Search results for: organic media

Authors: Tripti Nayak, R. K. Bajpai

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An ongoing field experiment was conducted at Long term fertilizer experiment, Raipur, to study the Effect of fertilization (both organic and inorganic) on soil Physical properties (infiltration rate) of Vertisol of ten treatments viz. The treatment combinations for were T1(Control),T2(50%NPK), T3(100%NPK), T4(150%NPK), T5(100%NPK+Zn), T6(100%NP), T7(100%N), T8(100%NPK+FYM), T9 (50%NPK+BGA) and T10(50%NPK+GM). Farmyard manure and green manure is applied at the treatment of T8 (100%NPK+FYM) and T10 (50%NPK+GM). Result showed that the highest infiltration rate recorded T8(100%NPK+FYM) and T10 (50%NPK+GM). These considerations have led to a renewed interest in the organic manures such as FYM, compost and green manures, which are formulations helps in sustainable agriculture production either by providing plants with fixed nitrogen, available P or by other plant growth promoting substances. Organic matter (OM) is the life of the soil because it contains all the essential elements required for plant growth. It also serves as food for soil bacteria. Decomposed OM, known as humus, improves the soil tilth, quality and helps the plant to grow. In general among all the other treatments and control gave poorest infiltration rate. Incorporation of organic sources considerably improved the soil physical properties such as decrease in bulk density and increase in infiltration rate and available NPK status of the soil. Study showed that wherever, nitrogen was substituted through GM, FYM or crop residue (rice straw) in rice, Corresponding decrease in bulk density favorably enhanced the infiltration rate and it was found to be highest in the green-manured plot, FYM and lowest in control. Concluded that Continuous monitoring of physical properties should be carried out for maintaining soil health and enhancing the crop production.

Keywords: long term effect, FYM, green manure, infiltration rate, soil health, crop productivity, vertisol

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Authors: H. K. Bonsu-Owu

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Media portrayal of women in traditional stereotypical roles such as mothers, or seductress has been the norm for years. However, the changing socioeconomic and political environment and advancement of women in today’s society have given rise to questions on the appropriate portrayal of women in the media today. The purpose of the study is to analyze the portrayal of women in Ghanaian newspapers and find women’s perception on the issue. The study uses a three step approach in gathering data for analysis. Using the stratified sampling method, it analyzes front page images of women from 210 issues of the selected newspapers. Further, it administers questionnaires to 100 female students to find out how they relate to the images of women in the selected newspapers. Finally, editors of the newspapers are interviewed to find their rational for portraying women as seen on their front pages. The findings suggest that the newspapers portray women for varied reasons such as promoting sales and influencing the public agenda. Further, the female students claim that in spite of women’s vast contribution to the growth of society, the media continue to marginalize them. They add that such portrayals promote and reinforce social construct, however, refuse to see themselves through the male gaze concept. The study concludes that the stereotyped portrayal of women is likely to continue if the government, regulatory bodies, the media and society do not make a conscious effort to address this problem.

Keywords: women, newspaper, portrayal, social construct

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Authors: Temitope Yetunde Bello

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Peacemaking through the television represents a symbiotic relationship between the media and the (Yoruba) society such that the functional role of the media has expanded. Studying the ‘new function’ of the television as it publicizes peacemaking, using Yoruba indigenous means, is yet to be adequately incorporated into academic discourse. Using the Social Responsibility Theory, the paper examines the essence of publicizing peacemaking, the Yoruba indigenous institutions, philosophy and language that are used on the programs as well as the effectiveness of publicity in the television-driven peacemaking. The paper is a qualitative case-study research where five peacemaking television programs from state-owned stations in South-West Nigeria are purposively selected and studied. Findings show that peacemaking publicity facilitates intervention processes as parties’ communication gap is bridged and social justice is attained. Also, Yoruba indigenous peacemaking elements are utilized and projected through the television. The paper concludes by affirming that publicizing culturally-induced interventions in civil conflicts, though with a number of challenges, is effective and that television-driven peacemaking is a modern extension of Yoruba indigenous peacemaking media. It consequently recommends that the programs incorporate the new media to enhance wider audience and faster feedbacks while simultaneously retaining Yoruba indigenous essence of peacebuilding in this modern time.

Keywords: peace intervention publicity, television, television-driven peacemaking, yoruba indigenous elements

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Authors: Chro Kawyan

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Endothelin-1 (ET-1), the principal individual from the newfound mammalian endothelin group of organically dynamic peptides, was initially distinguished as a 21 buildup powerful vasoconstrictor peptide in vascular endothelial cells. However, it has since been demonstrated to have a wide range of pharmacological activities in tissues both inside and outside the cardiovascular system. Additionally, peptides that have a striking resemblance to ET-1 have been identified as the primary toxic component of snake venom. In addition, late examinations have proposed that warm blooded creatures, including people, produce three unmistakable individuals from this peptide family, ET-1, ET-2 and ET-J, which might have various profiles of organic action and may follow up on particular subtypes of endothelin receptor. Masashi Yanagisawa and Tomoh Masaki survey the ongoing status of the organic chemistry and sub-atomic science of endothelin.

Keywords: thelin, microbiology, molecular biology, cell

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Authors: Samad Jafarmadar, Amin Habibzadeh

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A power and cooling cycle, which combines the organic Rankine cycle and the ejector refrigeration cycle supplied by waste heat energy sources, is discussed in this paper. 13 working fluids including wet, dry, and isentropic fluids are studied in order to find their performances on the combined cycle. Various operating conditions’ effects on the proposed cycle are examined by fixing power/refrigeration ratio. According to the results, dry and isentropic fluids have better performance compared with wet fluids.

