Search results for: urban good governance

Authors: H. Li, L. Ji, J. Su

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Forward osmosis is an emerging technology for separation and has great potential in the concentration of liquid products such as protein, pharmaceutical, and natural products. In pharmacy industry, one of the very tough talks is to concentrate the product in a gentle way since some of the key components may lose bioactivity when exposed to heating or pressurization. Therefore, forward osmosis (FO), which uses inherently existed osmosis pressure instead of externally applied hydraulic pressure, is attractive for pharmaceutical enrichments in a much efficient and energy-saving way. Recently, coordination complexes have been explored as the new class of draw solutes in FO processes due to their bulky configuration and excellent performance in terms of high water flux and low reverse solute flux. Among these coordination complexes, ferric citrate complex with lots of hydrophilic groups and ionic species which make them good solubility and high osmotic pressure in aqueous solution, as well as its low toxicity, has received much attention. However, the chemistry of ferric complexation by citrate is complicated, and disagreement prevails in the literature, especially for the structure of the ferric citrate. In this study, we investigated the chemical reaction with various molar ratio of iron and citrate. It was observed that the ferric citrate complex (Fe-CA2) with molar ratio of 1:1 for iron and citrate formed at the beginning of the reaction, then Fecit would convert to ferric citrate complex at the molar ratio of 1:2 with the proper excess of citrate in the base solution. The structures of the ferric citrate complexes synthesized were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Fe-CA2 solutions exhibit osmotic pressures more than twice of that for NaCl solutions at the same concentrations. Higher osmotic pressure means higher driving force, and this is preferable for the FO process. Fe-CA2 and NaCl draw solutions were prepared with the same osmotic pressure and used in FO process for BSA protein concentration. Within 180 min, BSA concentration was enriched from 0.2 to 0.27 L using Fe-CA draw solutions. However, it was only increased from 0.20 to 0.22 g/L using NaCl draw solutions. A reverse flux of 11 g/m²h was observed for NaCl draw solutes while it was only 0.1 g/m²h for Fe-CA2 draw solutes. It is safe to conclude that Fe-CA2 is much better than NaCl as draw solute and it is suitable for the enrichment of liquid product.

Keywords: draw solutes, ferric citrate complex, forward osmosis, protein enrichment

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Authors: Benjamin Beltzung, Marie Pelé, Julien P. Renoult, Cédric Sueur

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To this day, it is not known if drawing is specifically human behavior or if this behavior finds its origins in ancestor species. An interesting window to enlighten this question is to analyze the drawing behavior in genetically close to human species, such as non-human primate species. A good candidate for this approach is the orangutan, who shares 97% of our genes and exhibits multiple human-like behaviors. Focusing on figurative aspects may not be suitable for orangutans’ drawings, which may appear as scribbles but may have meaning. A manual feature selection would lead to an anthropocentric bias, as the features selected by humans may not match with those relevant for orangutans. In the present study, we used deep learning to analyze the drawings of a female orangutan named Molly († in 2011), who has produced 1,299 drawings in her last five years as part of a behavioral enrichment program at the Tama Zoo in Japan. We investigate multiple ways to decipher Molly’s drawings. First, we demonstrate the existence of differences between seasons by training a deep learning model to classify Molly’s drawings according to the seasons. Then, to understand and interpret these seasonal differences, we analyze how the information spreads within the network, from shallow to deep layers, where early layers encode simple local features and deep layers encode more complex and global information. More precisely, we investigate the impact of feature complexity on classification accuracy through features extraction fed to a Support Vector Machine. Last, we leverage style transfer to dissociate features associated with drawing style from those describing the representational content and analyze the relative importance of these two types of features in explaining seasonal variation. Content features were relevant for the classification, showing the presence of meaning in these non-figurative drawings and the ability of deep learning to decipher these differences. The style of the drawings was also relevant, as style features encoded enough information to have a classification better than random. The accuracy of style features was higher for deeper layers, demonstrating and highlighting the variation of style between seasons in Molly’s drawings. Through this study, we demonstrate how deep learning can help at finding meanings in non-figurative drawings and interpret these differences.

Keywords: cognition, deep learning, drawing behavior, interpretability

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Authors: Arpit Sachan, Nilanshu Kumar

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This paper tries to understand the nuances of feminisation of agriculture in the Indian context and how that is associated with better intrahousehold bargaining power for women. The economic survey of India indicates a constant increase in the share of the female workforce in Indian agriculture in the past few decades. This can be accounted for by many factors like the migration of male workers to urban areas and, therefore, the complete burden of agriculture shifting on the female counterparts. Therefore this study is an attempt to study that how this increase in the female workforce corresponds to a better decision-making ability for women in rural farm households. This paper is an attempt to carefully evaluate this aspect of the feminisation of Indian agriculture. The paper tries to study how various factors that improve the status of women in agriculture change with things like resource ownership. This paper uses both the macro-level and micro-level data to study the dynamics of the proportion of the workforce in agriculture across different states in India and how that has translated into better indicators for women in rural areas. The fall in India’s rank in the global gender wage gap index is alarming in such a context, and this creates a puzzle with increasing female workforce participation. The paper will consider if the condition of women improved over time with the increased share of employment or not? Using field survey data, this paper tries to understand if there exists any digression for some of the indicators both at the macro and micro level. The paper also tries to integrate the economic understanding of gender aspects of the workforce and the sociological stance prevailing in the existing literature. Therefore, this paper takes a mixed-method approach to better understand the role that social structure plays in the improved status of women within and across various households. Therefore, this paper will finally help us understanding if at all there is a feminisation of Indian agriculture or it's just exploitation of a different kind. This study intends to create a distinction between the gendered labour force in Indian agriculture and the complete democratization of Indian agriculture. The study is primarily focused on areas where the exodus of male migrants pushes women to work on agricultural farms. The question posits is whether it is the willingness of women to work in agriculture or is it urbanisation and development-induced conditions that make women work in agriculture as farm labourers? The motive is to understand if factors like resource ownership and the ability to autonomous decision-making are interlinked with an increased proportion of the female workforce or not? Based on this framework, we finally provide a brief comment on policy implications of government intervention in improving Indian agriculture and the gender aspects associated with it.

Keywords: feminisation, intrahousehold bargaining, farm households, migration, agriculture, decision-making

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Authors: Richard J. Hanowski, Rebecca L. Hammond

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Very few studies have been conducted to investigate safety issues associated with motorcoach/bus operations. The current study investigates the impact that roadway infrastructure, including locality, roadway grade, traffic flow and traffic density, have on bus safety. A naturalistic driving study was conducted in the U.S.A that involved 43 motorcoaches. Two fleets participated in the study and over 600,000 miles of naturalistic driving data were collected. Sixty-five bus drivers participated in this study; 48 male and 17 female. The average age of the drivers was 49 years. A sophisticated data acquisition system (DAS) was installed on each of the 43 motorcoaches and a variety of kinematic and video data were continuously recorded. The data were analyzed by identifying safety critical events (SCEs), which included crashes, near-crashes, crash-relevant conflicts, and unintentional lane deviations. Additionally, baseline (normative driving) segments were also identified and analyzed for comparison to the SCEs. This presentation highlights the need for bus safety research and the methods used in this data collection effort. With respect to elements of roadway infrastructure, this study highlights the methods used to assess locality, roadway grade, traffic flow, and traffic density. Locality was determined by manual review of the recorded video for each event and baseline and was characterized in terms of open country, residential, business/industrial, church, playground, school, urban, airport, interstate, and other. Roadway grade was similarly determined through video review and characterized in terms of level, grade up, grade down, hillcrest, and dip. The video was also used to make a determination of the traffic flow and traffic density at the time of the event or baseline segment. For traffic flow, video was used to assess which of the following best characterized the event or baseline: not divided (2-way traffic), not divided (center 2-way left turn lane), divided (median or barrier), one-way traffic, or no lanes. In terms of traffic density, level-of-service categories were used: A1, A2, B, C, D, E, and F. Highlighted in this abstract are only a few of the many roadway elements that were coded in this study. Other elements included lighting levels, weather conditions, roadway surface conditions, relation to junction, and roadway alignment. Note that a key component of this study was to assess the impact that driver distraction and fatigue have on bus operations. In this regard, once the roadway elements had been coded, the primary research questions that were addressed were (i) “What environmental condition are associated with driver choice of engagement in tasks?”, and (ii) “what are the odds of being in a SCE while engaging in tasks while encountering these conditions?”. The study may be of interest to researchers and traffic engineers that are interested in the relationship between roadway infrastructure elements and safety events in motorcoach bus operations.

