Search results for: ethylene response factor

Authors: Noshin Mehrabian, Mohammad Reza Abedi, Hassan Ali Zamani

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A highly selective poly(vinyl chloride)-based membrane sensor produced by using 1,2-Diaminopropane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (DAPTA) as active material is described. The electrode displays Nernstian behavior over the concentration range 1.0×10⁻⁶ to 1.0×10⁻² M. The detection limit of the electrode is 7.2×10⁻⁷ M. The best performance was obtained with the membrane containing 30% polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 65% nitrobenzene (NB), 2% sodium tetra phenyl borate (Na TPB), 3% DAPTA. The potentiometric response of the proposed electrode is pH independent in the range of 2.5–‎‎9.1. ‎The proposed sensor displays a fast response time 'less than 10s'. The electrode shows a good selectivity for Eu (III) ion with respect to most common cations including alkali, alkaline earth, transition, and heavy metal ions. It was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric ‎titration of 25 mL of a 1.0×10⁻⁴ M Eu (III) solution with a 1.0×10⁻² M EDTA solution.

Keywords: potentiometry, PVC membrane, sensor, ion-selective electrode

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Authors: P. R. Maiti, S. K. Bhattacharyya

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Sloshing is a physical phenomenon characterized by the oscillation of unrestrained free surface of liquid in a partially liquid filled container subjected to external excitation. Determination of sloshing frequency in container is important to avoid resonance condition of the system. The complex behavior of the free surface movement and its combined mode of vibration make difficulty for exact analysis of sloshing. In the present study, numerical analysis is carried out for a partially liquid filled tank under external forces. Boundary element approach is used to formulate the sloshing problem in two -dimensional prismatic container with potential flow. Effort has been made to find slosh response for two dimensional problems in partially liquid filled prismatic container.

Keywords: sloshing, boundary element method, prismatic container, oscillation

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Authors: Berina Pilipović, Saša Pilipović, Maja Pašić-Kulenović

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Inflammation is the body's response to impaired homeostasis caused by infection, injury or trauma resulting in systemic and local effects. Inflammation causes the body's response to injury and is characterized by a series of events including inflammatory response, response to pain receptors and the recovery process. Inflammation can be acute and chronic. The inflammatory response is described in three different phases. Free radical is an atom or molecule that has the unpaired electron and is therefore generally very reactive chemical species. Biologically important example of reaction with free radicals is called Lipid peroxidation (LP). Lipid peroxidation reactions occur in biological membranes, and if at the outset is not stopped with the action of antioxidants, it will bring damage to the membrane, which results in partial or complete loss of their physiological functions. Calcium antagonists and beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists are known drugs, and for many years and widely used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Some of these compounds also show antioxidant activity. The mechanism of antioxidant activities of calcium antagonists and beta-blockers is unknown, since their structure varies widely. This research investigated the possible local anti-inflammatory activity of ointments containing 1% carvedilol in the white petrolatum USP. Ear inflammation was induced by 3% croton oil acetone solution, in quantity of 10 µl on both mouse ears. Albino Swiss mouse (n = 8) are treated with 2.5 mg/ear ointment, and control group was treated on the same way as previous with hydrocortisone 1% ointment (2.5 mg/ear). The other ear of the same animal was used as control one. Ointments were administered once per day, on the left ear. After treatment, ears were observed for three days. After three days, we measured mass (mg) of 6 mm ear punch of treated and controlled ears. The results of testing anti-inflammatory effects of ointments with carvedilol in the mouse ear model show stronger observed effect than ointment with 1% hydrocortisone in the same basis. Identical results were confirmed by the difference between the mass of 6 mm ears punch. The results were also confirmed by histological examination. Ointments with carvedilol showed significant reduction of the inflammation process caused by croton oil on the mouse inflammation model.

Keywords: antioxidant, carvedilol, inflammation, mouse ear

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Authors: Zografou Konstantina, Anagnostellis Konstantinos, Brokaki Marina, Kaltsouni Eleftheria, Dimaki Maria, Kati Vassiliki

