Search results for: forensic studies

Authors: Aidin Foroutan, David S. Wishart, Leluo L. Guan, Carolyn Fitzsimmons

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Maximizing efficiency and growth potential of beef cattle requires not only genetic selection (i.e. residual feed intake (RFI)) but also adequate nutrition throughout all stages of growth and development. Nutrient restriction during gestation has been shown to negatively affect post-natal growth and development as well as fertility of the offspring. This, when combined with RFI may affect progeny traits. This study aims to investigate the impact of selection for divergent genetic potential for RFI and maternal nutrition during early- to mid-gestation, on bull calf traits such as fertility and muscle development using multiple ‘omics’ approaches. Comparisons were made between High-diet vs. Low-diet and between High-RFI vs. Low-RFI animals. An epigenetics experiment on semen samples identified 891 biomarkers associated with growth and development. A gene expression study on Longissimus thoracis muscle, semimembranosus muscle, liver, and testis identified 4 genes associated with muscle development and immunity of which Myocyte enhancer factor 2A [MEF2A; induces myogenesis and control muscle differentiation] was the only differentially expressed gene identified in all four tissues. An initial metabolomics experiment on serum samples using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) identified 4 metabolite biomarkers related to energy and protein metabolism. Once all the biomarkers are identified, bioinformatics approaches will be used to create a database covering all the ‘omics’ data collected from this project. This database will be broadened by adding other information obtained from relevant literature reviews. Association analyses with these data sets will be performed to reveal key biological pathways affected by RFI and maternal nutrition. Through these association studies between the genome and metabolome, it is expected that candidate biomarker genes and metabolites for feed efficiency, fertility, and/or muscle development are identified. If these gene/metabolite biomarkers are validated in a larger animal population, they could potentially be used in breeding programs to select superior animals. It is also expected that this work will lead to the development of an online tool that could be used to predict future traits of interest in an animal given its measurable ‘omics’ traits.

Keywords: biomarker, maternal nutrition, omics, residual feed intake

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Mohd Shazad, K. K. Gupta

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Vector borne diseases are a serious global concern. Aedes aegypti, the primary vector for viruses that cause dengue fever, dengue haemorrhagic fever, chikungunya and yellow fever is widespread over large areas of the tropics and subtropics. In last decade, diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti are of serious concern. In past decade, number of cases of dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and chikungunya has increased multifold. Present research work focused on impact of ethanol extract of Ocimum sanctum on dengue vector Aedes aegypti. 0-24 hr. old fourth instar larvae of lab-bred population of Aedes aegypti were exposed to ethanol leaf extract of Ocimum with concentrations ranging from 50 ppm to 400 ppm. Survival and development and the treated larvae and reproductive behaviour of the adults emerged from the treated larvae was evaluated. Our results indicated larvicidal potential of the leaf ethanol extract. The influence of the extract was dose dependent. 77.2% mortality was observed in the larvae exposed to 400 ppm for 24 hr. Treatment at lower concentrations revealed delayed toxicity. The larvae survived after treatment showed severe developmental anomalies. Consequently, there was the significant increase in duration of fourth instar larva. The L4 treated with 400-ppm extract moulted after 4.6 days; this was in sharp contrast to control where the larval period of the fourth instar lasts three days. The treated fourth instar larvae in many cases transformed into larva-pupa intermediates with the combination of larva, pupa characters. The larva-pupa intermediates had reduced life span and failed to moult successfully. The adults emerged from the larvae treated with lower doses had reduced reproductive potential. The females exhibited longer preoviposition period, reduced oviposition rate, abnormal oviposition behaviour and decreased fertility. Our studies indicated the possibility of the presence of JH mimic or JH analogue in the leaf ethanol extract of Ocimum. The present research work explored the potentials of Ocimum sanctum, also known as the queen of herbs, in integrated vector management programme of Aedes aegypti, which is a serious threat to human health.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, development, mortality, Ocimum sanctum reproduction

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Authors: W. Hajuthman, R. Warner, S. Rahman, M. Abraham, H. Helliwell, D. Bodiwala

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Context: Prostate cancer is a prevalent cancer in males in Europe and the US, with diagnosis primarily relying on PSA testing, mpMRI, and subsequent biopsies. However, this diagnostic strategy may lead to complications for patients. Research Aim: The aim of this study is to assess compliance with trust guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis in patients undergoing transperineal template biopsies of the prostate and evaluate the rate of post-procedure complications. Methodology: This study is conducted retrospectively over an 8-month period. Data collection includes patient demographics, compliance with trust guidelines, associated risk factors, and post-procedure complications such as infection, haematuria, and urinary retention. Findings: The audit includes 100 patients with a median age of 66.11. The compliance with pre-procedure antibiotics was 98%, while compliance with antibiotic prophylaxis recommended by trust guidelines was 68%. Among the patients, 3% developed post-procedure sepsis, with 2 requiring admission for intravenous antibiotics. No evident risk factors were identified in these cases. Additionally, post-procedure urinary retention occurred in 3% of patients and post-procedure haematuria in 2%. Theoretical Importance: This study highlights the increasing use of transperineal template biopsies across UK centres and suggests that having a standardized protocol and compliance with guidelines can reduce confusion, ensure appropriate administration of antibiotics, and mitigate post-procedure complications. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: Data for this study is collected retrospectively, involving the extraction and analysis of relevant information from patient records over the specified 8-month period. Question Addressed: This study addresses the following research questions: (1) What is the compliance rate with trust guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis in transperineal template biopsies of the prostate? (2) What is the rate of post-procedure complications, such as infection, haematuria, and urinary retention? Conclusion: Transperineal template biopsies are becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK. Implementing a standardized protocol and ensuring compliance with guidelines can reduce confusion, ensure proper administration of antibiotics, and potentially minimize post-procedure complications. Additionally, considering that studies show no difference in outcomes when prophylactic antibiotics are not used, the reminder to follow trust guidelines may prompt a re-evaluation of antibiotic prescribing practices.

Keywords: prostate, transperineal template biopsies of prostate, antibiotics, complications, microbiology, guidelines

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Authors: Jacqueline Kunzelman, Val Anderson, Robert Johnson, Nicholas Anderson, Rebecca Bates

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In an effort to protect honeybees from colony collapse disorder, beekeepers are filing for government permits to use natural lands as summer pasture for honeybees under the multiple-use management regime in the United States. Utilizing natural landscapes in high mountain ranges may help strengthen honeybee colonies, as this natural setting is generally void of chemical pollutants and pesticides that are found in agricultural and urban settings. However, the introduction of a competitive species could greatly impact the native species occupying these natural landscapes. While honeybees and butterflies have different life histories, behavior, and foraging strategies, they compete for the same nectar resources. Few, if any, studies have focused on the potential population effects of commercial honeybees on native butterfly abundance and diversity. This study attempts to observe this impact using a paired before-after control-impact (BACI) design. Over the course of two years, malaise trap samples were collected every week during the months of the flowering season in two similar areas separated by 11 kilometers. Each area contained nine malaise trap sites for replication. In the first year, samples were taken to analyze and establish trends within the pollinating communities. In the second year, honeybees were introduced to only one of the two areas, and a change in trends between the two areas was assessed. Contrary to the original hypothesis, the resulting observation was an overall significant increase in the mean butterfly abundance in the impact areas after honeybees were introduced, while control areas remained relatively stable. This overall increase in abundance over the season can be attributed to an increase in butterflies during the first and second periods of the data collection when populations were near their peak. Several potential theories are 1) Honeybees are deterring a natural predator/competitor of butterflies that previously limited population growth. 2) Honeybees are consuming resources regularly used by butterflies, which may extend the foraging time and consequent capture rates of butterflies. 3) Environmental factors such as number of rainy days were inconsistent between control and impact areas, biasing capture rates. This ongoing research will help determine the suitability of high mountain ranges for the summer pasturing of honeybees and the population impacts on many different pollinators.

