Search results for: small baseline area subset (SBAS)

Authors: Mayuva Youngsabanant-Areekijseree, Chanikarn Srinark, S. Sengsai, Mayuree Pumipaiboon

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Our project was aimed at morphology of oocytes, follicle cells and follicular fluid proteins study of Large White pig (at local slaughter house in Nakhon Pathom Province). The porcine oocytes and follicular fluid of healthy small follicles (1-2 mm), medium follicles (3-6 mm in diameters) and large follicles (7-8 mm and 10 mm in diameter) were aspirated and collected from the ovary by sterile technique. Then, the oocytes and the follicle cells were separated from the fluid. The oocytes were round shape and surrounded by zona pellucida with numerous layers of cumulus cells. Based on the number of cumulus cell layers surrounding oocytes, the oocytes were classified into 5 types, which were intact-, multi-, partial-cumulus layer oocyte, completely denuded oocyte and degenerative oocyte. The collected oocytes showed high percentages of intact- and multi- cumulus cell layers in the small follicles (53.48%) medium follicles (56.94%) and large follicles (56.52%) which have high potential to develop into mature oocytes in vitro. Proteins from follicular fluid of 3 size follicles were separated by SDS-PAGE and LC/MS/MS. The molecular weight of follicular fluid proteins from the small follicles were 24, 60-65, 79, 110, 140, 160, and > 220 kDa. Meanwhile, the follicular fluid protein from medium and large follicle contained 52, 65, 79, 90, 110, 120, 160, 190 and > 220 kDa. Almost all proteins played important roles in promoting and regulating growth and development of oocytes and ovulation. This finding was an initial tool for in vitro testing and applied biotechnology research. Acknowledgements: The project was funded by a grant from Silpakorn University Research & Development Institute (SURDI) and Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Thailand.

Keywords: follicular fluid protein, LC/MS/MS, porcine oocyte, SDS-PAGE, reproductive biology

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Sakapas Saengchai

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A Study on Strengthening the Security of the Thai-Myanmar Border Trade Area of the people in the Mae Sot customs checkpoint area, Tak province, was designed as a qualitative research study. Its objectives were to study the principles of strengthening border trade security and enhancing people's participation. To develop a border trade model that enhances the spatial economy and improves people's quality of life by collecting data using a participant observation method. In-depth interview group chats border checkpoint administrators, Mae Sot customs checkpoint, Tak province, private entrepreneurs, community leaders, and the opening of a community forum to exchange opinions with people in the area. The results of the study found that 1. Security development is to promote crime reduction. Reduce drug trafficking problems Smuggling and human trafficking have been reduced. Including planning and preparation to protect people from terrorism, epidemics, and communicable diseases, including cooperation with Burma on border rules for people and workers, 2. Wealth development is to promote investment. Transport links value chain logistics Cross-border goods and services on the Thai-Myanmar border Both amending regulations and laws to promote fair trade. Emphasis on convenient and fast service as well as promoting the Thai border area to be a tourist attraction that can create prosperity and income for the community in the area By using balanced natural resources, with production and consumption that are environmentally friendly, and emphasizes the participation of the public sector, the private sector, and people from all sectors in the sustainable development of the Thai border.

Keywords: security, border trade, customs, participation, people

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Roman Knizek, Denisa Karhankova, Ludmila Fridrichova

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For their exceptional properties nanofibers, respectively, nanofiber layers are achieving an increasingly wider range of uses. Nowadays nanofibers are used mainly in the field of air filtration where they are removing submicron particles, bacteria, and viruses. Their efficiency is not changed in time, and the power consumption is much lower than that of electrically charged filters. Nanofibers are primarily used for converting and storage of energy in both air and liquid filtration, in food and packaging, protecting the environment, but also in health care which is made possible by their newly discovered properties. However, a major problem of the nanofiber layer is practically zero abrasion resistance; it is, therefore, necessary to laminate the nanofiber layer with another suitable material. Unfortunately, lamination of nanofiber layers is a major problem since the nanofiber layer contains small pores through which it is very difficult for adhesion to pass through. Therefore, there is still only a small percentage of products with these unique fibers 5.

Keywords: nanofiber layer, nanomembrane, lamination, electrospinning

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Authors: Amanda Coleman, Estefanía Gonzalez

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Empathy is considered an essential skill for engaging with social work clients. Drawing from developments in medical education, researchers will conduct and evaluate a three-part pilot theatre workshop with master level social work students (n ≈ 30) to evaluate the workshop's ability to enhance empathy among participants. Outcomes will be measured using semi-structured post-intervention interviews with a subset of participants (n ≈ 10) as well post-intervention written reflections and pre-and-post intervention quantitative evaluation of empathy using King and Holosko’s 2011 Empathy Scale for Social Workers. The content of the workshop will differ from traditional role plays, which are common in social work education, in that it will draw from role theory and research on creative empathy to emphasize role reversal with clients. Workshops will be held February and March of 2017 with preliminary findings available by April.

