Search results for: relative water content

Authors: Duangkamol Thitivesa

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This paper focuses on the use of project work as a pretext for applying the conventions of writing, or the correctness of mechanics, usage, and sentence formation, in a content-based class in a Rajabhat University. Its aim was to explore to what extent the student teachers’ academic achievement of the basic writing features against the 70% attainment target after the use of project is. The organization of work around an agreed theme in which the students reproduce language provided by texts and instructors is expected to enhance students’ correct writing conventions. The sample of the study comprised of 38 fourth-year English major students. The data was collected by means of achievement test and student writing works. The scores in the summative achievement test were analyzed by mean score, standard deviation, and percentage. It was found that the student teachers do more achieve of practicing mechanics and usage, and less in sentence formation. The students benefited from the exposure to texts during conducting the project; however, their automaticity of how and when to form phrases and clauses into simple/complex sentences had room for improvement.

Keywords: project-based learning, project work, writing conventions, academic achievement

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Authors: Thidarath Rungruangchaikongmi, Duangsamorn Rungsawanpho

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This research aims to investigate the efficiency of storehouse management and collect problems of the process of storehouse work of Faculty of Management Science, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The subjects consisting of head of storehouse section and staffs, sampled through the Convenience Sampling Technique for 97 sampling were included in the study and the Content Analysis technique was used in analysis of data. The results of the study revealed that the management efficiency of the storehouse work on the part of work process was found to be relevant to university’s rules and regulations. The delay of work in particular steps had occurred due to more rules and regulations or practice guidelines were issued for work transparency and fast and easy inspection and control. The key problem of the management of storehouse work fell on the lack of knowledge and understanding regarding university’s rules and regulations or practice guidelines of the officers.

Keywords: efficiency of storehouse management, faculty of management science, process of storehouse work, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

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Authors: Emmanuel Havugimana

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If there is a natural phenomenon that could endanger the lives of countless people in Central Africa, it is the possible eruption of the Nyiragongo Volcano. This one is 3,470 m above sea level and has a summit formed by a crater 1.2 km in diameter. Its composite is made up of many layers of lava and tephras from the Great Rift Valley located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is also located in the region of the volcanic mountains near the city of Goma in Congo and near the city of Gisenyi in Rwanda. Nyiragongo represents an imminent danger considering that its magma has a very low silica content and is thus quite fluid. Its slopes are also high and slippery, and the lava takes advantage of this to flow up to 100 km. Lately, its eruptions took place in May 2002, resumed in May 2021, and they were faster than before. The volcano remains active even today. All these factors make it among the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. On top of that, no one knows when the next eruption will take place, especially since it can also occur without any warning signs. Unfortunately, volcanological monitoring services in Congo are non-existent, and that is why this document concludes that Nyiragongo could if nothing is done in this regard, ravage the two neighboring towns: Goma in Congo and Gisenyi in Rwanda. It also proposes solutions that may contribute to preventing the expected dangers in this context.

Keywords: Nyiragongo, volcanic eruption, precursor signs, active volcano

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Authors: Nasreen Thebo, W. Shaikh, A. J. Laghari, P. Nangni

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Prunus dulcis (Almond) shell extract is demonstrated for its biomedical applications. Shell extract prepared by soxhlet method and further characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS), FTIR, GC-MS techniques. In this study, the antifungal activity of almond shell extract was observed against clinically isolated pathogenic fungi by strip method. The antioxidant potential of crude shell extract of was evaluated by using DPPH (2-2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl) and radical scavenging system. The possibility of short term therapy was only 20 days. The total antioxidant activity varied from 94.38 to 95.49% and total phenolic content was found as 4.455 mg/gm in almond shell extract. Finally the results provide a great therapeutic potential against Tinea capitis infection of scalp. Included in this study of shell extract that show scientific evidence for clinical efficacy, as well as found to be more useful in the treatment of dermatologic disorders and without any doubt it can be recommended to be Patent.

Keywords: Tinea capitis, DPPH, FTIR, GC-MS therapeutic treatment

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Authors: Sanaa Chafik, Imane Daoudi, Mounim A. El Yacoubi, Hamid El Ouardi

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Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH) is one of the most promising techniques for solving nearest neighbour search problem in high dimensional space. Euclidean LSH is the most popular variation of LSH that has been successfully applied in many multimedia applications. However, the Euclidean LSH presents limitations that affect structure and query performances. The main limitation of the Euclidean LSH is the large memory consumption. In order to achieve a good accuracy, a large number of hash tables is required. In this paper, we propose a new hashing algorithm to overcome the storage space problem and improve query time, while keeping a good accuracy as similar to that achieved by the original Euclidean LSH. The Experimental results on a real large-scale dataset show that the proposed approach achieves good performances and consumes less memory than the Euclidean LSH.

