Search results for: variety trials

Authors: Azizurahman Sakhizadah, Tsugiyuki Masunaga

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The use of sulfur fertilizer by Afghanistan farmers for wheat production has never been practiced, although sulfur deficiency has been expected for wheat production. A field experiment was conducted at Poza e Ishan Research Station Farm, Baghlan province, Afghanistan to examine the effect of sulfur fertilizer on growth and yield components of wheat. The experiment was laid out in randomize complete block design (RCBD), having three replications and eight treatments. The initial soil of experiment was alkaline (pH8.4), with textural class of sandy clay loam, available sulfur (40.8) mg kg-1, and Olsen-P (28.8) mg kg-1. Wheat variety, Kabul 013 was cultivated from November 2015 to June 2016. The recommended doses of nitrogen and Phosphors (Urea and DAP at 250 and 125 kg ha-1) were applied by broadcasting except control plot. Sulfur was applied by foliar spray (K2 SO4) at the rate of 10, 20, and 30 kg ha-1, split at tillering and flowering stages. The results demonstrated that sulfur application positively influenced on growth and yield of wheat crop with combination of nitrogen. Plant did not respond to sole sulfur application. Plant height, spike length, spikelet's number spike-1, were increased and yield g m-2 was also increased by 1.2, 19.1 and 25.1 % for 10, 20 and 30 kg sulfur ha-1 application.

Keywords: sulfur, nitrogen, wheat, foliar

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Shri Krishna Mishra, Badri Yadav

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Proficient persons should be involved in formulation of the structure of the textbooks so that the topics selected in the Hindi textbooks for Class VII should contribute towards linguistic and literary development of the child and the language of the textbook matches the comprehension level of the student.The topics of tile textbooks should provide good illustrations and suitable exercises. Topics of variety of taste can be included in the textbook to satisfy the inquisitive children. There could be abstracts/hints at the beginning of each lesson. Meanings for difficult words must be given at the end of each topic for convenience of the parents and children as most of them find it difficult and time consuming to use Hindi dictionary. Exercises should be relevant covering the whole topic and the difficulty level should match the maturity level of the students in respect of CBSE Board. The stitching and binding of CBSE prescribed books may be improved to increase durability.

Keywords: comparative study of CBSE and BSEMPB, Central Secondary Education, Board of Secondry Education, BHOPAL

Procedia PDF Downloads 397

Authors: Ali Murat Guler

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A variety of experiments have been developed over the past decades, aiming at the detection of Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMPs) via their scattering in an instrumented medium. The sensitivity of these experiments has improved with a tremendous speed, thanks to a constant development of detectors and analysis methods. Detectors capable of reconstructing the direction of the nuclear recoil induced by the WIMP scattering are opening a new frontier to possibly extend Dark Matter searches beyond the neutrino background. Measurement of WIMP’s direction will allow us to detect the galactic origin of dark matter and, therefore to have a clear signal-background separation. The NEWSdm experiment, based on nuclear emulsions, is intended to measure the direction of WIMP-induced nuclear coils with a solid-state detector, thus with high sensitivity. We discuss the discovery potential of a directional experiment based on the use of a solid target made of newly developed nuclear emulsions and novel read-out systems achieving nanometric resolution. We also report results of a technical test conducted in Gran Sasso.

Keywords: dark matter, direct detection, nuclear emulsion, WIMPS

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Ashlesha Khanapure, Harsh Kashyap, Abhinav Anand, Sanjana Habib, Anupama Bidargaddi

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Technologies that are developing quickly are being developed daily in a variety of disciplines, particularly the medical field. For the purpose of detecting bone fractures in X-ray pictures of different body segments, our work compares the ResNet-50 and MobileNetV3 architectures. It evaluates accuracy and computing efficiency with X-rays of the elbow, hand, and shoulder from the MURA dataset. Through training and validation, the models are evaluated on normal and fractured images. While ResNet-50 showcases superior accuracy in fracture identification, MobileNetV3 showcases superior speed and resource optimization. Despite ResNet-50’s accuracy, MobileNetV3’s swifter inference makes it a viable choice for real-time clinical applications, emphasizing the importance of balancing computational efficiency and accuracy in medical imaging. We created a graphical user interface (GUI) for MobileNet V3 model bone fracture detection. This research underscores MobileNetV3’s potential to streamline bone fracture diagnoses, potentially revolutionizing orthopedic medical procedures and enhancing patient care.

Keywords: CNN, MobileNet V3, ResNet-50, healthcare, MURA, X-ray, fracture detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Aofan Liu, Qianqian Tan, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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Data security is of the utmost importance in the healthcare area, as sensitive patient information is constantly sent around and analyzed by many different parties. The use of federated learning, which enables data to be evaluated locally on devices rather than being transferred to a central server, has emerged as a potential solution for protecting the privacy of user information. To protect against data breaches and unauthorized access, federated learning alone might not be adequate. In this context, the application of blockchain technology could provide the system extra protection. This study proposes a distributed federated learning system that is built on blockchain technology in order to enhance security in healthcare. This makes it possible for a wide variety of healthcare providers to work together on data analysis without raising concerns about the confidentiality of the data. The technical aspects of the system, including as the design and implementation of distributed learning algorithms, consensus mechanisms, and smart contracts, are also investigated as part of this process. The technique that was offered is a workable alternative that addresses concerns about the safety of healthcare while also fostering collaborative research and the interchange of data.

