Search results for: Dynamic Source Routing

Authors: Josephine R. Migalbin

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Halal is an Arabic word meaning "lawful" or "permitted". When it comes to food and consumables, Halal is the dietary standard of Muslims. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has a comparative advantage when it comes to Halal Industry because it is the only Muslim region in the Philippines and the natural starting point for the establishment of a halal industry in the country. The region has identified goat production not only for domestic consumption but for export market. Goat production is one of its strengths due to cultural compatibility. There is a high demand for goats during Ramadhan and Eid ul-Adha. The study aimed to provide an overview of the ARMM Halal Goat Industry; to map out the specific supply chain of halal goat, and to analyze the performance of the halal goat supply chain in terms of efficiency, flexibility, and overall responsiveness. It also aimed to identify areas for improvement in the supply chain such as behavioural, institutional, and process to provide recommendations for improvement in the supply chain towards efficient and effective production and marketing of halal goats, subsequently improving the plight of the actors in the supply chain. Generally, the raising of goats is characterized by backyard production (92.02%). There are four interrelated factors affecting significantly the production of goats which are breeding prolificacy, prevalence of diseases, feed abundance and pre-weaning mortality rate. The institutional buyers are mostly traders, restaurants/eateries, supermarkets, and meat shops, among others. The municipalities of Midsayap and Pikit in another region and Parang are the major goat sources and the municipalities in ARMM among others. In addition to the major supply centers, Siquijor, an island province in the Visayas is becoming a key source of goats. Goats are usually gathered by traders/middlemen and brought to the public markets. Meat vendors purchase them directly from raisers, slaughtered and sold fresh in wet markets. It was observed that there is increased demand at 2%/year and that supply is not enough to meet the demand. Farm gate price is 2.04 USD to 2.11 USD/kg liveweight. Industry information is shared by three key participants - raisers, traders and buyers. All respondents reported that information is through personal built-upon past experiences and that there is no full disclosure of information among the key participants in the chain. The information flow in the industry is fragmented in nature such that no total industry picture exists. In the last five years, numerous local and foreign agencies had undertaken several initiatives for the development of the halal goat industry in ARMM. The major issues include productivity which is the greatest challenge, difficulties in accessing technical support channels and lack of market linkage and consolidation. To address the various issues and concerns of the various industry players, there is a need to intensify appropriate technology transfer through extension activities, improve marketing channels by grouping producers, strengthen veterinary services and provide capital windows to improve facilities and reduce logistics and transaction costs in the entire supply chain.

Keywords: autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, halal, halal goat industry, supply chain improvement

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Authors: Maria Ines Azambuja

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Graphic displays of Age-Period-Cohort (APC) mortality trends generally uses data aggregated within 5 or 10-year intervals. Technology allows one to increase the amount of processed data. Displaying occurrences by 1-year intervals is a logic first step in the direction of attaining higher quality landscapes of variations in temporal occurrences. Method: 1) Comparison of UK mortality trends plotted by 10-, 5- and 1-year intervals; 2) Comparison of UK and US mortality trends (period X age and cohort X age) displayed by 1-year intervals. Source: Mortality data (period, 1x1, males, 1933-1912) uploaded from the Human Mortality Database to Excel files, where Period X Age and Cohort X Age graphics were produced. The choice of transforming age-specific trends from calendar to birth-cohort years (cohort = period – age) (instead of using cohort 1x1 data available at the HMD resource) was taken to facilitate the comparison of age-specific trends when looking across calendar-years and birth-cohorts. Yearly live births, males, 1933 to 1912 (UK) were uploaded from the HFD. Influenza references are from the literature. Results: 1) The use of 1-year intervals unveiled previously unsuspected period, cohort and interacting period x cohort effects upon all-causes mortality. 2) The UK and US figures showed variations associated with particular calendar years (1936, 1940, 1951, 1957-68, 72) and, most surprisingly, with particular birth-cohorts (1889-90 in the US, and 1900, 1918-19, 1940-41 and 1946-47, in both countries. Also, the figures showed ups and downs in age-specific trends initiated at particular birth-cohorts (1900, 1918-19 and 1947-48) or a particular calendar-year (1968, 1972, 1977-78 in the US), variations at times restricted to just a range of ages (cohort x period interacting effects). Importantly, most of the identified “scars” (period and cohort) correlates with the record of occurrences of Influenza A epidemics since the late 19th Century. Conclusions: The use of 1-year intervals to describe APC mortality trends both increases the amount of information available, thus enhancing the opportunities for patterns’ recognition, and increases our capability of interpreting those patterns by describing trends across smaller intervals of time (period or birth-cohort). The US and the UK mortality landscapes share many but not all 'scars' and distortions suggested here to be associated with influenza epidemics. Different size-effects of wars are evident, both in mortality and in fertility. But it would also be realistic to suppose that the preponderant influenza A viruses circulating in UK and US at the beginning of the 20th Century might be different and the difference to have intergenerational long-term consequences. Compared with the live births trend (UK data), birth-cohort scars clearly depend on birth-cohort sizes relatives to neighbor ones, which, if causally associated with influenza, would result from influenza-related fetal outcomes/selection. Fetal selection could introduce continuing modifications on population patterns of immune-inflammatory phenotypes that might give rise to 'epidemic constitutions' favoring the occurrence of particular diseases. Comparative analysis of mortality landscapes may help us to straight our record of past circulation of Influenza viruses and document associations between influenza recycling and fertility changes.

Keywords: age-period-cohort trends, epidemic constitution, fertility, influenza, mortality

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Authors: Kimberley Adamek

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According to the Council on Tall Buildings, there has been a rapid increase in the construction of tall or “megatall” buildings over the past two decades. Simultaneously, the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that there has been a steady increase in climate related natural disasters since the 1970s; the eastern expansion of the USA's infamous Tornado Alley being just one of many current issues. In the future, this could mean that tall buildings, which already guide high speed winds down to pedestrian levels would have to withstand stronger forces and protect pedestrians in more extreme ways. Although many projects are required to be verified within wind tunnels and a handful of cities such as San Francisco have included wind testing within building code standards, there are still many examples where wind is only considered for basic loading. This typically results in and an increase of structural expense and unwanted mitigation strategies that are proposed late within a project. When building cities, architects rarely consider how each building alters the invisible patterns of wind and how these alterations effect other areas in different ways later on. It is not until these forces move, overpower and even destroy cities that people take notice. For example, towers have caused winds to blow objects into people (Walkie-Talkie Tower, Leeds, England), cause building parts to vibrate and produce loud humming noises (Beetham Tower, Manchester), caused wind tunnels in streets as well as many other issues. Alternatively, there exist towers which have used their form to naturally draw in air and ventilate entire facilities in order to eliminate the needs for costly HVAC systems (The Met, Thailand) and used their form to increase wind speeds to generate electricity (Bahrain Tower, Dubai). Wind and weather exist and effect all parts of the world in ways such as: Science, health, war, infrastructure, catastrophes, tourism, shopping, media and materials. Working in partnership with a leading wind engineering company RWDI, a series of tests, images and animations documenting discovered interactions of different building forms with wind will be collected to emphasize the possibilities for wind use to architects. A site within San Francisco (due to its increasing tower development, consistently wind conditions and existing strict wind comfort criteria) will host a final design. Iterations of this design will be tested within the wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamic systems which will expose, utilize and manipulate wind flows to create new forms, technologies and experiences. Ultimately, this thesis aims to question the amount which the environment is allowed to permeate building enclosures, uncover new programmatic possibilities for wind in buildings, and push the boundaries of working with the wind to ensure the development and safety of future cities. This investigation will improve and expand upon the traditional understanding of wind in order to give architects, wind engineers as well as the general public the ability to broaden their scope in order to productively utilize this living phenomenon that everyone constantly feels but cannot see.

Keywords: wind engineering, climate, visualization, architectural aerodynamics

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Authors: Ayush Aditya

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In today's digitised world, the extent of an individual’s social involvement is largely determined by their interaction over the internet. The Internet has emerged as a primary source of information consumption and a reliable medium for receiving updates on everyday activities. Owing to this change in the information consumption pattern, the internet has also emerged as a hotbed of misinformation. Experts are of the view that media literacy has emerged as one of the most effective strategies for addressing the issue of misinformation. This paper aims to study the evolution of the Kerala government's media literacy policy, its implementation strategy, challenges and opportunities. The objective of this paper is to create a conceptual framework containing details of the implementation strategy based on the Kerala model. Extensive secondary research of literature, newspaper articles, and other online sources was carried out to locate the timeline of this policy. This was followed by semi-structured interview discussions with government officials from Kerala to trace the origin and evolution of this policy. Preliminary findings based on the collected data suggest that this policy is a case of policy by chance, as the officer who headed this policy during the state level implementation was the one who has already piloted a media literacy program in a district called Kannur as the district collector. Through this paper, an attempt is made to trace the history of the media literacy policy starting from the Kannur intervention in 2018, which was started to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy around measles rubella(MR) vaccination. If not for the vaccine hesitancy, this program would not have been rolled out in Kannur. Interviews with government officials suggest that when authorities decided to take up this initiative in 2020, a huge amount of misinformation emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic was the trigger. There was misinformation regarding government orders, healthcare facilities, vaccination, and lockdown regulations, which affected everyone, unlike the case of Kannur, where it was only a certain age group of kids. As a solution to this problem, the state government decided to create a media literacy curriculum to be taught in all government schools of the state starting from standard 8 till graduation. This was a tricky task, as a new course had to be immediately introduced in the school curriculum amid all the disruptions in the education system caused by the pandemic. It was revealed during the interview that in the case of the state-wide implementation, every step involved multiple checks and balances, unlike the earlier program where stakeholders were roped-in as and when the need emerged. On the pedagogy, while the training during the pilot could be managed through PowerPoint presentation, designing a state-wide curriculum involved multiple iterations and expert approvals. The reason for this is COVID-19 related misinformation has lost its significance. In the next phase of the research, an attempt will be made to compare other aspects of the pilot implementation with the state-wide implementation.

