Search results for: environmental systems

Authors: Michael Radwan Omary

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Context: This scientific innovation demonstrate organic catalysis engineered media effective desalination of surface and groundwater. The author has developed a technology called “Storm-Water Ions Filtration Treatment” (SWIFTTM) cold reactor modules designed to retrofit typical urban street storm drains or catch basins. SWIFT triggers biochemical redox reactions with water stream-embedded toxic total dissolved solids (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC). SWIFTTM Catalysts media unlock the sub-molecular bond energy, break down toxic chemical bonds, and neutralize toxic molecules, bacteria and pathogens. Research Aim: This research aims to develop and design lower O&M cost, zero-brine discharge, energy input-free, chemical-free water desalination and disinfection systems. The objective is to provide an effective resilient and sustainable solution to urban storm-water and groundwater decontamination and disinfection. Methodology: We focused on the development of organic, non-chemical, no-plugs, no pumping, non-polymer and non-allergenic approaches for water and waste water desalination and disinfection. SWIFT modules operate by directing the water stream to flow freely through the electrically charged media cold reactor, generating weak interactions with a water-dissolved electrically conductive molecule, resulting in the neutralization of toxic molecules. The system is powered by harvesting sub-molecular bonds embedded in energy. Findings: The SWIFTTM Technology case studies at CSU-CI and CSU-Fresno Water Institute, demonstrated consistently high reduction of all 40 detected waste-water pollutants including pathogens to levels below a state of California Department of Water Resources “Drinking Water Maximum Contaminants Levels”. The technology has proved effective in reducing pollutants such as arsenic, beryllium, mercury, selenium, glyphosate, benzene, and E. coli bacteria. The technology has also been successfully applied to the decontamination of dissolved chemicals, water pathogens, organic compounds and radiological agents. Theoretical Importance: SWIFT technology development, design, engineering, and manufacturing, offer cutting-edge advancement in achieving clean-energy source bio-catalysis media solution, an energy input free water and waste water desalination and disinfection. A significant contribution to institutions and municipalities achieving sustainable, lower cost, zero-brine and zero CO2 discharges clean energy water desalination. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The researchers collected data on the performance of the SWIFTTM technology in reducing the levels of various pollutants in water. The data was analyzed by comparing the reduction achieved by the SWIFTTM technology to the Drinking Water Maximum Contaminants Levels set by the state of California. The researchers also conducted live oral presentations to showcase the applications of SWIFTTM technology in storm water capture and decontamination as well as providing clean drinking water during emergencies. Conclusion: The SWIFTTM Technology has demonstrated its capability to effectively reduce pollutants in water and waste water to levels below regulatory standards. The Technology offers a sustainable solution to groundwater and storm-water treatments. Further development and implementation of the SWIFTTM Technology have the potential to treat storm water to be reused as a new source of drinking water and an ambient source of clean and healthy local water for recharge of ground water.

Keywords: catalysis, bio electro interactions, water desalination, weak-interactions

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Authors: Olga Kononova, Sergey Lyapin

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Global information society requirements are transparency and reliability of data, as well as ability to manage information resources independently; particularly to search, to analyze, to evaluate information, thereby obtaining new expertise. Moreover, it is satisfying the society information needs that increases the efficiency of the enterprise management and public administration. The study of structurally organized thematic and semantic contexts of different types, automatically extracted from unstructured data, is one of the important tasks for the application of information technologies in education, science, culture, governance and business. The objectives of this study are the contextual knowledge typologization, selection or creation of effective tools for extracting and analyzing contextual knowledge. Explication of various kinds and forms of the contextual knowledge involves the development and use full-text search information systems. For the implementation purposes, the authors use an e-library 'Humanitariana' services such as the contextual search, different types of queries (paragraph-oriented query, frequency-ranked query), automatic extraction of knowledge from the scientific texts. The multifunctional e-library «Humanitariana» is realized in the Internet-architecture in WWS-configuration (Web-browser / Web-server / SQL-server). Advantage of use 'Humanitariana' is in the possibility of combining the resources of several organizations. Scholars and research groups may work in a local network mode and in distributed IT environments with ability to appeal to resources of any participating organizations servers. Paper discusses some specific cases of the contextual knowledge explication with the use of the e-library services and focuses on possibilities of new types of the contextual knowledge. Experimental research base are science texts about 'e-government' and 'computer games'. An analysis of the subject-themed texts trends allowed to propose the content analysis methodology, that combines a full-text search with automatic construction of 'terminogramma' and expert analysis of the selected contexts. 'Terminogramma' is made out as a table that contains a column with a frequency-ranked list of words (nouns), as well as columns with an indication of the absolute frequency (number) and the relative frequency of occurrence of the word (in %% ppm). The analysis of 'e-government' materials showed, that the state takes a dominant position in the processes of the electronic interaction between the authorities and society in modern Russia. The media credited the main role in these processes to the government, which provided public services through specialized portals. Factor analysis revealed two factors statistically describing the used terms: human interaction (the user) and the state (government, processes organizer); interaction management (public officer, processes performer) and technology (infrastructure). Isolation of these factors will lead to changes in the model of electronic interaction between government and society. In this study, the dominant social problems and the prevalence of different categories of subjects of computer gaming in science papers from 2005 to 2015 were identified. Therefore, there is an evident identification of several types of contextual knowledge: micro context; macro context; dynamic context; thematic collection of queries (interactive contextual knowledge expanding a composition of e-library information resources); multimodal context (functional integration of iconographic and full-text resources through hybrid quasi-semantic algorithm of search). Further studies can be pursued both in terms of expanding the resource base on which they are held, and in terms of the development of appropriate tools.

Keywords: contextual knowledge, contextual search, e-library services, frequency-ranked query, paragraph-oriented query, technologies of the contextual knowledge extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Eduardo Lanzagorta Garcia, Chaitra Venkatesh, Romina Pezzoli, Laura Gabriela Rodriguez Barroso, Declan Devine, Margaret E. Brennan Fournet

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New antimicrobial interventions are urgently required to combat rising global health and medical infection challenges. Here, an innovative antimicrobial technology, providing price competitive alternatives to antibiotics and readily integratable with currently technological systems is presented. Two cutting edge antimicrobial materials, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and uncompromised sustained Ag+ action from triangular silver nanoplates (TSNPs) reservoirs, are merged for versatile effective antimicrobial action where current approaches fail. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) exist widely in nature and have recently been demonstrated for broad spectrum of activity against bacteria, viruses, and fungi. TSNP’s are highly discrete, homogenous and readily functionisable Ag+ nanoreseviors that have a proven amenability for operation within in a wide range of bio-based settings. In a design for advanced antimicrobial sustainable plastics, antimicrobial TSNPs are formulated for processing within biodegradable biopolymers. Histone H5 AMP was selected for its reported strong antimicrobial action and functionalized with the TSNP (AMP-TSNP) in a similar fashion to previously reported TSNP biofunctionalisation methods. A synergy between the propensity of biopolymers for degradation and Ag+ release combined with AMP activity provides a novel mechanism for the sustained antimicrobial action of biopolymeric thin films. Nanoplates are transferred from aqueous phase to an organic solvent in order to facilitate integration within hydrophobic polymers. Extrusion is used in combination with calendering rolls to create thin polymerc film where the nanoplates are embedded onto the surface. The resultant antibacterial functional films are suitable to be adapted for food packing and biomedical applications. TSNP synthesis were synthesized by adapting a previously reported seed mediated approach. TSNP synthesis was scaled up for litre scale batch production and subsequently concentrated to 43 ppm using thermally controlled H2O removal. Nanoplates were transferred from aqueous phase to an organic solvent in order to facilitate integration within hydrophobic polymers. This was acomplised by functionalizing the TSNP with thiol terminated polyethylene glycol and using centrifugal force to transfer them to chloroform. Polycaprolactone (PCL) and Polylactic acid (PLA) were individually processed through extrusion, TSNP and AMP-TSNP solutions were sprayed onto the polymer immediately after exiting the dye. Calendering rolls were used to disperse and incorporate TSNP and TSNP-AMP onto the surface of the extruded films. Observation of the characteristic blue colour confirms the integrity of the TSNP within the films. Antimicrobial tests were performed by incubating Gram + and Gram – strains with treated and non-treated films, to evaluate if bacterial growth was reduced due to the presence of the TSNP. The resulting films successfully incorporated TSNP and AMP-TSNP. Reduced bacterial growth was observed for both Gram + and Gram – strains for both TSNP and AMP-TSNP compared with untreated films indicating antimicrobial action. The largest growth reduction was observed for AMP-TSNP treated films demonstrating the additional antimicrobial activity due to the presence of the AMPs. The potential of this technology to impede bacterial activity in food industry and medical surfaces will forge new confidence in the battle against antibiotic resistant bacteria, serving to greatly inhibit infections and facilitate patient recovery.

Keywords: antimicrobial, biodegradable, peptide, polymer, nanoparticle

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Zbigniew Czyz, Ksenia Siadkowska, Krzysztof Skiba, Karol Scislowski

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Today’s progress in the rotorcraft is mostly associated with an optimization of aircraft performance achieved by active and passive modifications of main rotor assemblies and a tail propeller. The key task is to improve their performance, improve the hover quality factor for rotors but not change in specific fuel consumption. One of the tasks to improve the helicopter is an active optimization of the main rotor providing for flight stages, i.e., an ascend, flight, a descend. An active interference with the airflow around the rotor blade section can significantly change characteristics of the aerodynamic airfoil. The efficiency of actuator systems modifying aerodynamic coefficients in the current solutions is relatively high and significantly affects the increase in strength. The solution to actively change aerodynamic characteristics assumes a periodic change of geometric features of blades depending on flight stages. Changing geometric parameters of blade warping enables an optimization of main rotor performance depending on helicopter flight stages. Structurally, an adaptation of shape memory alloys does not significantly affect rotor blade fatigue strength, which contributes to reduce costs associated with an adaptation of the system to the existing blades, and gains from a better performance can easily amortize such a modification and improve profitability of such a structure. In order to obtain quantitative and qualitative data to solve this research problem, a number of numerical analyses have been necessary. The main problem is a selection of design parameters of the main rotor and a preliminary optimization of its performance to improve the hover quality factor for rotors. This design concept assumes a three-bladed main rotor with a chord of 0.07 m and radius R = 1 m. The value of rotor speed is a calculated parameter of an optimization function. To specify the initial distribution of geometric warping, a special software has been created that uses a numerical method of a blade element which respects dynamic design features such as fluctuations of a blade in its joints. A number of performance analyses as a function of rotor speed, forward speed, and altitude have been performed. The calculations were carried out for the full model assembly. This approach makes it possible to observe the behavior of components and their mutual interaction resulting from the forces. The key element of each rotor is the shaft, hub and pins holding the joints and blade yokes. These components are exposed to the highest loads. As a result of the analysis, the safety factor was determined at the level of k > 1.5, which gives grounds to obtain certification for the strength of the structure. The construction of the joint rotor has numerous moving elements in its structure. Despite the high safety factor, the places with the highest stresses, where the signs of wear and tear may appear, have been indicated. The numerical analysis carried out showed that the most loaded element is the pin connecting the modular bearing of the blade yoke with the element of the horizontal oscillation joint. The stresses in this element result in a safety factor of k=1.7. The other analysed rotor components have a safety factor of more than 2 and in the case of the shaft, this factor is more than 3. However, it must be remembered that the structure is as strong as the weakest cell is. Designed rotor for unmanned aerial vehicles adapted to work with blades with intelligent materials in its structure meets the requirements for certification testing. Acknowledgement: This work has been financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development under the LIDER program, Grant Agreement No. LIDER/45/0177/L-9/17/NCBR/2018.

