Search results for: Chettinad village clusters

Authors: Anna Marie Fisker, Daniele Sepe, Mette Bøgh Jensen, Daniela Rimei

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In the space of just a few years, the European policy framework on cultural heritage has been completely overhauled, moving towards a people-centred and holistic approach, and eliminating the divisions between the tangible, intangible and digital dimensions. The European Union regards cultural heritage as a potential shared resource, highlighting that all stakeholders share responsibility for its transmission to future generations. This new framework will potentially change the way in which cultural institutions manage, protect and provide access to their heritage. It will change the way in which citizens and communities engage with their cultural heritage and naturally influence the way that professionals deal with it. Participating in the creation of cultural heritage awareness can lead to an increased perception of its value, be it economic, social, environmental or cultural. It can also strengthen our personal identity, sense of belonging and community citizenship. Open Atelier, a Creative Europe project, is based on this foundation, with the goal through co-creation to develop the use, understanding and engagement with our cultural heritage. The project aim to transform selected parts of the heritage into an “experience lab” – an interactive, co-creative, dynamic and participatory space, where cultural heritage is the point of departure for new interactions and experiences between the audience and the museum and its professionals. Through a workshop-based approach built on interdisciplinary collaboration and co-creative processes, Open Atelier has started to design, develop, test, and evaluate a set of Experiences. The first collaborative initiative was set out in the discourse and knowledge of a highly creative period in Denmark where a specific group of Scandinavian artists, the Skagen Painters, gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. The Art Museums of Skagen have a large collection of photos from the period, that has never been the subject of more thorough research. The photos display a variation of many different subjects: community, family photos, reproductions of art works, costume parties, family gatherings etc., and carry with them the energies of those peoples’ work and life and evoke instances of communication with the past. This paper is about how we in Open Atelier connect these special stories, this legacy, with another place, in another time, in another context and with another audience. The first Open Atelier Experience – the performance “Around the Lighthouse” – was an initiative resulted from the collaboration between AMAT, an Italian creative organisation, and the Art Museums of Skagen. A group of Italian artists developed a co-creative investigation and reinterpretation of a selection of these historical photos. A poetic journey through videos and voices, aimed at exploring new perspectives on the museum and its heritage. An experiment on how to create new ways to actively engage audiences in the way cultural heritage is explored, interpreted, mediated, presented, and used to examine contemporary issues. This article is about this experiment and its findings, and how different views and methodologies can be adopted to discuss the cultural heritage in museums around Europe and their connection to the community.

Keywords: cultural heritage, community, innovation, museums

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper introduces Luhmann’s autopoietic social systems starting with the original concept of autopoiesis by biologists and scientists, including the modification of general systems based on socialized medicine. A specific type of autopoietic system is explained in the three existing groups of the ecological phenomena: interaction, social and medical sciences. This hypothesis model, nevertheless, has a nonlinear interaction with its natural environment ‘interactional cycle’ for the exchange of photon energy with molecular without any changes in topology. The external forces in the systems environment might be concomitant with the natural fluctuations’ influence (e.g. radioactive radiation, electromagnetic waves). The cantilever sensor deploys insights to the future chip processor for prevention of social metabolic systems. Thus, the circuits with resonant electric and optical properties are prototyped on board as an intra–chip inter–chip transmission for producing electromagnetic energy approximately ranges from 1.7 mA at 3.3 V to service the detection in locomotion with the least significant power losses. Nowadays, therapeutic systems are assimilated materials from embryonic stem cells to aggregate multiple functions of the vessels nature de-cellular structure for replenishment. While, the interior actuators deploy base-pair complementarity of nucleotides for the symmetric arrangement in particular bacterial nanonetworks of the sequence cycle creating double-stranded DNA strings. The DNA strands must be sequenced, assembled, and decoded in order to reconstruct the original source reliably. The design of exterior actuators have the ability in sensing different variations in the corresponding patterns regarding beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV) for spatial autocorrelation of molecular communication, which consists of human electromagnetic, piezoelectric, electrostatic and electrothermal energy to monitor and transfer the dynamic changes of all the cantilevers simultaneously in real-time workspace with high precision. A prototype-enabled dynamic energy sensor has been investigated in the laboratory for inclusion of nanoscale devices in the architecture with a fuzzy logic control for detection of thermal and electrostatic changes with optoelectronic devices to interpret uncertainty associated with signal interference. Ultimately, the controversial aspect of molecular frictional properties is adjusted to each other and forms its unique spatial structure modules for providing the environment mutual contribution in the investigation of mass temperature changes due to pathogenic archival architecture of clusters.

Keywords: autopoiesis, nanoparticles, quantum photonics, portable energy, photonic structure, photodynamic therapeutic system

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Authors: Andrea Pietrelli, Vincenzo Ferrara, Bruno Allard, Francois Buret, Irene Bavasso, Nicola Lovecchio, Francesca Costantini, Firas Khaled

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This paper aims to show some applications of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), an energy harvesting technique, as clean power source to supply low power device for application like wireless sensor network (WSN) for environmental monitoring. Furthermore, MFC can be used directly as biosensor to analyse parameters like pH and temperature or arranged in form of cluster devices in order to use as small power plant. An MFC is a bioreactor that converts energy stored in chemical bonds of organic matter into electrical energy, through a series of reactions catalysed by microorganisms. We have developed a lab-scale terrestrial microbial fuel cell (TMFC), based on soil that acts as source of bacteria and flow of nutrient and a lab-scale waste water microbial fuel cell (WWMFC), where waste water acts as flow of nutrient and bacteria. We performed large series of tests to exploit the capability as biosensor. The pH value has strong influence on the open circuit voltage (OCV) delivered from TMFCs. We analyzed three condition: test A and B were filled with same soil but changing pH from 6 to 6.63, test C was prepared using a different soil with a pH value of 6.3. Experimental results clearly show how with higher pH value a higher OCV was produced; indeed reactors are influenced by different values of pH which increases the voltage in case of a higher pH value until the best pH value of 7 is achieved. The influence of pH on OCV of lab-scales WWMFC was analyzed at pH value of 6.5, 7, 7.2, 7.5 and 8. WWMFCs are influenced from temperature more than TMFCs. We tested the power performance of WWMFCs considering four imposed values of ambient temperature. Results show how power performance increase proportionally with higher temperature values, doubling the output power from 20° to 40°. The best value of power produced from our lab-scale TMFC was equal to 310 μW using peaty soil, at 1KΩ, corresponding to a current of 0.5 mA. A TMFC can supply proper energy to low power devices of a WSN by means of the design of three stages scheme of an energy management system, which adapts voltage level of TMFC to those required by a WSN node, as 3.3V. Using a commercial DC/DC boost converter, that needs an input voltage of 700 mV, the current source of 0.5 mA, charges a capacitor of 6.8 mF until it will have accumulated an amount of charge equal to 700 mV in a time of 10 s. The output stage includes an output switch that close the circuit after a time of 10s + 1.5ms because the converter can boost the voltage from 0.7V to 3.3V in 1.5 ms. Furthermore, we tested in form of clusters connected in series up to 20 WWMFCs, we have obtained a high voltage value as output, around 10V, but low current value. MFC can be considered a suitable clean energy source to be used to supply low power devices as a WSN node or to be used directly as biosensor.

Keywords: energy harvesting, low power electronics, microbial fuel cell, terrestrial microbial fuel cell, waste-water microbial fuel cell, wireless sensor network

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Authors: Songdi Li, Louise Spry, Tony Woodall

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Nowadays, Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) is becoming a buzz word, and more and more academics are putting efforts on CSR studies. It is believed that CSR could influence Corporate Reputation (CR), and they hold a favourable view that CSR leads to a positive CR. To be specific, the CSR related activities in the reputational context have been regarded as ways that associate to excellent financial performance, value creation, etc. Also, it is argued that CSR and CR are two sides of one coin; hence, to some extent, doing CSR is equal to establishing a good reputation. Still, there is no consensus of the CSR-CR relationship in the literature; thus, a systematic literature review is highly in need. This research conducts a systematic literature review with both bibliometric and content analysis. Data are selected from English language sources, and academic journal articles only, then, keyword combinations are applied to identify relevant sources. Data from Scopus and WoS are gathered for bibliometric analysis. Scopus search results were saved in RIS and CSV formats, and Web of Science (WoS) data were saved in TXT format and CSV formats in order to process data in the Bibexcel software for further analysis which later will be visualised by the software VOSviewer. Also, content analysis was applied to analyse the data clusters and the key articles. In terms of the topic of CSR-CR, this literature review with bibliometric analysis has made four achievements. First, this paper has developed a systematic study which quantitatively depicts the knowledge structure of CSR and CR by identifying terms closely related to CSR-CR (such as ‘corporate governance’) and clustering subtopics emerged in co-citation analysis. Second, content analysis is performed to acquire insight on the findings of bibliometric analysis in the discussion section. And it highlights some insightful implications for the future research agenda, for example, a psychological link between CSR-CR is identified from the result; also, emerging economies and qualitative research methods are new elements emerged in the CSR-CR big picture. Third, a multidisciplinary perspective presents through the whole bibliometric analysis mapping and co-word and co-citation analysis; hence, this work builds a structure of interdisciplinary perspective which potentially leads to an integrated conceptual framework in the future. Finally, Scopus and WoS are compared and contrasted in this paper; as a result, Scopus which has more depth and comprehensive data is suggested as a tool for future bibliometric analysis studies. Overall, this paper has fulfilled its initial purposes and contributed to the literature. To the author’s best knowledge, this paper conducted the first literature review of CSR-CR researches that applied both bibliometric analysis and content analysis; therefore, this paper achieves its methodological originality. And this dual approach brings advantages of carrying out a comprehensive and semantic exploration in the area of CSR-CR in a scientific and realistic method. Admittedly, its work might exist subjective bias in terms of search terms selection and paper selection; hence triangulation could reduce the subjective bias to some degree.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation, bibliometric analysis, software program

