Search results for: full energy peak efficiency

Authors: Rafael do Amaral Teodoro, Leandro Augusto da Silva

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Originated from graphite, graphene is a two-dimensional (2D) material that promises to revolutionize technology in many different areas, such as energy, telecommunications, civil construction, aviation, textile, and medicine. This is possible because its structure, formed by carbon bonds, provides desirable optical, thermal, and mechanical characteristics that are interesting to multiple areas of the market. Thus, several research and development centers are studying different manufacturing methods and material applications of graphene, which are often compromised by the scarcity of more agile and accurate methodologies to characterize the material – that is to determine its composition, shape, size, and the number of layers and crystals. To engage in this search, this study proposes a computational methodology that applies deep learning to identify graphene oxide crystals in order to characterize samples by crystal sizes. To achieve this, a fully convolutional neural network called U-net has been trained to segment SEM graphene oxide images. The segmentation generated by the U-net is fine-tuned with a standard deviation technique by classes, which allows crystals to be distinguished with different labels through an object delimitation algorithm. As a next step, the characteristics of the position, area, perimeter, and lateral measures of each detected crystal are extracted from the images. This information generates a database with the dimensions of the crystals that compose the samples. Finally, graphs are automatically created showing the frequency distributions by area size and perimeter of the crystals. This methodological process resulted in a high capacity of segmentation of graphene oxide crystals, presenting accuracy and F-score equal to 95% and 94%, respectively, over the test set. Such performance demonstrates a high generalization capacity of the method in crystal segmentation, since its performance considers significant changes in image extraction quality. The measurement of non-overlapping crystals presented an average error of 6% for the different measurement metrics, thus suggesting that the model provides a high-performance measurement for non-overlapping segmentations. For overlapping crystals, however, a limitation of the model was identified. To overcome this limitation, it is important to ensure that the samples to be analyzed are properly prepared. This will minimize crystal overlap in the SEM image acquisition and guarantee a lower error in the measurements without greater efforts for data handling. All in all, the method developed is a time optimizer with a high measurement value, considering that it is capable of measuring hundreds of graphene oxide crystals in seconds, saving weeks of manual work.

Keywords: characterization, graphene oxide, nanomaterials, U-net, deep learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Faris Alkhalil, Rana Bitar, Amer Azaz, Hisham Natour, Noora Almeraikhi, Mohamad Miqdady

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Background: Children with liver transplantation are achieving very good survival and so there is now a need to concentrate on achieving good health in these patients and preventing disease. Immunosuppressive medications have side effects that need to be monitored and if possible avoided. Glucocorticoids and calcineurin inhibitors are detrimental to bone and mineral homeostasis in addition steroids can also affect linear growth. Steroid sparing regimes in renal transplant children has shown to improve children’s height. Aim: We aim to review the growth and bone health of children post liver transplant by measuring bone mineral density (BMD) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan and assessing if there is a clear link between poor growth and impaired bone health and use of long term steroids. Subjects and Methods: This is a single centre retrospective Cohort study, we reviewed the medical notes of children (0-16 years) who underwent a liver transplantation between November 2000 to November 2016 and currently being followed at our centre. Results: 39 patients were identified (25 males and 14 females), the median transplant age was 2 years (range 9 months - 16 years), and the median follow up was 6 years. Four patients received a combined transplant, 2 kidney and liver transplant and 2 received a liver and small bowel transplant. The indications for transplant included, Biliary Atresia (31%), Acute Liver failure (18%), Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (15%), transplantable metabolic disease (10%), TPN related liver disease (8%), Primary Hyperoxaluria (5%), Hepatocellular carcinoma (3%) and other causes (10%). 36 patients (95%) were on a calcineurin inhibitor (34 patients were on Tacrolimus and 2 on Cyclosporin). The other three patients were on Sirolimus. Low dose long-term steroids was used in 21% of the patients. A considerable proportion of the patients had poor growth. 15% were below the 3rd centile for weight for age and 21% were below the 3rd centile for height for age. Most of our patients with poor growth were not on long term steroids. 49% of patients had a DEXA scan post transplantation. 21% of these children had low bone mineral density, one patient had met osteoporosis criteria with a vertebral fracture. Most of our patients with impaired bone health were not on long term steroids. 20% of the patients who did not undergo a DEXA scan developed long bone fractures and 50% of them were on long term steroid use which may suggest impaired bone health in these patients. Summary and Conclusion: The incidence of impaired bone health, although studied in limited number of patients; was high. Early recognition and treatment should be instituted to avoid fractures and improve bone health. Many of the patients were below the 3rd centile for weight and height however there was no clear relationship between steroid use and impaired bone health, reduced weight and reduced linear height.

Keywords: bone, growth, pediatric, liver, transplantation

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Olga V. Chervyakova, Elmira T. Tailakova, Vitaliy M. Strochkov, Kulyaisan T. Sultankulova, Nurlan T. Sandybayev, Lev G. Nemchinov, Rosemarie W. Hammond

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Sheep pox is a highly contagious infection that OIE regards to be one of the most dangerous animal diseases. It causes enormous economic losses because of death and slaughter of infected animals, lower productivity, cost of veterinary and sanitary as well as quarantine measures. To control spread of sheep pox infection the attenuated vaccines are widely used in the Republic of Kazakhstan and other Former Soviet Union countries. In spite of high efficiency of live vaccines, the possible presence of the residual virulence, potential genetic instability restricts their use in disease-free areas that leads to necessity to exploit new approaches in vaccine development involving recombinant DNA technology. Vaccines on the basis of recombinant proteins are the newest generation of prophylactic preparations. The main advantage of these vaccines is their low reactogenicity and this fact makes them widely used in medical and veterinary practice for vaccination of humans and farm animals. The objective of the study is to produce recombinant immunogenic proteins for development of the high-performance means for sheep pox prophylaxis. The SPV proteins were chosen for their homology with the known immunogenic vaccinia virus proteins. Assay of nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the target SPV protein genes. It has been shown that four proteins SPPV060 (ortholog L1), SPPV074 (ortholog H3), SPPV122 (ortholog A33) and SPPV141 (ortholog B5) possess transmembrane domains at N- or C-terminus while in amino acid sequences of SPPV095 (ortholog А 4) and SPPV117 (ortholog А 27) proteins these domains were absent. On the basis of these findings the primers were constructed. Target genes were amplified and subsequently cloned into the expression vector рЕТ26b(+) or рЕТ28b(+). Six constructions (pSPPV060ΔТМ, pSPPV074ΔТМ, pSPPV095, pSPPV117, pSPPV122ΔТМ and pSPPV141ΔТМ) were obtained for expression of the SPV genes under control of T7 promoter in Escherichia coli. To purify and detect recombinant proteins the amino acid sequences were modified by adding six histidine molecules at C-terminus. Induction of gene expression by IPTG was resulted in production of the proteins with molecular weights corresponding to the estimated values for SPPV060, SPPV074, SPPV095, SPPV117, SPPV122 and SPPV141, i.e. 22, 30, 20, 19, 17 and 22 kDa respectively. Optimal protocol of expression for each gene that ensures high yield of the recombinant protein was identified. Assay of cellular lysates by western blotting confirmed expression of the target proteins. Recombinant proteins bind specifically with antibodies to polyhistidine. Moreover all produced proteins are specifically recognized by the serum from experimentally SPV-infected sheep. The recombinant proteins SPPV060, SPPV074, SPPV117, SPPV122 and SPPV141 were also shown to induce formation of antibodies with virus-neutralizing activity. The results of the research will help to develop a new-generation high-performance means for specific sheep pox prophylaxis that is one of key moments in animal health protection. The research was conducted under the International project ISTC # K-1704 “Development of methods to construct recombinant prophylactic means for sheep pox with use of transgenic plants” and under the Grant Project RK MES G.2015/0115RK01983 "Recombinant vaccine for sheep pox prophylaxis".