Keywords: education, empathy, social work, theatre

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Kbrom Mearg Haile

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Introduction: Membrane fouling is the bottleneck for the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) robust continuous operation, primarily caused by the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) characteristics formed by aggregated flocs and a scaffold of microbial self-produced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which dictates the flocs integrity. Accordingly, the adhesion of EPS to the membrane surface versus their role in forming firm, elastic, and mechanically stable flocs under the reactor’s hydraulic shear is critical for minimizing interactions between EPS and colloids originating from the MLSS flocs with the membrane. This study aims to gain insight and investigate the effect of MLSS flocs properties, EPS adhesion and viscoelasticity, viscoelastic properties of the sludge, and membrane fouling propensity. Experimental: As a working hypothesis, to alter the aforementioned flocs’ and EPS’s properties, the addition of either coagulant or surfactant was carried out during the AnMBR operation. In the AnMBR, two flat-sheet 300 kDa pore size polyether sulfone (PES) membranes with a total filtration area of 352 cm2 were immersed in the AnMBR system treating municipal wastewater of Midreshet Ben-Gurion village at the Negev highlands, Israel. The system temperature, pH, biogas recirculation, and hydraulic retention time were regulated. TMP fluctuations during a 30-day experiment were recorded under three operating conditions: Baseline (without the addition of coagulating or dispersing agent), coagulant addition (FeCl3), and surfactant addition (sodium dodecyl sulfate). At the end of each experiment, EPS were extracted from the MLSS and from the fouled membrane, characterized for their protein, polysaccharides, and DOC contents, and correlated with the fouling tendency of the submerged UF membrane. The EPS adherence and viscoelastic properties were revealed using QCM-D via the PES-coated gold sensor used as a membrane-mimicking surface providing a detailed real-time EPS adhesion. The associated shifts in the resonance frequency and dissipation at different overtones were further modeled using the Voigt-based viscoelastic model (using Dfind software, Q-Sense Biolin Scientific) in which the thickness, shear modulus, and shear viscosity values of the adsorbed EPS layers on the PES coated sensor were calculated. Results and discussion: The observations obtained from the QCM-D analysis indicate a greater decrease in the frequency shift for the elevated membrane fouling scenarios, likely due to an observed decrease in the calculated shear viscosity and shear modulus of the EPS adsorbed layer, coupled with an increase in EPS layer hydrated thickness and fluidity (ΔD/Δf slopes). Further analysis is being conducted for the three major operating conditions-analyzing their effects on sludge rheology, dewaterability (capillary suction time-CST) and settle ability (SVI). The biofouling layer is further characterized microscopically using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), for analyzing the consistency of the development of the biofouling layer with sludge characteristics, i.e., thicker biofouling layer on the membrane surface when operated with surfactant addition, due to flocs with reduced integrity and availability of EPS/colloids to the membrane. Conversely, a thinner layer when operated with coagulant compared to the baseline experiment, due to elevation in flocs integrity.

Keywords: viscoelasticity, biofouling, viscoelastic, AnMBR, EPS, elocintegrity

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Authors: Nadia E. Christiana, Azzahra A. N. Ginting, Ardhito Nurcahya, Havisa P. Novira

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One of the quickest ways to do a short trip in urban areas is by walking, either individually, in couple or groups. Walkability nowadays becomes one of the parameters to measure the quality of an urban neighborhood. As a Central Business District and public transport transit hub, Dukuh Atas area becomes one of the highest numbers of commuters that pass by the area and interchange between transportation modes daily. Thus, as a public transport hub, a lot of investment should be focused to speed up the development of the area that would support urban transit activity between transportation modes, one of them is revitalizing pedestrian walkways. The purpose of this research is to formulate the visual design concept of 'Walkable City' based on the results of the observation and a series of rankings. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to accomplish several stages of the research that consists of (1) Identifying the system of pedestrian paths in Dukuh Atas area using descriptive qualitative method (2) Analyzing the sidewalk walkability rate according to the perception and the walkability satisfaction rate using the characteristics of pedestrians and non-pedestrians in Dukuh Atas area by using Global Walkability Index analysis and Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis (3) Analyzing the factors that determine the integration of pedestrian walkways in Dukuh Atas area using descriptive qualitative method. The results achieved in this study is that the walkability level of Dukuh Atas corridor area is 44.45 where the value is included in the classification of 25-49, which is a bit of facility that can be reached by foot. Furthermore, based on the questionnaire, satisfaction rate of pedestrian walkway in Dukuh Atas area reached a number of 64%. It is concluded that commuters have not been fully satisfied with the condition of the sidewalk. Besides, the factors that influence the integration in Dukuh Atas area have been reasonable as it is supported by the utilization of land and modes such as KRL, Busway, and MRT. From the results of all analyzes conducted, the visual design and the application of the concept of walkable city along the pathway pedestrian corridor of Dukuh Atas area are formulated. Achievement of the results of this study amounted to 80% which needs to be done further review of the results of the analysis. The work of this research is expected to be a recommendation or input for the government in the development of pedestrian paths in maximizing the use of public transportation modes.