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Authors: Sandhya Rijal, Saroj Adhikari, Ramesh R. Pant

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Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) have attracted substantial interest in the recent years with the increasing recognition that these can provide essential community needs for improved and diversified rural livelihood and support the objectives of biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, various challenges are witnessed in their sustainable harvest and management. Assuming that sustainable management with community stewardship can offer one of the solutions to existing challenges, the study assesses the linkages between NTFPs and rural livelihood in Lamabagar village of Dolakha, Nepal. The major objective was to document the status of NTFPs and their contributions in households of Lamabagar. For status documentation, vegetation sampling was done using systematic random sampling technique. 30 plots of 10 m × 10 m were laid down in six parallel transect lines at horizontal distance of 160 m in two different community forests. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted in 76 households (excluding non-response rate) using stratified random sampling technique for contribution analysis. Likewise, key informant interview and focus group discussions were also conducted for data triangulations. 36 different NTFPs were recorded from the vegetation sample in two community forests of which 50% were used for medicinal purposes. The other uses include fodder, religious value, and edible fruits and vegetables. Species like Juniperus indica, Daphne bholua Aconitum spicatum, and Lyonia ovalifolia were frequently used for trade as a source of income, which was sold in local market. The protected species like Taxus wallichiana and Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora were also recorded in the area for which the trade is prohibited. The protection of these species urgently needs community stewardship. More than half of the surveyed households (55%) were depending on NTFPs for their daily uses, other than economic purpose whereas 45% of them sold those products in the market directly or in the form of local handmade products as a source of livelihood. NTFPs were the major source of primary health curing agents especially for the poor and unemployed people in the study area. Hence, the NTFPs contributed to livelihood under three different categories: subsistence, supplement income and emergency support, depending upon the economic status of the households. Although the status of forest improved after handover to the user group, the availability of valuable medicinal herbs like Rhododendron anthopogon, Swertia nervosa, Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora, and Aconitum spicatum were declining. Inadequacy of technology, lack of easy transport access, and absence of good market facility were the major limitations for external trade of NTFPs in the study site. It was observed that people were interested towards conservation only if they could get some returns: economic in terms of rural settlements. Thus, the study concludes that NTFPs could contribute rural livelihood and support conservation objectives only if local communities are provided with the easy access of technology, market and capital.

Keywords: contribution, medicinal, subsistence, sustainable harvest

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Authors: Damien Rinsant, Eugen Andreiadis, Michael Carboni, Daniel Meyer

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Different types of materials have been developed for the solid/liquid uranium extraction processes, such as functionalized organic polymers, hybrid silica or inorganic adsorbents. In general, these materials exhibit a moderate affinity for uranyl ions and poor selectivity against impurities like iron, vanadium or molybdenum. Moreover, the structural organization deficiency of these materials generates ion diffusion issues inside the material. Therefore, the aim of our study is to developed efficient and organized materials, stable in the acid media encountered in uranium extraction processes. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are hybrid crystalline materials consisting of an inorganic part (cluster or metal ions) and tailored organic linkers connected via coordination bonds. These hierarchical materials have exceptional surface area, thermal stability and a large variety of tunable structures. However, due to the reversibility of constitutive coordination bonds, MOFs have moderate stability in strongly complexing or acidic media. Only few of them are known to be stable in aqueous media and only one example is described in strong acidic media. However, these conditions are very often encountered in the environmental pollution remediation of mine wastewaters. To tackle the challenge of developing MOFs adapted for uranium extraction from acid mine waters, we have investigated the stability of several materials. To ensure a good stability we have synthetized and characterized different materials based on highly coordinated metal clusters, such as LnOFs and Zirconium based materials. Among the latter, the UiO family shows a great stability in sulfuric acid media even in the presence of 1.4 M sodium sulfate at pH 2. However, the stability in phosphoric media is reduced due to the high affinity between zirconium and phosphate ligand. Based on these results, we have developed a tertiary amine functionalized MOF denoted UiO-68-NMe2 particularly adapted for the extraction of anionic uranyl (VI) sulfate complexes mainly present in the acid mine solutions. The adsorption capacity of the material has been determined upon varying total sulfate concentration, contact time and uranium concentration. The extraction tests put in evidence different phenomena due to the complexity of the extraction media and the interaction between the MOF and sulfate anion. Finally, the extraction mechanisms and the interaction between uranyl and the MOF structure have been investigated. The functionalized material UiO-68-NMe2 has been characterized in the presence and absence of uranium by FT-IR, UV and Raman techniques. Moreover, the stability of the protonated amino functionalized MOF has been evaluated. The synthesis, characterization and evaluation of this type of hybrid material, particularly adapted for uranium extraction in sulfuric acid media by an anionic exchange mechanism, paved the way for the development of metal organic frameworks functionalized by different other chelating motifs, such as bifunctional ligands showing an enhanced affinity and selectivity for uranium in acid and complexing media. Work in this direction is currently in progress.

Keywords: extraction, MOF, ligand, uranium

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper introduces topological order in descried social systems starting with the original concept of autopoiesis by biologists and scientists, including the modification of general systems based on socialized medicine. Topological order is important in describing the physical systems for exploiting optical systems and improving photonic devices. The stats of topological order have some interesting properties of topological degeneracy and fractional statistics that reveal the entanglement origin of topological order, etc. Topological ideas in photonics form exciting developments in solid-state materials, that being; insulating in the bulk, conducting electricity on their surface without dissipation or back-scattering, even in the presence of large impurities. A specific type of autopoiesis system is interrelated to the main categories amongst existing groups of the ecological phenomena interaction social and medical sciences. The hypothesis, nevertheless, has a nonlinear interaction with its natural environment 'interactional cycle' for exchange photon energy with molecules without changes in topology. The engineering topology of a biosensor is based on the excitation boundary of surface electromagnetic waves in photonic band gap multilayer films. The device operation is similar to surface Plasmonic biosensors in which a photonic band gap film replaces metal film as the medium when surface electromagnetic waves are excited. The use of photonic band gap film offers sharper surface wave resonance leading to the potential of greatly enhanced sensitivity. So, the properties of the photonic band gap material are engineered to operate a sensor at any wavelength and conduct a surface wave resonance that ranges up to 470 nm. The wavelength is not generally accessible with surface Plasmon sensing. Lastly, the photonic band gap films have robust mechanical functions that offer new substrates for surface chemistry to understand the molecular design structure and create sensing chips surface with different concentrations of DNA sequences in the solution to observe and track the surface mode resonance under the influences of processes that take place in the spectroscopic environment. These processes led to the development of several advanced analytical technologies: which are; automated, real-time, reliable, reproducible, and cost-effective. This results in faster and more accurate monitoring and detection of biomolecules on refractive index sensing, antibody-antigen reactions with a DNA or protein binding. Ultimately, the controversial aspect of molecular frictional properties is adjusted to each other in order to form unique spatial structure and dynamics of biological molecules for providing the environment mutual contribution in investigation of changes due to the pathogenic archival architecture of cell clusters.

Keywords: autopoiesis, photonics systems, quantum topology, molecular structure, biosensing

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Authors: Ashik Sarder

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Bangladesh is a disaster-prone and one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The country has a long coastal area which is frequently being affected by several types of natural disasters due to climate change. The disasters have impacts on the life and livelihood of different natural resources depending on communities living in the coastal areas. The Malo is a Hindu religious traditional fishing community living at Sarafpur Union of Dumuria Upazila of Khulna district of south-west coastal Bangladesh. Fishing is the only means of their livelihood and the community has been engaged in fishing practices inherently in rivers, estuaries, and sea for more than 300 years. and they are totally dependent on this traditional occupation. But, in recent year’s climate change has negative impacts on their only livelihood option. The study aims to examine the impacts of climate change on the livelihood of Malo fishing community in south-west coastal Bangladesh, identify the adaptation strategies undertaken and practiced by Malo fishing community to cope with climate change and sustain their livelihood and explore the changing adaptation strategies undertaken by Malo fishing community and others. The study has been conducted from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data has been collected in the participatory observation approach following both qualitative and quantitative method. The primary source of data includes village census, face-to-face interview and in-depth case studies using structured questionnaire. The secondary source of the literature includes different national and international documents, policy papers, books and articles; related websites and peer-viewed documents on climate change, vulnerability, adaptation, livelihood, and fisheries. The study has identified different practices of adaption to climate change by Malo fishing community and others in the selected area. Three types of adaption practices have been identified. Firstly, the indigenous adaptation practices by Malo fishing community to cope with climate change have been identified. These identified adaptation practices by Malo fishing community include; ensuring drinking water and sanitation facilities, planting trees to tackle impacts of cyclone, excavating dumps to preserve the valuable assets, growing vegetables and rearing domestic livestock to earn surplus money, taking loans for ensuring continuation of present livelihood and migrating to near city or towns for better livelihood options. Secondly, adaptation initiatives undertaken by the government have provided limited facility to this vulnerable fishing community and made them benefited. And thirdly, some adaptation initiatives commenced by few non-government and community-based organizations have also made the Malo fishing community as beneficiaries. The study has suggested recommendations for Malo fishing community to overcome the challenges and impacts of climate change for retaining their traditional fishing livelihood. The accumulated recommendations would be very useful for the researchers, academicians, policy-makers of Government and non-government organizations to conduct more researches and take initiatives for Malo fishing community to make them more capable to sustain their fishing livelihood.