Keywords: main rotor, rotorcraft aerodynamics, shape memory alloy, materials, unmanned helicopter

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: F. Varga, Z. Liber, J. Jakše, A. Turudić, Z. Šatović, I. Radosavljević, N. Jeran, M. Grdiša

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Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium (Trevir.) Sch. Bip.; Asteraceae), a source of the commercially dominant plant insecticide pyrethrin, is a species endemic to the eastern Adriatic. Genetic diversity of T. cinerariifolium was previously studied using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. However, microsatellite markers (single sequence repeats - SSRs) are more informative because they are codominant, highly polymorphic, locus-specific, and more reproducible, and thus are most often used to assess the genetic diversity of plant species. Dalmatian pyrethrum is an outcrossing diploid (2n = 18) whose large genome size and high repeatability have prevented the success of the traditional approach to SSR markers development. The advent of next-generation sequencing combined with the specifically developed method recently enabled the development of, to the author's best knowledge, the first set of SSRs for genomic characterization of Dalmatian pyrethrum, which is essential from the perspective of plant genetic resources conservation. To evaluate the effectiveness of the developed SSR markers in genetic differentiation of Dalmatian pyrethrum populations, a preliminary genetic diversity study was conducted on 30 individuals from three geographically distinct natural populations in Croatia (northern Adriatic island of Mali Lošinj, southern Adriatic island of Čiovo, and Mount Biokovo) based on 12 SSR loci. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) by randomization test with 10,000 permutations was performed in Arlequin 3.5. The average number of alleles per locus, observed and expected heterozygosity, probability of deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and inbreeding coefficient was calculated using GENEPOP 4.4. Genetic distance based on the proportion of common alleles (DPSA) was calculated using MICROSAT. Cluster analysis using the neighbor-joining method with 1,000 bootstraps was performed with PHYLIP to generate a dendrogram. The results of the AMOVA analysis showed that the total SSR diversity was 23% within and 77% between the three populations. A slight deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed in the Mali Lošinj population. Allele richness ranged from 2.92 to 3.92, with the highest number of private alleles observed in the Mali Lošinj population (17). The average observed DPSA between 30 individuals was 0.557. The highest DPSA (0.875) was observed between several pairs of Dalmatian pyrethrum individuals from the Mali Lošinj and Mt. Biokovo populations, and the lowest between two individuals from the Čiovo population. Neighbor-joining trees, based on DPSA, grouped individuals into clusters according to their population affiliation. The separation of Mt. Biokovo clade was supported (bootstrap value 58%), which is consistent with the previous study on AFLP markers, where isolated populations from Mt. Biokovo differed from the rest of the populations. The developed SSR markers are an effective tool for assessing the genetic diversity and structure of natural Dalmatian pyrethrum populations. These preliminary results are encouraging for a future comprehensive study with a larger sample size across the species' range. Combined with the biochemical data, these highly informative markers could help identify potential genotypes of interest for future development of breeding lines and cultivars that are both resistant to environmental stress and high in pyrethrins. Acknowledgment: This work has been supported by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project ‘Genetic background of Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium /Trevir./ Sch. Bip.) insecticidal potential’- (PyrDiv) (IP-06-2016-9034) and by project KK.01.1.1.01.0005, Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding, at the Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding (CoE CroP-BioDiv), Zagreb, Croatia.

Keywords: Asteraceae, genetic diversity, genomic SSRs, NGS, pyrethrum, Tanacetum cinerariifolium

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Authors: Hooshag Asadi Haroni, Maryam Veiskarami, Yongjun Lu

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The Dalli gold-rich porphyry deposit (17 Mt @ 0.5% Cu and 0.65 g/t Au) is located in the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (UDMA), a small segment of the Tethyan metallogenic belt, hosting several porphyry Cu (Mo-Au) systems in Iran. This research characterizes the Dalli deposit to define exploration criteria in advanced exploration such as the drilling of possible blind porphyry centers. Geological map, trench/drill hole geochemical and ground magnetic data, and age dating and isotope trace element analyses, carried out at the John De Laeter Research Center of Curtin University, were used to characterize the Delli deposit. Mineralization at Dalli is hosted by NE-trending quartz-diorite porphyry stocks (~ 200m in diameter) intruded by a wall-rock andesite porphyry. Disseminated and stockwork Cu-Au mineralization is related to potassic alteration, comprising magnetite, late K-feldspar and biotite, and quartz-sericite-specularite overprint, surrounded by extensive barren argillic and propylitic alterations. In the peripheries of the porphyry centers, there are N-trending vuggy quartz veins, hosting epithermal Au-Ag-As-Sb mineralization. Geochemical analyses of drill core samples showed that the core of the porphyry stocks is low-grade, whereas the high-grade disseminated and stockwork mineralization (~ 1% Cu and ~ 1.2 g/t Au) occurred at the contact of the porphyry stocks and andesite porphyry. Geochemical studies of the drill hole and trench samples showed a strong correlation between Cu and Au and both show a second-order correlation with Fe and As. Magnetic survey revealed two significant magnetic anomalies, associated with intensive potassic alteration, in the reduced-to-the-pole magnetic map of the area. A relatively weaker magnetic anomaly, showing no surface porphyry expressions, is located on a lithocap, consisting of advanced argillic alteration, vuggy quartz veins, and surface expressions of epithermal geochemical signatures. The association of the lithocap and the weak magnetic anomaly could be indicative of a hidden mineralized porphyry center. Litho-geochemical analyses of the least altered Dalli intrusions and volcanic rocks indicated high Sr/Y (49-61) and Eu/Eu* (0.89-0.92), features typical of Cu porphyries. The U-Pb dating of zircons of the mineralized quartz diorite and andesite porphyry, carried out by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, yielded magmatic crystallization ages of 15.4-16.0 Ma (Middle Miocene). The zircon trace element concentrations of Dalli are characterized by high Eu/Eu* (0.3-0.8), (Ce/Nd)/Y (0.01-0.3), and 10000*(Eu/Eu*)/Y (2-15) ratios, similar to fertile porphyry suites such as the giant Sar-Cheshmeh and Qulong porphyry Cu deposits along the Tethyan belt. This suggests that the Middle Miocene Dalli intrusions are fertile and require extensive deep drillings to define their potential. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns show no significant Eu anomalies, and are characterized by light-REE enrichments (La/Sm)n = 2.57–6.40). In normalized multi-element diagrams, analyzed rocks are characterized by enrichments in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and depletions in high field strength elements (HFSE), and display typical features of subduction-related calc-alkaline magmas. The characteristics of the Dalli deposit provided several recognition criteria for detailed exploration of Cu-Au porphyry deposits and highlighted the importance of the UDMA as a potentially significant, economically important, but relatively underexplored porphyry province.

Keywords: porphyry, gold, geochronology, magnetic, exploration

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Authors: Lauti Dwita Santy, Hermes Panggabean, Syahrir Andi Mangga

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The Bengkulu Basin is part of the Sunda Arc system, which is a classic convergent type margin that occur around the southern rim of the Eurasian continental (Sundaland) plate. The basin is located between deep sea trench (Mentawai Outer Arc high) and the volvanic/ magmatic Arc of the Barisan Mountains Range. To the northwest it is bounded by Padang High, to the northest by Barisan Mountains (Sumatra Fault Zone) to the southwest by Mentawai Fault Zone and to the southeast by Semangko High/ Sunda Strait. The stratigraphic succession and tectonic development can be broadly divided into four stage/ periods, i.e Late Jurassic- Early Cretaceous, Late Eocene-Early Oligocene, Late Oligocene-Early Miocene, Middle Miocene-Late Miocene and Pliocene-Plistocene, which are mainly controlled by the development of subduction activities. The Pre Tertiary Basement consist of sedimentary and shallow water limestone, calcareous mudstone, cherts and tholeiitic volcanic rocks, with Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in age. The sedimentation in this basin is depend on the relief of the Pre Tertiary Basement (Woyla Terrane) and occured into two stages, i.e. transgressive stage during the Latest Oligocene-Early Middle Miocene Seblat Formation, and the regressive stage during the Latest Middle Miocene-Pleistocene (Lemau, Simpangaur and Bintunan Formations). The Pre-Tertiary Faults were more intensive than the overlying cover, The Tertiary Rocks. There are two main fault trends can be distinguished, Northwest–Southwest Faults and Northeast-Southwest Faults. The NW-SE fault (Ketaun) are commonly laterally persistent, are interpreted to the part of Sumatran Fault Systems. They commonly form the boundaries to the Pre Tertiary basement highs and therefore are one of the faults elements controlling the geometry and development of the Tertiary sedimentary basins.The Northeast-Southwest faults was formed a conjugate set to the Northwest–Southeast Faults. In the earliest Tertiary and reactivated during the Plio-Pleistocene in a compressive mode with subsequent dextral displacement. The Block Faulting accross these two sets of faults related to approximate North–South compression in Paleogene time and produced a series of elongate basins separated by basement highs in the backarc and forearc region. The Bengkulu basin is interpreted having evolved from pull apart feature in the area southwest of the main Sumatra Fault System related to NW-SE trending in dextral shear.Based on Pyrolysis Yield (PY) vs Total Organic Carbon (TOC) diagram show that Seblat and Lemau Formation belongs to oil and Gas Prone with the quality of the source rocks includes into excellent and good (Lemau Formation), Fair and Poor (Seblat Formation). The fine-grained carbonaceous sediment of the Seblat dan Lemau Formations as source rocks, the coarse grained and carbonate sediments of the Seblat and Lemau Formations as reservoir rocks, claystone bed in Seblat and Lemau Formation as caprock. The source rocks maturation are late immature to early mature, with kerogen type II and III (Seblat Formation), and late immature to post mature with kerogen type I and III (Lemau Formation). The burial history show to 2500 m in depthh with paleo temperature reached 80oC. Trapping mechanism occur during Oligo–Miocene and Middle Miocene, mainly in block faulting system.