Keywords: media literacy, digital media literacy, curriculum based media literacy intervention, misinformation

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Authors: Huan Peng, Chenye Zeng, Zhao Wang

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of dementia syndromes and has become a huge burden on society and families. The main pathological features of AD involve excessive deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ) and Tau proteins in the brain, resulting in loss of neurons, expansion of neuroinflammation, and cognitive dysfunction in patients. Researchers have found effective drugs to clear the brain of error-accumulating proteins or to slow the loss of neurons, but their direct administration has key bottlenecks such as single-drug limitation, rapid blood clearance rate, impenetrable blood-brain barrier (BBB), and poor ability to target tissues and cells. Therefore, we are committed to seeking a suitable and efficient delivery system. Inspired by the possibility that exosomes may be involved in the secretion and transport mechanism of many signaling molecules or proteins in the brain, exosomes have attracted extensive attention as natural nanoscale drug carriers. We selected exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-EXO) with low immunogenicity and exosomes derived from hippocampal neurons (HT22-EXO) that may have excellent homing ability to overcome the deficiencies of oral or injectable pathways and bypass the BBB through nasal administration and evaluated their delivery ability and effect on AD. First, MSC-EXO and HT22 cells were isolated and cultured, and MSCs were identified by microimaging and flow cytometry. Then MSC-EXO and HT22-EXO were obtained by gradient centrifugation and qEV SEC separation column, and a series of physicochemical characterization were performed by transmission electron microscope, western blot, nanoparticle tracking analysis and dynamic light scattering. Next, exosomes labeled with lipophilic fluorescent dye were administered to WT mice and APP/PS1 mice to obtain fluorescence images of various organs at different times. Finally, APP/PS1 mice were administered intranasally with two exosomes 20 times over 40 days and 20 μL each time. Behavioral analysis and pathological section analysis of the hippocampus were performed after the experiment. The results showed that MSC-EXO and HT22-EXO were successfully isolated and characterized, and they had good biocompatibility. MSC-EXO showed excellent brain enrichment in APP/PS1 mice after intranasal administration, could improve the neuronal damage and reduce inflammation levels in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice, and the improvement effect was significantly better than HT22-EXO. However, intranasal administration of the two exosomes did not cause depression and anxious-like phenotypes in APP/PS1 mice, nor significantly improved the short-term or spatial learning and memory ability of APP/PS1 mice, and had no significant effect on the content of Aβ plaques in the hippocampus, which also meant that MSC-EXO could use their own advantages in combination with other drugs to clear Aβ plaques. The possibility of realizing highly effective non-invasive synergistic treatment for AD provides new strategies and ideas for clinical research.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cell, intranasal administration, therapy-carrier dual roles

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Authors: Niveen Hassan-Abbas, Tammie Ronen-Rosenbaum

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Background and purpose: 'Flourishing in marriage' is a concept refers to married individuals’ high positivity ratio regarding their marriage, namely greater reported positive than negative emotions. The study proposes a different approach to marriage which emphasizes the place of the individual himself as largely responsible for his personal flourishing within marriage. Accordingly, the individual's desire to preserve and strengthen his marriage largely determines the marital behavior in a way that will contribute to his marriage success (Actor Effect), regardless the contribution of his or her partner to his marriage success (Partner Effect). Another assumption was that flourishing in marriage could be achieved by two separate processes, where capitalization support increases the positive marriage's evaluations and accommodation decreases the negative one. A theoretical model was constructed, whereby individuals who were committed to their marriage were hypothesized as employing self-control skills by way of two dynamic processes. First, individual’s higher degree of 'capitalization supportive responses' - supportive responses to the partner's sharing of positive personal experiences - was hypothesized as increasing one’s positive evaluations of marriage and thereby one’s positivity ratio. Second, individual’s higher degree of 'accommodation' responses - the ability during conflict situations to control the impulse to respond destructively and instead to respond constructively - was hypothesized as decreasing one’s negative evaluations of marriage and thereby increasing one’s positivity ratio. Methods: Participants were 156 heterosexual Arab couples from different regions of Israel. The mean period of marriage was 10.19 (SD=7.83), ages were 31.53 years for women (SD=8.12) and 36.80 years for men (SD=8.07). Years of education were 13.87 for women (SD=2.84) and 13.23 years for men (SD=3.45). Each participant completed seven questionnaires: socio-demographic, self-control skills, commitment, capitalization support, accommodation, marital quality, positive and negative affect. Using statistical analyses adapted to dyadic research design, firstly descriptive statistics were calculated and preliminary tests were performed. Next, dyadic model based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The assumption according to which flourishing in marriage can be achieved by two processes was confirmed. All of the Actor Effect hypotheses were confirmed. Participants with higher self-control used more capitalization support and accommodation responses. Among husbands, unlike wives, these correlations were stronger when the individual's commitment level was higher. More capitalization supportive responses were found to increase positive evaluations of marriage, and greater spousal accommodation was found to decrease negative evaluations of marriage. High positive evaluations and low negative evaluations were found to increase positivity ratio. Not according to expectation, four partner effect paths were found significant. Conclusions and Implications: The present findings coincide with the positive psychology approach that emphasizes human strengths. The uniqueness of this study is its proposal that individuals are largely responsible for their personal flourishing in marriage. This study demonstrated that marital flourishing can be achieved by two processes, where capitalization increases the positive and accommodation decreases the negative. Practical implications include the need to construct interventions that enhance self-control skills for employment of capitalizing responsiveness and accommodation processes.

Keywords: accommodation, capitalization support, commitment, flourishing in marriage, positivity ratio, self-control skills

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Authors: Hanna Abbo, Siyasanga Noganta, Salam Titinchi

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The global lack of clean water for human sanitation and other purposes has become an emerging dilemma for human beings. The presence of organic pollutants in wastewater produced by textile industries, leather manufacturing and chemical industries is an alarming matter for a safe environment and human health. For the last decades, conventional methods have been applied for the purification of water but due to industrialization these methods fall short. Advanced oxidation processes and their reliable application in degradation of many contaminants have been reported as a potential method to reduce and/or alleviate this problem. Lately it has been assumed that incorporation of some metal nanoparticles such as magnetite nanoparticles as photocatalyst for Fenton reaction which could improve the degradation efficiency of contaminants. Core/shell nanoparticles, are extensively studied because of their wide applications in the biomedical, drug delivery, electronics fields and water treatment. The current study is centred on the synthesis of silver-doped Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 photocatalyst. Magnetically separable Fe3O4@SiO2@TiO2 composite with core–shell structure were synthesized by the deposition of uniform anatase TiO2 NPs on Fe3O4@SiO2 by using titanium butoxide (TBOT) as titanium source. Then, the silver is doped on SiO2 layer by hydrothermal method. Integration of magnetic nanoparticles was suggested to avoid the post separation difficulties associated with the powder form of the TiO2 catalyst, increase of the surface area and adsorption properties. The morphology, structure, composition, and magnetism of the resulting composites were characterized and their photocatalytic activities were also evaluated. The results demonstrate that TiO2 NPs were uniformly deposited on the Fe3O4@SiO2 surface. The silver nanoparticles were also uniformly distributed on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. The aim of this work is to study the suitability of photocatalysis for the treatment of aqueous streams containing organic pollutants such as methylene blue which is selected as a model compound to represent one of the pollutants existing in wastewaters. Various factors such as initial pollutant concentration, photocatalyst dose and wastewater matrix were studied for their effect on the photocatalytic degradation of the organic model pollutants using the as synthesized catalysts and compared with the commercial titanium dioxide (Aeroxide P25). Photocatalysis was found to be a potential purification method for the studied pollutant also in an industrial wastewater matrix with the removal percentages of over 81 % within 15 minutes. Methylene blue was removed most efficiently and its removal consumed the least of energy in terms of the specific applied energy. The magnetic Ag/SiO2/TiO2 composites show high photocatalytic performance and can be recycled three times by magnetic separation without major loss of activity, which meant that they can be used as efficient and conveniently renewable photocatalyst.

