Search results for: demonstration wildfire detection and action from space
516 Enhancement of Hardness Related Properties of Grey Cast Iron Powder Reinforced AA7075 Metal Matrix Composites Through T6 and T8 Heat Treatments
Authors: S. S. Sharma, P. R. Prabhu, K. Jagannath, Achutha Kini U., Gowri Shankar M. C.
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In present global scenario, aluminum alloys are coining the attention of many innovators as competing structural materials for automotive and space applications. Comparing to other challenging alloys, especially, 7xxx series aluminum alloys have been studied seriously because of their benefits such as moderate strength; better deforming characteristics, excellent chemical decay resistance, and affordable cost. 7075 Al-alloys have been used in the transportation industry for the fabrication of several types of automobile parts, such as wheel covers, panels and structures. It is expected that substitution of such aluminum alloys for steels will result in great improvements in energy economy, durability and recyclability. However, it is necessary to improve the strength and the formability levels at low temperatures in aluminium alloys for still better applications. Aluminum–Zinc–Magnesium with or without other wetting agent denoted as 7XXX series alloys are medium strength heat treatable alloys. Cu, Mn and Si are the other solute elements which contribute for the improvement in mechanical properties achievable by selecting and tailoring the suitable heat treatment process. On subjecting to suitable treatments like age hardening or cold deformation assisted heat treatments, known as low temperature thermomechanical treatments (LTMT) the challenging properties might be incorporated. T6 is the age hardening or precipitation hardening process with artificial aging cycle whereas T8 comprises of LTMT treatment aged artificially with X% cold deformation. When the cold deformation is provided after solution treatment, there is increase in hardness related properties such as wear resistance, yield and ultimate strength, toughness with the expense of ductility. During precipitation hardening both hardness and strength of the samples are increasing. Decreasing peak hardness value with increasing aging temperature is the well-known behavior of age hardenable alloys. The peak hardness value is further increasing when room temperature deformation is positively supported with age hardening known as thermomechanical treatment. Considering these aspects, it is intended to perform heat treatment and evaluate hardness, tensile strength, wear resistance and distribution pattern of reinforcement in the matrix. 2 to 2.5 and 3 to 3.5 times increase in hardness is reported in age hardening and LTMT treatments respectively as compared to as-cast composite. There was better distribution of reinforcements in the matrix, nearly two fold increase in strength levels and upto 5 times increase in wear resistance are also observed in the present study.Keywords: reinforcement, precipitation, thermomechanical, dislocation, strain hardening
Procedia PDF Downloads 312515 A Computational Approach to Screen Antagonist’s Molecule against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Lipoprotein LprG (Rv1411c)
Authors: Syed Asif Hassan, Tabrej Khan
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Tuberculosis (TB) caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) continues to take a disturbing toll on human life and healthcare facility worldwide. The global burden of TB remains enormous. The alarming rise of multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis calls for an increase in research efforts towards the development of new target specific therapeutics against diverse strains of M. tuberculosis. Therefore, the discovery of new molecular scaffolds targeting new drug sites should be a priority for a workable plan for fighting resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Mtb non-acylated lipoprotein LprG (Rv1411c) has a Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonist actions that depend on its association with triacylated glycolipids binding specifically with the hydrophobic pocket of Mtb LprG lipoprotein. The detection of a glycolipid carrier function has important implications for the role of LprG in Mycobacterial physiology and virulence. Therefore, considering the pivotal role of glycolipids in mycobacterial physiology and host-pathogen interactions, designing competitive antagonist (chemotherapeutics) ligands that competitively bind to glycolipid binding domain in LprG lipoprotein, will lead to inhibition of tuberculosis infection in humans. In this study, a unified approach involving ligand-based virtual screening protocol USRCAT (Ultra Shape Recognition) software and molecular docking studies using Auto Dock Vina 1.1.2 using the X-ray crystal structure of Mtb LprG protein was implemented. The docking results were further confirmed by DSX (DrugScore eXtented), a robust program to evaluate the binding energy of ligands bound to the Ligand binding domain of the Mtb LprG lipoprotein. The ligand, which has the higher hypothetical affinity, also has greater negative value. Based on the USRCAT, Lipinski’s values and molecular docking results, [(2R)-2,3-di(hexadecanoyl oxy)propyl][(2S,3S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-2,6-bis[[(2R,3S,4S,5R,6S)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6 (hydroxymethyl)tetrahydropyran-2-yl]oxy]cyclohexyl] phosphate (XPX) was confirmed as a promising drug-like lead compound (antagonist) binding specifically to the hydrophobic domain of LprG protein with affinity greater than that of PIM2 (agonist of LprG protein) with a free binding energy of -9.98e+006 Kcal/mol and binding affinity of -132 Kcal/mol, respectively. A further, in vitro assay of this compound is required to establish its potency in inhibiting molecular evasion mechanism of MTB within the infected host macrophages. These results will certainly be helpful in future anti-TB drug discovery efforts against Multidrug-Resistance Tuberculosis (MDR-TB).Keywords: antagonist, agonist, binding affinity, chemotherapeutics, drug-like, multi drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB), RV1411c protein, toll-like receptor (TLR2)
Procedia PDF Downloads 272514 The Labyrinth - Circular Choral Chant of Dithyramb in the 7th BC, Mirroring the Conjuction of the Planets and the Milky Way Circle
Authors: Kleopatra Chatzigiosi
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The paper delves into the spatial and mythological examination of the choral chant of Dithyramb in the 7th BC, its connections to Dionysus, and its role in the origin of drama, exploring harmonious and symbolic aspects of early Greek culture. The primary aim is to analyze the development of Dithyramb in relation to harmonic systems and early musical scales, linking them to circular time and celestial movements. Additionally, the study seeks to unveil the mythological ties of Dithyramb with ancient rituals worshipping Mother Earth Cybele. The methodology involves researching etymology and mythology related to Dithyramb based on Pindar's works and proposing a harmonious design for the performance space of Dithyramb through harmonic spirals inspired by ancient practices. Ιt is also included a comparative study with similar choral traditions from other ancient cultures, providing a broader context for the findings of the work. The research uncovers the symbolic significance of Dithyramb as a dramatized representation of harmonic phenomena, leading to human deification within a context of Sacred Architecture, highlighting the intricate connections between music, rituals, and divine worship in ancient Greek culture. The study enriches understanding of the harmonic and symbolic underpinnings of ancient Greek choral traditions, shedding light on the complex interplay between music, mythology, and ritual practices in the development of early theatrical performances. Data was collected through an in-depth analysis of ancient texts, specifically Pindar's Dithyrambs, to trace the etymology and mythological origins of Dithyramb and its associated symbolism. The analysis involved scrutinizing ancient sources to draw connections between Dithyramb, harmonic systems, celestial movements, and mythological narratives, culminating in a comprehensive exploration of the cultural and symbolic significance of this choral tradition. The study addresses how the choral chant of Dithyramb evolved harmoniously within the ancient Greek cultural framework, its connections to celestial phenomena and ritual practices, and the symbolic implications of its mythological associations within a sacred architectural context. The research illuminates the profound cultural, symbolic, and harmonic dimensions of the choral chant of Dithyramb, offering valuable insights into the intersections between music, mythology, and ritual in ancient Greece, enriching scholarly understanding of early theatrical traditions.Keywords: circular choral chant of dithyramb, “exarchon”( leader), great “eniautos” (year), harmony labyrinth
Procedia PDF Downloads 24513 Multifield Problems in 3D Structural Analysis of Advanced Composite Plates and Shells
Authors: Salvatore Brischetto, Domenico Cesare
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Major improvements in future aircraft and spacecraft could be those dependent on an increasing use of conventional and unconventional multilayered structures embedding composite materials, functionally graded materials, piezoelectric or piezomagnetic materials, and soft foam or honeycomb cores. Layers made of such materials can be combined in different ways to obtain structures that are able to fulfill several structural requirements. The next generation of aircraft and spacecraft will be manufactured as multilayered structures under the action of a combination of two or more physical fields. In multifield problems for multilayered structures, several physical fields (thermal, hygroscopic, electric and magnetic ones) interact each other with different levels of influence and importance. An exact 3D shell model is here proposed for these types of analyses. This model is based on a coupled system including 3D equilibrium equations, 3D Fourier heat conduction equation, 3D Fick diffusion equation and electric and magnetic divergence equations. The set of partial differential equations of second order in z is written using a mixed curvilinear orthogonal reference system valid for spherical and cylindrical shell panels, cylinders and plates. The order of partial differential equations is reduced to the first one thanks to the redoubling of the number of variables. The solution in the thickness z direction is obtained by means of the exponential matrix method and the correct imposition of interlaminar continuity conditions in terms of displacements, transverse stresses, electric and magnetic potentials, temperature, moisture content and transverse normal multifield fluxes. The investigated structures have simply supported sides in order to obtain a closed form solution in the in-plane directions. Moreover, a layerwise approach is proposed which allows a 3D correct description of multilayered anisotropic structures subjected to field loads. Several results will be proposed in tabular and graphical formto evaluate displacements, stresses and strains when mechanical loads, temperature gradients, moisture content gradients, electric potentials and magnetic potentials are applied at the external surfaces of the structures in steady-state conditions. In the case of inclusions of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic layers in the multilayered structures, so called smart structures are obtained. In this case, a free vibration analysis in open and closed circuit configurations and a static analysis for sensor and actuator applications will be proposed. The proposed results will be useful to better understand the physical and structural behaviour of multilayered advanced composite structures in the case of multifield interactions. Moreover, these analytical results could be used as reference solutions for those scientists interested in the development of 3D and 2D numerical shell/plate models based, for example, on the finite element approach or on the differential quadrature methodology. The correct impositions of boundary geometrical and load conditions, interlaminar continuity conditions and the zigzag behaviour description due to transverse anisotropy will be also discussed and verified.Keywords: composite structures, 3D shell model, stress analysis, multifield loads, exponential matrix method, layer wise approach