Keywords: data privacy, distributed system, federated learning, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Joann Douziech

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Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) possess characteristics that present both challenges and gifts. Individuals with IDD require and are worthy of intentional, strategic, and specialized support throughout their lifespan to ensure optimum quality-of-life outcomes. The current global advocacy movement advancing the rights of individuals with IDD emphasizes a high degree of choice over life decisions. For some individuals, this degree of choice results in a variety of negative health and well-being outcomes. Improving the quality of life outcomes requires the combination of a commitment to the rights of the individual with a responsibility to provide support and choice commensurate with individual capacity. A belief that individuals with IDD are capable of learning and they are worthy of being taught provides the foundation for a holistic model of support throughout their lifespan. This model is based on three pillars of engineering the environment, promoting skill development and maintenance, and staff support. In an ever-changing world, supporting quality of life requires attention to moments, phases, and changes in stages throughout the lifespan. Balancing these complexities with strategic, responsive, and dynamic interventions enhances the quality of life of individuals with ID throughout their lifespan.

Keywords: achieving optimum quality of life, comprehensive support, lifespan approach, philosophy and pedagogy

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Behrooz Balaei, Suzanne Wilkinson, Regan Potangaroa, Larry Abel, Philip McFarlane

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Water supply system failure has serious direct and indirect effects on people wellbeing. Post-disaster water system serviceability depends on a variety of factors from technical characteristics to social, economic, and organizational attributes of communities. This paper tests the organizational factors affecting water supply resilience to outline how these factors contributed to previous disasters. To do so, a framework is briefly introduced in this study to provide a clear guide to identify the significant relevant organizational factors. Then the factors affecting water serviceability following a disaster are outlines. Next, these factors are measured in the case of Tropical Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu in March 2015. Reviewing the existing literature has also been carried out to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the background A site visit and a series of interviews have also been undertaken following the cyclone to collect site-specific data and information. In the end, the organizational factors were ranked to enable decision makers to identify significance of each factor compared to the others.

Keywords: water supply, resilience, organizational capacity, Vanuatu, Tropical Cyclone Pam

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Authors: Radhika S. Oke, Rebecca S. Thombre

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Medicinal plants and herbs have a great history of their utility as remedy for treatment of variety of ailments. Secondary metabolites present in these plants are responsible for their medicinal activity. In the present investigation, phytochemical screening of aqueous and alcoholic leaf extract of Anethum graveolens L. was performed. Total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity of the extracts was quantitatively estimated by Folin-Ciocalteau method and DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) method respectively. Qualitative tests suggested that Alkaloids, tannins and phenolic compounds were present in all the extracts of the plant. Aqueous extracts was found to have more phytochemicals as compared to alcoholic extracts. Extract of Anethum graveolens L. was found to contain good amount phenolics and exhibited antioxidant activity. The extracts also demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against selected gram positive and negative bacteria. The study revealed the potential application of Anethum graveolens L. (Dill) in medicine and health.

Keywords: Anethum graveolens L., antioxidant, antimicrobial activity, medicine and health

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Authors: Noor F. Ilias, Mazlifah Omar, Hashbullah Ismail

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Exercise training has been shown to improve functional capacity and is recommended as a therapy for management of blood pressure. Our purpose was to establish whether different exercise capacity produces different effect size for Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF), systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure in patients with hypertension. Exercise characteristic is required in order to have optimal benefit from the training, but optimal exercise capacity is still unwarranted. A MEDLINE search (1985 to 2015) was conducted for exercise based rehabilitation trials in hypertensive patients. Thirty-seven studies met the selection criteria. Of these, 31 (83.7%) were aerobic exercise and 6 (16.3%) aerobic with additional resistance exercise, providing a total of 1318 exercise subjects and 819 control, the total of subjects was 2137. We calculated exercise volume and energy expenditure through the description of exercise characteristics. 4 studies (18.2%) were 451kcal - 900 kcal, 12 (54.5%) were 900 kcal – 1350 kcal and 6 (27.3%) >1351kcal per week. Peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2) increased by mean difference of 1.44 ml/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08 to 1.79 ml/kg/min; p = 0.00001) with weighted mean 21.2% for aerobic exercise compare to aerobic with additional resistance exercise 4.50 ml/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.57 to 5.42 ml/kg/min; p = 0.00001) with weighted mean 14.5%. SBP was clinically reduce for both aerobic and aerobic with resistance training by mean difference of -4.66 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.68 to -3.63 mmHg; p = 0.00001) weighted mean 6% reduction and -5.06 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -7.32 to -2.8 mmHg; p = 0.0001) weighted mean 5% reduction respectively. Result for DBP was clinically reduce for aerobic by mean difference of -1.62 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.09 to -1.15 mmHg; p = 0.00001) weighted mean 4% reduction and aerobic with resistance training reduce by mean difference of -3.26 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -4.87 to -1.65 mmHg; p = 0.0001) weighted mean 6% reduction. Optimum exercise capacity for 451 kcal – 900 kcal showed greater improvement in peak VO2 and SBP by 2.76 ml/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47 to 4.05 ml/kg/min; p = 0.0001) with weighted mean 40.6% and -16.66 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -21.72 to -11.60 mmHg; p = 0.00001) weighted mean 9.8% respectively. Our data demonstrated that aerobic exercise with total volume of 451 kcal – 900 kcal/ week energy expenditure may elicit greater changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Higher exercise capacity weekly does not seem better result in management hypertensive patients.