Keywords: fore arc, bengkulu, sumatra, sundaland, hydrocarbon, trapping mechanism

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Authors: Shari S. C. Shang, Lynn S. L. Chiu

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In the digital payment market, some consumers use only one payment wallet while many others play multi-homing with a variety of payment services. With the diffusion of new payment systems, we examined the determinants of the adoption of multi-homing behavior. This study aims to understand how a digital payment provider dynamically expands business touch points with cross-business strategies to enrich the digital ecosystem and avoid the trap of multi-homing in customers. By synthesizing platform ecosystem literature, we constructed a two-dimensional research framework with one determinant of user digital behavior from offline to online intentions and the other determinant of digital payment touch points from convenient accessibility to cross-business platforms. To explore on a broader scale, we selected 12 digital payments from 5 countries of UK, US, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. With the interplays of user digital behaviors and payment touch points, we group the study cases into four types: (1) Channel Initiated: users originated from retailers with high access to in-store shopping with face-to-face guidance for payment adoption. Providers offer rewards for customer loyalty and secure the retailer’s efficient cash flow management. (2) Social Media Dependent: users usually are digital natives with high access to social media or the internet who shop and pay digitally. Providers might not own physical or online shops but are licensed to aggregate money flows through virtual ecosystems. (3) Early Life Engagement: digital banks race to capture the next generation from popularity to profitability. This type of payment aimed to give children a taste of financial freedom while letting parents track their spending. Providers are to capitalize on the digital payment and e-commerce boom and hold on to new customers into adulthood. (4) Traditional Banking: plastic credit cards are purposely designed as a control group to track the evolvement of business strategies in digital payments. Traditional credit card users may follow the bank’s digital strategy to land on different types of digital wallets or mostly keep using plastic credit cards. This research analyzed business growth models and inter-firms’ coopetition strategies of the selected cases. Results of the multiple case analysis reveal that channel initiated payments bundled rewards with retailer’s business discount for recurring purchases. They also extended other financial services, such as insurance, to fulfill customers’ new demands. Contrastively, social media dependent payments developed new usages and new value creation, such as P2P money transfer through network effects among the virtual social ties, while early life engagements offer virtual banking products to children who are digital natives but overlooked by incumbents. It has disrupted the banking business domains in preparation for the metaverse economy. Lastly, the control group of traditional plastic credit cards has gradually converted to a BaaS (banking as a service) model depending on customers’ preferences. The multi-homing behavior is not avoidable in digital payment competitions. Payment providers may encounter multiple waves of a multi-homing threat after a short period of success. A dynamic cross-business collaboration strategy should be explored to continuously evolve the digital ecosystems and allow users for a broader shopping experience and continual usage.

Keywords: digital payment, digital ecosystems, multihoming users, cross business strategy, user digital behavior intentions

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Authors: Arthur Müller

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The study treats human dimensions of hunting by conducting statistical data analysis and providing decision-making support by examples of good prefectural governance and successful wildlife management, crucial to reduce pest species and sustain a stable hunter population in the future. Therefore it analyzes recent revision of wildlife legislation, reveals differences in administrative management structures, as well as socio-demographic characteristics of hunters in correlation with harvest trends of sika deer and wild boar in 47 prefectures in Japan between 1990 and 2013. In a wider context, Japan’s decentralized license hunting system might take the potential future role of a regional pioneer in East Asia. Consequently, the study contributes to similar issues in premature hunting systems of South Korea and Taiwan. Firstly, a quantitative comparison of seven mainland regions was conducted in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, and Kyushu. Example prefectures were chosen by a cluster analysis. Shifts, differences, mean values and exponential growth rates between trap and gun hunters, age classes and common occupation types of hunters were statistically exterminated. While western Japan is characterized by high numbers of aged trap-hunters, occupied in agricultural- and forestry, the north-eastern prefectures show higher relative numbers of younger gun-hunters occupied in the field of production and process workers. With the exception of Okinawa island, most hunters in all prefectures are 60 years and older. Hence, unemployed and retired hunters are the fastest growing occupation group. Despite to drastic decrease in hunter population in absolute numbers, Hunting Recruitment Index indicated that all age classes tend to continue their hunting activity over a longer period, above ten years from 2004 to 2013 than during the former decade. Associated with a rapid population increase and distribution of sika deer and wild boar since 1978, a number of harvest from hunting and culling also have been rapidly increasing. Both wild boar hunting and culling is particularly high in western Japan, while sika hunting and culling proofs most successful in Hokkaido, central and western Japan. Since the Wildlife Protection and Proper Hunting Act in 1999 distinct prefectural hunting management authorities with different power, sets apply management approaches under the principles of subsidiarity and guidelines of the Ministry of Environment. Additionally, the Act on Special Measures for Prevention of Damage Related to Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Caused by Wildlife from 2008 supports local hunters in damage prevention measures through subsidies by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which caused a rise of trap hunting, especially in western Japan. Secondly, prefectural staff in charge of wildlife management in seven regions was contacted. In summary, Hokkaido serves as a role model for dynamic, integrative, adaptive “feedback” management of Ezo sika deer, as well as a diverse network between management organizations, while Hyogo takes active measures to trap-hunt wild boars effectively. Both prefectures take the leadership in institutional performance and capacity. Northern prefectures in Tohoku, Chubu and Kanto region, firstly confronted with the emergence of wild boars and rising sika deer numbers, demand new institution and capacity building, as well as organizational learning.

Keywords: hunting and culling harvest trends, hunter socio-demographics, regional comparison, wildlife management approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Lolwa Alansari, Hanen Mrabet, Kholoud Khaled, Abdelhamid Azhaghdani, Sufia Athar, Aska Kaima, Zaineb Mhamdia, Zubaria Altaf, Almunzer Zakaria, Tamara Alshadafat

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Introduction: The Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency Department at Alwakra Hospital has faced significant challenges, which have been further worsened by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges involve issues such as overcrowding, extended wait times, and a notable surge in demand for emergency care services. Moreover, prolonged waiting times have emerged as a primary factor contributing to situations where patients leave without receiving attention, known as left without being seen (LWBS), and unexpectedly abscond. Addressing the issue of insufficient patient mobility in the obstetrics and gynecology emergency department has brought about substantial improvements in patient care, healthcare administration, and overall departmental efficiency. These changes have not only alleviated overcrowding but have also elevated the quality of emergency care, resulting in higher patient satisfaction, better outcomes, and operational rewards. Methodology: The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a catalyst for substantial transformations in the obstetrics and gynecology emergency, aligning seamlessly with the strategic direction of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). The fundamental aim of this initiative is to revolutionize the operational efficiency of the OB-GYN ED. To accomplish this mission, a range of transformations has been initiated, focusing on essential areas such as digitizing systems, optimizing resource allocation, enhancing budget efficiency, and reducing overall costs. The project utilized the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model, involving a diverse team collecting baseline data and introducing throughput improvements. Post-implementation data and feedback were analysed, leading to the integration of effective interventions into standard procedures. These interventions included optimized space utilization, real-time communication, bedside registration, technology integration, pre-triage screening, enhanced communication and patient education, consultant presence, and a culture of continuous improvement. These strategies significantly reduced waiting times, enhancing both patient care and operational efficiency. Results: Results demonstrated a substantial reduction in overall average waiting time, dropping from 35 to approximately 14 minutes by August 2023. The wait times for priority 1 cases have been reduced from 22 to 0 minutes, and for priority 2 cases, the wait times have been reduced from 32 to approximately 13.6 minutes. The proportion of patients spending less than 8 hours in the OB ED observation beds rose from 74% in January 2022 to over 98% in 2023. Notably, there was a remarkable decrease in LWBS and absconded patient rates from 2020 to 2023. Conclusion: The project initiated a profound change in the department's operational environment. Efficiency became deeply embedded in the unit's culture, promoting teamwork among staff that went beyond the project's original focus and had a positive influence on operations in other departments. This effectiveness not only made processes more efficient but also resulted in significant cost reductions for the hospital. These cost savings were achieved by reducing wait times, which in turn led to fewer prolonged patient stays and reduced the need for additional treatments. These continuous improvement initiatives have now become an integral part of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Division's standard operating procedures, ensuring that the positive changes brought about by the project persist and evolve over time.

Keywords: overcrowding, waiting time, person centered care, quality initiatives

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Waqas Abrar

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Background: Pakistan is confronted with a formidable challenge to increase uptake of modern contraceptive methods. USAID, through its flagship Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), in Pakistan is determined to support provincial Departments of Health and Population Welfare to increase the country's contraceptive prevalence rates (CPR) in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan to achieve FP2020 goals. To inform program design and planning, a Rapid Situation Assessment (RSA) of family planning was carried out in Rawalpindi and Lahore districts in Punjab and Karachi district in Sindh. Methodology: The methodology consisted of comprehensive desk review of available literature and used a qualitative approach comprising of in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). FGDs were conducted with community women, men, and mothers-in-law whereas IDIs were conducted with health facility in-charges/chiefs, healthcare providers, and community health workers. Results: Some of the oft-quoted reasons captured during desk review included poor quality of care at public sector facilities, affordability and accessibility in rural communities and providers' technical incompetence. Moreover, providers had inadequate knowledge of contraceptive methods and lacked counseling techniques; thereby, leading to dissatisfied clients and hence, discontinuation of contraceptive methods. These dissatisfied clients spread the myths and misconceptions about contraceptives in their respective communities which seriously damages community-level family planning efforts. Private providers were found reluctant to insert Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUCDs) due to inadequate knowledge vis-à-vis post insertion issues/side effects. FGDs and IDIs unveiled multi-faceted reasons for poor contraceptives uptake. It was found that low education and socio-economic levels lead to low contraceptives uptake and mostly uneducated women rely on condoms provided by Lady Health Workers (LHWs). Providers had little or no knowledge about postpartum family planning or lactational amenorrhea. At community level family planning counseling sessions organized by LHWs and Male Mobilizers do not sensitize community men on permissibility of contraception in Islam. Many women attributed their physical ailments to the use of contraceptives. Lack of in-service training, job-aids and Information, Education and Communications (IEC) materials at facilities seriously comprise the quality of care in effective family planning service delivery. This is further compounded by frequent stock-outs of contraceptives at public healthcare facilities, poor data quality, false reporting, lack of data verification systems and follow-up. Conclusions: Some key conclusions from this assessment included capacity building of healthcare providers on long acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) which give women contraception for a longer period. Secondly, capacity building of healthcare providers on postpartum family planning is an enormous challenge that can be best addressed through institutionalization. Thirdly, Providers should be equipped with counseling skills and techniques including inculcation of pros and cons of all contraceptive methods. Fourthly, printed materials such as job-aids and Information, Education and Communications (IEC) materials should be disseminated among healthcare providers and clients. These concluding statements helped MCSP to make informed decisions with regard to setting broad objectives of project and were duly approved by USAID.