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Body size is crucial to ecology, influencing everything from individual reproductive success to the dynamics of communities and ecosystems. Understanding how temperature affects variations in body size is vital for both theoretical and practical purposes, as changes in size can modify trophic interactions by altering predator-prey size ratios and changing the distribution and transfer of biomass, which ultimately impacts food web stability and ecosystem functioning. Notably, a decrease in body size is frequently mentioned as the third "universal" response to climate warming, alongside shifts in distribution and changes in phenology. This trend is backed by ecological theories like the temperature-size rule (TSR) and Bergmann's rule, which have been observed in numerous species, indicating that many species are likely to shrink in size as temperatures rise. However, the thermal responses related to body size are still contradictory, and further exploration is needed. To tackle this challenge, we developed the MEIOSIS project, aimed at providing valuable insights into the relationship between the body size of species, species’ traits, environmental factors, and their response to climate change. We combined a digitized collection of butterflies from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich with our newly digitized butterfly collection from Goulandris Natural History Museum in Greece to analyse trends in time. For a total of 23868 images, the length of the right forewing was measured using ImageJ software. Each forewing was measured from the point at which the wing meets the thorax to the apex of the wing. The forewing length of museum specimens has been shown to have a strong correlation with wing surface area and has been utilized in prior studies as a proxy for overall body size. Temperature data corresponding to the years of collection were also incorporated into the datasets. A second dataset was generated when a custom computer vision tool was implemented for the automated morphological measuring of samples for the digitized collection in Zürich. Using the second dataset, we corrected manual measurements with ImageJ, and a final dataset containing 31922 samples was used for analysis. Setting time as a smoother variable, species identity as a random factor, and the length of right-wing size (a proxy for body size) as the response variable, we ran a global model for a maximum period of 110 years (1900 – 2010). Then, we investigated functional variability between different terrestrial biomes in a second model. Both models confirmed our initial hypothesis and resulted in a decreasing trend in body size over the years. We expect that this first output can be provided as basic data for the next challenge, i.e., to identify the ecological traits that influence species' temperature-size responses, enabling us to predict the direction and intensity of a species' reaction to rising temperatures more accurately.

Keywords: butterflies, shrinking body size, museum specimens, climate change

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Authors: Siavash Mirahmadizoghi, Steven Bell, David Simpson

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In this work a new independent component analysis (ICA) based method for noise reduction in evoked potentials is evaluated on for auditory late responses (ALR) captured with a 63-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) from 10 normal-hearing subjects. The performance of the new method is compared with a single channel alternative in terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR), the number of channels with an SNR above an empirically derived statistical critical value and an estimate of the effect of attention on the major components in the ALR waveform. The results show that the multichannel signal processing method can significantly enhance the quality of the ALR signal and also detect the effect of the attention on the ALR better than the single channel alternative.

Keywords: auditory late response (ALR), attention, EEG, independent component analysis (ICA), multichannel signal processing

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Authors: R. Resmi, M. R. Baiju

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The thermal damping of a dynamic vibrating micromirror is an important factor affecting the design of MEMS based actuator systems. In the development process of new micromirror systems, assessing the extent of energy loss due to thermal damping accurately and predicting the performance of the system is very essential. In this paper, the depth of the thermal penetration layer at different eigenfrequencies and the temperature variation distributions surrounding a vibrating micromirror is analyzed. The thermal penetration depth corresponds to the thermal boundary layer in which energy is lost which is a measure of the thermal damping is found out. The energy is mainly dissipated in the thermal boundary layer and thickness of the layer is an important parameter. The detailed thermoacoustics is used to model the air domain surrounding the micromirror. The thickness of the boundary layer, temperature variations and thermal power dissipation are analyzed for a Si based torsional mode micromirror. It is found that thermal penetration depth decreases with eigenfrequency and hence operating the micromirror at higher frequencies is essential for reducing thermal damping. The temperature variations and thermal power dissipations at different eigenfrequencies are also analyzed. Both frequency-response and eigenfrequency analyses are done using COMSOL Multiphysics software.

Keywords: Eigen frequency analysis, micromirrors, thermal damping, thermoacoustic interactions

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Authors: Sezen Gulec, Bilge Uzun

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Almost all of the world population marries at least once in their lifetime. Nevertheless, in reality, only half of all marriages last a lifetime. The most important factor in marriage to manage is the satisfaction that they obtain. It is reality that marital satisfaction does not only related to maintain the relationship but also related to the social and work relationships. In this respect, the purpose of the present research is to find the personal and relational factors predicted marital satisfaction. The sample including 378 (178 male and 200 females) married individuals were administered to marital life scale, multidimensional perfectionism scale, trait forgivingness scale, adjective based personality test and relationship happiness questionnaire. The findings revealed marital happiness, forgiveness and extravertedness and emotional inconsistency factors were found to be significant predictors of marital satisfaction.

Keywords: marital satisfaction, happiness, perfectionism, forgiveness, five factor personality

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Authors: Kostas Philippopoulos, Chris G. Tzanis, Despina Deligiorgi

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Climate change adaptation requires the exploitation of renewable energy sources such as wind. However, climate variability can affect the regional wind energy potential and consequently the available wind power production. The goal of the research project is to examine the impact of atmospheric circulation on wind energy production over Greece. In the context of synoptic climatology, the proposed novel methodology employs Self-Organizing Maps for grouping and classifying the atmospheric circulation and nationally-aggregated capacity factor time series for a 30-year period. The results indicate the critical effect of atmospheric circulation on the national aggregated wind energy production values and therefore address the issue of optimum distribution of wind farms for a specific region.