Keywords: climate change, livelihood, adaptation, anthropology, vulnerability

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Authors: Maja Benkovic, Dubravka Novotni, Bojana Voucko, Duska Curic, Damir Jezek, Nikolina Cukelj

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Cryo-grinding is an ultra-fine grinding method used in the pharmaceutical industry, production of herbs and spices and in the production and handling of cereals, due to its ability to produce powders with small particle sizes which maintain their favorable bioactive profile. The aim of this study was to determine the particle size distributions of the proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) bran fraction grinded at cryogenic temperature (using liquid nitrogen (LN₂) cooling, T = - 196 °C), in comparison to non-cooled grinding. Proso millet bran is primarily used as an animal feed, but has a potential in food applications, either as a substrate for extraction of bioactive compounds or raw material in the bakery industry. For both applications finer particle sizes of the bran could be beneficial. Thus, millet bran was ground for 2, 4, 8 and 12 minutes using the ball mill (CryoMill, Retsch GmbH, Haan, Germany) at three grinding modes: (I) without cooling, (II) at cryo-temperature, and (III) at cryo-temperature with included 1 minute of intermediate cryo-cooling step after every 2 minutes of grinding, which is usually applied when samples require longer grinding times. The sample was placed in a 50 mL stainless steel jar containing one grinding ball (Ø 25 mm). The oscillation frequency in all three modes was 30 Hz. Particle size distributions of the bran were determined by a laser diffraction particle sizing method (Mastersizer 2000) using the Scirocco 2000 dry dispersion unit (Malvern Instruments, Malvern, UK). Three main effects of the grinding set-up were visible from the results. Firstly, grinding time at all three modes had a significant effect on all particle size parameters: d(0.1), d(0.5), d(0.9), D[3,2], D[4,3], span and specific surface area. Longer grinding times resulted in lower values of the above-listed parameters, e.g. the averaged d(0.5) of the sample (229.57±1.46 µm) dropped to 51.29±1.28 µm after 2 minutes grinding without LN₂, and additionally to 43.00±1.33 µm after 4 minutes of grinding without LN₂. The only exception was the sample ground for 12 minutes without cooling, where an increase in particle diameters occurred (d(0.5)=62.85±2.20 µm), probably due to particles adhering to one another and forming larger particle clusters. Secondly, samples with LN₂ cooling exhibited lower diameters in comparison to non-cooled. For example, after 8 minutes of non-cooled grinding d(0.5)=46.97±1.05 µm was achieved, while the LN₂ cooling enabled collection of particles with average sizes of d(0.5)=18.57±0.18 µm. Thirdly, the application of intermediate cryo-cooling step resulted in similar particle diameters (d(0.5)=15.83±0.36 µm, 12 min of grinding) as cryo-milling without this step (d(0.5)=16.33±2.09 µm, 12 min of grinding). This indicates that intermediate cooling is not necessary for the current application, which consequently reduces the consumption of LN₂. These results point out the potential beneficial effects of millet bran grinding at cryo-temperatures. Further research will show if the lower particle size achieved in comparison to non-cooled grinding could result in increased bioavailability of bioactive compounds, as well as protein digestibility and solubility of dietary fibers of the proso millet bran fraction.

Keywords: ball mill, cryo-milling, particle size distribution, proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) bran

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Authors: Nino Sulava, Brian Gilmour, Nana Rezesidze, Tamar Beridze, Rusudan Chagelishvili

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Studies of ancient metallurgy are a subject of worldwide current interest. Georgia with its famous early metalworking traditions is one of the central parts of in the Caucasus region. The aim of the present study is to introduce the results of archaeometallurgical investigations being undertaken in the mountain region of Colchis, Lechkhumi (the Tsageri Municipality of western Georgia) and establish their place in the existing archaeological context. Lechkhumi (one of the historic provinces of Georgia known from Georgian, Greek, Byzantine and Armenian written sources as Lechkhumi/Skvimnia/Takveri) is the part of the Colchian mountain area. It is one of the important but little known centres of prehistoric metallurgy in the Caucasian region and of Colchian Bronze Age culture. Reconnaissance archaeological expeditions (2011-2015) revealed significant prehistoric metallurgical sites in Lechkhumi. Sites located in the vicinity of Dogurashi Village (Tsageri Municipality) have become the target area for archaeological excavations. During archaeological excavations conducted in 2016-2018 two archaeometallurgical sites – Dogurashi I and Dogurashi II were investigated. As a result of an interdisciplinary (archaeological, geological and geophysical) survey, it has been established that at both prehistoric Dogurashi mountain sites, it was copper that was being smelted and the ore sources are likely to be of local origin. Radiocarbon dating results confirm they were operating between about the 13th and 9th century BC. More recently another similar site has been identified in this area (Dogurashi III), and this is about to undergo detailed investigation. Other prehistoric metallurgical sites are being located and investigated in the Lechkhumi region as well as chance archaeological finds (often in hoards) – copper ingots, metallurgical production debris, slag, fragments of crucibles, tuyeres (air delivery pipes), furnace wall fragments and other related waste debris. Other chance finds being investigated are the many copper, bronze and (some) iron artefacts that have been found over many years. These include copper ingots, copper, bronze and iron artefacts such as tools, jewelry, and decorative items. These show the important but little known or understood the role of Lechkhumi in the late Bronze Age culture of Colchis. It would seem that mining and metallurgical manufacture form part of the local agricultural yearly lifecycle. Colchian ceramics have been found and also evidence for artefact production, small stone mould fragments and encrusted material from the casting of a fylfot (swastika) form of Colchian bronze buckle found in the vicinities of the early settlements of Tskheta and Dekhviri. Excavation and investigation of previously unknown archaeometallurgical sites in Lechkhumi will contribute significantly to the knowledge and understanding of prehistoric Colchian metallurgy in western Georgia (Adjara, Guria, Samegrelo, and Svaneti) and will reveal the importance of this region in the study of ancient metallurgy in Georgia and the Caucasus. Acknowledgment: This work has been supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation (grant FR # 217128).

Keywords: archaeometallurgy, Colchis, copper, Lechkhumi

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Authors: Rao Singh Priyanka, Jayangondaperumal R.

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The Himalayan active fault has the potential to generate great earthquakes in the future, posing a biggest existential threat to humans in the Himalayan and adjacent region. Quantitative evaluation of accumulated and released interseismic strain is crucial to assess the magnitude and spatio-temporal variability of future great earthquakes along the Himalayan arc. To mitigate the destruction and hazards associated with such earthquakes, it is important to understand their recurrence cycle. The eastern Himalayan and Indo-Burman plate boundary systems offers an oblique convergence across two orthogonal plate boundaries, resulting in a zone of distributed deformation both within and away from the plate boundary and clockwise rotation of fault-bounded blocks. This seismically active region has poorly documented historical archive of the past large earthquakes. Thus, paleoseismologicalstudies confirm the surface rupture evidences of the great continental earthquakes (Mw ≥ 8) along the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT), which along with the Geodetic studies, collectively provide the crucial information to understand and assess the seismic potential. These investigations reveal the rupture of 3/4th of the HFT during great events since medieval time but with debatable opinions for the timing of events due to unclear evidences, ignorance of transverse segment boundaries, and lack of detail studies. Recent paleoseismological investigations in the eastern Himalaya and Mishmi ranges confirms the primary surface ruptures of the 1950 C.E. great earthquake (M>8). However, a seismic gap exists between the 1714 C.E. and 1950 C.E. Assam earthquakes that did not slip since 1697 C.E. event. Unlike the latest large blind 2015 Gorkha earthquake (Mw 7.8), the 1950 C.E. event is not triggered by a large event of 1947 C.E. that occurred near the western edge of the great upper Assam event. Moreover, the western segment of the eastern Himalayadid not witness any surface breaking earthquake along the HFT for over the past 300 yr. The frontal fault excavations reveal that during the 1950 earthquake, ~3.1-m-high scarp along the HFT was formed due to the co-seismic slip of 5.5 ± 0.7 m at Pasighat in the Eastern Himalaya and a 10-m-high-scarp at a Kamlang Nagar along the Mishmi Thrust in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis is an outcome of a dip-slip displacement of 24.6 ± 4.6 m along a 25 ± 5°E dipping fault. This event has ruptured along the two orthogonal fault systems in the form of oblique thrust fault mechanism. Approx. 130 km west of Pasighat site, the Himebasti village has witnessed two earthquakes, the historical 1697 Sadiya earthquake, and the 1950 event, with a cumulative dip-slip displacement of 15.32 ± 4.69 m. At Niglok site, Arunachal Pradesh, a cumulative slip of ~12.82 m during at least three events since pre 19585 B.P. has produced ~6.2-m high scarp while the youngest scarp of ~2.4-m height has been produced during 1697 C.E. The site preserves two deformational events along the eastern HFT, providing an idea of last serial ruptures at an interval of ~850 yearswhile the successive surface rupturing earthquakes lacks in the Mishmi Range to estimate the recurrence cycle.