Keywords: capacity building, contraceptive prevalence rate, family planning, Institutionalization, Pakistan, postpartum care, postpartum family planning services

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Authors: Katie M. Clark, Adriana A. Tienda, Krista C. Paffenroth, Lindsey N. Brigante, Daniel C. Colvin, Jose Maldonado, Erin S. Calipari, Fiona E. Harrison

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Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element required for human health and is important in antioxidant defenses, as well as in the development and function of dopaminergic neurons. However, chronic low-level Mn exposure, such as through contaminated drinking water, poses risks that may contribute to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Pharmacological inhibition of the dopamine transporter (DAT) blocks reuptake, elevates synaptic dopamine, and alleviates ADHD symptoms. This study aimed to determine whether Mn exposure in juvenile mice modifies their response to DAT blockers, amphetamine, and methylphenidate and utilize neuroimaging methods to visualize and quantify Mn distribution across dopaminergic brain regions. Male and female heterozygous DATᵀ³⁵⁶ᴹ and wild-type littermates were randomly assigned to receive control (2.5% Stevia) or high Manganese (2.5 mg/ml Mn + 2.5% Stevia) via water ad libitum from weaning (21-28 days) for 4-5 weeks. Mice underwent repeated testing in locomotor activity chambers for three consecutive days (60 mins.) to ensure that they were fully habituated to the environments. On the fourth day, a 3-hour activity session was conducted following treatment with amphetamine (3 mg/kg) or methylphenidate (5 mg/kg). The second drug was administered in a second 3-hour activity session following a 1-week washout period. Following the washout, the mice were given one last injection of amphetamine and euthanized one hour later. Using the ex-vivo brains, magnetic resonance relaxometry (MRR) was performed on a 7Telsa imaging system to map T1- and T2-weighted (T1W, T2W) relaxation times. Mn inherent paramagnetic properties shorten both T1W and T2W times, which enhances the signal intensity and contrast, enabling effective visualization of Mn accumulation in the entire brain. A subset of mice was treated with amphetamine 1 hour before euthanasia. SmartSPIM light sheet microscopy with cleared whole brains and cFos and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) labeling enabled an unbiased automated counting and densitometric analysis of TH and cFos positive cells. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to measure synaptic protein markers and quantify changes in neurotransmitter regulation. Mn exposure elevated Mn brain levels and potentiated stimulant effects in males. The globus pallidus, substantia nigra, thalamus, and striatum exhibited more pronounced T1W shortening, indicating regional susceptibility to Mn accumulation (p<0.0001, 2-Way ANOVA). In the cleared whole brains, initial analyses suggest that TH and c-Fos co-staining mirrors behavioral data with decreased co-staining in DATT356M+/- mice. Ongoing studies will identify the molecular basis of the effect of Mn, including changes to DAergic metabolism and transport and post-translational modification to the DAT. These findings demonstrate that alterations in T1W relaxation times, as measured by MRR, may serve as an early biomarker for Mn neurotoxicity. This neuroimaging approach exhibits remarkable accuracy in identifying Mn-susceptible brain regions, with a spatial resolution and sensitivity that surpasses current conventional dissection and mass spectrometry approaches. The capability to label and map TH and cFos expression across the entire brain provides insights into whole-brain neuronal activation and its connections to functional neural circuits and behavior following amphetamine and methylphenidate administration.

Keywords: manganese, environmental toxicology, dopamine dysfunction, biomarkers, drinking water, light sheet microscopy, magnetic resonance relaxometry (MRR)

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Authors: Leila Safazadeh, Brad Berron

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Self-assembled monolayers have tremendous impact in interfacial science, due to the unique opportunity they offer to tailor surface properties. Low-density self-assembled monolayers are an emerging class of monolayers where the environment-interfacing portion of the adsorbate has a greater level of conformational freedom when compared to traditional monolayer chemistries. This greater range of motion and increased spacing between surface-bound molecules offers new opportunities in tailoring adsorption phenomena in sensing systems. In particular, we expect low-density surfaces to offer a unique opportunity to intercalate surface bound ligands into the secondary structure of protiens and other macromolecules. Additionally, as many conventional sensing surfaces are built upon gold surfaces (SPR or QCM), these surfaces must be compatible with gold substrates. Here, we present the first stable method of generating low-density self assembled monolayer surfaces on gold for the analysis of their interactions with protein targets. Our approach is based on the 2:1 addition of thiol-yne chemistry to develop new classes of y-shaped adsorbates on gold, where the environment-interfacing group is spaced laterally from neighboring chemical groups. This technique involves an initial deposition of a crystalline monolayer of 1,10 decanedithiol on the gold substrate, followed by grafting of a low-packed monolayer on through a photoinitiated thiol-yne reaction in presence of light. Orthogonality of the thiol-yne chemistry (commonly referred to as a click chemistry) allows for preparation of low-density monolayers with variety of functional groups. To date, carboxyl, amine, alcohol, and alkyl terminated monolayers have been prepared using this core technology. Results from surface characterization techniques such as FTIR, contact angle goniometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirm the proposed low chain-chain interactions of the environment interfacing groups. Reductive desorption measurements suggest a higher stability for the click-LDMs compared to traditional SAMs, along with the equivalent packing density at the substrate interface, which confirms the proposed stability of the monolayer-gold interface. In addition, contact angle measurements change in the presence of an applied potential, supporting our description of a surface structure which allows the alkyl chains to freely orient themselves in response to different environments. We are studying the differences in protein adsorption phenomena between well packed and our loosely packed surfaces, and we expect this data will be ready to present at the GRC meeting. This work aims to contribute biotechnology science in the following manner: Molecularly imprinted polymers are a promising recognition mode with several advantages over natural antibodies in the recognition of small molecules. However, because of their bulk polymer structure, they are poorly suited for the rapid diffusion desired for recognition of proteins and other macromolecules. Molecularly imprinted monolayers are an emerging class of materials where the surface is imprinted, and there is not a bulk material to impede mass transfer. Further, the short distance between the binding site and the signal transduction material improves many modes of detection. My dissertation project is to develop a new chemistry for protein-imprinted self-assembled monolayers on gold, for incorporation into SPR sensors. Our unique contribution is the spatial imprinting of not only physical cues (seen in current imprinted monolayer techniques), but to also incorporate complementary chemical cues. This is accomplished through a photo-click grafting of preassembled ligands around a protein template. This conference is important for my development as a graduate student to broaden my appreciation of the sensor development beyond surface chemistry.

Keywords: low-density self-assembled monolayers, thiol-yne click reaction, molecular imprinting

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Authors: Surbhi Kaura, Sachin Kandhari, Shahiduz Zafar

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Chronic stroke, characterized by persistent motor deficits, often necessitates comprehensive rehabilitation interventions to improve functional outcomes and mitigate long-term dependency. Luna neurorobotic devices, integrated with EMG feedback systems, provide an innovative platform for facilitating neuroplasticity and functional improvement in stroke survivors. This retrospective study aims to investigate the impact of EMG-based Luna neurorobotic interventions on the strengthening of the affected side in chronic stroke patients. In rehabilitation, active patient participation significantly activates the sensorimotor network during motor control, unlike passive movement. Stroke is a debilitating condition that, when not effectively treated, can result in significant deficits and lifelong dependency. Common issues like neglecting the use of limbs can lead to weakness in chronic stroke cases. In rehabilitation, active patient participation significantly activates the sensorimotor network during motor control, unlike passive movement. This study aims to assess how electromyographic triggering (EMG-triggered) robotic treatments affect walking, ankle muscle force after an ischemic stroke, and the coactivation of agonist and antagonist muscles, which contributes to neuroplasticity with the assistance of biofeedback using robotics. Methods: The study utilized robotic techniques based on electromyography (EMG) for daily rehabilitation in long-term stroke patients, offering feedback and monitoring progress. Each patient received one session per day for two weeks, with the intervention group undergoing 45 minutes of robot-assisted training and exercise at the hospital, while the control group performed exercises at home. Eight participants with impaired motor function and gait after stroke were involved in the study. EMG-based biofeedback exercises were administered through the LUNA neuro-robotic machine, progressing from trigger and release mode to trigger and hold, and later transitioning to dynamic mode. Assessments were conducted at baseline and after two weeks, including the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, a 10-meter walk test (10m), Berg Balance Scale (BBG), and gait parameters like cadence, step length, upper limb strength measured by EMG threshold in microvolts, and force in Newton meters. Results: The study utilized a scale to assess motor strength and balance, illustrating the benefits of EMG-biofeedback following LUNA robotic therapy. In the analysis of the left hemiparetic group, an increase in strength post-rehabilitation was observed. The pre-TUG mean value was 72.4, which decreased to 42.4 ± 0.03880133 seconds post-rehabilitation, with a significant difference indicated by a p-value below 0.05, reflecting a reduced task completion time. Similarly, in the force-based task, the pre-knee dynamic force in Newton meters was 18.2NM, which increased to 31.26NM during knee extension post-rehabilitation. The post-student t-test showed a p-value of 0.026, signifying a significant difference. This indicated an increase in the strength of knee extensor muscles after LUNA robotic rehabilitation. Lastly, at baseline, the EMG value for ankle dorsiflexion was 5.11 (µV), which increased to 43.4 ± 0.06 µV post-rehabilitation, signifying an increase in the threshold and the patient's ability to generate more motor units during left ankle dorsiflexion. Conclusion: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of EMG and dynamic force-based rehabilitation devices on walking and strength of the affected side in chronic stroke patients without nominal data comparisons among stroke patients. Additionally, it provides insights into the inclusion of EMG-triggered neurorehabilitation robots in the daily rehabilitation of patients.

