Search results for: water technologies

Authors: Stefano Iannello, Massimiliano Materazzi

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Fluidized bed reactor technologies are one of the most valuable pathways for thermochemical conversions of biogenic fuels due to their good operating flexibility. Nevertheless, there are still issues related to the mixing and separation of heterogeneous phases during operation with highly volatile feedstocks, including biomass and waste. At high temperatures, the volatile content of the feedstock is released in the form of the so-called endogenous bubbles, which generally exert a “lift” effect on the particle itself by dragging it up to the bed surface. Such phenomenon leads to high release of volatile matter into the freeboard and limited mass and heat transfer with particles of the bed inventory. The aim of this work is to get a better understanding of the behaviour of a single reacting particle in a hot fluidized bed reactor during the devolatilization stage. The analysis has been undertaken at different fluidization regimes and temperatures to closely mirror the operating conditions of waste-to-energy processes. Beechwood and polypropylene particles were used to resemble the biomass and plastic fractions present in waste materials, respectively. The non-invasive X-ray technique was coupled to particle tracking algorithms to characterize the motion of a single feedstock particle during the devolatilization with high resolution. A high-energy X-ray beam passes through the vessel where absorption occurs, depending on the distribution and amount of solids and fluids along the beam path. A high-speed video camera is synchronised to the beam and provides frame-by-frame imaging of the flow patterns of fluids and solids within the fluidized bed up to 72 fps (frames per second). A comprehensive mathematical model has been developed in order to validate the experimental results. Beech wood and polypropylene particles have shown a very different dynamic behaviour during the pyrolysis stage. When the feedstock is fed from the bottom, the plastic material tends to spend more time within the bed than the biomass. This behaviour can be attributed to the presence of the endogenous bubbles, which drag effect is more pronounced during the devolatilization of biomass, resulting in a lower residence time of the particle within the bed. At the typical operating temperatures of thermochemical conversions, the synthetic polymer softens and melts, and the bed particles attach on its outer surface, generating a wet plastic-sand agglomerate. Consequently, this additional layer of sand may hinder the rapid evolution of volatiles in the form of endogenous bubbles, and therefore the establishment of a poor drag effect acting on the feedstock itself. Information about the mixing and segregation of solid feedstock is of prime importance for the design and development of more efficient industrial-scale operations.

Keywords: fluidized bed, pyrolysis, waste feedstock, X-ray

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Authors: Fatma Koksal Çakirlar, Si̇nem Ozdemir, Selcan Akyol, Revazi̇ye Gulesen, Murat Gunaydin, Nevri̇ye Gonullu, Belkis Levent, Nuri̇ Kiraz

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Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 are the causative agent of epidemic or pandemic cholera. V. cholerae O1 is generally accepted as a non-invasive enterotoxigenic organism causing gastroenteritis of various severities. Non-O1 V. cholerae can cause small outbreaks of diarrhea due to consumption of contaminated food and water. Particularly, the patients with achlorydria have a risk for vibrio infections. There are numerous case reports of bacteremia caused by vibrio in patients with predisposing conditions like cirrhosis, nephrotic syndrome, diabetes, hematologic malignancy, gastrectomy, and AIDS. We described in this study the first case of nontoxigenic, non-01/non-O139 V. cholerae isolated from the blood culture of a 77-year-old female patient with hipertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, gout and about 9 years ago migrated breast cancer history. The patient with complaints of shortness of breath, fever and malaise admitted to our emergency clinic were evaluated. There was no diarrhea or abdominal symptoms in the patient. No growth in her urine culture, but blood culture (BACTEC 9120 system, Becton Dickinson, USA) was positive for non-01/non-O139 V. cholerae that was identified by conventional methods and Phoenix automated system (BD Diagnostic Systems, Sparks, MD). It does not secrete the cholera toxin. The agglutination test was negative with polyvalent O1 antisera and O139 antiserum. Empirically ceftriaxone was administered to the patient and she was discharged with improvement in general condition. In this study we report bacteremia by non-01/non-O139 V. cholerae that is rare in the worldwide and first in Turkey.

Keywords: bacteremia, blood culture, immunocompromised patient, Non-O1 vibrio cholerae

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Authors: Violina Angelova, Mariana Perifanova-Nemska, Krasimir Ivanov

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The aim of this research was to investigate the potential for the use of Ricinus communis L. (castor oil plant) to remediate metal-polluted sites. This study was performed in industrially polluted soils containing high concentrations of Zn, Pb and Cd, situated at different distances (0.3, 2.0 and 15.0 km) from the source of pollution - the Non-Ferrous Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. On reaching commercial ripeness, the castor oil plants were gathered and the contents of heavy metals in their different parts – roots, stems, leaves and seeds, were determined after dry ashing. Physico-chemical characterization, total, DTPA extractable and water-soluble metals in rhizospheric soil samples were carried. Translocation factors (TFs) were also determined. The quantitative measurements were carried out with ICP. A soxhlet extraction was used for the extraction of the oil, using hexane as solvent. The oil was recovered by simple distillation of the solvent. The residual oil obtained was investigated for physicochemical parameters and fatty acid composition. Bioaccumulation factor and translocation factor values (BAF and TF > 1) were greater than one suggesting efficient accumulation in the shoot. The castor oil plant may be preferred as a good candidate for phytoremediation (phytoextraction). These results indicate that R. communis has good potential for removing Pb from contaminated soils attributed to its fast growth, high biomass, strong absorption and accumulation for Pb. The concentrations of heavy metals in the oil were low as seed coats accumulated the highest concentrations of Cd and Pb. In addition, the result of the fatty acid composition analysis confirms the oil to be of good quality and can be used for industrial purposes such as cosmetics, soaps and paint.

