Search results for: heat transfer problems

Authors: Mohammadjavad Mehrabanpour, Maryam Ranjbar Bushehri, Dorsa Mehrabanpour

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Respiratory diseases are the most important problems in the country’s poultry industry, particularly when it comes to broiler flocks. Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) is a species that causes poor performance in growth rate, egg production, and mortality. This pathogen causes a respiratory infection including pulmonary alveolar inflammation, and pneumonia of birds throughout the world. Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious disease in poultry, and also, it causes considerable losses to the poultry industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the simultaneous occurrence of ORT and ND and NDV isolation by inoculation in embryonated eggs and confirmed by RT-PCR in broiler chicken flocks in Fars province. In this study, 318 blood and 85 tissue samples (brain, trachea, liver, and cecal tonsils) were collected from 15 broiler chicken farms. Survey serum antibody titers against ORT by using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit performed. Evaluation of antibody titer against ND virus is performed by hemagglutination inhibition test. Virus isolation with chick embryo eggs 9-11 and RT-PCR method were carried out. A total of 318 serum samples, 135 samples (42.5%) were positive for antibodies to ORT and titer of HI antibodies against NDV in 122 serum samples (38/4%) were 7-10 (log2) and 61 serum samples (19/2%) had occurrence antibody titer against Newcastle virus and ORT. Results of the present study indicated that 20 tissue samples were positive in embryonated egg and in rapid hemagglutination (HA) test. HI test with specific ND positive serum confirmed that 6 of 20 samples. PCR confirmed that all six samples were positive and PCR products of samples indicated 535-base pair fragments in electrophrosis. Due to the great economic importance of these two diseases in the poultry industry, it is necessary to design and implement a comprehensive plan for prevention and control of these diseases.

Keywords: ELISA, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale, newcastle disease, seroprevalence

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Authors: Mimoza Canga, Irene Malagnino, Ruzhdie Qafmolla, Vergjini Mulo, Gresa Baboci, Vito Antonio Malagnino

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Background: Dental caries represents the most widespread pathology in childhood. The prevalence of dental caries varies with age, gender, socio economic status, geographical location, nutrition habits, and oral hygiene. Objective: The objective of the present longitudinal study is to show clearly the prevalence of dental caries in the children of age 6 and 7 years old in Vlore, Albania, in a two year time period with controls done every 6 months. Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on 530 children, with a controlled sample for a time period of 24 months from September 2019- September 2021. The children in the study had different economic and social backgrounds. The teeth controls were done by the dentists who work at the hospital of the city. The present study was conducted in accordance with Helsinki declaration. Permissions were obtained in written form, which allowed us to perform the observations. Parents had the right to withdraw their children at any time. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. The significance level (α) was set at 0.05, whereas P-value and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results: The data of the present study showed that the age group of 6 years old had 139 or 52.3% of the children with dental caries and 127 or 47.7% of them had no dental caries, while at the age of 7 there were 184 or 69.7% of the children with dental caries problems in the permanent molars and 80 or 30.3% of them had no dental caries. In the present study, it was observed that there is a statistically significant association between age group and presence of caries. Children 7 years old had higher presence of dental caries (χ2 = 16.934 (df 1) p-value < 0.001). According to the present research, there is a statistically significant correlation between period of time and the presence of dental caries. Furthermore, in the actual research, it was established that in the time 18-24 months, the prevalence of dental caries was high (χ2=15,318 (df 1) p-value = 0.004). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study performed in Albania in a two year time period with controls done every 6 months, it is proved that the prevalence of dental caries was 17.4 percent higher among children 7 years old in comparison with the children 6 years old.

Keywords: age, children, dental caries, permanent molars

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: M. B. Atui, A. M. Silva, M. A. M. Marciano, M. I. Fioravanti, V. A. Franco, L. B. Chasin, A. R. Ferreira, M. D. Nogueira

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Fungi attack large amount of fruits and those who have suffered an injury on the surface are more susceptible to the growth, as they have pectinolytic enzymes that destroy the edible portion forming an amorphous and soft dough. The spores can reach the plant by the wind, rain and insects and fruit may have on its surface, besides the contaminants from the fruit trees, land and water, forming a flora composed mainly of yeasts and molds. Other contamination can occur for the equipment used to harvest, for the use of boxes and contaminated water to the fruit washing, for storage in dirty places. The hyphae in tomato products indicate the use of raw materials contaminated or unsuitable hygiene conditions during processing. Although fungi are inactivated in heat processing step, its hyphae remain in the final product and search for detection and quantification is an indicator of the quality of raw material. Howard Method count of fungi mycelia in industrialized pulps evaluates the amount of decayed fruits existing in raw material. The Brazilian legislation governing processed and packaged products set the limit of 40% of positive fields in tomato pulps. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the tomato pulp sold in greater São Paulo, through a monitoring during the four seasons of the year. All over 2010, 110 samples have been examined; 21 were taking in spring, 31 in summer, 31 in fall and 27 in winter, all from different lots and trademarks. Samples have been picked up in several stores located in the city of São Paulo. Howard method was used, recommended by the AOAC, 19th ed, 2011 16:19:02 technique - method 965.41. Hundred percent of the samples contained fungi mycelia. The count average of fungi mycelia per season was 23%, 28%, 8,2% and 9,9% in spring, summer, fall and winter, respectively. Regarding the spring samples of the 21 samples analyzed, 14.3% were off-limits proposed by the legislation. As for the samples of the fall and winter, all were in accordance with the legislation and the average of mycelial filament count has not exceeded 20%, which can be explained by the low temperatures during this time of the year. The acquired samples in the summer and spring showed high percentage of fungal mycelium in the final product, related to the high temperatures in these seasons. Considering that the limit of 40% of positive fields is accepted for the Brazilian Legislation (RDC nº 14/2014), 3 spring samples (14%) and 6 summer samples (19%) will be over this limit and subject to law penalties. According to gathered data, 82% of manufacturers of this product manage to keep acceptable levels of fungi mycelia in their product. In conclusion, only 9.2% samples were for the limits established by Resolution RDC. 14/2014, showing that the limit of 40% is feasible and can be used by these segment industries. The result of the filament count mycelial by Howard method is an important tool in the microscopic analysis since it measures the quality of raw material used in the production of tomato products.

Keywords: fungi, howard, method, tomato, pulps

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Parastoo Parhizkar, Jaber Yaghini, Omid Fakheran

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Background: Third molar surgery is often associated with postoperative problems which cause serious impediments on daily activities and quality of life. Steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may decrease these common post-operative complications. The purpose of this review is evaluating the available evidence regarding the efficacy of corticosteroids used as adjunctive therapy for patients undergoing third molar surgery. Methods: PubMed, Google scholar, Scopus, web of science, clinicaltrials.gov, scirus.com, Cochrane central register for controlled trials, LILACS, OpenGrey, centerwatch, isrctn, who.int and ebsco were searched without restrictions regarding the year of publication. Randomized clinical trials assessing patient-reported outcomes in patients undergoing surgical therapy, were eligible for inclusion. Study quality was assessed using the CONSORT-checklist. No meta-analysis was performed. Results: A total of twelve Randomized Clinical Trials were included in this study. Methylprednisolone and Dexamethasone may decrease postoperative side effects such as pain, trismus and edema. Based on the results both of them could improve patients’ satisfaction, and there is no significant difference between these two types of corticosteroids regarding the patient centered outcomes (p > 0.05). Intralesional and intravenous injection of Dexamethasone showed an equivalent result, with statistically significant better results (P < 0.05) in comparison with the oral treatment. Conclusion: various types of corticosteroids can enhance the patient’s satisfaction following third molar surgery. However, there is no significant difference between Dexamethasone, Prednisolone and Methylprednisolone groups in this regard. Comparing the various administration routs, local injection of Dexamethasone is quite simple, painless and cost-effective adjunctive therapy with better drug efficacy.

