Search results for: power quality improvement

Authors: Isabel Moscol, Carlos J. Díaz, Ciro Rodríguez

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Hip replacement becomes necessary when a person suffers severe pain or considerable functional limitations and the best option to enhance their quality of life is through the replacement of the damaged joint. One of the main components in femoral prostheses is the stem which distributes the loads from the joint to the proximal femur. To preserve more bone stock and avoid weakening of the diaphysis, a short starting stem was selected, generated from the intramedullary morphology of the patient's femur. It ensures the implantability of the design and leads to geometric delimitation for personalized optimization with machine learning (ML) and metaheuristic algorithms. The present study attempts to design a cementless short stem to make the strain deviation before and after implantation close to zero, promoting its fixation and durability. Regression models developed to estimate the percentage change of maximum principal stresses were used as objective optimization functions by the metaheuristic algorithm. The latter evaluated different geometries of the short stem with the modification of certain parameters in oblique sections from the osteotomy plane. The optimized geometry reached a global stress shielding (SS) of 18.37% with a determination factor (R²) of 0.667. The predicted results favour implantability integration in the short stem optimization to effectively reduce SS in the proximal femur.

Keywords: machine learning techniques, metaheuristic algorithms, short-stem design, stress shielding, hip replacement

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Authors: S. Sehar, S. Khan, N. Ali, S. Ahmed

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In the last decade, the hunt for cost-effective, eco-friendly and energy sustainable technologies for waste water treatment are gaining much attention due to emerging water crisis and rapidly depleting existing water reservoirs all over the world. In this scenario, constructed wetland being a “green technology” could be a reliable mean for waste water treatment especially in small communities due to cost-effectiveness, ease in management, less energy consumption and sludge production. Therefore, a low cost, lab-scale sub-surface flow hybrid constructed wetland (SS-HCW) was established for domestic waste water treatment.It was observed that not only the presence but also choice of suitable vegetation along with hydraulic retention time (HRT) are key intervening ingredients which directly influence pollutant removals in constructed wetlands. Another important aspect of vegetation is that it may facilitate microbial attachment in rhizosphere, thus promote biofilm formation via microbial interactions. The major factors that influence initial aggregation and subsequent biofilm formation i.e. divalent cations (Ca2+) and extra cellular DNA (eDNA) were also studied in detail. The presence of Ca2+ in constructed wetland demonstrate superior performances in terms of effluent quality, i.e BOD5, COD, TDS, TSS, and PO4- than in absence of Ca2+. Finally, light and scanning electron microscopies coupled with EDS were carried out to get more insights into the mechanics of biofilm formation with or without Ca addition. Therefore, the same strategy can be implemented in other waste water treatment technologies.

Keywords: hybrid constructed wetland, biofilm formation, waste water treatment, waste water

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Authors: Hanlin Liu, Hua Li, Yintan AI

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Network performance prediction (NPP) is essential for the management and optimization of software-defined networking (SDN) and contributes to improving the quality of service (QoS) in SDN to meet the requirements of users. Although current deep learning-based methods can achieve high effectiveness, they still suffer from some problems, such as difficulty in capturing global information of the network, inefficiency in modeling end-to-end network performance, and inadequate graph feature extraction. To cope with these issues, our proposed Graphormer-based architecture for NPP leverages the powerful graph representation ability of Graphormer to effectively model the graph structure data, and a node-edge transformation algorithm is designed to transfer the feature extraction object from nodes to edges, thereby effectively extracting the end-to-end performance characteristics of the network. Moreover, routing oriented centrality measure coefficient for nodes and edges is proposed respectively to assess their importance and influence within the graph. Based on this coefficient, an enhanced feature extraction method and an advanced centrality encoding strategy are derived to fully extract the structural information of the graph. Experimental results on three public datasets demonstrate that the proposed GraphNPP architecture can achieve state-of-the-art results compared to current NPP methods.

Keywords: software-defined networking, network performance prediction, Graphormer, graph neural network

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Authors: Nasir Sulman

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In Pakistan, the inclusion of persons with disabilities in higher education institutions has significantly been increased with every passing year and anyone can observe a sizeable number of these students in each faculty. The study executes to conduct a baseline survey for measuring faculty understanding about the special needs, experiences of students with disabilities and support provided by university administration in order to teach these students effectively. The researcher has used mixed methods and the University of Karachi was selected through non-probability-based sampling method. This university is one of the largest universities in Pakistan where more than 40,000 students have been enrolled. Data was gathered through a questionnaire and focused group discussion from three stakeholders including students with disabilities, faculty members and members of the university administration. The key findings show that students with disabilities experience a number of problems related to accommodating their special needs. However, the most encouraging factors identified are the attitude, support, and motivation they received from various faculty members and university administration. On the basis of the findings of the study the researcher has prepared a faculty guidebook and established a ‘Model Learning Assistance Centre for Students with Disabilities’ in the Department of Special Education, University of Karachi. Both these efforts will be helpful for improving the support services for students with disabilities to strengthen the existing laws, policies, and practices in institutions of higher education.

Keywords: persons with disabilities, higher education, learning assistance center, faculty guidebook

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Authors: Mohd Kamil Vakil

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Air Pollution is caused by the introduction of chemicals in the biosphere. Primary pollutants on reaction with the components of the earth produce Secondary Pollutants like Smog. Ozone is the main ingredient of Smog. The ground level ozone is created by the chemical reactions between Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the presence of Sunlight. This ozone can enter inside and call as indoor ozone. The automobile emissions in both moving and idling conditions contribute to the indoor ozone formation. During engine ignition and shutdown, motor vehicles emit the ozone forming pollutants like NOx and VOCs, and the phenomena are called Cold Start and Hot-Soak respectively. Subjects like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma associated with chronic respiratory diseases are susceptible to the harmful effects of Indoor Ozone. The most common cause of COPD other than smoking is the long-term contract with harmful pollutants like ground-level ozone. It is estimated by WHO that COPD will become the third leading cause of all deaths worldwide by 2030. In this paper, the cold-start and hot-soak vehicle emissions are studied in the context of accumulation of oxides of nitrogen at the outer walls of the building which may cause COPD. The titanium oxide coated building material is further discussed as an absorber of NOx when applied to the walls and roof.