Keywords: butterfly, competition, honeybee, pollinator

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Authors: Alberto Abello Moreno-Cid

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Mummification was the process through which immortality was granted to the deceased, so it was of extreme importance to the Egyptians. The techniques of embalming had evolved over the centuries, and specialists created increasingly sophisticated tools. However, due to its eminently religious nature, knowledge about everything related to this practice was jealously preserved, and the testimonies that have survived to our time are scarce. For this reason, embalming instruments found in archaeological excavations are uncommon. The tomb of the Vizier Amenhotep Huy (AT No. -28-), located in the el-Assasif necropolis that is being excavated since 2009 by the team of the Institute of Ancient Egyptian Studies, has been the scene of some discoveries of this type that evidences the existence of mummification practices in this place after the New Kingdom. The clysters or enemas are the fundamental tools in the second type of mummification described by the historian Herodotus to introduce caustic solutions inside the body of the deceased. Nevertheless, such objects only have been found in three locations: the tomb of Ankh-Hor in Luxor, where a copper enema belonged to the prophet of Ammon Uah-ib-Ra came to light; the excavation of the tomb of Menekh-ib-Nekau in Abusir, where was also found one made of copper; and the excavations in the Bucheum, where two more artifacts were discovered, also made of copper but in different shapes and sizes. Both of them were used for the mummification of sacred animals and this is the reason they vary significantly. Therefore, the object found in the tomb No. -28-, is the first known made of faience of all these peculiar tools and the oldest known until now, dated in the Third Intermediate Period (circa 1070-650 B.C.). This paper bases its investigation on the study of those parallelisms, the material, the current archaeological context and the full analysis and reconstruction of the object in question. The key point is the use of faience in the production of this item: creating a device intended to be in constant use seems to be a first illogical compared to other samples made of copper. Faience around the area of Deir el-Bahari had a strong religious component, associated with solar myths and principles of the resurrection, connected to the Osirian that characterises the mummification procedure. The study allows to refute some of the premises which are held unalterable in Egyptology, verifying the utilization of these sort of pieces, understanding its way of use and showing that this type of mummification was also applied to the highest social stratum, in which case the tools were thought out of an exceptional quality and religious symbolism.

Keywords: clyster, el-Assasif, embalming, faience enema mummification, Theban necropolis

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Authors: Alexandra C. Blaga, Dan Caşcaval, Alexandra Tucaliuc, Madalina Poştaru, Anca I. Galaction

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Amino acids are valuable chemical products used in in human foods, in animal feed additives and in the pharmaceutical field. Recently, there has been a noticeable rise of amino acids utilization throughout the world to include their use as raw materials in the production of various industrial chemicals: oil gelating agents (amino acid-based surfactants) to recover effluent oil in seas and rivers and poly(amino acids), which are attracting attention for biodegradable plastics manufacture. The amino acids can be obtained by biosynthesis or from protein hydrolysis, but their separation from the obtained mixtures can be challenging. In the last decades there has been a continuous interest in developing processes that will improve the selectivity and yield of downstream processing steps. The liquid-liquid extraction of amino acids (dissociated at any pH-value of the aqueous solutions) is possible only by using the reactive extraction technique, mainly with extractants of organophosphoric acid derivatives, high molecular weight amines and crown-ethers. The purpose of this study was to analyse the separation of nine amino acids of acidic character (l-aspartic acid, l-glutamic acid), basic character (l-histidine, l-lysine, l-arginine) and neutral character (l-glycine, l-tryptophan, l-cysteine, l-alanine) by reactive extraction with di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) dissolved in butyl acetate. The results showed that the separation yield is controlled by the pH value of the aqueous phase: the reactive extraction of amino acids with D2EHPA is possible only if the amino acids exist in aqueous solution in their cationic forms (pH of aqueous phase below the isoeletric point). The studies for individual amino acids indicated the possibility of selectively separate different groups of amino acids with similar acidic properties as a function of aqueous solution pH-value: the maximum yields are reached for a pH domain of 2–3, then strongly decreasing with the pH increase. Thus, for acidic and neutral amino acids, the extraction becomes impossible at the isolelectric point (pHi) and for basic amino acids at a pH value lower than pHi, as a result of the carboxylic group dissociation. From the results obtained for the separation from the mixture of the nine amino acids, at different pH, it can be observed that all amino acids are extracted with different yields, for a pH domain of 1.5–3. Over this interval, the extract contains only the amino acids with neutral and basic character. For pH 5–6, only the neutral amino acids are extracted and for pH > 6 the extraction becomes impossible. Using this technique, the total separation of the following amino acids groups has been performed: neutral amino acids at pH 5–5.5, basic amino acids and l-cysteine at pH 4–4.5, l-histidine at pH 3–3.5 and acidic amino acids at pH 2–2.5.

Keywords: amino acids, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid, reactive extraction, selective extraction

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Authors: Attila Kiss, Erzsébet Némedi, Zoltán Naár

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As natural prebiotic (non-digestible) carbohydrates stimulate the growth of colon microflora and contribute to maintain the health of the host, analytical studies aiming at revealing the chemical behavior of these beneficial food components came to the forefront of interest. Food processing (especially baking) may lead to a significant conversion of the parent compounds, hence it is of utmost importance to characterize the transformation patterns and the plausible decomposition products formed by thermal degradation. The relevance of this work is confirmed by the wide-spread use of these carbohydrates (fructo-oligosaccharides, cyclodextrins, raffinose and resistant starch) in the food industry. More and more functional foodstuffs are being developed based on prebiotics as bioactive components. 12 different types of oligosaccharides have been investigated in order to reveal their thermal degradation characteristics. Different carbohydrate derivatives (D-fructose and D-glucose oligomers and polymers) have been exposed to elevated temperatures (150 °C 170 °C, 190 °C, 210 °C, and 220 °C) for 10 min. An advanced HPLC method was developed and used to identify the decomposition products of carbohydrates formed as a consequence of thermal treatment. Gradient elution was applied with binary solvent elution (acetonitrile, water) through amine based carbohydrate column. Evaporative light scattering (ELS) proved to be suitable for the reliable detection of the UV/VIS inactive carbohydrate degradation products. These experimental conditions and applied advanced techniques made it possible to survey all the formed intermediers. Change in oligomer distribution was established in cases of all studied prebiotics throughout the thermal treatments. The obtained results indicate increased extent of chain degradation of the carbohydrate moiety at elevated temperatures. Prevalence of oligomers with shorter chain length and even the formation of monomer sugars (D-glucose and D-fructose) might be observed at higher temperatures. Unique oligomer distributions, which have not been described previously are revealed in the case of each studied, specific carbohydrate, which might result in various prebiotic activities. Resistant starches exhibited high stability when being thermal treated. The degradation process has been modeled by a plausible reaction mechanism, in which proton catalyzed degradation and chain cleavage take place.

