Search results for: purpose in life

Authors: Muhammad Nasar-U-Minallah, Dagmar Haase, Salman Qureshi, Safdar Ali Shirazi

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Urban green spaces (UGS) play a key role in the urban ecology of an area since they provide significant ecological services to compensate for natural environment functions damaged by the rapid growth of urbanization. The transformation of urban green specs to impervious landscapes has been recognized as a key factor prompting the distinctive urban heat and associated microclimatic changes. There is no doubt that urban green spaces offer a range of ecosystem services that can help to mitigate the ill effects of urbanization, heat anomalies, and climate change. The present study attempts to appraise the impact of urban green spaces on the urban thermal environment for the development of the microclimatic conditions in Lahore, Pakistan. The influence of urban heat has been studied through Landsat 8 data. The land surface temperature (LST) of Lahore was computed through the Radiative transfer method (RTM). The spatial variation of land surface temperature is retrieved to describe their local heat effect on urban microclimate. The association between the LST, normalized difference vegetation index, and the normalized difference built-up index are investigated to explore the impact of the urban green spaces and impervious surfaces on urban microclimate. The results of this study show significant changes in (impervious land surface 18% increase) land use within the study area. However, conversion of natural green cover to commercial and residential uses considerably increases the LST. Furthermore, results show that green spaces were the major heat sinks while impervious landscapes were the major heat source in the study area. Urban green spaces reveal 1 to 3℃ lower LST associated with their surrounding urban built-up area. This study shows that urban green spaces will help to mitigate the effect of urban microclimate and it is significant for the sustainable urban environment as well as to improve the quality of life of the urban inhabitants.

Keywords: thermal environmental, urban green space, cooling effect, microclimate, Lahore

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Gayathri Nagarajan, L. D. Dhinesh Babu

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Health care is one of the prominent industries that generate voluminous data thereby finding the need of machine learning techniques with big data solutions for efficient processing and prediction. Missing data, incomplete data, real time streaming data, sensitive data, privacy, heterogeneity are few of the common challenges to be addressed for efficient processing and mining of health care data. In comparison with other applications, accuracy and fast processing are of higher importance for health care applications as they are related to the human life directly. Though there are many machine learning techniques and big data solutions used for efficient processing and prediction in health care data, different techniques and different frameworks are proved to be effective for different applications largely depending on the characteristics of the datasets. In this paper, we present a framework that uses ensemble machine learning technique gradient boosted trees for data classification in health care big data. The framework is built on Spark platform which is fast in comparison with other traditional frameworks. Unlike other works that focus on a single technique, our work presents a comparison of six different machine learning techniques along with gradient boosted trees on datasets of different characteristics. Five benchmark health care datasets are considered for experimentation, and the results of different machine learning techniques are discussed in comparison with gradient boosted trees. The metric chosen for comparison is misclassification error rate and the run time of the algorithms. The goal of this paper is to i) Compare the performance of gradient boosted trees with other machine learning techniques in Spark platform specifically for health care big data and ii) Discuss the results from the experiments conducted on datasets of different characteristics thereby drawing inference and conclusion. The experimental results show that the accuracy is largely dependent on the characteristics of the datasets for other machine learning techniques whereas gradient boosting trees yields reasonably stable results in terms of accuracy without largely depending on the dataset characteristics.

Keywords: big data analytics, ensemble machine learning, gradient boosted trees, Spark platform

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is widely used and an accepted measure of energy expenditure. Its principal determinant is body mass. However, this parameter is also correlated with a variety of other factors. The objective of this study is to measure BMR and compare it with the values obtained from predictive equations in adults classified according to their body mass index (BMI) values. 276 adults were included into the scope of this study. Their age, height and weight values were recorded. Five groups were designed based on their BMI values. First group (n = 85) was composed of individuals with BMI values varying between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m². Those with BMI values varying from 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m² constituted Group 2 (n = 90). Individuals with 30.0-34.9 kg/m², 35.0-39.9 kg/m², > 40.0 kg/m² were included in Group 3 (n = 53), 4 (n = 28) and 5 (n = 20), respectively. The most commonly used equations to be compared with the measured BMR values were selected. For this purpose, the values were calculated by the use of four equations to predict BMR values, by name, introduced by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations University (UNU), Harris and Benedict, Owen and Mifflin. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, post-Hoc Tukey and Pearson’s correlation tests were performed by a statistical program designed for Windows (SPSS, version 16.0). p values smaller than 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant. Mean ± SD of groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for measured BMR in kcal were 1440.3 ± 210.0, 1618.8 ± 268.6, 1741.1 ± 345.2, 1853.1 ± 351.2 and 2028.0 ± 412.1, respectively. Upon evaluation of the comparison of means among groups, differences were highly significant between Group 1 and each of the remaining four groups. The values were increasing from Group 2 to Group 5. However, differences between Group 2 and Group 3, Group 3 and Group 4, Group 4 and Group 5 were not statistically significant. These insignificances were lost in predictive equations proposed by Harris and Benedict, FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen. For Mifflin, the insignificance was limited only to Group 4 and Group 5. Upon evaluation of the correlations of measured BMR and the estimated values computed from prediction equations, the lowest correlations between measured BMR and estimated BMR values were observed among the individuals within normal BMI range. The highest correlations were detected in individuals with BMI values varying between 30.0 and 34.9 kg/m². Correlations between measured BMR values and BMR values calculated by FAO/WHO/UNU as well as Owen were the same and the highest. In all groups, the highest correlations were observed between BMR values calculated from Mifflin and Harris and Benedict equations using age as an additional parameter. In conclusion, the unique resemblance of the FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen equations were pointed out. However, mean values obtained from FAO/WHO/UNU were much closer to the measured BMR values. Besides, the highest correlations were found between BMR calculated from FAO/WHO/UNU and measured BMR. These findings suggested that FAO/WHO/UNU was the most reliable equation, which may be used in conditions when the measured BMR values are not available.

Keywords: adult, basal metabolic rate, fao/who/unu, obesity, prediction equations

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Mariya V. Yanyukina, Michael A. Bolotov

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Assembling accuracy is the degree of accordance between the actual values of the parameters obtained during assembly, and the values specified in the assembly drawings and technical specifications. However, the assembling accuracy depends not only on the quality of the production process but also on the correctness of the assembly process. Therefore, preliminary calculations of assembly stages are carried out to verify the correspondence of real geometric parameters to their acceptable values. In the aviation industry, most calculations involve interacting dimensional chains. This greatly complicates the task. Solving such problems requires a special approach. The purpose of this article is to carry out the problem of improving the technology of assembly of aviation units by use of computer calculations. One of the actual examples of the assembly unit, in which there is an interacting dimensional chain, is the turbine wheel of gas turbine engine. Dimensional chain of turbine wheel is formed by geometric parameters of disk and set of blades. The interaction of the dimensional chain consists in the formation of two chains. The first chain is formed by the dimensions that determine the location of the grooves for the installation of the blades, and the dimensions of the blade roots. The second dimensional chain is formed by the dimensions of the airfoil shroud platform. The interaction of the dimensional chain of the turbine wheel is the interdependence of the first and second chains by means of power circuits formed by a plurality of middle parts of the turbine blades. The timeliness of the calculation of the dimensional chain of the turbine wheel is the need to improve the technology of assembly of this unit. The task at hand contains geometric and mathematical components; therefore, its solution can be implemented following the algorithm: 1) research and analysis of production errors by geometric parameters; 2) development of a parametric model in the CAD system; 3) creation of set of CAD-models of details taking into account actual or generalized distributions of errors of geometrical parameters; 4) calculation model in the CAE-system, loading of various combinations of models of parts; 5) the accumulation of statistics and analysis. The main task is to pre-simulate the assembly process by calculating the interacting dimensional chains. The article describes the approach to the solution from the point of view of mathematical statistics, implemented in the software package Matlab. Within the framework of the study, there are data on the measurement of the components of the turbine wheel-blades and disks, as a result of which it is expected that the assembly process of the unit will be optimized by solving dimensional chains.

