Search results for: software development

Authors: G. Salavwa, P. Erhijakpor Jr., H. Ukwu

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This study will explore child labour issues in Nigeria because it is capable of affecting the physical and general well-being of children who perform hazardous work. This feat will be achieved through qualitative research methodology. Data collection shall be elicited by oral interviews and documental content analysis to delve on the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), International Labour Organization ILO and Geneva Convention relating to child labour practices in Nigeria. This will include the relevance of present domestic laws relating to child labour as implemented in Nigeria, together with factors that contribute to the practice of child labour in the country. The oral interview data analysis will be performed by breaking the interview data into significant statements and themes. This shall be done by comparing and determining the commonalities that are prevalent in the participants’ views regarding child labour menace in Nigeria. Presumably, findings from this study shall unveil that a poor educational policy, a widespread poverty level which is mostly prevalent amongst families in the rural areas of the country, a lack of employment for adults, have led to the ineffectiveness of the local child labour laws in Nigeria. These has in turn culminated into a somewhat non-implementation of the international laws of the CRC, ILO and Geneva Declaration on child labour to which the Nigerian government is a signatory. Based on the finding, this study will calls on the government of Nigeria to extend its free educational policy from the elementary, secondary to tertiary educations. The government also has to ensure that offenders of children’s rights should face a severe punishment.

Keywords: commonalities, tertiary, constitution, qualitative

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Authors: Shilpa Bagade Poharkar

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The basis for traditional notion of security was the use of force to preserve vital interest which based on either realism or power politics. The modern approach to security extends beyond the traditional notions of security which focus on issues as development and respect for human rights. In global politics, the issue of human security plays a vital role in most of the policy matter. In modern era, the protection of human rights is now recognized as one of the main functions of any legitimate modern state. The research paper will explore the relationship between human rights and security. United Nations is facing major challenges like rampant poverty, refugee outflows, human trafficking, displacement, conflicts, terrorism, intra-inter ethnic conflicts, proliferation of small arms, genocide, piracy, climate change, health issues and so on. The methodology is observed in this paper is doctrinaire which includes analytical and descriptive comparative method. The hypothesis of the paper is the relationship between human rights and a goal of United Nations to attain peace and security. Although previous research has been done in this field but this research paper will try to find out the challenges in the human security through human rights in the contemporary world and will provide measures for it. The study will focus on the following research questions: What are the issues and challenges United Nations facing while advancing human security through human rights? What measures the international community would take for ensuring the protection of human rights while protecting state security and contribute in the attainment of goals of United Nations?

Keywords: human rights, human security, peace, security, United Nations

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Authors: Irina S. Burashnikova, Dmitriy A. Sychev, Ruslan Y. Kazakov

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Сytochrome P450 CYP2D6 activity affects antipsychotic therapy safety. CYP2D6*4 polymorphism frequency varies among different ethnic groups. We studied CYP2D6*4 polymorphism frequency in Tatar and Russian schizophrenic patients and association of CYP2D6*4 polymorphism and extrapyramidal disorders (EPD) frequency in schizophrenic patients on haloperidol monotherapy in daily doses up to 20 mg. Results: Heterozygous CYP2D6*4 allele carrier frequency among Tatars was lower (23.8% vs 32.4% in Russians), but the differences did not reach statistical significance. CYP2D6*4 allele frequency among Tatars was also lower (11.9% vs 24.3% in Russians), but the difference was not quite significant (p=0.0592). Average daily haloperidol dose in the group without EPD was significantly higher than in the group with EPD (11.35±4.6 vs 13.87±3.3 mg, p=0.0252), but average daily haloperidol dose/weight ratios in the compared groups had no significant differences. Statistically significant association between EPD development and heterozygous CYP2D6*1/*4 genotype and CYP2D6*4 allele carrier frequency was revealed among all schizophrenic patients and among those of Tatar nationality. Further well designed pharmacogenetic studies in different Russian regions are needed to improve psychotropic therapy safety and to establish evidence-based indications for pharmacogenetic testing in clinical practice.

Keywords: antipsychotic, CYP2D6 polymorphism, ethnic differences of CYP2D6*4 allele frequency, extrapyramidal side effects/disorder, schizophrenia, pharmacogenetics, Russians, Tatars

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Authors: Shiza Shahid, Saba Shahid, Kenji Noguchi, Raegan Bishop, Elena Stepanova

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According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2020, in the United States, women who worked full-time earned only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men who worked full-time, year-round. This study examined how personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience) interacts with ambivalent sexism to influence acceptance of gender income inequality. Using a quantitative method approach, this study collected data from a sample of N=150 students from Social Science Online Subject Pool (SONA). The study predicted that (a) extraversion and openness to experience would be positively related to acceptance of gender income inequality, while emotional stability and agreeableness would be negatively related to acceptance of gender income inequality, (b) Individuals who scored higher on measures of hostile sexism would show greater acceptance of gender income inequality than individuals who score higher on measures of benevolent sexism. The results were reported according to the predictions for the study. This study broadens the importance of addressing the underlying factors contributing to attitudes towards gender income inequality and contributes to ongoing efforts to achieve gender equality, which is important for promoting economic well-being.

