Search results for: concentration risk

Authors: Dinebari Akpee, Friday Aabe Gaage, Florence Fred Nwaigwu

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Natural disasters like flood affect many parts of the world including developing countries like Nigeria. As a result, many human lives are lost, properties damaged and so much money is lost in infrastructure damages. These hazards and losses can be mitigated and reduced by providing reliable spatial information to the generality of the people through about flood risks through flood inundation maps. Flood inundation maps are very crucial for emergency action plans, urban planning, ecological studies and insurance rates. Nigeria experience her worst flood in her entire history this year. Many cities were submerged and completely under water due to torrential rainfall. Poor city planning, lack of effective development control among others contributes to the problem too. Geographic information system (GIS) can be used to visualize the extent of flooding, analyze flood maps to produce flood damaged estimation maps and flood risk maps. In this research, the under listed steps were taken in preparation of flood risk maps for the study area: (1) Digitization of topographic data and preparation of digital elevation model using ArcGIS (2) Flood simulation using hydraulic model and integration and (3) Integration of the first two steps to produce flood risk maps. The results shows that GIS can play crucial role in Flood disaster control and mitigation.

Keywords: flood disaster, risk maps, geographic information system, hazards

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Authors: Yilin Liao, Hewen Li, Paula McConvey

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Speed skaters often face a risk of concussion when they fall on the ice floor and impact crash mats during practices and competitive races. Several variables, including those related to the skater, the crash mat, and the impact position (body side/head/feet impact), are believed to influence the severity of the skater's concussion. While computer simulation modeling can be employed to analyze these accidents, the simulation process is time-consuming and does not provide rapid information for coaches and teams to assess the skater's injury risk in competitive events. This research paper promotes the exploration of the feasibility of using AI techniques for evaluating skater’s potential concussion severity, and to develop a fast concussion prediction tool using artificial neural networks to reduce the risk of treatment delays for injured skaters. The primary data is collected through virtual tests and physical experiments designed to simulate skater-mat impact. It is then analyzed to identify patterns and correlations; finally, it is used to train and fine-tune the artificial neural networks for accurate prediction. The development of the prediction tool by employing machine learning strategies contributes to the application of AI methods in sports science and has theoretical involvements for using AI techniques in predicting and preventing sports-related injuries.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, concussion, machine learning, impact, speed skater

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Authors: Bodhayan Nandi, Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury

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This paper presents the development of a portable blood glucose monitoring device based on Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. The system supports Internet connectivity through WiFi and uploads the time series data of glucose concentration of patients to a server. In addition, the server is given sufficient intelligence to predict the future pathophysiological state of a patient given the current and past pathophysiological data. This will enable to prognosticate the approaching critical condition of the patient much before the critical condition actually occurs.The server hosts web applications to allow authorized users to monitor the data remotely.

Keywords: non invasive, blood glucose concentration, microcontroller, IoT, application server, database server

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Authors: T. S. Desak Ketut, A.n. Isna, A.a. Ayu, D. P. Ririn, Suharjono Hadiatullah

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The requirement of paper from year to year rise rapidly. The raising of cellulose requirement in paper production caused increasing of wood requirement with the effect that limited forest areal because of deforestation. Alternative cellulose that can be used for making paper is microbial cellulose. The objective of this research are to know the effectivity fermentation media Spirogyra sp. by Gluconacetobacter xylinum for cellulose production as material for the making of paper and to know effect composition bacterial cellulose composite product of Gluconacetobacter xylinum in Spirogyra sp. The method, was used, is as follow, 1) the effect assay from variation composition of fermentation media to bacterial cellulose production by Gluconacetobacter xylinum. 2) The effect assay of composition bacterial cellulose fermentation producted by Gluconacetobacter xylinum in extracted Spirogyra media to paper quality. The result of this research is variation fermentation media Spirogyra sp. affect to production of cellulose by Gluconacetobacter xylinum. Thus, result showed by the highest value and significantly different in thickness parameter, dry weight and wet weight of nata in sucrose concentration 7,5 % and urea 0,75 %. Composition composite of bacterial cellulose from fermentation product by Gluconacetobacter xylinum in media Spirogyra sp. affect to paper quality from wet nata and dry nata. Parameters thickness, weight, water absorpsion, density and gramatur showed highest result in sucrose concentration 7,5 % and urea concentration 0,75 %, except paper density from dry nata had highest result in sucrose and urea concentration 0%.

Keywords: cellulose, fermentation media, , Gluconacetobacter xylinum, paper, Spirogyra sp.