Keywords: wind energy, atmospheric circulation, capacity factor, self-organizing maps

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Authors: Isidro Perez, Maryam Nazari

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Numerous earthquakes, which have taken place across the world, led to catastrophic damage and collapse of structures (e.g., 1971 San Fernando; 1995 Kobe-Japan; and 2010 Chile earthquakes). Engineers are constantly studying methods to moderate the effect this phenomenon has on structures to further reduce damage, costs, and ultimately to provide life safety to occupants. However, there are regions where structures, cities, or water reservoirs are built near fault lines. When an earthquake occurs near the fault lines, they can be categorized as near-field earthquakes. In contrary, a far-field earthquake occurs when the region is further away from the seismic source. A near-field earthquake generally has a higher initial peak resulting in a larger seismic response, when compared to a far-field earthquake ground motion. These larger responses may result in serious consequences in terms of structural damage which can result in a high risk for the public’s safety. Unfortunately, the response of structures subjected to near-field records are not properly reflected in the current building design specifications. For example, in ASCE 7-10, the design response spectrum is mostly based on the far-field design-level earthquakes. This may result in the catastrophic damage of structures that are not properly designed for near-field earthquakes. This research investigates the knowledge that the effect of near-field earthquakes has on the response of structures. To fully examine this topic, a structure was designed following the current seismic building design specifications, e.g. ASCE 7-10 and ACI 318-14, being analytically modeled, utilizing the SAP2000 software. Next, utilizing the FEMA P695 report, several near-field and far-field earthquakes were selected, and the near-field earthquake records were scaled to represent the design-level ground motions. Upon doing this, the prototype structural model, created using SAP2000, was subjected to the scaled ground motions. A Linear Time History Analysis and Pushover analysis were conducted on SAP2000 for evaluation of the structural seismic responses. On average, the structure experienced an 8% and 1% increase in story drift and absolute acceleration, respectively, when subjected to the near-field earthquake ground motions. The pushover analysis was ran to find and aid in properly defining the hinge formation in the structure when conducting the nonlinear time history analysis. A near-field ground motion is characterized by a high-energy pulse, making it unique to other earthquake ground motions. Therefore, pulse extraction methods were used in this research to estimate the maximum response of structures subjected to near-field motions. The results will be utilized in the generation of a design spectrum for the estimation of design forces for buildings subjected to NF ground motions.

Keywords: near-field, pulse, pushover, time-history

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Authors: Yunshi Peng, Shanshan Gao, Sang Qin

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The sense of humor is an integration of cognition, emotion and behavioral tendencies in the process of expressing humor. Previous studies evidenced the positive impact of sense of humor on promoting mental health. However, very few studies investigated this with Chinese populations. The absence of a validated questionnaire limits empirical research on sense of humor in China. This study aimed to develop a Chinese instrument to examine the sense of humor among college students in China. A pool of 72 items was developed by conducting a series of qualitative methods including open-ended questionnaire, individual interviews and literature analysis, followed by an expert rating. A total of 500 college students were recruited from 7 provinces in China to complete all 72 items. The factor structure of sense of humor was established and 25 items were eventually formed by utilizing the exploratory factor analyses (EFA). The questionnaire composed 4 subscales: humor comprehension, humor creativity, attitudes towards humor and optimism level. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) from a follow-up study with a different sample of 1200 colleges students showed good model fit. All subscales and the overall questionnaire display satisfying internal consistency. Correlations with criterion variables demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. The sense of humor questionnaire is a psychometrically-sound instrument for the population of college students in China. This is applicable for future studies to identify the structure of sense of humor and evaluate the levels of humor for individuals.

Keywords: college students, EFA and CFA, questionnaire, sense of humor

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Authors: Ladan Maijama’a, Jibril D. Jiya, Ejike C. Anene

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This paper presents Differential Evolution Algorithm (DEA) based Variable Structure Position Control (VSPC) of Laboratory DC servomotor (LDCSM). DEA is employed for the optimal tuning of Variable Structure Control (VSC) parameters for position control of a DC servomotor. The VSC combines the techniques of Sliding Mode Control (SMC) that gives the advantages of small overshoot, improved step response characteristics, faster dynamic response and adaptability to plant parameter variations, suppressed influences of disturbances and uncertainties in system behavior. The results of the simulation responses of the VSC parameters adjustment by DEA were performed in Matlab Version 2010a platform and yield better dynamic performance compared with the untuned VSC designed.

Keywords: differential evolution algorithm, laboratory DC servomotor, sliding mode control, variable structure control

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Authors: Priti Rani, Rajni Johar, P. S. Jassal

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The magnetic chitosan beads (MCB) were synthesized using co-precipitation method and made to react with epichlorohydrin (ECH) to get the cross-linked derivative (ECH-MCB). The beads were characterized by FTIR, SEM, EDX, and TGA. It is found that zinc metal ion sorption efficiency of ECH-MCB is significantly higher than MCB. Various factors affecting the uptake behavior of metal ions, such as pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and temperature effects, were investigated. The adsorption parameters fitted well with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The equilibrium parameter RL values support that the adsorption (0 < RL < 1) is favorable and spontaneous process. The thermodynamic parameters confirm that it is an endothermic reaction, which results in an increase in the randomness of adsorption process. The beads were regenerated using ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) for further use. These beads prove as promising materials for the removal of pollutants from industrial wastewater. Water samples from Yamuna and Hindon rivers were analysed for the detection of Zn (II) ions.