Procedia PDF Downloads 68512 Dynamic High-Rise Moment Resisting Frame Dissipation Performances Adopting Glazed Curtain Walls with Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Joints
Authors: Lorenzo Casagrande, Antonio Bonati, Ferdinando Auricchio, Antonio Occhiuzzi
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This paper summarizes the results of a survey on smart non-structural element dynamic dissipation when installed in modern high-rise mega-frame prototypes. An innovative glazed curtain wall was designed using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) joints in order to increase the energy dissipation and enhance the seismic/wind response of the structures. The studied buildings consisted of thirty- and sixty-storey planar frames, extracted from reference three-dimensional steel Moment Resisting Frame (MRF) with outriggers and belt trusses. The internal core was composed of a CBF system, whilst outriggers were placed every fifteen stories to limit second order effects and inter-storey drifts. These structural systems were designed in accordance with European rules and numerical FE models were developed with an open-source code, able to account for geometric and material nonlinearities. With regard to the characterization of non-structural building components, full-scale crescendo tests were performed on aluminium/glass curtain wall units at the laboratory of the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), deriving force-displacement curves. Three-dimensional brick-based inelastic FE models were calibrated according to experimental results, simulating the fac¸ade response. Since recent seismic events and extreme dynamic wind loads have generated the large occurrence of non-structural components failure, which causes sensitive economic losses and represents a hazard for pedestrians safety, a more dissipative glazed curtain wall was studied. Taking advantage of the mechanical properties of SMA, advanced smart joints were designed with the aim to enhance both the dynamic performance of the single non-structural unit and the global behavior. Thus, three-dimensional brick-based plastic FE models were produced, based on the innovated non-structural system, simulating the evolution of mechanical degradation in aluminium-to-glass and SMA-to-glass connections when high deformations occurred. Consequently, equivalent nonlinear links were calibrated to reproduce the behavior of both tested and smart designed units, and implemented on the thirty- and sixty-storey structural planar frame FE models. Nonlinear time history analyses (NLTHAs) were performed to quantify the potential of the new system, when considered in the lateral resisting frame system (LRFS) of modern high-rise MRFs. Sensitivity to the structure height was explored comparing the responses of the two prototypes. Trends in global and local performance were discussed to show that, if accurately designed, advanced materials in non-structural elements provide new sources of energy dissipation.Keywords: advanced technologies, glazed curtain walls, non-structural elements, seismic-action reduction, shape memory alloy
Procedia PDF Downloads 329511 Numerical Investigation of Multiphase Flow Structure for the Flue Gas Desulfurization
Authors: Cheng-Jui Li, Chien-Chou Tseng
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This study adopts Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique to build the multiphase flow numerical model where the interface between the flue gas and desulfurization liquid can be traced by Eulerian-Eulerian model. Inside the tower, the contact of the desulfurization liquid flow from the spray nozzles and flue gas flow can trigger chemical reactions to remove the sulfur dioxide from the exhaust gas. From experimental observations of the industrial scale plant, the desulfurization mechanism depends on the mixing level between the flue gas and the desulfurization liquid. In order to significantly improve the desulfurization efficiency, the mixing efficiency and the residence time can be increased by perforated sieve trays. Hence, the purpose of this research is to investigate the flow structure of sieve trays for the flue gas desulfurization by numerical simulation. In this study, there is an outlet at the top of FGD tower to discharge the clean gas and the FGD tower has a deep tank at the bottom, which is used to collect the slurry liquid. In the major desulfurization zone, the desulfurization liquid and flue gas have a complex mixing flow. Because there are four perforated plates in the major desulfurization zone, which spaced 0.4m from each other, and the spray array is placed above the top sieve tray, which includes 33 nozzles. Each nozzle injects desulfurization liquid that consists of the Mg(OH)2 solution. On each sieve tray, the outside diameter, the hole diameter, and the porosity are 0.6m, 20 mm and 34.3%. The flue gas flows into the FGD tower from the space between the major desulfurization zone and the deep tank can finally become clean. The desulfurization liquid and the liquid slurry goes to the bottom tank and is discharged as waste. When the desulfurization solution flow impacts the sieve tray, the downward momentum will be converted to the upper surface of the sieve tray. As a result, a thin liquid layer can be developed above the sieve tray, which is the so-called the slurry layer. And the volume fraction value within the slurry layer is around 0.3~0.7. Therefore, the liquid phase can't be considered as a discrete phase under the Eulerian-Lagrangian framework. Besides, there is a liquid column through the sieve trays. The downward liquid column becomes narrow as it interacts with the upward gas flow. After the flue gas flows into the major desulfurization zone, the flow direction of the flue gas is upward (+y) in the tube between the liquid column and the solid boundary of the FGD tower. As a result, the flue gas near the liquid column may be rolled down to slurry layer, which developed a vortex or a circulation zone between any two sieve trays. The vortex structure between two sieve trays results in a sufficient large two-phase contact area. It also increases the number of times that the flue gas interacts with the desulfurization liquid. On the other hand, the sieve trays improve the two-phase mixing, which may improve the SO2 removal efficiency.Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Eulerian-Eulerian Model, Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD), perforated sieve tray
Procedia PDF Downloads 285510 Clinical Manifestations, Pathogenesis and Medical Treatment of Stroke Caused by Basic Mitochondrial Abnormalities (Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis, and Stroke-like Episodes, MELAS)
Authors: Wu Liching
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Aim This case aims to discuss the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and medical treatment of strokes caused by mitochondrial gene mutations. Methods Diagnosis of ischemic stroke caused by mitochondrial gene defect by means of "next-generation sequencing mitochondrial DNA gene variation detection", imaging examination, neurological examination, and medical history; this study took samples from the neurology ward of a medical center in northern Taiwan cases diagnosed with acute cerebral infarction as the research objects. Result This case is a 49-year-old married woman with a rare disease, mitochondrial gene mutation inducing ischemic stroke. She has severe hearing impairment and needs to use hearing aids, and has a history of diabetes. During the patient’s hospitalization, the blood test showed that serum Lactate: 7.72 mmol/L, Lactate (CSF) 5.9 mmol/L. Through the collection of relevant medical history, neurological evaluation showed changes in consciousness and cognition, slow response in language expression, and brain magnetic resonance imaging examination showed subacute bilateral temporal lobe infarction, which was an atypical type of stroke. The lineage DNA gene has m.3243A>G known pathogenic mutation point, and its heteroplasmic level is 24.6%. This pathogenic point is located in MITOMAP and recorded as Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis, and Stroke-like episodes (MELAS) , Leigh Syndrome and other disease-related pathogenic loci, this mutation is located in ClinVar and recorded as Pathogenic (dbSNP: rs199474657), so it is diagnosed as a case of stroke caused by a rare disease mitochondrial gene mutation. After medical treatment, there was no more seizure during hospitalization. After interventional rehabilitation, the patient's limb weakness, poor language function, and cognitive impairment have all improved significantly. Conclusion Mitochondrial disorders can also be associated with abnormalities in psychological, neurological, cerebral cortical function, and autonomic functions, as well as problems with internal medical diseases. Therefore, the differential diagnoses cover a wide range and are not easy to be diagnosed. After neurological evaluation, medical history collection, imaging and rare disease serological examination, atypical ischemic stroke caused by rare mitochondrial gene mutation was diagnosed. We hope that through this case, the diagnosis of rare disease mitochondrial gene variation leading to cerebral infarction will be more familiar to clinical medical staff, and this case report may help to improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment for patients with similar clinical symptoms in the future.Keywords: acute stroke, MELAS, lactic acidosis, mitochondrial disorders
Procedia PDF Downloads 70509 Education as a Factor Which Reduces Poverty
Authors: E. V. Fakhrutdinova, Y. S. Kolesnikova, E. A. Karasik, V. M. Zagidullina
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Poverty as the social and economic phenomenon exists in any society and represents a many-sided problem. In this sense it is universal and for many centuries serves as a research objects for scientists. Special attention to a problem of poverty in Russia is caused, first of all, by the critical growth of inequality and by scales of expansion of poverty, considerable decrease in the level and quality of life of the population, decrease in availability of education during the period of reforming. The expansion of poverty on the working members of society, youth, which has to provide reproduction of the population is alarming. As poverty is the reason of weakening of national security of the country, degradation of the population, decline in the quality of the human capital, complication of a demographic situation, strengthening of social contradictions in society, so far as the reduction of poverty, so, the increase in production. Poverty: the characteristic of an economic situation of the individual or social group at which they can't satisfy certain minimum requirements necessary for life, preservations of working capacity and reproduction. Poverty became one of the critical factors expelling people from the system of the institutional interactions reducing social space in which their relations were building breaking their social identity. Complication of the problem of poverty in modern society happened due to penetration of the related relations into many spheres of life. It is known that negative consequences of poverty display not only at the personal level of the poor person, but also at the level of interpersonal social interactions, decline in the quality and level of development of the human capital, and also at social and economic system in general. We conducted a research on the influence of education on the change of poverty level of the population. We consider education as a resource for an increase of the income and social mobility. Dependence of the income of the population on the level of education, availability of education (level of education and quality of education) on the level of income of families is found. Differentiation of quality and number of educational services for children depending on the level of the income of families is revealed. Influence of a factor of poverty on the availability of education is also studied. We consider expenses on education as the limiter of access to education. We consider education as a factor of fixation and aggravation of a property inequality. In the solution of problems of poverty the defining condition is the state regulation of social and economic development by means of creation of the effective institutional environment. The state has to develop measures for an increase of availability of various services to all categories of citizens, in particular services of health care and education, especially for poor citizens enters. The special attention regarding an increase of availability of education services has to be paid to creation of system of social elevators.Keywords: poverty, education, human capital, quality of life
