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Authors: Sara Corvino

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The aim of this study is to explore the potential of inclusive learning and assessment strategies to foster students' engagement with historical debates surrounding the field of graphic design. The goal is to respond to the diversity of L4 Graphic Design students, at Nottingham Trent University, in a way that instead of 'lowering standards' can benefit everyone. This research tests, measures, and evaluates the impact of a specific intervention, an assessment task, to develop students' critical visual analysis skills and stimulate a deeper engagement with the subject matter. Within the action research approach, this work has followed a case study research method to understand students' views and perceptions of a specific project. The primary methods of data collection have been: anonymous electronic questionnaire and a paper-based anonymous critical incident questionnaire. NTU College of Business Law and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee granted the Ethical approval for this research in November 2019. Other methods used to evaluate the impact of this assessment task have been Evasys's report and students' performance. In line with the constructivist paradigm, this study embraces an interpretative and contextualized analysis of the collected data within the triangulation analytical framework. The evaluation of both qualitative and quantitative data demonstrates that active learning strategies and the disruption of thinking patterns can foster greater students' engagement and can lead to meaningful learning.

Keywords: active learning, assessment for learning, graphic design, higher education, student engagement

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Authors: Jacky Liu

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This paper develops a team sports outcome prediction system with potential for wide-ranging applications across various disciplines. Despite significant advancements in predictive analytics, existing studies in sports outcome predictions possess considerable limitations, including insufficient feature engineering and underutilization of advanced machine learning techniques, among others. To address these issues, we extend the Sports Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (SRP-CRISP-DM) framework and propose a unique, comprehensive predictive system, using National Basketball Association (NBA) data as an example to test this extended framework. Our approach follows a holistic methodology in feature engineering, employing both Time Series and Non-Time Series Data, as well as conducting Explanatory Data Analysis and Feature Selection. Furthermore, we contribute to the discourse on target variable choice in team sports outcome prediction, asserting that point spread prediction yields higher profits as opposed to game-winner predictions. Using machine learning algorithms, particularly XGBoost, results in a significant improvement in predictive accuracy of team sports outcomes. Applied to point spread betting strategies, it offers an astounding annual return of approximately 900% on an initial investment of $100. Our findings not only contribute to academic literature, but have critical practical implications for sports betting. Our study advances the understanding of team sports outcome prediction a burgeoning are in complex system predictions and pave the way for potential profitability and more informed decision making in sports betting markets.

Keywords: machine learning, team sports, game outcome prediction, sports betting, profits simulation

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Authors: M. T. Islam, S. H. Shakif, R. Hasan, S. H. Kobi

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Investigation of rainfall trends is crucial considering climate change, food security, and the economy of a particular region. This research aims to study seasonal and annual precipitation trends and their abrupt changes over time in the south-central climatic zone of Bangladesh using monthly time series data of 50 years (1970-2019). A trend-free pre-whitening method has been employed to make necessary adjustments for autocorrelations in the rainfall data. Trends in rainfall and their intensity have been observed using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Theil-Sen estimator. Significant changes and fluctuation points in the data series have been detected using the sequential Mann-Kendall test at the 95% confidence limit. The study findings show that most of the rainfall stations in the study area have a decreasing precipitation pattern throughout all seasons. The maximum decline in the rainfall intensity has been found for the Tangail station (-8.24 mm/year) during monsoon. Madaripur and Chandpur stations have shown slight positive trends in post-monsoon rainfall. In terms of annual precipitation, a negative rainfall pattern has been identified in each station, with a maximum decrement (-) of 14.48 mm/year at Chandpur. However, all the trends are statistically non-significant within the 95% confidence interval, and their monotonic association with time ranges from very weak to weak. From the sequential Mann-Kendall test, the year of changing points for annual and seasonal downward precipitation trends occur mostly after the 90s for Dhaka and Barishal stations. For Chandpur, the fluctuation points arrive after the mid-70s in most cases.

Keywords: trend analysis, Mann-Kendall test, Theil-Sen estimator, sequential Mann-Kendall test, rainfall trend

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Authors: Chun-Wei Yeh, Santhanamoorthi Nachimuthu, Jyh-Chiang Jiang

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Reducing greenhouse gases or converting them into fuels and chemicals with added value is vital for the environment. Given the enhanced techniques for hydrocarbon extraction in this context, the catalytic conversion of methane to methanol is particularly intriguing for future applications as vehicle fuels and/or bulk chemicals. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received much attention recently for the oxidation of methane to methanol. In addition, biomimetic material, particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO), has been reported to convert methane using copper oxide clusters as active sites. Inspired by these, in this study, we considered the well-known MIL-53(Al) MOF as support for copper oxide clusters (Cu2Ox, Cu3Ox) to investigate their reactivity towards methane oxidation using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The copper oxide clusters (Cu2O2, Cu3O2) are modeled by oxidizing copper clusters (Cu2, Cu3) with two oxidizers, O2 and N2O. The initial C-H bond activation barriers on Cu2O2/MIL-53(Al) and Cu3O2/MIL-53(Al) catalysts are 0.70 eV and 0.64 eV, respectively, and are the rate-determining steps in the overall methane conversion to methanol reactions. The desorption energy of the methanol over the Cu2O/MIL-53(Al) and Cu3O/MIL-53(Al) is 0.71eV and 0.75 eV, respectively. Furthermore, to explore the prospect of catalyst reusability, we considered the different oxidants and proposed the different reaction pathways for completing the reaction cycle and regenerating the active copper oxide clusters. To know the reason for the difference between bi-copper and tri-cooper systems, we also did an electronic analysis. Finally, we calculate the Microkinetic Simulation. The result shows that the reaction can happen at room temperature.