Keywords: chitosan magnetic beads, EDTA, epichlorohydrin, removal efficiency

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Authors: Alan Luo, Hunter N. B. Moseley

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Many macromolecular structure entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) have a range of regional (localized) quality issues, be it derived from x-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, or other experimental approaches. However, most PDB entries are judged by global quality metrics like R-factor, R-free, and resolution for x-ray crystallography or backbone phi-psi distribution statistics and average restraint violations for NMR. Regional quality is often ignored when PDB entries are re-used for a variety of structurally based analyses. The binding of ligands, especially ligands involved in energy metabolism, is of particular interest in many structurally focused protein studies. Using a regional quality metric that provides chemically interpretable information from electron density maps, a significant number of outliers in regional structural quality was detected across x-ray crystallographic PDB entries for proteins bound to biochemically critical ligands. In this study, a series of analyses was performed to evaluate both specific and general potential factors that could promote these outliers. In particular, these potential factors were the minimum distance to a metal ion, the minimum distance to a crystal contact, and the isotropic atomic b-factor. To evaluate these potential factors, Fisher’s exact tests were performed, using regional quality criteria of outlier (top 1%, 2.5%, 5%, or 10%) versus non-outlier compared to a potential factor metric above versus below a certain outlier cutoff. The results revealed a consistent general effect from region-specific normalized b-factors but no specific effect from metal ion contact distances and only a very weak effect from crystal contact distance as compared to the b-factor results. These findings indicate that no single specific potential factor explains a majority of the outlier ligand-bound regions, implying that human error is likely as important as these other factors. Thus, all factors, including human error, should be considered when regions of low structural quality are detected. Also, the downstream re-use of protein structures for studying ligand-bound conformations should screen the regional quality of the binding sites. Doing so prevents misinterpretation due to the presence of structural uncertainty or flaws in regions of interest.

Keywords: biomacromolecular structure, coenzyme, electron density discrepancy analysis, x-ray crystallography

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Authors: Juan Jose Filgueira, Daniela Londono-Serna, Liliana Maria Hoyos

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Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) is one of the most important products of exportation in the floriculture industry worldwide. Fusariosis is the disease that causes the highest losses on farms, in particular the one produced by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi, called vascular wilt. Gene identification and metabolic routes of the genes that participate in the building of the plant response to Fusarium are some of the current targets in the carnation breeding industry. The techniques for the identifying of resistant genes in the plants, is the analysis of the transcriptome obtained during the host-pathogen interaction. In this work, we report the cell transcriptome of different varieties of carnation that present differential response from Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi attack. The cells of the different hybrids produced in the outbreeding program were cultured in vitro and elicited with the parasite in a dual culture. The isolation and purification of mRNA was achieved by using affinity chromatography Oligo dT columns and the transcriptomes were obtained by using Illumina NGS techniques. A total of 85,669 unigenes were detected in all the transcriptomes analyzed and 31,000 annotations were found in databases, which correspond to 36.2%. The library construction of genic expression techniques used, allowed to recognize the variation in the expression of genes such as Germin-like protein, Glycosyl hydrolase family and Cinnamate 4-hydroxylase. These have been reported in this study for the first time as part of the response mechanism to the presence of Fusarium oxysporum.

Keywords: Carnation, Fusarium, vascular wilt, transcriptome

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Authors: Manoj Kumar, Sujata Mohanty, D. N. Rao, Arul Selvi, Sanjeev K. Bhoi

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Background: Hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) mobilized from bone marrow to peripheral blood has been observed in severe trauma and hemorrhagic shock patients. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a potent stimulator that mobilized HPC from bone marrow to peripheral blood. Objective: Our aim of the study was to investigate the serum G-CSF levels and correlate with HPC and outcome. Methods: Peripheral blood sample from 50 hemorrhagic shock patients was collected on arrival for determination of G-CSF and peripheral blood HPC (PBHPC) and compared with healthy control (n=15). Determination of serum levels of G-CSF by sandwich ELISA and PBHPC by Sysmex XE-2100. Data were categorized by age, sex, Injury Severity Score (ISS), and laboratory data was prospectively collected. Data are expressed as mean±SD and median (min, max). Results: Significantly increased the serum level of G-CSF (264.8 vs. 79.1 pg/ml) and peripheral blood HPC (0.1 vs. 0.01 %) in the T/HS patients when compared with control group. Conclusions: Our studies suggest serum G-CSF elevated in T/HS patients. The elevated in G-CSF was also associated with mobilization of HPC from BM to peripheral blood HPC. Increased the levels of G-CSF in T/HS may play a significant role in the alteration of the hematopoietic compartment.

