Search results for: project evaluation

Authors: Jelena Filipovic, Marija Bodroza-Solarov, Milenko Kosutic, Nebojsa Novkovic, Vladimir Filipovic, Vesna Vucurovic

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Spelt wheat is suitable raw material for extruded products such as pasta, special types of bread and other products of altered nutritional characteristics compared to conventional wheat products. During the process of extrusion, spelt is exposed to high temperature and high pressure, during which raw material is also mechanically treated by shear forces. Spelt wheat is growing without the use of pesticides in harsh ecological conditions and in marginal areas of cultivation. So it can be used for organic and health safe food. Pasta is the most popular foodstuff; its consumption has been observed to rise. Pasta quality depends mainly on the properties of flour raw materials, especially protein content and its quality but starch properties are of a lesser importance. Pasta is characterized by significant amounts of complex carbohydrates, low sodium, total fat fiber, minerals, and essential fatty acids and its nutritional value can be improved with additional functional component. Over the past few decades, wheat pasta has been successfully formulated using different ingredients in pasta to cater health-conscious consumers who prefer having a product rich in protein, healthy lipids and other health benefits. Flaxseed flour is used in the production of bakery and pasta products that have properties of functional foods. However, it should be taken into account that food products retain the technological and sensory quality despite the added flax seed. Flaxseed contains important substances in its composition such as vitamins and minerals elements, and it is also an excellent source of fiber and one of the best sources of ω-3 fatty acids and lignin. In this paper, the quality and identification of spelt extruded product with the addition of flax seed, which is positively contributing to the nutritive and technology changes of the product, is investigated. ω-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated essential fatty acids, and they must be taken with food to satisfy the recommended daily intake. Flaxseed flour is added in the quantity of 10/100 g of sample and 20/100 g of sample on farina. It is shown that the presence of ω-3 fatty acids in pasta can be clearly distinguished from other fatty acids by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Addition of flax seed flour influence chemical content of pasta. The addition of flax seed flour in spelt pasta in the quantities of 20g/100 g significantly increases the share of ω-3 fatty acids, which results in improved ratio of ω-6/ω-3 1:2.4 and completely satisfies minimum daily needs of ω-3 essential fatty acids (3.8 g/100 g) recommended by FDA. Flex flour influenced the pasta quality by increasing of hardness (2377.8 ± 13.3; 2874.5 ± 7.4; 3076.3 ± 5.9) and work of shear (102.6 ± 11.4; 150.8 ± 11.3; 165.0 ± 18.9) and increasing of adhesiveness (11.8 ± 20.6; 9.,98 ± 0.12; 7.1 ± 12.5) of the final product. Presented data point at good indicators of technological quality of spelt pasta with flax seed and that GC-MS analysis can be used in the quality control for flax seed identification. Acknowledgment: The research was financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Project No. III 46005).

Keywords: GC-MS analysis, ω-3 fatty acids, flex seed, spelt wheat, daily needs

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a severe health problem which is common among obese individuals. The components of MetS are rather stable in adults compared to the components discussed for children. Due to the ambiguity in this group of the population, how to diagnose MetS in morbid obese (MO) children still constitutes a matter of discussion. For this purpose, a formula, which facilitates the diagnosis of MetS in MO children, was investigated. The aim of this study was to develop a formula which was capable of discriminating MO children with and without MetS findings. Study population comprised MO children. Age and sex-dependent body mass index (BMI) percentiles of the children were above 99. Metabolic syndrome components were also determined. Elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP), elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG), elevated triglycerides (TRG), and/or depressed high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in addition to central obesity were listed as MetS components for each child. Presence of at least two of these components confirmed that the case was MetS. Two groups were constituted. In the first group, there were forty-two MO children without MetS components. Second group was composed of forty-four MO children with at least two MetS components. Anthropometric measurements, including weight, height, waist, and hip circumferences, were performed following physical examination. Body mass index and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance values were calculated. Informed consent forms were obtained from the parents of the children. Institutional Non-Interventional Ethics Committee approved the study design. Blood pressure values were recorded. Routine biochemical analysis, including FBG, insulin (INS), TRG, HDL-C were performed. The performance and the clinical utility of the Diagnostic Obesity Notation Model Assessment Metabolic Syndrome Index (DONMA MetS index) [(INS/FBG)/(HDL-C/TRG)*100] was tested. Appropriate statistical tests were applied to the study data. p value smaller than 0.05 was defined as significant. Metabolic syndrome index values were 41.6±5.1 in MO group and 104.4±12.8 in MetS group. Corresponding values for HDL-C values were 54.5±13.2 mg/dl and 44.2±11.5 mg/dl. There were statistically significant differences between the groups (p<0.001). Upon evaluation of the correlations between MetS index and HDL-C values, a much stronger negative correlation was found in MetS group (r=-0.515; p=0.001) in comparison with the correlation detected in MO group (r=-0.371; p=0.016). From these findings, it was concluded that the statistical significance degree of the difference between MO and MetS groups was highly acceptable for this recently introduced MetS index as expected. This was due to the involvement of all of the biochemically defined MetS components into the index. This is particularly important because each of these four parameters used in the formula is cardiac risk factor. Aside from discriminating MO children with and without MetS findings, MetS index introduced in this study is important from the cardiovascular risk point of view in MetS group of children.

Keywords: children, fasting blood glucose, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, index, insulin, metabolic syndrome, morbid obesity, triglycerides.

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Authors: M. Bukowski, K. Kreissl

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Social and environmental pressures in our times bear threats that often cross-border in scale, such as climate change, poverty-driven migration, demographic change as well as socio-economic developments. One of the hot topics is prevailing in many societies across Europe and worldwide, concerns 'affordable housing' and poverty-driven international and domestic migration (including displacements through gentrification processes), focusing here on the urban and regional context. The right to adequate housing and shelter is one of the recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and as such considered as a human right of the second generation. The decreasing supply of affordable housing, especially in urban areas, has reached dimensions that have led to an increasing 'housing crisis'. This crisis, which has even reached middle-income homes, has an even more devastating impact on low income and poor households raising poverty levels. Therefore, the understanding of the connection between housing and poverty is vital to integrate and support the different stakeholders in order to tackle poverty. When it comes to issues of inequalities and poverty within the SDG framework, multi-faceted stakeholders with different claims, distribution of resources and interactions with other development goals (spill-over and trade-offs) account for a highly complex context. To contribute to a sustainable and fair society and hence to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the University of Salzburg participates in the Austrian-wide universities' network 'UniNEtZ'. Our joint target is to develop an options report for the Austrian Government regarding the seventeen SDGs, so far hosted by 18 Austrian universities. In this vein, the University of Salzburg; i.e., the Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research, the departments of Geography and Geology and the Department of Sociology and Political Science are focusing on the SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Our target and research focus is to assess and evaluate the status of SDG 1 and 10 in Austria, to find possible solutions and to support stakeholders' integration. We aim at generating and deducing appropriate options as scientific support, from interdisciplinary research studies to 'Sustainability Developing Goals and their Targets' in action. For this reason, and to deal with the complexity of the Agenda 2030, we have developed a special Model for Inequalities and Poverty Assessment (IPAM). Through the example of 'affordable housing' we provide insight into the situation focusing on sustainable outcomes, including ethical and justice perceptions. The IPAM has proven to be a helpful tool in detecting the different imponderables on the Agenda 2030, assessing the situation, showing gaps and options for ethical SDG actions combining different SDG targets. Supported by expert and expert group interviews, this assessment allows different stakeholders to overview a complex and dynamic SDG challenge (here housing) which is necessary to be involved in an action finding process.

Keywords: affordable housing, inequality, poverty, sustainable development goals

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Authors: Yohann R. J. Thomas, Sébastien Solan

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Conventional battery technology includes the assembly of electrode/separator/electrode by standard techniques such as stacking or winding, depending on the format size. In that type of batteries, coating or pasting techniques are only used for the electrode process. The processes are suited for large scale production of batteries and perfectly adapted to plenty of application requirements. Nevertheless, as the demand for both easier and cost-efficient production modes, flexible, custom-shaped and efficient small sized batteries is rising. Thin-film, printable batteries are one of the key areas for printed electronics. In the frame of European BASMATI project, we are investigating the feasibility of a new design of lithium-ion battery: interdigitated planar core design. Polymer substrate is used to produce bendable and flexible rechargeable accumulators. Direct fully printed batteries lead to interconnect the accumulator with other electronic functions for example organic solar cells (harvesting function), printed sensors (autonomous sensors) or RFID (communication function) on a common substrate to produce fully integrated, thin and flexible new devices. To fulfill those specifications, a high resolution printing process have been selected: Aerosol jet printing. In order to fit with this process parameters, we worked on nanomaterials formulation for current collectors and electrodes. In addition, an advanced printed polymer-electrolyte is developed to be implemented directly in the printing process in order to avoid the liquid electrolyte filling step and to improve safety and flexibility. Results: Three different current collectors has been studied and printed successfully. An ink of commercial copper nanoparticles has been formulated and printed, then a flash sintering was applied to the interdigitated design. A gold ink was also printed, the resulting material was partially self-sintered and did not require any high temperature post treatment. Finally, carbon nanotubes were also printed with a high resolution and well defined patterns. Different electrode materials were formulated and printed according to the interdigitated design. For cathodes, NMC and LFP were efficaciously printed. For anodes, LTO and graphite have shown to be good candidates for the fully printed battery. The electrochemical performances of those materials have been evaluated in a standard coin cell with lithium-metal counter electrode and the results are similar with those of a traditional ink formulation and process. A jellified plastic crystal solid state electrolyte has been developed and showed comparable performances to classical liquid carbonate electrolytes with two different materials. In our future developments, focus will be put on several tasks. In a first place, we will synthesize and formulate new specific nano-materials based on metal-oxyde. Then a fully printed device will be produced and its electrochemical performance will be evaluated.