Procedia PDF Downloads 323508 Optimization of Heat Source Assisted Combustion on Solid Rocket Motors
Authors: Minal Jain, Vinayak Malhotra
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Solid Propellant ignition consists of rapid and complex events comprising of heat generation and transfer of heat with spreading of flames over the entire burning surface area. Proper combustion and thus propulsion depends heavily on the modes of heat transfer characteristics and cavity volume. Fire safety is an integral component of a successful rocket flight failing to which may lead to overall failure of the rocket. This leads to enormous forfeiture in resources viz., money, time, and labor involved. When the propellant is ignited, thrust is generated and the casing gets heated up. This heat adds on to the propellant heat and the casing, if not at proper orientation starts burning as well, leading to the whole rocket being completely destroyed. This has necessitated active research efforts emphasizing a comprehensive study on the inter-energy relations involved for effective utilization of the solid rocket motors for better space missions. Present work is focused on one of the major influential aspects of this detrimental burning which is the presence of an external heat source, in addition to a potential heat source which is already ignited. The study is motivated by the need to ensure better combustion and fire safety presented experimentally as a simplified small-scale mode of a rocket carrying a solid propellant inside a cavity. The experimental setup comprises of a paraffin wax candle as the pilot fuel and incense stick as the external heat source. The candle is fixed and the incense stick position and location is varied to investigate the find the influence of the pilot heat source. Different configurations of the external heat source presence with separation distance are tested upon. Regression rates of the pilot thin solid fuel are noted to fundamentally understand the non-linear heat and mass transfer which is the governing phenomenon. An attempt is made to understand the phenomenon fundamentally and the mechanism governing it. Results till now indicate non-linear heat transfer assisted with the occurrence of flaming transition at selected critical distances. With an increase in separation distance, the effect is noted to drop in a non-monotonic trend. The parametric study results are likely to provide useful physical insight about the governing physics and utilization in proper testing, validation, material selection, and designing of solid rocket motors with enhanced safety.Keywords: combustion, propellant, regression, safety
Procedia PDF Downloads 162507 Development of Academic Software for Medial Axis Determination of Porous Media from High-Resolution X-Ray Microtomography Data
Authors: S. Jurado, E. Pazmino
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Determination of the medial axis of a porous media sample is a non-trivial problem of interest for several disciplines, e.g., hydrology, fluid dynamics, contaminant transport, filtration, oil extraction, etc. However, the computational tools available for researchers are limited and restricted. The primary aim of this work was to develop a series of algorithms to extract porosity, medial axis structure, and pore-throat size distributions from porous media domains. A complementary objective was to provide the algorithms as free computational software available to the academic community comprising researchers and students interested in 3D data processing. The burn algorithm was tested on porous media data obtained from High-Resolution X-Ray Microtomography (HRXMT) and idealized computer-generated domains. The real data and idealized domains were discretized in voxels domains of 550³ elements and binarized to denote solid and void regions to determine porosity. Subsequently, the algorithm identifies the layer of void voxels next to the solid boundaries. An iterative process removes or 'burns' void voxels in sequence of layer by layer until all the void space is characterized. Multiples strategies were tested to optimize the execution time and use of computer memory, i.e., segmentation of the overall domain in subdomains, vectorization of operations, and extraction of single burn layer data during the iterative process. The medial axis determination was conducted identifying regions where burnt layers collide. The final medial axis structure was refined to avoid concave-grain effects and utilized to determine the pore throat size distribution. A graphic user interface software was developed to encompass all these algorithms, including the generation of idealized porous media domains. The software allows input of HRXMT data to calculate porosity, medial axis, and pore-throat size distribution and provide output in tabular and graphical formats. Preliminary tests of the software developed during this study achieved medial axis, pore-throat size distribution and porosity determination of 100³, 320³ and 550³ voxel porous media domains in 2, 22, and 45 minutes, respectively in a personal computer (Intel i7 processor, 16Gb RAM). These results indicate that the software is a practical and accessible tool in postprocessing HRXMT data for the academic community.Keywords: medial axis, pore-throat distribution, porosity, porous media
Procedia PDF Downloads 116506 Electrochemical Corrosion and Mechanical Properties of Structural Materials for Oil and Gas Applications in Simulated Deep-Sea Well Environments
Authors: Turin Datta, Kisor K. Sahu
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Structural materials used in today’s oil and gas exploration and drilling of both onshore and offshore oil and gas wells must possess superior tensile properties, excellent resistance to corrosive degradation that includes general, localized (pitting and crevice) and environment assisted cracking such as stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement. The High Pressure and High Temperature (HPHT) wells are typically operated at temperature and pressure that can exceed 300-3500F and 10,000psi (69MPa) respectively which necessitates the use of exotic materials in these exotic sources of natural resources. This research investigation is focussed on the evaluation of tensile properties and corrosion behavior of AISI 4140 High-Strength Low Alloy Steel (HSLA) possessing tempered martensitic microstructure and Duplex 2205 Stainless Steel (DSS) having austenitic and ferritic phase. The selection of this two alloys are primarily based on economic considerations as 4140 HSLA is cheaper when compared to DSS 2205. Due to the harsh aggressive chemical species encountered in deep oil and gas wells like chloride ions (Cl-), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S) along with other mineral organic acids, DSS 2205, having a dual-phase microstructure can mitigate the degradation resulting from the presence of both chloride ions (Cl-) and hydrogen simultaneously. Tensile properties evaluation indicates a ductile failure of DSS 2205 whereas 4140 HSLA exhibit quasi-cleavage fracture due to the phenomenon of ‘tempered martensitic embrittlement’. From the potentiodynamic polarization testing, it is observed that DSS 2205 has higher corrosion resistance than 4140 HSLA; the former exhibits passivity signifying resistance to localized corrosion while the latter exhibits active dissolution in all the environmental parameters space that was tested. From the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) evaluation, it is understood that stable pits appear in DSS 2205 only when the temperature exceeds the critical pitting temperature (CPT). SEM observation of the corroded 4140 HSLA specimen tested in aqueous 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution reveals intergranular cracking which appears due to the adsorption and diffusion of hydrogen during polarization, thus, causing hydrogen-induced cracking/hydrogen embrittlement. General corrosion testing of DSS 2205 in acidic brine (pH~3.0) solution at ambient temperature using coupons indicate no weight loss even after three months whereas the corrosion rate of AISI 4140 HSLA is significantly higher after one month of testing.Keywords: DSS 2205, polarization, pitting, SEM
Procedia PDF Downloads 266505 Innovation Eco-Systems and Cities: Sustainable Innovation and Urban Form
Authors: Claudia Trillo
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Regional innovation eco-ecosystems are composed of a variety of interconnected urban innovation eco-systems, mutually reinforcing each other and making the whole territorial system successful. Combining principles drawn from the new economic growth theory and from the socio-constructivist approach to the economic growth, with the new geography of innovation emerging from the networked nature of innovation districts, this paper explores the spatial configuration of urban innovation districts, with the aim of unveiling replicable spatial patterns and transferable portfolios of urban policies. While some authors suggest that cities should be considered ideal natural clusters, supporting cross-fertilization and innovation thanks to the physical setting they provide to the construction of collective knowledge, still a considerable distance persists between regional development strategies and urban policies. Moreover, while public and private policies supporting entrepreneurship normally consider innovation as the cornerstone of any action aimed at uplifting the competitiveness and economic success of a certain area, a growing body of literature suggests that innovation is non-neutral, hence, it should be constantly assessed against equity and social inclusion. This paper draws from a robust qualitative empirical dataset gathered through 4-years research conducted in Boston to provide readers with an evidence-based set of recommendations drawn from the lessons learned through the investigation of the chosen innovation districts in the Boston area. The evaluative framework used for assessing the overall performance of the chosen case studies stems from the Habitat III Sustainable Development Goals rationale. The concept of inclusive growth has been considered essential to assess the social innovation domain in each of the chosen cases. The key success factors for the development of the Boston innovation ecosystem can be generalized as follows: 1) a quadruple helix model embedded in the physical structure of the two cities (Boston and Cambridge), in which anchor Higher Education (HE) institutions continuously nurture the Entrepreneurial Environment. 2) an entrepreneurial approach emerging from the local governments, eliciting risk-taking and bottom-up civic participation in tackling key issues in the city. 3) a networking structure of some intermediary actors supporting entrepreneurial collaboration, cross-fertilization and co-creation, which collaborate at multiple-scales thus enabling positive spillovers from the stronger to the weaker contexts. 4) awareness of the socio-economic value of the built environment as enabler of cognitive networks allowing activation of the collective intelligence. 5) creation of civic-led spaces enabling grassroot collaboration and cooperation. Evidence shows that there is not a single magic recipe for the successful implementation of place-based and social innovation-driven strategies. On the contrary, the variety of place-grounded combinations of micro and macro initiatives, embedded in the social and spatial fine grain of places and encompassing a diversity of actors, can create the conditions enabling places to thrive and local economic activities to grow in a sustainable way.Keywords: innovation-driven sustainable Eco-systems , place-based sustainable urban development, sustainable innovation districts, social innovation, urban policie