Keywords: indoor air quality, cold start emission, hot-soak, ozone

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Authors: Raed Kouta

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A fuel cell is a multi-physical system. Its electrical performance depends on chemical, electrochemical, fluid, and mechanical parameters. Many studies focus on physical and chemical aspects. Our study contributes to the evaluation of the influence of mechanical aspects on the performance of a fuel cell. This study is carried out as part of a reliability approach. Reliability modeling allows to consider the uncertainties of the incoming parameters and the probabilistic modeling of the outgoing parameters. The fuel cell studied is the one often used in land, sea, or air transport. This is the Low-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). This battery can provide the required power level. One of the main scientific and technical challenges in mastering the design and production of a fuel cell is to know its behavior in its actual operating environment. The study proposes to highlight the influence on the production of electrical energy: Mechanical design and manufacturing parameters and their uncertainties (Young module, GDL porosity, permeability, etc.). The influence of the geometry of the bipolar plates is also considered. An experimental design is proposed with two types of materials as well as three geometric shapes for three joining pressures. Other experimental designs are also proposed for studying the influence of uncertainties of mechanical parameters on cell performance. - Mechanical (static, dynamic) and thermal (tightening - compression, vibrations (road rolling and tests on vibration-climatic bench, etc.) loads. This study is also carried out according to an experimental scheme on a fuel cell system for vibration loads recorded on a vehicle test track with three temperatures and three expected performance levels. The work will improve the coupling between mechanical, physical, and chemical phenomena.

Keywords: fuel cell, mechanic, reliability, uncertainties

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Bruno Tassin, Robin Treilles, Cleo Stratmann, Minh Trang Nguyen, Sam Azimi, Vincent Rocher, Rachid Dris, Johnny Gasperi

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Microplastics (<5mm) in the environment and in hydro systems is one of the major present environmental issues. Over the last five years a research programme was conducted in order to assess the behavior of microplastics in the Seine river catchment, in a Man-Land-Sea continuum approach. Results show that microplastic concentration varies at the seasonal scale, but also at much smaller scales, during flood events and with tides in the estuary for instance. Moreover, microplastic sampling and characterization issues emerged throughout this work. The Seine river is a 750km long river flowing in Northwestern France. It crosses the Paris megacity (12 millions inhabitants) and reaches the English Channel after a 170 km long estuary. This site is a very relevant one to assess the effect of anthropogenic pollution as the mean river flow is low (mean flow around 350m³/s) while the human presence and activities are very intense. Monthly monitoring of the microplastic concentration took place over a 19-month period and showed significant temporal variations at all sampling stations but no significant upstream-downstream increase, indicating a possible major sink to the sediment. At the scale of a major flood event (winter and spring 2018), microplastic concentration shows an evolution similar to the well-known suspended solids concentration, with an increase during the increase of the flow and a decrease during the decrease of the flow. Assessing the position of the concentration peak in relation to the flow peak was unfortunately impossible. In the estuary, concentrations vary with time in connection with tides movements and in the water column in relation to the salinity and the turbidity. Although major gains of knowledge on the microplastic dynamics in the Seine river have been obtained over the last years, major gaps remain to deal mostly with the interaction with the dynamics of the suspended solids, the selling processes in the water column and the resuspension by navigation or shear stress increase. Moreover, the development of efficient chemical characterization techniques during the 5 year period of this pluriannual research programme led to the improvement of the sampling techniques in order to access smaller microplastics (>10µm) as well as larger but rare ones (>500µm).

Keywords: microplastics, Paris megacity, seine river, suspended solids

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Authors: Raghad Alhusari, Farag Omar, Moustafa Fadel

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A traditional greenhouse is a metal frame agricultural building used for cultivation plants in a controlled environment isolated from external climatic changes. Using greenhouses in agriculture is an efficient way to reduce the water consumption, where agriculture field is considered the biggest water consumer world widely. Controlling greenhouse environment yields better productivity of plants but demands an increase of electric power. Although various control approaches have been used towards greenhouse automation, most of them are applied to traditional greenhouses with ventilation fans and/or evaporation cooling system. Such approaches are still demanding high energy and water consumption. The aim of this research is to develop a fuzzy control system that minimizes water and energy consumption by utilizing outside weather conditions and underground heat exchanger to maintain the optimum climate of the greenhouse. The proposed control system is implemented on an experimental model of thermally isolated greenhouse structure with dimensions of 6x5x2.8 meters. It uses fans for extracting heat from the ground heat exchanger system, motors for automatic open/close of the greenhouse windows and LED as lighting system. The controller is integrated also with environmental condition sensors. It was found that using the air-to-air horizontal ground heat exchanger with 90 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness placed 2.5 m below the ground surface results in decreasing the greenhouse temperature of 3.28 ˚C which saves around 3 kW of consumed energy. It also eliminated the water consumption needed in evaporation cooling systems which are traditionally used for cooling the greenhouse environment.

Keywords: automation, earth-to-air heat exchangers, fuzzy control, greenhouse, sustainable buildings

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Authors: Minnie Y. Teng, Kathy Xie, Jarus Tal

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Rationale: The traditional approach to community programs for children with mental and/or developmental challenges often involves segregation from typically-developing peers. However, studies show that inclusive education improves children’s quality of life, self-concept, and long term health outcomes. Investigating factors that influence inclusion can thus have important implications in the design and facilitation of community programs such that all children - across a spectrum of needs and abilities - may benefit. Objectives: This study explores barriers and facilitators to inclusive community programming for children aged 0 to 12 with developmental/mental challenges. Methods: Using a participatory-action research methodology, semi-structured focus groups and interviews will be used to explore perspectives of sighted students, instructors, and staff. Data will be transcribed and coded thematically. Practice Implications or Results: By having a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators to inclusive programming in the community, researchers can work with the broader community to facilitate inclusion in children’s community programs. Conclusions: Expanding inclusive practices may improve the health and wellbeing of the pediatric populations with disabilities, which consistently reports lower levels of participation. These findings may help to identify gaps in existing practices and ways to approach them.

