Search results for: mobile agent
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3107

Search results for: mobile agent

2057 Portable Cardiac Monitoring System Based on Real-Time Microcontroller and Multiple Communication Interfaces

Authors: Ionel Zagan, Vasile Gheorghita Gaitan, Adrian Brezulianu

Abstract:

This paper presents the contributions in designing a mobile system named Tele-ECG implemented for remote monitoring of cardiac patients. For a better flexibility of this application, the authors chose to implement a local memory and multiple communication interfaces. The project described in this presentation is based on the ARM Cortex M0+ microcontroller and the ADAS1000 dedicated chip necessary for the collection and transmission of Electrocardiogram signals (ECG) from the patient to the microcontroller, without altering the performances and the stability of the system. The novelty brought by this paper is the implementation of a remote monitoring system for cardiac patients, having a real-time behavior and multiple interfaces. The microcontroller is responsible for processing digital signals corresponding to ECG and also for the implementation of communication interface with the main server, using GSM/Bluetooth SIMCOM SIM800C module. This paper translates all the characteristics of the Tele-ECG project representing a feasible implementation in the biomedical field. Acknowledgment: This paper was supported by the project 'Development and integration of a mobile tele-electrocardiograph in the GreenCARDIO© system for patients monitoring and diagnosis - m-GreenCARDIO', Contract no. BG58/30.09.2016, PNCDI III, Bridge Grant 2016, using the infrastructure from the project 'Integrated Center for research, development and innovation in Advanced Materials, Nanotechnologies, and Distributed Systems for fabrication and control', Contract No. 671/09.04.2015, Sectoral Operational Program for Increase of the Economic Competitiveness co-funded from the European Regional Development Fund.

Keywords: Tele-ECG, real-time cardiac monitoring, electrocardiogram, microcontroller

Procedia PDF Downloads 261
2056 Applying Push Notifications with Behavioral Change Strategies in Fitness Applications: A Survey of User's Perception Based on Consumer Engagement

Authors: Yali Liu, Maria Avello Iturriagagoitia

Abstract:

Background: Fitness applications (apps) are one of the most popular mobile health (mHealth) apps. These apps can help prevent/control health issues such as obesity, which is one of the most serious public health challenges in the developed world in recent decades. Compared with the traditional intervention like face-to-face treatment, it is cheaper and more convenient to use fitness apps to interfere with physical activities and healthy behaviors. Nevertheless, fitness applications apps tend to have high abandonment rates and low levels of user engagement. Therefore, maintaining the endurance of users' usage is challenging. In fact, previous research shows a variety of strategies -goal-setting, self-monitoring, coaching, etc.- for promoting fitness and health behavior change. These strategies can influence the users’ perseverance and self-monitoring of the program as well as favoring their adherence to routines that involve a long-term behavioral change. However, commercial fitness apps rarely incorporate these strategies into their design, thus leading to a lack of engagement with the apps. Most of today’s mobile services and brands engage their users proactively via push notifications. Push notifications. These notifications are visual or auditory alerts to inform mobile users about a wide range of topics that entails an effective and personal mean of communication between the app and the user. One of the research purposes of this article is to implement the application of behavior change strategies through push notifications. Proposes: This study aims to better understand the influence that effective use of push notifications combined with the behavioral change strategies will have on users’ engagement with the fitness app. And the secondary objectives are 1) to discuss the sociodemographic differences in utilization of push notifications of fitness apps; 2) to determine the impact of each strategy in customer engagement. Methods: The study uses a combination of the Consumer Engagement Theory and UTAUT2 based model to conduct an online survey among current users of fitness apps. The questionnaire assessed attitudes to each behavioral change strategy, and sociodemographic variables. Findings: Results show the positive effect of push notifications in the generation of consumer engagement and the different impacts of each strategy among different groups of population in customer engagement. Conclusions: Fitness apps with behavior change strategies have a positive impact on increasing users’ usage time and customer engagement. Theoretical experts can participate in designing fitness applications, along with technical designers.

Keywords: behavioral change, customer engagement, fitness app, push notification, UTAUT2

Procedia PDF Downloads 118
2055 Switchable Lipids: From a Molecular Switch to a pH-Sensitive System for the Drug and Gene Delivery

Authors: Jeanne Leblond, Warren Viricel, Amira Mbarek

Abstract:

Although several products have reached the market, gene therapeutics are still in their first stages and require optimization. It is possible to improve their lacking efficiency by the use of carefully engineered vectors, able to carry the genetic material through each of the biological barriers they need to cross. In particular, getting inside the cell is a major challenge, because these hydrophilic nucleic acids have to cross the lipid-rich plasmatic and/or endosomal membrane, before being degraded into lysosomes. It takes less than one hour for newly endocytosed liposomes to reach highly acidic lysosomes, meaning that the degradation of the carried gene occurs rapidly, thus limiting the transfection efficiency. We propose to use a new pH-sensitive lipid able to change its conformation upon protonation at endosomal pH values, leading to the disruption of the lipidic bilayer and thus to the fast release of the nucleic acids into the cytosol. It is expected that this new pH-sensitive mechanism promote endosomal escape of the gene, thereby its transfection efficiency. The main challenge of this work was to design a preparation presenting fast-responding lipidic bilayer destabilization properties at endosomal pH 5 while remaining stable at blood pH value and during storage. A series of pH-sensitive lipids able to perform a conformational switch upon acidification were designed and synthesized. Liposomes containing these switchable lipids, as well as co-lipids were prepared and characterized. The liposomes were stable at 4°C and pH 7.4 for several months. Incubation with siRNA led to the full entrapment of nucleic acids as soon as the positive/negative charge ratio was superior to 2. The best liposomal formulation demonstrated a silencing efficiency up to 10% on HeLa cells, very similar to a commercial agent, with a lowest toxicity than the commercial agent. Using flow cytometry and microscopy assays, we demonstrated that drop of pH was required for the transfection efficiency, since bafilomycin blocked the transfection efficiency. Additional evidence was brought by the synthesis of a negative control lipid, which was unable to switch its conformation, and consequently exhibited no transfection ability. Mechanistic studies revealed that the uptake was mediated through endocytosis, by clathrin and caveolae pathways, as reported for previous lipid nanoparticle systems. This potent system was used for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The switchable lipids were able to knockdown PCSK9 expression on human hepatocytes (Huh-7). Its efficiency is currently evaluated on in vivo mice model of PCSK9 KO mice. In summary, we designed and optimized a new cationic pH-sensitive lipid for gene delivery. Its transfection efficiency is similar to the best available commercial agent, without the usually associated toxicity. The promising results lead to its use for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia on a mice model. Anticancer applications and pulmonary chronic disease are also currently investigated.