Keywords: Magnetite nanoparticles, Titanium, Photocatalyst, Organic pollutant, Water treatment

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Authors: Manasi Mahanty

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In the current phase of globalization, the mobility of capital facilitates outsourcing and subcontracting of production processes to the developing economies for cheap and flexible labour force. In such process, the globalization of production networks operates at multi-locational points within the nation. Under the new quota regime in the globalization period, the Indian manufacturing exporters came under the influence of corporate buyers and large retailers from the importing countries. As part of such process, the garment manufacturing sector is expected to create huge employment opportunities and to expand the export market in the country. While following these, expectations, the apparel and garment industries mostly target to hire female migrant workers with a purpose of establishing more flexible industrial relations through the casual nature of employment contract. It leads to an increasing women’s participation in the labour market as well as the rise in precarious forms of female paid employment. In the context, the main objective of the paper is to understand the wider dynamics of globalization of production and its link with informalization, feminization of labour force and internal migration process of the country. For this purpose, the study examines the changing labour relations in the KINFRA Apparel Park at Kerala’s Special Economic Zone which operates under the scheme ‘Apparel Parks for Export’ (APE) of the Government of India. The present study was based on both quantitative and qualitative analysis. In the first, the secondary sources of data were collected from the source location (SEAM centre) and destination (KINFRA Park). The official figures and data were discussed and analyzed in order to find out the various dimensions of labour relations under globalization of production. In the second, the primary survey was conducted to make a comparative analysis of local and migrant female workers. The study is executed by taking 100 workers in total. The local workers comprised of 53% of the sample whereas the outside state workers were 47%. Even personal interviews with management staff, and workers were also made for collecting the information regarding the organisational structure, nature, and mode of recruitment, work environment, etc. The study shows the enormous presence of rural women migrant workers in KINFRA Apparel Park. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) arranged migration system is found as Skills for Employment in Apparel Manufacturing (SEAM) from where young women and girls are being sent to work in garment factories of Kerala’s KINFRA International Apparel Park under the guise of an apprenticeship based recruitment. The study concludes that such arrangements try to avoid standard employment relationships and strengthen informalization, casualization and contractualization of work. In this process, the recruitment of women migrant workers is to be considered as best option for the employers of private industries which could be more easily hired and fired.

Keywords: female migration, globalization, informalization, KINFRA apparel park

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Authors: Weixiao Wei, Chris Shei

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This paper describes Mandate of Heaven as a source of justification for the ruling regime from ancient China approximately three thousand years ago. Initially, the kings of Shang dynasty simply nominated themselves as the sons of Heaven sent to Earth to rule the common people. As the last generation of the kings became corrupted and ruled withbrutal force and crueltywhich directly caused their destruction, the successive kings of Zhou dynasty realised the importance of virtue and the provision of goods to the people. Legitimacy of the ruling regimes became rested not entirely on random allocation of the throne by an unknown supernatural force but on a foundation comprising morality and the ability to provide goods. The latter composite was picked up by the current ruling regime, the Chinese Communist Party, and became the cornerstone of its political legitimacy, also known as ‘performance legitimacy’ where economic development accounts for the satisfaction of the people in place of election and other democratic means of providing legal-rational legitimacy. Under this circumstance, it becomes important as well for the ruling party to use political rhetoric to convince people of the good performance of the government in the economy, morality, and foreign policy. Thus, we see a lot of propaganda materials in both government policy statements and international press conference announcements. The former consists mainly of important speeches made by prominent figures in Party conferences which are not only made publicly available on the government websites but also become obligatory reading materials for university entrance examinations. The later consists of announcements about foreign policies and strategies and actions taken by the government regarding foreign affairsmade in international conferences and offered in Chinese-English bilingual versions on official websites. This documentation strategy creates an impressive image of the Chinese Communist Party that is domestically competent and international strong, taking care of the people it governs in terms of economic needs and defending the country against any foreign interference and global adversities. This political discourse system comprising reading materials fully extractable from government websites also becomes excellent repertoire for teaching and researching in contemporary Chinese language, discourse and rhetoric, Chinese culture and tradition, Chinese political ideology, and Chinese-English translation. This paper aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive description of the current Chinese political discourse system, arguing about its lineage from the rhetorical convention of Mandate of Heaven in ancient China and its current concentration on serving the people in place of election, human rights, and freedom of speech. The paper will also provide guidelines as to how this discourse system and the manifestation of official documents created under this system can become excellent research and teaching materials in applied linguistics.

Keywords: mandate of heaven, Chinese communist party, performance legitimacy, serving the people, political discourse

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Authors: Jenifer Alam, Rima Chatterjee

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Upper Assam sedimentary basin is one of the oldest commercially producing basins of India. Being in a tectonically active zone, estimation of tectonic strain and stress magnitudes has vast application in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. This East North East –West South West trending shelf-slope basin encompasses the Bramhaputra valley extending from Mikir Hills in the southwest to the Naga foothills in the northeast. Assam Shelf lying between the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and Naga Thrust area is comparatively free from thrust tectonics and depicts normal faulting mechanism. The study area is bounded by the MBT and Main Central Thrust in the northwest. The Belt of Schuppen in the southeast, is bordered by Naga and Disang thrust marking the lower limit of the study area. The entire Assam basin shows low-level seismicity compared to other regions of northeast India. Pore pressure (PP), vertical stress magnitude (SV) and horizontal stress magnitudes have been estimated from two wells - N1 and T1 located in Upper Assam. N1 is located in the Assam gap below the Bramhaputra river while T1, lies in the Belt of Schuppen. N1 penetrates geological formations from top Alluvial through Dhekiajuli, Girujan, Tipam, Barail, Kopili, Sylhet and Langpur to the granitic basement while T1 in trusted zone crosses through Girujan Suprathrust, Tipam Suprathrust, Barail Suprathrust to reach Naga Thrust. Normal compaction trend is drawn through shale points through both wells for estimation of PP using the conventional Eaton sonic equation with an exponent of 1.0 which is validated with Modular Dynamic Tester and mud weight. Observed pore pressure gradient ranges from 10.3 MPa/km to 11.1 MPa/km. The SV has a gradient from 22.20 to 23.80 MPa/km. Minimum and maximum horizontal principal stress (Sh and SH) magnitudes under isotropic conditions are determined using poroelastic model. This approach determines biaxial tectonic strain utilizing static Young’s Modulus, Poisson’s Ratio, SV, PP, leak off test (LOT) and SH derived from breakouts using prior information on unconfined compressive strength. Breakout derived SH information is used for obtaining tectonic strain due to lack of measured SH data from minifrac or hydrofracturing. Tectonic strain varies from 0.00055 to 0.00096 along x direction and from -0.0010 to 0.00042 along y direction. After obtaining tectonic strains at each well, the principal horizontal stress magnitudes are calculated from linear poroelastic model. The magnitude of Sh and SH gradient in normal faulting region are 12.5 and 16.0 MPa/km while in thrust faulted region the gradients are 17.4 and 20.2 MPa/km respectively. Model predicted Sh and SH matches well with the LOT data and breakout derived SH data in both wells. It is observed from this study that the stresses SV>SH>Sh prevailing in the shelf region while near the Naga foothills the regime changes to SH≈SV>Sh area corresponds to normal faulting regime. Hence this model is a reliable tool for predicting stress magnitudes from well logs under active tectonic regime in Upper Assam Basin.

Keywords: Eaton, strain, stress, poroelastic model

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Authors: Same Noel Ngando, Yakub Abdulfatai Olatunji

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Renewable energy micro-grids, such as those powered by solar or wind energy, are often intermittent in nature. This means that the amount of energy generated by these systems can vary depending on weather conditions or other factors, which can make it difficult to ensure a steady supply of power. To address this issue, energy storage systems have been developed to increase the reliability of renewable energy micro-grids. Battery systems have been the dominant energy storage technology for renewable energy micro-grids. Batteries can store large amounts of energy in a relatively small and compact package, making them easy to install and maintain in a micro-grid setting. Additionally, batteries can be quickly charged and discharged, allowing them to respond quickly to changes in energy demand. However, the process involved in recycling batteries is quite costly and difficult. An alternative energy storage system that is gaining popularity is hydrogen storage. Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that can be produced from renewable energy sources such as solar or wind. It can be stored in large quantities at low cost, making it suitable for long-distance mass storage. Unlike batteries, hydrogen does not degrade over time, so it can be stored for extended periods without the need for frequent maintenance or replacement, allowing it to be used as a backup power source when the micro-grid is not generating enough energy to meet demand. When hydrogen is needed, it can be converted back into electricity through a fuel cell. Energy consumption data is got from a particular residential area in Daegu, South Korea, and the data is processed and analyzed. From the analysis, the total energy demand is calculated, and different hybrid energy system configurations are designed using HOMER Pro (Hybrid Optimization for Multiple Energy Resources) and MATLAB software. A techno-economic and environmental comparison and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the different configurations using battery and hydrogen as storage systems are carried out. The various scenarios included PV-hydrogen-grid system, PV-hydrogen-grid-wind, PV-hydrogen-grid-biomass, PV-hydrogen-wind, PV-hydrogen-biomass, biomass-hydrogen, wind-hydrogen, PV-battery-grid-wind, PV- battery -grid-biomass, PV- battery -wind, PV- battery -biomass, and biomass- battery. From the analysis, the least cost system for the location was the PV-hydrogen-grid system, with a net present cost of about USD 9,529,161. Even though all scenarios were environmentally friendly, taking into account the recycling cost and pollution involved in battery systems, all systems with hydrogen as a storage system produced better results. In conclusion, hydrogen is becoming a very prominent energy storage solution for renewable energy micro-grids. It is easier to store compared with electric power, so it is suitable for long-distance mass storage. Hydrogen storage systems have several advantages over battery systems, including flexibility, long-term stability, and low environmental impact. The cost of hydrogen storage is still relatively high, but it is expected to decrease as more hydrogen production, and storage infrastructure is built. With the growing focus on renewable energy and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen is expected to play an increasingly important role in the energy storage landscape.