Keywords: granulocyte colony stimulating factor, G-CSF, hematopoietic progenitor cells, HPC, trauma hemorrhagic shock, T/HS, outcome

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Authors: Dona Ghosh, Zakir Husain

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In India, the increase in share of aged has generated many social and economic issues, of which health concerns is a major challenge that society must confront in coming years. Self-reported health (SRH) is a popular health measure in this regard but has been questioned in recent years due to its heavy dependence on the socioeconomic status. So, the validity of SRH, as a measure of health status during old age, is needed to be verified. This paper emphasizes on the self-reported health and related inconsistent responses among elderly in India. The objective of the study is bifurcated into two parts: firstly, to identify the socioeconomic determinants of subjective health status and its change over time; and secondly, to analyse the role of the socioeconomic components in providing inconsistent responses regarding the health status of elderly. Inconsistency in response can rise in two ways: positive response bias (if an individual has a health problem but reports his/her health as good) and negative response bias (if bad health is reported even if there is no health problem). However, in the present study, we focus only on the negative response bias of elderly individuals. To measure the inconsistencies in responses, self-reported health is compared with two types of physical health conditions – existence of chronicle ailment and physical immobility. Using NSS dataset of 60th and 71st rounds, the study found that subjective health has worsened over time in both rural and urban areas. Findings suggest that inconsistency in responses, related to chronic ailment, vary across social classes, living environments, geographical regions, age groups and education levels. On the contrary, variation in inconsistent responses regarding physical mobility is quite rare and difficult to explain by socioeconomic characteristics because most of the indicators are found to be insignificant in this regard. The findings indicate that in case of chronicle ailment, inconsistency between objective and subjective health status largely depends on socioeconomic conditions but the importance of such factors disappears for physical immobility.

Keywords: India, aging, self-reported health, inconsistent responses

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Authors: Abdolamir Allameh, Seyyed Mortaza Haghgoo, Adnan Khosravi, Esmaeil Mortaz, Mihan Pourabdollah-Toutkaboni, Sharareh Seifi

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Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC) is associated with a number of gene mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The prognostic significance of mutations in exons 19 and 21, together with serum levels of EGFR, amphiregulin (AR), and Transforming Growth Factor-alpha (TGF-α) are implicated in diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of EGFR mutations in selected exons with the expression of relevant ligands in sera samples of NSCLC patients. For this, a group of NSCLC patients (n=98) referred to the hospital for lung surgery with a mean age of 59±10.5 were enrolled (M/F: 75/23). Blood specimen was collected from each patient. Besides, formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues were processed for DNA extraction. Gene mutations in exons 19 and 21 were detected by direct sequencing, following DNA amplification which was done by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). Also, serum levels of EGFR, AR, and TGF-α were measured by ELISA. The results of our study show that EGFR mutations were present in 37% of Iranian NSCLC patients. The most frequently identified mutations were deletions in exon 19 (72.2%) and substitutions in exon 21 (27.8%). The most frequently identified alteration, which is considered as a rare mutation, was the E872K mutation in exon 21, which was found in 90% (9 out of 10) cases. EGFR mutation detected in exon 21 was significantly (P<0.05) correlated with the levels of its ligands, EGFR and TGF-α in serum samples. Furthermore, it was found that increased serum AR (>3pg/ml) and TGF-α (>10.5 pg/ml) were associated with shorter overall survival (P<0.05). The results clearly showed a close relationship between EGFR mutations and serum EGFR and serum TGF-α. Increased serum EGFR was associated with TGF-α and AR and linked to poor prognosis of NSCLC. These findings are implicated in clinical decision-making related to EGFR-Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).

Keywords: lung cancer, Iranian patients, epidermal growth factor, mutation, prognosis

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Authors: Toshitaka Higashino, Naoki Wakamiya

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Human beings perform a task by perceiving information from outside, recognizing them, and responding them. There have been various attempts to analyze and understand internal processes behind the reaction to a given stimulus by conducting psychological experiments and analysis from multiple perspectives. Among these, we focused on Model Human Processor (MHP). However, it was built based on psychological experiments and thus the relation with brain activity was unclear so far. To verify the validity of the MHP and propose our model from a viewpoint of neuroscience, EEG (Electroencephalography) measurements are performed during experiments in this study. More specifically, first, experiments were conducted where Latin alphabet characters were used as visual stimuli. In addition to response time, ERPs (event-related potentials) such as N100 and P300 were measured by using EEG. By comparing cycle time predicted by the MHP and latency of ERPs, it was found that N100, related to perception of stimuli, appeared at the end of the perceptual processor. Furthermore, by conducting an additional experiment, it was revealed that P300, related to decision making, appeared during the response decision process, not at the end. Second, by experiments using Japanese Hiragana characters, i.e. Japan's own phonetic symbols, those findings were confirmed. Finally, Japanese Kanji characters were used as more complicated visual stimuli. A Kanji character usually has several readings and several meanings. Despite the difference, a reading-related task and a meaning-related task exhibited similar results, meaning that they involved similar information processing processes of the brain. Based on those results, our model was proposed which reflects response time and ERP latency. It consists of three processors: the perception processor from an input of a stimulus to appearance of N100, the cognitive processor from N100 to P300, and the decision-action processor from P300 to response. Using our model, an application system which reflects brain activity can be established.