Keywords: liposomes, siRNA, pH-sensitive, molecular switch

Procedia PDF Downloads 195
2054 Language Effects on the Prestige and Product Image of Advertised Smartphone in Consumer Purchases in Indonesia

Authors: Vidyarini Dwita, Rebecca Fanany

Abstract:

This study will discuss the growth of the market for smartphone technology in Indonesia. This country, with the world’s fourth largest population, has a reputation as the social media capital of the world, and this reputation is largely justified. The penetration of social media is high in Indonesia which has one of the largest global markets. Most Indonesian users of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms access the sites from their mobile phones. Indonesia is expected to continue to be a major market for digital mobile devices, such as smartphone and tablets that can access the internet. The aim of this study to describe the way responses of Indonesian consumers to smartphone advertising using English and Indonesian will impact on their perceptions of the prestige and product image of the advertised items and thus influence consumer intention to purchase the item. Advertising for smartphones and similar products is intense and dynamic and often draws on the social attitudes of Indonesians with respect to linguistic and cultural content and especially appeals to their desire to be part of global mainstream culture. The study uses a qualitative method based on in-depth interviews with 30 participants. Content analysis is employed to analyse the responses of Indonesian consumers to smartphone advertising that uses English and Indonesian text. Its findings indicate that consumers’ impressions of English and Indonesian slogans influence their attitudes toward smartphones, suggesting that linguistic context plays a role in influencing consumer purchases.

Keywords: consumer purchases, marketing communication, product image, smartphone advertising, sociolinguistic

Procedia PDF Downloads 216
2053 Versatile Variation of Fischer Indolization in Green Synthesis of Nitro Substituted Tetrahydrocarbazole

Authors: Zubi Sadiq, Ghazala Yaqub, Almas Hamid

Abstract:

We wish to report herein a very stimulating variation in Fischer indole reaction by adopting solvent and catalyst free conditions. A concise synthesis of dinitro tetrahydrocarbazole derivative 3 was introduced without the use of any accelerating agent at ambient temperature with fairly good yield. Product was fully corroborated by UV, FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS, and CHN analysis.

Keywords: fischer indole reaction, neutral medium, solvent free synthesis, tetrahydrocarbazole

Procedia PDF Downloads 344
2052 An Emergentist Defense of Incompatibility between Morally Significant Freedom and Causal Determinism

Authors: Lubos Rojka

Abstract:

The common perception of morally responsible behavior is that it presupposes freedom of choice, and that free decisions and actions are not determined by natural events, but by a person. In other words, the moral agent has the ability and the possibility of doing otherwise when making morally responsible decisions, and natural causal determinism cannot fully account for morally significant freedom. The incompatibility between a person’s morally significant freedom and causal determinism appears to be a natural position. Nevertheless, some of the most influential philosophical theories on moral responsibility are compatibilist or semi-compatibilist, and they exclude the requirement of alternative possibilities, which contradicts the claims of classical incompatibilism. The compatibilists often employ Frankfurt-style thought experiments to prove their theory. The goal of this paper is to examine the role of imaginary Frankfurt-style examples in compatibilist accounts. More specifically, the compatibilist accounts defended by John Martin Fischer and Michael McKenna will be inserted into the broader understanding of a person elaborated by Harry Frankfurt, Robert Kane and Walter Glannon. Deeper analysis reveals that the exclusion of alternative possibilities based on Frankfurt-style examples is problematic and misleading. A more comprehensive account of moral responsibility and morally significant (source) freedom requires higher order complex theories of human will and consciousness, in which rational and self-creative abilities and a real possibility to choose otherwise, at least on some occasions during a lifetime, are necessary. Theoretical moral reasons and their logical relations seem to require a sort of higher-order agent-causal incompatibilism. The ability of theoretical or abstract moral reasoning requires complex (strongly emergent) mental and conscious properties, among which an effective free will, together with first and second-order desires. Such a hierarchical theoretical model unifies reasons-responsiveness, mesh theory and emergentism. It is incompatible with physical causal determinism, because such determinism only allows non-systematic processes that may be hard to predict, but not complex (strongly) emergent systems. An agent’s effective will and conscious reflectivity is the starting point of a morally responsible action, which explains why a decision is 'up to the subject'. A free decision does not always have a complete causal history. This kind of an emergentist source hyper-incompatibilism seems to be the best direction of the search for an adequate explanation of moral responsibility in the traditional (merit-based) sense. Physical causal determinism as a universal theory would exclude morally significant freedom and responsibility in the traditional sense because it would exclude the emergence of and supervenience by the essential complex properties of human consciousness.

Keywords: consciousness, free will, determinism, emergence, moral responsibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 154
2051 Improving the Liquid Insulation Performance with Antioxidants

Authors: Helan Gethse J., Dhanya K., Muthuselvi G., Diana Hyden N., Samuel Pakianathan P.

Abstract:

Transformer oil is mostly used to keep the transformer cool. It functions as a cooling agent. Mineral oil has long been used in transformers. Mineral oil has a high dielectric strength, which allows it to withstand high temperatures. Mineral oil's main disadvantage is that it is not environmentally friendly and can be dangerous to the environment. The features of breakdown voltage (BDV), viscosity, flash point, and fire point are measured and reported in this study, and the characteristics of olive oil are compared to the characteristics of mineral oil.

Keywords: antioxidants, transformer oil, mineral oil, olive oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 141
2050 Effectiveness and Efficiency of Unified Philippines Accident Reporting and Database System in Optimizing Road Crash Data Usage with Various Stakeholders

Authors: Farhad Arian Far, Anjanette Q. Eleazar, Francis Aldrine A. Uy, Mary Joyce Anne V. Uy

Abstract:

The Unified Philippine Accident Reporting and Database System (UPARDS), is a newly developed system by Dr. Francis Aldrine Uy of the Mapua Institute of Technology. The main purpose is to provide an advanced road accident investigation tool, record keeping and analysis system for stakeholders such as Philippine National Police (PNP), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Health (DOH), and insurance companies. The system is composed of 2 components, the mobile application for road accident investigators that takes advantage of available technology to advance data gathering and the web application that integrates all accident data for the use of all stakeholders. The researchers with the cooperation of PNP’s Vehicle Traffic Investigation Sector of the City of Manila, conducted the field-testing of the application in fifteen (15) accident cases. Simultaneously, the researchers also distributed surveys to PNP, Manila Doctors Hospital, and Charter Ping An Insurance Company to gather their insights regarding the web application. The survey was designed on information systems theory called Technology Acceptance Model. The results of the surveys revealed that the respondents were greatly satisfied with the visualization and functions of the applications as it proved to be effective and far more efficient in comparison with the conventional pen-and-paper method. In conclusion, the pilot study was able to address the need for improvement of the current system.