Keywords: combined power and refrigeration cycle, low temperature heat sources, organic rankine cycle, working fluids

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Authors: Davood Yazdani Cherati, Hussein Hashemi Senejani

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In this paper, a convenient analytical solution for a system of coupled differential equations, derived from thermo-hydro-mechanical analysis of three-phase porous media such as unsaturated soils is developed. This kind of analysis can be used in various fields such as geothermal energy systems and seepage of leachate from buried municipal and domestic waste in geomaterials. Initially, a system of coupled differential equations, including energy, mass, and momentum conservation equations is considered, and an analytical method called AGM is employed to solve the problem. The method is straightforward and comprehensible and can be used to solve various nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). Results indicate the accuracy of the applied method for solving nonlinear partial differential equations.

Keywords: AGM, analytical solution, porous media, thermo-hydro-mechanical, unsaturated soils

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Authors: Fateme Nokhodchi Bonab

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Studies related to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and drug delivery are reviewed in this study to demonstrate the role of transport theory in porous media in facilitating advances in biomedical applications. Diffusion processes are believed to be important in many therapeutic modalities such as: B. Delivery of drugs to the brain. We analyse the progress in the development of diffusion equations using the local volume average method and the evaluation of applications related to diffusion equations. Torsion and porosity have significant effects on diffusive transport. In this study, various relevant models of torsion are presented and mathematical modeling of drug release from biodegradable delivery systems is analysed. In this study, a new model of drug release kinetics from porous biodegradable polymeric microspheres under bulk and surface erosion of the polymer matrix is presented. Solute drug diffusion, drug dissolution from the solid phase, and polymer matrix erosion have been found to play a central role in controlling the overall drug release process. This work paves the way for MRI and drug delivery researchers to develop comprehensive models based on porous media theory that use fewer assumptions compared to other approaches.

Keywords: MRI, porous media, drug delivery, biomedical applications

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Authors: Chane-Yu Lai, Xiang-Yu Huang

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This study conducted an assessment of sampling result by using the new development rotation filtration device (RFD) filled with porous media filters integrating the method of cyclone centrifugal spins. The testing system established for the experiment used corn oil and potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate (PST) as challenge aerosols and were produced by using an Ultrasonic Atomizing Nozzle, a Syringe Pump, and a Collison nebulizer. The collection efficiency of RFD for oil aerosol was assessed by using an Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS) and a Fidas® Frog. The results of RFD for the liquid particles condition indicated the cutoff size was 1.65 µm and 1.02 µm for rotation of 0 rpm and 9000 rpm, respectively, under an 80 PPI (pores per inch）foam with a thickness of 80 mm, and sampling velocity of 13.5 cm/s. As the experiment increased the foam thickness of RFD, the cutoff size reduced from 1.62 µm to 1.02 µm. However, when increased the foam porosity of RFD, the cutoff size reduced from 1.26 µm to 0.96 µm. Moreover, as increased the sampling velocity of RFD, the cutoff size reduced from 1.02 µm to 0.76 µm. These discrepancies of above cutoff sizes of RFD all had statistical significance (P < 0.05). The cutoff size of RFD for three experimental conditions of generated liquid oil particles, solid PST particles or both liquid oil and solid PST particles was 1.03 µm, 1.02 µm, or 0.99 µm, respectively, under a 80 PPI foam with thickness of 80 mm, rotation of 9000 rpm, and sampling velocity of 13.5 cm/s. In addition, under the best condition of the experiment, two hours of sampling loading, the RFD had better collection efficiency for particle diameter greater than 0.45 µm, under a 94 PPI nickel mesh with a thickness of 68 mm, rotation of 9000 rpm, and sampling velocity of 108.3 cm/s. The experiment concluded that increased the thickness of porous media, face velocity, and porosity of porous media of RFD could increase the collection efficiency of porous media for sampling oil particles. Moreover, increased the rotation speed of RFD also increased the collection efficiency for sampling oil particles. Further investigation is required for those above operation parameters for RFD in this study in the future.

Keywords: oil aerosol, porous media filter, rotation, filtration

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Authors: Jyoti Sahu, Vinay A. Juvekar

