Search results for: state of health

Authors: Daniele Contini, Antonio Donateo, Andrea Gambaro, Athanasios Argiriou, Dimitrios Melas, Daniela Cesari, Anastasia Poupkou, Athanasios Karagiannidis, Apostolos Tsakis, Eva Merico, Rita Cesari, Adelaide Dinoi

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Emissions of atmospheric pollutants from ships and harbour activities are a growing concern at International level given their potential impacts on air quality and climate. These close-to-land emissions have potential impact on local communities in terms of air quality and health. Recent studies show that the impact of maritime traffic to atmospheric particulate matter concentrations in several coastal urban areas is comparable with the impact of road traffic of a medium size town. However, several different approaches have been used for these estimates making difficult a direct comparison of results. In this work an integrated approach based on emission inventories and dedicated measurement campaigns has been applied to give a comparable estimate of the impact of maritime traffic to PM2.5 and particle number concentrations in three major harbours of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas. The influences of local meteorology and of the logistic layout of the harbours are discussed.

Keywords: ship emissions, PM2.5, particle number concentrations, impact of shipping to atmospheric aerosol

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Authors: Andrea Miconi

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The research will focus on the results of the Tempus European Project eMEDia dedicated to Cross-Media Journalism. The project is founded by the European Commission as it involves four European partners - IULM University, Tampere University, University of Barcelona, and the Mediterranean network Unimed - and three Tunisian Universities – IPSI La Manouba, Sfax and Sousse – along with the Tunisian Ministry for Higher Education and the National Syndicate of Journalists. The focus on Tunisian condition is basically due to the role played by digital activists in its recent history. The research is dedicated to the relationship between political participation, news-making practices and the spread of social media, as it is affecting Tunisian society. As we know, Tunisia during the Arab Spring had been widely considered as a laboratory for the analysis the use of new technologies for political participation. Nonetheless, the literature about the Arab Spring actually fell short in explaining the genesis of the phenomenon, on the one hand by isolating technologies as a casual factor in the spread of demonstrations, and on the other by analyzing North-African condition through a biased perspective. Nowadays, it is interesting to focus on the consolidation of the information environment three years after the uprisings. And what is relevant, only a close, in-depth analysis of Tunisian society is able to provide an explanation of its history, and namely of the part of digital media in the overall evolution of political system. That is why the research is based on different methodologies: desk stage, interviews, and in-depth analysis of communication practices. Networked journalism is the condition determined by the technological innovation on news-making activities: a condition upon which professional journalist can no longer be considered the only player in the information arena, and a new skill must be developed. Along with democratization, nonetheless, the so-called citizen journalism is also likely to produce some ambiguous effects, such as the lack of professional standards and the spread of information cascades, which may prove to be particularly dangerous in an evolving media market as the Tunisian one. This is why, according to the project, a new profile must be defined, which is able to manage this new condition, and which can be hardly reduced to the parameters of traditional journalistic work. Rather than simply using new devices for news visualization, communication professionals must also be able to dialogue with all new players and to accept the decentralized nature of digital environments. This networked nature of news-making seemed to emerge during the Tunisian revolution, when bloggers, journalists, and activists used to retweet each other. Nonetheless, this intensification of communication exchange was inspired by the political climax of the uprising, while all media, by definition, are also supposed to bring some effects on people’s state of mind, culture and daily life routines. That is why it is worth analyzing the consolidation of these practices in a normal, post-revolutionary situation.

Keywords: cross-media, education, Mediterranean, networked journalism, social media, Tunisia

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Authors: Tarek Saadawi, Rosario Gennaro, Jonathan Akeley

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There is rapidly growing demand for professionals to fill positions in Cybersecurity. This is recognized as a national priority both by government agencies and the private sector. Cybersecurity is a very wide technical area which encompasses all measures that can be taken in an electronic system to prevent criminal or unauthorized use of data and resources. This requires defending computers, servers, networks, and their users from any kind of malicious attacks. The need to address this challenge has been recognized globally but is particularly acute in the New York metropolitan area, home to some of the largest financial institutions in the world, which are prime targets of cyberattacks. In New York State alone, there are currently around 57,000 jobs in the Cybersecurity industry, with more than 23,000 unfilled positions. The Cybersecurity Program at City College is a collaboration between the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. In Fall 2020, The City College of New York matriculated its first students in theCybersecurity Master of Science program. The program was designed to fill gaps in the previous offerings and evolved out ofan established partnership with Facebook on Cybersecurity Education. City College has designed a program where courses, curricula, syllabi, materials, labs, etc., are developed in cooperation and coordination with industry whenever possible, ensuring that students graduating from the program will have the necessary background to seamlessly segue into industry jobs. The Cybersecurity Program has created multiple pathways for prospective students to obtain the necessary prerequisites to apply in order to build a more diverse student population. The program can also be pursued on a part-time basis which makes it available to working professionals. Since City College’s Cybersecurity M.S. program was established to equip students with the advanced technical skills needed to thrive in a high-demand, rapidly-evolving field, it incorporates a range of pedagogical formats. From its outset, the Cybersecurity program has sought to provide both the theoretical foundations necessary for meaningful work in the field along with labs and applied learning projects aligned with skillsets required by industry. The efforts have involved collaboration with outside organizations and with visiting professors designing new courses on topics such as Adversarial AI, Data Privacy, Secure Cloud Computing, and blockchain. Although the program was initially designed with a single asynchronous course in the curriculum with the rest of the classes designed to be offered in-person, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a move to fullyonline learning. The shift to online learning has provided lessons for future development by providing examples of some inherent advantages to the medium in addition to its drawbacks. This talk will address the structure of the newly-implemented Cybersecurity Master’s Program and discuss the innovations, challenges, and possible future directions.