Keywords: DFT study, copper oxide cluster, MOFs, methane conversion

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Authors: Tsai Yu-hsin, Chung Yi-Hsin

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The employment of an HSR system, resulting in elevation in the inter-city/-region accessibility, is likely to promote spatial interaction between places in the HSR and extended territory. The inter-city/-region travel via HSR could be, among others, affected by the land use, transportation, and location of the HSR station at both trip origin and destination ends. However, relatively few insights have been shed on these impacts and spatial patterns of the HSR travel. The research purposes, as phase one of a series of HSR related research, of this study are threefold: to analyze the general spatial patterns of HSR trips, such as the spatial distribution of trip origins and destinations; to analyze if specific land use, transportation characteristics, and trip characteristics affect HSR trips in terms of the use of HSR, the distribution of trip origins and destinations, and; to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of HSR travelers. With the Taiwan HSR starting operation in 2007, this study emphasizes on the intermediate-term impact of HSR, which is made possible with the population and housing census and industry and commercial census data and a station area intercept survey conducted in the summer 2014. The analysis will be conducted at the city, inter-city, and inter-region spatial levels, as necessary and required. The analysis tools include descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis with the assistance of SPSS, HLM and ArcGIS. The findings, on the one hand, can provide policy implications for associated land use, transportation plan and the site selection of HSR station. On the other hand, on the travel the findings are expected to provide insights that can help explain how land use and real estate values could be affected by HSR in following phases of this series of research.

Keywords: high speed rail, land use, travel, spatial pattern

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Authors: O. Maklouf, Ahmed Abdulla

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A general decline in the cost, size, and power requirements of electronics is accelerating the adoption of integrated GPS/INS technologies in consumer applications such Land Vehicle Navigation. Researchers are looking for ways to eliminate additional components from product designs. One possibility is to drop one or more of the relatively expensive gyroscopes from microelectromechanical system (MEMS) versions of inertial measurement units (IMUs). For land vehicular use, the most important gyroscope is the vertical gyro that senses the heading of the vehicle and two horizontal accelerometers for determining the velocity of the vehicle. This paper presents a simplified integration algorithm for strap down (ParIMU)\GPS combination, with data post processing for the determination of 2-D components of position (trajectory), velocity and heading. In the present approach we have neglected earth rotation and gravity variations, because of the poor gyroscope sensitivities of the low-cost IMU and because of the relatively small area of the trajectory.

Keywords: GPS, ParIMU, INS, Kalman filter

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Authors: Ashutosh Verma, Satyendra Mittal

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Numerous geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) abutment failures over the years have been attributed to the loss of strength at the facing-reinforcement interface due to seasonal thermal expansion/contraction of the bridge deck. This causes excessive settlement below the bridge seat, causing bridge bumps along the approach road which reduces the design life of any abutment. Before designers while choosing the type of facing, a broad range of facing configurations are undoubtedly available. Generally speaking, these configurations can be divided into three groups: modular (panels/block), continuous, and full height rigid (FHR). The purpose of the current study is to use 1g physical model tests under serviceable cyclic lateral displacements to experimentally investigate the behaviour of these three facing classifications. To simulate field behaviour, a field instrumented GRS abutment prototype was modeled into a N scaled down 1g physical model (N = 5) with adjustable facing arrangements to represent these three facing classifications. For cyclic lateral displacement (d/H) of top facing at loading rate of 1mm/min, the peak earth pressure coefficient (K) on the facing and vertical settlement of the footing (s/B) at 25, 50, 75 and 100 cycles have been measured. For a constant footing offset of x/H = 0.1, three forms of cyclic displacements have been performed to simulate active condition (CA), passive condition (CP), and active-passive condition (CAP). The findings showed that when reinforcements are integrated into the wall along with presence of gravel gabions i.e. FHR design, a rather substantial earth pressure occurs over the facing. Despite this, the FHR facing's continuous nature works in conjunction with the reinforcements' membrane resilience to reduce footing settlement. On the other hand, the pressure over the wall is released upon lateral excitation by the relative displacement between the panels in modular facing reducing the connection strength at the interface and leading to greater settlements below footing. On the contrary, continuous facing do not exhibit relative displacement along the depth of facing rather fails through rotation about the base, which extends the zone of active failure in the backfill leading to large depressions in the backfill region around the bridge seat. Conservatively, FHR facing shows relatively stable responses under lateral cyclic excitations as compared to modular or continuous type of abutment facing.

Keywords: GRS abutments, 1g physical model, full height rigid, cyclic lateral displacement

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Authors: Shivankar Agrawal, Sunil Kumar Deshmukh, Colin Barrow, Alok Adholeya

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Millions of people worldwide are affected by infectious diseases caused by bacteria and fungi. Skin and skin structure infections (SSSI) represent a significant category of infectious disease. Unexpectedly, many pathogens have developed resistance towards current antibiotics and over the time this problem has become more and more serious. All these new problems necessitate the continuous search for novel and alternative antibiotics and antifungals. The aim of our research is the screening of extracts of marine fungi for their antibacterial activity against bacteria causing skin and wound infection in humans. A total of 40 marine samples were collected from west coast and Andaman Island of India and 35 morphologically different marine fungi were isolated using natural sea water medium. Among 35 marine fungi, eight isolates exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against human pathogens. In the course of systematic screening program for bioactive marine fungi, strain 'D5' was found to be most potent strain with MIC value of 1 mg/mL, which was morphologically identified as Simplicillium lamellicola. The effects of the most active crude extracts against their susceptible test microorganisms were also investigated by SEM analysis. Purification and characterization of crude extracts for identification of active lead molecule is under process. The results of diversity and antimicrobial activity have increased the scope of finding industrially important marine fungi from Indian marine environments and these organisms could be vital sources for the discovery of pharmaceutically useful molecules.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, antibiotic, marine fungi, skin infections