Keywords: prophylactic preparation, recombinant protein, sheep pox virus, subunit vaccine

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Divyanshoo Singh, Hemant Kumar Singh, Kumar Nilankar

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Major engineering constructions and foundations (e.g., dams, tunnels, bridges, underground caverns, etc.) in and around the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand are not only confined within hard and crystalline rocks but also stretched within weak and anisotropic rocks. While constructing within such anisotropic rocks, engineers more often encounter geotechnical complications such as structural instability, slope failure, and excessive deformation. These severities/complexities arise mainly due to inherent anisotropy such as layering/foliations, preferred mineral orientations, and geo-mechanical anisotropy present within rocks and vary when measured in different directions. Of all the inherent anisotropy present within the rocks, major geotechnical complexities mainly arise due to the inappropriate orientation of weak planes (bedding/foliation). Thus, Orientations of such weak planes highly affect the fracture patterns, failure mechanism, and strength of rocks. This has led to an improved understanding of the physico-mechanical behavior of anisotropic rocks with different orientations of weak planes. Therefore, in this study, block samples of phyllite belonging to the Chandpur Group of Lesser Himalaya were collected from the Srinagar area of Uttarakhand, India, to investigate the effect of foliation angles on physico-mechanical properties of the rock. Further, collected block samples were core drilled of diameter 50 mm at different foliation angles, β (angle between foliation plane and drilling direction), i.e., 0⁰, 30⁰, 60⁰, and 90⁰, respectively. Before the test, drilled core samples were oven-dried at 110⁰C to achieve uniformity. Physical and mechanical properties such as Seismic wave velocity, density, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), point load strength (PLS), and Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) test were carried out on prepared core specimens. The results indicate that seismic wave velocities (P-wave and S-wave) decrease with increasing β angle. As the β angle increases, the number of foliation planes that the wave needs to pass through increases and thus causes the dissipation of wave energy with increasing β. Maximum strength for UCS, PLS, and BTS was found to be at β angle of 90⁰. However, minimum strength for UCS and BTS was found to be at β angle of 30⁰, which differs from PLS, where minimum strength was found at 0⁰ β angle. Furthermore, failure modes also correspond to the strength of the rock, showing along foliation and non-central failure as characteristics of low strength values, while multiple fractures and central failure as characteristics of high strength values. Thus, this study will provide a better understanding of the anisotropic features of phyllite for the purpose of major engineering construction and foundations within the Himalayan Region.

Keywords: anisotropic rocks, foliation angle, Physico-mechanical properties, phyllite, Himalayan region

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Authors: Surupa Shaw, Debjyoti Banerjee

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Enhancing heat transfer in compact volumes is a challenge when constrained by cost issues, especially those associated with requirements for minimizing pumping power consumption. This is particularly acute for electronic chip cooling applications. Technological advancements in microelectronics have led to development of chip architectures that involve increased power consumption. As a consequence packaging, technologies are saddled with needs for higher rates of power dissipation in smaller form factors. The increasing circuit density, higher heat flux values for dissipation and the significant decrease in the size of the electronic devices are posing thermal management challenges that need to be addressed with a better design of the cooling system. Maximizing surface area for heat exchanging surfaces (e.g., extended surfaces or “fins”) can enable dissipation of higher levels of heat flux. Fractal structures have been shown to maximize surface area in compact volumes. Self-replicating structures at multiple length scales are called “Fractals” (i.e., objects with fractional dimensions; unlike regular geometric objects, such as spheres or cubes whose volumes and surface area values scale as integer values of the length scale dimensions). Fractal structures are expected to provide an appropriate technology solution to meet these challenges for enhanced heat transfer in the microelectronic devices by maximizing surface area available for heat exchanging fluids within compact volumes. In this study, the effect of different fractal micro-channel architectures and flow structures on the enhancement of transport phenomena in heat exchangers is explored by parametric variation of fractal dimension. This study proposes a model that would enable cost-effective solutions for thermal-fluid transport for energy applications. The objective of this study is to ascertain the sensitivity of various parameters (such as heat flux and pressure gradient as well as pumping power) to variation in fractal dimension. The role of the fractal parameters will be instrumental in establishing the most effective design for the optimum cooling of microelectronic devices. This can help establish the requirement of minimal pumping power for enhancement of heat transfer during cooling. Results obtained in this study show that the proposed models for fractal architectures of microchannels significantly enhanced heat transfer due to augmentation of surface area in the branching networks of varying length-scales.

Keywords: fractals, microelectronics, constructal theory, heat transfer enhancement, pumping power enhancement

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Sevde Altuntas, Fatih Buyukserin

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Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for irreversible neural damage of brain parts. One of the disease markers is Amyloid-β 1-42 protein that accumulates in the brain in the form plaques. The basic problem for detection of the protein is the low amount of protein that cannot be detected properly in body liquids such as blood, saliva or urine. To solve this problem, tests like ELISA or PCR are proposed which are expensive, require specialized personnel and can contain complex protocols. Therefore, Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) a good candidate for detection of Amyloid-β 1-42 protein. Because the spectroscopic technique can potentially allow even single molecule detection from liquid and solid surfaces. Besides SERS signal can be improved by using nanopattern surface and also is specific to molecules. In this context, our study proposes to fabricate diagnostic test models that utilize Au-coated nanopatterned polycarbonate (PC) surfaces modified with Thioflavin - T to detect low concentrations of Amyloid-β 1-42 protein in water and artificial saliva medium by the enhancement of protein SERS signal. The nanopatterned PC surface that was used to enhance SERS signal was fabricated by using Anodic Alumina Membranes (AAM) as a template. It is possible to produce AAMs with different column structures and varying thicknesses depending on voltage and anodization time. After fabrication process, the pore diameter of AAMs can be arranged with dilute acid solution treatment. In this study, two different columns structures were prepared. After a surface modification to decrease their surface energy, AAMs were treated with PC solution. Following the solvent evaporation, nanopatterned PC films with tunable pillared structures were peeled off from the membrane surface. The PC film was then modified with Au and Thioflavin-T for the detection of Amyloid-β 1-42 protein. The protein detection studies were conducted first in water via this biosensor platform. Same measurements were conducted in artificial saliva to detect the presence of Amyloid Amyloid-β 1-42 protein. SEM, SERS and contact angle measurements were carried out for the characterization of different surfaces and further demonstration of the protein attachment. SERS enhancement factor calculations were also completed via experimental results. As a result, our research group fabricated diagnostic test models that utilize Au-coated nanopatterned polycarbonate (PC) surfaces modified with Thioflavin-T to detect low concentrations of Alzheimer’s Amiloid – β protein in water and artificial saliva medium. This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Grant No: 214Z167.

