Search results for: common effect

Authors: Jaturong Matidtor, Krisna R. Torrissen, Saengtong Pongjareankit, Sudaporn Tongsiri, Jiraporn Rojtinnakorn

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Low survival rate has being particular problem in nursery of marble goby juvenile. The aim of this study was to investigate effect of garlic extract on protein digestive pancreatic enzymes, trypsin (T) and chymotrypsin (C). The marble goby were reared with commercial feed mixed garlic extract at concentration of 0 (control), 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0% (w/w) for 6 weeks. Analysis of the digestive enzymes at 2 and 6 weeks was performed. Growth parameters; weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE), were identified. For T, C and T/C at 2 weeks, values of T and T/C ratio of 0.3% (w/w) group showed significant difference (p < 0.05) with the highest values of 17685.64± 11981.77 U/mg protein and of 51.64 ± 27.46 U/mg protein, respectively. For C at 2 weeks, 0% (w/w) group showed the highest values of 16191.76± 2225.56 U/mg protein. Whereas value of T, C and T/C ratio at 6 weeks, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05). For growth performance, it significantly increased in all garlic extract fed groups (0.3-5.0%, w/w), both at 2 and 6 weeks. At 2 weeks, values of WG and SGR of 0.5% (w/w) group showed the highest values of 71.51 ± 1.60%, and 3.85 ± 0.07%, respectively. For FE, 0.3% (w/w) group showed the highest value of 60.21 ± 6.51%. At 6 weeks, it illustrated that all growth parameters of 5.0% (w/w) group were the highest values; WG = 35.06 ± 5.66%, SGR = 2.14 ± 0.30%, and FE = 5.86 ± 0.68%. We suggested that garlic extract could be available for protein digestive enzyme and growth enhancement in marble goby nursery with artificial feed. This result will be high benefit for commercial aquaculture of marble goby.

Keywords: marble goby, nursery, garlic extract, digestive enzyme, growth

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Authors: Amin Davoudi

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Aim: New approaches have been introduced to improve soft tissue indices of the dental implants. This systematic review aimed to investigate the effect of computer-aided design and computer-assisted manufacture (CAD/CAM) zirconia (Zr) implant abutments on periodontal aspects. Materials and Methods: Five electronic databases were searched thoroughly based on prior defined MeSH and non-MeSH keywords. Clinical studies were collected via hand searches in English language journals up to September 2020. Interproximal papilla stability, papilla recession, pink and white esthetic score (PES, WES), bone and gingival margin levels, color, and contour of soft tissue were reviewed. Results: The initial literature search yielded 412 articles. After the evaluation of abstracts and full texts, six studies were eligible to be screened. The study design of the included studies was a prospective cohort (n=3) and randomized clinical trial (n=3). The outcome was found to be significantly better for Zr than titanium abutments, however, the studies did not show significant differences between stock and CAD/CAM abutments. Conclusion: Papilla fill, WES, PES, and the distance from the contact point to dental crest bone of adjacent tooth and inter-tooth–implant distance were not significantly different between Zr CAD/CAM and Zr stock abutments. However, soft tissue stability and recession index were better in Zr CAD/CAM abutments.

Keywords: zirconia, CADCAM, periodental, implant

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Belkheir Noura, Rabah Kerfah, Boumehani Abdellah

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The influence of solidity variations on the aerodynamic performance of H type vertical axis wind turbine is studied in this paper. The wind turbine model used in this paper is the three-blade wind turbine with the symmetrical airfoil, NACA0021. The length of the chord is 0.265m. Numerical investigations were implemented for the different solidity by changing the radius and blade number. A two-dimensional model of the wind turbine is employed. The approach a Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations, completed by the K- ώ SST turbulence model, is used. Motion mesh model capability of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver is used. For each value of the solidity, the aerodynamics performances and the characteristics of the flow field are studied at several values of the tip speed ratio, λ = 0.5 to λ = 3, with an incoming wind speed of 8 m/s. The results show that increasing the number of blades will reduce the maximum value of the power coefficient of the wind turbine. Also, for the VAWT with a lower solidity can obtain the maximum Cp at a high tip speed ratio. The effects of changing the radius and blade number on aerodynamic performance are almost the same. Finally, for the validation, experimental data from the literature and computational results were compared. In conclusion, to study the influence of the solidity in the performances of the wind turbine is to provide the reference for the design of H type vertical axis wind turbines.

Keywords: wind energy, darrieus h type vertical axis wind turbine, computational fluid dynamic, solidity

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Diana Gomez-Cano, J. C. Ochoa-Botero, Roberto Bernal Correa, Yhan Paul Arias

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To obtain high mechanical performance, the fresh conditions of a mortar are decisive. Measuring the absorption of aggregates used in mortar mixes is a fundamental requirement for proper design of the mixes prior to their placement in construction sites. In this sense, absorption is a determining factor in the design of a mix because it conditions the amount of water, which in turn affects the water/cement ratio and the final porosity of the mortar. Thus, this work focuses on the mechanical behavior of recycled mortars manufactured from moisture correction using the Thermogravimetric Balancing Halogen Light (TBHL) technique in comparison with the traditional ASTM C 128 International Standard method. The advantages of using the TBHL technique are favorable in terms of reduced consumption of resources such as materials, energy, and time. The results show that in contrast to the ASTM C 128 method, the TBHL alternative technique allows obtaining a higher precision in the absorption values of recycled aggregates, which is reflected not only in a more efficient process in terms of sustainability in the characterization of construction materials but also in an effect on the mechanical performance of recycled mortars.