Keywords: gender income ineqaulity, ambivalent sexism, personality traits, sustainable development goals

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Authors: Xia Fang

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Arid and semiarid areas of China (ASAC) have experienced significant land-use/cover changes (LUCC), along with intensified climate change. However, LUCC and climate changes and their individual and interactive effects on carbon stocks have not yet been fully understood in the ASAC. This study analyses the carbon stocks in the ASAC during 1980 - 2020 using the specific arid ecosystem model (AEM), and investigates the effects of LUCC and climate change on carbon stock trends. The results indicate that in the past 41 years, the ASAC carbon pool experienced an overall growth trend, with an increase of 182.03 g C/m2. Climatic factors (+291.99 g C/m2), especially the increase in precipitation, were the main drivers of the carbon pool increase. LUCC decreased the carbon pool (-112.27 g C/m2), mainly due to the decrease in grassland area (-2.77%). The climate-induced carbon sinks were distributed in northern Xinjiang, on the Ordos Plateau, and in Northeast China, while the LUCC-induced carbon sinks mainly occurred on the Ordos Plateau and the North China Plain, resulting in a net decrease in carbon sequestration in these regions according to carbon pool measurements. The study revealed that the combination of climate variability, LUCC, and increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration resulted in an increase of approximately 182.03 g C/m2, which was mainly distributed in eastern Inner Mongolia and the western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our findings are essential for improving theoretical guidance to protect the ecological environment, rationally plan land use, and understand the sustainable development of arid and semiarid zones.

Keywords: AEM, climate change, LUCC, carbon stocks

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Authors: Khadidja Rahmani, Nahla Bouaziz

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The climate change and the economic crisis, which are currently running, are the origin of the emergence of many issues and problems, which are related to the domain of energy and environment in à direct or indirect manner. Since the urban space is the core element and the key to solve the current problem, particular attention is given to it in this study. For this reason, we rented to the later a very particular attention; this is for the opportunities that it provides and that can be invested to attenuate a little this situation, which is disastrous and worried, especially in the face of the requirements of sustainable development. Indeed, the purpose of this work is to develop a method, which will allow us to guide designers towards projects with a certain degree of thermo-aeraulic comfort while requiring a minimum energy consumption. In this context, the architects, the urban planners and the engineers (energeticians) have to collaborate jointly to establish a method based on indicators for the improvement of the urban environmental quality (aeraulic-thermo comfort), correlated with a reduction in the energy demand of the entities that make up this environment, in areas with a sub-humid climate. In order to test the feasibility and to validate the method developed in this work, we carried out a series of simulations using computer-based simulation. This research allows us to evaluate the impact of the use of the indicators in the design of the urban sets, on the economic and ecological plan. Using this method, we prove that an urban design, which carefully considered energetically, can contribute significantly to the preservation of the environment and the reduction of the consumption of energy.

Keywords: comfort, energy consumption, energy mastery, morpho-energetic indicators, simulation, sub-humid climate, urban sets

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Authors: Maria Lubomira Kubica

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The paper reveals the birth and evolution of the British precedent Rylands v. Fletcher that, once adopted on the other side of the Ocean (in United States), gave rise to a general clause of liability for abnormally dangerous activities recognized by the §20 of the American Restatements of the Law Third, Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm. The main goal of the paper was to analyze the development of the legal doctrine and of the case law posterior to the precedent together with the intent of the British judicature to leapfrog from the traditional rule contained in Rylands v. Fletcher to a general clause similar to that introduced in the United States and recently also on the European level. As it is well known, within the scope of tort law two different initiatives compete with the aim of harmonizing the European laws: European Group on Tort Law with its Principles of European Tort Law (hereinafter PETL) in which article 5:101 sets forth a general clause for strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities and Study Group on European Civil Code with its Common Frame of Reference (CFR) which promotes rather ad hoc model of listing out determined cases of strict liability. Very narrow application scope of the art. 5:101 PETL, restricted only to abnormally dangerous activities, stays in opposition to very broad spectrum of strict liability cases governed by the CFR. The former is a perfect example of a general clause that offers a minimum and basic standard, possibly acceptable also in those countries in which, like in the United Kingdom, this regime of liability is completely marginalized.