Keywords: accident, database, investigation, mobile application, pilot testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 427
2049 Green Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Neem (Azadirachta Indica) Leaf Extract and Investigation of Its Antibacterial Activities

Authors: Emineh Tsegahun Gedif

Abstract:

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have garnered significant attention due to their diverse applications encompassing catalytic, optical, photonic, and antibacterial properties. In this study, we successfully synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using a rapid, environmentally benign, and cost-effective method. Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extract served as the reducing agent for Zn (NO₃)₂.6H2O solution under optimized conditions (pH = 9). Qualitative screening techniques and FT-IR Spectroscopy confirmed the presence of active biomolecules such as flavonoids, phenolic groups, alkaloids, terpenoids, and tannins within the Neem leaf extract, both before and after reduction. The formation of ZnO NPs was visually evident through a distinct color change from colorless to light yellow. The biosynthesized nanoparticles underwent comprehensive characterization through UV-visible, FT-IR, and XRD spectroscopies. The reduction process proved to be straightforward and user-friendly, with UV-visible spectroscopy demonstrating a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at 321 nm, unequivocally confirming the ZnO NP formation. X-ray diffraction analysis elucidated the crystal structure, revealing an average particle size of approximately 20 nm using Scherrer's equation based on the line width of the plane. Furthermore, the synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles were evaluated for their antimicrobial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The results showcased significant inhibitory activity, with the highest zone of inhibition observed against Escherichia coli (15 mm) and comparatively lower activity against Staphylococcus aureus. This research underscores the potential of Neem leaf extract-mediated synthesis of ZnO NPs as an eco-friendly and effective approach for various applications, including antibacterial agents.

Keywords: zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), bioreducing agent, green synthesis, antibacterial activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 56
2048 Applying Failure Modes and Effect Analysis Concept in a Global Software Development Process

Authors: Camilo Souza, Lidia Melo, Fernanda Terra, Francisco Caio, Marcelo Reis

Abstract:

SIDIA is a research and development (R&D) institute that belongs to Samsung’s global software development process. The SIDIA’s Model Team (MT) is a part of Samsung’s Mobile Division Area, which is responsible for the development of Android releases embedded in Samsung mobile devices. Basically, in this software development process, the kickoff occurs in some strategic countries (e.g., South Korea) where some software requirements are applied and the initial software tests are performed. When the software achieves a more mature level, a new branch is derived, and the development continues in subsidiaries from other strategic countries (e.g., SIDIA-Brazil). However, even in the newly created branches, there are several interactions between developers from different nationalities in order to fix bugs reported during test activities, apply some specific requirements from partners and develop new features as well. Despite the GSD strategy contributes to improving software development, some challenges are also introduced as well. In this paper, we share the initial results about the application of the failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) concept in the software development process followed by the SIDIA’s model team. The main goal was to identify and mitigate the process potential failures through the application of recommended actions. The initial results show that the application of the FMEA concept allows us to identify the potential failures in our GSD process as well as to propose corrective actions to mitigate them. Finally, FMEA encouraged members of different teams to take actions that contribute to improving our GSD process.

Keywords: global software development, potential failures, FMEA, recommended actions

Procedia PDF Downloads 212
2047 A Retrospective Cohort Study on an Outbreak of Gastroenteritis Linked to a Buffet Lunch Served during a Conference in Accra

Authors: Benjamin Osei Tutu, Sharon Annison

Abstract:

On 21st November, 2016, an outbreak of foodborne illness occurred after a buffet lunch served during a stakeholders’ consultation meeting held in Accra. An investigation was conducted to characterise the affected people, determine the etiologic food, the source of contamination and the etiologic agent and to implement appropriate public health measures to prevent future occurrences. A retrospective cohort study was conducted via telephone interviews, using a structured questionnaire developed from the buffet menu. A case was defined as any person suffering from symptoms of foodborne illness e.g. diarrhoea and/or abdominal cramps after eating food served during the stakeholder consultation meeting in Accra on 21st November, 2016. The exposure status of all the members of the cohort was assessed by taking the food history of each respondent during the telephone interview. The data obtained was analysed using Epi Info 7. An environmental risk assessment was conducted to ascertain the source of the food contamination. Risks of foodborne infection from the foods eaten were determined using attack rates and odds ratios. Data was obtained from 54 people who consumed food served during the stakeholders’ meeting. Out of this population, 44 people reported with symptoms of food poisoning representing 81.45% (overall attack rate). The peak incubation period was seven hours with a minimum and maximum incubation periods of four and 17 hours, respectively. The commonly reported symptoms were diarrhoea (97.73%, 43/44), vomiting (84.09%, 37/44) and abdominal cramps (75.00%, 33/44). From the incubation period, duration of illness and the symptoms, toxin-mediated food poisoning was suspected. The environmental risk assessment of the implicated catering facility indicated a lack of time/temperature control, inadequate knowledge on food safety among workers and sanitation issues. Limited number of food samples was received for microbiological analysis. Multivariate analysis indicated that illness was significantly associated with the consumption of the snacks served (OR 14.78, P < 0.001). No stool and blood or samples of etiologic food were available for organism isolation; however, the suspected etiologic agent was Staphylococcus aureus or Clostridium perfringens. The outbreak could probably be due to the consumption of unwholesome snack (tuna sandwich or chicken. The contamination and/or growth of the etiologic agent in the snack may be due to the breakdown in cleanliness, time/temperature control and good food handling practices. Training of food handlers in basic food hygiene and safety is recommended.

Keywords: Accra, buffet, conference, C. perfringens, cohort study, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, office workers, Staphylococcus aureus

Procedia PDF Downloads 218
2046 Global Healthcare Village Based on Mobile Cloud Computing

Authors: Laleh Boroumand, Muhammad Shiraz, Abdullah Gani, Rashid Hafeez Khokhar

Abstract:

Cloud computing being the use of hardware and software that are delivered as a service over a network has its application in the area of health care. Due to the emergency cases reported in most of the medical centers, prompt for an efficient scheme to make health data available with less response time. To this end, we propose a mobile global healthcare village (MGHV) model that combines the components of three deployment model which include country, continent and global health cloud to help in solving the problem mentioned above. In the creation of continent model, two (2) data centers are created of which one is local and the other is global. The local replay the request of residence within the continent, whereas the global replay the requirements of others. With the methods adopted, there is an assurance of the availability of relevant medical data to patients, specialists, and emergency staffs regardless of locations and time. From our intensive experiment using the simulation approach, it was observed that, broker policy scheme with respect to optimized response time, yields a very good performance in terms of reduction in response time. Though, our results are comparable to others when there is an increase in the number of virtual machines (80-640 virtual machines). The proportionality in increase of response time is within 9%. The results gotten from our simulation experiments shows that utilizing MGHV leads to the reduction of health care expenditures and helps in solving the problems of unqualified medical staffs faced by both developed and developing countries.

