Search results for: stochastic production function

Authors: Emma Mathias

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The aim of this study was to explore the role of food insecurity as a mediator of mental health in sub-Saharan Africa, taking Ghana as a case study. Although a quantitative correlation has recently been established between food insecurity and mental illness in Ghana, the nature and validity of this correlation remains unclear. A qualitative exploration was employed to investigate this correlation further. During the data collection period, twelve semi-structured interviews and five focus groups were conducted with a total of 124 individuals who were diagnosed with mental illnesses and their primary carers throughout rural and urban areas in Ghana. Interviews and focus groups were transcribed, translated, and analysed using thematic analysis. Preliminary results suggest that food insecurity may plays a role in mental illness in rural areas of Ghana where communities are reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods, but may play a lesser role in urban areas where communities are more reliant on petty trade as a source of livelihood. These results support psychosocial theories which suggest that the social and cultural factors involved in food production and consumption may be the key mediators between food insecurity and mental health.

Keywords: Food insecurity, Ghana, Mental health, Phenomenology

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Authors: Selena Gutiérrez, Araceli Martínez

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One of the most important challenges worldwide, scientific and technological, is to have a sustainable energy source; friendly to the environment and widely available. Currently, the 85% of the energy used comes from the fossil sources. Another important environmental problem is that several rubber products (tires, gloves, hoses, among others) are discarded practically without any treatment. In nature, the degradation of such products will take at least 500 years. In 2009, the worldwide rubber production was about 23.6 million tons. In order to solve this problems, our research focus in an alternative synthesis of biofuels in a two-step approach: The metathesis degradation of industrial rubber (models of rubber waste), and the oligomers transesterification. Thus, cis-1,4-polybutadiene (Mn= 9.1x105, Mw/Mn= 2.2) and styrene-butadiene block copolymers with 30% (Mn= 1.61x105; Mw/Mn= 1.3) and 21% wt styrene (Mn= 1.92x105; Mw/Mn= 1.4) were degraded via metathesis with soybean oil as chain transfer agent (CTA) and green solvent; using [(PCy3)2Cl2Ru=CHPh] and [(1,3-diphenyl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene)(PCy3)Ru=CHPh] catalysts. Afterwards, the products were transesterified by basic homogeneous catalysis. Before transesterification, the polystyrene microblocks (Mn= 16,761; Mw/Mn= 1.2) were isolated. Finally, the biofuels obtained (BO) were purified, characterized and showed similar properties to standards biodiesel (SB) (Norms: EN 14214-03 and ASTM D6751-02), i.e. (SB / BO): molecular weight [Daltons] (570 / 543-596), density [g/cm3] (0.86-0.90 / 0.88), kinematic viscosity [mm2/s] (1.90-6.0 / 3.5-4.5), iodine (97 / 97-98) and cetane number (Min.47 / 56-58).

Keywords: biofuels, industrial rubber, metathesis, vegetable oils

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Authors: Jae-Yong Lee, Gyu-Hyun Bae, Yun-Soo Chung, Dae-Sub Kim, Jae-Sung Bae

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In general, fabric is heat-treated using a stenter machine in order to dry and fix its shape. It is important to shape before the heat treatment because it is difficult to revert back once the fabric is formed. To produce the product of right shape, camera type weft straightener has been applied recently to capture and process fabric images quickly. It is more powerful in determining the final textile quality rather than photo-sensor. Positioning in front of a stenter machine, weft straightener helps to spread fabric evenly and control the angle between warp and weft constantly as right angle by handling skew and bow rollers. To process this tricky procedure, the structural analysis should be carried out in advance, based on which, its control technology can be drawn. A structural analysis is to figure out the specific contact/slippage characteristics between fabric and roller. We already examined the applicability of camera type weft straightener to plain weave fabric and found its possibility and the specific working condition of machine and rollers. In this research, we aimed to explore another applicability of camera type weft straightener. Namely, we tried to figure out camera type weft straightener can be used for fabrics. To find out the optimum condition, we increased the number of rollers. The analysis is done by ANSYS software using Finite Element Analysis method. The control function is demonstrated by experiment. In conclusion, the structural analysis of weft straightener is done to identify a specific characteristic between roller and fabrics. The control of skew and bow roller is done to decrease the error of the angle between warp and weft. Finally, it is proved that camera type straightener can also be used for the special fabrics.

Keywords: camera type weft straightener, structure analysis, control, skew and bow roller

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Authors: R. M. Chandima Ratnayake, Daniel Dyakov

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Super steel materials play vital role in construction and fabrication of structural, piping and pipeline components. They enable to minimize the life cycle costs in assuring the integrity of onshore and offshore operating systems. In this context, Duplex stainless steel (DSS) material related welding on constructions and fabrications play a significant role in maintaining and assuring integrity at an optimal expenditure over the life cycle of production and process systems as well as associated structures. In DSS welding, the factors such as gap geometry, shielding gas supply rate, welding current, and type of the welding process play a vital role on the final joint performance. Hence, an experimental investigation has been performed using engineering robust design approach (ERDA) to investigate the optimal settings that generate optimal super DSS (i.e. UNS S32750) joint performance. This manuscript illustrates the mathematical approach and experimental design, optimal parameter settings and results of verification experiment.