Keywords: bus safety, motorcoach, naturalistic driving, roadway infrastructure

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Authors: Tatjana Stefanovic Stanojevic, Milica Tosic Radev, Aleksandra Bogdanovic

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Depression is considered to be a leading cause of death and disability in the female population, and that is the reason why understanding the dynamics of the onset of depressive symptomatology is important. A review of the literature indicates the relationship between depressive symptoms and insecure attachment patterns, but very few studies have examined the mechanism underlying this relation. The aim of the study was to examine the pathway from the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptomatology, as well as to test the mediation effect of mentalization, social anxiety and rumination in this relationship using a serial mediation model. The research was carried out on a geographical cluster sample from the general population of Serbia included within the project ‘Indicators and models of family and work roles harmonization’ funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. This research was carried out on a subsample of 791 working-age female adults from 37 urban and rural locations distributed through 20 administrative districts of Serbia. The respondents filled in a battery of instruments, including Relationship Questionnaire - Clinical Version (RQ - CV), The Mentalization Scale (MentS), Scale of Social Anxiety (SA), Patient Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire (RTSQ), Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The results confirm our assumption that the total indirect effect of the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptoms is significant across all mediators separately. More importantly, this effect is still present in a model with a sequential mediator relationship, where social anxiety, rumination, and mentalization were perceived as serial mediators of a relationship between preoccupied attachment and depressive symptoms (estimated indirect effect=0.004, boot-strapped 95% CI=0.002 to 0.007). Our findings suggest that there is a significant specific indirect effect of the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptoms, occurring through mentalization, social anxiety and rumination, indicating that preoccupied attachment cause decrease of a self related mentalization, which in turn causes increasing of social anxiety and rumination, concluding in depressive symptoms as a final consequence. The finding that the path from the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptoms is typical in women is understandable from the perspective of both evolutionary and culturally conditioned gender differences. The practical implications of the study are reflected in the recommendations for the prevention and forehand psychotherapy response among preoccupied women with depressive symptomatology. Treatment of this specific group of depressed patients should be focused on strengthening mentalization, learning to accept and to understand herself better, reducing anxiety in situations where mistakes are visible to others, and replacing the rumination strategy with more constructive coping strategies.

Keywords: preoccupied attachment, depression, serial mediation model, mentalization, rumination

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Authors: Joudia Akil, Stephane Siffert, Laurence Pirault-Roy, Renaud Cousin, Christophe Poupin

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Oxyfuel combustion is a promising method that enables to obtain a CO2 rich stream, with water vapor ( ̴10%), unburned components such as CO and NO, which must be cleaned before the use of CO2. Our objective is then the final treatment of CO and NO by catalysis. Three-way catalysts are well-developed material for simultaneous conversion of NO, CO and hydrocarbons. Pt and/or Rh ensure a quasi-complete removal of NOx, CO and HC and there is also a growing interest in partly replacing Pt with less-expensive Pd. The use of alumina and ceria as support ensures, respectively, the stabilization of such species in active state and discharging or storing oxygen to control the oxidation of CO and HC and the reduction of NOx. In this work, we will compare different metals (Pd, Rh and Pt) supported on Al2O3 and CeO2, for CO2 purification from oxyfuel combustion. The catalyst must reduce NO by CO in an oxidizing environment, in the presence of CO2 rich stream and resistant to water. In this study, Al2O3 and CeO2 were used as support materials of the catalysts. 1wt% M/Support where M = Pd, Rh or Pt catalysts were obtained by wet impregnation on supports with a precursor of palladium [Pd(acac)2], rhodium [Rh(NO3)3] and platinum [Pt(NO2)2(NO3)2]. Materials were characterized by BET surface area, H2 chemisorption, and TEM. Catalytic activity was evaluated in CO2 purification which is carried out in a fixed-bed flow reactor containing 150 mg of catalyst at atmospheric pressure. The flow of the reactant gases is composed of: 20% CO2, 10% O2, 0.5% CO, 0.02% NO and 8.2% H2O (He as eluent gas) with a total flow of 200 mL.min−1, with same GHSV (2.24x104 h-1). The catalytic performances of the samples were investigated with and without water. It shows that the total oxidation of CO occurred over the different materials. This study evidenced an important effect of the nature of the metals, supports and the presence or absence of H2O during the reduction of NO by CO in oxyfuel combustions conditions. Rh based catalysts show that the addition of water has a very positive influence especially on the Rh catalyst on CeO2. Pt based catalysts keep a good activity despite the addition of water on the both supports studied. For the NO reduction, addition of water act as a poison with Pd catalysts. The interesting results of Rh based catalysts with water can be explained by a production of hydrogen through the water gas shift reaction. The produced hydrogen acts as a more effective reductant than CO for NO removal. Furthermore, in TWCs, Rh is the main component responsible for NOx reduction due to its especially high activity for NO dissociation. Moreover, cerium oxide is a promotor for WGSR.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, environmental chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis

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Authors: V. Viliene, V. Sasyte, A. Raceviciute-Stupeliene, R. Gruzauskas

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In horse nutrition, the most suitable cereal for their rations composition could be defined as oats and barley. Oats have high nutritive value because it provides more protein, fiber, iron and zinc than other whole grains, has good taste, and an activity of stimulating metabolic changes in the body. Another cereal – barley is very similar to oats as a feed except for some characteristics that affect how it is used; however, barley is lower in fiber than oats and is classified as a "heavy" feed. The value of oats and barley grain, first of all is dependent on its composition. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has long been considered and used as a significant method in component and quality analysis and as an emerging technology for authenticity applications for cereal quality control. This paper presents the chemical and amino acid composition of different varieties of barley and oats, also digestible energy of different cereals for horses. Ten different spring barley (n = 5) and oats (n = 5) varieties, grown in one location in Lithuania, were assayed for their chemical composition (dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, crude fiber, starch) and amino acids content, digestible amino acids and amino acids digestibility. Also, the grains digestible energy for horses was calculated. The oats and barley samples reflectance spectra were measured by means of NIRS using Foss-Tecator DS2500 equipment. The chemical components: fat, crude protein, starch and fiber differed statistically (P<0.05) between the oats and barley varieties. The highest total amino acid content between oats was determined in variety Flamingsprofi (4.56 g/kg) and the lowest – variety Circle (3.57 g/kg), and between barley - respectively in varieties Publican (3.50 g/kg) and Sebastian (3.11 g/kg). The different varieties of oats digestible amino acid content varied from 3.11 g/kg to 4.07 g/kg; barley different varieties varied from 2.59 g/kg to 2.94 g/kg. The average amino acids digestibility of oats varied from 74.4% (Liz) to 95.6% (Fen) and in barley - from 75.8 % (Tre) to 89.6% (Fen). The amount of digestible energy in the analyzed varieties of oats and barley was an average compound 13.74 MJ/kg DM and 14.85 MJ/kg DM, respectively. An analysis of the results showed that different varieties of oats compared with barley are preferable for horse nutrition according to the crude fat, crude fiber, ash and separate amino acids content, but the analyzed barley varieties dominated the higher amounts of crude protein, the digestible Liz amount and higher DE content, and thus, could be recommended for making feed formulation for horses combining oats and barley, taking into account the chemical composition of using cereal varieties.