Keywords: renewable energy systems, microgrid, hydrogen production, energy storage systems

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Authors: Javed Iqbal

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The growing need for energy by the human society and depletion of conventional energy sources demands a renewable, safe, infinite, low-cost and omnipresent energy source. One of the most suitable ways to solve the foreseeable world’s energy crisis is to use the power of the sun. Photovoltaic devices are especially of wide interest as they can convert solar energy to electricity. Recently the best performing solar cells are silicon-based cells. However, silicon cells are expensive, rigid in structure and have a large timeline for the payback of cost and electricity. Organic photovoltaic cells are cheap, flexible and can be manufactured in a continuous process. Therefore, organic photovoltaic cells are an extremely favorable replacement. Organic photovoltaic cells utilize sunlight as energy and convert it into electricity through the use of conductive polymers/ small molecules to separate electrons and electron holes. A major challenge for these new organic photovoltaic cells is the efficiency, which is low compared with the traditional silicon solar cells. To overcome this challenge, usually two straightforward strategies have been considered: (1) reducing the band-gap of molecular donors to broaden the absorption range, which results in higher short circuit current density (JSC) of devices, and (2) lowering the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy of molecular donors so as to increase the open-circuit voltage (VOC) of applications devices.8 Keeping in mind the cost of chemicals it is hard to try many materials on test basis. The best way is to find the suitable material in the bulk. For this purpose, we use computational approach to design molecules based on our organic chemistry knowledge and determine their physical and electronic properties. In this study, we did DFT calculations with different options to get high open circuit voltage and after getting suitable data from calculation we finally did synthesis of a novel D–π–A–π–D type low band-gap small molecular donor material (ZOPTAN-TPA). The Aarylene vinylene based bis(arylhalide) unit containing a cyanostilbene unit acts as a low-band- gap electron-accepting block, and is coupled with triphenylamine as electron-donating blocks groups. The motivation for choosing triphenylamine (TPA) as capped donor was attributed to its important role in stabilizing the separated hole from an exciton and thus improving the hole-transporting properties of the hole carrier.3 A π-bridge (thiophene) is inserted between the donor and acceptor unit to reduce the steric hindrance between the donor and acceptor units and to improve the planarity of the molecule. The ZOPTAN-TPA molecule features a low HOMO level of 5.2 eV and an optical energy gap of 2.1 eV. Champion OSCs based on a solution-processed and non-annealed active-material blend of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and ZOPTAN-TPA in a mass ratio of 2:1 exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 1.9 % and a high open-circuit voltage of over 1.0 V.

Keywords: high open circuit voltage, donor, triphenylamine, organic solar cells

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Authors: Justine A. Lloyd

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Since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the ancient city of Dura-Europos has faced widespread destruction and looting. The site is one of many places in the country the terrorist group ISIS has specifically targeted, allegedly due to its particular representations of Syrian history and culture. However, looted art and artifacts are the extremist group’s second largest source of income, only after oil. The protection of this site is important to both academics and the millions who have called Syria a home, as it aids in the nation’s sense of identity, reveals developments in the arts, and contributes to humanity’s collective history. At a time when Syria’s culture is being flattened, this sense of cultural expression is especially important to maintain. Creating an awareness of the magnitude of the issue at hand begins with an examination of the rich history of the ancient fortress city. Located on the western bank of the Euphrates River, Dura-Europos contains artifacts dating back to the Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman periods. Though a great deal of the art and artifacts have remained safe in institutions such as the National Museum of Damascus and the Yale University Art Gallery, hundreds of looting pits and use of heavy machinery on the site has severely set back the investigative progress made by archaeologists over the last century, as well as the prospect of future excavation. Further research draws on the current destruction of the site by both ISIS and opportunists involved with the black market. Because Dura-Europos is located in a war stricken region, the acquisition of data and possibility of immediate action is particularly challenging. Resources gained from local reports, in addition to technology such as satellite imagery, however, have provided a firm starting point for the evaluation of the state of the site. The Syrian Ministry of Culture, UNESCO, and numerous Syrian and global organizations provide insight into the historic city’s past, present issues, and future plans to ensure that the cultural integrity of the site is upheld. Though over seventy percent of Dura-Europos has been completely decimated, this research challenges the notion that physically destroyed sites are lost forever. This paper assesses preventative measures that can take place to ensure the preservation of the site’s art and architecture, including examining possible solutions to the damage, such as digital reconstruction, replication, and distribution of information through exhibitions and other forms of publically accessible information. In order to investigate any possible retribution, research also includes the necessary information pertaining the global laws and regulations dealing with cultural heritage, as it directly affects the ways in which this situation can be dealt with. With the countless experts and citizens dedicated to the importance of cultural heritage, the prospect of honoring and valuing elements of Dura-Europos is possible—whether physically preserved or otherwise.

Keywords: antiquities law, archaeological sites, restitution, Syrian Civil War

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Authors: David X. Dong, Qingming Zhang, Meng Lu

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Nitrites enter waterways as runoff from croplands and are discharged from many industrial sites. Excessive nitrite inputs to water bodies lead to eutrophication. On-site rapid detection of nitrite is of increasing interest for managing fertilizer application and monitoring water source quality. Existing methods for detecting nitrites use spectrophotometry, ion chromatography, electrochemical sensors, ion-selective electrodes, chemiluminescence, and colorimetric methods. However, these methods either suffer from high cost or provide low measurement accuracy due to their poor selectivity to nitrites. Therefore, it is desired to develop an accurate and economical method to monitor nitrites in environments. We report a low-cost optical sensor, in conjunction with a machine learning (ML) approach to enable high-accuracy detection of nitrites in water sources. The sensor works under the principle of measuring molecular absorptions of nitrites at three narrowband wavelengths (295 nm, 310 nm, and 357 nm) in the ultraviolet (UV) region. These wavelengths are chosen because they have relatively high sensitivity to nitrites; low-cost light-emitting devices (LEDs) and photodetectors are also available at these wavelengths. A regression model is built, trained, and utilized to minimize cross-sensitivities of these wavelengths to the same analyte, thus achieving precise and reliable measurements with various interference ions. The measured absorbance data is input to the trained model that can provide nitrite concentration prediction for the sample. The sensor is built with i) a miniature quartz cuvette as the test cell that contains a liquid sample under test, ii) three low-cost UV LEDs placed on one side of the cell as light sources, with each LED providing a narrowband light, and iii) a photodetector with a built-in amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter placed on the other side of the test cell to measure the power of transmitted light. This simple optical design allows measuring the absorbance data of the sample at the three wavelengths. To train the regression model, absorbances of nitrite ions and their combination with various interference ions are first obtained at the three UV wavelengths using a conventional spectrophotometer. Then, the spectrophotometric data are inputs to different regression algorithm models for training and evaluating high-accuracy nitrite concentration prediction. Our experimental results show that the proposed approach enables instantaneous nitrite detection within several seconds. The sensor hardware costs about one hundred dollars, which is much cheaper than a commercial spectrophotometer. The ML algorithm helps to reduce the average relative errors to below 3.5% over a concentration range from 0.1 ppm to 100 ppm of nitrites. The sensor has been validated to measure nitrites at three sites in Ames, Iowa, USA. This work demonstrates an economical and effective approach to the rapid, reagent-free determination of nitrites with high accuracy. The integration of the low-cost optical sensor and ML data processing can find a wide range of applications in environmental monitoring and management.

Keywords: optical sensor, regression model, nitrites, water quality

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Authors: Joao Ferreira Do Rosario, Maria De Lurdes Calisto, Ana Teresa Machado, Nuno Gustavo, Rui Gonçalves

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The tourism sector is increasingly important to the economic performance of countries and a relevant theme to academic research, increasing the importance of understanding how and why tourists evaluate tourism locations. The city of Lisbon is currently a tourist destination of excellence in the European and world-wide panorama, registering a significant growth of the economic weight of its tourist activities in the Gross Added Value of the region. Although there is research on the feedback of those who visit tourist sites and different methodologies for studying tourist sites have been applied, this research seeks to be innovative in the objective of obtaining insights on the competitiveness in terms of attractiveness of the city of Lisbon as a tourist destination, based the feedback of tourists in the Facebook pages of the most visited museums and monuments of Lisbon, an interpretation that is relevant in the development of strategies of tourist attraction. The intangible dimension of the tourism offer, due to its unique condition of simultaneous production and consumption, makes eWOM particularly relevant. The testimony of consumers is thus a decisive factor in the decision-making and buying process in tourism. Online social networks are one of the most used platforms for tourists to evaluate the attractiveness's points of a tourism destination (e.g. cultural and historical heritage), with this user-generated feedback enabling relevant information about the customer-tourists. This information is related to the tourist experience representing the true voice of the customer. Furthermore, this voice perceived by others as genuine, opposite to marketing messages, may have a powerful word-of-mouth influence on other potential tourists. The relevance of online reviews sharing, however, becomes particularly complex, considering social media users’ different profiles or the possible and different sources of information available, as well as their associated reputation associated with each source. In the light of these trends, our research focuses on the tourists’ feedback on Facebook pages of the most visited museums and monuments of Lisbon that contribute to its attractiveness as a tourism destination. Sentiment Analysis is the methodology selected for this research, using public available information in the online context, which was deemed as an appropriate non-participatory observation method. Data will be collected from two museums (Museu dos Coches and Museu de Arte Antiga) and three monuments ((Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém and Panteão Nacional) Facebook pages during a period of one year. The research results will help in the evaluation of the considered places by the tourists, their contribution to the city attractiveness and present insights helpful for the management decisions regarding this museums and monuments. The results of this study will also contribute to a better knowledge of the tourism sector, namely the identification of attributes in the evaluation and choice of the city of Lisbon as a tourist destination. Further research will evaluate the Lisbon attraction points for tourists in different categories beyond museums and monuments, will also evaluate the tourist feedback from other sources like TripAdvisor and apply the same methodology in other cities and country regions.