Keywords: third molar surgery, corticosteroids, patient-reported outcomes, health related quality of life

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Authors: Boshra Mozaffar, Arash Ardavani, Iskandar Idris

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Food taste and flavor affect food choice and acceptance, which are essential to maintain good health and quality of life. Reduced circulating zinc levels have been shown to adversely affect taste which can result in reduced appetite, weight loss and psychological problems, but the efficacy of Zinc supplementation to treat disorders of taste remains unclear. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to examine the efficacy of zinc supplementation in the treatment of taste disorders. We searched four electronic bibliographical databases; Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid AMAD and PubMed. Article bibliographies were also searched, which yielded additional relevant studies. To facilitate the collection and identification of all available and relevant articles published before 7 December 2020, there were no restrictions on the publication date. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis according to the PRISMA Statement. This review was registered at PROSPERO and given the identification number CRD42021228461. In total, we included 12 randomized controlled trials with 938 subjects. Intervention includes zinc (sulfate, gluconate, picolinate, polaprezinc and acetate); the pooled results of the meta-analysis indicate that improvements in taste disorder occurred more frequently in the intervention group compared to the control group (RR = 1.8; 95% CI:1.27 -2.57, p=0.009). The doses are equivalent to 17 mg- 86.7 mg of elemental zin for three to six months. Zinc supplementation is an effective treatment for taste disorders in patients with zinc deficiency or idiopathic taste disorders when given in high doses ranging from 68–86.7 mg/d for up to three months. However, we did not find sufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of zinc supplementation in patients with taste disorders induced by chronic renal failure.

Keywords: taste change, taste disorder, zinc, zinc sulfate or Zn, deficiency, supplementation.

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Authors: Aditaya Narayan Mishra

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Unequal distribution of environmental resources as a possible cause of conflict has been the topic of substantial research, and these connections have ruled the post-Cold War attention in the discourse of environmental security. In this category, considerable concentration has been given to water resources, on account of their important standing for human existence. Thus, water is considered to be one of the most important non-conventional security issues. As per this consideration, the case of India-Bangladesh is one of the most critical examples of disputes over transboundary water sharing. The concern regarding sharing of trans-boundary rivers has been the main focus of Bangladesh and India‘s relationship for the last forty-five years. Both countries share fifty-four rivers, most of which have originated in the Himalayan range. The main causes for problems in the sharing of the waters of trans-boundary rivers between India and Bangladesh include the: Farakka Barrage, Teesta river sharing issue, River linking project and Tipaimukh Dam. The construction of Farakka barrage across the Ganga River was the beginning of water dispute. Attempts at unilateral exploitation of the trans-boundary water resources led to inter-state conflicts that spilled over into other areas of bilateral disputes between India and Bangladesh. Apart from Farakka, Barrage, the disputes over Teesta River sharing, River linking project and Tipaimukh Dam are also vital contents for the both countries bilateral diplomacy. Till date, India and Bangladesh have signed five treaties regarding water sharing. However, all these treaties have been rendered worthless due to mistrust and political upheaval in both countries. The current paper would address all these water sharing disputes between India and Bangladesh with focus on the various policy responses (both bilateral and multilateral initiatives) to deal with these water sharing disputes. It will try to analyze the previous agreements and their drawbacks and loopholes. In addition, it will mention the reasons for water sharing cooperation between India and Bangladesh.

Keywords: India and Bangladesh relations, water disputes, Teesta, river linking project, Tipaimukh Dam, Farakka, policy responses

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Manana Lobzhanidze, Marine Kobalava, Lali Chikviladze

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The global pandemic crisis has had a significant impact on educational migration, substantially limiting young people’s access to education abroad. Therefore, it became necessary to study the economic, demographic, social, cultural and other factors associated with educational migration, to identify the economic and political challenges of educational migration and to develop recommendations. The aim of the research is to study the effects of the atypical crisis on educational migration and to make recommendations on effective migration opportunities based on the identification of economic and policy challenges in this area. Bibliographic research is used to assess the effects of the impact of the atypical crisis on educational migration presented in the papers of various scholars. Against the background of the restrictions imposed during the COVID19 pandemic, migration rates have been analyzed, endogenous and exogenous factors affecting educational migration have been identified. Quantitative and qualitative research of students and graduates of TSU Economics and Business Faculty is conducted, the results have been processed by SPSS program, the factors hindering educational migration and the challenges have been identified. The Internet and digital technologies have been shown to play a vital role in alleviating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, lack of Internet access and limited financial resources have played a disruptive role in the educational migration process. The analysis of quantitative research materials revealed the problems of educational migration caused by the atypical crisis, while some issues were clarified during the focus group meetings. The following theoretical-methodological approaches were used during the research: a bibliographic research, analysis, synthesis, comparison, selection-grouping are used; Quantitative and qualitative research has been carried out, the results have been processed by SPSS program. The article presents the consequences of the atypical crisis for educational migration, identifies the main economic and policy challenges in the field of educational migration, and develops appropriate recommendations to overcome them.

Keywords: educational migration, atypical crisis, economic-political challenges, educational migration factors

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Authors: Monica Sanchez

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What responsibility does urban planning have on climate changes? How does the territory give us answers of resilience? Historically, urban plans have civilized territories: waters are channeled, grounds are sealed, foreign species are incorporated, native ones are extinguished, and/or enclosed spaces are heated or cooled. Socially this facilitates coexistence, but in turn brings negative environmental consequences. The past fifty years, mankind has tried to redirect these consequences through different strategies. Research studies produced strategies designed to alleviate climate change. Exploring the nature of territories has been incorporated in urban planning to discover natures response. The case to be studied is Santiago, Chile: for its combined impacts of climate change and the significant response by this city on climate governance in the last decades. Warmer areas in Santiago are seen in the areas of high-density buildings such as the commune of Recoleta, while the coldest are characterized by the predominance of low residential densities as the commune of Providencia. These two communes are separated and complemented by an undulating body that comes from the Andes mountains called San Cristobal Hill. What if the hill were taken into account when making roads, zoning and buildings? Was it difficult to prolong in the urban plans the hill characteristics to the city solving the intersection with other natural areas? Apparently it was, because the projected-profile informs us that the planned strategies used correspond to the same operations used in the flat areas of Santiago. This research focuses on: explaining the geographic relationships between city-hill; explaining the planning process around the hill with a morphological analysis; evaluating how the hill has been considered the in the city in the plans that intended to cushion the environmental impacts and studying what is missing on the hill and city to strengthen their integration. Therefore, the research will have different scales of understanding: addressing territorial scale -understanding the vegetation, topography and hydrology; a city scale -analyzing urban plans that Santiago has dealt with the environment and city; and a local scale -studying the integration and public spaces and coverage- norms of the adjacent communes. The expected outcome is to decipher possible deficits and capabilities of the current urban plans for climate change. It is anticipated that the hill and valley is now trying to reconcile after such a long separation. Yet it seems that never will prevail all the Rules of Nature, but the Urban Rules. The plans will require pruning, irrigation, control of invasive alien species and public safety standards, but will be rejoining a dose of nature with the building environment -this will protect us better from it from the time that we feared from it and knew little about it. Today we know a little more, enough to adapt to the process. Although nature is not perceived and we ignore it, it has a remarkable ability to respond.