Keywords: brain activity, EEG, information processing model, model human processor

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Authors: Ryan Dale B. Elnar

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This study developed a multidimensional need assessment scale for college students called The University of Mindanao Needs Assessment Scale (UMNAS). Although there are context-specific instruments measuring the needs of clinical and non-clinical samples, literature reveals no standardized scales to measure the needs of the college students thus a four-phase item development process was initiated to support its content validity. Comprising seven broad facets namely spiritual-moral, intrapersonal, socio-personal, psycho-emotional, cognitive, physical and sexual, a pyramid model of college needs was deconstructed through FGD sample to support the literature review. Using various construct validity procedures, the model was further tested using a total of 881 Filipino college samples. The result of the study revealed evidences of the reliability and validity of the UMNAS. The reliability indices range from .929-.933. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a one-factor-six-dimensional instrument to measure the needs of the college students. Using multivariate regression analysis, year level and course are found predictors of students’ needs. Content analysis attested the usefulness of the instrument to diagnose students’ personal and academic issues and concerns in conjunction with other measures. The norming process includes 1728 students from the different colleges of the University of Mindanao. Further validation is recommended to establish a national norm for the instrument.

Keywords: needs assessment scale, validity, factor analysis, college students

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Authors: Mojtaba Esmaeilzad Limoudehi, Ebrahim Amiri

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Water scarcity is now one of the leading challenges for human societies. In this regard, recognizing the relationship between soil, water, plant growth, and plant response to stress is very significant. In this paper, considering the importance of drought stress and the role of choosing suitable cultivars in resistance against drought, a split-plot experiment using early, intermediate, and late-maturing cultivars was carried out in Katul filed, Golestan province during two cultivation years of 2015 and 2016. The main factor was irrigation intervals at four levels, including 7 days, 14 days, 21 days, and 28 days. The subfactor was the subplot of six maize cultivars (two early maturing cultivars, two medium maturing cultivars, and two late-maturing cultivars). The results of variance analysis have revealed that irrigation interval and cultivars treatment have significant effects on the number of grain in each corn, number of rows in each corn, number of grain per row, the weight of 1000 grains, grain yield, and biomass yield. Although, the interaction of these two factors on the mentioned attributes was meaningful. The best grain yield was achieved at 7 days irrigation interval and late maturing maize cultivars treatment, which was equal to 12301 kg/ha.

Keywords: corn, growth period, optimization, stress

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Authors: H. Hruschka

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This paper presents the first comparison of the performance of the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net on binary market basket data relative to binary factor analysis and the two best-known topic models, namely Dirichlet allocation and the correlated topic model. This comparison shows that the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net are superior to both binary factor analysis and topic models. Managerial implications that differ between the investigated models are treated as well. The restricted Boltzmann machine is defined as joint Boltzmann distribution of hidden variables and observed variables (purchases). It comprises one layer of observed variables and one layer of hidden variables. Note that variables of the same layer are not connected. The comparison also includes deep belief nets with three layers. The first layer is a restricted Boltzmann machine based on category purchases. Hidden variables of the first layer are used as input variables by the second-layer restricted Boltzmann machine which then generates second-layer hidden variables. Finally, in the third layer hidden variables are related to purchases. A public data set is analyzed which contains one month of real-world point-of-sale transactions in a typical local grocery outlet. It consists of 9,835 market baskets referring to 169 product categories. This data set is randomly split into two halves. One half is used for estimation, the other serves as holdout data. Each model is evaluated by the log likelihood for the holdout data. Performance of the topic models is disappointing as the holdout log likelihood of the correlated topic model – which is better than Dirichlet allocation - is lower by more than 25,000 compared to the best binary factor analysis model. On the other hand, binary factor analysis on its own is clearly surpassed by both the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net whose holdout log likelihoods are higher by more than 23,000. Overall, the deep belief net performs best. We also interpret hidden variables discovered by binary factor analysis, the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net. Hidden variables characterized by the product categories to which they are related differ strongly between these three models. To derive managerial implications we assess the effect of promoting each category on total basket size, i.e., the number of purchased product categories, due to each category's interdependence with all the other categories. The investigated models lead to very different implications as they disagree about which categories are associated with higher basket size increases due to a promotion. Of course, recommendations based on better performing models should be preferred. The impressive performance advantages of the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net suggest continuing research by appropriate extensions. To include predictors, especially marketing variables such as price, seems to be an obvious next step. It might also be feasible to take a more detailed perspective by considering purchases of brands instead of purchases of product categories.

Keywords: binary factor analysis, deep belief net, market basket analysis, restricted Boltzmann machine, topic models

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Authors: Hilary Rutto, Linda Sibali

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In these modern times, we constantly search for new and innovative technologies to lift the burden of our extreme energy demand. The overall purpose of biofuel production research is to source an alternative energy source to replace the normal use of fossil fuel as liquid petroleum products. This experiment looks at the basis of biodiesel production with regards to alternative catalysts that can be used to produce biodiesel. The key factors that will be addressed during the experiments will focus on temperature variation, catalyst additions to the overall reaction, methanol to oil ratio, and the impact of agitation on the reaction. Brine samples sources from nearby plants will be evaluated and tested thoroughly and the key characteristics of these brine samples analysed for the verification of its use as a possible catalyst in biodiesel production. The one factor at a time experimental approach was used in this experiment, and the recycle and reuse characteristics of the heterogeneous catalyst was evaluated.