Keywords: barley, digestive energy, horses, nutritional value, oats

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Authors: Zineb Emrane

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This abstract addresses the issue of radicalization of young people in a context with background of radicalization, in North of Morocco, 5 terrorist of Madrid's Attacts on 11th March, were coming from this context. It were developed a study pilot that describing young people perception about the main causes that lead and motivate for radicalization. Whenever we talk about this topic, we obtain information from studies and investigations by specialists in field, but we don’t give voice to the protagonists who in many cases are victims, specifically, young people at social risk because of social factors. Extremist radicalization is an expanding phenomenon, that affect young people, in north of Morocco. They live in a context with radical background and at risk of social exclusion, their social, economic and familiar needs make them vulnerable. The extremist groups take advantage of this vulnerability to involve them in a process of radicalization, offering them an alternative environment where they can found all they are looking for. This study pilot approaches the main causes that lead and motivates young people to become radicals, analyzing their context with emphasis on influencing factors, and bearing in mind the analysis of young people about how the radical background affect them and their opinion this phenomenon. The pilot study was carried out through the following actions: - Group dynamics with young people to analyze the process of violent radicalization of young people. -A participatory workshop with members of organizations that work directly with young people at risk of radicalization. -Interviews with institutional managers -Participant observation. The implementation of actions has led to the conclusion that young people define violent radicalization as a sequential process, depending on the stage, it can be deconstructed. Young people recognize that they stop feeling belonging to their family, school and neighborhood when they see behavior contrary to what they consider good and evil. The emotional rupture and the search for references outside their circle, push them to sympathize with groups that have an extremist ideology and that offer them what they need. The radicalization is a process with different stages, the main causes and the factors which lead young people to use extremist violence are related their low level of belonging feeling to their context, and lack of critical thinking about important issues. The young people are in a vulnerable stage, searching their identity, a space in which they can be accepted, and when they don't find it they are easily manipulated and susceptible to being attracted by extremist groups.

Keywords: exclusion, radicalization, vulnerability, youth

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Authors: Aymen Arfaoui, Abdelkader Soumaya

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The Messalla-Ressas-Bou Kornine (MRB) and Hammamet Korbous (HK) major trending North-South fault zones provide a good opportunity to show the effects of the Eocene compressive phase in northern Tunisia. They acted as paleogeographical boundaries during the Mesozoic and belonged to a significant strike-slip corridor called the «North-South Axis,» extending from the Saharan platform at the South to the Gulf of Tunis at the North. Our study area is situated in a relay zone between two significant strike-slip faults (HK and MRB), separating the Atlas domain from the Pelagian Block. We used a multidisciplinary approach, including fieldwork, stress inversion, and geophysical profiles, to argue the shortening event that affected the study region. The MRB and HK contractional duplex is a privileged area for a local stress field and stress nucleation. The stress inversion of fault slip data reveals an Eocene compression with NW-SE trending SHmax, reactivating most of the ancient Mesozoic normal faults in the region. This shortening phase is represented in the MRB belt by an angular unconformity between the Upper Eocene over various Cretaceous strata. The stress inversion data reveal a compressive tectonic with an average NW-SE trending Shmax. The major N-S faults are reactivated under this shortening as sinistral oblique faults. The orientation of SHmax deviates from NW-SE to E-W near the preexisting deep faults of MRB and HK. This E-W stress direction generated the emerging overlap of Ressas-Messella and blind thrust faults in the Cretaceous deposits. The connection of the sub-meridian reverse faults in depth creates "flower structures" under an E-W local compressive stress. In addition, we detected a reorientation of the SHmax into an N-S direction in the central part of the MRB - HK contractional duplex, creating E-W reverse faults and overlapping zones. Finally, the Eocene compression constituted the first major tectonic phase which inverted the Mesozoic preexisting extensive fault system in Northern Tunisia.

Keywords: Tunisia, eocene compression, tectonic stress field, Bou Kornine-Ressas-Messella

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Authors: Ledi Neçaj

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Introduction: Cardio-respiratory rehabilitation is the set of coordinated interventions needed to provide the best physical, psychological, and social conditions so that patients with chronic or post-acute cardiopulmonary disease, with their efforts, maintain or resume optimal functioning in society through improved health behaviors. Purpose: To study the effectiveness of the application of Cardio-Respiratory Rehabilitation in the typology of patients with chronic or post-acute cardiomyopathy and chronic respiratory diseases in order to facilitate their therapeutic use and to improve the overall quality of life. Material and Method: This is a prospective study including patients with COPD and cardiac disease who were included in the rehabilitation program during the period January 2019 - November 2021. The study was conducted at the University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa" in Tirana, University Hospital "SHEFQET NDROQI", AMERICAN Hospital, HYGEA Hospital, and "Our Lady of Good Counsel, Tirana". An individual chart was used to collect sociodemographic, physical, clinical, and functional examinations for each patient. Results: The study included 253 patients, with a mean age of 62.1 (± 7.9) years, ranging from 48 to 82 years. (67.6%) of the patients were males, and (32.4%) female. Male patients predominated in all age groups, with a statistically significant difference with females (p<0.01). The most common cardiac pathologies are coronary artery bypass (24%), cerebral stroke (9%), myocardial infarction (17%), Stent placement (8%) (p<0.01). Correlation matrix of risk factors found a significant correlation of alcohol consumption with diabetes, smoking, dyslipidemia, sedentary life, obesity, AVC, and hypertension. Functional capacity estimated by change in metabolic equivalents (MET) improved by 46% from 4. ±2.2 to 7.2± .8 METs (p<0.01). Duration of exercise after rehabilitation was increased by 21% compared to baseline (p<0.01). The mean score of all three subscales of the questionnaire: symptoms (p=0.03), activity (p<0.01), and impact (p<0.01) after rehabilitation, was lower compared to pre-rehabilitation. Conclusions: The rehabilitation program has impacted on improving the quality of life, reducing symptoms, reducing the impact of negative factors on daily life, and reducing dyspnea during daily activities.

Keywords: cardio-respiratory rehabilitation, physical exercise, quality of life, diseases

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Authors: Farjina Malek, Julie King, Niki Edwards

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Across the globe more than a billion people live with a disability and a further billion people, mostly carers, are indirectly impacted. While prevalence data is problematic, it is estimated that more than 15% of the population in Bangladesh live with a disability. Disability service infrastructure in Bangladesh is under-developed; and consequently, the onus of care falls on family, especially on mothers. Within the caring role, mothers encounter many challenging experiences which are not only due to the lack of support delivered through the Bangladeshi health care system but also related to the existence of stigma and perception around disability in the Bangladeshi society. Within this perception, the causes of disability are mostly associated with 'God’s will'; 'possession of ghosts on the disabled person'; and 'karma or the result of past sins of the family members especially the mothers'. These beliefs are likely to have a significant impact on the well-being of mothers and their caring experience of children with disability. This is an ongoing qualitative study which is conducting in-depth interviews with 30 mothers from five districts (Dhaka, Mymensingh, Manikganj, Tangail, and Gazipur) of Bangladesh with the aim to explore the impact of social perception and stigma around physical disability on the caring role of the mothers of children with physical disability. The major findings of this study show that the social perception around disability and the social expectation from a mother regarding her caring role have a huge impact on the well-being of mothers. Mothers are mostly expected to take their child on their lap to prove that they are ‘good mother’. These practices of lifting their children with physical disability and keeping them on the lap for a long time often cause chronic back pain of the mothers. Existing social beliefs consider disability as a ‘curse’ and punishment for the ‘sins’ of the family members, most often by the mother. Mothers are blamed if they give birth to ‘abnormal’ children. This social construction creates stigma, and thus, the caring responsibility of mothers become more challenging. It also encourages the family and mothers to hide their children from the society and to avoid seeking accessible disability services. The mothers also compromise their careers and social interaction as they have to stay with their children at home, and that has a significant impact on personal wellbeing, income, and empowerment of the mothers. The research is informed by intersectional theory and employed an interpretive phenomenological methodology to explore mothers’ experience of caring their children with physical disability, and the contribution and impact of key relationships within the family and the intersection with community and services.