Keywords: Lisbon tourism, opinion mining, sentiment analysis, tourism location attractiveness evaluation

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Authors: M. D. Haneef, R. B. Randall, Z. Peng

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Journal bearings used in IC engines are prone to premature failures and are likely to fail earlier than the rated life due to highly impulsive and unstable operating conditions and frequent starts/stops. Vibration signature extraction and wear debris analysis techniques are prevalent in the industry for condition monitoring of rotary machinery. However, both techniques involve a great deal of technical expertise, time and cost. Limited literature is available on the application of these techniques for fault detection in reciprocating machinery, due to the complex nature of impact forces that confounds the extraction of fault signals for vibration based analysis and wear prediction. This work is an extension of a previous study, in which an engine simulation model was developed using a MATLAB/SIMULINK program, whereby the engine parameters used in the simulation were obtained experimentally from a Toyota 3SFE 2.0 litre petrol engines. Simulated hydrodynamic bearing forces were used to estimate vibrations signals and envelope analysis was carried out to analyze the effect of speed, load and clearance on the vibration response. Three different loads 50/80/110 N-m, three different speeds 1500/2000/3000 rpm, and three different clearances, i.e., normal, 2 times and 4 times the normal clearance were simulated to examine the effect of wear on bearing forces. The magnitude of the squared envelope of the generated vibration signals though not affected by load, but was observed to rise significantly with increasing speed and clearance indicating the likelihood of augmented wear. In the present study, the simulation model was extended further to investigate the bearing wear behavior, resulting as a consequence of different operating conditions, to complement the vibration analysis. In the current simulation, the dynamics of the engine was established first, based on which the hydrodynamic journal bearing forces were evaluated by numerical solution of the Reynold’s equation. Also, the essential outputs of interest in this study, critical to determine wear rates are the tangential velocity and oil film thickness between the journal and bearing sleeve, which if not maintained appropriately, have a detrimental effect on the bearing performance. Archard’s wear prediction model was used in the simulation to calculate the wear rate of bearings with specific location information as all determinative parameters were obtained with reference to crank rotation. Oil film thickness obtained from the model was used as a criterion to determine if the lubrication is sufficient to prevent contact between the journal and bearing thus causing accelerated wear. A limiting value of 1 µm was used as the minimum oil film thickness needed to prevent contact. The increased wear rate with growing severity of operating conditions is analogous and comparable to the rise in amplitude of the squared envelope of the referenced vibration signals. Thus on one hand, the developed model demonstrated its capability to explain wear behavior and on the other hand it also helps to establish a correlation between wear based and vibration based analysis. Therefore, the model provides a cost-effective and quick approach to predict the impending wear in IC engine bearings under various operating conditions.

Keywords: condition monitoring, IC engine, journal bearings, vibration analysis, wear prediction

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Authors: Guillaume Soubeyran, Fabrice Micoud, Benoit Morin, Jean-Philippe Poirot-Crouvezier, Magali Reytier

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Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technology is considered as a solution for the reduction of CO2 emissions. However, this technology still meets several challenges for high-scale industrialization. In this context, the increase of durability remains a critical aspect for competitiveness of this technology. Fortunately, performance degradations in nominal operating conditions is partially reversible, meaning that if specific conditions are applied, a partial recovery of fuel cell performance can be achieved, while irreversible degradations can only be mitigated. Thus, it is worth studying the optimal conditions to rejuvenate these reversible degradations and assessing the long-term impact of such procedures on the performance of the cell. Reversible degradations consist mainly of anode Pt active sites poisoning by carbon monoxide at the anode, heterogeneities in water management during use, and oxidation/deactivation of Pt active sites at the cathode. The latter is identified as a major source of reversible performance loss caused by the presence oxygen, high temperature and high cathode potential that favor platinum oxidation, especially in high efficiency operating points. Hence, we studied here a recovery procedure aiming at reducing the platinum oxides by decreasing cathode potential during operation. Indeed, the application of short air starvation phase leads to a drop of cathode potential. Cell performances are temporarily increased afterwards. Nevertheless, local temperature and current heterogeneities within the cells are favored and shall be minimized. The consumption of fuel during the recovery phase shall also be considered to evaluate the global efficiency. Consequently, the purpose of this work is to find an optimal compromise between the recovery of reversible degradations by air starvation, the increase of global cell efficiency and the mitigation of irreversible degradations effects. Different operating parameters have first been studied such as cell voltage, temperature and humidity in single cell set-up. Considering the global PEMFC system efficiency, tests showed that reducing duration of recovery phase and reducing cell voltage was the key to ensure an efficient recovery. Recovery phase frequency was a major factor as well. A specific method was established to find the optimal frequency depending on the duration and voltage of the recovery phase. Then, long-term degradations have also been studied by applying FC-DLC cycles based on NEDC cycles on a 4-cell short stack by alternating test sequences with and without recovery phases. Depending on recovery phase timing, cell efficiency during the cycle was increased up to 2% thanks to a mean voltage increase of 10 mV during test sequences with recovery phases. However, cyclic voltammetry tests results suggest that the implementation of recovery phases causes an acceleration of the decrease of platinum active areas that could be due to the high potential variations applied to the cathode electrode during operation.

Keywords: durability, PEMFC, recovery procedure, reversible degradation

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Authors: Michela Del Vicario, Walter Quattrociocchi, Antonio Scala, Ana Lucía Schmidt, Fabiana Zollo

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Information, rumors, and debates may shape and impact public opinion heavily. In the latest years, several concerns have been expressed about social influence on the Internet and the outcome that online debates might have on real-world processes. Indeed, on online social networks users tend to select information that is coherent to their system of beliefs and to form groups of like-minded people –i.e., echo chambers– where they reinforce and polarize their opinions. In this way, the potential benefits coming from the exposure to different points of view may be reduced dramatically, and individuals' views may become more and more extreme. Such a context fosters misinformation spreading, which has always represented a socio-political and economic risk. The persistence of unsubstantiated rumors –e.g., the hypothetical and hazardous link between vaccines and autism– suggests that social media do have the power to misinform, manipulate, or control public opinion. As an example, current approaches such as debunking efforts or algorithmic-driven solutions based on the reputation of the source seem to prove ineffective against collective superstition. Indeed, experimental evidence shows that confirmatory information gets accepted even when containing deliberately false claims while dissenting information is mainly ignored, influences users’ emotions negatively and may even increase group polarization. Moreover, confirmation bias has been shown to play a pivotal role in information cascades, posing serious warnings about the efficacy of current debunking efforts. Nevertheless, mitigation strategies have to be adopted. To generalize the problem and to better understand social dynamics behind information spreading, in this work we rely on a tight quantitative analysis to investigate the behavior of more than 300M users w.r.t. news consumption on Facebook over a time span of six years (2010-2015). Through a massive analysis on 920 news outlets pages, we are able to characterize the anatomy of news consumption on a global and international scale. We show that users tend to focus on a limited set of pages (selective exposure) eliciting a sharp and polarized community structure among news outlets. Moreover, we find similar patterns around the Brexit –the British referendum to leave the European Union– debate, where we observe the spontaneous emergence of two well segregated and polarized groups of users around news outlets. Our findings provide interesting insights into the determinants of polarization and the evolution of core narratives on online debating. Our main aim is to understand and map the information space on online social media by identifying non-trivial proxies for the early detection of massive informational cascades. Furthermore, by combining users traces, we are finally able to draft the main concepts and beliefs of the core narrative of an echo chamber and its related perceptions.

Keywords: information spreading, misinformation, narratives, online social networks, polarization

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Authors: Lucas Nascimento, Ana Rita, Margarida Soares, André Ribeiro, Zlatina Genisheva, Hugo Silva, Joana Carvalho

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The footwear industry is an essential fashion industry, focusing on producing various types of footwear, such as shoes, boots, sandals, sneakers, and slippers. Global footwear consumption has doubled every 20 years since the 1950s. It is estimated that in 1950, each person consumed one new pair of shoes yearly; by 2005, over 20 billion pairs of shoes were consumed. To meet global footwear demand, production reached $24.2 billion, equivalent to about $74 per person in the United States. This means three new pairs of shoes per person worldwide. The issue of footwear waste is related to the fact that shoe production can generate a large amount of waste, much of which is difficult to recycle or reuse. This waste includes scraps of leather, fabric, rubber, plastics, toxic chemicals, and other materials. The search for alternative solutions for waste treatment and valorization is increasingly relevant in the current context, mainly when focused on utilizing waste as a source of substitute materials. From the perspective of the new circular economy paradigm, this approach is of utmost importance as it aims to preserve natural resources and minimize the environmental impact associated with sending waste to landfills. In this sense, the incorporation of waste into industrial sectors that allow for the recovery of large volumes, such as road construction, becomes an urgent and necessary solution from an environmental standpoint. This study explores the use of plastic waste from the footwear industry as a substitute for virgin polymers in bitumen modification, a solution that presents a more sustainable future. Replacing conventional polymers with plastic waste in asphalt composition reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and offers an opportunity to extend the lifespan of road infrastructures. By incorporating waste into construction materials, reducing the consumption of natural resources and the emission of pollutants is possible, promoting a more circular and efficient economy. In the initial phase of this study, waste materials from end-of-life footwear were selected, and plastic waste with the highest potential for application was separated. Based on a literature review, EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and PU (polyurethane) were identified as the polymers suitable for modifying 50/70 classification bitumen. Each polymer was analysed at concentrations of 3% and 5%. The production process involved the polymer's fragmentation to a size of 4 millimetres after heating the materials to 180 ºC and mixing for 10 minutes at low speed. After was mixed for 30 minutes in a high-speed mixer. The tests included penetration, softening point, viscosity, and rheological assessments. With the results obtained from the tests, the mixtures with EVA demonstrated better results than those with PU, as EVA had more resistance to temperature, a better viscosity curve and a greater elastic recovery in rheology.