Keywords: neurorehabilitation, robotic therapy, stroke, strength, paralysis

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Authors: Anjula Negi, Sanjay Gupta

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Paradigms studied inform inadequacies of financial resources, be it to finance metro rails for construction or to meet operational revenues or to derive profits in the long term. Funding sustainability is far and wide for much-needed public transport modes, like urban rail or metro rails, to be successfully operated. India embarks upon a sustainable transport journey and has proposed metro rail systems countrywide. As an emerging economic leader, its fiscal constraints are paramount, and the land value capture (LVC) mechanism provides necessary support and innovation toward development. India’s metro rail policy promotes multiple methods of financing, including private-sector investments and public-private-partnership. The critical question that remains to be addressed is what factors can make such mechanisms work. Globally, urban rail is a revolution noted by many researchers as future mobility. Researchers in this study deep dive by way of literature review and empirical assessments into factors that can lead to the adoption of LVC mechanisms. It is understood that the adoption of LVC methods is in the nascent stages in India. Research posits numerous challenges being faced by metro rail agencies in raising funding and for incremental value capture. A few issues pertaining to land-based financing, inter alia: are long-term financing, inter-institutional coordination, economic/ market suitability, dedicated metro funds, land ownership issues, piecemeal approach to real estate development, property development legal frameworks, etc. The question under probe is what are the parameters that can lead to success in the adoption of land value capture (LVC) as a financing mechanism. This research provides insights into key parameters crucial to the adoption of LVC in the context of Indian metro rails. Researchers have studied current forms of LVC mechanisms at various metro rails of the country. This study is significant as little research is available on the adoption of LVC, which is applicable to the Indian context. Transit agencies, State Government, Urban Local Bodies, Policy makers and think tanks, Academia, Developers, Funders, Researchers and Multi-lateral agencies may benefit from this research to take ahead LVC mechanisms in practice. The study deems it imperative to explore and understand key parameters that impact the adoption of LVC. Extensive literature review and ratification by experts working in the metro rails arena were undertaken to arrive at parameters for the study. Stakeholder consultations in the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) process were undertaken for principal component extraction. 43 seasoned and specialized experts participated in a semi-structured questionnaire to scale the maximum likelihood on each parameter, represented by various types of stakeholders. Empirical data was collected on chosen eighteen parameters, and significant correlation was extracted for output descriptives and inferential statistics. Study findings reveal these principal components as institutional governance framework, spatial planning features, legal frameworks, funding sustainability features and fiscal policy measures. In particular, funding sustainability features highlight sub-variables of beneficiaries to pay and use of multiple revenue options towards success in LVC adoption. Researchers recommend incorporation of these variables during early stage in design and project structuring for success in adoption of LVC. In turn leading to improvements in revenue sustainability of a public transport asset and help in undertaking informed transport policy decisions.

Keywords: Exploratory factor analysis, land value capture mechanism, financing metro rails, revenue sustainability, transport policy

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Authors: Gertraud Koch, Teresa Stumpf, Alejandra Tijerina García

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Discourse analysis research approaches belong to the central research strategies applied throughout the humanities; they focus on the countless forms and ways digital texts and images shape present-day notions of the world. Despite the constantly growing number of relevant digital, multimodal discourse resources, digital humanities (DH) methods are thus far not systematically developed and accessible for discourse analysis approaches. Specifically, the significance of multimodality and meaning plurality modelling are yet to be sufficiently addressed. In order to address this research gap, the D-WISE project aims to develop a prototypical working environment as digital support for the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse analysis and new IT-analysis approaches for the use of context-oriented embedding representations. Playing an essential role throughout our research endeavor is the constant optimization of hermeneutical methodology in the use of (semi)automated processes and their corresponding epistemological reflection. Among the discourse analyses, the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse analysis is characterised by the reconstructive and accompanying research into the formation of knowledge systems in social negotiation processes. The approach analyses how dominant understandings of a phenomenon develop, i.e., the way they are expressed and consolidated by various actors in specific arenas of discourse until a specific understanding of the phenomenon and its socially accepted structure are established. This article presents insights and initial findings from D-WISE, a joint research project running since 2021 between the Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History and the Language Technology Group of the Department of Informatics at the University of Hamburg. As an interdisciplinary team, we develop central innovations with regard to the availability of relevant DH applications by building up a uniform working environment, which supports the procedure of the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse analysis within open corpora and heterogeneous, multimodal data sources for researchers in the humanities. We are hereby expanding the existing range of DH methods by developing contextualized embeddings for improved modelling of the plurality of meaning and the integrated processing of multimodal data. The alignment of this methodological and technical innovation is based on the epistemological working methods according to grounded theory as a hermeneutic methodology. In order to systematically relate, compare, and reflect the approaches of structural-IT and hermeneutic-interpretative analysis, the discourse analysis is carried out both manually and digitally. Using the example of current discourses on digitization in the healthcare sector and the associated issues regarding data protection, we have manually built an initial data corpus of which the relevant actors and discourse positions are analysed in conventional qualitative discourse analysis. At the same time, we are building an extensive digital corpus on the same topic based on the use and further development of entity-centered research tools such as topic crawlers and automated newsreaders. In addition to the text material, this consists of multimodal sources such as images, video sequences, and apps. In a blended reading process, the data material is filtered, annotated, and finally coded with the help of NLP tools such as dependency parsing, named entity recognition, co-reference resolution, entity linking, sentiment analysis, and other project-specific tools that are being adapted and developed. The coding process is carried out (semi-)automated by programs that propose coding paradigms based on the calculated entities and their relationships. Simultaneously, these can be specifically trained by manual coding in a closed reading process and specified according to the content issues. Overall, this approach enables purely qualitative, fully automated, and semi-automated analyses to be compared and reflected upon.

Keywords: entanglement of structural IT and hermeneutic-interpretative analysis, multimodality, plurality of meaning, sociology of knowledge approach to discourse analysis

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Authors: C.Ardil

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Open Science translates the understanding and application of various theories and practices in open science philosophy, systems, paradigms and epistemology. Open Science originates with the premise that universal scientific knowledge is a product of a collective scholarly and social collaboration involving all stakeholders and knowledge belongs to the global society. Scientific outputs generated by public research are a public good that should be available to all at no cost and without barriers or restrictions. Open Science has the potential to increase the quality, impact and benefits of science and to accelerate advancement of knowledge by making it more reliable, more efficient and accurate, better understandable by society and responsive to societal challenges, and has the potential to enable growth and innovation through reuse of scientific results by all stakeholders at all levels of society, and ultimately contribute to growth and competitiveness of global society. Open Science is a global movement to improve accessibility to and reusability of research practices and outputs. In its broadest definition, it encompasses open access to publications, open research data and methods, open source, open educational resources, open evaluation, and citizen science. The implementation of open science provides an excellent opportunity to renegotiate the social roles and responsibilities of publicly funded research and to rethink the science system as a whole. Open Science is the practice of science in such a way that others can collaborate and contribute, where research data, lab notes and other research processes are freely available, under terms that enable reuse, redistribution and reproduction of the research and its underlying data and methods. Open Science represents a novel systematic approach to the scientific process, shifting from the standard practices of publishing research results in scientific publications towards sharing and using all available knowledge at an earlier stage in the research process, based on cooperative work and diffusing scholarly knowledge with no barriers and restrictions. Open Science refers to efforts to make the primary outputs of publicly funded research results (publications and the research data) publicly accessible in digital format with no limitations. Open Science is about extending the principles of openness to the whole research cycle, fostering, sharing and collaboration as early as possible, thus entailing a systemic change to the way science and research is done. Open Science is the ongoing transition in how open research is carried out, disseminated, deployed, and transformed to make scholarly research more open, global, collaborative, creative and closer to society. Open Science involves various movements aiming to remove the barriers for sharing any kind of output, resources, methods or tools, at any stage of the research process. Open Science embraces open access to publications, research data, source software, collaboration, peer review, notebooks, educational resources, monographs, citizen science, or research crowdfunding. The recognition and adoption of open science practices, including open science policies that increase open access to scientific literature and encourage data and code sharing, is increasing in the open science philosophy. Revolutionary open science policies are motivated by ethical, moral or utilitarian arguments, such as the right to access digital research literature for open source research or science data accumulation, research indicators, transparency in the field of academic practice, and reproducibility. Open science philosophy is adopted primarily to demonstrate the benefits of open science practices. Researchers use open science applications for their own advantage in order to get more offers, increase citations, attract media attention, potential collaborators, career opportunities, donations and funding opportunities. In open science philosophy, open data findings are evidence that open science practices provide significant benefits to researchers in scientific research creation, collaboration, communication, and evaluation according to more traditional closed science practices. Open science considers concerns such as the rigor of peer review, common research facts such as financing and career development, and the sacrifice of author rights. Therefore, researchers are recommended to implement open science research within the framework of existing academic evaluation and incentives. As a result, open science research issues are addressed in the areas of publishing, financing, collaboration, resource management and sharing, career development, discussion of open science questions and conclusions.