Keywords: alternative raw materials, halogen light, recycled mortar, resources optimization, water absorption

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Authors: Husham Bayazed

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A growing number of studies indicate that atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) has a complex pathogenesis that extends beyond cholesterol intimal infiltration. The atherosclerosis process may involve an immune micro-environmental condition driven by local activation of the adaptive and innate immunity arrays, resulting in the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, despite the wide usage of lipid-lowering agents, these devastating coronary diseases are not averted either at primary or secondary prevention levels. Many trials have recently shown an interest in the immune targeting of the inflammatory process of atherosclerotic plaques, with the promised improvement in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease outcomes. This recently includes the immune-modulatory drug “Canakinumab” as an anti-interleukin-1 beta monoclonal antibody in addition to "Colchicine,” which's established as a broad-effect drug in the management of other inflammatory conditions. Recent trials and studies highlight the importance of inflammation and immune reactions in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and plaque formation. This provides an insight to discuss and extend the therapies from old lipid-lowering drugs (statins) to anti-inflammatory drugs (colchicine) and new targeted immune-modulatory therapies like inhibitors of IL-1 beta (canakinumab) currently under investigation.

Keywords: atherosclerotic plagues, immune microenvironment, lipid-lowering agents, and immunomodulatory drugs

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Authors: Julius Ilawe Osayi, Peter Osifo

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Solid waste disposal, such as used tires is a global challenge as well as energy crisis due to rising energy demand amidst price uncertainty and depleting fossil fuel reserves. Therefore, the effectiveness of pyrolysis as a disposal method that can transform used tires into liquid fuel and other end-products has made the process attractive to researchers. Although used tires have been converted to liquid fuel using pyrolysis, there is the need to improve on the liquid fuel properties. Hence, this paper reports the investigation of zeolite NaY synthesized from kaolin, a locally abundant soil material in the Benin metropolis as a suitable catalyst and its effect on the properties of pyrolytic oil produced from used tires. The pyrolysis process was conducted for a range of 1 to 10 wt.% of catalyst concentration to used tire at a temperature of 600 oC, a heating rate of 15oC/min and particle size of 6mm. Although no significant increase in pyrolytic oil yield was observed compared to the previously investigated non-catalytic pyrolysis of a used tire. However, the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR); and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) characterization results revealed the pyrolytic oil to possess an improved physicochemical and fuel properties alongside valuable industrial chemical species. This confirms the possibility of transforming kaolin into a catalyst suitable for improved fuel properties of the liquid fraction obtainable from thermal cracking of hydrocarbon materials.

Keywords: catalytic pyrolysis, fossil fuel, kaolin, pyrolytic oil, used tyres, Zeolite NaY

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Authors: Pichamon Chansuchai

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The study of Thai consumer behavior toward buying goods on the Internet is a survey research. The five-level rating scale and open-ended questionnaire are applied for this research procedure, which has more than 400 random sampling of Thai people aged between 15-40 years old. The summary findings are: The analysis of respondents profile were female 55.3% and male 44.8% , 35.3% aged between 20-30 years old, had been employed 29.5% with average income up to 11,000 baht/month 50.2% and expenditure more than 11,000 baht per month 29.3%. The internet usage behavior of respondents mostly found that objectives of the internet usage are: 1) Communication 93.3% 2) the categories of websites usage was trading 42.8% 3) The marketing mix effected to trading behavior via internet which can be analyzed in term of marketing factor as following: Product focused on product quality was the most influenced factor with average value 4.75. The cheaper price than overview market was the most effect factor to internet shopping with mean value 4.53. The average value 4.67 of the available place that could reduce spending time for shopping. The effective promotion of the buy 1 get 1 was the stimulus factor for internet shopping with mean value 4.60. For hypothesis testing, the different sex has relationship with buying decision. It presented that male and female have vary purchasing decision via internet with value of significant difference 0.05. Furthermore, the variety occupations of respondents related to the use of selected type of website. It also found that the vary of personal occupation effected to the type of website selection dissimilar with value of significant difference 0.05.

Keywords: behavior, internet, consumer, goods

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Rupamoni Thakur, Madhusmita Dehingia, Narayan C. Talukdar, Mojibur R. Khan

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The human gut is an extremely active fermentation site and is inhabited by diverse bacterial species. Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been shown to substantially modulate the human gut bacterial profile (GBP) of an individual. Assam, a major north-eastern state of India, is home to a number of tribal populations of which the tea-tribes form a major community. These tea-tribal communities are known to prepare and consume a locally-prepared alcoholic beverage from fermented jaggery, whose chemical composition is unknown. In this study, we demonstrate the effect of daily intake of the locally-prepared alcoholic beverage on the GBP of the tea-tribal communities and correlate it with the changes in the biochemical biomarkers of the population. The fecal bacterial diversity of 40 drinkers and 35 non-drinking healthy individuals were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The results suggested that the GBP was significantly modulated in the fermented-beverage consuming subjects. Significant difference was also observed in the serum biochemical parameters such as triglyceride, total cholesterol and the liver marker enzymes (ASAT/ALAT and GGT). Further studies to identify the GBP of drinkers vs non-drinkers through Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis and to correlate the changes with the biochemical biomarkers of the population is underway.

Keywords: alcoholic beverage, gut bacterial profile, PCR-DGGE analysis, tea-tribes of India

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Authors: Selfa Johnson Zwalnan, Nanchen Nimyel Caleb, Gideon Duvuna Ayuba

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Air conditioning accounts for a significant share of the overall energy consumed in residential buildings. Solar thermal gains in buildings account for a significant component of the air conditioning load in buildings. This study compares the solar thermal gain and air conditioning load of a proposed building design with a typical conventional building in the climatic conditions of Jos, Nigeria, using a combined experimental and computational method using TRNSYS software. According to the findings of this study, the proposed design building's annual average solar thermal gains are lower compared to the reference building's average solar heat gains. The study case building's decreased solar heat gain is mostly attributable to the somewhat lower temperature of the building zones because of the greater building volume and lower fenestration ratio (ratio of external opening area to the area of the external walls). This result shows that the innovative building design adjusts to the local climate better than the standard conventional construction in Jos to maintain a suitable temperature within the building. This finding means that the air-conditioning electrical energy consumption per volume of the proposed building design will be lower than that of a conventional building design.