Keywords: blood Pressure, exercise, hypertension, peak VO2

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Antonella Falanga, Armando Cartenì

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"Big data" refers to extremely vast and complex sets of data, encompassing extraordinarily large and intricate datasets that require specific tools for meaningful analysis and processing. These datasets can stem from diverse origins like sensors, mobile devices, online transactions, social media platforms, and more. The utilization of big data is pivotal, offering the chance to leverage vast information for substantial advantages across diverse fields, thereby enhancing comprehension, decision-making, efficiency, and fostering innovation in various domains. Big data, distinguished by its remarkable attributes of enormous volume, high velocity, diverse variety, and significant value, represent a transformative force reshaping the industry worldwide. Their pervasive impact continues to unlock new possibilities, driving innovation and advancements in technology, decision-making processes, and societal progress in an increasingly data-centric world. The use of these technologies is becoming more widespread, facilitating and accelerating operations that were once much more complicated. In particular, big data impacts across multiple sectors such as business and commerce, healthcare and science, finance, education, geography, agriculture, media and entertainment and also mobility and logistics. Within the transportation sector, which is the focus of this study, big data applications encompass a wide variety, spanning across optimization in vehicle routing, real-time traffic management and monitoring, logistics efficiency, reduction of travel times and congestion, enhancement of the overall transportation systems, but also mitigation of pollutant emissions contributing to environmental sustainability. Meanwhile, in public administration and the development of smart cities, big data aids in improving public services, urban planning, and decision-making processes, leading to more efficient and sustainable urban environments. Access to vast data reservoirs enables deeper insights, revealing hidden patterns and facilitating more precise and timely decision-making. Additionally, advancements in cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) have further amplified the potential of big data, enabling more sophisticated and comprehensive analyses. Certainly, utilizing big data presents various advantages but also entails several challenges regarding data privacy and security, ensuring data quality, managing and storing large volumes of data effectively, integrating data from diverse sources, the need for specialized skills to interpret analysis results, ethical considerations in data use, and evaluating costs against benefits. Addressing these difficulties requires well-structured strategies and policies to balance the benefits of big data with privacy, security, and efficient data management concerns. Building upon these premises, the current research investigates the efficacy and influence of big data by conducting an overview of the primary and recent implementations of big data in transportation systems. Overall, this research allows us to conclude that big data better provide to enhance rational decision-making for mobility choices and is imperative for adeptly planning and allocating investments in transportation infrastructures and services.

Keywords: big data, public transport, sustainable mobility, transport demand, transportation planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Chamindi Dilkushi Senaratne

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Borrowing is the morphological, syntactic and (usually) phonological integration of lexical items from one language into the structure of another language. Borrowings show complete linguistic integration and due to the frequency of use become fossilized in the recipient language differentiating them from switches and mixes. Code mixes are different to borrowings. Code mixing takes place when speakers use lexical items in casual conversation to serve a variety of functions. This study presents an analysis of lexical items used in English newspapers in Sri Lanka in 2017 which reveal characteristics of borrowing or code mixes. Both phenomena arise due to language contact. The study will also use data from social media websites that comment on newspaper articles available on the web. The study reiterates that borrowings are distinguishable from code mixes and that they are two different phenomena that occur in language contact situations. The study also shows how existing morphological processes are used to create new vocabulary in language use. The study sheds light into how existing morphological processes are used by the bilingual to be creative, innovative and convey a bilingual identity.

Keywords: borrowing, code mixing, morphological processes

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Vahid Bayrami Rad

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In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence techniques, tools, and methods in processing medical images and health-related applications has been highlighted and a lot of research has been done in this regard. For example, colonoscopy and diagnosis of colon lesions are some cases in which the process of diagnosis of lesions can be improved by using image processing and artificial intelligence algorithms, which help doctors a lot. Due to the lack of accurate measurements and the variety of injuries in colonoscopy images, the process of diagnosing the type of lesions is a little difficult even for expert doctors. Therefore, by using different software and image processing, doctors can be helped to increase the accuracy of their observations and ultimately improve their diagnosis. Also, by using automatic methods, the process of diagnosing the type of disease can be improved. Therefore, in this paper, a deep learning framework called KCBA is proposed to classify colonoscopy lesions which are composed of several methods such as K-means clustering, a bag of features and deep auto-encoder. Finally, according to the experimental results, the proposed method's performance in classifying colonoscopy images is depicted considering the accuracy criterion.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, colonoscopy, region of interest, narrow band imaging, texture analysis, bag of feature