Keywords: mother, family carer, physical disability, children, social stigma, key relationship

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Authors: Henok Hailemariam, Frank Wuttke

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Collapsible soils are weak soils that appear to be stable in their natural state, normally dry condition, but rapidly deform under saturation (wetting), thus generating large and unexpected settlements which often yield disastrous consequences for structures unwittingly built on such deposits. In this study, a prediction model for the relative subsidence of stressed collapsible soils based on dielectric permittivity measurement is presented. Unlike most existing methods for soil subsidence prediction, this model does not require moisture content as an input parameter, thus providing the opportunity to obtain accurate estimation of the relative subsidence of collapsible soils using dielectric measurement only. The prediction model is developed based on an existing relative subsidence prediction model (which is dependent on soil moisture condition) and an advanced theoretical frequency and temperature-dependent electromagnetic mixing equation (which effectively removes the moisture content dependence of the original relative subsidence prediction model). For large scale sub-surface soil exploration purposes, the spatial sub-surface soil dielectric data over wide areas and high depths of weak (collapsible) soil deposits can be obtained using non-destructive high frequency electromagnetic (HF-EM) measurement techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). For laboratory or small scale in-situ measurements, techniques such as an open-ended coaxial line with widely applicable time domain reflectometry (TDR) or vector network analysers (VNAs) are usually employed to obtain the soil dielectric data. By using soil dielectric data obtained from small or large scale non-destructive HF-EM investigations, the new model can effectively predict the relative subsidence of weak soils without the need to extract samples for moisture content measurement. Some of the resulting benefits are the preservation of the undisturbed nature of the soil as well as a reduction in the investigation costs and analysis time in the identification of weak (problematic) soils. The accuracy of prediction of the presented model is assessed by conducting relative subsidence tests on a collapsible soil at various initial soil conditions and a good match between the model prediction and experimental results is obtained.

Keywords: collapsible soil, dielectric permittivity, moisture content, relative subsidence

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Authors: Himalaya Patir, Bitupon Baruah, Sanjay Gayary, Subhajit Ray

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In recent age significant importance is given for the development of nutritious and health beneficial foods. Fruit juices collected from different fruits when blended that improves not only the physicochemical and nutritional properties but also enhance the sensorial or organoleptic properties. The study was carried out to determine the physico-chemical, nutritional, microbiological analysis and sensory evaluation of mixed fruit juice blend. Juice of orange (Citrus sinensis), apple (Malus domestica), mosambi (Citrus limetta) were blended in the ratio of sample-I (30% apple:30% orange:40% mosambi), sample-II ( 40% apple :30% orange :30% mosambi), sample-III (30% apple :40% orange :30% mosambi) , sample-IV (50% apple :30% orange :20% mosambi), sample-V (30% apple:20% orange:50% mosambi), sample-VI (20% apple :50% orange :30% mosambi) to evaluate all quality characteristics. Their colour characteristics in terms of hue angle, chroma and colour difference (∆E) were evaluated. The physico-chemical parameters analysis carried out were total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA), pH, acidity (FA), volatile acidity (VA), pH, and vitamin C. There were significant differences (p˂0.05) in the TSS of the samples. However, sample-V (30% apple: 20% orange: 50% mosambi) provides the highest TSS of 9.02gm and significantly differed from other samples (p˂0.05). Sample-IV (50% apple: 30% orange: 20% mosambi) was shown the highest titratable acidity (.59%) in comparison to other samples. The highest value of pH was found as 5.01 for sample-IV (50% apple: 30% orange: 20% mosambi). Sample-VI (20% apple: 50% orange :30% mosambi) blend has the highest hue angle, chroma and colour changes of 72.14,25.29 and 54.48 and vitamin C, i.e. Ascorbic acid (.33g/l) content compared to other samples. The nutritional compositions study showed that, sample- VI (20% apple: 50% orange: 30% mosambi) has the significantly higher carbohydrate (51.67%), protein (.78%) and ash (1.24%) than other samples, while sample-V (30% apple: 20% orange: 50% mosambi) has higher dietary fibre (12.84%) and fat (2.82%) content. Microbiological analysis of all samples in terms of total plate count (TPC) ranges from 44-60 in 101 dilution and 4-5 in 107 dilutions and was found satisfactory. Moreover, other pathogenic bacterial count was found nil. The general acceptability of the mixed fruit juice blend samples were moderately liked by the panellists, and sensorial quality studies showed that sample-V (30% apple: 20% orange: 50% mosambi) contains highest overall acceptability of 8.37 over other samples and can be considered good for consumption.

Keywords: microbiological, nutritional, physico-chemical, sensory properties

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Authors: Liliana Rusu

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The goal of the proposed work is to provide a more comprehensive picture of the wind and wave climate in the Romanian nearshore, using the results provided by numerical models. The Romanian coastal environment is located in the western side of the Black Sea, the more energetic part of the sea, an area with heavy maritime traffic and various offshore operations. Information about the wind and wave climate in the Romanian waters is mainly based on observations at Gloria drilling platform (70 km from the coast). As regards the waves, the measurements of the wave characteristics are not so accurate due to the method used, being also available for a limited period. For this reason, the wave simulations that cover large temporal and spatial scales represent an option to describe better the wave climate. To assess the wind climate in the target area spanning 1992–2016, data provided by the NCEP-CFSR (U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Climate Forecast System Reanalysis) and consisting in wind fields at 10m above the sea level are used. The high spatial and temporal resolution of the wind fields is good enough to represent the wind variability over the area. For the same 25-year period, as considered for the wind climate, this study characterizes the wave climate from a wave hindcast data set that uses NCEP-CFSR winds as input for a model system SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) based. The wave simulation results with a two-level modelling scale have been validated against both in situ measurements and remotely sensed data. The second level of the system, with a higher resolution in the geographical space (0.02°×0.02°), is focused on the Romanian coastal environment. The main wave parameters simulated at this level are used to analyse the wave climate. The spatial distributions of the wind speed, wind direction and the mean significant wave height have been computed as the average of the total data. As resulted from the amount of data, the target area presents a generally moderate wave climate that is affected by the storm events developed in the Black Sea basin. Both wind and wave climate presents high seasonal variability. All the results are computed as maps that help to find the more dangerous areas. A local analysis has been also employed in some key locations corresponding to highly sensitive areas, as for example the main Romanian harbors.

Keywords: numerical simulations, Romanian nearshore, waves, wind

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Authors: Mohamed H. Sorour, Hayam F. Shaalan, Heba A. Hani, Eman S. Sayed

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Ion exchange adsorption has a long standing history of success for seawater softening and selective ion removal from saline sources. Strong, weak and mixed types ion exchange systems could be designed and optimized for target separation. In this paper, different types of adsorbents comprising zeolite 13X and kaolin, in addition to, poly acrylate/zeolite (AZ), poly acrylate/kaolin (AK) and stand-alone poly acrylate (A) hydrogel types were prepared via microwave (M) and ultrasonic (U) irradiation techniques. They were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The developed adsorbents were evaluated on bench scale level and based on assessment results, a composite bed has been formulated for performance evaluation in pilot scale column investigations. Owing to the hydrogel nature of the partially crosslinked poly acrylate, the developed adsorbents manifested a swelling capacity of about 50 g/g. The pilot trials have been carried out using magnesium enriched Red Seawater to simulate Red Seawater desalination brine. Batch studies indicated varying uptake efficiencies, where Mg adsorption decreases according to the following prepared hydrogel types AU>AM>AKM>AKU>AZM>AZU, being 108, 107, 78, 69, 66 and 63 mg/g, respectively. Composite bed adsorbent tested in the up-flow mode column studies indicated good performance for Mg uptake. For an operating cycle of 12 h, the maximum uptake during the loading cycle approached 92.5-100 mg/g, which is comparable to the performance of some commercial resins. Different regenerants have been explored to maximize regeneration and minimize the quantity of regenerants including 15% NaCl, 0.1 M HCl and sodium carbonate. Best results were obtained by acidified sodium chloride solution. In conclusion, developed cation exchange adsorbents comprising clay or zeolite support indicated adequate performance for Mg recovery under saline environment. Column design operated at the up-flow mode (approaching expanded bed) is appropriate for such type of separation. Preliminary cost indicators for Mg recovery via ion exchange have been developed and analyzed.