Keywords: prebiotics, thermal degradation, fructo-oligosaccharide, HPLC, ELS detection

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Authors: Sven Borén, Lisiana Nurhadi, Henrik Ny

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From a theoretical perspective, electric buses can be more sustainable and can be cheaper than fossil fuelled buses in city traffic. The authors have not found other studies based on actual urban public transport in Swedish winter climate. Further on, noise measurements from buses for the European market were found old. The aims of this follow-up study was therefore to test and possibly verify in a real-life environment how energy efficient and silent electric buses are, and then conclude on if electric buses are preferable to use in public transport. The Ebusco 2.0 electric bus, fitted with a 311 kWh battery pack, was used and the tests were carried out during November 2014-April 2015 in eight municipalities in the south of Sweden. Six tests took place in urban traffic and two took place in more of a rural traffic setting. The energy use for propulsion was measured via logging of the internal system in the bus and via an external charging meter. The average energy use turned out to be 8% less (0,96 kWh/km) than assumed in the earlier theoretical study. This rate allows for a 320 km range in public urban traffic. The interior of the bus was kept warm by a diesel heater (biodiesel will probably be used in a future operational traffic situation), which used 0,67 kWh/km in January. This verified that electric buses can be up to 25% cheaper when used in public transport in cities for about eight years. The noise was found to be lower, primarily during acceleration, than for buses with combustion engines in urban bus traffic. According to our surveys, most passengers and drivers appreciated the silent and comfortable ride and preferred electric buses rather than combustion engine buses. Bus operators and passenger transport executives were also positive to start using electric buses for public transport. The operators did however point out that procurement processes need to account for eventual risks regarding this new technology, along with personnel education. The study revealed that it is possible to establish a charging infrastructure for almost all studied bus lines. However, design of a charging infrastructure for each municipality requires further investigations, including electric grid capacity analysis, smart location of charging points, and tailored schedules to allow fast charging. In conclusion, electric buses proved to be a preferable alternative for all stakeholders involved in public bus transport in the studied municipalities. However, in order to electric buses to be a prominent support for sustainable development, they need to be charged either by stand-alone units or via an expansion of the electric grid, and the electricity should be made from new renewable sources.

Keywords: sustainability, electric, bus, noise, greencharge

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Authors: Sylvie Ekanga Lumumba

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Background and Significance of the Study: Over the past three decades, the perception of sexual violence has changed significantly, it is now recognized that men and boys are victims of sexual violence. However, the body of research on male victims and particularly on their attackers is much more limited. Research on the above is thus more than required. To contribute to the above quest for further studies, the researcher conducted this study on sexual violence perpetrated against men and boys by women, in the Municipality of Ibanda, Town of Bukavu, Province of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. The main study objectives were the following: to investigate on the statement of sexual violence perpetrated against men and boys in the Municipality of Ibanda, to investigate into its consequences and the statement of medical and psycho-social care given to victims. Methodology: Data were collected using valid and reliable Survey Questionnaire and Interview Schedule. Study population: the 85,882 men and boys from the Municipality of Ibanda. Sampling: led to 150 men and boys, received discreetly by the researcher during November-December 2015. Major findings: First, findings related to sexual abuse and its procedure: 74.2% of men and boys were victims of sexual violence perpetrated by a woman, more than a year ago. 13.3% however, were victims for less than a year now. 79.7% of victims have experienced sexual violence by a sexual act; 3.9% through the intention of the woman to cause the death of the victim, by serious injury to the genitals. The Second group of findings related to the consequences of sexual violence revealed that HIV/AIDS is the most important physical consequence experienced by 77.3 % of victims. Physical psychological consequences are: urinary or defecation problems (72.7%); while key psycho-emotional and behavioral consequence is: living a state of deep shame and humiliation: 68.8%. As for sexual consequences: 71.1% indicated a chronic avoidance of sexual activity and 57% reported sexual dysfunctions. The third group of findings is related to medical and psycho-social care: repetitively, more than 80% of male victims affirmed that with the help of friends and traditional healers, they took care of themselves for all the eight WHO phases of clinical care of rape victims, this was hence not effectively done. Concluding Statement: for this study, the statement of sexual violence of men and boys by women in the Eastern Congo and its consequences are not researched upon and are underestimated; the study also revealed that the care of male victims is grossly ill-conducted, as opposed to female victims care. It therefore calls for further research and further vulgarization of the research results, to convince other stakeholders (politicians for example) to immediately take action.

Keywords: sexual violence, men and boys, medical care, psycho-social care

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Authors: Karthik Chamari, Vasudha Rudraraju, Gaurav Chaudhari

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Background: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is one of the mature B cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). The course of MCL is moderately aggressive and variable, and it has median overall survival of 8 to 10 years. Ibrutinib, a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was approved by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration in November of 2013 for the treatment of MCL patients who have received at least one prior therapy. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether there has been a change in survival and patterns of second primary malignancies (SPMs) among the MCL population in the US after ibrutinib approval. Methods: Using the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-18, we conducted a retrospective study with patients diagnosed with MCL (ICD-0-3 code 9673/3) between 2007 and 2018. We divided patients into two six-year cohorts, pre-ibrutinib approval (2007-2012) and post-ibrutinib approval (2013-2018), and compared relative survival rates (RSRs) and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of SPMs between cohorts. Results: We included 9,257 patients diagnosed with MCL between 2007 and 2018 in the SEER-18 survival and SIR registries. Of these, 4,205 (45%) patients were included in the pre-ibrutinib cohort, and 5052 (55%) patients were included in the post-ibrutinib cohort. The median follow-up duration for the pre-ibrutinib cohort was 54 months (range 0 to 143 months), and the post-ibrutinib cohort was 20 months (range 0 to 71 months). There was a significant difference in the five-year RSRs between pre-ibrutinib and post-ibrutinib cohorts (57.5% vs. 62.6%, p < 0.005). Out of the 9,257 patients diagnosed with MCL, 920 developed SPMs. A higher proportion of SPMs occurred in the post-ibrutinib cohort (63%) when compared with the pre-ibrutinib cohort (37%). Non-hematological malignancies comprised most of all SPMs. A higher incidence of non-hematological malignancies occurred in the post-ibrutinib cohort (SIR 1.42, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.56) when compared with the pre-ibrutinib cohort (SIR 1.14, 95% CI 1 to 1.3). There was a statistically significant increase in the incidence of cancers of the respiratory tract (SIR 1.77, 95% CI 1.43 to 2.18), urinary tract (SIR 1.61, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.06) when compared with other non-hematological malignancies in post-ibrutinib cohort. Conclusions: Our study results suggest the relative survival rates have increased since the approval of ibrutinib for mantle cell lymphoma patients. Additionally, for some unclear reasons, the incidence of SPM’s (non-hematological malignancies), mainly cancers of the respiratory tract, urinary tract, have increased in the six years following the approval of ibrutinib. Further studies should be conducted to determine the cause of these findings.

Keywords: mantle cell lymphoma, Ibrutinib, relative survival analysis, secondary primary cancers

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Authors: Eun-Taek Sin, Hyun-Ju Jang, Chang Geun Song, Yong-Sik Han

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Due to the climate change, the coastal urban area repeatedly suffers from the loss of property and life by flooding. There are three main causes of inland submergence. First, when heavy rain with high intensity occurs, the water quantity in inland cannot be drained into rivers by increase in impervious surface of the land development and defect of the pump, storm sewer. Second, river inundation occurs then water surface level surpasses the top of levee. Finally, Coastal inundation occurs due to rising sea water. However, previous studies ignored the complex mechanism of flooding, and showed discrepancy and inadequacy due to linear summation of each analysis result. In this study, inland flooding and river inundation were analyzed together by HDM-2D model. Petrov-Galerkin stabilizing method and flux-blocking algorithm were applied to simulate the inland flooding. In addition, sink/source terms with exponentially growth rate attribute were added to the shallow water equations to include the inland flooding analysis module. The applications of developed model gave satisfactory results, and provided accurate prediction in comprehensive flooding analysis. The applications of developed model gave satisfactory results, and provided accurate prediction in comprehensive flooding analysis. To consider the coastal surge, another module was developed by adding seawater to the existing Inland Flooding-River Inundation binding module for comprehensive flooding analysis. Based on the combined modules, the Coastal Inundation – Inland & River Flow Interface was simulated by inputting the flow rate and depth data in artificial flume. Accordingly, it was able to analyze the flood patterns of coastal cities over time. This study is expected to help identify the complex causes of flooding in coastal areas where complex flooding occurs, and assist in analyzing damage to coastal cities. Acknowledgements—This research was supported by a grant ‘Development of the Evaluation Technology for Complex Causes of Inundation Vulnerability and the Response Plans in Coastal Urban Areas for Adaptation to Climate Change’ [MPSS-NH-2015-77] from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Research Group, Ministry of Public Safety and Security of Korea.