Procedia PDF Downloads 106504 Exploring the Practices of Global Citizenship Education in Finland and Scotland
Authors: Elisavet Anastasiadou
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Global citizenship refers to an economic, social, political, and cultural interconnectedness, and it is inextricably intertwined with social justice, respect for human rights, peace, and a sense of responsibility to act on a local and global level. It aims to be transformative, enhance critical thinking and participation with pedagogical approaches based on social justice and democracy. The purpose of this study is to explore how Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is presented and implemented in two educational contexts, specifically in the curricula and pedagogical practices of primary education in Finland and Scotland. The impact of GCE is recognized as means for further development by institution such as and Finnish and Scottish curricula acknowledge the significance of GCE, emphasizing the student's ability to act and succeed in diverse and global communities. This comparative study should provide a good basis for further developing teaching practices based on informed understanding of how GCE is constrained or enabled from two different perspectives, extend the methodological applications of Practice Architectures and provide critical insights into GCE as a theoretical notion adopted by national and international educational policy. The study is directly connected with global citizenship aiming at future and societal change. The empirical work employs a multiple case study approach, including interviews and analysis of existing documents (textbook, curriculum). The data consists of the Finnish and Scottish curriculum. A systematic analysis of the curriculum in relation to GCE will offer insights into how the aims of GCE are presented and framed within the two contexts. This will be achieved using the theory of Practice Architectures. Curricula are official policy documentations (texts) that frame and envisage pedagogical practices. Practices, according to the theory of practice architectures, consist of sayings, doings, and relatings. Hence, even if the text analysis includes the semantic space (sayings) that are prefigured by the cultural-discursive arrangements and the relating prefigured by the socio-political arrangements, they will inevitably reveal information on the (doings) prefigured by the material-economic arrangements, as they hang together in practices. The results will assist educators in making changes to their teaching and enhance their self-conscious understanding of the history-making significance of their practices. It will also have a potential reform and focus on educationally relevant to such issues. Thus, the study will be able to open the ground for interventions and further research while it will consider the societal demands of a world in change.Keywords: citizenhsip, curriculum, democracy, practices
Procedia PDF Downloads 207503 Effect of Metarhizium robertsii in Rhipicephalus microplus hemocytes
Authors: Jessica P. Fiorotti, Maria C. Freitas, Caio J. B. Coutinho-Rodrigues, Mariana G. Camargo, Emily S. Mesquita, Amanda R. C. Corval, Ricardo O. B. Bitencourt, Allan F. Marciano, Diva D. Spadacci-Morena, Patricia S. Golo, Isabele C. Angelo, Vania R. E. P. Bittencourt
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The bovine tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, is an arthropod of great importance in veterinary medicine leading to anemia, weight loss, animals' leather depreciation and also acting as a vector of many pathogens. In this way, the parasitism causes a loss of 3.24 billion dollars per year in Brazil. Knowingly, entomopathogenic fungi act as natural controller of some arthropods, acting mainly by active penetration through the cuticle. However, it can also act on the hemolymph and through the production of mycotoxins. Hemocytes are responsible for the cellular immune response and participate in the processes of phagocytosis, nodulation and encapsulation and may undergo changes when challenged by pathogens. The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in R. microplus hemocytes after inoculation of Metarhizium robertsii using transmission electron microscopy. The isolate ARSEF 2575 and 200 engorged R. microplus females were used. The groups were divided into control, in which the females were inoculated with 5 μL of sterile distilled water solution and 0.1% Tween 80, and a group inoculated with 5 μL of fungal suspension at the concentration of 10⁷ conidia mL⁻¹. The experiment was performed in duplicate and each group contained 50 females. Twenty-four hours after fungal inoculation, hemolymph was collected through the cuticle dorsal surface perforation of the tick females. After collection, the hemolymph samples were centrifuged at 500 x g for 3 minutes at 4 °C, the plasma was discarded and the hemocyte pellet was resuspended in 50 μl PBS. The suspension material was fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde in Millonig buffer for three hours. After fixation, the material was centrifuged at 500 x g for 3 minutes, the supernatant was discarded and the cells were resuspended in a wash solution. Subsequently, the cells were post-fixed with 1% osmium tetroxide in phosphate buffer for one hour at room temperature and dehydrated in increasing concentrations of ethanol, and then embedded in Epon resin. The ultrathin sections were examined under the LEO EM 906E transmission electron microscopy at 80kV. The ultrastructural results revealed that.in control group, the cells were considered intact, in which the granulocytes were observed with granules of different electrodensities, intact mitochondria and cytoplasm without vacuolization. In addition, granulocytes showed plasma membrane projections similar to pseudopodia. Plasmatocytes presented as irregularly shaped cells, with the eccentric nucleus, agranular cytoplasm and some cells presented pseudopodia. Nevertheless, in the group exposed to the fungus, most of the cells presented in degeneration. The granulocytes found had fewer granules in the cytoplasm and more vacuoles. Plasmatocytes, after treatment, presented many vacuoles also in the cytoplasm and the lysosomes presented great amount of electrodense material in their interior. Thus, the results suggest that the fungus has a depressant action in the immune system of the tick, not only by the cell degranulation, but also suggesting that this leads to morphological changes in the hemocytes and may even trigger processes such as phagocytosis.Keywords: bovine tick, cellular defense, entomopathogenic fungi, immune response
Procedia PDF Downloads 189502 A Comparative Study of Efficacy and Safety of Salicylic Acid, Trichloroacetic Acid and Glycolic Acid in Various Facial Melanosis
Authors: Shivani Dhande, Sanjiv Choudhary, Adarshlata Singh
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Introduction: Chemical peeling is a popular, relatively inexpensive day procedure and generally safe method for treatment of pigmentary skin disorders and for skin rejuvenation. Chemical peels are classified by the depth of action into superficial, medium, and deep peels.Various facial pigmentary conditions have significant impact on quality of life causing psychological stress, necessitating its safe and effective treatment.Aim & Objectives:To compare the efficacy of Salicylic acid, Trichloroaceticacid & Glycolic Acid in facial melanosis(melasma,photomelanosis& post acne pigmentation).To study the side effects of above mentioned peeling agents. Method and Materials:It was a randomized parallel control single blind study consisting of total of 36 cases, 12 cases each of melasma, photo melanosis and post acne pigmentation within age group 20-50 years having fitzpatrick’s skin type4. Woods lamp examination was done to confirm the type of melasma.Patients with keloidal tendency, active herpes infection or past history of hypersensitivity to salicylic acid, trichloroaceticand glycolic acid as well aspatients on systemic isotretinoin were excluded.Clinical photographs at the beginning of therapy and then serially, were taken to assess the clinical response. Prior to application a written informed consent was obtained. A post auricular test peel was performed. Patients were divided into 3 groups, containing 12 patients each of melasma, photomelanosis and post acnepigmentation.All the three peels SA peel 20% (done once in 2 weeks), GA peel 50% (done once in 3 weeks) and TCA 15% (done once in 3 weeks) were used with total six settings for each patient. Before application of peel patients were counseled to wash the face with soap and water. Then face was dried and cleaned with spirit and acetone to remove all cutaneous oils. GA, TCA, SA were applied with cotton buds/gauze withmild strokes. After a contact period off 5-10mins neutralization was done with cold water. Post peel topical sunscreen application was mandatory. MASI was used pre and post treatment to assess melasma. Investigator’s global improvement scale- overall hyperpigmentation (4-significant, 3-moderate, 2-mild, 1-minimal, 0-no change ) and Patient’s satisfaction grading scale (>70%- excellent response, 50-70%- good response, <50%- average response) was used to assess improvement in all the three facial melanosis.Results:In our study of 12 patients of melasma, 4 (33.33%)patients showed excellent results;3 (25%) with GAand 1(8.33%) of TCA.Good response was seen in 4 (33.33%) patients;1(8.33%) each for GA & SA and 2(16.66%) for TCA.Poor response was seen in 4(33.33%) patients;1(8.33%) for TCA and 3 (25%) for SA.Of 12 patients of photomelanosis, excellent resultswas seen in 3(25%)patients of TCA. Good response was seen in 4 (33.33%) patients, 1(8.33%) each of TCA &SA and 2(16.66%) of GA.Poor responsewas seen in 5(41.66%) patients;3 (25%) for SA and 2(16.66%) of GA.Of 12 patients of post acne pigmentation, excellent responsein 3 (25%) patients;2(16.66%) of SA and 1(8.33%) of TCA.Good responsewas seen in 5(41.66%) patients;2(16.66%) of SA and GA and1(8.33%) of TCA.Poor response was seen in 4 (33.33%) patients; 2 (16.66%) for SA and TCA both. No major side effects in the form of scarring or persistant pigmentation was seen. Transient blackening of skin with burning sensation was seen in cases treated with TCA and SA. Post procedural itching and redness was noted with GA peel. Conclusion- In our study GA(50%),TCA(15%) & SA(20%) peels showed excellent response in melasma, photomelanosis and post-acne pigmentation respectively.All the 3 peeling agents were well tolerated without any significant side-effects in the above specified concentrations.Keywords: facial melanosis, gycolic acid, salicylic acid, trichloroacetic acid
Procedia PDF Downloads 260501 Single Centre Retrospective Analysis of MR Imaging in Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorder with Histopathological Correlation
Authors: Frank Dorrian, Aniket Adhikari