Keywords: batch and dynamic magnesium separation, seawater, polyacrylate hydrogel, cost evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Solomon Okorley

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With the emergence of artificial intelligence, a proposition that has been made with increasing conviction is the need to assign legal personhood to robots. A major problem that arises when dealing with robots is the issue of liability: who do it hold liable when a robot causes harm? The suggestion to assign legal personality to robots has been made to aid in the assignment of liability. This paper contends that it is premature to assign legal personhood to robots. The paper employed the doctrinal and comparative research methodology. The paper first discusses the various theories that underpin the granting of legal personhood to juridical personalities to ascertain whether these theories can aid in the proposition to assign legal personhood to robots. These theories include fiction theory, aggregate theory, realist theory, and organism theory. Except for the aggregate theory, the fiction theory, the realist theory and the organism theory provide a good foundation to the proposal for legal personhood to be assigned to robots. The paper considers whether robots should be assigned legal personhood from a jurisprudential approach. The legal positivists assert that no metaphysical presuppositions are needed to determine who could be a legal person: the sole deciding factor is the engagement in legal relations and this prerequisite could be fulfilled by robots. However, rationalists, religionists and naturalists assert that the satisfaction of the metaphysical criteria is the basis of legal personality and since robots do not possess this feature, they cannot be assigned legal personhood. This differing perspective shows that the jurisprudential school of thought to which one belongs influences the decision whether to assign legal personhood to robots. The paper makes arguments for and against the assigning of legal personhood to robots. Assigning legal personhood to robots is necessary for the assigning of liability; and since robots are independent in their operation, they should be assigned legal personhood. However, it is argued that the degree of autonomy is insufficient. Robots do not understand legal obligations; they do not have a will of their own and the purported autonomy that they possess is an ‘imputed autonomy’. A crucial question to be asked is ‘whether it is desirable to confer legal personhood on robots’ and not ‘whether legal personhood should be assigned to robots’. This is due to the subjective nature of the responses to such a question as well as the peculiarities of countries in response to this question. The main argument in support of assigning legal personhood to robots is to aid in assigning liability. However, it is argued conferring legal personhood on robots is not the only way to deal with liability issues. Since any of the stakeholders involved with the robot system can be held liable for an accident, it is not desirable to assign legal personhood to robot. It is forecasted that in the epoch of strong artificial intelligence, granting robots legal personhood is plausible; however, in the current era, it is premature.

Keywords: autonomy, legal personhood, premature, jurisprudential

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Sally Naji, Julie Gwilliam

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Climate change remains a challenging matter for the human and the built environment in the 21st century, where the need to consider adaptation to climate change in the development process is paramount. However, there remains a lack of information regarding how we should prepare responses to this issue, such as through developing organized and sophisticated tools enabling the adaptation process. This study aims to build a systematic framework approach to investigate the potentials that Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment tools (NSA) might offer in enabling both the analysis of the emerging adaptive capacity to climate change. The analysis of the framework presented in this paper aims to discuss this issue in three main phases. The first part attempts to link sustainability and climate change, in the context of adaptive capacity. It is argued that in deciding to promote sustainability in the context of climate change, both the resilience and vulnerability processes become central. However, there is still a gap in the current literature regarding how the sustainable development process can respond to climate change. As well as how the resilience of practical strategies might be evaluated. It is suggested that the integration of the sustainability assessment processes with both the resilience thinking process, and vulnerability might provide important components for addressing the adaptive capacity to climate change. A critical review of existing literature is presented illustrating the current lack of work in this field, integrating these three concepts in the context of addressing the adaptive capacity to climate change. The second part aims to identify the most appropriate scale at which to address the built environment for the climate change adaptation. It is suggested that the neighborhood scale can be considered as more suitable than either the building or urban scales. It then presents the example of NSAs, and discusses the need to explore their potential role in promoting the adaptive capacity to climate change. The third part of the framework presents a comparison among three example NSAs, BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, and CASBEE-UD. These three tools have been selected as the most developed and comprehensive assessment tools that are currently available for the neighborhood scale. This study concludes that NSAs are likely to present the basis for an organized framework to address the practical process for analyzing and yet promoting Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change. It is further argued that vulnerability (exposure & sensitivity) and resilience (Interdependence & Recovery) form essential aspects to be addressed in the future assessment of NSA’s capability to adapt to both short and long term climate change impacts. Finally, it is acknowledged that further work is now required to understand impact assessment in terms of the range of physical sectors (Water, Energy, Transportation, Building, Land Use and Ecosystems), Actor and stakeholder engagement as well as a detailed evaluation of the NSA indicators, together with a barriers diagnosis process.

Keywords: adaptive capacity, climate change, NSA tools, resilience, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: Bayole Omoniyi

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This study demonstrates the value of outcrops as analogues for evaluating reservoir quality of sandbody in a typical high-sinuosity fluvial system. The study utilized data acquired from selected outcrops in the Campanian-Maastrichtian siliciclastic succession of the western flank of Anambra Basin, southern Nigeria. Textural properties derived from outcrop samples were correlated and compared with porosity and permeability using established standard charts. Porosity was estimated from thin sections of selected samples to reduce uncertainty in the estimates. Following facies classification, 14 distinct facies were grouped into three facies associations (FA1-FA3) and were subsequently modeled as discrete properties in a block-centered Cartesian grid on a scale that captures geometry of principal sandbodies. Porosity and permeability estimated from charts were populated in the grid using comparable geostatistical techniques that reflect their spatial distribution. The resultant models were conditioned to facies property to honour available data. The results indicate a strong control of geometrical parameters on facies distribution, lateral continuity and connectivity with resultant effect on porosity and permeability distribution. Sand-prone FA1 and FA2 display reservoir quality that varies internally from channel axis to margin in each succession. Furthermore, isolated stack pattern of sandbodies reduces static connectivity and thus, increases risk of poor communication between reservoir-quality sandbodies. FA3 is non-reservoir because it is mud-prone. In conclusion, the risk of poor communication between sandbodies may be effectively accentuated in reservoirs that have similar architecture because of thick lateral accretion deposits, usually mudstone, that tend to disconnect good-quality point-bar sandbodies. In such reservoirs, mudstone may act as a barrier to impede flow vertically from one sandbody to another and laterally at the margins of each channel-fill succession in the system. The development plan, therefore, must be designed to effectively mitigate these risks and the risk of stratigraphic compartmentalization for maximum hydrocarbon recovery.

Keywords: analogues, architecture, connectivity, fluvial

Procedia PDF Downloads 24

Authors: Japhet N. Mwambusi

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High tropical forests deforestation for solid wood furniture industry is among of climate change contributing agents. This pressure indirectly is caused by furniture joints failure due to poor gluing technology based on improper use of different glues to different wood species which lead to low quality and weak wood-glue joints. This study was carried in order to run performance tests of wood glues on different wood species used in wood workshops: Morogoro Tanzania whereby three popular wood species of C. lusitanica, T. glandis and E. maidenii were tested against five glues of Woodfix, Bullbond, Ponal, Fevicol and Coral found in the market. The findings were necessary on developing a guideline for proper glue selection for a particular wood species joining. Random sampling was employed to interview carpenters while conducting a survey on the background of carpenters like their education level and to determine factors that influence their glues choice. Monsanto Tensiometer was used to determine bonding strength of identified wood glues to different wood species in use under British Standard of testing wood shear strength (BS EN 205) procedures. Data obtained from interviewing carpenters were analyzed through Statistical Package of Social Science software (SPSS) to allow the comparison of different data while laboratory data were compiled, related and compared by the use of MS Excel worksheet software as well as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that among all five wood glues tested in the laboratory to three different wood species, Coral performed much better with the average shear strength 4.18 N/mm², 3.23 N/mm² and 5.42 N/mm² for Cypress, Teak and Eucalyptus respectively. This displays that for a strong joint to be formed to all tree wood species for soft wood and hard wood, Coral has a first priority in use. The developed table of guideline from this research can be useful to carpenters on proper glue selection to a particular wood species so as to meet glue-bond strength. This will secure furniture market as well as reduce pressure to the forests for furniture production because of the strong existing furniture due to their strong joints. Indeed, this can be a good strategy on reducing climate change speed in tropics which result from high deforestation of trees for furniture production.