Keywords: castor bean, heavy metals, phytoremediation, polluted soils

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Authors: Y. Hajjam, I. T. Alami, S. M. Udupa, S. Cherkaoui

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Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important food legume crop in Morocco. It is mainly used as human food and feed for animals. Faba bean also plays an important role in cereal-based cropping systems, when rotated with cereals it improves soil fertility by fixing N2 in root nodules mediated by Rhizobium. Both faba bean and its biological nitrogen fixation symbiotic bacterium Rhizobium are affected by different stresses such as: salinity, drought, pH, heavy metal, and the uptake of inorganic phosphate compounds. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the phenotypic diversity among the faba bean rhizobial isolates and to select the tolerant strains that can fix N2 under environmental constraints for inoculation particularly for affected soils, in order to enhance the productivity of faba bean and to improve soil fertility. Result have shown that 62% of isolates were fast growing with the ability of producing acids compounds , while 38% of isolates are slow growing with production of alkalins. Moreover, 42.5% of these isolates were able to solubilize inorganic phosphate Ca3(PO4)2 and the index of solubilization was ranged from 2.1 to 3.0. The resistance to extreme pH, temperature, water stress heavy metals and antibiotics lead us to classify rhizobial isolates into different clusters. Finally, the authentication test under greenhouse conditions showed that 55% of the rhizobial isolates could induce nodule formation on faba bean (Vicia faba L.) under greenhouse experiment. This phenotypic characterization may contribute to improve legumes and non legumes crops especially in affected soils and also to increase agronomic yield in the dry areas.

Keywords: rhizobia, vicia faba, phenotypic characterization, nodule formation, environmental constraints

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Authors: Revalin Herdianto

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Recent climate changes increase uncertainties in vegetation conditions such as health and biomass globally and locally. The detection is, however, difficult due to the spatial and temporal scale of vegetation coverage. Due to unique vegetation response to its environmental conditions such as water availability, the interplay between vegetation dynamics and hydrologic conditions leave a signature in their feedback relationship. Vegetation indices (VI) depict vegetation biomass and photosynthetic capacity that indicate vegetation dynamics as a response to variables including hydrologic conditions and microclimate factors such as rainfall characteristics and land surface temperature (LST). It is hypothesized that the signature may be depicted by VI in its relationship with other variables. To study this signature, several catchments in Asia, Australia, and Indonesia were analysed to assess the variations in hydrologic characteristics with vegetation types. Methods used in this study includes geographic identification and pixel marking for studied catchments, analysing time series of VI and LST of the marked pixels, smoothing technique using Savitzky-Golay filter, which is effective for large area and extensive data. Time series of VI, LST, and rainfall from satellite and ground stations coupled with digital elevation models were analysed and presented. This study found that the hydrologic response of vegetation to rainfall variations may be shown in one hydrologic year, in which a drought event can be detected a year later as a suppressed growth. However, an annual rainfall of above average do not promote growth above average as shown by VI. This technique is found to be a robust and tractable approach for assessing catchment dynamics in changing climates.

Keywords: vegetation indices, land surface temperature, vegetation dynamics, catchment

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Authors: Supakij Saisopon

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The process of economic development incurs spatial transformation. This spatial alternation also causes environmental impacts, leading to higher pollution. In the case of Thailand, there is still a lack of price-endogenous quantitative analysis incorporating relationships among economic growth, land-use change, and environmental impact. Therefore, this paper aimed at developing the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with the capability of stimulating such mutual effects. The developed CGE model has also incorporated the nested constant elasticity of transformation (CET) structure that describes the spatial redistribution mechanism between agricultural land and urban area. The simulation results showed that the 1% decrease in the availability of agricultural land lowers the value-added of agricultural by 0.036%. Similarly, the 1% reduction of availability of urban areas can decrease the value-added of manufacturing and service sectors by 0.05% and 0.047%, respectively. Moreover, the outcomes indicate that the increasing farming and urban areas induce higher volumes of solid waste, wastewater, and air pollution. Specifically, the 1% increase in the urban area can increase pollution as follows: (1) the solid waste increase by 0.049%, (2) water pollution ̶ indicated by biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) value ̶ increase by 0.051% and (3) air pollution ̶ indicated by the volumes of CO₂, N₂O, NOₓ, CH₄, and SO₂ ̶ increase within the range of 0.045%–0.051%. With the simulation for exploring the sustainable development path, a 1% increase in agricultural land use efficiency leads to the shrinking demand for agricultural land. But this is not happening in urban, a 1% scale increase in urban utilization results in still increasing demand for land. Therefore, advanced clean production technology is necessary to align the increasing land-use efficiency with the lowered pollution density.

Keywords: CGE model, CET structure, environmental impact, land use

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Authors: Juan Manuel Uriarte Lopez, Hector Raul Guemez Gaxiola, Javier Alonso Romo Rubio, Juan Manuel Romo Valdez

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The objective of this investigation was to determine the influence of the use of recycled vegetable oil from restaurants in the productive performance of sows in lactation. Twenty-four hybrids lactating sows (Landrace x Yorkshire) were divided into three treatments with eight sows per treatment. On day 107 of gestation, the sows were moved to the mesh floor maternity cages in an environment regulated by the environment regulated (2.4 × 0.6 m) contained an area (2.4 × 0.5 m) for newborn pigs on each side, all diets were provided as a dry powder, and the sows received free access to water throughout the experimental period. After farrowing, the sows were fasted for 12 hours, the daily feed ration gradually increased, and the sows had ad libitum access to feed on the fourth day. The diets used were corn-soybean meal-based, containing 0 (CONT), recycled vegetable oil 1.0 % (RVOL), or recycled vegetable oil 1.5 % (RVOH) for 30 days. The diets contained similar calculated levels of crude protein and metabolizable energy and contained vitamins and minerals that exceeded National Research Council (1998) recommendations; sows were fed three times daily. On day 30, piglets were weaned, and performances of lactating sows and nursery piglets were recorded. Results indicated that average daily feed intake (5.58, 5.55, and 5.49 kg for CONT, RVOL, and RVO, respectively) of sows were not affected (P > 0.05) by different dietary. There was no difference in the average body weight of piglets on the day of birth, with 1.33, 1.36, and 1.35 kg, respectively (P > 0.05). There was no difference in average body weight of piglets on day 30, with 6.91, 6.75, and 7.05 kg, respectively 0.05) between treatments numbers of weaned piglets per sow (9.95, 9.80, and 9.80) were not affected by treatments (P > 0.05).In conclusion, the substitution of virgin vegetable oil for recycled vegetable oil in the diet does not affect the productive performance of lactating sows.