Keywords: abnormally dangerous activities, general clause, Rylands v. Fletcher, strict liability

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Authors: Alejandra Martin-Dominguez, Javier Canto-Rios, Velitchko Tzatchkov

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Electrocoagulation is a water treatment technology that consists of generating coagulant species in situ by electrolytic oxidation of sacrificial anode materials triggered by electric current. It removes suspended solids, heavy metals, emulsified oils, bacteria, colloidal solids and particles, soluble inorganic pollutants and other contaminants from water, offering an alternative to the use of metal salts or polymers and polyelectrolyte addition for breaking stable emulsions and suspensions. The method essentially consists of passing the water being treated through pairs of consumable conductive metal plates in parallel, which act as monopolar electrodes, commonly known as ‘sacrificial electrodes’. Physicochemical, electrochemical and hydraulic processes are involved in the efficiency of this type of treatment. While the physicochemical and electrochemical aspects of the technology have been extensively studied, little is known about the influence of the hydraulics. However, the hydraulic process is fundamental for the reactions that take place at the electrode boundary layers and for the coagulant mixing. Electrocoagulation reactors can be open (with free water surface) and closed (pressurized). Independently of the type of rector, hydraulic head loss is an important factor for its design. The present work focuses on the study of the total hydraulic head loss and flow velocity and pressure distribution in electrocoagulation reactors with single or multiple concentric annular cross sections. An analysis of the head loss produced by hydraulic wall shear friction and accessories (minor head losses) is presented, and compared to the head loss measured on a semi-pilot scale laboratory model for different flow rates through the reactor. The tests included laminar, transitional and turbulent flow. The observed head loss was compared also to the head loss predicted by several known conceptual theoretical and empirical equations, specific for flow in concentric annular pipes. Four single concentric annular cross section and one multiple concentric annular cross section reactor configuration were studied. The theoretical head loss resulted higher than the observed in the laboratory model in some of the tests, and lower in others of them, depending also on the assumed value for the wall roughness. Most of the theoretical models assume that the fluid elements in all annular sections have the same velocity, and that flow is steady, uniform and one-dimensional, with the same pressure and velocity profiles in all reactor sections. To check the validity of such assumptions, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the concentric annular pipe reactor was implemented using the ANSYS Fluent software, demonstrating that pressure and flow velocity distribution inside the reactor actually is not uniform. Based on the analysis, the equations that predict better the head loss in single and multiple annular sections were obtained. Other factors that may impact the head loss, such as the generation of coagulants and gases during the electrochemical reaction, the accumulation of hydroxides inside the reactor, and the change of the electrode material with time, are also discussed. The results can be used as tools for design and scale-up of electrocoagulation reactors, to be integrated into new or existing water treatment plants.

Keywords: electrocoagulation reactors, hydraulic head loss, concentric annular pipes, computational fluid dynamics model

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Authors: Akosua Asantewaa Anane

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Social media and its networking sites have become beneficial to society. With the advent of Web 2.0, many people are becoming technologically savvy and attracted to internet-based activities. With the click of a button, users are now sharing more information on topics, events and issues than before. A new phenomenon in the Ghanaian journalism sphere is the advent of blogger and citizen journalism, some of whom have become niche authorities. Niche authorities have emerged through the habitual and persistent curation of news on specific topics, resulting in the steady growth and emergence of valuable contributions to news sharing. Minimal studies have been conducted on niche authorities and their role in social activism in Ghana. This study, anchored on Cialdini’s Six Principles of Persuasion (reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity), explores the features of niche authorities, their areas of expertise, as well as their authoritative voices in the curation of news stories. Using qualitative content analysis, cyber ethnography and thematic analysis of purposively sampled social media posts of five niche authorities, the study interrogates how these niche authorities employ the six principles of persuasion on their platforms to spark conversations on development, social inclusion and gender-based issues in the country. The study discusses how niche authorities deploy the principles in social activism and further recommends nurturing and mentoring communication strategies to progressively guide the youth to become future niche authorities in news curation and news sharing.

Keywords: social activism, cialdini’s six principles of persuasion, news curation, niche authorities

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Authors: Akachi Odoemene

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Climate change and land grabbing are tightly interconnected in ways that are both diverse and complex. They have impacted each other in significant ways too. Both phenomena are not only a political reality, but have diverse dire implications, especially for food and livelihood security of vulnerable populations in developing economies. The critical nexus and interactions of climate change and land grabbing remain one of the challenges of sustainable development in modern times. The nuanced understanding of the nexus, importance and implications of climate change and land grabbing are the primary focus of this chapter. It begins with conceptual clarifications, particularly arguing that the absence of some important principles of engagement underline and define a land grab. It also analyses and notes a good number of contemporary land deals as 'one-sided', in which wealthy entities connive with local elites to exploit and disposes rural poor populations. The paper not only examines both global and local factors that drive land grabbing and, in some cases, their connections with the incidence of climate change, but also explores their crucial links with such sector as agriculture. It is argued and exhibited in the paper why certain societies are susceptible to the incidence of climate change and land grabbing, while the overall consequences of these phenomena on the affected societies are further interrogated. The paper concludes that the lack of political will by global political leaders to effectively combat and resolve critical issues associated with both climate change and land grabbing remains a daunting challenge. It notes that these phenomena – climate change and land grabbing – if not abated, will certainly become another set of global tragic episodes to be regretted in the future.