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Authors: Strahinja Kovačević, Sanja Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Lidija Jevrić, Cristina Prandi, Piermichele Kobauri

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The present study is based on molecular modeling of a series of twelve 5-(4-substituent-phenoxy)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one derivatives which have potential of strigolactones mimics toward Striga hermonthica. The first step of the analysis included the calculation of molecular descriptors which numerically describe the structures of the analyzed compounds. The descriptors ALOGP (lipophilicity), AClogS (water solubility) and BBB (blood-brain barrier penetration), served as the input variables in multiple linear regression (MLR) modeling of germination activity toward S. hermonthica. Two MLR models were obtained. The first MLR model contains ALOGP and AClogS descriptors, while the second one is based on these two descriptors plus BBB descriptor. Despite the braking Topliss-Costello rule in the second MLR model, it has much better statistical and cross-validation characteristics than the first one. The ALOGP and AClogS descriptors are often very suitable predictors of the biological activity of many compounds. They are very important descriptors of the biological behavior and availability of a compound in any biological system (i.e. the ability to pass through the cell membranes). BBB descriptor defines the ability of a molecule to pass through the blood-brain barrier. Besides the lipophilicity of a compound, this descriptor carries the information of the molecular bulkiness (its value strongly depends on molecular bulkiness). According to the obtained results of MLR modeling, these three descriptors are considered as very good predictors of germination activity of the analyzed compounds toward S. hermonthica seeds. This article is based upon work from COST Action (FA1206), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

Keywords: chemometrics, germination activity, molecular modeling, QSAR analysis, strigolactones

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Authors: P. Venkata Karthik, B. Kranthi Kumar

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Fly ash is a solid waste product of coal based electric power generating plants. Fly ash is the finest of coal ash particles and it is transported from the combustion chamber by exhaust gases. Fly ash is removed by particulate emission control devices such as electrostatic precipitators or filter fabric bag-houses. It is a fine material with spherical particles. Large quantities of fly ash discharged from coal-fired power stations are a major problem not only in terms of scarcity of land available for its disposal, but also in environmental aspects. Fly ash can be one of the alternatives and can be a viable option to use as a filling material. This paper contains the problems associated with fly ash generation, need for its management and the efficacy of fly ash composite as a backfilling material. By conducting suitable geotechnical investigations and numerical modelling techniques, the fly ash composite material was tested. It also contains case studies of typical Indian opencast and underground coal mines.

Keywords: backfilling, fly ash, high concentration slurry disposal, power plant, void infilling

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Authors: Nikita Pasricha, Karen Smith, Simone Marshall, Vincent DePaul, Jessica Trier

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Understanding that physical activity in rehabilitation programs shapes outcomes in acquired brain injury (ABI) populations is not a new concept. However, there is a void in understanding the physical activity patterns of inpatients in ABI rehabilitation, the trajectory of physical activity recovery, and factors that contribute to the recovery of physical activity over the initial months post-ABI. The purpose of this study was to determine if physical activity patterns vary in people with recent ABI in inpatient rehabilitation. The study also investigated differences in physical activity patterns in ABI patients compared to age-related healthy participants. Results revealed that ABI patients spent approximately 6.7 times longer per day in sedentary postures than in active positions. In comparison, the control group spent only 2.8 times longer in sedentary postures compared to active positions. Patients with ABI took significantly fewer steps than age-matched health control participants. Within the ABI population, patients took 0.78 times fewer steps on weekends compared to weekdays. Participants with greater mobility limitations had a greater difference in WD to WE steps taken. Potential reasons could be from no structured weekend rehabilitation programs, lower availability of staff, or varying schedules. Given that the rehabilitation program is only structured on weekdays, further research to investigate the benefits of structured physical activities like group walking programs on weekends for ABI patients in inpatient rehabilitation programs is warranted.

Keywords: brain, ABI, TBI, rehabilitation

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Authors: Edwin Oviedo, Carlos Linares, Philippe Ayrault, Sylvette Brunet

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Nowadays, light conventional crude oils are going down. Therefore, the exploitation of heavy crude oils has been increasing. Hence, a major quantity of refractory sulfur compounds such as dibenzothiophene (DBT) should be removed. Many efforts have been carried out to modify hydrotreatment typical supports in order to increase hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reactions. The present work shows the synthesis of tertiaries MgFeAl(0.16), MgFeAl(0.32), CoFeAl, ZnFeAl hydrotalcites, as supports of CoMo based catalysts, where 0.16 and 0.32 are the Fe3+/Al3+ molar ratio. Solids were characterized by different techniques (XRD, CO2-TPD, H2-TPR, FT-IR, BET, Chemical Analysis and HRTEM) and tested in the DBT HDS reaction. The reactions conditions were: Temp=325°C, P=40 Bar, H2/feed=475. Results show that the catalysts CoMo/MgFeAl(0.16) and CoMo/MgFeAl(0.32), which were the most basics, reduced the sulfur content from 500ppm to less than 1 ppm, increasing the cyclohexylbenzene content, i.e. presented a higher selective toward the HYD pathway than reference catalyst CoMo/γ- Al2O3. This is suitable for improving the fuel quality due to the increase of the cetane number. These catalysts were also more active to the HDS reaction increasing the direct desulfurization (DDS) way and presented a good stability. It is advantageous when the gas oil centane number should be improved. Cobalt, iron or zinc species inside support could avoid the Co and Mo dispersion or form spinel species which could be less active to hydrodesulfuration reactions, while hydrotalcites containing Mg increases the HDS activity probably due to improved Co/Mo ratio.