Keywords: accuracy, assembly, interacting dimension chains, turbine

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Arifuzzaman Nayeem, Tafannum Torsha, Tanvir Manzur, Shaurav Alam

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Performance evaluation of reinforced concrete (RC) beams subjected to accidental fire is significant for post-fire capacity measurement. Mechanical properties of any RC beam degrade due to heating since the strength and modulus of concrete and reinforcement suffer considerable reduction under elevated temperatures. Moreover, fire-induced thermal dilation and shrinkage cause internal stresses within the concrete and eventually result in cracking, spalling, and loss of stiffness, which ultimately leads to lower service life. However, conducting full-scale comprehensive experimental investigation for RC beams exposed to fire is difficult and cost-intensive, where the finite element (FE) based numerical study can provide an economical alternative for evaluating the post-fire capacity of RC beams. In this study, an attempt has been made to study the fire behavior of RC beams using FE software package ABAQUS under different durations of fire. The damaged plasticity model of concrete in ABAQUS was used to simulate behavior RC beams. The effect of temperature on strength and modulus of concrete and steel was simulated following relevant Eurocodes. Initially, the result of FE models was validated using several experimental results from available scholarly articles. It was found that the response of the developed FE models matched quite well with the experimental outcome for beams without heat. The FE analysis of beams subjected to fire showed some deviation from the experimental results, particularly in terms of stiffness degradation. However, the ultimate strength and deflection of FE models were similar to that of experimental values. The developed FE models, thus, exhibited the good potential to predict the fire behavior of RC beams. Once validated, FE models were then used to analyze several RC beams having different strengths (ranged between 20 MPa and 50 MPa) exposed to the standard fire curve (ASTM E119) for different durations. The post-fire performance of RC beams was investigated in terms of load-deflection behavior, flexural strength, and deflection characteristics.

Keywords: fire durations, flexural strength, post fire capacity, reinforced concrete beam, standard fire

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Waheed Anwar, Kiran Nawaz, Muhammad Saleem Haider, Ahmad Ali Shahid, Sehrish Iftikhar

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The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), is a complex insect species, including many cryptic species or biotypes. Whitefly causes damage to many ornamental and horticultural crops through directly feeding on phloem sap, resulting in sooty mould and critically decreases the rate of photosynthesis of many host plants. Biological control has emerged as one of the most important methods for the management of soil-borne plant pathogens. Among the natural enemies of insects different entomopathogenic fungi are mostly used as biological control of the pest. The purpose of this research was to find indigenous insect-associated fungi and their virulence against Bemisia tabaci. A detailed survey of cotton fields in sample collection was conducted during July and August 2013 from the central mixed zone of Punjab, Pakistan. For the isolation of T. longibrachiatum, sabouraud dextrose peptone yeast extract agar (SDAY) media was used and morphological characterization of isolated T. longibrachiatum was studied using different dichotomous keys. Molecular Identification of the pathogen was confirmed by amplifying the internal transcribed spacer region. Blastn analysis showed 100% homology with already reported sequences on the database. For these bioassays, two conidial concentrations 4 × 108/mL & 4 × 104/mL of T. longibrachiatum was sprayed in clip cages for nymph and adult B. tabaci respectively under controlled environmental conditions. The pathogenicity of T. longibrachiatum was tested on nymph and adult whitefly to check mortality. Mortality of B. tabaci at nymphal and adult stages were observed after 24-hour intervals. Percentage mortality of nymphs treated with 4 x 104/mL conidia of T. longibrachiatum was 20, 24, 36 and 40% after 48, 72, 96, 72, 96, 120 and 144 hours respectively. However, no considerable difference was recorded in percentage mortality of whitefly after 120 and 144 hours. There were great variations after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours in the rate of mortality. The efficacy of T. longibrachiatum as entomopathogenic fungi was evaluated in adult and nymphal stages of whitefly. Trichoderma longibrachiatum showed maximum activity on nymphal stages of whitefly as compared to adult stages. The percentage of conidial germination was also recorded on the outer surface of adult and nymphal stages of B. tabaci. The present findings indicated that T. longibrachiatum is an entomopathogenic fungus against B. tabaci and many species of Trichoderma were already reported as an antagonistc organism against a wide range of bacterial and fungal pathogens.

Keywords: efficacy, Trichoderma, virulence, bioassay

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Keng H. Kong, Louis C. Tan, Wing L. Aw, Kay Y. Tay

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Background: Fatigue is a common problem in patients with Parkinson's disease, with reported prevalence of up to 70%. Fatigue can be disabling and has adverse effects on patients' quality of life. There is currently no satisfactory treatment of fatigue. Acupuncture is effective in the treatment of fatigue, especially that related to cancer. Its role in Parkinson's disease-related fatigue is uncertain. Aims: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment in Parkinson's disease-related fatigue. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that acupuncture is effective in alleviating Parkinson's disease-related fatigue. Design: A single center, randomized, controlled study with two parallel arms. Participants: Forty participants with idiopathic Parkinson's disease will be enrolled. Interventions: Participants will be randomized to receive verum (real) acupuncture or placebo acupuncture. The retractable non-invasive sham needle will be used in the placebo group. The intervention will be administered twice a week for five weeks. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome will be the change in general fatigue score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory at week 5. Secondary outcome measures include other subscales of the multidimensional fatigue inventory, movement disorders society-unified Parkinson's disease rating scale, Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39 and geriatric depression scale. All outcome measures will be assessed at baseline (week 0), completion of intervention (week 5) and 4 weeks after completion of intervention (week 9). Results: To date, 23 participants have been recruited and nine have completed the study. The mean age is 63.5±14.2 years, mean duration of Parkinson’s disease is 6.4±1.8 years and mean MDS-UPDRS score is 8.3±2.8. The mean general fatigue score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory is 13.5±4.6. No significant adverse event related to acupuncture is noted. Potential significance: If the results are as expected, this study will provide preliminary scientific evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in Parkinson's Disease-related fatigue, and opens the door for a larger multicentre trial to be performed. In the longer term, it may lead to the integration of acupuncture in the care of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Keywords: acupuncture, fatigue, Parkinson's disease, trial

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Anand Malik

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The Himalayas with high tectonic activities poses a great threat to human life and property. Climate change is another reason which triggering extreme events multiple fold effect on high mountain glacial environment, rock falls, landslides, debris flows, flash flood and snow avalanches. One such extreme event of cloud burst along with breach of moraine dammed Chorabri Lake occurred from June 14 to June 17, 2013, triggered flooding of Saraswati and Mandakini rivers in the Kedarnath Valley of Rudraprayag district of Uttrakhand state of India. As a result, huge volume of water with its high velocity created a catastrophe of the century, which resulted into loss of large number of human/animals, pilgrimage, tourism, agriculture and property. Thus a comprehensive assessment of debris flow hazards requires GIS-based modeling using numerical methods. The aim of present study is to focus on analysis and mapping of debris flow movements using geospatial data with flow-r (developed by team at IGAR, University of Lausanne). The model is based on combined probabilistic and energetic algorithms for the assessment of spreading of flow with maximum run out distances. Aster Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 30m x 30m cell size (resolution) is used as main geospatial data for preparing the run out assessment, while Landsat data is used to analyze land use land cover change in the study area. The results of the study area show that model can be applied with great accuracy as the model is very useful in determining debris flow areas. The results are compared with existing available landslides/debris flow maps. ArcGIS software is used in preparing run out susceptibility maps which can be used in debris flow mitigation and future land use planning.