Keywords: building simulation, solar gain, comfort temperature, temperature, carbon foot print

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Authors: Naziema Jappie

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South Africa is a diverse nation but with many challenges. The fundamental changes in the political, economic and educational domains in South Africa in the late 1990s affected the South African community profoundly. In higher education, experiences of discrimination and bias are detrimental to the sense of belonging of staff and students. It is therefore important to cultivate an appreciation of diversity and inclusion. To bridge common understandings with the reality of racial inequality, we must understand the ways in which senior and executive leadership at universities think about social justice issues relating to diversity and inclusion and contextualize these within the current post-democracy landscape. The position and status of social justice issues and initiatives in South African higher education is a slow process. The focus is to highlight how and to what extent initiatives or practices around campus diversity and inclusion have been considered and made part of the mainstream intellectual and academic conversations in South Africa. This involves an examination of the social and epistemological conditions of possibility for meaningful research and curriculum practices, staff and student recruitment, and student access and success in addressing the challenges posed by social diversity on campuses. Methodology: In this study, university senior and executive leadership were interviewed about their perceptions and advancement of social justice and examine the buffering effects of diverse and inclusive peer interactions and institutional commitment on the relationship between discrimination–bias and sense of belonging for staff and students at the institutions. The paper further explores diversity and inclusion initiatives at the three institutions using a Critical Race Theory approach in conjunction with a literature review on social justice with a special focus on diversity and inclusion. Findings: This paper draws on research findings that demonstrate the need to address social justice issues of diversity and inclusion in the SA higher education context. The reason for this is so that university leaders can live out their experiences and values as they work to transform students into being accountable and responsible. Documents were selected for review with the intent of illustrating how diversity and inclusion work being done across an institution can shape the experiences of previously disadvantaged persons at these institutions. The research has highlighted the need for institutional leaders to embody their own mission and vision as they frame social justice issues for the campus community. Finally, the paper provides recommendations to institutions for strengthening high-level diversity and inclusion programs/initiatives among staff, students and administrators. The conclusion stresses the importance of addressing the historical and current policies and practices that either facilitate or negate the goals of social justice, encouraging these privileged institutions to create internal committees or task forces that focus on racial and ethnic disparities in the institution.

Keywords: diversity, higher education, inclusion, social justice

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Authors: Kamran Siddique, Hiroyuki Asada, Yoshifumi Ogami

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Micro gas turbine (MGT) nowadays has a wide variety of applications from drones to hybrid electric vehicles. As microfabrication technology getting better, the size of MGT is getting smaller. Overall performance of MGT is dependent on the individual components. Each component’s performance is dependent and interrelated with another component. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to each and every individual component of MGT. In this study, the focus is on improving the performance of the compressor in order to improve the overall performance of MGT. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is being performed using the software FLUENT to analyze the design of a micro compressor. Operating parameters like mass flow rate and RPM, and design parameters like inner blade angle (IBA), outer blade angle (OBA), blade thickness and number of blades are varied to study its effect on the performance of the compressor. Pressure ratio is used as a tool to measure the performance of the compressor. Higher the pressure ratio, better the design is. In the study, target mass flow rate is 0.2 g/s and RPM to be less than or equal to 900,000. So far, a pressure ratio of above 3 has been achieved at 0.2 g/s mass flow rate with 5 rotor blades, 0.36 mm blade thickness, 94.25 degrees OBA and 10.46 degrees IBA. The design in this study differs from a regular centrifugal compressor used in conventional gas turbines such that compressor is designed keeping in mind ease of manufacturability. So, this study proposes a compressor design which has a good pressure ratio, and at the same time, it is easy to manufacture using current microfabrication technologies.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, FLUENT microfabrication, RPM

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Authors: Harminder Singh, Rupinder Kaur

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Peach is primarily a temperate fruit, but its low chilling cultivars are grown quite successfully in the sub-tropical climate as well. The area under peach cultivation is picking up rapidly in the sub tropics of northern India due to higher return on a unit area basis, availability of suitable peach cultivar and their production technology. Information on the use of different training systems on peach in the sub tropics is inadequate. In this investigation, conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), India, the trees of the Shan-i-Punjab peach were planted at four different spacings i.e. 6.0x3.0m, 6.0x2.5m, 4.5x3.0m and 4.5x2.5m and were trained to central leader system. The total radiation interception and penetration in the upper and lower canopy parts were higher in 6x3.0m and 6x2.5m planted trees as compared to other spacings. Average radiation interception was maximum in the upper part of the tree canopy, and it decreased significantly with the depth of the canopy in all the spacings. Tree planted at wider spacings produced more vegetative (tree height, tree girth, tree spread and canopy volume) and reproductive growth (flower bud density, number of fruits and fruit yield) per tree but productivity was maximum in the closely planted trees. Fruits harvested from the wider spaced trees were superior in fruit quality (size, weight, colour, TSS and acidity) and matured earlier than those harvested from closed spaced trees.

Keywords: quality, radiation, spacings, yield

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Authors: Umamaheswara Rao Jada, Susmita Mukhopadhyay

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Employee voice behavior has emerged as an important topic in relation to understanding the paybacks within the organizations. Organizations are expecting employees to contribute in the form of suggestions and ideas that not only help an organization to grow but also survive the turbulent times. Leadership in the organization enables and arouses an individual to offer constructive ideas. The significant impact of leadership is undeniable in a context of creating an environment that promotes a free flow of thoughts and ideas in the organization which in turn is significantly influenced by the personality of the leader. Therefore our study aims at examining the underlying factors which influence employee constructive voice behavior in connection with leader’s personality, empowering form of leadership and leader-member exchange in the organization sequentially. A standardized survey questionnaire was used to collect sample of 272 service executives in India. Smart PLS 2.0 was used to test hypothesis and explore the mediation effect. The result shows that the leader personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness were positively related to empowering leadership, whereas neuroticism was unrelated to empowering leadership. Empowering leadership influenced followers’ constructive voice behavior significantly. Furthermore, the relationship was partially mediated by leader member exchange relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings, as well as directions for the future line of research, have been presented in the study.