Keywords: paleoseismology, surface rupture, recurrence interval, Eastern Himalaya

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Authors: Ben Morrow, Patrick O'Hara, Natalie Ban, Tunai Marques, Molly Fraser, Christopher Bone

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Relative to commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries are often poorly understood and pose various challenges for monitoring frameworks. In British Columbia (BC), Canada, Pacific salmon are heavily targeted by recreational fishers while also being a key source of nutrient flow and crucial prey for a variety of marine and terrestrial fauna, including endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Although commercial fisheries were historically responsible for the majority of salmon retention, recreational fishing now comprises both greater effort and retention. The current monitoring scheme for recreational salmon fisheries involves aerial-roving creel surveys. However, this method has been identified as costly and having low predictive power as it is often limited to sampling fragments of fluid and temporally dynamic fisheries. This study used imagery from two shore-based autonomous cameras in a highly active recreational fishery around Sooke, BC, and evaluated their efficacy in supplementing existing aerial-roving surveys for monitoring a recreational salmon fishery. This study involved continuous monitoring and high temporal resolution (over one million images analyzed in a single fishing season), using a deep learning-based vessel detection algorithm and a custom image annotation tool to efficiently thin datasets. This allowed for the quantification of peak-season effort from a busy harbour, species-specific retention estimates, high levels of detected fishing events at a nearby popular fishing location, as well as the proportion of the fishery management area represented by cameras. Then, this study demonstrated how it could substantially enhance the temporal resolution of a fishery through diel activity pattern analyses, scaled monthly to visualize clusters of activity. This work also highlighted considerable off-season fishing detection, currently unaccounted for in the existing monitoring framework. These results demonstrate several distinct applications of autonomous cameras for providing enhanced detail currently unavailable in the current monitoring framework, each of which has important considerations for the managerial allocation of resources. Further, the approach and methodology can benefit other studies that apply shore-based camera monitoring, supplement aerial-roving creel surveys to improve fine-scale temporal understanding, inform the optimal timing of creel surveys, and improve the predictive power of recreational stock assessments to preserve important and endangered fish species.

Keywords: cameras, monitoring, recreational fishing, stock assessment

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Authors: Pedro B. Antunes, Paulo J. Ramísio

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Road runoff is a linear source of diffuse pollution that can cause significant environmental impacts. During rainfall events, pollutants from both stationary and mobile sources, which have accumulated on the road surface, are dragged through the superficial runoff. Road runoff in coastal zones may present high levels of salinity and chlorides due to the proximity of the sea and transported marine aerosols. Appearing to be correlated to this process, organic matter concentration may also be significant. This study assesses this phenomenon with the purpose of identifying the relationships between monitored water quality parameters and intrinsic site variables. To achieve this objective, an extensive monitoring program was conducted on a Portuguese coastal highway. The study included thirty rainfall events, in different weather, traffic and salt deposition conditions in a three years period. The evaluations of various water quality parameters were carried out in over 200 samples. In addition, the meteorological, hydrological and traffic parameters were continuously measured. The salt deposition rates (SDR) were determined by means of a wet candle device, which is an innovative feature of the monitoring program. The SDR, variable throughout the year, appears to show a high correlation with wind speed and direction, but mostly with wave propagation, so that it is lower in the summer, in spite of the favorable wind direction in the case study. The distance to the sea, topography, ground obstacles and the platform altitude seems to be also relevant. It was confirmed the high salinity in the runoff, increasing the concentration of the water quality parameters analyzed, with significant amounts of seawater features. In order to estimate the correlations and patterns of different water quality parameters and variables related to weather, road section and salt deposition, the study included exploratory data analysis using different techniques (e.g. Pearson correlation coefficients, Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis), confirming some specific features of the investigated road runoff. Significant correlations among pollutants were observed. Organic matter was highlighted as very dependent of salinity. Indeed, data analysis showed that some important water quality parameters could be divided into two major clusters based on their correlations to salinity (including organic matter associated parameters) and total suspended solids (including some heavy metals). Furthermore, the concentrations of the most relevant pollutants seemed to be very dependent on some meteorological variables, particularly the duration of the antecedent dry period prior to each rainfall event and the average wind speed. Based on the results of a monitoring case study, in a coastal zone, it was proven that SDR, associated with the hydrological characteristics of road runoff, can contribute for a better knowledge of the runoff characteristics, and help to estimate the specific nature of the runoff and related water quality parameters.

Keywords: coastal zones, monitoring, road runoff pollution, salt deposition

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Authors: Mir Afzal

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Introduction: Pakistan is a country with an ever-increasing population of largely diverse ethnic, cultural, religious and sectarian divisions. Whereas diversity is seen as a strength in many societies, in Pakistan, it has become a source of conflict and more a weakness than a strength due to lack of understanding and divisions based on ethnic, cultural, political, religious, and sectarian branding. However, amid conflicts and militancy across the country, the rural, mountainous communities in the Northern Areas of Pakistan enjoy not only peace and harmony but also a continuous process of social and economic transformation supported by strong civil society institutions. These community-based institutions have organized the rural, mountainous people of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds into village organizations, women organizations, and Local Support Organizations engaged in self-help development and peace building in the region. The Study and its Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted in one district of the Northern Pakistan to explore the contributions of the civil society institutions (CSIs) and community-based organizations to uplifting the educational and socio-economic conditions of the people with an ultimate aim of developing a thriving, peaceful and pluralistic society in this mountainous region. The study employed an eclectic set of tools, including interviews, focused group discussions, observations of CSIs’ interventions, and analysis of documents, to generate rich data on the overall role and contributions of CSIs in promoting peace and pluralism in the region. Significance of the Study: Common experiences and empirical studies reveal that such interventions by CSIs have not only contributed to the socio-economic, educational, health and cultural development of these regions but these interventions have really transformed the rural, mountainous people into organized and forward looking communities. However, how such interventions have contributed to promoting pluralism and appreciation for diversity in these regions had been an unexplored but significant area. Therefore this qualitative research study funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan was carried out by the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development to explore the role and contributions of CSIs in promoting peace and pluralism and appreciations for diversity in one district of Northern Pakistan which is home to people of different ethnic, religious, cultural and social backgrounds. Findings and Conclusions: The study has a comprehensive list of findings and conclusions covering various aspects of CSIs and their contributions to the transformation and peaceful co-existence of rural communities in the regions. However, this paper discusses only four major contributions of CSIs, namely enhancing economic capacity, community mobilization and organization, increasing access and quality of education, and building partnerships. It also discusses the factors influencing the role of CSIs, the issues, implications, and recommendations for CSIs, policy makers, donors and development agencies, and researchers. The paper concludes that by strengthening strong networks of CSIs and community based organizations, Pakistan will not only uplift its socio-economic attainments but it will also be able to address the critical challenges of terrorism, sectarianism, and other divisions and conflicts in its various regions.

Keywords: civil society, Pakistan, peace, rural

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Authors: Jitka Rychtarikova

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Regional differences in mortality in the Czech Republic (CR) may be moderate from a broader European perspective, but important discrepancies in life expectancy can be found between smaller territorial units. In this study territorial units are based on Administrative Districts of Municipalities with Extended Powers (MEP). This definition came into force January 1, 2003. There are 205 units and the city of Prague. MEP represents the smallest unit for which mortality patterns based on life tables can be investigated and the Czech Statistical Office has been calculating such life tables (every five-years) since 2004. MEP life tables from 2009-2013 for males and females allowed the investigation of three main life cycles with the use of temporary life expectancies between the exact ages of 0 and 35; 35 and 65; and the life expectancy at exact age 65. The results showed regional survival inequalities primarily in adult and older ages. Consequently, only mortality indicators for adult and elderly population were related to census 2011 unlinked data for the same age groups. The most relevant socio-economic factors taken from the census are: having a partner, educational level and unemployment rate. The unemployment rate was measured for adults aged 35-64 completed years. Exploratory spatial data analysis methods were used to detect regional patterns in spatially contiguous units of MEP. The presence of spatial non-stationarity (spatial autocorrelation) of mortality levels for male and female adults (35-64), and elderly males and females (65+) was tested using global Moran’s I. Spatial autocorrelation of mortality patterns was mapped using local Moran’s I with the intention to depict clusters of low or high mortality and spatial outliers for two age groups (35-64 and 65+). The highest Moran’s I was observed for male temporary life expectancy between exact ages 35 and 65 (0.52) and the lowest was among women with life expectancy of 65 (0.26). Generally, men showed stronger spatial autocorrelation compared to women. The relationship between mortality indicators such as life expectancies and socio-economic factors like the percentage of males/females having a partner; percentage of males/females with at least higher secondary education; and percentage of unemployed males/females from economically active population aged 35-64 years, was evaluated using multiple regression (OLS). The results were then compared to outputs from geographically weighted regression (GWR). In the Czech Republic, there are two broader territories North-West Bohemia (NWB) and North Moravia (NM), in which excess mortality is well established. Results of the t-test of spatial regression showed that for males aged 30-64 the association between mortality and unemployment (when adjusted for education and partnership) was stronger in NM compared to NWB, while educational level impacted the length of survival more in NWB. Geographic variation and relationships in mortality of the CR MEP will also be tested using the spatial Durbin approach. The calculations were conducted by means of ArcGIS 10.6 and SAS 9.4.

