Search results for: stage performance

Authors: Tami A. Ulhiza, Noor I. M. Puad, Azlin S. Azmi, Mohd. I. A. Malek

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High amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in starchy waste can be harmful to the environment. In common practice, starch processing wastewater is discharged to the river without proper treatment. However, starchy waste still contains complex sugars and organic acids. By the right pretreatment method, the complex sugar can be hydrolyzed into more readily digestible sugars which can be utilized to be converted into more valuable products. At the same time, the global demand of energy is inevitable. The continuous usage of fossil fuel as the main source of energy can lead to energy scarcity. Hydrogen is a renewable form of energy which can be an alternative energy in the future. Moreover, hydrogen is clean and carries the highest energy compared to other fuels. Biohydrogen produced from waste has significant advantages over chemical methods. One of the major problems in biohydrogen production is the raw material cost. The carbohydrate-rich starchy wastes such as tapioca, maize, wheat, potato, and sago wastes is a promising candidate to be used as a substrate in producing biohydrogen. The utilization of those wastes for biohydrogen production can provide cheap energy generation with simultaneous waste treatment. Therefore this paper aims to review variety source of starchy wastes that has been widely used to synthesize biohydrogen. The scope includes the source of waste, the performance in yielding hydrogen, the pretreatment method and the type of culture that is suitable for starchy waste.

Keywords: biohydrogen, dark fermentation, renewable energy, starchy waste

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Authors: Bharti Bhandari, Bharati Mehta, Sabyasachi Sircar

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Medical education is advancing in India, with its advancement newer innovations are being incorporated in teaching and assessment methodology. Our study focusses on a teaching innovation that is more student-centric than teacher-centric and is the need of the day. The teaching innovation was carried out in 1st year MBBS students of our institute. Students were assigned control and test groups. Priming was done for the students in the test group with an open-book MCQ based test in a particular topic before delivering formal didactic lecture on that topic. The control group was not assigned any such exercise. This was followed by formal didactic lecture on the same topic. Thereafter, both groups were assessed on the same topic. The marks were compiled and analysed using appropriate statistical tests. Students were also given questionnaire to elicit their views on the benefits of “self-priming”. The mean marks scored in theory assessment by the test group were statistically higher than the marks scored by the controls. According to students’ feedback, the ‘self-priming “process was interesting, helped in better orientation during class-room lectures and better understanding of the topic. They want it to be repeated for other topics with moderate difficulty level. Better performance of the students in the primed group validates the combination of student-centric priming model and didactic lecture as superior to the conventional, teacher-centric methods alone. If this system is successfully followed, the present teacher-centric pedagogy should increasingly give way to student-centric activities where the teacher is only a facilitator.

Keywords: medical education, open-book test, pedagogy, priming

Procedia PDF Downloads 443

Authors: Muhammad Zia ul Haq, Ong Kuan Boon, Jeffrey Low Fook Lee, Bendri Bin Dasril, Amna Iqbal, Muhammad Saleem

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This study is bond of two purpose, first is to establish the anthropometric profile of Malaysian cricket batsmen and second, to find the variances among the anthropometric characteristics of ten under-16 years, eight under-19 years and eight senior teams batsmen. The anthropometric variables were measured as 8 skinfolds, 12 circumferences, 06 lengths and 05 breadths, stature, sitting height, arm span, body mass, hand grip strength and leg strength. The batsmen of under-19 and under-16 found similar in skinfolds, sum of skinfolds, circumferences and breadth measurements but significantly lesser than the senior team batsmen. Senior and Under-19 batsmen were almost found similar in segmental lengths, heights and arm span but significantly higher than the under-16 batsmen. Breadth measurements the under-19 found higher than the senior and u-16 batsmen. The hand grips strength of the senior batsmen significantly high than the uder-19 and under-16 players and both groups were similar and no significant difference were found in leg strength of all three groups batsmen. Leg strength were found significant correlation with wrist, hip, thigh, and calf girth and handgrip strength. The hand grip strength were found correlated with all variables except biceps, mid-thigh skinfold, segmental length, humerus breadth. It is concluded from the present study that the girth segments and hand grip strength are the predictors of good performance in cricket batting.

Keywords: cricket batting, batsmen, anthropometry, body segments, hand grip strength

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Authors: Palanisamy Samyraj, Sriram Yogesh, Kishore Kumar, Vaishak Cibi

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The project is about design and analysis of crankshaft using Al-Al2O3 composite material. The project is mainly concentrated across two areas one is to design and analyze the composite material, and the other is to work on the practical model. Growing competition and the growing concern for the environment has forced the automobile manufactures to meet conflicting demands such as increased power and performance, lower fuel consumption, lower pollution emission and decrease noise and vibration. Metal matrix composites offer good properties for a number of automotive components. The work reports on studies on Al-Al2O3 as the possible alternative material for a crank shaft. These material have been considered for use in various components in engines due to the high amount of strength to weight ratio. These materials are significantly taken into account for their light weight, high strength, high specific modulus, low co-efficient of thermal expansion, good air resistance properties. In addition high specific stiffness, superior high temperature, mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of Al2O3 have developed some advanced materials that are Al-Al2O3 composites. Crankshafts are used in automobile industries. Crankshaft is connected to the connecting rod for the movement of the piston which is subjected to high stresses which cause the wear of the crankshaft. Hence using composite material in crankshaft gives good fuel efficiency, low manufacturing cost, less weight.