Keywords: catalyst, cetane number, dibenzothiophene, diesel, hydrodesulfurization, hydrotreatment, MoS2

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Authors: Rasmila Kawan, Sanjay Juvekar, Sandeep Salvi, Gufran Beig, Rainer Sauerborn

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Background: Indoor air pollution especially from the use of biomass fuels, remains a potentially large global health threat. The inefficient use of such fuels in poorly ventilated conditions results in high levels of indoor air pollution, most seriously affecting women and young children. Objectives: The main aim of this study was to measure and compare the lung function of the women exposed in the biomass fuels and LPG fuels and relate it to the indoor emission measured using a structured questionnaire, spirometer and filter based low volume samplers respectively. Methodology: This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted among the women (aged > 18 years) living in rural villages of Pune district who were not diagnosed of chronic pulmonary diseases or any other respiratory diseases and using biomass fuels or LPG for cooking for a minimum period of 5 years or more. Data collection was done from April to June 2017 in dry season. Spirometer was performed using the portable, battery-operated ultrasound Easy One spirometer (Spiro bank II, NDD Medical Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland) to determine the lung function over Forced expiratory volume. The primary outcome variable was forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Secondary outcome was chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (post bronchodilator FEV1/ Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) < 70%) as defined by the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease. Potential confounders such as age, height, weight, smoking history, occupation, educational status were considered. Results: Preliminary results showed that the lung function of the women using Biomass fuels (FEV1/FVC = 85% ± 5.13) had comparatively reduced lung function than the LPG users (FEV1/FVC = 86.40% ± 5.32). The mean PM 2.5 mass concentration in the biomass user’s kitchen was 274.34 ± 314.90 and 85.04 ± 97.82 in the LPG user’s kitchen. Black carbon amount was found higher in the biomass users (black carbon = 46.71 ± 46.59 µg/m³) than LPG users (black carbon=11.08 ± 22.97 µg/m³). Most of the houses used separate kitchen. Almost all the houses that used the clean fuel like LPG had minimum amount of the particulate matter 2.5 which might be due to the background pollution and cross ventilation from the houses using biomass fuels. Conclusions: Therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt various strategies to improve indoor air quality. There is a lacking of current state of climate active pollutants emission from different stove designs and identify major deficiencies that need to be tackled. Moreover, the advancement in research tools, measuring technique in particular, is critical for researchers in developing countries to improve their capability to study the emissions for addressing the growing climate change and public health concerns.

Keywords: black carbon, biomass fuels, indoor air pollution, lung function, particulate matter

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Authors: Conrad Weber

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The modelling of railway noise over large projects areas can be very time consuming in terms of preparing the noise models and calculation time. An open-source GIS program has been utilised to assist with the modelling of operational noise levels for 675km of railway corridor. A range of GIS algorithms were utilised to break up the noise model area into manageable calculation sizes. GIS was utilised to prepare and filter a range of noise modelling inputs, including building files, land uses and ground terrain. A spreadsheet was utilised to manage the accuracy of key input parameters, including train speeds, train types, curve corrections, bridge corrections and engine notch settings. GIS was utilised to present the final noise modelling results. This paper explains the noise modelling process and how the spreadsheet and GIS were utilised to accurately model this massive project efficiently.

Keywords: noise, modeling, GIS, rail

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Authors: Ewa Toloczko

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Studies show that developing writing skills throughout years of formal foreign language instruction does not necessarily result in rewarding accomplishments among learners, nor an affirmative attitude they build towards written assignments. What causes this apparently wide-spread bias to writing might be a diminished relevance students attach to it, as opposed to the other productive skill — speaking, insufficient resources available for them to succeed, or the ways writing is approached by instructors, that is inapt teaching techniques that discourage rather that inflame learners’ engagement. The assumption underlying this presentation is that psychological and psycholinguistic factors constitute a key dimension of every writing process, and hence should be seriously considered in both material design and lesson planning. The author intends to demonstrate research in which writing tasks were conceived of as attitudinal rather than technical operations, and consequently turned into meaningful and socially-oriented incidents that students could relate to and have an active hand in. The instrument employed to achieve this purpose and to make writing even more interactive was the format of a project, a carefully devised series of tasks, which involved students as human beings, not only language learners. The projects rested upon the premise that the presence of peers and the teacher in class could be taken advantage of in a supportive rather than evaluative mode. In fact, the research showed that collaborative work and constant meaning negotiation reinforced not only bonds between learners, but also the language form and structure of the output. Accordingly, the role of the teacher shifted from the assessor to problem barometer, always ready to accept the slightest improvements in students’ language performance. This way, written verbal communication, which usually aims to merely manifest accuracy and coherent content for assessment, became part of the enterprise meant to emphasise its social aspect — the writer in real-life setting. The samples of projects show the spectrum of possibilities teachers have when exploring the domain of writing within school curriculum. The ideas are easy to modify and adjust to all proficiency levels and ages. Initially, however, they were meant to suit teenage and young adult learners of English as a foreign language in both European and Asian contexts.