Keywords: flooding analysis, river inundation, inland flooding, 2D hydrodynamic model

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Authors: Balakumar Pitchai, Xiang Llan Ang, Sunil Prajapati, Varatharajan Rajavel, Sundram Karupiah, Mohd Baidi Bahari

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The study examined the pretreatment and post-treatment effects of low-doses of fenofibrate and rosuvastatin in gentamicin-induced acute nephrotoxicity in rats. Gentamicin (100 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was administered to rats for 8 days. In the pretreatment protocol, low-dose fenofibrate (30 mg/kg/day, p.o.) or low-dose rosuvastatin (2 mg/kg/day, p.o.) treatments were started a day before the administration of gentamicin and continued for 8 days. In the post-treatment protocol, rats administered gentamicin were treated with low-dose fenofibrate (30 mg/kg/day, p.o.) or low-dose rosuvastatin (2 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 6 days after the completion of 8 days protocol of gentamicin administration. Gentamicin-associated acute nephrotoxicity in rats was assessed in terms of biochemical analysis and renal histopathological studies. Gentamicin-administered rats showed marked renal functional changes as assessed in terms of a significant increase in serum creatinine and urea levels as compared to normal rats. The renal dysfunction noted in gentamicin administered rats was accompanied with elevated serum uric acid level as compared to normal rats while there was no significant change in lipid profile. Low-dose fenofibrate pretreatment in gentamicin-administered rats afforded a significant renal functional improvements and renoprotection while its post-treatment showed no significant renoprotection. On the other hand, pretreatment with low-dose rosuvastatin partially reduced gentamicin-induced increase in serum creatinine level, but its post-treatment did not afford renal functional improvements in gentamicin-administered rats. However, all pre and post-treatments with low-doses of fenofibrate or rosuvastatin significantly reduced the elevated serum uric acid concentration in gentamicin-administered rats. Renal histopathological analysis showed a discernible incidence of acute tubular necrosis in gentamicin-administered rats which were markedly reduced by low-dose fenofibrate or low-dose rosuvastatin pretreatments; but, not by their post-treatments. In conclusion, low-dose fenofibrate pretreatment considerably prevented gentamicin-induced acute tubular necrosis and renal functional abnormalities in rats while its post-treatment resulted in no significant renoprotective action. In spite of effective prevention of gentamicin-induced acute tubular necrosis, the pretreatment with low-dose rosuvastatin had only a partial and fractional protection on renal functional abnormalities. The post-treatment with low-dose rosuvastatin was ineffective in affording a renoprotection in gentamicin-administered rats.

Keywords: gentamicin-nephrotoxicity, low-dose fenofibrate, low-dose rosuvastatin, renoprotection

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Authors: Amelia Faotusia

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The blue economy concept was coined by Pacific nations in recognition of the importance of sustainably managing their extensive marine territories. This is especially important for major ocean-based economic sectors of Pacific economies, such as coastal tourism. There is an absence of research, however, on the key ways in which the blue economy concept has emerged in discourse and public policy in Pacific countries, as well as how it articulates with coastal tourism. This research helps to fill such a gap with a specific focus on Tonga through the application of a post-positivist research approach to conduct a desktop study of relevant national documents and qualitative interviews with relevant government staff, civil society organizations, and tourism operators. The findings of the research reflect the importance of institutional integration and partnerships for a successful blue economy transition and are presented in the form of two case studies corresponding to two sub-sectors of Tonga’s coastal tourism sector: (i) the whale-watching and swimming industry, and (ii) beach resorts and restaurants. A thematic analysis applied to the interview data of both cases then enabled the identification of key areas and issues for socio-economic policy intervention and recommendations in support of blue economy transitions in Tonga’s coastal tourism sector. Examples of the relevant areas and issues that emerged included the importance of foreign direct investment, local market access, community-based special management areas, as well as the need to address the anthropogenic impacts of tropical cyclones, whale tourism, plastic litter on coastal assets, and ecosystems. Policy and practical interventions in support of addressing such issues include a proposed restructuring of the whale-watching and swimming licensing system; integration of climate resilience, adaptation, and capacity building as priorities of local blue economy interventions; as well as strengthening of the economic sustainability dimension of blue economy policies. Finally, this research also revealed the need for further specificity and research on the influence and value of local Tongan culture and traditional knowledge, particularly within existing customary marine tenure systems, on Tonga’s national and sectoral blue economy policies and transitions.

Keywords: blue economy, coastal tourism, integrated ocean management, ecosystem resilience

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Authors: Tendü H. Göktuğ, Gönül T. İçemer, Bülent Deniz

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National parks, which are rich in natural and cultural resources values are protected in the context of the idea to develop sustainability, are among the most important recreated areas demanding with each passing day. Increasing recreational use or unplanned use forms negatively affect the resource values and visitor satisfaction. The intent of national parks management is to protect the natural and cultural resource values and to provide the visitors with a quality of recreational experience, as well. In this context, the current studies to improve the appropriate tourism and recreation planning and visitor management, approach have focused on recreational carrying capacity analysis. The aim of this study is to analyze recreational carrying capacity of Çıralı Coast in the Bey Mountains Coastal National Park to compare the analyze results with the current usage format and to develop alternative management strategies. In the first phase of the study, the annual and daily visitations, geographic, bio-physical, and managerial characteristics of the park and the type of recreational usage and the recreational areas were analyzed. In addition to these, ecological observations were carried out in order to determine recreational-based pressures on the ecosystems. On-site questionnaires were administrated to a sample of 284 respondents in the August 2015 - 2016 to collect data concerning the demographics and visit characteristics. The second phase of the study, the coastal area separated into four different usage zones and the methodology proposed by Cifuentes (1992) was used for capacity analyses. This method supplies the calculation of physical, real and effective carrying capacities by using environmental, ecological, climatic and managerial parameters in a formulation. Expected numbers which estimated three levels of carrying capacities were compared to current numbers of national parks’ visitors. In the study, it was determined that the current recreational uses in the north of the beach were caused by ecological pressures, and the current numbers in the south of beach much more than estimated numbers of visitors. Based on these results management strategies were defined and the appropriate management tools were developed in accordance with these strategies. The authors are grateful for the financial support of this project by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (No: 114O344)

Keywords: Çıralı Coast, national parks, recreational carrying capacity, visitor management

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Authors: Ahmed Saeed Mohamed, Sadok Sassi, Mohammad Roshun Paurobally

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Gears are important machine components that are widely used to transmit power and change speed in many rotating machines. Any breakdown of these vital components may cause severe disturbance to production and incur heavy financial losses. One of the most common causes of gear failure is the tooth fatigue crack. Early detection of teeth cracks is still a challenging task for engineers and maintenance personnel. So far, to analyze the vibration behavior of gears, different approaches have been tried based on theoretical developments, numerical simulations, or experimental investigations. The objective of this study was to develop a numerical model that could be used to simulate the effect of teeth cracks on the resulting vibrations and hence to permit early fault detection for gear transmission systems. Unlike the majority of published papers, where only one single crack has been considered, this work is more realistic, since it incorporates the possibility of multiple simultaneous cracks with different lengths. As cracks significantly alter the gear mesh stiffness, we performed a finite element analysis using SolidWorks software to determine the stiffness variation with respect to the angular position for different combinations of crack lengths. A simplified six degrees of freedom non-linear lumped parameter model of a one-stage gear system is proposed to study the vibration of a pair of spur gears, with and without tooth cracks. The model takes several physical properties into account, including variable gear mesh stiffness and the effect of friction, but ignores the lubrication effect. The vibration simulation results of the gearbox were obtained via Matlab and Simulink. The results were found to be consistent with the results from previously published works. The effect of one crack with different levels was studied and very similar changes in the total mesh stiffness and the vibration response, both were observed and compared to what has been found in previous studies. The effect of the crack length on various statistical time domain parameters was considered and the results show that these parameters were not equally sensitive to the crack percentage. Multiple cracks are introduced at different locations and the vibration response and the statistical parameters were obtained.