Keywords: aquatic programs, children, disabilities, inclusion, community programs

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Authors: Zh. Saffari, A. Naeimi, M. S. Ekrami-Kakhki, F. Hamidi

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Fe3O4 is one of the important magnetic oxides with spinel structure; it has exhibited unique electric and magnetic properties based on the electron transfer between Fe2+ and Fe3+ in the octahedral sites. Fe3O4 has received considerable attention in various areas such as cancer therapy, drug targeting, enzyme immobilization catalysis, magnetic cell separation, magnetic refrigeration systems and super-paramagnetic materials Fe3O4–TiO2 nanostructures were synthesized by simple, effective and new co-precipitation method assisted by ultrasonic reaction at room temperatures with organic surfactant. The effect of various parameters such as temperature, time, and power on the size and morphology of the product was investigated. Alternating gradient force magnetometer shows that Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibit super-paramagnetic behaviour at room temperature. For preparation of nanocomposite, 1 g of TiO2 nanostructures were dispersed in 100 mL of ethanol. 0.25 g of Fe(NO3)2 and 2 mL of octanoic acid was added to the solution as a surfactant. Then, NaOH solution (1.5 M) was slowly added into the solution until the pH of the mixture was 7–8. After complete precipitation, the solution placed under the ultrasonic irradiation for 30 min. The product was centrifuged, washed with distilled water and dried in an oven at 100 °C for 3 h. The resulting red powder was calcinated at 800 °C for 3 h to remove any organic residue. The photocatalytic behaviour of Fe3O4–TiO2 nanoparticles was evaluated using the degradation of a Methyl Violet (MV) aqueous solution under ultraviolet light irradiation. As time increased, more and more MV was adsorbed on the nanoparticles catalyst, until the absorption peak vanish. The MV concentration decreased rapidly with increasing UV-irradiation time

Keywords: magnetic, methyl violet, nanocomposite, photocatalytic

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Authors: Rose Lastovicka, Bernard Guy, Diana Burton

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Greek myth and art acted as tools to think with, and a lens through which to explore complex topics as a form of social media. In particular, coins were a form of propaganda to communicate the wealth and power of the city-states they originated from as they circulated from person to person. From this, how can the application of 3D printing technologies explore the infusion of ancient forms with contemporary commentaries to promote discussion? The digital reconstruction of artifacts is a topic that has been researched by various groups all over the globe. Yet, the exploration of Greek myth through artifacts infused with contemporary issues is currently unexplored in this medium. Using the Stratasys J750 3D printer - a multi-material, full-colour 3D printer - a series of coins inspired by ancient Greek currency and myth was created to present commentaries on the adversities surrounding individuals in the LGBT+ community. Using the J750 as the medium for expression allows for complete control and precision of the models to create complex high-resolution iconography. The coins are printed with a hard, translucent material with coloured 3D visuals embedded into the coin to then be viewed in close contact by the audience. These coins as commentaries present an avenue for wider understanding by drawing perspectives not only from sources concerned with the contemporary LGBT+ community but also from sources exploring ancient homosexuality and the perception and regulation of it in antiquity. By displaying what are usually points of contention between anti- and pro-LGBT+ parties, this visual medium opens up a discussion to both parties, suggesting heritage can play a vital interpretative role in the contemporary world.

Keywords: 3D printing, design, Greek mythology, LGBT+ community

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Authors: Madhumita Roy

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Kolkata, the city of joy, is an organic city with 45 lakhs of people till date. The increasing population stress is creating a constant pressure on the ground surface which in turn reducing the possible area for plantation. Humans, plants, and birds have a mutualistic relationship, and all are dependent on each other for their survival. Vegetation structure is very important for a bird life because it can be used as a residence, foraging, life cycle, and shelter from predators. On the other hand, in urban areas, buildings and structures also plays a major role for birds habitat w.r.t, nesting, resting, etc. City birds are constantly upgrading their adaptative mechanism with changing urban pattern with modern architectural designs. Urbanisation and unplanned development lead to environmental degradation and bird habitat fragmentation, which have impacts on the degradation of the quality and quantity of bird habitat. Declining green cover and habitat loss affects the diversity and population structure of birds. Their reducing number is an increasing threat not only to the bird community but also to the city as birds are considered as one of the most important environmental indicator. This study aims to check the present avian status like species richness, relative abundance, and diversity of bird species in the context of changing urban pattern in Kolkata city. Nesting strategy in the urban habitat of the avian community is another avenue of interest.

Keywords: urbanisation, avian species, kolkata metropolis, planning

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Authors: Prapin Nuchpiam

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The importance of social innovation has become increasingly significant as the process of developing effective solutions to social problems and being a force of change for people’s better quality of life. In order to promote social innovation, active collaboration between government, business organizations, and the civil society sector is needed. A proper legal framework also plays an important role in building the social innovation ecosystem. Currently, there is no specific law designed for social innovation or a so-called “social innovation law”. One of the legal frameworks for social innovation is the development of hybrid legal forms for social enterprises such as the UK’s Community Interest Company (CIC), the US’s Low-Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C) and the US’s Benefit Corporation (B-Corp), among others. This is because social enterprise is recognized as an organizational form of social innovation with its aim for social benefit goals and the achievement of financial sustainability. Nonetheless, there has been a debate over the differences and similarities between social innovation and social enterprise. Thus, social enterprise law might not fit well with social innovation, resulting in a search for a legal framework specially designed for social innovation. This paper aims to study the interrelationship between social innovation, social enterprise, and the role of law to see whether we need a specific law for social innovation. If so, what should such a legal framework look like? The paper will provide a critical analysis of innovative legal forms for social enterprise as a type of social innovation law. A proper legal framework for social innovation could help promote the sector, which could result in finding new solutions to social problems. It will also bring about a greater common understanding of the exciting development of legal scholarship in this way, which will, in turn, serve as a productive basis or direction for further research on this increasingly important topic.