Keywords: brine sludge, heterogenous catalyst, biodiesel, one factor

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Authors: Zhiyong Shan, Preethi Santhanam, Vinod Namboodiri, Rajiv Bagai

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In recent years, the emerging network worms and attacks have distributive characteristics, which can spread globally in a very short time. Security management crossing networks to co-defense network-wide attacks and improve the efficiency of security administration is urgently needed. We propose a hierarchical distributed network security management system (HD-NSMS), which can integrate security management across multiple networks. First, we describe the system in macrostructure and microstructure; then discuss three key problems when building HD-NSMS: device model, alert mechanism, and emergency response mechanism; lastly, we describe the implementation of HD-NSMS. The paper is valuable for implementing NSMS in that it derives from a practical network security management system (NSMS).

Keywords: network security management, device organization, emergency response, cross-network

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Xuan Zhao, Wen Jiang

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In this study, a web crawler was used to collect POI sample data from 38 districts and counties of Chongqing in 2022, and ArcGIS was combined to coordinate and projection conversion and realize data visualization. Nuclear density analysis and spatial correlation analysis were used to explore the spatial distribution characteristics of elderly care facilities in Chongqing, and K mean cluster analysis was carried out with GeoDa to study the spatial concentration degree of elderly care resources in 38 districts and counties. Finally, the driving force of spatial differentiation of elderly care facilities in various districts and counties of Chongqing is studied by using the method of geographic detector. The results show that: (1) in terms of spatial distribution structure, the distribution of elderly care facilities in Chongqing is unbalanced, showing a distribution pattern of ‘large dispersion and small agglomeration’ and the asymmetric pattern of ‘west dense and east sparse, north dense and south sparse’ is prominent. (2) In terms of the spatial matching between elderly care resources and the elderly population, there is a weak coordination between the input of elderly care resources and the distribution of the elderly population at the county level in Chongqing. (3) The analysis of the results of the geographical detector shows that the single factor influence is mainly the number of elderly population, public financial revenue and district and county GDP. The high single factor influence is mainly caused by the elderly population, public financial income, and district and county GDP. The influence of each influence factor on the spatial distribution of elderly care facilities is not simply superimposed but has a nonlinear enhancement effect or double factor enhancement. It is necessary to strengthen the synergistic effect of two factors and promote the synergistic effect of multiple factors.

Keywords: aging, elderly care facilities, spatial differentiation, geographical detector, driving force analysis, Mountain city

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Authors: E. G. Zaki, M. A. Migahed, A. M. Al-Sabagh, E. A. Khamis

Abstract:

Inhibition effect of four novel nonionic surfactants based on sulphonamide, of linear alkyl benzene sulphonic acid (LABS), was reacted with 1 mole triethylenetetramine, tetraethylenepentamine then Ethoxylation of amide X 65 type carbon steel in oil wells formation water under H2S environment was investigated by electrochemical measurements. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion X-ray (EDX) were used to characterize the steel surface. The results showed that these surfactants act as a corrosion inhibitor in and their inhibition efficiencies depend on the ethylene oxide content in the system. The obtained results showed that the percentage inhibition efficiency (η%) was increased by increasing the inhibitor concentration until the critical micelle concentration (CMC) reached The quantum chemistry calculations were carried out to study the molecular geometry and electronic structure of obtained derivatives. The energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital has been calculated using the theoretical computations to reflect the chemical reactivity and kinetic stability of compounds.

Keywords: corrosion, surfactants, steel surface, quantum

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: M. Masłowski, M. Zaborski

Abstract:

Magnetorheological elastomer composites based on micro- and nano-sized magnetite, gamma iron oxide and carbonyl iron powder in ethylene-octene rubber are reported and studied. The method of preparation process influenced the specific properties of MREs (isotropy/anisotropy). The use of extrusion method instead of traditional preparation processes (two-roll mill, mixer) of composites is presented. Micro and nan-sized magnetites as well as gamma iron oxide and carbonyl iron powder were found to be an active fillers improving the mechanical properties of elastomers. They also changed magnetic properties of composites. Application of extrusion process also influenced the mechanical properties of composites and the dispersion of magnetic fillers. Dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA) indicates the presence of strongly developed secondary structure in vulcanizates. Scanning electron microscopy images (SEM) show that the dispersion improvement had significant effect on the composites properties. Studies investigated by vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) proved that all composites exhibit good magnetic properties.