Keywords: cybersecurity, new york, city college, graduate degree, master of science

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Authors: Asep Adianto, Rinda Ulfah L., Wellya Wichi M., Lasmaria Manik

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Garbage is the waste result of daily human activity which is in some to countries can leads to a crucial problem. It is realized that garbage can brings to disastrous consequences for the environment and humans. Piles of garbage will cause to overflow disaster and health problems for human being. Basically, garbage can be processed into recycled products or other utilization. However, in some cases, awareness of environment cleanliness by throwing the garbage to the dustbin is still lacking, in both adults and children. Children tend to do things based on their visual observations without thinking about the impact of their actions. Associated with awareness of cleanliness, children often littering due to the reluctance on throwing garbage to the dustbin because in some place, it’s not that easy to find where the dustbin is. The obstacle should be accommodated by making some kind of compatible dustbin. In addition, the influence of the social environment and lack of education to environmental concerns makes it even worse. Therefore, we need a method to educate people, especially children, to always care about the environment and neighborhood they live in. Because of the intended target is children, the required method should be fun, easy to do, and it doesn’t contain any compulsion act. Therefore, Eco-Mini Bag is one of considerable method to educate children in society to become more aware about environment cleanliness. Eco-Mini bag is a kind of compatible dustbin and it’s going to prevent the children not to throwing garbage in reckless way. In brief, Eco-Mini bag can increase the environment awareness on children and the whole society through exciting and convenience way.

Keywords: children, eco-mini bag, environment, garbage

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Authors: Jalalludin Abdul Malek, Zurinah Tahir

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When the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was launched in 1995, it became the catalyst for the implementation of the intelligent city concept, an area that covers about 15 x 50 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The concept of intelligent city means that the city has an advanced infrastructure and infostructure such as information technology, advanced telecommunication systems, electronic technology and mechanical technology to be utilized for the development of urban elements such as industries, health, services, transportation and communications. For example, the Golden Triangle of Kuala Lumpur has also many intelligent buildings developed by the private sector such as the KLCC Tower to implement the intelligent city concept. Consequently, the intelligent buildings in the Golden Triangle can be linked directly to the Putrajaya Intelligent City and Cyberjaya Intelligent City within the confines of the MSC. However, the reality of the situation is that there are not many intelligent buildings within the Golden Triangle Kuala Lumpur scope which can be considered of high-standard intelligent buildings as referred to by the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) building standard. This increases the need to implement the real ‘intelligent city’ concept. This paper aims to show the strengths and weaknesses of the intelligent buildings in the Golden Triangle by taking into account aspects of 'intelligence' in the areas of technology and infrastructure of buildings.

Keywords: intelligent city concepts, intelligent building, Golden Triangle, Kuala Lumpur

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Authors: Saeid Doaei

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Background: Obesity in adolescence is a primary risk factor for obesity in adulthood. The objective of this study was the assessment of the effect of a comprehensive lifestyle intervention on different anthropometric indices in 12 to 16 years old boy adolescents. Methods: 96 adolescent boys of two schools of District 5 of Tehran have participated in this study. The schools were randomly assigned as intervention school (n=53) and control school (n=43). The height and weight of students were measured with a calibrated tape line and digital scale respectively and their BMI were calculated. The amounts of body fat percent (BF) and body muscle (BM) percent were determined by Bio Impedance Analyzer (BIA) considering the age, gender and height of students at baseline and after intervention. The intervention was implemented in the intervention school, according to the Ottawa charter principles. Results: 12 weeks of intervention decreased body fat percent in the intervention group in comparison with the control group (decreased by 1.81 % in the intervention group and increased by .39 % in the control group, P < .01). However, weight, BMI and BM did not change significantly. Conclusion: The result of this study showed that the implementation of comprehensive intervention in obese adolescents may improve the body composition, although these changes may not be reflected in BMI. It is possible that BMI is not a good indicator in assessment of the success of obesity management intervention.

Keywords: obesity, childhood, BMI, nutrition

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Authors: M. Malekian, M. E. Heydari, M. Irani Estyar

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infection, which may lead to cervical cancer as the main cause of it. With early diagnosis and treatment in health care services, cervical cancer and its complications are considered to be preventable. This study was aimed to compare the efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity of Pap smear and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in detecting HPV. A literature search was performed in Google Scholar, PubMed and SID databases using the keywords 'human papillomavirus', 'pap smear' and 'polymerase change reaction' to identify studies comparing Pap smear and PCR methods for the detection. No restrictions were considered.10 studies were included in this review. All samples that were positive by pop smear were also positive by PCR. However, there were positive samples detected by PCR which was negative by pop smear and in all studies, many positive samples were missed by pop smear technique. Although The Pap smear had high specificity, PCR based HPV detection was more sensitive method and had the highest sensitivity. In order to promote the quality of detection and high achievement of the maximum results, PCR diagnostic methods in addition to the Pap smear are needed and Pap smear method should be combined with PCR techniques according to the high error rate of Pap smear in detection.

Keywords: human papillomavirus, cervical cancer, pap smear, polymerase chain reaction

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Authors: Chun-Lang Chang, Chun-Kai Liu

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In this study, the patients that have undergone total knee replacement surgery from the 2010 National Health Insurance database were adopted as the study participants. The important factors were screened and selected through literature collection and interviews with physicians. Through the Cross Entropy Method (CE), Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression (GALR), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), the weights of the factors were obtained. In addition, the weights of the respective algorithms, coupled with the Excel VBA were adopted to construct the Case Based Reasoning (CBR) system. The results through statistical tests show that the GALR and PSO produced no significant differences, and the accuracy of both models were above 97%. Moreover, the area under the curve of ROC for these two models also exceeded 0.87. This study shall serve as a reference for medical staff as an assistance for clinical assessment of infections in order to effectively enhance medical service quality and efficiency, avoid unnecessary medical waste, and substantially contribute to resource allocations in medical institutions.