Keywords: design, global walkability index, mass rapid transit, walkable city

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Habtamu Ayenew Asegie

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Wealth, as opposed to income or consumption, implies a more stable and permanent status. Due to natural and human-made difficulties, households' economies will be diminished, and their well-being will fall into trouble. Hence, governments and humanitarian agencies offer considerable resources for poverty and malnutrition reduction efforts. One key factor in the effectiveness of such efforts is the accuracy with which low-income or poor populations can be identified. As a result, this study aims to predict a household’s wealth status using ensemble Machine learning (ML) algorithms. In this study, design science research methodology (DSRM) is employed, and four ML algorithms, Random Forest (RF), Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Light Gradient Boosted Machine (LightGBM), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), have been used to train models. The Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) dataset is accessed for this purpose from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA)'s database. Various data pre-processing techniques were employed, and the model training has been conducted using the scikit learn Python library functions. Model evaluation is executed using various metrics like Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1-score, area under curve-the receiver operating characteristics (AUC-ROC), and subjective evaluations of domain experts. An optimal subset of hyper-parameters for the algorithms was selected through the grid search function for the best prediction. The RF model has performed better than the rest of the algorithms by achieving an accuracy of 96.06% and is better suited as a solution model for our purpose. Following RF, LightGBM, XGBoost, and AdaBoost algorithms have an accuracy of 91.53%, 88.44%, and 58.55%, respectively. The findings suggest that some of the features like ‘Age of household head’, ‘Total children ever born’ in a family, ‘Main roof material’ of their house, ‘Region’ they lived in, whether a household uses ‘Electricity’ or not, and ‘Type of toilet facility’ of a household are determinant factors to be a focal point for economic policymakers. The determinant risk factors, extracted rules, and designed artifact achieved 82.28% of the domain expert’s evaluation. Overall, the study shows ML techniques are effective in predicting the wealth status of households.

Keywords: ensemble machine learning, households wealth status, predictive model, wealth status prediction

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Authors: Rinat Arbel-Goren, Joel Stavans

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Cell-to-cell variations in transcript or protein abundance, called noise, may give rise to phenotypic variability between isogenic cells, enhancing the probability of survival under stress conditions. These variations may be introduced by post-transcriptional regulatory processes such as non-coding, small RNAs stoichiometric degradation of target transcripts in bacteria. We study the iron homeostasis network in Escherichia coli, in which the RyhB small RNA regulates the expression of various targets as a model system. Using fluorescence reporter genes to detect protein levels and single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization to monitor transcripts levels in individual cells, allows us to compare noise at both transcript and protein levels. The experimental results and computer simulations show that extrinsic noise buffers through a feed-forward loop configuration the increase in variability introduced at the transcript level by iron deprivation, illuminating the important role that extrinsic noise plays during stress. Surprisingly, extrinsic noise also decouples of fluctuations of two different targets, in spite of RyhB being a common upstream factor degrading both. Thus, phenotypic variability increases under stress conditions by the decoupling of target fluctuations in the same cell rather than by increasing the noise of each. We also present preliminary results on the adaptation of cells to prolonged iron deprivation in order to shed light on the evolutionary role of post-transcriptional downregulation by small RNAs.

Keywords: cell-to-cell variability, Escherichia coli, noise, single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH), transcript

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Bello Gonzalez T. D. J., Setten Van M., Essen Van A., Brouwer M., Veldman K. T.

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Resistance to fluoroquinolones (FQ) has evolved increasingly over the years, posing a significant challenge for the treatment of human infections, particularly gastrointestinal tract infections caused by zoonotic bacteria transmitted through the food chain and environment. In broiler chickens, a relatively high proportion of FQ resistance has been observed in Escherichia coli indicator, Salmonella and Campylobacter isolates. We hypothesize that flumequine (Flu), used as a secondary choice for the treatment of poultry infections, could potentially be associated with a high proportion of FQ resistance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we used an in vitro fermentation chicken caeca model. Two continuous single-stage fermenters were used to simulate in real time the physiological conditions of the chicken caeca microbial content (temperature, pH, caecal content mixing, and anoxic environment). A pool of chicken caecal content containing FQ-resistant E. coli obtained from chickens at slaughter age was used as inoculum along with a spiked FQ-susceptible Campylobacter jejuni strain isolated from broilers. Flu was added to one of the fermenters (Flu-fermenter) every 24 hours for two days to evaluate the selection and maintenance of FQ resistance over time, while the other served as a control (C-Fermenter). The experiment duration was 5 days. Samples were collected at three different time points: before, during and after Flu administration. Serial dilutions were plated on Butzler culture media with and without Flu (8mg/L) and enrofloxacin (4mg/L) and on MacConkey culture media with and without Flu (4mg/L) and enrofloxacin (1mg/L) to determine the proportion of resistant strains over time. Positive cultures were identified by mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). A subset of the obtained isolates were used for Whole Genome Sequencing analysis. Over time, E. coli exhibited positive growth in both fermenters, while C. jejuni growth was detected up to day 3. The proportion of Flu-resistant E. coli strains recovered remained consistent over time after antibiotic selective pressure, while in the C-fermenter, a decrease was observed at day 5; a similar pattern was observed in the enrofloxacin-resistant E. coli strains. This suggests that Flu might play a role in the selection and persistence of enrofloxacin resistance, compared to C-fermenter, where enrofloxacin-resistant E. coli strains appear at a later time. Furthermore, positive growth was detected from both fermenters only on Butzler plates without antibiotics. A subset of C. jejuni strains from the Flu-fermenter revealed that those strains were susceptible to ciprofloxacin (MIC < 0.12 μg/mL). A selection of E. coli strains from both fermenters revealed the presence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) (qnr-B19) in only one strain from the C-fermenter belonging to sequence type (ST) 48, and in all from Flu-fermenter belonged to ST189. Our results showed that Flu selective impact on PMQR-positive E. coli strains, while no effect was observed in C. jejuni. Maintenance of Flu-resistance was correlated with antibiotic selective pressure. Further studies into antibiotic resistance gene transfer among commensal and zoonotic bacteria in the chicken caeca content may help to elucidate the resistance spread mechanisms.