Keywords: dynamic simulation, gear mesh stiffness, simultaneous tooth cracks, spur gear, vibration-based fault detection

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Authors: Kangana Sengar, Sanjay Deb, Ramesh Dawar

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Introduction: Ki-67 can be a useful marker in determining proliferative activity in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, using Ki-67 alone results in the erroneous inclusion of non-myeloma cells leading to false high counts. We have used Dual IHC (immunohistochemistry) staining with Ki-67 and CD138 to enhance specificity in assessing proliferative activity of bone marrow plasma cells. Aims and objectives: To estimate the proportion of proliferating (Ki-67 expressing) plasma cells in patients with MM and correlation of Ki-67 with other known prognostic parameters. Materials and Methods: Fifty FFPE (formalin fixed paraffin embedded) blocks of trephine biopsies of cases diagnosed as MM from 2010 to 2015 are subjected to H & E staining and Dual IHC staining for CD 138 and Ki-67. H & E staining is done to evaluate various histological parameters like percentage of plasma cells, pattern of infiltration (nodular, interstitial, mixed and diffuse), routine parameters of marrow cellularity and hematopoiesis. Clinical data is collected from patient records from Medical Record Department. Each of CD138 expressing cells (cytoplasmic, red) are scored as proliferating plasma cells (containing a brown Ki¬67 nucleus) or non¬proliferating plasma cells (containing a blue, counter-stained, Ki-¬67 negative nucleus). Ki-67 is measured as percentage positivity with a maximum score of hundred percent and lowest of zero percent. The intensity of staining is not relevant. Results: Statistically significant correlation of Ki-67 in D-S Stage (Durie & Salmon Stage) I vs. III (p=0.026) and ISS (International Staging System) Stage I vs. III (p=0.019), β2m (p=0.029) and percentage of plasma cells (p < 0.001) is seen. No statistically significant correlation is seen between Ki-67 and hemoglobin, platelet count, total leukocyte count, total protein, albumin, S. calcium, S. creatinine, S. LDH, blood urea and pattern of infiltration. Conclusion: Ki-67 index correlated with other known prognostic parameters. However, it is not determined routinely in patients with MM due to little information available regarding its relevance and paucity of studies done to correlate with other known prognostic factors in MM patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in India using Dual IHC staining for Ki-67 and CD138 in MM patients. Routine determination of Ki-67 will help to identify patients who may benefit with more aggressive therapy. Recommendation: In this study follow up of patients is not included, and the sample size is small. Studying with larger sample size and long follow up is advocated to prognosticate Ki-67 as a marker of survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Keywords: bone marrow, dual IHC, Ki-67, multiple myeloma

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Authors: Gwendolyn Royal-Smith

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Cocaine ranks as one of the world’s most addictive and commonly abused stimulant drugs. Recent evidence indicates that the abuse of cocaine has risen so quickly among females that this group now accounts for about 40 percent of all users in the United States. Neuropsychological studies have demonstrated that specific neural activation patterns carry higher risks for neurocognitive and executive function in cocaine addicted females thereby increasing their vulnerability for poorer treatment outcomes and more frequent post-treatment relapse when compared to males. This study examined secondary data with a convenience sample of 164 cocaine addicted male and females to assess neurocognitive and executive function. The principal objective of this study was to assess whether individual performance on the Stroop Word Color Task is predictive of treatment success by gender. A second objective of the study evaluated whether individual performance employing neurocognitive measures including the Stroop Word-Color task, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RALVT), the Iowa Gambling Task, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WISCT), the total score from the Barratte Impulsiveness Scale (Version 11) (BIS-11) and the total score from the Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale (FrSBE) test demonstrated differences in neurocognitive and executive function performance by gender. Logistic regression models were employed utilizing a covariate adjusted model application. Initial analyses of the Stroop Word color tasks indicated significant differences in the performance of males and females, with females experiencing more challenges in derived interference reaction time and associate recall ability. In early testing including the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RALVT), the number of advantageous vs disadvantageous cards from the Iowa Gambling Task, the number of perseverance errors from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WISCT), the total score from the Barratte Impulsiveness Scale (Version 11) (BIS-11) and the total score from the Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale, results were mixed with women scoring lower in multiple indicators in both neurocognitive and executive function.

Keywords: cocaine addiction, gender, neuropsychology, neurocognitive, executive function

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Authors: Laura Rueda-Gensini, Jader Rodríguez, Juan C. Cruz, Carolina Munoz-Camargo

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There is an emerging interest in botanicals and plant extracts for medicinal practices due to their widely reported health benefits. A large variety of phytochemicals found in plants have been correlated with antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and analgesic properties, which makes plant-derived products promising candidates for modulating the progression and treatment of numerous diseases. Non-centrifugal cane sugar (NCS), in particular, has been known for its high antioxidant and nutritional value, but composition-wise variability due to changing environmental and processing conditions have considerably limited its use in the nutraceutical and biomedical fields. This work is therefore aimed at assessing the effect of thermal exposure during NCS production over its bioactive composition and, in turn, its therapeutic value. Accordingly, two modified dehydration methods are proposed that employ: (i) vacuum-aided evaporation, which reduces the necessary temperatures to dehydrate the sample, and (ii) window refractance evaporation, which reduces thermal exposure time. The biochemical composition of NCS produced under these two methods was compared to traditionally-produced NCS by estimating their total polyphenolic and protein content with Folin-Ciocalteu and Bradford assays, as well as identifying the major phenolic compounds in each sample via HPLC-coupled mass spectrometry. Their antioxidant activities were also compared as measured by their scavenging potential of ABTS and DPPH radicals. Results show that the two modified production methods enhance polyphenolic and protein yield in resulting NCS samples when compared to traditional production methods. In particular, reducing employed temperatures with vacuum-aided evaporation demonstrated to be superior at preserving polyphenolic compounds, as evidenced both in the total and individual polyphenol concentrations. However, antioxidant activities were not significantly different between these. Although additional studies should be performed to determine if the observed compositional differences affect other therapeutic activities (e.g., anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and immunoprotective), these results suggest that reducing thermal exposure holds great promise for the production of natural products with enhanced nutritional value.

Keywords: non-centrifugal cane sugar, polyphenolic compounds, thermal processing, antioxidant activity

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Hasanzadeh, Thierry Van Elslander, Eddy Van De Voorde

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About 90 percent of world merchandise trade by volume being carried by sea. Maritime transport remains as back bone behind the international trade and globalization meanwhile all seaborne goods need using at least two ports as origin and destination. Amid seaborne traded cargos, container traffic is a prosperous market with about 16% in terms of volume. Albeit containerized cargos are less in terms of tonnage but, containers carry the highest value cargos amongst all. That is why efficient handling of containers in ports is very important. Accidents are the foremost causes that lead to port inefficiency and a surge in total transport cost. Having different port safety management systems (PSMS) in place, statistics on port accidents show that numerous accidents occur in ports. Some of them claim peoples’ life; others damage goods, vessels, port equipment and/or the environment. Several accident investigation illustrate that the most common accidents take place throughout transport operation, it sometimes accounts for 68.6% of all events, therefore providing a safer workplace depends on reducing collision risk. In order to quantify risks at the port area different variables can be used as exposure measurement. One of the main motives for defining and using exposure in studies related to infrastructure is to account for the differences in intensity of use, so as to make comparisons meaningful. In various researches related to handling containers in ports and intermodal terminals, different risk exposures and also the likelihood of each event have been selected. Vehicle collision within the port area (10-7 per kilometer of vehicle distance travelled) and dropping containers from cranes, forklift trucks, or rail mounted gantries (1 x 10-5 per lift) are some examples. According to the objective of the current research, three categories of accidents selected for collision risk assessment; fall of container during ship to shore operation, dropping container during transfer operation and collision between vehicles and objects within terminal area. Later on various consequences, exposure and probability identified for each accident. Hence, reducing collision risks profoundly rely on picking the right risk exposures and probability of selected accidents, to prevent collision accidents in container terminals and in the framework of risk calculations, such risk exposures and probabilities can be useful in assessing the effectiveness of safety programs in ports.