Keywords: Open Science, Open Science Philosophy, Open Science Research, Open Science Data

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Authors: P. C. Kutschera, Elena C. Tesoro, Mary Grace Talamera-Sandico, Jose Maria G. Pelayo III

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Second generation military Filipino Amerasians comprise a formidable contemporary segment of the estimated 250,000-plus biracial Amerasians in the Philippines today. Overall, they are a stigmatized and socioeconomically marginalized diaspora, historically; they were abandoned or estranged by U.S. military personnel fathers assigned during the century-long Colonial, Post-World War II and Cold War Era of permanent military basing (1898-1992). Indeed, U.S. military personnel remain stationed in smaller numbers in the Philippines today. This inquiry is an outgrowth of two recent small sample studies. The first surfaced the impact of the U.S. military prostitution system on formation of the ‘Derivative Amerasian Family Construct’ on first generation Amerasians; a second, qualitative case study suggested the continued effect of the prostitution systems' destructive impetuous on second generation Amerasians. The intent of this current qualitative, multiple-case study was to actively seek out second generation sex industry toilers. The purpose was to focus further on this human phenomenon in the post-basing and post-military prostitution system eras. As background, the former military prostitution apparatus has transformed into a modern dynamic of rampant sex tourism and prostitution nationwide. This is characterized by hotel and resorts offering unrestricted carnal access, urban and provincial brothels (casas), discos, bars and pickup clubs, massage parlors, local barrio karaoke bars and street prostitution. A small case study sample (N = 4) of female and male second generation Amerasians were selected. Sample formation employed a non-probability ‘snowball’ technique drawing respondents from the notorious Angeles, Metro Manila, Olongapo City ‘AMO Amerasian Triangle’ where most former U.S. military installations were sited and modern sex tourism thrives. A six-month study and analysis of in-depth interviews of female and male sex laborers, their families and peers revealed a litany of disturbing, and troublesome experiences. Results showed profiles of debilitating human poverty, history of family disorganization, stigmatization, social marginalization and the ghost of the military prostitution system and its harmful legacy on Amerasian family units. Emerging were testimonials of wayward young people ensnared in a maelstrom of deep economic deprivation, familial dysfunction, psychological desperation and societal indifference. The paper recommends that more study is needed and implications of unstudied psychosocial and socioeconomic experiences of distressed younger generations of military Amerasians require specific research. Heretofore apathetic or disengaged U.S. institutions need to confront the issue and formulate activist and solution-oriented social welfare, human services and immigration easement policies and alternatives. These institutions specifically include academic and social science research agencies, corporate foundations, the U.S. Congress, and Departments of State, Defense and Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security (i.e. Citizen and Immigration Services) It is them who continue to endorse a laissez-faire policy of non-involvement over the entire Filipino Amerasian question. Such apathy, the paper concludes, relegates this consequential but neglected blood progeny to the status of humiliating destitution and exploitation. Amerasians; thus, remain entrapped in their former colonial, and neo-colonial habitat. Ironically, they are unwitting victims of a U.S. American homeland that fancies itself geo-politically as a strong and strategic military treaty ally of the Philippines in the Western Pacific.

Keywords: Asian Americans, diaspora, Filipino Amerasians, military prostitution, stigmatization

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Authors: Reza Nematirad, Anil Pahwa, Balasubramaniam Natarajan

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Time series data consist of successive data points collected over a period of time. Accurate prediction of future values is essential for informed decision-making in several real-world applications, including electricity load demand forecasting, lifetime estimation of industrial machinery, traffic planning, weather prediction, and the stock market. Due to their critical relevance and wide application, there has been considerable interest in time series forecasting in recent years. However, the proliferation of sensors and IoT devices, real-time monitoring systems, and high-frequency trading data introduce significant intricate temporal variations, rapid changes, noise, and non-linearities, making time series forecasting more challenging. Classical methods such as Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and Exponential Smoothing aim to extract pre-defined temporal variations, such as trends and seasonality. While these methods are effective for capturing well-defined seasonal patterns and trends, they often struggle with more complex, non-linear patterns present in real-world time series data. In recent years, deep learning has made significant contributions to time series forecasting. Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and their variants, such as Long short-term memory (LSTMs) and Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs), have been widely adopted for modeling sequential data. However, they often suffer from the locality, making it difficult to capture local trends and rapid fluctuations. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), particularly Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCNs), leverage convolutional layers to capture temporal dependencies by applying convolutional filters along the temporal dimension. Despite their advantages, TCNs struggle with capturing relationships between distant time points due to the locality of one-dimensional convolution kernels. Transformers have revolutionized time series forecasting with their powerful attention mechanisms, effectively capturing long-term dependencies and relationships between distant time points. However, the attention mechanism may struggle to discern dependencies directly from scattered time points due to intricate temporal patterns. Lastly, Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLPs) have also been employed, with models like N-BEATS and LightTS demonstrating success. Despite this, MLPs often face high volatility and computational complexity challenges in long-horizon forecasting. To address intricate temporal variations in time series data, this study introduces Times2D, a novel framework that parallelly integrates 2D spectrogram and derivative heatmap techniques. The spectrogram focuses on the frequency domain, capturing periodicity, while the derivative patterns emphasize the time domain, highlighting sharp fluctuations and turning points. This 2D transformation enables the utilization of powerful computer vision techniques to capture various intricate temporal variations. To evaluate the performance of Times2D, extensive experiments were conducted on standard time series datasets and compared with various state-of-the-art algorithms, including DLinear (2023), TimesNet (2023), Non-stationary Transformer (2022), PatchTST (2023), N-HiTS (2023), Crossformer (2023), MICN (2023), LightTS (2022), FEDformer (2022), FiLM (2022), SCINet (2022a), Autoformer (2021), and Informer (2021) under the same modeling conditions. The initial results demonstrated that Times2D achieves consistent state-of-the-art performance in both short-term and long-term forecasting tasks. Furthermore, the generality of the Times2D framework allows it to be applied to various tasks such as time series imputation, clustering, classification, and anomaly detection, offering potential benefits in any domain that involves sequential data analysis.

Keywords: derivative patterns, spectrogram, time series forecasting, times2D, 2D representation

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Authors: Julie M. Novak, Simone K. Brennan, Lacey Brim

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Undergraduate medical education (UME) curriculum notably addresses micro-level communications (e.g., patient-provider, intercultural, inter-professional), yet frequently under-examines the role and impact of organizational communication, a more macro-level. Organizational communication, however, functions as foundation and through systemic structures of an organization and thereby serves as hidden curriculum and influences learning experiences and outcomes. Yet, little available research exists fully examining how students experience organizational communication while in medical school. Extant literature and best practices provide insufficient guidance for UME programs, in particular. The purpose of this study was to map and examine current organizational communication systems and processes in a UME program. Employing a phenomenology-grounded and participatory approach, this study sought to understand the organizational communication system from medical students' perspective. The research team consisted of a core team and 13 medical student co-investigators. This research employed multiple methods, including focus groups, individual interviews, and two surveys (one reflective of focus group questions, the other requesting students to submit ‘examples’ of communications). To provide context for student responses, nonstudent participants (faculty, administrators, and staff) were sampled, as they too express concerns about communication. Over 400 students across all cohorts and 17 nonstudents participated. Data were iteratively analyzed and checked for triangulation. Findings reveal the complex nature of organizational communication and student-oriented communications. They reveal program-impactful strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and tensions and speak to the role of organizational communication practices influencing both climate and culture. With regard to communications, students receive multiple, simultaneous communications from multiple sources/channels, both formal (e.g., official email) and informal (e.g., social media). Students identified organizational strengths including the desire to improve student voice, and message frequency. They also identified weaknesses related to over-reliance on emails, numerous platforms with inconsistent utilization, incorrect information, insufficient transparency, assessment/input fatigue, tacit expectations, scheduling/deadlines, responsiveness, and mental health confidentiality concerns. Moreover, they noted gaps related to lack of coordination/organization, ambiguous point-persons, student ‘voice-only’, open communication loops, lack of core centralization and consistency, and mental health bridges. Findings also revealed organizational identity and cultural characteristics as impactful on the medical school experience. Cultural characteristics included program size, diversity, urban setting, student organizations, community-engagement, crisis framing, learning for exams, inefficient bureaucracy, and professionalism. Moreover, they identified system structures that do not always leverage cultural strengths or reduce cultural problematics. Based on the results, opportunities for productive change are identified. These include leadership visibly supporting and enacting overall organizational narratives, making greater efforts in consistently ‘closing the loop’, regularly sharing how student input effects change, employing strategies of crisis communication more often, strengthening communication infrastructure, ensuring structures facilitate effective operations and change efforts, and highlighting change efforts in informational communication. Organizational communication and communications are not soft-skills, or of secondary concern within organizations, rather they are foundational in nature and serve to educate/inform all stakeholders. As primary stakeholders, students and their success directly affect the accomplishment of organizational goals. This study demonstrates how inquiries about how students navigate their educational experience extends research-based knowledge and provides actionable knowledge for the improvement of organizational operations in UME.

Keywords: medical education programs, organizational communication, participatory research, qualitative mixed methods

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Authors: Maria João Ferreira, Natalia Sierra-Garcia, Javier Cremades, Carla António, Ana M. Rodrigues, Helena Silva, Ângela Cunha

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Salicornia ramosissima, a halophyte that grows naturally in coastal areas of the northern hemisphere, is often considered the most promising halophyte candidate for extensive crop cultivation and saline agriculture practices. The expanding interest in this plant surpasses its use as gourmet food and includes their potential application as a source of bioactive compounds for the pharmaceutical industry. Despite growing well in saline soils, sustainable and ecologically friendly techniques to enhance crop production and the nutritional value of this plant are still needed. The root microbiome of S. ramosissima proved to be a source of taxonomically diverse plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Halotolerant strains of Bacillus, Salinicola, Pseudomonas, and Brevibacterium, among other genera, exhibit a broad spectrum of plant-growth promotion traits [e.g., 3-indole acetic acid (IAA), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, siderophores, phosphate solubilization, Nitrogen fixation] and express a wide range of extracellular enzyme activities. In this work, three plant growth-promoting bacteria strains (Brevibacterium casei EB3, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans RL18, and Bacillus aryabhattai SP20) isolated from the rhizosphere and the endosphere of S. ramosissima roots from different saltmarshes along the Portuguese coast were inoculated in S. ramosissima seeds. Plants germinated from inoculated seeds were grown for three months in pots filled with a mixture of perlite and estuarine sediment (1:1) in greenhouse conditions and later transferred to a growth chamber, where they were maintained two months with controlled photoperiod, temperature, and humidity. Pots were placed on trays containing the irrigation solution (Hoagland’s solution 20% added with 10‰ marine salt). Before reaching the flowering stage, plants were collected, and the fresh and dry weight of aerial parts was determined. Non-inoculated seeds were used as a negative control. Selected dried stems from the most promising treatments were later analyzed by GC-TOF-MS for primary metabolite composition. The efficiency of inoculation and persistence of the inoculum was assessed by Next Generation Sequencing. Inoculations with single strain EB3 and co-inoculations with EB3+RL18 and EB3+RL18+SP20 (All treatment) resulted in significantly higher biomass production (fresh and dry weight) compared to non-inoculated plants. Considering fresh weight alone, inoculation with isolates SP20 and RL18 also caused a significant positive effect. Combined inoculation with the consortia SP20+EB3 or SP20+RL18 did not significantly improve biomass production. The analysis of the profile of primary metabolites will provide clues on the mechanisms by which the growth-enhancement effect of the inoculants operates in the plants. These results sustain promising prospects for the use of rhizospheric and endophytic PGPB as biofertilizers, reducing environmental impacts and operational costs of agrochemicals and contributing to the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of saline agriculture. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by project Rhizomis PTDC/BIA-MIC/29736/2017 financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the Regional Operational Program of the Center (02/SAICT/2017) with FEDER funds (European Regional Development Fund, FNR, and OE) and by FCT through CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020), LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020). We also acknowledge FCT/FSE for the financial support to Maria João Ferreira through a PhD grant (PD/BD/150363/2019). We are grateful to Horta dos Peixinhos for their help and support during sampling and seed collection. We also thank Glória Pinto for her collaboration providing us the use of the growth chambers during the final months of the experiment and Enrique Mateos-Naranjo and Jennifer Mesa-Marín of the Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, the University of Sevilla for their advice regarding the growth of salicornia plants in greenhouse conditions.