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Electrolytes are often used to bring about salting-in and salting-out of organic molecules and polymers (e.g. polyethylene glycols/proteins) from the aqueous solutions. For quantification of these phenomena, a thermodynamic model which can accurately predict activity coefficient of electrolyte as a function of temperature is needed. The thermodynamics models available in the literature contain a large number of empirical parameters. These parameters are estimated using lower/upper critical solution temperature of the solution in the electrolyte/organic molecule at different temperatures. Since the number of parameters is large, inaccuracy can bethe creep in during their estimation, which can affect the reliability of prediction beyond the range in which these parameters are estimated. Cloud point of solution is related to its free energy through temperature and composition derivative. Hence, the Cloud point measurement can be used for accurate estimation of the temperature and composition dependence of parameters in the model for free energy. Hence, if we use a two pronged procedure in which we first use cloud point of solution to estimate some of the parameters of the thermodynamic model and determine the rest using osmotic coefficient data, we gain on two counts. First, since the parameters, estimated in each of the two steps, are fewer, we achieve higher accuracy of estimation. The second and more important gain is that the resulting model parameters are more sensitive to temperature. This is crucial when we wish to use the model outside temperatures window within which the parameter estimation is sought. The focus of the present work is to prove this proposition. We have used electrolyte (NaCl/Na2CO3)-water-organic molecule (Iso-propanol/ethanol) as the model system. The model of Robinson-Stokes-Glukauf is modified by incorporating the temperature dependent Flory-Huggins interaction parameters. The Helmholtz free energy expression contains, in addition to electrostatic and translational entropic contributions, three Flory-Huggins pairwise interaction contributions viz., and (w-water, p-polymer, s-salt). These parameters depend both on temperature and concentrations. The concentration dependence is expressed in the form of a quadratic expression involving the volume fractions of the interacting species. The temperature dependence is expressed in the form .To obtain the temperature-dependent interaction parameters for organic molecule-water and electrolyte-water systems, Critical solution temperature of electrolyte -water-organic molecules is measured using cloud point measuring apparatus The temperature and composition dependent interaction parameters for electrolyte-water-organic molecule are estimated through measurement of cloud point of solution. The model is used to estimate critical solution temperature (CST) of electrolyte water-organic molecules solution. We have experimentally determined the critical solution temperature of different compositions of electrolyte-water-organic molecule solution and compared the results with the estimates based on our model. The two sets of values show good agreement. On the other hand when only osmotic coefficients are used for estimation of the free energy model, CST predicted using the resulting model show poor agreement with the experiments. Thus, the importance of the CST data in the estimation of parameters of the thermodynamic model is confirmed through this work.

Keywords: concentrated electrolytes, Debye-Hückel theory, interaction parameters, Robinson-Stokes-Glueckauf model, Flory-Huggins model, critical solution temperature

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Authors: Sahriye Sonmez, Sedat Citak

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different organic manures on antioxidant activity, vitamin C and nitrate concentrations of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var italica) plants. For this purpose, broccoli plants were grown on open field conditions in 2 successive years (2011-2013) including 4 different seasons [(Spring 1 (March-June, 2011), Autumn 1 (September 2011-January 2012), Spring 2 (March-June, 2012), Autumn 2 (September 2012-January 2013)]. Organic manures (Farm manure (FM), vermicompost (VC) and leonardite (L) and its mixture (50 % FM+50% L, 50 % VC+50% FM, 50% L+50% VC and 33% FM+33% VC+33% L), one chemical fertilizer and one control, collectively 9 applications was investigated. The results indicated that the vitamin C concentrations of broccoli plants ranged from 31.4-55.8 mg/100 g, 43-631 mg/kg in nitrate concentrations and 11.0-56.7 mg/ml as IC50 inhibition values in antioxidant activities of broccoli plants. Also, it was determined that the effective applications were at the 50 % VC+50% FM for vitamin C concentrations, at the chemical fertilizer for nitrate concentrations and at the 100 % FM for antioxidant activities.

Keywords: broccoli, chemical fertilizer, farm manure, leonardite, vermicompost

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Authors: Martin H¨ausl, Maximilian Auch, Johannes Forster, Peter Mandl, Alexander Schill

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In order to survive on the market, companies must constantly develop improved and new products. These products are designed to serve the needs of their customers in the best possible way. The creation of new products is also called innovation and is primarily driven by a company’s internal research and development department. However, a new approach has been taking place for some years now, involving external knowledge in the innovation process. This approach is called open innovation and identifies customer knowledge as the most important source in the innovation process. This paper presents a concept of using social media posts as an external source to support the open innovation approach in its initial phase, the Ideation phase. For this purpose, the social media posts are semantically structured with the help of an ontology and the authors are evaluated using graph-theoretical metrics such as density. For the structuring and evaluation of relevant social media posts, we also use the findings of Natural Language Processing, e. g. Named Entity Recognition, specific dictionaries, Triple Tagger and Part-of-Speech-Tagger. The selection and evaluation of the tools used are discussed in this paper. Using our ontology and metrics to structure social media posts enables users to semantically search these posts for new product ideas and thus gain an improved insight into the external sources such as customer needs.

Keywords: idea ontology, innovation management, semantic search, open information extraction

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Authors: Gavin J. Baxter, Mark H. Stansfield

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This paper reviews the internal use of blogs and their potential effectiveness as organisational learning tools. Prior to and since the emergence of the concept of ‘Enterprise 2.0’ there still remains a lack of empirical evidence associated with how organisations are applying social media tools and whether they are effective towards supporting organisational learning. Surprisingly, blogs, one of the more traditional social media tools, still remains under-researched in the context of ‘Enterprise 2.0’ and organisational learning. The aim of this paper is to identify the theoretical linkage between blogs and organisational learning in addition to reviewing prior research on organisational blogging with a view towards exploring why this area remains under-researched and identifying what needs to be done to try and move the area forward. Through a review of the literature, one of the principal findings of this paper is that organisational blogs, dependent on their use, do have a mutual compatibility with the interpretivist aspect of organisational learning. This paper further advocates that further empirical work in this subject area is required to substantiate this theoretical assumption.