Keywords: Case Based Reasoning, Cross Entropy Method, Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression, Particle Swarm Optimization, Total Knee Replacement Surgery

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Authors: Arnon Medzini, Lilach Lev Ari

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Migration, the driving force behind increased urbanization, has made cities much more diverse places to live in. Nearly one-fifth of all migrants live in the world’s 20 largest cities. In many of these global cities, migrants constitute over a third of the population. Many of contemporary migrants are in fact ‘forced migrants,’ pushed from their countries of origin due to political or ethnic violence and persecution or natural disasters. During the past decade, massive numbers of labor migrants and asylum seekers have migrated from African countries to Israel via Egypt. Their motives for leaving their countries of origin include ongoing and bloody wars in the African continent as well as corruption, severe conditions of poverty and hunger, and economic and political disintegration. Most of the African migrants came to Israel from Eritrea and Sudan as they saw Israel the closest natural geographic asylum to Africa; soon they found their way to the metropolitan Tel-Aviv area. There they concentrated in poor neighborhoods located in the southern part of the city, where they live under conditions of crowding, poverty, and poor sanitation. Today around 45,000 African migrants reside in these neighborhoods, and yet there is no legal option for expelling them due to dangers they might face upon returning to their native lands. Migration of such magnitude to the weakened neighborhoods of south Tel-Aviv can lead to the destruction of physical, social and human infrastructures. The character of the neighborhoods is changing, and the local population is the main victim. These local residents must bear the brunt of the failure of both authorities and the government to handle the illegal inhabitants. The extremely crowded living conditions place a heavy burden on the dilapidated infrastructures in the weakened areas where the refugees live and increase the distress of the veteran residents of the neighborhoods. Some problems are economic and some stem from damage to the services the residents are entitled to, others from a drastic decline in their standard of living. Even the public parks no longer serve the purpose for which they were originally established—the well-being of the public and the neighborhood residents; they have become the main gathering place for the infiltrators and a center of crime and violence. Based on secondary data analysis (for example: The Israel’s Population, Immigration and Border Authority, the hotline for refugees and migrants), the objective of this presentation is to discuss the effects of forced migration to Tel Aviv on the following tensions: between the local population and the immigrants; between the local population and the state authorities, and between human rights groups vis-a-vis nationalist local organizations. We will also describe the changes which have taken place in the urban infrastructure of the city of Tel Aviv, and discuss the efficacy of various Israeli strategic trajectories when handling human problems arising in the marginal urban regions where the forced migrant population is concentrated.

Keywords: African asylum seekers, forced migrants, marginal urban regions, urban infrastructure

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Authors: Tina Naser Torabi

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Prevalence of allergy is affected by different factors according to its base and seasonal weather changes, and it also needs various treatments.Although reasons of allergy existence are not clear but generally, allergens cause reaction between antigen and antibody because of their antigenic traits. In this state, allergens cause immune system to make mistake and identify safe material as threat, therefore function of immune system impaired because of histamine secretion. There are different reasons for allergy, but herbal reasons are on top of the list, although animal causes cannot be ignored. Important point is that allergenic compounds, cause making dedicated antibody, so in general every kind of allergy is different from the other one. Therefore, most of the plants in herbal allergenic category can cause various allergies for human beings, such as respiratory allergies, nutritional allergies, injection allergies, infection allergies, touch allergies, that each of them show different symptoms based on the reason of allergy and also each of them requires different prevention and treatment. Geographical condition is another effective factor in allergy. Seasonal changes, weather condition, herbal coverage variety play important roles in different allergies. It goes without saying that humid climate and herbal coverage variety in different seasons especially spring cause most allergies in human beings in Iran and India that are discussed in this article. These two countries are good choices for allergy prevalence because of their condition, various herbal coverage, human and animal factors. Hay fever is one of the allergies, although the reasons of its prevalence are unknown yet. It is one of the most popular allergies in Iran and India because of geographical, human, animal and herbal factors. Hay fever is on top of the list in these two countries. Significant point about these two countries is that herbal factor is the most important factor in prevalence of hay fever. Variety of herbal coverage especially in spring during herbal pollination is the main reason of hay fever prevalence in these two countries. Based on the research result of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, pollination of some plants in spring is major reason of hay fever prevalence in these countries. If airborne pollens in pollination season enter the human body through air, they will cause allergic reactions in eyes, nasal mucosa, lungs, and respiratory system, and if these particles enter the body of potential person through food, they will cause allergic reactions in mouth, stomach, and other digestive systems. Occasionally, chemical materials produced by human body such as Histamine cause problems like: developing of nasal polyps, nasal blockage, sleep disturbance, risk of asthma developing, blood vasodilation, sneezing, eye tears, itching and swelling of eyes and nasal mucosa, Urticaria, decrease in blood pressure, and rarely trauma, anesthesia, anaphylaxis and finally death. This article is going to study the reasons of hay fever prevalence in Iran and India and presents prevention and treatment Method from Phytochemistry and Pharmocognocy point of view by using local natural products in these two countries.

Keywords: hay fever, India, Iran, natural treatment, phytochemistry

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Authors: Ashwini Tiwari

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Introduction: Inclusive education for all is a multifaceted approach that requires system thinking and the promotion of a "Culture of Inclusion." Such can only be achieved through the collaboration of multiple stakeholders at the community, regional, state, national, and international levels. Researchers have found effective practices used in inclusive general classrooms are beneficial to all students, including students with disabilities, those who experience challenges academically and socially, and students without disabilities as well. However, to date, no statistically significant effects on the academic performance of students without disabilities in the presence of students with disabilities have been revealed. Therefore, proponents against inclusive education practices, based solely on their beliefs regarding the detrimental effects of students without disabilities, appears to have unfounded perceptions. This qualitative case study examines students' perspectives and beliefs about inclusive education in a middle school in South Texas. More specifically, this study examined students understanding of how inclusive education practices intersect with the classroom community. The data was collected from the students attending fully inclusive classrooms through interviews and focus groups. The findings suggest that peer integration and friendships built during classes are an essential part of schooling for both disabled and non-disabled students. Research Methodology: This qualitative case study used observations and focus group interviews with 12 middle school students attending an inclusive classroom at a public school located in South Texas. The participant of this study includes eight females and five males. All the study participants attend a fully inclusive middle school with special needs peers. Five of the students had disabilities. The focus groups and interviews were conducted during for entire academic year, with an average of one focus group and observation each month. The data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The data from the focus group and observation were continuously compared for emerging codes during the data collection process. Codes were further refined and merged. Themes emerged as a result of the interpretation at the end of the data analysis process. Findings and discussion: This study was conducted to examine disabled and non-disabled students' perspectives on the inclusion of disabled students. The study revealed that non-disabled students generally have positive attitudes toward their disabled peers. The students in the study did not perceive inclusion as a special provision; rather, they perceived inclusion as a way of instructional practice. Most of the participants in the study spoke about the multiple benefits of inclusion. They emphasized that peer integration and friendships built during classes are an essential part of their schooling. Students believed that it was part of their responsibility to assist their peers in the ways possible. This finding is in line with the literature that the personality of children with disabilities is not determined by their disability but rather by their social environment and its interaction with the child. Interactions with peers are one of the most important socio-cultural conditions for the development of children with disabilities.