Keywords: approximate nearest neighbor search, content based image retrieval (CBIR), curse of dimensionality, locality sensitive hashing, multidimensional indexing, scalability

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Authors: E. L. Queiroz, S. M. A. Souza, R. T. S. Santos

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The cereal bars have emerged as a healthy alternative in the food sector, by presenting a remarkable functional appeal, being a product of high nutritional value. Cereals have an important function in feeding because they have features that particularize them as their variety, smooth flavour and aroma and easy digestion and absorption in the body. Brazil is the largest producer of cassava in the world, and the flour produced from this raw material is a source of nutrients for much of the low-income population, however it is little explored industrially. The northeast region of Brazil has great potential for honey production, which is a source of vitamins, proteins, minerals and organic acids but it is much used as a medicine. Aiming to combine the production of healthy food with the sustainable utilization and enhancement of family farming products, was created a cereal bar using regional raw materials of desirable nutritional characteristics: honey, umbu pulp and cassava flour. The cereal bar was characterized by physicochemical analyzes quantifying the content of lipids, proteins, moisture and ashes, microbiological and sensory evaluation showed that the cereal bar is a safe, and nutritious food with good sensory properties.

Keywords: cassava flour, cereal bar, honey, insoluble fibre

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Authors: Vladimir Simovic, Matija Varga, Robert Svetlacic

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Scientific work analytically explores and demonstrates techniques that can animate objects and geometric characters using CSS3 language by applying proper formatting and positioning of elements. This paper presents examples of optimum application of the CSS3 descriptive language when generating general web animations (e.g., billiards and movement of geometric characters, etc.). The paper presents analytically, the optimal development and animation design with the frames within which the animated objects are. The originally developed content is based on the upgrading of existing CSS3 descriptive language animations with more complex syntax and project-oriented work. The purpose of the developed animations is to provide an overview of the interactive features of CSS3 descriptive language design for computer games and the animation of important analytical data based on the web view. It has been analytically demonstrated that CSS3 as a descriptive language allows inserting of various multimedia elements into websites for public and internal sites.

Keywords: web animation recording, KML GML HTML5 forms, Cascading Style Sheets 3, Google Earth Professional

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Authors: Zidane Abderrezzaq

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In contrast to recent successful developments in macro monetary policies, the modelling, measurement and management of systemic financial stability has remained problematical. Indeed, the focus of most effort has been on improving individual, rather than systemic, bank risk management; the Basel II objective has been to bring regulatory bank capital into line with the (sophisticated) banks’ assessment of their own economic capital. Even at the individual bank level there are concerns over appropriate diversification allowances, differing objectives of banks and regulators, the need for a buffer over regulatory minima, and the distinction between expected and unexpected losses (EL and UL). At the systemic level the quite complex and prescriptive content of Basel II raises dangers of ‘endogenous risk’ and procyclicality. Simulations suggest that this latter could be a serious problem. In an extension to the main analysis we study how liquidity effects interact with banking structure to produce a greater chance of systemic breakdown. We finally consider how the risk of contagion might depend on the degree of asymmetry (tiering) inherent in the structure of the banking system. A number of our results have important implications for public policy, which this paper also draws out.

Keywords: systemic stability, financial regulation, credit risk, systemic risk

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Authors: Mahmoudi Noureddine

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The glass fiber (GF) reinforced polyimide (PL) composites filled with graphite powders were fabricated by means of hot press molding technique. The friction and wear properties of the resulting composites sliding against GCr15 steel were investigated on a model ring-on-block test rig at dry sliding condition. The wear mechanisms were also discussed, based on scanning electron microscopic examination of the worn surface of the PL composites and the transfer film formed on the counterpart. With the increasing normal loads, the friction coefficient of the composites increased under the dry sliding, owing to inconsistent influences of shear strength and real contact areas. Experimental results revealed that the incorporation of graphite significantly improve the wear resistance of the glass fibers reinforced polyimide composites. For best combination of friction coefficient and wear rate, the optimal volume content of graphite in the composites appears to be 45 %. It was also found that the tribological properties of the glass fiber reinforced PL composites filled with graphite powders were closely related with the sliding condition such as sliding rate and applied load.