Keywords: social innovation, social enterprise, legal framework, regulation

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Authors: Hakan Duger, Alparslan Ersoy, Canan Ersoy

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The improvement of surgical techniques in recent years has reduced the frequency of postoperative complications in kidney transplant recipients. Novel immunosuppressive agents have reduced rates of graft loss due to acute rejection to less than 1%. However, surgical complications may still lead graft loss and morbidity in recipients. Because of potent immunosuppression, impaired wound healing and complications are frequent after transplantation. We compared the frequency of post-operative surgical complications in diabetic and non-diabetic patients after kidney transplantation. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study conducted in consecutive patients (213 females, 285 males, median age 39 years) who underwent kidney transplant surgery at our center between December 2005 and October 2015. The patients were divided into two groups: diabetics (46 ± 10 year, 26 males, 16 females) and non-diabetics (39 ± 12 year, 259 males, 197 females). Characteristics of both groups were obtained from medical records. Results: We performed 225 living and 273 deceased donor transplantations. Renal replacement type was hemodialysis in 60.8%, peritoneal dialysis in 17.3% and preemptive in 12%. The mean body mass indexes of the recipients were 24 ± 4.6 kg/m², donor age was 48.6 ± 14.3 years, cold ischemic time was 11.3 ± 6.1 hours, surgery time was 4.9 ± 1.2 hours, and recovery time was 54±31 min. The mean hospitalization duration was 19.1 ± 13.5 days. The frequency of postoperative surgical complications was 43.8%. There was no significant difference between the ratios of post-operative surgical complications in non-diabetic (43.5%) and diabetic (47.4%) groups (p=0.648). Post-operative surgical complications were lymphocele (24.6% vs. 23.7%), delayed wound healing (13.2% vs. 7.6%), hematoma (7.8% vs.15.8 %), urinary leak (4.6% vs. 5.3%), hemorrhage (5.1% vs. 0%), hydronephrosis (2.2% vs. 0%), renal artery thrombosis (1.5% vs. 0%), renal vein thrombosis (1% vs. 2.6%), urinoma (0.7% vs. 0%), urinary obstruction (0.5% vs. 0%), ureteral stenosis (0.5% vs. 0%) and ureteral reflux (0.2% vs. 0%) in non-diabetic and diabetic groups, respectively (p > 0.05). Mean serum creatinine levels in non-diabetics and diabetics were 1.43 ± 0.81 and 1.61 ± 0.96 mg/dL at 1st month (p=0.198). At the 6th month, the mean graft and patient survival times in patients with post-operative surgical complications were significantly lower than in those who did not (162.9 ± 3.4 vs. 175.6 ± 1.5 days, p=0.008, and 171 ± 2.9 vs. 176.1 ± 1.6 days, p=0.047, respectively). However, patient survival durations of non-diabetic (173 ± 27) and diabetic (177 ± 13 day) groups were comparable (p=0.396). Conclusion: As a result, we concluded that surgical complications such as lymphocele and delayed wound healing were common and that frequency of these complications in diabetic recipients did not differ from non-diabetic one. All persons involved in the postoperative care of kidney transplant recipients be aware of the potential surgical complications for rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: kidney transplantation, diabetes mellitus, surgery, complication

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Authors: H. Fraga, J. A. Santos

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Vitiviniculture in Portugal is a key socio-economic sector, with a strong connection to local traditions and culture. Despite being a relatively small country, with prevailing Mediterranean environments, Portugal comprises an exceptionally large diversity of growth conditions (Terroirs). The vineyard area in Portugal is over 190 thousand hectares, being the eleventh wine producer and ninth wine exporter worldwide. Owing to the strong impact of weather and climate conditions on grapevine physiological development, grape berry quantity and quality show important inter-annual variability. Grapevines are also susceptible to climate change, as their responses will be unavoidably different under future climates. These impacts may change wine typicity of a given region or even its viticultural suitability. The current study reveals that the projected warming and drying trends for Portugal under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5, are projected to 1) significantly shift current grapevine growing thermal conditions (e.g., heat and chill accumulation), 2) enhance water stress, 3) anticipate phenological timings and 4) modify yields. Moreover, the present study provides some hints regarding the effectiveness of mulching and irrigation as climate change adaptation measures. Our results show that the effectiveness of these adaptation measures will strongly rest on the strength of the climate change signal at a local scale, thus emphasizing the need for local-to-regional climate change assessments.

Keywords: viticulture, climate change, adaptation measures, Portugal

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Authors: Kuate Tueguem William Norbert, Ngoh Dooh Jules Patrice, Kone Sangou Abdou Nourou, Mboussi Serge Bertrand, Chewachang Godwill Mih, Essome Sale Charles, Djuissi Tohoto Doriane, Ambang Zachee