Keywords: fluoroquinolone-resistance, escherichia coli, campylobacter jejuni, in vitro model

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Authors: Ziaullah, Shah Wahab Ali

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Micro-grid equipped with heterogeneous energy resources present the idea of small scale distributed energy management (DEM). DEM helps in minimizing the transmission and operation costs, power management and peak load demands. Micro-grids are collections of small, independent controllable power-generating units and renewable energy resources. Micro-grids also motivate to enable active customer participation by giving accessibility of real-time information and control to the customer. The capability of fast restoration against faulty situation, integration of renewable energy resources and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) make micro-grid as an ideal system for distributed power systems. Micro-grids can have a bank of energy storage devices. The energy management system of micro-grid can perform real-time energy forecasting of renewable resources, energy storage elements and controllable loads in making proper short-term scheduling to minimize total operating costs. We present a review of existing micro-grids optimization objectives/goals, constraints, solution approaches and tools used in micro-grids for energy management. Cost-benefit analysis of micro-grid reveals that cooperation among different micro-grids can play a vital role in the reduction of import energy cost and system stability. Cooperative micro-grids energy trading is an approach to electrical distribution energy resources that allows local energy demands more control over the optimization of power resources and uses. Cooperation among different micro-grids brings the interconnectivity and power trading issues. According to the literature, it shows that open area of research is available for cooperative micro-grids energy trading. In this paper, we proposed and formulated the efficient energy management/trading module for interconnected micro-grids. It is believed that this research will open new directions in future for energy trading in cooperative micro-grids/interconnected micro-grids.

Keywords: distributed energy management, information and communication technologies, microgrid, energy management

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: Vahid Bairami Rad

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Extracting knowledge from spatial data like GIS data is important to reduce the data and extract information. Therefore, the development of new techniques and tools that support the human in transforming data into useful knowledge has been the focus of the relatively new and interdisciplinary research area ‘knowledge discovery in databases’. Thus, we introduce a set of database primitives or basic operations for spatial data mining which are sufficient to express most of the spatial data mining algorithms from the literature. This approach has several advantages. Similar to the relational standard language SQL, the use of standard primitives will speed-up the development of new data mining algorithms and will also make them more portable. We introduced a database-oriented framework for spatial data mining which is based on the concepts of neighborhood graphs and paths. A small set of basic operations on these graphs and paths were defined as database primitives for spatial data mining. Furthermore, techniques to efficiently support the database primitives by a commercial DBMS were presented.

Keywords: spatial data base, knowledge discovery database, data mining, spatial relationship, predictive data mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: G. A. Gevorgyan, K. A. Ghazaryan, T. H. Derdzyan

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The heavy metal pollution of the soils around the mining area near Shamlugh town and related risks to human health were assessed. The investigations showed that the soils were polluted with heavy metals that can be ranked by anthropogenic pollution degree as follows: Cu>Pb>As>Co>Ni>Zn. The main sources of the anthropogenic metal pollution of the soils were the copper mining area near Shamlugh town, the Chochkan tailings storage facility and the trucks transferring are from the mining area. Copper pollution degree in some observation sites was unallowable for agricultural production. The total non-carcinogenic chronic hazard index (THI) values in some places, including observation sites in Shamlugh town, were above the safe level (THI<1) for children living in this territory. Although the highest heavy metal enrichment degree in the soils was registered in case of copper, the highest health risks to humans especially children were posed by cobalt which is explained by the fact that heavy metals have different toxicity levels and penetration characteristics.

Keywords: Armenia, copper mine, heavy metal pollution of soil, health risks

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Authors: Benhamza Moussa, Aissaoui Marwa, Touati Mounira, Chaoui Widad

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The Guelma-Bouchegouf irrigated area is located in the northeast of Algeria, and it extends about 80 km. It was commissioned in 1996, with an irrigable area of 9250 ha, it spreads on both banks of the Seybouse Wadi and it is subdivided into five autonomous distribution sectors. In order to assess the state of groundwater quality, the results of the chemical analyzes were plotted on the Piper diagram, which shows that the chemical facies are sulfate-calcium chloride and sulfate-calcium with a slight tendency to migrate to chlorinated sulphate - sodium. The predominance of sulphates in the waters of the region is geologically explained by the existence in the Guelma Basin of evaporitic deposits, which are mainly represented by rock salt and gypsum. In addition to this natural origin, we can mention the anthropogenic origin, following the use of chemical fertilizers in the Guelma-Bouchegouf irrigated area. Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ show moderate to significant mineralization of water, closely correlated with very high conductivities. The values of the recorded conductivities vary from 1360 μs / cm (P3) to 4610 μs / cm (P10). These important values are due to dissolved salts on the one hand and the leaching of fertilizers by irrigation water on the other hand. NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ show little to significant pollution throughout the study area. Phosphate represents significant pollution, with excessive values far exceeding the allowable standard. With respect to ammonium, 87% of the sampling points present little pollution and 13 % significant pollution. Regarding phosphates, in the form of PO₄³⁻, groundwater in the study area represents significant pollution; all values far exceed the allowable standard.