Keywords: Enterprise 2.0, blogs, organisational learning, social media tools

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Authors: Wasihun Girma Hailemariam

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Energy is one of the key elements required for every agricultural activity, especially for large scale agricultural production such as sugarcane cultivation which mostly is used to produce sugar and bioethanol from sugarcane. In such kinds of resource (energy) intensive activities, energy analysis of the production system and looking for other alternatives which can reduce energy inputs of the sugarcane production process are steps forward for resource management. The purpose of this study was to determine input energy (direct and indirect) per hectare of sugarcane production sector of Metehara sugar factory in Ethiopia. Total energy consumption of the production system was 61,642 MJ/ha-yr. This total input energy is a cumulative value of different inputs (direct and indirect inputs) in the production system. The contribution of these different inputs is discussed and a scenario of substituting the most influential input by other alternative input which can replace the original input in its nutrient content was discussed. In this study the most influential input for increased energy consumption was application of organic fertilizer which accounted for 50 % of the total energy consumption. Filter cake which is a residue from the sugar production in the factory was used to substitute the organic fertilizer and the reduction in the energy consumption of the sugarcane production was discussed

Keywords: energy analysis, organic fertilizer, resource management, sugarcane

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Authors: Elvin Karaaslan Klose

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In the field of Visual Culture, Art Education students are given the opportunity to discuss topics of interest that are closer to their own social life and media consumption habits. In contrast to the established corpus of literature and sources about Art History, educators are challenged to find topics and examples from Popular Culture and Contemporary Art that provide familiarity, depth and inspiration for students’ future practice, both as educators as well as artists. In order to establish a welcoming and fruitful discussion environment at the beginning of an introductory Visual Culture Education course with fourth year Art Education students, the class watched and subsequently discussed the movie “Vantage Point”. Using the descriptive method and content analysis; video recordings, discussion transcripts and learning diaries were summarized to highlight students’ critical points of view towards commonly experienced but rarely reflected on topics of Popular and Visual Culture. As an introduction into more theory-based forms of discussion, watching and intensely discussing a movie has proven useful by proving a combination of a familiar media type with an unfamiliar educational context. Resulting areas of interest have served as a starting point for later research, discussion and artistic production in the scope of an introductory Visual Culture Education course.

Keywords: visual culture, critical pedagogy, media literacy, art education

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Authors: Hana Almakky, Reza Sahandi, Jacqui Taylor

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Social media continue to grow, and user interfaces may become more appealing if cultural characteristics are incorporated into their design. Facebook was designed in the west, and the original language was English. Subsequently, the words in the user interface were translated to other languages, including Arabic. Arabic words are written from right to left, and English is written from left to right. The translated version may misrepresent the original design and users preferences may influence their culture, which should be considered in the user interface design. Previous research indicates that users are more comfortable when interacting with a user interface, which relates to their own culture. Therefore, this paper, using a survey investigates the preferences of Saudi Arabian on the Arabic version of user interface of Facebook.

Keywords: culture, social media, user interface design, Facebook, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Pranee Suecharoen, Ratchadaporn Soontornpas, Jaturat Kanpittaya

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Background: Contrast media has an important role for disease diagnosis through detection of pathologies. Contrast media can, however, cause adverse reactions after administration of its agents. Although non-ionic contrast media are commonly used, the incidence of adverse events is relatively low. The most common reactions found (10.5%) were mild and manageable and/or preventable. Pharmacists can play an important role in evaluating adverse reactions, including awareness of the specific preparation and the type of adverse reaction. As most common types of adverse reactions are idiosyncratic or pseudo-allergic reactions, common standards need to be established to prevent and control adverse reactions promptly and effectively. Objective: To measure the effect of using tools for symptom evaluation in order to reduce the severity, or prevent the occurrence, of adverse reactions from contrast media. Methods: Retrospective review descriptive research with data collected on adverse reactions assessment and Naranjo’s algorithm between June 2015 and May 2016. Results: 158 patients (10.53%) had adverse reactions. Of the 1,500 participants with an adverse event evaluation, 137 (9.13%) had a mild adverse reaction, including hives, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headache. These types of symptoms can be treated (i.e., with antihistamines, anti-emetics) and the patient recovers completely within one day. The group with moderate adverse reactions, numbering 18 cases (1.2%), had hypertension or hypotension, and shortness of breath. Severe adverse reactions numbered 3 cases (0.2%) and included swelling of the larynx, cardiac arrest, and loss of consciousness, requiring immediate treatment. No other complications under close medical supervision were recorded (i.e., corticosteroids use, epinephrine, dopamine, atropine, or life-saving devices). Using the guideline, therapies are divided into general and specific and are performed according to the severity, risk factors and ingestion of contrast media agents. Patients who have high-risk factors were screened and treated (i.e., prophylactic premedication) for prevention of severe adverse reactions, especially those with renal failure. Thus, awareness for the need for prescreening of different risk factors is necessary for early recognition and prompt treatment. Conclusion: Studying adverse reactions can be used to develop a model for reducing the level of severity and setting a guideline for a standardized, multidisciplinary approach to adverse reactions.

Keywords: role of pharmacist, management of adverse reactions, guideline for contrast media, non-ionic contrast media

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Authors: Baba John, Abdullahi Mohammed