Keywords: high resolution digital printing, lithium-ion battery, nanomaterials, solid-state electrolytes

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Authors: Johan Buermans, Kristel Crombé, Niek Desmet, Laura Dittrich, Andrei Goriaev, Yurii Kovtun, Daniel López-Rodriguez, Sören Möller, Per Petersson, Maja Verstraeten

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The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will rely on three sources of external heating to produce and sustain a plasma; Neutral Beam Injection (NBI), Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH), and Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH). ECRH is a way to heat the electrons in a plasma by resonant absorption of electromagnetic waves. The energy of the electrons is transferred indirectly to the ions by collisions. The electron cyclotron heating system can be directed to deposit heat in particular regions in the plasma (https://www.iter.org/mach/Heating). Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) at the fundamental resonance in X-mode is limited by a low cut-off density. Electromagnetic waves cannot propagate in the region between this cut-off and the Upper Hybrid Resonance (UHR) and cannot reach the Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) position. Higher harmonic heating is hence preferred in heating scenarios nowadays to overcome this problem. Additional power deposition mechanisms can occur above this threshold to increase the plasma density. This includes collisional losses in the evanescent region, resonant power coupling at the UHR, tunneling of the X-wave with resonant coupling at the ECR, and conversion to the Electron Bernstein Wave (EBW) with resonant coupling at the ECR. A more profound knowledge of these deposition mechanisms can help determine the optimal plasma production scenarios. Several ECRH experiments are performed on the TOroidally MAgnetized System (TOMAS) to identify the conditions for Electron Bernstein Wave (EBW) heating. Density and temperature profiles are measured with movable Triple Langmuir Probes in the horizontal and vertical directions. Measurements of the forwarded and reflected power allow evaluation of the coupling efficiency. Optical emission spectroscopy and camera images also contribute to plasma characterization. The influence of the injected power, magnetic field, gas pressure, and wave polarization on the different deposition mechanisms is studied, and the contribution of the Electron Bernstein Wave is evaluated. The TOMATOR 1D hydrogen-helium plasma simulator numerically describes the evolution of current less magnetized Radio Frequency plasmas in a tokamak based on Braginskii’s legal continuity and heat balance equations. This code was initially benchmarked with experimental data from TCV to determine the transport coefficients. The code is used to model the plasma parameters and the power deposition profiles. The modeling is compared with the data from the experiments.

Keywords: electron Bernstein wave, Langmuir probe, plasma characterization, TOMAS

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Authors: Gustavo Axel Elizalde-Velázquez

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Metformin is the first line of oral therapy to treat type II diabetes and is also employed as a treatment for other indications, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, cancer, and COVID-19. Recent data suggest it is the aspirin of the 21st century due to its antioxidant and anti-aging effects. However, increasingly current articles indicate its long-term consumption generates mitochondrial impairment. Up to date, it is known metformin increases the biogenesis of Alzheimer's amyloid peptides via up-regulating BACE1 transcription, but further information related to brain damage after its consumption is missing. Bearing in mind the above, this work aimed to establish whether or not chronic exposure to metformin may alter swimming behavior and induce neurotoxicity in Danio rerio adults. For this purpose, 250 Danio rerio grown-ups were assigned to six tanks of 50 L of capacity. Four of the six systems contained 50 fish, while the remaining two had 25 fish (≈1 male:1 female ratio). Every system with 50 fish was allocated one of the three metformin treatment concentrations (1, 20, and 40 μg/L), with one system as the control treatment. Systems with 25 fish, on the other hand, were used as positive controls for acetylcholinesterase (10 μg/L of Atrazine) and oxidative stress (3 μg/L of Atrazine). After four months of exposure, a mean of 32 fish (S.D. ± 2) per group of MET treatment survived, which were used for the evaluation of behavior with the Novel Tank test. Moreover, after the behavioral assessment, we aimed to collect the blood and brains of all fish from all treatment groups. For blood collection, fish were anesthetized with an MS-222 solution (150 mg/L), while for brain gathering, fish were euthanized using the hypothermic shock method (2–4 °C). Blood was employed to determine CASP3 activity and the percentage of apoptotic cells with the TUNEL assay, and brains were used to evaluate acetylcholinesterase activity, oxidative damage, and gene expression. After chronic exposure, MET-exposed fish exhibited less swimming activity when compared to control fish. Moreover, compared with the control group, MET significantly inhibited the activity of AChE and induced oxidative damage in the brain of fish. Concerning gene expression, MET significantly upregulated the expression of Nrf1, Nrf2, BAX, p53, BACE1, APP, PSEN1, and downregulated CASP3 and CASP9. Although MET did not overexpress the CASP3 gene, we saw a meaningful rise in the activity of this enzyme in the blood of fish exposed to MET compared to the control group, which we then confirmed by a high number of apoptotic cells in the TUNEL assay. To the best of our understanding, this is the first study that delivers evidence of oxidative impairment, apoptosis, AChE alteration, and overexpression of B- amyloid-related genes in the brain of fish exposed to metformin.

Keywords: AChE inhibition, CASP3 activity, NovelTank test, oxidative damage, TUNEL assay

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Authors: Sandra Costa-Santos, Nadia Bertolino, Stephen Hicks, Vanessa May, Camilla Lewis

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This paper aims to elaborate the architectural theory on place-making that supported Claremont Court housing scheme (Edinburgh, United Kingdom). Claremont Court (1959-62) is a large post-war mixed development housing scheme designed by Basil Spence, which included ‘place-making’ as one of its founding principles. Although some stylistic readings of the housing scheme have been published, the theory on place-making that allegedly ruled the design has yet to be clarified. The architecture allows us to mark or make a place within space in order to dwell. Under the framework of contemporary philosophical theories of place, this paper aims to explore the relationship between place and dwelling through a cross-disciplinary reading of Claremont Court, with a view to develop an architectural theory on place-making. Since dwelling represents the way we are immersed in our world in an existential manner, this theme is not just relevant for architecture but also for philosophy and sociology. The research in this work is interpretive-historic in nature. It examines documentary evidence of the original architectural design, together with relevant literature in sociology, history, and architecture, through the lens of theories of place. First, the paper explores how the dwelling types originally included in Claremont Court supported ideas of dwelling or meanings of home. Then, it traces shared space and social ties in order to study the symbolic boundaries that allow the creation of a collective identity or sense of belonging. Finally, the relation between the housing scheme and the supporting theory is identified. The findings of this research reveal Scottish architect Basil Spence’s exploration of the meaning of home, as he changed his approach to the mass housing while acting as President of the Royal Incorporation of British Architects (1958-60). When the British Government was engaged in various ambitious building programmes, he sought to drive architecture to a wider socio-political debate as president of the RIBA, hence moving towards a more ambitious and innovative socio-architectural approach. Rather than trying to address the ‘genius loci’ with an architectural proposition, as has been stated, the research shows that the place-making theory behind the housing scheme was supported by notions of community-based on shared space and dispositions. The design of the housing scheme was steered by a desire to foster social relations and collective identities, rather than by the idea of keeping the spirit of the place. This research is part of a cross-disciplinary project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The findings present Claremont Court as a signifier of Basil Spence’s attempt to address the post-war political debate on housing in United Kingdom. They highlight the architect’s theoretical agenda and challenge current purely stylistic readings of Claremont Court as they fail to acknowledge its social relevance.