Keywords: Czech Republic, mortality, municipality, socio-economic factors, spatial analysis

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Authors: Gachara Grace, Kebira Anthony, Harvey Jagger, Wainaina James

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Aflatoxin contamination of maize in Africa poses a major threat to food security and the health of many African people. In Kenya, aflatoxin contamination of maize is high due to the environmental, agricultural and socio-economic factors. Many studies have been conducted to understand the scope of the problem, especially at pre-harvest level. This research was carried out to gather scientific information on the fungi population, diversity and aflatoxin level during the post-harvest period. The study was conducted in three geographical locations of; Kitui, Kitale and Nakuru. Samples were collected from storage structures of farmers and transported to the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA), International Livestock and Research Institute (ILRI) hub laboratories. Mycoflora was recovered using the direct plating method. A total of five fungal genera (Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Rhizopus and Bssyochlamys spp.) were isolated from the stored maize samples. The most common fungal species that were isolated from the three study sites included A. flavus at 82.03% followed by A.niger and F.solani at 49% and 26% respectively. The aflatoxin producing fungi A. flavus was recovered in 82.03% of the samples. Aflatoxin levels were analysed on both the maize samples and in vitro. Most of the A. flavus isolates recorded a high level of aflatoxin when they were analysed for presence of aflatoxin B1 using ELISA. In Kitui, all the samples (100%) had aflatoxin levels above 10ppb with a total aflatoxin mean of 219.2ppb. In Kitale, only 3 samples (n=39) had their aflatoxin levels less than 10ppb while in Nakuru, the total aflatoxin mean level of this region was 239.7ppb. When individual samples were analysed using Vicam fluorometer method, aflatoxin analysis revealed that most of the samples (58.4%) had been contaminated. The means were significantly different (p=0.00<0.05) in all the three locations. Genetic relationships of A. flavus isolates were determined using 13 Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) markers. The results were used to generate a phylogenetic tree using DARwin5 software program. A total of 5 distinct clusters were revealed among the genotypes. The isolates appeared to cluster separately according to the geographical locations. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) of the genetic distances among the 91 A. flavus isolates explained over 50.3% of the total variation when two coordinates were used to cluster the isolates. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) showed a high variation of 87% within populations and 13% among populations. This research has shown that A. flavus is the main fungal species infecting maize grains in Kenya. The influence of aflatoxins on human populations in Kenya demonstrates a clear need for tools to manage contamination of locally produced maize. Food basket surveys for aflatoxin contamination should be conducted on a regular basis. This would assist in obtaining reliable data on aflatoxin incidence in different food crops. This would go a long way in defining control strategies for this menace.

Keywords: aflatoxin, Aspergillus flavus, genotyping, Kenya

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Authors: Gabriela Wyszogrodzka, Przemyslaw Dorozynski, Barbara Gil, Maciej Strzempek, Bartosz Marszalek, Piotr Kulinowski, Wladyslaw Piotr Weglarz, Elzbieta Menaszek

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MOFs (Metal-Organic Frameworks) belong to a new group of porous materials with a hybrid organic-inorganic construction. Their structure is a network consisting of metal cations or clusters (acting as metallic centers, nodes) and the organic linkers between nodes. The interest in MOFs is primarily associated with the use of their well-developed surface and large porous. Possibility to build MOFs of biocompatible components let to use them as potential drug carriers. Furthermore, forming MOFs structure from cations possessing paramagnetic properties (e.g. iron cations) allows to use them as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) contrast agents. The concept of formation of particles that combine the ability to transfer active substance with imaging properties has been called theranostic (from words combination therapy and diagnostics). By building MOF structure from iron cations it is possible to use them as theranostic agents and monitoring the distribution of the active substance after administration in real time. In the study iron-MOF: Fe-MIL-101-NH2 was chosen, consisting of iron cluster in nodes of the structure and amino-terephthalic acid as a linker. The aim of the study was to investigate the possibility of applying Fe-MIL-101-NH2 as inhalable theranostic particulate system for the first-line anti-tuberculosis antibiotic – isoniazid. The drug content incorporated into Fe-MIL-101-NH2 was evaluated by dissolution study using spectrophotometric method. Results showed isoniazid encapsulation efficiency – ca. 12.5% wt. Possibility of Fe-MIL-101-NH2 application as the MRI contrast agent was demonstrated by magnetic resonance tomography. FeMIL-101-NH2 effectively shortening T1 and T2 relaxation times (increasing R1 and R2 relaxation rates) linearly with the concentrations of suspended material. Images obtained using multi-echo magnetic resonance imaging sequence revealed possibility to use FeMIL-101-NH2 as positive and negative contrasts depending on applied repetition time. MOFs micronization via ultrasound was evaluated by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, FTIR, SEM imaging and did not influence their crystal shape and size. Ultrasonication let to break the aggregates and achieve very homogeneously looking SEM images. MOFs cytotoxicity was evaluated in in vitro test with a highly sensitive resazurin based reagent PrestoBlue™ on L929 fibroblast cell line. After 24h no inhibition of cell proliferation was observed. All results proved potential possibility of application of ironMOFs as an isoniazid carrier and as MRI contrast agent in inhalatory treatment of tuberculosis. Acknowledgments: Authors gratefully acknowledge the National Science Center Poland for providing financial support, grant no 2014/15/B/ST5/04498.

Keywords: imaging agents, metal-organic frameworks, theranostics, tuberculosis

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Authors: Mehmet Salih Bayraktutan, Emre Tokmak

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Great Ararat Volcano is the highest peak in South Caucasus Volcanic Plateau. Uplifted by Quaternary basaltic pyroclastic and lava flows. Numerous volcanic cones formed along with the tensional fractures under N-S compressional geodynamic framework. Basaltic flows have fresh surface morphology give ages of 650-680 K years. Hyperstene andesites constitute a major mass of Greater Ararat gives ages of 450-490 K years. During the early eruption period, predominately pyroclastics, cinder, lapilly-ash volcanic bombs were extruded. Third-period eruptions dominantly basaltic lava flows. Andesitic domes aligned along with the NW-SE striking fractures. Hyalo basalt and hornblende basaltic lavas are the latest lava eruptions. Hyalo-basaltic eruptions occurred via parasitic cones distributed far from the center. Parasitic cones are most common at the foot of Mount covered by recent NW flowing basaltic lava. Some of the cones are distributed on a circular pattern. One of the most hazardous disasters recorded in Eastern Turkey was July 1840 Cehennem Canyon Flood. Volcanic activities seismically triggered resulted in melting of glacier cap, mixed with ash and pyroclastics, flowed down along the Valley. Mud rich Slush urged catastrophically northwards, crossed Ars River and damned Surmeli Basin, forming reservoir behind. Ararat volcanoes are located on NW-SE striking Agri Fault Zone. Right lateral extensional faults, along which a series of andesitic domes formed. Great Ararat, in general strato-type volcano. This huge structure, developed in two main parts with different topographic and morphological features. The large lower base covers a widespread area composed of predominantly pyroclastics, ignimbrites, aglomerates, thick pumice, perlite deposits. Approximately 1/3 of the Crest by height formed of this basement. And 2/3 of the upper part with a conic- shape composed of basaltic lava flows. The active tectonic structure consists of three different patterns. The first network is radially distributed fractures formed during the last stage of lava eruptions. The second group of active faults striking in NW direction, and continue in N30W strike, formes Igdir Fault Zone. The third set of faults, dipping in the northwest with 75-80 degrees, strikes NE- SW across the whole Mount, slicing Great Ararat into four segments. In the upper stage of Cehennem Canyon, this set cutting volcanic layers caused numerous Waterfalls, Rock Avalanches, Mud Flows along the canyon, threatens the Village of Yanidogan, at the apex of flood deposits. Great Ararat Region has high seismo-tectonic risk and by occurrence frequency and magnitude, which caused in history caused heavy disasters, at villages surrounding the Ararat Basement.

Keywords: Eastern Turkey, geohazard, great ararat volcano, seismo-tectonic features

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Authors: Sumedha Weerasekara, Morgan Miles, Mark Morrison, Branka Krivokapic-Skoko

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This paper is aimed at exploring the interrelationships among entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and entrepreneurial cognition in regional and metropolitan ecosystems. Entrepreneurial ecosystem factors examined include: culture, infrastructure, access to finance, informal networks, support services, access to universities, and the depth and breadth of the talent pool. Using a multivariate approach we explore the impact of these ecosystem factors or elements on entrepreneurial cognition. In doing so, the existing body of knowledge from the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystem and cognition have been blended to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and cognition in a way not hitherto investigated. The concept of the entrepreneurial ecosystem has received increased attention as governments, universities and communities have started to recognize the potential of integrated policies, structures, programs and processes that foster entrepreneurship activities by supporting innovation, productivity and employment growth. The notion of entrepreneurial ecosystems has evolved and grown with the advancement of theoretical research and empirical studies. Importance of incorporating external factors like culture, political environment, and the economic environment within a single framework will enhance the capacity of examining the whole systems functionality to better understand the interaction of the entrepreneurial actors and factors within a single framework. The literature on clusters underplays the role of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial management in creating and co-creating organizations, markets, and supporting ecosystems. Entrepreneurs are only one actor following a limited set of roles and dependent upon many other factors to thrive. As a consequence, entrepreneurs and relevant authorities should be aware of the other actors and factors with which they engage and rely, and make strategic choices to achieve both self and also collective objectives. The study uses stratified random sampling method to collect survey data from 12 different regions in regional and metropolitan regions of NSW, Australia. A questionnaire was administered online among 512 Small and medium enterprise owners operating their business in selected 12 regions in NSW, Australia. Data were analyzed using descriptive analyzing techniques and partial least squares - structural equation modeling. The findings show that even though there is a significant relationship between each and every entrepreneurial ecosystem factors, there is a weak relationship between most entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and entrepreneurial cognition. In the metropolitan context, the availability of finance and informal networks have the largest impact on entrepreneurial cognition while culture, infrastructure, and support services having the smallest impact and the talent pool and universities having a moderate impact on entrepreneurial cognition. Interestingly, in a regional context, culture, availability of finance, and the talent pool have the highest impact on entrepreneurial cognition, while informal networks having the smallest impact and the remaining factors – infrastructure, universities, and support services have a moderate impact on entrepreneurial cognition. These findings suggest the need for a location-specific strategy for supporting the development of entrepreneurial cognition.