Keywords: resilience, climate change, urban plans, land use, hills and cities, heat islands, morphology

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Authors: Ganbat Danaa, Chuluundorj Puntsag

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The steel structures of the Oyu-Tolgoi mining Concentrator plant are corroded during operation, which raises doubts about the continued use of some important structures of the plant, which is one of the problems facing the plant's regular operation. As a part of the main operation of the plant, the bottom part of the pressure vessel, which plays an important role in the reliable operation of the concentrate filter-drying unit, was heavily corroded, so it was necessary to study by engineering calculations, modeling, and simulation using modern advanced engineering programs and methods. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the corroded part of the pressure vessel can be used normally in the future using advanced engineering software and to predetermine the remaining life of the time of the pressure vessel based on engineering calculations. When the thickness of the bottom part of the pressure vessel was thinned by 0.5mm due to corrosion detected by non-destructive testing, finite element analysis using ANSYS WorkBench software was used to determine the mechanical stress, strain and safety factor in the wall and bottom of the pressure vessel operating under 2.2 MPa working pressure, made conclusions on whether it can be used in the future. According to the recommendations, by using sand-blast cleaning and anti-corrosion paint, the normal, continuous and reliable operation of the Concentrator plant can be ensured, such as ordering new pressure vessels and reducing the installation period. By completing this research work, it will be used as a benchmark for assessing the corrosion condition of steel parts of pressure vessels and other metallic and non-metallic structures operating under severe conditions of corrosion, static and dynamic loads, and other deformed steels to make analysis of the structures and make it possible to evaluate and control the integrity and reliable operation of the structures.

Keywords: corrosion, non-destructive testing, finite element analysis, safety factor, structural reliability

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Authors: Malek Mahmoudi, Jonas Keruckas, Dmytro Volyniuk, Jurate Simokaitiene, Juozas V. Grazulevicius

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Host materials have been discovered as one of the most appealing methods for harvesting triplet states in organic materials for application in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The ideal host-guest system for emission in thermally delayed fluorescence OLEDs with 20% guest concentration for efficient energy transfer has been demonstrated in the present investigation. In this work, 3,3'-bis[9-(4-fluorophenyl) carbazole] (bFPC) has been used as the host, which induces balanced charge carrier transport for high-efficiency OLEDs.For providing a complete characterization of the synthesized compound, photophysical, photoelectrical, charge-transporting, and electrochemical properties of the compound have been examined. Excited-state lifetimes and singlet-triplet energy gaps were measured for characterization of photophysical properties, while thermogravimetric analysis, as well as differential scanning calorimetry measurements, were performed for probing of electrochemical and thermal properties of the compound. The electrochemical properties of this compound were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) method, and ionization potential (IPCV) value of 5.68 eV was observed. UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescence spectrum of a solution of the compound in toluene (10-5 M) showed maxima at 302 and 405 nm, respectively. Photoelectron emission spectrometry was used for the characterization of charge-injection properties of the studied compound in solid. The ionization potential of this material was found to be 5.78 eV, and time-of-flight measurement was used for testing charge-transporting properties and hole mobility estimated using this technique in a vacuum-deposited layer reached 4×10-4 cm2 V-1s-1. Since the compound with high charge mobilities was tested as a host in an organic light-emitting diode. The device was fabricated by successive deposition onto a pre-cleaned indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate under a vacuum of 10-6 Torr and consisting of an indium-tin-oxide anode, hole injection and transporting layer(MoO3, NPB), emitting layer with bFPC as a host and 4CzIPN (2,4,5,6-tetra(9-carbazolyl)isophthalonitrile) which is a new highly efficient green thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) material as an emitter, an electron transporting layer(TPBi) and lithium fluoride layer topped with aluminum layer as a cathode exhibited the highest maximum current efficiency and power efficiency of 33.9 cd/A and 23.5 lm/W, respectively and the electroluminescence spectrum showed only a peak at 512nm. Furthermore, the new bicarbazole-based compound was tested as a host in thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes are reaching luminance of 25300 cd m-2 and external quantum efficiency of 10.1%. Interestingly, the turn-on voltage was low enough (3.8 V), and such a device can be used for highly efficient light sources.

Keywords: thermally-activated delayed fluorescence, host material, ionization energy, charge mobility, electroluminescence

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Katherine Dropiewski, Michael Yakimov, Vadim Tokranov, Allan Minns, Pavel Murat, Serge Oktyabrsky

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InAs Quantum Dots (QDs) in a GaAs matrix is a well-documented luminescent material with high light yield, as well as thermal and ionizing radiation tolerance due to quantum confinement. These benefits can be leveraged for high-efficiency, room temperature scintillation detectors. The proposed scintillator is composed of InAs QDs acting as luminescence centers in a GaAs stopping medium, which also acts as a waveguide. This system has appealing potential properties, including high light yield (~240,000 photons/MeV) and fast capture of photoelectrons (2-5ps), orders of magnitude better than currently used inorganic scintillators, such as LYSO or BaF2. The high refractive index of the GaAs matrix (n=3.4) ensures light emitted by the QDs is waveguided, which can be collected by an integrated photodiode (PD). Scintillation structures were grown using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and consist of thick GaAs waveguiding layers with embedded sheets of modulation p-type doped InAs QDs. An AlAs sacrificial layer is grown between the waveguide and the GaAs substrate for epitaxial lift-off to separate the scintillator film and transfer it to a low-index substrate for waveguiding measurements. One consideration when using a low-density material like GaAs (~5.32 g/cm³) as a stopping medium is the matrix thickness in the dimension of radiation collection. Therefore, luminescence properties of very thick (4-20 microns) waveguides with up to 100 QD layers were studied. The optimization of the medium included QD shape, density, doping, and AlGaAs barriers at the waveguide surfaces to prevent non-radiative recombination. To characterize the efficiency of QD luminescence, low temperature photoluminescence (PL) (77-450 K) was measured and fitted using a kinetic model. The PL intensity degrades by only 40% at RT, with an activation energy for electron escape from QDs to the barrier of ~60 meV. Attenuation within the waveguide (WG) is a limiting factor for the lateral size of a scintillation detector, so PL spectroscopy in the waveguiding configuration was studied. Spectra were measured while the laser (630 nm) excitation point was scanned away from the collecting fiber coupled to the edge of the WG. The QD ground state PL peak at 1.04 eV (1190 nm) was inhomogeneously broadened with FWHM of 28 meV (33 nm) and showed a distinct red-shift due to self-absorption in the QDs. Attenuation stabilized after traveling over 1 mm through the WG, at about 3 cm⁻¹. Finally, a scintillator sample was used to test detection and evaluate timing characteristics using 5.5 MeV alpha particles. With a 2D waveguide and a small area of integrated PD, the collected charge averaged 8.4 x10⁴ electrons, corresponding to a collection efficiency of about 7%. The scintillation response had 80 ps noise-limited time resolution and a QD decay time of 0.6 ns. The data confirms unique properties of this scintillation detector which can be potentially much faster than any currently used inorganic scintillator.