Keywords: alzheimer, anodic aluminum oxide, nanotopography, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

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Authors: Sonam Behl, Raju, Ginu Rajan, Paul Farrar, B. Gangadhara Prusty

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Reinforcing dental composites with micro-sized fibres can significantly improve the physio-mechanical properties of dental composites. The short fibres can be oriented randomly within dental composites, thus providing quasi-isotropic reinforcing efficiency unlike unidirectional/bidirectional fibre reinforced composites enhancing anisotropic properties. Thus, short fibres reinforced dental composites are getting popular among practitioners. However, despite their popularity, resin-based dental composites are prone to failure on account of shrinkage during photo polymerisation. The shrinkage in the structure may lead to marginal gap formation, causing secondary caries, thus ultimately inducing failure of the restoration. The traditional methods to evaluate polymerisation shrinkage using strain gauges, density-based measurements, dilatometer, or bonded-disk focuses on average value of volumetric shrinkage. Moreover, the results obtained from traditional methods are sensitive to the specimen geometry. The present research aims to evaluate the real-time shrinkage strain at selected locations in the material with the help of optical fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Due to the miniature size (diameter 250 µm) of FBG sensors, they can be easily embedded into small samples of dental composites. Furthermore, an FBG array into the system can map the real-time shrinkage strain at different regions of the composite. The evaluation of real-time monitoring of shrinkage values may help to optimise the physio-mechanical properties of composites. Previously, FBG sensors have been able to rightfully measure polymerisation strains of anisotropic (unidirectional or bidirectional) reinforced dental composites. However, very limited study exists to establish the validity of FBG based sensors to evaluate volumetric shrinkage for randomly oriented fibres reinforced composites. The present study aims to fill this research gap and is focussed on establishing the usage of FBG based sensors for evaluating the shrinkage of dental composites reinforced with randomly oriented fibres. Three groups of specimens were prepared by mixing the resin (80% UDMA/20% TEGDMA) with 55% of silane treated BaAlSiO₂ particulate fillers or by adding 5% of micro-sized fibres of diameter 5 µm, and length 250/350 µm along with 50% of silane treated BaAlSiO₂ particulate fillers into the resin. For measurement of polymerisation shrinkage strain, an array of three fibre Bragg grating sensors was embedded at a depth of 1 mm into a circular Teflon mould of diameter 15 mm and depth 2 mm. The results obtained are compared with the traditional method for evaluation of the volumetric shrinkage using density-based measurements. Degree of conversion was measured using FTIR spectroscopy (Spotlight 400 FT-IR from PerkinElmer). It is expected that the average polymerisation shrinkage strain values for dental composites reinforced with micro-sized fibres can directly correlate with the measured degree of conversion values, implying that more C=C double bond conversion to C-C single bond values also leads to higher shrinkage strain within the composite. Moreover, it could be established the photonics approach could help assess the shrinkage at any point of interest in the material, suggesting that fibre-Bragg grating sensors are a suitable means for measuring real-time polymerisation shrinkage strain for randomly fibre reinforced dental composites as well.

Keywords: dental composite, glass fibre, polymerisation shrinkage strain, fibre-Bragg grating sensors

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Mursleen Yasin, Sunil Panchal, Michelle Mak, Zhonghua Chen

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“The use of agricultural and horticultural waste to obtain beneficial products. Thus reduce its environmental impact and help the general population.” Every year 20 billion dollars of food is wasted in the world. All the energy, resources, nutrients and metabolites are lost to the landfills as well. On farm production losses are a main issue in agriculture. Almost 25% vegetables never leave the farm because they are not considered perfect for supermarkets and treated as waste material along with the rest of the plant parts. For capsicums, this waste is 56% of the total crop. Capsicum genus is enriched with a group of compounds called capsaicinoids which are a source of spiciness of these fruits. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin are the major members comprising almost 90% of this group. The major production and accumulation site is the non-edible part of fruit i.e., placenta. Other parts of the plant, like stem, leaves, pericarp and seeds, also contain these pungent compounds. Capsaicinoids are enriched with properties like analgesic, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-virulence anti-carcinogenic, chemo preventive, chemotherapeutic, antidiabetic etc. They are also effective in treating problems related to gastrointestinal tract, lowering cholesterol and triglycerides in obesity. The aim of the study is to develop a standardised technique for capsaicinoids extraction and to identify better nutrient treatment for fruit and capsaicinoids yield. For research 3 capsicum and 2 chilli varieties were grown in a high-tech glass house facility in Sydney, Australia. Plants were treated with three levels of nutrient treatments i.e., EC 1.8, EC 2.8 and EC 3.8 in order to check its effect on fruit yield and capsaicinoids concentration. Solvent extraction procedure is used with 75% ethanol to extract these secondary metabolites. Physiological, post-harvest and waste biomass measurement and metabolomic analysis are also performed. The results showed that EC 2.8 gave the better fruit yield of capsicums, and those fruits have the higher capsaicinoids concentration. For chillies, higher EC levels had better results than lower treatment. The UHPLC analysis is done to quantify the compounds, and a decrease in capsaicin concentration is observed with the crop maturation. The outcome of this project is a sustainable technique for extraction of capsaicinoids which can easily be adopted by farmers. In this way, farmers can help in value adding of waste by extracting and selling capsaicinoids to nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries and also earn some secondary income from the 56% waste of capsicum crop.

Keywords: capsaicinoids, plant waste, capsicum, solvent extraction, waste biomass

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Authors: S. M. Mabandla, P. Loveday, C. Gomes, D. T. Maiga, T. T. Phadi

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Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric ceramics are widely used in ultrasonic applications due to their ability to effectively convert electrical energy into mechanical vibrations and vice versa. This paper presents a study on the behaviour of various combinations of pairs of PZT piezoelectric ceramic materials positioned adjacent to each other with an intermediate gap submerged in water, where one piezoelectric ceramic material is excited by a cyclic electric field with constant frequency and amplitude displacement. The transmitted ultrasonic sound propagates through the medium and is received by the PZT ceramic at the other end, the ultrasonic sound signal amplitude displacement experiences attenuation during propagation due to acoustic impedance. The investigation focuses on understanding the causes of extremely high amplitude displacement attenuation that have been observed in various combinations of piezoelectric ceramic pairs that are submerged in water arranged in a manner stipulated earlier. by examining various combinations of pairs of these piezoelectric ceramics, their physical, electrical, and acoustic properties, and behaviour and attributing them to the observed significant signal attenuation. The experimental setup involves exciting one piezoelectric ceramic material at one end with a burst square cyclic electric field signal of constant frequency, which generates a burst of ultrasonic sound that propagates through the water medium to the adjacent piezoelectric ceramic at the other end. Mechanical vibrations of a PZT piezoelectric ceramic are measured using a double-beam laser Doppler vibrometer to mimic the incident ultrasonic waves generated and received ultrasonic waves on the other end due to mechanical vibrations of a PZT. The measured ultrasonic sound wave signals are continuously compared to the applied cyclic electric field at both ends. The impedance matching networks are continuously tuned at both ends to eliminate electromechanical impedance mismatch to improve ultrasonic transmission and reception. The study delves into various physical, electrical, and acoustic properties of the PZT piezoelectric ceramics, such as the electromechanical coupling factor, acoustic coupling, and elasticity, among others. These properties are analyzed to identify potential factors contributing to the unusually high acoustic impedance in the water medium between the ceramics. Additionally, impedance-matching networks are investigated at both ends to offset the high signal attenuation and improve overall system performance. The findings will be reported in this paper.

Keywords: acoustic impedance, impedance mismatch, piezoelectric ceramics, ultrasonic sound

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Authors: Sadao Araki, Daisuke Gondo, Satoshi Imasaka, Hideki Yamamoto