Keywords: academic achievement, colour response card, feedback

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Authors: Julie Furst-Bowe

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Over the past decade, there has been significant growth in online courses and programs at all levels of education in the United States. This study explores the growth of online and blended (or hybrid) programs offered by the sixteen technical colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). The WTCS provides education and training programs to more than 300,000 students each year in career clusters including agriculture, business, energy, information technology, healthcare, human services, manufacturing, and transportation. These programs range from short-term training programs that may lead to a certificate to two-year programs that lead to an associate degree. Students vary in age from high school students who are exploring career interests to employees who are seeking to gain additional skills or enter a new career. Because there is currently a shortage of skilled workers in nearly all sectors in the state of Wisconsin, it is critical that the WTCS is providing fully educated and trained graduates to fill workforce needs in a timely manner. For this study, information on online and blended programs for the past five years was collected from the WTCS, including types of programs, course and program enrollments, course completion rates, program completion rates, time to completion and graduate employment rates. The results of this study indicate that the number of online and blended courses and programs is continuing to increase each year. Online and blended programs are most commonly found in the business, human services, and information technology areas, and they are less commonly found in agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation programs. Overall, course and program completion rates were higher for blended programs when compared to fully online programs. Students preferred the blended programs over the fully online programs. Overall, graduates were placed into related jobs at a rate of approximately 90 percent, although there was some variation in graduate placement rates by programs and by colleges. Differences in graduate employment rate appeared to be based on geography and sector as employers did not distinguish between graduates who had completed their programs via traditional, blended or fully online instruction. Recommendations include further exploration as to the reasons that blended courses and programs appear to be more effective than fully online courses and programs. It is also recommended that those program areas that are not using blended or online delivery methods, including agriculture, health, manufacturing and transportation, explore the use of these methods to make their courses and programs more accessible to students, particularly working adults. In some instances, colleges were partnering with specific companies to ensure that groups of employees were completing online coursework leading to a certificate or a degree. Those partnerships are to be encouraged in order for the state to continue to improve the skills of its workforce. Finally, it is recommended that specific colleges specialize in the delivery of specific programs using online technology since it is not bound by geographic considerations. This approach would take advantage of the strengths of the individual colleges and avoid unnecessary duplication.

Keywords: career and technical education, online learning, skills shortage, technical colleges

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Authors: B. Philip, J. Littlewood, R. Radford, N. Evans, T. Whyman, D. P. Jones

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UK buildings and energy infrastructures are heavily dependent on natural gas, a large proportion of which is used for domestic space heating. However, approximately half of the gas consumed in the UK is imported. Improving energy security and reducing carbon emissions are major government drivers for reducing gas dependency. In order to do so there needs to be a wholesale shift in the energy provision to householders without impacting on thermal comfort levels, convenience or cost of supply to the end user. Heat pumps are seen as a potential alternative in modern well insulated homes, however, can the same be said of older homes? A large proportion of housing stock in Britain was built prior to 1919. The age of the buildings bears testimony to the quality of construction; however, their thermal performance falls far below the minimum currently set by UK building standards. In recent years significant sums of money have been invested to improve energy efficiency and combat fuel poverty in some of the most deprived areas of Wales. Increasing energy efficiency of older properties remains a significant challenge, which cannot be achieved through insulation and air-tightness interventions alone, particularly when alterations to historically important architectural features of the building are not permitted. This paper investigates the energy demand of pre-1919 dwellings in a former Welsh mining village, the feasibility of meeting that demand using water from the disused mine workings to supply a district heat network and potential barriers to success of the scheme. The use of renewable solar energy generation and storage technologies, both thermal and electrical, to reduce the load and offset increased electricity demand, are considered. A wholistic surveying approach to provide a more accurate assessment of total household heat demand is proposed. Several surveying techniques, including condition surveys, air permeability, heat loss calculations, and thermography were employed to provide a clear picture of energy demand. Additional insulation can bring unforeseen consequences which are detrimental to the fabric of the building, potentially leading to accelerated dilapidation of the asset being ‘protected’. Increasing ventilation should be considered in parallel, to compensate for the associated reduction in uncontrolled infiltration. The effectiveness of thermal performance improvements are demonstrated and the detrimental effects of incorrect material choice and poor installation are highlighted. The findings show estimated heat demand to be in close correlation to household energy bills. Major areas of heat loss were identified such that improvements to building thermal performance could be targeted. The findings demonstrate that the use of heat pumps in older buildings is viable, provided sufficient improvement to thermal performance is possible. Addition of passive solar thermal and photovoltaic generation can help reduce the load and running cost for the householder. The results were used to predict future heat demand following energy efficiency improvements, thereby informing the size of heat pumps required.

Keywords: heat demand, heat pump, renewable energy, retrofit

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Authors: Artur Cichowicz

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The last active mine in the Central Rand Goldfields area (50 km x 15 km) ceased operations in 2008. This resulted in the closure of the pumping stations, which previously maintained the underground water level in the mining voids. As a direct consequence of the water being allowed to flood the mine voids, seismic activity has increased directly beneath the populated area of Johannesburg. Monitoring of seismicity in the area has been on-going for over five years using the network of 17 strong ground motion sensors. The objective of the project is to improve strategies for mine closure. The evolution of the seismicity pattern was investigated in detail. Special attention was given to seismic source parameters such as magnitude, scalar seismic moment and static stress drop. Most events are located within historical mine boundaries. The seismicity pattern shows a strong relationship between the presence of the mining void and high levels of seismicity; no seismicity migration patterns were observed outside the areas of old mining. Seven years after the pumping stopped, the evolution of the seismicity has indicated that the area is not yet in equilibrium. The level of seismicity in the area appears to not be decreasing over time since the number of strong events, with Mw magnitudes above 2, is still as high as it was when monitoring began over five years ago. The average rate of seismic deformation is 1.6x1013 Nm/year. Constant seismic deformation was not observed over the last 5 years. The deviation from the average is in the order of 6x10^13 Nm/year, which is a significant deviation. The variation of cumulative seismic moment indicates that a constant deformation rate model is not suitable. Over the most recent five year period, the total cumulative seismic moment released in the Central Rand Basin was 9.0x10^14 Nm. This is equivalent to one earthquake of magnitude 3.9. This is significantly less than what was experienced during the mining operation. Characterization of seismicity triggered by a rising water level in the area can be achieved through the estimation of source parameters. Static stress drop heavily influences ground motion amplitude, which plays an important role in risk assessments of potential seismic hazards in inhabited areas. The observed static stress drop in this study varied from 0.05 MPa to 10 MPa. It was found that large static stress drops could be associated with both small and large events. The temporal evolution of the inter-event time provides an understanding of the physical mechanisms of earthquake interaction. Changes in the characteristics of the inter-event time are produced when a stress change is applied to a group of faults in the region. Results from this study indicate that the fluid-induced source has a shorter inter-event time in comparison to a random distribution. This behaviour corresponds to a clustering of events, in which short recurrence times tend to be close to each other, forming clusters of events.

Keywords: inter-event time, fluid induced seismicity, mine closure, spectral parameters of seismic source

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Authors: Lijuan Li

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Nitric oxide (NO) has become a fascinating entity in biological chemistry over the past few years. It is a gaseous lipophilic radical molecule that plays important roles in several physiological and pathophysiological processes in mammals, including activating the immune response, serving as a neurotransmitter, regulating the cardiovascular system, and acting as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor. NO functions in eukaryotes both as a signal molecule at nanomolar concentrations and as a cytotoxic agent at micromolar concentrations. The latter arises from the ability of NO to react readily with a variety of cellular targets leading to thiol S-nitrosation, amino acid N-nitrosation, and nitrosative DNA damage. Nitric oxide can readily bind to metals to give metal-nitrosyl (M-NO) complexes. Some of these species are known to play roles in biological NO storage and transport. These complexes have different biological, photochemical, or spectroscopic properties due to distinctive structural features. These recent discoveries have spawned a great interest in the development of transition metal complexes containing NO, particularly its iron complexes that are central to the role of nitric oxide in the body. Spectroscopic evidence would appear to implicate species of “Fe(NO)2+” type in a variety of processes ranging from polymerization, carcinogenesis, to nitric oxide stores. Our research focuses on isolation and structural studies of non-heme iron nitrosyls that mimic biologically active compounds and can potentially be used for anticancer drug therapy. We have shown that reactions between Fe(NO)2(CO)2 and a series of imidazoles generated new non-heme iron nitrosyls of the form Fe(NO)2(L)2 [L = imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole, benzimidazole, 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole, and L-histidine] and a tetrameric cluster of [Fe(NO)2(L)]4 (L=Im, 4-MeIm, BzIm, and Me2BzIm), resulted from the interactions of Fe(NO)2 with a series of substituted imidazoles was prepared. Recently, a series of sulfur bridged iron di nitrosyl complexes with the general formula of [Fe(µ-RS)(NO)2]2 (R = n-Pr, t-Bu, 6-methyl-2-pyridyl, and 4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidyl), were synthesized by the reaction of Fe(NO)2(CO)2 with thiols or thiolates. Their structures and properties were studied by IR, UV-vis, 1H-NMR, EPR, electrochemistry, X-ray diffraction analysis and DFT calculations. IR spectra of these complexes display one weak and two strong NO stretching frequencies (νNO) in solution, but only two strong νNO in solid. DFT calculations suggest that two spatial isomers of these complexes bear 3 Kcal energy difference in solution. The paramagnetic complexes [Fe2(µ-RS)2(NO)4]-, have also been investigated by EPR spectroscopy. Interestingly, the EPR spectra of complexes exhibit an isotropic signal of g = 1.998 - 2.004 without hyperfine splitting. The observations are consistent with the results of calculations, which reveal that the unpaired electron dominantly delocalize over the two sulfur and two iron atoms. The difference of the g values between the reduced form of iron-sulfur clusters and the typical monomeric di nitrosyl iron complexes is explained, for the first time, by of the difference in unpaired electron distributions between the two types of complexes, which provides the theoretical basis for the use of g value as a spectroscopic tool to differentiate these biologically active complexes.