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Mohammed S. Bhader, Abdullah A. Ghaddaf, Anas Alamoudi, Amal Abualola, Renad Kalantan, Noura Alkhulaifi, Ibrahim Halawani, Mohammed Alhindi

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Background: Noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a relatively new mode of noninvasive ventilation with promising clinical and patient-ventilator outcomes for preterm infants. The aim of this systematic review was to compare NAVA to nasal continuous or positive airway pressure (NCPAP) or intermittent positive airway pressure (NIPP) for preterm infants. Methods: We searched the online databases Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared NAVA to NCPAP or NIPP for preterm infants < 37 weeks gestational age. We sought to evaluate the following outcomes: noninvasive intubation failure rate, desaturation rate, the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), and length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We used the mean difference (MD) to represent continuous outcomes, while the odds ratio (OR) was used to represent dichotomous outcomes. Results: A total of 11 RCTs that enrolled 429 preterm infants were deemed eligible. NAVA showed similar clinical outcomes to NCPAP or NIPP with respect to noninvasive intubation failure (RR for NAVA versus NCPAP: 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49 to 1.37), desaturation rate (RR for NAVA versus NCPAP: 0.69, 95%CI: 0.36 to 1.29; RR for NAVA versus NIPP: 0.58, 95%CI: 0.08 to 4.25), FiO2 (MD for NAVA versus NCPAP: –0.01, 95%CI: –0.04 to 0.02; MD for NAVA versus NIPP: –7.16, 95%CI: –22.63 to 8.31), and length of stay in the NICU (MD for NAVA versus NCPAP: 1.34, 95%CI: –4.17 to 6.85). Conclusion: NAVA showed similar clinical and ventilator-related outcomes compared to the usual care noninvasive respiratory support measures NCPAP or NIPP for preterm infants.

Keywords: preterm infants, noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist, NIV-NAVA, non-invasive ventilation, nasal continuous or positive airway pressure, NCPAP, intermittent positive airway pressure ventilation, NIPP, respiratory distress syndrome, RDS

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Haira Rizka, Imas Istiani

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The way women and men use language is an interesting topic to discuss. Nowadays, Instagram shows many videos which illustrate the difference of women’s and men’s language. Furthermore, the videos show how different genders behave in daily communication. This research aims to (1) investigate conversational characteristics of women represented in Indonesian Instagram videos, and (2) investigate how different genders behave in daily communication. To analyze the two research problems, this research employs Tannen’s theory of language and gender (1996). This is a descriptive qualitative research which describes phenomena of language and gender shown in Indonesian Instagram videos. The data were collected through observation. The collected data were then analyzed by employing ethnography and textual analysis. The research results show that in Indonesian Instagram videos, women dominate the conversation than men. Women’s are portrayed as a figure who are talkative, never wrong, and sensitive. Women’s dominating men proves that women always want to be understood, produce more words than men, and are more creative in producing verbal communication. Meanwhile, men are portrayed as calm, gentle, and patient creature who listen to women’s talk. Furthermore, men are portrayed to prefer being silent for avoiding conflict.

Keywords: gender, Instagram videos, language variety, women's language

Procedia PDF Downloads 422

Authors: Juntip Kanjanasilp, Ratree Sawangjit, Kanokporn Meelap, Kwanchanok Kruthakool

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Depression is a common mental health disorder. Antidepressants are effective pharmacological treatments, but most patients have low medication adherence. This study aims to systematic review and meta-analysis what method increase the antidepressants adherence efficiently and improve clinical outcome. Systematic review of articles of randomized controlled trials obtained by a computerized literature search of The Cochrane, Library, Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Education search, Web of Science and ThaiLIS (28 December 2017). Twenty-three studies were included and assessed the quality of research by ROB 2.0. The results reported that printing media improved in number of people who had medication adherence statistical significantly (p= 0.018), but education, phone call, and program utilization were no different (p=0.172, p=0.127, p=0.659). There was no significant difference in pharmacist’s group, health care team’s group and physician’s group (p=0.329, p=0.070, p=0.040). Times of intervention at 1 month and 6 months improved medication adherence significantly (p= 0.0001, p=0.013). There was significantly improved adherence in single intervention (p=0.027) but no different in multiple interventions (p=0.154). When we analyzed medication adherence with the mean score, no improved adherence was found, not relevant with who gives the intervention and times to intervention. However, the multiple interventions group was statistically significant improved medication adherence (p=0.040). Phone call and the physician’s group were statistically significant improved clinical outcomes in number of improved patients (0.025 and 0.020, respectively). But in the pharmacist’s group and physician’s group were not found difference in the mean score of clinical outcomes (p=0.993, p=0.120, respectively). Times to intervention and number of intervention were not significant difference than usual care. The overall intervention can increase antidepressant adherence, especially the printing media, and the appropriate timing of the intervention is at least 6 months. For effective treatment, the provider should have experience and expert in caring for patients with depressive disorders, such as a psychiatrist. Medical personnel should have knowledge in caring for these patients also.