Keywords: lactating, sow, vegetable, oil

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Authors: Mark Darius Juszczak

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While epistemology, as a sub-field of philosophy, is generally concerned with theoretical questions about the nature of knowledge, the explosion in digital media technologies has resulted in an exponential increase in the storage and transmission of human information. That increase has resulted in a particular non-linear dynamic – digital epistemological functions are radically altering how and what we know. Neither the rate of that change nor the consequences of it have been well studied or taken into account in developing state-level strategies for epistemological functions. At the current time, US Federal policy, like that of virtually all other countries, maintains, at the national state level, clearly defined boundaries between various epistemological agencies - agencies that, in one way or another, mediate the functional use of knowledge. These agencies can take the form of patent and trademark offices, national library and archive systems, departments of education, departments such as the FTC, university systems and regulations, military research systems such as DARPA, federal scientific research agencies, medical and pharmaceutical accreditation agencies, federal funding for scientific research and legislative committees and subcommittees that attempt to alter the laws that govern epistemological functions. All of these agencies are in the constant process of creating, analyzing, and regulating knowledge. Those processes are, at the most general level, epistemological functions – they act upon and define what knowledge is. At the same time, however, there are no high-level strategic epistemological directives or frameworks that define those functions. The only time in US history where a proxy state-level epistemological strategy existed was between 1961 and 1969 when the Kennedy Administration committed the United States to the Apollo program. While that program had a singular technical objective as its outcome, that objective was so technologically advanced for its day and so complex so that it required a massive redirection of state-level epistemological functions – in essence, a broad and diverse set of state-level agencies suddenly found themselves working together towards a common epistemological goal. This paper does not call for a repeat of the Apollo program. Rather, its purpose is to investigate the minimum structural requirements for a national state-level epistemological strategy in the United States. In addition, this paper also seeks to analyze how the epistemological work of the multitude of national agencies within the United States would be affected by such a high-level framework. This paper is an exploratory study of this type of framework. The primary hypothesis of the author is that such a function is possible but would require extensive re-framing and reclassification of traditional epistemological functions at the respective agency level. In much the same way that, for example, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) evolved to respond to a new type of security threat in the world for the United States, it is theorized that a lack of coordination and alignment in epistemological functions will equally result in a strategic threat to the United States.

Keywords: strategic security, epistemological functions, epistemological agencies, Apollo program

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Authors: Abdulwakeel B. Raji

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This paper introduces a concept of an intelligent virtual learning environment that involves communication between learners and an artificially intelligent teaching agent in an attempt to replicate classroom learning interactions. The benefits of this technology over current e-learning practices is that it creates a virtual classroom where real time adaptive learning interactions are made possible. This is a move away from the static learning practices currently being adopted by e-learning systems. Over the years, artificial intelligence has been applied to various fields, including and not limited to medicine, military applications, psychology, marketing etc. The purpose of e-learning applications is to ensure users are able to learn outside of the classroom, but a major limitation has been the inability to fully replicate classroom interactions between teacher and students. This study used comparative surveys to gain information and understanding of the current learning practices in Nigerian universities and how they compare to these practices compare to the use of a developed e-learning system. The study was conducted by attending several lectures and noting the interactions between lecturers and tutors and as an aftermath, a software has been developed that deploys the use of an artificial intelligent teaching-agent alongside an e-learning system to enhance user learning experience and attempt to create the similar learning interactions to those found in classroom and lecture hall settings. Dialogflow has been used to implement a teaching-agent, which has been developed using JSON, which serves as a virtual teacher. Course content has been created using HTML, CSS, PHP and JAVASCRIPT as a web-based application. This technology can run on handheld devices and Google based home technologies to give learners an access to the teaching agent at any time. This technology also implements the use of definite clause grammars and natural language processing to match user inputs and requests with defined rules to replicate learning interactions. This technology developed covers familiar classroom scenarios such as answering users’ questions, asking ‘do you understand’ at regular intervals and answering subsequent requests, taking advanced user queries to give feedbacks at other periods. This software technology uses deep learning techniques to learn user interactions and patterns to subsequently enhance user learning experience. A system testing has been undergone by undergraduate students in the UK and Nigeria on the course ‘Introduction to Database Development’. Test results and feedback from users shows that this study and developed software is a significant improvement on existing e-learning systems. Further experiments are to be run using the software with different students and more course contents.

Keywords: virtual learning, natural language processing, definite clause grammars, deep learning, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Husaini Sama

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The study was conducted, in a 120 - day’s trial, to monitor the performance of growing Rahaji bulls fed different crop residues. There were four experimental treatments, each containing three (3) bull-calves. The first three (experimental) diets were prepared with rice straw, millet stalks and a combination of the two in equal proportions. These 3 diets were supplemented with concentrates. Treatments 1, 2 and 3 consisted of rice straw, millet stalk and combination of rice straw and millet stalk in equal ratio, respectively as basal feeds, while, Treatment 4 (containing standard diet of cow pea haulms, rice straw and wheat offal) served as control to compare with the other treatments. Data on feed intake and livability was collected on daily basis and that of live weight gain and feed conversion ratio were collected fortnightly, but data on apparent nutrient retention trial was collected towards the end of the experiment. Water was offered ad libitum. Records obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS (1988) software package in accordance with a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Results obtained indicated that feed intake was significantly higher (P<0.05) for calves on treatments 3 and 4 compared to those on treatments 1and 2. The study observed that it was cheaper to formulate diets 2 and 3 than the other 2 diets. The control diet (T4) was observed to be relatively more expensive than the other 3 formulated diets. It was concluded from the findings that, concentrate containing combination of rice straw and cereal stalks was economical and satisfactory for feeding growing Rahaji bulls in this ecological zone (Semi-arid environment).