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Authors: Kai-Jui Kou, Tzu-Ling Shen, Ying-Fang Wang

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The objectives of the present study are to characterize nanoparticles generated from the different working type in 3D printing room and the stack flue during 3D printing process. The studied laboratory (10.5 m× 7.2 m × 3.2 m) with a ventilation rate of 500 m³/H is installed a 3D metal printing machine. Direct-reading instrument of a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS, Model 3082, TSI Inc., St. Paul, MN, USA) was used to conduct static sampling for nanoparticle number concentration and particle size distribution measurements. The SMPS obtained particle number concentration at every 3 minutes, the diameter of the SMPS ranged from 11~372 nm when the aerosol and sheath flow rates were set at 0.6 and 6 L/min, respectively. The concentrations of background, printing process, clearing operation, and screening operation were performed in the laboratory. On the other hand, we also conducted nanoparticle measurement on the 3D printing machine's stack flue to understand its emission characteristics. Results show that the nanoparticles emitted from the different operation process were the same distribution in the form of the uni-modal with number median diameter (NMD) as approximately 28.3 nm to 29.6 nm. The number concentrations of nanoparticles were 2.55×10³ count/cm³ in laboratory background, 2.19×10³ count/cm³ during printing process, 2.29×10³ count/cm³ during clearing process, 3.05×10³ count/cm³ during screening process, 2.69×10³ count/cm³ in laboratory background after printing process, and 6.75×10³ outside laboratory, respectively. We found that there are no emission nanoparticles during the printing process. However, the number concentration of stack flue nanoparticles in the ongoing print is 1.13×10⁶ count/cm³, and that of the non-printing is 1.63×10⁴ count/cm³, with a NMD of 458 nm and 29.4 nm, respectively. It can be confirmed that the measured particle size belongs to easily penetrate the filter in theory during the printing process, even though the 3D printer has a high-efficiency filtration device. Therefore, it is recommended that the stack flue of the 3D printer would be equipped with an appropriate dust collection device to prevent the operators from exposing these hazardous particles.

Keywords: nanoparticle, particle emission, 3D printing, number concentration

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Authors: Peter J. Robinson, W. J. Wouter Botzen

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Individuals often over-weight low probabilities and under-weight moderate to high probabilities, however very low probabilities are either significantly over-weighted or neglected. Little is known about factors affecting probability weighting in Prospect Theory related to emotions specific to risk (anticipatory and anticipated emotions), the threshold of concern, as well as personality traits like locus of control. This study provides these insights by examining factors that influence probability weighting in the context of flood insurance demand in an economic experiment. In particular, we focus on determinants of flood probability neglect to provide recommendations for improved risk management. In addition, results obtained using real incentives and no performance-based payments are compared in the experiment with high experimental outcomes. Based on data collected from 1’041 Dutch homeowners, we find that: flood probability neglect is related to anticipated regret, worry and the threshold of concern. Moreover, locus of control and regret affect probabilistic pessimism. Nevertheless, we do not observe strong evidence that incentives influence flood probability neglect nor probability weighting. The results show that low, moderate and high flood probabilities are under-weighted, which is related to framing in the flooding context and the degree of realism respondents attach to high probability property damages. We suggest several policies to overcome psychological factors related to under-weighting flood probabilities to improve flood preparations. These include policies that promote better risk communication to enhance insurance decisions for individuals with a high threshold of concern, and education and information provision to change the behaviour of internal locus of control types as well as people who see insurance as an investment. Multi-year flood insurance may also prevent short-sighted behaviour of people who have a tendency to regret paying for insurance. Moreover, bundling low-probability/high-impact risks with more immediate risks may achieve an overall covered risk which is less likely to be judged as falling below thresholds of concern. These measures could aid the development of a flood insurance market in the Netherlands for which we find to be demand.

Keywords: flood insurance demand, prospect theory, risk perceptions, risk preferences

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Authors: Nehir Nebioglu

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Chemotherapy is widely used for the treatment of cancer. Doxorubicin is an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug that is classified as an anthracycline antibiotic. Antitumor antibiotics consist of natural products produced by species of the soil fungus Streptomyces. These drugs act in multiple phases of the cell cycle and are known cell-cycle specific. Although DOX is a precious clinical antineoplastic agent, resistance is also a problem that limits its utility besides cardiotoxicity problem. The drug resistance of cancer cells results from multiple factors including individual variation, genetic heterogeneity within a tumor, and cellular evolution. The mechanism of resistance is thought to involve, in particular, ABCB1 (MDR1, Pgp) and ABCC1 (MRP1) as well as other transporters. Several studies on DOX-resistant cell lines have shown that resistance can be overcome by an inhibition of ABCB1, ABCC1, and ABCC2. This study attempts to understand the effects of different concentration levels of glucose treatment and starvation on the proliferation of Doxorubicin resistant cancer cells lines. To understand the effect of starvation, K562/Dox and K562 cell lines were treated with 0, 5 nM, 50 nM, 500 nM, 5 uM and 50 uM Dox concentrations in both starvation and normal medium conditions. In addition to this, to interpret the effect of glucose treatment, different concentrations (0, 1 mM, 5 mM, 25 mM) of glucose were applied to Dox-treated (with 0, 5 nM, 50 nM, 500 nM, 5 uM and 50 uM) K562/Dox and K652 cell lines. All results show significant decreasing in the cell count of K562/Dox, when cells were starved. However, while proliferation of K562/Dox lines decrease is associated with the increasingly applied Dox concentration, K562/Dox starved ones remain at the same proliferation level. Thus, the results imply that an amount of K562/Dox lines gain starvation resistance and remain resistant. Furthermore, for K562/Dox, there is no clear effect of glucose treatment in terms of cell proliferation. In the presence of a moderate level of glucose (5 mM), proliferation increases compared to other concentration of glucose for each different Dox application. On the other hand, a significant increase in cell proliferation in moderate level of glucose is only observed in 5 uM Dox concentration. The moderate concentration level of Dox can be examined in further studies. For the high amount of glucose (25 mM), cell proliferation levels are lower than moderate glucose application. The reason could be high amount of glucose may not be absorbable by cells. Also, in the presence of low amount of glucose, proliferation is decreasing in an orderly manner of increase in Dox concentration. This situation can be explained by the glucose depletion -Warburg effect- in the literature.