Keywords: debris flow, geospatial data, GIS based modeling, flow-R

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Armana Huq, Wahidur Rahman, Sanwar Kader

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Inland waterways in Bangladesh play an important role in providing comfortable and low-cost transportation. However, a maritime accident takes away many lives and creates unwanted hazards every year. This article deals with a comprehensive review of inland waterway accidents in Bangladesh. Additionally, it includes a comparative study between international and local inland research studies based on maritime accidents. Articles from inland waterway areas are analyzed in-depth to make a comprehensive overview of the nature of the academic work, accident and risk management process and different statistical analyses. It is found that empirical analysis based on the available statistical data dominates the research domain. For this study, major maritime accident-related works in the last four decades in Bangladesh (1981-2020) are being analyzed for preparing a bibliometric analysis. A study of maritime accidents of passenger's vessels during (1995-2005) indicates that the predominant causes of accidents in the inland waterways of Bangladesh are collision and adverse weather (77%), out of which collision due to human error alone stands (56%) of all accidents. Another study refers that the major causes of waterway accidents are the collision (60.3%) during 2005-2015. About 92% of this collision occurs due to direct contact with another vessel during this period. Rest 8% of the collision occurs by contact with permanent obstruction on waterway roots. The overall analysis of another study from the last 25 years (1995-2019) shows that one of the main types of accidents is collisions, with about 50.3% of accidents being caused by collisions. The other accident types are cyclone or storm (17%), overload (11.3%), physical failure (10.3%), excessive waves (5.1%), and others (6%). Very few notable works are available in testing or comparing the methods, proposing new methods for risk management, modeling, uncertainty treatment. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of marine accident-related research domain regarding inland waterway of Bangladesh and attempts to introduce new ideas and methods to abridge the gap between international and national inland maritime-related work domain which can be a catalyst for a safer and sustainable water transportation system in Bangladesh. Another fundamental objective of this paper is to navigate various national maritime authorities and international organizations to implement risk management processes for shipping accident prevention in waterway areas.

Keywords: inland waterways, safety, bibliometric analysis, risk management, accidents

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Katarzyna Pawęska, Aleksandra Bawiec, Ewa Burszta-Adamiak, Wiesław Fiałkiewicz

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The water shortage becomes a serious problem not only in African and Middle Eastern countries, but also recently in the European Union. Scarcity of water means that not all agricultural, industrial and municipal needs will be met. When the annual availability of renewable freshwater per capita is less than 1,700 cubic meters, countries begin to experience periodic or regular water shortages. The phenomenon of water stress is the result of an imbalance between the constantly growing demand for water and its availability. The constant development of industry, population growth, and climate changes make the situation even worse. The search for alternative water sources and independent supplies is becoming a priority for many countries. Data enabling the assessment of country’s condition regarding water resources, water consumption, water price, wastewater volume, forecasted climate changes e.g. temperature, precipitation, are scattered and their interpretation by common entrepreneurs may be difficult. For this purpose, a digital tool has been developed to support decisions related to the implementation of water and wastewater re-use systems, as a result of an international research project “Framework for organizational decision-making process in water reuse for smart cities” (SMART-WaterDomain) funded under the EIG-CONCERT Japan call on Smart Water Management for Sustainable Society. The developed geo-visualization tool graphically presents, among others, data about the capacity of wastewater treatment plants and the volume of water demand in the private and public sectors for Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. It is expected that such a platform, extended with economical water management data and climate forecasts (temperature, precipitation), will allow in the future independent investigation and assessment of water use rate and wastewater production on the local and regional scale. The tool is a great opportunity for small business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers, local authorities, and common users to analyze the impact of climate change on the availability of water in the regions of their business activities. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the support of the Project Organisational Decision Making in Water Reuse for Smart Cities (SMART- WaterDomain), funded by The National Centre for Research and Development and supported by the EIG-Concert Japan.

Keywords: circular economy, digital tool, geo-visualization, wastewater re-use

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Aldé Belgard Tchicaya Loemba, Baraka Kichonge, Thomas Kivevele, Juma Rajabu Selemani

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Plants used for medicinal purposes are extremely perishable, owing to moisture-enhanced enzymatic and microorganism activity, climate change, and improper handling and storage. Experiments have shown that drying the medicinal plant without affecting the active nutrients and controlling the moisture content as much as possible can extend its shelf life. Different traditional and modern drying techniques for preserving medicinal plants have been developed, with some still being improved in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, many of these methods fail to address the most common issues encountered when drying medicinal plants, such as nutrient loss, long drying times, and a limited capacity to dry during the evening or cloudy hours. Heat pump drying is an alternate drying method that results in no nutritional loss. Furthermore, combining a heat pump dryer with a solar energy storage system appears to be a viable option for all-weather drying without affecting the nutritional values of dried products. In this study, a solar-assisted heat pump dryer integrated with thermal energy storage is developed for drying moringa leaves. The study also discusses the performance analysis of the developed dryer as well as the proximate analysis of the dried moringa leaves. All experiments were conducted from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to assess the dryer's performance in “daytime mode”. Experiment results show that the drying time was significantly reduced, and the dryer demonstrated high performance in preserving all of the nutrients. In 5 hours of the drying process, the moisture content was reduced from 75.7 to 3.3%. The average COP value was 3.36, confirming the dryer's low energy consumption. The findings also revealed that after drying, the content of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and ash greatly increased.