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The separation of organic compounds from aqueous solutions is a key technology for recycling valuable organic compounds and for the treatment of wastewater. The wastewater from chemical plants often contains organic compounds such as ethyl acetate (EA), methylethyl ketone (MEK) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA). In this study, we prepared hydrophobic silica membranes by a sol-gel method. We used phenyltrimethoxysilane (PhTMS), ethyltrimethoxysilan (ETMS), Propyltrimethoxysilane (PrTMS), N-butyltrimethoxysilane (BTMS), N-Hexyltrimethoxysilane (HTMS) as silica sources to introduce each functional groups on the membrane surface. Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a molecular template to create suitable pore that enable the permeation of organic compounds. These membranes with five different functional groups were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, and permporometry. Thicknesses and pore diameters of silica layer for all membrane were about 1.0 μm and about 1 nm, respectively. In other words, functional groups had an insignificant effect on the membrane thicknesses and the formation of the pore by CTAB. We confirmed the effect of functional groups on the flux and separation factor for ethyl acetate (EA), methyl ethyl ketone, acetone and 1-butanol (1-BtOH) /water mixtures. All membranes showed a high flux for ethyl acetate compared with other compounds. In particular, the hydrophobic silica membrane prepared by using BTMS showed 0.75 kg m-2 h-1 of flux for EA. For all membranes, the fluxes of organic compounds showed the large values in the order corresponding to EA > MEK > acetone > 1-BtOH. On the other hand, carbon chain length of functional groups among ETMS, PrTMS, BTMS, PrTMS and HTMS did not have a major effect on the organic flux. Although we confirmed the relationship between organic fluxes and organic molecular diameters or fugacity of organic compounds, these factors had a low correlation with organic fluxes. It is considered that these factors affect the diffusivity. Generally, permeation through membranes is based on the diffusivity and solubility. Therefore, it is deemed that organic fluxes through these hydrophobic membranes are strongly influenced by solubility. We tried to estimate the organic fluxes by Hansen solubility parameter (HSP). HSP, which is based on the cohesion energy per molar volume and is composed of dispersion forces (δd), intermolecular dipole interactions (δp), and hydrogen-bonding interactions (δh), has recently attracted attention as a means for evaluating the resolution and aggregation behavior. Evaluation of solubility for two substances can be represented by using the Ra [(MPa)1/2] value, meaning the distance of HSPs for both of substances. A smaller Ra value means a higher solubility for each substance. On the other hand, it can be estimated that the substances with large Ra value show low solubility. We established the correlation equation, which was based on Ra, of organic flux at low concentrations of organic compounds and at 295-325 K.

Keywords: hydrophobic, membrane, Hansen solubility parameter, functional group

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Authors: Emanuela Zilli, Suana Tikvina, Davide Bonaldo, Monica Varotto, Scilla Rizzardi, Barbara Ruzzante, Raffaele Napolitano, Stefano Bevilacqua, Antonella Ruffatto

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A healthy workplace increases productivity, creativity and decreases absenteeism and turnover. It also contributes to creating a more secure work environment with fewer risks of violence. In the past 3 years, the healthcare system has suffered the psychological, economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the healthcare staff reductions determine high levels of work-related stress that are often unsustainable. The Hospital of Cittadella (in the province of Padua) has 400 beds and serves a territory of 300,000 inhabitants. The hospital itself counts 1.250 healthcare employees (healthcare professionals). This year, the Medical Board of Directors has requested additional staff; however, the economic situation of Italy can not sustain additional hires. At the same time, we have initiated projects that aim to increase well-being, decrease stress and encourage activities that promote self-care. One of the projects that the hospital has organized is the psychomotor practice. It is held by therapists and trainers who operate according to the traditional method. According to the literature, the psychomotor practice is specifically intended for the staff operating in the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department and Pneumology Ward. The project consisted of one session of 45 minutes a week for 3 months. This method brings focus to controlled breathing, posture, muscle work and movement that help manage stress and fatigue, creating a more mindful and sustainable lifestyle. In addition, a Qigong course was held every two weeks for 5 months. It is an ancient Chinese practice designed to optimize the energy within the body, reducing stress levels and increasing general well-being. Finally, Tibetan singing crystal bowls sessions, held by a music therapist, consisted of monthly guided meditation sessions using the sounds of the crystal bowls. Sound therapy uses the vibrations created from the crystal bowls to balance the vibrations within the body to promote relaxation. In conclusion, well-being and organizational performance are closely related to each other. It is crucial for any organization to encourage and maintain better physical and mental health of the healthcare staff as it directly affects productivity and, consequently, user satisfaction of the services provided.

Keywords: health promotion, healthcare workers management, Weel being and organizational performance, Psychomotor practice

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Authors: Yesim Tumsek, Erkan Celebi

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In order to simulate the infinite soil medium for soil-foundation interaction problem, the essential geotechnical parameter on which the foundation stiffness depends, is the value of soil shear modulus. This parameter directly affects the site and structural response of the considered model under earthquake ground motions. Strain-dependent shear modulus under cycling loads makes difficult to estimate the accurate value in computation of foundation stiffness for the successful dynamic soil-structure interaction analysis. The aim of this study is to discuss in detail how to use the appropriate value of soil shear modulus in the computational analyses and to evaluate the effect of the variation in shear modulus with strain on the impedance functions used in the sub-structure method for idealizing the soil-foundation interaction problem. Herein, the impedance functions compose of springs and dashpots to represent the frequency-dependent stiffness and damping characteristics at the soil-foundation interface. Earthquake-induced vibration energy is dissipated into soil by both radiation and hysteretic damping. Therefore, flexible-base system damping, as well as the variability in shear strengths, should be considered in the calculation of impedance functions for achievement a more realistic dynamic soil-foundation interaction model. In this study, it has been written a Matlab code for addressing these purposes. The case-study example chosen for the analysis is considered as a 4-story reinforced concrete building structure located in Istanbul consisting of shear walls and moment resisting frames with a total height of 12m from the basement level. The foundation system composes of two different sized strip footings on clayey soil with different plasticity (Herein, PI=13 and 16). In the first stage of this study, the shear modulus reduction factor was not considered in the MATLAB algorithm. The static stiffness, dynamic stiffness modifiers and embedment correction factors of two rigid rectangular foundations measuring 2m wide by 17m long below the moment frames and 7m wide by 17m long below the shear walls are obtained for translation and rocking vibrational modes. Afterwards, the dynamic impedance functions of those have been calculated for reduced shear modulus through the developed Matlab code. The embedment effect of the foundation is also considered in these analyses. It can easy to see from the analysis results that the strain induced in soil will depend on the extent of the earthquake demand. It is clearly observed that when the strain range increases, the dynamic stiffness of the foundation medium decreases dramatically. The overall response of the structure can be affected considerably because of the degradation in soil stiffness even for a moderate earthquake. Therefore, it is very important to arrive at the corrected dynamic shear modulus for earthquake analysis including soil-structure interaction.

Keywords: clay soil, impedance functions, soil-foundation interaction, sub-structure approach, reduced shear modulus

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Authors: Megha Raj Regmi

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Water Supply and Sanitation coverage in Nepal is not satisfactory in South Asia. Far less than expected achievements have been realized in sanitation following the SDG for Nepal. There are so many queues of buckets to fetch water in the heart of the capital city Kathmandu. In Kathmandu Valley, daily water demand is 400 million litres, but the supply is only 200 million litres daily. Over- exploitation of ground water and traditional water sources causing the water levels to drop to alarming levels while most of the traditional waterspouts are also drying up. While about 40% of the World's population is deprived of drinking water, the urban populace uses excessive quantities of fresh water to flush the excreta. Water Supply and Basic Sanitation coverage in Nepal is 86% and 92%, respectively, of the total population. This research work basically deals with more than one thousand dry toilets constructed in peri-urban areas. The work has used appropriate technology and studied their performances in the context of Nepal based on complete laboratory analyses and regular monitoring. It has been found that dry toilets have a clear advantage in NPK recovery over traditional water-borne sanitation technology. This paper also deals with the effect of temperature in the decomposition process in dry toilets and also focuses on the different distinct technologies employed in Kathmandu Valley. This paper suggests the modifications needed in the implementation and study of the effect of human urine in composting and application on agriculture and the experience of more than one thousand Dry toilets in Kathmandu Valley. It also deals with the practices of bio-gas generation and community-led total sanitation to cope with the challenges of sanitation and hygiene in Nepal. The paper also describes in depth the different types of biomass energy production methods from the human and cattle manure units, including bio-gas generation from the kitchen wastes produced by a student hostel mixed with toilet waste. The uses of decomposed feces as a soil conditioner have been described along with the challenges and prospects of the uses of urine in agriculture as eco-friendly fertilizer in the context of Nepal. Finally, the paper exhibits a comparative study of all types of dry toilet developments in developed and developing countries like Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, China, India, Ukraine and Nepal. The community groups in our financial assistance have made many models of public toilets with biogas which are very successful in the height of 600 m up to 2000 meters from the mean sea level. In conclusion it makes a plea for the acceptance of these toilets for planners and decision makers with a set of pragmatic recommendations.