Keywords: groundwater, organic parameters, standards, Pollution

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Authors: Agholor Deborah Ewere, Emmanuel Ade, Seriki Idowu

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The role women entrepreneur plays to combat unemployment should not be underestimated, especially in countries with growing unemployment rates such as South Africa. Women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to economic development in South Africa, but their contribution has not been adequately studied and developed. Hence, the study identified business strategies adopted by women entrepreneurs to sustain growth and development of entrepreneurship. Survey research design approach was adopted and convenience sampling method was used for sample selection. The structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The findings revealed some of the operational challenges women entrepreneur faced to include lack of finance, marketing skills and planning and also showed that the strategies adopted by women entrepreneurs have a positive effect on the success of small businesses. It was recommended among others that the women entrepreneurs should take some time to study the nature of challenges other women have faced in business and possibly provide solutions to such issues before starting their own business. It was however concluded that unless the operational challenges named above are resolved, the role of women entrepreneurs in the developing nations will continue to experience deprived economic growth, development and display substandard competitiveness.

Keywords: business, entrepreneurs, small, strategies, success, women

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Authors: Amari Khaoula, Berrahou Mohamed

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The topic of our article revolves around a numerical and comparative analysis between two notched Boron/epoxy plates that are U-shaped and the other V-shaped, cracked, and repaired by a rectangular patch of the same composite material; the finite element method was used for the analytical study and comparison of the results obtained for determining the optimal shape of notch which will give a longer life to the repair. In this context, we studied the variation of the stress intensity factor, the evolution of the damaged area, and the calculation of the ratio of the damaged area according to the crack length and the concentration of the Von Mises stresses as a function of the lengths of the paths. According to the results obtained, we conclude that the notch plate U is the optimal one than notch plate V because it has lower values either for the stress intensity factor (SIF), damaged area ratio (Dᵣ), or the Von Mises stresses.

Keywords: the notch U, the notch V, the finite element method FEM, comparison, rectangular patch, composite, stress intensity factor, damaged area ratio, Von Mises stresses

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Zixuan Zhao, Lingbin Du, Le Wang, Youqing Wang, Yi Yang, Jingjun Chen, Hengjin Dong

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Objectives: Few results from public attitudes for lung cancer screening are available both in China and abroad. This study aimed to identify preferred lung cancer screening modalities in a Chinese population and predict uptake rates of different modalities. Materials and Methods: A discrete choice experiment questionnaire was administered to 392 Chinese individuals aged 50–74 years who were at high risk for lung cancer. Each choice set had two lung screening options and an option to opt-out, and respondents were asked to choose the most preferred one. Both mixed logit analysis and stepwise logistic analysis were conducted to explore whether preferences were related to respondent characteristics and identify which kinds of respondents were more likely to opt out of any screening. Results: On mixed logit analysis, attributes that were predictive of choice at 1% level of statistical significance included the screening interval, screening venue, and out-of-pocket costs. The preferred screening modality seemed to be screening by low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) + blood test once a year in a general hospital at a cost of RMB 50; this could increase the uptake rate by 0.40 compared to the baseline setting. On stepwise logistic regression, those with no endowment insurance were more likely to opt out; those who were older and housewives/househusbands, and those with a health check habit and with commercial endowment insurance were less likely to opt out from a screening programme. Conclusions: There was considerable variance between real risk and self-perceived risk of lung cancer among respondents, and further research is required in this area. Lung cancer screening uptake can be increased by offering various screening modalities, so as to help policymakers further design the screening modality.

Keywords: lung cancer, screening, China., discrete choice experiment

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Authors: Kerolis Samoul Zaghloul Noaman

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area law is the brand new access in the basket of worldwide law in the latter half of the 20 th Century. inside the last hundred and fifty years, courts and pupils advanced a consensus that, the custom is an vital supply of global law. Article 38(1) (b) of the statute of the international court of Justice identified global custom as a supply of global law. country practices and usages have a more role to play in formulating commonplace international regulation. This paper examines those country practices which may be certified to emerge as global standard law. due to the fact that, 1979 (after Moon Treaty) no hard law had been developed within the vicinity of space exploration. It attempts to link among country practices and custom in area exploration and development of standard global regulation in area activities. The paper makes use of doctrinal approach of felony research for inspecting the current questions of worldwide regulation. The paper explores exceptional worldwide prison files which include general meeting Resolutions, Treaty standards, working papers of UN, cases relating to commonplace global law and writing of jurists regarding area law and standard international law. it's far argued that, ideas such as common background of mankind, non-navy region, sovereign equality, nuclear weapon unfastened area and protection of outer area environment, etc. evolved nation practices a number of the worldwide community which can be certified to turn out to be international customary regulation.