Keywords: projects, psycholinguistic/ psychological dimension of writing, writing as a social enterprise, writing skills, written assignments

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Authors: Alexander A. Osmolovskiy, Anastasia V. Orekhova, Daria M. Bednenko, Yelyzaveta Boiko

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Micromycetes from Aspergillus genus can produce proteases capable of promoting proteolysis of hemostasis proteins or, along with hydrolytic activity, to show the ability to convert proenzymes of this system activating them into an active form. At the same time, practical medicine needs specific activators for quantitation of the level of some plasma enzymes, especially protein C and factor X, the lack of which leads to the development of thromboembolic diseases. Thus, some micromycetes of the genus Aspergillus were screened for the ability to synthesize extracellular proteases with promising activity for designing anti-thrombotic and diagnostic preparations. Such standard methods like salting out, electrophoresis, isoelectrofocusing were used for isolation, purification and study of physicochemical properties of proteases. Enzyme activity was measured spectrophotometrically fibrin as a substrate of the reaction and chromogenic peptide substrates of different proteases of the human hemostasis system. As a result of the screening, four active producers were selected: Aspergillus janus 301, A. flavus 1, A. terreus 2, and A. ochraceus L-1. The enzyme of A. janus 301 showed the greatest fibrinolytic activity (around 329.2 μmol Tyr/(ml × min)). The protease produced by A. terreus 2 had the highest plasmin-like activity (54.1 nmol pNA/(ml × min)), but fibrinolytic activity was lower than A. janus 301 demonstrated (25.2 μmol Tyr/(ml × min)). For extracellular protease of micromycete A. flavus a high plasmin-like activity was also shown (39.8 nmol pNA / (ml × min)). Moreover, according to our results proteases one of the fungi - A. terreus 2 were able to activate protein C of human plasma - the key factor of the human anticoagulant hemostasis system. This type of activity was 39.8 nmol pNA/(ml × min)). It was also shown that A. ochraceus L-1 could produce extracellular proteases with protein C and factor X activator activities (65.9 nmol pNA/(ml × min) and 34.6 nmol pNA/(ml × min) respectively). The maximum accumulation of the proteases falls on the 4th day of cultivation. Using isoelectrofocusing was demonstrated that the activation of both proenzymes might proceed via limited proteolysis induced by proteases of A. ochraceus L-1. The activatory activity of A. ochraceus L-1 proteases toward essential hemostatic proenzymes, protein C and X factor may be useful for practical needs. It is well known that similar enzymes, activators of protein C and X factor isolated from snake venom, South American copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix and Russell’s viper Daboia russelli russeli, respectively, are used for the in vitro diagnostics of the functional state of these proteins in blood plasma. Thus, the proteases of Aspergillus genus can be used as cheap components for enzyme thrombolytic preparations.

Keywords: anti-trombotic drugs, fibrinolysis, diagnostics, proteases, micromycetes

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Authors: Kadam Bhambri, Neena Gupta

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All optical wavelength conversion is essential in present day optical networks for transparent interoperability, contention resolution, and wavelength routing. The incorporation of all optical wavelength convertors leads to better utilization of the network resources and hence improves the efficiency of optical networks. Wavelength convertors that can work with Dispersion Managed (DM) solitons are attractive due to their superior transmission capabilities. In this paper, wavelength conversion for dispersion managed soliton signals was demonstrated at 100 Gbps through semiconductor optical amplifier and an optical filter. The wavelength conversion was achieved for a 1550 nm input signal to1555nm output signal. The output signal was measured in terms of BER, Q factor and system margin.    

Keywords: all optical wavelength conversion, dispersion managed solitons, semiconductor optical amplifier, cross gain modultation

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Authors: K. Khelil, H. Ammar, K. Saouchi

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Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) structure is an periodically modulated optical fiber. It acts as a selective filter of wavelength whose reflected peak is called Bragg wavelength and it depends on the period of the fiber and the refractive index. The simulation of FBG is based on solving the Coupled Mode Theory equation by using the Transfer Matrix Method which is carried out using MATLAB. It is found that spectral reflectivity is shifted when the change of temperature and strain is uniform. Under non-uniform temperature or strain perturbation, the spectrum is both shifted and destroyed. In case of transverse loading, reflectivity spectrum is split into two peaks, the first is specific to X axis, and the second belongs to Y axis. FBGs are used in civil engineering to detect perturbations applied to buildings.

Keywords: Bragg wavelength, coupled mode theory, optical fiber, temperature measurement

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Authors: B. H. Aitchanov, Sh. K. Aitchanova, O. A. Baimuratov

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This paper is focused on dynamic pulse-frequency modulation (DPFM) control systems. Currently, the control law based on DPFM control signals is widely used in direct digital control subsystems introduced in the automated control systems of technological processes. Statistical analysis of automatic control systems is reduced to its construction of functional relationships between the statistical characteristics of the errors processes and input processes. Structural and dynamic Volterra models of digital pulse-frequency control systems can be used to develop methods for generating the dependencies, differing accuracy, requiring the amount of information about the statistical characteristics of input processes and computing labor intensity of their use.