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The aim of this research is to compare the analysis of biodegradation on polythene and plastics buried in fadama soil amended with Organic and Inorganic fertilizer. Physico- chemical properties of the samples were determined. Bacteria and Fungi implicated in the biodegradation were identified and enumerated. Physico- chemical properties before the analysis indicated pH range of the samples from 4.28 – 5.80 , While the percentage Organic carbon and Organic matter was highest in cow dung samples with 3.89% and 6.69% respectively. The total Nitrogen percentage was recorded to be highest in Chicken dropping (0.68), while the availability of Phosphorus (P), Sodium (Na), Pottasium (K), and Magnessium (mg) was recorded to be highest in F – soil (Control), with values to be 37ppm, 1.63 Cmolkg-1, 0.35 Cmolkg-1 and 1.18 Cmolkg-1 respectively, except for calcium which was recorded to be highest in Cow dung (5.80 Cmolkg-1). However, physico – chemical properties of the samples after analysis indicated pH range of 4.6 – 5.80, Percentage Organic carbon and Organic matter was highest in Fadama soil mixed with fertilizer, having 0.7% and 1.2% respectively. Total Percentage Nitrogen content was found to be highest (0.56) in Fadama soil mixed with poultry dropping. Availability of Sodium (Na), Pottasium (K), and Calcium (Ca) was recorded to be highest in Fadama Soil mixed with Cow dung with values to be 0.64 Cmolkg-1, 2.07 Cmolkg-1 and 3.36 Cmolkg-1 respectively. The percentage weight loss of polythene and plastic bags after nine months in fadama soil mixed with poultry dropping was 11.9% for polythene and 6.0% for plastics. Weight loss in fadama soil mixed with cow dung was 18.1% for polythene and 4.7% for plastics. Weight loss of polythene and plastic in fadama soil mixed with fertilizer (NPK) was 7.4% for polythene and 3.3% for plastics. While, the percentage weight loss of polythene and plastics after nine months of burial in fadama soil (control) was 3.5% and 0.0% respectively. The bacteria species isolated from Fadama soil, organic and inorganic fertilizers before amendments include: S. aureus, Micrococcus sp, Streptococcus. pyogenes, Psuedomonas aeruginosa Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus. The fungi species include: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium sp, Mucor sp Penicillium sp and Candida sp. The bacteria species isolated and characterized after nine months of seeding include: S. aureus, Micrococcus sp, S. pyogenes, P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis. The fungi species are: A. niger A. flavus, A. fumigatus, Mucor sp, Penicillium sp and Fusarium sp. The result of this study indicated that plastic materials can be degraded in the fadama soil irrespective of whether the soil is amended or not. The Period of composting also has a significant impact on the rate at which polythene and plastics are degraded.

Keywords: Fadama, fertilizer, plastic and polythene, biodegradation

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Authors: M. Ben Jrad, A. Belhaj Mohamed, S. Riahi, I. Bouazizi, M. Saidi, M. Soussi

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The generative potential, depositional environment, thermal maturity and oil seeps of the organic-rich Bou Dabbous Formation (Ypresian) from the thrust belt northwestern Tunisia, were determined by Rock Eval and molecular analyses. The paleo-tectonic units in the area show some similarities with equivalent facies in Mediterranean Sea and Sicilian. The Bou Dabbous Formation displays variable source rock characteristics through the various units Tellian and Numidian nappes Units. Organic matter contents and petroleum potentials are fair to high (reaching 1.95% and 6 kg of HC/t of rock respectively) marine type II kerogen. An increasing SE-NW maturity gradient is well documented in the study area. The Bou Dabbous organic-rich facies are marginally mature stage in the Tellian Unit (Kasseb domain), whilst they are mature-late mature stage within Nefza-Ain Allega tectonic windows. A long and north of Cap Serrat-Ghardimaou Master Fault these facies are overmature. Oil/Oil and Oil/source rock correlation, based on biomarker and carbon isotopic composition, shows a positive genetic correlation between the oil seeps and Bou Dabbous source rock.

Keywords: biomarkers, Bou Dabbous Formation, Northern Tunisia, source rock

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Authors: Sindhu S Nair, Atul Thakur, Preeti Thakur, Trukhanov Alex

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Perovskite-based absorbing materials that are organic, inorganic, or hybrid have gained interest as an appealing candidate for the development of solar cell devices. Lead-based perovskites are among the most promising materials, but their application is plagued with toxicity and stability concerns. Most of the perovskite solar cell consists of conventional (n-i-p) structure with organic or inorganic charge transport materials. The commercial application of such device is limited due to higher J-V hysteresis and the need for high temperature during fabrication. This numerical analysis primarily directs to investigate the performance of various inorganic lead-free valency ordered double perovskite absorber materials and to develop an inverted perovskite solar cell device structure. Simulation efforts using SCAPS-1D was carried out with various organic and inorganic charge transport materials with absorber layer materials, and their performance has been evaluated for various factors of thickness, absorber thickness, absorber defect density, and interface defect density to achieve the optimized structure.

Keywords: perovskite materials, solar cell, inverted solar cell, inorganic perovskite solar cell materials, cell efficiency

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Authors: Soad Abubakr Abdelgalil, Gaber Attia Abo-Zaid, Mohamed Mohamed Yousri Kaddah

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Background: The Environmental Protection Agency has listed eggshell waste as the 15th most significant food industry pollution hazard. The utilization of eggshell waste as a source of renewable energy has been a hot topic in recent years. Therefore, finding a sustainable solution for the recycling and valorization of eggshell waste by investigating its potential to produce acid phosphatase (ACP) and organic acids by the newly-discovered B. sonorensis was the target of the current investigation. Results: The most potent ACP-producing B. sonorensis strain ACP2 was identified as a local bacterial strain obtained from the effluent of paper and pulp industries on basis of molecular and morphological characterization. The use of consecutive statistical experimental approaches of Plackett-Burman Design (PBD), and Orthogonal Central Composite Design (OCCD), followed by pH-uncontrolled cultivation conditions in a 7 L bench-top bioreactor, revealed an innovative medium formulation that substantially improved ACP production, reaching 216 U L⁻¹ with ACP yield coefficient Yp/x of 18.2 and a specific growth rate (µ) of 0.1 h⁻¹. The metals Ag+, Sn+, and Cr+ were the most efficiently released from eggshells during the solubilization process by B. sonorensis. The uncontrolled pH culture condition is the most suited and favored setting for improving the ACP and organic acids production simultaneously. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of produced organic acids were carried out using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Lactic acid, citric acid, and hydroxybenzoic acid isomer were the most common organic acids produced throughout the cultivation process. The findings of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scan calorimeter (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis emphasize the significant influence of organic acids and ACP activity on the solubilization of eggshells particles. Conclusions: This study emphasized robust microbial engineering approaches for the large-scale production of a newly discovered acid phosphatase accompanied by organic acids production from B. sonorensis. The biovalorization of the eggshell waste and the production of cost-effective ACP and organic acids were integrated into the current study, and this was done through the implementation of a unique and innovative medium formulation design for eggshell waste management, as well as scaling up ACP production on a bench-top scale.