Keywords: constructive voice, empowering leadership, leader member exchange (LMX), leader personality traits

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Feiruz Ab'lah, Zarini Ismail, Mohamad Zaki Hassan, Siti Nadia Mohd Bakhori, Mohamad Azlan Suhot, Mohd Yusof Md. Daud, Shamsul Sarip

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The construction industry is one of the major sectors in Malaysia. Apart from providing facilities, services, and goods it also offers employment opportunities to local and foreign workers. In fact, the construction workers are exposed to a hazardous level of noises that generated from various sources including excavators, bulldozers, concrete mixer, and piling machines. Previous studies indicated that the piling and concrete work was recorded as the main source that contributed to the highest level of noise among the others. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain the noise exposure during piling process and to determine the awareness of workers against noise pollution at the construction site. Initially, the reading of noise was obtained at construction site by using a digital sound level meter (SLM), and noise exposure to the workers was mapped. Readings were taken from four different distances; 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters from the piling machine. Furthermore, a set of questionnaire was also distributed to assess the knowledge regarding noise pollution at the construction site. The result showed that the mean noise level at 5m distance was more than 90 dB which exceeded the recommended level. Although the level of awareness regarding the effect of noise pollution is satisfactory, majority of workers (90%) still did not wear ear protecting device during work period. Therefore, the safety module guidelines related to noise pollution controls should be implemented to provide a safe working environment and prevent initial occupational hearing loss.

Keywords: construction, noise awareness, noise pollution, piling machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Raouf Hassan

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Biogas energy production from sewage sludge is an economically feasible and eco-friendly in nature. Sewage sludge is considered nutrient-rich substrates, but had lower values of carbone which consider an energy source for anaerobic bacteria. The lack or lower values of carbone-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) reduced biogas yield and fermentation rate. Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge offers several benefits over mono-digestion such as optimize nutrient balance, increased cost-efficiency and increased degradation rate. The high produced amounts of animal manures, which reach up to 90% of the total collected organic wastes, are recommended for the co-digestion with sewage sludge, especially with the limitations of industrial substrates. Moreover, cattle manures had high methane production potential (500 m3/t vsadded). When mixed with sewage sludge the potential methane production increased with increasing cattle manure content. In this paper, the effect of cattle manure (CM) addition as co-substrates on the sewage sludge (SS) anaerobic digestion performance was investigated under mesophilic conditions (35°C) using anaerobic batch reactors. The batch reactors were operated with a working volume 0.8 liter, and a hydraulic retention time of 30 days. The research work focus on studying two main parameters; the biogas yield (expressed as VSS) and pH values inside the reactors.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, sewage sludge, cattle manure, mesophilic, biogas yield, pH

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Authors: Pinyada Santisarun, Yaowaret Tharawoot, Songyut Akkakoson

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This paper reports on a literature review sub-study of a larger research project which has been designed to identify the rhetorical organization of a travel writing genre, together with the use of lexical choices, syntactical structures, and graphological features, based on a randomly-selected corpus of Thailand travel listicles. Conducted as a library-based overview, this study aims to specify theoretical and practical elements for the said larger study. The materials for the review have been retrieved from various Internet sources, covering both public search engines and library databases. Generally, the article focuses on answering questions about the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of such background elements widely discussed in the literature as the meaning of listicles, how the travel listicles’ patterns and regularities can be categorized to form a new genre, the effect of computer-mediated communication on the travel world, the travel language, and the current situation concerning the importance of travel listicles. The theoretical and practical data derived from this study provide valuable insights into the way in which the genre analysis and lexico-syntactical examination of Thailand travel listicles in the present authors’ larger research project can be properly conducted. The data gained can be added to the expanding body of knowledge in the field of the ESP genre.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, digital writing, genre-based analysis, online travel writing, tourism language

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Authors: Fawzyah Albaldi

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Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most prevalent of infectious diseases and > 80% are caused by uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC). Infection occurs following adhesion to urothelial plaques on bladder epithelial cells, whose major protein constituent are the uroplakins (UPs). Two of the four uroplakins (UPIa and UPIb) are members of the tetraspanin superfamily. The UPEC adhesin FimH is known to interact directly with UPIa. Tetraspanins are a diverse family of transmembrane proteins that generally act as “molecular organizers” by binding different proteins and lipids to form tetraspanin enriched microdomains (TEMs). Previous work by our group has shown that TEMs are involved in the adhesion of many pathogenic bacteria to human cells. Adhesion can be blocked by tetraspanin-derived synthetic peptides, suggesting that tetraspanins may be valuable drug targets. In this study, we investigate the role of tetraspanins in UPEC adherence to bladder epithelial cells. Human bladder cancer cell lines (T24, 5637, RT4), commonly used as in-vitro models to investigate UPEC infection, along with primary human bladder cells, were used in this project. The aim was to establish a model for UPEC adhesion/infection with the objective of evaluating the impact of tetraspanin-derived reagents on this process. Such reagents could reduce the progression of UTI, particularly in patients with indwelling catheters. Tetraspanin expression on the bladder cells was investigated by q-PCR and flow cytometry, with CD9 and CD81 generally highly expressed. Interestingly, despite these cell lines being used by other groups to investigate FimH antagonists, uroplakin proteins (UPIa, UPIb and UPIII) were poorly expressed at the cell surface, although some were present intracellularly. Attempts were made to differentiate the cell lines, to induce cell surface expression of these UPs, but these were largely unsuccessful. Pre-treatment of bladder epithelial cells with anti-CD9 monoclonal antibody significantly decreased UPEC infection, whilst anti-CD81 had no effects. A short (15aa) synthetic peptide corresponding to the large extracellular region (EC2) of CD9 also significantly reduced UPEC adherence. Furthermore, we demonstrated specific binding of that fluorescently tagged peptide to the cells. CD9 is known to associate with a number of heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPGs) that have also been implicated in bacterial adhesion. Here, we demonstrated that unfractionated heparin (UFH)and heparin analogs significantly inhibited UPEC adhesion to RT4 cells, as did pre-treatment of the cells with heparinases. Pre-treatment with chondroitin sulphate (CS) and chondroitinase also significantly decreased UPEC adherence to RT4 cells. This study may shed light on a common pathogenicity mechanism involving the organisation of HSPGs by tetraspanins. In summary, although we determined that the bladder cell lines were not suitable to investigate the role of uroplakins in UPEC adhesion, we demonstrated roles for CD9 and cell surface proteoglycans in this interaction. Agents that target these may be useful in treating/preventing UTIs.