Keywords: cloud computing (MCC), e-healthcare, availability, response time, service broker policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 368
2045 DNA Damage and Apoptosis Induced in Drosophila melanogaster Exposed to Different Duration of 2400 MHz Radio Frequency-Electromagnetic Fields Radiation

Authors: Neha Singh, Anuj Ranjan, Tanu Jindal

Abstract:

Over the last decade, the exponential growth of mobile communication has been accompanied by a parallel increase in density of electromagnetic fields (EMF). The continued expansion of mobile phone usage raises important questions as EMF, especially radio frequency (RF), have long been suspected of having biological effects. In the present experiments, we studied the effects of RF-EMF on cell death (apoptosis) and DNA damage of a well- tested biological model, Drosophila melanogaster exposed to 2400 MHz frequency for different time duration i.e. 2 hrs, 4 hrs, 6 hrs,8 hrs, 10 hrs, and 12 hrs each day for five continuous days in ambient temperature and humidity conditions inside an exposure chamber. The flies were grouped into control, sham-exposed, and exposed with 100 flies in each group. In this study, well-known techniques like Comet Assay and TUNEL (Terminal deoxynucleotide transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling) Assay were used to detect DNA damage and for apoptosis studies, respectively. Experiments results showed DNA damage in the brain cells of Drosophila which increases as the duration of exposure increases when observed under the observed when we compared results of control, sham-exposed, and exposed group which indicates that EMF radiation-induced stress in the organism that leads to DNA damage and cell death. The process of apoptosis and mutation follows similar pathway for all eukaryotic cells; therefore, studying apoptosis and genotoxicity in Drosophila makes similar relevance for human beings as well.

Keywords: cell death, apoptosis, Comet Assay, DNA damage, Drosophila, electromagnetic fields, EMF, radio frequency, RF, TUNEL assay

Procedia PDF Downloads 152
2044 Eco-Fashion Dyeing of Denim and Knitwear with Particle-Dyes

Authors: Adriana Duarte, Sandra Sampaio, Catia Ferreira, Jaime I. N. R. Gomes

Abstract:

With the fashion of faded worn garments the textile industry has moved from indigo and pigments to dyes that are fixed by cationization, with products that can be toxic, and that can show this effect after washing down the dye with friction and/or treating with enzymes in a subsequent operation. Increasingly they are treated with bleaches, such as hypochlorite and permanganate, both toxic substances. An alternative process is presented in this work for both garment and jet dyeing processes, without the use of pre-cationization and the alternative use of “particle-dyes”. These are hybrid products, made up by an inorganic particle and an organic dye. With standard soluble dyes, it is not possible to avoid diffusion into the inside of the fiber unless using previous cationization. Only in this way can diffusion be avoided keeping the centre of the fibres undyed so as to produce the faded effect by removing the surface dye and showing the white fiber beneath. With “particle-dyes”, previous cationization is avoided. By applying low temperatures, the dye does not diffuse completely into the inside of the fiber, since it is a particle and not a soluble dye, being then able to give the faded effect. Even though bleaching can be used it can also be avoided, by the use of friction and enzymes they can be used just as for other dyes. This fashion brought about new ways of applying reactive dyes by the use of previous cationization of cotton, lowering the salt, and temperatures that reactive dyes usually need for reacting and as a side effect the application of a more environmental process. However, cationization is a process that can be problematic in applying it outside garment dyeing, such as jet dyeing, being difficult to obtain level dyeings. It also should be applied by a pad-fix or Pad-batch process due to the low affinity of the pre-cationization products making it a more expensive process, and the risk of unlevelness in processes such as jet dyeing. Wit particle-dyes, since no pre-cationizartion is necessary, they can be applied in jet dyeing. The excess dye is fixed by a fixing agent, fixing the insoluble dye onto the surface of the fibers. By applying the fixing agent only one to 1-3 rinses in water at room temperature are necessary, saving water and improving the washfastness.

Keywords: denim, garment dyeing, worn look, eco-fashion

Procedia PDF Downloads 526
2043 Behavioral Effects of Oxidant and Reduced Chemorepellent on Mutant and Wild-Type Tetrahymena thermophila

Authors: Ananya Govindarajan

Abstract:

Tetrahymena thermophila is a single-cell, eukaryotic organism that belongs to the Protozoa Kingdom. Tetrahymena thermophila is often used in signal transduction pathway studies because of its ability to model sensory input and the effects of environmental conditions such as chemicals and temperature. The recently discovered G37 chemorepellent receptor showed increased responsiveness to all chemorepellents. Investigating the mutant G37 Tetrahymena gene in various test solutions, including ferric chloride, ferrous sulfate, hydrogen peroxide, tetrazolium blue, potassium chloride, and dithiothreitol were performed to determine the role of oxidants and reducing agents with the mutant and wild-type cells (CU427) to assess the role of the receptor. Behavioral assays and recordings processed by ImageJ indicated that ferric chloride, hydrogen peroxide, and tetrazolium blue yielded little to no chemorepellent responses from G37 cells (<20% ARs). CU427 cells were over-responsive based on the mean percent of cells (>50% ARs). Reducing agents elicited chemorepellent responses from both G37 and CU427, in addition to potassium chloride. Cell responses were classified as over-responsive (>50% ARs). Dithiothreitol yielded unexpected results as G37 (37.0% ARs) and CU427 (38.1% ARs) had relatively similar responses and were only responsive and not over-responsive to the reducing agent test chemical solution. Ultimately, this indicates that the G37 receptor is more interactive with molecules that are reducing agents or non-oxidant compounds; G37 may be unable to sense and respond to oxidants effectively, further elucidating the pathways of the G37 strain and nature of this receptor. Results also indicate that the CSF most likely contained an oxidant, like ferric chloride. This research can be further applied to neuronal influences and how specific compounds may affect human neurons individually and their excitability as the responses model action potentials and membrane potential.

Keywords: tetrahymena thermophila, signal transduction, chemosensory, oxidant, reducing agent

Procedia PDF Downloads 121
2042 Destination of the PhDs: Determinants of International Mobility of UK PhD Graduates

Authors: Anna Siuda-Bak

Abstract:

This paper adopts a comparative approach to examining the determinants of international mobility of German, Italian and British researchers who completed their doctoral education in the UK. Structured sampling and data collection techniques have been developed in order to retrieve information on participants from publicly available sources. This systematically collected data was supplemented with an on-line survey which captures participants’ job trajectories, including movements between positions, institutions and countries. In total, data on 949 German, Italian and British PhDs was collected. Logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with one’s probability of moving outside the UK after his or her graduation. The predictor variables included factors associated with one’s PhD (field of study, ranking of the university which awarded the PhD degree) and family factors (having a child, nationality of the partner). Then, 9 constrained models were estimated to test the effect each variable has on probability of going to a specific destination, being English-speaking country, non-English speaking country or returning to the home country. The results show that females, arts and humanities graduates, and respondents with a partner from the UK are less mobile than their counterparts. The effect of the ranking of the university differed in two groups. The UK graduates from higher ranked universities were more likely to move abroad than to stay in the UK after their graduation. In contrast, non-UK natives from the same universities were less likely to be internationally mobile than non-UK natives from lower ranked universities. The nationality of the partner was the most important predictor of the specific destination choices. Graduates with partner from the home county were more likely to return home and those with a partner from the third country least likely to return.