Keywords: rahaji bulls, crop residues, concentrates, semi-arid environment

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Authors: Prabir Kumar Paul, Joyeeta Mitra

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Ergosterol, is an important fungal metabolite on phylloplane which is not synthesised by plants. However, the functional requirement of ergosterol to the plants is still an enigma. Being ubiquitously present in all plants except algae needs an insight into its physiological implication. The present study aimed at understanding if and how ergosterol influences the physiology of chloroplast particularly the activity of RuBisCo and carbonic anhydrase. The concept of the study was based on one of our earlier observation of enhanced Hills reaction in plants treated with fungal metabolites which contained ergosterol. The fungal metabolite treated plants had a significantly high concentration of photosynthetic pigments. Eight-week-old tomato plants raised under aseptic conditions at 25 + 10 C, 75 % relative humidity and 12 hour L/D photoperiod. Metabolites of Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum were sprayed on plants either singly or in a 1: 1 combination. A separate group of plants was also treated with 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0. 7.0 mg ergosterol / ml of n- heptane. Control plants were treated with sterile distilled water only. Plants were sampled at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours of treatment. RuBisCo and carbonic anhydrase was estimated from sampled leaves. RuBisCo was separated on 1D SDS-PAGE and subjected to MALDI – TOF- TOF – MS analysis. The presence of ergosterol in fungal metabolites was confirmed. Fungal metabolites significantly enhanced the concentration and activity of RuBisCo and carbonic anhydrase. The Vmax activity of the enzymes was significantly high in metabolite treated plants. 1:1 mix of metabolite was more effective than when applied individually. Insilico analysis revealed, RuBisCo subunits had a binding site for ergosterol and in its presence affinity of Co2 to the enzyme increased by several folds. Invivo activity of RuBisCo was significantly elicited by ergosterol. Results of the present study indicate that ergosterol from phylloplane microfungi probably regulates the binding of Co2 to RuBisCo along with activity of carbonic anhydrase thereby modulating the physiology of choloroplast.

Keywords: carbonic anhydrase, ergosterol, phylloplane, RuBisCo

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Authors: F. Pal-Fam, S. Keszthelyi

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Phytosanitary condition of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) was endangered by several phytopathogenic agents, mainly microfungi, such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Diaporthe helianthi, Plasmopara halstedtii, Macrophomina phaseolina and so on. There are more agrotechnical and chemical technologies against them, for instance, tolerant hybrids, crop rotations and eventually several in-crop chemical treatments. There are different fungicide treatment methods in sunflower in Hungarian agricultural practice in the quest of obtaining healthy and economic plant products. Besides, there are many choices of useable active ingredients in Hungarian sunflower protection. This study carried out into the examination of the effect of five different fungicide active substances (found on the market) and three different application modes (early; late; and early and late treatments) in a total number of 9 sample plots, 0.1 ha each other. Five successive vegetation periods have been investigated in long term, between 2013 and 2017. The treatments were: 1)untreated control; 2) boscalid and dimoxystrobin late treatment (July); 3) boscalid and dimoxystrobin early treatment (June); 4) picoxystrobin and cyproconazole early treatment; 5) picoxystrobin and cymoxanil and famoxadone early treatment; 6) picoxystrobin and cyproconazole early; cymoxanil and famoxadone late treatments; 7) picoxystrobin and cyproconazole early; picoxystrobin and cymoxanil and famoxadone late treatments; 8) trifloxystrobin and cyproconazole early treatment; and 9) trifloxystrobin and cyproconazole both early and late treatments. Due to the very different yearly weather conditions different phytopathogenic fungi were dominant in the particular years: Diaporthe and Alternaria in 2013; Alternaria and Sclerotinia in 2014 and 2015; Alternaria, Sclerotinia and Diaporthe in 2016; and Alternaria in 2017. As a result of treatments ‘infection frequency’ and ‘infestation rate’ showed a significant decrease compared to the control plot. There were no significant differences between the efficacies of the different fungicide mixes; all were almost the same effective against the phytopathogenic fungi. The most dangerous Sclerotinia infection was practically eliminated in all of the treatments. Among the single treatments, the late treatment realised in July was the less efficient, followed by the early treatments effectuated in June. The most efficient was the double treatments realised in both June and July, resulting 70-80% decrease of the infection frequency, respectively 75-90% decrease of the infestation rate, comparing with the control plot in the particular years. The lowest yield quantity was observed in the control plot, followed by the late single treatment. The yield of the early single treatments was higher, while the double treatments showed the highest yield quantities (18.3-22.5% higher than the control plot in particular years). In total, according to our five years investigation, the most effective application mode is the double in-crop treatment per vegetation time, which is reflected by the yield surplus.

Keywords: fungicides, treatments, phytopathogens, sunflower

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Authors: Maryam Hamlehdar, Guillermo A. Narsilio

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To enhance the feasibility of utilising geothermal hot sedimentary aquifers (HSAs) for clean hydrogen production, one approach is the implementation of solar-integrated geothermal energy systems. This detailed modelling study conducts a thermo-economic assessment of an advanced Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)-based hydrogen production system that uses low-temperature geothermal reservoirs, with a specific focus on hot sedimentary aquifers (HSAs) over a 30-year period. In the proposed hybrid system, solar-thermal energy is used to raise the water temperature extracted from the geothermal production well. This temperature increase leads to a higher steam output, powering the turbine and subsequently enhancing the electricity output for running the electrolyser. Thermodynamic modeling of a parabolic trough solar (PTS) collector is developed and integrated with modeling for a geothermal-based configuration. This configuration includes a closed regenerator cycle (CRC), proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser, and thermoelectric generator (TEG). Following this, the study investigates the impact of solar energy use on the temperature enhancement of the geothermal reservoir. It assesses the resulting consequences on the lifecycle performance of the hydrogen production system in comparison with a standalone geothermal system. The results indicate that, with the appropriate solar collector area, a combined solar-geothermal hydrogen production system outperforms a standalone geothermal system in both cost and rate of production. These findings underscore a solar-assisted geothermal hybrid system holds the potential to generate lower-cost hydrogen with enhanced efficiency, thereby boosting the appeal of numerous low to medium-temperature geothermal sources for hydrogen production.