Keywords: inclusion, special education, k-12 education, student voices

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Authors: Faith-Michael E. Uzoka, Boluwaji A. Akinnuwesi, Taiwo Amoo, Flora Aladi, Stephen Fashoto, Moses Olaniyan, Joseph Osuji

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The overarching aim of this study is to develop a soft-computing system for the differential diagnosis of tropical diseases. These conditions are of concern to health bodies, physicians, and the community at large because of their mortality rates, and difficulties in early diagnosis due to the fact that they present with symptoms that overlap, and thus become ‘confusable’. We report on the first phase of our study, which focuses on the development of a fuzzy cognitive map model for early differential diagnosis of tropical diseases. We used malaria as a case disease to show the effectiveness of the FCM technology as an aid to the medical practitioner in the diagnosis of tropical diseases. Our model takes cognizance of manifested symptoms and other non-clinical factors that could contribute to symptoms manifestations. Our model showed 85% accuracy in diagnosis, as against the physicians’ initial hypothesis, which stood at 55% accuracy. It is expected that the next stage of our study will provide a multi-disease, multi-symptom model that also improves efficiency by utilizing a decision support filter that works on an algorithm, which mimics the physician’s diagnosis process.

Keywords: medical diagnosis, tropical diseases, fuzzy cognitive map, decision support filters, malaria differential diagnosis

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Authors: Ali Mashinchian Moradi, Mahmood Sinaei

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Study on the biomarkers to assess health status of marine ecosystems has an important value in biomonitoring of marine environment. Accordingly, accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment, water and tissues (liver and gill) of mudskipper (Boleophthalmus dussmieri) and some physiological responses like lysosomal membrane change in haemocytes and the Glutathione-S Transferase (GST) activity in the liver were measured in mudskippers. Samples were collected from five sites along the noth western cost of the Persian Gulf. PAHs concentration was measured by HPLC method. The activity of GST enzyme was analysed by spectrophotometric method. Total PAH concentration in coastal seawater, sediments, liver and gill tissues ranged between 0.80-18.34 ug/L, 113.550-3384.34 ng/g dw, 3.99-46.64 ng/g dw and 3.11-17.This study showed that PAH concentrations in this region are not higher than available standards. The findings revile that lysosomal membrane destabilization and liver GST activities are highly sensitive to PAHs in mudskipper, B. dussumieri. Sediment PAH concentrations were strongly correlated with biomarkers, indicating PAHs were biologically available to fish. Thus, mudskipper perceived to be good sentinel organism for PAH pollution biomonitoring.

Keywords: PAHs, biomarker, mudskipper, Persian Gulf

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Authors: Fawad Ali, Muhammad Ateeq, Ikhtiar Khan

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Ground water, a major source of drinking water supply in Peshawar has been severely contaminated by leather tanning industry. Effluents from the tanneries contain high concentration of chromium besides several other chemical species. Release of untreated effluents from the tanning industry has severely damaged surface and ground water, agriculture soil as well as vegetables and crops. Chromium is a well-known carcinogenic and mutagenic agent. Once in the human food chain, it causes multiple problems to the exposed population including various types of cancer, skin dermatitis, and DNA damage. In order to assess the extent of chromium and other heavy metals contamination, water samples were analyzed for heavy metals using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (GFAAS, Analyst 700, Perkin Elmer). Total concentration of chromium was above the permissible limit (0.048 mg/l) in 85% of the groundwater (drinking water) samples. The concentration of cobalt, manganese, cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc and iron was also determined in the ground water, surface water, agriculture soil, and vegetables samples from the affected area.

Keywords: heavy metals, soil, groundwater, tannery effluents, food chain

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Authors: Jia Yin Tan, Daniel Rambei, Kate Mann, Samuel price, Ahmed Aboelela

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Introduction: Breastfeeding is a complex process, influenced by various factors. Tongue-tie may lead to breastfeeding difficulties due to an inability to suck effectively, causing sore nipples and poor infant weight gain. In the UK, most frenotomies on infants are performed by doctors, nurses, health visitors or midwives. Objectives: Evaluation of safety and efficacy of a multispecialty nurse-led rapid access tongue-tie service at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, run jointly by the ENT and paediatric surgery departments. Methodology: A retrospective observational study, including all patients attending the ENT and paediatric surgery nurse-led tongue tie clinics between 1/10/2021 and 30/09/2022. Results: During the study period there were 1135 referrals for frenotomy, with a mean of 15 days between referral to clinic episode. 86.8% of referred patients underwent frenotomy, with a complication rate of 0.1% and revision rate of 5.4%. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that our rapid access nurse-led outpatient tongue tie service is safe and efficacious, with low complication and revision rates. This suggests a potential for developing a community-based service, allowing safe and effective care closer to home.