Keywords: drug resistance, cancer cells, chemotherapy, doxorubicin

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Authors: Jihene Jebeniani

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We proposed an approach combining both the techniques of experimental economy and the flexibility of discrete choice models in order to test the loss aversion. Our main objective was to test the loss aversion of the Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT). We developed an experimental laboratory in the context of the financial investments that aimed to analyze the attitude towards the risk of the investors. The study uses the lotteries and is basing on econometric modeling. The estimated model was the ordered probit.

Keywords: risk aversion, behavioral finance, experimental economic, lotteries, cumulative prospect theory

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Authors: Mohammad Aziz Shah Mohamed Arip, Aslina Ahmad, Fauziah Mohd Sa'ad, Samsiah Mohd Jais, Syed Sofian Syed Salim

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This experimental study evaluates the effect of using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Multidimensional Self-Concept Model (MSCM) in a drug prevention programme to increase resiliency and reduce aggression among at-risk youth in Malaysia. A number of 60 (N=60) university students who were at-risk of taking drugs were involved in this study. Participants were identified with self-rating scales, Adolescent Resilience Attitude Scale (ARAS) and Aggression Questionnaire. Based on the mean score of these instruments, the participants were divided into the treatment group, and the control group. Data were analyzed using t-test. The finding showed that the mean score of resiliency was increased in the treatment group compared to the control group. It also shows that the mean score of aggression was reduced in the treatment group compared to the control group. Drug Prevention Programme was found to help in enhancing resiliency and reducing aggression among participants in the treatment group compared to the controlled group. Implications were given regarding the preventive actions on drug abuse among youth in Malaysia.

Keywords: drug prevention programme, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), multidimensional self concept model (MSCM), resiliency, aggression, at-risk youth

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Authors: Peter Ugbedeojo Nelson

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Despite the tremendous advancements and knowledge acquisition around entrepreneurship orientation (EO) research, there may still be more to learn on how environmental dynamics would permute organizational processes and determine the extent to which success would be achieved. Using the contingency theory, we test a model that proposes a moderating influence of external relational capital and environmental hostility on the EO-performance effect of 423 managers/owners of small and medium scale enterprises. The hypotheses were tested using Hayes simultaneous regression, and the results showed that all EO dimensions (risk-taking, innovation, and performance) had a main effect on performance while the moderating variables interacted well with risk-taking (more than other EO dimensions) to improve performance. However, external relational capital, more than environmental hostility, influences the EO-performance relationship. Our findings highlight the differential ways that EO dimensions interact with environmental contingencies to influence performance. Further studies can examine how competitive aggressiveness and autonomy are moderated by external relational capital and environmental hostility.

Keywords: external relational capital, entrepreneurial orientation, risk-taking, innovation, proactiveness

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Authors: Andras Dezső, Peter Baumli, George Kaptay

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The phosphorous is the important components in the steels, because it makes the changing of the mechanical properties and possibly modifying the structure. The phosphorous can be create the Fe3P compounds, what is segregated in the ferrite grain boundary in the intervals of the nano-, or microscale. This intermetallic compound is decreasing the mechanical properties, for example it makes the blue brittleness which means that the brittle created by the segregated particles at 200 ... 300°C. This work describes the phosphide solubility by the other components effect. We make calculations for the Ni, Mo, Cu, S, V, C, Si, Mn, and the Cr elements by the Thermo-Calc software. We predict the effects by approximate functions. The binary Fe-P system has a solubility line, which has a determinating equation. The result is below: lnwo = -3,439 – 1.903/T where the w0 means the weight percent of the maximum soluted concentration of the phosphorous, and the T is the temperature in Kelvin. The equation show that the P more soluble element when the temperature increasing. The nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, silicon, manganese, and the chromium make dependence to the maximum soluted concentration. These functions are more dependent by the elements concentration, which are lower when we put these elements in our steels. The copper, sulphur and carbon do not make effect to the phosphorous solubility. We predict that all of cases the maximum solubility concentration increases when the temperature more and more high. Between 473K and 673 K, in the phase diagram, these systems contain mostly two or three phase eutectoid, and the singe phase, ferritic intervals. In the eutectoid areas the ferrite, the iron-phosphide, and the metal (III)-phospide are in the equilibrium. In these modelling we predicted that which elements are good for avoid the phosphide segregation or not. These datas are important when we make or choose the steels, where the phosphide segregation stopping our possibilities.