Keywords: architectural theory, dwelling, place-making, post-war housing

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Authors: Rensson Homero Celiz Ygnacio, Marco Aurélio Schiavo Novaes, Lucy Vanessa Sulca Ñaupas, Ana Paula Ribeiro Rodrigues

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The cryopreservation of testicular tissue emerges as an alternative for the preservation of the reproductive potential of individuals who still cannot produce sperm; however, they will undergo treatments that may affect their fertility (e.g., chemotherapy). Therefore, the present work aims to compare two cryopreservation methods (slow freezing and vitrification) in testicular tissue of prepubertal lambs. For that, to obtain the testicular tissue, the animals were castrated and the testicles were collected immediately in a physiological solution supplemented with antibiotics. In the laboratory, the testis was split into small pieces. The total size of the testicular fragments was 3×3x1 mm³ and was placed in a dish contained in Minimum Essential Medium (MEM-HEPES). The fragments were distributed randomly into non-cryopreserved (fresh control), slow freezing (SF), and vitrified. To SF procedures, two fragments from a given male were then placed in a 2,0 mL cryogenic vial containing 1,0 mL MEM-HEPES supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 20% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Tubes were placed into a Mr. Frosty™ Freezing container with isopropyl alcohol and transferred to a -80°C freezer for overnight storage. On the next day, each tube was plunged into liquid nitrogen (NL). For vitrification, the ovarian tissue cryosystem (OTC) device was used. Testicular fragments were placed in the OTC device and exposed to the first vitrification solution composed of MEM-HEPES supplemented with 10 mg/mL Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), 0.25 M sucrose, 10% Ethylene glycol (EG), 10% DMSO and 150 μM alpha-lipoic acid for four min. The VS1 was discarded and then the fragments were submerged into a second vitrification solution (VS2) containing the same composition of VS1 but 20% EG and 20% DMSO. VS2 was then discarded and each OTC device containing up to four testicular fragments was closed and immersed in NL. After the storage period, the fragments were removed from the NL, kept at room temperature for one min and then immersed at 37 °C in a water bath for 30 s. Samples were warmed by sequentially immersing in solutions of MEM-HEPES supplemented with 3 mg/mL BSA and decreasing concentrations of sucrose. Hematoxylin-eosin staining to analyze the tissue architecture was used. The score scale used was from 0 to 3, classified with a score 0 representing normal morphologically, and 3 were considered a lot of alteration. The histomorphological evaluation of the testicular tissue shows that when evaluating the nuclear alteration (distinction of nucleoli and condensation of nuclei), there are no differences when using slow freezing with respect to the control. However, vitrification presents greater damage (p <0.05). On the other hand, when evaluating the epithelial alteration, we observed that the freezing showed scores statistically equal to the control in variables such as retraction of the basement membrane, formation of gaps and organization of the peritubular cells. The results of the study demonstrated that cryopreservation using the slow freezing method is an excellent tool for the preservation of pubertal testicular tissue.

Keywords: cryopreservation, slow freezing, vitrification, testicular tissue, lambs

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Authors: Balwinder Singh, Veerpaul Kaur Mann

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A composite material is formed by the combination of two or more phases or materials. Natural minerals-derived Basalt fiber is a kind of fiber being introduced in the polymer composite industry due to its good mechanical properties similar to synthetic fibers and low cost, environment friendly. Also, there is a rising trend towards the use of industrial wastes as fillers in polymer composites with the aim of improving the properties of the composites. The mechanical properties of the fiber-reinforced polymer composites are influenced by various factors like fiber length, fiber weight %, filler weight %, filler size, etc. Thus, a detailed study has been done on the characterization of short-chopped Basalt fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites using fly ash as filler. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array has been used to develop the composites by considering fiber length (6, 9 and 12 mm), fiber weight % (25, 30 and 35 %) and filler weight % (0, 5 and 10%) as input parameters with their respective levels and a thorough analysis on the mechanical characteristics (tensile strength and impact strength) has been done using ANOVA analysis with the help of MINITAB14 software. The investigation revealed that fiber weight is the most significant parameter affecting tensile strength, followed by fiber length and fiber weight %, respectively, while impact characterization showed that fiber length is the most significant factor, followed by fly ash weight, respectively. Introduction of fly ash proved to be beneficial in both the characterization with enhanced values upto 5% fly ash weight. The present study on the natural fibres reinforced epoxy composites using fly ash as filler material to study the effect of input parameters on the tensile strength in order to maximize tensile strength of the composites. Fabrication of composites based on Taguchi L9 orthogonal array design of experiments by using three factors fibre type, fibre weight % and fly ash % with three levels of each factor. The Optimization of composition of natural fibre reinforces composites using ANOVA for obtaining maximum tensile strength on fabricated composites revealed that the natural fibres along with fly ash can be successfully used with epoxy resin to prepare polymer matrix composites with good mechanical properties. Paddy- Paddy fibre gives high elasticity to the fibre composite due to presence of approximately hexagonal structure of cellulose present in paddy fibre. Coir- Coir fibre gives less tensile strength than paddy fibre as Coir fibre is brittle in nature when it pulls breakage occurs showing less tensile strength. Banana- Banana fibre has the least tensile strength in comparison to the paddy & coir fibre due to less cellulose content. Higher fibre weight leads to reduction in tensile strength due to increased nuclei of air pockets. Increasing fly ash content reduces tensile strength due to nonbonding of fly ash particles with natural fibre. Fly ash is also not very strong as compared to the epoxy resin leading to reduction in tensile strength.

Keywords: tensile strength and epoxy resin. basalt Fiber, taguchi, polymer matrix, natural fiber

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Authors: D. Kakulia, L. Shoshiashvili, G. Sapharishvili

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The results of the study are related to the direction of plastic mine detection research using electromagnetic induction, the development of appropriate equipment, and the evaluation of expected results. Electromagnetic induction sensing is effectively used in the detection of metal objects in the soil and in the discrimination of unexploded ordnances. Metal objects interact well with a low-frequency alternating magnetic field. Their electromagnetic response can be detected at the low-frequency range even when they are placed in the ground. Detection of plastic things such as plastic mines by electromagnetic induction is associated with difficulties. The interaction of non-conducting bodies or low-conductive objects with a low-frequency alternating magnetic field is very weak. At the high-frequency range where already wave processes take place, the interaction increases. Interactions with other distant objects also increase. A complex interference picture is formed, and extraction of useful information also meets difficulties. Sensing by electromagnetic induction at the intermediate MHz frequency range is the subject of research. The concept of detecting plastic mines in this range can be based on the study of the electromagnetic response of non-conductive cavity in a low-conductivity environment or the detection of small metal components in plastic mines, taking into account constructive features. The detector node based on the amplitude and phase detector 'Analog Devices ad8302' has been developed for experimental studies. The node has two inputs. At one of the inputs, the node receives a sinusoidal signal from the generator, to which a transmitting coil is also connected. The receiver coil is attached to the second input of the node. The additional circuit provides an option to amplify the signal output from the receiver coil by 20 dB. The node has two outputs. The voltages obtained at the output reflect the ratio of the amplitudes and the phase difference of the input harmonic signals. Experimental measurements were performed in different positions of the transmitter and receiver coils at the frequency range 1-20 MHz. Arbitrary/Function Generator Tektronix AFG3052C and the eight-channel high-resolution oscilloscope PICOSCOPE 4824 were used in the experiments. Experimental measurements were also performed with a low-conductive test object. The results of the measurements and comparative analysis show the capabilities of the simple detector node and the prospects for its further development in this direction. The results of the experimental measurements are compared and analyzed with the results of appropriate computer modeling based on the method of auxiliary sources (MAS). The experimental measurements are driven using the MATLAB environment. Acknowledgment -This work was supported by Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation (SRNSF) (Grant number: NFR 17_523).

Keywords: EM induction sensing, detector, plastic mines, remote sensing

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Authors: Georgios Boustras, Cleo Varianou Mikellidou, Christos Argyropoulos

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Summer 2021 was marked by a number of prolific fires in the EU (Greece, Cyprus, France) as well as outside the EU (USA, Turkey, Israel). This series of dramatic events have stretched national civil protection systems and first responders in particular. Despite the introduction of National, Regional and International frameworks (e.g. rescEU), a number of challenges have arisen, not only related to climate change. RESPOND-A (funded by the European Commission by Horizon 2020, Contract Number 883371) introduces a unique five-tier project architectural structure for best associating modern telecommunications technology with novel practices for First Responders of saving lives, while safeguarding themselves, more effectively and efficiently. The introduced architecture includes Perception, Network, Processing, Comprehension, and User Interface layers, which can be flexibly elaborated to support multiple levels and types of customization, so, the intended technologies and practices can adapt to any European Environment Agency (EEA)-type disaster scenario. During the preparation of the RESPOND-A proposal, some of our First Responder Partners expressed the need for an information management system that could boost existing emergency response tools, while some others envisioned a complete end-to-end network management system that would offer high Situational Awareness, Early Warning and Risk Mitigation capabilities. The intuition behind these needs and visions sits on the long-term experience of these Responders, as well, their smoldering worry that the evolving threat of climate change and the consequences of industrial accidents will become more frequent and severe. Three large-scale pilot studies are planned in order to illustrate the capabilities of the RESPOND-A system. The first pilot study will focus on the deployment and operation of all available technologies for continuous communications, enhanced Situational Awareness and improved health and safety conditions for First Responders, according to a big fire scenario in a Wildland Urban Interface zone (WUI). An important issue will be examined during the second pilot study. Unobstructed communication in the form of the flow of information is severely affected during a crisis; the flow of information between the wider public, from the first responders to the public and vice versa. Call centers are flooded with requests and communication is compromised or it breaks down on many occasions, which affects in turn – the effort to build a common operations picture for all firstr esponders. At the same time the information that reaches from the public to the operational centers is scarce, especially in the aftermath of an incident. Understandably traffic if disrupted leaves no other way to observe but only via aerial means, in order to perform rapid area surveys. Results and work in progress will be presented in detail and challenges in relation to civil protection will be discussed.