Keywords: clean hydrogen production, integrated solar-geothermal, low-temperature geothermal energy, numerical modelling

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Authors: Pramod Jagtap, Kisan Jadhav, Neha Dand

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Risperidone (RISP) is an antipsychotic agent and has low water solubility and nontargeted delivery results in numerous side effects. Hence, an attempt was made to develop SLNs hydrogel for intranasal delivery of RISP to achieve maximum bioavailability and reduction of side effects. RISP loaded SLNs composed of 1.65% (w/v) lipid mass were produced by high shear homogenization (HSH) coupled ultrasound (US) method using glyceryl monostearate (GMS) or Imwitor 900K (solid lipid). The particles were loaded with 0.2% (w/v) of the RISP & surface-tailored with a 2.02% (w/v) non-ionic surfactant Tween® 80. Optimization was done using 32 factorial design using Design Expert® software. The prepared SLNs dispersion incorporated into Polycarbophil AA1 hydrogel (0.5% w/v). The final gel formulation was evaluated for entrapment efficiency, particle size, rheological properties, X ray diffraction, in vitro diffusion, ex vivo permeation using sheep nasal mucosa and histopathological studies for nasocilliary toxicity. The entrapment efficiency of optimized SLNs was found to be 76 ± 2 %, polydispersity index <0.3., particle size 278 ± 5 nm. This optimized batch was incorporated into hydrogel. The pH was found to be 6.4 ± 0.14. The rheological behaviour of hydrogel formulation revealed no thixotropic behaviour. In histopathology study, there was no nasocilliary toxicity observed in nasal mucosa after ex vivo permeation. X-ray diffraction data shows drug was in amorphous form. Ex vivo permeation study shows controlled release profile of drug.

Keywords: ex vivo, particle size, risperidone, solid lipid nanoparticles

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Authors: Samir El-Gendy, Doaa Zaghloul

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The current study dealt with the gross and microscopic anatomy of the integument of male ostrich in addition to the histological features of different areas of skin by light and SEM. The ostrich skin is characterized by prominent feather follicles and bristles. The number of feather follicles was determined per cm2 in different regions. The integument of ostrich had many modifications which appeared as callosities and scales, nail and toe pads. They were sternal, pubic and Achilles tendon callosities. The vacuolated epidermal cells were seen mainly in the skin of legs and to a lesser extent in the skin of back and Achilles areas. Higher lipogenic potential was expressed by epidermis from glabrous areas of ostrich skin. The dermal papillae were found in the skin of feathered area of neck and back and this was not a common finding in bird's skin which may give resistance against shearing forces in these regions of ostrich skin. The thickness of the keratin layer of ostrich varied, being thick and characteristically loose in the skin at legs, very thin and wavy at neck, while at Achilles skin area, scale and toe pad were thick and more compact, with the thickest very dense and wavy keratin layer at the nail. The dermis consisted of superficial layer of dense irregular connective tissue characterized by presence of many vacuoles of different sizes just under the basal lamina of the epithelium of epidermis and deep layer of dense regular connective tissue. This result suggested presence of fat droplets in this layer which may be to overcome the lack of good barrier of cutaneous water loss in epidermis.

Keywords: ostrich, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, integument, skin modifications

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Authors: M. K. Mzuza, W. Zhang, L. S. Chapola, M. Tembo

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Shire River is the largest and longest river in Malawi emptying its water into the Zambezi River in Mozambique. Siltation is now a major problem in the Shire River due to catchment degradation. This study analysed soil samples from tributaries of the Shire River to determine sources of sediments that cause siltation using the mineral magnetic approach. Bulk sediments and separated particle size fractions of representative samples were collected from tributaries on the western and eastern sides of the Shire River, and Nkula Dam. Eastern tributaries showed relatively higher ferrimagnetic mineral contents and ferrimagnetic to anti ferromagnetic ratios than western tributaries. Sediments from both sides of the Shire River were distinguished by χARM, SIRM versus χlf and S-100 versus SIRM. Findings in this study showed that most of the sediments originated from the western part of the Shire River. Tributaries on the eastern side of the Shire River had higher values for concentration related parameters (χlf, χfd, χARM, SIRM, HIRM, S-100, and χARM/SIRM) than tributaries on the western side. Bulky and detailed magnetic measurements carried out on particle size fractions provided additional confirmation of magnetic contrasts between the two sides of the river suggesting differences in lithology, topography, climate and weather regimes in the catchments. This study demonstrated that the magnetic approach can provide a reliable means of understanding major sediment sources of Nkula Dam and similar situations. It can also help to assess future variations in sediment composition resulting from catchment changes

Keywords: ferrimagnetic minerals, Shire River, tributaries rivers, particle size , topography

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Authors: Sameen Tariq, Saira Bano, Sayyada Ghufrana Nadeem

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The Ocean, which covers over 70% of the world's surface, is wealthy in biodiversity as well as a rich wellspring of microorganisms with huge potential. The oceanic climate is home to an expansive scope of plants, creatures, and microorganisms. Marine microbial networks, which incorporate microscopic organisms, infections, and different microorganisms, enjoy different benefits in biotechnological processes. Samples were collected from marine environments, including soil and water samples, to cultivate the uncultured marine organisms by using Zobell’s medium, Sabouraud’s dextrose agar, and casein media for this purpose. Following isolation, we conduct microscopy and biochemical tests, including gelatin, starch, glucose, casein, catalase, and carbohydrate hydrolysis for further identification. The results show that more gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The isolation process of marine organisms is essential for understanding their ecological roles, unraveling their biological secrets, and harnessing their potential for various applications. Marine organisms exhibit remarkable adaptations to thrive in the diverse and challenging marine environment, offering vast potential for scientific, medical, and industrial applications. The isolation process plays a crucial role in unlocking the secrets of marine organisms, understanding their biological functions, and harnessing their valuable properties. They offer a rich source of bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical potential, including antibiotics, anticancer agents, and novel therapeutics. This study is an attempt to explore the diversity and dynamics related to marine microflora and their role in biofilm formation.

Keywords: marine microorganisms, ecosystem, fungi, biofilm, gram-positive, gram-negative

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Authors: Ashfaq Ahmed Kharal

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The study asserts that environment-friendly practices are increasingly being used by businesses throughout the world. Today, there is a great deal of interest in green management from both practitioners and academics. People expect managers to use resources intelligently and responsibly and to minimize the use of water, minerals, and other components in the finished products, as a crucial factor in this passion. The ethical or moral relevance of green management cannot be overstated. Employee Green Behavior (EGB) and environmental sustainability were shown to be significantly influenced by green human resource management (GHRM) in this study. Environmental issues, such as climate change, global warming, and resource conservation have a direct impact on business activities. The environment, society, and economy all suffer as a result of such obstacles. The depletion of natural resources needs immediate replenishment. As a result of government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), environmental activists, and labor unions putting pressure on businesses and firms are now required to operate in ecologically responsible ways. Organizations are increasingly concerned about environmental sustainability in light of contemporary environmental circumstances and commercial marketplaces. Companies that emphasize long-term viability will benefit from integrating green employee behavior, green human resource management techniques, and environmental sustainability. Competition drives firms to respond to external causes, adapt, and evolve in response to changing conditions in the marketplace. Organizations develop strategic capabilities to transform their resources and acquire a competitive edge while implementing a business plan. The study of GHRM's function is being prioritized since environmental sustainability is becoming a more important strategic goal.