Keywords: chicken eggshells waste, bioremediation, statistical experimental design, batch fermentation

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Authors: Saveria Capecchi

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The aim of the quali-quantitative research conducted in the spring of 2021 (still in the midst of the Covid-19 emergency) was to analyze the relationship between the imaginary of 142 girls aged 10-12 from two Italian cities in the Emilia-Romagna region (the capital, Bologna, and Parma) and the influence that various socialization agents can have on it, with particular attention to social media. In order to investigate the relationship between imagination and media, two tools were used: first, the girls wrote an essay in class about their future lives, imagining waking up one morning as a thirty-year-old adults. Six types of "dreams" reflecting the values and lifestyles characteristic of contemporary Italian society emerged. Additionally, the girls completed a questionnaire on their leisure time and, in particular, media consumption aimed at identifying their favorite characters. The results provided insights into understanding the reference values and lifestyles that define their subculture (they belong to the so-called Generation Z). Another interesting aspect of this research is the possibility of comparing the results with those of a similar study on preadolescent imaginary conducted in 1995, involving 292 girls from Milan and Bologna, belonging to the Millennial generation. The narratives about the imagined adult life reflect some crucial changes undergone by Italian society in a quarter of a century: there are advancements towards gender equality, and the imagined family is increasingly detached from tradition. There is a more persistent dream of a life marked by beauty, wealth, and fame, while at the same time, there is a greater social commitment, from solidarity with marginalized people to environmentalism. Furthermore, the mentioned new digital and robotic professions will project us into the near future.

Keywords: gender equality, gender stereotypes, imaginary, preadolescents, social media

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Authors: Soo Hyung Park, Seong Beom Kim, Wontae Lee, Jin Chul Joo, Jungmin Lee, Jongsoo Choi

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A newly-developed electromagnetically vibrated solid-phase microextraction (SPME) device for extracting nonpolar organic compounds from aqueous matrices was evaluated in terms of sorption equilibrium time, precision, and detection level relative to three other more conventional extraction techniques involving SPME, viz., static, magnetic stirring, and fiber insertion/retraction. Electromagnetic vibration at 300~420 cycles/s was found to be the most efficient extraction technique in terms of reducing sorption equilibrium time and enhancing both precision and linearity. The increased efficiency for electromagnetic vibration was attributed to a greater reduction in the thickness of the stagnant-water layer that facilitated more rapid mass transport from the aqueous matrix to the SPME fiber. Electromagnetic vibration less than 500 cycles/s also did not detrimentally impact the sustainability of the extracting performance of the SPME fiber. Therefore, electromagnetically vibrated SPME may be a more powerful tool for rapid sampling and solvent-free sample preparation relative to other more conventional extraction techniques used with SPME.

Keywords: electromagnetic vibration, organic compounds, precision, solid-phase microextraction (SPME), sorption equilibrium time

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Authors: Debabrata Bhadra, B. K. Chaudhuri

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The operation of organic thin film transistors (OFETs) with low voltage is currently a prevailing issue. We have fabricated anthracene thin-film transistor (TFT) with an ultrathin layer (~450nm) of Poly-vinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/CuO nanocomposites as a gate insulator. We obtained a device with excellent electrical characteristics at low operating voltages (<1V). Different layers of the film were also prepared to achieve the best optimization of ideal gate insulator with various static dielectric constant (εr ). Capacitance density, leakage current at 1V gate voltage and electrical characteristics of OFETs with a single and multi layer films were investigated. This device was found to have highest field effect mobility of 2.27 cm2/Vs, a threshold voltage of 0.34V, an exceptionally low sub threshold slope of 380 mV/decade and an on/off ratio of 106. Such favorable combination of properties means that these OFETs can be utilized successfully as voltages below 1V. A very simple fabrication process has been used along with step wise poling process for enhancing the pyroelectric effects on the device performance. The output characteristic of OFET after poling were changed and exhibited linear current-voltage relationship showing the evidence of large polarization. The temperature dependent response of the device was also investigated. The stable performance of the OFET after poling operation makes it reliable in temperature sensor applications. Such High-ε CuO/PVDF gate dielectric appears to be highly promising candidates for organic non-volatile memory and sensor field-effect transistors (FETs).