Keywords: GaAs, InAs, molecular beam epitaxy, quantum dots, III-V semiconductor

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Authors: Julian Jaegers, Siegmar Wirtz, Viktor Scherer

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Wood pellets belong to the most established trade formats of wood-based fuels. Especially, because of the transportability and the storage properties, but also due to low moisture content, high energy density, and the homogeneous particle size and shape, wood pellets are well suited for power generation in power plants and for the use in automated domestic firing systems. Before they are thermally converted, wood pellets pass various transport and storage procedures. There they undergo different mechanical impacts, which leads to pellet breakage and abrasion and to an increase in fines. The fines lead to operational problems during storage, charging, and discharging of pellets, they can increase the risk of dust explosions and can lead to pollutant emissions during combustion. In the current work, the dependence of the formation of fines caused by breakage during pneumatic transport is analyzed experimentally and numerically. The focus lies on the influence of conveying velocity, pellet loading, pipe diameter, and the shape of pipe components like bends or couplings. A test rig has been built, which allows the experimental evaluation of the pneumatic transport varying the above-mentioned parameters. Two high-speed cameras are installed for the quantitative optical access to the particle-particle and particle-wall contacts. The particle size distribution of the bulk before and after a transport process is measured as well as the amount of fines produced. The experiments will be compared with results of corresponding DEM/CFD simulations to provide information on contact frequencies and forces. The contribution proposed will present experimental results and report on the status of the DEM/CFD simulations. The final goal of the project is to provide a better insight into pellet breakage during pneumatic transport and to develop guidelines ensuring a more gentle transport.

Keywords: DEM/CFD-simulation of pneumatic conveying, mechanical impact on wood pellets during transportation, pellet breakage, pneumatic transport of wood pellets

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Erol Bayraktarov, Asya Ilgun, Thomas Schickl, Alexandre Campo, Nicolis Stamatios

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Traditional means of harvesting honey are often stressful for honeybees. Each time honey is collected a portion of the colony can die. In consequence, the colonies’ resilience to environmental stressors will decrease and this ultimately contributes to the global problem of honeybee colony losses. As part of the project HIVEOPOLIS, we design and build a different kind of beehive, incorporating technology to reduce negative impacts of beekeeping procedures, including honey harvesting. A first step in maintaining more sustainable honey harvesting practices is to design honey storage frames that can automate the honey collection procedures. This way, beekeepers save time, money, and labor by not having to open the hive and remove frames, and the honeybees' nest stays undisturbed.This system shows promising features, e.g., high reliability which could be a key advantage compared to current honey harvesting technologies.Our original concept of fractional honey harvesting has been to encourage the removal of honey only from "safe" locations and at levels that would leave the bees enough high-nutritional-value honey. In this abstract, we describe the current state of our honey harvester, its technology and areas to improve. The honey harvester works by separating the honeycomb cells away from the comb foundation; the movement and the elastic nature of honey supports this functionality. The honey sticks to the foundation, because of the surface tension forces amplified by the geometry. In the future, by monitoring the weight and therefore the capped honey cells on our honey harvester frames, we will be able to remove honey as soon as the weight measuring system reports that the comb is ready for harvesting. Higher viscosity honey or crystalized honey cause challenges in temperate locations when a smooth flow of honey is required. We use resistive heaters to soften the propolis and wax to unglue the moving parts during extraction. These heaters can also melt the honey slightly to the needed flow state. Precise control of these heaters allows us to operate the device for several purposes. We use ‘Nitinol’ springs that are activated by heat as an actuation method. Unlike conventional stepper or servo motors, which we also evaluated throughout development, the springs and heaters take up less space and reduce the overall system complexity. Honeybee acceptance was unknown until we actually inserted a device inside a hive. We not only observed bees walking on the artificial comb but also building wax, filling gaps with propolis and storing honey. This also shows that bees don’t mind living in spaces and hives built from 3D printed materials. We do not have data yet to prove that the plastic materials do not affect the chemical composition of the honey. We succeeded in automatically extracting stored honey from the device, demonstrating a useful extraction flow and overall effective operation this way.

Keywords: honey harvesting, honeybee, hiveopolis, nitinol

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Authors: Mayoorika Shukla, Pramila Jakhar, Tejendra Dixit, I. A. Palani, Vipul Singh

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Biosensors are analytical devices with wide range of applications in biological, chemical, environmental and clinical analysis. It comprises of bio-recognition layer which has biomolecules (enzymes, antibodies, DNA, etc.) immobilized over it for detection of analyte and transducer which converts the biological signal into the electrical signal. The performance of biosensor primarily the depends on the bio-recognition layer and therefore it has to be chosen wisely. In this regard, nanostructures of metal oxides such as ZnO, SnO2, V2O5, and TiO2, etc. have been explored extensively as bio-recognition layer. Recently, ZnO has the attracted attention of researchers due to its unique properties like high iso-electric point, biocompatibility, stability, high electron mobility and high electron binding energy, etc. Although there have been many reports on usage of ZnO as bio-recognition layer but to the authors’ knowledge, none has ever observed correlation between optical properties like defect suppression and biosensing capability of the sensor. Here, ZnO nanorods (ZNR) have been synthesized by a low cost, simple and low-temperature hydrothermal growth process, over Platinum (Pt) coated glass substrate. The ZNR have been synthesized in two steps viz. initially a seed layer was coated over substrate (Pt coated glass) followed by immersion of it into nutrient solution of Zinc nitrate and Hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) with in situ addition of KMnO4. The addition of KMnO4 was observed to have a profound effect over the growth rate anisotropy of ZnO nanostructures. Clustered and powdery growth of ZnO was observed without addition of KMnO4, although by addition of it during the growth, uniform and crystalline ZNR were found to be grown over the substrate. Moreover, the same has resulted in suppression of defects as observed by Normalized Photoluminescence (PL) spectra since KMnO4 is a strong oxidizing agent which provides an oxygen rich growth environment. Further, to explore the correlation between defect suppression and biosensing capability of the ZNR Glucose oxidase (Gox) was immobilized over it, using physical adsorption technique followed by drop casting of nafion. Here the main objective of the work was to analyze effect of defect suppression over biosensing capability, and therefore Gox has been chosen as model enzyme, and electrochemical amperometric glucose detection was performed. The incorporation of KMnO4 during growth has resulted in variation of optical and charge transfer properties of ZNR which in turn were observed to have deep impact on biosensor figure of merits. The sensitivity of biosensor was found to increase by 12-18 times, due to variations introduced by addition of KMnO4 during growth. The amperometric detection of glucose in continuously stirred buffer solution was performed. Interestingly, defect suppression has been observed to contribute towards the improvement of biosensor performance. The detailed mechanism of growth of ZNR along with the overall influence of defect suppression on the sensing capabilities of the resulting enzymatic electrochemical biosensor and different figure of merits of the biosensor (Glass/Pt/ZNR/Gox/Nafion) will be discussed during the conference.