Keywords: duplex stainless steel welding, engineering robust design, mathematical framework, optimal parameter settings

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Authors: Daehyun Baek, Seungmin Lee, Minju Kim Jangik Park, Hyeong-Soon Moon

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SPM (Single Point Mooring) is one of the mooring buoy facilities installed on a coast near oil and gas terminal which is not able to berth FPSO or large oil tankers under the condition of high draft due to geometrical limitation. Loading and unloading of crude oil and gas through a subsea pipeline can be carried out between the mooring buoy, ships and onshore facilities. SPM is an offshore-standalone system which has to withstand the harsh marine environment with harsh conditions such as high wind, current and so on. Therefore, SPM is required to have high stability, reliability and durability. Also, SPM is comprised to be integrated systems which consist of power management, high pressure valve control, sophisticated hardware/software and a long distance communication system. In order to secure required functions of SPM system, a simulation model for the integrated system of SPM using MATLAB Simulink and State flow tool has been developed. The developed model consists of configuration of hydraulic system for opening and closing of PLEM (Pipeline End Manifold) valves and control system logic. To verify functions of the model, an integrated simulation model for overall systems of SPM was also developed by considering handshaking variables between individual systems. In addition to the dynamic model, a self-diagnostic function to determine failure of the system was configured, which enables the SPM system itself to alert users about the failure once a failure signal comes to arise. Controlling and monitoring the SPM system is able to be done by a HMI system which is capable of managing the SPM system remotely, which was carried out by building a communication environment between the SPM system and the HMI system.

Keywords: HMI system, mooring buoy, simulink simulation model, single point mooring, stateflow

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Authors: L. Totladze

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The role of financial sector in supporting economic growth and development is well acknowledged. The term spread (the difference between the yields on long-term and short-term Treasury securities) has been found useful for predicting economic variables as output growth, inflation, industrial production, consumption. The temp spread is one of the leading economic indicators according to NBER methodology. Leading economic indicators are widely used in forecasting of economic activity. Many empirical studies find that the term spread predicts future economic activity. The article shortly explains how the term spread might predict future economic activity. This paper analyses the dynamics of the spread between short and long-term interest rates in countries with transition economies. The research paper analyses term spread dynamics in Georgia and compare it with post-communist countries and transition economies spread dynamics. In Georgia, the banking sector plays an important and dominant role in the financial sector, especially with respect to the mobilization of savings and provision of credit and may impact on economic activity. For this purpose, we study the impact of the term spread on economic growth in Georgia.

Keywords: forecasting, leading economic indicators, term spread, transition economies

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Authors: Victor Emery David Jr, Md S. Hossain

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Sewage sludge management has been a problem faced by most developing cities as in the case of Monrovia. The management of sewage sludge in Monrovia is still in its infant stage. The city is still struggling with poor sanitation, clogged pipes, shortage of septic tanks, lack of resources/human capacity, inadequate treatment facilities, open defecation, the absence of clear guidelines, etc. The rapid urban population growth of Monrovia has severely stressed Monrovia’s marginally functional urban WSS system caused by the civil conflict which led to break down in many sectors as well as infrastructure. The sewerage system which originally covered 17% of the population of Monrovia was down to serving about 7% because of bursts and blockages causing backflows in other areas. Prior to the Civil War, the average water production for Monrovia was about 68,000 m3/day but has now dropped to about 10,000 m3/day. Only small parts of Monrovia currently have direct access to the piped water supply while most areas depend on trucked water delivered to community collection points or household tanks, and/or on water from unprotected dug wells or hand pumps. There are only two functional treatment plants; The Fiamah Treatment plant and the White Plains Treatment Plant.

Keywords: Fiamah Treatment plant, management, Monrovia/Montserrado County, sewage, sludge

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Authors: Rasha Saad, Jean Frederic Weber, Fatimah Bebe, Sadia Sultan

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The goal of study was to screen the effects of candesartan and four endophytic fungi for their potential in microbial biotransformation. In this experiment, four types of unidentified fungi with the codes of TH2L1, TH2R10, TH1P35 and TH1S46 were used in screening process by MECFUS (Microtiter plate, Elicitors, Combination, Freeze-drying, UHPLC, Statistical analysis) protocol. The experiment was carried out by using 96-well microtiter plate (MTP) with different media and elicitors. Various media with two concentrations of Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) and elicitors used were to induce the production of secondary metabolites from the fungi as well as the biotransformation of the drug compound. After incubation, cultures were extracted by freeze drying method and finally analyzed by ultra-High performance Liquid Chromatography (uHPLC). The extracts analyzed by uHPLC followed by LC/Ms, demonstrated the presence of biotransformation products from the drug compound and elicitation of the secondary metabolism from the fungi by the occurrence of the additional peaks. From the four fungi, TH1S46 showed highly potential produced secondary metabolites as well as the biotransformation of candesartan. For other fungi, they responded when candesartan was introduced. Moreover, the additional peaks produced in uHPLC need to be further investigation by using LC-MS or NMR.