Keywords: metal matrix composites, Al-Al2O3, high specific modulus, strength to weight ratio

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Authors: Gadiri Sabiha

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Introduction: Current allergy diagnostic tools using Multiplex technology have made it possible to increase the efficiency of the search for specific IgE. This opportunity is provided by the newly developed “Alex Biochip”, consisting of a panel of 282 allergens in native and molecular form, a CCD inhibitor, and the potential for detecting cross-reactive allergens. We evaluated the performance of this technology in detecting cross-reactivity in previously explored patients. Material/Method: The sera of 39 patients presenting sensitization and polysensitization profiles were explored. The search for specific IgE is carried out by the Alex ® IgE Biochip, and the results are analyzed by nature and by molecular family of allergens using specific software. Results/Discussion: The analysis gave a particular profile of cross-reactivity allergens: 33% for the Ole e1 family, 31% for NPC2, 26% for storage proteins, 20% for Tropomyosin, 10% for LTPs, 10% for Arginine Kinase and 10% for Uteroglobin CCDs were absent in all patients. The “Ole e1” allergen is responsible for a pollen-pollen cross allergy. The storage proteins found and LTP are not species-specific, causing cross-pollen-food allergy. The nDer p2 of the NPC2 family is responsible for cross-reactivity between mite species. Conclusion: The cross-reactivities responsible for mixed syndromes at diagnosis in our patients were dominated by pollen-pollen and pollen-food syndromes. They allow the identification of severity factors linked to the prognosis and the best-adapted immunotherapy.

Keywords: specific IgE, allergy, cross reactivity, molecular allergens

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Authors: Anil Nis, Nilufer Ozyurt Zihnioglu

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The object of the study is to investigate fresh state properties of the steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFR-SCC). Three different steel fibers; straight (Vf:0.5%), hooked-end long (Vf:0.5% and 1%) and hybrid fibers (0.5%short+0.5%long) were used in the research aiming to obtain flow properties of non-fibrous self-compacting concrete. Fly ash was used as a supplementary with an optimum dosage of 30% of the total cementitious materials. Polycarboxylic ether based high-performance concrete superplasticizer was used to get high flowability with percentages ranging from 0.81% (non-fibrous SCC) to 1.07% (hybrid SF-SCC) of the cement weight. The flowability properties of SCCs were measured via slump flow and V-funnel tests; passing ability properties of SCCs were measured with J-Ring, L-Box, and U-Box tests. Workability results indicate that small increase on the superplasticizer dosages compensate the adverse effects of steel fibers on flowability properties of SSC. However, higher dosage fiber addition has a negative effect on passing ability properties, causing blocking of the mixes. In addition, compressive strength, tensile strength, and four point bending results were given. Results indicate that SCCs including steel fibers have superior performances on tensile and bending strength of concrete. Crack bridging capability of steel fibers prevents concrete from splitting, yields higher deformation and energy absorption capacities than non-fibrous SCCs.

Keywords: fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete, fly ash, fresh state properties, steel fiber

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Authors: S. M. Shahinul Islam, Israt Ara, Narendra Tuteja, Sreeramanan Subramaniam

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Through anther and microspore culture methods, complete homozygous plants can be produced within a year as compared to the long inbreeding method. Isolated microspore culture is one of the most important techniques for rapid development of haploid plants. The efficiency of this method is influenced by several factors such as cultural conditions, growth regulators, plant media, pretreatments, physical and growth conditions of the donor plants, pollen isolation procedure, etc. The main purpose of this study was to improve the isolated microspore culture protocol in order to increase the efficiency of embryoids, its regeneration and reducing albinisms. Under this study we have tested mainly three different microspore isolation procedures by glass rod, homozeniger and by blending and found the efficiency on gametic embryogenesis. There are three types of media viz. washing, pre-culture and induction was used. The induction medium as AMC (modified MS) supplemented by 2, 4-D (2.5 mg/l), kinetin (0.5 mg/l) and higher amount of D-Manitol (90 g/l) instead of sucrose and two types of amino acids (L-glutamine and L-serine) were used. Out of three main microspore isolation procedure by homogenizer isolation (P4) showed best performance on ELS induction (177%) and green plantlets (104%) compared with other techniques. For all cases albinisims occurred but microspore isolation from excised anthers by glass rod and homogenizer showed lesser numbers of albino plants that was also one of the important findings in this study.

Keywords: androgenesis, pretreatment, microspore culture, regeneration, albino plants, Oryza sativa

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Authors: Laurentius J. M. Rumokoy, Jimmy Posangi, Wisje Lusia Toar, Julio Lopez Aban

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The threat of pathogen infection agents to the neonates is a major health problem to the new born life livestock. Neonate losses became an important case in the world as well as in Indonesia. This condition can be triggered by an infection with nematode in conjunction with a failure of immunoglobulin passive transfer. The study was conducted to evaluate the role of the curcuma combined with IgG colostrum on the development of parasites in the gut of CD1 mice. Animal experiments were divided in four groups (G) based on the treatment: G1 (infection only); G2 (curcuma+infection), G3 (IgG + infection) and G4 (curcuma+IgG+infection). The parameters measured were EPG (eggs per gram) and female in the intestine. The results obtained showed that the treatment has no a significant influence on the number of eggs per gram of feces in the group infected compared to the control group without receiving IgG nor curcuma. However, the EGP response tended to decrease at day 6 in G3 and G4 with a minimum number at zero eggs. This performant showed that the immunoglobulin-G and curcuma substances could slightly decreased the number of eggs in animal infected with Strongyloides. The results obtained showed also that the treatment has no significant difference (P > 0.05) on female larva in the gut of MCD1 experimental. In other side, we found that the best performance to inhibit the female quantity in the gut was the treatment with IgG and infection of parasite in G3. In this treatment, the minimum number was five female only in the gut. The results described IgG response was better than the curcuma single use in reducing the female parasite in the gut. This positive response of IgG compared to other controls group was associated with the function of colostrum antibodies.