Keywords: heat pump dryer, efficiency, moringa leaves, proximate analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Branislav Kovačević, Andrej Pilipović, Zoran Novčić, Marina Milović, Lazar Kesić, Milan Drekić, Saša Pekeč, Leopold Poljaković Pajnik, Saša Orlović

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Poplars present one of the most important tree species used for phytoremediation in the northern hemisphere. They can be used either as direct “cleaners” of the contaminated soils or as buffer zones preventing the contaminant plume to the surrounding environment. In order to produce appropriate planting material for this purpose, there is a long process of the breeding of the most favorable candidates. Although the development of the poplar propagation technology has been evolving for decades, white poplar nursery production, as well as the establishment of short-rotation coppice plantations, still considerably depends on the success of hardwood cuttings’ survival. This is why easy rooting is among the most desirable properties in white poplar breeding. On the other hand, there are many opportunities for the optimization of the technological procedures in order to meet the demands of particular genotype (clonal technology). In this study the effect of the term of hardwood cuttings’ preparation of four white poplar clones on their survival and further growth of rooted cuttings in nursery conditions were tested. There were three terms of cuttings’ preparation: the beginning of February (2nd Feb 2023), the beginning of March (3rd Mar 2023) and the end of March (21nd Mar 2023), which is regarded as the standard term. The cuttings were stored in cool chamber at 2±2°C. All cuttings were planted on the same date (11th Apr 2023), in soil prepared with rotary tillage, and then cultivated by usual nursey procedures. According to the results obtained after the bud set (29th Sept 2023) there were significant differences in the survival and growth of rooted cuttings between examined terms of cutting preparation. Also, there were significant differences in the reaction of examined clones on terms of cutting preparation. In total, the best results provided cuttings prepared at the first term (2nd Feb 2023) (survival rate of 39.4%), while performance after two later preparation terms was significantly poorer (20.5% after second and 16.5% after third term). These results stress the significance of dormancy preservation in cuttings of examined white poplar clones for their survival, which could be especially important in context of climate change. Differences in clones’ reaction to term of cutting preparation suggest necessity of adjustment of the technology to the needs of particular clone i.e. design of clone specific technology.

Keywords: rooting, Populus alba, nursery, clonal technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Mehrdad Abkenari, Orod Zarrinkafsh, Mohsen Ramezan Shirazi

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Construction projects initiate in complicated dynamic environments and, due to the close relationships between project parameters and the unknown outer environment, they are faced with several uncertainties and risks. Success in time, cost and quality in large scale construction projects is uncertain in consequence of technological constraints, large number of stakeholders, too much time required, great capital requirements and poor definition of the extent and scope of the project. Projects that are faced with such environments and uncertainties can be well managed through utilization of the concept of risk management in project’s life cycle. Although the concept of risk is dependent on the opinion and idea of management, it suggests the risks of not achieving the project objectives as well. Furthermore, project’s risk analysis discusses the risks of development of inappropriate reactions. Since evaluation and prioritization of construction projects has been a difficult task, the network structure is considered to be an appropriate approach to analyze complex systems; therefore, we have used this structure for analyzing and modeling the issue. On the other hand, we face inadequacy of data in deterministic circumstances, and additionally the expert’s opinions are usually mathematically vague and are introduced in the form of linguistic variables instead of numerical expression. Owing to the fact that fuzzy logic is used for expressing the vagueness and uncertainty, formulation of expert’s opinion in the form of fuzzy numbers can be an appropriate approach. In other words, the evaluation and prioritization of construction projects on the basis of risk factors in real world is a complicated issue with lots of ambiguous qualitative characteristics. In this study, evaluated and prioritization the risk parameters and factors with fuzzy logy method by combination of three method DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation), ANP (Analytic Network Process) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order-Preference by Similarity Ideal Solution) on Construction Management.

Keywords: fuzzy logy, risk, prioritization, assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 594

Authors: Hakima Althalb

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Petroleum contamination of sandy soils is a severe environmental problem in Libya, but relatively little work has been carried out to optimize the bioremediation of such heavily contaminated soil, particularly at a pilot scale. The purpose of this research was to determine the potential for the microbial-based bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil obtained from an oil refinery in Libya and to assess the potential of both ozonation and phytoremediation (both applied after initial bioremediation) to reduce residual hydrocarbon levels. Plots containing 500 kg soil (triplicates) (contaminated soil diluted with clean soil 50% volume) were set up, (designated as Land Treatment Units; LTUs) containing five different nutrient levels and mixtures (Urea + NPK (nitrogen; phosphor; potassium) mixtures) to obtain C:N:P ratios 100:10:1, and monitored for 90 days. Hydrocarbon levels, microbial numbers, and toxicity (EC50 using luminescent microbial based tests) were assessed. Hydrocarbon levels in non-diluted and diluted soil ranged from 20 733-22 366 mg/kg and from 16 000-17 000 mg/kg respectively. Although all the land treatment units revealed a significant hydrocarbon reduction over time, the highest reduction in hydrocarbon levels obtained was around 60%. For example, 63% hydrocarbon removal was observed using a mixture of urea and NPK with a C:N:P ratio of 100:10:1). Soil toxicity (as assessed using luminescence based toxicity assays) reduced in line with the reduction in total petroleum hydrocarbons observed. However, as relatively high residual TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon) levels (ranging from 6033-14166mg/kg) were still present after initial bioremediation two ‘post-treatments’ (phytoremediation and ozonation) were attempted to remove residual hydrocarbons remaining. Five locally grown (agriculturally important) plant species were tested. The germination of all plants examined was strongly inhibited (80-100%) and seedlings failed to grow well in the contaminated soil, indicating that the previously bioremediated soils were still toxic to the plants. Subsequent ozonation followed by another bioremediation of soil was more successful than phytoremediation. But even the most promising successful treatment in this study (ozonation for 6 hours at 25ppm followed by bioremediation) still only removed approximately 31% of the residual hydrocarbons. Overall, this work showed that the bioremediation of such highly contaminated soils is difficult and that a combination of treatments would be required to achieve successful remediation. Even after initial dilution and bioremediation the soils remained toxic to plant growth and were therefore not suitable for phytoremediation.

Keywords: bioremediation, petroleum hydrocarbons, ozone, phytoremediation

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Zhila Hemati, Seyed Sajjad Hosseni, Sohrab Zamzami

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In nature, forests serve a multitude of functions. They stabilize and nourish soil, store carbon, clean the air and water, and support biodiverse ecosystems. A natural disaster that can affect forests and ecosystems locally or globally is wildfires. Iran experiences annual forest fires that affect roughly 6000 hectares, with the Arasbaran forest being the most affected. These fires may be generated unnaturally by human activity in the forests, or they could occur naturally as a result of climate change. These days, wildfires pose a major natural risk. Wildfires significantly reduce the amount of property and human life in ecosystems globally. Concerns regarding the immediate and longterm effects have been raised by the rise in fire activity in various Iranian regions in recent decades. Natural ecosystem abundance, quality, and health will all be impacted by pasture and forest fires. Monitoring is the first line of defense against and control for forest fires. To determine the spatial-temporal variations of these occurrences in the vegetation regions of Arasbaran, this study was carried out to estimate the areas affected by fires. The findings indicated that July through September, which spans over 130000 hectares, is when fires in Arasbaran's vegetation areas occur to their greatest extent. A significant portion of the nation's forests caught fire in 2024, particularly in the northwest of the Arasbaran vegetation area. On the other hand, January through March sees the least number of fire locations in the Arasbaran vegetation areas. The Arasbaran forest experiences its greatest number of forest fires during the hot, dry months of the year. As a result, the linear association between the burned and active fire regions in the Arasbaran forest indicates a substantial relationship between species abundance and plant species. This link demonstrates that some of the active forest fire centers are the burned regions in Arasbaran's vegetation areas.

