 average root numbers and 20.4±1.6 mm and 20.2±3.4 mm average root lengths put forward as effective applications.

Keywords: Auxin, Malus, nanotechnology, zinc oxide nanoparticles

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Authors: Kathleen Cooney, Jennifer Coates, Lesley Leach, Kristin Hrenchir

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The objective of this retrospective study was to determine whether intrarenal injection of pentobarbital sodium is a practicable method of euthanasia in client-owned cats. 131 Cats were anesthetized using a combination of tiletamine, zolazepam, and acepromazine given by of subcutaneous or intramuscular injection. Once an appropriate plane of anesthesia was reached, 6 ml of pentobarbital sodium was injected into either the left or right kidney. The patient’s age, sex, estimated weight, presenting condition, estimated dehydration level, palpable characteristics of the kidney pre and post injection, physical response of the cat, and time to cardiopulmonary arrest were recorded. Analysis of 131 records revealed that cats receiving an intrarenal injection of pentobarbital sodium had an average time to cardiopulmonary arrest of 1 minute. The great majority (79%) experienced cardiopulmonary arrest in less than one minute with the remainder experiencing cardiopulmonary arrest between 1 and 8 minutes of the injection. 95% of cats had no observable reaction to intrarenal injection other than cardiopulmonary arrest. In the 19% of cases where kidney swelling was not palpable upon injection, average time to cardiopulmonary arrest increased from 0.9 to 1.6 min. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Intrarenal injections of pentobarbital sodium are similar in effect to intravenous methods of euthanasia. Veterinarians who elect to use intrarenal injections can expect cardiopulmonary arrest to occur quickly in the majority of patients with few agonal reactions. Intrarenal injection of pentobarbital sodium in anesthetized cats has ideally suited for cases of owner observed euthanasia when obtaining intravenous access would difficult or disruptive.

Keywords: euthanasia, injection, intrarenal, pentobarbital sodium

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Authors: Long-Shan Wu, Ming-Chen Ko, Chien-Chang Ho, Po-Fu Lee, Li-Yun Chen, Ching-Yu Tseng

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether progressive aerobic exercise intensity effects the changes in insulin resistance indicators among obese college students in Taiwan. Forty-eight obese subjects [body mass index (BMI) ≧ 27 kg/m2, aged 18-26 years old] were randomized into four equal groups (n = 12): light-intensity training group (LITG): 40-50% of their heart rate reserve (HRR); middle-intensity training group (MITG): 50-70% of their HRR; high-intensity training group (HITG): 70-80% of their HRR, and control group (CG). The aerobic exercise training program was performed 60 minutes per day on a treadmill three days/week in a training period of 12 weeks. All subjects’ anthropometric data, blood biochemical parameters, and health-related physical fitness components were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. At baseline, all insulin resistance indicators did not differ significantly among the four groups (p > 0.05). After 12-week exercise intervention, the HITG had significantly more changes in insulin level than the MITG, LITG, and CG. Our findings suggested that a short-term aerobic exercise program can play an important role in improving insulin resistance indicators; either middle-intensity training significantly increases the insulin level, but the high-intensity exercise training program effectively improves obese college students’ insulin resistance.

Keywords: aerobic training, exercise intensity, insulin resistance, obesity

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Authors: Sandeep Kaushal

Abstract:

Tetracycline (TC) is a widespread antibiotic that is utilised in a multitude of countries, particularly China, India, and the United States of America, due to its low cost and potency in boosting livestock production. Unfortunately, certain antibiotics can be hazardous to living beings due to metal complexation and aggregation, which can lead to teratogenicity and carcinogenicity. Heterojunction photocatalysts are promising for the effective removal of pollutants like antibiotics. Herein, a simple, economical, and pollution-less hydrothermal technique was used to construct SnO₂/MnV₂O₆heterojunction with varying amounts of tin dioxide (SO₂). Various sophisticated techniques like XRD, FTIR, XPS, FESEM, HRTEM, and PLand Raman spectroscopy demonstrated the successful synthesis of SnO₂/MnV₂O₆ heterojunction photocatalysts.BET surface area analysis revealed that the as-synthesized heterojunction has a favorable surface area and surface properties for efficacious degradation of tetracycline. Under the direct sunlight exposure, the SnO₂/MnV₂O₆ heterojunction possessed superior photodegradation activity toward TC than the pristine SnO₂ and MnV2O6owing to their excellent adsorption abilities suitable band positions, large surface areas along with the effective charge-transfer ability of the heterojunction. The SnO₂/MnV₂O₆ heterojunction possessed extraordinary efficiency for the photocatalytic degradation of TC antibiotic (98% in 60 min) with an apparent rate constant of 0.092 min–1. In the degradation experiments, photocatalytic activities of as-synthesized heterojunction were studied by varying different factors such as time contact, catalyst dose, and solution pH. The role of reactive species in antibiotics was validated by radical scavenging studies, which indicated that.OH, radical has a critical role in photocatalytic degradation. Moreover, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) investigations were employed to anticipate a plausible mechanism for TC degradation.