Keywords: depression, medication adherence, clinical outcomes, systematic review, meta-analysis

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Authors: Simonida S. Djuric, Timea I. Hajnal Jafari, Dragana R. Stamenov

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The use of plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF) has significantly increased in the last decade mostly due to their multi-level properties, and their expected success as biofertilizers in agriculture. Beneficial fungi with broad-host range undergo long-term interactions with a large variety of plants thereby playing a significant role in managed ecosystems and in the adaptation of crops to global climate changes. Trichoderma spp. are promising fungi toward the development of sustainable agriculture. The aim of our experiment was to investigate the effect of seed inoculation of sunflower, maize, soybean, paprika, melon, and watermelon seeds with Trichoderma sp. on early seed germination energy and initial growth of the plant. The seed inoculation with Trichoderma sp. increased the seedling emergence from 7, 85% in melon to 156,70% in watermelon. The inoculation had the best effect on initial growth of maize shoot (+23,80%) and soybean root (+106,30%). The different response of seed and young plants on Trichoderma sp. inoculation implicate the need for future investigations of successful inoculation systems and modes of their integration in sustainable agriculture production systems.

Keywords: initial growth, inoculation, seedling, Trichoderma sp.

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Ruolan Zhou

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Trisomy of human chromosome 21 is the primary cause of Down Syndrome (DS), and this genetic disease has significantly burdened families and countries, causing great controversy. To address this problem, the research takes an approach in exploring the relationship between genetic abnormality and this disease's symptoms, adopting several techniques, including data analysis and enrichment analysis. It also explores open-source websites, such as NCBI, DAVID, SOURCE, STRING, as well as UCSC, to complement its result. This research has analyzed the variety of genes on human chromosome 21 with simple coding, and by using analysis, it has specified the protein-coding genes, their function, and their location. By using enrichment analysis, this paper has found the abundance of keratin production-related coding-proteins on human chromosome 21. By adopting past researches, this research has attempted to disclose the relationship between trisomy of human chromosome 21 and keratin production abnormality, which might be the reason for common diseases in patients with Down Syndrome. At last, by addressing the advantage and insufficiency of this research, the discussion has provided specific directions for future research.

Keywords: Down Syndrome, protein production, genome, enrichment analysis

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Authors: Bhekisisa Nyoni, Nomakhosi Ndiweni, Annatoria Chinyama

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The aim of this paper was to explore ways to enhance the quality of higher education with a bias towards engineering education in Zimbabwe universities. A search through relevant literature was conducted looking at both international and local scholars. It also involved reviewing the Dakar Framework for Action and Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action plans for education for sustainable development. Goals were set for 2030 as a standard for quality to be adopted by all countries in improving access as well as the quality of education from early childhood and through to adult learning. Despite the definition of quality being difficult to express due to diverse expectations from different stakeholders, the view of quality adopted is based on the World Education Forum’s propositions on quality education going beyond the classroom experience. It considers factors such as learning environment, governance and management, and teacher caliber. The study concludes by illustrating that the quality of engineering education in Zimbabwe has come a long way. It has made strides in increasing access and variety to education though at the expense of quality in its totality. To improve the quality of engineering education, programs have been introduced to promote the professionalism of lecturers, such as industrial secondment and professional development courses.

Keywords: engineering education, quality of education, professional development, industrial secondment

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Faezeh Shalchy

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Concrete is the most used materials in the world. It is also one of the most versatile while complex materials which human have used for construction. However, concrete is weak in tension, over the past thirty years many studies were accomplished to improve the tensile properties of concrete (cement-based materials) using a variety of methods. One of the most successful attempts is to use polymeric fibers in the structure of concrete to obtain a composite with high tensile strength and ductility. Understanding the mechanical behavior of fiber reinforced concrete requires the knowledge of the fiber/matrix interfaces at the small scale. In this study, a combination of numerical simulations and experimental techniques have been used to study the nano structure of fiber/matrix interfaces. A new model for calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H)/fiber interfaces is proposed based on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. The adhesion energy between the C-S-H gel and 2 different polymeric fibers (polyvinyl alcohol and polypropylene) was numerically studied at the atomistic level since adhesion is one of the key factors in the design of fiber reinforced composites. The mechanisms of adhesion as a function of the nano structure of fiber/matrix interfaces are also studied and discussed.

Keywords: fiber-reinforced concrete, adhesion, molecular modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Mohamud Ali Ibrahim, Ali Bayat, Ali Bolat

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Defoliant spraying is an important link in the mechanized cotton harvest because adequate and uniform spraying can improve defoliation quality and reduce cotton trash content. In defoliant application, application volume and spraying technology are extremely important. In this study, the effectiveness of defoliant application to cotton plant that has come to harvest with two different application volumes and three different types of nozzles with a standard field crop sprayer was determined. Experiments were carried in two phases as field area trials and laboratory analysis. Application rates were 250 l/ha and 400 L/ha, and spraying nozzles were (1) Standard flat fan nozzle (TP8006), (2) Air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS), and (3) Dual Pattern nozzle (AI307003VP). A tracer (BSF) and defoliant were applied to mature cotton with approximately 60% open bolls and samplings for BSF deposition and spray coverage on the cotton plant were done at two plant height (upper layer, lower layer) of plant. Before and after spraying, bolls open and leaves rate on cotton plants were calculated, and filter papers were used to detect BSF deposition, and water sensitive papers (WSP) were used to measure the coverage rate of spraying methods used. Spectrofluorophotometer was used to detect the amount of tracer deposition on targets, and an image process computer programme was used to measure coverage rate on WSP. In analysis, conclusions showed that air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS) achieved better results than the dual pattern and standard flat fan nozzles in terms of higher depositions, coverages, and leaf defoliations, and boll opening rates. AI nozzles operating at 250 L/ha application rate provide the highest deposition and coverage rate on applications of the defoliant; in addition, BSF as an indicator of the defoliant used reached on leaf beneath in merely this spray nozzle. After defoliation boll opening rate was 85% on the 7th and 12th days after spraying and falling rate of leaves was 76% at application rate of 250 L/ha with air induction (AI1102) nozzle.

