Search results for: anatolian traditional medicine

Authors: P. S. Percin, O. Inanli, S. Karakaya

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Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is a medicinal vegetable, which is used traditionally to remedy diabetes. Bitter melon contains several classes of primary and secondary metabolites. In traditional Turkish medicine bitter melon is used for wound healing and treatment of peptic ulcers. Nowadays, bitter melon is used for the treatment of diabetes and ulcerative colitis in many countries. The main constituents of bitter melon, which are responsible for the anti-diabetic effects, are triterpene, protein, steroid, alkaloid and phenolic compounds. In this study total phenolics, total carotenoids and β-carotene contents of mature and immature bitter melons were determined. In addition, in vitro α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities of mature and immature bitter melons were studied. Total phenolic contents of immature and mature bitter melon were 74 and 123 mg CE/g bitter melon respectively. Although total phenolics of mature bitter melon was higher than that of immature bitter melon, this difference was not found statistically significant (p > 0.05). Carotenoids, a diverse group of more than 600 naturally occurring red, orange and yellow pigments, play important roles in many physiological processes both in plants and humans. The total carotenoid content of mature bitter melon was 4.36 fold higher than the total carotenoid content of immature bitter melon. The compounds that have hypoglycaemic effect of bitter melon are steroidal saponins known as charantin, insulin-like peptides and alkaloids. α-Amylase is one of the main enzymes in human that is responsible for the breakdown of starch to more simple sugars. Therefore, the inhibitors of this enzyme can delay the carbohydrate digestion and reduce the rate of glucose absorption. The immature bitter melon extract showed α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities in vitro. α-Amylase inhibitory activity was higher than that of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity when IC50 values were compared. In conclusion, the present results provide evidence that aqueous extract of bitter melon may have an inhibitory effect on carbohydrate breakdown enzymes.

Keywords: bitter melon, in vitro antidiabetic activity, total carotenoids, total phenols

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Kiri Trier, Theresa Treffers

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In the course of continuous volatility like production stops due to the COVID-19 pandemic, video-on-demand player monopolizing the film industry, filmmakers are stuck in traditional, linear content development processes. The industry has to become more agile in order to react quickly and easily to changes. Since content development in agile project management is scientifically–empirically not at all recorded, and a lack beyond the software development in terms of agile methods consists, we examined if the agile manifesto values and principles from the software development can be adapted to the film industry to enable agility and digitalization of content development in the industry. We conducted an online questionnaire with 184 German filmmakers (producers, authors, directors, actors, film financiers) for a first cross-sectional assessment for adaptability of the agile manifesto from the software development to the film industry, factor analysis was used to validate the construct. Our results show that it is crucial to digitalize traditional content development to agile content development end-to-end, with tools, lean processes, new collaboration structures, and holacracy to prepare for any volatility. Overall, we examined the first construct for an agile manifesto for the film industry with four values related to nine own principles. Our findings help to get a better understanding of the agile manifesto beyond the software development as a guideline for implementing agility in the film industry.

Keywords: agile manifesto, agile project management, agility, film industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Layla Alzarah

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The purpose of this research was to study the effects of co-teaching upon study achievement by teaching unite of teaching strategy course to a sample of students at education college at King Faisal University. The sample of this study, which consisted of 100 students, was divided into two equal groups. 50 students were selected to be the Control group which had been taught by the traditional way with one teacher, whereas the remaining 50 students represented the experimental group who had been taught by co-teaching. The study had lasted for 4 weeks. Related achievement test had been prepared, consisted of 23 questions, from multi choice question type, which had been divided on the chosen unite syllabus. The validity and reliability had been tested. The study conducted at the second semester of 1433-1434 HT tests had been used to analysis the data. The research findings showed that the average exam scores of students receiving team teaching were higher than those of students receiving traditional teaching as there were significant differences in means at (<0.05) between the two groups in favor of the experimental group. Based on the study findings the researcher recommended applying co-teaching in teaching the course of teaching strategies and other courses also to conduct similar studies.

Keywords: co-teaching, cooperative teaching, teaching strategies, study achievement

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: Nikita Valluri, Vatcharaporn Esichaikul

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With the popularity of data-driven decision making on the rise, this study focuses on providing an alternative outlook towards the process of decision-making. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods rooted in the social sciences, an integrated framework is presented with a focus on delivering a much more robust and efficient approach towards the concept of data-driven decision-making with respect to not only Big data but also 'Thick data', a new form of qualitative data. In support of this, an example from the retail sector has been illustrated where the framework is put into action to yield insights and leverage business intelligence. An interpretive approach to analyze findings from both kinds of quantitative and qualitative data has been used to glean insights. Using traditional Point-of-sale data as well as an understanding of customer psychographics and preferences, techniques of data mining along with qualitative methods (such as grounded theory, ethnomethodology, etc.) are applied. This study’s final goal is to establish the framework as a basis for providing a holistic solution encompassing both the Big and Thick aspects of any business need. The proposed framework is a modified enhancement in lieu of traditional data-driven decision-making approach, which is mainly dependent on quantitative data for decision-making.