Keywords: biosensors, defects, KMnO4, ZnO nanorods

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Authors: Rorick Daniel Tovar Galvan

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The existence of different legal systems represents an important barrier for married couples that attempt to reside in another country. Each movement can cause important changes in the rights and obligations derived from the marriage since a different law could be used by the courts to solve legal disputes arising from their relationship. In a context in which it is increasingly common to move from one country to another, people cannot be certain about the outcomes of proceedings dealing with i.e., the dissolution of property regime, maintenance payments or time to wait to initiate divorce because a foreign – and in most cases unknown – law could apply every time they move. At first glance, the answer to this issue seems to be the harmonization of the legal systems: the greater the mobility of individuals inside a group of countries, the higher the similarities of their laws should be. Such a solution could be positive for spouses because a higher degree of legal certainty would be reached in case the same legal rules applied regardless of the place where the couple lives. However, the legal pluralism brings with it also advantages that could be appreciated when one looks closely at the economic rationale behind the legal institution of marriage. This contribution carries out an economic analysis of the existence of different legal systems in the area of marriage law and proposes another strategy to cope with the problems arising from legal pluralism. Far from eliminating the diversity of legal systems, one wishes to foster it, since significant advantages could arise from such diversity in case couples are permitted to choose the applicable law themselves. Based on the idea that the law could be seem as a product offered in the market as well as states and spouses as suppliers and consumers of this product, the paper shows the advantages of designing a legal framework that allows spouses to determine freely the law governing the legal effects of their marriage. Instead of promoting the harmonization of the substantive law, one explores the benefits of encouraging the regulatory competition at international level in the area of marriage law.

Keywords: conflict of laws, harmonization, international marriage law, law and economics, regulatory competition

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Authors: Khanyisile Mnguni, Muthukrishnavellaisamy Kumarasamy, Jeff C. Smithers

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Umgeni Water is a water board that supplies most parts of KwaZulu Natal with bulk portable water. Currently, Umgeni Water is running its distribution system based on required reservoir levels and demands and does not consider the energy cost at different times of the day, number of pump switches, and background leakages. Including these constraints can reduce operational cost, energy usage, leakages, and increase performance. Optimising pump schedules can reduce energy usage and costs while adhering to hydraulic and operational constraints. Umgeni Water has installed an online hydraulic software, WaterNet Advisor, that allows running different operational scenarios prior to implementation in order to optimise the distribution system. This study will investigate operation scenarios using optimisation techniques and WaterNet Advisor for a local water distribution system. Based on studies reported in the literature, introducing pump scheduling optimisation can reduce energy usage by approximately 30% without any change in infrastructure. Including tariff structures in an optimisation problem can reduce pumping costs by 15%, while including leakages decreases cost by 10%, and pressure drop in the system can be up to 12 m. Genetical optimisation algorithms are widely used due to their ability to solve nonlinear, non-convex, and mixed-integer problems. Other methods such as branch and bound linear programming have also been successfully used. A suitable optimisation method will be chosen based on its efficiency. The objective of the study is to reduce energy usage, operational cost, and leakages, and the feasibility of optimal solution will be checked using the Waternet Advisor. This study will provide an overview of the optimisation of hydraulic networks and progress made to date in multi-objective optimisation for a selected sub-system operated by Umgeni Water.

Keywords: energy usage, pump scheduling, WaterNet Advisor, leakages

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Authors: Saveria Capecchi

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In recent decades, the issue of gender-based violence, particularly femicide, has been increasingly presented to the public by Italian media. However, it is often treated in a trivialized and sensationalistic manner, focusing on cases that exhibit the most "attractive" elements (brutality, sex, drugs, the young age and/or good looks of the victims, stories with "mystery," "horror," etc.). Furthermore, this phenomenon is most often represented by referring to the psycho-individualistic paradigm, focusing on the psychological and individual characteristics of the perpetrator rather than referring to the feminist and/or constructivist paradigms. According to the latter, the causes of male violence against women do not lie in the individual problems of the perpetrator but in the social and cultural construction of the power hierarchy between men and women. The following study presents the results of qualitative research on the journalistic approach to male violence against women in Italy, aimed at examining the limitations of the narrative strategies used by the media. The research focuses on the case of Giulia Cecchettin (killed by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta on November 11, 2023), which has fueled the debate on the narrative surrounding male violence against women. This case was chosen based on its significant media coverage and the victim's family's commitment to combating gender-based violence. The research involves a content analysis of 150 articles from four different national newspapers («Corriere della Sera», «La Stampa», «Il Giornale», «la Repubblica»). Additionally, the study analyzed the social media use of two Italian newspapers («Corriere della Sera» and «la Repubblica»), examining 20 posts and their 600 related comments, highlighting the various types of public responses, including criticisms of how femicide is represented by the media. Furthermore, the paper will reflect on the role that the Italian women's movement and certain journalist communities have played in promoting a narrative of femicide that is more attentive to power dynamics and free from gender stereotypes.

Keywords: gender-based violence, femicide, gender stereotypes, Italian newspapers

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Authors: Agnes Siwi Purwaning Tyas, Dewi Cahya Ambarwati

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This paper concerns the language learning that develops as a habit formation and a constructive process while exercising an oppressive power to construct the learners. As a locus of discussion, the investigation problematizes the transfer of English language to Indonesian students of junior high school through the use of English textbooks ‘Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VII-IX’. English language has long performed as a global language and it is a demand upon the non-English native speakers to master the language if they desire to become internationally recognized individuals. Generally, English teachers teach the language in accordance with the nature of language learning in which they are trained and expected to teach the language within the culture of the target language. This provides a potential soft cultural penetration of a foreign ideology through language transmission. In the context of Indonesia, learning English as international language is considered dilemmatic. Most English textbooks in Indonesia incorporate cultural elements of the target language which in some extent may challenge the sensitivity towards local cultural values. On the other hand, local teachers demand more English textbooks for junior high school students which can facilitate cultural dissemination of both local and global values and promote learners’ cultural traits of both cultures to avoid misunderstanding and confusion. It also aims to support language learning as bidirectional process instead of instrument of oppression. However, sensitizing and localizing this foreign language is not sufficient to restrain its soft infiltration. In due course, domination persists making the English language as an authoritative language and positioning the locality as ‘the other’. Such critical premise has led to a discursive analysis referring to how the cultural elements of the target language are presented in the textbooks and whether the local characteristics of Indonesia are able to gradually reduce the degree of the foreign oppressive ideology. The three textbooks researched were written by non-Indonesian author edited by two Indonesia editors published by a local commercial publishing company, PT Erlangga. The analytical elaboration examines the cultural characteristics in the forms of names, terminologies, places, objects and imageries –not the linguistic aspect– of both cultural domains; English and Indonesia. Comparisons as well as categorizations were made to identify the cultural traits of each language and scrutinize the contextual analysis. In the analysis, 128 foreign elements and 27 local elements were found in textbook for grade VII, 132 foreign elements and 23 local elements were found in textbook for grade VIII, while 144 foreign elements and 35 local elements were found in grade IX textbook, demonstrating the unequal distribution of both cultures. Even though the ideal pedagogical approach of English learning moves to a different direction by the means of inserting local elements, the learners are continuously imposed to the culture of the target language and forced to internalize the concept of values under the influence of the target language which tend to marginalize their native culture.