Keywords: wildfire, vegetation, plant species, forest

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: J. Vveinhardt, V. B. Fominiene, L. Jeseviciute-Ufartiene

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Relevance of Research: Qualitative research is still regarded as highly subjective and not sufficiently scientific in order to achieve objective research results. However, it is agreed that a qualitative study allows revealing the hidden motives of the research participants, creating new theories, and highlighting the field of problem. There is enough research done to reveal these qualitative research aspects. However, each research area has its own specificity, and sport is unique due to the image of its participants, who are understood as strong and invincible. Therefore, a sport participant might have personal issues to recognize himself as a victim in the context of bullying and harassment. Accordingly, researcher has a dilemma in general making to speak a victim in sport. Thus, ethical aspects of qualitative research become relevant. The plenty fields of sport make a problem determining the sample size of research. Thus, the corresponding problem of this research is which and why qualitative research strategies are the most suitable revealing the phenomenon of bullying and harassment in sport. Object of research is qualitative research strategy for bullying and harassment in sport. Purpose of the research is to analyze strategies of qualitative research selecting suitable one for bullying and harassment in sport. Methods of research were scientific research analyses of qualitative research application for bullying and harassment research. Research Results: Four mane strategies are applied in the qualitative research; inductive, deductive, retroductive, and abductive. Inductive and deductive strategies are commonly used researching bullying and harassment in sport. The inductive strategy is applied as quantitative research in order to reveal and describe the prevalence of bullying and harassment in sport. The deductive strategy is used through qualitative methods in order to explain the causes of bullying and harassment and to predict the actions of the participants of bullying and harassment in sport and the possible consequences of these actions. The most commonly used qualitative method for the research of bullying and harassment in sports is semi-structured interviews in speech and in written. However, these methods may restrict the openness of the participants in the study when recording on the dictator or collecting incomplete answers when the participant in the survey responds in writing because it is not possible to refine the answers. Qualitative researches are more prevalent in terms of technology-defined research data. For example, focus group research in a closed forum allows participants freely interact with each other because of the confidentiality of the selected participants in the study. The moderator can purposefully formulate and submit problem-solving questions to the participants. Hence, the application of intelligent technology through in-depth qualitative research can help discover new and specific information on bullying and harassment in sport. Acknowledgement: This research is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity ‘Improvement of researchers’ qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712.

Keywords: bullying, focus group, harassment, narrative, sport, qualitative research

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Chitra Rajagopal, Indra Deo Kumar, Ila Chauhan, Ruchi Joshi, Binoy Bhargavan

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Reliability and safety are essential for the success of mission-critical and safety-critical defense systems. Humans are part of the entire life cycle of defense systems development and deployment. The majority of industrial accidents or disasters are attributed to human errors. Therefore, considerations of human performance and human reliability are critical in all complex systems, including defense systems. Defense systems are operating from the ground, naval and aerial platforms in diverse conditions impose unique physical and psychological challenges to the human operators. Some of the safety and mission-critical defense systems with human-machine interactions are fighter planes, submarines, warships, combat vehicles, aerial and naval platforms based missiles, etc. Human roles and responsibilities are also going through a transition due to the infusion of artificial intelligence and cyber technologies. Human operators, not accustomed to such challenges, are more likely to commit errors, which may lead to accidents or loss events. In such a scenario, it is imperative to understand the human factors in defense systems for better systems performance, safety, and cost-effectiveness. A case study using Task Analysis (TA) based methodology for assessment and reduction of human errors in the Air and Missile Defense System in the context of emerging technologies were presented. Action-oriented task analysis techniques such as Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) and Operator Action Event Tree (OAET) along with Critical Action and Decision Event Tree (CADET) for cognitive task analysis was used. Human factors assessment based on the task analysis helps in realizing safe and reliable defense systems. These techniques helped in the identification of human errors during different phases of Air and Missile Defence operations, leading to meet the requirement of a safe, reliable and cost-effective mission.

Keywords: defence systems, reliability, risk, safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Lucky Malise, Hilary Rutto, Tumisang Seodigeng

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Heavy metal contamination in waste water is a very serious issue affecting a lot of industrialized countries due to the health and environmental impact of these heavy metals on human life and the ecosystem. Adsorption using activated carbon is the most promising method for the removal of heavy metals from waste water but commercial activated carbon is expensive which gives rise to the need for alternatively activated carbon derived from cheap precursors, agricultural wastes, or byproducts from other processes. In this study activated bio-carbon derived from the carbonaceous material obtained from the pyrolysis of Marula nut shells was chemically activated and used as an adsorbent for the removal of lead (II) and copper (II) ions from aqueous solution. The surface morphology and chemistry of the adsorbent before and after chemical activation with zinc chloride impregnation were studied using SEM and FTIR analysis respectively and the results obtained indicate that chemical activation with zinc chloride improves the surface morphology of the adsorbent and enhances the intensity of the surface oxygen complexes on the surface of the adsorbent. The effect of process parameters such as adsorbent dosage, pH value of the solution, initial metal concentration, contact time, and temperature on the adsorption of lead (II) and copper (II) ions onto Marula nut activated carbon were investigated, and their optimum operating conditions were also determined. The experimental data was fitted to both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, and the data fitted best on the Freundlich isotherm model for both metal ions. The adsorption kinetics were also evaluated, and the experimental data fitted the pseudo-first order kinetic model better than the pseudo second-order kinetic model. The adsorption thermodynamics were also studied and the results indicate that the adsorption of lead and copper ions is spontaneous and exothermic in nature, feasible, and also involves a dissociative mechanism in the temperature range of 25-45 °C.

Keywords: adsorption, isotherms, kinetics, marula nut shells activated carbon, thermodynamics

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Authors: Hadas Hirsch

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Clothing is aimed at concealing and revealing the body, protecting it, and manifesting religious, political, and social declarations. The material and symbolic meanings of clothing and its raw materials are evaluated through the context of their social, cultural, and religious systems. The raw materials for clothing that were frequent and familiar in the 7th century Arab Peninsula were wool, leather, cotton, and some kinds of silk. The spread of the Muslim empire and the intersections with other religions and cultures enable the trickling of new raw materials that were unknown to Muslims or unaccepted. The sources for this research are hadith collections that discuss in details various kinds of textiles and their origin, together with a legal explanation that permits or prohibits its use. The paper will describe and analyze this discussion by contextualizing it in social, religious, and cultural reality that creates a structure of socio-religious dependency. The aim is not to identify, catalogue, and technically analyze fabrics but to reveal their role in Muslims’ life as a means of creating dependency for the community and setting borders inside and outside. The analysis is built upon a scale that starts with the most recommended raw materials, then comes the permitted ones and, in the end, the prohibited raw materials. This mapping will provide an insight into the ways textiles, as a cultural medium, help to shape and redefine identities and, at the same time, enable a sphere for creative expression within socio-cultural and religious limits and context. To sum up, hadith literature has the main role is characterizing Muslim clothing, from garments to textiles and colors, including multiple variations and contradicting aspects. The Muslim style of clothing and, in particular, textiles is a manifestation of the socio-religious structure of dependency that creates differentiated Muslim identity together with subdivision of gendered groups. Some other aspects are the tension between authenticity and imitation and the jurists’ pragmatic and practice attitude that enables an individual sphere of expression within the limits of jurisprudence.