Keywords: big data, customer behavior, customer experience, data mining, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, thick data

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Aswathy Vijayan, Sharath Sunder Rajeev

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Trade has been fundamental in the footprint of human civilization since ancient time. In most of the historic cities, city development was along trading routes, where marketplaces are the major entrance to a city and hence a major element of the urban fabric. Marketplaces are where the commercial activities flourish, people, having a sense of belonging to the place, where they easily fit in. Acknowledging the built environment in and around the market in a way, creating a sense of place is an important factor in the success of public spaces. Local markets are developed in an organic manner, which adds on to the people experience and perception of urban space. With the city development, the commercial needs within the city increase, hence marketplaces flourish, irrespective of the functional segregation within. The work-live culture in the marketplaces diminishes as the commercial expansion washes away the residential patches within it. Real estate flourishes as the newer infills are without considering the carrying capacity of the place. Chalai market is a prominent business center serving the regional level of Thiruvananthapuram city. The transformation trend of marketplaces in city cores are understood from case study on Fatimid Cairo Marketplace. The parameters that led to transformation of marketplaces in a global context is considered for the analysis of the Chalai market. The structure of the marketplace over the years is analyzed in terms of transformation in location, transformation in the land- use, change in commodity, and transformation in movement and activity. The aim of the research is to emphasize the need to understand the transformation trend, in creating a suitable development pattern for the city. The unregulated transformation within the city core has led to tremendous transformation in the user group and user pattern and eventually to the commercial trend. With the change in lifestyle and need for new amenities have led to addition of new infills leading to the degradation of the native commerce. Hence addressing the transformation of marketplaces are crucial to maintaining the locational significance and cultural importance and heritage of the place.

Keywords: bazaar, market centers, marketplaces, traditional city, traditional market, urban fabric

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Bin Feng, Zhulin Zong

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Radar systems are critical in the modern military, aviation, and maritime operations, and their proper functioning is essential for the success of these operations. However, due to the complexity and sensitivity of radar systems, they are susceptible to various faults that can significantly affect their performance. Traditional radar fault diagnosis strategies rely on expert knowledge and rule-based approaches, which are often limited in effectiveness and require a lot of time and resources. Deep learning has recently emerged as a promising approach for fault diagnosis due to its ability to learn features and patterns from large amounts of data automatically. In this paper, we propose a radar fault diagnosis strategy based on deep learning that can accurately identify and classify faults in radar systems. Our approach uses convolutional neural networks (CNN) to extract features from radar signals and fault classify the features. The proposed strategy is trained and validated on a dataset of measured radar signals with various types of faults. The results show that it achieves high accuracy in fault diagnosis. To further evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, we compare it with traditional rule-based approaches and other machine learning-based methods, including decision trees, support vector machines (SVMs), and random forests. The results demonstrate that our deep learning-based approach outperforms the traditional approaches in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Finally, we discuss the potential applications and limitations of the proposed strategy, as well as future research directions. Our study highlights the importance and potential of deep learning for radar fault diagnosis. It suggests that it can be a valuable tool for improving the performance and reliability of radar systems. In summary, this paper presents a radar fault diagnosis strategy based on deep learning that achieves high accuracy and efficiency in identifying and classifying faults in radar systems. The proposed strategy has significant potential for practical applications and can pave the way for further research.

Keywords: radar system, fault diagnosis, deep learning, radar fault

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Maciej Jedrzejczyk, Karolina Marzantowicz

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Traditional utility value chain is being transformed during last few years into unbundled markets. Increased distributed generation of energy is one of considerable challenges faced by Smart Grid networks. New sources of energy introduce volatile demand response which has a considerable impact on traditional middlemen in E&U market. The purpose of this research is to search for ways to allow near-real-time electricity markets to transact with surplus energy based on accurate time synchronous measurements. A proposed framework evaluates the use of secure peer-2-peer (P2P) communication and distributed transaction ledgers to provide flat hierarchy, and allow real-time insights into present and forecasted grid operations, as well as state and health of the network. An objective is to achieve dynamic grid operations with more efficient resource usage, higher security of supply and longer grid infrastructure life cycle. Methods used for this study are based on comparative analysis of different distributed ledger technologies in terms of scalability, transaction performance, pluggability with external data sources, data transparency, privacy, end-to-end security and adaptability to various market topologies. An intended output of this research is a design of a framework for safer, more efficient and scalable Smart Grid network which is bridging a gap between traditional components of the energy network and individual energy producers. Results of this study are ready for detailed measurement testing, a likely follow-up in separate studies. New platforms for Smart Grid achieving measurable efficiencies will allow for development of new types of Grid KPI, multi-smart grid branches, markets, and businesses.