Keywords: phosphorous, steel, segregation, thermo-calc software

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Authors: Joshua I. Izegaegbe, Femi F. Oloye, Catherine E. Nasiru

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This study determined the level of manganese, zinc, copper, and nickel in the liver and muscle of the African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus from Ilushi River, Edo State, Nigeria with a view to determining the extent of contamination. Heavy metal determination of digested fish samples was done using the atomic absorption spectrophotometric method. The results show that the muscles and livers were contaminated to varying levels with the presence of some non-metallic elements. The heavy metal load revealed that zinc had the highest mean concentration of 0.217±0.008µg/g in liver and 0.130±0.006µg/g in muscle, while copper recorded the least concentration in liver 0.063±0.004µg/g and 0.027±0.003µg/gin muscle. The distribution of the heavy metals in the muscles and livers of Clarias gariepinus showed significant variations and the results also revealed that the concentration of heavy metals (Zn, Cu,Ni and Mn) found in the liver was higher than those found in the muscle. This indicates that the liver is a better accumulator of heavy metal in Clarias gariepinus than the muscles. On comparison with WHO/FAO/FEPA/USFDA standards, the study shows that the concentrations of heavy metals in liver and muscle were within permissible limits safe for human consumption.

Keywords: clarias gariepinus, heavy metals, liver, muscle

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Authors: Hamed Rahmani, Wim Groot

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The term "youth not in employment, education or training (NEET)" refers to a combination of youth unemployment and school dropout. This study investigates the variables that increase the risk of becoming NEET in Iran. A selection bias-adjusted Probit model was employed using machine learning to identify these risk factors. We used cross-sectional data obtained from the Statistical Centre of Iran and the Ministry of Cooperatives Labour and Social Welfare that was taken from the labour force survey conducted in the spring of 2021. We look at years of education, work experience, housework, the number of children under the age of six in the home, family education, birthplace, and the amount of land owned by households. Results show that hours spent performing domestic chores enhance the likelihood of youth becoming NEET, and years of education and years of potential work experience decrease the chance of being NEET. The findings also show that female youth born in cities were less likely than those born in rural regions to become NEET.

Keywords: NEET youth, probit, CART, machine learning, unemployment

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Authors: Roya Kelishadi, Mostafa Amini-Rarani, Mostafa Qorbani

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Introduction: As a health-related behavior, physical activity (PA) has an unequal distribution relating to individual's socioeconomic status. This study aimed to assess socioeconomic inequality in PA among Iranian students and their parents at national level and according to socioeconomic status (SES) of the living regions. Method: This study was conducted as part of a national surveillance program conducted among 14400 Iranian students and their parents. Non-linear principal component analysis was used to construct the households' socioeconomic status, and the concentration index approach was applied to measure inequality in father, mother, and student’s PA. Results: The data of 13313 students and their parents were complete for the current study. At national level and SES regions, students had more PA than their parents (except in the lowest SES region), and fathers have more PA than mothers. The lowest means of mother and student's PA were find in the highest SES region. At national level, the concentration indices of father and mother’s PA were -0.050 (95 % CI: -0.067 ~ -0.030) and -0.028 (95% CI: -0.044 ~ -0.012), respectively; indicating pro-poor inequality and, the CI value of student PA was nearly equal to zero (P > 0.05). At SES regions, father and mother's PA were more concentrated in the poor, except for lower middle region. Regional concentration indices for students reveal that inequality not statistically significant at all regions. Conclusion: This study suggests that reliable evidence that comparing different aspects of inequality of PA, based on socioeconomic status and residence areas of students and their parents, could be used for better planning for health promotion programs. Moreover, given the average of mother's and student’s PA in the richer regions were low, it can be suggested that richer focused-PA planning may further increase the level of PA across higher SES and, consequently, reduce inequality in PA. These findings can be applied in the health system services.

Keywords: concentration index, health system services, physical activity, socioeconomic inequality