Keywords: climate change, deforestation, gluing technology, joint failure, wood-glue, wood species

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Mohammad Hassan Ramezan zadeh 1 , Majid Seifi 2 , Hoda Hekmat ara 2 1Biomedical Engineering Department, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 2Physics Department, Guilan University , P.O. Box 41335-1914, Rasht, Iran.

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Magnetic nano particles of ferric chloride were synthesised using a co-precipitation technique. For the optimal results, ferric chloride at room temperature was added to different surfactant with different ratio of metal ions/surfactant. The samples were characterised using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrum to show the presence of nanoparticles, structure and morphology. Magnetic measurements were also carried out on samples using a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer. To show the effect of surfactant on size distribution and crystalline structure of produced nanoparticles, surfactants with various charge such as anionic cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), cationic sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and neutral TritonX-100 was employed. By changing the surfactant and ratio of metal ions/surfactant the size and crystalline structure of these nanoparticles were controlled. We also show that using anionic stabilizer leads to smallest size and narrowest size distribution and the most crystalline (polycrystalline) structure. In developing our production technique, many parameters were varied. Efforts at reproducing good yields indicated which of the experimental parameters were the most critical and how carefully they had to be controlled. The conditions reported here were the best that we encountered but the range of possible parameter choice is so large that these probably only represent a local optimum. The samples for our chemical process were prepared by adding 0.675 gr ferric chloride (FeCl3, 6H2O) to three different surfactant in water solution. The solution was sonicated for about 30 min until a transparent solution was achieved. Then 0.5 gr sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a reduction agent was poured to the reaction drop by drop which resulted to participate reddish brown Fe2O3 nanoparticles. After washing with ethanol the obtained powder was calcinated in 600°C for 2h. Here, the sample 1 contained CTAB as a surfactant with ratio of metal ions/surfactant 1/2, sample 2 with CTAB and ratio 1/1, sample 3 with SDS and ratio 1/2, sample 4 SDS 1/1, sample 5 is triton-X-100 with 1/2 and sample 6 triton-X-100 with 1/1.

Keywords: iron oxide nanoparticles, stabilizer, co-precipitation, surfactant

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: John Dimopoulos

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This proposal attempts a refabrication of Heidegger’s classic thing-being and object-being analysis in order to provide better ontological tools for understanding contemporary culture, technology, and society. In his work, Heidegger sought to understand and comment on the problem of technology in an era of rampant innovation and increased perils for society and the planet. Today we seem to be at another crossroads in this course, coming after postmodernity, during which dreams and dangers of modernity augmented with critical speculations of the post-war era take shape. The new era which we are now living in, referred to as hypermodernity by researchers in various fields such as architecture and cultural theory, is defined by the horizontal implementation of digital technologies, cybernetic networks, and mixed reality. Technology today is rapidly approaching a turning point, namely the point of no return for humanity’s supervision over its creations. The techno-scientific civilization of the 21st century creates a series of problems, progressively more difficult and complex to solve and impossible to ignore, climate change, data safety, cyber depression, and digital stress being some of the most prevalent. Humans often have no other option than to address technology-induced problems with even more technology, as in the case of neuron networks, machine learning, and AI, thus widening the gap between creating technological artifacts and understanding their broad impact and possible future development. As all technical disciplines and particularly design, become enmeshed in a matrix of digital hyper-objects, a conceptual toolbox that allows us to handle the new reality becomes more and more necessary. Weaponized design, prevalent in many fields, such as social and traditional media, urban planning, industrial design, advertising, and the internet in general, hints towards an increase in conflicts. These conflicts between tech companies, stakeholders, and users with implications in politics, work, education, and production as apparent in the cases of Amazon workers’ strikes, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Facebook and Microsoft data scandals, and more are often non-transparent to the wide public’s eye, thus consolidating new elites and technocratic classes and making the public scene less and less democratic. The new category proposed, weapon-being, is outlined in respect to the basic function of reducing complexity, subtracting materials, actants, and parameters, not strictly in favor of a humanistic re-orientation but in a more inclusive ontology of objects and subjects. Utilizing insights of Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) and its schematization of technological objects, an outline for a radical ontology of technology is approached.

Keywords: design, hypermodernity, object-oriented ontology, weapon-being

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Sophio Kobauri, David Tugushi, Vladimir P. Torchilin, Ramaz Katsarava

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Hydrophobic / hydrophilically modified functional polymers are of high interest in modern biomedicine due to their ability to solubilize water-insoluble / poorly soluble (hydrophobic) drugs. Among the many approaches that are being developed in this direction, one of the most effective methods is the use of polymeric micelles (PMs) (micelles formed by amphiphilic block-copolymers) for solubilization of hydrophobic biologicals. For therapeutic purposes, PMs are required to be stable and biodegradable, although quite a few amphiphilic block-copolymers are described capable of forming stable micelles with good solubilization properties. For obtaining micelle-forming block-copolymers, polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivatives are desirable to use as hydrophilic shell because it represents the most popular biocompatible hydrophilic block and various hydrophobic blocks (polymers) can be attached to it. Although the construction of the hydrophobic core, due to the complex requirements and micelles structure development, is the very actual and the main problem for nanobioengineers. Considering the above, our research goal was obtaining biodegradable micelles for the solubilization of hydrophobic drugs and biologicals. For this purpose, we used biodegradable polymers– pseudo-proteins (PPs)(synthesized with naturally occurring amino acids and other non-toxic building blocks, such as fatty diols and dicarboxylic acids) as hydrophobic core since these polymers showed reasonable biodegradation rates and excellent biocompatibility. In the present study, we used the hydrophobic amino acid – L-phenylalanine (MW 4000-8000Da) instead of L-leucine. Amino-PEG (MW 2000Da) was used as hydrophilic fragments for constructing the suitable micelles. The molecular weight of PP (the hydrophobic core of micelle) was regulated by variation of used monomers ratios. Micelles were obtained by dissolving of synthesized amphiphilic polymer in water. The micelle-forming property was tested using dynamic light scattering (Malvern zetasizer NanoZSZEN3600). The study showed that obtaining amphiphilic block-copolymer form stable neutral micelles 100 ± 7 nm in size at 10mg/mL concentration, which is considered as an optimal range for pharmaceutical micelles. The obtained preliminary data allow us to conclude that the obtained micelles are suitable for the delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs and biologicals.