Keywords: biotransformation, candesartan, endophytes, secondary metabolites

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Authors: Cesar Torres, Robert Briber, Nam Sun Wang

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Eye drops are the most commonly used treatment for short-term and long-term ophthalmic diseases. However, eye drops could deliver only about 5% of the functional ingredients contained in a burst dosage. To address the limitations of eye drops, the use of therapeutic contact lenses has been introduced. Drug-loaded contact lenses provide drugs a longer residence time in the tear film and hence, decrease the potential risk of side effects. Nevertheless, a major limitation of contact lenses as drug delivery devices is that most of the drug absorbed is released within the first few hours. This fact limits their use for extended release. The present study demonstrates the application of long-alkyl chain ionic surfactants on extending drug release kinetics from commercially available silicone hydrogel contact lenses. In vitro release experiments were carried by immersing drug-containing contact lenses in phosphate buffer saline at physiological pH. The drug concentration as a function of time was monitored using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The results of the study demonstrate that release kinetics is dependent on the ionic surfactant weight percent in the contact lenses, and on the length of the hydrophobic alkyl chain of the ionic surfactants. The use of ionic surfactants in contact lenses can extend the delivery of drugs from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on the physicochemical properties of the drugs. Contact lenses embedded with ionic surfactants could be potential biomaterials to be used for extended drug delivery and in the treatment of ophthalmic diseases. However, ocular irritation and toxicity studies would be needed to evaluate the safety of the approach.

Keywords: contact lenses, drug delivery, controlled release, ionic surfactant

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Authors: Muhammad Afiq Anaqi Bin Baharudin, Muhammad Izamuddin Bin Mohd Nasir, Syarifuddin Bin Sujuanda, Muhammad Syahmi Rusyaidi Bin Sham Suddin, Danish Hakimi Bin Kamaruzaman, Muhammad Haqimi Nazim Bin Hasmanizam, Mohammad Akmal Zakwan Bin Amran, Muhammad Alparizi Bin Latif

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By improving efficiency and production, information technology (IT) has transformed working environments, but it has also created new threats to occupational safety and health (OSH). This study evaluates the literature that has already been written on the subject of IT and OSH, identifies major findings and discussion points, and highlights gaps in the material that call for additional research. The study's findings, which look at how IT affects OSH in a sizable multinational organization, are also presented in the report. According to the report, IT poses a number of OSH problems, such as ergonomic dangers, eye strain, dangers related to cybersecurity, and psychological hazards. The report suggests using tactics like providing comfortable workstations, encouraging a healthy balance between work and life, and putting strong cybersecurity safeguards in place to reduce these dangers. The implications of these findings for OSH and IT are discussed in the paper's conclusion, and it emphasizes the need for more study and action to address these dangers and promote healthy and secure working environments in the age of digitization.

Keywords: information technology, occupational safety and health (OSH), ergonomic, hazards, workplace.

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Authors: Susanna Vanhamäki, Gabor Schneider, Kati Manskinen

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‘Bioeconomy’ is a complex concept that cuts across many sectors and covers several policy areas. To achieve an overall understanding and support a successful bioeconomy, a cross-sectorial approach is necessary. In practice, due to the concept’s wide scope and varying international approaches, fully understanding bioeconomy is challenging on policy level. This paper provides a background of the topic through an analysis of bioeconomy strategies in the Baltic Sea region. Expert interviews and a small survey were conducted to discover the current and intended focuses of these countries’ bioeconomy sectors. The research shows that supporting sustainability is one of the keys in developing the future bioeconomy. The results highlighted that the bioeconomy has to be sustainable and based on circular economy principles. Currently, traditional bioeconomy sectors like food, wood, fish & waters as well as fuel & energy, which are in the core of national bioeconomy strategies, are best known and are considered more relevant than other bioeconomy industries. However, there is increasing potential for novel sectors, such as textiles and pharmaceuticals. The present research indicates that the opportunities presented by these bioeconomy sectors should be recognised and promoted. Education, research and innovation can play key roles in developing transformative and sustainable improvements in primary production and renewable resources. Furthermore, cooperation between businesses and educators is important.

Keywords: bioeconomy, circular economy, policy, strategy

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Authors: A. Albaridi Najla

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Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) is well known to have beneficial effect on health. The seeds are rich in protein, α-linolenic fatty acid and dietary fiber. Bakery products are important part of our daily meals. Functional food recently received considerable attention among consumers. The increase in bread daily consumption leads to the production of breads with functional ingredients such as flaxseed The aim of this Study was to improve the nutritional value of bread by adding flaxseed flour and assessing the effect of adding 0, 5, 10 and 15% flaxseed on whole wheat bread rheological and sensorial properties. The total consumer's acceptability of the flaxseed bread was assessed. Dough characteristics were determined using Farinograph (C.W. Brabender® Instruments, Inc). The result shows no change was observed in water absorption between the stander dough (without flaxseed) and the bread with flaxseed (67%). An Increase in the peak time and dough stickiness was observed with the increase in flaxseed level. Further, breads were evaluated for sensory parameters, colour and texture. High flaxseed level increased the bread crumb softness. Bread with 5% flaxseed was optimized for total sensory evaluation. Overall, flaxseed bread produced in this study was highly acceptable for daily consumption as a functional foods with a potentially health benefits.