Keywords: first responders, safety, civil protection, new technologies

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Authors: Salman Imran, Chris Healey

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Traditionally, medical care of children in England and Wales starts from primary care with a referral to secondary care paediatricians who may not investigate further. Many primary care doctors do not undergo a paediatric rotation/exposure in training. As a result, there are many who have not acquired the necessary skills to manage children hence increasing hospital referral. With the current demand on hospitals in the National Health Service managing more problems in the community is needed. One way of handling this is to set up clinics, meetings and huddles in GP surgeries where professionals involved (general practitioner, paediatrician, health visitor, community nurse, dietician, school nurse) come together and share information which can help improve communication and care. The increased awareness and education that paediatricians can impart in this way will help boost confidence for primary care professionals to be able to be more self-sufficient. This has been tried successfully in other regions e.g., St. Mary’s Hospital in London but is crucial for a more rural setting like ours. The primary aim of this project would be to educate specifically GP’s and generally all other health professionals involved. Additional benefits would be providing care nearer home, increasing patient’s confidence in their local surgery, improving communication and reducing unnecessary patient flow to already stretched hospital resources. Methods: This was done as a plan do study act cycle (PDSA). Three clinics were delivered in different practices over six months where feedback from staff and patients was collected. Designated time for teaching/discussion was used which involved some cases from the actual clinics. Both new and follow up patients were included. Two clinics were conducted by a paediatrician and nurse whilst the 3rd involved paediatrician and local doctor. The distance from hospital to clinics varied from two miles to 22 miles approximately. All equipment used was provided by primary care. Results: A total of 30 patients were seen. All patients found the location convenient as it was nearer than the hospital. 70-90% clearly understood the reason for a change in venue. 95% agreed to the importance of their local doctor being involved in their care. 20% needed to be seen in the hospital for further investigations. Patients felt this to be a more personalised, in-depth, friendly and polite experience. Local physicians felt this to be a more relaxed, familiar and local experience for their patients and they managed to get immediate feedback regarding their own clinical management. 90% felt they gained important learning from the discussion time and the paediatrician also learned about their understanding and gaps in knowledge/focus areas. 80% felt this time was valuable for targeted learning. Equipment, information technology, and office space could be improved for the smooth running of any future clinics. Conclusion: The acute paediatric outpatient clinic can be successfully established in primary care facilities. Careful patient selection and adequate facilities are important. We have demonstrated a further step in the reduction of patient flow to hospitals and upskilling primary care health professionals. This service is expected to become more efficient with experience.

Keywords: clinics, education, paediatricians, primary care

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Authors: Lela Gadrani, Mariam Tsitsagi

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Human is a part of the urban landscape and responsible for it. Urbanization of cities includes the longest phase; thus none of the environment ever undergoes such anthropogenic impact as the area of large cities. The post-Soviet period is very interesting in terms of scientific research. The changes that have occurred in the cities since the collapse of the Soviet Union have not yet been analyzed best to our knowledge. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyze the changes in the land use of the three large cities of Georgia (Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi). Tbilisi as a capital city, Batumi as a port city, and Kutaisi as a former industrial center. Data used during the research process are conventionally divided into satellite and supporting materials. For this purpose, the largest topographic maps (1:10 000) of all three cities were analyzed, Tbilisi General Plans (1896, 1924), Tbilisi and Kutaisi historical maps. The main emphasis was placed on the classification of Landsat images. In this case, we have classified the images LULC (LandUse / LandCover) of all three cities taken in 1987 and 2016 using the supervised and unsupervised methods. All the procedures were performed in the programs: Arc GIS 10.3.1 and ENVI 5.0. In each classification we have singled out the following classes: built-up area, water bodies, agricultural lands, green cover and bare soil, and calculated the areas occupied by them. In order to check the validity of the obtained results, additionally we used the higher resolution images of CORONA and Sentinel. Ultimately we identified the changes that took place in the land use in the post-Soviet period in the above cities. According to the results, a large wave of changes touched Tbilisi and Batumi, though in different periods. It turned out that in the case of Tbilisi, the area of developed territory has increased by 13.9% compared to the 1987 data, which is certainly happening at the expense of agricultural land and green cover, in particular, the area of agricultural lands has decreased by 4.97%; and the green cover by 5.67%. It should be noted that Batumi has obviously overtaken the country's capital in terms of development. With the unaided eye it is clear that in comparison with other regions of Georgia, everything is different in Batumi. In fact, Batumi is an unofficial summer capital of Georgia. Undoubtedly, Batumi’s development is very important both in economic and social terms. However, there is a danger that in the uneven conditions of urban development, we will eventually get a developed center - Batumi, and multiple underdeveloped peripheries around it. Analysis of the changes in the land use is of utmost importance not only for quantitative evaluation of the changes already implemented, but for future modeling and prognosis of urban development. Raster data containing the classes of land use is an integral part of the city's prognostic models.

Keywords: analysis, geo information system, remote sensing, LULC

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: E. Tuğba Topçu, Ebru E. Kazan, Erhan Büken

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Emergency nurses are the first health care professional to generally observe the patients, communicate patients’ family or relatives, touch the properties of patients and contact to laboratory sample of patients. Also, they are the encounter incidents related crime, people who engage in violence or suspicious injuries frequently. So, documentation of patients’ condition came to the hospital and conservation of evidence are important in the inquiry of forensic medicine. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge level of healthcare professional working at the emergency services regarding their approaches to common forensic cases. The study was comprised of 404 healthcare professional working (nurse, emergency medicine technician, health officer) at the emergency services of 6 state hospitals, 6 training and 6 research hospitals and 3 university hospitals in Ankara. Data was collected using questionnaire form which was developed by researches in the direction of literature. Questionnaire form is comprised of two sections. The first section includes 17 questions related demographic information about health care professional and 4 questions related Turkish laws. The second section includes 43 questions to the determination of knowledge level of health care professional’s working in the emergency department, about approaches to frequently encountered forensic cases. For the data evaluation of the study; Mann Whitney U test, Bonferroni correction Kruskal Wallis H test and Chi Square tests have been used. According to study, it’s said that there is no forensic medicine expert in the foundation by 73.4% of health care professionals. Two third (66%) of participants’ in emergency department reported daily average 7 or above forensic cases applied to the emergency department and 52.1% of participants did not evaluate incidents came to the emergency department as a forensic case. Most of the participants informed 'duty of preservation of evidence' is health care professionals duty related forensic cases. In result, we determinated that knowledge level of health care professional working in the emergency department, about approaches to frequently encountered forensic cases, is not the expected level. Because we found that most of them haven't received education about forensic nursing.Postgraduates participants, educated health professional about forensic nursing, staff who applied to sources about forensic nursing and staff who evaluated emergency department cases as forensic cases have significantly higher level of knowledge. Moreover, it’s found that forensic cases diagnosis score is the highest in health officer and university graduated. Health care professional’s deficiency in knowledge about forensic cases can cause defects in operation of the forensic process because of mistakes in collecting and conserving of evidence. It is obvious that training about the approach to forensic nursing should be arranged.

Keywords: emergency nurses, forensic case, forensic nursing, level of knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Karen Koellner, Nanette Seago, Jennifer Jacobs, Helen Garnier

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Although studies of teacher professional development (PD) are prevalent, surprisingly most have only produced incremental shifts in teachers’ learning and their impact on students. There is a critical need to understand what teachers take up and use in their classroom practice after attending PD and why we often do not see greater changes in learning and practice. This paper is based on a mixed methods efficacy study of the Learning and Teaching Geometry (LTG) video-based mathematics professional development materials. The extent to which the materials produce a beneficial impact on teachers’ mathematics knowledge, classroom practices, and their students’ knowledge in the domain of geometry through a group-randomized experimental design are considered. In this study, we examine a small group of teachers to better understand their interpretations of the workshops and their classroom uptake. The participants included 103 secondary mathematics teachers serving grades 6-12 from two states in different regions. Randomization was conducted at the school level, with 23 schools and 49 teachers assigned to the treatment group and 18 schools and 54 teachers assigned to the comparison group. The case study examination included twelve treatment teachers. PD workshops for treatment teachers began in Summer 2016. Nine full days of professional development were offered to teachers, beginning with the one-week institute (Summer 2016) and four days of PD throughout the academic year. The same facilitator-led all of the workshops, after completing a facilitator preparation process that included a multi-faceted assessment of fidelity. The overall impact of the LTG PD program was assessed from multiple sources: two teacher content assessments, two PD embedded assessments, pre-post-post videotaped classroom observations, and student assessments. Additional data was collected from the case study teachers including additional videotaped classroom observations and interviews. Repeated measures ANOVA analyses were used to detect patterns of change in the treatment teachers’ content knowledge before and after completion of the LTG PD, relative to the comparison group. No significant effects were found across the two groups of teachers on the two teacher content assessments. Teachers were rated on the quality of their mathematics instruction captured in videotaped classroom observations using the Math in Common Observation Protocol. On average, teachers who attended the LTG PD intervention improved their ability to engage students in mathematical reasoning and to provide accurate, coherent, and well-justified mathematical content. In addition, the LTG PD intervention and instruction that engaged students in mathematical practices both positively and significantly predicted greater student knowledge gains. Teacher knowledge was not a significant predictor. Twelve treatment teachers were self-selected to serve as case study teachers to provide additional videotapes in which they felt they were using something from the PD they learned and experienced. Project staff analyzed the videos, compared them to previous videos and interviewed the teachers regarding their uptake of the PD related to content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and resources used.