Keywords: cotton defoliant, air induction nozzle, dual pattern nozzle, standard flat fan nozzle, coverage rate, spray deposition, boll opening rate, leaves falling rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Gayathri Vijayakumar, Preethi Baskaran

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The effluents that are let down by the industries mix with the water bodies and drastically affect the aquatic life, which leads to pollution and bio magnifications. Effluents mostly contain chemicals, heavy metals etc., and cause toxicity to the environment. The pharmaceutical industries too contribute. The by-products and other unwanted waste are discharged without any treatment; these causes DNA damage and affect behavior of aquatic life. The study was conducted on koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) the ornamental variety of common carp. A two week long study was conducted on them using common anti-depressant drug (Diazepam) in various concentrations. These drugs are known to cause behavioral damage and organ malfunctions (muscle twitch). The histopathological study conducted showed permanent muscle twitching and lesions in the fish samples studied. The sociability was also affected in the span of 14 days. Higher concentrations of this drug showed severe damage in the muscle structures. Thus, this drug can cause adverse effects on marine ecosystem and eventually cause bio magnification of drug by running through the food chain.

Keywords: pollution, toxicity, bio-magnifications, koi carp, muscle twitch, diazepam, histopathology

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: R. M. López-Gutiérrez, J. A. Michel-Macarty, H. Cervantes-De Avila, J. I. Nieto-Hipólito, C. Cruz-Hernández, L. Cardoza-Avendaño, S. Cortiant-Velez

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It is well know that mankind benefits from the application of robot control by virtual handlers in industrial environments. In recent years, great interest has emerged in the control of multiple robots in order to carry out collective tasks. One main trend is to copy the natural organization that some organisms have, such as, ants, bees, school of fish, birds’ migration, etc. Surely, this collaborative work, results in better outcomes than those obtain in an isolated or individual effort. This topic has a great drive because collaboration between several robots has the potential capability of carrying out more complicated tasks, doing so, with better efficiency, resiliency and fault tolerance, in cases such as: coordinate navigation towards a target, terrain exploration, and search-rescue operations. In this work, synchronization of multiple autonomous robots is shown over a variety of coupling topologies: star, ring, chain, and global. In all cases, collective synchronous behavior is achieved, in the complex networks formed with mobile robots. Nodes of these networks are modeled by a mass using Matlab to simulate them.

Keywords: robots, synchronization, bidirectional, coordinate navigation

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Claudia Trillo

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Regional innovation eco-ecosystems are composed of a variety of interconnected urban innovation eco-systems, mutually reinforcing each other and making the whole territorial system successful. Combining principles drawn from the new economic growth theory and from the socio-constructivist approach to the economic growth, with the new geography of innovation emerging from the networked nature of innovation districts, this paper explores the spatial configuration of urban innovation districts, with the aim of unveiling replicable spatial patterns and transferable portfolios of urban policies. While some authors suggest that cities should be considered ideal natural clusters, supporting cross-fertilization and innovation thanks to the physical setting they provide to the construction of collective knowledge, still a considerable distance persists between regional development strategies and urban policies. Moreover, while public and private policies supporting entrepreneurship normally consider innovation as the cornerstone of any action aimed at uplifting the competitiveness and economic success of a certain area, a growing body of literature suggests that innovation is non-neutral, hence, it should be constantly assessed against equity and social inclusion. This paper draws from a robust qualitative empirical dataset gathered through 4-years research conducted in Boston to provide readers with an evidence-based set of recommendations drawn from the lessons learned through the investigation of the chosen innovation districts in the Boston area. The evaluative framework used for assessing the overall performance of the chosen case studies stems from the Habitat III Sustainable Development Goals rationale. The concept of inclusive growth has been considered essential to assess the social innovation domain in each of the chosen cases. The key success factors for the development of the Boston innovation ecosystem can be generalized as follows: 1) a quadruple helix model embedded in the physical structure of the two cities (Boston and Cambridge), in which anchor Higher Education (HE) institutions continuously nurture the Entrepreneurial Environment. 2) an entrepreneurial approach emerging from the local governments, eliciting risk-taking and bottom-up civic participation in tackling key issues in the city. 3) a networking structure of some intermediary actors supporting entrepreneurial collaboration, cross-fertilization and co-creation, which collaborate at multiple-scales thus enabling positive spillovers from the stronger to the weaker contexts. 4) awareness of the socio-economic value of the built environment as enabler of cognitive networks allowing activation of the collective intelligence. 5) creation of civic-led spaces enabling grassroot collaboration and cooperation. Evidence shows that there is not a single magic recipe for the successful implementation of place-based and social innovation-driven strategies. On the contrary, the variety of place-grounded combinations of micro and macro initiatives, embedded in the social and spatial fine grain of places and encompassing a diversity of actors, can create the conditions enabling places to thrive and local economic activities to grow in a sustainable way.