Keywords: bread, flaxseed, rheological properties, whole-wheat bread

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Authors: Boroka Gács, Tibor Szolcsányi, Árpad Csathó

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Background: Individuals frequently show habituation to repeated noxious heat. However, given the defensive function of human pain processing, it is reasonable to assume that individuals imagine that they would become increasingly sensitive to repeated thermal pain stimuli. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have, however, been addressed to this assumption. Therefore, in the current study, we investigated how healthy human individuals imagine the intensity of repeated thermal pain stimulations, and compared this with the intensity ratings given after physically induced thermal pain trials. Methods: Healthy participants (N = 20) gave pain intensity ratings in two conditions: imagined and real thermal pain. In the real pain condition thermal pain stimuli of two intensities (minimal and moderate pain) were delivered in four consecutive trials. The duration of the peak temperature was 20s, and stimulation was always delivered to the same location. In each trial, participants rated the pain intensity twice, 5s and 15s after the onset of the peak temperature. In the imagined pain condition, participants were subjected to a reference pain stimulus and then asked to imagine and rate the same sequence of stimulations as in the induced pain condition. Results: Ratings of imagined pain and physically induced pain followed opposite courses over repeated stimulation: Ratings of imagined pain indicated sensitization whereas ratings for physically induced pain indicated habituation. The findings were similar for minimal and moderate pain intensities. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, rather than habituating to pain, healthy individuals imagine that they would become increasingly sensitive to repeated thermal pain stimuli.

Keywords: habituation, imagined pain, pain perception, thermal stimulation

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Authors: Adrien Pyskir, Manuel Collet, Zoran Dimitrijevic, Claude-Henri Lamarque

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During the last decades, great efforts have been made to reduce acoustic and vibrational disturbances in transportations, as it has become a key feature for comfort. Today, isolation and design have neutralized most of the troublesome vibrations, so that cars are quieter and more comfortable than ever. However, some problems remain unsolved, in particular concerning low-frequency isolation and the frequency-dependent stiffening of materials like rubber. To sum it up, a balance has to be found between a high static stiffness to sustain the vibration source’s mass, and low dynamic stiffness, as wideband as possible. Systems meeting these criteria are yet to be designed. We thus investigated solutions inspired by metamaterials to control efficiently low-frequency wave propagation. Structures exhibiting a negative Poisson ratio, also called auxetic structures, are known to influence the propagation of waves through beaming or damping. However, their stiffness can be quite peculiar as well, as they can present regions of zero stiffness on the stress-strain curve for compression. In addition, auxetic materials can be easily adapted in many ways, inducing great tuning potential. Using finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics, a resonant design has been tested through statics and dynamics simulations. These results are compared to experimental results. In particular, the bandgaps featured by these structures are analyzed as a function of design parameters. Great stiffness properties can be observed, including low-frequency dynamic stiffness loss and broadband transmission loss. Such features are very promising for practical isolation purpose, and we hope to adopt this kind of metamaterial into an effective industrial damper.

Keywords: auxetics, metamaterials, structural dynamics, vibration isolation

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Authors: Tofigh Hamidavi, Sepehr Abrishami, Pasquale Ponterosso, David Begg

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Structural design and analysis is an important and time-consuming process, particularly at the conceptual design stage. Decisions made at this stage can have an enormous effect on the entire project, as it becomes ever costlier and more difficult to alter the choices made early on in the construction process. Hence, optimisation of the early stages of structural design can provide important efficiencies in terms of cost and time. This paper suggests a structural design optimisation (SDO) framework in which Genetic Algorithms (GAs) may be used to semi-automate the production and optimisation of early structural design alternatives. This framework has the potential to leverage conceptual structural design innovation in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) projects. Moreover, this framework improves the collaboration between the architectural stage and the structural stage. It will be shown that this SDO framework can make this achievable by generating the structural model based on the extracted data from the architectural model. At the moment, the proposed SDO framework is in the process of validation, involving the distribution of an online questionnaire among structural engineers in the UK.