Keywords: halophytes, PGPB, rhizosphere engineering, biofertilizers, primary metabolite profiling, plant inoculation, Salicornia ramosissima

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Authors: Zhi-Zhong Chen, Jun-Hao Lu, Jr., Shih-Ying Chueh

Abstract:

Based on Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the study investigates people’s intention on using smart phones. The study additionally incorporates two new variables: 'self-efficacy' and 'attitude toward using'. Samples are collected by questionnaire survey, in which 240 are valid. After Correlation Analysis, Reliability Test, ANOVA, t-test and Multiple Regression Analysis, the study finds that social impact and self-efficacy have positive effect on use intentions, and the use intentions also have positive effect on use behavior.

Keywords: [1] Ajzen & Fishbein (1975), “Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research”, Reading MA: Addison-Wesley. [2] Bandura (1977) Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychological Review , 84, 191–215. [3] Bandura( 1986) A. Bandura, Social foundations of though and action, Prentice-Hall. Englewood Cliffs. [4] Ching-Hui Huang (2005). The effect of Regular Exercise on Elderly Optimism: The Self-efficacy and Theory of Reasoned Action Perspectives.(Master's dissertation, National Taiwan Sport University, 2005).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan。 [5] Chun-Mo Wu (2007).The Effects of Perceived Risk and Service Quality on Purchase Intention - an Example of Taipei City Long-Term Care Facilities. (Master's dissertation, Ming Chuan University, 2007).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [6] Compeau, D.R., and Higgins, C.A., (1995) “Application of social cognitive theory to training for computer skills.”, Information Systems Research, 6(2), pp.118-143. [7] computer-self-efficacy and mediators of the efficacy-performance relationship. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 62, 737-758. [8] Davis et al(1989), “User acceptance of computer technology: A comparison of two theoretical models ”, Management Science, 35(8), p.982-1003. [9] Davis et al(1989), “User acceptance of computer technology:A comparison of two theoretical models ”, Management Science, 35(8), p.982-1003. [10] Davis, F.D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340。 [11] Davis. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi:10.2307/249008 [12] Johnson, R. D. (2005). An empirical investigation of sources of application-specific [13] Mei-yin Hsu (2010).The Study on Attitude and Satisfaction of Electronic Documents System for Administrators of Elementary Schools in Changhua County.(Master's dissertation , Feng Chia University, 2010).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [14] Ming-Chun Hsieh (2010). Research on Parents’ Attitudes Toward Electronic Toys： The case of Taichung City.(Master's dissertation, Chaoyang University of Technology，2010).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [15] Moon and Kim（2001）. Extending the TAM for a World-Wide-Web context, Information and Management, v.38 n.4, p.217-230. [16] Shang-Yi Hu (2010).The Impacts of Knowledge Management on Customer Relationship Management – Enterprise Characteristicsand Corporate Governance as a Moderator.(Master's dissertation, Leader University, 2010)。National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [17] Sheng-Yi Hung (2013, September10).Worldwide sale of smartphones to hit one billion IDC：Android dominate the market. ETtoday. Retrieved data form the available protocol:2013/10/3. [18] Thompson, R.L., Higgins, C.A., and Howell, J.M.(1991), “Personal Computing: Toward a Conceptual Model of Utilization”, MIS Quarterly(15:1), pp. 125-143. [19] Venkatesh, V., M.G. Morris, G.B. Davis, and F. D. Davis (2003), “User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view, ” MIS Quarterly, 27, No. 3, pp.425-478. [20] Vijayasarathy, L. R. (2004), Predicting Consumer Intentions to Use On-Line Shopping： The Case for an Augmented Technology Acceptance Model, Information and Management, Vol.41, No.6, pp.747-762. [21] Wikipedia - smartphone (http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E6%99%BA%E8%83%BD%E6%89%8B%E6%9C%BA)。 [22] Wu-Minsan (2008).The impacts of self-efficacy, social support on work adjustment with hearing impaired. (Master's dissertation, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 2008).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [23] Yu-min Lin (2006). The Influence of Business Employee’s MSN Self-efficacy On Instant Messaging Usage Behavior and Communicaiton Satisfaction.(Master's dissertation, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 2006).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan.

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Authors: Hosein Maghsoudi

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Rheumatois arthritis (RA) is progressive inflammatory autoimmune diseases that primarily affect the joints, characterized by synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration, deformed and painful joints, which can lead tissue destruction, functional disability systemic complications, and early dead and socioeconomic costs. The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, but genetic and environmental factors are contributory and the prognosis is guarded. However, advances in understanding the pathogenesis of the disease have fostered the development of new therapeutics, with improved outcomes. The current treatment strategy, which reflects this progress, is to initiate aggressive therapy soon after diagnosis and to escalate the therapy, guided by an assessment of disease activity, in pursuit of clinical remission. The pathobiology of RA is multifaceted and involves T cells, B cells, fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLSc) and the complex interaction of many pro-inflammatory cytokine. Novel biologic agents that target tumor necrosis or interlukin (IL)-1 and Il-6, in addition T- and B-cells inhibitors, have resulted in favorable clinical outcomes in patients with RA. Despite this, at least 30% of RA patients are résistance to available therapies, suggesting novel mediators should be identified that can target other disease-specific pathway or cell lineage. Among the inflammatory cell population that might participated in RA pathogenesis, FLSc are crucial in initiaing and driving RA in concert of cartilage and bone by secreting metalloproteinase (MMPs) into the synovial fluid and by direct invasion into extracellular matrix (ECM), further exacerbating joint damage. Invasion of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSc) is critical in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid-arthritis. The metalloproteinase (MMPs) and activator of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor- κB pthway play a critical role in RA-FLS invasion induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The present study aimed to explore the anti-invasion activity of Glycyrrhizic Acid as a pharmacologically safe phytochemical agent with potent anti-inflammatory properties on IL-1beta and TNF-alpha signalling pathways in Bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte ex- vitro, on LPS-stimulated bovine FLS migration and invasion as well as MMP expression and explored the upstream signal transduction. Results showed that Glycyrrhizic Acid suppressed LPS-stimulated bovine FLS migration and invasion by inhibition MMP-9 expression and activity. In addition our results revealed that Glycyrrhizic Acid inhibited the transcriptional activity of MMP-9 by suppression the nbinding activity of NF- κB in the MMP-9 promoter pathway. The extract of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) has been widely used for many centuries in the traditional Chinese medicine as native anti-allergic agent. Glycyrrhizin (GL), a triterpenoidsaponin, extracted from the roots of licorice is the most effective compound for inflammation and allergic diseases in human body. The biological and pharmacological studies revealed that GL possesses many pharmacological effects, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and liver protective effects, and the biological effects, such as induction of cytokines (interferon-γ and IL-12), chemokines as well as extrathymic T and anti-type 2 T cells. GL is known in the traditional Chinese medicine for its anti-inflammatory effect, which is originally described by Finney in 1959. The mechanism of the GL-induced anti-inflammatory effect is based on different pathways of the GL-induced selective inhibition of the prostaglandin E2 production, the CK-II- mediated activation of both GL-binding lipoxygenas (gbLOX; 17) and PLA2, an anti-thrombin action of GL and production of the reactive oxygen species (ROS; GL exerts liver protection properties by inhibiting PLA2 or by the hydroxyl radical trapping action, leading to the lowering of serum alanine and aspartate transaminase levels. The present study was undertaken to examine the possible mechanism of anti-inflammatory properties GL on IL-1beta and TNF-alpha signalling pathways in bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte ex-vivo, on LPS-stimulated bovine FLS migration and invasion as well as MMP expression and explored the upstream signal transduction. Our results clearly showed that treatment of bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte with GL suppressed LPS-induced cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, it revealed that GL inhibited the transcription activity of MMP-9 by suppressing the binding activity of NF-κB in the MM-9 promoter. MMP-9 is an important ECM-degrading enzyme and overexpression of MMPs in important of RA-FLSs. LPS can stimulate bovine FLS to secret MMPs, and this induction is regulated at the transcription and translational levels. In this study, LPS treatment of bovine FLS caused an increase in MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels. The increase in MMP-9 expression and secretion was inhibited by ex- vitro. Furthermore, these effects were mimicked by MMP-9 siRNA. These result therefore indicate the the inhibition of LPS-induced bovine FLS invasion by GL occurs primarily by inhibiting MMP-9 expression and activity. Next we analyzed the functional significance of NF-κB transcription of MMP-9 activation in Bovine FLSs. Results from EMSA showed that GL suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB binding to the MMP-9 promotor, as NF-κB regulates transcriptional activation of multiple inflammatory cytokines, we predicted that GL might target NF-κB to suppress MMP-9 transcription by LPS. Myeloid differentiation-factor 88 (MyD88) and TIR-domain containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) are critical proteins in the LPS-induced NF-κB and apoptotic signaling pathways, GL inhibited the expression of TLR4 and MYD88. These results demonstrated that GL suppress LPS-induced MMP-9 expression through the inhibition of the induced TLR4/NFκB signaling pathway. Taken together, our results provide evidence that GL exerts anti-inflammatory effects by inhibition LPS-induced bovine FLSs migration and invasion, and the mechanisms may involve the suppression of TLR4/NFκB –mediated MMP-9 expression. Although further work is needed to clarify the complicated mechanism of GL-induced anti-invasion of bovine FLSs, GL might be used as a further anti-invasion drug with therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory disease such as RA.