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The placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), which includes placenta accreta, increta, and percreta, is characterized by the abnormal implantation of placental chorionic villi beyond the decidua basalis. Key risk factors include placenta previa, prior cesarean sections, advanced maternal age, uterine surgeries, multiparity, pelvic radiation, and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The incidence of PAS has increased tenfold over the past 50 years, largely due to rising cesarean rates. PAS is associated with significant peripartum and postpartum hemorrhage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound assist in the evaluation of PAS, enabling a multidisciplinary approach to mitigate morbidity and mortality. This study retrospectively analyzed PAS cases at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Using the SAR-ESUR joint consensus statement, seven imaging signs were reassessed for their sensitivity and specificity in predicting PAS, with histopathological correlation. The standardized MRI protocols for PAS at the institution were also reviewed. Data were collected from the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) records from 2010 to July 2024, focusing on cases where MR imaging and confirmed histopathology or operative notes were available. This single-center, observational study provides insights into the reliability of MRI for PAS detection and the optimization of imaging protocols for accurate diagnosis. The findings demonstrate that intraplacental dark bands serve as highly sensitive markers for diagnosing PAS, achieving sensitivities of 88.9%, 85.7%, and 100% for placenta accreta, increta, and percreta, respectively, with a combined specificity of 42.9%. Sensitivity for abnormal vascularization was lower (33.3%, 28.6%, and 50%), with a specificity of 57.1%. The placenta bulge exhibited sensitivities of 55.5%, 57.1%, and 100%, with a specificity of 57.1%. Loss of the T2 hypointense interface had sensitivities of 66.6%, 85.7%, and 100%, with 42.9% specificity. Myometrial thinning showed high sensitivity across PAS conditions (88.9%, 71.4%, and 100%) and a specificity of 57.1%. Bladder wall thinning was sensitive only for placenta percreta (50%) but had a specificity of 100%. Focal exophytic mass displayed variable sensitivity (22.9%, 42.9%, and 100%) with a specificity of 85.7%. These results highlight the diagnostic variability among markers, with intraplacental dark bands and myometrial thinning being useful in detecting abnormal placentation, though they lack high specificity. The literature and the results of our study highlight that while no single feature can definitively diagnose PAS, the presence of multiple features -especially when combined with elevated clinical risk- significantly increases the likelihood of an underlying PAS. A thorough understanding of the range of MRI findings associated with PAS, along with awareness of the clinical significance of each sign, helps the radiologist more accurately diagnose the condition and assist in surgical planning, ultimately improving patient care.Keywords: placenta, accreta, spectrum, MRI
Procedia PDF Downloads 20500 Basics of Gamma Ray Burst and Its Afterglow
Authors: Swapnil Kumar Singh
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Gamma-ray bursts (GRB's), short and intense pulses of low-energy γ rays, have fascinated astronomers and astrophysicists since their unexpected discovery in the late sixties. GRB'sare accompanied by long-lasting afterglows, and they are associated with core-collapse supernovae. The detection of delayed emission in X-ray, optical, and radio wavelength, or "afterglow," following a γ-ray burst can be described as the emission of a relativistic shell decelerating upon collision with the interstellar medium. While it is fair to say that there is strong diversity amongst the afterglow population, probably reflecting diversity in the energy, luminosity, shock efficiency, baryon loading, progenitor properties, circumstellar medium, and more, the afterglows of GRBs do appear more similar than the bursts themselves, and it is possible to identify common features within afterglows that lead to some canonical expectations. After an initial flash of gamma rays, a longer-lived "afterglow" is usually emitted at longer wavelengths (X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, microwave, and radio). It is a slowly fading emission at longer wavelengths created by collisions between the burst ejecta and interstellar gas. In X-ray wavelengths, the GRB afterglow fades quickly at first, then transitions to a less-steep drop-off (it does other stuff after that, but we'll ignore that for now). During these early phases, the X-ray afterglow has a spectrum that looks like a power law: flux F∝ E^β, where E is energy and beta is some number called the spectral index. This kind of spectrum is characteristic of synchrotron emission, which is produced when charged particles spiral around magnetic field lines at close to the speed of light. In addition to the outgoing forward shock that ploughs into the interstellar medium, there is also a so-called reverse shock, which propagates backward through the ejecta. In many ways," reverse" shock can be misleading; this shock is still moving outward from the restframe of the star at relativistic velocity but is ploughing backward through the ejecta in their frame and is slowing the expansion. This reverse shock can be dynamically important, as it can carry comparable energy to the forward shock. The early phases of the GRB afterglow still provide a good description even if the GRB is highly collimated since the individual emitting regions of the outflow are not in causal contact at large angles and so behave as though they are expanding isotropically. The majority of afterglows, at times typically observed, fall in the slow cooling regime, and the cooling break lies between the optical and the X-ray. Numerous observations support this broad picture for afterglows in the spectral energy distribution of the afterglow of the very bright GRB. The bluer light (optical and X-ray) appears to follow a typical synchrotron forward shock expectation (note that the apparent features in the X-ray and optical spectrum are due to the presence of dust within the host galaxy). We need more research in GRB and Particle Physics in order to unfold the mysteries of afterglow.Keywords: GRB, synchrotron, X-ray, isotropic energy
Procedia PDF Downloads 89499 The Data Quality Model for the IoT based Real-time Water Quality Monitoring Sensors
Authors: Rabbia Idrees, Ananda Maiti, Saurabh Garg, Muhammad Bilal Amin
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IoT devices are the basic building blocks of IoT network that generate enormous volume of real-time and high-speed data to help organizations and companies to take intelligent decisions. To integrate this enormous data from multisource and transfer it to the appropriate client is the fundamental of IoT development. The handling of this huge quantity of devices along with the huge volume of data is very challenging. The IoT devices are battery-powered and resource-constrained and to provide energy efficient communication, these IoT devices go sleep or online/wakeup periodically and a-periodically depending on the traffic loads to reduce energy consumption. Sometime these devices get disconnected due to device battery depletion. If the node is not available in the network, then the IoT network provides incomplete, missing, and inaccurate data. Moreover, many IoT applications, like vehicle tracking and patient tracking require the IoT devices to be mobile. Due to this mobility, If the distance of the device from the sink node become greater than required, the connection is lost. Due to this disconnection other devices join the network for replacing the broken-down and left devices. This make IoT devices dynamic in nature which brings uncertainty and unreliability in the IoT network and hence produce bad quality of data. Due to this dynamic nature of IoT devices we do not know the actual reason of abnormal data. If data are of poor-quality decisions are likely to be unsound. It is highly important to process data and estimate data quality before bringing it to use in IoT applications. In the past many researchers tried to estimate data quality and provided several Machine Learning (ML), stochastic and statistical methods to perform analysis on stored data in the data processing layer, without focusing the challenges and issues arises from the dynamic nature of IoT devices and how it is impacting data quality. A comprehensive review on determining the impact of dynamic nature of IoT devices on data quality is done in this research and presented a data quality model that can deal with this challenge and produce good quality of data. This research presents the data quality model for the sensors monitoring water quality. DBSCAN clustering and weather sensors are used in this research to make data quality model for the sensors monitoring water quality. An extensive study has been done in this research on finding the relationship between the data of weather sensors and sensors monitoring water quality of the lakes and beaches. The detailed theoretical analysis has been presented in this research mentioning correlation between independent data streams of the two sets of sensors. With the help of the analysis and DBSCAN, a data quality model is prepared. This model encompasses five dimensions of data quality: outliers’ detection and removal, completeness, patterns of missing values and checks the accuracy of the data with the help of cluster’s position. At the end, the statistical analysis has been done on the clusters formed as the result of DBSCAN, and consistency is evaluated through Coefficient of Variation (CoV).Keywords: clustering, data quality, DBSCAN, and Internet of things (IoT)
Procedia PDF Downloads 141498 Biological Significance of Long Intergenic Noncoding RNA LINC00273 in Lung Cancer Cell Metastasis
Authors: Ipsita Biswas, Arnab Sarkar, Ashikur Rahaman, Gopeswar Mukherjee, Subhrangsu Chatterjee, Shamee Bhattacharjee, Deba Prasad Mandal
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One of the major reasons for the high mortality rate of lung cancer is the substantial delays in disease detection at late metastatic stages. It is of utmost importance to understand the detailed molecular signaling and detect the molecular markers that can be used for the early diagnosis of cancer. Several studies explored the emerging roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in various cancers as well as lung cancer. A long non-coding RNA LINC00273 was recently discovered to promote cancer cell migration and invasion, and its positive correlation with the pathological stages of metastasis may prove it to be a potential target for inhibiting cancer cell metastasis. Comparing real-time expression of LINC00273 in various human clinical cancer tissue samples with normal tissue samples revealed significantly higher expression in cancer tissues. This long intergenic noncoding RNA was found to be highly expressed in human liver tumor-initiating cells, human gastric adenocarcinoma AGS cell line, as well as human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cell line. SiRNA and shRNA-induced knockdown of LINC00273 in both in vitro and in vivo nude mice significantly subsided AGS and A549 cancer cell migration and invasion. LINC00273 knockdown also reduced TGF-β induced SNAIL, SLUG, VIMENTIN, ZEB1 expression, and metastasis in A549 cells. Plenty of reports have suggested the role of microRNAs of the miR200 family in reversing epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) by inhibiting ZEB transcription factors. In this study, hsa-miR-200a-3p was predicted via IntaRNA-Freiburg RNA tools to be a potential target of LINC00273 with a negative free binding energy of −8.793 kcal/mol, and this interaction was verified as a confirmed target of LINC00273 by RNA pulldown, real-time PCR and luciferase assay. Mechanistically, LINC00273 accelerated TGF-β induced EMT by sponging hsa-miR-200a-3p which in turn liberated ZEB1 and promoted prometastatic functions in A549 cells in vitro as verified by real-time PCR and western blotting. The similar expression patterns of these EMT regulatory pathway molecules, viz. LINC00273, hsa-miR-200a-3p, ZEB1 and TGF-β, were also detected in various clinical samples like breast cancer tissues, oral cancer tissues, lung cancer tissues, etc. Overall, this LINC00273 mediated EMT regulatory signaling can serve as a potential therapeutic target for the prevention of lung cancer metastasis.Keywords: epithelial to mesenchymal transition, long noncoding RNA, microRNA, non-small-cell lung carcinoma