Keywords: Hadith, jurisprudence, medieval Islam, material culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: V. L. M. F. Capellini, A. P. P. M. Maturana, N. C. M. Brondino, M. B. C. L. B. M. Peixoto, A. J. Broughton

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A paradigm shift is a process. The process of implementing inclusive education, a system constructed to support all learners, requires planning, identification, experimentation, and evaluation. In this vein, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the capacity of one Brazilian state school systems to provide special education students with a quality inclusive education. This study originated at the behest of concerned families of students with special needs who filed complaints with the Municipality of Bauru, São Paulo. These families claimed, 1) children with learning differences and educational needs had not been identified for services, and 2) those who had been identified had not received sufficient specialized educational assistance (SEA) in schools across the City of Bauru. Hence, the Office of Civil Rights for the state of São Paulo (Ministério Público de São Paulo) summoned the local higher education institution, UNESP, to design a research study to investigate these allegations. In this exploratory study, descriptive data were gathered from all elementary and middle schools including 58 state schools and 17 city schools, for a total of 75 schools overall. Data collection consisted of each school's annual strategic action plan, surveys and interviews with all school stakeholders to determine their perceptions of the inclusive education available to students with Special Education Needs (SEN). The data were collected as one of four stages in a larger study which also included field observations of a focal students' experience and a continuing education course for all teachers and administrators in both state and city schools. For the purposes of this study, the researchers were interested in understanding the perceptions of school staff, parents, and students across all schools. Therefore, documents and surveys from 75 schools were analyzed for adherence to federal legislation guaranteeing students with SEN the right to special education assistance within the regular school setting. Results shows that while some schools recognized the legal rights of SEN students to receive special education, the plans to actually deliver services were absent. In conclusion, the results of this study revealed both school staff and families have insufficient planning and accessibility resources, and the schools have inadequate infrastructure for full-time support to SEN students, i.e., structures and systems to support the identification of SEN and delivery of services within schools of Bauru, SP. Having identified the areas of need, the city is now prepared to take next steps in the process toward preparing all schools to be inclusive.

Keywords: inclusion, school, special education, special needs

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: David Taillis, Oussama Becissa, Julien Gabaston, Jean-Michel Merillon, Tristan Richard, Stephanie Cluzet

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Nowadays, there is a strong pressure to reduce the phytosanitary inputs of synthetic chemistry in vineyards. It is, therefore, necessary to find viable alternatives in order to protect the vine against its major diseases. For this purpose, we suggest the use of a plant extract enriched in antimicrobial compounds. Being produced from vine trunks and roots, which are co-products of wine production, the extract produced is part of a circular economy. The antimicrobial molecules present in this plant material are polyphenols and, more particularly, stilbenes, which are derived from a common base, the resveratrol unit, and that are well known vine phytoalexins. The stilbenoids were extracted from trunks and roots (30/70, w/w) by a double extraction with ethyl acetate followed by enrichment by liquid-liquid extraction. The produced extract was characterized by UHPLC-MS, then its antimicrobial activities were tested on Plasmopara viticola and Botrytis cinerea in the laboratory and/or in greenhouse and in vineyard. The major compounds were purified, and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated on B. cinerea. Moreover, after its spraying, the effect of the stilbene extract on the plant defence status was evaluated by analysis of defence gene expression. UHPLC-MS analysis revealed that the extract contains 50% stilbenes with resveratrol, ε-viniferin and r-viniferin as major compounds. The extract showed antimicrobial activities on P. viticola with IC₅₀ and IC₁₀₀ respectively of 90 and 300 mg/L in the laboratory. In addition, it inhibited 40% of downy mildew development in greenhouse. However, probably because of the sensitivity of stilbenes to the environment, such as UV degradation, no activity has been observed in vineyard towards P. viticola development. For B. cinerea, the extract IC50 was 123 mg/L, with resveratrol and ε-viniferin being the most active stilbenes (IC₅₀ of 88 and 142 mg/L, respectively). The analysis of the expression of defence genes revealed that the extract can induce the expression of some defence genes 24, 48, and 72 hours after treatment, meaning that the extract has a defence-stimulating effect at least for the first three days after treatment. In conclusion, we produced a plant extract enriched in stilbenes with antimicrobial properties against two major grapevine pathogenic agents P. viticola and B. cinerea. In addition, we showed that this extract displayed eliciting activity of plant defences. This extract can therefore represent, after formulation development, a viable eco-friendly alternative for vineyard protection. Subsequently, the effect of the stilbenoid extract on primary metabolism will be evaluated by quantitative NMR.

Keywords: antimicrobial, bioprotection, grapevine, Plasmopara viticola, stilbene

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Authors: Xiaohong Li, Wenfan Yan

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Background: While it is widely considered that the university library plays a critical role in fulfilling the institution's mission and providing students’ learning experience beyond the classrooms, how the technology-enhanced library reform changed college students’ learning experience hasn’t been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study is to explore how technology-enhanced library reform affects students’ learning experience and career readiness and further identify the factors and effective conditions that enable the quality learning outcome of Chinese college students. Methodologies: This study selected the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method to explore the effects of technology-enhanced university library reform on college students’ learning experience and career readiness. QCA is unique in explaining the complex relationship between multiple factors from a holistic perspective. Compared with the traditional quantitative and qualitative analysis, QCA not only adds some quantitative logic but also inherits the characteristics of qualitative research focusing on the heterogeneity and complexity of samples. Shenyang Normal University (SNU) selected a sample of the typical comprehensive university in China that focuses on students’ learning and application of professional knowledge and trains professionals to different levels of expertise. A total of 22 current university students and 30 graduates who joined the Library Readers Association of SNU from 2011 to 2019 were selected for semi-structured interviews. Based on the data collected from these participating students, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), including univariate necessity analysis and the multi-configuration analysis, was conducted. Findings and Discussion: QCA analysis results indicated that the influence of technology-enhanced university library restructures and reorganization on student learning experience and career readiness is the result of multiple factors. Technology-enhanced library equipment and other hardware restructured to meet the college students learning needs and have played an important role in improving the student learning experience and learning persistence. More importantly, the soft characteristics of technology-enhanced library reform, such as library service innovation space and culture space, have a positive impact on student’s career readiness and development. Technology-enhanced university library reform is not only the change in the building's appearance and facilities but also in library service quality and capability. The study also provides suggestions for policy, practice, and future research.

Keywords: career readiness, college student learning experience, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), technology-enhanced library reform

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Tanapond S.

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Typically, most of the controlling firms are relate to family firms which are widespread and important for economic growth particularly in Asian Pacific region. The unique characteristics of the controlling families tend to play an important role in determining the corporate policies such as dividend policy. Given the complexity of the family business phenomenon, the empirical evidence has been unclear on how the families behind business groups influence dividend policy in Asian markets with the prevalent existence of cross-shareholdings and pyramidal structure. Dividend policy as one of an important determinant of firm value could also be implemented in order to examine the effect of the controlling families behind business groups on strategic decisions-making in terms of a governance perspective and agency problems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of ownership structure and concentration which are influential internal corporate governance mechanisms in family firms on dividend decision-making. Using panel data and constructing a unique dataset of family ownership and control through hand-collecting information from the nonfinancial companies listed in Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) between 2000 and 2015, the study finds that family firms with large stakes distribute higher dividends than family firms with small stakes. Family ownership can mitigate the agency problems and the expropriation of minority investors in family firms. To provide insight into the distinguish between ownership rights and control rights, this study examines specific firm characteristics including the degrees of concentration of controlling shareholders by classifying family ownership in different categories. The results show that controlling families with large deviation between voting rights and cash flow rights have more power and affect lower dividend payment. These situations become worse when second blockholders are families. To the best knowledge of the researcher, this study is the first to examine the association between family firms’ characteristics and dividend policy from the corporate governance perspectives in Thailand with weak investor protection environment and high ownership concentration. This research also underscores the importance of family control especially in a context in which family business groups and pyramidal structure are prevalent. As a result, academics and policy makers can develop markets and corporate policies to eliminate agency problem.