Keywords: doctoral graduates, international mobility, nationality, UK

Procedia PDF Downloads 314
2041 Sider Bee Honey: Antitumor Effect in Some Experimental Tumor Cell Lines

Authors: Aliaa M. Issa, Mahmoud N. ElRouby, Sahar A. S. Ahmad, Mahmoud M. El-Merzabani

Abstract:

Sider honey is a type of honey produced by bees feeding on the nectar of Sider tree, Ziziphus spina-christi (L) Desf . Honey is an effective agent for preventing, inhibiting and treating the growth of human and animal cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of different dilutions from crude Sider honey and different duration times of exposure on the growth of six tumor cell lines (human cervical cancer cell line, HeLa; human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG-2; human larynx carcinoma cell line, Hep-2; brain tumor cell line, U251) as well as one animal cancerous cell line (Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells line, EAC) and one normal cell line, Homo sapiens, human, (WISH) CCL-25. Different concentrations and treatment durations with Sider honey were tested on the growth of several cancer cell lines types. Histopathological changes in the tumor masses, animal survival, apoptosis and necrosis of the used cancer cell lines (using flow cytometry) were evaluated. Sider honey was administers either to the tumor mass itself by intratumoral injection or via drinking water. One-way ANOVA test was used for the analysis of (the means + standard error) of the optical density obtained from the Elisa reader and flow cytometry. The study revealed that different concentrations of Sider honey affected the growth patterns of all the studied cancer cell lines as well as their histopathological changes, and it depended on the cell line nature and the concentration of honey used. It is obvious that the relative animal survival percentage (bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, EAC cells) was proportionally increased with the increase in the used honey concentrations. The study of apoptosis and necrosis using the flow cytometry technique emphasized the viability results. In conclusion, Sider honey was effective as antitumor agent, in the used concentrations.

Keywords: antitumor, honey, sider, tumor cell lines

Procedia PDF Downloads 525
2040 The Impact of Work Stress on Professionals' Life and Health: The Usage of Instant Messaging Applications

Authors: Pui-Lai To, Chechen Liao, Ming-Chi Sung

Abstract:

Work and family life are the most important areas for men and women today. Every professional is required to meet and fulfill the responsibilities of work and family roles. Although the development and popularity of communication technology bring a lot of benefits, including effective and efficient communication, may also generate conflicts between work and family life. Since mobile devices and the applications of mobile devices, such as instant messages, are ubiquitous, the boundaries of work and family roles are increasingly blurred. Professionals may be in the risk of work over-loading and work-family conflict. This study examines the impact of work stress on professionals’ life and health in the context of instant messaging application of smart phone. This study uses a web-based questionnaire to collect samples. The questionnaires are sent via virtual community sites, instant messaging applications, and e-mail. The study develops and empirically validates a work-family conflict model by integrating the pressure theory and technostress factors. The causal relationship between variables in the research model is tested. In terms of data analysis, Partial Least Square (PLS) in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used for sample analysis and research model testing. The results of this study are as follows. First, both the variables of work-related stress and technological violations positively affect the work-family conflict. Second, both the variables of work-loading and technology-overloading have no effect on work-family conflict. Third, work-family conflict has negative effect on job satisfaction, family satisfaction, physical health, and mental health.

Keywords: mental health, physical health, technostress, work-family conflict, work-related stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 281
2039 Building a Framework for Digital Emergency Response System for Aged, Long Term Care and Chronic Disease Patients in Asia Pacific Region

Authors: Nadeem Yousuf Khan

Abstract:

This paper proposes the formation of a digital emergency response system (dERS) in the aged, long-term care, and chronic disease setups in the post-COVID healthcare ecosystem, focusing on the Asia Pacific market where the aging population is increasing significantly. It focuses on the use of digital technologies such as wearables, a global positioning system (GPS), and mobile applications to build an integrated care system for old folks with co-morbidities and other chronic diseases. The paper presents a conceptual framework of a connected digital health ecosystem that not only provides proactive care to registered patients but also prevents the damages due to sudden conditions such as strokes by alerting and treating the patients in a digitally connected and coordinated manner. A detailed review of existing digital health technologies such as wearables, GPS, and mobile apps was conducted in context with the new post-COVID healthcare paradigm, along with a detailed literature review on the digital health policies and usability. A good amount of research papers is available in the application of digital health, but very few of them discuss the formation of a new framework for a connected digital ecosystem for the aged care population, which is increasing around the globe. A connected digital emergency response system has been proposed by the author whereby all registered patients (chronic disease and aged/long term care) will be connected to the proposed digital emergency response system (dERS). In the proposed ecosystem, patients will be provided with a tracking wrist band and a mobile app through which the control room will be monitoring the mobility and vitals such as atrial fibrillation (AF), blood sugar, blood pressure, and other vital signs. In addition to that, an alert in case if the patient falls down will add value to this system. In case of any variation in the vitals, an alert is sent to the dERS 24/7, and dERS clinical staff immediately trigger that alert which goes to the connected hospital and the adulatory service providers, and the patient is escorted to the nearest connected tertiary care hospital. By the time, the patient reaches the hospital, dERS team is ready to take appropriate clinical action to save the life of the patient. Strokes or myocardial infarction patients can be prevented from disaster if they are accessible to engagement healthcare. This dERS will play an effective role in saving the lives of aged patients or patients with chronic co-morbidities.