Keywords: social networks privacy issues, social networks security issues, social networks privacy precautions measures, social networks security precautions measures

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Authors: T. H. N. Nguyen, A. Khodan, M. Amamra, J-V. Vignes, A. Kanaev

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The ultraporous nanofibrous alumina (NOA, Al2O3·nH2O) was synthesized by oxidation of laminated aluminium plates through a liquid mercury-silver layer in a humid atmosphere ~80% at 25°C. The material has an extremely high purity (99%), porosity (90%) and specific area (300 m2/g). The subsequent annealing of raw NOA permits obtaining pure transition phase (γ and θ) nanostructured materials. In this combination, we report on chemical, structural and phase transformations of pure and modified NOA by an impregnation of trimethylethoxysilane (TMES) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) during thermal annealing in the temperature range between 20 and 1650°C. The mass density, specific area, average diameter and specific area are analysed. The 3D model of pure NOA monoliths and silica modified NOA is proposed, which successfully describes the evolution of specific area, mass density and phase transformations. Activation energies of the mass transport in two regimes of surface diffusion and bulk sintering were obtained based on this model. We conclude about a common origin of modifications of the NOA morphology, chemical composition and phase transition.

Keywords: nanostructured materials, alumina (Al₂O₃), morphology, phase transitions

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Authors: Asimina Paparrigopoulou, John Pavlopoulos, Maria Konstantinidou

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Dating papyri accurately is crucial not only to editing their texts but also for our understanding of palaeography and the history of writing, ancient scholarship, material culture, networks in antiquity, etc. Most ancient manuscripts offer little evidence regarding the time of their production, forcing papyrologists to date them on palaeographical grounds, a method often criticized for its subjectivity. By experimenting with data obtained from the Collaborative Database of Dateable Greek Bookhands and the PapPal online collections of objectively dated Greek papyri, this study shows that deep learning dating models, pre-trained on generic images, can achieve accurate chronological estimates for a test subset (67,97% accuracy for book hands and 55,25% for documents). To compare the estimates of these models with those of humans, experts were asked to complete a questionnaire with samples of literary and documentary hands that had to be sorted chronologically by century. The same samples were dated by the models in question. The results are presented and analysed.

Keywords: image classification, papyri images, dating

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Authors: Retno Supriyanti, Ays Rahmadian Subhi, Yogi Ramadhani, Haris B. Widodo

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Alzheimer is one type of disease in the elderly that may occur in the world. The severity of the Alzheimer can be measured using a scale called Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) based on a doctor's diagnosis of the patient's condition. Currently, diagnosis of Alzheimer often uses MRI machine, to know the condition of part of the brain called Hippocampus and Ventricle. MRI image itself consists of 3 slices, namely Coronal, Sagittal and Axial. In this paper, we discussed the measurement of the area of the ventricle especially in the Coronal slice based on the severity level referring to the CDR value. We use Active Contour method to segment the ventricle’s region, therefore that ventricle’s area can be calculated automatically. The results show that this method can be used for further development in the automatic diagnosis of Alzheimer.

Keywords: Alzheimer, CDR, coronal, ventricle, active contour

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Authors: Aziez Ouahiba, Remini Boualem, Habi Mohamed

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The growth and the development of a pay are strongly related to the existence or the absence of water in this area, the sedentary lifestyle of the population makes that water demand is increasing and the different brandishing (dams, tablecloths or other) are increasingly solicited. In normal time rain and snow of the winter period reloads the slicks and the wadis that fill dams. Over these two decades, Global warming fact that temperature is increasingly high and rainfall is increasingly low, which induces a charge less and less important tablecloths, add to that the strong demand in irrigation. Our study will focus on the variation of rainfall and irrigation, Their effects on the degree of pollution of the groundwater in this area based on statistical analyses by the Xlstat (ACP, correlation...) software for a better explanation of these results and determine the hydrochemistry of different groups or polluted areas pou be able to offer adequate solutions for each area.

Keywords: water in the basement, legislation, over exploitation, pollution, water prices

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: Saba Rahimi, Ozan Oktay, Javier Alvarez-Valle, Sujeeth Bharadwaj

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Successful application of deep learning in medical image analysis necessitates unprecedented amounts of labeled training data. Unlike conventional 2D applications, radiological images can be three-dimensional (e.g., CT, MRI), consisting of many instances within each image. The problem is exacerbated when expert annotations are required for effective pixel-wise labeling, which incurs exorbitant labeling effort and cost. Active learning is an established research domain that aims to reduce labeling workload by prioritizing a subset of informative unlabeled examples to annotate. Our contribution is a cost-effective approach for U-Net 3D models that uses Monte Carlo sampling to analyze pixel-wise uncertainty. Experiments on the AAPM 2017 lung CT segmentation challenge dataset show that our proposed framework can achieve promising segmentation results by using only 42% of the training data.