Keywords: bio- gas public toilet, dry toilet, low-cost technology, sustainable sanitation, total sanitation

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Authors: Vlad Andrei Raducanu, Mariana Lucia Angelescu, Ion Cinca, Vasile Danut Cojocaru, Doina Raducanu

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By using smart digital tools, such as generative design (GD) and digital fabrication (DF), problems of high actuality concerning resources optimization (materials, energy, time) can be solved and applications or products of free-form type can be created. In the new digital technology materials are active, designed in response to a set of performance requirements, which impose a total rethinking of old material practices. The article presents the design procedure key steps of a free-form architectural object - a column type one with connections to get an adaptive 3D surface, by using the parametric design methodology and by exploiting the properties of conventional metallic materials. In parametric design the form of the created object or space is shaped by varying the parameters values and relationships between the forms are described by mathematical equations. Digital parametric design is based on specific procedures, as shape grammars, Lindenmayer - systems, cellular automata, genetic algorithms or swarm intelligence, each of these procedures having limitations which make them applicable only in certain cases. In the paper the design process stages and the shape grammar type algorithm are presented. The generative design process relies on two basic principles: the modeling principle and the generative principle. The generative method is based on a form finding process, by creating many 3D spatial forms, using an algorithm conceived in order to apply its generating logic onto different input geometry. Once the algorithm is realized, it can be applied repeatedly to generate the geometry for a number of different input surfaces. The generated configurations are then analyzed through a technical or aesthetic selection criterion and finally the optimal solution is selected. Endless range of generative capacity of codes and algorithms used in digital design offers various conceptual possibilities and optimal solutions for both technical and environmental increasing demands of building industry and architecture. Constructions or spaces generated by parametric design can be specifically tuned, in order to meet certain technical or aesthetical requirements. The proposed approach has direct applicability in sustainable architecture, offering important potential economic advantages, a flexible design (which can be changed until the end of the design process) and unique geometric models of high performance.

Keywords: parametric design, algorithmic procedures, free-form architectural object, sustainable architecture

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Authors: Zhihua Cao, Hongfei Zhao, Zhongneng Wu

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The development of polar-based agroforestry was necessary due to the influence of the timber market environment in China, which can promote the coordinated development of forestry and agriculture, and gain remarkable ecological, economic and social benefits. The main agroforestry models of the main poplar planting area in Huaibei plain and along the Yangtze River plain were carried out. 11 typical management models of poplar were selected to sum up: pure poplar forest, poplar-rape-soybean, poplar-wheat-soybean, poplar-rape-cotton, poplar-wheat, poplar-chicken, poplar-duck, poplar-sheep, poplar-Agaricus blazei, poplar-oil peony, poplar-fish, represented by M0-M10, respectively. 12 indexes related with economic, ecological and social benefits (annual average cost, net income, ratio of output to investment, payback period of investment, land utilization ratio, utilization ratio of light energy, improvement and system stability of ecological and production environment, product richness, labor capacity, cultural quality of labor force, sustainability) were screened out to carry on the comprehensive evaluation and analysis to 11 kinds of typical agroforestry models based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results showed that the economic benefit of each agroforestry model was in the order of: M8 > M6 > M9 > M7 > M5 > M10 > M4 > M1 > M2 > M3 > M0. The economic benefit of poplar-A. blazei model was the highest (332, 800 RMB / hm²), followed by poplar-duck and poplar-oil peony model (109, 820RMB /hm², 5, 7226 RMB /hm²). The order of comprehensive benefit was: M8 > M4 > M9 > M6 > M1 > M2 > M3 > M7 > M5 > M10 > M0. The economic benefit and comprehensive benefit of each agroforestry model were higher than that of pure poplar forest. The comprehensive benefit of poplar-A. blazei model was the highest, and that of poplar-wheat model ranked second, while its economic benefit was not high. Next were poplar-oil peony and poplar-duck models. It was suggested that the model of poplar-wheat should be adopted in the plain along the Yangtze River, and the whole cycle mode of poplar-grain, popalr-A. blazei, or poplar-oil peony should be adopted in Huaibei plain, northern Anhui. Furthermore, wheat, rape, and soybean are the main crops before the stand was closed; the agroforestry model of edible fungus or Chinese herbal medicine can be carried out when the stand was closed in order to maximize the comprehensive benefit. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for forest farmers in the selection of poplar agroforestry model in the future and to provide the basic data for the sustainable and efficient study of poplar agroforestry in Anhui province, eastern China.

Keywords: agroforestry, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), comprehensive benefit, model, poplar

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Authors: Ainura Tursunalieva, Irene Hudson

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Continuous improvement of both the quality and safety of health care is an important goal in Australia and internationally. The intensive care unit (ICU) receives patients with a wide variety of and severity of illnesses. Accurately identifying patients at risk of developing complications or dying is crucial to increasing healthcare efficiency. Thus, it is essential for clinicians and researchers to have a robust framework capable of evaluating the risk profile of a patient. ICU scoring systems provide such a framework. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III and the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II are ICU scoring systems frequently used for assessing the severity of acute illness. These scoring systems collect multiple risk factors for each patient including physiological measurements then render the assessment outcomes of individual risk factors into a single numerical value. A higher score is related to a more severe patient condition. Furthermore, the Mortality Probability Model II uses logistic regression based on independent risk factors to predict a patient’s probability of mortality. An important overlooked limitation of SAPS II and MPM II is that they do not, to date, include interaction terms between a patient’s vital signs. This is a prominent oversight as it is likely there is an interplay among vital signs. The co-existence of certain conditions may pose a greater health risk than when these conditions exist independently. One barrier to including such interaction terms in predictive models is the dimensionality issue as it becomes difficult to use variable selection. We propose an innovative scoring system which takes into account a dependence structure among patient’s vital signs, such as systolic and diastolic blood pressures, heart rate, pulse interval, and peripheral oxygen saturation. Copulas will capture the dependence among normally distributed and skewed variables as some of the vital sign distributions are skewed. The estimated dependence parameter will then be incorporated into the traditional scoring systems to adjust the points allocated for the individual vital sign measurements. The same dependence parameter will also be used to create an alternative copula-based model for predicting a patient’s probability of mortality. The new copula-based approach will accommodate not only a patient’s trajectories of vital signs but also the joint dependence probabilities among the vital signs. We hypothesise that this approach will produce more stable assessments and lead to more time efficient and accurate predictions. We will use two data sets: (1) 250 ICU patients admitted once to the Chui Regional Hospital (Kyrgyzstan) and (2) 37 ICU patients’ agitation-sedation profiles collected by the Hunter Medical Research Institute (Australia). Both the traditional scoring approach and our copula-based approach will be evaluated using the Brier score to indicate overall model performance, the concordance (or c) statistic to indicate the discriminative ability (or area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve), and goodness-of-fit statistics for calibration. We will also report discrimination and calibration values and establish visualization of the copulas and high dimensional regions of risk interrelating two or three vital signs in so-called higher dimensional ROCs.