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The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of foliar application of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) on the development of rice helminthosporiosis caused by Bipolaris oryzae and its influence on the improvement of growth parameters and induction of the synthesis of defense substances in the rice plants. The experimental asset up involved a multifactorial split-plot with two varieties (NERICA 3 and local variety KAMKOU) and five treatments (T0: control, T1: EBR, T2: BANKO PLUS (fungicide), T3: NPK (chemical fertilizer), T4: mixture: NPK + BANKO PLUS + EBR) with three repetitions. Agro-morphological and epidemiological parameters, as well as substances for plant resistance, were evaluated over two growing seasons. The application of the EBR induced significant growth of the rice plants for the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons on the two varieties tested compared to the T0 treatment. At 74 days after sowing (DAS), NERICA 3 showed plant heights of 58.9 ± 5.4; 83.1 ± 10.4; 86.01 ± 9.4; 69.4 ± 11.1 and 87.12 ± 7.4 cm at T0; T1; T2; T3, and T4, respectively. Plant height for the variety KAMKOU varied from 87,12 ± 8,1; 88.1 ± 8.1 and 92.02 ± 6.3 cm in T1, T2, and T3 to 74.1 ± 8.6 and 74.21 ± 11.4 cm in T0 and T3. In accordance with the low rate of expansion of helminthosporiosis in experimental plots, EBR (T1) significantly reduced the development of the disease with severities of 0.0; 1.29, and 2.04%, respectively at 78; 92, and 111 DAS on the variety NERICA 3 compared with1; 3.15 and 3.79% in the control T0. The reduction of disease development/severity as a result of the application of EBR is due to the induction of acquired resistance of rice varieties through increased phenol (13.73 eqAG/mg/PMF) and total protein (117.89 eqBSA/mg/PMF) in the T1 treatment against 5.37 eqAG/mg/PMF and 104.97 eqBSA/mg/PMF in T0 for the NERICA 3 variety. Similarly, on the KAMKOU variety, 148.53 eqBSA/mg/PMF were protein and 6.10 eqAG/mg/PMF of phenol in T1. In summary, the results show the significant effect of EBR on plant growth, yield, synthesis of secondary metabolites and defense proteins, and disease resistance. The EBR significantly reduced losses of rice grains by causing an average gain of about 1.55 t/ha compared to the control and 1.00 t/ha compared to the NPK-based treatment for the two varieties studied. Further, the enzymatic activities of PPOs, POXs, and PR2s were higher in leaves from treated EBR-based plants. These results show that 24-epibrassinolide can be used in the control of helminthosporiosis of rice to reduce disease and increase yields.

Keywords: Oryza sativa, 24-epibrassinolide, helminthosporiosis, secondary metabolites, PR proteins, acquired resistance

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Authors: Rifqi Irvansyah, Abdullah Abdullah, Yunita Idris, Bunga Raihanda

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Banda Aceh is particularly susceptible to heightened vulnerability during natural disasters due to its concentrated exposure to multi-hazard risks. Despite urgent priorities during the aftermath of natural disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, several public facilities, including school buildings, sustained damage yet continued operations without adequate repairs, even though they were submerged by the tsunami. This research aims to evaluate the consequences of column damage induced by tsunami inundation on the structural integrity of buildings. The investigation employs interaction diagrams for columns to assess their capacity, taking into account factors such as rebar deterioration and corrosion. The analysis result shows that one-fourth of the K1 columns on the first floor fall outside of the column interaction diagram, indicating that the column structure cannot handle the load above it, as evidenced by the presence of Pu and Mu, which are greater than the column's design strength. This suggests that the five columns of K1 should be cause for concern, as the column's capacity is decreasing. These results indicate that the structure of the building cannot sustain the applied load because the column cross-section has deteriorated. In contrast, all K2 columns meet the design strength, indicating that the column structure can withstand the structural loads.

Keywords: tsunami inundation, column damage, column interaction diagram, mitigation effort

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Authors: R. Prinsloo

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Amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSC) have been shown to contribute towards the amelioration of Acute Renal Failure (ARF), but the mechanisms underlying the renoprotective effect are largely unknown. Therefore, the main goal of the current study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of AFSC in a cisplatin-induced rat model of ARF and to investigate the underlying mechanisms responsible for its renoprotective effect. To study the therapeutic efficacy of AFSC, ARF was induced in Wistar rats by an intra-peritoneal injection of cisplatin, and five days after administration, the rats were randomized into two groups and injected with either AFSC or normal saline intravenously. On day 8 and 12 after cisplatin injection, i.e., day 3 and day7 post-therapy respectively, the blood biochemical parameters, histopathological changes, apoptosis, and expression of pro-apoptotic, anti-apoptotic and autophagy-related proteins in renal tissues were studied in both groups of rats. Administration of AFSC in ARF rats resulted in improvement of renal function and attenuation of renal damage as reflected by significant decrease in blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine levels, tubular cell apoptosis as assessed by Bax/Bcl2 ratio, and expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins viz. PUMA, Bax, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 as compared to saline-treated group. Furthermore, in the AFSC-treated group as compared to saline-treated group, there was a significant increase in the activation of autophagy as evident by increased expression of LC3-II, ATG5, ATG7, Beclin1 and phospho-AMPK levels with a concomitant decrease in phospho-p70S6K and p62 expression levels. To further confirm whether the protective effects of AFSC on cisplatin-induced apoptosis were dependent on autophagy, chloroquine, an autophagy inhibitor was administered by the intra-peritoneal route. Chloroquine administration led to significant reduction in the anti-apoptotic effects of the AFSC therapy and further deterioration in the renal structure and function caused by cisplatin. Collectively, our results put forth that AFSC ameliorates cisplatin-induced ARF through induction of autophagy and inhibition of apoptosis. Furthermore, the protective effects of AFSC were blunted by chloroquine, highlighting that activation of autophagy is an important mechanism of action for the protective role of AFSC in cisplatin-induced renal injury.

Keywords: best interest of the child, children's rights, parent and child relationship, parental responsibilities and rights

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Authors: Lianxue Shi

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Riverside Street has the dual characteristics of street space and waterfront space, which is not only a vital place for residents to travel and communicate but also a high-frequency space for people's leisure and entertainment. However, under the development of cities and towns pursuing efficiency, riverfront streets appear to have a variety of problems, such as a lack of multifunctionality, insufficient facilities, and loss of characteristics, which fail to meet the needs of various groups of people, and their inclusiveness is facing a great challenge. It is, therefore, evident that the optimization of riverfront street space from an inclusivity perspective is important to the establishment of a human-centered, high-quality urban space. Therefore, this article starts by exploring the interactive relationship between inclusive design and street space. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of the riverfront street space and people's needs, it proposes the four inclusive design orientations of natural inclusion, group inclusion, spatial inclusion, and social inclusion. It then constructs a design framework for the inclusive optimization of riverfront street space, aiming to create streets that are “safe and accessible, diverse and shared, distinctive and friendly, green and sustainable.” Riverfront streets in Wansheng District, Chongqing, are selected as a practice case, and specific strategies are put forward in four aspects: the creation of an accessible slow-traffic system, the provision of diversified functional services, the reshaping of emotional bonds and the integration of ecological spaces.