Keywords: image segmentation, active learning, convolutional neural network, 3D U-Net

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Authors: Iis Diatin, Yani Hadiroseyani, Muhammad Mujahid, Ahmad Teduh, Juang R. Matangaran

Abstract:

One of silica quarry managed by a mining company is located at Sukabumi District of West Java Province Indonesia with an area of approximately 70 hectares. Since 2013 this company stopped the mining activities. The company tries to restore the ecosystem post-mining with rehabilitation activities such as reclamation and revegetation of their ex-mining area. After three years planting the area the trees grown well. Not only planting some tree species but also some cover crop has covered the soil surface. There are two settling ponds located in the middle of the ex-mining area. Those settling pond were built in order to prevent the effect of acid mine drainage. Acid mine drainage (AMD) or the acidic water is created when sulphide minerals are exposed to air and water and through a natural chemical reaction produce sulphuric acid. AMD is the main pollutant at the open pit mining. The objective of the research was to analyze the effect of revegetation on water quality change at the settling pond. The physical and chemical of water quality parameter were measured and analysed at site and at the laboratory. Physical parameter such as temperature, turbidity and total organic matter were analyse. Also heavy metal and some other chemical parameter such as dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, pH, total ammonia nitrogen, nitrate and nitrite were analysed. The result showed that the acidity of first settling pond was higher than that of the second settling pond. Both settling pond water’s contained heavy metal. The turbidity and total organic matter were the parameter of water quality which become better after revegetation.

Keywords: acid mine drainage, ex-mining area, revegetation, settling pond, water quality

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Authors: Nolitha L. Skenjana, Bongani P. Kubheka, Maxwell A. Poswal

Abstract:

The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is characterized by subsistence farming, which is mostly distributed in the rural areas of the province. It is estimated that cereal crops such as maize and sorghum, and vegetables such as cabbage are grown in more than 400.000 rural households, with maize being the most dominant crop. However, compared to commercial agriculture, small-scale farmers receive minimal support from research and development, limited technology transfer on the latest production practices and systems and have poor production infrastructure and equipment. Similarly, there is limited farmers' appreciation on best practices in insect pest management and control. The paper presents findings from the primary literature and personal observations on insect pest management practices of small-scale farmers in the province. Inferences from literature and personal experiences in the production areas have led to a number of deductions regarding the level of exposure and extent of vulnerability. Farmers' pest management practices, which included not controlling at all though there is a pest problem, resulted in their crop stands to be more vulnerable to pest attacks. This became more evident with the recent brown locust, African armyworm, and Fall armyworm outbreaks, and with the incidences of opportunistic phytophagous insects previously collected on wild hosts only, found causing serious damages on crops. In most of these occurrences, damage to crops resulted in low or no yield. Improvements on farmers' reaction and response to pest problems were only observed in areas where focused awareness campaigns and trainings on specific pests and their management techniques were done. This then calls for a concerted effort from all role players in the sphere of small-scale crop production, to train and equip farmers with relevant skills, and provide them with information on affordable and climate-smart strategies and technologies in order to create a state of preparedness. This is necessary for the prevention of substantial crop losses that may exacerbate food insecurity in the province.

Keywords: Eastern Cape Province, small-scale farmers, insect pest management, vulnerability

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Authors: Ahmed Al-Sultan

Abstract:

The check-in area of airport terminal is one of the busiest sections at airports at certain periods. The passengers are subjected to queues and delays during the check-in process. These delays and queues are due to constraints in the capacity of service facilities. In this project, the airport terminal is decomposed into several check-in areas. The airport check-in scheduling problem requires both a deterministic (integer programming) and stochastic (simulation) approach. Integer programming formulations are provided to minimize the total number of counters in each check-in area under the realistic constraint that counters for one and the same flight should be adjacent and the desired number of counters remaining in each area should be fixed during check-in operations. By using simulation, the airport system can be modeled to study the effects of various parameters such as number of passengers on a flight and check-in counter opening and closing time.

Keywords: airport terminal, integer programming, scheduling, simulation

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Authors: H. E. M. W. G. M. K. Ekanayake, J. Dharmasena

Abstract:

Natural Landscape fragmentation and habitat loss are emerging issues in Sri Lanka, which is due to rapid urban development and inadequate concern of managing Landscape connectivity. Urban Wetlands are the most vulnerable ecosystem effects from the fragmentation. Therefore, management of landscape connectivity with proper analysis and understanding has become a most important measure for urban wetland habitats. This study aimed to introduce spatial planning strategy to identify and locate landscape developments appropriately in order to restore landscape connectivity. Therefore, the study focuses on understanding the relationship between habitat patch metrics and landscape connectivity with reference to Colombo wetlands. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to measure the wetland patch metrics; Patch area, Total edge, Perimeter-area ratio, Core area index and Inter-patch distances. Further, GIS-enabled least-cost path tool was used to measure the Landscape connectivity and calculate the number of species flow paths per wetland patch. According to the research findings; increasing the patch area, maintaining a mean perimeter-area ratio and core area index also reducing the inter-patch distances could enhance the landscape connectivity. Further, this study introduces three patch typologies; ‘active patches,' ‘open patches’ and ‘closed patches’ that severs to landscape connectivity in different levels. In the end, the study proposes a strategy for Landscape Architects to select most suitable locations to implement ecological based landscape developments with adjacent to the existing urban habitat in order to enhance habitat patch metrics and to restore the landscape connectivity.