Keywords: tongue tie, frenotomy, cost, nurse-led

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Authors: Malek Mahmoudi, Jonas Keruckas, Dmytro Volyniuk, Jurate Simokaitiene, Juozas V. Grazulevicius

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Host materials have been discovered as one of the most appealing methods for harvesting triplet states in organic materials for application in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The ideal host-guest system for emission in thermally delayed fluorescence OLEDs with 20% guest concentration for efficient energy transfer has been demonstrated in the present investigation. In this work, 3,3'-bis[9-(4-fluorophenyl) carbazole] (bFPC) has been used as the host, which induces balanced charge carrier transport for high-efficiency OLEDs.For providing a complete characterization of the synthesized compound, photophysical, photoelectrical, charge-transporting, and electrochemical properties of the compound have been examined. Excited-state lifetimes and singlet-triplet energy gaps were measured for characterization of photophysical properties, while thermogravimetric analysis, as well as differential scanning calorimetry measurements, were performed for probing of electrochemical and thermal properties of the compound. The electrochemical properties of this compound were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) method, and ionization potential (IPCV) value of 5.68 eV was observed. UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescence spectrum of a solution of the compound in toluene (10-5 M) showed maxima at 302 and 405 nm, respectively. Photoelectron emission spectrometry was used for the characterization of charge-injection properties of the studied compound in solid. The ionization potential of this material was found to be 5.78 eV, and time-of-flight measurement was used for testing charge-transporting properties and hole mobility estimated using this technique in a vacuum-deposited layer reached 4×10-4 cm2 V-1s-1. Since the compound with high charge mobilities was tested as a host in an organic light-emitting diode. The device was fabricated by successive deposition onto a pre-cleaned indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate under a vacuum of 10-6 Torr and consisting of an indium-tin-oxide anode, hole injection and transporting layer(MoO3, NPB), emitting layer with bFPC as a host and 4CzIPN (2,4,5,6-tetra(9-carbazolyl)isophthalonitrile) which is a new highly efficient green thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) material as an emitter, an electron transporting layer(TPBi) and lithium fluoride layer topped with aluminum layer as a cathode exhibited the highest maximum current efficiency and power efficiency of 33.9 cd/A and 23.5 lm/W, respectively and the electroluminescence spectrum showed only a peak at 512nm. Furthermore, the new bicarbazole-based compound was tested as a host in thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes are reaching luminance of 25300 cd m-2 and external quantum efficiency of 10.1%. Interestingly, the turn-on voltage was low enough (3.8 V), and such a device can be used for highly efficient light sources.

Keywords: thermally-activated delayed fluorescence, host material, ionization energy, charge mobility, electroluminescence

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Authors: Gondrexon, Gonon, Mendil-Jakani, Mareau

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Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) seems to be a promising device used for converting hydrogen into electricity. PEMFC is made of a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) composed of a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) sandwiched by two catalytic layers. Nowadays, specific performances are targeted in order to ensure the long-term expansion of this technology. Current polymers used (perfluorinated as Nafion®) are unsuitable (loss of mechanical properties) for the high-temperature range. To overcome this issue, sulfonated polyaromatic polymers appear to be a good alternative since it has very good thermomechanical properties. However, their proton conductivity and chemical stability (oxidative resistance to H2O2 formed during fuel cell (FC) operating) are very low. In our team, we patented an original concept of hybrid membranes able to fulfill the specific requirements for PEMFC. This idea is based on the improvement of commercialized polymer membrane via an easy and processable stabilization thanks to sol-gel (SG) chemistry with judicious embeded chemical functions. This strategy is thus breaking up with traditional approaches (design of new copolymers, use of inorganic charges/additives). In 2020, we presented the elaboration and functional properties of a 1st generation of hybrid membranes with promising performances and durability. The latter was made by self-condensing a SG phase with 3(mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) inside a commercial sPEEK host membrane. The successful in-situ condensation reactions of the MPTMS was demonstrated by measures of mass uptakes, FTIR spectroscopy (presence of C-Haliphatics) and solid state NMR 29Si (T2 & T3 signals of self-condensation products). The ability of the SG phase to prevent the oxidative degradation of the sPEEK phase (thanks to thiol chemical functions) was then proved with H2O2 accelerating tests and FC operating tests. A 2nd generation made of thiourea functionalized SG precursors (named HTU & TTU) was made after. By analysing in depth the morphologies of these different hybrids by direct space analysis (AFM/SEM/TEM) and reciprocal space analysis (SANS/SAXS/WAXS), we highlighted that both SG phase morphology and its localisation into the host has a huge impact on the PEM functional properties observed. This relationship is also dependent on the chemical function embedded. The hybrids obtained have shown very good chemical resistance during aging test (exposed to H2O2) compared to the commercial sPEEK. But the chemical function used is considered as “sacrificial” and cannot react indefinitely with H2O2. Thus, we are now working on a 3rd generation made of both sacrificial/regenerative chemical functions which are expected to inhibit the chemical aging of sPEEK more efficiently. With this work, we are confident to reach a predictive approach of the key parameters governing the final properties.

Keywords: fuel cells, ionomers, membranes, sPEEK, chemical stability

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Authors: Osungwu Emeka

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Until recently, Port Harcourt was known as the “Garden City of Nigeria” because of its neatness and the overwhelming presence of vegetation all over the metropolis. But today, the presence of piles of refuse dotting the entire city may have turned Port Harcourt into a “Garbage City”. Indiscriminate dumping of industrial, commercial and household wastes such as food waste, paper, polythene, textiles, scrap metals, glasses, wood, plastic, etc. at street corners and gutters, is still very common. The waste management problem in the state affects the citizens both directly and indirectly. The dumping of waste along the roadside obstructs traffic and, after mixing with rain water may sip underground with the possibility of the leachate contaminating the groundwater. The basic solid waste management processes of collection, transportation, segregation and final disposal appear to be very inefficient. This study was undertaken to assess waste utilization using metal waste scavengers. Highlighting their activities as a part of the informal sector of the solid waste management system with a view to identifying their challenges, prospects and possible contributions to the solid waste management system in the Port Harcourt metropolis. Therefore, the aim was to understand and assess scavenging as a system of solid waste management in Port Harcourt and to identify the main bottlenecks to its efficiency and the way forward. This study targeted people who engage in scavenging metal scraps across 5 major waste dump sites across Port Harcourt. To achieve this, a mixed method study was conducted to provide both experiential evidence on this waste utilization method using a qualitative study and a survey to collect numeric evidence on this subject. The findings from the qualitative string of this study provided insight on scavenging as a waste utilization activity and how their activities can reduce the gross waste generated and collected from the subject areas. It further showed the nature and characteristics of scavengers in the waste recycling system as a means of achieving the millennium development goals towards poverty alleviation, job creation and the development of a sustainable, cleaner environment. The study showed that in Port Harcourt, the waste management practice involves the collection, transportation and disposal of waste by refuse contractors using cart pushers and disposal vehicles at designated dumpsites where the scavengers salvage metal scraps for recycling and reuse. This study further indicates that there is a great demand for metal waste materials/products that are clearly identified as genuinely sustainable, even though they may be perceived as waste. The market for these waste materials shall promote entrepreneurship as a profitable venture for waste recovery and recycling in Port Harcourt. Therefore, the benefit of resource recovery and recycling as a means of the solid waste management system will enhance waste to wealth that will reduce pollution, create job opportunities thereby alleviate poverty.