Keywords: di nitrosyl iron complex, metal nitrosyl, non-heme iron, nitric oxide

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Authors: Rodriguez Diego, Del Valle Martin, Hargreaves Matias, Riveros Jose Luis

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Nutrient deficiencies due to a diet low in quantitative and qualitative terms, are prevalent throughout the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Children and women of childbearing age are especially vulnerable. Limited availability, access and intake of animal foods at home and lack of knowledge about their value in the diet and the role they play in health, contribute to poor diet quality. Poor bioavailability of micronutrients in diets based on foods high in fiber and phytates, the low content of some micronutrients in these foods are further factors to consider. Goats are deeply embedded in almost every Sub-Saharan African rural culture, generally kept for their milk, meat, hair or leather. Goats have played an important role in African social life, especially in food security. Goat meat has good properties for human wellbeing, with a special role in lower income households. It has a high-quality protein (20 protein g/100 meat g) including all essential amino acids, good unsaturated/satured fatty acids relationship, and it is an important B-vitamin source with high micronutrients bioavailability. Mozambique has major food security problems, with poor food access and utilization, undiversified diets, chronic poverty and child malnutrition. Our objective was to design a nutritional intervention based on a dietary diversification, nutritional education, cultural beliefs and local resources, aimed to strengthen food security of children at Barrio Broma village (15°43'58.78"S; 32°46'7.27"E) in Chitima, Mozambique. Two surveys were conducted first of socio-productive local databases and then to 100 rural households about livelihoods, food diversity and anthropometric measurements in children under 5 years. Our results indicate that the main economic activity is goat production, based on a native breed with two deliveries per year in the absence of any management. Adult goats weighted 27.2±10.5 kg and raised a height of 63.5±3.8 cm. Data showed high levels of poverty, with a food diversity score of 2.3 (0-12 points), where only 30% of households consume protein and 13% iron, zinc, and B12 vitamin. The main constraints to food security were poor access to water and low income to buy food. Our dietary intervention was based on improving diet quality by increasing the access to dried goat meat, fresh vegetables, and legumes, and its utilization by a nutritional education program. This proposal was based on local culture and living conditions characterized by the absence of electricity power and drinkable water. The drying process proposed would secure the food maintenance under local conditions guaranteeing food safety for a longer period. Additionally, an ancient local drying technique was rescued and used. Moreover, this kind of dietary intervention would be the most efficient way to improve the infant nutrition by delivering macro and micronutrients on time to these vulnerable populations.

Keywords: child malnutrition, dietary diversification, food security, goat meat

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Authors: Carly Nesvat, Dominic Jarrett, Colin Thomson, Wilma Coltart, Thelma Bowers, Jan Thomson

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Introduction: Within Scotland, the Same As You strategy committed to moving people with learning disabilities out of long-stay hospital accommodation into homes in the community. Much of the focus of this movement was on the placement of people within individual homes. In order to achieve this, potentially excessive supports were put in place which created dependence, and carried significant ongoing cost primarily for local authorities. The greater focus on empowerment and community participation which has been evident in more recent learning disability strategy, along with the financial pressures being experienced across the public sector, created an imperative to re-examine that provision, particularly in relation to the use of expensive sleepover supports to individuals, and the potential for this to be appropriately scaled back through the use of telecare. Method: As part of a broader programme of redesigning overnight supports within North Ayrshire, a cluster of individuals living in close proximity were identified, who were in receipt of overnight supports, but who were identified as having the capacity to potentially benefit from their removal. In their place, a responder service was established (an individual staying overnight in a nearby service user’s home), and a variety of telecare solutions were placed within individual’s homes. Active and passive technology was connected to an Alarm Receiving Centre, which would alert the local responder service when necessary. Individuals and their families were prepared for the change, and continued to be informed about progress with the pilot. Results: 4 individuals, 2 of whom shared a tenancy, had their sleepover supports removed as part of the pilot. Extensive data collection in relation to alarm activation was combined with feedback from the 4 individuals, their families, and staff involved in their support. Varying perspectives emerged within the feedback. 3 of the individuals were clearly described as benefitting from the change, and the greater sense of independence it brought, while more concerns were evident in relation to the fourth. Some family members expressed a need for greater preparation in relation to the change and ongoing information provision. Some support staff also expressed a need for more information, to help them understand the new support arrangements for an individual, as well as noting concerns in relation to the outcomes for one participant. Conclusion: Developing a telecare response in relation to a cluster of individuals was facilitated by them all being supported by the same care provider. The number of similar clusters of individuals being identified within North Ayrshire is limited. Developing other solutions such as a response service for redesign will potentially require greater collaboration between different providers of home support, as well as continuing to explore the full range of telecare, including digital options. The pilot has highlighted the need for effective preparatory and ongoing engagement with staff and families, as well as the challenges which can accompany making changes to long-standing packages of support.

Keywords: challenges, change, engagement, telecare

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Authors: Fouzia Khanam, Belal Hossain, Kaosar Afsana, Mahfuzar Rahman

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Aim: Although cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has already been recognized as a major cause of death in developed countries, its prevalence is rising in developing countries as well, and engendering a challenge for the health sector. Bangladesh has experienced an epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases over the last few decades. So, the rising prevalence of CVD and its risk factors are imposing a major problem for the country. We aimed to examine the prevalence of CVDs and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors related to it from a population-based survey. Methods: The data used for this study were collected as a part of a large-scale cross-sectional study conducted to explore the overall health status of children, mothers and senior citizens of Bangladesh. Multistage cluster random sampling procedure was applied by considering unions as clusters and households as the primary sampling unit to select a total of 11,428 households for the base survey. Present analysis encompassed 12338 respondents of ≥ 35 years, selected from both rural areas and urban slums of the country. Socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle information were obtained through individual by a face-to-face interview which was noted in ODK platform. And height, weight, blood pressure and glycosuria were measured using standardized methods. Chi-square test, Univariate modified Poisson regression model, and multivariate modified Poisson regression model were done using STATA software (version 13.0) for analysis. Results: Overall, the prevalence of CVD was 4.51%, of which 1.78% had stroke and 3.17% suffered from heart diseases. Male had higher prevalence of stroke (2.20%) than their counterparts (1.37%). Notably, thirty percent of respondents had high blood pressure and 5% population had diabetes and more than half of the population was pre-hypertensive. Additionally, 20% were overweight, 77% were smoker or consumed smokeless tobacco and 28% of respondents were physically inactive. Eighty-two percent of respondents took extra salt while eating and 29% of respondents had deprived sleep. Furthermore, the prevalence of risk factor of CVD varied according to gender. Women had a higher prevalence of overweight, obesity and diabetes. Women were also less physically active compared to men and took more extra salt. Smoking was lower in women compared to men. Moreover, women slept less compared to their counterpart. After adjusting confounders in modified Poisson regression model, age, gender, occupation, wealth quintile, BMI, extra salt intake, daily sleep, tiredness, diabetes, and hypertension remained as risk factors for CVD. Conclusion: The prevalence of CVD is significant in Bangladesh, and there is an evidence of rising trend for its risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes especially in older population, women and high-income groups. Therefore, in this current epidemiological transition, immediate public health intervention is warranted to address the overwhelming CVD risk.