Keywords: autonomous agents, Distributed computing, distributed ledger technologies, large scale systems, micro grids, peer-to-peer networks, Self-organization, self-stabilization, smart grids

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Nuruddeen Usman, Mohammad Sani

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The performance of project delivery methods has been an issue of concern to various stakeholders in the construction industry. The contracting system of project delivery is the traditional system used in the delivery of most public projects in Nigeria. The direct labor system is used most times as an alternative to the traditional system. There were so many complain about the performance of contracting system and the suitability of direct labor as an alternative to the delivery of public projects. Therefore, this paper is aimed at investigating the effect of project size on the project delivery methods in the completed public buildings. Questionnaires were self-administered to managerial staff in the study area and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings reveals that contracting system was choosing for large size building construction project delivery with higher frequency (F) of 40 (76.9%) against direct labor with 12 (23.1%). While the small size project, the result revealed a frequency (F) of 26 (50%) for contracting system and direct labor system respectively. Base on the research findings, the contracting system, was recommended for all sizes of building construction project delivery while direct labor system can only use as an alternative for small size building construction projects delivery.

Keywords: construction size, contracting system, direct labour, effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 452

Authors: Sobhy A. El-Sohaimy, Mohamed G. Shehata, Ashwani Mathur, Amira G. Darwish, Nourhan M. Abd El-Aziz, Pammi Gauba, Pooja Upadhyay

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Sea buckthorn is a temperate bush plant native to Asian and European countries, explored across the world in traditional medicine to treat various diseases due to the presence of an exceptionally high content of phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidants. In addition to the evaluation of nutrients and active compounds, the focus of the present work was to assess the optimal levels for L. plantarum RM1 growth by applying response surface methodology (RSM), and to determine the impact of juice fermentation on antioxidant, anti-hypertension and anticancer activity, as well as on organoleptic properties. Sea buckthorn berries were shown to contain good fiber content (6.55%, 25 DV%), high quality of protein (3.12%, 6.24 DV%) containing: histidine, valine, threonine, leucine and lysine (with AAS 24.32, 23.66, 23.09, 23.05 and 21.71%, respectively), and 4.45% sugar that pro- vides only 79 calories. Potassium was shown to be the abundant mineral content (793.43%, 22.66 DV), followed by copper and phosphorus (21.81 and 11.07 DV%, respectively). Sea buckthorn juice exhibited a rich phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid content (283.58, 118.42 and 6.5 mg/g, respec- tively), in addition to a high content of vitamin C (322.33 mg/g). The HPLC profile indicated that benzoic acid is the dominant phenolic compound in sea buckthorn berries (3825.90 mg/kg). Antiox- idant potentials (DPPH and ABTS) of sea buckthorn showed higher inhibition than ascorbic acid. Antimicrobial potentials were most pronounced against Escherichia coli BA12296 (17.46 mm). The probiotic growth was 8.5 log cfu/mL, with juice concentration, inoculum size and temperature as the main contributors to probiotic growth with a 95% confidence level. Fermentation of sea buck- thorn juice with L. plantarum RM1 enhanced the functional phenolic and flavonoid content, as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The fermentation with L. plantarum RM1 enhanced the anti-hypertension and anticancer properties of the sea buckthorn juice and gained consumers’ sensorial overall acceptance.

Keywords: sea buckthorn juice, L. plantarum RM1, fermentation, antioxidant, antimicrobial, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Mohd Firrdhaus Mohd Sahabuddin, Cristina Gonzalez-Longo

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Large migration from rural areas to urban areas like Kuala Lumpur has led to some implications for economic, social and cultural development. This high population has placed enormous demand on the existing housing stocks, especially for low-income groups. However, some issues arise, one of which is overheated indoor air temperature. This problem contributes to the high-energy usage that forces huge sums of money to be spent on cooling the house by using mechanical equipment. Therefore, this study focuses on thermal comfort in social housing, and incorporates traditional values into its design to achieve a certain measurement of natural ventilation in a house. From the study, the carbon emission and energy consumption for an air-conditioned house is 67%, 66% higher than a naturally ventilated house. Therefore, this research has come up with a new typology design, which has a large exposed wall area and full-length openings on the opposite walls to increase cross ventilation. At the end of this research, the measurement of thermal comfort for a naturally ventilated building called ‘AirHouse’ has been identified.

Keywords: tropical architecture, natural ventilation, passive design, AirHouse, social housing design

Procedia PDF Downloads 672

Authors: Mythri G., Manjunath ML, Girish Babu M., Shireen Swaliha Quadri

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Background: The increase in diabetes among the elderly is of concern because in addition to the wide range of traditional diabetes complications, evidence has been growing that diabetes is associated with increased risk of cognitive decline. Aims and Objectives: To find out if there is any association between blood sugar levels and short-term and working memory status in patients of type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in 200 individuals aged between 40-65 years consisting of 100 diagnosed cases of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and 100 non-diabetics from OPD of Mc Gann Hospital, Shivamogga. Rye’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Verbal Fluency Test and Visual Reproduction Test, Working Digit Span Test and Validation Span Test were used to assess short-term and working memory. Fasting and Post Prandial blood sugar levels were estimated. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21. Results: Memory test scores of type 2 diabetics were significantly reduced (p < 0.001) when compared to the memory scores of age and gender matched non-diabetics. Fasting blood sugar levels were found to have a negative correlation with memory scores for all 5 tests: AVLT (r=-0.837), VFT (r=-0.888), VRT(r=-0.787), WDST (r=-0.795) and VST (r=-0.943). Post- Prandial blood sugar levels were found to have a negative correlation with memory scores for all 5 tests: AVLT (r=-0.922), VFT (r=-0.848), VRT(r=-0.707),WDST (r=-0.729) and VST (r=-0.880) Memory scores in all 5 tests were found to be negatively correlated with the FBS and PPBS levels in diabetic patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The decreased memory status in diabetic patients may be due to many factors like hyperglycemia, vascular disease, insulin resistance, amyloid deposition and also some of the factor combine to produce additive effects like, type of diabetes, co-morbidities, age of onset, duration of the disease and type of therapy. These observed effects of blood sugar levels of diabetics on memory status are of potential clinical importance because even mild cognitive impairment could interfere with todays’ activities.