Keywords: building information, modelling, BIM, genetic algorithm, GA, architecture-engineering-construction, AEC, optimisation, structure, design, population, generation, selection, mutation, crossover, offspring

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Authors: Ceren Karaman, Onur Karaman

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The adsorption of Remazol Black B (RBB), an anionic dye, onto dried orange pulp (DOP) adsorbent prepared by only drying and by treating with cetyltrimetylammonium bromide (CTAB), a cationic surfactant, surface-modified orange pulp (SMOP) was studied in a stirred batch experiments system at 25°C. The adsorption of RBB on each adsorbent as a function of surfactant dosage, initial pH of the solution and initial dye concentration was investigated. The optimum amount of CTAB was found to be 25g/l. For RBB adsorption studies, while working pH value for the DOP adsorbent system was determined as 2.0, it was observed that this value shifted to 8.0 when the 25 g/l CTAB treated-orange pulp (SMOP) adsorbent was used. It was obtained that the adsorption rate and capacity increased to a certain value, and the adsorption efficiency decreased with increasing initial RBB concentration for both DOP and SMOP adsorbents at pH 2.0 and pH 8.0. While the highest adsorption capacity for DOP was determined as 62.4 mg/g at pH 2.0, and as 325.0 mg/g for SMOP at pH 8.0. As a result, it can be said that permanent cationic coating of the adsorbent surface by CTAB surfactant shifted the working pH from 2.0 to 8.0 and it increased the dye adsorption rate and capacity of orange pulp much more significantly at pH 8.0. The equilibrium RBB adsorption data on each adsorbent were best described by the Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorption kinetics of RBB on each adsorbent followed a pseudo-second-order model. Moreover, the intraparticle diffusion model was used to describe the kinetic data. It was found that diffusion is not the only rate controlling step. The adsorbent was characterized by the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, Fourier-transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and scanning-electron-microscopy (SEM). The mechanism for the adsorption of RBB on the SMOP may include hydrophobic interaction, van der Waals interaction, stacking and electrostatic interaction.

Keywords: adsorption, Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB), orange pulp, Remazol Black B (RBB), surface modification

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Authors: Renu Yadav, Sanjeev Kumar

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In northern India, chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) come across with terminal high-temperature stress during reproductive stage which leads to reduced yield. Hence, stable production of chickpea will depend on the development of new methods like ‘priming’ which allow improved adaptation to the drought and heat stress. In the present experiment, 11-day chickpea seedling was primed with mild drought stress and put on recovery stage by irrigating and finally 30-day seedlings were exposed to heat stress 38°C (4 hours), 35°C (8 hours) and 32°C (12 hours). To study the effect of combinatorial stress, heat and drought stress was applied simultaneously. Analyses of various physiological parameters like membrane damage assay, photosynthetic pigments, antioxidative enzyme, total sugars were estimated at all stages. To study the effect of heat stress on the metabolites of the plants, GC-MS and HPLC were performed, while at transcriptional level Real-Time PCR of predicted heat stress-related genes was done. It was concluded that the heat stress significantly affected the chickpea plant at physiological and molecular level in all the five varieties. Results also show less damaging effect in primed plants by increasing the activity of antioxidative enzymes and increased expression of heat shock proteins and heat shock factors.

Keywords: chickpea, combinatorial stress, heat stress, oxidative stress, priming, RT-PCR

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Authors: Hong Im Shin

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Previous research demonstrated that self-objectification (women view themselves as objects for use) is related to system-justification. Three studies investigated whether cultural disposition as its system-justifying function could have an impact on self-objectification and dehumanization of sexualized women and men. Study 1 (N = 91) employed a survey methodology to examine the relationship between cultural disposition (collectivism vs. individualism), trait of system-justification, and self-objectification. The results showed that the higher tendency of collectivism was related to stronger system-justification and self-objectification. Study 2 (N = 60 females) introduced a single category implicit association task (SC-IAT) to assess the extent to which sexually objectified women were associated with uniquely human attributes (i.e., culture) compared to animal-related attributes (i.e., nature). According to results, female participants associated sexually objectified female targets less with human attributes compared to animal-related attributes. Study 3 (N = 46) investigated whether priming to individualism or collectivism was associated to system justification and sexual objectification of men and women with the use of a recognition task involving upright and inverted pictures of sexualized women and men. The results indicated that the female participants primed to individualism showed an inversion effect for sexualized women and men (person-like recognition), whereas there was no inversion effect for sexualized women in the priming condition of collectivism (object-like recognition). This implies that cultural disposition plays a mediating role for rationalizing the gender status, implicit dehumanization of sexualized females and self-objectification. Future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: cultural disposition, dehumanization, implicit test, self-objectification

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Authors: Ke Yang, QiHan, Bauke de Veirs

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This study addresses the need for coordinated management of natural resources in urban agglomeration. Using ecosystem services theory, The study explore the relationship between land use in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (B-T-H) region and the Food-Water-Energy (F-W-E) nexus from 2000 to 2030. We assess ecosystem services using the InVEST: Habitat Quality (HQ), Water Yield (WY), Carbon Sequestration (CS), Soil Retention (SDR), and Food Production (FP). The study find an annual expansion of construction land alongside a significant decline in cultivated land. Additionally, HQ, CS, and per capita FP decline annually until 2020 and are expected to persist through 2030. In contrast, WY and SDR grow annually but may decline by 2030. Spearman coefficient analysis reveals synergies between HQ and CS, SDR and CS, and SDR and HQ, with trade-offs between CS and WY and HQ and WY. Utilizing the K-means clustering analysis method, we introduce county-based spatial planning for the F-W-E system, offering valuable insights and recommendations for sustainable resource management.