Keywords: digital dynamic pulse-frequency control systems, dynamic pulse-frequency modulation, control object, discrete filter, impulse device, microcontroller

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Authors: T. C. Machaba, S. M. Mahlo

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The current study investigates the antifungal properties of crude plant extracts from selected medicinal plant species. Eight plant species used by the traditional healers and local people to treat fungal infections were selected for further phytochemical analysis and biological assay. The selected plant species were extracted with solvent of various polarities such as acetone, methanol, ethanol, hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and water. Leaf, roots and bark extracts of Maerua juncea Pax, Albuca seineri (Engl & K. Krause) J.C Manning & Goldblatt, Senna italica Mill., Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels, Indigofera circinata Benth., Schinus molle L., Asparagus buchananii Bak., were screened for antifungal activity against three animal fungal pathogens (Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans). All plant extracts were active against the tested microorganisms. Acetone, dichloromethane, hexane and ethanol extracts of Senna italica and Elephantorrhiza elephantine had excellent activity against Candida albicans and A. fumigatus with the lowest MIC value of 0.02 mg/ml. Bioautography assay was used to determine the number of antifungal compounds presence in the plant extracts. No active compounds were observed in plant extracts of Indigofera circinnata, Schinus molle and Pentarrhinum insipidum with good antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. fumigatus indicating possible synergism between separated metabolites.

Keywords: antifungal activity, bioautography, ethnobotanical survey, minimum inhibitory concentration

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Authors: Anna Vanderbruggen, Kai Bachmann, Martin Rudolph, Rodrigo Serna

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Recycling of lithium-ion batteries has attracted a lot of attention in recent years and focuses primarily on valuable metals such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium. Despite the growth in graphite consumption and the fact that it is classified as a critical raw material in the European Union, USA, and Australia, there is little work focusing on graphite recycling. Thus, graphite is usually considered waste in recycling treatments, where graphite particles are concentrated in the “black mass”, a fine fraction below 1mm, which also contains the foils and the active cathode particles such as LiCoO2 or LiNiMnCoO2. To characterize the material, various analytical methods are applied, including X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), and SEM-based automated mineralogy. The latter consists of the combination of a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image analysis and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It is a powerful and well-known method for primary material characterization; however, it has not yet been applied to secondary material such as black mass, which is a challenging material to analyze due to fine alloy particles and to the lack of an existing dedicated database. The aim of this research is to characterize the black mass depending on the metals recycling process in order to understand the liberation mechanisms of the active particles from the foils and their effect on the graphite particle surfaces and to understand their impact on the subsequent graphite flotation. Three industrial processes were taken into account: purely mechanical, pyrolysis-mechanical, and mechanical-hydrometallurgy. In summary, this article explores various and common challenges for graphite and secondary material characterization.

Keywords: automated mineralogy, characterization, graphite, lithium ion battery, recycling

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Authors: K. Mondal, S. Talapatra, M. Terrones, S. Pokhrel, C. Frizzel, B. Sumpter, V. Meunier, A. L. Elias

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Worldwide energy independence is reliant on the ability to leverage locally available resources for fuel production. Recently, syngas produced through gasification of carbonaceous materials provided a gateway to a host of processes for the production of various chemicals including transportation fuels. The basis of the production of gasoline and diesel-like fuels is the Fischer Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) process: A catalyzed chemical reaction that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H₂) into long chain hydrocarbons. Until now, it has been argued that only transition metal catalysts (usually Co or Fe) are active toward the CO hydrogenation and subsequent chain growth in the presence of hydrogen. In this paper, we demonstrate that carbon nanotube (CNT) surfaces are also capable of hydro-deoxygenating CO and producing long chain hydrocarbons similar to that obtained through the FTS but with orders of magnitude higher conversion efficiencies than the present state-of-the-art FTS catalysts. We have used advanced experimental tools such as XPS and microscopy techniques to characterize CNTs and identify C-O functional groups as the active sites for the enhanced catalytic activity. Furthermore, we have conducted quantum Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to confirm that C-O groups (inherent on CNT surfaces) could indeed be catalytically active towards reduction of CO with H₂, and capable of sustaining chain growth. The DFT calculations have shown that the kinetically and thermodynamically feasible route for CO insertion and hydro-deoxygenation are different from that on transition metal catalysts. Experiments on a continuous flow tubular reactor with various nearly metal-free CNTs have been carried out and the products have been analyzed. CNTs functionalized by various methods were evaluated under different conditions. Reactor tests revealed that the hydrogen pre-treatment reduced the activity of the catalysts to negligible levels. Without the pretreatment, the activity for CO conversion as found to be 7 µmol CO/g CNT/s. The O-functionalized samples showed very activities greater than 85 µmol CO/g CNT/s with nearly 100% conversion. Analyses show that CO hydro-deoxygenation occurred at the C-O/O-H functional groups. It was found that while the products were similar to FT products, differences in selectivities were observed which, in turn, was a result of a different catalytic mechanism. These findings now open a new paradigm for CNT-based hydrogenation catalysts and constitute a defining point for obtaining clean, earth abundant, alternative fuels through the use of efficient and renewable catalyst.

Keywords: CNT, CO Hydrodeoxygenation, DFT, liquid fuels, XPS, XTL

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Authors: Mrinalini Amritkar, Disha Patil, Swapna Kulkarni, Sukratu Barve, Suresh Gosavi

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Micro-mixers play an important role in the lab-on-a-chip applications and micro total analysis systems to acquire the correct level of mixing for any given process. The mixing process can be classified as active or passive according to the use of external energy. Literature of microfluidics reports that most of the work is done on the models of steady laminar flow; however, the study of unsteady laminar flow is an active area of research at present. There are wide applications of this, out of which, we consider nanoparticle synthesis in micro-mixers. In this work, we have developed a model for unsteady flow to study the mixing performance of a passive micro mixer for reactants used for such synthesis. The model is developed in Finite Volume Method (FVM)-based software, OpenFOAM. The model is tested by carrying out the simulations at Re of 0.5. Mixing performance of the micro-mixer is investigated using simulated concentration values of mixed species across the width of the micro-mixer and calculating the variance across a line profile. Experimental validation is done by passing dyes through a Y shape micro-mixer fabricated using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer and comparing variances with the simulated ones. Gold nanoparticles are later synthesized through the micro-mixer and collected at two different times leading to significantly different size distributions. These times match with the time scales over which reactant concentrations vary as obtained from simulations. Our simulations could thus be used to create design aids for passive micro-mixers used in nanoparticle synthesis.