Keywords: aged care, atrial fibrillation, digital health, digital emergency response system, digital technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 109
2038 Modeling Search-And-Rescue Operations by Autonomous Mobile Robots at Sea

Authors: B. Kriheli, E. Levner, T. C. E. Cheng, C. T. Ng

Abstract:

During the last decades, research interest in planning, scheduling, and control of emergency response operations, especially people rescue and evacuation from the dangerous zone of marine accidents, has increased dramatically. Until the survivors (called ‘targets’) are found and saved, it may cause loss or damage whose extent depends on the location of the targets and the search duration. The problem is to efficiently search for and detect/rescue the targets as soon as possible with the help of intelligent mobile robots so as to maximize the number of saved people and/or minimize the search cost under restrictions on the amount of saved people within the allowable response time. We consider a special situation when the autonomous mobile robots (AMR), e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles and remote-controlled robo-ships have no operator on board as they are guided and completely controlled by on-board sensors and computer programs. We construct a mathematical model for the search process in an uncertain environment and provide a new fast algorithm for scheduling the activities of the autonomous robots during the search-and rescue missions after an accident at sea. We presume that in the unknown environments, the AMR’s search-and-rescue activity is subject to two types of error: (i) a 'false-negative' detection error where a target object is not discovered (‘overlooked') by the AMR’s sensors in spite that the AMR is in a close neighborhood of the latter and (ii) a 'false-positive' detection error, also known as ‘a false alarm’, in which a clean place or area is wrongly classified by the AMR’s sensors as a correct target. As the general resource-constrained discrete search problem is NP-hard, we restrict our study to finding local-optimal strategies. A specificity of the considered operational research problem in comparison with the traditional Kadane-De Groot-Stone search models is that in our model the probability of the successful search outcome depends not only on cost/time/probability parameters assigned to each individual location but, as well, on parameters characterizing the entire history of (unsuccessful) search before selecting any next location. We provide a fast approximation algorithm for finding the AMR route adopting a greedy search strategy in which, in each step, the on-board computer computes a current search effectiveness value for each location in the zone and sequentially searches for a location with the highest search effectiveness value. Extensive experiments with random and real-life data provide strong evidence in favor of the suggested operations research model and corresponding algorithm.

Keywords: disaster management, intelligent robots, scheduling algorithm, search-and-rescue at sea

Procedia PDF Downloads 161
2037 Attenuation of Endotoxin Induced Hepatotoxicity by Dexamethasone, Melatonin and Pentoxifylline in White Albino Mice: A Comparative Study

Authors: Ammara Khan

Abstract:

Sepsis is characterized by an overwhelming surge of cytokines and oxidative stress to one of many factors, gram-negative bacteria commonly implicated. Despite major expansion and elaboration of sepsis pathophysiology and therapeutic approach; death rate remains very high in septic patients due to multiple organ damages including hepatotoxicity.The present study was aimed to ascertain the adequacy of three different drugs delivered separately and collectively- low dose steroid-dexamethasone (3mg/kg i.p) ,antioxidant-melatonin(10 mg/kg i.p) ,and phosphodiesterases inhibitor - pentoxifylline (75 mg/kg i.p)in endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Endotoxin/lipopolysaccharides induced hepatotoxicity was reproduced in mice by giving lipopolysaccharide of serotype E.Coli intraperitoneally. The preventive role was questioned by giving the experimental agent half an hour prior to LPS injection whereas the therapeutic potential of the experimental agent was searched out via post-LPS delivering. The extent of liver damage was adjudged via serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation along with a histopathological examination of liver tissue. Dexamethasone is given before (Group 3) and after LPS (group 4) significantly attenuated LPS generated liver injury.Pentoxifylline generated similar results and serum ALT; AST histological alteration abated considerably (p≤ 0.05) both in animals subjected to pentoxifylline pre (Group 5) and post-treatment(Group 6). Melatonin was also prosperous in aversion (Group 7) and curation (Group 8) of LPS invoked hepatotoxicity as evident by lessening of augmented ALT (≤0.01) and AST (≤0.01) along with restoration of pathological changes in liver sections (p≤0.05). Combination therapies with dexamethasone in conjunction with melatonin (Group 9), dexamethasone together with pentoxifylline (Group 10), and pentoxifylline along with melatonin (Group 11) after LPS administration tapered LPS evoked hepatic dysfunction statistically considerably. In conclusion, both melatonin and pentoxifylline set up promising results in endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity and can be used therapeutic adjuncts to conventional treatment strategies in sepsis-induced liver failure.

Keywords: endotoxin/lipopolysacchride, dexamethasone, hepatotoxicity, melatonin, pentoxifylline

Procedia PDF Downloads 268
2036 Heavy Oil Recovery with Chemical Viscosity-Reduction: An Innovative Low-Carbon and Low-Cost Technology

Authors: Lin Meng, Xi Lu, Haibo Wang, Yong Song, Lili Cao, Wenfang Song, Yong Hu

Abstract:

China has abundant heavy oil resources, and thermal recovery is the main recovery method for heavy oil reservoirs. However, high energy consumption, high carbon emission and high production costs make heavy oil thermal recovery unsustainable. It is urgent to explore a replacement for developing technology. A low Carbon and cost technology of heavy oil recovery, chemical viscosity-reduction in layer (CVRL), is developed by the petroleum exploration and development research institute of Sinopec via investigated mechanisms, synthesized products, and improved oil production technologies, as follows: (1) Proposed a cascade viscous mechanism of heavy oil. Asphaltene and resin grow from free molecules to associative structures further to bulk aggregations by π - π stacking and hydrogen bonding, which causes the high viscosity of heavy oil. (2) Aimed at breaking the π - π stacking and hydrogen bond of heavy oil, the copolymer of N-(3,4-dihydroxyphenethyl) acryl amide and 2-Acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid was synthesized as a viscosity reducer. It achieves a viscosity reduction rate of>80% without shearing for heavy oil (viscosity < 50000 mPa‧s), of which fluidity is evidently improved in the layer. (3) Synthesized hydroxymethyl acrylamide-maleic acid-decanol ternary copolymer self-assembly plugging agent. The particle size is 0.1 μm-2 mm adjustable, and the volume is 10-500 times controllable, which can achieve the efficient transportation of viscosity reducer to enriched oil areas. CVRL has applied 400 wells until now, increasing oil production by 470000 tons, saving 81000 tons of standard coal, reducing CO2 emissions by 174000 tons, and reducing production costs by 60%. It promotes the transformation of heavy oil towards low energy consumption, low carbon emissions, and low-cost development.

Keywords: heavy oil, chemical viscosity-reduction, low carbon, viscosity reducer, plugging agent

Procedia PDF Downloads 60
2035 Design of a Small Mobile PV Driven RO Water Desalination Plant to be Deployed at the North West Coast of Egypt

Authors: Hosam A. Shawky, Amr A. Abdel Fatah, Moustafa M. S. Abo ElFad, Abdel Hameed M. El-Aassar

Abstract:

Water desalination projects based on reverse osmosis technology are being introduced in Egypt to combat drinking water shortage in remote areas. Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination is a pressure driven process. This paper focuses on the design of an integrated brackish water and seawater RO desalination and solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology. A small Mobile PV driven RO desalination plant prototype without batteries is designed and tested. Solar-driven reverse osmosis desalination can potentially break the dependence of conventional desalination on fossil fuels, reduce operational costs, and improve environmental sustainability. Moreover, the innovative features incorporated in the newly designed PV-RO plant prototype are focusing on improving the cost effectiveness of producing drinkable water in remote areas. This is achieved by maximizing energy yield through an integrated automatic single axis PV tracking system with programmed tilting angle adjustment. An autonomous cleaning system for PV modules is adopted for maximizing energy generation efficiency. RO plant components are selected so as to produce 4-5 m3/day of potable water. A basic criterion in the design of this PV-RO prototype is to produce a minimum amount of fresh water by running the plant during peak sun hours. Mobility of the system will provide potable water to isolated villages and population as well as ability to provide good drinking water to different number of people from any source that is not drinkable.