Keywords: agency theory, dividend policy, family control, Thailand

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Authors: Thuraya Ahmed Al Shidhani, Yahya Al Farsi, Alya Al Husni, Samir Al Adawi

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Background: Knee osteoarthritis (knee OA) represents a major public health burden worldwide, particularly among older adults. However, little has been documented from Arabian Gulf countries, which have left an information gap. Objective: This study describes the socio-demographic, clinical risk factors, and use of herbal medicine among men and women seeking consultation for knee OA at two secondary healthcare facilities in Muscat, Oman. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 213 Omani adults with knee OA attending a referral polyclinic in Muscat, Oman, over 12 months from January to December. Socio-demographic data were collected from the participants who are seeking consultation for knee OA. Results: Among the 213 study participants, 171 were females and 42 males. The females were comparatively older than the males, had lower education and lower-income, and more overweight. The majority of the participants were normal weight or underweight. About one-third of participants reported OA in other joints as well. Most participants recalled that they had knee OA for less than a year. About 12% reported a history of trauma. The majority (63%) concurrently had other chronic illnesses, and 33% reported having at least one complication. About 22% were using herbal medicines. About 77% are using herbal local applications in form of powder and creams. Conclusion: This study, to our knowledge, is the first to explore socio-demographic characteristics, clinical risk factors and use of herbal medicine among sufferers of knee OA in Oman. Knee OA tended to occur among our participants at younger ages than reported elsewhere, while obesity appeared orthogonal to the severity of knee OA. Women were more affected than men. About one quarter of Omani patients are using herbal medicine. More studies are needed to understand the causal factors and development of knee OA in Oman. Targeted health education and rehabilitation programs are needed, particularly among Omani women, to improve their physical quality of life.

Keywords: knee joint, osteoarthritis, herbal medicine, Oman

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Authors: Riddhiman Sherlekar, Umang Paladia, Rachit Desai, Yash Patel

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A number of surfactants which exhibit ultra-low interfacial tension and an excellent microemulsion phase behavior with crude oils of low to medium gravity are not sufficiently soluble at optimum salinity to produce stable aqueous solutions. Such solutions often show phase separation after a few days at reservoir temperature, which does not suffice the purpose and the time is short when compared to the residence time in a reservoir for a surfactant flood. The addition of polymer often exacerbates the problem although the poor stability of the surfactant at high salinity remains a pivotal issue. Surfactants such as SDS, Ctab with large hydrophobes produce lowest IFT, but are often not sufficiently water soluble at desired salinity. Hydrophilic co-solvents and/or co-surfactants are needed to make the surfactant-polymer solution stable at the desired salinity. This study focuses on contrasting the effect of addition of a co-solvent in stability of a surfactant –oil emulsion. The idea is to use a co-surfactant to increase stability of an emulsion. Stability of the emulsion is enhanced because of creation of micro-emulsion which is verified both visually and with the help of particle size analyzer at varying concentration of salinity, surfactant and co-surfactant. A lab-experimental method description is provided and the method is described in detail to permit readers to emulate all results. The stability of the oil-water emulsion is visualized with respect to time, temperature, salinity of the brine and concentration of the surfactant. Nonionic surfactant TX-100 when used as a co-surfactant increases the stability of the oil-water emulsion. The stability of the prepared emulsion is checked by observing the particle size distribution. For stable emulsion in volume% vs particle size curve, the peak should be obtained for particle size of 5-50 nm while for the unstable emulsion a bigger sized particles are observed. The UV-Visible spectroscopy is also used to visualize the fraction of oil that plays important role in the formation of micelles in stable emulsion. This is important as the study will help us to decide applicability of the surfactant based EOR method for a reservoir that contains a specific type of crude. The use of nonionic surfactant as a co-surfactant would also increase the efficiency of surfactant EOR. With the decline in oil discoveries during the last decades it is believed that EOR technologies will play a key role to meet the energy demand in years to come. Taking this into consideration, the work focuses on the optimization of the secondary recovery(Water flooding) with the help of surfactant and/or co-surfactants by creating desired conditions in the reservoir.

Keywords: co-surfactant, enhanced oil recovery, micro-emulsion, surfactant flooding

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Authors: M. R. Vijayakumar, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Lakshmi, Hithesh Dewangan, Sanjay Singh

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Trans resveratrol (RES) is a natural molecule proved for cancer preventive and therapeutic activities devoid of any potential side effects. However, the therapeutic application of RES in disease management is limited because of its rapid elimination from blood circulation thereby low biological half life in mammals. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to enhance the circulation as well as therapeutic efficacy using PEGylated liposomes. D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (vitamin E TPGS) is applied as steric surface decorating agent to prepare RES liposomes by thin film hydration method. The prepared nanoparticles were evaluated by various state of the art techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique for particle size and zeta potential, TEM for shape, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for interaction analysis and XRD for crystalline changes of drug. Encapsulation efficiency and invitro drug release were determined by dialysis bag method. Cancer cell viability studies were performed by MTT assay, respectively. Pharmacokinetic studies were performed in sprague dawley rats. The prepared liposomes were found to be spherical in shape. Particle size and zeta potential of prepared formulations varied from 64.5±3.16 to 262.3±7.45 nm and -2.1 to 1.76 mV, respectively. DSC study revealed absence of potential interaction. XRD study revealed presence of amorphous form in liposomes. Entrapment efficiency was found to be 87.45±2.14 % and the drug release was found to be controlled up to 24 hours. Minimized MEC in MTT assay and tremendous enhancement in circulation time of RES PEGylated liposomes than its pristine form revealed that the stearic stabilized PEGylated liposomes can be an alternative tool to commercialize this molecule for chemopreventive and therapeutic applications in cancer.