Keywords: container terminal, collision, seaborne trade, risk exposure, risk probability

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Authors: Daisuke Sagiya, Ren Kamioka

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South Africa has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 30th November 2007. In line with this, the Department of Social Development (DSD) revised the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD), and the Cabinet approved it on 9th December 2015. The South African government is striving towards the elimination of poverty and inequality in line with UNCRPD and WPRPD. However, there are minimal programmes and services that have been provided to persons with disabilities in the rural community. In order to address current discriminative practices, disunity and limited self-representation in rural community, DSD in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is implementing the 'Project for the Promotion of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Disability Mainstreaming' from May 2016 to May 2020. The project is targeting rural community as the project sites, namely 1) Collins Chabane municipality, Vhembe district, Limpopo and 2) Maluti-a-Phofung municipality, Thabo Mofutsanyana district, Free State. The project aims at developing good practices on Community-Based Inclusive Development (CBID) at the project sites which will be documented as a guideline and applied in other provinces in South Africa and neighbouring countries (Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique). In cooperation with provincial and district DSD and local government, the project is currently implementing various community activities, for example: Establishment of Self-Help Group (SHG) of persons with disabilities and Peer Counselling in the villages, and will conduct Disability Equality Training (DET) and accessibility workshop in order to enhance the CBID in the project sites. In order to universalise good practices on CBID, the authors will explain lessons learned from the project by utilising the theories of disability and development studies and community psychology such as social model of disability, twin-track approach, empowerment theory, sense of community, helper therapy principle, etc. And the authors conclude that in order to realise social participation of persons with disabilities in rural community, CBID is a strong tool and persons with disabilities must play central roles in all spheres of CBID activities.

Keywords: community-based inclusive development, disability mainstreaming, empowerment of persons with disabilities, self-help group

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Authors: Rooma Rani

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The education is really important for the improvement of physical and mental well-being of the school students. It is used to express inner potential, acquire knowledge, develop skills, shape habits, attitudes, values, belief, etc. along with providing strengths and resilience to people to changing situations and allowing them to develop all those capacities which will enable individual to control surrounding environment. Education has a significant effect on the behavior of individuals which helps us in the new situations of everyday life. Educating the child is directing the child’s capacities, attitudes interest, urges, and needs into the most desirable channels. We are the part of 21st century and now a day emotional intelligence is considered more important than intelligence in the success of a person. Success depends on several intelligences and on the control of emotions too. Emotional Intelligence, like general intelligence is the product of one’s heredity and its interaction with his environmental forces. There are certain methods evolved in modern researches. Keeping in view the nature and purpose of the study, the descriptive survey method is preferred. This method is one of the important methods in education research because it describes the current position of the phenomenon under study. The term descriptive survey is generally used for the type of research which proposes to condition of practices of the present time. In the present study, a systematically random sampling method was used to select a representative sample. 50 students were selected from 2 schools. Out of 50 students, 25 were boys and 25 were girls. In the study, a) it has been found a significant difference in the level of adjustment between male and female students; b) it has been found a non-significant difference in the level of emotional intelligence between male and female students; c) it has been found a non-significant relationship between adjustment and emotional intelligence among male students; d) it has been found a significant relationship between adjustment and emotional intelligence among male students. The results of the study indicated that amongst the students those who possess high scores on emotional intelligence tests are high in level of adjustment. Measures should be adopted to improve and sustain the emotional intelligence level of students throughout their studies. Adolescent students are prone to many problems like physical, social and psychological. They need a congenial home atmosphere so that they grow into full-fledged citizens of our country. After understanding these, it helps in the development of personality which leads to a better learning situation and better thinking capacities, in turn, enhances adjustment and achievement along with a better perception of self.

Keywords: adjustment, education, emotional intelligence, students

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Authors: Prudhvinath Reddy Ankireddy, Narasimha Mangadoddy

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Spiral concentrators are commonly used in various industries, including mineral and coal processing, to efficiently separate materials based on their density and size. In these concentrators, a mixture of solid particles and fluid (usually water) is introduced as feed at the top of a spiral channel. As the mixture flows down the spiral, centrifugal and gravitational forces act on the particles, causing them to stratify based on their density and size. Spiral flows exhibit complex fluid dynamics, and interactions involve multiple phases and components in the process. Understanding the behavior of these phases within the spiral concentrator is crucial for achieving efficient separation. An experimental bi-component particle interaction study is conducted in this work utilizing magnetite (heavier density) and silica (lighter density) with different proportions processed in the spiral concentrator. The observation separation reveals that denser particles accumulate towards the inner region of the spiral trough, while a significant concentration of lighter particles are found close to the outer edge. The 5th turn of the spiral trough is partitioned into five zones to achieve a comprehensive distribution analysis of bicomponent particle segregation. Samples are then gathered from these individual streams using an in-house sample collector, and subsequent analysis is conducted to assess component segregation. Along the trough, there was a decline in the concentration of coarser particles, accompanied by an increase in the concentration of lighter particles. The segregation pattern indicates that the heavier coarse component accumulates in the inner zone, whereas the lighter fine component collects in the outer zone. The middle zone primarily consists of heavier fine particles and lighter coarse particles. The zone-wise results reveal that there is a significant fraction of segregation occurs in inner and middle zones. Finer magnetite and silica particles predominantly accumulate in outer zones with the smallest fraction of segregation. Additionally, numerical simulations are also carried out using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the volume of fluid (VOF) approach incorporating the RSM turbulence model. The discrete phase model (DPM) is employed for particle tracking, thereby understanding the particle segregation of magnetite and silica along the spiral trough.

Keywords: spiral concentrator, bi-component particle segregation, computational fluid dynamics, discrete phase model

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Authors: Jubaida Gulshan Ara, Zebun Nasreen Ahmed

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Urban flood and drought has been a major problem of Dhaka city, particularly in recent years. Continuous increase of the city built up area, and limiting rainwater infiltration zone, are thought to be the main causes of the problem. Proper rainwater management, even at the individual plot level, might bring significant improvement in this regard. As residential use pattern occupies a significant portion of the city surface, the scope of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in residential buildings can be investigated. This paper reports on a research which explored the scope of rainwater harvesting in residential plots, with multifamily apartment buildings, in Dhaka city. The research investigated the basics of RWH, contextual information, i.e., hydro-geological, meteorological data of Dhaka city and the rules and legislations for residential building construction. The study also explored contemporary rainwater harvesting practices in the local and international contexts. On the basis of theoretical understanding, 21 sample case-studies, in different phases of construction, were selected from seven different categories of plot sizes, in different residential areas of Dhaka city. Primary data from the 21 case-study buildings were collected from a physical survey, from design drawings, accompanied by a questionnaire survey. All necessary secondary data were gathered from published and other relevant sources. Collected primary and secondary data were used to calculate and analyze the RWH needs for each case study, based on the theoretical understanding. The main findings have been compiled and compared, to observe residential development trends with regards to building rainwater harvesting system. The study has found that, in ‘Multifamily Apartment Building’ of Dhaka city, storage, and recharge structure size for rainwater harvesting, increases along with occupants’ number, and with the increasing size of the plot. Hence, demand vs. supply ratio remains almost the same for different sizes of plots, and consequently, the size of the storage structure increases significantly, in large-scale plots. It has been found that rainwater can meet only 12%-30% of the total restricted water demand of these residential buildings of Dhaka city. Therefore, artificial groundwater recharge might be the more suitable option for RWH, than storage. The study came up with this conclusion that, in multifamily residential apartments of Dhaka city, artificial groundwater recharge might be the more suitable option for RWH, than storing the rainwater on site.