Keywords: food-water-energy (F-W-E), ecosystem services, trade-offs and synergies, ecosystem service bundle, county-based

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Authors: Hubert Pun

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When a manufacturer outsources the production of a product, it distributes its intellectual property (IP) into a supply chain that it may not be able to fully control. An IP agreement between a manufacturer and its suppliers is a popular solution to address the challenge of supplier-copycatting. The goal of this paper is to examine the impact of copycatting, from both the supplier and third-party firms, and the effectiveness of an IP agreement. Specifically, we use a game-theoretic approach to examine a system where a manufacturer outsources to a supplier. The supplier and a third-party firm decide whether or not to enter the market with copycat products while the manufacturer selects the level of marketing investment. The manufacturer can reduce the threat of supplier-copycatting by signing an IP agreement. We find that the manufacturer can be worse off from signing an IP agreement with its supplier, even if the IP agreement is costless and perfectly enforceable. We show that a manufacturer can deter copycat products through vertical integration and IP agreements and we outline the instances where each method is preferred. Furthermore, we find that the manufacturer may choose not to invest in quality improvements as a copycat deterrence strategy. We show that the supplier can benefit from the manufacturer’s decision to sign an IP agreement and that the supplier and the consumers can benefit from government regulations against copycat products. Our paper demonstrates the strengths and limitations of various copycat deterrence strategies when a supplier and third-party may produce copycat products.

Keywords: coopetitive supply chain, copycat, government regulation, intellectual property

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Authors: Amelyn M. Ambal, Jose Hermis Patricio

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A macro-somatic clonal propagation study was undertaken to determine the effects of method of propagation, rooting hormone, and level of rooting hormone concentration of TBOS (Calophyllum inophyllum Mer. and Pongamia pinnata L.). A factorial experiment in SSSPD with three replications was used in the study and analyzed using ANOVA and LSD. Open mist propagation is effective for rooting Calophyllum inophyllum and Pongamia pinnata cuttings as it gave statistically higher number of adventitious roots, longer length of roots, and higher rooting percentage. C. inophyllum cuttings exhibit statistically higher rooting percentage compared to P. pinnata cuttings when subjected to open mist method and treated with 600 ppm of NAA. NAA is more effective than IBA in terms of number and length of roots, and rooting percentage produced. However, levels of hormone concentration were not generally effective on the rooting performance and shoot production of both species.

Keywords: adventitious roots, Calophyllum, close-mist, macro-somatic clonal propagation, Pongamia, open-mist

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Authors: Rosa Christodoulaki, Irene Koronaki, Panagiotis Tsekouras

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The aim of this study is to analyze the energy performance of a spherical Stationary Reflector / Tracking Absorber (SRTA) solar concentrator. This type of collector consists of a segment of a spherical mirror placed in a stationary position facing the sun and a cylindrical absorber that tracks the sun by a simple pivoting motion about the center of curvature of the reflector. The energy analysis is performed through the development of a dynamic simulation model in TRNSYS software that calculates the annual heat production and the efficiency of the SRTA solar concentrator. The effect of solar concentrator design features and characteristics, such the reflector material, the reflector diameter, the receiver type, the solar radiation level and the concentration ratio, are discussed in details. Moreover, the energy performance curve of the SRTA solar concentrator, for various temperature differences between the mean fluid temperature and the ambient temperature and radiation intensities is drawn. The results are shown in diagrams, visualizing the effect of solar, optical and thermal parameters to the overall performance of the SRTA solar concentrator throughout the year. The analysis indicates that the SRTA solar concentrator can operate efficiently under a wide range of operating conditions.

Keywords: concentrating solar collector, energy analysis , stationary reflector, tracking absorber

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Authors: Tahir Munir Butt, Gao Qijie, Babar Shahbaz, Muhammad Zakaria Yousaf Hassan, Zhnag Chuanhong

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The main objective of this paper is to identify the relationship between Information Communication Technology (ICTs) applications with Agricultural development in the process of communication at rural Punjab-Pakistan. The authors analyzed the relationship of ICTs applications with the most prominent factor for the Agricultural Information Services (AIS) in the Agricultural Extension Approaches (AEA). The data collection procedure was started from Jan. 2015 and completed in July 2015. It is the one of the part in PhD studies at China Agriculture, University Hadian-Beijng China. It was observed that on major constraint in the AIS disseminated was the limited number of farmers especially and unknown the farmers about new ICTs technology for Agriculture at rural areas. Majority of ICTs application e.g. Toll free number; Robo Calls; Text message was highly significances in the AIS approach. The recommendation is communication and capacity building one of the indispensable elements for sustainable and agricultural development and Agricultural extension should be provided training to farmer about new ICTs technologies to access and use of it for Sustainable Agriculture Development (SAD) and update the scenario of flow of information also with try to established ICTs hub at the village level.