Keywords: parasites, livestock, curcuma, colostrums

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Authors: Jigg Pelayo, Ricardo Villar

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Leaning on the development of aerial laser scanning in the Philippine geospatial industry, researches about remote sensing and machine vision technology became a trend. Object detection via template matching is one of its application which characterized to be fast and in real time. The paper purposely attempts to provide application for robust pattern matching algorithm based on the normalized cross correlation (NCC) criterion function subjected in Object-based image analysis (OBIA) utilizing high-resolution aerial imagery and low density LiDAR data. The height information from laser scanning provides effective partitioning order, thus improving the hierarchal class feature pattern which allows to skip unnecessary calculation. Since detection is executed in the object-oriented platform, mathematical morphology and multi-level filter algorithms were established to effectively avoid the influence of noise, small distortion and fluctuating image saturation that affect the rate of recognition of features. Furthermore, the scheme is evaluated to recognized the performance in different situations and inspect the computational complexities of the algorithms. Its effectiveness is demonstrated in areas of Misamis Oriental province, achieving an overall accuracy of 91% above. Also, the garnered results portray the potential and efficiency of the implemented algorithm under different lighting conditions.

Keywords: algorithm, LiDAR, object recognition, OBIA

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Authors: Christina Knorr

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Analysis of the evacuation of occupants of a building plays a significant role in Fire Safety Engineering. One of the tools used for the analysis is the concept of the Required Safe Egress Time (RSET). It is generally accepted that RSET is measured from the time the fire ignites until the time that all occupants have evacuated to a safe location. Instructions on how RSET is determined can be found in both the International Fire Engineering Guidelines and, more recently, in the Australian Fire Engineering Guidelines. The guidelines also specify measures that could be applied to reduce the RSET and hence improve the performance of fire-safety measures of a building. Further, it is suggested that the delay period can be reduced through “training programs.” This study examined the overall level of fire-safety awareness among occupants of residential apartment buildings in Australia and investigated the possible effects of fire-safety training on the delay period and, hence, the RSET. A questionnaire, interviews, and an experiment were conducted to collect data about people’s fire-safety knowledge, people’s behaviour and nature, and the duration of activities people are likely to undertake in the event of a fire. The study led to an investigation into the delay and response time approximations and the development of a new equation to incorporate the impact of training into the RSET calculations for the general use of the fire engineering community. Regardless of the RSET, it can be concluded that fire-safety education and training for residents of apartment buildings have a direct impact on improving their behaviour and firefighting equipment usage in a fire incident.

Keywords: fire safety engineering, fire safety training, occupant evacuation behaviour, required safe egress time

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Authors: Liwen Wang, Yuting Chen, Tong Wu, Shaolei Hu

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In order to enhance the security of critical financial infrastructure, this study carries out a transformation of the architecture of a financial trading terminal to a zero trust architecture (ZTA), constructs an active defense system for cybersecurity, improves the security level of trading services in the Internet environment, enhances the ability to prevent network attacks and unknown risks, and reduces the industry and security risks brought about by cybersecurity risks. This study introduces the SDP technology of ZTA, adapts and applies it to a financial trading terminal to achieve security optimization and fine-grained business grading control. The upgraded architecture of the trading terminal moves security protection forward to the user access layer, replaces VPN to optimize remote access, and significantly improves the security protection capability of Internet transactions. The study achieves 1. deep integration with the access control architecture of the transaction system; 2. no impact on the performance of terminals and gateways, and no perception of application system upgrades; 3. customized checklist and policy configuration; 4. introduction of industry-leading security technology such as single-packet authorization (SPA) and secondary authentication. This study carries out a successful application of ZTA in the field of financial trading and provides transformation ideas for other similar systems while improving the security level of financial transaction services in the Internet environment.

Keywords: zero trust, trading terminal, architecture, network security, cybersecurity

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Authors: Subhan Ahmad, Pradeep Bhargava, Ajay Chourasia

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Shear failure in reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement leads to loss of property and life since a very little or no warning occurs before failure as in case of flexural failure. Shear strength of reinforced concrete beams decreases as its depth increases. This phenomenon is generally called as the size effect. In this paper, a comparative analysis is performed to estimate the performance of shear strength models in capturing the size effect of reinforced concrete beams made with conventional concrete, self-compacting concrete, and recycled aggregate concrete. Four shear strength models that account for the size effect in shear are selected from the literature and applied on the datasets of slender reinforced concrete beams. Beams prepared with conventional concrete, self-compacting concrete, and recycled aggregate concrete are considered for the analysis. Results showed that all the four models captured the size effect in shear effectively and produced conservative estimates of the shear strength for beams made with normal strength conventional concrete. These models yielded unconservative estimates for high strength conventional concrete beams with larger effective depths ( > 450 mm). Model of Bazant and Kim (1984) captured the size effect precisely and produced conservative estimates of shear strength of self-compacting concrete beams at all the effective depths. Also, shear strength models considered in this study produced unconservative estimates of shear strength for recycled aggregate concrete beams at all effective depths.