Keywords: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, stroke

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Authors: Shana Malio-Satele, Lemalu Silao Vaisola Sefo

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Introductory Statement: South Seas Healthcare is Ōtara’s largest Pacific health provider in South Auckland, New Zealand. Our vision is excellent health and well-being for Pacific people and all communities through strong Pacific values. During the DELTA and Omicron outbreak of COVID-19, our Pacific people, indigenous Māori, and the community of South Auckland were disproportionately affected and faced significant hardship with existing inequities magnified. This study highlights the community-based learnings of harnessing community-based strengths such as indigenous resilience, family-informed experiences and stories that provide critical insights that inform health reform changes that will be sustainable and equitable for all indigenous populations. This study is based on critical learnings acquired during COVID-19 that challenge the deficit narrative common in healthcare about indigenous populations. This study shares case studies of marginalised groups and religious groups and the successful application of indigenous cultural strengths, such as collectivism, positive protective factors, and using trusted relationships to create meaningful change in the way healthcare is delivered. The significance of this study highlights the critical conditions needed to adopt a community-informed way of creating integrated healthcare that works and the role that the community can play in being part of the solution. Methodologies: Key methodologies utilised are indigenous and Pacific-informed. To achieve critical learnings from the community, Pacific research methodologies, heavily informed by the Polynesian practice, were applied. Specifically, this includes; Teu Le Va (Understanding the importance of trusted relationships as a way of creating positive health solutions); The Fonofale Methodology (A way of understanding how health incorporates culture, family, the physical, spiritual, mental and other dimensions of health, as well as time, context and environment; The Fonua Methodology – Understanding the overall wellbeing and health of communities, families and individuals and their holistic needs and environmental factors and the Talanoa methodology (Researching through conversation, where understanding the individual and community is through understanding their history and future through stories). Major Findings: Key findings in the study included: 1. The collectivist approach in the community is a strengths-based response specific to populations, which highlights the importance of trusted relationships and cultural values to achieve meaningful outcomes. 2. The development of a “village model” which identified critical components to achieving health reform change; system navigation, a sense of service that was culturally responsive, critical leadership roles, culturally appropriate support, and the ability to influence the system enablers to support an alternative way of working. Concluding Statement: There is a strong connection between community-based strengths being implemented into healthcare strategies and reforms and the sustainable success of indigenous populations and marginalised communities accessing services that are cohesive, equitably resourced, accessible and meaningful for families. This study highlights the successful community-informed approaches and practices used during the COVID-19 response in New Zealand that are now being implemented in the current health reform.

Keywords: indigenous voice, community voice, health reform, New Zealand

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Authors: Shashi Mehta, Krishan Kumar Yadav

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This paper presents an overview of issues pertaining to the conservation of the natural environment and factors affecting the coexistence of the forest, wildlife and people. As forests and wildlife together create the basis for economic, cultural and recreational spaces for overall well-being and life-support systems, the adverse impacts of increasing consumerism are only too evident. The IUCN predicts extinction of 41% of all amphibians and 26% of mammals. The major causes behind this threatened extinction are Deforestation, Dysfunctional governance, Climate Change, Pollution and Cataclysmic phenomena. Thus the intrinsic relationship between natural resources and wildlife needs to be understood in totality, not only for the eco-system but for humanity at large. To demonstrate this, forest areas in the Aravalis- the oldest mountain ranges of Asia—falling in the States of Haryana and Rajasthan, have been taken up for study. The Aravalis are characterized by extreme climatic conditions and dry deciduous forest cover on intermittent scattered hills. Extending across the districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat, Mahendergarh, Rewari and Bhiwani, these ranges - with village common land on which the entire economy of the rural settlements depends - fall in the state of Haryana. Aravali ranges with diverse fauna and flora near Alwar town of state of Rajasthan also form part of NCR. Once, rich in biodiversity, the Aravalis played an important role in the sustainable co-existence of forest and people. However, with the advent of industrialization and unregulated urbanization, these ranges are facing deforestation, degradation and denudation. The causes are twofold, i.e. the need of the poor and the greed of the rich. People living in and around the Aravalis are mainly poor and eke out a living by rearing live-stock. With shrinking commons, they depend entirely upon these hills for grazing, fuel, NTFP, medicinal plants and even drinking water. But at the same time, the pressure of indiscriminate urbanization and industrialization in these hills fulfils the demands of the rich and powerful in collusion with Government agencies. The functionaries of federal and State Governments play largely a negative role supporting commercial interests. Additionally, planting of a non- indigenous species like prosopis juliflora across the ranges has resulted in the extinction of almost all the indigenous species. The wildlife in the area is also threatened because of the lack of safe corridors and suitable habitat. In this scenario, the participatory role of different stakeholders such as NGOs, civil society and local community in the management of forests becomes crucial not only for conservation but also for the economic wellbeing of the local people. Exclusion of villagers from protection and conservation efforts - be it designing, implementing or monitoring and evaluating could prove counterproductive. A strategy needs to be evolved, wherein Government agencies be made responsible by putting relevant legislation in place along with nurturing and promoting the traditional wisdom and ethics of local communities in the protection and conservation of forests and wild life in the Aravali ranges of States of Haryana and Rajasthan of the National Capital Region, Delhi.

Keywords: deforestation, ecosystem, governance, urbanization

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Authors: Ola Hall, Ibrahim Wahab, Thorsteinn Rognvaldsson, Mattias Ohlsson

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The subfield of poverty and welfare estimation that applies machine learning tools and methods on satellite imagery is a nascent but rapidly growing one. This is in part driven by the sustainable development goal, whose overarching principle is that no region is left behind. Among other things, this requires that welfare levels can be accurately and rapidly estimated at different spatial scales and resolutions. Conventional tools of household surveys and interviews do not suffice in this regard. While they are useful for gaining a longitudinal understanding of the welfare levels of populations, they do not offer adequate spatial coverage for the accuracy that is needed, nor are their implementation sufficiently swift to gain an accurate insight into people and places. It is this void that satellite imagery fills. Previously, this was near-impossible to implement due to the sheer volume of data that needed processing. Recent advances in machine learning, especially the deep learning subtype, such as deep neural networks, have made this a rapidly growing area of scholarship. Despite their unprecedented levels of performance, such models lack transparency and explainability and thus have seen limited downstream applications as humans generally are apprehensive of techniques that are not inherently interpretable and trustworthy. While several studies have demonstrated the superhuman performance of AI models, none has directly compared the performance of such models and human readers in the domain of poverty studies. In the present study, we directly compare the performance of human readers and a DL model using different resolutions of satellite imagery to estimate the welfare levels of demographic and health survey clusters in Tanzania, using the wealth quintile ratings from the same survey as the ground truth data. The cluster-level imagery covers all 608 cluster locations, of which 428 were classified as rural. The imagery for the human readers was sourced from the Google Maps Platform at an ultra-high resolution of 0.6m per pixel at zoom level 18, while that of the machine learning model was sourced from the comparatively lower resolution Sentinel-2 10m per pixel data for the same cluster locations. Rank correlation coefficients of between 0.31 and 0.32 achieved by the human readers were much lower when compared to those attained by the machine learning model – 0.69-0.79. This superhuman performance by the model is even more significant given that it was trained on the relatively lower 10-meter resolution satellite data while the human readers estimated welfare levels from the higher 0.6m spatial resolution data from which key markers of poverty and slums – roofing and road quality – are discernible. It is important to note, however, that the human readers did not receive any training before ratings, and had this been done, their performance might have improved. The stellar performance of the model also comes with the inevitable shortfall relating to limited transparency and explainability. The findings have significant implications for attaining the objective of the current frontier of deep learning models in this domain of scholarship – eXplainable Artificial Intelligence through a collaborative rather than a comparative framework.

Keywords: poverty prediction, satellite imagery, human readers, machine learning, Tanzania

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Authors: Istvan Szilagyi, Marko Pavlovic, Paul Rouster

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Antioxidant enzymes are the most efficient defense systems against reactive oxygen species, which cause severe damage in living organisms and industrial products. However, their supplementation is problematic due to their high sensitivity to the environmental conditions. Immobilization on carrier nanoparticles is a promising research direction towards the improvement of their functional and colloidal stability. In that way, their applications in biomedical treatments and manufacturing processes in the food, textile and cosmetic industry can be extended. The main goal of the present research was to prepare and formulate antioxidant bionanocomposites composed of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme, anionic clay (layered double hydroxide, LDH) nanoparticle and heparin (HEP) polyelectrolyte. To characterize the structure and the colloidal stability of the obtained compounds in suspension and solid state, electrophoresis, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, spectrophotometry, thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy were used as experimental techniques. LDH-SOD composite was synthesized by enzyme immobilization on the clay particles via electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, which resulted in a strong adsorption of the SOD on the LDH surface, i.e., no enzyme leakage was observed once the material was suspended in aqueous solutions. However, the LDH-SOD showed only limited resistance against salt-induced aggregation and large irregularly shaped clusters formed during short term interval even at lower ionic strengths. Since sufficiently high colloidal stability is a key requirement in most of the applications mentioned above, the nanocomposite was coated with HEP polyelectrolyte to develop highly stable suspensions of primary LDH-SOD-HEP particles. HEP is a natural anticoagulant with one of the highest negative line charge density among the known macromolecules. The experimental results indicated that it strongly adsorbed on the oppositely charged LDH-SOD surface leading to charge inversion and to the formation of negatively charged LDH-SOD-HEP. The obtained hybrid materials formed stable suspension even under extreme conditions, where classical colloid chemistry theories predict rapid aggregation of the particles and unstable suspensions. Such a stabilization effect originated from electrostatic repulsion between the particles of the same sign of charge as well as from steric repulsion due to the osmotic pressure raised during the overlap of the polyelectrolyte chains adsorbed on the surface. In addition, the SOD enzyme kept its structural and functional integrity during the immobilization and coating processes and hence, the LDH-SOD-HEP bionanocomposite possessed excellent activity in decomposition of superoxide radical anions, as revealed in biochemical test reactions. In conclusion, due to the improved colloidal stability and the good efficiency in scavenging superoxide radical ions, the developed enzymatic system is a promising antioxidant candidate for biomedical or other manufacturing processes, wherever the aim is to decompose reactive oxygen species in suspensions.

Keywords: clay, enzyme, polyelectrolyte, formulation

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