Keywords: diabetes, cognition, diabetes, HRV, respiratory medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Khattab E. A., Gehan A. Amin

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The aim of the experiment was to investigate yield and yield components under effect of three different tillage systems and three faba bean varieties on clay-loamy soils. The experiment was conducted as split plot design having tillage systems in main plot and varieties in subplot. A field trial was conducted during the winter seasons of 2021-2022 and 2022-2-23, respectively in private of the agricultural lands of Shobra Beddin village, which belongs to Mansoura District of Dakahlia Province 31°, (04457)- N latitude and 31°4757- E longitude. The soil was prepared. The Seeds covered with a thin layer of soil, sown and watered. Three weeks later, the developed plants were thinned. Finally, the plants collected after 110 days of growth. Growth, yield and chemical contents determined. The results showed that the highest yield in the traditional tillage system corresponds to the superior to other tillage systems. In addition, In the variety comparison, the Sakha 1 variety was characterized by the highest yield as well as the highest values of plant growth properties among the three varieties. Conclusion: The traditional tillage system is increase grain yield of variety Sakha 1 compared with other varieties.

Keywords: yield, tillage system, varieties, faba bean

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Saleh Alzahrani, Halim Boussabaine

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The majority of Public Private Partnership (PPP) are developed based on the rationale that the design, construction, operation, and financing of a public project is to be awarded to a private party within a single contractual framework. PPP project risks normally include the development and construction of a new asset as well as its operation for decades. Undoubtedly the most serious consequences of risks during the construction period are price and time overruns. These events are amongst the most broadly used scenarios in value for money analysis risks. The sources of risk change over the life cycle of a PPP project. In traditional procurement, the public sector normally has to cover all price distress from these risks. At least there is plenty evidence to suggest that price distress is a norm in some of the projects that are delivered under traditional procurement. This paper will find the impact of construction risk factors into actual construction price into PPP projects. The paper will present a brief literature review on PPP risk pricing strategies, and then using system dynamics (SD) to analyses of the risks associated with the estimated project price. Based on the finding from these analyses a risk pricing association model is presented and discussed. The paper concludes with thoughts for future research.

Keywords: Public Private Partnership (PPP), Risk, Risk Pricing, System Dynamics (SD), construction price

Procedia PDF Downloads 561

Authors: A. Sawangsuriya, T. B. Edil

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Microstructure and fabric of soils play an important role on structural properties e.g. stiffness and strength of compacted earthwork. Traditional quality control monitoring based on moisture-density tests neither reflects the variability of soil microstructure nor provides a direct assessment of structural property, which is the ultimate objective of the earthwork quality control. Since stiffness and strength are sensitive to soil microstructure and fabric, any independent test methods that provide simple, rapid, and direct measurement of stiffness and strength are anticipated to provide an effective assessment of compacted earthen materials’ uniformity. In this study, the soil stiffness gauge (SSG) and the dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) were respectively utilized to measure and monitor the stiffness and strength in companion with traditional moisture-density measurements of various earthen materials used in Thailand road construction projects. The practical earthwork quality control criteria are presented herein in order to assure proper earthwork quality control and uniform structural property of compacted earthworks.

Keywords: dynamic cone penetrometer, moisture content, quality control, relative compaction, soil stiffness gauge, structural properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 354

Authors: Ben Chater, Jingbang Pan, Mark Evernden, Jie Wang

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Traditional structural steel manufacturing routes normally produce prismatic members with flat plate elements. In these members, plate instability in the lowest buckling mode often dominates failure. It is proposed in the current study to use a new technology of metal 3D printing to print steel-plated elements with predefined imperfection patterns that can lead to higher modes of failure with increased buckling resistances. To this end, a numerical modeling program is carried out to explore various combinations of predefined buckling waves with different amplitudes in stainless steel square hollow section stub columns. Their stiffness, strength, and material consumption against the traditional structural steel members with the same nominal dimensions are assessed. It is found that depending on the slenderness of the plate elements; it is possible for an ‘imperfect’ steel member to achieve up to a 30% increase in strength with just a 3% increase in the material consumption. The obtained results shed some light on the significant potential of the new metal 3D printing technology in achieving unprecedented material efficiency and economical design in the future steel construction industry.