Keywords: Lab-on-chip, LOC, micro-mixer, OpenFOAM, PDMS

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Authors: Michael Nthabiseng Moeti, Makhulu Relebogile Langa, Joey Jansen van Vuuren

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This paper examines the utilization of personal electronic devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones for professional duties within a financial organization. This phenomenon is known as bring your own device (BYOD). BYOD accords employees the freedom to use their personal devices to access corporate resources from anywhere in the world with Internet access. BYOD arrangements introduce significant security risks for both organizations and users. These setups change the threat landscape for enterprises and demand unique security strategies, as conventional tools tailored for safeguarding managed devices fall short in adequately protecting enterprise assets without active user cooperation. This paper applies protection motivation theory (PMT) to highlight behavioral risks from BYOD users that may impact the security of financial institutions. Thematic analysis was applied to gain a comprehensive understanding of how users perceive this phenomenon. These findings demonstrates that the existence of a security policy does not ensure that all employees will take measures to protect their personal devices. Active promotion of BYOD security policies is crucial for financial institution employees and management. This paper developed a BYOD security model which is useful for understanding compliant behaviors. Given that BYOD security is becoming a major concern across financial sector, it is important. The paper recommends that future research could expand the number of universities from which data is collected.

Keywords: BYOD, information security, protection motivation theory, security risks, thematic analysis

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Authors: Marcus Maia

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The present study reports and discusses the use of eye tracking qualitative data in reading workshops in Brazilian middle and high schools and in Generative Syntax and Sentence Processing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, respectively. Both endeavors take the sentential level as the proper object to be metacognitively explored in language education (cf. Chomsky, Gallego & Ott, 2019) to develop innate science forming capacity and knowledge of language. In both projects, non-discrepant qualitative eye tracking data collected and quantitatively analyzed in experimental syntax and psycholinguistic studies carried out in Lapex (Experimental Psycholinguistics Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) were displayed to students as a point of departure, triggering discussions. Classes would generally start with the display of videos showing eye tracking data, such as gaze plots and heatmaps from several studies in Psycholinguistics and Experimental Syntax that we had already developed in our laboratory. The videos usually triggered discussions with students about linguistic and psycholinguistic issues, such as the reading of sentences for gist, garden-path sentences, syntactic and semantic anomalies, the filled-gap effect, island effects, direct and indirect cause, and recursive constructions, among other topics. Active, problem-solving based methodologies were employed with the objective of stimulating student participation. The communication also discusses the importance of developing full literacy, epistemic vigilance and intellectual self-defense in an infodemic world in the lines of Maia (2022).

Keywords: reading, educational psycholinguistics, eye-tracking, active methodology

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Authors: Abdou Khafor Ndiaye

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The article examines clean water and sanitation in Saint-Louis region schools. It finds that 59% have clean water, with disparities between departments, urban/rural areas, and school types. Podor and Dagana lack water due to distance and costs. 70% have sanitation, but rural schools lack it due to low investment. Podor and Dagana suffer the most. Many sanitation facilities need renovation. Wastewater treatment is effective, reducing pollutants and nitrogen, but adjustments are needed for nitrates. Treated water meets Senegalese standards and can be used for irrigation but needs monitoring for strict standards. In conclusion, the wastewater system is good for regions with limited water. Meeting stricter European standards and monitoring for health and environmental standards are needed.

Keywords: water, constructed wetland, sanitation, hygiene

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Authors: Baptiste Bouvier

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While we are constantly flooded with stimuli in daily life, attention allows us to select the ones we specifically process and ignore the others. Some salient stimuli may sometimes pass this filter independently of our will, in a "bottom-up" way. The role of the acoustic properties of the timbre of a sound on its salience, i.e., its ability to capture the attention of a listener, is still not well understood. We implemented a paradigm called the "additional singleton paradigm", in which participants have to discriminate targets according to their duration. This task is perturbed (higher error rates and longer response times) by the presence of an irrelevant additional sound, of which we can manipulate a feature of our choice at equal loudness. This allows us to highlight the influence of the timbre features of a sound stimulus on its salience at equal loudness. We have shown that a stimulus that is brighter than the others but not louder leads to an attentional capture phenomenon in this framework. This work opens the door to the study of the influence of any timbre feature on salience.