Keywords: scavengers, metal waste, waste-to-wealth, recycle, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, waste reduction, garden city, waste

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Authors: Katherine Dropiewski, Michael Yakimov, Vadim Tokranov, Allan Minns, Pavel Murat, Serge Oktyabrsky

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InAs Quantum Dots (QDs) in a GaAs matrix is a well-documented luminescent material with high light yield, as well as thermal and ionizing radiation tolerance due to quantum confinement. These benefits can be leveraged for high-efficiency, room temperature scintillation detectors. The proposed scintillator is composed of InAs QDs acting as luminescence centers in a GaAs stopping medium, which also acts as a waveguide. This system has appealing potential properties, including high light yield (~240,000 photons/MeV) and fast capture of photoelectrons (2-5ps), orders of magnitude better than currently used inorganic scintillators, such as LYSO or BaF2. The high refractive index of the GaAs matrix (n=3.4) ensures light emitted by the QDs is waveguided, which can be collected by an integrated photodiode (PD). Scintillation structures were grown using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and consist of thick GaAs waveguiding layers with embedded sheets of modulation p-type doped InAs QDs. An AlAs sacrificial layer is grown between the waveguide and the GaAs substrate for epitaxial lift-off to separate the scintillator film and transfer it to a low-index substrate for waveguiding measurements. One consideration when using a low-density material like GaAs (~5.32 g/cm³) as a stopping medium is the matrix thickness in the dimension of radiation collection. Therefore, luminescence properties of very thick (4-20 microns) waveguides with up to 100 QD layers were studied. The optimization of the medium included QD shape, density, doping, and AlGaAs barriers at the waveguide surfaces to prevent non-radiative recombination. To characterize the efficiency of QD luminescence, low temperature photoluminescence (PL) (77-450 K) was measured and fitted using a kinetic model. The PL intensity degrades by only 40% at RT, with an activation energy for electron escape from QDs to the barrier of ~60 meV. Attenuation within the waveguide (WG) is a limiting factor for the lateral size of a scintillation detector, so PL spectroscopy in the waveguiding configuration was studied. Spectra were measured while the laser (630 nm) excitation point was scanned away from the collecting fiber coupled to the edge of the WG. The QD ground state PL peak at 1.04 eV (1190 nm) was inhomogeneously broadened with FWHM of 28 meV (33 nm) and showed a distinct red-shift due to self-absorption in the QDs. Attenuation stabilized after traveling over 1 mm through the WG, at about 3 cm⁻¹. Finally, a scintillator sample was used to test detection and evaluate timing characteristics using 5.5 MeV alpha particles. With a 2D waveguide and a small area of integrated PD, the collected charge averaged 8.4 x10⁴ electrons, corresponding to a collection efficiency of about 7%. The scintillation response had 80 ps noise-limited time resolution and a QD decay time of 0.6 ns. The data confirms unique properties of this scintillation detector which can be potentially much faster than any currently used inorganic scintillator.

Keywords: GaAs, InAs, molecular beam epitaxy, quantum dots, III-V semiconductor

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Authors: Juan Francisco Morales Arteaga, Simon Gluhar, Anela Kaurin, Domen Lestan

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Contaminated soils are recognized as one of the most pressing global environmental problems. As is one of the most hazardous elements: chronic exposure to arsenic has devastating effects on health, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and eventually death. Pb, Zn and Cd are very highly toxic metals that affect almost every organ in the body. With this in mind, new technologies for soil remediation processes are urgently needed. Calcareous artificially contaminated soil containing 231 mg kg-1 As and historically contaminated with Pb, Zn and Cd was washed with a 1:1.5 solid-liquid ratio of 90 mM EDTA, 100 mM oxalic acid, and 50 mM sodium dithionite to remove 59, 75, 29, and 53% of As, Pb, Zn, and Cd, respectively. To reduce emissions of residual EDTA and chelated metals from the remediated soil, zero valent iron (ZVI) was added (1% w/w) to the slurry of the washed soil immediately prior to rinsing. Experimental controls were conducted without the addition of ZVI after remediation. The use of ZVI reduced metal leachability and minimized toxic emissions 21 days after remediation. After this time, NH4NO3 extraction was performed to determine the mobility of toxic elements in the soil. In addition, Unified Human BioaccessibilityMethod (UBM) was performed to quantify the bioaccessibility levels of metals in stimulated human gastric and gastrointestinal phases.

Keywords: soil remediation, soil science, soil washing, toxic metals removal

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Authors: Jareeluk Ratanaphan

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The purposed of this research were; 1.To survey the teacher’s needs on knowledge about special education management for special needs learner 2.To development of distance training packages on providing for learner with special needs. 3. To study the effects of using the packages on trainee’s achievement. 4. To study the effects of using the packages on trainee’s opinion on the distance training packages. The design of the experiment was research and development. The research sample for survey were 86 teachers, and 22 teachers for study the effects of using the packages on achievement and opinion. The research instrument comprised: 1) training packages on special education management for special needs learner 2) achievement test 3) questionnaire. Mean, percentage, standard deviation, t-test and content analysis were used for data analysis. The findings of the research were as follows: 1. The teacher’s needs on knowledge about teaching for learner with learning disability, mental retardation, autism, physical and health impairment and research in special education. 2. The package composed of special education management for special needs student document and manual of distance training packages. The efficiency of packages was established at 79.50/81.35. 3. The results of using the packages were the posttest average scores of trainee’s achievement were higher than pretest. 4. The trainee’s opinion on the package was at the highest level.