Keywords: organic field effect transistors, thin film transistor, gate dielectric, organic semiconductor

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Authors: Katharina Kargel, Frederic Vobbe

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Sexual online grooming is generally defined as digital interactions for the purpose of sexual exploitation of children or minors, i.e. as a process for preparing and framing sexual child abuse. Due to its conceptual history, sexual online grooming is often associated with perpetrators who are previously unknown to those affected. While the strategies of perpetrators and the perception of those affected are increasingly being investigated, the instrumentalisation of digital media has not yet been researched much. Therefore, the present paper aims at contributing to this research gap by examining in what kind of ways perpetrators instrumentalise digital media. Our analyses draw on 46 case documentations and 18 interviews with those affected. The cases and the partly narrative interviews were collected by ten cooperating specialist centers working on sexualized violence in childhood and youth. For this purpose, we designed a documentation grid allowing for a detailed case reconstruction i.e. including information on the violence, digital media use and those affected. By using Reflexive Grounded Theory, our analyses emphasize a) the subjective benchmark of professional practitioners as well as those affected and b) the interpretative implications resulting from our researchers’ subjective and emotional interaction with the data material. It should first be noted that sexualized online grooming can result in both online and offline sexualized violence as well as hybrid forms. Furthermore, the perpetrators either come from the immediate social environment of those affected or are unknown to them. The perpetrator-victim relationship plays a more important role with regard to the question of the instrumentalisation of digital media than the question of the space (on vs. off) in which the primary violence is committed. Perpetrators unknown to those affected instrumentalise digital media primarily to establish a sexualized system of norms, which is usually embedded in a supposed love relationship. In some cases, after an initial exchange of sexualized images or video recordings, a latent play on the position of power takes place. In the course of the grooming process, perpetrators from the immediate social environment increasingly instrumentalise digital media to establish an explicit relationship of power and dependence, which is directly determined by coercion, threats and blackmail. The knowledge of possible vulnerabilities is strategically used in the course of maintaining contact. The above explanations lead to the conclusion that the motive for the crime plays an essential role in the question of the instrumentalisation of digital media. It is therefore not surprising that it is mostly the near-field perpetrators without commercial motives who initiate a spiral of violence and stress by digitally distributing sexualized (violent) images and video recordings within the reference system of those affected.

Keywords: sexualized violence, children and youth, grooming, offender strategies, digital media

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Authors: Rima Younis

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Agro-ecology is considered one of the agricultural approaches that is spreading across the world due to the practical solutions it provides that are in harmony with nature. These solutions target many agricultural problems, food production issues, and climate change. Agriculture and fertile soil in particular, play a vital role when it comes to food security and climate change. The organic substances, which mainly consist of carbon, in the soil contribute to the ecological system through 4 elements: Resistance to soil erosion, conserving water in soil, increasing soil fertility, and improving the biodiversity in it. Any small changes to the carbon storage in soil have a tremendous impact on both agricultural productivity and the greenhouse gas cycle, which is what agro-ecology aims to achieve. The importance of agro-ecology lies here, as it helps increase organic matter/carbon in the soil, on an ongoing basis, 15-20 times higher than nature’s rate in producing organic matter. Agro-ecology is set to increase the production of crops free of chemicals, develop organic matter, and establish carbon in soil, thus being a factor in limiting climate change, not just mitigating or adapting. Under the events of the rapid increase in population and the need to feed humans, agro-ecology stands in the first place as it surpasses the productivity of chemical agriculture per unit area, according to international and local experience. The introduction of agro-ecology to Palestine started 15 years ago, with modest beginnings faced with a lot of criticism and opposition, but is currently experiencing rapid growth among farmers and is becoming accepted among specialists. Even though the number of agro-ecologist farmers is still small, it reflects a state of turnover into a more sustainable, less polluting agriculture that works on renewing life and the elements of nature.

Keywords: toward to solidarity economy, food sovereignty, the introduction of agro-ecology to Palestine, the importance of agro-ecology

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Authors: Mohamed Rashad, Mohamed Hafez, Mohamed Emran, Emad Aboukila, Ibrahim Nassar

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Environment-friendly organic wastes of Brewers' spent grain, a byproduct of the brewing process, have recently used as soil amendment to improve soil fertility and plant production. In this work, treatments of 1% (T1) and 2% (T2) of spent grains, 1% (C1) and 2% (C2) of compost and mix of both sources (C1T1) were used and compared to the control for growing Zea mays L. on sandy soil under arid Mediterranean climate. Soils were previously incubated at 65% saturation capacity for a month. The most relevant soil physical and chemical parameters were analysed. Water holding capacity and soil organic matter (OM) increased significantly along the treatments with the highest values in T2. Soil pH decreased along the treatments and the lowest pH was in C1T1. Bicarbonate decreased by 69% in C1T1 comparing to control. Total nitrogen (TN) and available P varied significantly among all treatments and T2, C1T1 and C2 treatments increased 25, 17 and 11 folds in TN and 1.2, 0.6 and 0.3 folds in P, respectively related to control. Available K showed the highest values in C1T1. Soil micronutrients increased significantly along all treatments with the highest values in T2. After corn germination, significant variation was observed in the velocity of germination coefficients (VGC) among all treatments in the order of C1T1>T2>T1>C2>C1>control. The highest records of final germination and germination index were in C1T1 and T2. The spent grains may compensate deficiencies of macro and micronutrients in newly reclaimed sandy soils without adverse effects to sustain crop production with a rider that excessive or continuous use need to be circumvented.