Keywords: reinforced concrete beams; shear strength; prediction models; size effect

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Authors: Panumard Kaewmora, Thirasak Rirksomboon, Vissanu Meeyoo

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Due to the globally growing demands of petroleum fuel and fossil fuels, the scarcity or even depletion of fossil fuel sources could be inevitable. Alternatively, the utilization of renewable sources, such as biomass, has become attractive to the community. Biomass can be converted into bio-oil by fast pyrolysis. In water phase of bio-oil, acetic acid which is one of its main components can be converted to hydrogen with high selectivity over effective catalysts in steam reforming process. Steam reforming of acetic acid as model compound has been intensively investigated for hydrogen production using various metal oxide supported nickel catalysts and yet they seem to be rapidly deactivated depending on the support utilized. A catalyst support such as Ce1-xZrxO2 mixed oxide was proposed for alleviating this problem with the anticipation of enhancing hydrogen yield. However, catalyst preparation methods play a significant role in catalytic activity and performance of the catalysts. In this work, Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 mixed oxide solid solution support was prepared by urea hydrolysis using microwave as heat source. After that nickel metal was incorporated at 15 wt% by incipient wetness impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by several techniques including BET, XRD, H2-TPR, XRF, SEM, and TEM as well as tested for the steam reforming of acetic acid at various operating conditions. Preliminary results showed that a hydrogen yield of ca. 32% with a relatively high acetic conversion was attained at 650°C.

Keywords: acetic acid, steam reforming, microwave, nickel, ceria, zirconia

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Philippe Dillien, Patrice Forget, Harald Engel, Olivier Cornu, Marc De Kock, Jean Cyr Yombi

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Introduction: Hip fracture precedes commonly death in elderly people. Identification of high-risk patients may contribute to target patients in whom optimal management, resource allocation and trials efficiency is needed. The aim of this study is to construct a predictive score of mortality after hip fracture on the basis of the objective prognostic factors available: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), age, and sex. C-Reactive Protein (CRP), is also considered as an alternative to the NLR. Patients and methods: After the IRB approval, we analyzed our prospective database including 286 consecutive patients with hip fracture. A score was constructed combining age (1 point per decade above 74 years), sex (1 point for males), and NLR at postoperative day+5 (1 point if >5). A receiver-operating curve (ROC) curve analysis was performed. Results: From the 286 patients included, 235 were analyzed (72 males and 163 females, 30.6%/69.4%), with a median age of 84 (range: 65 to 102) years, mean NLR values of 6.47+/-6.07. At one year, 82/280 patients died (29.3%). Graphical analysis and log-rank test confirm a highly statistically significant difference (P<0.001). Performance analysis shows an AUC of 0.72 [95%CI 0.65-0.79]. CRP shows no advantage on NLR. Conclusion: We have developed a score based on age, sex and the NLR to predict the risk of mortality at one year in elderly patients after surgery for a hip fracture. After external validation, it may be included in clinical practice as in clinical research to stratify the risk of postoperative mortality.

Keywords: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, hip fracture, postoperative mortality, medical and health sciences

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Authors: Ernest Nweke, Enkhtuya Bavuudorj

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The Mongolia Stock Exchange (MSE) serves as a vehicle for executing the privatization policy of Mongolian Government as it transitioned from socialist to free market economy. It was also the intention of the Government to develop the investment and securities market through its establishment and to further boost the ailing Mongolian economy. This paper focuses on the contributions of the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) to the industrial and economic development of Mongolia via Corporate fund mobilization for listed companies in Mongolia. A study of this nature is imperative as economic development in Mongolia has been accelerated by corporate investments. The key purpose of the research was to critically analyze the operations of the MSE to ascertain the extent to which the objectives for which it was established have been accomplished and to assess its contributions to industrial and economic development of Mongolia. In achieving this, secondary data on the activities of the MSE; its market capitalization over the years were collected and analyzed vis-à-vis the figures for Mongolia’s macro-economic data for the same time period to determine whether the progressive increase in market capitalization of the MSE has positively impacted on Mongolia’s economic growth. Regression analysis package was utilized in dissecting the data. It was proven that the Mongolian Stock Exchange has contributed positively and significantly to Mongolia’s economic development though not yet to the desired level. Against the findings of this research, recommendations were made to address, the problems facing the MSE and to enhance its performance and ultimately its contributions to industrial and economic development of the Mongolian nation.