Keywords: composites, fiber, friction, wear

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Authors: Kongmeng Ly

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The management of transboundary river basins across developing countries, such as the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB), is frequently challenging given the development and conservation divergences of the basin countries. Driven by needs to sustain economic performance and reduce poverty, the LMB countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam) are embarking on significant land use changes in the form hydropower dam, to fulfill their energy requirements. This pathway could lead to irreversible changes to the ecosystem of the Mekong River, if not properly managed. Given the uncertain trade-offs of hydropower development and operation, the Lower Mekong River Basin Countries through the technical support of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat embarked on decade long the development of Technical Guidelines for Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment. Through a series of workshops, seminars, national and regional consultations, and pilot studies and further development following the recommendations generated through legal and institutional reviews undertaken over two decades period, the LMB Countries jointly adopted the MRC Technical Guidelines for Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TbEIA Guidelines). These guidelines were developed with particular regard to the experience gained from MRC supported consultations and technical reviews of the Xayaburi Dam Project, Don Sahong Hydropower Project, Pak Beng Hydropower Project, and lessons learned from the Srepok River and Se San River case studies commissioned by the MRC under the generous supports of development partners around the globe. As adopted, the TbEIA Guidelines have been designed as a supporting mechanism to the national EIA legislation, processes and systems in each Member Country. In recognition of the already agreed mechanisms, the TbEIA Guidelines build on and supplement the agreements stipulated in the 1995 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin and its Procedural Rules, in addressing potential transboundary environmental impacts of development projects and ensuring mutual benefits from the Mekong River and its resources. Since its adoption in 2022, the TbEIA Guidelines have already been voluntary implemented by Lao PDR on its underdevelopment Sekong A Downstream Hydropower Project, located on the Sekong River – a major tributary of the Mekong River. While this implementation is ongoing with results expected in early 2024, the implementation thus far has strengthened cooperation among concerned Member Countries with multiple successful open dialogues organized at national and regional levels. It is hope that lessons learnt from this application would lead to a wider application of the TbEIA Guidelines for future water resources development projects in the LMB.

Keywords: transboundary, EIA, lower mekong river basin, mekong river

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Authors: Fahad A. Alotaibi

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An increase in salt dissolution rate with continuous water flow is expected to lead to the progressive collapse of the soil structure. Evaluation of the relationship between soil salt dissolution and the variation of sabkha soil permeability in terms of type, rate, and quantity in order to assure construction safety in these environments. The current study investigates the relationship of soil permeability with the rate of dissolution of calcium (Ca2+), sulfate (SO4-2), chloride (CL−1), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+1) ions. Results revealed an increase in sabkha soil permeability with the rate of ions dissolution. This makes the efficiency of using a waterproofing stabilization agent in the reduction of sabkha salts dissolution the main criterion is selecting suitable stabilizing method.

Keywords: sabkha, permeability, salts, dissolution

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Authors: Felix Olajide Ibikunle

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Introductory Statement: Sustainable participation of teenagers in sport requires deliberate and concerted plan and managerial policy rooted in the “philosophy of catch them young”. At risk, teenagers need proper integration into societal aspiration: This direction will go a long way to streamline them into the security breach and attractive nuisance free lifestyles. Basic Methodology: The population consists of children within 13-19 years old. A proportionate sampling size technique of 60% was adopted to select seven zones out of 11 geo-political zones in the Ibadan metropolis. Qualitative information and interview were used to collect needed information. Majority of the teenagers were out of school, street hawkers, motor pack, touts, and unserious vocation apprentices. These groups have the potentials of security breaches in the metropolis and beyond. Five hundred and thirty-four (534) respondents were used for the study. They were drawn from Ojoo, Akingbile, and Moniya axis = 72, Agbowo, Ajibode, and Apete axis = 74; Akobo, Basorun, and Idi-ape axis 79; Wofun, Monatan, and Iyana-Church axis = 78; Molete, Oke-ado and Oke-Bola axis = 75; Beere, Odinjo, Elekuro axis = 77; Eleyele, Ologuneru, and Alesinloye axis = 79. Major Findings: Multiple regression was used to analyze the independent variables and percentage. The respondents average age was 15.6 years old, and with 100% male. The instrument(questionnaire) used yielded; sport preference (r = 0.72); intervention (r = 0.68) and the sustainable participation (r = 0.70).The relative contributions of sport preference on participation of at risk teenagers was (F-ratio = 1.067); Intervention contribution of sport on participation of at risk teenagers = produced (F-ratio of 12.095) was significant while sustainable participation of at risk teenager produced (F-ratio = 1.062) was significant. Closing Statement: The respondents’ sport preference stimulated their participation in sport. The intervention exposed at risk-teenagers to coaching, which activated their interest and participation in sport. While sustainable participation contributed positively to evolve at risk teenagers participation in their preferred sport.