Keywords: 3D printing, additive manufacturing, buckling resistance, steel plate buckling, structural optimisation

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Shu Yin, Zhiyang Ding, Jianzhong Huang, Xiaojun Ruan, Xiaomin Zhu, Xiao Qin

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Since large-scale and data-intensive applications have been widely deployed, there is a growing demand for high-performance storage systems to support data-intensive applications. Compared with traditional storage systems, next-generation systems will embrace dedicated processor to reduce computational load of host machines and will have hybrid combinations of different storage devices. The advent of flash- memory-based solid state disk has become a critical role in revolutionizing the storage world. However, instead of simply replacing the traditional magnetic hard disk with the solid state disk, it is believed that finding a complementary approach to corporate both of them is more challenging and attractive. This paper explores an idea of active storage, an emerging new storage configuration, in terms of the architecture and design, the parallel processing capability, the cooperation of other machines in cluster computing environment, and a disk configuration, the hybrid combination of different types of disk drives. Experimental results indicate that the proposed HcDD achieves better I/O performance and longer storage system lifespan.

Keywords: arallel storage system, hybrid storage system, data inten- sive, solid state disks, reliability

Procedia PDF Downloads 441

Authors: Mehran Memari, Bita Asadi

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Second language (L2) classrooms in academic contexts usually consist of learners with diverse L2 proficiency levels. One solution for managing such heterogeneous classes and addressing individual needs of students is to improve learner autonomy by using technological innovations such as blogging. The focus of this study is on investigating the effects of blogging on improving the quality of Iranian university students' writings. For this aim, twenty-six Iranian university students participated in the study. Students in the experimental group (n=13) were required to blog daily while the students in the control group (n=13) were asked to write a daily schedule using paper and pencil. After a 3-month period of instruction, the five last writings of the students from both groups were rated by two experienced raters. Also, students' attitudes toward the traditional method and blogging were surveyed using a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The research results showed evidences in favor of the students who used blogging in their writing program. Also, although students in the experimental group found blogging more demanding than the traditional method, they showed an overall positive attitude toward the use of blogging as a way of improving their writing skills. The findings of the study have implications for the incorporation of computer-assisted learning in L2 academic contexts.

Keywords: blogging, computer-assisted learning, paper and pencil, writing

Procedia PDF Downloads 398

Authors: Malika Hammouche

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The novel Pillars of Salt, written by Fadia Faqir in 1996, is a good example where storytelling is utilized as a traditional material to underline the author’s womanist ideology. A study of narrative could be fruitfully combined with that of ideology in this case. This combination could be demonstrated through the narrative technique used by Fadia Faqir in Pillars of Salt (1996), reflecting her anti-colonial ideology. The first step of this work will highlight the storyteller’s narrative in the novel representing, on the one hand, the imperial voice, and on the other exoticism and orientalism. The second step will demonstrate how Faqir’s narrative technique uses focalization as a narratological tool to negotiate her space. Faqir gives a voice to the female protagonist of the novel within the androcentric bias of Arab narrative theory to point to and amend the orientalist discourse typical to colonial literature. The orientalist discourse is represented through the voice of the storyteller in the novel. The juxtaposition of the storyteller’s and the female protagonist narratives is borrowed from the Arab literary background. It is a postcolonial counter-discursive strategy used by the author as a traditional material to underline her Arabo Islamic Womanist ideology in this novel.

Keywords: Arabo Islamic womanism, focalization, ideology, narrative technique, orientalist

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: D. Satheesh Kumar, K. S. Lakshmi, V. J. Vishnu Varthan

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Background: Aphrodisiacs are the substances which are used to increase sexual activity and help in fertility. Infertility is a worldwide medical and social problem. Ionidium suffruticosum has an extensive ethnomedical history of use as a traditional remedy for reproductive impairments. Hence, this study was conducted to study the aphrodisiac properties of Ionidium suffruticosum by observing the sexual behavior of male rats. Methods: The ethanolic extract of whole plant of Ionidium suffruticosum (EEIS) at the dose of 200 mg/kg and sildenafil citrate at the dose of 5 mg/kg were administered to the male rats. Mount latency (ML), intromission latency (IL), ejaculation latency (EL), mounting frequency (MF), intromission frequency (IF), ejaculation frequency (EF) and post-ejaculatory interval (PEI) were the parameters observed before and during the sexual behaviour study at days 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40. Results: The ethanolic extract of roots of Ionidium suffruticosum reduced significantly ML, IL, EL and PEI (p<0.05). There was statistically increase in MF, IF and EF (p<0.05) compared to control following treatment with ethanolic extract of Ionidium suffruticosum. These effects were observed in sexually active and inactive male rats. Conclusion: Present findings provide experimental evidence that the crude extract of Ionidium suffruticosum, used as a traditional remedy, possesses aphrodisiac properties.