Keywords: inclusiveness design, riverfront street, spatial optimization, street spaces

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Authors: Soyhan Egitim

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This case study aims to investigate leadership practices in diversity management in the liberal arts department of a Japanese university. In 2013, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) revealed their English education reform plan in response to rapid globalization. Based on the new reform plan, Japanese universities would expand their international faculty in order to promote globalization through an increased number of intercultural communication and content-based language classes in English. The study employed a two-phased qualitative approach to gain a deeper understanding of the management strategies employed in diversity management, and the leadership practices influenced those management strategies. In the first phase, a closed-ended qualitative survey was conducted with ten adjunct faculty members from the liberal arts department. The results indicate that syllabus design, grading scheme, textbook choices, and class management policies are strictly regulated by the tenured Japanese faculty. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were held with international faculty members to understand their personal experiences. Their responses revealed that top-down management approaches are counter-effective in the department’s efforts to promote diversity and thus, a new organizational culture needs to be nurtured to emphasize inclusion alongside diversity. In this regard, the study proposes collaborative leadership as an inclusive leadership practice to minimize power differences in the hierarchy and increase opportunities for inclusion in the rapidly diversifying workforce.

Keywords: collaborative leadership, diversity, inclusion, international faculty, top-down

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Authors: Gannouni Sonia, Hammami Asma, Saidi Salwa, Rebai Noamen

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Water resources in Tunisia have experienced quantitative and qualitative degradation, especially when talking about wetlands and Sbekhas. Indeed, the objective of this work is to study the spatio-temporal evolution of salinity for 29 years (from 1987 to 2016). A study of the connection between surface water and groundwater is necessary to know the degree of influence of the Sebkha brines on the water table. The evolution of surface salinity is determined by remote sensing based on Landsat TM and OLI/TIRS satellite images of the years 1987, 2007, 2010, and 2016. The processing of these images allowed us to determine the NDVI(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), the salinity index, and the surface temperature around Sebkha. In addition, through a geographic information system(GIS), we could establish a map of the distribution of salinity in the subsurface of the water table of Chott Mariem and Hergla/SidiBouAli/Kondar. The results of image processing and the calculation of the index and surface temperature show an increase in salinity downstream of in addition to the sebkha and the development of vegetation cover upstream and the western part of the sebkha. This richness may be due both to contamination by seawater infiltration from the barrier beach of Hergla as well as the passage of groundwater to the sebkha.

Keywords: spatio-temporal monitoring, salinity, satellite images, NDVI, sebkha

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Authors: Strahinja Kovačević, Lidija Jevrić, Miloš Kuzmanović, Sanja Podunavac-Kuzmanović

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In this paper, various derivatives of benzimidazole have been evaluated against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. For all investigated compounds the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) attempts to find consistent relationships between the variations in the values of molecular properties and the biological activity for a series of compounds so that these rules can be used to evaluate new chemical entities. The correlation between MIC and some absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) parameters was investigated, and the mathematical models for predicting the antibacterial activity of this class of compounds were developed. The quality of the multiple linear regression (MLR) models was validated by the leave-one-out (LOO) technique, as well as by the calculation of the statistical parameters for the developed models and the results are discussed on the basis of the statistical data. The results of this study indicate that ADME parameters have a significant effect on the antibacterial activity of this class of compounds. Principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithms (HCA) confirmed that the investigated molecules can be classified into groups on the basis of the ADME parameters: Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cell permeability (MDCK), Plasma protein binding (PPB%), human intestinal absorption (HIA%) and human colon carcinoma cell permeability (Caco-2).

Keywords: benzimidazoles, QSAR, ADME, in silico

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Authors: Yamani Amal, Lazaae Jamila, Elachouri Mostafa

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Plants and their active agents – especially polyphenols – may have a principal role in the treatment of diseases that result from the defect of physiological antioxidant mechanisms. Bryonia dioica is well known in Moroccan traditional medicine for alleviatin pain and traiting many diseases. We have focused on plant belonging to Cucurbitaceae Family from around the world to understand their therapeutic uses and their potential antioxidant activities Although several biological activities and Chemical composition of Bryonia dioica are well characterized, no direct, in vitro study, of this natural product examined the antioxydant effect of the extract from the roots of Bryonia dioica. The aim of this study was to determine in vitro antioxidant activity of the B.dioica root, using antioxidant analysis methods based on determination of Hydroxyradical Scavenging, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) radical scavenging, Hydrogenperoxide Scavenging and Nitric Oxide Scavenging. In this study, it was demonstrated, that, B. dioica root extract showed excellent antioxidant properties. This investigation showed that the roots of this plant contain potent natural scavengers R. It may represent an interesting source of antioxidant phenolics that may favour the extension of their cultivation as new source of natural antioxidants in addition to containing high quality proteins for human or animal nutrition. Therefore, there is need for all stakeholders on the Morocco to strive towards taking advantage of our enormous biodiversity resources to free our people from diseases, abject poverty and stagnation.