Keywords: sport, preference, intervention, teenagers, sustainable, participation and risk teenagers

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Authors: Lucie Bielská, Lucia Škulcová, Martina Hvězdová, Jakub Hofman, Zdeněk Šimek

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The currently used pesticides represent a broad group of chemicals with various physicochemical and environmental properties which input has reached 2×106 tons/year and is expected to even increases. From that amount, only 1% directly interacts with the target organism while the rest represents a potential risk to the environment and human health. Despite being authorized and approved for field applications, the effects of pesticides in the environment can differ from the model scenarios due to the various pesticide-soil interactions and resulting modified fate and behavior. As such, a direct monitoring of pesticide residues and evaluation of their impact on soil biota, aquatic environment, food contamination, and human health should be performed to prevent environmental and economic damages. The present project focuses on fluvisols as they are intensively used in the agriculture but face to several environmental stressors. Fluvisols develop in the vicinity of rivers by the periodic settling of alluvial sediments and periodic interruptions to pedogenesis by flooding. As a result, fluvisols exhibit very high yields per area unit, are intensively used and loaded by pesticides. Regarding the floods, their regular contacts with surface water arise from serious concerns about the surface water contamination. In order to monitor pesticide residues and assess their environmental and biological impact within this project, 70 fluvisols were sampled over the Czech Republic and analyzed for the total and bioaccessible amounts of 40 various pesticides. For that purpose, methodologies for the pesticide extraction and analysis with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry technique were developed and optimized. To assess the biological risks, both the earthworm bioaccumulation tests and various types of passive sampling techniques (XAD resin, Chemcatcher, and silicon rubber) were optimized and applied. These data on chemical analysis and bioavailability were combined with the results of soil analysis, including the measurement of basic physicochemical soil properties as well detailed characterization of soil organic matter with the advanced method of diffuse reflectance infrared spectrometry. The results provide unique data on the residual levels of pesticides in the Czech Republic and on the factors responsible for increased pesticide residue levels that should be included in the modeling of pesticide fate and effects.

Keywords: currently used pesticides, fluvisoils, bioavailability, Quechers, liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry, soil properties, DRIFT analysis, pesticides

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Authors: Teera Intararuang

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This research aims to study guidelines to developed Sai Temple’ local boat museum to be as cultural tourism attraction and explored villagers requirement in term of type and format of interpretation which they want to promote their cultural tourism for Sai Temple, Kradangnga sub-district, Bang Khon Tee district, Samut Songkhram province. However, this article will explores only the requirement of type and format of interpretation which 40 villagers of Ruam Sai Pattana 789 purposed to promote Sai temple. The procedures are In-depth Interview, Observation, Focus Group by discussing ideas. After that the information received is synthesized and analyzed. From research result, it is revealed that the local community’ requirement on types and format of interpretation as brochure with up to date, faithfully and formally content to present Sai Temple which got the most demand score (3.82) considered as most wanted demand.

Keywords: museum, boat museum, cultural tourism, interpretation, brochure, Bangkhontee district, Samut Songkhram province

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Authors: Mohamed Elassaly

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The damage status of RC buildings is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the imposed ground motion. Peak Ground Acceleration and frequency contents are considered the main two factors that affect ground motion characteristics; hence, affecting the seismic response of RC structures and consequently their damage state. A detailed investigation on the combined effects of these two factors on damage assessment of RC buildings, is carried out. Twenty one earthquake records are analyzed and arranged into three groups, according to their frequency contents. These records are used in an investigation to define the expected damage state that would be attained by RC buildings, if subjected to varying ground motion characteristics. The damage assessment is conducted through examining drift ratios and damage indices of the overall structure and the significant structural components of RC building. Base and story shear of RC building model, are also investigated, for cases when the model is subjected to the chosen twenty one earthquake records. Nonlinear dynamic analyses are performed on a 2-dimensional model of a 12-story R.C. building.

Keywords: damage, frequency content, ground motion, PGA, RC building, seismic

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Authors: K. L. Kabemba, R. F. Sandenberg

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The usual way to desorb gold is by elution with a hot concentrated alkaline solution of sodium cyanide. The high temperature is necessary because the dielectric constant of water decreases with increasing temperature hence the electrostatic forces between charcoal and the gold cyanide complex decreases. High alkalinity and a high concentration of cyanide are necessary for gold desorption because both OH- and CN- ions are preferentially adsorbed. The rate of elution increases with increasing anion concentration but decreases with increasing cation concentration that means the rate of elution passes through a maximum as the concentration of the eluting salt (NaCN, for example) is increased. The anion that gives the best results, the cyanide ion, decomposes fairly rapidly at elevated temperatures (40% in 6 hours, 90% in 24 hours at 95°C).