Keywords: landscape fragmentation, urban wetlands, landscape connectivity, patch metrics

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Authors: Gulsen Yilmaz

Abstract:

Istanbul’s population has jumped by over 1 million in the past four years, to a level surpassing the overall population of 64 provinces in the country, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). In this paper, Istanbul's population change and migration effects can be examined in detail Tarlabasi neighborhood cultural center of the city of Istanbul, Istiklal Street, which is located a few hundred meters away. Tarlabasi the end of the nineteenth century in the historic district with built in the early twentieth century, there are four or five storey historic buildings. Tarlabasi, here come from southeastern Turkey and the illegal African immigrants living in Roma origin by the Kurds as a residential area is used. In this area to improve the quality of life for urban renewal projects have been initiated. The aim of this paper is to explore the spatial effects of demographic change and migration with Tarlabasi example.

Keywords: migration, immigration, Tarlabaşı, urban transformation

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Authors: Hamid Vahidkia

Abstract:

The origins of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) are not widely understood, leading to misconceptions that need to be examined. Recent research disputes the idea that the UDHR was exclusively backed and endorsed by Western countries and even raised doubts about powerful nations backing the creation of global human rights norms. This article examines four political misconceptions regarding the Universal Declaration, with each one having some truth to it but also being misleading. The significance of small states in promoting human rights norms has been underestimated, just as the importance of large states has been exaggerated in history. The Universal Declaration was created through negotiations with the involvement of numerous states. All states have a stake in small states reclaiming their portion of history due to the legitimacy it gained from the political process that formed it.

Keywords: declaration. law, rights, humanity, UDHR

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Authors: Fitih Ademe, Kibebew Kibret, Sheleme Beyene, Mezgebu Getnet, Gashaw Meteke

Abstract:

Changes in precipitation, temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration are expected to alter agricultural productivity patterns worldwide. The interactive effects of soil moisture and nutrient availability are the two key edaphic factors that determine crop yield and are sensitive to climatic changes. The study assessed the potential impacts of climate change on maize yield and corresponding water productivity and nutrient use efficiency under climate change scenarios for the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia by mid (2041-2070) and end century (2071-2100). Projected impacts were evaluated using climate scenarios generated from four General Circulation Models (GCMs) dynamically downscaled by the Swedish RCA4 Regional Climate Model (RCM) in combination with two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP8.5). Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer cropping system model (DSSAT-CSM) was used to simulate yield, water and nutrient use for the study periods. Results indicate that rainfed maize yield might decrease on average by 16.5 and 23% by the 2050s and 2080s, respectively, due to climate change. Water productivity is expected to decline on average by 2.2 and 12% in the CRV by mid and end centuries with respect to the baseline. Nutrient uptake and corresponding nutrient use efficiency (NUE) might also be negatively affected by climate change. Phosphorus uptake probably will decrease in the CRV on average by 14.5 to 18% by 2050s, while N uptake may not change significantly at Melkassa. Nitrogen and P use efficiency indicators showed decreases in the range between 8.5 to 10.5% and between 9.3 to 10.5%, respectively, by 2050s relative to the baseline average. The simulation results further indicated that a combination of increased water availability and optimum nutrient application might increase both water productivity and nutrient use efficiency in the changed climate, which can ensure modest production in the future. Potential options that can improve water availability and nutrient uptake should be identified for the study locations using a crop modeling approach.

Keywords: crop model, climate change scenario, nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency, water productivity

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Authors: Ilham Aji Dermawan, M. Sapari Dwi Hadian, R. Irvan Sophian, Iyan Haryanto

Abstract:

The study of the geological structure in the surrounding area of Cidaun, Cianjur Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia was conducted around the southern coast of Java Island. This study aims to determine the potentially structural trap deposits of freshwater resources in the study area, according to that the study area is an area directly adjacent to the beach, where the water around it did not seem fresh and brackish due to the exposure of sea water intrusion. This study uses the method of geomorphological analysis and geological mapping by taking the data directly in the field within 10x10 km of the research area. Geomorphological analysis was done by calculating the watershed drainage density value and roundness of watershed value ratio. The goal is to determine the permeability of the sub-soil conditions, rock constituent, and the flow of surface water. While the field geological mapping aims to take the geological structure data and then will do the reconstruction to determine the geological conditions of research area. The result, from geomorphology aspects, that the considered area of potential groundwater consisted of permeable surface material, permeable sub-soil, and low of water run-off flow. It is very good for groundwater recharge area. While the results of geological reconstruction after conducted of geological mapping is joints that present were initiated for the Cipandak Fault that cuts Cipandak River. That fault across until the Cibako Syncline fold through the Cibako River. This syncline is expected to place of influent groundwater aquifer. The tip of Cibako River then united with Cipandak River, where the Cipandak River extends through Cipandak Syncline fold axis in the southern regions close to its estuary. This syncline is expected to place of influent groundwater aquifer too.

Keywords: geological structure, groundwater, hydrogeology, influent aquifer, structural trap

Procedia PDF Downloads 204