Keywords: footwear waste, hot asphalt pavement, modified bitumen, polymers

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Authors: Kevin W. Zobrist, Patricia A. Townsend, Nora M. Haider

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Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (AHB) is a consortium funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to research the potential for a system to produce advanced biofuels (jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline) from hybrid poplar in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. An Extension team was established as part of the project to examine community readiness and willingness to adopt hybrid as a purpose-grown bioenergy crop. The Extension team surveyed key stakeholder groups, including growers, Extension professionals, policy makers, and environmental groups, to examine attitudes and concerns about growing hybrid poplar for biofuels. The surveys found broad skepticism about the viability of such a system. The top concern for most stakeholder groups was economic viability and the availability of predictable markets. Growers had additional concerns stemming from negative past experience with hybrid poplar as an unprofitable endeavor for pulp and paper production. Additional barriers identified included overall land availability and the availability of water and water rights for irrigation in dry areas of the region. Since the beginning of the project, oil and natural gas prices have plummeted due to rapid increases in domestic production. This has exacerbated the problem with economic viability by making biofuels even less competitive than fossil fuels. However, the AHB project has identified intermediate market opportunities to use poplar as a renewable source for other biochemicals produced by petroleum refineries, such as acetic acid, ethyl acetate, ethanol, and ethylene. These chemicals can be produced at a lower cost with higher yields and higher, more-stable prices. Despite these promising market opportunities, the survey results suggest that it will still be challenging to induce growers to adopt hybrid poplar. Early adopters will be needed to establish an initial feedstock supply for a budding industry. Through demonstration sites and outreach events to various stakeholder groups, the project attracted interest from wastewater treatment facilities, since these facilities are already growing hybrid poplar plantations for applying biosolids and treated wastewater for further purification, clarification, and nutrient control through hybrid poplar’s phytoremediation capabilities. Since these facilities are already using hybrid poplar, selling the wood as feedstock for a biorefinery would be an added bonus rather than something requiring a high rate of return to compete with other crops and land uses. By holding regional workshops and conferences with wastewater professionals, AHB Extension has found strong interest from wastewater treatment operators. In conclusion, there are several significant barriers to developing a successful system for producing biofuels from hybrid poplar, with the largest barrier being economic viability. However, there is potential for wastewater treatment facilities to serve as early adopters for hybrid poplar production for intermediate biochemicals and eventually biofuels.

Keywords: hybrid poplar, biofuels, biochemicals, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Catherine Alex Agbor

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The modern Nigerian society is dynamic, divided in zones based on economic, political and educational resources often shared across the zones. The Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria is a major division in modern Nigeria, created during the regime of president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. They are North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South and South West. However, the zone used in this study is known as former South-Eastern State of Akwa-Ibom State and Cross-River State; former Rivers State of Bayelsa State and Rivers State; and former Mid-Western Region, Nigeria of Delta State and Edo State. Many reforms have taken place overtime, particularly in the education sector. Education is constantly presenting new ideas and innovative approaches which act to facilitate the rapid exchange of knowledge and provide quality basic education for learners. The Federal Government of Nigeria in accordance with its National Council on Education directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to restructure its basic education curriculum with the hope to enable the nation meet national and global developmental goals. One of the goals of the 9-year Basic Education Programme is developing in the entire citizenry a strong consciousness for education and a strong commitment to its vigorous promotion. Another is ensuring the acquisition of appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, manipulative, communicative and life-skills as well as the ethical, moral and civic values for laying a solid foundation for lifelong learning. Therefore, this article at the introductory stage is aimed to describe some key issues in Nigeria’s experience in the basic education curriculum. In this study, particular attention is paid to this very recent educational policy of the Nigerian government known as Universal Basic Education, its challenges and what can be done to make the policy achieve its desired objectives. It progresses to analyze modern requirements for second language teaching; and presents the challenges of second language teaching in Nigeria. Finally, it reports a study which investigated special efforts for appropriate achievement of quality education in language classroom in the south-south zone of Nigeria. One fundamental research question was posed on what educational practices can contribute to current understanding of the structure of language curriculum. More explicitly, the study was designed to analyze the extent to which quality content contributes to current understanding of the structure of school curriculum in the zone. Otherwise stated, it investigated how student-centred educational practices impact on their learning of French language. One hundred and eighty (180) participants (teachers) were purposefully sampled for the study. Qualitative technique was used to elicit information from participants. The qualitative method used was Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Participants were divided into six groups comprising of 30 teachers from each zone. Group discussions were based mainly on curriculum contents and practices. Information from participants revealed that the curriculum content, among others is inadequate and should be re-examined. Recommendations were proffered as a panacea to concrete implementation of the basic education in Nigeria.

Keywords: basic education, quality contents, second language, south-south states

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Authors: Bruno RamaëL, GwenaëL Page, Catherine Knopf-Lenoir, Olivier Baledent, Anne-Virginie Salsac

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No routine technique currently exists for clinicians to measure the mechanical properties of vascular walls non-invasively. Most of the data available in the literature come from traction or dilatation tests conducted ex vivo on native blood vessels. The objective of the study is to develop a non-invasive characterization technique based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measurements of the deformation of vascular walls under pulsating blood flow conditions. The goal is to determine the mechanical properties of the vessels by inverse analysis, coupling imaging measurements and numerical simulations of the fluid-structure interactions. The hyperelastic properties are identified using Solidworks and Ansys workbench (ANSYS Inc.) solving an optimization technique. The vessel of interest targeted in the study is the common carotid artery. In vivo MRI measurements of the vessel anatomy and inlet velocity profiles was acquired along the facial vascular network on a cohort of 30 healthy volunteers: - The time-evolution of the blood vessel contours and, thus, of the cross-section surface area was measured by 3D imaging angiography sequences of phase-contrast MRI. - The blood flow velocity was measured using a 2D CINE MRI phase contrast (PC-MRI) method. Reference arterial pressure waveforms were simultaneously measured in the brachial artery using a sphygmomanometer. The three-dimensional (3D) geometry of the arterial network was reconstructed by first creating an STL file from the raw MRI data using the open source imaging software ITK-SNAP. The resulting geometry was then transformed with Solidworks into volumes that are compatible with Ansys softwares. Tetrahedral meshes of the wall and fluid domains were built using the ANSYS Meshing software, with a near-wall mesh refinement method in the case of the fluid domain to improve the accuracy of the fluid flow calculations. Ansys Structural was used for the numerical simulation of the vessel deformation and Ansys CFX for the simulation of the blood flow. The fluid structure interaction simulations showed that the systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the common carotid artery could be taken as reference pressures to identify the mechanical properties of the different arteries of the network. The coefficients of the hyperelastic law were identified using Ansys Design model for the common carotid. Under large deformations, a stiffness of 800 kPa is measured, which is of the same order of magnitude as the Young modulus of collagen fibers. Areas of maximum deformations were highlighted near bifurcations. This study is a first step towards patient-specific characterization of the mechanical properties of the facial vessels. The method is currently applied on patients suffering from facial vascular malformations and on patients scheduled for facial reconstruction. Information on the blood flow velocity as well as on the vessel anatomy and deformability will be key to improve surgical planning in the case of such vascular pathologies.

Keywords: identification, mechanical properties, arterial walls, MRI measurements, numerical simulations

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Authors: Christina Drosou, Konstantina E. Kyriakopoulou, Andreas Bimpilas, Dimitrios Tsimogiannis, Magdalini C. Krokida

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Rationale: Agiorgitiko is one of the most widely-grown and commercially well-established red wine varieties in Greece. Each year viticulture industry produces a large amount of waste consisting of grape skins and seeds (pomace) during a short period. Grapes contain polyphenolic compounds which are partially transferred to wine during winemaking. Therefore, winery wastes could be an alternative cheap source for obtaining such compounds with important antioxidant activity. Specifically, red grape waste contains anthocyanins and flavonols which are characterized by multiple biological activities, including cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, antiviral and antibacterial properties attributed mainly to their antioxidant activity. Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) is considered an effective way to recover phenolic compounds, since it combines the advantage of mechanical effect with low temperature. Moreover, green solvents can be used in order to recover extracts intended for used in the food and nutraceutical industry. Apart from the extraction, pre-treatment process like drying can play an important role on the preservation of the grape pomace and the enhancement of its antioxidant capacity. Objective: The aim of this study is to recover natural extracts from winery waste with high antioxidant capacity using green solvents so they can be exploited and utilized as enhancers in food or nutraceuticals. Methods: Agiorgitiko grape pomace was dehydrated by air drying (AD) and accelerated solar drying (ASD) in order to explore the effect of the pre-treatment on the recovery of bioactive compounds. UAE was applied in untreated and dried samples using water and water: ethanol (1:1) as solvents. The total antioxidant potential and phenolic content of the extracts was determined using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively. Finally, the profile of anthocyanins and flavonols was specified using HPLC-DAD analysis. The efficiency of processes was determined in terms of extraction yield, antioxidant activity, phenolic content and the anthocyanins and flavovols profile. Results & Discussion: The experiments indicated that the pre-treatment was essential for the recovery of highly nutritious compounds from the pomace as long as the extracts samples showed higher phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. Water: ethanol (1:1) was considered a more effective solvent on the recovery of phenolic compounds. Moreover, ASD grape pomace extracted with the solvent system exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (IC50=0.36±0.01mg/mL) and phenolic content (TPC=172.68±0.01mgGAE/g dry extract), followed by AD and untreated pomace. The major compounds recovered were malvidin3-O-glucoside and quercetin3-O-glucoside according to the HPLC analysis. Conclusions: Winery waste can be exploited for the recovery of nutritious compounds using green solvents such as water or ethanol. The pretreatment of the pomace can significantly affect the concentration of phenolic compounds, while UAE is considered a highly effective extraction process.