Keywords: bidirectional process, English, local culture, oppression

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Authors: Muhammad Rasyid Angkotasan

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The soil is a dense granules and arrangement of the pores that are related to each other, so that the water can flow from one point which has higher energy to a point that has lower energy. The flow of water through the pores of the porous ground is urgently needed in water seepage estimates in ground water pumping problems, investigate for underground construction, as well as analyzing the stability of the construction of Weirs. Climate change resulted in long-term changes in the distribution of weather patterns are statistically throughout the period start time of decades to millions of years. In other words, changes in the average weather circumstances or a change in the distribution of weather events, on average, for example, the number of extreme weather events that increasingly a lot or a little. Climate change is limited to a particular regional or can occur in all regions of the Earth. Geographical location between two continents and two oceans and is located around the equator is klimatologis factor is the cause of flooding and drought in Indonesia. This caused Indonesia' geographical position is on a hemisphere with a tropical monsoon climate is very sensitive to climatic anomaly El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO causes drought occurrence in sea surface temperature conditions in the Pacific Equator warms up to the middle part of the East (El Nino). Based on the analysis of the climate of the last 30 years show that there is a tendency, the formation of a new pattern of climate causes the onset of climate change. The impact of climate change on the occurrence of the agricultural sector is the bergesernya beginning of the dry season which led to the above-mentioned pattern planting due to drought. The impact of climate change (drought) which is very extreme in Indonesia affect the shrinkage dimensions grain land and reduced the value of a percentage of the soil Plasticity Index caused by climate change.

Keywords: climate change, soil shrinkage, plasticity index, shrinking dimensions

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Authors: Temenuzhka Spasova, Nadya Yanakieva

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Snow modulates the hydrological cycle and influences the functioning of ecosystems and is a significant resource for many populations whose water is harvested from cold regions. Snow observations are important for validating climate models. The accumulation and rapid melt of snow are two of the most dynamical seasonal environmental changes on the Earth’s surface. The actuality of this research is related to the modern tendencies of the remote sensing application in the solution of problems of different nature in the ecological monitoring of the environment. The subject of the study is the dynamic during the different seasons on Livingstone Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica and on Svalbard in Arctic. The objects were analyzed and mapped according to the Еuropean Space Agency data (ESA), acquired by sensors Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Sentinel 2 MSI and GIS. Results have been obtained for changes in snow coverage during the summer-winter transition and its dynamics in the two hemispheres. The data used is of high time-spatial resolution, which is an advantage when looking at the snow cover. The MSI images are with different spatial resolution at the Earth surface range. The changes of the environmental objects are shown with the SAR images and different processing approaches. The results clearly show that snow and snow melting can be best registered by using SAR data via hh- horizontal polarization. The effect of the researcher on aerospace data and technology enables us to obtain different digital models, structuring and analyzing results excluding the subjective factor. Because of the large extent of terrestrial snow coverage and the difficulties in obtaining ground measurements over cold regions, remote sensing and GIS represent an important tool for studying snow areas and properties from regional to global scales.

Keywords: climate changes, GIS, remote sensing, SAR images, snow coverage

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Authors: Muhammad Nur Haniff Mohd Noor, Rokiah Kadir, Suriyani Muhamad

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Sustainable forest management and forest protection can be hampered by illegal logging. Illegal logging is not uncommon in many wood-producing countries. Hence, law enforcement, especially in timber-producing countries, is crucial in ensuring compliance with forestry related regulations, as well as confirming that all parties obey the rules and regulations prescribed by the authorities. However, enforcement officers are encountering various challenges and difficulties which have undermined the enforcement capacity and efficiency. The appropriate policy responses for these issues are important to resolve the problems in the long term and empowering enforcement capacity to meet future challenges of forest law enforcement. This paper is written according to extensive review of the articles and publications by The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), Chatham House and The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Subsequently, various books and journal articles are reviewed to gain further insight towards enforcement issues and challenges. This paper identifies several issues which consist of (1) insufficient enforcement capacity and resources (2) lack of coordination between various enforcement agencies, (3) corruption in the government and private sectors and (4) unclear legal frameworks related to the forestry sector. Next, this paper discusses appropriate policy responses to address each enforcement challenges according to various publications. This includes specific reports concerning forest law enforcement published by international forestry-related organizations. Therefore, lack of resources, inadequate synchronization between agencies, corruption, and legal issues present challenges to enforcement officers in their daily routines. Recommendations regarding proper policy responses to overcome the issues are of great importance in assisting forest authorities in prioritizing their resources appropriately.

Keywords: corruption, enforcement challenges, enforcement capacity, forest law enforcement, insufficient agency coordination, legislative ambiguity

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Authors: Aliro Villacorta, Laura Rubio, Mohamed Alaraby, Montserrat López Mesas, Victor Fuentes-Cebrian, Oscar H. Moriones, Ricard Marcos, Alba Hernández.

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Micro and nano plastics (MNPLs) are emergent environmental pollutants requiring urgent information on their potential risks to human health. One of the problems associated with the evaluation of their undesirable effects is the lack of real samples matching those resulting from the environmental degradation of plastic wastes. To such end, we propose an easy method to obtain polyethylene terephthalate nano plastics from water plastic bottles (PET-NPLs) but, in principle, applicable to any other plastic goods sources. An extensive characterization indicates that the proposed process produces uniform samples of PET-NPLs of around 100 nm, as determined by using a multi-angle and dynamic light scattering methodology. An important point to be highlighted is that to avoid the metal contamination resulting from methods using metal blades/burrs for milling, trituration, or sanding, we propose to use diamond burrs to produce metal-free samples. To visualize the toxicological profile of the produced PET-NPLs, we have evaluated their ability to be internalized by cells, their cytotoxicity, and their ability to induce oxidative stress and induce DNA damage. In this preliminary approach, we have detected their cellular uptake, but without the induction of significant biological effects. Thus, no relevant increases in toxicity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction, or DNA damage -as detected with the comet assay- have been observed. The use of real samples, as produced in this study, will generate relevant data in the discussion about the potential health risks associated with MNPLs exposures.