Keywords: design, reverse osmosis, photovoltaic, energy, desalination, Egypt

Procedia PDF Downloads 560
2034 Performance Evaluation of Routing Protocol in Cognitive Radio with Multi Technological Environment

Authors: M. Yosra, A. Mohamed, T. Sami

Abstract:

Over the past few years, mobile communication technologies have seen significant evolution. This fact promoted the implementation of many systems in a multi-technological setting. From one system to another, the Quality of Service (QoS) provided to mobile consumers gets better. The growing number of normalized standards extends the available services for each consumer, moreover, most of the available radio frequencies have already been allocated, such as 3G, Wifi, Wimax, and LTE. A study by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that certain frequency bands are partially occupied in particular locations and times. So, the idea of Cognitive Radio (CR) is to share the spectrum between a primary user (PU) and a secondary user (SU). The main objective of this spectrum management is to achieve a maximum rate of exploitation of the radio spectrum. In general, the CR can greatly improve the quality of service (QoS) and improve the reliability of the link. The problem will reside in the possibility of proposing a technique to improve the reliability of the wireless link by using the CR with some routing protocols. However, users declared that the links were unreliable and that it was an incompatibility with QoS. In our case, we choose the QoS parameter "bandwidth" to perform a supervised classification. In this paper, we propose a comparative study between some routing protocols, taking into account the variation of different technologies on the existing spectral bandwidth like 3G, WIFI, WIMAX, and LTE. Due to the simulation results, we observe that LTE has significantly higher availability bandwidth compared with other technologies. The performance of the OLSR protocol is better than other on-demand routing protocols (DSR, AODV and DSDV), in LTE technology because of the proper receiving of packets, less packet drop and the throughput. Numerous simulations of routing protocols have been made using simulators such as NS3.

Keywords: cognitive radio, multi technology, network simulator (NS3), routing protocol

Procedia PDF Downloads 51
2033 The Use of Bleomycin and Analogues to Probe the Chromatin Structure of Human Genes

Authors: Vincent Murray

Abstract:

The chromatin structure at the transcription start sites (TSSs) of genes is very important in the control of gene expression. In order for gene expression to occur, the chromatin structure at the TSS has to be altered so that the transcriptional machinery can be assembled and RNA transcripts can be produced. In particular, the nucleosome structure and positioning around the TSS has to be changed. Bleomycin is utilized as an anti-tumor agent to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and testicular cancer. Bleomycin produces DNA damage in human cells and DNA strand breaks, especially double-strand breaks, are thought to be responsible for the cancer chemotherapeutic activity of bleomycin. Bleomycin is a large glycopeptide with molecular weight of approximately 1500 Daltons and hence its DNA strand cleavage activity can be utilized as a probe of chromatin structure. In this project, Illumina next-generation DNA sequencing technology was used to determine the position of DNA double-strand breaks at the TSSs of genes in intact cells. In this genome-wide study, it was found that bleomycin cleavage preferentially occurred at the TSSs of actively transcribed human genes in comparison with non-transcribed genes. There was a correlation between the level of enhanced bleomycin cleavage at TSSs and the degree of transcriptional activity. In addition, bleomycin was able to determine the position of nucleosomes at the TSSs of human genes. Bleomycin analogues were also utilized as probes of chromatin structure at the TSSs of human genes. In a similar manner to bleomycin, the bleomycin analogues 6′-deoxy-BLM Z and zorbamycin preferentially cleaved at the TSSs of human genes. Interestingly this degree of enhanced TSS cleavage inversely correlated with the cytotoxicity (IC50 values) of BLM analogues. This indicated that the degree of cleavage by bleomycin analogues at the TSSs of human genes was very important in the cytotoxicity of bleomycin and analogues. It also provided a deeper insight into the mechanism of action of this cancer chemotherapeutic agent since actively transcribed genes were preferentially targeted.

Keywords: anti-cancer activity, chromatin structure, cytotoxicity, gene expression, next-generation DNA sequencing

Procedia PDF Downloads 110
2032 Application of Host Factors as Biomarker in Early Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Authors: Ambrish Tiwari, Sudhasini Panda, Archana Singh, Kalpana Luthra, S. K. Sharma

Abstract:

Introduction: On the basis of available literature we know that various host factors play a role in outcome of Tuberculosis (TB) infection by modulating innate immunity. One such factor is Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase enzyme (iNOS) which help in the production of Nitric Oxide (NO), an antimicrobial agent. Expression of iNOS is in control of various host factors in which Vitamin D along with its nuclear receptor Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is one of them. Vitamin D along with its receptor also produces cathelicidin (antimicrobicidal agent). With this background, we attempted to investigate the levels of Vitamin D and NO along with their associated molecules in tuberculosis patients and household contacts as compared to healthy controls and assess the implication of these findings in susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB). Study subjects and methods: 100 active TB patients, 75 household contacts, and 70 healthy controls were taken. VDR and iNOS mRNA levels were studied using real-time PCR. Serum VDR, cathelicidin, iNOS levels were measured using ELISA. Serum Vitamin D levels were measured in serum samples using chemiluminescence based immunoassay. NO was measured using colorimetry based kit. Results: VDR and iNOS mRNA levels were found to be lower in active TB group compared to household contacts and healthy controls (P=0.0001 and 0.005 respectively). The serum levels of Vitamin D were also found to be lower in active TB group as compared to healthy controls (P =0.001). Levels of cathelicidin and NO was higher in patient group as compared to other groups (p=0.01 and 0.5 respectively). However, the expression of VDR and iNOS and levels of vitamin D was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in household contacts compared to both active TB and healthy control groups. Inference: Higher levels of Vitamin D along with VDR and iNOS expression in household contacts as compared to patients suggest that vitamin D might have a protective role against TB which prevents activation of the disease. From our data, we can conclude that decreased vitamin D levels could be implicated in disease progression and we can use cathelicidin and NO as a biomarker for early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Keywords: vitamin D, VDR, iNOS, tuberculosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 294
2031 Faculty Attendance Management System (FAMS)