Keywords: agiorgitico grape pomace, antioxidants, phenolic compounds, ultrasound assisted extraction

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Authors: Yuliana Wahyu, Ambros Leonangung Edu

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The learning praxis that is proposed by 2013 Curriculum (K-13) is no longer school-oriented as a supply-driven, but now a demand-driven provider. This vision is connected with Jokowi-Kalla Nawacita program to create a competitive nation in the global era. Competition is a social fact that must be faced. Therefore the curriculum will design a process to be the innovators and entrepreneurs.To get this goal, K-13 implements the character education. This aims at creating the innovators and entrepreneurs from an early age (primary school). One part of strengthening it is literacy formations (reading, numeracy, science, ICT, finance, and culture). Thus, science literacy is an integral part of character education. The above outputs are only formed through the innovative process through intra-curricular (blended learning), co-curriculer (hands-on learning) and extra-curricular (personalized learning). Unlike the curriculums before that child cram with the theories dominating the intellectual process, new breakthroughs make natural, social, and cultural phenomena as learning sources. For example, Science in primary schoolsplaceBiology as the platform. And Science places natural, social, and cultural phenomena as a learning field so that students can learn, discover, solve concrete problems, and the prospects of development and application in their everyday lives. Science education not only learns about facts collection or natural phenomena but also methods and scientific attitudes. In turn, Science will form the science literacy. Science literacy have critical, creative, logical, and initiative competences in responding to the issues of culture, science and technology. This is linked with science nature which includes hands-on and minds-on. To sustain the effectiveness of science learning, K-13 opens a new way of viewing a contextual learning model in which facts or natural phenomena are drawn closer to the child's learning environment to be studied and analyzed scientifically. Thus, the topic of elementary science discussion is the practical and contextual things that students encounter. This research is about to contextualize Science in primary schools at Manggarai, NTT, by placing local wisdom as a learning source and media to form the science literacy. Explicitly, this study discovers the concept of science and mathematics in Mbaru Niang. Mbaru Niang is a forgotten potentials of the centralistic-theoretical mainstream curriculum so far. In fact, the traditional Manggarai community stores and inherits much of the science-mathematical indigenous sciences. In the traditional house structures are full of science and mathematics knowledge. Every details have style, sound and mathematical symbols. Learning this, students are able to collaborate and synergize the content and learning resources in student learning activities. This is constructivist contextual learning that will be applied in meaningful learning. Meaningful learning allows students to learn by doing. Students then connect topics to the context, and science literacy is constructed from their factual experiences. The research location will be conducted in Manggarai through observation, interview, and literature study.

Keywords: indigenous science, Mbaru Niang, science literacy, science

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Authors: Mabel Y. C. Yau, Roy C. F. Lai, Hugo Y. H. Or

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This study is a pilot surveillance of hygiene compliance and food microbial safety of both licensed and mobile vendors selling Chinese ready–to-eat snack foods in Hong Kong. The study reflects similar situations in running mobile food vending business on trucks. Hong Kong is about to launch the Food Truck Pilot Scheme by the end of 2016 or early 2017. Technically, selling food on the vehicle is no different from hawking food on the street or vending food on the street. Each type of business bears similar food safety issues and cast the same impact on public health. Present findings demonstrate exemplarily situations that also apply to food trucks. 9 types of Cantonese style snacks of 32 samples in total were selected for microbial screening. A total of 16 vending sites including supermarkets, street markets, and snack stores were visited. The study finally focused on a traditional snack, the steamed rice cake with red beans called Put Chai Ko (PCK). PCK is a type of classical Cantonese pastry sold on push carts on the street. It used to be sold at room temperature and served with bamboo sticks in the old days. Some shops would have them sold steam fresh. Microbial examinations on aerobic counts, yeast, and mould, coliform, salmonella as well as Staphylococcus aureus detections were carried out. Salmonella was not detected in all samples. Since PCK does not contain ingredients of beef, poultry, eggs or dairy products, the risk of the presence of Salmonella in PCK was relatively lower although other source of contamination might be possible. Coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus was found in 6 of the 14 samples sold at room temperature. Among these 6 samples, 3 were PCK. One of the samples was in an unacceptable range of total colony forming units higher than 105. The rest were only satisfactory. Observational evaluations were made with checklists on personal hygiene, premises hygiene, food safety control, food storage, cleaning and sanitization as well as waste disposals. The maximum score was 25 if total compliance were obtained. The highest score among vendors was 20. Three stores were below average, and two of these stores were selling PCK. Most of the non-compliances were on food processing facilities, sanitization conditions and waste disposal. In conclusion, although no food poisoning outbreaks happened during the time of the investigation, the risk of food hazard existed in these stores, especially among street vendors. Attention is needed in the traditional practice of food selling, and that food handlers might not have sufficient knowledge to properly handle food products. Variations in food qualities existed among supply chains or franchise eateries or shops. It was commonly observed that packaging and storage conditions are not properly enforced in the retails. The same situation could be reflected across the food business. It did indicate need of food safety training in the industry and loopholes in quality control among business.

Keywords: cantonese snacks, food safety, microbial, hygiene, street food

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Authors: Riadh Zorgati, Thomas Triboulet

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In quite diverse application areas such as astronomy, medical imaging, geophysics or nondestructive evaluation, many problems related to calibration, fitting or estimation of a large number of input parameters of a model from a small amount of output noisy data, can be cast as inverse problems. Due to noisy data corruption, insufficient data and model errors, most inverse problems are ill-posed in a Hadamard sense, i.e. existence, uniqueness and stability of the solution are not guaranteed. A wide class of inverse problems in physics relates to the Fredholm equation of the first kind. The ill-posedness of such inverse problem results, after discretization, in a very ill-conditioned linear system of equations, the condition number of the associated matrix can typically range from 109 to 1018. This condition number plays the role of an amplifier of uncertainties on data during inversion and then, renders the inverse problem difficult to handle numerically. Similar problems appear in other areas such as numerical optimization when using interior points algorithms for solving linear programs leads to face ill-conditioned systems of linear equations. Devising efficient solution approaches for such system of equations is therefore of great practical interest. Efficient iterative algorithms are proposed for solving a system of linear equations. The approach is based on a preconditioning of the initial matrix of the system with an approximation of a generalized inverse leading to a stochastic preconditioned matrix. This approach, valid for non-negative matrices, is first extended to hermitian, semi-definite positive matrices and then generalized to any complex rectangular matrices. The main results obtained are as follows: 1) We are able to build a generalized inverse of any complex rectangular matrix which satisfies the convergence condition requested in iterative algorithms for solving a system of linear equations. This completes the (short) list of generalized inverse having this property, after Kaczmarz and Cimmino matrices. Theoretical results on both the characterization of the type of generalized inverse obtained and the convergence are derived. 2) Thanks to its properties, this matrix can be efficiently used in different solving schemes as Richardson-Tanabe or preconditioned conjugate gradients. 3) By using Lp norms, we propose generalized Kaczmarz’s type matrices. We also show how Cimmino's matrix can be considered as a particular case consisting in choosing the Euclidian norm in an asymmetrical structure. 4) Regarding numerical results obtained on some pathological well-known test-cases (Hilbert, Nakasaka, …), some of the proposed algorithms are empirically shown to be more efficient on ill-conditioned problems and more robust to error propagation than the known classical techniques we have tested (Gauss, Moore-Penrose inverse, minimum residue, conjugate gradients, Kaczmarz, Cimmino). We end on a very early prospective application of our approach based on stochastic matrices aiming at computing some parameters (such as the extreme values, the mean, the variance, …) of the solution of a linear system prior to its resolution. Such an approach, if it were to be efficient, would be a source of information on the solution of a system of linear equations.