Keywords: teacher learning, professional development, pedagogical content knowledge, geometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Aleksandr S. Demin, Anastasiia V. Ivanova

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Purpose: The current economy tends to increase the influence of digital technologies and diminish the human role in management. However, it is impossible to deny that a person still leads a business with its own set of values and priorities. The article presented aims to incorporate the peculiarities of the national culture and the characteristics of the supply chain using the quantitative values of the national culture obtained by the scholars of comparative management (Hofstede, House, and others). Design/Methodology/Approach: The conducted research is based on the secondary data in the field of cross-country comparison achieved by Prof. Hofstede and received in the GLOBE project. The data mentioned are used to design different aspects of the supply chain both on the cross-functional and inter-organizational levels. The connection between a range of principles in general (roles assignment, customer service prioritization, coordination of supply chain partners) and in comparative management (acknowledgment of the national peculiarities of the country in which the company operates) is shown over economic and mathematical models, mainly linear programming models. Findings: The combination of the team management wheel concept, the business processes of the global supply chain, and the national culture characteristics let a transnational corporation to form a supply chain crew balanced in costs, functions, and personality. To elaborate on an effective customer service policy and logistics strategy in goods and services distribution in the country under review, two approaches are offered. The first approach relies exceptionally on the customer’s interest in the place of operation, while the second one takes into account the position of the transnational corporation and its previous experience in order to accord both organizational and national cultures. The effect of integration practice on the achievement of a specific supply chain goal in a specific location is advised to assess via types of correlation (positive, negative, non) and the value of national culture indices. Research Limitations: The models developed are intended to be used by transnational companies and business forms located in several nationally different areas. Some of the inputs to illustrate the application of the methods offered are simulated. That is why the numerical measurements should be used with caution. Practical Implications: The research can be of great interest for the supply chain managers who are responsible for the engineering of global supply chains in a transnational corporation and the further activities in doing business on the international area. As well, the methods, tools, and approaches suggested can be used by top managers searching for new ways of competitiveness and can be suitable for all staff members who are keen on the national culture traits topic. Originality/Value: The elaborated methods of decision-making with regard to the national environment suggest the mathematical and economic base to find a comprehensive solution.

Keywords: logistics integration, logistics services, multinational corporation, national culture, team management, service policy, supply chain management

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Mikhail V. Khachaturyan

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The article analyzes problems of improving the management systems of the ownership risks in the conditions of the transformation of the Russian economy. Among the main sources of threats business owners should highlight is the inefficiency of the implementation of business models and interaction with hired managers. In this context, it is particularly important to analyze the relationship of business models and ownership risks. The analysis of this problem appears to be relevant for a number of reasons: Firstly, the increased risk appetite of the owner directly affects the business model and the composition of his holdings; secondly, owners with significant stakes in the company are factors in the formation of particular types of risks for owners, for which relations have a significant influence on a firm's competitiveness and ultimately determines its survival; and thirdly, inefficient system of management ownership of risk is one of the main causes of mass bankruptcies, which significantly affects the stable operation of the economy as a whole. The separation of the processes of possession, disposal and use in modern organizations is the cause of not only problems in the process of interaction between the owner and managers in managing the organization as a whole, but also the asymmetric information about the kinds and forms of the main risks. Managers tend to avoid risky projects, inhibit the diversification of the organization's assets, while owners can insist on the development of such projects, with the aim not only of creating new values for themselves and consumers, but also increasing the value of the company as a result of increasing capital. In terms of separating ownership and management, evaluation of projects by the ratio of risk-yield requires preservation of the influence of the owner on the process of development and making management decisions. It is obvious that without a clearly structured system of participation of the owner in managing the risks of their business, further development is hopeless. In modern conditions of forming a risk management system, owners are compelled to compromise between the desire to increase the organization's ability to produce new value, and, consequently, increase its cost due to the implementation of risky projects and the need to tolerate the cost of lost opportunities of risk diversification. Improving the effectiveness of the management of ownership risks may also contribute to the revitalization of creditors on implementation claims to inefficient owners, which ultimately will contribute to the efficiency models of ownership control to exclude variants of insolvency. It is obvious that in modern conditions, the success of the model of the ownership of risk management and audit is largely determined by the ability and willingness of the owner to find a compromise between potential opportunities for expanding the firm's ability to create new value through risk and maintaining the current level of new value creation and an acceptable level of risk through the use of models of diversification.

Keywords: improving, ownership risks, problem, Russia

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Veronica Caprai, Katrin Schollbach, Miruna V. A. Florea, H. J. H. Brouwers

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Nowadays MSWI (Municipal Solid Waste Incineration) bottom ash (BA) produced by Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants represents the majority of the solid residues derived from MSW incineration. Once processed, the BA is often landfilled resulting in possible environmental problems, additional costs for the plant and increasing occupation of public land. In order to limit this phenomenon, European countries such as the Netherlands aid the utilization of MSWI BA in the construction field, by providing standards about the leaching of contaminants into the environment (Dutch Soil Quality Decree). Commonly, BA has a particle size below 32 mm and a heterogeneous chemical composition, depending on its source. By washing coarser BA, an MSWI sludge is obtained. It is characterized by a high content of heavy metals, chlorides, and sulfates as well as a reduced particle size (below 0.25 mm). To lower its environmental impact, MSWI sludge is filtered or centrifuged for removing easily soluble contaminants, such as chlorides. However, the presence of heavy metals is not easily reduced, compromising its possible application. For lowering the leaching of those contaminants, the use of MSWI residues in combination with cement represents a precious option, due to the known retention of those ions into the hydrated cement matrix. Among the applications, the European standard for common cement EN 197-1:1992 allows the incorporation of up to 5% by mass of a minor additional constituent (MAC), such as fly ash or blast furnace slag but also an unspecified filler into cement. To the best of the author's knowledge, although it is widely available, it has the appropriate particle size and a chemical composition similar to cement, FC has not been investigated as possible MAC in cement production. Therefore, this paper will address the suitability of MSWI FC as MAC for CEM I 52.5 R, within a 5% maximum replacement by mass. After physical and chemical characterization of the raw materials, the crystal phases of the pastes are determined by XRD for 3 replacement levels (1%, 3%, and 5%) at different ages. Thereafter, the impact of FC on mechanical and environmental performances of cement is assessed according to EN 196-1 and the Dutch Soil Quality Decree, respectively. The investigation of the reaction products evidences the formation of layered double hydroxides (LDH), in the early stage of the reaction. Mechanically the presence of FC results in a reduction of 28 days compressive strength by 8% for a replacement of 5% wt., compared with the pure CEM I 52.5 R without any MAC. In contrast, the flexural strength is not affected by the presence of FC. Environmentally, the Dutch legislation for the leaching of contaminants for unshaped (granular) material is satisfied. Based on the collected results, FC represents a suitable candidate as MAC in cement production.

Keywords: environmental impact evaluation, Minor additional constituent, MSWI residues, X-ray diffraction crystallography

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Brian J. Biroscak

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In the United States (US), “sex trafficking” is defined at the federal level in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 as encompassing a number of processes such as recruitment, transportation, and provision of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act. It involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age. Accumulating evidence suggests that sex trafficking is exacerbated by social and environmental stressors (e.g., pandemics). Given that “provision” is a key part of the definition, “provisioning systems” may offer a useful lens through which to study sex trafficking dynamics. Provisioning systems are the social systems connecting individuals, small groups, entities, and embedded communities as they seek to satisfy their needs and wants for goods, services, experiences and ideas through value-based exchange in communities. This project presents a conceptual framework for understanding sex trafficking dynamics in the context of the COVID pandemic. The framework is developed as a system dynamics simulation model based on published evidence, social and behavioral science theory, and key informant interviews with stakeholders from the Protection, Prevention, Prosecution, and Partnership sectors in one US state. This “4 P Paradigm” has been described as fundamental to the US government’s anti-trafficking strategy. The present research question is: “How do sex trafficking systems (e.g., supply, demand and price) interact with other provisioning systems (e.g., networks of organizations that help sexually exploited persons) to influence trafficking over time vis-à-vis the COVID pandemic?” Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (n = 19) were analyzed based on grounded theory and combined for computer simulation. The first step (Problem Definition) was completed by open coding video-recorded interviews, supplemented by a literature review. The model depicts provision of sex trafficking services for victims and survivors as declining in March 2020, coincidental with COVID, but eventually rebounding. The second modeling step (Dynamic Hypothesis Formulation) was completed by open- and axial coding of interview segments, as well as consulting peer-reviewed literature. Part of the hypothesized explanation for changes over time is that the sex trafficking system behaves somewhat like a commodities market, with each of the other subsystems exhibiting delayed responses but collectively keeping trafficking levels below what they would be otherwise. Next steps (Model Building & Testing) led to a ‘proof of concept’ model that can be used to conduct simulation experiments and test various action ideas, by taking model users outside the entire system and seeing it whole. If sex trafficking dynamics unfold as hypothesized, e.g., oscillated post-COVID, then one potential leverage point is to address the lack of information feedback loops between the actual occurrence and consequences of sex trafficking and those who seek to prevent its occurrence, prosecute the traffickers, protect the victims and survivors, and partner with the other anti-trafficking advocates. Implications for researchers, administrators, and other stakeholders are discussed.