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Authors: Jeremy Dixon

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Safeguarding adults forms a core part of social work practice. The Government in England and Wales has made efforts to standardise practices through The Care Act 2014. The Act states that local authorities have duties to make inquiries in cases where an adult with care or support needs is experiencing or at risk of abuse and is unable to protect themselves from abuse or neglect. Despite the importance given to safeguarding adults within law there remains little research about how social workers conduct such decisions on the ground. This presentation reports on findings from a pilot research study conducted within two social work teams in a Local Authority in England. The objective of the project was to find out how social workers interpreted safeguarding duties as laid out by The Care Act 2014 with a particular focus on how workers assessed and managed risk. Ethnographic research methods were used throughout the project. This paper focusses specifically on decisions made by workers in the assessment team. The paper reports on qualitative observation and interviews with five workers within this team. Drawing on governmentality theory, this paper analyses the techniques used by workers to manage risk from a distance. A high proportion of safeguarding referrals came from care workers or managers in residential care homes. Social workers conducting safeguarding assessments were aware that they had a duty to work in partnership with these agencies. However, their duty to safeguard adults also meant that they needed to view them as potential abusers. In making judgments about when it was proportionate to refer for a safeguarding assessment workers drew on a number of common beliefs about residential care workers which were then tested in conversations with them. Social workers held the belief that residential homes acted defensively, leading them to report any accident or danger. Social workers therefore encouraged residential workers to consider whether statutory criteria had been met and to use their own procedures to manage risk. In addition social workers carried out an assessment of the workers’ motives; specifically whether they were using safeguarding procedures as a shortcut for avoiding other assessments or as a means of accessing extra resources. Where potential abuse was identified social workers encouraged residential homes to use disciplinary policies as a means of isolating and managing risk. The study has implications for understanding risk within social work practice. It shows that whilst social workers use law to govern individuals, these laws are interpreted against cultural values. Additionally they also draw on assumptions about the culture of others.

Keywords: adult safeguarding, governmentality, risk, risk assessment

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Authors: T. Rajamäki

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In clean room environment molecular contamination in very small concentrations can cause significant harm for the components and processes. This is commonly referred as airborne molecular contamination (AMC). There is a shortage of high sensitivity continuous measurement data for existence and behavior of several of these contaminants. Accordingly, in most cases correlation between concentration of harmful molecules and their effect on processes is not known. In addition, the formation and distribution of contaminating molecules are unclear. In this work sensitive optical techniques are applied in clean room facilities for investigation of concentrations, forming mechanisms and effects of contaminating molecules. Special emphasis is on reactive acid and base gases ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen fluoride (HF). They are the key chemicals in several operations taking place in clean room processes.

Keywords: AMC, clean room, concentration, reactive gas

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Authors: Princes Ann E. Prieto, Denise F. Alpuerto, John Rafael C. Unlayao, Neil Concibido, Monet Concepcion Maguyon-Detras

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Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) has been used in the virtual Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) of the Acetone production process through the dehydrogenation of isopropyl alcohol, for which very limited process risk assessment has been published. In this study, the potential failure modes, effects, and possible causes of selected major equipment in the process were identified. During the virtual FMEA mock sessions, the risks in the process were evaluated and recommendations to reduce and/or mitigate the process risks were formulated. The risk was estimated using the calculated risk priority number (RPN) and was classified into four (4) levels according to their effects on acetone production. Results of this study were also used to rank the criticality of equipment in the process based on the calculated criticality rating (CR). Bow tie diagrams were also created for the critical hazard scenarios identified in the study.

Keywords: chemical process safety, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), process hazard analysis (PHA), process safety management (PSM)

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Authors: Jahanshah Saleh, Hossein Ghasemi, Ali Shahriari, Faezeh Alizadeh, Yaaghoob Hosseini

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Cadmium and chromium are toxic to most organisms and different mechanisms have been developed for overcoming with the toxic effects of these heavy metals. We studied the uptake and distribution of cadmium and chromium in different organs of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) plants in nine heavy metal polluted soils in western Hormozgan province, Iran. The accumulation of chromium was in increasing pattern of fruit peel

Keywords: cadmium, chromium, phytoextraction, phytostabilization, tomato

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Authors: Jitendra Kumar Chawla, Mukesh Kumar Mishra

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The nonlinear amplitude modulation of ion-acoustic wave is studied in the presence of two-electron temperature distribution in unmagnetized electron-positron-ion plasmas. The Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolosky (KBM) perturbation method is used to derive the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The dispersive and nonlinear coefficients are obtained which depend on the temperature and concentration of the hot and cold electron species as well as the positron density and temperature. The modulationally unstable regions are studied numerically for a wide range of wave number. The effects of the temperature and concentration of the hot and cold electron on the modulational stability are investigated in detail.

Keywords: modulational instability, ion acoustic wave, KBM method

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Authors: Olga Plaza, Katarzyna Kosinska-Kaczynska, Stepan Feduniw, Dominika Pazdzior, Kinga Zebrowska, Katarzyna Kwiatkowska