Keywords: ICTs, AEA, AIS, SAD, rural farmers

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Authors: Ahmed A. Abd El Rahim, Mohamed M. M. Essa, Magdy M. A. Shabana, Said A. Mohamed, Mohamed Ibrahim Mabrouk

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Background: Sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction is considered the main cause of pregnancy-related back pain, which may continue to persist postnatally. Myofascial release technique (MFR) is an application of low-intensity, prolonged stretch to myofascial structures to improve function by increasing the sliding properties of restricted myofascial tissues. Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the effect of MFR on postnatal SIJ hypo-mobility. Materials and Methods: Fifty postnatal women complaining of SIJ hypo-mobility participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 26 to 35 yrs., and their body mass index (BMI) didn`t exceed 30 kg/m2. They were randomly assigned to two equal groups, group A (Gr. A) and group B (Gr. B). Both groups received three sessions per week for eight successive weeks. Gr. A received a traditional physical therapy program, while Gr. B received a traditional physical therapy program in addition to MFR. Doppler imaging of vibration was utilized to measure SIJ mobility pre- and post-intervention, and an electronic digital goniometer was used to measure back flexion and extension Range of motion. Results: Findings revealed a statistical improvement in post-intervention values of SIJ mobility in addition to trunk flexion and extension ROM in Gr. B compared to Gr. A (P<0.001). Conclusion: Adding MFR to traditional physical therapy programs is highly recommended in the treatment of SIJ hypo-mobility in postnatal women.

Keywords: sacroiliac hypo-mobility, sacroiliac dysfunction, myofascial release technique, traditional physical therapy, postnatal

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Authors: Amir Amiri, Naghmeh Morakabati

Abstract:

During the recent years the six-fold growth of cancer in Iran has led the production of healthy products to become a challenge in the food industry. Due to the young population in the country, the consumption of fast foods is growing. The chemical cancer-causing preservatives are used to produce these products more than the standard; so using an appropriate alternative seems to be important. On the one hand, the plant essential oils show the high antimicrobial potential against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and on the other hand they are highly volatile and decomposed under the processing conditions. The study aims to produce the loaded chitosan nanoparticles with different concentrations of savory essential oil to improve the anti-microbial property and increase the resistance of essential oil to oxygen and heat. The encapsulation efficiency was obtained in the range of 32.07% to 39.93% and the particle size distribution of the samples was observed in the range of 159 to 210 nm. The range of Zeta potential was obtained between -11.9 to -23.1 mV. The essential oil loaded in chitosan showed stronger antifungal activity against Rhizopus stolonifer. The results showed that the antioxidant property is directly related to the concentration of loaded essential oil so that the antioxidant property increases by increasing the concentration of essential oil. In general, it seems that the savory essential oil loaded in chitosan particles can be used as a food processor.

Keywords: chitosan, encapsulation, essential oil, nanogel

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Dipti Yadav, Latha Rangan, Pinakeswar Mahanta

Abstract:

Recent fuel-development strategies to reduce oil dependency, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and utilize domestic resources have generated interest in the search for alternative sources of fuel supplies. Bioenergy production from lignocellulosic biomass has a great potential. Cellulose, hemicellulose and Lignin are main constituent of woods or agrowaste. In all the industries there are always left over or waste products mainly lignin, due to the heterogeneous nature of wood and pulp fibers and the heterogeneity that exists between individual fibers, no method is currently available for the quantitative isolation of native or residual lignin without the risk of structural changes during the isolation. The potential benefits from finding alternative uses of lignin are extensive, and with a double effect. Lignin can be used to replace fossil-based raw materials in a wide range of products, from plastics to individual chemical products, activated carbon, motor fuels and carbon fibers. Furthermore, if there is a market for lignin for such value-added products, the mills will also have an additional economic incentive to take measures for higher energy efficiency. In this study residual lignin were isolated from areca nut shells by acid hydrolysis and were analyzed and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), LCMS and complexity of its structure investigated by NMR.

Keywords: Areca nut, Lignin, wood, bioenergy

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Authors: Lida Balilan, Dariush Sattarzadeh, Rana Koorepaz

Abstract:

In the Ilkhanid era, the mystical school of Tabriz manifested itself as an art school in various aspects, including miniatures, architecture, urban planning and design, simultaneously with the expansion of the many sciences of its time. In this era, mysticism, both in form and in poetry and prose, as well as in works of art reached its peak. Mysticism, as an inner belief and thought, brought the audience to the artistic and aesthetical view using allegorical and symbolic expression of the religion and had a direct impact on the formation of the intellectual and cultural layers of the society. At the same time, Mystic school of Tabriz could create a symbolic and allegorical language to create magnificent works of architecture with the expansion of science in various fields and using various sciences such as mathematics, geometry, science of numbers and by Abjad letters. In this era, geometry is the middle link between mysticism and architecture and it is divided into two categories, including intellectual and sensory geometry and based on its function. Soltaniyeh dome is one of the prominent buildings of the Tabriz school with the shrine land use. In this article, information is collected using a historical-interpretive method and the results are analyzed using an analytical-comparative method. The results of the study suggest that the designers and builders of the Soltaniyeh dome have used shapes, colors, numbers, letters and words in the form of motifs, geometric patterns as well as lines and writings in levels and layers ranging from plans to decorations and arrays for architectural symbolization and encryption to express and transmit mystical ideas.