Keywords: innovation-driven sustainable Eco-systems , place-based sustainable urban development, sustainable innovation districts, social innovation, urban policie

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Authors: Priyanka Govender, S. Mtshali, Theresa Moonsamy, Zanele Mkwanazi, L. Mthembu

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Chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) can be used at wastewater works to improve the quality of the final effluent discharge, provided that the plant has spare anaerobic digestion capacity. CEPT can transfer part of the organic load to the digesters thereby effectively relieving the hydraulic loading on the plant and in this way can allow the plant to continue operating long after the hydraulic capacity of the plant has been exceeded. This can allow a plant to continue operating well beyond its original design capacity, requiring only fairly simple and inexpensive modifications to the primary settling tanks as well as additional chemical costs, thereby delaying or even avoiding the need for expensive capital upgrades. CEPT can also be effective at plants where high organic loadings prevent the wastewater discharge from meeting discharge standards, especially in the case of COD, phosphates and suspended solids. By increasing removals of these pollutants in the primary settling tanks, CEPT can enable the plant to conform to specifications without the need for costly upgrades. Laboratory trials were carried out recently at the Umbilo WWTW in Durban and these were followed by a baseline assessment of the current plant performance and a subsequent full scale trial on the Conventional plant i.e. West Plant. The operating conditions of the plant are described and the improvements obtained in COD, phosphate and suspended solids, are discussed. The PST and plant overall suspended solids removal efficiency increased by approximately 6% during the trial. Details regarding the effect that CEPT had on sludge production and the digesters are also provided. The cost implications of CEPT are discussed in terms of capital costs as well as operation and maintenance costs and the impact of Ferric chloride on the infrastructure was also studied and found to be minimal. It was concluded that CEPT improves the final quality of the discharge effluent, thereby improving the compliance of this effluent with the discharge license. It could also allow for a delay in upgrades to the plant, allowing the plant to operate above its design capacity. This will be elaborated further upon presentation.

Keywords: chemically enhanced, ferric, wastewater, primary

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Vidal Pérez Hernández, Enrique González Pendás

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The most of the aquatic and marshy flora in Cuba, is located on quartzitic sands ecosystems and they are represented by a wide variety of freshwater wetlands, which are spread in the whole south and south-western plain of Pinar del Río. The survey carried out in these ecosystems offers an updated inventory of these species, showing up their biological type, habit, distribution, and the threat grade to which are subjected, taking into account categories granted by UICN. A remarkable decrease is evidenced, in the total of these species respect to this area; due to deposit processes and deforestation, which are taken place by the human activity and the climatic change. It is linked to others threats like, limitless use of their water reserves for irrigating groves, the cattle raising and intensive fishing. Added to it, its sand with 99% pure crystal quartz, are used for the mining. The combination of all factors has a negative influence on a flora that stores more than 250 species, most of them herbaceous and hydrophytes. In these particular ecosystems were found a 40% endemism from total flora, and more than 80%, are evaluated inside the most sensitive threat categories, and already some of them have been declared as extinct.

Keywords: aquatic flora, marshy flora, quartzitic sands, wetlands

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Hanno Schmidt, Assaf Malik, Anne Bicker, Gesa Poetzsch, Aaron Avivi, Imad Shams, Thomas Hankeln

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The blind subterranean mole rat Spalax shows a remarkable tolerance to hypoxia, cancer-resistance and longevity. Unravelling the genomic basis of these adaptations will be important for biomedical applications. RNA-Seq gene expression data were obtained from normoxic and hypoxic Spalax and rat liver tissue. Hypoxic Spalax broadly downregulates genes from major liver function pathways. This energy-saving response is likely a crucial adaptation to low oxygen levels. In contrast, the hypoxiasensitive rat shows massive upregulation of energy metabolism genes. Candidate genes with plausible connections to the mole rat’s phenotype, such as important key genes related to hypoxia-tolerance, DNA damage repair, tumourigenesis and ageing, are substantially higher expressed in Spalax than in rat. Comparative liver transcriptomics highlights the importance of molecular adaptations at the gene regulatory level in Spalax and pinpoints a variety of starting points for subsequent functional studies.