Keywords: Ionidium suffruticosum, aphrodisiac, sexual behavior, ethanolic extract

Procedia PDF Downloads 409

Authors: Mehdi Shahbazian, Alireza Aarabi, Mohsen Hadiyan

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Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers are the most widely used controllers in industry because of its simplicity and robustness. Different values of PID parameters make different step response, so an increasing amount of literature is devoted to proper tuning of PID controllers. The problem merits further investigation as traditional tuning methods make large control signal that can damages the system but using evolutionary algorithms based tuning methods improve the control signal and closed loop performance. In this paper three tuning methods for PID controllers have been studied namely Ziegler and Nichols, which is traditional tuning method and evolutionary algorithms based tuning methods, that are, Genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization. To examine the validity of PSO and GA tuning methods a comparative analysis of DC motor plant is studied. Simulation results reveal that evolutionary algorithms based tuning method have improved control signal amplitude and quality factors of the closed loop system such as rise time, integral absolute error (IAE) and maximum overshoot.

Keywords: evolutionary algorithm, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, PID controller

Procedia PDF Downloads 475

Authors: Carol Cameletti

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The goal of this study was to perform a pilot survey to assess pain frequency and intensity in an elderly population and to assess treatment options for chronic pain that include complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). Ten participants were recruited from an independent and supportive living housing facility in Northern Ontario and asked to complete two questionnaires: 1) a self-assessment on pain, and 2) the use of CAM for pain. Results from our study show that 80% of the participants experienced pains other than the regular everyday pains such as minor headaches, sprains or toothaches. Although participants stated that on average the highest level of pain they experienced within the past 24 hours had a score of 6.5 (0=no pain, 10=worst pain imaginable) the level of pain they experienced moderately interfered with their daily activities. Unfortunately, participants stated that they were only able to attain minimal levels of pain relief using treatments or medications causing some of the participants to seek alternative therapies or self-help practices. The most commonly used CAMs were vitamins/minerals, herbs and supplements, and self-help practices such as meditation, prayer, visualization and relaxation techniques. Although some of the participants stated that they had received complementary treatments directly from their physician, four of the nine participants said that they had not disclosed CAM use to their physician thereby indicating a need to open the lines of communication between healthcare providers and patients with regards to CAM use. It is our hope that the data generated from this study will serve as the platform for a pain management clinic that is client-centered, consumer-driven and truly integrative and tailored in order to meet the unique needs of older adults in Great Sudbury, Ontario.

Keywords: alternative, complementary, elderly, medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Andrei Tiberiu Cucuruz, Ecaterina Andronescu, Cristina Daniela Ghitulica, Andreia Cucuruz

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In modern dentistry, the application of resin-based composites continues to increase and in the majority of countries has completely replaced mercury amalgams. Alumina (Al2O3) is a representative bioinert ceramic with a variety of applications in industry as well as in medicine. Alumina has the potential to improve electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of polymers. The application of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) in medicine was poorly investigated in the past but can lead to good results by the incorporation of alumina particles that can bring bioinertness to the composite. However, because of the differences related to chemical bonding of these materials, the interaction is very weak at the interface leading to no significant values in practical situations. The aim of this work was to modify the structure of alumina with silane coupling agents and to study the influence of silanization on the physicomechanical properties of the resulting composite materials. Two silanes were used in this study: 3-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane (APTMS) and dichlorodimethylsilane (DCDMS). Both silanes proved to have a significant effect on the overall performance of composites by establishing bonds with the polymer matrix and the filler. All these improvements in dental adhesive systems made for bonding resin composites to tooth structure have enhanced the clinical application of polymeric restorative materials to the position that they are now considered the material of choice for esthetic restoration.

Keywords: alumina, compressive strength, dental materials, silane coupling agents, poly(methacrylic acid)

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Karishma Chester, Sarvesh K. Paliwal, Sayeed Ahmad

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Inab-us-salab also known as Solanum nigrum L. (Family: Solanaceae), is an important Indian medicinal plant and have been used in various unani traditional formulations for hepato-protection. It has been reported to contain significant amount of steroidal glycosides such as solamargine and solasonine as well as their aglycone part solasodine. Being important pharmacologically active metabolites of several members of solanaceae, these markers have been attempted various times for their extraction and quantification but separately for glycoside and aglycone part because of their opposite polarity. Here, we propose for the first time its fractionation and fingerprinting of aglycone (solasodine) and glycosides (solamargine and solasonine) in leaves and berries of S. nigrum using solvent extraction and fractionation followed by HPTLC analysis. The fingerprinting was done using silica gel 60F254 HPTLC plates as stationary phase and chloroform: methanol: acetone: 0.5% ammonia (7: 2.5: 1: 0.4 v/v/v/v) as mobile phase at 400 nm, after derivatization with antimony tri chloride reagent for identification of steroidal glycoside. The statistical data obtained can further be validated and can be used routinely for quality control of various solanaceous drugs reported for these markers as well as traditional formulations containing those plants as an ingredient.