Keywords: climate change, land grabbing, global governance, developing economies

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Authors: Adesoji Tunbosun Jaiyeola, Josiah Adeyemo

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Sediment yield can be considered to be the total sediment load that leaves a drainage basin. The knowledge of the quantity of sediments present in a river at a particular time can lead to better flood capacity in reservoirs and consequently help to control over-bane flooding. Furthermore, as sediment accumulates in the reservoir, it gradually loses its ability to store water for the purposes for which it was built. The development of hydrological models to forecast the quantity of sediment present in a reservoir helps planners and managers of water resources systems, to understand the system better in terms of its problems and alternative ways to address them. The application of artificial intelligence models and technique to such real-life situations have proven to be an effective approach of solving complex problems. This paper makes an extensive review of literature relevant to the theories and applications of evolutionary algorithms, and most especially genetic programming. The successful applications of genetic programming as a soft computing technique were reviewed in sediment modelling and other branches of knowledge. Some fundamental issues such as benchmark, generalization ability, bloat and over-fitting and other open issues relating to the working principles of GP, which needs to be addressed by the GP community were also highlighted. This review aim to give GP theoreticians, researchers and the general community of GP enough research direction, valuable guide and also keep all stakeholders abreast of the issues which need attention during the next decade for the advancement of GP.

Keywords: benchmark, bloat, generalization, genetic programming, over-fitting, sediment yield

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Authors: Guity Karim, Valiollah Ayareh

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Probiotic dairy products are those that contain biologically active components that may affect beneficially one or more target functions in the body, beyond their adequate nutritional effects. As far as chocolate milk is a popular dairy product in the country especially among children and youth, production of a symbiotic (probiotic + peribiotic) new product using chocolate milk, Bifidobacterium lactis (DSM, Netherland) and inulin (Bene, Belgium) would help to promote the nutritional and functional properties of this product. Bifidobacterium Lactis is used as a probiotic in a variety of foods, particularly dairy products like yogurt and as a probiotic bacterium has benefit effects on the human health. Inulin as a peribiotic agent is considered as functional food ingredient. Experimental studies have shown its use as bifidogenic agent. Chocolate milk with different percent of fat (1 and 2 percent), 6 % of sugar and 0.9 % cacao was made, sterilized (UHT) and supplemented with Bifidobacterium lactis and inulin (0.5 %) after cooling . A sample was made without inulin as a control. Bifidobacterium lactis population was enumerated at days 0, 4, 8 and 12 together with measurement of pH, acidity and viscosity of the samples. Also sensory property of the product was evaluated by a 15 panel testers. The number of live bacterial cells was maintained at the functional level of 106-108 cfu/ml after keeping for 12 days in refrigerated temperature (4°C). Coliforms were found to be absent in the products during the storage. Chocolate milk containing 1% fat and inulin has the best effect on the survival and number of B. lactis at day 8 and after that. Moreover, the addition of inulin did not affect the sensorial quality of the product. In this work, chocolate has been evaluated as a potential protective carrier for oral delivery of B. lactis and inulin.

Keywords: chocolate milk, synbiotic, bifidobacterium lactis, inulin

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Authors: Fernando G. Torres, Donna M. Ebenstein, Monica Merino

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Most fish are covered by a protective external armour. The characteristics of these armours depend on the individual elements that form them, such as scales, scutes or dermal plates. In this work, we assess the properties of two different types of protective elements: scales from A. gigas and dermal plates from P. pardalis. A. Gigas and P. Pardalis are two Amazonian fish with a rather prehistoric aspect. They have large scales and dermal plates that form two different types of protective body armours. Although both scales and dermal plates are formed by collagen and hydroxyapatite, their structures display remarkable differences. The structure and composition of the samples were assessed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Morphology studies were carried out using a Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Nanoindentation tests were performed to measure the reduced moduli in A. gigas scales and P. pardalis plates. The similarities and differences between scales and dermal plates are discussed based on the experimental results. Both protective armours are designed to be lightweight, flexible and tough. A. Gigas scales are are light laminated composites, while P. pardalis dermal plates show a sandwich like structure with dense outer layers and a porous inner matrix. It seems that the armour of P. pardalis is more suited for a bottom-dwelling fish and allows for protection against predators. The scales from A. Gigas are more adapted to give protection to a swimming fish. The information obtained from these studies is also important for the development of bioinspired nanocomposites, with potential applications in the biomedical field.

Keywords: pterygoplichthys pardalis, dermal plates arapaima gigas, fish scales

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Authors: Abdoon A.S., El Ashkar E.A., Kandil O.M., Wael H. Eisa, Shaban A.M., Khaled H.M., El Ashkar M.R., El Shaer M., Hussein H., Shaalan A.H., El Sayed M.