Keywords: cancer, hypoxia, longevity, transcriptomics

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Macie Matta, Ahmad Jabri, Stephanie Jackson

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Introduction: In the absence of hypotension, pulmonary embolism (PE) causing right ventricular dysfunction or strain, whether confirmed by imaging or cardiac biomarkers, is deemed to be an intermediate-risk category. Urgent treatment of intermediate-risk PE can prevent progression to hemodynamic instability and death. Management options include thrombolysis, thrombectomy, or systemic anticoagulation. We aim to evaluate the short-term outcomes of a half-dose tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for the management of intermediate-risk PE. Methods: We retrospectively identified adult patients diagnosed with intermediate-risk PE between the years 2000 and 2021. Demographic data, lab values, imaging, treatment choice, and outcomes were all obtained through chart review. Primary outcomes measured include major bleeding events and in-hospital mortality. Patients on standard systemic anticoagulation without receiving thrombolysis or thrombectomy served as controls. Patient data were analyzed using SAS®️ Software (version 9.4; Cary, NC) to compare individuals that received half-dose tPA with controls, and statistical significance was set at a p-value of 0.05. Results: We included 57 patients in our final analysis, with 19 receiving tPA. Patient characteristics and comorbidities were comparable between both groups. There was a significant difference between PE location, presence of acute deep vein thrombosis, and peak troponin level between both groups. The thrombolytic cohort was more likely to demonstrate a 60/60 sign and thrombus in transit finding on echocardiography than controls. The thrombolytic group was more likely to have major bleeding (17% vs 7.9%, p= 0.4) and in-hospital mortality (5.3% vs 0%, p=0.3); however, this was not statistically significant. Patients who received half-dose tPA had non-significantly higher rates of major bleeding and in-hospital mortality. Larger scale, randomized control trials are needed to establish the benefit and safety of thrombolytics in patients with intermediate-risk PE.

Keywords: pulmonary embolism, half dose thrombolysis, tissue plasminogen activator, cardiac biomarkers, echocardiographic findings, major bleeding event

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: J. H. Park, S. K. Lee, Y. W. Kim, D. C. Ko

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A large variety of pipe flange is required in marine and construction industry.Pipe flanges are usually welded or screwed to the pipe end and are connected with bolts.This approach is very simple and widely used for a long time, however, it results in high development cost and low productivity, and the productions made by this approach usually have safety problem at the welding area.In this research, a new approach of forming pipe flange based on cold forging and floating die concept is presented.This innovative approach increases the effectiveness of the material usage and save the time cost compared with conventional welding method. To ensure the dimensional accuracy of the final product, the finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out to simulate the process of cold forging, and the orthogonal experiment methods were used to investigate the influence of four manufacturing factors (pin die angle, pipe flange angle, rpm, pin die distance from clamp jig) and predicted the best combination of them. The manufacturing factors were obtained by numerical and experimental studies and it shows that the approach is very useful and effective for the forming of pipe flange, and can be widely used later.

Keywords: cold forging, FEA (finite element analysis), forge-3D, rotating forming, tubes

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: Tamás Hartványi, Ferenc Tóth

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European telecommunication distribution center performance is measured by service lead time and quality. Operation model is CTO (customized to order) namely, a high mix customization of telecommunication network equipment and parts. CTO operation contains material receiving, warehousing, network and server assembly to order and configure based on customer specifications. Variety of the product and orders does not support mass production structure. One of the success factors to satisfy customer is to have a proper aggregated planning method for the operation in order to have optimized human resources and highly efficient asset utilization. Research will investigate several methods and find proper way to have an order book simulation where practical optimization problem may contain thousands of variables and the simulation running times of developed algorithms were taken into account with high importance. There are two operation research models that were developed, customer demand is given in orders, no change over time, customer demands are given for product types, and changeover time is constant.

Keywords: CTO, aggregated planning, demand simulation, changeover time

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Renu Pattanshetty

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The aim of this narrative review is to highlight the impact of menopause on osteoporosis and weight gain. The review also aims to summarize physiotherapeutic strategies to combat the same.A thorough literature search was conducted using electronic databases like MEDline, PUBmed, Highwire Press, PUBmed Central for English language studies that included search terms like menopause, osteoporosis, obesity, weight gain, exercises, physical activity, physiotherapy strategies from the year 2000 till date. Out of 157 studies that included metanalyses, critical reviews and randomized clinical trials, a total of 84 were selected that met the inclusion criteria. Prevalence of obesity is increasing world - wide and is reaching epidemic proportions even in the menopausal women. Prevalence of abdominal obesity is almost double than that general obesity with rates in the US with 65.5% in women ages 40-59 years and 73.8 in women aged 60 years or more. Physical activities and exercises play a vital role in prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and weight gain related to menopause that aim to boost the general well-being and any symptoms brought about by natural body changes. Endurance exercises lasting about 30 minutes /day for 5 days/ week has shown to decrease weight and prevent weight gain. In addition, strength training with at least 8 exercises of 8-12 repetitions working for whole body and for large muscle groups has shown to result positive outcomes. Hot flashes can be combatted through yogic breathing and relaxation exercises. Prevention of fall strategies and resistance training are key to treat diagnosed cases of osteoporosis related to menopause. One to three sets with five to eight repetitions of four to six weight bearing exercises have shown positive results. Menopause marks an important time for women to evaluate their risk of obesity and osteoporosis. It is known fact that bone benefit from exercises are lost when training is stopped, hence, practicing bone smart habits and strict adherence to recommended physical activity programs are recommended which are enjoyable, safe and effective.

Keywords: menopause, osteoporosis, obesity, weight gain, exercises, physical activity, physiotherapy strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 303