Keywords: amino acid – L-phenylalanine, pseudo-proteins, amphiphilic block-copolymers, biodegradable micelles

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Aminul Haque, Quazi Zahangir Hossain, Dilshad Sharmin Chowdhury

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The human migration is getting growing concern around the world, and recurrent disasters and climate change impact have great influence on migration. Bangladesh is one of the disaster prone countries that/and has greater susceptibility to stress migration by recurrent disasters and climate change. The study was conducted to investigate the factors that have a strong influence on current migration and changing pattern of life and livelihood means of the southwest coastal part of Bangladesh. Moreover, the study also revealed a strong relationship between disasters and migration and appropriate policy concern. To explore this relation, both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to a questionnaire survey at household level and simple random sampling technique used in the sampling process along with different secondary data sources for understanding policy concern and practices. The study explores the most influential driver of migration and its relationship with social, economic and environmental drivers. The study denotes that, the environmental driver has a greater effect on the intention of permanent migration (t=1.481, p-value=0.000) at the 1 percent significance level. The significant number of respondents denotes that abrupt pattern of cyclone, flood, salinity intrusion and rainfall are the most significant environmental driver to make a decision on permanent migration. The study also found that the temporary migration pattern has 2-fold increased compared to last ten (10) years. It also appears from the study that environmental factors have a great implication on the changing pattern of the occupation of the study area and it has reported that about 76% of the respondent now in the changing modality of livelihood compare to their traditional practices. The study bares that the migration has foremost impact on children and women by increasing hardship and creating critical social security. The exposure-route of permanent migration is not smooth indeed, these migrations creating urban and conflict in Chittagong hill tracks of Bangladesh. The study denotes that there is not any safeguard of the stress migrant on existing policy and not have any measures for safe migration and resettlement rather considering the emergency response and shelter. The majority of (98%) people believes that migration is not to be the adoption strategies, but contrary to this young group of respondent believes that safe migration could be the adaptation strategy which could bring a positive result compare to the other resilience strategies. On the other hand, the significant number of respondents uttered that appropriate policy measure could be an adaptation strategy for being the formation of a resilient community and reduce the migration by meaningful livelihood options with appropriate protection measure.

Keywords: environmental driver, livelihood, migration, resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Rammah Abdlbagi, Egmen Tazcan, Kiriti Tripathi, Vinayagam Sudhakar, Thomas Swallow, Aakash Pai

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Introduction and Objectives: MRI has an increasing role in the diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer. Multiparametric MRI includes multiple sequences, including T2 weighting, diffusion weighting, and dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE). Administration of DCE is expensive, time-consuming, and requires medical supervision due to the risk of anaphylaxis. Biparametric MRI (bpMRI), without DCE, overcomes many of these issues; however, there is conflicting data on its accuracy. Furthermore, data on the concordance between bpMRI lesion and pathology specimen, as well as the rates of cancer stage upgrading after surgery, is limited within the available literature. This study aims to examine the diagnostic test accuracy of bpMRI in the diagnosis of prostate cancer and radiological assessment of prostate cancer staging. Specifically, we aimed to evaluate the ability of bpMRI to accurately localise malignant lesions to better understand its accuracy and application in MRI-targeted biopsies. Materials and Methods: One hundred and forty patients who underwent bpMRI prior to radical prostatectomy (RP) were retrospectively reviewed from a single institution. Histological grade from the prostate biopsy was compared with surgical specimens from RP. Clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) was defined as Gleason grade group ≥2. bpMRI staging was compared with RP histology. Results: Overall sensitivity of bpMRI in diagnosing csPCa independent of location and staging was 98.87%. Of the 140 patients, 29 (20.71%) had their prostate biopsy histology upgraded at RP. 61 (43.57%) patients had csPca noted on RP specimens in areas that were not identified on the bpMRI. 55 (39.29%) had upstaging after RP from the original staging with bpMRI. Conclusions: Whilst the overall sensitivity of bpMRI in predicting any clinically significant cancer was good, there was notably poor concordance in the location of the tumour between bpMRI and eventual RP specimen. The results suggest that caution should be exercised when using bpMRI for targeted prostate biopsies and validates the continued role of systemic biopsies. Furthermore, a significant number of patients were upstaged at RP from their original staging with bpMRI. Based on these findings, bpMRI results should be interpreted with caution and can underestimate TNM stage, requiring careful consideration of treatment strategy.

Keywords: biparametric MRI, Ca prostate, staging, post prostatectomy histology

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Authors: Kubilay Kurtulus Bastas

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Bacterial diseases are very destructive and cause economic losses on pears. Promising plant extracts for the management of plant diseases are environmentally safe, long-lasting and extracts of certain plants contain alkaloids, tannins, quinones, coumarins, phenolic compounds, and phytoalexins. In this study, bacteria were isolated from different parts of pear exhibiting characteristic symptoms of bacterial diseases from the Central Anatolia, Turkey. Pathogenic bacteria were identified by morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular methods as fire blight (Erwinia amylovora (39%)), bacterial blossom blast and blister bark (Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (22%)), crown gall (Rhizobium radiobacter (1%)) from different pear cultivars, and determined virulence levels of the pathogens with pathogenicity tests. The air-dried 25 plant material was ground into fine powder and extraction was performed at room temperature by maceration with 80% (v/v) methanol/distilled water. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were determined by using modified disc diffusion method at five different concentrations and streptomycin sulphate was used as control chemical. Bacterial suspensions were prepared as 108 CFU ml⁻¹ densities and 100 µl bacterial suspensions were spread to TSA medium. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by measuring the inhibition zones in reference to the test organisms. Among the tested plants, Origanum vulgare, Hedera helix, Satureja hortensis, Rhus coriaria, Eucalyptus globulus, Rosmarinus officinalis, Ocimum basilicum, Salvia officinalis, Cuminum cyminum and Thymus vulgaris showed a good antibacterial activity and they inhibited the growth of the pathogens with inhibition zone diameter ranging from 7 to 27 mm at 20% (w/v) in absolute methanol in vitro conditions. In vivo, the highest efficacy was determined as 27% on reducing tumor formation of R. radiobacter, and 48% and 41% on reducing shoot blight of E. amylovora and P. s. pv. syringae on pear seedlings, respectively. Obtaining data indicated that some plant extracts may be used against the bacterial diseases on pome fruits within sustainable and organic management programs.

Keywords: bacteria, eco-friendly management, organic, pear, plant extract

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Abdulkarim Yusuf

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Motivation: A crucial but difficult goal for governments and policymakers in Nigeria in recent years has been the sustainability of economic growth. This goal must be accomplished by regulating or lowering greenhouse gas emissions, which calls for switching to a low- or zero-carbon production system. The lack of in-depth empirical studies on the environmental impact of socioeconomic variables on Nigeria and a number of unresolved issues from earlier research is what led to the current study. Objective: This study fills an important empirical gap by investigating the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and the long and short-run dynamic impact of socioeconomic variables on ecological sustainability in Nigeria. Data and method: Annual time series data covering the period 1980 to 2020 and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique in the presence of structural breaks were adopted for this study. Results: The empirical findings support the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for Nigeria in the long and short run. Energy consumption and total import exacerbate environmental deterioration in the long and short run, whereas total export improves environmental quality in the long and short run. Financial development, which contributed to a conspicuous decrease in the level of environmental destruction in the long run, escalated it in the short run. In contrast, urbanization caused a significant increase in environmental damage in the long run but motivated a decrease in biodiversity loss in the short run. Implications: The government, policymakers, and all energy stakeholders should take additional measures to ensure the implementation and diversification of energy sources to accommodate more renewable energy sources that emit less carbon in order to promote efficiency in Nigeria's production processes and lower carbon emissions. In order to promote the production and trade of environmentally friendly goods, they should also revise and strengthen environmental policies. With affordable, dependable, and sustainable energy use for higher productivity and inclusive growth, Nigeria will be able to achieve its long-term development goals of good health and wellbeing.