Keywords: EGB, GHRM, environment sustainability, green ecology

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Authors: Isaiah Phillip Smith, Sam Erevbenagie Usadolo, Pamela Theresa Tancsik

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This paper is part of ongoing doctoral research that examines the role of Theatre for Development (TfD) in addressing climate change in the Mosuthu community in Reservoir Hills, Durban, South Africa. The context of the research underscores the pressing challenges facing South Africa, including drought, water shortages, deterioration of land, and civil unrest that require innovative approaches to the mitigation of climate change. TfD, described as a dialogical form of theatre that allows communities to express and contribute to development, emerges as a strategic medium for engaging communities in the process. The research problem focused on the unexamined potential of TfD in promoting community involvement and critical awareness of climate change. The study objectives included assessing the community's understanding of climate change, exploring TfD's potential as a participatory tool, examining its role in community mobilization, and developing recommendations for its effective implementation. A review of relevant literature and preliminary investigations in the research community indicates that TfD is an effective medium for promoting societal transformation and engaging marginalized communities. Through culturally resonant narratives, TfD can instill a deeper understanding of environmental challenges, fostering empathy and motivating behavioural changes. By integrating community voices and cultural elements, TfD serves as a powerful catalyst for promoting climate change awareness and inspiring collective action within the South African context. This research contributes to the global discourse on innovative approaches to climate change awareness and action.

Keywords: TfD, climate change, community involvement, societal transformation, culture

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Authors: Goksel Ezgi Guzey, Bihrat Onoz

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The scarcity of streamflow gauging stations and the increasing effects of global warming cause designing water management systems to be very difficult. This study is a significant contribution to assessing regional regression models for estimating streamflow. In this study, simulated meteorological data was related to the observed streamflow data from 1971 to 2020 for 33 stream gauging stations of the Euphrates-Tigris Basin. Ordinary least squares regression was used to predict flow for 2020-2100 with the simulated meteorological data. CORDEX- EURO and CORDEX-MENA domains were used with 0.11 and 0.22 grids, respectively, to estimate climate conditions under certain climate scenarios. Twelve meteorological variables simulated by two regional climate models, RCA4 and RegCM4, were used as independent variables in the ordinary least squares regression, where the observed streamflow was the dependent variable. The variability of streamflow was then calculated with 5-6 meteorological variables and watershed characteristics such as area and height prior to the application. Of the regression analysis of 31 stream gauging stations' data, the stations were subjected to a clustering analysis, which grouped the stations in two clusters in terms of their hydrometeorological properties. Two streamflow equations were found for the two clusters of stream gauging stations for every domain and every regional climate model, which increased the efficiency of streamflow estimation by a range of 10-15% for all the models. This study underlines the importance of homogeneity of a region in estimating streamflow not only in terms of the geographical location but also in terms of the meteorological characteristics of that region.

Keywords: hydrology, streamflow estimation, climate change, hydrologic modeling, HBV, hydropower

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Authors: Parastou Kharazmi

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Degradation of building materials particularly pipelines causes environmental damage during renovation or replacement and is a time consuming and costly process. Rehabilitation by polymer composites is a solution for renovation of degraded pipeline in heritage buildings and other structures which are less costly, faster and causes less damage to the environment; however, it is still not clear for how long these materials can perform as expected in the field and working condition. To study their service life, two types of composites based on Epoxy and Polyester resins have been evaluated by accelerated exposure and field exposure. The primary degradation agent used in accelerated exposure has been cycling temperature with half of the tests performed in presence of water. Thin films of materials used in accelerated testing were prepared in laboratory by using the same amount of material as well as technique of multi-layers application used in majority of the field installations. Extreme intensity levels of degradation agents have been used only to evaluate materials properties and as also mentioned in ISO 15686, are not directly correlated with degradation mechanisms that would be experienced in service. In the field exposure study, the focus has been to identify possible failure modes, causes, and effects. In field exposure, it has been observed that there are other degradation agents present which can be investigated further such as presence of contaminants and rust before application which prevents formation of a uniform layer of polymer or incompatibility between dissimilar materials. This part of the study also highlighted the importance of application’s quality of the materials in the field for providing the expected performance and service life. Results from extended accelerated exposure and field exposure can help in choosing inspection techniques, establishing the primary degradation agents and can be used for ageing exposure programs with clarifying relationship between different exposure periods and sites.

Keywords: building, renovation, service life, pipelines

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Authors: Sajjad Jafari

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Background and Aim: The use of herbal medicines has a long history. Today, due to the resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics and antimicrobial substances, herbal medicines have attracted attention due to their significant antimicrobial effects and low toxicity. This study aims to systematically review the antimicrobial effects of different plant extracts (Quercus infectoria) as possible candidates for treating infectious diseases. Material and Methods: The present study is a review study by searching reputable scientific databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science from 2000 to 2023 using the keywords Antimicrobial, Quercus infectoria, Medicinal herbal, Infectious diseases the latest information obtained. Results: In this study, 45 articles were found and reviewed. Quercus infectoria is a small tree native to Greece, Asia Minor, and Iran. Quercus is a plant genus in the family of Fagaceae. This species is generally known under the name ‘‘baloot” in Iran and is commonly used as a medicinal plant. The extracts used included water, hydro-alcoholic, ethanol, methanol. This plant had high inhibition activity and a lethal effect on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria of ATCC strains, hospital, and resistant strains. Therefore, in addition to antibacterial effects, antiparasitic and antifungal effects. The seed of the plant was the most used and the most effective antimicrobial extract among the ethanol and methanol extracts. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that Quercus infectoria has significant antimicrobial effects against a wide range of microorganisms. This makes it a potential candidate for the development of new antimicrobial drugs. Further research is needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of Quercus infectoria in clinical trials.