Keywords: geometry, Tabriz school, mystical thoughts, dome of Soltaniyeh

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Ghazi R. Reda Mahmoud Reda

Abstract:

Among the metal that forms hydride´s, Mg and Ti are known as the most lightweight materials; however, they are covered with a passive layer of oxides and hydroxides and require activation treatment under high temperature ( > 300 C ) and hydrogen pressure ( > 3 MPa) before being used for storage and transport applications. It is well known that small graphite addition to Ti or Mg, lead to a dramatic change in the kinetics of mechanically induced hydrogen sorption ( uptake) and significantly stimulate the Ti-Hydrogen interaction. Many explanations were given by different authors to explain the effect of graphite addition on the performance of Ti as material for hydrogen storage. Not only graphite but also the addition of a polycyclic aromatic compound will also improve the hydrogen absorption kinetics. It will be shown that the function of carbon addition is two-fold. First carbon acts as a vacuum cleaner, which scavenges out all the interstitial oxygen that can poison or slow down hydrogen absorption. It is also important to note that oxygen favors the chemisorption of hydrogen, which is not desirable for hydrogen storage. Second, during scavenging of the interstitial oxygen, the carbon reacts with oxygen in the nano and microchannel through a highly exothermic reaction to produce carbon dioxide and monoxide which provide the necessary heat for activation and thus in the presence of carbon lower heat of activation for hydrogen absorption which is observed experimentally. Furthermore, the product of the reaction of hydrogen with the carbon oxide will produce water which due to ball milling hydrolyze to produce the linear H5O2 + this will reconstruct the primary structure of the nanocarbon to form secondary structure, where the primary structure (a sheet of carbon) are connected through hydrogen bonding. It is the space between these sheets where physisorption or defect mediated sorption occurs.

Keywords: metal forming hydrides, polar molecule impurities, titanium, phase diagram, hydrogen absorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Hyo-Min Kim, Seokjin Ham, Mi-Joung Yoo, Minseon Kim, Tae-Young Roh

Abstract:

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of most animals, including murine, is highly compartmentalized epithelia which also provide distinct different functions of its own tissue. Nevertheless, these epithelia share certain characteristics that enhance immune responses to infections and maintain the barrier function of the intestine. GI tract epithelia also undergo regeneration not only in homeostatic conditions but also in a response to the damage. A full turnover of the murine gastrointestinal epithelium occurs every 4-5 day, a process that is regulated and maintained by a minor population of Lgr5+ adult stem cell that commonly conserved in the bottom of crypts through GI tract. Maintenance of the stem cell is somehow regulated by epigenetic factors according to recent studies. Chromatin vacancy, remodelers, histone variants and histone modifiers could affect adult stem cell fate. In this study, Lgr5-EGFP reporter mouse was used to take advantage of exploring the epigenetic dynamics among Lgr5 positive mutual stem cell in GI tract. Cells were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), gene expression levels, chromatin accessibility changes and histone modifications were analyzed. Some notable chromatin structural related epigenetic variants were detected. To identify the overall cell-cell interaction inside the stem cell niche, an extensive genome-wide analysis should be also followed. According to the results, nevertheless, we expected a broader understanding of cellular niche maintaining stem cells and epigenetic barriers through conserved stem cell in GI tract. We expect that our study could provide more evidence of adult stem cell plasticity and more chances to understand each stem cell that takes parts in certain organs.

Keywords: adult stem cell, epigenetics, LGR5 stem cell, gastrointestinal tract

Procedia PDF Downloads 213

Authors: Arne Hitzmann, Philipp Wentscher, Alexander Gabel, Reinhard Gerndt

Abstract:

Autonomous mobile robots can be found in a wide field of applications. Their types range from household robots over workshop robots to autonomous cars and many more. All of them undergo a number of testing steps during development, production and maintenance. This paper describes an approach to improve testing of robot behavior. It was inspired by the RoboCup @work competition that itself reflects a robotics benchmark for industrial robotics. There, scaled down versions of mobile industrial robots have to navigate through a workshop-like environment or operation area and have to perform tasks of manipulating and transporting work pieces. This paper will introduce an approach of automated vision-based testing of the behavior of the so called youBot robot, which is the most widely used robot platform in the RoboCup @work competition. The proposed system allows automated testing of multiple tries of the robot to perform a specific missions and it allows for the flexibility of the robot, e.g. selecting different paths between two tasks within a mission. The approach is based on a multi-camera setup using, off the shelf cameras and optical markers. It has been applied for test-driven development (TDD) and maintenance-like verification of the robot behavior and performance.

Keywords: supervisory control, testing, markers, mono vision, automation

Procedia PDF Downloads 361