Procedia PDF Downloads 157497 Preparation, Solid State Characterization of Etraverine Co-Crystals with Improved Solubility for the Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Authors: B. S. Muddukrishna, Karthik Aithal, Aravind Pai
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Introduction: Preparation of binary cocrystals of Etraverine (ETR) by using Tartaric Acid (TAR) as a conformer was the main focus of this study. Etravirine is a Class IV drug, as per the BCS classification system. Methods: Cocrystals were prepared by slow evaporation technique. A mixture of total 500mg of ETR: TAR was weighed in molar ratios of 1:1 (371.72mg of ETR and 128.27mg of TAR). Saturated solution of Etravirine was prepared in Acetone: Methanol (50:50) mixture in which tartaric acid is dissolved by sonication and then this solution was stirred using a magnetic stirrer until the solvent got evaporated. Shimadzu FTIR – 8300 system was used to acquire the FTIR spectra of the cocrystals prepared. Shimadzu thermal analyzer was used to achieve DSC measurements. X-ray diffractometer was used to obtain the X-ray powder diffraction pattern. Shake flask method was used to determine the equilibrium dynamic solubility of pure, physical mixture and cocrystals of ETR. USP buffer (pH 6.8) containing 1% of Tween 80 was used as the medium. The pure, physical mixture and the optimized cocrystal of ETR were accurately weighed sufficient to maintain the sink condition and were filled in hard gelatine capsules (size 4). Electrolab-Tablet Dissolution tester using basket apparatus at a rotational speed of 50 rpm and USP phosphate buffer (900 mL, pH = 6.8, 37 ˚C) + 1% Tween80 as a media, was used to carry out dissolution. Shimadzu LC-10 series chromatographic system was used to perform the analysis with PDA detector. An Hypersil BDS C18 (150mm ×4.6 mm ×5 µm) column was used for separation with mobile phase comprising of a mixture of ace¬tonitrile and phosphate buffer 20mM, pH 3.2 in the ratio 60:40 v/v. The flow rate was 1.0mL/min and column temperature was set to 30°C. The detection was carried out at 304 nm for ETR. Results and discussions: The cocrystals were subjected to various solid state characterization and the results confirmed the formation of cocrystals. The C=O stretching vibration (1741cm-1) in tartaric acid was disappeared in the cocrystal and the peak broadening of primary amine indicates hydrogen bond formation. The difference in the melting point of cocrystals when compared to pure Etravirine (265 °C) indicates interaction between the drug and the coformer which proves that first ordered transformation i.e. melting endotherm has disappeared. The difference in 2θ values of pure drug and cocrystals indicates the interaction between the drug and the coformer. Dynamic solubility and dissolution studies were also conducted by shake flask method and USP apparatus one respectively and 3.6 fold increase in the dynamic solubility were observed and in-vitro dissolution study shows four fold increase in the solubility for the ETR: TAR (1:1) cocrystals. The ETR: TAR (1:1) cocrystals shows improved solubility and dissolution as compared to the pure drug which was clearly showed by solid state characterization and dissolution studies.Keywords: dynamic solubility, Etraverine, in vitro dissolution, slurry method
Procedia PDF Downloads 361496 Integrating Non-Psychoactive Phytocannabinoids and Their Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes into the Treatment of Glioblastoma
Authors: Kyriaki Hatziagapiou, Konstantinos Bethanis, Olti Nikola, Elias Christoforides, Eleni Koniari, Eleni Kakouri, George Lambrou, Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein
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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a serious health challenge, as current therapeutic modalities continue to yield unsatisfactory results, with the average survival rarely exceeding 1-2 years. Natural compounds still provide some of the most promising approaches for discovering new drugs. The non-psychotropic cannabidiol (CBD) deriving from Cannabis sativa L. provides such promise. CBD is endowed with anticancer, antioxidant, and genoprotective properties as established in vitro and in in vivo experiments. CBD’s selectivity towards cancer cells and its safe profile suggest its usage in cancer therapies. However, the bioavailability of oral CBD is low due to poor aqueous solubility, erratic gastrointestinal absorption, and significant first-pass metabolism, hampering its therapeutic potential and resulting in a variable pharmacokinetic profile. In this context, CBD can take great advantage of nanomedicine-based formulation strategies. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides used in the pharmaceutical industry to incorporate apolar molecules inside their hydrophobic cavity, increasing their stability, water solubility, and bioavailability or decreasing their side effects. CBD-inclusion complexes with CDs could be a good strategy to improve its properties, like solubility and stability to harness its full therapeutic potential. The current research aims to study the potential cytotoxic effect of CBD and CBD-CDs complexes CBD-RMβCD (randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin) and CBD-HPβCD (hydroxypropyl-b-CD) on the A172 glioblastoma cell line. CBD is diluted in 10% DMSO, and CBD/CDs solutions are prepared by mixing solid CBD, solid CDs, and dH2O. For the biological assays, A172 cells are incubated at a range of concentrations of CBD, CBD-RMβCD and CBD-HPβCD, RMβCD, and HPβCD (0,03125-4 mg/ml) at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Analysis of cell viability after incubation with the compounds is performed with Alamar Blue viability assay. CBD’s dilution to DMSO 10% was inadequate, as crystals are observed; thus cytotoxicity experiments are not assessed. CBD’s solubility is enhanced in the presence of both CDs. CBD/CDs exert significant cytotoxicity in a dose and time-dependent manner (p < 0.005 for exposed cells to any concentration at 48, 72, and 96 hours versus cells not exposed); as their concentration and time of exposure increases, the reduction of resazurin to resofurin decreases, indicating a reduction in cell viability. The cytotoxic effect is more pronounced in cells exposed to CBD-HPβCD for all concentrations and time-points. RMβCD and HPβCD at the highest concentration of 4 mg/ml also exerted antitumor action per se since manifesting cell growth inhibition. The results of our study could afford the basis of research regarding the use of natural products and their inclusion complexes as anticancer agents and the shift to targeted therapy with higher efficacy and limited toxicity. Acknowledgments: The research is partly funded by ΙΚΥ (State Scholarships Foundation) – Post-doc Scholarships-Partnership Agreement 2014-2020.Keywords: cannabidiol, cyclodextrins, glioblastoma, hydroxypropyl-b-Cyclodextrin, randomly-methylated-β-cyclodextrin
Procedia PDF Downloads 181495 Recovery of Food Waste: Production of Dog Food
Authors: K. Nazan Turhan, Tuğçe Ersan
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The population of the world is approximately 8 billion, and it increases uncontrollably and irrepressibly, leading to an increase in consumption. This situation causes crucial problems, and food waste is one of these. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines food waste as the discarding or alternative utilization of food that is safe and nutritious for the consumption of humans along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level. In addition, according to the estimation of FAO, one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted worldwide every year. Wasting food endangers natural resources and causes hunger. For instance, excessive amounts of food waste cause greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming. Therefore, waste management has been gaining significance in the last few decades at both local and global levels due to the expected scarcity of resources for the increasing population of the world. There are several ways to recover food waste. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, food waste recovery ways are source reduction, feeding hungry people, feeding animals, industrial uses, composting, and landfill/incineration from the most preferred to the least preferred, respectively. Bioethanol, biodiesel, biogas, agricultural fertilizer and animal feed can be obtained from food waste that is generated by different food industries. In this project, feeding animals was selected as a food waste recovery method and food waste of a plant was used to provide ingredient uniformity. Grasshoppers were used as a protein source. In other words, the project was performed to develop a dog food product by recovery of the plant’s food waste after following some steps. The collected food waste and purchased grasshoppers were sterilized, dried and pulverized. Then, they were all mixed with 60 g agar-agar solution (4%w/v). 3 different aromas were added, separately to the samples to enhance flavour quality. Since there are differences in the required amounts of different species of dogs, fulfilling all nutritional needs is one of the problems. In other words, there is a wide range of nutritional needs in terms of carbohydrates, protein, fat, sodium, calcium, and so on. Furthermore, the requirements differ depending on age, gender, weight, height, and species. Therefore, the product that was developed contains average amounts of each substance so as not to cause any deficiency or surplus. On the other hand, it contains more protein than similar products in the market. The product was evaluated in terms of contamination and nutritional content. For contamination risk, detection of E. coli and Salmonella experiments were performed, and the results were negative. For the nutritional value test, protein content analysis was done. The protein contents of different samples vary between 33.68% and 26.07%. In addition, water activity analysis was performed, and the water activity (aw) values of different samples ranged between 0.2456 and 0.4145.Keywords: food waste, dog food, animal nutrition, food waste recovery
Procedia PDF Downloads 66494 An Analysis of the Strategic Pathway to Building a Successful Mobile Advertising Business in Nigeria: From Strategic Intent to Competitive Advantage
Authors: Pius A. Onobhayedo, Eugene A. Ohu