Keywords: pandemics, provisioning systems, sex trafficking, system dynamics modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: E. O. Egieyeh, N. Butler, R. Coetzee, M. Van Huyssteen, A. Bheekie

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Background: High rate of maternal and child mortality is a global concern. Nationally, it constitutes one of South Africa’s quadruple burdens of diseases. Pharmacists have a crucial role in maternal and child health care delivery and as such should be equipped with adequate knowledge and skill required to contribute to maternal and child well-being. The International Pharmaceutical Federation statement of policy (2013) outlines pharmacist-led interventions in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s interventions in maternal, new-born and child health care. The South African Pharmacy Council’s guideline on Good Pharmacy Practice (2010) also stipulates the minimum standards required to participate in reproductive, maternal and child care. Pharmacy schools are obliged to train pharmacy students to meet priority health needs of the population so that graduates are ‘fit for purpose’. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the knowledge and skill of final year pharmacy students at a university in South Africa to determine their preparedness to contribute effectively to maternal and child health care. Method: A quantitative, descriptive, non-randomized baseline study was conducted among the final year students at the School of Pharmacy. Data was collected using a questionnaire designed in sections to assess knowledge of contraception, maternal and child health directed at the primary care level and framed within the scope of practice required of an entry-level generalist pharmacist. Participants’ skill in infant growth assessment was assessed in a section of the questionnaire in a written format. Participants ticked the topics they had been exposed to on a curriculum content assessment tool which was not graded. A pilot study examined the clarity and suitability of question items, and duration to complete the questionnaire. A score of 50% in each section of the questionnaire indicated a pass. The questionnaire was delivered in campus lecture venue. Results: Of the 102 students in final year, 53 (52%) students consented to participate in the study. Only 13.2% of participants scored above 50% in each section. Forty five (85%) participants scored above 50% in the contraception section while 40 (75%) scored less than 50% in the skills assessment. Less than half (45.3%) of the participants had a total score above 50%. Being a parent or working part-time as pharmacist assistance did not have any influence on the performance of the participants. Evaluation of participants’ curriculum content exposure showed differences in exposure to the various topics. Exposure to contraception teaching received the most recognition. Conclusion: Maternal and child health curriculum content should be reviewed at the university to enhance the knowledge and skill of pharmacy graduates.

Keywords: final year pharmacy students, knowledge and skill, maternal and child health, South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Jéssica Bernegossi, Lívia Nordi Dovigo, Marlus Chorilli

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Mucoadhesive liquid crystalline systems are emerging how delivery systems for oral cavity. These systems are interesting since they facilitate the targeting of medicines and change the release enabling a reduction in the number of applications made by the patient. The buccal mucosa is permeable besides present a great blood supply and absence of first pass metabolism, it is a good route of administration. It was developed two systems liquid crystals utilizing as surfactant the ethyl alcohol ethoxylated and propoxylated (30%) as oil phase the oleic acid (60%), and the aqueous phase (10%) dispersion of polymer polyethylenimine (0.5%) or dispersion of polymer poloxamer 407 (16%), with the intention of applying the buccal mucosa. Initially, was performed for characterization of systems the conference by polarized light microscopy and rheological analysis. For the preparation of the systems the components described was added above in glass vials and shaken. Then, 30 and 100% artificial saliva were added to each prepared formulation so as to simulate the environment of the oral cavity. For the verification of the system structure, aliquots of the formulations were observed in glass slide and covered with a coverslip, examined in polarized light microscope (PLM) Axioskop - Zeizz® in 40x magnifier. The formulations were also evaluated for their rheological profile Rheometer TA Instruments®, which were obtained rheograms the selected systems employing fluency mode (flow) in temperature of 37ºC (98.6ºF). In PLM, it was observed that in formulations containing polyethylenimine and poloxamer 407 without the addition of artificial saliva was observed dark-field being indicative of microemulsion, this was also observed with the formulation that was increased with 30% of the artificial saliva. In the formulation that was increased with 100% simulated saliva was shown to be a system structure since it presented anisotropy with the presence of striae being indicative of hexagonal liquid crystalline mesophase system. Upon observation of rheograms, both systems without the addition of artificial saliva showed a Newtonian profile, after addition of 30% artificial saliva have been given a non-Newtonian behavior of the pseudoplastic-thixotropic type and after adding 100% of the saliva artificial proved plastic-thixotropic. Furthermore, it is clearly seen that the formulations containing poloxamer 407 have significantly larger (15-800 Pa) shear stress compared to those containing polyethyleneimine (5-50 Pa), indicating a greater plasticity of these. Thus, it is possible to observe that the addition of saliva was of interest to the system structure, starting from a microemulsion for a liquid crystal system, thereby also changing thereby its rheological behavior. The systems have promising characteristics as controlled release systems to the oral cavity, as it features good fluidity during its possible application and greater structuring of the system when it comes into contact with environmental saliva.

Keywords: liquid crystal system, poloxamer 407, polyethylenimine, rheology

Procedia PDF Downloads 448

Authors: Muhammad Karim Ahmadzai

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Floods are natural phenomena and are an integral part of the water cycle. The majority of them are the result of climatic conditions, but are also affected by the geology and geomorphology of the area, topography and hydrology, the water permeability of the soil and the vegetation cover, as well as by all kinds of human activities and structures. However, from the moment that human lives are at risk and significant economic impact is recorded, this natural phenomenon becomes a natural disaster. Flood management is now a key issue at regional and local levels around the world, affecting human lives and activities. The majority of floods are unlikely to be fully predicted, but it is feasible to reduce their risks through appropriate management plans and constructions. The aim of this Case Study is to identify, and map areas of flood risk in the Khinch District of Panjshir Province, Afghanistan specifically in the area of Peshghore, causing numerous damages. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of remote sensing technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in assessing the susceptibility of this region to flood events. Panjsher is facing Seasonal floods and human interventions on streams caused floods. The beds of which have been trampled to build houses and hotels or have been converted into roads, are causing flooding after every heavy rainfall. The streams crossing settlements and areas with high touristic development have been intensively modified by humans, as the pressure for real estate development land is growing. In particular, several areas in Khinch are facing a high risk of extensive flood occurrence. This study concentrates on the construction of a flood susceptibility map, of the study area, by combining vulnerability elements, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process/ AHP. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, normally called AHP, is a powerful yet simple method for making decisions. It is commonly used for project prioritization and selection. AHP lets you capture your strategic goals as a set of weighted criteria that you then use to score projects. This method is used to provide weights for each criterion which Contributes to the Flood Event. After processing of a digital elevation model (DEM), important secondary data were extracted, such as the slope map, the flow direction and the flow accumulation. Together with additional thematic information (Landuse and Landcover, topographic wetness index, precipitation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Elevation, River Density, Distance from River, Distance to Road, Slope), these led to the final Flood Risk Map. Finally, according to this map, the Priority Protection Areas and Villages and the structural and nonstructural measures were demonstrated to Minimize the Impacts of Floods on residential and Agricultural areas.

Keywords: flood hazard, flood risk map, flood mitigation measures, AHP analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Niina Jallinoja, Anu Moisio

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Focus on adult learning is vital to overcome economic challenges as well as to respond to the demand for new competencies and sustained productivity in the digitalized world economy. Employees of all ages must be able to carry on continuous professional development to remain competitive in the labor market. According to EU policies, countries should offer more flexible opportunities for adult learners who study online and in so-called ‘second chance’ qualification programmes. Traditionally, adult education in Finland has comprised of not only liberal adult education but also the government funding to study for Bachelor, Master's, and Ph.D. degrees in Finnish Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). From the beginning of 2021, public funding is allocated not only to degrees but also to courses to achieve new competencies for adult learners in Finland. Consequently, there will be degree students (often younger of age) and adult learners studying in the same evening, online and blended courses. The question is thus: How are combined studies meeting the different needs of degree students and adult learners? Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (UAS), located in the metropolitan area of Finland, is taking up the challenge of continuous learning for adult learners. Haaga-Helia has been reforming the bachelor level education and respective shorter courses from 2019 in the biggest project in its history. By the end of 2023, Haaga-Helia will have a flexible, modular curriculum for the bachelor's degrees of hospitality management, business administration, business information technology, journalism and sports management. Building on the shared key competencies, degree students will have the possibility to build individual study paths more flexibly, thanks to the new modular structure of the curriculum. They will be able to choose courses across all degrees, and thus, build their own unique competence combinations. All modules can also be offered as separate courses or learning paths to non-degree students, both publicly funded and as commercial services for employers. Consequently, there will be shared course implementations for degree studies and adult learners with various competence requirements. The newly designed courses are piloted in parallel of the designing of the curriculum in Haaga-Helia during 2020 and 2021. Semi-structured online surveys are composed among the participants for the key competence courses. The focus of the research is to understand how students in the bachelor programme and adult learners from Open UAE perceive the learning experience in such a diverse learning group. A comparison is also executed between learning methods of in-site teaching, online implementation, blended learning and virtual self-learning courses to understand how the pedagogy is meeting the learning objectives of these two different groups. The new flexible curricula and the study modules are to be designed to fill the most important competence gaps that exist in the Finnish labor markets. The new curriculum will be dynamic and constantly evolving over time according to the future competence needs in the labor market. This type of approach requires constant dialogue between Haaga-Helia and workplaces during and after designing of the shared curriculum.