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Introduction: The main causes of depression among pregnant women remain unclear. However, it is clear that pregnancy carries a higher risk of depression occurrence. Left untreated, prenatal depression can be a cause of serious both maternal and neonatal complications. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to define potential risk factors of prenatal depression and to assess the frequency of its occurrence among pregnant women. Material and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed among 346 women. The self- composed questionnaire consisting of 46 questions, was distributed via the Internet between November 2017 and March 2018. The questionnaire contained the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), in which the results of 13 and more points (out of 30) suggested possible prenatal depression. Statistical analysis was performed with Chi2 Pearson. P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: 37.57% (n=130) of women had a score of 13 or more points. Women with depressive symptoms (DS) reported lack of support from the partner (46.9% vs. 16.2%; p < 0.001) as well as other family members (40.8% vs. 14.4%; p < 0.001), current pregnancy being unplanned (21.5% vs. 12.5%; p=0.014) and low socio-economic status (10% vs. 0.9%; p < 0.001). Both early and advanced maternal age seemed to play a role in occurrence of DS: in women aged 17-24 40.8% declared symptoms (vs 28.7%; p < 0.01), in mothers aged ≥37 6.2% did (vs 0.5%; p < 0.001). Smoking during pregnancy was also more frequent among patients with DS (31.5% vs. 18.1%; p=0.004). Previous diagnosis of depression or other mood disorders significantly increased a chance of DS occurrence (respectively- 17.7% vs. 4.6%; p < 0.001 and 49.2% vs. 25%; p<0.001). Parental diagnosis of mood disorders and other mental disorders was also more frequent in this group of patients (respectively- 24.6% vs. 15.7%; p= 0.026 and 26.4% vs. 9.7%; p < 0.001). Only 23.8% of women with DS sought help from healthcare professionals, with 21.5% receiving pharmacological treatment. Conclusions: Pregnant women often report having DS. Evaluation of risk factors of DS and possible prenatal depression is essential in proper screening for depression among pregnant women.

Keywords: obstetrics, polish women, prenatal care, prenatal depression, risk factors

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Authors: Chahla Rahal, Philippe Refait

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Oleuropein-rich extract from olive leaf and acid hydrolysates, rich in hydroxytyrosol and elenolic acid was prepared under different experimental conditions. These phenolic compounds may be used as a corrosion inhibitor. The inhibitive action of these extracts and its major constituents on the corrosion of copper in 0.5 M NaCl solution has been evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and weight loss measurements. The product of extraction was analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), whose analysis shows that olive leaf extract are greatly rich in phenolic compounds, mainly Oleuropeine (OLE), Hydroxytyrosol (HT) and elenolic acid (EA). After the acid hydrolysis and high temperature of extraction, an increase in hydroxytyrosol concentration was detected, coupled with relatively low oleuropeine content and high concentration of elenolic acid. The potentiodynamic measurements have shown that this extract acts as a mixed-type corrosion inhibitor, and good inhibition efficiency is observed with the increase in HT and EA concentration. These results suggest that the inhibitive effect of olive leaf extract might be due to the adsorption of the various phenolic compounds onto the copper surface.

Keywords: olive leaf extract, oleuropein, voltammetry, copper, corrosion, HPLC, EIS

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Authors: Jaffry Zakaria, Nor Azlina Hasbullah

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The research on water quality based on 'Water Quality Index' (WQI) has been on the run along Kampar River in Perak State of Malaysia. This study was conducted to achieve several key objective that determe the value of the parameters that were studied based on Water Quality Index (WQI). The parameters include Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Suspended Solids. In this study, three sampling stations were selected. Through observations from the researchers, several pollutions were found occurring along the research area such as the disposal of waste water directly without treatment from villagers, widespread dumping of solid waste and the development of the surrounding areas that contributed to the pollution of Sungai Kampar in Perak, Malaysia. Sungai Kampar is commonly used for water recreational activities as well as for bathing purposes. Results showed that Sungai Kampar is classified under category III. According to Interim National Water Quality Standard for Malaysia (INWQS), rivers in the third grade are clean but not suitable for river recreational activities. Therefore, there is a requirement to investigate and analysis the water quality of all white water rivers in Malaysia focusing on the area of water activities. The combination of technology and risk management based on risk assessments can help the recreational industry to survive in future.

Keywords: risk assessments, White Water River, water quality index (WQI), Interim National Water Quality Standard for Malaysia (INWQS)

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Authors: Vladimir Messerle, Alfred Mosse, Alexandr Ustimenko, Oleg Lavrichshev

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Hygiene and sanitary study of typical medical-biological waste made in Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and other countries show that their risk to the environment is much higher than that of most chemical wastes. For example, toxicity of solid waste (SW) containing cytotoxic drugs and antibiotics is comparable to toxicity of radioactive waste of high and medium level activity. This report presents the results of the thermodynamic analysis of thermal processing of SW and experiments at the developed plasma unit for SW processing. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the maximum yield of the synthesis gas at plasma gasification of SW in air and steam mediums is achieved at a temperature of 1600K. At the air plasma gasification of SW high-calorific synthesis gas with a concentration of 82.4% (СO – 31.7%, H2 – 50.7%) can be obtained, and at the steam plasma gasification – with a concentration of 94.5% (СO – 33.6%, H2 – 60.9%). Specific heat of combustion of the synthesis gas produced by air gasification amounts to 14267 kJ/kg, while by steam gasification - 19414 kJ/kg. At the optimal temperature (1600 K), the specific power consumption for air gasification of SW constitutes 1.92 kWh/kg, while for steam gasification - 2.44 kWh/kg. Experimental study was carried out in a plasma reactor. This is device of periodic action. The arc plasma torch of 70 kW electric power is used for SW processing. Consumption of SW was 30 kg/h. Flow of plasma-forming air was 12 kg/h. Under the influence of air plasma flame weight average temperature in the chamber reaches 1800 K. Gaseous products are taken out of the reactor into the flue gas cooling unit, and the condensed products accumulate in the slag formation zone. The cooled gaseous products enter the gas purification unit, after which via gas sampling system is supplied to the analyzer. Ventilation system provides a negative pressure in the reactor up to 10 mm of water column. Condensed products of SW processing are removed from the reactor after its stopping. By the results of experiments on SW plasma gasification the reactor operating conditions were determined, the exhaust gas analysis was performed and the residual carbon content in the slag was determined. Gas analysis showed the following composition of the gas at the exit of gas purification unit, (vol.%): СO – 26.5, H2 – 44.6, N2–28.9. The total concentration of the syngas was 71.1%, which agreed well with the thermodynamic calculations. The discrepancy between experiment and calculation by the yield of the target syngas did not exceed 16%. Specific power consumption for SW gasification in the plasma reactor according to the results of experiments amounted to 2.25 kWh/kg of working substance. No harmful impurities were found in both gas and condensed products of SW plasma gasification. Comparison of experimental results and calculations showed good agreement. Acknowledgement—This work was supported by Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Agreement on grant No. 14.607.21.0118, project RFMEF160715X0118).