Keywords: distance training, training package, teacher, learner with special needs

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Alexa L. Walsh, Christine Hartl, Juliette Ferdschneider, Lezode Kipoliongo, Eleonora Feketeova

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The investigation of COVID-19 and its effects has been at the forefront of clinical research since its emergence in the United States in 2020. Although the possibility of severe infection in immunocompromised individuals has been documented, within the general population of pregnant individuals, there remains to be vaccine hesitancy and uncertainty regarding how the virus may affect the individual and fetus. To combat this hesitancy, this study aims to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 infection on maternal and neonatal complication rates. This retrospective study was conducted by manual chart review of women who were diagnosed with COVID-19 during pregnancy (n = 78) and women who were not diagnosed with COVID-19 during pregnancy (n = 1,124) that gave birth at Garnet Health Medical Centers between 1/1/2019-1/1/2021. Both the COVID+ and COVID- groups exhibited similar median ages, BMI, and parity. The rates of complications were compared between the groups and statistical significance was determined using Chi-squared analysis. Results demonstrated a statistically higher rate of PROM, polyhydramnios, oligohydramnios, GDM, DVT/PE, preterm birth, and the overall incidence of any birth complication in the population that was infected with COVID-19 during their pregnancy. With this information, obstetrical providers can be better prepared for the management of COVID-19+ pregnancies and continue to educate their patients on the benefits of vaccination.

Keywords: complications, COVID-19, Gynecology, Obstetrics

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Authors: Abdolreza Esmaeilzadeh, Maryam Erfanmanesh, Sousan Ghasemi, Farzaneh Mohammadi

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Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a public health problem, is an enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus and a member of the Hepacivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. Liver cancer, cirrhosis, and end-stage liver are the outcomes of chronic infection with HCV. HCV isolates show significant heterogeneity in genetics around the world. Therefore, determining HCV genotypes is a vital step in determining prognosis and planning therapeutic strategies. Materials and Methods: Serum samples of 136 patients were collected and analyzed for anti-HCV antibodies using ELISA (The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) method. Then, positive samples were exposed to RT-PCR, which was performed under standard condition. Afterwards, they investigated for genotyping using allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR), and HCV genotype 2.0 line probe assay (LiPA). Results: Samples indicated 216 bp bands on 2% agarose gel. Analyses of the results demonstrated that the most dominant subtype was 3a with frequency of 38.26% in Zanjan Province followed by subtypes of 1b, 1a, 2, and 4 with frequencies of 25.73%, 22.05%, 5.14%, and 4.41%, respectively. The frequency of unknown HCV genotypes was 4.41%. Conclusions: According to the results, it was found that HCV high prevalent genotype in Zanjan is subtype 3a. Analysis of the results provides identification of certain HCV genotypes, and these valuable findings could affect the type and duration of the treatment.

Keywords: anti-HCV antibody, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), genotype, RT-PCR, AS-PCR

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Authors: Laura Niño Cáceres, Daisy Yoo, Caroline Hummels

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COVID-19 accelerated digital healthcare technology usage in many countries, such as Colombia, whose digital healthcare vision and projects are proof of this. However, with a significant cultural indigenous and Afro-Colombian heritage, only some parts of the country are willing to follow the proposed digital Western approach to health. Our paper presents the national healthcare system’s digital narrative, which we contrast with the micro-narrative of an Afro-Colombian ethnomedicine unit in Bogota called Kilombo Yumma. This ethnomedical unit is building its mobile app to safeguard and represent its ancestral medicine practices in local and national healthcare information systems. Kilombo Yumma is keen on promoting their beliefs and practices, which have been passed on through oral traditions and currently exist in the hands of a few older women. We unraveled their ambition, core beliefs, and practices through asset-based design. These assets outlined pluriversal and decolonizing forms of digital healthcare to increase social justice and connect Western and ancestral medicine digital opportunities through HCI.

Keywords: asset-based design, mobile app, decolonizing HCI, Afro-Colombian ancestral medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: K. A. Kemelov, Z. K. Maymekov, D. A. Sambaeva, W. Frenzel

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Benzo(a)pyrene is widespread carcinogenic and mutagenic environmental pollutant, which is formed in combustion processes of carbonaceous materials at high temperature and still health safety problem related benz(a)pyrene continues to remain actual. At the moment the mechanisms of formation of benzo(a)pyrene are not studied in detail, there is not concrete certain full scheme of synthesis of benzo(a)pyrene. Studies in this area are mainly dedicated to development of measuring tools and chemical reactions analyzes, or to obtain specific evidence of a large group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Consequently in this study we try to create physical and chemical model of oxidation and thermo destruction processes of benzo(a)pyrene, using critical thermodynamical parameters in order to estimate theoretical derivatives of benzo(a)pyrene and which conditions benzo(a)pyrene degraded into more harmful substances. According to this physical and chemical modeling of thermal destruction process of benzo(a)pyrene in wide ranges of change of temperature value were calculated. C20H12 - H2O-O2 system was taken for modeling of thermal destruction process of benzo(a)pyrene in order to establish distribution range of equilibrium structures and concentrations of molecules in a gas phase. Also technological ways of reduction of concentration of benzo(a)pyrene in a gas phase were supposed.

Keywords: benzo(a)pyrene, emission, PAH, thermodynamic parameters

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Authors: Sangram Shamrao Patil, Hara Mohan Jena

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Phthalates are among the most common organic pollutant since they have become widespread in the environment and found in sediments, natural waters, soils, plants, landfill leachates, biota including human tissue and aquatic organisms. Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is a low molecular weight phthalate which has wide applications as plasticizer and become a major cause of environmental pollution. Environmental protection agency (EPA) listed DEP as priority pollutant because of its toxicity and they recommended human health ambient water quality criterion for diethyl phthalate (DEP) as 4 mg/l. Therefore, wastes containing phthalates require proper treatment before being discharged into the environment. Biodegradation is attractive and efficient treatment method as it is cost effective and produces non-toxic end products. In the present study, a DEP degrading aerobic bacterium was isolated from soil contaminated with plastic industry wastewater. Morphological and biochemical characteristics of isolate were performed. 16S rRNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of isolate was carried out and it was identified as Empedobacter brevis. Isolate has been found to tolerate up to 1650 mg/l of DEP. This study will be significant for exploring an application of microbes for remediation of phthalates and development of a suitable bioreactor.