Keywords: solanum nigrum, solasodine, solamargine, solasonine, quantification

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: David Kriebel, Jan Edgar Mehner

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The paper introduces a method to efficiently simulate nonlinear changing electrostatic fields occurring in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Large deflections of the capacitor electrodes usually introduce nonlinear electromechanical forces on the mechanical system. Traditional finite element methods require a time-consuming remeshing process to capture exact results for this physical domain interaction. In order to accelerate the simulation process and eliminate the remeshing process, a formulation of a strongly coupled electromechanical transducer element will be introduced, which uses a combination of finite-element with an advanced mesh morphing technique using radial basis functions (RBF). The RBF allows large geometrical changes of the electric field domain while retaining the high element quality of the deformed mesh. Coupling effects between mechanical and electrical domains are directly included within the element formulation. Fringing field effects are described accurately by using traditional arbitrary shape functions.

Keywords: electromechanical, electric field, transducer, simulation, modeling, finite-element, mesh morphing, radial basis function

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Authors: Sasha Mullally

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This paper investigates the transnational circulation of European Nordic ideas about and programs for manual education and training over the decades spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on the unexamined but voluminous correspondence (English-language) of Otto Salomon, an internationally famous education reformer who popularized a form of manual training called "slöjd" (anglicized as "sloyd"), this paper examines it's circulation and translation across global cultures. Salomon, a multilingual promoter of new standardized program for manual training, based his curricula on traditional handcrqafts, particularly Swedish woodworking. He and his followers claimed that the integration of manual training and craft work provided primary and secondary educators with an opportunity to cultivate the mental, but also the physical, and tangentially, the spiritual, health of children. While historians have examined the networks who came together in person to train at his slöjd school for educators in western Sweden, no one has mapped the international community he cultivated over decades of letter writing. Additionally, while the circulation of his ideas in Britain and Germany, as well as the northeastern United States has been placed in a broader narrative of "western" education reform in the Progressive or late Victorian era, no one has examined the correspondence for evidence of the program's wider international appeal beyond Europe and North America. This paper fills this gap by examining the breadth of his reach through active correspondence with educators in Asia (Japan), South America (Brazil), and Africa (South Africa and Zimbabwe). As such, this research presents an opportunity to map the international communities of education reformers active at the turn of the last century, compare and contrast their understandings of and interpretations of "holistic" education, and reveal the ways manual formation was understood to be foundational to the healthy development of children.

Keywords: history of education, history of medicine and psychiatry, child health, child formation, internationalism

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Authors: Hugo Espinosa-Andrews

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Introduction: Yogurt is widely accepted worldwide due to its high nutritional value, consistency, and texture. Their rheological properties play a significant role in consumer acceptance and are related to the manufacturing process and formulation. Typically, the viscoelastic characteristics of yogurts are studied using the small amplitude oscillatory shear test; however, the initial stages of flow and oral processing are described in the nonlinear zone, in which a large amplitude oscillatory stress test is applied. The objective of this work was to analyze the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of commercial yogurts using Lissajous curves. Methods: Two commercial yogurts were purchased in a local store in Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico: a natural Greek-style yogurt and a low-fat traditional yogurt. Viscoelastic properties were evaluated using a large amplitude oscillatory stress procedure (LAOS). A crosshatch geometry of 40 mm and a truncation of 1000 µm were used. Stress sweeps were performed at 6.28 rad/s from 1 to 250 Pa at 5°C. The nonlinear viscoelastic properties were analyzed using the Lissajous curves. Results: The yogurts showed strain-viscoelastic behavior related to deformation-dependent materials. In the low-strain region, the elastic modulus predominated over the viscous modulus, showing gel-elastic properties. The sol-gel transitions were observed at approximately 66.5 Pa for the Greek yogurt, double that detected for traditional yogurt. The viscoelastic behavior of the yogurts was characteristic of weak excess deformation: behavior indicating a stable molecular structure at rest, and moderate structure at medium shear-forces. The normalized Lissajous curves characterized viscoelastic transitions of the yogurt as the stress increased. Greater viscoelasticity deformation was observed in Greek yogurt than in traditional yogurt, which is related to the presence of a protein network with a greater degree of crosslinking. Conclusions: The yogurt composition influences the viscoelastic properties of the material. Yogurt with the higher percentage of protein has greater viscoelastic and viscous properties, which describe a product of greater consistency and creaminess.

Keywords: yogurt, viscoelastic properties, LAOS, elastic modulus

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Authors: Pintusorn Hansakul, Ruchilak Rattarom, Arunporn Itharat