Keywords: antimicrobial, Quercus infectoria, medicinal herbal, infectious diseases

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Authors: Eunsong Lee, Gae Baik Kim, Young Pil Kim

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Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the endocrine disruptors (EDCs), which have been suspected to be associated with reproductive dysfunction and physiological abnormality in human. Since the BPA has been widely used to make plastics and epoxy resins, the leach of BPA from the lining of plastic products has been of major concern, due to its environmental or human exposure issues. The simple detection of BPA based on the self-assembly of aptamer-mediated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been reported elsewhere, yet the detection sensitivity still remains challenging. Here we demonstrate an improved AuNP-based sensor of BPA by using fluorescence-combined AuNP colorimetry in order to overcome the drawback of traditional AuNP sensors. While the anti-BPA aptamer (full length or truncated ssDNA) triggered the self-assembly of unmodified AuNP (citrate-stabilized AuNP) in the presence of BPA at high salt concentrations, no fluorescence signal was observed by the subsequent addition of SYBR Green, due to a small amount of free anti-BPA aptamer. In contrast, the absence of BPA did not cause the self-assembly of AuNPs (no color change by salt-bridged surface stabilization) and high fluorescence signal by SYBP Green, which was due to a large amount of free anti-BPA aptamer. As a result, the quantitative analysis of BPA was achieved using the combination of absorption of AuNP with fluorescence intensity of SYBR green as a function of BPA concentration, which represented more improved detection sensitivity (as low as 1 ppb) than did in the AuNP colorimetric analysis. This method also enabled to detect high BPA in water-soluble extracts from thermal papers with high specificity against BPS and BPF. We suggest that this approach will be alternative for traditional AuNP colorimetric assays in the field of aptamer-based molecular diagnosis.

Keywords: bisphenol A, colorimetric, fluoroscence, gold-aptamer nanobiosensor

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Augustus K. Lebechi, Kenneth I. Ozoemena

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Rechargeable zinc-air batteries (RZABs) have been described as one of the most viable next-generation ‘beyond-the-lithium-ion’ battery technologies with great potential for renewable energy storage. It is safe, with a high specific energy density (1086 Wh/kg), environmentally benign, and low-cost, especially in resource-limited African countries. For widespread commercialization, the sluggish oxygen reaction kinetics pose a major challenge that impedes the reversibility of the system. Hence, there is a need for low-cost and highly active bifunctional electrocatalysts. Manganese oxide catalysts on carbon conducting additives remain the best couple for the realization of such low-cost RZABs. In this work, hausmannite Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles were synthesized through the annealing method from commercial electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were synthesized via the electrospinning process with subsequent carbonization. Both Mn₃O₄ catalysts and the carbon conducting additives (MWCNT and CNF) were thoroughly characterized using X-ray powder diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Composite electrocatalysts (Mn₃O₄/CNT and Mn₃O₄/CNF) were investigated for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline medium. Using the established electrocatalytic modalities for evaluating the electrocatalytic performance of materials (including double layer, electrochemical active surface area, roughness factor, specific current density, and catalytic stability), CNFs proved to be the most efficient conducting additive material for the Mn₃O₄ catalyst. From the DFT calculations, the higher performance of the CNFs over the MWCNTs is related to the ability of the CNFs to allow for a more favorable distribution of the d-electrons of the manganese (Mn) and enhanced synergistic effect with Mn₃O₄ for weaker adsorption energies of the oxygen intermediates (O*, OH* and OOH*). In a proof-of-concept, Mn₃O₄/CNF was investigated as the air cathode for rechargeable zinc-air battery (RZAB) in a micro-3D-printed cell configuration. The RZAB showed good performance in terms of open circuit voltage (1.77 V), maximum power density (177.5 mW cm-2), areal-discharge energy and cycling stability comparable to Pt/C (20 wt%) + IrO2. The findings here provide fresh physicochemical perspectives on the future design and utility of CNFs for developing manganese-based RZABs.

Keywords: bifunctional electrocatalyst, oxygen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction reactions, rechargeable zinc-air batteries.

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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

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Authors: Shamsulhaq Amin

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Drought can arise from several hydrometeorological phenomena that result in insufficient precipitation, soil moisture, and surface and groundwater flow, leading to conditions that are considerably drier than the usual water content or availability. Drought is often assessed using indices that are associated with meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological phenomena. In order to effectively handle drought disasters, it is essential to accurately determine the kind, intensity, and extent of the drought using drought characterization. This information is critical for managing the drought before, during, and after the rehabilitation process. Over a hundred drought assessments have been created in literature to evaluate drought disasters, encompassing a range of factors and variables. Some models utilise solely hydrometeorological drivers, while others employ remote sensing technology, and some incorporate a combination of both. Comprehending the entire notion of drought and taking into account drought indices along with their calculation processes are crucial for researchers in this discipline. Examining several drought metrics in different studies requires additional time and concentration. Hence, it is crucial to conduct a thorough examination of approaches used in drought indices in order to identify the most straightforward approach to avoid any discrepancies in numerous scientific studies. In case of practical application in real-world, categorizing indices relative to their usage in meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological phenomena might help researchers maximize their efficiency. Users have the ability to explore different indexes at the same time, allowing them to compare the convenience of use and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of each. Moreover, certain indices exhibit interdependence, which enhances comprehension of their connections and assists in making informed decisions about their suitability in various scenarios. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of various drought indices, analysing their types and computation methodologies in a detailed and systematic manner.