Keywords: caustic, cyanide, gold, temperature

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Authors: B. M. Patil

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Calcium Zirconate (CaZrO3) has high protonic conductivities at elevated temperature in water or hydrogen atmosphere. Undoped calcium zirconate acts as a p-type semiconductor in air. In this paper, we reported synthesis of CaZrO3 nanoparticles via modified molecular precursor method. The precursor calcium zirconium oxalate (CZO) was synthesized by exchange reaction between freshly generated aqueous solution of sodium zirconyl oxalate and calcium acetate at room temperature. The controlled pyrolysis of CZO in air at 700°C for one hour resulted in the formation nanocrystalline CaZrO3 powder. CaZrO3 obtained by the present method was characterized by Simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermogravimetry (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infra-red spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The pellets of synthesized CaZrO3 fabricated, sintered at 1000°C for 5 hr and tested as sensors for NO2 and NH3 gases.

Keywords: CaZrO3, CZO, NO2, NH3

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Authors: Supatchalee Sirichokworrakit

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Fishbone of Nile tilapia (Tilapia nilotica), waste from the frozen Nile tilapia fillet factory, is one of calcium sources. In order to increase fish bone powder value, this study aimed to investigate the effect of tilapia bone flour (TBF) addition (5, 10, 15% by flour weight) on cooking quality, texture and sensory attributes of noodles. The results indicated that tensile strength, color value (a*) and water absorption of noodles significantly decreased (p≤0.05) as the levels of TBF increased from 0-15%. While cooking loss, cooking time and color values (L* and b*) of noodles significantly increased (p≤0.05). Sensory evaluation indicated that noodles with 5% TBF received the highest overall acceptability score.

Keywords: tilapia bone flour, noodles, cooking quality, calcium

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Authors: Fatemeh Ansarniya, Fatemeh Mirjalili, Hamid Reza Abedini, Shabnam Salari, M. Horasht

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The study of this research is the effect of using Fe₂O₃ and sum of alkalis elements in the floor tile production. At first, raw materials of floor tile with the same formulation of original sample was prepared and sintered for 39 minutes at 1130˚C in roller kiln and finally, physical properties of the sintered bodies based on floor tile standard process was investigated. The results showed that there was the possibility of production of floor tile containing different percentages of Fe₂O₃ and sum of Na₂O+ K₂O. With increasing the Fe₂O₃ and sum of Na₂O+ K₂O elements, the percentages of water absorption and raw, dry and sintered strengths were decreased, but the percentages of shrinkage were increased which caused the decreasing the percentages of expansion.

Keywords: floor tile, physical properties, Na2O+ K2O, Fe2O3

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Authors: Mahdi Akhbardeh

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St John's wort plant can help to treat depression disease through decreasing this disease symptom, due to having some similar features of Prozac (Fluoxetine Hcl) pill. People suffering from slight depression who have fear of using antidepressants side effects can use St John's wort drops under doctor observation. This method of treatment is proposed specially to those women who are spending menopause or depression resulted from this period. St John's wort plant have proposed traditional and plant medicine as newest researches in treating mood disorders compared to Prozac (Fluoxetine Hcl) drug in treating depression disease which is being administrated in clinic research center of Washington. Objective: the aim of this study is to find an alternative treatment method in people suffering from depression which are treated with Prozac (Fluoxetine Hcl). Almost 70 percent of treatment failures with Prozac (Fluoxetine Hcl) drug in patients suffering from slight to normal depression is due to intensive side effects including: decrease in blood pressure, reduce in sexual desire and 30 percent of it is due to this drug affectless in treatment procedure which leads to leaving treatment. Results of Hypercuim plant function are exactly similar to antidepressants. Increase in serotonin amount in brain synopsis terminal end causes increase in existence time of this material in this part. In fact these two drugs have similar function. Though side effects of Hypercuim plant(St John's wort) including headache and slight nausea tolerable. Results: St John's wort plant can be used lonely in slight to normal depressions in which patients are avoiding Prozac (Fluoxetine Hcl) drug due to it's side effects. In intensive depressions through which general patients don’t indicate positive response to drug, it is probably expected relative or even complete treatment through combining antidepressants drugs with this plant. This treatment method has been investigated and confirmed in clinical tests and researches.