Keywords: photocatalytic degradation, tetracycline, heterojunction, LC-MS

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Authors: T. Vikneshvaran, A. Aminudin, U. Alyaa Hashim, Waziralilah N. Fathiah, D. Shakirah Shukor

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This paper presents the experimental study conducted on a structure of three-floor height building model. Most vibrations are undesirable and can cause damages to the buildings, machines and people all around us. The vibration wave from earthquakes, construction and winds have high potential to bring damage to the buildings. Excessive vibrations can result in structural and machinery failures. This failure is related to the human life and environment around it. The effect of vibration which causes failure and damage to the high rise buildings can be controlled in real life by implementing tuned mass damper (TMD) into the structure of the buildings. This research aims to study the effect and performance improvement achieved by applying TMD into the building structure. A structure model of three degrees of freedom (3DOF) is designed to demonstrate the performance of TMD to the designed model. The model designed is the physical representation of actual building structure in real life. It is constructed at a reduced scale and will be used for the experiment. Thus, the result obtained will be more accurate to compared with the real life effect. Based on the result from experimental study, by applying TMD to the structure model, the forces of vibration and the displacement mode of the building reduced. Thus, the reduced in vibration of the building helps to maintain the good condition of the building.

Keywords: degrees-of-freedom, displacement mode, natural frequency, tuned mass damper

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Authors: Seong Woon Lee, Soo Min Lim, Sung Sik Jeong, Jung Hoon Park

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The atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gas (GHG, Green House Gas) is increasing continuously as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels and industrial development. In response to this trend, many researches have been conducted on the reduction of GHG. Landfill gas (LFG, Land Fill Gas) is one of largest sources of GHG emissions containing the methane (CH₄) as a major constituent and can be considered renewable energy sources as well. In order to use LFG by connecting to the city pipe network, it required a process for removing impurities. In particular, oxygen must be removed because it can cause corrosion of pipes and engines. In this study, methane oxidation was used to eliminate oxygen from LFG and perovskite-type ceramic catalysts of La-Sr-Co-Fe-O composition was selected as a catalyst. Hollow fiber catalysts (HFC, Hollow Fiber Catalysts) have attracted attention as a new concept alternative because they have high specific surface area and mechanical strength compared to other types of catalysts. HFC was prepared by a phase-inversion/sintering technique using commercial La-Sr-Co-Fe-O powder. In order to measure the catalysts' activity, simulated LFG was used for feed gas and complete oxidation reaction of methane was confirmed. Pore structure of the HFC was confirmed by SEM image and perovskite structure of single phase was analyzed by XRD. In addition, TPR analysis was performed to verify the oxygen adsorption mechanism of the HFC. Acknowledgement—The project is supported by the ‘Global Top Environment R&D Program’ in the ‘R&D Center for reduction of Non-CO₂ Greenhouse gases’ (Development and demonstration of oxygen removal technology of landfill gas) funded by Korea Ministry of Environment (ME).