Keywords: glycyrrhizic acid, bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte, tlr4/nf-κb, metalloproteinase-9

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Authors: Ziyad S. Haidar

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Background: Saliva plays a major role in maintaining oral, dental, and general health and well-being; where it normally bathes the oral cavity acting as a clearing agent. This becomes more apparent when the amount and quality of saliva are significantly reduced due to medications, salivary gland neoplasms, disorders such as Sjögren’s syndrome, and especially ionizing radiation therapy for tumors of the head and neck, the 5th most common malignancy worldwide, during which the salivary glands are included within the radiation field/zone. Clinically, patients affected by salivary gland dysfunction often opt to terminate their radiotherapy course prematurely as they become malnourished and experience a significant decrease in their QoL. Accordingly, the formulation of a radio-protection/-prevention modality and development of an alternative Rx to restore damaged salivary gland tissue is eagerly awaited and highly desirable. Objectives: Assess the pre-clinical radio-protective effect and reparative/regenerative potential of layer-by-layer self-assembled lipid-polymer-based core-shell nanocapsules designed and fine-tuned for the sequential (ordered) release of dual cytokines, following a single local administration (direct injection) into a murine sub-mandibular salivary gland model of irradiation. Methods: The formulated core-shell nanocapsules were characterized by physical-chemical-mechanically pre-/post-loading with the drugs, followed by optimizing the pharmaco-kinetic profile. Then, nanosuspensions were administered directly into the salivary glands, 24hrs pre-irradiation (PBS, un-loaded nanocapsules, and individual and combined vehicle-free cytokines were injected into the control glands for an in-depth comparative analysis). External irradiation at an elevated dose of 18Gy was exposed to the head-and-neck region of C57BL/6 mice. Salivary flow rate (un-stimulated) and salivary protein content/excretion were regularly assessed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (3-month period). Histological and histomorphometric evaluation and apoptosis/proliferation analysis followed by local versus systemic bio-distribution and immuno-histochemical assays were then performed on all harvested major organs (at the distinct experimental end-points). Results: Monodisperse, stable, and cytocompatible nanocapsules capable of maintaining the bioactivity of the encapsulant within the different compartments with the core and shell and with controlled/customizable pharmaco-kinetics, resulted, as is illustrated in the graphical abstract (Figure) below. The experimental animals demonstrated a significant increase in salivary flow rates when compared to the controls. Herein, salivary protein content was comparable to the pre-irradiation (baseline) level. Histomorphometry further confirmed the biocompatibility and localization of the nanocapsules, in vivo, into the site of injection. Acinar cells showed fewer vacuoles and nuclear aberration in the experimental group, while the amount of mucin was higher in controls. Overall, fewer apoptotic activities were detected by a Terminal deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay and proliferative rates were similar to the controls, suggesting an interesting reparative and regenerative potential of irradiation-damaged/-dysfunctional salivary glands. The Figure below exemplifies some of these findings. Conclusions: Biocompatible, reproducible, and customizable self-assembling layer-by-layer core-shell delivery system is formulated and presented. Our findings suggest that localized sequential bioactive delivery of dual cytokines (in specific dose and order) can prevent irradiation-induced damage via reducing apoptosis and also has the potential to promote in situ proliferation of salivary gland cells; maxSALIVA is scalable (Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP production for human clinical trials) and patent-pending.

Keywords: cancer, head and neck, oncology, drug development, drug delivery systems, nanotechnology, nanoncology

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Authors: Ali Kadir, S. R. Mishra, M. Shamshuddin, O. Anwar Beg

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Motivation- Rotating disk bio-reactors are fundamental to numerous medical/biochemical engineering processes including oxygen transfer, chromatography, purification and swirl-assisted pumping. The modern upsurge in biologically-enhanced engineering devices has embraced new phenomena including bioconvection of micro-organisms (photo-tactic, oxy-tactic, gyrotactic etc). The proven thermal performance superiority of nanofluids i.e. base fluids doped with engineered nanoparticles has also stimulated immense implementation in biomedical designs. Motivated by these emerging applications, we present a numerical thermofluid dynamic simulation of the transport phenomena in bioconvection nanofluid rotating disk bioreactor flow. Methodology- We study analytically and computationally the time-dependent three-dimensional viscous gyrotactic bioconvection in swirling nanofluid flow from a rotating disk configuration. The disk is also deformable i.e. able to extend (stretch) in the radial direction. Stefan blowing is included. The Buongiorno dilute nanofluid model is adopted wherein Brownian motion and thermophoresis are the dominant nanoscale effects. The primitive conservation equations for mass, radial, tangential and axial momentum, heat (energy), nanoparticle concentration and micro-organism density function are formulated in a cylindrical polar coordinate system with appropriate wall and free stream boundary conditions. A mass convective condition is also incorporated at the disk surface. Forced convection is considered i.e. buoyancy forces are neglected. This highly nonlinear, strongly coupled system of unsteady partial differential equations is normalized with the classical Von Karman and other transformations to render the boundary value problem (BVP) into an ordinary differential system which is solved with the efficient Adomian decomposition method (ADM). Validation with earlier Runge-Kutta shooting computations in the literature is also conducted. Extensive computations are presented (with the aid of MATLAB symbolic software) for radial and circumferential velocity components, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, micro-organism density number and gradients of these functions at the disk surface (radial local skin friction, local circumferential skin friction, Local Nusselt number, Local Sherwood number, motile microorganism mass transfer rate). Main Findings- Increasing radial stretching parameter decreases radial velocity and radial skin friction, reduces azimuthal velocity and skin friction, decreases local Nusselt number and motile micro-organism mass wall flux whereas it increases nano-particle local Sherwood number. Disk deceleration accelerates the radial flow, damps the azimuthal flow, decreases temperatures and thermal boundary layer thickness, depletes the nano-particle concentration magnitudes (and associated nano-particle species boundary layer thickness) and furthermore decreases the micro-organism density number and gyrotactic micro-organism species boundary layer thickness. Increasing Stefan blowing accelerates the radial flow and azimuthal (circumferential flow), elevates temperatures of the nanofluid, boosts nano-particle concentration (volume fraction) and gyrotactic micro-organism density number magnitudes whereas suction generates the reverse effects. Increasing suction effect reduces radial skin friction and azimuthal skin friction, local Nusselt number, and motile micro-organism wall mass flux whereas it enhances the nano-particle species local Sherwood number. Conclusions - Important transport characteristics are identified of relevance to real bioreactor nanotechnological systems not discussed in previous works. ADM is shown to achieve very rapid convergence and highly accurate solutions and shows excellent promise in simulating swirling multi-physical nano-bioconvection fluid dynamics problems. Furthermore, it provides an excellent complement to more general commercial computational fluid dynamics simulations.

Keywords: bio-nanofluids, rotating disk bioreactors, Von Karman swirling flow, numerical solutions

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Authors: Mina Naeini, Thomas A. Adams II

Abstract:

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) feature high electrical efficiency and generate substantial amounts of waste heat that make them suitable for integrated community energy systems (ICEs). By harvesting and distributing the waste heat through hot water pipelines, SOFCs can meet thermal demand of the communities. Therefore, they can replace traditional gas boilers and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Despite these advantages of SOFCs over competing power generation units, this technology has not been successfully commercialized in large-scale to replace traditional generators in ICEs. One reason is that SOFC performance deteriorates over long-term operation, which makes it difficult to find the proper sizing of the cells for a particular ICE system. In order to find the optimal sizing and operating conditions of SOFCs in a community, a proper knowledge of degradation mechanisms and effects of operating conditions on SOFCs long-time performance is required. The simplified SOFC models that exist in the current literature usually do not provide realistic results since they usually underestimate rate of performance drop by making too many assumptions or generalizations. In addition, some of these models have been obtained from experimental data by curve-fitting methods. Although these models are valid for the range of operating conditions in which experiments were conducted, they cannot be generalized to other conditions and so have limited use for most ICEs. In the present study, a general, detailed degradation-based model is proposed that predicts the performance of conventional SOFCs over a long period of time at different operating conditions. Conventional SOFCs are composed of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) as electrolyte, Ni-cermet anodes, and LaSr₁₋ₓMnₓO₃ (LSM) cathodes. The following degradation processes are considered in this model: oxidation and coarsening of nickel particles in the Ni-cermet anodes, changes in the pore radius in anode, electrolyte, and anode electrical conductivity degradation, and sulfur poisoning of the anode compartment. This model helps decision makers discover the optimal sizing and operation of the cells for a stable, efficient performance with the fewest assumptions. It is suitable for a wide variety of applications. Sulfur contamination of the anode compartment is an important cause of performance drop in cells supplied with hydrocarbon-based fuel sources. H₂S, which is often added to hydrocarbon fuels as an odorant, can diminish catalytic behavior of Ni-based anodes by lowering their electrochemical activity and hydrocarbon conversion properties. Therefore, the existing models in the literature for H₂-supplied SOFCs cannot be applied to hydrocarbon-fueled SOFCs as they only account for the electrochemical activity reduction. A regression model is developed in the current work for sulfur contamination of the SOFCs fed with hydrocarbon fuel sources. The model is developed as a function of current density and H₂S concentration in the fuel. To the best of authors' knowledge, it is the first model that accounts for impact of current density on sulfur poisoning of cells supplied with hydrocarbon-based fuels. Proposed model has wide validity over a range of parameters and is consistent across multiple studies by different independent groups. Simulations using the degradation-based model illustrated that SOFCs voltage drops significantly in the first 1500 hours of operation. After that, cells exhibit a slower degradation rate. The present analysis allowed us to discover the reason for various degradation rate values reported in literature for conventional SOFCs. In fact, the reason why literature reports very different degradation rates, is that literature is inconsistent in definition of how degradation rate is calculated. In the literature, the degradation rate has been calculated as the slope of voltage versus time plot with the unit of voltage drop percentage per 1000 hours operation. Due to the nonlinear profile of voltage over time, degradation rate magnitude depends on the magnitude of time steps selected to calculate the curve's slope. To avoid this issue, instantaneous rate of performance drop is used in the present work. According to a sensitivity analysis, the current density has the highest impact on degradation rate compared to other operating factors, while temperature and hydrogen partial pressure affect SOFCs performance less. The findings demonstrated that a cell running at lower current density performs better in long-term in terms of total average energy delivered per year, even though initially it generates less power than if it had a higher current density. This is because of the dominant and devastating impact of large current densities on the long-term performance of SOFCs, as explained by the model.

Keywords: degradation rate, long-term performance, optimal operation, solid oxide fuel cells, SOFCs

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