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Nigeria has one of the fastest growing mobile telecommunications industry in the world. In the absence of fixed connection access to the Internet, access to the Internet is primarily via mobile devices. It, therefore, provides a test case for how to penetrate the mobile market in an emerging economy. We also hope to contribute to a sparse literature on strategies employed in building successful data-driven mobile businesses in emerging economies. We, therefore, sought to identify and analyse the strategic approach taken in a successful locally born mobile data-driven business in Nigeria. The analysis was carried out through the framework of strategic intent and competitive advantages developed from the conception of the company to date. This study is based on an exploratory investigation of an innovative digital company based in Nigeria specializing in the mobile advertising business. The projected growth and high adoption of mobile in this African country, coinciding with the smartphone revolution triggered by the launch of iPhone in 2007 opened a new entrepreneurial horizon for the founder of the company, who reached the conclusion that ‘the future is mobile’. This dream led to the establishment of three digital businesses, designed for convergence and complementarity of medium and content. The mobile Ad subsidiary soon grew to become a truly African network with operations and campaigns across West, East and South Africa, successfully delivering campaigns in several African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia amongst others. The company recently declared a 40% year-end profit which was nine times that of the previous financial year. This study drew from an in-depth interview with the company’s founder, analysis of primary and secondary data from and about the business, as well as case studies of digital marketing campaigns. We hinge our analysis on the strategic intent concept which has been proposed to be an engine that drives the quest for sustainable strategic advantage in the global marketplace. Our goal was specifically to identify the strategic intents of the founder and how these were transformed creatively into processes that may have led to some distinct competitive advantages. Along with the strategic intents, we sought to identify the respective absorptive capacities that constituted favourable antecedents to the creation of such competitive advantages. Our recommendations and findings will be pivotal information for anybody wishing to invest in the world’s fastest technology business space - Africa.Keywords: Africa, competitive advantage, competitive strategy, digital, mobile business, marketing, strategic intent
Procedia PDF Downloads 438493 The Evolution of Man through Cranial and Dental Remains: A Literature Review
Authors: Rishana Bilimoria
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Darwin’s insightful anthropological theory on the evolution drove mankind’s understanding of our existence in the natural world. Scientists consider analysis of dental and craniofacial remains to be pivotal in uncovering facts about our evolutionary journey. The resilient mineral content of enamel and dentine allow cranial and dental remains to be preserved for millions of years, making it an excellent resource not only in anthropology but other fields of research including forensic dentistry. This literature review aims to chronologically approach each ancestral species, reviewing Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Homo Habilis, Homo Rudolfensis, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalis, and finally Homo Sapiens. Studies included in the review assess the features of cranio-dental remains that are of evolutionary importance, such as microstructure, microwear, morphology, and jaw biomechanics. The article discusses the plethora of analysis techniques employed to study dental remains including carbon dating, dental topography, confocal imaging, DPI scanning and light microscopy, in addition to microwear study and analysis of features such as coronal and root morphology, mandibular corpus shape, craniofacial anatomy and microstructure. Furthermore, results from these studies provide insight into the diet, lifestyle and consequently, ecological surroundings of each species. We can correlate dental fossil evidence with wider theories on pivotal global events, to help us contextualize each species in space and time. Examples include dietary adaptation during the period of global cooling converting the landscape of Africa from forest to grassland. Global migration ‘out of Africa’ can be demonstrated by enamel thickness variation, cranial vault variation over time demonstrates accommodation to larger brain sizes, and dental wear patterns can place the commencement of lithic technology in history. Conclusions from this literature review show that dental evidence plays a major role in painting a phenotypic and all rounded picture of species of the Homo genus, in particular, analysis of coronal morphology through carbon dating and dental wear analysis. With regards to analysis technique, whilst studies require larger sample sizes, this could be unrealistic since there are limitations in ability to retrieve fossil data. We cannot deny the reliability of carbon dating; however, there is certainly scope for the use of more recent techniques, and further evidence of their success is required.Keywords: cranio-facial, dental remains, evolution, hominids
Procedia PDF Downloads 166492 Building Environmental Citizenship in Spain: Urban Movements and Ecologist Protest in Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, 1970-1983
Authors: Juan Manuel Brito-Diaz
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The emergence of urban environmentalism in Spain is related to the processes of economic transformation and growing urbanization that occurred during the end of the Franco regime and the democratic transition. This paper analyzes the urban environmental mobilizations and their impacts as relevant democratizing agents in the processes of political change in cities. It’s an under-researched topic and studies on environmental movements in Spain have paid little attention to it. This research takes as its starting point the close link between democratization and environmentalism, since it considers that environmental conflicts are largely a consequence of democratic problems, and that the impacts of environmental movements are directly linked to the democratization. The study argues that the environmental movements that emerged in Spain at the end of the dictatorship and the democratic transition are an important part of the broad and complex associative fabric that promoted the democratization process. The research focuses on investigating the environmental protest in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria—the most important city in the Canary Islands—between 1970 and 1983, concurrently with the last local governments of the dictatorship and the first democratic city councils. As it is a case study, it opens up the possibility to ask multiple specific questions and assess each of the responses obtained. Although several research methodologies have been applied, such as the analysis of historical archives documentation or oral history interviews, mainly a very widespread methodology in the sociology of social movements, although very little used by social historians, has been used: the Protest Event Analysis (PEA). This methodology, which consists of generating a catalog of protest events by coding data around previously established variables, has allowed me to map, analyze and interpret the occurrence of protests over time and space, and associated factors, through content analysis. For data collection, news from local newspapers have provided a large enough sample to analyze the properties of social protest -frequency, size, demands, forms, organizers, etc.—and relate them to another type of information related to political structures and mobilization repertoires, encouraging the establishment of connections between the protest and the political impacts of urban movements. Finally, the study argues that the environmental movements of this period were essential to the construction of the new democratic city in Spain, not only because they established the issues of sustainability and urban environmental justice on the public agenda, but also because they proposed that conflicts derived from such matters should ultimately be resolved through public deliberation and citizen participation.Keywords: democratization, environmental movements, political impacts, social movements
Procedia PDF Downloads 181491 SWOT Analysis on the Prospects of Carob Use in Human Nutrition: Crete, Greece
Authors: Georgios A. Fragkiadakis, Antonia Psaroudaki, Theodora Mouratidou, Eirini Sfakianaki
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Research: Within the project "Actions for the optimal utilization of the potential of carob in the Region of Crete" which is financed-supervised by the Region, with collaboration of Crete University and Hellenic Mediterranean University, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) survey was carried out, to evaluate the prospects of carob in human nutrition, in Crete. Results and conclusions: 1). Strengths: There exists a local production of carob for human consumption, based on international reports, and local-product reports. The data on products in the market (over 100 brands of carob food), indicates a sufficiency of carob materials offered in Crete. The variety of carob food products retailed in Crete indicates a strong demand-production-consumption trend. There is a stable number (core) of businesses that invest significantly (Creta carob, Cretan mills, etc.). The great majority of the relevant food stores (bakery, confectionary etc.) do offer carob products. The presence of carob products produced in Crete is strong on the internet (over 20 main professionally designed websites). The promotion of the carob food-products is based on their variety and on a few historical elements connected with the Cretan diet. 2). Weaknesses: The international prices for carob seed affect the sector; the seed had an international price of €20 per kg in 2021-22 and fell to €8 in 2022, causing losses to carob traders. The local producers do not sort the carobs they deliver for processing, causing 30-40% losses of the product in the industry. The occasional high price triggers the collection of degraded raw material; large losses may emerge due to the action of insects. There are many carob trees whose fruits are not collected, e.g. in Apokoronas, Chania. The nutritional and commercial value of the wild carob fruits is very low. Carob trees-production is recorded by Greek statistical services as "other cultures" in combination with prickly pear i.e., creating difficulties in retrieving data. The percentage of carob used for human nutrition, in contrast to animal feeding, is not known. The exact imports of carob are not closely monitored. We have no data on the recycling of carob by-products in Crete. 3). Opportunities: The development of a culture of respect for carob trade may improve professional relations in the sector. Monitoring carob market and connecting production with retailing-industry needs may allow better market-stability. Raw material evaluation procedures may be implemented to maintain carob value-chain. The state agricultural services may be further involved in carob-health protection. The education of farmers on carob cultivation/management, can improve the quality of the product. The selection of local productive varieties, may improve the sustainability of the culture. Connecting the consumption of carob with health-food products, may create added value in the sector. The presence and extent of wild carob threes in Crete, represents, potentially, a target for grafting. 4). Threats: The annual fluctuation of carob yield challenges the programming of local food industry activities. Carob is a forest species also - there is danger of wrong classification of crops as forest areas, where land ownership is not clear.Keywords: human nutrition, carob food, SWOT analysis, crete, greece
Procedia PDF Downloads 96490 In Vivo Evaluation of Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields at 27 GHz (5G) of Danio Rerio: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Elena Maria Scalisi, Roberta Pecoraro, Martina Contino, Sara Ignoto, Carmelo Iaria, Santi Concetto Pavone, Gino Sorbello, Loreto Di Donato, Maria Violetta Brundo