Keywords: complete oxidation, greenhouse gas, hollow fiber catalyst, land fill gas, oxygen removal, perovskite catalyst

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Authors: Ankit Patil, Tushar D. Deshpande, Yogesh M. Nimdeo

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Pickering emulsions (PE) were developed in response to increased demand for organic, eco-friendly, and biocompatible products. These emulsions are usually stabilized by solid particles. In this research, we created chitosan-based sunflower oil-in-water (O/W) PE without the need for a surfactant. In our work, we employed chitosan, a biopolymer derived from chitin, as a stabilizer. This decision was influenced by chitosan's biocompatibility and biodegradability, as well as its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial capabilities. It also has other functional properties, such as antioxidant activity, a probiotic delivery mechanism, and the ability to encapsulate bioactive compounds. The purpose of this study was to govern key parameters that can be changed to obtain stable PE, such as the concentration of chitosan (0.3-0.5 wt.%), the concentration of oil (0.8-1 vol%), the pH of the emulsion (3-7) manipulated by the addition of 1M HCl/ 4M NaOH, and the amount of electrolyte (NaCl-0-300mM) added to increase or decrease ionic strength. A careful combination of these properties resulted in the production of the most stable and optimal PE. Particle size study found that emulsions with pH 6, 0.4% chitosan, and 300 mM salts were exceptionally stable, with droplet size 886 nm, PI of 0.1702, and zeta potential of 32.753.83 mV. It is fair to infer that when ionic strength rises, particle size, zeta potential, and PI value decrease. A lower PI value suggests that emulsion nanoparticles are more homogeneous. The addition of sodium chloride increases the ionic strength of the emulsion, facilitating the formation of more compact and ordered particle layers. These findings provide light on the creation of stimulus-responsive chitosan-based PE capable of encapsulating bioactive materials, functioning as antioxidants, and serving as food-grade emulsifiers.

Keywords: pickering emulsion, biocompatibility, eco-friendly, chitosan

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Shaibu Baanni Azumah, Ignatius Tindjina, Stella Obanyi, Tara N. Wood

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This study examined the effect of Urea Deep Placement (UDP) technology on the output of irrigated rice farmers in the northern region of Ghana. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 142 rice farmers from the Golinga and Bontanga irrigation schemes, around Tamale. A treatment effect model was estimated at two stages; firstly, to determine the factors that influenced farmers’ decision to adopt the UDP technology and secondly, to determine the effect of the adoption of the UDP technology on the output of rice farmers. The significant variables that influenced rice farmers’ adoption of the UPD technology were sex of the farmer, land ownership, off-farm activity, extension service, farmer group participation and training. The results also revealed that farm size and the adoption of UDP technology significantly influenced the output of rice farmers in the northern region of Ghana. In addition to the potential of the technology to improve yields, it also presents an employment opportunity for women and youth, who are engaged in the deep placement of Urea Super Granules (USG), as well as in the transplantation of rice. It is recommended that the government of Ghana work closely with the IFDC to embed the UDP technology in the national agricultural programmes and policies. The study also recommends an effective collaboration between the government, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) to train agricultural extension agents on UDP technology in the rice producing areas of the country.

Keywords: Northern Ghana, output , irrigation rice farmers, treatment effect model, urea deep placement

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Authors: Hanna Faron, Wojciech Marcinkowski, Daniel Prusak

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The aim of this article is to familiarize with the activity of AGH Racing scientific circle, pertaining to the international project -Formula Student, giving the opportunity to young engineers from all around the world to validate their talent and knowledge in the real world conditions, under the pressure of time, and the design requirements. Every year, the team begins the process of building a race car from the formation of human resources. In case of the public sector, to which public universities can be included, the scientific circles represent the structure uniting students with the common interests and level of determination. Due to the scientific nature of the project which simulates the market conditions, they have a chance to verify previously acquired knowledge in practice. High level of the innovation and competitiveness of participating in the project Formula Student teams, requires an intelligent organizational system, which is characterized by a high dynamics. It is connected with the necessity of separation of duties, setting priorities, selecting optimal solutions which is often a compromise between the available technology and a limited budget. Proper selection of the adequate guidelines in the design phase allows an efficient transition to the implementation stage, which is process-oriented implementation of the project. Four dynamic and three static competitions are the main verification and evaluation of year-round work and effort put into the process of building a race car. Acquired feedback flowing during the race is a very important part while monitoring the effectiveness of AGH Racing scientific circle, as well as the main criterion while determining long-term goals and all the necessary improvements in the team.

Keywords: SAE, formula student, race car, public sector, automotive industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 345