Keywords: copula, intensive unit scoring system, ROC curves, vital sign dependence

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Authors: Haiying Zong, Yi Yuan, Pengcheng Li

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Cadmium (Cd), one of the toxic heavy metals, has high solubility and mobility in agricultural soils and is readily taken up by roots and transported to the vegetative and reproductive organs which can cause deleterious effects on crop yield and quality. Excess Cd in plants can interfere with many metabolic processes, such as photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration or nutrients homeostasis. Generally, the main methods to reduce Cd accumulation in plants are to decrease the concentration of Cd in the soil solution through reduction of Cd influx into the soil system, site selection, and management practices. However, these approaches can be very costly and consume a lot of energy Therefore, it is critical to develop effective approaches to reduce the Cd concentration in plants. It is proved that chitooligosaccharide (COS) can enhance the plant's tolerance to abiotic stress including drought stress, salinity stress, and toxic metal stress. However, so far little information is known about whether foliar application with COS modulates Cd-induced toxicity in plants. The metal detoxification processes of plants treated with COS also remain unclear. In this study, edible rape (Brassica rapa L.), one of the most widely consumed leafy vegetables, was selected as an experimental mode plant. The effect of foliar application with COS on reducing Cd accumulation in edible rape was investigated. Moreover, Cd subcellular distribution pattern in response to Cd stress in the rape plant sprayed with COS was further tested in order to explore the potential detoxification mechanisms in plants. The results demonstrated that spraying COS at different concentrations (25, 50,100 and 200 mg L-1) possess diverse functions including growth-promoting,chlorophyll contents-enhancing, malondialdehyde (MDA) level-decreasing in leaves, Cd2+ concentration-decreasingin shoots and roots of edible rape under Cd stress. In addition, it was found that COS can also dramatically improve superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, catalase (CAT) activity and peroxidase (POX) activity of edible rape leaves. The relievingeffect of COS was related to theconcentration and COS with 50-100 mg L-1 displayed the best activity. Furtherly, theexperiments results exhibitedthat COS could decrease the proportion of Cd in the organelle fraction of leaves by 40.1% while enhance the proportion of Cd in the soluble fraction by 13.2% at the concentration of 50 mg L-1. The above results showed that COS may have thepotential to improve plant resistance to Cd via promoting antioxidant enzyme activities and altering Cd subcellular distribution. All the results described here open up a new way to study the protection role of COS in alleviating Cd tolerance and lay the foundation for future research about the detoxification mechanism at subcellular level.

Keywords: chitooligosaccharide, cadmium, edible rape (Brassica rapa L.), subcellular distribution

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Authors: Edna Negron-Martinez

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Our time's global challenges and trends —like those associated with climate change, demographics displacements, growing health inequalities, and increasing burden of diseases— have complex connections to the determinants of health. Information on the burden of disease causes and prevention is fundamental for public health actions, like preparedness and responses for disasters, and recovery resources after the event. For instance, there is an increasing consensus about key findings of the effects and connections of the global burden of disease, as it generates substantial healthcare costs, consumes essential resources and prevents the attainment of optimal health and well-being. The goal of this research endeavor is to promote a comprehensive understanding of the connections between social, environmental, and economic influences on health. These connections are illustrated by pulling from clearly the core curriculum of multidisciplinary areas —as urban design, energy, housing, and economy— as well as in the health system itself. A systematic review of primary and secondary data included a variety of issues as global health, natural disasters, and critical pollution impacts on people's health and the ecosystems. Environmental health is challenged by the unsustainable consumption patterns and the resulting contaminants that abound in many cities and urban settings around the world. Poverty, inadequate housing, and poor health are usually linked. The house is a primary environmental health context for any individual and especially for more vulnerable groups; such as children, older adults and those who are sick. Nevertheless, very few countries show strong decoupling of environmental degradation from economic growth, as indicated by a recent 2017 Report of the World Bank. Worth noting, the environmental fraction of the global burden of disease in a 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) report estimated that 12.6 million global deaths, accounting for 23% (95% CI: 13-34%) of all deaths were attributable to the environment. Among the environmental contaminants include heavy metals, noise pollution, light pollution, and urban sprawl. Those key findings make a call to the significance to urgently adopt in a global scale the United Nations post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs address the social, environmental, and economic factors that influence health and health inequalities, advising how these sectors, in turn, benefit from a healthy population. Consequently, more actions are necessary from an inter-sectoral and systemic paradigm to enforce an integrated sustainability policy implementation aimed at the environmental, social, and economic determinants of health.

Keywords: building capacity for workforce development, ecological and environmental health effects of pollution, public health education, sustainability

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Authors: Ning Chang, Zelong Yuan, Yunpeng Wang, Jianchun Wang

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The utilization of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has been extensive in turbulence research. LES concentrates on resolving the significant grid-scale motions while representing smaller scales through subfilter-scale (SFS) models. The deconvolution model, among the available SFS models, has proven successful in LES of engineering and geophysical flows. Nevertheless, the thorough investigation of how sub-filter scale dynamics and filter anisotropy affect SFS modeling accuracy remains lacking. The outcomes of LES are significantly influenced by filter selection and grid anisotropy, factors that have not been adequately addressed in earlier studies. This study examines two crucial aspects of LES: Firstly, the accuracy of direct deconvolution models (DDM) is evaluated concerning sub-filter scale (SFS) dynamics across varying filter-to-grid ratios (FGR) in isotropic turbulence. Various invertible filters are employed, including Gaussian, Helmholtz I and II, Butterworth, Chebyshev I and II, Cauchy, Pao, and rapidly decaying filters. The importance of FGR becomes evident as it plays a critical role in controlling errors for precise SFS stress prediction. When FGR is set to 1, the DDM models struggle to faithfully reconstruct SFS stress due to inadequate resolution of SFS dynamics. Notably, prediction accuracy improves when FGR is set to 2, leading to accurate reconstruction of SFS stress, except for cases involving Helmholtz I and II filters. Remarkably high precision, nearly 100%, is achieved at an FGR of 4 for all DDM models. Furthermore, the study extends to filter anisotropy and its impact on SFS dynamics and LES accuracy. By utilizing the dynamic Smagorinsky model (DSM), dynamic mixed model (DMM), and direct deconvolution model (DDM) with anisotropic filters, aspect ratios (AR) ranging from 1 to 16 are examined in LES filters. The results emphasize the DDM’s proficiency in accurately predicting SFS stresses under highly anisotropic filtering conditions. Notably high correlation coefficients exceeding 90% are observed in the a priori study for the DDM’s reconstructed SFS stresses, surpassing those of the DSM and DMM models. However, these correlations tend to decrease as filter anisotropy increases. In the a posteriori analysis, the DDM model consistently outperforms the DSM and DMM models across various turbulence statistics, including velocity spectra, probability density functions related to vorticity, SFS energy flux, velocity increments, strainrate tensors, and SFS stress. It is evident that as filter anisotropy intensifies, the results of DSM and DMM deteriorate, while the DDM consistently delivers satisfactory outcomes across all filter-anisotropy scenarios. These findings underscore the potential of the DDM framework as a valuable tool for advancing the development of sophisticated SFS models for LES in turbulence research.