Keywords: UTIs, tspan, uroplakins, CD9

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Authors: Harshit Agrawal, Salman Muhammad

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Degradation to reinforced concrete (RC), primarily due to corrosion of embedded reinforcement, has been a major cause of concern worldwide. Among several ways to control corrosion, the use of coated reinforcement has gained significant interest in field applications. However, the choice of proper coating material and the effect of damage over coating are yet to be addressed for effective application of coated reinforcements. The present study aims to investigate and compare the performance of three different types of coated reinforcements —Fusion-Bonded Epoxy Coating (FBEC), Cement Polymer Composite Coating (CPCC), and Dual Zinc-Epoxy Coating (DZEC) —in concrete structures. The aim is to assess their corrosion resistance, durability, and overall effectiveness as coated reinforcement materials both in undamaged and simulated damaged conditions. Through accelerated corrosion tests, electrochemical analysis, and exposure to aggressive marine environments, the study evaluates the long-term performance of each coating system. This research serves as a crucial guide for engineers and construction professionals in selecting the most suitable corrosion protection for reinforced concrete, thereby enhancing the durability and sustainability of infrastructure.

Keywords: corrosion, reinforced concrete, coated reinforcement, seawater exposure, electrochemical analysis, service life, corrosion prevention

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Authors: Patrick J. Kerpan, Ryan C. Koop, Margaret M. Walker, Chris P. Swan

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The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) multicast is a vital part of data center networking that is being left out of major cloud computing providers' network infrastructure. Enterprise users rely on multicast, and particularly UDP multicast to create and connect vital business operations. For example, UPD makes a variety of business functions possible from simultaneous content media updates, High-Performance Computing (HPC) grids, and video call routing for massive open online courses (MOOCs). Essentially, UDP multicast's technological slight is causing a huge effect on whether companies choose to use (or not to use) public cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Allowing the ‘chatty’ UDP multicast protocol inside a cloud network could have a serious impact on the performance of the cloud as a whole. Cloud IaaS providers solve the issue by disallowing all UDP multicast. But what about enterprise use cases for multicast applications in organizations that want to move to the cloud? To re-allow multicast traffic, enterprises can build a layer 3 - 7 network over the top of a data center, private cloud, or public cloud. An overlay network simply creates a private, sealed network on top of the existing network. Overlays give complete control of the network back to enterprise cloud users the freedom to manage their network beyond the control of the cloud provider’s firewall conditions. The same logic applies if for users who wish to use IPsec or BGP network protocols inside or connected into an overlay network in cloud IaaS.

Keywords: cloud computing, protocols, UDP multicast, virtualization

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Authors: Angelis P. Barlampas

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Learning Objectives: The purpose of this study is to inform briefly the reader about the applications of AI in chest radiology. Background: Currently, there are 190 FDA-approved radiology AI applications, with 42 (22%) pertaining specifically to thoracic radiology. Imaging findings OR Procedure details Aids of AI in chest radiology1: Detects and segments pulmonary nodules. Subtracts bone to provide an unobstructed view of the underlying lung parenchyma and provides further information on nodule characteristics, such as nodule location, nodule two-dimensional size or three dimensional (3D) volume, change in nodule size over time, attenuation data (i.e., mean, minimum, and/or maximum Hounsfield units [HU]), morphological assessments, or combinations of the above. Reclassifies indeterminate pulmonary nodules into low or high risk with higher accuracy than conventional risk models. Detects pleural effusion . Differentiates tension pneumothorax from nontension pneumothorax. Detects cardiomegaly, calcification, consolidation, mediastinal widening, atelectasis, fibrosis and pneumoperitoneum. Localises automatically vertebrae segments, labels ribs and detects rib fractures. Measures the distance from the tube tip to the carina and localizes both endotracheal tubes and central vascular lines. Detects consolidation and progression of parenchymal diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Can evaluate lobar volumes. Identifies and labels pulmonary bronchi and vasculature and quantifies air-trapping. Offers emphysema evaluation. Provides functional respiratory imaging, whereby high-resolution CT images are post-processed to quantify airflow by lung region and may be used to quantify key biomarkers such as airway resistance, air-trapping, ventilation mapping, lung and lobar volume, and blood vessel and airway volume. Assesses the lung parenchyma by way of density evaluation. Provides percentages of tissues within defined attenuation (HU) ranges besides furnishing automated lung segmentation and lung volume information. Improves image quality for noisy images with built-in denoising function. Detects emphysema, a common condition seen in patients with history of smoking and hyperdense or opacified regions, thereby aiding in the diagnosis of certain pathologies, such as COVID-19 pneumonia. It aids in cardiac segmentation and calcium detection, aorta segmentation and diameter measurements, and vertebral body segmentation and density measurements. Conclusion: The future is yet to come, but AI already is a helpful tool for the daily practice in radiology. It is assumed, that the continuing progression of the computerized systems and the improvements in software algorithms , will redder AI into the second hand of the radiologist.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, chest imaging, nodule detection, automated diagnoses