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5G Technology is evolving to satisfy a variety of service requirements that may allow high data-rate connections (1Gbps) and lower latency times than current (<1ms). In order to support a high data transmission speed and a high traffic service for eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) use cases, 5G systems have the characteristic of using different frequency bands of the radio wave spectrum (700 MHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz and 26.5-27.5 GHz), thus taking advantage of higher frequencies than previous mobile radio generations (1G-4G). However, waves at higher frequencies have a lower capacity to propagate in free space and therefore, in order to guarantee the capillary coverage of the territory for high reliability applications, it will be necessary to install a large number of repeaters. Following the introduction of this new technology, there has been growing concern over the past few months about possible harmful effects on human health. The aim of this preliminary study is to evaluate possible short term effects induced by 5G-millimeter waves on embryonic development and early life stages of Danio rerio by Z-FET. We exposed developing zebrafish at frequency of 27 GHz, with a standard pyramidal horn antenna placed at 15 cm far from the samples holder ensuring an incident power density of 10 mW/cm2. During the exposure cycle, from 6 h post fertilization (hpf) to 96 hpf, we measured a different morphological endpoints every 24 hours. Zebrafish embryo toxicity test (Z-FET) is a short term test, carried out on fertilized eggs of zebrafish and it represents an effective alternative to acute test with adult fish (OECD, 2013). We have observed that 5G did not reveal significant impacts on mortality nor on morphology because exposed larvae showed a normal detachment of the tail, presence of heartbeat, well-organized somites, therefore hatching rate was lower than untreated larvae even at 48 h of exposure. Moreover, the immunohistochemical analysis performed on larvae showed a negativity to the HSP-70 expression used as a biomarkers. This is a preliminary study on evaluation of potential toxicity induced by 5G and it seems appropriate to underline the importance that further studies would take, aimed at clarifying the probable real risk of exposure to electromagnetic fields.Keywords: Biomarker of exposure, embryonic development, 5G waves, zebrafish embryo toxicity test
Procedia PDF Downloads 131489 A Comparison of Proxemics and Postural Head Movements during Pop Music versus Matched Music Videos
Authors: Harry J. Witchel, James Ackah, Carlos P. Santos, Nachiappan Chockalingam, Carina E. I. Westling
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Introduction: Proxemics is the study of how people perceive and use space. It is commonly proposed that when people like or engage with a person/object, they will move slightly closer to it, often quite subtly and subconsciously. Music videos are known to add entertainment value to a pop song. Our hypothesis was that by adding appropriately matched video to a pop song, it would lead to a net approach of the head to the monitor screen compared to simply listening to an audio-only version of the song. Methods: We presented to 27 participants (ages 21.00 ± 2.89, 15 female) seated in front of 47.5 x 27 cm monitor two musical stimuli in a counterbalanced order; all stimuli were based on music videos by the band OK Go: Here It Goes Again (HIGA, boredom ratings (0-100) = 15.00 ± 4.76, mean ± SEM, standard-error-of-the-mean) and Do What You Want (DWYW, boredom ratings = 23.93 ± 5.98), which did not differ in boredom elicited (P = 0.21, rank-sum test). Each participant experienced each song only once, and one song (counterbalanced) as audio-only versus the other song as a music video. The movement was measured by video-tracking using Kinovea 0.8, based on recording from a lateral aspect; before beginning, each participant had a reflective motion tracking marker placed on the outer canthus of the left eye. Analysis of the Kinovea X-Y coordinate output in comma-separated-variables format was performed in Matlab, as were non-parametric statistical tests. Results: We found that the audio-only stimuli (combined for both HIGA and DWYW, mean ± SEM, 35.71 ± 5.36) were significantly more boring than the music video versions (19.46 ± 3.83, P = 0.0066 Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test (WSRT), Cohen's d = 0.658, N = 28). We also found that participants' heads moved around twice as much during the audio-only versions (speed = 0.590 ± 0.095 mm/sec) compared to the video versions (0.301 ± 0.063 mm/sec, P = 0.00077, WSRT). However, the participants' mean head-to-screen distances were not detectably smaller (i.e. head closer to the screen) during the music videos (74.4 ± 1.8 cm) compared to the audio-only stimuli (73.9 ± 1.8 cm, P = 0.37, WSRT). If anything, during the audio-only condition, they were slightly closer. Interestingly, the ranges of the head-to-screen distances were smaller during the music video (8.6 ± 1.4 cm) compared to the audio-only (12.9 ± 1.7 cm, P = 0.0057, WSRT), the standard deviations were also smaller (P = 0.0027, WSRT), and their heads were held 7 mm higher (video 116.1 ± 0.8 vs. audio-only 116.8 ± 0.8 cm above floor, P = 0.049, WSRT). Discussion: As predicted, sitting and listening to experimenter-selected pop music was more boring than when the music was accompanied by a matched, professionally-made video. However, we did not find that the proxemics of the situation led to approaching the screen. Instead, adding video led to efforts to control the head to a more central and upright viewing position and to suppress head fidgeting.Keywords: boredom, engagement, music videos, posture, proxemics
Procedia PDF Downloads 167488 Need for Policy and Legal Framework for Caste Based Atrocities as Violation of International Human Rights in View of Indian Diaspora
Authors: Vijayalaxmi Khopade
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The Prima facie caste system is intrinsic to Indian society. It is an ancient system of intense social stratification based upon birth and enjoying religious sanction. The uppermost strata and privileges are ascribed and enjoyed by brahmins (priestly class), while the lowest strata are occupied by Dalits who are not ascribed with any privileges. The caste system is inherently hierarchical, patriarchal, and systematic and thrives solely on exploitation justified through means of the Brahminical system of hegemony based singularly on birth. The caste system has extended its tentacles to other religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam in South Asia. Term Dalit is colloquially used to categorize persons belonging to lower strata in the caste hierarchy. However, this category is heterogenous and highly stratified, following practices like untouchability and exclusion amongst themselves. The modern Indian legal system acknowledges the existence of Caste and its perils. Therefore, by virtue of the Indian Constitution, provisions for affirmative action for the protection and development of Dalits are made. Courts in India have liberally interpreted laws to benefit Dalits. However, the modern system of governance is not immune from Caste based biases. These biases are reflected in the implementation of governance, including the dispensation of justice. The economic reforms of the 1990s gave a huge boost to the Indian diaspora. Persons of Indian origin are now seen making great strides in almost every sector and enjoying positions of power globally. As one peels off the layer of ethnic Indian origin, a deep seated layer of Caste and Caste based patriarchy is clearly visible. Indian diaspora enjoying positions of power essentially belongs to upper castes and carry Caste based biases with them. These castes have long enjoyed the benefits of education; therefore, they were the first ones to benefit from LPG (Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization) model adopted in the 1990s. Dalits, however, had little formal education until recently. The western legal system, to the best of our knowledge, does not recognize Caste and, therefore, cannot afford protection for Dalits, wherein discrimination and exploitation take place solely on the basis of Caste. Therefore, Dalits are left with no legal remedy outside domestic jurisdiction. Countries like the UK have made an attempt to include Caste in their Equality Bill 2010. This has met with tough resistance from Upper caste Hindus who shy away from recognizing their caste privileges and, therefore, the existence of Caste. In this paper, an attempt for comparative analysis is made between various legal protections accorded to Dalits in India vis-à-vis international human rights as protected by the United Nations under its declaration of Universal Human rights. An attempt has been made to mark a distinction between race and Caste and to establish a position of women in Caste based hierarchy. The paper also makes an argument for the inclusion of atrocities committed against Dalits as a violation of international human rights, their protection by the United Nations, and the trial of their violations by International Courts. The paper puts into perspective the need for an external agency like the United Nations and International courts to interfere in rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, even with the existence of a modern legal system in a sovereign democratic country.Keywords: atrocity, caste, diaspora, legal framework
Procedia PDF Downloads 216487 High-Pressure Polymorphism of 4,4-Bipyridine Hydrobromide
Authors: Michalina Aniola, Andrzej Katrusiak
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4,4-Bipyridine is an important compound often used in chemical practice and more recently frequently applied for designing new metal organic framework (MoFs). Here we present a systematic high-pressure study of its hydrobromide salt. 4,4-Bipyridine hydrobromide monohydrate, 44biPyHBrH₂O, at ambient-pressure is orthorhombic, space group P212121 (phase a). Its hydrostatic compression shows that it is stable to 1.32 GPa at least. However, the recrystallization above 0.55 GPa reveals a new hidden b-phase (monoclinic, P21/c). Moreover, when the 44biPyHBrH2O is heated to high temperature the chemical reactions of this compound in methanol solution can be observed. High-pressure experiments were performed using a Merrill-Bassett diamond-anvil cell (DAC), modified by mounting the anvils directly on the steel supports, and X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out on a KUMA and Excalibur diffractometer equipped with an EOS CCD detector. At elevated pressure, the crystal of 44biPyHBrH₂O exhibits several striking and unexpected features. No signs of instability of phase a were detected to 1.32 GPa, while phase b becomes stable at above 0.55 GPa, as evidenced by its recrystallizations. Phases a and b of 44biPyHBrH2O are partly isostructural: their unit-cell dimensions and the arrangement of ions and water molecules are similar. In phase b the HOH-Br- chains double the frequency of their zigzag motifs, compared to phase a, and the 44biPyH+ cations change their conformation. Like in all monosalts of 44biPy determined so far, in phase a the pyridine rings are twisted by about 30 degrees about bond C4-C4 and in phase b they assume energy-unfavorable planar conformation. Another unusual feature of 44biPyHBrH2O is that all unit-cell parameters become longer on the transition from phase a to phase b. Thus the volume drop on the transition to high-pressure phase b totally depends on the shear strain of the lattice. Higher temperature triggers chemical reactions of 44biPyHBrH2O with methanol. When the saturated methanol solution compound precipitated at 0.1 GPa and temperature of 423 K was required to dissolve all the sample, the subsequent slow recrystallization at isochoric conditions resulted in disalt 4,4-bipyridinium dibromide. For the 44biPyHBrH2O sample sealed in the DAC at 0.35 GPa, then dissolved at isochoric conditions at 473 K and recrystallized by slow controlled cooling, a reaction of N,N-dimethylation took place. It is characteristic that in both high-pressure reactions of 44biPyHBrH₂O the unsolvated disalt products were formed and that free base 44biPy and H₂O remained in the solution. The observed reactions indicate that high pressure destabilized ambient-pressure salts and favors new products. Further studies on pressure-induced reactions are carried out in order to better understand the structural preferences induced by pressure.Keywords: conformation, high-pressure, negative area compressibility, polymorphism
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