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Cancer is a major obstacle to human health and development worldwide. Conventional strategies for cancer intervention include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Recently, plasmon photothermal therapy (PPTT) was introduced as a promising treatment for the management of cancer and several non-cancerous diseases that are generally characterized by overgrowth of abnormal cells. The present work was conducted to evaluate the cytotoxic efficacy and toxicity of gold nanorods (AuNRs) in dogs and cats suffering from spontaneous mammary gland. AuNRs was injected intratumoral (IT, n=10, dose of 75 p.p.m/kg body weight) or by using spray method after surgical removal of cancer tissue (n=2) in dogs and cats. Then exposed to laser light after 60 min. Treated animals were observed every 2 days and the morphological changes in tumor size and shape were recorded. Blood samples were collected before and after treatment for checking CBC, liver and kidney functions. Results revealed that AuNRs successfully treat mammary gland tumor in dogs and cats (adenocarcinoma type 1 to IV). AuNRs induced sloughing of carcinogenic tissue within 5 to 15 days. AuNRs have no toxic effect on blood profile and the toxicity studies still under evaluation. Conclusion, AuNRs can be used for treatment of mammary gland carcinoma in dogs and cats.

Keywords: pet animals, mammary gland tumor, AuNRs, photothermal therapy, toxicity studies

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Authors: De Castro-Pardo M., Cabello J. M., Martin J. M., Ruiz F.

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In this paper, we propose a new Water Sustainability Indicator based on a Multi-Reference methodology that permits modeling compensation between the analysed criteria and provides a participative approach. The proposed indicator provides results based on 19 variables grouped into 5 dimensions: availability, access, resilience, good governance and economic capacity. The indicator was applied to assess water sustainability in 27 European countries. The results showed that Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom obtained the best global results in terms of weak water (compensatory) sustainability. In terms of strong water (non-compensatory) sustainability, no country gained acceptable results in terms of strong sustainability. Climate change and the state of freshwater resources were detected as especially vulnerable in all the analysed countries. The results identified some eastern European countries with low GDP and good performance of availability and cost of water, with bad results in terms of governance and water productivity. These results could jeopardize water sustainability in the event of a potential economic development if these limitations are not addressed. In a context of economic and political instability due to the current armed conflict in nearby countries such as Ukraine, it is especially important to pay attention to these countries, whose good governance indicators could worsen even more. The proposed indicator allowed to the identification of warning signs and could contribute to the improvement in decision-making processes. Moreover, it could improve the monitoring of international water policies.

Keywords: water sustainability, composite indicators, compensatory approach, sustainability European policies

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Authors: Mario Jose Paillacho Silva, José Ángel Pérez López

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This article delves into the critical role of circular economy principles in unlocking sustainable growth and addressing environmental inequalities in emerging markets. Circular economy practices, rooted in regenerative systems and resource conservation, offer a transformative pathway for dynamic economies to achieve prosperity while minimizing environmental impact. The article comprehensively explores the understanding of the circular economy in emerging markets, emphasizing its economic benefits, social implications, and environmental advantages. It highlights key challenges and opportunities faced by these markets and emphasizes the crucial role of governments in creating supportive policy frameworks. It emphasizes how circular economy practices empower local communities and promote social inclusion and equality. Furthermore, the article underscores how the adoption of circular economy practices can mitigate waste, pollution, and resource scarcity, thus contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Integrating circular economy principles with the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs), the article showcases the potential of circularity in fostering responsible consumption and production, sustainable economic growth, and environmental protection. Overall, the article advocates for cross-sector collaboration and knowledge sharing to overcome barriers and scale circular economy practices in emerging markets, ultimately leading to a more equitable, prosperous, and environmentally sustainable future.

Keywords: circular economy, sustainability, emerging markets, circularity

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Authors: Xue Wang, Li-Wei Fan

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The technology innovation has become the driving force of social and economic development and transformation. The guidance and support of public policies is an important condition to promote the realization of technology innovation goals. Policy effectiveness evaluation is instructive in policy learning and adjustment. This paper reviews existing studies and systematically evaluates the effectiveness of policy-driven technological innovation. We used 167 articles from WOS and CNKI databases as samples to clarify the measurement of technological innovation indicators and analyze the classification and application of policy evaluation methods. In general, technology innovation input and technological output are the two main aspects of technological innovation index design, among which technological patents are the focus of research, the number of patents reflects the scale of technological innovation, and the quality of patents reflects the value of innovation from multiple aspects. As for policy evaluation methods, statistical analysis methods are applied to the formulation, selection and evaluation of the after-effect of policies to analyze the effect of policy implementation qualitatively and quantitatively. The bibliometric methods are mainly based on the public policy texts, discriminating the inter-government relationship and the multi-dimensional value of the policy. Decision analysis focuses on the establishment and measurement of the comprehensive evaluation index system of public policy. The economic analysis methods focus on the performance and output of technological innovation to test the policy effect. Finally, this paper puts forward the prospect of the future research direction.