Keywords: Corporate Fund Mobilization, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), market capitalization, purchasing power, stock exchange

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Authors: Tsegahun Milkesa

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This study investigates the implementation of Power-Line Communications (PLC) as a sustainable solution for home automation in Ethiopia. With the country's growing technological landscape and the quest for efficient energy use, this research explores the potential of PLC to facilitate smart home systems, aiming to enhance connectivity and energy management. The primary objective is to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of PLC in Ethiopian residences, considering factors such as infrastructure compatibility, reliability, and scalability. By analyzing existing PLC technologies and their adaptability to local contexts, this study aims to propose optimized solutions tailored to the Ethiopian environment. The research methodology involves a combination of literature review, field surveys, and experimental setups to evaluate PLC's performance in transmitting data and controlling various home appliances. Additionally, socioeconomic implications, including affordability and accessibility, are examined to ensure the technology's inclusivity in diverse Ethiopian households. The findings will contribute insights into the viability of PLC for sustainable connectivity in Ethiopian homes, shedding light on its potential to revolutionize energy-efficient and interconnected living spaces. Ultimately, this study seeks to pave the way for accessible and eco-friendly smart home solutions in Ethiopia, aligning with the nation's aspirations for technological advancement and sustainability.

Keywords: sustainable connectivity, power-line communications (PLC), home automation, Ethiopia, smart homes, energy efficiency, connectivity solutions, infrastructure development, sustainable living

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Authors: Simrin Kafle, Ulrika Enemark

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Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) is a critical issue in low- and middle-income countries like Nepal, exacerbating financial hardship among vulnerable households. This study assesses the effectiveness of Nepal’s National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), launched in 2015, to reduce out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare costs and mitigate CHE. Conducted in Pokhara Metropolitan City, the study used an analytical cross-sectional design, sampling 1276 households through a two-stage random sampling method. Data was collected via face-to-face interviews between May and October 2023. The analysis was conducted using SPSS version 29, incorporating propensity score matching to minimize biases and create comparable groups of enrolled and non-enrolled households in the NHIP. PSM helped reduce confounding effects by matching households with similar baseline characteristics. Additionally, a doubly robust methodology was employed, combining propensity score adjustment with regression modeling to enhance the reliability of the results. This comprehensive approach ensured a more accurate estimation of the impact of NHIP enrollment on CHE. Among the 1276 samples, 534 households (41.8%) were enrolled in NHIP. Of them, 84.3% of households renewed their insurance card, though some cited long waiting times, lack of medications, and complex procedures as barriers to renewal. Approximately 57.3% of households reported known diseases before enrollment, with 49.8% attending routine health check-ups in the past year. The primary motivation for enrollment was encouragement from insurance employees (50.2%). The data indicates that 12.5% of enrolled households experienced CHE versus 7.5% among non-enrolled. Enrollment into NHIP does not contribute to lower CHE (AOR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.21-3.24). Key factors associated with increased CHE risk were presence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (AOR: 3.94, 95% CI: 2.10-7.39), acute illnesses/injuries (AOR: 6.70, 95% CI: 3.97-11.30), larger household size (AOR: 3.09, 95% CI: 1.81-5.28), and households below the poverty line (AOR: 5.82, 95% CI: 3.05-11.09). Other factors such as gender, education level, caste/ethnicity, presence of elderly members, and under-five children also showed varying associations with CHE, though not all were statistically significant. The study concludes that enrollment in the NHIP does not significantly reduce the risk of CHE. The reason for this could be inadequate coverage, where high-cost medicines, treatments, and transportation costs are not fully included in the insurance package, leading to significant out-of-pocket expenses. We also considered the long waiting time, lack of medicines, and complex procedures for the utilization of NHIP benefits, which might result in the underuse of covered services. Finally, gaps in enrollment and retention might leave certain households vulnerable to CHE despite the existence of NHIP. Key factors contributing to increased CHE include NCDs, acute illnesses, larger household sizes, and poverty. To improve the program’s effectiveness, it is recommended that NHIP benefits and coverage be expanded to better protect against high healthcare costs. Additionally, simplifying the renewal process, addressing long waiting times, and enhancing the availability of services could improve member satisfaction and retention. Targeted financial protection measures should be implemented for high-risk groups, and efforts should be made to increase awareness and encourage routine health check-ups to prevent severe health issues that contribute to CHE.

Keywords: catastrophic health expenditure, effectiveness, national health insurance program, Nepal

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Authors: Muhammad Wasif, Asif Ahmed Shaikh, Sarosh Hashmat Lodi, Muhammad Aslam Bhutto, Riazuddin

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Risk Management System is quite popular in profit- based organizations, health and safety and project management fields since the last few decades. But due to rapidly changing environment and requirement of ISO 9001:2015 standards, public-sector institution, especially higher education institutes are also performing risk assessment to monitor the performance of the institution and aligning it with the latest benchmark. In this context, NED University of Engineering and Technology performed research and developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the risk assessment, its monitoring and control. In this research, risks are broken into the four sources, namely; Internal Academics Risks, External Academics Risks, Internal Non-academic Risks, External Non-academic Risks. Risks are identified by the management at all levels. Severity and likelihood of the risks are assigned based on the previous audit results and the customer complains. Risk Ratings are calculated to orderly arrange the risk according to the Risk Rating, and controls for the risks are designed, which are assigned to the responsible person. At the end of the article, result and analysis on the different sources of risk are discussed in details and the conclusion is drawn. Discussion on few sample risks are presented in this article. Hence it is presented in the research that the Risk Management System can be applied in a Higher Education Institute to effectively control the risks which might affect the scope and Quality Management System of an organization.