Keywords: drought classification, drought severity, drought indices, agricultur, hydrological

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Authors: J. Woźniak-Holecka, T. Holecki, S. Jaruga

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Spa treatment is an important area of the health care system in Poland due to the increasing needs of the population and the context of historical conditions for this form of therapy. It extends the range of financing possibilities of the outlets and increases the potential of spa services, which is very important in the context of demographic and epidemiological changes. The main advantages of spa treatment services include its relatively wide availability, low risk of side effects, good patient tolerance, long-lasting curative effect and a relatively low cost. In addition, patients should be provided with a proper diet and enable participation in health education and health promotion classes aimed at health problems consistent with the treatment profile. Challenges for global health care systems include a sharp increase in spending on benefits, dynamic development of health technologies and growing social expectations. This requires extending the competences of health resort facilities for health promotion. Within each type of health resort institutions in Poland, nutritional education services are implemented, aimed at creating and consolidating proper eating habits. Choosing the right diet can speed up recovery or become one of the methods to alleviate the symptoms of chronic diseases. During spa treatment patient learns the principles of rational nutrition and adequate dietotherapy to his diseases. The aim of the project is to assess the frequency and quality of nutritional education provided to patients in health resort facilities in a nationwide perspective. The material for the study will be data obtained as part of an in-depth interview conducted among Heads of Nutrition Departments of selected institutions. The use of nutritional education in a health resort may be an important goal of implementing the state health policy as a useful tool to reduce the risk of diet-related diseases. Recognizing nutritional education in health resort institutions as a type of full-value health service can be effective system support for health policy, including seniors, due to demographic changes currently occurring in the Polish population. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase the interest and motivation of patients to follow the recommendations of nutritional education, because it will bring tangible benefits for the long-term effects of therapy and care should be taken for the form and methodology of nutrition education implemented in health resort institutions. Finally it is necessary to construct an educational offer in terms of selected groups of patients with the highest health needs: the elderly and the disabled. In conclusion, it can be said that the system of nutritional education implemented in polish health resort institutions should be subjected to global changes and strong systemic correction.

Keywords: health care system, nutritional education, public health, spa and treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: G. M. B. P. Abeysekara, W. A. D. C. Wijerathna

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Terminal choice from the multiple terminals region is not a simple decision and it is very complex, because shipping lines should consider on influential factors for the terminal choice at once according to their requirement. Therefore, terminal choice is a multiple criterion decision making (MCDM) situation under a specially designed decision hierarchy. Identification of perspective of shipping lines regarding terminal choice is vital important for the decision makers regarding container terminals. Thus this study is evaluated perception on main and feeder shipping lines’ regarding port of Colombo container terminals, and ranked terminals according to shipping lines preference. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model is adapted to this study, since it has features similar to the MCDM, it is weighted every influential factor by using pair wise comparisons, and consistency of the decision makers’ judgments are checked to evaluate trustworthiness of gathered data. And rating method is used to rank the terminals within Port of Colombo by assigning particular preference values with respect to the criteria and sub criteria. According to the findings of this study, main lines’ mainly concern on water depth of approach channel, depth of berth, handling charges and handling equipment facilities. And feeder lines’ main concerns were handling equipment facilities, loading and discharging efficiency, depth of berth and handling charges. Findings of the study suggested concentrating regarding the emphasized areas in order to enhance the competitiveness of terminals, and to increase number of vessel callings at the Port of Colombo. Application of above finding of the terminals within Port of Colombo lead to a far better competition among terminals and would uplift the overall level of services.

Keywords: AHP, Main and feeder shipping lines, criteria, sub criteria

Procedia PDF Downloads 417

Authors: Abeer Hashem, Khalid F. Almutairi, Ulkar Ibrahimova, Elsayed Fathi Abdallah

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Salinity poses a significant challenge to wheat production, necessitating the exploration of strategies to mitigate its adverse effects. The present investigation aims to study the impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) application to improve plant tolerance in terms of growth, carbohydrate, photosynthetic characteristics, and antioxidant enzyme activities under salt stress conditions. So, a randomized complete block design with five replications was employed comprising various treatments of AMF application under salinity stress (200mM), and control samples were used for each treatment. The obtained results demonstrated significantly that AMF used in this study showed beneficial impacts in all parameters used as sensitive monitor for relation of plant-salt microbe interaction. The root colonization by AMF showed the highest plant growth criteria, relative water content, soluble sugar, starch, and total non-structural carbohydrates under both control and salinity stress conditions. Moreover, the application of AMF-treated plants showed the highest soluble protein concentration and activity in leaves and antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, guaiacol peroxidase). These findings highlight the potential impact of AMF application as a biologically based strategy to manage the mitigation of salt stress on wheat, which increases the availability of many salt marsh habitats for sustainable agriculture of such strategy crops.

Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, salt stress, plant growth criteria, soluble protein, antioxidant enzymes, wheat plant

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: Emmanuel Nikiema

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This paper examines article incorporation in Mauritian Creole, a French Lexifier Creole which exhibits three forms of article incorporation as illustrated in (1-3). While various analyses of article incorporation have been proposed in the literature, fewer studies have explored the motivation of this widespread phenomenon in Mauritian Creole (MC) as opposed to other French Lexifier Creoles spoken in the Caribbean. For example, Mauritian Creole exhibits 4 times more CV incorporation than Haitian Creole, and 40 times more than Reunion Creole. (1) Consonantal type (C): loraz ‘thunder storm’, lete ‘summer’, zwazo ‘bird’, nide ‘idea’. (2) Syllabic type (CV): lapo ‘skin’, liku ‘neck’, ledo ‘back’, leker ‘heart’, diber ‘butter’. (3) Bi-consonantal (CVC): delo ‘water’, dizef ‘egg’, lizye ‘eye’, dilwil ‘oil’. The goal of this study is twofold: 1) uncover the rules governing the three types of article incorporation in MC, and 2) account for its remarkable occurrence in MC as opposed to its quasi-absence in Reunion Creole. We have collected a corpus of over 700 cases and organized it into three categories (C; CV and CVC). For example, there are 471 examples of CV incorporation in MC against 112 in Haitian Creole and only 12 in Reunion Creole. Two questions can be raised: 1) what is the motivation and distribution of the three types of incorporation in MC, and 2) how can one account for the high volume of incorporation in MC as opposed to its quasi-absence in Reunion Creole? We suggest that article incorporation in MC is related to the structure of nouns in Bantou languages. While previous authors have largely used population settlement data in the colonies during the Creole formation period to justify their analyses, we propose an account based on the syntactic structure of Bantou nouns. This analysis will shed light on the contribution of African languages to the formation of MC, and on to why MC has exhibited more article incorporation cases than any other French Lexifier Creole.

Keywords: article incorporation, creole languages, description, phonology

Procedia PDF Downloads 106