Keywords: deconvolution model, large eddy simulation, subfilter scale modeling, turbulence

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Authors: Peregrine James Dalziel, Philip Vu Tran

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Objective / Introduction: Demand for radiology services from Emergency Departments (ED) continues to increase with greater demands placed on radiology staff providing reports for the management of complex cases. Queuing theory indicates that wide variability of process time with the random nature of request arrival increases the probability of significant queues. This can lead to delays in the time-to-availability of radiology reports (TTA-RR) and potentially impaired ED patient flow. In addition, greater “cognitive workload” of greater volume may lead to reduced productivity and increased errors. We sought to quantify the potential ED flow improvements obtainable from increased radiology providers serving 3 public hospitals in Melbourne Australia. We sought to assess the potential productivity gains, quality improvement and the cost-effectiveness of increased labor inputs. Methods & Materials: The Western Health Medical Imaging Department moved from single resident coverage on weekend days 8:30 am-10:30 pm to a limited period of 2 resident coverage 1 pm-6 pm on both weekend days. The TTA-RR for weekend CT scans was calculated from the PACs database for the 8 month period symmetrically around the date of staffing change. A multivariate linear regression model was developed to isolate the improvement in TTA-RR, between the two 4-months periods. Daily and hourly scan volume at the time of each CT scan was calculated to assess the impact of varying department workload. To assess any improvement in report quality/errors a random sample of 200 studies was assessed to compare the average number of clinically significant over-read addendums to reports between the 2 periods. Cost-effectiveness was assessed by comparing the marginal cost of additional staffing against a conservative estimate of the economic benefit of improved ED patient throughput using the Australian national insurance rebate for private ED attendance as a revenue proxy. Results: The primary resident on call and the type of scan accounted for most of the explained variability in time to report availability (R2=0.29). Increasing daily volume and hourly volume was associated with increased TTA-RR (1.5m (p<0.01) and 4.8m (p<0.01) respectively per additional scan ordered within each time frame. Reports were available 25.9 minutes sooner on average in the 4 months post-implementation of double coverage (p<0.01) with additional 23.6 minutes improvement when 2 residents were on-site concomitantly (p<0.01). The aggregate average improvement in TTA-RR was 24.8 hours per weekend day This represents the increased decision-making time available to ED physicians and potential improvement in ED bed utilisation. 5% of reports from the intervention period contained clinically significant addendums vs 7% in the single resident period but this was not statistically significant (p=0.7). The marginal cost was less than the anticipated economic benefit based assuming a 50% capture of improved TTA-RR inpatient disposition and using the lowest available national insurance rebate as a proxy for economic benefit. Conclusion: TTA-RR improved significantly during the period of increased staff availability, both during the specific period of increased staffing and throughout the day. Increased labor utilisation is cost-effective compared with the potential improved productivity for ED cases requiring CT imaging.

Keywords: workflow, quality, administration, CT, staffing

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Authors: Marc Dietrich

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Youth cultures like Punk as much as media relevant to the specific scenes associated with them offer ample opportunity for young people or juvenile adults to construct their personal identities. However, developmental psychology has largely neglected such identity construction processes during the last decades. Such was not always the case: Early developmental psychologists intensely studied youth cultures and their meaningful objects and media in the early 20th century but lost interest when cultural studies and the social sciences occupied the field after World War II. Our project Constructions of Juvenility and Generation(ality), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, reintegrates the study of youth cultures and their meaningful objects and media in a developmental psychology perspective. We present an empirical study of the ways in which youth, juvenility, and generation (ality) are constructed and negotiated in underground media like punk fanzines (a portmanteau of fan and magazine), including both semantic and aesthetic aspects of these construction processes within punk culture. The fanzine sample was accessed by the theoretical sampling strategy typical for GTM studies. Acknowledging fanzines as artful self-produced media by scene members for scene members, we conceptualize them as authentic documents of scene norms and values. Drawing on an analysis of both text and (cover) images in Punk fanzines published in Germany (and within a sample dating from 1981 until 2015) using a novel Visual Grounded Theory approach, we found that: a) Juvenility is a highly contested concept in punk culture. Its semantic quality and valuation varies with the perspectives present within the culture (e.g. embryo punks versus older punks); b) Juvenility is constructed as having energy and being socio-critical that does not depend on biological age; c) Juvenility is regarded not an ideal per se in German Punk culture; Punk culture constructs old age in a largely positive way (e.g., as marker of being real and a historical innovator); d) Juvenility is constructed as a habit that should be kept for life as it is constantly adapted to individual biographical trajectories like specific job situations or having a family. Consequently, identity negotiation as documented in the zines attempts to balance subculturally driven perspectives on life and society with the pragmatic requirements of a bourgeois life. The proposed paper will present the main results of this large-scale study of punk fanzines and show how developmental psychology perspectives as represented in the novel methodology applied in it can advance the study of youth cultures.

Keywords: construction of juvenility, developmental psychology, visual GTM, youth culture, fanzines

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Authors: Franciele L. Bernard, Felipe Dalla Vecchia, Barbara B. Polesso, Jose A. Donato, Marcus Seferin, Rosane Ligabue, Jailton F. do Nascimento, Sandra Einloft

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The increasing level of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere related to fossil fuels processing and utilization are contributing to global warming phenomena considerably. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies appear as one of the key technologies to reduce CO2 emissions mitigating the effects of climate change. Absorption using amines solutions as solvents have been extensively studied and used in industry for decades. However, solvent degradation and equipment corrosion are two of the main problems in this process. Poly (ionic liquid) (PIL) is considered as a promising material for CCS technology, potentially more environmentally friendly and lesser energy demanding than traditional material. PILs possess a unique combination of ionic liquids (ILs) features, such as affinity for CO2, thermal and chemical stability and adjustable properties, coupled with the intrinsic properties of the polymer. This study investigated new Poly (ionic liquid) (PIL) based on polyurethanes with different ionic liquids cations and its potential for CO2 capture. The PILs were synthesized by the addition of diisocyante to a difunctional polyol, followed by an exchange reaction with the ionic Liquids 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIM Cl); tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) and tetrabutylphosphonium bromide (TBPB). These materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Tensile strength analysis, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The PILs CO2 sorption capacity were gravimetrically assessed in a Magnetic Suspension Balance (MSB). It was found that the ionic liquids cation influences in the compounds properties as well as in the CO2 sorption. The best result for CO2 sorption (123 mgCO2/g at 30 bar) was obtained for the PIL (PUPT-TBA). The higher CO2 sorption in PUPT-TBA is probably linked to the fact that the tetraalkylammonium cation having a higher positive density charge can have a stronger interaction with CO2, while the imidazolium charge is delocalized. The comparative CO2 sorption values of the PUPT-TBA with different ionic liquids showed that this material has greater capacity for capturing CO2 when compared to the ILs even at higher temperature. This behavior highlights the importance of this study, as the poly (urethane) based PILs are cheap and versatile materials.

Keywords: capture, CO2, ionic liquids, ionic poly(urethane)

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Authors: T. Kuchukhidze, N. Jalagonia, T. Archuadze, G. Bokuchava

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The growing scientific-technological progress in modern civilization causes actuality of producing construction materials which can successfully work in conditions of high temperature, radiation, pressure, speed, and chemically aggressive environment. Such extreme conditions can withstand very few types of materials and among them, ceramic materials are in the first place. Corundum ceramics is the most useful material for creation of constructive nodes and products of various purposes for its low cost, easy accessibility to raw materials and good combination of physical-chemical properties. However, ceramic composite materials have one disadvantage; they are less plastics and have lower toughness. In order to increase the plasticity, the ceramics are reinforced by various dopants, that reduces the growth of the cracks. It is shown, that adding of even small amount of carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes (CNT) as reinforcing material significantly improves mechanical properties of the products, keeping at the same time advantages of alundum ceramics. Graphene in composite material acts in the same way as inorganic dopants (MgO, ZrO2, SiC and others) and performs the role of aluminum oxide inhibitor, as it creates shell, that gives possibility to reduce sintering temperature and at the same time it acts as damper, because scattering of a shock wave takes place on carbon structures. Application of different structural modification of carbon (graphene, nanotube and others) as reinforced material, gives possibility to create multi-purpose highly requested composite materials based on alundum ceramics. In the present work offers simplified technology for obtaining of aluminum oxide ceramics, reinforced with carbon nanostructures, during which chemical modification with doping carbon nanostructures will be implemented in the process of synthesis of final powdery composite – Alumina. In charge doping carbon nanostructures connected to matrix substance with C-O-Al bonds, that provide their homogeneous spatial distribution. In ceramic obtained as a result of consolidation of such powders carbon fragments equally distributed in the entire matrix of aluminum oxide, that cause increase of bending strength and crack-resistance. The proposed way to prepare the charge simplifies the technological process, decreases energy consumption, synthesis duration and therefore requires less financial expenses. In the implementation of this work, modern instrumental methods were used: electronic and optical microscopy, X-ray structural and granulometric analysis, UV, IR, and Raman spectroscopy.