Keywords: higher education, quality management system, risk assessment, risk management

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Authors: Yonghwa Lee, Yoon Suk Kim, Yongsub Yi

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This study was to confirm the effects of anti-melanogenesis and anti-inflammatory effects from Opuntia humifusa fruit and stem extracts. A potent anti-oxidant activity was shown from the leaf extract at IC50 value of 38.33±1.07 μg/mL and fruit extract at IC50 value of 40.23±2.21 μg/mL by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Also, phenolic contents were confirmed total phenolic assay by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fraction of taxifolin from leaf extract was identified using HPLC and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The extracts of Opuntia humifusa fruit and stem were confirmed about toxicity effect in B16 F1 by cell viability. Melanin contents were decreased. Opuntia humifusa fruit and stem extracts had a positive effect of melanin synthesis inhibition for skin whitening. In investigating the anti-inflammatory activities of Opuntia humifusa, the results of cell viability indicated that taxifolin did not show cytotoxicity on RAW264.7 cells at 500 μM of concentration. The results show that taxifolin inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of Nitrite oxide (NO). In addition, taxifolin indicated the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α and interleukin (IL) -6 productions by cytokine assay and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression by western blot analysis, meaning that taxifolin had a significant anti-inflammatory effect. Our results suggested that taxifolin from Opuntia humifusa has anti-melanogenesis and anti-inflammatory activities.

Keywords: anti-melanogenesis, anti-inflammatory, Opuntia humifusa, taxifolin

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Authors: H. Higashiyama, M. Sano, F. Nakanishi, M. Sugiyama, M. Kawanishi, S. Tsukuma

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The heat island phenomenon and extremely hot summer climate are becoming environmental problems in Japan. Cool pavements reduce the surface temperature compared to conventional asphalt pavements in the hot summer climate and improve the thermal environment in the urban area. The authors have studied cement–based grouting materials poured into voids in porous asphalt pavements to reduce the road surface temperature. For the cement–based grouting material, cement, ceramic waste powder, and natural zeolite were used. This cement–based grouting material developed reduced the road surface temperature by 20 °C or more in the hot summer season. Considering the urban landscape, this study investigates the effect of surface temperature reduction of colored cement–based grouting materials containing pigments poured into voids in porous asphalt pavements by measuring the surface temperature of asphalt pavements outdoors. The yellow color performed the same as the original cement–based grouting material containing no pigment and was thermally better performance than the other color. However, all the tested cement–based grouting materials performed well for reducing the surface temperature and for creating the urban landscape.

Keywords: ceramic waste powder, natural zeolite, road surface temperature, asphalt pavement, urban landscape

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Authors: Marwa T. Badawy, Alaa F. Bakr, Nesrine Hegazi, Mohamed A. Farag, Ahmed Abdellatif

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Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease affecting a large population worldwide. Africa is rich in native medicinal plants with myriad health benefits, though less explored towards the development of specific drug therapy as in diabetes. This study aims to determine the in vivo antidiabetic potential of the well-reported and traditionally used fruits of Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) using STZ induced diabetic model. The in-vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant properties were examined using MTT assay on L-929 fibroblast cells and DPPH antioxidant assays, respectively. The extract showed minimal cytotoxicity with an IC50 value of 105.7 µg/mL. Histopathological and immunohistochemical investigations showed the hepatoprotective and the renoprotective effects of A. digitata fruits’ extract, implying its protective effects against diabetes complications. These findings were further supported by biochemical assays, which showed that i.p., injection of a low dose (150 mg/kg) of A. digitata twice a week lowered the fasting blood glucose levels, lipid profile, hepatic and renal markers. For a comprehensive overview of extract metabolites composition, ultrahigh performance (UHPLC) analysis coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS) in synchronization with molecular networks led to the annotation of 77 metabolites, among which 50% are reported for the first time in A. digitata fruits.

Keywords: adansonia digital, diabetes mellitus, metabolomics, streptozotocin, Sprague, dawley rats

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Authors: Rahmat Ali, Amjad Naseer, Abid A. Shah

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This paper is an attempt to presents the performance of building observed during 26th Oct, 2015 earthquake in District Swat and Shangla region. Most of the buildings in the earthquake hit areas were built with Rubble stone masonry, dress Stone Masonry, brick masonry with and without RC column, Brick masonry with RC beams and column, Block Masonry with and without RC column. It was found that most of the buildings were built without proper supervision and without following any codes. A majority of load bearing masonry walls were highly affected during the earthquake. The load bearing walls built with rubble stone masonry were collapsed resulting huge damages and loss of property and life. Load bearing bricks masonry walls were also affected in most of the region. In some residential buildings the bricks were crushed in a single brick walls. Severe cracks were also found in double brick masonry walls. In RC frame structure beams and columns were also seriously affected. A majority of building structures were non-engineered. Some buildings designed by unskilled local consultants were also affected during the earthquake. Several architectural and structural mistakes were also found in various buildings designed by local consultant. It was found that the structures were collapsed prematurely either because of unskillful labor and using substandard materials or avoiding delicate repair, maintenance, and health monitoring activities because of lack of available sophisticated technology in our country.