Keywords: nanoplastics, polyethylene terephthalate, physicochemical characterization, cell uptake, cytotoxicity

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Authors: Courtney Manthey-Pierce, Anna Warrener

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Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disruptive disorder in females. PCOS is primarily characterized by polycystic ovaries, anovulation, hirsutism, insulin resistance, and hyperandrogenism. Despite negative reproductive consequences for females from anovulation and endocrine dysfunction, genes associated with the pathogenesis of PCOS are highly hereditable (h2 = 0.72). An evolutionary mismatch occurs when a trait that evolved in one environment has become maladaptive in another environment. The idea that PCOS is an evolutionary mismatch disease has been promoted by several researchers. Each trait of the resulting PCOS phenotype should be investigated individually in order to demonstrate an evolutionary mismatch. Hyperandrogenism is often regarded as the main characteristic of PCOS Hyperandrogenism may have aided with conception in older females, increased bone mineral density, and supported prolonged breastfeeding in nutritionally distressed populations. Because of the high prevalence of PCOS in the modern world, approximately 6%, it is often argued that PCOS emerged in an ancestral population prior to the migration out of Africa approximately 200,000 years ago. This environment would be characterized by sporadic periods of nutrition deficit and resource hardships as the climate began changing. Presently, modern society is characterized by obesity and sedentary lifestyles. The prevalence of obesity renders hyperandrogenism PCOS useless as there are no periods of nutritional distress requiring androgens for increased reproductive rates. In an ancestral environment, hyperandrogenism would likely lead to sporadic anovulation and mild secondary symptoms, however high levels of androgens in a modern environment led to prolonged if not permanent infertility and excessive secondary problems. Thus, hyperandrogenism related to PCOS appears to meet evolutionary mismatch criteria. Seen in this light, PCOS may be effectively treated as a probably evolutionary mismatch.

Keywords: evolutionary mismatch, heritability, hyperandrogenism, mismatch disorder

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Authors: Rolland Epafras Fanggidae

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The impact of climate change such as natural disasters, crop failures, increasing crop pests, bad gisi on children and other impacts, will indirectly affect education, health, food safety, as well as the economy. The impact of climate change has put a man in a situation of vulnerability, which was powerless to meet the minimum requirements, it is in close contact with poverty. When talking about poverty, the most plausible is female. The role of women in Indonesia, particularly in East Nusa Tenggara in Domestic aktifity very central and dominant. This makes Indonesian woman can say "outstanding actor in the face of climate change mitigation and adaptation and applying local knowledge", but still ignored when women based on gender division of work entrusted role in domestic activities. Similarly, in public activity is an extension of the Domestic example, trading activity in the market lele / mama. Although men are also affected by climate change, but most feel is female. From the above problems, it can be said that Indonesia's commitment has not been followed by optimal empowerment of women's role in addressing climate change, it is necessary to learn to know how the role of women in the face of climate change impacts that hit on her role as a woman, a housewife or head of the family and will be input in order to determine how women find a solution to tackle the problem of climate change. This study focuses on the efforts made by women cope with the impacts of climate change, efforts by the government, empowerment model used in Playing the impact of climate change. The container with the formulation of the title "The Role of Women in Climate Change Impact in Kupang district". Where the assessment in use types Research mix Methods combination of quantitative research and qualitative research. While the location of the research conducted in Kupang regency, East Nusa Tenggara, namely: District of East Kupang is a district granary in Kupang district. Subdistrict West Kupang, especially Tablolong Village is the center of seaweed cultivation in Kupang district.

Keywords: climate change, women, women's roles, gender, family

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Authors: Hamed Movahedi, Nicolas Bovet, Henning Friis Poulsen

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Following the advent of the Industrial Revolution, there has been a significant increase in the extraction and utilization of hydrocarbon and fossil fuel resources. However, a new era has emerged, characterized by a shift towards sustainable practices, namely the reduction of carbon emissions and the promotion of renewable energy generation. Given the substantial number of mature oil and gas wells that have been developed inside the petroleum reservoir domain, it is imperative to establish an environmental strategy and adopt appropriate measures to effectively seal and decommission these wells. In general, the cement plug serves as a material for plugging purposes. Nevertheless, there exist some scenarios in which the durability of such a plug is compromised, leading to the potential escape of hydrocarbons via fissures and fractures within cement plugs. Furthermore, cement is often not considered a practical solution for temporary plugging, particularly in the case of well sites that have the potential for future gas storage or CO2 injection. The Danish oil and gas industry has promising potential as a prospective candidate for future carbon dioxide (CO2) injection, hence contributing to the implementation of carbon capture strategies within Europe. The primary reservoir component consists of chalk, a rock characterized by limited permeability. This work focuses on the development and characterization of a novel hydrogel variant. The hydrogel is designed to be injected via a low-permeability reservoir and afterward undergoes a transformation into a high-viscosity gel. The primary objective of this research is to explore the potential of this hydrogel as a new solution for effectively plugging well flow. Initially, the synthesis of polyacrylamide was carried out using radical polymerization inside the confines of the reaction flask. Subsequently, with the application of the Hoffman rearrangement, the polymer chain undergoes partial amination, facilitating its subsequent reaction with the crosslinker and enabling the formation of a hydrogel in the subsequent stage. The organic crosslinker, glutaraldehyde, was employed in the experiment to facilitate the formation of a gel. This gel formation occurred when the polymeric solution was subjected to heat within a specified range of reservoir temperatures. Additionally, a rheological survey and gel time measurements were conducted on several polymeric solutions to determine the optimal concentration. The findings indicate that the gel duration is contingent upon the starting concentration and exhibits a range of 4 to 20 hours, hence allowing for manipulation to accommodate diverse injection strategies. Moreover, the findings indicate that the gel may be generated in environments characterized by acidity and high salinity. This property ensures the suitability of this substance for application in challenging reservoir conditions. The rheological investigation indicates that the polymeric solution exhibits the characteristics of a Herschel-Bulkley fluid with somewhat elevated yield stress prior to solidification.

Keywords: polyacrylamide, hofmann rearrangement, rheology, gel time

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Authors: Chao-Ton Su, Li-Fei Chen

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The parameter design is crucial to improving the uniformity of a product or process. In the product design stage, parameter design aims to determine the optimal settings for the parameters of each element in the system, thereby minimizing the functional deviations of the product. In the process design stage, parameter design aims to determine the operating settings of the manufacturing processes so that non-uniformity in manufacturing processes can be minimized. The parameter design, trying to minimize the influence of noise on the manufacturing system, plays an important role in the high-tech companies. Taiwan has many well-known high-tech companies, which show key roles in the global economy. Quality remains the most important factor that enables these companies to sustain their competitive advantage. In Taiwan however, many high-tech companies face various quality problems. A common challenge is related to root causes and defect patterns. In the R&D stage, root causes are often unknown, and defect patterns are difficult to classify. Additionally, data collection is not easy. Even when high-volume data can be collected, data interpretation is difficult. To overcome these challenges, high-tech companies in Taiwan use more advanced quality improvement tools. In addition to traditional statistical methods and quality tools, the new trend is the application of powerful tools, such as neural network, fuzzy theory, data mining, industrial engineering, operations research, and innovation skills. In this study, several examples of optimizing the parameter settings for the manufacturing process in Taiwan’s tech companies will be presented to illustrate proposed approach’s effectiveness. Finally, a discussion of using traditional experimental design versus the proposed approach for process optimization will be made.