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Background: Benjakul, a Thai traditional herbal formulation, comprises of five plants: Piper chaba, Piper sarmentosum, Piper interruptum, Plumbago indica, and Zingiber officinale. It has been widely used to treat cancer patients in the context of folk medicine in Thailand. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effect of the ethanol extract of Benjakul against three non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines (NCI-H226, A549, COR-L23), small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell line NCI-H1688 and normal lung fibroblast cell line MRC-5. The study further examined the molecular mechanisms underlying its cytotoxicity via induction of apoptosis in NCI-H226 cells. Methods: The cytotoxic effect of Benjakul was determined by SRB assay. The effect of Benjakul on cell cycle distribution was assessed by flow cytometric analysis. The apoptotic effects of Benjakul were determined by sub-G1 quantitation and Annexin V-FITC/PI flow cytometric analyses as well as by changes in caspase-3 activity. Results: Benjakul exerted potent cytotoxicity on NCI-H226 and A549 cells but lower cytotoxicity on COR-L23 and NCI-H1688 cells without any cytotoxic effect on normal cells. Molecular studies showed that Benjakul extract induced G2/M phase arrest in human NCI-H226 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The highest concentration of Benjakul (150 μg/ml) led to the highest increase in the G2/M population at 12 h, followed by the highest increase in the sub-G1 population (apoptotic cells) at 60 h. Benjakul extract also induced early apoptosis (AnnexinV +/PI−) in NCI-H226 cells in a dose- and time- dependent manner. Moreover, treatment with 150 μg/ml Benjakul extract for 36 h markedly increased caspase-3 activity by 3.5-fold, and pretreatment with the general caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk completely abolished such activity. Conclusions: This study reveals for the first time the regulation of apoptosis in human lung cancer NCI-H226 cells through caspase-dependent mechanism by Benjakul extract.

Keywords: apoptosis, Benjakul, caspase activation, cytotoxicity

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Authors: Nur Aimi Syairah Mohd Abdul Alim, Azilah Ajit, A. Z. Sulaiman

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The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) on the extraction of Vitexin and Iso-Vitexin from Ficus deltoidea plants. In recent years, ultrasound technology has been found to be a potential herbal extraction technique. The passage of ultrasound energy in a liquid medium generates mechanical agitation and other physical effects due to acoustic cavitation. The main goal is to optimised ultrasonic-assisted extraction condition providing the highest extraction yield with the most desirable antioxidant activity and stability. Thus, a series of experiments has been developed to investigate the effect of ultrasound energy on the vegetal material and the implemented parameters by using HPLC-photodiode array detection. The influences of several experimental parameters on the ultrasonic extraction of Ficus deltoidea leaves were investigated: extraction time (1-8 h), solvent-to-water ratio (1:10 to 1:50), temperature (50–100 °C), duty cycle (10–continuous sonication) and intensity. The extracts at the optimized condition were compared with those obtained by conventional boiling extraction, in terms of bioactive constituents yield and chemical composition. The compounds of interest identified in the extracts were Vitexin and Isovitexin, which possess anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. Results showed that the main variables affecting the extraction process were temperature and time. Though in less extent, solvent-to-water ratio, duty cycle and intensity are also demonstrated to be important parameters. The experimental values under optimal conditions were in good consistent with the predicted values, which suggested that ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) is more efficient process as compared to conventional boiling extraction. It recommended that ultrasound extraction of Ficus deltoidea plants are feasible to replace the traditional time-consuming and low efficiency preparation procedure in the future modernized and commercialized manufacture of this highly valuable herbal medicine.

Keywords: Ficus, ultrasounds, vitexin, isovitexin

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Authors: Yong Zhao, Jian He, Cheng Zhang

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Cardiovascular diseases caused by hypertension are extremely threatening to human health, and early diagnosis of hypertension can save a large number of lives. Traditional hypertension detection methods require special equipment and are difficult to detect continuous blood pressure changes. In this regard, this paper first analyzes the principle of heart rate variability (HRV) and introduces sliding window and power spectral density (PSD) to analyze the time domain features and frequency domain features of HRV, and secondly, designs an HRV-based hypertension prediction network by combining Resnet, attention mechanism, and multilayer perceptron, which extracts the frequency domain through the improved ResNet18 features through a modified ResNet18, its fusion with time-domain features through an attention mechanism, and the auxiliary prediction of hypertension through a multilayer perceptron. Finally, the network was trained and tested using the publicly available SHAREE dataset on PhysioNet, and the test results showed that this network achieved 92.06% prediction accuracy for hypertension and outperformed K Near Neighbor(KNN), Bayes, Logistic, and traditional Convolutional Neural Network(CNN) models in prediction performance.

Keywords: feature extraction, heart rate variability, hypertension, residual networks

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Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin

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Traditional Malay performances are carried out for both entertainment and curing purposes. In curing rituals, the men and women serving as shamans, communicates with the spirits and beings from the nether world to facilitate the curing process. The dependency on engaging with these other-worldly beings however, have raised religious issues of being syirik, namely practicing in rituals which are religiously forbidden. This study aims to observe how ritual leaders attempt to negotiate the fine balance between what has been religiously forbidden and the psychological and sociological needs of the patient. Two curing rituals, the main peteri and the malibobou were chosen to exemplify the communication between the physical and spiritual realities. In both rituals, the healers engaged in procedures of curing as they attempted to diagnose sicknesses and proffer cures with the help of the spirits. The main peteri was conducted by a male shaman, the tuk teri whereas the malibobou was conducted by a female ritual specialist, the bobohizan. Main peteri and the malibobou both ended with ritually thanking and sending off the spirits back to their nether, invisible domains. These curing rituals heal not only the sick individual, but by extension, the village community. Therefore, there is a need to reconcile these rituals with religious tenets, beliefs and sociological-political-cultural dimensions.

Keywords: traditional healing, trance, spirits, main peteri, bobohizan

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