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Authors: Gubiani Rino, Nicola Zucchiatti, Da Broi Ugo, Bietresato Marco

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The problem of vibrations in agriculture is very important due to the different types of machinery used for the different types of soil in which work is carried out. One of the most commonly used machines is the tractor, where the phenomenon has been studied for a long time by measuring the whole body and placing the sensor on the seat. However, this measurement system does not take into account the characteristics of the drivers, such as their body index (BMI), their gender (male, female) or the muscle fatigue they are subjected to, which is highly dependent on their age for example. The aim of the research was therefore to place sensors not only on the seat but along the spinal column to check the transmission of vibration on drivers with different BMI on different tractors and at different travel speeds and of different genders. The test was also done using wearable sensors such as a dynamometer applied to the muscles, the data of which was correlated with the vibrations produced by the tractor. Initial data show that even on new tractors with pneumatic seats, the vibrations attenuate little and are still correlated with the roughness of the track travelled and the forward speed. Another important piece of data are the root-mean square values referred to 8 hours (A(8)x,y,z) and the maximum transient vibration values (MTVVx,y,z) and, the latter, the MTVVz values were problematic (limiting factor in most cases) and always aggravated by the speed. The MTVVx values can be lowered by having a tyre-pressure adjustment system, able to properly adjust the tire pressure according to the specific situation (ground, speed) in which a tractor is operating.

Keywords: fatigue, effect vibration on health, tractor driver vibrations, vibration, muscle skeleton disorders

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Authors: Sonam Kumari

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Tuberculosis is the deadliest disease worldwide. Millions of people lose their lives every year due to this disease. It has turned lethal due to the erratic nature of its causative organism, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Mtb tends to enter into an inactive, dormant state and emerge to replicating state upon encountering favorable conditions. The mechanism by which Mtb switches from the dormant state to the replicative form is still poorly characterized. Proteome studies have given us an insight into the role of certain proteins in giving stupendous virulence to Mtb, but numerous dotsremain unconnected and unaccounted. The WhiB family of proteins is one such protein that is associated with developmental processes in actinomycetes. Mtb has seven such proteins (WhiB1 to WhiB7). WhiB proteins are transcriptional regulators; they regulate various essential genes of Mtbby binding to their promoter DNA. Biophysical parameters of the effect of DNA binding on WhiB proteins has not yet been appropriately characterized. Interaction with DNA induces conformational changes in the WhiB proteins, confirmed by steady-state fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy. ITC has deduced thermodynamic parameters and the binding affinity of the interaction. Since these transcription factors are highly unstable in vitro, their stability and solubility were enhanced by the co-expression of molecular chaperones. The present study findings help determine the conditions under which the WhiB proteins interact with their interacting partner and the factors that influence their binding affinity. This is crucial in understanding their role in regulating gene expression in Mtbandin targeting WhiB proteins as a drug target to cure TB.

Keywords: mycobacterium tuberculosis, TB, whiB proteins, ITC

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Authors: Ruhollah Heydari Sheikh Ahmad, Sara Alaie Khoraem

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Introduction: Substance use disorder is conceptualized as a chronic relapsing condition where relapse is usually defined as the return to problematic substance use following treatment. An issue of great importance is the identification of the predictors of relapse and the development of treatments that may help prevent relapse. One of the strongest predictors of relapse is craving. The purpose of the present study was to study the effect of anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and coping motives on craving. Materials and method: Participants (n=74) were male opiate users recruited from a semi-private clinic providing de-toxification and treatment services for substance users. Anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, coping motives and craving were assessed using relevant questionnaires. The addiction severity index was used to assess addiction severity. Results: All patients were methadone maintained and one year after detoxification, 36 patients (48.64%) relapsed. Stress and anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, addiction severity and coping motives predicted craving and relapse. Anxiety sensitivity specifically predicted early relapse. Conclusion: Substance use is a severe mental disorder, with high relapse rates. Substance users high in anxiety sensitivity are particularly prone to relapse during the first six months of treatment. Addiction severity and coping motives need to be taken into account when providing interventional services for substance users. Findings imply the significance of additional psychological attention to methadone maintained patients to prevent craving and relapse.

Keywords: anxiety sensitivity, coping motives, relapse, substance use craving

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Authors: Ekaterina Malova

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Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic illness requiring immense lifestyle changes to reduce the chance of life-threatening complications. Moving to a college may be the first time for a young adult with T1D to take responsibility for all the aspects of their diabetes care. In addition, people with T1D constantly face stigmatization and discrimination as a result of their health condition, which puts additional pressure on young adults with T1D. Hence, omissions in diabetes self-care often occur during the time of transition to college when both the social and physical environment of young adults changes drastically and contribute to the fact that emerging young adults remain one of the age groups with the highest hemoglobin levels and poorest diabetes control. However, despite potential severe health risks caused by a lack of proper diabetes self-care, little is known about the experiences of emerging adults embarking on a higher education journey as this population. Thus, young adults with type 1 diabetes are a 'forgotten group,' meaning that their experiences are rarely addressed by researchers. Given that self-disclosure and information-seeking can be challenging for individuals with stigmatized illnesses, online platforms like YouTube have become a popular medium of self-disclosure and information-seeking for people living with T1D. Thus, this study aims to provide an analysis of experiences that college students with T1D choose to share with the general public online and explore the nature of information being communicated by college students with T1D to the online community in personal narratives posted on YouTube. A systematic approach was used to retrieve a video sample by searching YouTube with keywords 'type 1 diabetes' and 'college,' with results ordered by relevance. A total of 18 videos were saved. Video lengths ranged from 2 to 28 minutes. The data were coded using NVivo. Video transcripts were coded and analyzed utilizing the thematic analysis method. Three key themes emerged from thematic analysis: 1) Advice, 2) Personal experience, and 3) Things I wish everyone knew about T1D. In addition, Theme 1 was divided into subtopics to differentiate between the most common types of advice: 1) Overcoming stigma and b) Seeking social support. The identified themes indicate that two groups of the population can potentially benefit from watching students’ video testimonies: 1) lay public and 2) other students with T1D. Given that students in the videos reported a lack of T1D education in the lay public, such video narratives can serve important educational purposes and reduce health stigma, while perceived similarity and identification with students in the videos may facilitate the transition of health information to other individuals with T1D and positively affect their diabetes routine. Thus, online video narratives can potentially serve both educational and persuasive purposes, empowering students with T1D to stay in control of T1D while succeeding academically.