Keywords: Dhaka city, rainwater harvesting, residential plots, urban flood

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Authors: Sushil Pradhan

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Biotechnology contributes to sustainable development in several ways such as biofertilizer production, biopesticide production and management of environmental pollution, tissue culture and biodiversity conservation in vitro, in vivo and in situ, Insectivorous medicinal plant Drosera burmannii Vahl belongs to the Family-Droseraceae under Order-Caryophyllales, Dicotyledoneae, Angiospermeae which has 31 (thirty one) living genera and 194 species besides 7 (seven) extinct (fossil) genera. Locally it is known as “Patkanduri” in Odia. Its Hindi name is “Mukhajali” and its English name is “Sundew”. The earliest species of Drosera was first reported in 1753 by Carolous Linnaeus called Drosera indica L (Indian Sundew). The latest species of Drosera reported by Fleisch A, Robinson, AS, McPherson S, Heinrich V, Gironella E and Madulida D.A. (2011) is Drosera ultramafica from Malaysia. More than 50 % species of Drosera have been reported from Australia and next to Australia is South Africa. India harbours only 3 species such as D. indica L, Drosera burmannii Vahl and D. peltata L. From our Odisha only D. burmannii Vahl is being reported for the first time from the district of Subarnapur near Sonepur (Arjunpur Reserve Forest Area). Drosera plant is autotrophic but to supplement its Nitrogen (N2) requirement it adopts heterotrophic mode of nutrition (insectivorous/carnivorous) as well. The colour of plant in mostly red and about 20-30cm in height with beautiful pink or white pentamerous flowers. Plants grow luxuriantly during November to February in shady and moist places near small water bodies of running water stream. Medicinally it is a popular herb in the locality for the treatment of cold and cough in children in rainy season by the local Doctors (Kabiraj and Baidya). In the present field investigation an attempt has been made to understand the unique reproductive phase and life cycle of the plant thereby planning for its conservation and propagation through various techniques of tissue culture and biotechnology. More importantly besides morphological and anatomical studies, cytological investigation is being carried out to find out the number of chromosomes in the cell and its genomics as there is no such report as yet for Drosera burmannii Vahl. The ecological significance and biodiversity conservation of Drosera with special reference to energy, environmental and chemical engineering has been discussed in the research paper presentation.

Keywords: insectivorous, medicinal, drosera, biotechnology, chromosome, genome

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Authors: Yu-Chen Wei

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The relationship between organizational human capital and organizational effectiveness have been a common topic of interest to organization researchers. Much of this research has concluded that higher human capital can predict greater organizational outcomes. Whereas human capital research has traditionally focused on organizations, the current study turns to the team level human capital. In addition, there are no known empirical studies assessing the effect of human capital divergence on team performance. Team human capital refers to the sum of knowledge, ability, and experience embedded in team members. Team human capital divergence is defined as the variation of human capital within a team. This study is among the first to assess the role of human capital divergence as a moderator of the effect of team human capital on team performance. From the traditional perspective, team human capital represents the collective ability to solve problems and reducing operational risk of all team members. Hence, the higher team human capital, the higher the team performance. This study further employs social learning theory to explain the relationship between team human capital and team performance. According to this theory, the individuals will look for progress by way of learning from teammates in their teams. They expect to have upper human capital, in turn, to achieve high productivity, obtain great rewards and career success eventually. Therefore, the individual can have more chances to improve his or her capability by learning from peers of the team if the team members have higher average human capital. As a consequence, all team members can develop a quick and effective learning path in their work environment, and in turn enhance their knowledge, skill, and experience, leads to higher team performance. This is the first argument of this study. Furthermore, the current study argues that human capital divergence is negative to a team development. For the individuals with lower human capital in the team, they always feel the pressure from their outstanding colleagues. Under the pressure, they cannot give full play to their own jobs and lose more and more confidence. For the smart guys in the team, they are reluctant to be colleagues with the teammates who are not as intelligent as them. Besides, they may have lower motivation to move forward because they are prominent enough compared with their teammates. Therefore, human capital divergence will moderate the relationship between team human capital and team performance. These two arguments were tested in 510 team-seasons drawn from major league baseball (1998–2014). Results demonstrate that there is a positive relationship between team human capital and team performance which is consistent with previous research. In addition, the variation of human capital within a team weakens the above relationships. That is to say, an individual working with teammates who are comparable to them can produce better performance than working with people who are either too smart or too stupid to them.

Keywords: human capital divergence, team human capital, team performance, team level research

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Authors: Fatema Akram, Mohammad G. Rasul, M. Masud K. Khan, M. Sharif I. I. Amir

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Australia is a country of some 7,700 million square kilometres with a population of about 22.6 million. At present water security is a major challenge for Australia. In some areas the use of water resources is approaching and in some parts it is exceeding the limits of sustainability. A focal point of proposed national water conservation programs is the recycling of both urban storm-water and treated wastewater. But till now it is not widely practiced in Australia, and particularly storm-water is neglected. In Australia, only 4% of storm-water and rainwater is recycled, whereas less than 1% of reclaimed wastewater is reused within urban areas. Therefore, accurately monitoring, assessing and predicting the availability, quality and use of this precious resource are required for better management. As storm-water is usually of better quality than untreated sewage or industrial discharge, it has better public acceptance for recycling and reuse, particularly for non-potable use such as irrigation, watering lawns, gardens, etc. Existing storm-water recycling practice is far behind of research and no robust technologies developed for this purpose. Therefore, there is a clear need for using modern technologies for assessing feasibility of storm-water harvesting and reuse. Numerical modelling has, in recent times, become a popular tool for doing this job. It includes complex hydrological and hydraulic processes of the study area. The hydrologic model computes storm-water quantity to design the system components, and the hydraulic model helps to route the flow through storm-water infrastructures. Nowadays water quality module is incorporated with these models. Integration of Geographic Information System (GIS) with these models provides extra advantage of managing spatial information. However for the overall management of a storm-water harvesting project, Decision Support System (DSS) plays an important role incorporating database with model and GIS for the proper management of temporal information. Additionally DSS includes evaluation tools and Graphical user interface. This research aims to critically review and discuss all the aspects of storm-water harvesting and reuse such as available guidelines of storm-water harvesting and reuse, public acceptance of water reuse, the scopes and recommendation for future studies. In addition to these, this paper identifies, understand and address the importance of modern technologies capable of proper management of storm-water harvesting and reuse.