Keywords: depression, St John's wort, Prozac, antidepressant

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Authors: Adel A. Ghoneim

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In most existing buildings in hot climate, cooling loads lead to high primary energy consumption and consequently high CO2 emissions. These can be substantially decreased with integrated renewable energy systems. Kuwait is characterized by its dry hot long summer and short warm winter. Kuwait receives annual total radiation more than 5280 MJ/m2 with approximately 3347 h of sunshine. Solar energy systems consist of PV modules and parabolic trough collectors are considered to satisfy electricity consumption, domestic water heating, and cooling loads of an existing building. This paper presents the results of an extensive program of energy conservation and energy generation using integrated photovoltaic (PV) modules and parabolic trough collectors (PTC). The program conducted on an existing institutional building intending to convert it into a Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB) or near net Zero Energy Building (nNZEB). The program consists of two phases; the first phase is concerned with energy auditing and energy conservation measures at minimum cost and the second phase considers the installation of photovoltaic modules and parabolic trough collectors. The 2-storey building under consideration is the Applied Sciences Department at the College of Technological Studies, Kuwait. Single effect lithium bromide water absorption chillers are implemented to provide air conditioning load to the building. A numerical model is developed to evaluate the performance of parabolic trough collectors in Kuwait climate. Transient simulation program (TRNSYS) is adapted to simulate the performance of different solar system components. In addition, a numerical model is developed to assess the environmental impacts of building integrated renewable energy systems. Results indicate that efficient energy conservation can play an important role in converting the existing buildings into NZEBs as it saves a significant portion of annual energy consumption of the building. The first phase results in an energy conservation of about 28% of the building consumption. In the second phase, the integrated PV completely covers the lighting and equipment loads of the building. On the other hand, parabolic trough collectors of optimum area of 765 m2 can satisfy a significant portion of the cooling load, i.e about73% of the total building cooling load. The annual avoided CO2 emission is evaluated at the optimum conditions to assess the environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. The total annual avoided CO2 emission is about 680 metric ton/year which confirms the environmental impacts of these systems in Kuwait.

Keywords: building integrated renewable systems, Net-Zero energy building, solar fraction, avoided CO2 emission

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Authors: Cristiane Hengler Corrêa Bernardo

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The communication is an essential part of the process that characterizes scientific research. It should be present in every stage of research in a systemic way. However, this process is not always efficient and effective. Reports of researchers focused on agribusiness point to difficulties in communicating with farmers that negatively impact on research results and may cause distortions and even quite significant inconsistencies. This research aims at identifying the main noise and barriers in communication between agribusiness researchers and farmers. It discusses the possibility of creating a specific strategy to correct or minimize such failures. The main research question: what features of the communication process will be decisive for the communication between agribusiness researcher and farmer occur with greater efficiency? It is expected that the research will result in processes that may correct or minimize such problems, promoting dialogues more efficient knowledge. The research will adopt a qualitative approach, using action research as a form of investigative action for social and educational nature, aiming at promoting understanding and interaction between researchers and members of the investigated situations. To collect and analyze data to document analysis will be used; questionnaires and interviews and content analysis.

Keywords: agribusiness farmers, researchers, science communication, analysis

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Authors: Reza Sadeghi, Maryam Nazarahari

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Due to the numerous side effects of chemical pesticides, in this research, to provide the practical use of herbal compounds, the extracts of the two plants of thyme and eucalyptus were extracted by using water, 70% ethanol, and n-hexane solvents via percolation method and then formulated as wettable powders. The mortality rates of cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) were investigated under different concentrations of ethanolic, hexanic, and aqueous extracts of thyme and eucalyptus and their formulations in laboratory conditions. The results showed that the used concentrations, types of solvents, and sorts of formulations significantly affected the mortality rates of cotton bollworm larvae during the exposure period of 24 h.

Keywords: cotton bollworm, eucalyptus, formulation, thyme, toxicity

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Authors: Jayisha Das Jaya, Nafis As Sami, Nazia Jahan, Tamanna Jerin, Mohammed Russedul Islam

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This paper contains continuous research which helps to analyze polypropylene modified bituminous mix and its impact characteristics with respect to original bitumen. Three percentages of polypropylene varying from (1-3) % of the weight of bitumen have been used to alter bitumen’s performance. The temperature of 170°C has been maintained during the blending of polypropylene with bitumen. It was performed by a wet process as it has certain advantages over the dry process. A rough estimate of 210 rpm rotation speed was set to prepare the blend in a mixer for 30 minutes producing homogeneous mixture. The blended mix shows a change in physical properties in comparison with the original bitumen content. Modification shows that for a 1% increment of polypropylene, softening point increases by 1 degree, penetration values decrease gradually to 55.6, 54, 52.5, ductility values decrease gradually to 87,76, 63 and specific gravity remains the same. Then Marshall mix design is performed with 60/70 penetration grade bitumen contents varying from (4-6) % with .5% intervals. Marshall stability and flow test results indicate the increase in stability and decrease in flow.