Keywords: coal, efficiency, ignition, numerical modeling, plasma-fuel system, plasma generator

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Authors: Bingjie Wang, Su-Yeon Kwon, Ik-Joong Kang

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A Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) as the principle for enhancing Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed on rough metal surfaces or by nanostructures is used to detect the concentration change of γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA). As for the gold-chitosan nanoshell, it is made by using chitosan nanoparticles crosslinking with sodium tripolyphosphate(TPP) for the first step to form the chitosan nanoparticles, which would be covered with the gold sequentially. The size of the fabricated product was around 100nm. Based on the method that the sulfur end of the MPA linked to gold can form the very strong S–Au bond, and the carboxyl group, the other end of the MPA, can easily absorb the GABA. GABA is the mainly inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system in the human body. It plays such significant role in reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. When the system formed, it generated SERS, which made a clear difference in the intensity of Raman scattering within the range of GABA concentration. So it is obtained from the experiment that the calibration curve according to the GABA concentration relevant with the SERS scattering. In this study, DLS, SEM, FT-IR, UV, SERS were used to analyze the products to obtain the conclusion.

Keywords: chitosan-gold nanoshell, mercaptopropionic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, surface-enhanced Raman scattering

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Authors: Laatra Zemmouri, Said Boukhechem, Samia Haffaf, Mohamed Lafri

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A study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with abortion in ewes in the region of M’sila, located in central-eastern Algeria. A questionnaire was carried out to obtain information about the occurrence of abortion, sheep housing conditions, vaccination, feeding and management practices, and whether the farmers kept other livestock. This cross-sectional study was conducted for 36 months (between 2016 and 2019). A total of 71 sheep flocks were visited. Among 8168 ewes, we recorded 734 (8.99%) abortions and 3861 lambings. The risk factor analysis using multivariable logistic regression showed an association between abortion and vaccination against brucellosis (CI 95%= 2,76-1,35; p<0,001). Abortion decreased when dogs are owned (CI 95%= 0,36-0,84; p= 0.006), however, abortion increased with the presence of cats in farms (CI 95%= 1,24-2,8; p=0.003). There was a significant association between abortion and keeping goats (CI 95%= 1,18-2,40; p= 0.004), bovins (CI 95%= 0,3-0,68; p<0,001) and poultry CI 95%= 0,39-0,77; p= 0.001) in farms. Through this study, it is noticed that a strong association between the occurrence of abortion and estrus synchronization, stillbirth occurrence, and feed supplementation (p<0.05). Identification of the causes of abortion is an important task to reduce foetal losses and to improve livestock productivity.

Keywords: abortion, ewes, questionnaire, risk factors

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Authors: Tayyab Hassan, Talha Rehman, Qasim Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Salman

Abstract:

The constant monitoring of blood glucose level is necessary for maintaining health of patients and to alert medical specialists to take preemptive measures before the onset of any complication as a result of diabetes. The current clinical monitoring of blood glucose uses invasive methods repeatedly which are uncomfortable and may result in infections in diabetic patients. Several attempts have been made to develop non-invasive techniques for blood glucose measurement. In this regard, the existing methods are not reliable and are less accurate. Other approaches claiming high accuracy have not been tested on extended dataset, and thus, results are not statistically significant. It is a well-known fact that acetone concentration in breath has a direct relation with blood glucose level. In this paper, we have developed the first of its kind, reliable and high accuracy breath analyzer for non-invasive blood glucose measurement. The acetone concentration in breath was measured using MQ 138 sensor in the samples collected from local hospitals in Pakistan involving one hundred patients. The blood glucose levels of these patients are determined using conventional invasive clinical method. We propose a linear regression classifier that is trained to map breath acetone level to the collected blood glucose level achieving high accuracy.