Keywords: technology innovation, index, policy effectiveness, evaluation of policy, bibliometric analysis

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Authors: S. Doyle, G. A. Aggidis

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Wave energy converter technologies continue to show good progress in worldwide research. One of the most researched technologies, the Oscillating Water Column (OWC), is arguably one of the most popular categories within the converter technologies due to its robustness, simplicity and versatility. However, the versatility of the OWC is still largely untapped with most deployments following similar trends with respect to applications and operating systems. As the competitiveness of the energy market continues to increase, the demand for wave energy technologies to be innovative also increases. For existing wave energy technologies, this requires identifying areas to diversify for lower costs of energy with respect to applications and synergies or integrated systems. This paper provides a review of all OWCs systems integrated into alternative applications in the past and present. The aspects and variation in their design, deployment and system operation are discussed. Particular focus is given to the Multi-OWCs (M-OWCs) and their great potential to increase capture on a larger scale, especially in synergy applications. It is made clear that these steps need to be taken in order to make wave energy a competitive and viable option in the renewable energy mix as progression to date shows that stand alone single function devices are not economical. Findings reveal that the trend of development is moving toward these integrated applications in order to reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) and will ultimately continue in this direction in efforts to make wave energy a competitive option in the renewable energy mix.

Keywords: wave energy converter, oscillating water column, ocean energy, renewable energy

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Authors: Damien P. Fevre, Peter K. Dearden

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Honeybee population sustainability is a critical concern for environmental stability and human food security. The success of a colony relies heavily on the egg-laying capacity of the queen, as it determines the production of thousands of worker bees who, in turn, perform essential functions in foraging and transforming food to make it digestible for the colony. The main sources of nutrition for honeybees are nectar, providing carbohydrates, and pollen, providing protein. This study delves into the impact of the proportion of these macronutrients on the food consumption patterns of nurse bees responsible for feeding the queen and how it affects the characteristics of the eggs produced. Using nutritional geometry, qRT-PCR, and RNA-seq analysis, this study sheds light on the pivotal role of nutrition in influencing gene expression in nurse bees, honeybee queen egg-laying capacity and embryonic development. Interestingly, while nutrition is crucial, the queen's genotype plays an even more significant role in this complex relationship, highlighting the importance of genotype-by-environment interactions. Understanding the interplay between genotype and nutrition is key to optimizing beekeeping management and strategic queen breeding practices. The findings from this study have significant implications for beekeeping practices, emphasizing the need for an appropriate nutrition to support the social nutrition of Apis mellifera. Implementing these insights can lead to improved colony health, increased productivity, and sustainable honeybee conservation efforts.

Keywords: honeybee, egg-laying, nutrition, transcriptomics

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Authors: Andy Zhang, Awnik Roy, Trevor B. Chen, Bibik Oleksandr, Subodh Adhikari, Paul S. Hsu

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The durability of a combustor in gas-turbine enginesrequiresa good control of its component temperatures. Since the temperature of combustion gases frequently exceeds the melting point of the combustion liner walls, an efficient air-cooling system is significantly important to elongatethe lifetime of liner walls. To determine the effectiveness of the air-cooling system, accurate 2D surface temperature measurement of combustor liner walls is crucial for advanced engine development. Traditional diagnostic techniques for temperature measurement, such as thermocouples, thermal wall paints, pyrometry, and phosphors, have shown disadvantages, including being intrusive and affecting local flame/flow dynamics, potential flame quenching, and physical damages to instrumentation due to harsh environments inside the combustor and strong optical interference from strong combustion emission in UV-Mid IR wavelength. To overcome these drawbacks, a compact and small borescope long-wave-infrared (LWIR) sensor is developed to achieve two-dimensional high-spatial resolution, high-fidelity thermal imaging of 2D surface temperature in gas-turbine engines, providing the desired engine component temperature distribution. The compactLWIRborescope sensor makes it feasible to promote the durability of combustor in gas-turbine engines.