Keywords: ccompetence development, continuous learning, curriculum, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Jiahui You, Kyung Jae Lee

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Hydraulic fracturing fluid (HFF) is widely used in shale reservoir productions. HFF contains diverse chemical additives, which result in the dissolution and precipitation of minerals through multiple chemical reactions. In this study, a new pore-scale Darcy–Brinkman–Stokes (DBS) model coupled with Level Set Method (LSM) is developed to address the microscopic phenomena occurring during the iron–HFF interaction, by numerically describing mass transport, chemical reactions, and pore structure evolution. The new model is developed based on OpenFOAM, which is an open-source platform for computational fluid dynamics. Here, the DBS momentum equation is used to solve for velocity by accounting for the fluid-solid mass transfer; an advection-diffusion equation is used to compute the distribution of injected HFF and iron. The reaction–induced pore evolution is captured by applying the LSM, where the solid-liquid interface is updated by solving the level set distance function and reinitialized to a signed distance function. Then, a smoothened Heaviside function gives a smoothed solid-liquid interface over a narrow band with a fixed thickness. The stated equations are discretized by the finite volume method, while the re-initialized equation is discretized by the central difference method. Gauss linear upwind scheme is used to solve the level set distance function, and the Pressure–Implicit with Splitting of Operators (PISO) method is used to solve the momentum equation. The numerical result is compared with 1–D analytical solution of fluid-solid interface for reaction-diffusion problems. Sensitivity analysis is conducted with various Damkohler number (DaII) and Peclet number (Pe). We categorize the Fe (III) precipitation into three patterns as a function of DaII and Pe: symmetrical smoothed growth, unsymmetrical growth, and dendritic growth. Pe and DaII significantly affect the location of precipitation, which is critical in determining the injection parameters of hydraulic fracturing. When DaII<1, the precipitation uniformly occurs on the solid surface both in upstream and downstream directions. When DaII>1, the precipitation mainly occurs on the solid surface in an upstream direction. When Pe>1, Fe (II) transported deeply into and precipitated inside the pores. When Pe<1, the precipitation of Fe (III) occurs mainly on the solid surface in an upstream direction, and they are easily precipitated inside the small pore structures. The porosity–permeability relationship is subsequently presented. This pore-scale model allows high confidence in the description of Fe (II) dissolution, transport, and Fe (III) precipitation. The model shows fast convergence and requires a low computational load. The results can provide reliable guidance for injecting HFF in shale reservoirs to avoid clogging and wellbore pollution. Understanding Fe (III) precipitation, and Fe (II) release and transport behaviors give rise to a highly efficient hydraulic fracture project.

Keywords: reactive-transport , Shale, Kerogen, precipitation

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Magdalena Maria Rost-Roszkowska, Alina Chachulska-Żymełka, Monika Tarnawska, Maria Augustyniak, Alina Kafel, Agnieszka Babczyńska

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The digestive system of insects is composed of three distinct regions: fore-, mid- and hingut. The middle region (the midgut) is treated as one of the barriers which protects the organism against any stressors which originate from external environment, e.g. toxic metals. Such factors can activate the cell death in epithelial cells to preserve the entire tissue/organs against the degeneration. Different mechanisms involved in homeostasis maintenance have been described, but the studies of animals under field conditions do not give the opportunity to conclude about potential ability of subsequent generation to inherit the tolerance mechanisms. It is possible only by a multigenerational strain of an animal led under laboratory conditions, exposed to a selected toxic factor, present also in polluted ecosystems. The main purpose of the project was to check if changes, which appear in the midgut epithelium after Cd treatment, can be fixed during the following generations of insects with the special emphasis on apoptosis. As the animal for these studies we chose 5th larval stage of the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which is one of pest of many vegetable crops. Animals were divided into some experimental groups: K, Cd, KCd, Cd1, Cd2, Cd3. A control group (K) fed a standard diet, and was conducted for XX generations, a cadmium group (Cd), fed on standard diet supplemented with cadmium (44 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food) for XXX generations. A reference Cd group (KCd) has been initiated: control insects were fed with Cd supplemented diet (44 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food). Experimental groups Cd1, Cd2, Cd3 developed from the control one: 5 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 10 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 20 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food. We were interested in the activation of apoptosis during following generations in all experimental groups. Therefore, during the 1st year of the experiment, the measurements were done for 6 generations in all experimental group. The intensity and the course of apoptosis have been examined using transmission electron microscope (TEM), confocal microscope and flow cytometry. During apoptosis the cell started to shrink, extracellular spaces appeared between digestive and neighboring cells, the nucleus achieved a lobular shape. Eventually, the apoptotic cells was discharged into the midgut lumen. A quantitative analysis revealed that the number of apoptotic cells depends significantly on the generation, tissue and cadmium concentration in the insect rearing medium. In the following 6 generations, we observed that the percentage of apoptotic cells in the midguts from cadmium-exposed groups decreased gradually according to the following order of strains: Cd1, Cd2, Cd3 and KCd. At the same time, it was still higher than the percentage of apoptotic cells in the same tissues of the insects from the control and multigenerational cadmium strain. The results of our studies suggest that changes caused by cadmium treatment were preserved during 6-generational development of lepidopteran larvae. The study has been financed by the National Science Centre Poland, grant no 2016/21/B/NZ8/00831.

Keywords: cadmium, cell death, digestive system, ultrastructure

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Authors: Gunjan Srivastava, Shamila Kalia

Abstract:

Dalbergia sissoo Roxb., (Family- Leguminosae; Subfamily- Papilionoideae), is an economically and ecologically important tree species having medicinal value. Of the rich complex of insect fauna, ten have been recognized as potential pests of nurseries and plantations. Present study was conducted to explore an effective ecofriendly control of Dichomeris eridantis Meyrick, an important defoliator pest of D. sissoo. Health and environmental concerns demanded devising a bio-intensive pest management strategy and employing ecofriendly measures. In the present laboratory bioassay two entomopathogenic fungi Acremonium perscinum and Beauveria bassiana were tested and compared for evaluating the efficacy of their seven different concentrations (besides control) against the 3rd, 4th and 5th instar larvae of D. eridantis, on the basis of mean percent mortality data recorded and tabulated for seven days after treatment application. Analysis showed that both treatments vary significantly among themselves. Also, variations amongst instars and duration with respect to their mortality were highly significant (p < .001). All their interactions were found to vary significantly. B. bassiana at 0.25x107 spores / ml spore concentration caused maximum mean percent mortality (62.38%) followed by mean percent mortality at its 0.25x106 spores / ml concentration (56.67%). Mean percent mortality at maximum spore concentration (0.054x107 spores / ml) and next highest spore concentration (0.054 x106 spores / ml) due to A. perscinum treatment were far less effective (mean percent mortality of 45.40% and 31.29%, respectively). At 168 hours mean percent mortality of larval instars due to both fungal treatment applications reached its maximum (52.99%) whereas, at 24 hours mean percent mortality remained least (5.70%). In both cases, treatments were most effective against 3rd instar larvae and least effective against 5th instar larvae. A comparative acccount of efficacy of B. bassiana and A. perscinum on the 3rd, 4th and 5th instar larvae of D. eridantis on 5th, 6th and 7th post treatment observation days after their application, on the basis of their median lethal concentrations (LC50) proved B. bassiana to be more potential microbial pathogen of the two fungal microbes, for all the three instars (3rd, 4th and 5th) of D. eridantis, on all the three days (5th, 6th and 7th post observation days after application of both treatments). Percent mortality of D. eridantis increased in a dose dependent manner. Koch’s Postulates tested positive, thus confirming the pathogenicity of B. bassiana against the larval instars of D. eridantis. LC90 values of 0.280x1011 spores/ml, 0.301x108 spores/ml and 0.262x108 spores/ml concentrations of B. bassiana were standardized which can effectively cause mortality of all the larval instars of D. eridantis in the field after 5th, 6th and 7th day of their application, respectively. Therefore, these concentrations can be safely used in nurseries as well as plantations of D. sissoo for effective control of D. eridantis larvae.