Keywords: conditioning, generalized inverse, linear system, norms, stochastic matrix

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Authors: Srijata Mitra, Mobina Parveen, Pranab Roy, Narayan Chandra Chattopadhyay

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Chlorinated hydrocarbon can be a major pollution problem in groundwater as well as soil. Many people interact with these chemicals on daily accidentally or by professionally in the laboratory. One of the most common sources for Chlorinated hydrocarbon contamination of soil and groundwater are industrial effluents. The wide use and discharge of Trichloroethylene (TCE), a volatile chlorohydrocarbon from chemical industry, led to major water pollution in rural areas. TCE is an mainly used as an industrial metal degreaser in industries. Biotransformation of TCE to the potent carcinogen vinyl chloride (VC) by consortia of anaerobic bacteria might have role for the above purpose. For these reasons, the aim of current study was to isolate and characterized the genes involved in TCE metabolism and also to investigate the in silico study of those genes. To our knowledge, only one aromatic dioxygenase system, the toluene dioxygenase in Pseudomonas putida F1 has been shown to be involved in TCE degradation. This is first instance where Bacillus cereus group being used in biodegradation of trichloroethylene. A novel bacterial strain 2479 was isolated from oil depot site at Rajbandh, Durgapur (West Bengal, India) by enrichment culture technique. It was identified based on polyphasic approach and ribotyping. The bacterium was gram positive, rod shaped, endospore forming and capable of degrading trichloroethylene as the sole carbon source. On the basis of phylogenetic data and Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Analysis, strain 2479 should be placed within the genus Bacillus and species cereus. However, the present isolate (strain 2479) is unique and sharply different from the usual Bacillus strains in its biodegrading nature. Fujiwara test was done to estimate that the strain 2479 could degrade TCE efficiently. The gene for TCE biodegradation was PCR amplified from genomic DNA of Bacillus cereus 2479 by using todC1 gene specific primers. The 600bp amplicon was cloned into expression vector pUC I8 in the E. coli host XL1-Blue and expressed under the control of lac promoter and nucleotide sequence was determined. The gene sequence was deposited at NCBI under the Accession no. GU183105. In Silico approach involved predicting the physico-chemical properties of deduced Tce1 protein by using ProtParam tool. The tce1 gene contained 342 bp long ORF encoding 114 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight 12.6 kDa and the theoretical pI value of the polypeptide was 5.17, molecular formula: C559H886N152O165S8, total number of atoms: 1770, aliphatic index: 101.93, instability index: 28.60, Grand Average of Hydropathicity (GRAVY): 0.152. Three differentially expressed proteins (97.1, 40 and 30 kDa) were directly involved in TCE biodegradation, found to react immunologically to the antibodies raised against TCE inducible proteins in Western blot analysis. The present study suggested that cloned gene product (TCE1) was capable of degrading TCE as verified chemically.

Keywords: cloning, Bacillus cereus, in silico analysis, TCE

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Authors: Naghmeh M. Bandari, Javad Dargahi, Muthukumaran Packirisamy

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Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) has been widely performed around the world during the last two decades. RMIS demonstrates significant advantages over conventional surgery, e.g., improving the accuracy and dexterity of a surgeon, providing 3D vision, motion scaling, hand-eye coordination, decreasing tremor, and reducing x-ray exposure for surgeons. Despite benefits, surgeons cannot touch the surgical site and perceive tactile information. This happens due to the remote control of robots. The literature survey identified the lack of force feedback as the riskiest limitation in the existing technology. Without the perception of tool-tissue contact force, the surgeon might apply an excessive force causing tissue laceration or insufficient force causing tissue slippage. The primary use of force sensors has been to measure the tool-tissue interaction force in real-time in-situ. Design of a tactile sensor is subjected to a set of design requirements, e.g., biocompatibility, electrical-passivity, MRI-compatibility, miniaturization, ability to measure static and dynamic force. In this study, a planar optical fiber-based sensor was proposed to mount at the surgical grasper. It was developed based on the light intensity modulation principle. The deflectable part of the sensor was a beam modeled as a cantilever Euler-Bernoulli beam on rigid substrates. A semi-cylindrical indenter was attached to the bottom surface the beam at the mid-span. An optical fiber was secured at both ends on the same rigid substrates. The indenter was in contact with the fiber. External force on the sensor caused deflection in the beam and optical fiber simultaneously. The micro-bending of the optical fiber would consequently result in light power loss. The sensor was simulated and studied using finite element methods. A laser light beam with 800nm wavelength and 5mW power was used as the input to the optical fiber. The output power was measured using a photodetector. The voltage from photodetector was calibrated to the external force for a chirp input (0.1-5Hz). The range, resolution, and hysteresis of the sensor were studied under monotonic and harmonic external forces of 0-2.0N with 0 and 5Hz, respectively. The results confirmed the validity of proposed sensing principle. Also, the sensor demonstrated an acceptable linearity (R2 > 0.9). A minimum external force was observed below which no power loss was detectable. It is postulated that this phenomenon is attributed to the critical angle of the optical fiber to observe total internal reflection. The experimental results were of negligible hysteresis (R2 > 0.9) and in fair agreement with the simulations. In conclusion, the suggested planar sensor is assessed to be a cost-effective solution, feasible, and easy to use the sensor for being miniaturized and integrated at the tip of robotic graspers. Geometrical and optical factors affecting the minimum sensible force and the working range of the sensor should be studied and optimized. This design is intrinsically scalable and meets all the design requirements. Therefore, it has a significant potential of industrialization and mass production.

Keywords: force sensor, minimally invasive surgery, optical sensor, robotic surgery, tactile sensor

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Authors: Zi Y. Kang, Tracy D. Cassidy, Tom Cassidy

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3D apparel CAD is one of the remarkable products in advanced technology which enables intuitive design, visualisation and evaluation of garments through stereoscopic drape simulation. The progressive improvements of 3D apparel CAD have led to the creation of more realistic clothing simulation which is used not only in design development but also in presentation, promotion and communication for fashion as well as other industries such as film, game and social network services. As a result, 3D clothing technology is becoming more ubiquitous in human culture and lives today. This study considers that such phenomenon implies that the technology has reached maturity and it is time to inspect the status of current technology and to explore its potential uses in ways to create cultural values to further move forward. For this reason, this study aims to generate virtual costumes as culturally significant objects using 3D apparel CAD and to assess its capability, applicability and attitudes of the audience towards clothing simulation through comparison with physical counterparts. Since the access to costume collection is often limited due to the conservative issues, the technology may make valuable contribution by democratization of culture and knowledge for museums and its audience. This study is expected to provide foundation knowledge for development of clothing technology and for expanding its boundary of practical uses. To prevent any potential damage, two replicas of the costumes in the 1860s and 1920s at the Museum of London were chosen as samples. Their structural, visual and physical characteristics were measured and collected using patterns, scanned images of fabrics and objective fabric measurements with scale, KES-F (Kawabata Evaluation System of Fabrics) and Titan. Commercial software, DC Suite 5.0 was utilised to create virtual costumes applying collected data and the following outcomes were produced for the evaluation: Images of virtual costumes and video clips showing static and dynamic simulation. Focus groups were arranged with fashion design students and the public for evaluation which exposed the outcomes together with physical samples, fabrics swatches and photographs. The similarities, application and acceptance of virtual costumes were estimated through discussion and a questionnaire. The findings show that the technology has the capability to produce realistic or plausible simulation but expression of some factors such as details and capability of light material requires improvements. While the use of virtual costumes was viewed as more interesting and futuristic replacements to physical objects by the public group, the fashion student group noted more differences in detail and preferred physical garments highlighting the absence of tangibility. However, the advantages and potential of virtual costumes as effective and useful visual references for educational and exhibitory purposes were underlined by both groups. Although 3D apparel CAD has sufficient capacity to assist garment design process, it has limits in identical replication and more study on accurate reproduction of details and drape is needed for its technical improvements. Nevertheless, the virtual costumes in this study demonstrated the possibility of the technology to contribute to cultural and knowledgeable value creation through its applicability and as an interesting way to offer 3D visual information.

Keywords: digital clothing technology, garment simulation, 3D Apparel CAD, virtual costume

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Authors: Pei-Shan Liang

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Objective: This article explores the nursing experience of caring for a patient with terminal gastric cancer complicated by an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The patient experienced physical discomfort due to the disease, initially unable to accept the situation, leading to anxiety, and eventually accepting the need for surgery. Methods: The nursing period was from June 6 to June 10, 2024. Through observation, direct care, conversations, and physical assessments, and using Gordon's eleven functional health patterns for a one-on-one holistic assessment, interdisciplinary team meetings were held with the critical care team and family. Three nursing health issues were identified: pain related to the disease and invasive procedures, anxiety related to uncertainty about disease recovery, and decreased cardiac tissue perfusion related to hemodynamic instability. Results: Open communication techniques and empathetic care were employed to establish a trusting nurse-patient relationship, and patient-centered nursing interventions were developed. Pain was assessed using a 10-point pain scale, and pain medications were adjusted by a pharmacist. Initially, Fentanyl 500mcg with pump run at 1ml/hr was administered, later changed to Ultracet 37.5mg/325mg, 1 tablet every 6 hours orally, reducing the pain score to 3. Lavender aromatherapy and listening to crystal music were used as distractions to alleviate pain, allowing the patient to sleep uninterrupted for at least 7 hours. The patient was encouraged to express feelings and fears through LINE messages or drawings, and a psychologist was invited to provide support. Family members were present at least twice a day for over an hour each time, reducing psychological distress and uncertainty about the prognosis. According to the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the anxiety score dropped from 17 (moderate anxiety) to 6 (no anxiety). Focused nursing care was implemented with close monitoring of vital signs maintaining systolic blood pressure between 112-118 mmHg to ensure adequate myocardial perfusion. The patient was encouraged to get out of bed for postoperative rehabilitation and to strengthen cardiopulmonary function. A chest X-ray showed no abnormalities, and breathing was smooth with Triflow use, maintaining at least 5 seconds with 2 balls four times a day, and SpO2 >96%. Conclusion: The care process highlighted the importance of addressing psychological care in addition to maintaining life when the patient’s condition changes. The presence of family often provided the greatest source of comfort for the patient, helping to reduce anxiety and pain. Nurses must play multiple roles, including advocate, coordinator, educator, and consultant, using various communication techniques and fostering hope by listening to and accepting the patient’s emotional responses. It is hoped that this report will provide a reference for clinical nursing staff and contribute to improving the quality of care.

Keywords: intensive care, gastric cancer, aortic aneurysm, quality of care

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