Keywords: cracks, collapse, earthquake, masonry, repair

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Authors: Ubeyd Toçoğlu, Miraç Alaf, Hatem Akbulut

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We present a work which was conducted in order to improve the cycle life of silicon based lithium ion battery anodes by utilizing novel composite structure. In this study, carbon coated nano sized (50-100 nm) silicon particles were embedded into Graphene/MWCNT silicon matrix to produce free standing silicon based electrodes. Also, conventional Si powder anodes were produced from Si powder slurry on copper current collectors in order to make comparison of composite and conventional anode structures. Free –standing composite anodes (binder-free) were produced via vacuum filtration from a well dispersion of Graphene, MWCNT and carbon coated silicon powders. Carbon coating process of silicon powders was carried out via microwave reaction system. The certain amount of silicon powder and glucose was mixed under ultrasonication and then coating was conducted at 200 °C for two hours in Teflon lined autoclave reaction chamber. Graphene which was used in this study was synthesized from well-known Hummers method and hydrazine reduction of graphene oxide. X-Ray diffraction analysis and RAMAN spectroscopy techniques were used for phase characterization of anodes. Scanning electron microscopy analyses were conducted for morphological characterization. The electrochemical performance tests were carried out by means of galvanostatic charge/discharge, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Keywords: graphene, Li-Ion, MWCNT, silicon

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Authors: Supreet Singh, Manpreet Kaur, Manoj Kumar

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High temperature corrosion is an imperative material degradation method experienced in thermal power plants and other energy generation sectors. Metallic materials such as ferritic steels have special properties such as easy fabrication and machinibilty, low cost, but a serious drawback of these materials is the worsening in properties initiating from the interaction with the environments. The metallic materials do not endure higher temperatures for extensive period of time because of their poor corrosion resistance. Friction Stir Processing (FSP), has emerged as the potent surface modification means and control of microstructure in thermo mechanically heat affecting zones of various metal alloys. In the current research work, FSP was done on the boiler tube of SA 210 Grade A1 material which is regularly used by thermal power plants. The strengthening of SA210 Grade A1 boiler steel through microstructural refinement by Friction Stir Processing (FSP) and analyze the effect of the same on high temperature corrosion behavior. The high temperature corrosion performance of the unprocessed and the FSPed specimens were evaluated in the laboratory using molten salt environment of Na₂SO₄-82%Fe₂(SO₄). The unprocessed and FSPed low carbon steel Gr A1 evaluation was done in terms of microstructure, corrosion resistance, mechanical properties like hardness- tensile. The in-depth characterization was done by EBSD, SEM/EDS and X-ray mapping analyses with an aim to propose the mechanism behind high temperature corrosion behavior of the FSPed steel.

Keywords: boiler steel, characterization, corrosion, EBSD/SEM/EDS/XRD, friction stir processing

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Authors: D. S. Mohale, A. P. Dewani, A. S.tripathi, A. V. Chandewar

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Present work demonstrates the applicability of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV-Vis detection for the quantification of malondialdehyde as malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid complex (MDA-TBA) in-vivo in rats. The HPLC method for MDA-TBA was achieved by isocratic mode on a reverse-phase C18 column (250mm×4.6mm) at a flow rate of 1.0mLmin−1 followed by detection at 532 nm. The chromatographic conditions were optimized by varying the concentration and pH of water followed by changes in percentage of organic phase optimal mobile phase consisted of mixture of water (0.2% triethylamine pH adjusted to 2.3 by ortho-phosphoric acid) and acetonitrile in ratio (80:20v/v). The retention time of MDA-TBA complex was 3.7 min. The developed method was sensitive as limit of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) for MDA-TBA complex were (standard deviation and slope of calibration curve) 110 ng/ml and 363 ng/ml respectively. Calibration studies were done by spiking MDA into rat plasma at concentrations ranging from 500 to 1000 ng/ml. The precision of developed method measured in terms of relative standard deviations for intra-day and inter-day studies was 1.6–5.0% and 1.9–3.6% respectively. The HPLC method was applied for monitoring MDA levels in rats subjected to chronic treatment of levofloxacin (LEV) (5mg/kg/day) for 21 days. Results were compared by findings in control group rats. Mean peak areas of both study groups was subjected for statistical treatment to unpaired student t-test to find p-values. The p value was <0.001 indicating significant results and suggesting increased MDA levels in rats subjected to chronic treatment of LEV of 21 days.

Keywords: malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid complex, levofloxacin, HPLC, oxidative stress

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Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Magda M. Madbouly, Murad B. Khorsheed

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Sign Languages (SL) are the most accomplished forms of gestural communication. Therefore, their automatic analysis is a real challenge, which is interestingly implied to their lexical and syntactic organization levels. Hidden Markov models (HMM’s) have been used prominently and successfully in speech recognition and, more recently, in handwriting recognition. Consequently, they seem ideal for visual recognition of complex, structured hand gestures such as are found in sign language. In this paper, several results concerning static hand gesture recognition using an algorithm based on Type-2 Fuzzy HMM (T2FHMM) are presented. The features used as observables in the training as well as in the recognition phases are based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). SVD is an extension of Eigen decomposition to suit non-square matrices to reduce multi attribute hand gesture data to feature vectors. SVD optimally exposes the geometric structure of a matrix. In our approach, we replace the basic HMM arithmetic operators by some adequate Type-2 fuzzy operators that permits us to relax the additive constraint of probability measures. Therefore, T2FHMMs are able to handle both random and fuzzy uncertainties existing universally in the sequential data. Experimental results show that T2FHMMs can effectively handle noise and dialect uncertainties in hand signals besides a better classification performance than the classical HMMs. The recognition rate of the proposed system is 100% for uniform hand images and 86.21% for cluttered hand images.