Keywords: diethyl phthalate, plasticizer, pollutant, biodegradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Mohd Moiz Khan, S. M. Mahajani, G. N. Jadhav

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Waste foundry sand (total clay content 15%) contains toxic heavy metals and particulate matter which make dumping of waste sand an environmental and health hazard. Disposal of waste foundry sand (WFS) remains one of the substantial challenges faced by Indian foundries nowadays. To cope up with this issue, the chemical method was used to reclaim WFS. A stirrer tank reactor was used for chemical reclamation. Experiments were performed to reduce the total clay content from 15% to as low as 0.9% in chemical reclamation. This method, although found to be effective for WFS reclamation, it may face a challenge due to the possibly high operating cost. Reclaimed sand was found to be satisfactory in terms of sand qualities such as total clay (0.9%), active clay (0.3%), acid demand value (ADV) (2.6%), loss on igniting (LOI) (3 %), grain fineness number (GFN) (56), and compressive strength (60 kPa). The experimental data generated on chemical reactor under different conditions is further used to optimize the design and operating parameters (rotation speed, sand to acidic solution ratio, acid concentration, temperature and time) for the best performance. The use of reclaimed sand within the foundry would improve the economics and efficiency of the process and reduce environmental concerns.

Keywords: chemical reclamation, clay content, environmental concerns, recycle, waste foundry sand

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Authors: Asma Temagoult, Bariza Zitouni, Yassin Noui

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Cactus fruit contains different nutritional and functional components, which are used because of their benefits to human health, such as flavonoids, phenolic compounds, carotenoids and vitamins C. It has hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic action, and antioxidant properties related to anticarcinogenic, antiulcerogenic and immunomodulatory effects. The antioxidant and nutritional properties have been characterized in cactus prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill.), cultivar yellow, grown in Arris area; Eastern of Algeria. The antioxidant properties of this cactus cultivar were higher than the others cactus cultivar in the world. The amount of fruit phenolic compounds revealed contents between 20.65 and 45.70 mg / 100 g of FW for total polyphenols and 0.519 - 0.591 mg / 100 g of FW for the flavonoids. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) methods. The average recorded to the potassium content is about 1070 mg / 100 g of the fresh weight; sodium is 60.7 mg / 100 g of the fresh weight and 80 mg / 100g for the calcium. According to the high value of this cactus, it was considered as a good nutrient and important pharmaceutical resource. It could be used as a natural additive or substituted food supplement in many foodstuffs production, to benefit from these benefits.

Keywords: antioxidant properties, DPPH, FRAP, nutritional properties, Opuntia ficus indica

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: I. M. Sujaul, M. A. Sobahan, A. A. Edriyana, F. M. Yahaya, R. M. Yunus

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This study was carried out to investigate the adverse effect of industrial waste water on surface water quality in Gebeng industrial estate, Pahang, Malaysia. Surface water was collected from 6 sampling stations. Physico-chemical parameters were characterized based on in-situ and ex-situ analysis according to standard methods by American Public Health Association (APHA). Selected heavy metals were determined by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS). The result reveled that the concentration of heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr and Hg were high in samples. The result showed that the value of Pb and Hg were higher in the wet season in comparison to dry season. According to Malaysia National Water Quality Standard (NWQS) and Water Quality Index (WQI) all the sampling station were categorized as class IV (highly polluted). The present study reveled that the adverse effects of careless disposal of wastes and directly discharge of effluents affected on surface water quality. Therefore, the authorities should implement the laws to ensure the proper practices of waste water management for environmental sustainability around the study area.

Keywords: water, heavy metals, water quality index, Gebeng

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: Igor Povar, Catherine Goyet

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The seawater is subject to multiple external stressors (ES) including rising atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification, global warming, atmospheric deposition of pollutants and eutrophication, which deeply alter its chemistry, often on a global scale and, in some cases, at the degree significantly exceeding that in the historical and recent geological verification. In ocean systems the micro- and macronutrients, heavy metals, phosphor- and nitrogen-containing components exist in different forms depending on the concentrations of various other species, organic matter, the types of minerals, the pH etc. The major limitation to assessing more strictly the ES to oceans, such as pollutants (atmospheric greenhouse gas, heavy metals, nutrients as nitrates and phosphates) is the lack of theoretical approach which could predict the ocean resistance to multiple external stressors. In order to assess the abovementioned ES, the research has applied and developed the buffer theory approach and theoretical expressions of the formal chemical thermodynamics to ocean systems, as heterogeneous aqueous systems. The thermodynamic expressions of complex chemical equilibria, involving acid-base, complex formation and mineral ones have been deduced. This thermodynamic approach utilizes thermodynamic relationships coupled with original mass balance constraints, where the solid phases are explicitly expressed. The ocean sensitivity to different external stressors and changes in driving factors are considered in terms of derived buffering capacities or buffer factors for heterogeneous systems. Our investigations have proved that the heterogeneous aqueous systems, as ocean and seas are, manifest their buffer properties towards all their components, not only to pH, as it has been known so far, for example in respect to carbon dioxide, carbonates, phosphates, Ca2+, Mg2+, heavy metal ions etc. The derived expressions make possible to attribute changes in chemical ocean composition to different pollutants. These expressions are also useful for improving the current atmosphere-ocean-marine biogeochemistry models. The major research questions, to which the research responds, are: (i.) What kind of contamination is the most harmful for Future Ocean? (ii.) What are chemical heterogeneous processes of the heavy metal release from sediments and minerals and its impact to the ocean buffer action? (iii.) What will be the long-term response of the coastal ocean to the oceanic uptake of anthropogenic pollutants? (iv.) How will change the ocean resistance in terms of future chemical complex processes and buffer capacities and its response to external (anthropogenic) perturbations? The ocean buffer capacities towards its main components are recommended as parameters that should be included in determining the most important ocean factors which define the response of ocean environment at the technogenic loads increasing. The deduced thermodynamic expressions are valid for any combination of chemical composition, or any of the species contributing to the total concentration, as independent state variable.

Keywords: atmospheric greenhouse gas, chemical thermodynamics, external stressors, pollutants, seawater

Procedia PDF Downloads 143