Keywords: economic growth, energy consumption, environmental degradation, environmental Kuznets curve, urbanization, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Soo-Yong Cho, Chong-Hyun Cho, Chae-Whan Rim, Sang-Kyu Choi, Jin-Gyun Kim, Ju-Seok Nam

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Recently, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) have been widely used to produce electricity even in urban. They have several merits such as low sound noise, easy installation of the generator and simple structure without yaw-control mechanism and so on. However, their blades are operated under the influence of the trailing vortices generated by the preceding blades. This phenomenon deteriorates its output power and makes difficulty predicting correctly its performance. In order to improve the performance of VAWT, wind power towers can be applied. Usually, the wind power tower can be constructed as a multi-story building to increase the frontal area of the wind stream. Hence, multiple sets of the VAWT can be installed within the wind power tower, and they can be operated at high elevation. Many different types of wind power tower can be used in the field. In this study, a wind power tower with circular column shape was applied, and the VAWT was installed at the center of the wind power tower. Seven guide walls were used as a strut between the floors of the wind power tower. These guide walls were utilized not only to increase the wind velocity within the wind power tower but also to adjust the wind direction for making a better working condition on the VAWT. Hence, some important design variables, such as the distance between the wind turbine and the guide wall, the outer diameter of the wind power tower, the direction of the guide wall against the wind direction, should be considered to enhance the output power on the VAWT. A numerical analysis was conducted to find the optimum dimension on design variables by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) among many prediction methods. The CFD could be an accurate prediction method compared with the stream-tube methods. In order to obtain the accurate results in the CFD, it needs the transient analysis and the full three-dimensional (3-D) computation. However, this full 3-D CFD could be hard to be a practical tool because it requires huge computation time. Therefore, the reduced computational domain is applied as a practical method. In this study, the computations were conducted in the reduced computational domain and they were compared with the experimental results in the literature. It was examined the mechanism of the difference between the experimental results and the computational results. The computed results showed this computational method could be an effective method in the design methodology using the optimization algorithm. After validation of the numerical method, the CFD on the wind power tower was conducted with the important design variables affecting the performance of VAWT. The results showed that the output power of the VAWT obtained using the wind power tower was increased compared to them obtained without the wind power tower. In addition, they showed that the increased output power on the wind turbine depended greatly on the dimension of the guide wall.

Keywords: CFD, performance, VAWT, wind power tower

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Yu-Shi Ye, Jia-Min Wu, Jhih-Ci Li

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Background: Most orthopedic inpatients and primary caregivers are elderly, and patients are at high risk of falls. We set up a quality control team to analyze the root cause and found the following issues: 1. The nursing staff did not conduct cognitive assessments of patients and their primary caregivers to ensure that health education content was understood. 2. Nurses prefer to use spoken language in health education but lack the skills to use diverse teaching materials. 3. Newly recruited nurses have insufficient awareness of fall prevention. Methods: The study subjects were 16 nurses in the orthopedic ward of a teaching hospital in central Taiwan. We implemented the following strategies: 1. Developed a fall simulation teaching plan and conducted teaching courses and assessments in the morning meeting; 2. Designed and used a "fall prevention awareness card" to improve the prevention awareness of elderly patients; 3. All staff (including new staff) received experiential education training. Results: In 2021, 40% of patients in the orthopedic wards were aged 60-79 years (792/1979) with a high risk of falls. According to data collection, the incidence of falls in hospitalized patients was 0.04% (5/12651), which exceeded the threshold of 0.02% in our ward. After completing the on-the-job education training in October, the nursing staff expressed that they were more aware of the special situation of fall prevention. Through practical sharing and drills, combined with experiential teaching strategies, nurses can reconstruct the safety awareness of fall prevention and deepen their cognitive memory. Participants scored between 30 and 80 on the pretest (16 students, mean: 72.6) and between 90 and 100 on the post-test (16 students, mean: 92.6), resulting in a 73.8% improvement in overall scores. We have a total of 4 new employees who have all completed the first 3 months of compulsory PGY courses. From January to April 2022, the incidence of falls in hospitalized patients was 0.025% (1/3969). We have made good improvements and will continue to track the outcome. Discussion: In addition to enhancing the awareness of falls among nursing staff, how-to guide patients and primary caregivers to prevent falls is also the focus of improvement. The proper way of health education can be better understood through practical exercises and case sharing.

Keywords: experiential teaching strategies, fall prevention, cognitive card, elderly patients, orthopedic wards

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Po-Chun Lee, Li-Lin Liang, Ching-Yuan Huang

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Purpose: Research on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)& online review has been widely used in service industry management research in recent years. The SERVQUAL scale is the most commonly used method to measure service quality. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to combine electronic word of mouth & online review with the SERVQUAL scale. To explore the comparative study of positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth reviews of a certain armed force general hospital in Taiwan. Data sources: This research obtained online word-of-mouth comment data on google maps from a military hospital in Taiwan in the past ten years through Internet data mining technology. Research methods: This study uses the semantic content analysis method to classify word-of-mouth reviews according to the revised PZB SERVQUAL scale. Then carry out statistical analysis. Results of data synthesis: The results of this study disclosed that the negative reviews of this military hospital in Taiwan have been increasing year by year. Under the COVID-19 epidemic, positive word-of-mouth has a downward trend. Among the five determiners of SERVQUAL of PZB, positive word-of-mouth reviews performed best in “Assurance,” with a positive review rate of 58.89%, Followed by 43.33% of “Responsiveness.” In negative word-of-mouth reviews, “Assurance” performed the worst, with a positive rate of 70.99%, followed by responsive 29.01%. Conclusions: The important conclusions of this study disclosed that the total number of electronic word-of-mouth reviews of the military hospital has revealed positive growth in recent years, and the positive word-of-mouth growth has revealed negative growth after the epidemic of COVID-19, while the negative word-of-mouth has grown substantially. Regardless of the positive and negative comments, what patients care most about is “Assurance” of the professional attitude and skills of the medical staff, which needs to be strengthened most urgently. In addition, good “Reliability” will help build positive word-of-mouth. However, poor “Responsiveness” can easily lead to the spread of negative word-of-mouth. This study suggests that the hospital should focus on these few service-oriented quality management and audits.

Keywords: quality of medical service, electronic word-of-mouth, armed forces general hospital

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: William Creighton, Jan Smitheram

Abstract:

Queer discourse has been tied to a middle-class, urban-centric, white approach to the discussion of queerness. In doing so, the multilayeredness of queer existence has been washed away in favour of palatable queer occupation. This paper uses design to explore a queer anti-urbanist approach to facilitate a more egalitarian architectural occupancy. Scott Herring’s work on queer anti-urbanism is key to this approach. Herring redeploys anti-urbanism from its historical understanding of open hostility, rejection and desire to destroy the city towards a mode of queer critique that counters normative ideals of homonormative metronormative gay lifestyles. He questions how queer identity has been closed down into a more diminutive frame where those who do not fit within this frame are subjected to persecution or silenced through their absence. We extend these ideas through design to ask how a queer anti-urbanist approach facilitates a more egalitarian architectural occupancy. Following a “design as research” methodology, the design outputs allow a vehicle to ask how we might live, otherwise, in architectural space. A design as research methodologically is a process of questioning, designing and reflecting – in a non-linear, iterative approach – establishes itself through three projects, each increasing in scale and complexity. Each of the three scales tackled a different body relationship. The project began exploring the relations between body to body, body to known others, and body to unknown others. Moving through increasing scales was not to privilege the objective, the public and the large scale; instead, ‘intra-scaling’ acts as a tool to re-think how scale reproduces normative ideas of the identity of space. There was a queering of scale. Through this approach, the results were an installation that brings two people together to co-author space where the installation distorts the sensory experience and forces a more intimate and interconnected experience challenging our socialized proxemics: knees might touch. To queer the home, the installation was used as a drawing device, a tool to study and challenge spatial perception, drawing convention, and as a way to process practical information about the site and existing house – the device became a tool to embrace the spontaneous. The final design proposal operates as a multi-scalar boundary-crossing through “private” and “public” to support kinship through communal labour, queer relationality and mooring. The resulting design works to set adrift bodies in a sea of sensations through a mix of pleasure programmes. To conclude, through three design proposals, this design research creates a relationship between queer anti-urbanism and design. It asserts that queering the design process and outcome allows a more inclusive way to consider place, space and belonging. The projects lend to a queer relationality and interdependence by making spaces that support the unsettled, out-of-place, but is it queer enough?

Keywords: queer, queer anti-urbanism, design as research, design

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