Keywords: hand gesture recognition, hand detection, type-2 fuzzy logic, hidden Markov Model

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Authors: Gustavo Menezes De Souza Melo, Arnaud Heitz, Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum

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Additive manufacturing is a growing market that is taking over in many industries as it offers numerous advantages like new design possibilities, weight-saving solutions, ease of manufacture, and simplification of assemblies. These are all unquestionable technical or financial assets. As to the environmental aspect, additive manufacturing is often discussed whether it is the best solution to decarbonize our industries or if conventional manufacturing remains cleaner. This work presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) comparison based on the technological case of a motorbike swing-arm. We compare the original equipment manufacturer part made with conventional manufacturing (CM) methods to an additive manufacturing (AM) version printed using the laser powder bed fusion process. The AM version has been modified and optimized to achieve better dynamic performance without any regard to weight saving. Lightweight not being a priority in the creation of the 3D printed part brings us a unique perspective in this study. To achieve the LCA, we are using the open-source life cycle, and sustainability software OpenLCA combined with the ReCiPe 2016 at midpoint and endpoint level method. This allows the calculation and the presentation of the results through indicators such as global warming, water use, resource scarcity, etc. The results are then showing the relative impact of the AM version compared to the CM one and give us a key to understand and answer questions about the environmental sustainability of additive manufacturing.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, environmental impact, life cycle assessment, laser powder bed fusion

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Authors: S. Chuenchooklin

Abstract:

This research was conducted in the Lower Ping River Basin downstream of the Bhumibol Dam and the Lower Wang River Basin in Tak Province, Thailand. Most of the tributary streams of the Ping can be considered as ungauged catchments. There are 10- pumping station installation at both river banks of the Ping in Tak Province. Recently, most of them could not fully operate due to the water amount in the river below the level that would be pumping, even though included water from the natural river and released flow from the Bhumibol Dam. The aim of this research was to increase the performance of those pumping stations using weir projects in the Ping. Therefore, the river analysis system model (HEC-RAS) was applied to study the hydraulic behavior of water surface profiles in the Ping River with both cases of existing conditions and proposed weirs during the violent flood in 2011 and severe drought in 2013. Moreover, the hydrologic modeling system (HMS) was applied to simulate lateral streamflow hydrograph from ungauged catchments of the Ping. The results of HEC-RAS model calibration with existing conditions in 2011 showed best trial roughness coefficient for the main channel of 0.026. The simulated water surface levels fitted to observation data with R2 of 0.8175. The model was applied to 3 proposed cascade weirs with 2.35 m in height and found surcharge water level only 0.27 m higher than the existing condition in 2011. Moreover, those weirs could maintain river water levels and increase of those pumping performances during less river flow in 2013.

Keywords: HEC-RAS, HMS, pumping stations, cascade weirs

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Authors: Lina T. Codilla

Abstract:

This study primarily designed a laboratory activity in ecology to demonstrate the allelopathic property of the Philippine Chromolaena odorata L. (hagonoy) leaf extracts to Lycopersicum esculentum (M), commonly known as tomatoes. Ethanol extracts of C. odorata leaves were tested on seed germination and seedling growth of L. esculentum in 7-day and 14-day observation periods. Analysis of variance and Tukey’s HSD post hoc test was utilized to determine differences among treatments while Pre–test – Post–test experimental design was utilized in the determination of the effectiveness of the designed laboratory activity. Results showed that the 0.5% concentration level of ethanol leaf extracts significantly inhibited germination and seedling growth of L. esculentum in both observation periods. These results were used as the basis in the development of instructional material in ecology. The laboratory activity underwent face validation by five (5) experts in various fields of specialization, namely, Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Science Education. The readability of the designed laboratory activity was determined using a Cloze Test. Pilot testing was conducted and showed that the laboratory activity developed is found to be a very effective tool in supplementing learning about allelopathy in ecology class. Thus, it is recommended for use among ecology classes but modification will be made in a small – scale basis to minimize time consumption.

Keywords: allelopathy, chromolaena odorata l. (hagonoy), designed-laboratory activity, organic herbicide students’ performance

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Authors: Khorief Ouissem, Sassi Boudmagh Souad, Mahimoud Aissa

Abstract:

The health and safety problem in the construction companies has been a major subject of research in Algeria for many years. The latest statistics of the Algerian National Social Security Fund (CNAS) shows that a third of accidents recorded at the national level are originated from construction activities. It is becoming increasingly essential and urgent to investigate and address its causes in order to find measures to overcome the deficiencies in this area. Thus, this paper takes in investigating this problem through a study conducted in the city of Skikda, Algeria. The study was carried out through questionnaire where twenty construction companies were taking into consideration. First, the study identifies the regulations and the laws related to the health and safety in the construction sector in Algeria. Then it goes on to assess and evaluate the implementation of the identified regulations in the companies selected. The result of the assessment indicates that the majority of the construction companies considered do not meet the health and safety standards and regulations. To extract the main causes of the failure of the system to control this industry, the observations and the evaluation were analyzed using the 5M or Ichikawa diagram method. This method is based on identifying the causes of the problem in terms of purpose, the list of potential causes for families. These families often correspond to 5M (Labor, Material, Methods, Middle, and Management). Finally, having identified the primary motives, the present authors propose a list of actions to move towards a more controlled and effective health and safety system for the construction industry.

Keywords: health and safety, construction industry, performance measurement, Algeria

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