Keywords: type 1 diabetes, college students, health communication, transition period

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Authors: Maria Magdy Danial Riad

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Background: In the United Kingdom (UK), pharmacists' roles have expanded considerably in recent decades to encompass clinical practice through more direct patient care. However, dispensing and compounding remain core activities for pharmacists. A lack of marketed preparations for species-specific animal use results in veterinary pharmacy practice compounding, retaining its prominence. Current participation by pharmacists to support this sphere of practice would appear to be minimal. Objectives: This study was undertaken to determine the opinions and views toward the practice of veterinary pharmacy by a cross-sectional group of pharmacists. Methods: Research data were collected via a self-administered survey questionnaire distributed at the 2012 annual conference of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Sampling was purposive, with a random distribution of the questionnaire to pharmacists during the conference sessions. Key findings: Interaction by pharmacists with veterinary pharmacies is currently minimal, primarily due to a lack of knowledge of veterinary medicines. Respondents revealed a lack of veterinary pharmacy courses during their undergraduate studies. This has led to situations where some veterinary prescriptions are dispensed without adequate checks being performed by the pharmacist. Pharmacists, on occasion, do not dispense veterinary prescriptions presented to them due to insufficient knowledge of veterinary medicines and/or a lack of consultable reference sources. The effect on practice is that pharmacists do not always participate as fully as would seem logical. Conclusions: Pharmacists' participation in veterinary pharmacy is limited by a lack of knowledge of veterinary medicines, mostly resulting from inadequate tuition on veterinary pharmacy during their initial education.

Keywords: veterinary pharmacy, veterinary medicines, pharmacy education, pharmacists continuing professional development

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Authors: Asma Naim, Warda Mushtaq

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Staphylococcus species are the most versatile and adaptive organism. They are widespread and naturally found on the skin, mucosa and nose in humans. Among these, Staphylococcus aureus is the most important species. These organisms act as opportunistic pathogens and can infect various organs of the host, causing minor skin infection to severe toxin mediated diseases, and life threatening nosocomial infections. Staphylococcus aureus has acquired resistance against β-lactam antibiotics by the production of β-lactamase, and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have also been reported with increasing frequency. MRSA strains have been associated with nosocomial as well as community acquired infections. Medicinal plants have enormous potential as antimicrobial substances and have been used in traditional medicine. Search for medicinally valuable plants with antimicrobial activity is being emphasized due to increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria. In the present study, the antibacterial potential of Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) and Murraya koenigii (curry leaves) was evaluated. These are common household herbs used in food as enhancer of flavor and aroma. The crude aqueous infusion, decoction and ethanolic extracts of curry leaves and rosemary and essential oil of rosemary were investigated in the present study for antibacterial activity against multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus strains using well diffusion method. In the present study, 60 Multi-drug resistant clinical isolates of S. aureus (43) and Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) (17) were screened against different concentrations of crude extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis and Murraya koenigii. Out of these 60 isolates, 43 were sensitive to the aqueous infusion of rosemary; 23 to aqueous decoction and 58 to ethanolic extract whereas, 24 isolates were sensitive to the essential oil. In the case of the curry leaves, no antibacterial activity was observed in aqueous infusion and decoction while only 14 isolates were sensitive to the ethanolic extract. The aqueous infusion of rosemary (50% concentration) exhibited a zone of inhibition of 21(±5.69) mm. against CoNS and 17(±4.77) mm. against S. aureus, the zone of inhibition of 50% concentration of aqueous decoction of rosemary was also larger against CoNS 17(±5.78) mm. then S. aureus 13(±6.91) mm. and the 50% concentrated ethanolic extract showed almost similar zone of inhibition in S. aureus 22(±3.61) mm. and CoNS 21(±7.64) mm. whereas, the essential oil of rosemary showed greater zone of inhibition against S. aureus i.e., 16(±4.67) mm. while CoNS showed 15(±6.94) mm. These results show that ethanolic extract of rosemary has significant antibacterial activity. Aqueous infusion and decoction of curry leaves revealed no significant antibacterial potential against all Staphylococcal species and ethanolic extract also showed only a weak response. Staphylococcus strains were susceptible to crude extracts and essential oil of rosemary in a dose depend manner, where the aqueous infusion showed highest zone of inhibition and ethanolic extract also demonstrated antistaphylococcal activity. These results demonstrate that rosemary possesses antistaphylococcal activity.

Keywords: antibacterial activity, curry leaves, multidrug resistant, rosemary, S. aureus

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Authors: Guinevere Servis

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This paper hypothesizes that withdrawal from positive self-awareness, and the increase of counterfactual-thinking and self-handicapping can help provide ample justification for an individual before, during and/or after committing a crime. The understanding of who someone is, one’s perspective on the world, and why they think the way they do is key to therapy in preventing recidivism. Developing habits to escape self-awareness, by using self-handicapping and counterfactual ideologies, may provide the necessary thinking patterns to decide disobeying the law is a worthy act to pursue. An increase in self-awareness is hypothesized to decrease the likelihood of recidivism, and ways of thinking that withdraw from self awareness can increase the likelihood of it. Especially for those who have been disadvantaged in life and disobeyed the law, self-handicapping and counterfactual thinking can also help to justify one's wrongdoing. The understanding of how a criminal views their disadvantages in the world, and one’s thinking patterns are hypothesized to help one better understand the entire scope on why a crime was committed and thus reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Utilizing therapy for prisoners to increase self-awareness of both thought and action can lead to a healthy, happier life and reduce the likelihood of reoffending. By discussing the terms associated with self-awareness theory and other psychological topics such as self-handicapping, counterfactual thinking, this paper argues the actions towards increasing positive self-awareness can help decrease likelihood of recidivism. Adversely, hypothesizing that increasing the ways of thinking that withdraw one from self-awareness, through counterfactual thinking and self-handicapping, can inherently increase the likelihood of recidivism. Evaluating these findings to further understand the needed changes in correctional institutions is fundamental to reducing crime, benefiting the criminal, the victim(s) and their family, and the state.