Keywords: Morocco, bryoniadioica, in vitro, antioxydant

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Authors: Kwei Huan Liw, Sashi B. Darshan

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Background: Double eyelid surgery has become one of the most sought-after aesthetic procedures among Asians. Many surgeons perform surgical blepharoplasty and various other methods of non-incisional blepharoplasty. Face-Q is a validated method of measuring patient satisfaction for facial aesthetic procedures. Here we have analyzed the overall eye satisfaction score, the upper eyelid appraisal score and the adverse effect on eyes score Methods: 274 patients (548 eyes), aged between 18 to 40 years old, were recruited from 2015-2018. Each patient underwent a non-incisional double-eyelid blepharoplasty using a single-knotted continuous buried suture. 3 – 5 stab incisions were made depending on the upper eyelid size. A needle loaded with 7-0 nylon is passed from the lateral most wound through the dermis and the conjunctiva in an alternate fashion into the remaining stab wounds. The suture is then tunneled back laterally in the deeper dermis and knotted securely with the suture end. The knot is then buried within the orbicularis oculi muscle. Each patient was required to fill the Face-Q questionnaire before the procedure and 2 weeks post procedure. The results are described based on the percentage of the maximum achievable score. Patients were reviewed after 12 to 18 months to assess the long-term outcome. Results: The overall eye satisfaction score demonstrated a high level of post-operative satisfaction (97.85%), compared to 27.32% pre-operatively. The appraisal of upper eyelid scores showed drastic improvement in perception post-operatively (95.31%) compared to 21.44% pre-operatively. Adverse effect on eyes score showed a very low post-operative complication rate (0.4%) The long-term follow-up showed 6 cases that had developed asymmetrical folds. Only 1 patient agreed for revision surgery. The other 5 patients were still satisfied with the outcome and were not keen for revision surgery. None of the cases had loosening of knots. Conclusion: Modified single-knot continuous buried suture technique is a simple and non-invasive method to create aesthetically pleasing non-surgical double-eyelids, which has long-term effects. Proper patient selection is crucial and good surgical technique is required to achieve a desirable outcome.

Keywords: blepharoplasty, double-eyelid, face-Q, non-incisional

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Authors: Robert Smith, Omar Espinoza, Anna Pitta

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In the United States, trees felled in urban areas and wood generated through construction and demolition are primarily disposed of as low-value resources, such as biomass for energy, landscaping mulch, composting, or landfilled. An emerging industry makes use of these underutilized resources to produce high value-added products, with associated benefits for the environment, the local economy, and consumers. For the circular economy to be successful, markets must be created for sustainable, reusable natural materials. Research was carried out to increase the understanding of the marketing practices of urban and reclaimed wood industries. This paper presents the results of a nationwide survey of these companies. The results indicate that a majority of companies in this industry are small firms, operating for less than 10 years, which produce mostly to order and sell their products at comparatively higher prices than competing products made from virgin natural resources. Promotional messages included quality, aesthetics, and customization, conveyed through company webpages, word of mouth, and social media. Distribution channels used include direct sales, online sales, and retail sales. Partnerships are critical for effective raw material procurement. Respondents indicated optimistic growth expectations, despite barriers associated with urban and reclaimed wood materials and production.

Keywords: urban and reclaimed wood, circular economy, marketing, wood products

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Authors: Hayley Lawrence, Nabi Shah, Sarah Dyer

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Aims: Lumbar punctures are a common bedside procedure performed in acute medicine. Published guidance exists on the standardised documentation of invasive procedures in order to reduce the risk of complications. The audit aim was to assess current standards of documentation in accordance with both the GMC and the National Standards for Invasive Procedures guidelines. A second cycle was conducted after introducing a standardised sticker created using current guidelines. This would assess whether the sticker improved documentation, aiming for 100% standard in each step of the procedure. Methods: An initial prospective audit of current practice was conducted over a 3-month period. Patients were identified by their presenting complaints and by colleagues assessing acute medical patients. Initial findings were presented locally, and a further prospective audit was conducted following the implementation of a standardised sticker. Results: 19 lumbar punctures were included in the first cycle and 13 procedures in the second. Pre-procedure documentation was collected for each cycle, whereby documentation of ‘Indication’ improved from 5.3% to 84.6%, ‘Consent’ from 84.2% to 100%, ‘Coagulopathy’ from 0% to 61.5%, ‘Drug Chart checked’ from 0% to 100%, ‘Position of patient’ from 26.3% to 100% and use of ‘Aseptic Technique’ from 83.3% to 100% from the first to the second cycle respectively. ‘Level of Doctor’ and ‘Supervision’ decreased from 53% to 31% and 53% to 46%, respectively, in the second cycle. Documentation of the procedure itself also demonstrated improvements, with ‘Level of Insertion’ 15.8% to 100%, ‘Name of Antiseptic Used’ 11.1% to 69.2%, ‘Local Anaesthetic Used’ 26.3% to 53.8%, ‘Needle Gauge’ 42.1% to 76.9%, ‘Number of Attempts’ 78.9% to 100% and ‘Traumatic/Atraumatic’ procedure 26.3% to 92.3%, respectively. A similar number of opening pressures were documented in each cycle at 57.9% and 53.8%, respectively, but its documentation was deemed ‘Not Applicable’ in a higher number of patients in the second cycle. Post-procedure documentation improved, with ‘Number of Samples obtained’ increasing from 52.6% to 92.3% and documentation of ‘Immediate Complications’ increasing from 78.9% to 100%. ‘Dressing Applied’ was poorly documented in the first cycle at 16.7%. This was not included on the standardised sticker, resulting in 0% documentation in the second cycle. Documentation of Clinicians’ Name and Bleep reduced from 63.2% to 15.4%, but when the name only was analysed, this increased to 84.6%. Conclusions: Standardised stickers for lumbar punctures do improve documentation and hence should result in improved patient safety. There is still room for improvement to reach 100% standard in each area, especially with respect to the clinician’s name and contact details being documented. Final adjustments will be made to the sticker before being included in a lumbar puncture kit, which will be made readily available in the acute medical wards. Future audits could be extended to include other common bedside procedures performed in acute medicine to ensure documentation of all these procedures reaches 100% standard.