Keywords: trans resveratrol, cancer nanotechnology, long circulating liposomes, bioavailability enhancement, liposomes for cancer therapy, PEGylated liposomes

Procedia PDF Downloads 589

Authors: Fatemeh Elmi, Zahra Etemadifar

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Improvement of soil mechanical properties is crucial before its use in construction, as the low mechanical strength and unstable structure of soil in many parts of the world can lead to the destruction of engineering infrastructure, resulting in financial and human losses. Although, conventional methods, such as chemical injection, are often utilized to enhance soil strength and stiffness, they are generally expensive, require heavy machinery, and cause significant environmental effects due to chemical usage, and also disrupt urban infrastructure. Moreover, they are not suitable for treating large volume of soil. Recently, an alternative method to improve various soil properties, including strength, hardness, and permeability, has received much attention: the application of biological methods. One of the most widely used is biocementation, which is based on the microbial precipitation of calcium carbonte crystalls using ureolytic bacteria However, there are still limitations to its large-scale use that need to be resolved before it can be commercialized. These issues have not received enough attention in prior research. One limitation of MICP (microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation) is that microorganisms cannot operate effectively in harsh and variable environments, unlike the controlled conditions of a laboratory. Another limitation of applying this technique on a large scale is the high cost of producing a substantial amount of bacterial culture and reagents required for soil treatment. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate soil improvement using the biocementation activity of poly-extremophile, calcium carbonate crystal- producing bacterial strain, Bhargavaea cecembensis N1, in whey as an inexpensive medium. This strain was isolated and molecularly identified from sandy soils in our previous research, and its 16S rRNA gene sequences was deposited in the NCBI Gene Bank with an accession number MK420385. This strain exhibited a high level of urease activity (8.16 U/ml) and produced a large amount of calcium carbonate (4.1 mg/ ml). It was able to improve the soil by increasing the compressive strength up to 205 kPa and reducing permeability by 36%, with 20% of the improvement attributable of calcium carbonate production. This was achieved using this strain in a whey culture medium. This strain can be an eco-friendly and economical alternative to conventional methods in soil stabilization, and other MICP related applications.

Keywords: biocementation, Bhargavaea cecembensis, soil improvement, whey culture medium

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Zahid Ali Ghazi

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Supercapacitors (SCs) have emerged as auspicious energy storage devices because of their fast charge-discharge characteristics and high power densities. In the current study, a simple approach is used to coat activated carbon (AC) with a thin layer of nickel (Ni) by an electroless deposition process to enhance the electrochemical performance of the SC. The synergistic combination of large surface area and high electrical conductivity of the AC, as well as the pseudocapacitive behavior of the metallic Ni, has shown great potential to overcome the limitations of traditional SC materials. First, the materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for crystallography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface morphology and energy dispersion X-ray (EDX) for elemental analysis. The electrochemical performance of the nickel-coated activated carbon (Ni-AC) is systematically evaluated through various techniques, including galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The GCD results revealed that Ni/AC has a higher specific capacitance (1559 F/g) than bare AC (222 F/g) at 1 A/g current density in a 2 M KOH electrolyte. Even at a higher current density of 20 A/g, the Ni/AC showed a high capacitance of 944 F/g as compared to 77 F/g by AC. The specific capacitance (1318 F/g) calculated from CV measurements for Ni-AC at 10mV/sec was in close agreement with GCD data. Furthermore, the bare AC exhibited a low energy of 15 Wh/kg at a power density of 356 W/kg whereas, an energy density of 111 Wh/kg at a power density of 360 W/kg was achieved by Ni/AC-850 electrode and demonstrated a long life cycle with 94% capacitance retention over 50000 charge/discharge cycles at 10 A/g. In addition, the EIS study disclosed that the Rs and Rct values of Ni/AC electrodes were much lower than those of bare AC. The superior performance of Ni/AC is mainly attributed to the presence of excessive redox active sites, large electroactive surface area and corrosive resistance properties of Ni. We believe that this study will provide new insights into the controlled coating of ACs and other porous materials with metals for developing high-performance SCs and other energy storage devices.

Keywords: supercapacitor, cyclic voltammetry, coating, energy density, activated carbon

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Sunantha Teyarachakul

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We consider the worker-learning Newsvendor Model, under the case of lost-sales for unmet demand, with the research objective of proposing the cost-minimization order policy and lot size, scheduled to arrive at the beginning of the selling-period. In general, the New Vendor Model is used to find the optimal order quantity for the perishable items such as fashionable products or those with seasonal demand or short-life cycles. Technically, it is used when the product demand is stochastic and available for the single selling-season, and when there is only a one time opportunity for the vendor to purchase, with possibly of long ordering lead-times. Our work differs from the classical Newsvendor Model in that we incorporate the human factor (specifically worker learning) and its influence over the costs of processing units into the model. We describe this by using the well-known Wright’s Learning Curve. Most of the assumptions of the classical New Vendor Model are still maintained in our work, such as the constant per-unit cost of leftover and shortage, the zero initial inventory, as well as the continuous time. Our problem is challenging in the way that the best order quantity in the classical model, which is balancing the over-stocking and under-stocking costs, is no longer optimal. Specifically, when adding the cost-saving from worker learning to such expected total cost, the convexity of the cost function will likely not be maintained. This has called for a new way in determining the optimal order policy. In response to such challenges, we found a number of characteristics related to the expected cost function and its derivatives, which we then used in formulating the optimal ordering policy. Examples of such characteristics are; the optimal order quantity exists and is unique if the demand follows a Uniform Distribution; if the demand follows the Beta Distribution with some specific properties of its parameters, the second derivative of the expected cost function has at most two roots; and there exists the specific level of lot size that satisfies the first order condition. Our research results could be helpful for analysis of supply chain coordination and of the periodic review system for similar problems.

Keywords: inventory management, Newsvendor model, order policy, worker learning

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Authors: Seyda Can, Meryem Unulu

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Objective: Breast milk is the most fundamental nutritional element for the healthy growth and development of newborns as they supply all the necessary components. Various obstacles such as diseases of mother and child, allergies of the baby, and insufficient breastmilk affect breast-feeding adversely. The wet nursery or breast milk banking is the most important source in providing the nutrients closest to the ideal for the newborn. Despite increasing opinions about its benefits, breast milk banking practice is controversial because of reasons such as ethical problems, traditional beliefs and attitudes, security concerns of families and lack of knowledge. It is thought that the results of this study will create the data for studies to raise the awareness of the society regarding wet nursery, and milk banks. Method: The study was planned and performed in descriptive type. The population of the study consists of mothers that gave birth between October-November 2017 in a public hospital in Turkey, and the sample consisted of 205 mothers chosen by improbable sampling method from the population and accepted to participate in the study. While gathering data, a survey consisting of 33 questions designed to determine the socio-demographic characteristics and their views on wet nursery and breast milk banking. Written ethical committee and institution permit was taken. Before the interview, participants were informed about the purpose and content of the study and oral permit was taken. Result: When the distribution of 205 mothers according to their individual characteristics, it was detected that their age average was 28,16±5,23 and 63,4 of mothers (n=130) had normal delivery. It was determined that clear majority of mothers, 75,6% (n=155) had no breast-feeding problems and 75,1% (n=154) fed the baby only with breast milk. It was detected that 18,5% (n=38) would accept a stranger to be a wet nurse and 60% (n=123) would donate milk if there is a breast milk bank. It was detected 33,2 % (n=68) of participant mothers want to make use of breast milk bank if there is a situation that prevents breast feeding, 38,5 % (n=79) of mothers think breast milk bank would be problematic religiously. Statistical difference was detected between the educational status of women and the rate of wanting breast milk bank practice. As the educational status of mothers increased, their rate of wanting breast milk bank practice increased. Conclusion: It is essential that every baby is breastfed by its mother primarily. However, when this is not possible, in order to implement wet nursery and breast milk banking as an extension of national breast-feeding policy, regulations need to be made and worries should be eased. Also, organizing training programs are also really important to raise awareness of the society and mothers.

Keywords: breast feeding, breast milk, milk banks, wet nursery

Procedia PDF Downloads 167