Keywords: borescope, engine, long-wave-infrared, sensor

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Authors: Praveenkumar Natarajan

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A 59-year-old male with no known co-morbidities was admitted to a private hospital for complaints of fever and cough and was diagnosed to haveCOVID-19. CT of the thorax revealed the involvement of 50% of the lungs. Screening ECG and ECHO were normal. The patient was treated with oxygen therapy and drugs and was discharged after 12 days of admission. Post-discharge, the patient remained symptom-free and continued his work. After one month, the patient developed a fever for three days, for which he took antipyretics. Subsequently, the patient developed sudden onset breathlessness, which rapidly progressed to grade 4 NYHA, and developed a cough as well. Suspecting COVID-19 reinfection, the patient visited a nearby hospital, where COVID–19 rt-PCR swabs turned out to be positive, and was referred to our hospital. On receiving, the patient had diffuse lung crepitations and a diastolic murmur in the neo-aortic area. CT thorax revealed pulmonary edema with areas of consolidation. ECHO revealed vegetation on the aortic valve with severe aortic regurgitation. Blood cultures were taken, which revealed the growth of Enterococcus faecalis. The diagnosis of infective endocarditis was made, and the patient was started on appropriate treatment. COVID–19 has effects on various systems, including the cardiovascular system. Even though infective endocarditis is common in the elderly with valvular heart disease, this patient had developed infective endocarditis in an apparently normal aortic valve. Infective endocarditis and COVID–19 can have similar presentations leading to diagnostic difficulties. COVID–19, affecting the heart valves causing valvulitis and predisposing them to the development of infective endocarditis, is also an area to be explored.

Keywords: aortic regurgitation, COVID-19, infective endocarditis, valvulitis

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Authors: Greg Fetzer

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One of the fundamental tensions of creative work is between the need to be passionate and persistent in advancing novel and risky ideas and the need to be flexible, revising, or even abandoning ideas in favor of others. The tension becomes fraught in part because of the attachment that creators have toward their ideas. Idea attachment is defined here as a multifaceted concept referring to affection, passion, and connection toward a target—in this case, one’s projects or ideas. Yet feeling attached can make creators resistant to feedback, making them less flexible and leading them to escalate commitment. Despite a growing understanding of how attachment develops and evolves in response to project changes, feedback, and creative jolts, we still know relatively little about the organizational dynamics that may shape idea attachment. Through a qualitative, inductive study of early-stage R&D scientists in the pharmaceutical industry, this research finds that scientists develop bounded attachment, a mindset that limits emotional attachment to ideas while still fostering engagement in idea development. This research develops a process model of how bounded attachment is developed and enacted across three stages of the creative process, idea generation, idea evaluation, and outcome assessment, as well as the role that organizational practices and professional identity play in shaping this process: these collective practices provided structures to ensure ideas were evaluated in a rational (i.e. non-emotional way) while also providing socioemotional support in the face of setbacks. Together, this process led to continued creative engagement across ideas in a portfolio and helped scientists construct a sense of meaningful work despite a high likelihood (and frequency) of failure.

Keywords: creativity, innovation, organizational practices, qualitative, attachment

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Chenxu Fang, Qikai Guan

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Riverside public space in mountainous cities has unique scenic resources and humanistic connotations and is an important place indispensable to the activities of urban residents. In recent years, with the continuous development of society and the expansion of the city, the public space along the riverside has been affected to a certain extent. Based on this, this study is based on the concept of health and safety through the study of riverfront space in the local section of Jialing River in Chongqing City; according to the actual use function of riverfront public space, the riverfront public space in mountainous cities is categorized into leisure and recreational riverfront space, ecological conservation waterfront space, and composite function waterfront space. Starting from the health and safety elements affecting the environment in the riverfront public space, the health and safety influencing factors of the riverfront public space are categorized into three major categories, namely, material, non-material, and social, and through the field research and questionnaire collection, combined with the analysis of the Likert scale, the important levels of the health and safety influencing factors of different types of the riverfront public space of the mountainous cities are clarified. We summarize the factors affecting the health and safety of mountainous riverside spaces, map their importance levels to the design of different types of riverside spaces, and put forward three representative paths for the governance of the safety and health of mountainous riverside public space.

Keywords: health and safety, mountain city, riverfront public space, spatial governance, Chongqing Jialing River

Procedia PDF Downloads 21

Authors: Helena Pera, Arcadi Sanmartin, Albert Falques, Rafael Rebolo, Xavier Ametller, Heiko Zillgen, Cecile Prum, Boris Even, Eric Kapornyai

Abstract:

Sheet piles system can be an interesting solution when dealing with harbors or quays designs. However, current design methods lead to conservative approaches due to the lack of specific basis of design. For instance, some design features still deal with pseudo-static approaches, although being a dynamic problem. Under this concern, the study particularly focuses on hydrodynamic water pressure definition and stability analysis of sheet pile system under seismic loads. During a seismic event, seawater produces hydrodynamic pressures on structures. Currently, design methods introduce hydrodynamic forces by means of Westergaard formulation and Eurocodes recommendations. They apply constant hydrodynamic pressure on the front sheet pile during the entire earthquake. As a result, the hydrodynamic load may represent 20% of the total forces produced on the sheet pile. Nonetheless, some studies question that approach. Hence, this study assesses the soil-structure-fluid interaction of sheet piles under seismic action in order to evaluate if current design strategies overestimate hydrodynamic pressures. For that purpose, this study performs various simulations by Plaxis 2D, a well-known geotechnical software, and CFD models, which treat fluid dynamic behaviours. Knowing that neither Plaxis nor CFD can resolve a soil-fluid coupled problem, the investigation imposes sheet pile displacements from Plaxis as input data for the CFD model. Then, it provides hydrodynamic pressures under seismic action, which fit theoretical Westergaard pressures if calculated using the acceleration at each moment of the earthquake. Thus, hydrodynamic pressures fluctuate during seismic action instead of remaining constant, as design recommendations propose. Additionally, these findings detect that hydrodynamic pressure contributes a 5% to the total load applied on sheet pile due to its instantaneous nature. These results are in line with other studies that use added masses methods for hydrodynamic pressures. Another important feature in sheet pile design is the assessment of the geotechnical overall stability. It uses pseudo-static analysis since the dynamic analysis cannot provide a safety calculation. Consequently, it estimates the seismic action. One of its relevant factors is the selection of the seismic reduction factor. A huge amount of studies discusses the importance of it but also about all its uncertainties. Moreover, current European standards do not propose a clear statement on that, and they recommend using a reduction factor equal to 1. This leads to conservative requirements when compared with more advanced methods. Under this situation, the study calibrates seismic reduction factor by fitting results from pseudo-static to dynamic analysis. The investigation concludes that pseudo-static analyses could reduce seismic action by 40-50%. These results are in line with some studies from Japanese and European working groups. In addition, it seems suitable to account for the flexibility of the sheet pile-soil system. Nevertheless, the calibrated reduction factor is subjected to particular conditions of each design case. Further research would contribute to specifying recommendations for selecting reduction factor values in the early stages of the design. In conclusion, sheet pile design still has chances for improving its design methodologies and approaches. Consequently, design could propose better seismic solutions thanks to advanced methods such as findings of this study.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic pressures, pseudo-static analysis, quays, seismic design, steel sheet pile

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: O. A. Babalola, A. F Adekunle, F. Oladeji, A. T. Osungbade, O. A. Akinlaja

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Optimizing microbiological activities in an organic crop production system is crucial to the realization of optimum growth and development of the crops. Field and pot experiments were conducted to assess soil microbial activities, growth and yield of tomato varieties in response to 4 rates of composted plant and animal residues. The compost rates were 0, 5, 10 and 20 t ha-1, and improved Ibadan and Ibadan local constituted the varieties. Fungi population, microbial biomass nitrogen, cellulase and proteinase activities were significantly higher (P≤ 0.05) at the rhizosphere of the local variety than that of improved variety. This led to a significantly higher number of branches, plant height, leaf area, number of fruits and less days to maturity in the local variety. Furthermore, compost-amended soil had significantly higher microbial populations, microbial biomass N, P and C, enzyme activities, soil N, P and organic carbon than control, but amendment of 20 t ha-1 gave significantly higher values than other compost rates. Consequently, growth parameters and tissue N significantly increased in all compost treatments while dry matter yield and weight of fruits were significantly higher in soil amended with 20 t ha-1. Correlation analysis showed that microbial activities at 6 weeks after transplanting (6 WAT) were more consistently and highly correlated with growth and yield parameters. It was concluded that microbial activities could be optimized to improve the yield of the two tomato varieties in an organic production system, through the application of compost, particularly at 20 t ha-1.

Keywords: compost, microbial activities, microbial contribution, tomato growth and yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

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

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

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

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

Keywords: parasites, livestock, curcuma, colostrums

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Jigg Pelayo, Ricardo Villar

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

Keywords: algorithm, LiDAR, object recognition, OBIA

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Christina Knorr

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 10

Authors: Chien-Hung Liu, Yu-Fen Chen

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This study used triangular laser probe and three-axial direction mobile platform for surface measurement, programmed it and applied it to real-time analytic statistics of different measured data. This structure was used to design a system integration program: using triangular laser probe for scattering or reflection non-contact measurement, transferring the captured signals to the computer through RS-232, and using RS-485 to control the three-axis platform for a wide range of measurement. The data captured by the laser probe are formed into a 3D surface. This study constructed an optical measurement application program in the concept of visual programming language. First, the signals are transmitted to the computer through RS-232/RS-485, and then the signals are stored and recorded in graphic interface timely. This programming concept analyzes various messages, and makes proper presentation graphs and data processing to provide the users with friendly graphic interfaces and data processing state monitoring, and identifies whether the present data are normal in graphic concept. The major functions of the measurement system developed by this study are thickness measurement, SPC, surface smoothness analysis, and analytical calculation of trend line. A result report can be made and printed promptly. This study measured different heights and surfaces successfully, performed on-line data analysis and processing effectively, and developed a man-machine interface for users to operate.

Keywords: laser probe, non-contact measurement, triangulation measurement principle, statistical process control, labVIEW

Procedia PDF Downloads 351