Keywords: corn and squash germination, environmentally friendly organic wastes, soil carbon sequestration, spent grains as soil amendment, water holding capacity

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Authors: Joël Passicousset, David Gilbert, Chloé Chervier-Legourd, Emmanuel Caron-Garant, Didier Labarre

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Living soil agriculture tries to reconciliate food production while improving soil health, soil biodiversity, soil fertility and more generally attenuating the inherent environmental drawbacks induced by modern agriculture. Using appropriate organic materials as soil amendments has a role to play in the aim of increasing the soil organic matter, improving soil fertility, sequestering carbon, and diminishing the dependence on both mineral fertilizer and pesticides. Insect farming consists in producing insects that can be used as a rich-in-protein and entomo-based food. Usually, detritivores are chosen, thus they can be fed with food wastes, which contributes to circular economy while producing low-carbon food. This process also produces frass, made of insect feces, exuvial material, and non-digested fibrous material, that have valuable fertilizer and biostimulation properties. But frass, used as a sole fertilizer on a crop may be not completely adequate for plants’ needs. This is why this project considers black soldier fly (termed BSF, one of the three main insect species grown commercially) frass as a complementary fertilizer, both in organic and in conventional contexts. Three kinds of experiments are made to understand the behaviour of fertilizer treatments based on frass incorporation. Lab-scale mineralization experiments suggest that BSF frass alone mineralizes more slowly than chicken manure alone (CM), but at a ratio of 90% CM-10% BSF frass, the mineralization rate of the mixture is higher than both frass and CM individually. For example, in the 7 days following the fertilization with same nitrogen amount introduced among treatments, around 80% of the nitrogen content supplied through 90% CM-10% BSF frass fertilization is present in the soil under mineral forms, compared to roughly 60% for commercial CM fertilization and 45% with BSF-frass. This suggests that BSF frass contains a more recalcitrant form of organic nitrogen than CM, but also that BSF frass has a highly active microbiota that can increase CM mineralization rate. Consequently, when progressive mineralization is needed, pure BSF-frass may be a consistent option from an agronomic aspect whereas, for specific crops that require spikes of readily available nitrogen sources (like cranberry), fast release 90CM-10BSF frass biofertilizer are more appropriate. Field experiments on cranberry suggests that, indeed, 90CM-10BSF frass is a potent candidate for organic cranberry production, as currently, organic growers rely solely on CM, whose mineralization kinetics are known to imperfectly match plant’s needs, which is known to be a major reason that sustains the current yield gap between conventional and organic cranberry sectors.

Keywords: soil mineralization, biofertilizer, BSF-frass, chicken manure, soil functions, nitrogen, soil microbiota

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Authors: Imen Abid, Rachel Calvet, Michel Baltas

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Flavonoids are secondary metabolites that belong to a polyphenolic class, present in fruits and vegetables, playing a significant role in biological systems. The structural variations of these flavonoids are associated with many biological and pharmacological activities (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antimalarial). Given their importance in plants and health-promoting roles in humans, significant efforts have been devoted towards their isolation of flavonoids and chemical elaboration (organic synthesis). But with the increasing public concern over environmental degradation and future resources, it is of great importance for chemists to come up with different approaches, less hazardous to human health and the environment. Being employed in large amounts, the solvents used in organic synthesis are high on the list of environmental pollutants. To overcome these problems, our approach is to develop unconventional processes involving solvent-free conditions. The application of mechanical forces to solvent-free or solvent-less reaction mixtures through the use of ball mills offers many advantages over traditional solvent-based strategies. It is one of the unconventional activation methods, which makes it possible to overcome the use of solvents, in the context of green chemistry and more respectful of the environment.

Keywords: organic synthesis, green chemistry, mecanochemistry, pharmaceutical molecules

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Authors: M. D. D. Chathurangi, M. G. K. Nayanathara, K. M. H. M. M. Gunapala, G. M. R. G. Dayananda, Kavinga Yapa Abeywardena, Deemantha Siriwardana

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Due to the growing popularity of social media platforms at present, there are various concerns, mostly cyberbullying, spam, bot accounts, and the spread of incorrect information. To develop a risk score calculation system as a thorough method for deciphering and exposing unethical social media profiles, this research explores the most suitable algorithms to our best knowledge in detecting the mentioned concerns. Various multiple models, such as Naïve Bayes, CNN, KNN, Stochastic Gradient Descent, Gradient Boosting Classifier, etc., were examined, and the best results were taken into the development of the risk score system. For cyberbullying, the Logistic Regression algorithm achieved an accuracy of 84.9%, while the spam-detecting MLP model gained 98.02% accuracy. The bot accounts identifying the Random Forest algorithm obtained 91.06% accuracy, and 84% accuracy was acquired for fake news detection using SVM.

Keywords: cyberbullying, spam behavior, bot accounts, fake news, machine learning

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Authors: Amanda M. Tadini, Houssam Hajjoul, Gustavo Nicolodelli, Stéphane Mounier, Célia R. Montes, Débora M. B. P. Milori

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Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in maintaining soil productivity and accounting for the promotion of biological diversity. The main components of the SOM are the humic substances which can be fractionated according to its solubility in humic acid (HA), fulvic acids (FA) and humin (HU). The determination of the chemical properties of organic matter as well as its interaction with metallic species is an important tool for understanding the structure of the humic fractions. Fluorescence spectroscopy has been studied as a source of information about what is happening at the molecular level in these compounds. Specially, soils of Amazon region are an important ecosystem of the planet. The aim of this study is to understand the molecular and structural composition of HA samples from Spodosol of Amazonia using the fluorescence Emission-Excitation Matrix (EEM) and Time Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy (TRFS). The results showed that the samples of HA showed two fluorescent components; one has a more complex structure and the other one has a simpler structure, which was also seen in TRFS through the evaluation of each sample lifetime. Thus, studies of this nature become important because it aims to evaluate the molecular and structural characteristics of the humic fractions in the region that is considered as one of the most important regions in the world, the Amazon.

Keywords: Amazonian soil, characterization, fluorescence, humic acid, lifetime

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