Keywords: blood glucose level, breath acetone concentration, diabetes, linear regression

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Authors: Nathaporn Areerachakul

Abstract:

In this study, the adsorption capacity of GAC with metsulfuron methyl was evaluated by using adsorption equilibrium and a fixed bed. Mathematical modelling was also used to simulate the GAC adsorption behavior. Adsorption equilibrium experiment of GAC was conducted using a constant concentration of metsulfuron methyl of 10 mg/L. The purpose of this study was to find the single component equilibrium concentration of herbicide. The adsorption behavior was simulated using the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips isotherm. The Sips isotherm fitted the experimental data reasonably well with an error of 6.6 % compared with 15.72 % and 7.07% for the Langmuir isotherm and Freudrich isotherm. Modelling using GAC adsorption theory could not replicate the experimental results in fixed bed column of 10 and 15 cm bed depths after a period more than 10 days of operation. This phenomenon is attributed to the formation of micro-organism (BAC) on the surface of GAC in addition to GAC alone.

Keywords: isotherm, adsorption equilibrium, GAC, metsulfuron methyl

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Authors: Fawad Ali

Abstract:

Toxic heavy metal contamination has a negative impact on soil quality which ultimately pollutes the agriculture system. In the current work, we analyzed uptake of various heavy metals by dietary vegetables grown in wastewater irrigated areas of Swabi city. The samples of soil and vegetables were analyzed for heavy metals viz Cd, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. High levels of metals were found in wastewater irrigated soil and vegetables in the study area. Especially the concentrations of Pb and Cd in the dietary vegetable crossed the permissible level of World Health Organization. Substantial positive correlation was found among the soil and vegetable contamination. Transfer factor for some metals including Cr, Zn, Mn, Ni, Cd and Cu was greater than 0.5 which shows enhanced accumulation of these metals due to contamination by domestic discharges and industrial effluents. Linear regression analysis indicated significant correlation of heavy metals viz Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni, Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn in vegetables with concentration in soil of 0.964 at P≤0.001. Abelmoschus esculentus indicated Health Risk Index (HRI) of Pb >1 in adults and children. The source identification analysis carried out by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) showed that ground water and soil were being polluted by the trace metals coming out from industries and domestic wastes. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) divided metals into two clusters for wastewater and soil but into five clusters for soil of control area. PCA extracted two factors for wastewater, each contributing 61.086 % and 16.229 % of the total 77.315 % variance. PCA extracted two factors, for soil samples, having total variance of 79.912 % factor 1 and factor 2 contributed 63.889 % and 16.023 % of the total variance. PCA for sub soil extracted two factors with a total variance of 76.136 % factor 1 being 61.768 % and factor 2 being 14.368 %of the total variance. High pollution load index for vegetables in the study area due to metal polluted soil has opened a study area for proper legislation to protect further contamination of vegetables. This work would further reveal serious health risks to human population of the study area.

Keywords: health risk, vegetables, wastewater, atomic absorption sepctrophotometer

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Authors: Mustafa Öztas, Metin Bedir, Yahya Özdemir

Abstract:

Boron doped of In2O3 films were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique at 350 °C substrate temperature, which is a low cost and large area technique to be well-suited for the manufacture of solar cells, using boric acid (H3BO3) as dopant source, and their properties were investigated as a function of doping concentration. X-ray analysis showed that the films were polycrystalline fitting well with a hexagonal structure and have preferred orientation in (220) direction. The changes observed in the energy band gap and structural properties of the films related to the boric acid concentration are discussed in detail.

Keywords: spray pyrolysis, In2O3, boron, optical properties, boric acid

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Authors: Nasreen Jeelani, Huining Shi , Di An, Lu Xia, Shuqing An

Abstract:

Heavy metals contamination in aquatic ecosystem is a major environmental problem since its accumulation along the food chain pose public health risk. The concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in soil and plants species collected from different streams of Suoxu River, China was investigated. This aim was to define the level of pollutants in Suoxu River, find which plant species exhibits the greatest accumulation and to evaluate whether these species could be useful for phytoremediation. While total soil Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations varied, respectively, from 0.09 to 0.23 , 58.6 to 98, 9.72 to 80.5, 15.3 to 41, 15.2 to 27.3 and 35 to 156 (mg-kg-1), those in plants ranged from 0.035 to 0.49, 2.91 to 75.6, 4.79 to 32.4, 1.27 to 16.1, 0.62 to10.2, 18.9 to 84.6 (mg-kg-1), respectively. Based on BCFs and TFs values, most of the studied species have potential for phytostabilization. The plants with most effective in the accumulation of metals in shoots are Phragmatis australis (TF=2.29) and Iris tectorum (TF =2.07) for Pb. While Chenopodium album, (BCF =3.55), Ranunculus sceleratus, (BCF= 3.0), Polygonum hydropiper (BCF =2.46) for Cd and Iris tectorum (BCF=2.0) for Cu was suitable for phytostabilization. Among the plant species screened for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, most of the species were efficient to take up more than one heavy metal in roots. Our study showed that the native plant species growing on contaminated sites may have the potential uses for phytoremediation.

Keywords: heavy metals, huaihe river catchments, sediment, plants

Procedia PDF Downloads 359