Authors: G. C. Almiranez, J. Mercado, L. U. Aumentado, J. M. Mahaguay, J. P. Cruz, M. L. Saballe

Abstract:

This research project focused on the development of an application that aids the university administrators to establish an efficient and effective system in managing faculty attendance and discourage unnecessary absences. The Faculty Attendance Management System (FAMS) is a web based and mobile application which is proven to be efficient and effective in handling and recording data, generating updated reports and analytics needed in managing faculty attendance. The FAMS can facilitate not only a convenient and faster way of gathering and recording of data but it can also provide data analytics, immediate feedback system mechanism and analysis. The software database architecture uses MySQL for web based and SQLite for mobile applications. The system includes different modules that capture daily attendance of faculty members, generate faculty attendance reports and analytics, absences notification system for faculty members, chairperson and dean regarding absences, and immediate communication system concerning the absences incurred. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation showed that the system satisfactory meet the stakeholder’s requirements. The functionality, usability, reliability, performance, and security all turned out to be above average. System testing, integration testing and user acceptance testing had been conducted. Results showed that the system performed very satisfactory and functions as designed. Performance of the system is also affected by Internet infrastructure or connectivity of the university. The faculty analytics generated from the system may not only be used by Deans and Chairperson in their evaluation of faculty performance but as well as the individual faculty to increase awareness on their attendance in class. Hence, the system facilitates effective communication between system stakeholders through FAMS feedback mechanism and up to date posting of information.

Keywords: faculty attendance management system, MySQL, SQLite, FAMS, analytics

Procedia PDF Downloads 430
2030 An Evaluation of the Influence of Corn Cob Ash on the Strength Parameters of Lateritic SoiLs

Authors: O. A. Apampa, Y. A. Jimoh

Abstract:

The paper reports the investigation of Corn Cob Ash as a chemical stabilizing agent for laterite soils. Corn cob feedstock was obtained from Maya, a rural community in the derived savannah agro-ecological zone of South-Western Nigeria and burnt to ashes of pozzolanic quality. Reddish brown silty clayey sand material characterized as AASHTO A-2-6(3) lateritic material was obtained from a borrow pit in Abeokuta and subjected to strength characterization tests according to BS 1377: 2000. The soil was subsequently mixed with CCA in varying percentages of 0-7.5% at 1.5% intervals. The influence of CCA stabilized soil was determined for the Atterberg limits, compaction characteristics, CBR and the unconfined compression strength. The tests were repeated on laterite cement-soil mixture in order to establish a basis for comparison. The result shows a similarity in the compaction characteristics of soil-cement and soil-CCA. With increasing addition of binder from 1.5% to 7.5%, Maximum Dry Density progressively declined while the OMC steadily increased. For the CBR, the maximum positive impact was observed at 1.5% CCA addition at a value of 85% compared to the control value of 65% for the cement stabilization, but declined steadily thereafter with increasing addition of CCA, while that of soil-cement continued to increase with increasing addition of cement beyond 1.5% though at a relatively slow rate. Similar behavior was observed in the UCS values for the soil-CCA mix, increasing from a control value of 0.4 MN/m2 to 1.0 MN/m2 at 1.5% CCA and declining thereafter, while that for soil-cement continued to increase with increasing cement addition, but at a slower rate. This paper demonstrates that CCA is effective for chemical stabilization of a typical Nigerian AASHTO A-2-6 lateritic soil at maximum stabilizer content limit of 1.5% and therefore recommends its use as a way of finding further application for agricultural waste products and achievement of environmental sustainability in line with the ideals of the millennium development goals because of the economic and technical feasibility of the processing of the cobs from corn.

Keywords: corn cob ash, pozzolan, cement, laterite, stabilizing agent, cation exchange capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 283
2029 The South African Polycentric Water Resource Governance-Management Nexus: Parlaying an Institutional Agent and Structured Social Engagement

Authors: J. H. Boonzaaier, A. C. Brent

Abstract:

South Africa, a water scarce country, experiences the phenomenon that its life supporting natural water resources is seriously threatened by the users that are totally dependent on it. South Africa is globally applauded to have of the best and most progressive water laws and policies. There are however growing concerns regarding natural water resource quality deterioration and a critical void in the management of natural resources and compliance to policies due to increasing institutional uncertainties and failures. These are in accordance with concerns of many South African researchers and practitioners that call for a change in paradigm from talk to practice and a more constructive, practical approach to governance challenges in the management of water resources. A qualitative theory-building case study through longitudinal action research was conducted from 2014 to 2017. The research assessed whether a strategic positioned institutional agent can be parlayed to facilitate and execute WRM on catchment level by engaging multiple stakeholders in a polycentric setting. Through a critical realist approach a distinction was made between ex ante self-deterministic human behaviour in the realist realm, and ex post governance-management in the constructivist realm. A congruence analysis, including Toulmin’s method of argumentation analysis, was utilised. The study evaluated the unique case of a self-steering local water management institution, the Impala Water Users Association (WUA) in the Pongola River catchment in the northern part of the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Exploiting prevailing water resource threats, it expanded its ancillary functions from 20,000 to 300,000 ha. Embarking on WRM activities, it addressed natural water system quality assessments, social awareness, knowledge support, and threats, such as: soil erosion, waste and effluent into water systems, coal mining, and water security dimensions; through structured engagement with 21 different catchment stakeholders. By implementing a proposed polycentric governance-management model on a catchment scale, the WUA achieved to fill the void. It developed a foundation and capacity to protect the resilience of the natural environment that is critical for freshwater resources to ensure long-term water security of the Pongola River basin. Further work is recommended on appropriate statutory delegations, mechanisms of sustainable funding, sufficient penetration of knowledge to local levels to catalyse behaviour change, incentivised support from professionals, back-to-back expansion of WUAs to alleviate scale and cost burdens, and the creation of catchment data monitoring and compilation centres.

Keywords: institutional agent, water governance, polycentric water resource management, water resource management

Procedia PDF Downloads 123
2028 Comparison of Pbs/Zns Quantum Dots Synthesis Methods

Authors: Mahbobeh Bozhmehrani, Afshin Farah Bakhsh

Abstract:

Nanoparticles with PbS core of 12 nm and shell of approximately 3 nm were synthesized at PbS:ZnS ratios of 1.01:0.1 using Merca Ptopropionic Acid as stabilizing agent. PbS/ZnS nanoparticles present a dramatically increase of Photoluminescence intensity, confirming the confinement of the PbS core by increasing the Quantum Yield from 0.63 to 0.92 by the addition of the ZnS shell. In this case, the synthesis by microwave method allows obtaining nanoparticles with enhanced optical characteristics than those of nanoparticles synthesized by colloidal method.

Keywords: Pbs/Zns, quantum dots, colloidal method, microwave

Procedia PDF Downloads 275