Keywords: storm-water management, storm-water harvesting and reuse, numerical modelling, geographic information system, decision support system, database

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Authors: Thair Mahmood Altaiee

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Because of the increasing population and the growing water requirements from the transboundary water resources within riparian countries in addition to un-proper management of these transboundary water resources, it is likely that a conflicts on the water will be occurred. So it is mandatory to search solutions to mitigate the action and probabilities of these undesired conflicts. One of the solutions for these crises may be sharing the riparian countries in the management of their transboundary water resources and share benefit. Effective cooperation on a transboundary river is any action by the riparian countries that lead to improve management of the river to their mutual acceptance. In principle, friendship dams constructed by riparian countries may play an important role in preventing conflicts like the Turkish-Syrian friendship dam on Asi river (Orontes), Iranian-Tukmenistan dam on Hariroud river, Bulgarian-Turkish dam on Tundzha river, Brazil-Paraguay dam on Parana river, and Aras dam between Iran and Azerbaijan. The objective of this study is to focus the light on the hydrological aspects of cooperation in constructing dams on the transboundary rivers, which may consider an option to prevent conflicts on water between the riparian countries. The various kinds of benefits and external impacts associated with cooperation in dams construction on the transboundary rivers with a real examples will be presented and analyzed. The hydrological benefit sharing from cooperation in dams construction, which type of benefit sharing mechanisms are applicable to dams, and how they vary were discussed. The study considered the cooperative applicability to dams on shared rivers according to selected case study of friendship dams in the world to illustrate the relevance of the cooperation concepts and the feasibility of such propose cooperation between Turkey and Iraq within the Tigris river. It is found that the opportunities of getting benefit from cooperation depend mainly on the hydrological boundary and location of the dam in relation to them. The desire to cooperate on dams construction on transboundary rivers exists if the location of a dam upstream will increase aggregate net benefits. The case studies show that various benefit sharing mechanisms due to cooperation in constructing friendship dams on the riparian countries border are possible for example when the downstream state (Iraq) convinces the upstream state (Turkey) to share building a dam on Tigris river across the Iraqi –Turkish border covering the cost and sharing the net benefit derived from this dam. These initial findings may provide guidance for riparian states engaged in and donors facilitating negotiation on dam projects on transboundary rivers.

Keywords: friendship dams, transboundary rivers, water cooperation, benefit sharing

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Ebrahim Shayesteh, Nikolaos Styliaras, Alin George Raducu, Ozan Sahin, Daniel Pombo VáZquez, Jonas Funkquist, Sotirios Thanopoulos

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One of the important requirements in many code generation projects is defining some of the model parameters tunable. This helps to update the model parameters without performing the code generation again. This paper studies the concept of embedded code generation by MATLAB/Simulink coder targeting the TwinCAT Simulink system. The generated runtime modules are then tested and deployed to the TwinCAT 3 engineering environment. However, defining the parameters tunable in MATLAB/Simulink code generation targeting TwinCAT is not very straightforward. This paper focuses on this subject and reviews some of the techniques tested here to make the parameters tunable in generated runtime modules. Three techniques are proposed for this purpose, including normal tunable parameters, callback functions, and mask subsystems. Moreover, some test Simulink models are developed and used to evaluate the results of proposed approaches. A brief summary of the study results is presented in the following. First of all, the parameters defined tunable and used in defining the values of other Simulink elements (e.g., gain value of a gain block) could be changed after the code generation and this value updating will affect the values of all elements defined based on the values of the tunable parameter. For instance, if parameter K=1 is defined as a tunable parameter in the code generation process and this parameter is used to gain a gain block in Simulink, the gain value for the gain block is equal to 1 in the gain block TwinCAT environment after the code generation. But, the value of K can be changed to a new value (e.g., K=2) in TwinCAT (without doing any new code generation in MATLAB). Then, the gain value of the gain block will change to 2. Secondly, adding a callback function in the form of “pre-load function,” “post-load function,” “start function,” and will not help to make the parameters tunable without performing a new code generation. This means that any MATLAB files should be run before performing the code generation. The parameters defined/calculated in this file will be used as fixed values in the generated code. Thus, adding these files as callback functions to the Simulink model will not make these parameters flexible since the MATLAB files will not be attached to the generated code. Therefore, to change the parameters defined/calculated in these files, the code generation should be done again. However, adding these files as callback functions forces MATLAB to run them before the code generation, and there is no need to define the parameters mentioned in these files separately. Finally, using a tunable parameter in defining/calculating the values of other parameters through the mask is an efficient method to change the value of the latter parameters after the code generation. For instance, if tunable parameter K is used in calculating the value of two other parameters K1 and K2 and, after the code generation, the value of K is updated in TwinCAT environment, the value of parameters K1 and K2 will also be updated (without any new code generation).

Keywords: code generation, MATLAB, tunable parameters, TwinCAT

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Authors: Jaehyung An, Sungjoo Lee

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Patent documents constitute an up-to-date and reliable source of knowledge for reflecting technological advance, so patent analysis has been widely used for identification of technological trends and formulation of technology strategies. But, identifying technological information from patent data entails some limitations such as, high cost, complexity, and inconsistency because it rely on the expert’ knowledge. To overcome these limitations, researchers have applied to a quantitative analysis based on the keyword technique. By using this method, you can include a technological implication, particularly patent documents, or extract a keyword that indicates the important contents. However, it only uses the simple-counting method by keyword frequency, so it cannot take into account the sematic relationship with the keywords and sematic information such as, how the technologies are used in their technology area and how the technologies affect the other technologies. To automatically analyze unstructured technological information in patents to extract the semantic information, it should be transformed into an abstracted form that includes the technological key concepts. Specific sentence structure ‘SAO’ (subject, action, object) is newly emerged by representing ‘key concepts’ and can be extracted by NLP (Natural language processor). An SAO structure can be organized in a problem-solution format if the action-object (AO) states that the problem and subject (S) form the solution. In this paper, we propose the new methodology that can extract the SAO structure through technical elements extracting rules. Although sentence structures in the patents text have a unique format, prior studies have depended on general NLP (Natural language processor) applied to the common documents such as newspaper, research paper, and twitter mentions, so it cannot take into account the specific sentence structure types of the patent documents. To overcome this limitation, we identified a unique form of the patent sentences and defined the SAO structures in the patents text data. There are four types of technical elements that consist of technology adoption purpose, application area, tool for technology, and technical components. These four types of sentence structures from patents have their own specific word structure by location or sequence of the part of speech at each sentence. Finally, we developed algorithms for extracting SAOs and this result offer insight for the technology innovation process by providing different perspectives of technology.

Keywords: NLP, patent analysis, SAO, semantic-analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Judith Margaret Tymon

Abstract:

As cities struggle to incorporate informal settlements into the fabric of urban areas, the focus has often been on the provision of housing. This study explores the underlying structure of street networks, with the goal of understanding the morphogenesis of informal settlements through the lens of the access network. As the stages of development progress from infill to consolidation and eventually, to a planned in-situ settlement, the access networks retain the form of the core segments; however, a majority of street patterns are adapted to a grid design to support infrastructure in the final upgraded phase. A case study is presented to examine the street network in the informal settlement of Gobabis Namibia as it progresses from its initial stages to a planned, in-situ, and permanently upgraded development. The Informal Development Stages framework of foundation, infill, and consolidation, as developed by Dr. Jota Samper, is utilized to examine the evolution of street networks. Data is gathered from historical Google Earth satellite images for the time period between 2003 and 2022. The results demonstrate that during the foundation through infill stages, incremental changes follow similar patterns, with pathways extended, lengthened, and densified as housing is created and the settlement grows. In the final stage of consolidation, the resulting street layout is transformed to support the installation of infrastructure; however, some elements of the original street patterns remain. The core pathways remain intact to accommodate the installation of infrastructure and the creation of housing plots, defining the shape of the settlement and providing the basis of the urban form. The adaptations, growth, and consolidation of the street network are critical to the eventual formation of the spatial layout of the settlement. This study will include a comparative analysis of findings with those of recent research performed by Kamalipour, Dovey, and others regarding incremental urbanism within informal settlements. Further comparisons will also include studies of street networks of well-established urban centers that have shown links between the morphogenesis of access networks and the eventual spatial layout of the city. The findings of the study can be used to guide and inform strategies for in-situ upgrading and can contribute to the sustainable development of informal settlements.

Keywords: Gobabis Namibia, incremental urbanism, informal development stages, informal settlements, street networks

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