Keywords: Acremonium perscinum, Beauveria bassiana, Dalbergia sissoo, Dichomeris eridantis

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Authors: Hanan Begali, Shahi Dost, Annett Ziegler, Markus Cornberg, Maria-Esther Vidal, Anke R. M. Kraft

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Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can be treated with nucleot(s)ide analog (NA), for example, which inhibits HBV replication. However, they have hardly any influence on the functional cure of HBV, which is defined by hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss. NA needs to be taken life-long, which is not available for all patients worldwide. Additionally, NA-treated patients are still at risk of developing cirrhosis, liver failure, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although each patient has the same components of the immune system, immune responses vary between patients. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the immune response against HBV in different patients is necessary to understand the parameters leading to HBV cure and to use this knowledge to optimize HBV therapies. This requires seamless integration of an enormous amount of diverse and fine-grained data from viral markers, e.g., hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The data integration system relies on the assumption that profiling human immune systems requires the analysis of various variables (e.g., demographic data, treatments, pre-existing conditions, immune cell response, or HLA-typing) rather than only one. However, the values of these variables are collected independently. They are presented in a myriad of formats, e.g., excel files, textual descriptions, lab book notes, and images of flow cytometry dot plots. Additionally, patients can be identified differently in these analyses. This heterogeneity complicates the integration of variables, as data management techniques are needed to create a unified view in which individual formats and identifiers are transparent when profiling the human immune systems. The proposed study (HBsRE) aims at integrating heterogeneous data sets of 87 chronically HBV-infected patients, e.g., clinical data, immune cell response, and HLA-typing, with knowledge encoded in biomedical ontologies and open-source databases into a knowledge-driven framework. This new technique enables us to harmonize and standardize heterogeneous datasets in the defined modeling of the data integration system, which will be evaluated in the knowledge graph (KG). KGs are data structures that represent the knowledge and data as factual statements using a graph data model. Finally, the analytic data model will be applied on top of KG in order to develop a deeper understanding of the immune profiles among various patients and to evaluate factors playing a role in a holistic profile of patients with HBsAg level loss. Additionally, our objective is to utilize this unified approach to stratify patients for new effective treatments. This study is developed in the context of the project “Transforming big data into knowledge: for deep immune profiling in vaccination, infectious diseases, and transplantation (ImProVIT)”, which is a multidisciplinary team composed of computer scientists, infection biologists, and immunologists.

Keywords: chronic hepatitis B infection, immune response, knowledge graphs, ontology

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Authors: Olga Kruzhkova, Irina Vorobyeva, Roman Porozov

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Vandalism is a common phenomenon, but its definition is still not clearly defined. In the public sense, vandalism is the blatant cases of pogroms in cemeteries, destruction of public places (regardless of whether these actions are authorized), damage to significant objects of culture and history (monuments, religious buildings). From a legal point of view, only such an act can be called vandalism, which is aimed at 'desecrating buildings or other structures, damaging property on public transport or in other public places'. The key here is the notion of public property that is being damaged. In addition, the principal is the semantics of messages, expressed in a kind of sign system (drawing, inscription, symbol), which initially threatens public order, the calmness of citizens, public morality. Because of this, the legal qualification of vandalism doesn’t include a sufficiently wide layer of environmental destructions that are common in modern urban space (graffiti and other damage to private property, broken shop windows, damage to entrances and elevator cabins), which in ordinary consciousness are seen as obvious facts of vandalism. At the same time, the understanding of vandalism from the position of psychology implies an appeal to the question of the limits of the activity of the subject of vandalism and his motivational basis. Also recently, the discourse on the positive meaning of some forms of vandalism (graffiti, street-art, etc.) has been activated. But there is no discussion of the role and significance of vandalism in public and individual life, although, like any socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon, vandalism is not groundless and meaningless. Our aim of the study was to identify and describe the functions of vandalism as a socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon of the life of the urban community, as well as personal determinants of its manifestations. The study was conducted in the spatial environment of the Russian megalopolis (Ekaterinburg) by photographing visual results of vandal acts (6217 photos) with subsequent trace-assessment and image content analysis, as well as diagnostics of personal characteristics and motivational basis of vandal activity of possible subjects of vandalism among youth. The results of the study allowed to identify the functions of vandalism at the socio-environmental and individual-subjective levels. The socio-environmental functions of vandalism include the signaling function, the function of preparing of social changes, the constructing function, and the function of managing public moods. The demonstrative-protest function, the response function, the refund function, and the self-expression function are assigned to the individual-subjective functions of vandalism. A two-dimensional model of vandal functions has been formed, where functions are distributed in the spaces 'construction reconstruction', 'emotional regulation/moral regulation'. It is noted that any function of vandal activity at the individual level becomes a kind of marker of 'points of tension' at the social and environmental level. Acknowledgment: The research was supported financially by Russian Science Foundation, (Project No. 17-18-01278).

Keywords: destruction, urban environment, vandal behavior, vandalism, vandalism functions

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Authors: Sharmila Parmanand

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This paper examines dominant media representations of prostitution in the Philippines and interrogates sex workers’ interactions with the media establishment. This analysis of how sex workers are constituted in media, often as both innocent victims and immoral actors, contributes to an understanding of public discourse on sex work in the Philippines, where decriminalisation has recently been proposed and sex workers are currently classified as potential victims under anti-trafficking laws but also as criminals under the penal code. The first part is an analysis of media coverage of two prominent themes on prostitution: first, raid and rescue operations conducted by law enforcement; and second, prostitution on military bases and tourism hotspots. As a result of pressure from activists and international donors, these two themes often define the policy conversations on sex work in the Philippines. The discourses in written and televised news reports and documentaries from established local and international media sources that address these themes are explored through content analysis. Conclusions are drawn based on specific terms commonly used to refer to sex workers, how sex workers are seen as performing their cultural roles as mothers and wives, how sex work is depicted, associations made between sex work and public health, representations of clients and managers and ‘rescuers’ such as the police, anti-trafficking organisations, and faith-based groups, and which actors are presumed to be issue experts. Images of how prostitution is used as a metaphor for relations between the Philippines and foreign nations are also deconstructed, along with common tropes about developing world female subjects. In general, sex workers are simultaneously portrayed as bad mothers who endanger their family’s morality but also as long-suffering victims who endure exploitation for the sake of their children. They are also depicted as unclean, drug-addicted threats to public health. Their managers and clients are portrayed as cold, abusive, and sometimes violent, and their rescuers as moral and altruistic agents who are essential for sex workers’ rehabilitation and restoration as virtuous citizens. The second part explores sex workers’ own perceptions of their interactions with media, through interviews with members of the Philippine Sex Workers Collective, a loose organisation of sex workers around the Philippines. They reveal that they are often excluded by media practitioners and that they do not feel that they have space for meaningful self-revelation about their work when they do engage with journalists, who seem to have an overt agenda of depicting them as either victims or women of loose morals. In their assessment, media narratives do not necessarily reflect their lived experiences, and in some cases, coverage of rescues and raid operations endangers their privacy and instrumentalises their suffering. Media representations of sex workers may produce subject positions such as ‘victims’ or ‘criminals’ and legitimize specific interventions while foreclosing other ways of thinking. Further, in light of media’s power to reflect and shape public consciousness, it is a valuable academic and political project to examine whether sex workers are able to assert agency in determining how they are represented.

Keywords: discourse analysis, news media, sex work, trafficking

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Authors: M. Ciminello, I. Dimino, S. Ameduri, A. Concilio

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Improving aircraft's efficiency is one of the key elements of Aeronautics. Modern aircraft possess many advanced functions, such as good transportation capability, high Mach number, high flight altitude, and increasing rate of climb. However, no aircraft has a possibility to reach all of this optimized performance in a single airframe configuration. The aircraft aerodynamic efficiency varies considerably depending on the specific mission and on environmental conditions within which the aircraft must operate. Structures that morph their shape in response to their surroundings may at first seem like the stuff of science fiction, but take a look at nature and lots of examples of plants and animals that adapt to their environment would arise. In order to ensure both the controllable and the static robustness of such complex structural systems, a monitoring network is aimed at verifying the effectiveness of the given control commands together with the elastic response. In order to achieve this kind of information, the use of FBG sensors network is, in this project, proposed. The sensor network is able to measure morphing structures shape which may show large, global displacements due to non-standard architectures and materials adopted. Chord -wise variations may allow setting and chasing the best layout as a function of the particular and transforming reference state, always targeting best aerodynamic performance. The reason why an optical sensor solution has been selected is that while keeping a few of the contraindication of the classical systems (like cabling, continuous deployment, and so on), fibre optic sensors may lead to a dramatic reduction of the wires mass and weight thanks to an extreme multiplexing capability. Furthermore, the use of the ‘light’ as ‘information carrier’, permits dealing with nimbler, non-shielded wires, and avoids any kind of interference with the on-board instrumentation. The FBG-based transducers, herein presented, aim at monitoring the actual shape of adaptive trailing edge. Compared to conventional systems, these transducers allow more fail-safe measurements, by taking advantage of a supporting structure, hosting FBG, whose properties may be tailored depending on the architectural requirements and structural constraints, acting as strain modulator. The direct strain may, in fact, be difficult because of the large deformations occurring in morphing elements. A modulation transducer is then necessary to keep the measured strain inside the allowed range. In this application, chord-wise transducer device is a cantilevered beam sliding trough the spars and copying the camber line of the ATE ribs. FBG sensors array position are dimensioned and integrated along the path. A theoretical model describing the system behavior is implemented. To validate the design, experiments are then carried out with the purpose of estimating the functions between rib rotation and measured strain.

Keywords: fiber optic sensor, morphing structures, strain sensor, shape reconstruction

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