Keywords: attention, audition, bottom-up attention, psychoacoustics, salience, timbre

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Authors: Arkadiusz Adam Gardaś

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In his theory of gaps, Wolfgang Iser states that literary texts often lack direct messages. Instead of using straightforward descriptions, authors leave the gaps or blanks, i.e., the spaces within the text that come into existence only when readers fill them with their understanding and experiences. This paper’s aim is to present Iser’s literary theory in an intersectional way by comparing it to the idea of intersemiotic translation. To be more precise, the author uses the example of Netflix’s adaption of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables as a form of rendering a book into a film in such a way that certain textual gaps are filled with film images. Intersemiotic translation is a rendition in which signs of one kind of media are translated into the signs of the other media. Film adaptions are the most common, but not the only, type of intersemiotic translation. In this case, the role of the translator is taken by a screenwriter. A screenwriter’s role can reach beyond the direct meaning presented by the author, and instead, it can delve into the source material (here – a novel) in a deeper way. When it happens, a screenwriter is able to spot the gaps in the text and fill them with images that can later be presented to the viewers. Anne with an E, the Netflix adaption of Montgomery’s novel, may be used as a highly meaningful example of such a rendition. It is due to the fact that the 2017 series was broadcasted more than a hundred years after the first edition of the novel was published. This means that what the author might not have been able to show in her text can now be presented in a more open way. The screenwriter decided to use this opportunity to represent certain groups in the film, i.e., racial and sexual minorities, and women. Nonetheless, the series does not alter the novel; in fact, it adds to it by filling the blanks with more direct images. In the paper, fragments of the first season of Anne with an E are analysed in comparison to its source, the novel by Montgomery. The main purpose of that is to show how intersemiotic translation connected with the Iser’s literary theory can enrich the understanding of works of art, culture, media, and literature.

Keywords: intersemiotic translation, film, literary gaps, representation

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Authors: Ahmed F. Ghanem, Marwa I. Wahba, Asmaa N. El-Dein, Mohamed A. EL-Raey, Ghada E. A. Awad

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Numerous attempts are being performed in order to formulate suitable packaging materials for the meat products. However, to the best of our knowledge, the incorporation of the free hibiscus extract or its microcapsules in the pure polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix as packaging materials for the meats is seldom reported. Therefore, this study aims at the protection of the aqueous crude extract of the hibiscus flowers utilizing the spry drying encapsulation technique. Results of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), the scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the particle size analyzer confirmed the successful formation of the assembled capsules via strong interactions, the spherical rough microparticles, and the particle size of ~ 235 nm, respectively. Also, the obtained microcapsules enjoy higher thermal stability than the free extract. Then, the obtained spray-dried particles were incorporated into the casting solution of the pure PVA film with a concentration of 10 wt. %. The segregated free-standing composite films were investigated, compared to the neat matrix, with several characterization techniques such as FTIR, SEM, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical tester, contact angle, water vapor permeability, and oxygen transmission. The results demonstrated variations in the physicochemical properties of the PVA film after the inclusion of the free and the extract microcapsules. Moreover, biological studies emphasized the biocidal potential of the hybrid films against the microorganisms contaminating the meat. Specifically, the microcapsules imparted not only antimicrobial but also antioxidant activities to the PVA matrix. Application of the prepared films on the real meat samples displayed a low bacterial growth with a slight increase in the pH over the storage time which continued up to 10 days at 4 oC, as further evidence to the meat safety. Moreover, the colors of the films did not significantly changed except after 21 days indicating the spoilage of the meat samples. No doubt, the dual-functional of the prepared composite films pave the way towards combined active and smart food packaging applications. This would play a vital role in the food hygiene, including also the quality control and the assurance.

Keywords: PVA, hibiscus, extraction, encapsulation, active packaging, smart and intelligent packaging, meat spoilage

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Authors: Nadarajah I. Ramesh

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Much of the research on stochastic point process models for rainfall has focused on Poisson cluster models constructed from either the Neyman-Scott or Bartlett-Lewis processes. The doubly stochastic Poisson process provides a rich class of point process models, especially for fine-scale rainfall modelling. This paper provides an account of recent development on this topic and presents the results based on some of the fine-scale rainfall models constructed from this class of stochastic point processes. Amongst the literature on stochastic models for rainfall, greater emphasis has been placed on modelling rainfall data recorded at hourly or daily aggregation levels. Stochastic models for sub-hourly rainfall are equally important, as there is a need to reproduce rainfall time series at fine temporal resolutions in some hydrological applications. For example, the study of climate change impacts on hydrology and water management initiatives requires the availability of data at fine temporal resolutions. One approach to generating such rainfall data relies on the combination of an hourly stochastic rainfall simulator, together with a disaggregator making use of downscaling techniques. Recent work on this topic adopted a different approach by developing specialist stochastic point process models for fine-scale rainfall aimed at generating synthetic precipitation time series directly from the proposed stochastic model. One strand of this approach focused on developing a class of doubly stochastic Poisson process (DSPP) models for fine-scale rainfall to analyse data collected in the form of rainfall bucket tip time series. In this context, the arrival pattern of rain gauge bucket tip times N(t) is viewed as a DSPP whose rate of occurrence varies according to an unobserved finite state irreducible Markov process X(t). Since the likelihood function of this process can be obtained, by conditioning on the underlying Markov process X(t), the models were fitted with maximum likelihood methods. The proposed models were applied directly to the raw data collected by tipping-bucket rain gauges, thus avoiding the need to convert tip-times to rainfall depths prior to fitting the models. One advantage of this approach was that the use of maximum likelihood methods enables a more straightforward estimation of parameter uncertainty and comparison of sub-models of interest. Another strand of this approach employed the DSPP model for the arrivals of rain cells and attached a pulse or a cluster of pulses to each rain cell. Different mechanisms for the pattern of the pulse process were used to construct variants of this model. We present the results of these models when they were fitted to hourly and sub-hourly rainfall data. The results of our analysis suggest that the proposed class of stochastic models is capable of reproducing the fine-scale structure of the rainfall process, and hence provides a useful tool in hydrological modelling.

Keywords: fine-scale rainfall, maximum likelihood, point process, stochastic model

Procedia PDF Downloads 278