Keywords: bitumen, marshall, polypropylene, temperature

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Authors: Indu Gaur, Neha Bhadauria, Shilpi Shilpi, Susmita Goswami, Prem D. Sharma, Prabir K. Paul

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The concept of organic agriculture has been accepted as novelty in Indian society, but there is no data available on the human pathogens colonizing plant parts due to such practices. Also, the pattern and mechanism of their colonization need to be understood in order to devise possible strategies for their prevention. In the present study, human pathogenic bacteria were isolated from organically grown tomato plants and five of them were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter ludwigii, Serratia fonticola, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Chryseobacterium jejuense. Tomato plants were grown in controlled aseptic conditions with 25±1˚C, 70% humidity and 12 hour L/D photoperiod. Six weeks old plants were divided into 6 groups of 25 plants each and treated as follows: Group 1: K. pneumonia, Group 2: E. ludwigii, Group 3: S. fonticola, Group 4: S. maltophilia, Group 5: C. jejuense, Group 6: Sterile distilled water (control). The inoculums for all treatments were prepared by overnight growth with uniform concentration of 108 cells/ml. Leaf samples from above groups were collected at 0.5, 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours post inoculation for the colony forming unit counts (CFU/cm2 of leaf area) of individual pathogens using leaf impression method. These CFU counts were used for the in vivo colonization assay and adherence assay of individual pathogens. Also, resistance of these pathogens to at least 12 antibiotics was studied. Based on these findings S. fonticola was found to be most prominently colonizing the phylloplane of tomato and was further studied. Tomato plants grown in controlled aseptic conditions same as mentioned above were divided into 2 groups of 25 plants each and treated as follows: Group 1: S. fonticola, Group 2: Sterile distilled water (control). Leaf samples from above groups were collected at 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours post inoculation and homogenized in suitable buffers for surface and cell wall protein isolation. Protein samples thus obtained were subjected to isocratic SDS-gel electrophoresis and analyzed. It was observed that presence of S. fonticola could induce the expression of at least 3 additional cell wall proteins at different time intervals. Surface proteins also showed variation in the expression pattern at different sampling intervals. Further identification of these proteins by MALDI-MS and bioinformatics tools revealed the gene(s) involved in the interaction of S. fonticola with tomato phylloplane.

Keywords: cell wall proteins, human pathogenic bacteria, phylloplane, solanum lycopersicum

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Authors: P. Chaijak, M. Lertworapreecha, C. Sukkasem

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Extracellular laccases are copper-containing microbial enzymes with many industrial biotechnological applications. This study evaluated the ability of nutrients in coconut coir to enhance the yield of extracellular laccase of Galactomyces reesii IFO 10823 and develop a co-culture between this yeast and other filamentous fungi isolated from the fungus comb of Macrotermes sp. The co-culture between G. reesii IFO 10823 and M. indicus FJ-M-5 (G3) gave the highest activity at 580.20 U/mL. When grown in fermentation media prepared from coconut coir and distilled water at 70% of initial moisture without supplement addition, G3 produced extracellular laccase of 113.99 U/mL.

Keywords: extracellular laccase, production, yeast, natural inducer

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: C. John Thomas, Sabitha Jannet

Abstract:

The review concentrates on mental health wellbeing at workplace to create a safe work environment. The purpose of the study is to find the existing gaps in occupational health in the manufacturing sector. Mental wellbeing is important because it is an essential component of human life and influences our emotions, attitudes, and feelings. In the workplace, mental wellbeing can encourage a culture of safety and avoid accidents. An environment where individuals are comfortable voicing themselves and being themselves. More technically, when individuals have psychological protection at work, without regard for humiliation or punishment, they feel relaxed expressing complaints and errors. They are sure they are going to speak up and not humiliate, neglect, or accuse them. Once they are uncertain about something, they know they are going to ask questions. They are inclined to trust their colleagues and respect them. The reviews were considered through keywords and health-related topics. There are different characteristics of mental wellbeing in the literature and how it impacts the workplace. There is also a possibility that their personal lives will have an impact. In every occupation, however, there is widespread acknowledgment that psychosocial hazards are an important health risk for workers, yet in many workplaces, the focus remains on physical hazards. It is alleged that the understating of workplace psychosocial hazards is primarily due to the perception that they present a more difficult and complex challenge when compared to other health and safety issues. Others, however, allege it is the paucity of awareness about psychosocial hazards and their alleviation that explains their relative neglect. The other researchers focused that following global trends, it is believed that psychosocial hazards must be minimized within our workplaces and that there is a requirement for workplace interventions to reduce psychological harm and promote mental health for all the workman employees to achieve zero harm. In common, this literature review compares various results of the individual studies on their research methods and finding to fill gaps.