Keywords: invasive procedure, lumbar puncture, medical record keeping, procedure checklist, procedure documentation, standardised documentation

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Authors: M. Zafar, S. Rasheed, Imran Hashmi

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Very little is concerned about the bacterial contamination in drinking water biofilm which provide a potential source for bacteria to grow and increase rapidly. So as to understand the microbial density in DWDs, a three-month study was carried out. The aim of this study was to examine biofilm in three different pipe materials including PVC, PPR and GI. A set of all these pipe materials was installed in DWDs at nine different locations and assessed on monthly basis. Drinking water quality was evaluated by different parameters and characterization of biofilm. Among various parameters are Temperature, pH, turbidity, TDS, electrical conductivity, BOD, COD, total phosphates, total nitrates, total organic carbon (TOC) free chlorine and total chlorine, coliforms and spread plate counts (SPC) according to standard methods. Predominant species were Bacillus thuringiensis, Pseudomonas fluorescens , Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Bacillus safensis and significant increase in bacterial population was observed in PVC pipes while least in cement pipes. The quantity of DWDs bacteria was directly depended on biofilm bacteria and its increase was correlated with growth and detachment of bacteria from biofilms. Pipe material also affected the microbial community in drinking water distribution network biofilm while Similarity in bacterial species was observed between systems due to same disinfectant dose, time period and plumbing pipes.

Keywords: biofilm, DWDs, pipe material, bacterial population

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Authors: N. P. Eswara Reddy, S. Thahir Basha

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Here, we report the success stories of potential leaf, seed and root endophytes against soil borne as well as foliar plant pathogens which are nutritionally adequate and safe for consumption. Endophytes are the microorganisms that reside asymptomatically in the tissues of higher plants are a robust source of potential biocontrol agents and it is presumed that the survival ability of endophytes may be better when compared to phylloplane microflora. Of all the 68 putative leaf endophytes, the endophytes viz., EB9 (100%), and EB35 (100%) which were superior in controlling Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causing mango anthracnose were identified as Brevundimonas bullata (EB09) and Bacillus thuringiensis (EB35) and further delayed in ripening of mango fruits up to 21 days. As a part, the seed endophyte GSE-4 was identified as Archoromobacter spp. against Sclerotium rolfsii causing stem rot of groundnut and the root endophyte REB-8 against Rhizoctonia bataticola causing dry root rot of chickpea was identified as Bacillus subtilis. Both recorded least percent disease incidence (PDI) and increased plant growth promotion, respectively. Further, the novel Bacillus subtilis (SEB-2) against Macrophomina pahseolina causing charcoal rot of sunflower provides an ample scope for exploring the endophytes at large scale. The talc-based formulations of these endophytes developed can be commercialized after toxicological studies. At the bottom line these unexplored endophytes are the need of the hour against aggressive plant pathogens and to maintain the quality and abundance of food and feed and also to fetch marginal economy to the farmers will be discussed.

Keywords: endophytes, plant pathogens, commercialization, abundance of food

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Authors: Adegbite Bashiru Adeniyi, Olaniyi Akeem Olawale, Ayobamidele Sinatu Juliet

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The study was carried out in the 6 South Western states of Nigeria to analyze socio-economic characteristic of garri processors and their anthropometric qualities with respect to modern technologies used in garri processing. About 20 respondents were randomly selected from each of the 6 workstations purposively considered for the study due to their daily processing activities already attracted high patronage of customers. These include Oguntolu village (Ogun State), Igoba-Akure (Ondo State), Imo-Ilesa (Osun State), Odo Oba-Ileri (Oyo State), Irasa village (Ekiti State) and Epe in Lagos state. Interview schedule was conducted for 120 respondents to elicit information. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools. It was observed from the findings that respondents were in their most productive age range (36-45 years) except Ogun state where majority (45%) were relatively older than 45 years. A fewer processors were much younger than 26 years old. It furthers revealed that not less than 55% have body weight greater than 50.0 kilogram, also not less than 70% were taller than 1.5 meter. So also, the hand length and hand thickness of the majority were long and bulky which are considered suitable for operating some modern and improved technologies in garri-frying process. This information could be used by various technological developers to enhance production of modern equipment and tools for a greater efficiency.

Keywords: agro-business, anthromorphic, modernization, proficiency

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Authors: Shamir Balderman Orit, Shamir Michal

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Israel often deals with crisis situations, but most have been characterized as security crises (e.g., war). This is the first time that the Israel has dealt with a health and social emergency as part of a global crisis. The crisis began in January 2020 with the emergence of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), which was defined as a pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020) and arrived in Israel in early March 2020. This study examined how single mothers by choice (SMBC) experience state anxiety (SA), social support, work–family conflict (WFC), and happiness. This group has not been studied in the context of crises in general or a global crisis. Using a snowball sample, 386 SMBCanswered an online questionnaire. The findings show a negative relationship between income and level of state anxiety. State anxiety was also negatively associated with social support, level of happiness, and WFC. Finally, a stepwise regression analysis indicated that happiness explained 34% of the variance in SA. We also found that most of the women did not turn to formal support agencies such as social workers, other Government Ministries, or municipal welfare. A positive and strong correlations was also found between SA and WFC. The findings of the study reinforce the understanding that although these women made a conscious and informed decision regarding the choice of their family cell, their situation is more complex in the absence of a spouse support. Therefore, this study, as other future studies in the field of SMBC, may contribute to the improvement of their social status and the understanding that they are a unique group. Although SMBC are a growing sector of society in the past few years, there are still special needs and special attention that is needed from the formal and informal supports systems. A comparative study of these two groups and in different countries would shed light on SA among mothers in general, regardless of their relationship status and location. Researchers should expand this study by comparing mothers in relationships and exploring how SMBC coped in other countries. In summary, the findings of the study contribute knowledge on three levels: (a) knowledge about SMBC in general and during crisis situations; (b) examination of social support using tools assessing receipt of assistance and support, some of which were developed for the present study; and (c) insights regarding counseling, accompaniment, and guidance of welfare mechanisms.

Keywords: single mothers by choice, state anxiety, social support, happiness, work-family conflict

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