Keywords: crime, self-awareness theory, correctional institutions, self-regulate, counterfactual thinking, recidivism

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Authors: Y. L. Chang, Y. H. Huang

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This study designed a mobile guide system that integrates the design principles of guidance and interpretation with augmented reality (AR) as an auxiliary tool for National Taiwan Science Education Center guidance and explored the learning performance of participants who were divided into two visiting groups: AR-guided mode and non-guided mode (without carrying any auxiliary devices). The study included 96 college students as participants and employed a quasi-experimental research design. This study evaluated the learning performance of education center students aided with different guided modes, including their flow experience, activity involvement, learning effects, as well as their attitude and acceptance of using the guide systems. The results showed that (a) the AR guide promoted visitors’ flow experience; (b) the AR-guidance activity involvement and flow experience having a significant positive effect; (c) most of the visitors of mobile guide system with AR elicited a positive response and acceptance attitude. These results confirm the necessity of human–computer–context interaction. Future research can continue exploring the advantages of enhanced learning effectiveness, activity involvement, and flow experience through application of the results of this study.

Keywords: augmented reality, mobile guide system, informal learning, flow experience, activity involvement

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Authors: Habib Muhammetoglu, I. Ethem Karadirek, Selami Kara, Ayse Muhammetoglu

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The problem of non-revenue water (NRW) from municipal water distribution networks is common in many countries such as Turkey, where the average yearly water losses are around 50% . Water losses can be divided into two major types namely: 1) Real or physical water losses, and 2) Apparent or commercial water losses. Total water losses in Antalya city, Turkey is around 45%. Methods: A research study was conducted to develop appropriate methodologies to reduce NRW. A pilot study area of about 60 thousands inhabitants was chosen to apply the study. The pilot study area has a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the monitoring and control of many water quantity and quality parameters at the groundwater drinking wells, pumping stations, distribution reservoirs, and along the water mains. The pilot study area was divided into 18 District Metered Areas (DMAs) with different number of service connections that ranged between a few connections to less than 3000 connections. The flow rate and water pressure to each DMA were on-line continuously measured by an accurate flow meter and water pressure meter that were connected to the SCADA system. Customer water meters were installed to all billed and unbilled water users. The monthly water consumption as given by the water meters were recorded regularly. Water balance was carried out for each DMA using the well-know standard IWA approach. There were considerable variations in the water losses percentages and the components of the water losses among the DMAs of the pilot study area. Old Class B customer water meters at one DMA were replaced by more accurate new Class C water meters. Hydraulic modelling using the US-EPA EPANET model was carried out in the pilot study area for the prediction of water pressure variations at each DMA. The data sets required to calibrate and verify the hydraulic model were supplied by the SCADA system. It was noticed that a number of the DMAs exhibited high water pressure values. Therefore, pressure reducing valves (PRV) with constant head were installed to reduce the pressure up to a suitable level that was determined by the hydraulic model. On the other hand, the hydraulic model revealed that the water pressure at the other DMAs cannot be reduced when complying with the minimum pressure requirement (3 bars) as stated by the related standards. Results: Physical water losses were reduced considerably as a result of just reducing water pressure. Further physical water losses reduction was achieved by applying acoustic methods. The results of the water balances helped in identifying the DMAs that have considerable physical losses. Many bursts were detected especially in the DMAs that have high physical water losses. The SCADA system was very useful to assess the efficiency level of this method and to check the quality of repairs. Regarding apparent water losses reduction, changing the customer water meters resulted in increasing water revenue by more than 20%. Conclusions: DMA, SCADA, modelling, pressure management, leakage detection and accurate customer water meters are efficient for NRW.

Keywords: NRW, water losses, pressure management, SCADA, apparent water losses, urban water distribution networks

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Authors: S. Ilahi, S. Almosni, F. Chouchene, M. Perrin, K. Zelazna, N. Yacoubi, R. Kudraweic, P. Rale, L. Lombez, J. F. Guillemoles, O. Durand, C. Cornet

Abstract:

Great efforts have been dedicated to obtain high quality of GaAsPN. The properties of GaAsPN have played a great part on the development of solar cells devices based in Si substrate. The incorporation of N in GaAsPN that having a band gap around of 1.7 eV is of special interest in view of growing in Si substrate. In fact, post-growth and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) could be an effective way to improve the quality of the layer. Then, the influence of growth conditions and post-growth annealing on optical and thermal parameters is considered. We have used Photothermal deflection spectroscopy PDS to investigate the impact of rapid thermal annealing on thermal and optical properties of GaAsPN. In fact, the principle of the PDS consists to illuminate the sample by a modulated monochromatic light beam. Then, the absorbed energy is converted into heat through the nonradiative recombination process. The generated thermal wave propagates into the sample and surrounding media creating a refractive-index gradient giving rise to the deflection of a laser probe beam skimming the sample surface. The incident light is assumed to be uniform, and only the sample absorbs the light. In conclusion, the results are promising revealing an improvement in absorption coefficient and thermal conductivity.

Keywords: GaAsPN absorber, photothermal defelction technique PDS, photonics on silicon, thermal conductivity

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