Keywords: mental health wellbeing, occupational health, psychosocial hazards, safety culture, safety management systems, workman employee, workplace safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: B. O. Diyaolu

Abstract:

The globalization of football especially among youth over the decade is uprising. Nigeria youth displaying football jerseys at every opportunity is an acceptance of football globalization. The Love for English Premier League (EPL) football jersey is very strong among Nigeria fans. Football club jerseys of the EPL are a common sports product among fans in Nigeria. This study investigates the contribution of football club jerseys towards EPL fans’ loyalty in Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population consists of EPL fans in Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique (fish bowl without replacement) was used to select two states from the six geo-political zones. Purposive sampling technique was used to pick eight viewing centres while accidental sampling technique was used to pick five vendor stands from each State. An average of 250 respondents was selected from each state. A total of 3,200 respondents participated in the research. Two research instruments were used. A self-developed structured questionnaire on Football Jersey Scale (FJS): The instrument consists of 10 items. Fans Loyalty Scale (FLS): The instrument was modified from the psychological commitment to team (PCT) scale, and consists of 20 items. The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.72 and 0.75 was obtained, respectively. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 significant levels. Data were analysed using frequency, percentages count, pie chart and multiple regressions. The result showed that the b-value of football club jersey is 0.148 also the standard regression coefficient (Beta) is 0.089. The t = 4.759 is statistically significant at p = 0.000. This signified a relative contribution of football club jersey on EPL fans loyalty in Nigeria. Club jersey, which is the most outstanding identifier of every club, was found to significantly predict loyalty. The jersey on the body of the fan has become the site for a declaration of loyalty which becomes available for social interaction and negotiation. The Nigerian local league clubs in an attempt to keep Nigerian fans loyal must borrow a leaf from their European counterparts.

Keywords: club Jerseys, English Premier League, football fans, Nigeria youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Xinhai Li, Huidong Tian, Yumin Guo

Abstract:

Bird migration is fantastic natural phenomenon. In recent years, the use of GPS transmitters has generated a vast amount of data, and the Movebank platform has made these data publicly accessible. For researchers, what they need are data analysis tools. Although there are approximately 90 R packages dedicated to animal movement analysis, the capacity for comprehensive processing of bird migration data remains limited. Hence, we introduce a novel package called migrationR. This package enables the calculation of movement speed, direction, changes in direction, flight duration, daily and annual movement distances. Furthermore, it can pinpoint the starting and ending dates of migration, estimate nest site locations and stopovers, and visualize movement trajectories at various time scales. migrationR distinguishes individuals through NMDS (non-metric multidimensional scaling) coordinates based on movement variables such as speed, flight duration, path tortuosity, and migration timing. A distinctive aspect of the package is the development of a hetero-occurrences species distribution model that takes into account the daily rhythm of individual birds across different landcover types. Habitat use for foraging and roosting differs significantly for many waterbirds. For example, White-naped Cranes at Poyang Lake in China typically forage in croplands and roost in shallow water areas. Both of these occurrence types are of equal importance. Optimal habitats consist of a combination of crop lands and shallow waters, whereas suboptimal habitats lack both, which necessitates birds to fly extensively. With migrationR, we conduct species distribution modeling for foraging and roosting separately and utilize the moving distance between crop lands and shallow water areas as an index of overall habitat suitability. This approach offers a more nuanced understanding of the habitat requirements for migratory birds and enhances our ability to analyze and interpret their movement patterns effectively. The functions of migrationR are demonstrated using our own tracking data of 78 White-naped Crane individuals from 2014 to 2023, comprising over one million valid locations in total. migrationR can be installed from a GitHub repository by executing the following command: remotes::install_github("Xinhai-Li/migrationR").

Keywords: bird migration, hetero-occurrences species distribution model, migrationR, R package, satellite telemetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Opeyemi Elujulo, Aderonke Okoya, Kehinde Awokoya

Abstract:

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) for the adsorption of pyridine (PYD) was obtained from PYD (the template), styrene (the functional monomer), divinyl benzene (the crosslinker), benzoyl peroxide (the initiator), and water (the porogen). When the template was removed by solvent extraction, imprinted binding sites were left in the polymer material that are capable of selectively rebinding the target molecule. The material was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to study the adsorption of the material in terms of adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic parameters. The results showed that the imprinted polymer exhibited higher affinity for PYD compared to non-imprinted polymer (NIP).

Keywords: molecularly imprinted polymer, bulk polymerization, environmental pollutant, adsorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 132