Keywords: extrusion, magnetic fillers, magnetorheological elastomers, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Pramod Somvanshi, Manu Tomar, K. V. Venkatesh

Abstract:

Insulin and glucagon are responsible for homeostasis of key plasma metabolites like glucose, amino acids and fatty acids in the blood plasma. These hormones act antagonistically to each other during the secretion and signaling stages. In the present work, we analyze the effect of macronutrients on the response from integrated insulin and glucagon signaling pathways. The insulin and glucagon pathways are connected by DAG (a calcium signaling component which is part of the glucagon signaling module) which activates PKC and inhibits IRS (insulin signaling component) constituting a crosstalk. AKT (insulin signaling component) inhibits cAMP (glucagon signaling component) through PDE3 forming the other crosstalk between the two signaling pathways. Physiological level of anabolism and catabolism is captured through a metric quantified by the activity levels of AKT and PKA in their phosphorylated states, which represent the insulin and glucagon signaling endpoints, respectively. Under resting and starving conditions, the phosphorylation metric represents homeostasis indicating a balance between the anabolic and catabolic activities in the tissues. The steady state analysis of the integrated network demonstrates the presence of a bistable response in the phosphorylation metric with respect to input plasma glucose levels. This indicates that two steady state conditions (one in the homeostatic zone and other in the anabolic zone) are possible for a given glucose concentration depending on the ON or OFF path. When glucose levels rise above normal, during post-meal conditions, the bistability is observed in the anabolic space denoting the dominance of the glycogenesis in liver. For glucose concentrations lower than the physiological levels, while exercising, metabolic response lies in the catabolic space denoting the prevalence of glycogenolysis in liver. The non-linear positive feedback of AKT on IRS in insulin signaling module of the network is the main cause of the bistable response. The span of bistability in the phosphorylation metric increases as plasma fatty acid and amino acid levels rise and eventually the response turns monostable and catabolic representing diabetic conditions. In the case of high fat or protein diet, fatty acids and amino acids have an inhibitory effect on the insulin signaling pathway by increasing the serine phosphorylation of IRS protein via the activation of PKC and S6K, respectively. Similar analysis was also performed with respect to input amino acid and fatty acid levels. This emergent property of bistability in the integrated network helps us understand why it becomes extremely difficult to treat obesity and diabetes when blood glucose level rises beyond a certain value.

Keywords: bistability, diabetes, feedback and crosstalk, obesity

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Yu-Kuei Hsu, Yan-Gu Lin

Abstract:

A facile and simple fabrication of copper(II) oxide (CuO) nanosheet on copper foil as nanoelectrode for H2O2 sensing application was proposed in this study. The spontaneous formation of CuO nanosheets by immersing the copper foil into 0.1 M NaOH aqueous solution for 48 hrs was carried out at room temperature. The sheet-like morphology with several ten nanometers in thickness and ~500 nm in width was observed by SEM. Those nanosheets were confirmed the monoclinic-phase CuO by the structural analysis of XRD and Raman spectra. The directly grown CuO nanosheets film is mechanically stable and offers an excellent electrochemical sensing platform. The CuO nanosheets electrode shows excellent electrocatalytic response to H2O2 with significantly lower overpotentials for its oxidation and reduction and also exhibits a fast response and high sensitivity for the amperometric detection of H2O2. The novel spontaneously grown CuO nanosheets electrode is readily applicable to other analytes and has great potential applications in the electrochemical detection.

Keywords: CuO, nanosheets, H2O2 detection, Cu foil

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Yu-Ming Wang, Jia-Hong Jian

Abstract:

The Internet and digital publication technologies have brought dramatic impacts on how people collect, organize, disseminate, access, store, and use information. More and more governments, schools, and organizations spent huge funds to develop digital libraries. A digital library can be regarded as a web extension of traditional physically libraries. People can search diverse publications, find out the position of knowledge resources, and borrow or buy publications through digital libraries. People can gain knowledge and students or employees can finish their reports by using digital libraries. Since the considerable funds and energy have been invested in implementing digital libraries, it is important to understand the evaluative criteria from the users’ viewpoint in order to enhance user acceptance. This study develops a list of user acceptance criteria for digital libraries. An initial criteria list was developed based on some previously validated instruments related to digital libraries. Data were collected from user experiences of digital libraries. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were adopted to purify the criteria list. The reliabilities and validities were tested. After validating the criteria list, a user survey was conducted to collect the comparative importance of criteria. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was utilized to derive the importance of each criterion. The results of this study contribute to an e understanding of the criteria and relative importance that users evaluate for digital libraries.

Keywords: digital library, user acceptance, analytic hierarchy process, factor analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Alireza Mohadesi, Ashraf Salmanipour

Abstract:

A chemically modified glassy carbon electrode for electrocatalytic determination of sulfide was developed using multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) covalently immobilized with 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DPIP). The immobilization of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol with MWCNTs was performed with a new synthetic strategy and characterized by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammetric response of DPIP grafted onto MWCNTs indicated that it promotes the low potential, sensitive and stable determination of sulfide. The dependence of response currents on the concentration of sulfide was examined and was linear in the range of 10 - 1100 µM. The detection limit of sulfide was 5 µM and RSD for 100 and 500 µM sulfides were 1.8 and 1.3 %. Many interfering species had little or no effect on the determination of sulfide. The procedure was applied to determination of sulfide in waters samples.

Keywords: functionalized carbon nanotubes, sulfide, biological samples, 2, 6-dichlorophenolindophenol

Procedia PDF Downloads 319