Keywords: quality engineering, parameter design, neural network, genetic algorithm, experimental design

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Authors: Alexander Harrison Greer, Edward King, Elijah Lee, Safa Obuz, Ruhao Sun, Aditya Sardesai, Toby Ma, Daniel Chow, Bryce Broadus, Calvin Costner, Troy Barnes, Biagio DeSimone, Yeshwin Sankuratri, Yiheng Chen, Holly Golecki

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Although a relatively new field, soft robotics is experiencing a rise in applicability in the secondary school setting through The Soft Robotics Toolkit, shared fabrication resources and a design competition. Exposing students outside of university research groups to this rapidly growing field allows for development of the soft robotics industry in new and imaginative ways. Soft robotic actuators have remained difficult to implement in classrooms because of their relative cost or difficulty of fabrication. Traditionally, a two-part molding system is used; however, this configuration often results in delamination. In an effort to make soft robotics more accessible to young students, we aim to develop a simple, single-mold method of fabricating soft robotic actuators from common household materials. These actuators are made by embedding a soluble polymer insert into silicone. These inserts can be made from hand-cut polystyrene, 3D-printed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or molded sugar. The insert is then dissolved using an appropriate solvent such as water or acetone, leaving behind a negative form which can be pneumatically actuated. The resulting actuators are seamless, eliminating the instability of adhering multiple layers together. The benefit of this approach is twofold: it simplifies the process of creating a soft robotic actuator, and in turn, increases its effectiveness and durability. To quantify the increased durability of the single-mold actuator, it was tested against the traditional two-part mold. The single-mold actuator could withstand actuation at 20psi for 20 times the duration when compared to the traditional method. The ease of fabrication of these actuators makes them more accessible to hobbyists and students in classrooms. After developing these actuators, they were applied, in collaboration with a ceramics teacher at our school, to a glove used to transfer nuanced hand motions used to throw pottery from an expert artist to a novice. We quantified the improvement in the users’ pottery-making skill when wearing the glove using image analysis software. The seamless actuators proved to be robust in this dynamic environment. Seamless soft robotic actuators created by high school students show the applicability of the Soft Robotics Toolkit for secondary STEM education and outreach. Making students aware of what is possible through projects like this will inspire the next generation of innovators in materials science and robotics.

Keywords: pneumatic actuator fabrication, soft robotic glove, soluble polymers, STEM outreach

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Authors: Nino Paresashvili, Nino Abesadze

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The modern world faces huge challenges. Globalization changed the socio-economic conditions of many countries. The current processes in the global environment have a different impact on countries with different cultures. However, an alleviation of poverty and improvement of living conditions is still the basic challenge for the majority of countries, because much of the population still lives under the official threshold of poverty. It is very important to stimulate youth employment. In order to prepare young people for the labour market, it is essential to provide them with the appropriate professional skills and knowledge. It is necessary to plan efficient activities for decreasing an unemployment rate and for developing the perfect mechanisms for regulation of a labour market. Such planning requires thorough study and analysis of existing reality, as well as development of corresponding mechanisms. Statistical analysis of unemployment is one of the main platforms for regulation of the labour market key mechanisms. The corresponding statistical methods should be used in the study process. Such methods are observation, gathering, grouping, and calculation of the generalized indicators. Unemployment is one of the most severe socioeconomic problems in Georgia. According to the past as well as the current statistics, unemployment rates always have been the most problematic issue to resolve for policy makers. Analytical works towards to the above-mentioned problem will be the basis for the next sustainable steps to solve the main problem. The results of the study showed that the choice of young people is not often due to their inclinations, their interests and the labour market demand. That is why the wrong professional orientation of young people in most cases leads to their unemployment. At the same time, it was shown that there are a number of professions in the labour market with a high demand because of the deficit the appropriate specialties. To achieve healthy competitiveness in youth employment, it is necessary to formulate regional employment programs with taking into account the regional infrastructure specifications.

Keywords: unemployment, analysis, methods, tendencies, regulation mechanisms

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Authors: Seember Susan Aondoakura

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This paper examines the international legal framework established to address the challenges women and girls experience in situations of violent conflict. The United Nations (UN) women, peace, and security agenda (hereafter WPS agenda, the Agenda) aspire to make wars safer for women. It recognizes women's agency in armed conflict and their victimization and formulates measures for their protection. The Agenda also acknowledges women's participation in conflict transformation and post-conflict reconstruction. It also calls for the involvement of women in conflict transformation, encourages the protection of women from sex and gender-based violence (SGBV), and provides relief and recovery from conflict-related SGBV. Using Third World Critical Feminist Theory, this paper argues that the WPS agenda overly focus on the protection of women from SGBV occurring in the less developed and conflict-ridden states in the global south, obscures the complicity of western states and economies to the problem, and silences the privileges that such states derive from war economies that continue to fuel conflict. This protectionist approach of the UN also obliterates other equally pressing problems in need of attention, like the high rates of economic degradation in conflict-ravaged societies of the global south. Prioritising protection also 'others' the problem, obliterating any sense of interconnections across geographical locations and situating women in the less developed economies of the global south as the victims and their men as the perpetrators. Prioritising protection ultimately situates western societies as saviours of Third World women with no recourse to their role in engendering and sustaining war. The paper demonstrates that this saviour mentality obliterates chances of any meaningful coalition between the local and the international in framing and addressing the issue, as solutions are formulated from a specific lens—the white hegemonic lens.

Keywords: conflict, protection, security, SGBV

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Authors: Chang Li Yu

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Resistances commonly happened during sexual offenders treatment program (SOTP), and removing resistances was one of the treatment goals on it. Studies concerning treatment effectiveness relied on pre- and post-treatment evaluations, however, no significant difference on resistance revealed after treatment, and the above consequences generally contributed to the low motivation for change instead. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the resistance across each stage of change among sexual offenders (SO). The present study recruited prisoned SO in Taiwan, excluding those with literacy difficulties; finally, 272 participants were included. Of all participants completed revised version of URICA (University of Rhode Island Change Assessment) and resistance scale specifically for SO. The former included four stages of change: pre-contemplation (PC), contemplation (C), action (A), and maintain (M); the later composed eight types of resistance: system blaming, victims blaming, problems with treatment alliance, social justification, hopelessness, isolation, psychological reactance, and passive reactance. Both of the instruments were with well reliability and validity. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were performed. All of 272 participants, age under 25 were 18(6.6%), 25-39 were 133(48.9%), 40-54 were 102(37.5%), and age over 55 were 19(7.0%); college level and above were 53(19.5%), high school level were 110(40.4%), and under high school level were 109(40.1%); first offended were 117(43.0%), and recidivist were 23(8.5%). Further deleting data with missing values and invalid questionnaires, SO with stage of change on PC were 43(18.9%), C were 109(47.8%), A were 70(30.7%), and on M were 6(2.6%). One-way ANOVA showed significant differences on every kind of resistances, excepting isolation and passive reactance. Post-hoc analysis showed that SO with different stages had their main resistance. There are two contributions to the present study. First, this study provided a clinical and theoretical measurement of evaluation that was never used in the past. Second, this study used an evidence-based methodology to prove a clinical perspective differed from the past, suggesting that resistances to treatment on SO appear the whole therapeutic process, when SO progress into the next stage of change, clinicians have to deal with their main resistance for working through the therapy.

Keywords: resistance, sexual offenders treatment program (SOTP), motivation for change, prisoned sexual offender

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