Keywords: ceramic materials, α-Al₂O₃, carbon nanostructures, composites, characterization, hot-pressing

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Authors: Ayesha Akbar

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Pakistan is moving from a security state to a welfare state despite several security challenges both internal and external. Human security signifies a varied approach in different regions depending upon the leadership and policy priorities. The link between human development and economic growth is not automatic. It has to be created consciously by forward-looking policies and strategies by national governments. There are seven components or categories of human security these include: Economic Security, Personal Security, Health Security, Environmental Security, Food Security, Community Security and Political Security. The increasing interest of the international community to clearly understand the dimensions of human security provided the grounds to Pakistani scholars as well to ponder on the issue and delineate lines of human security. A great deal of work has been either done or in process to evaluate human security indicators in Pakistan. Notwithstanding, after having been done a great deal of work the human security in Pakistan is not satisfactory. A range of deteriorating indicators of human development that lies under the domain of human security leaves certain inquiries to be answered. What are the dimensions of human security in Pakistan? And how are they being dealt from the perspective of policy and institution in terms of its operationalization in Pakistan? Is the human security discourse reflects evidence-based policy changes. The methodology is broadly based on qualitative methods that include interviews, content analysis of policy documents. Pakistan is among the most populous countries in the world and faces high vulnerability to climate change. Literacy rate has gone down with the surge of youth bulge to accommodate in the job market. Increasing population is creating food problems as the resources have not been able to compete with the raising demands of food and other social amenities of life. Majority of the people are facing acute poverty. Health outcomes are also not satisfactory with the high infant and maternal mortality rate. Pakistan is on the verge of facing water crisis as the water resources are depleting so fast with the high demand in agriculture and energy sector. Pakistan is striving hard to deal with the declining state of human security but the dilemma is lack of resources that hinders in meeting up with the emerging demands. The government requires to bring about more change with scaling-up economic growth avenues with enhancing the capacity of human resources. A modern performance drive culture with the integration of technology is required to deliver efficient and effective service delivery. On an already fast track process of reforms; e-governance and evidence based policy mechanism is being instilled in the government process for better governance and evidence based decisions.

Keywords: governance, human development index, human security, Pakistan, policy

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Authors: Marina Chavleishvili

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Introduction: Today, the study of monopolies, including natural monopolies, is topical. In real life, pure monopolies are natural monopolies. Natural monopolies are used widely and are regulated by the state. In particular, the prices and rates are regulated. The paper considers the problems associated with the operation of natural monopolies in Georgia, in particular, their microeconomic analysis, pricing mechanisms, and legal mechanisms of their operation. The analysis was carried out on the example of the power industry. The rates of natural monopolies in Georgia are controlled by the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulation Commission. The paper analyzes the positive role and importance of the regulatory body and the issues of improving the legislative base that will support the efficient operation of the branch. Methodology: In order to highlight natural monopolies market tendencies, the domestic and international markets are studied. An analysis of monopolies is carried out based on the endogenous and exogenous factors that determine the condition of companies, as well as the strategies chosen by firms to increase the market share. According to the productivity-based competitiveness assessment scheme, the segmentation opportunities, business environment, resources, and geographical location of monopolist companies are revealed. Main Findings: As a result of the analysis, certain assessments and conclusions were made. Natural monopolies are quite a complex and versatile economic element, and it is important to specify and duly control their frame conditions. It is important to determine the pricing policy of natural monopolies. The rates should be transparent, should show the level of life in the country, and should correspond to the incomes. The analysis confirmed the significance of the role of the Antimonopoly Service in the efficient management of natural monopolies. The law should adapt to reality and should be applied only to regulate the market. The present-day differential electricity tariffs varying depending on the consumed electrical power need revision. The effects of the electricity price discrimination are important, segmentation in different seasons in particular. Consumers use more electricity in winter than in summer, which is associated with extra capacities and maintenance costs. If the price of electricity in winter is higher than in summer, the electricity consumption will decrease in winter. The consumers will start to consume the electricity more economically, what will allow reducing extra capacities. Conclusion: Thus, the practical realization of the views given in the paper will contribute to the efficient operation of natural monopolies. Consequently, their activity will be oriented not on the reduction but on the increase of increments of the consumers or producers. Overall, the optimal management of the given fields will allow for improving the well-being throughout the country. In the article, conclusions are made, and the recommendations are developed to deliver effective policies and regulations toward the natural monopolies in Georgia.

Keywords: monopolies, natural monopolies, regulation, antimonopoly service

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Authors: Bassey O. Bassey

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Benchmarking has progressively become entrenched as a requisite activity for process improvement and enhancing service delivery at petroleum jetties and terminals, most especially during tanker discharge operations at the ship – shore interface, as avoidable delays result in extra operating costs, non-productive time, high demurrage payments and ultimate product scarcity. The jetty and terminal in focus had been operational for 3 and 8 years respectively, with proper operational and logistic records maintained to evaluate their progress over time in order to plan and implement modifications and review of procedures for greater technical and economic efficiency. Regular and emergency staff meetings were held on a team, departmental and company-wide basis to progressively address major challenges that were encountered during each operation. The process and outcome of the resultant collectively planned changes carried out within the past two years forms the basis of this paper, which mirrors the initiatives effected to enhance operational and maintenance excellence at the affected facilities. Operational modifications included a second cargo receipt line designated for gasoline, product loss control at jetty and shore ends, enhanced product recovery and quality control, and revival of terminal–jetty backloading operations. Logistic improvements were the incorporation of an internal logistics firm and shipping agency, fast tracking of discharge procedures for tankers, optimization of tank vessel selection process, and third party product receipt and throughput. Maintenance excellence was achieved through construction of two new lay barges and refurbishment of the existing one; revamping of existing booster pump and purchasing of a modern one as reserve capacity; extension of Phase 1 of the jetty to accommodate two vessels and construction of Phase 2 for two more vessels; regular inspection, draining, drying and replacement of cargo hoses; corrosion management program for all process facilities; and an improved, properly planned and documented maintenance culture. Safety, environmental and security compliance were enhanced by installing state-of-the-art fire fighting facilities and equipment, seawater intake line construction as backup for borehole at the terminal, remediation of the shoreline and marine structures, modern spill containment equipment, improved housekeeping and accident prevention practices, and installation of hi-technology security enhancements, among others. The end result has been observed over the past two years to include improved tanker turnaround time, higher turnover on product sales, consistent product availability, greater indigenous human capacity utilisation by way of direct hires and contracts, as well as customer loyalty. The lessons learnt from this exercise would, therefore, serve as a model to be adapted by other operators of similar facilities, contractors, academics and consultants in a bid to deliver greater sustainability and profitability of operations at the ship – shore interface to this strategic industry.

Keywords: benchmarking, optimisation, petroleum jetty, petroleum terminal

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Authors: M. Kowalik, J. Masternak, K. Kazimierczuk, O. V. Khavryuchenko, B. Kupcewicz, B. Barszcz

Abstract:

Recently, the growing interest of chemists in metal-organic coordination polymers (MOCPs) is primarily derived from their intriguing structures and potential applications in catalysis, gas storage, molecular sensing, ion exchanges, nonlinear optics, luminescence, etc. Currently, we are devoting considerable effort to finding the proper method of synthesizing new coordination polymers containing S- or N-heteroaromatic carboxylates as linkers and characterizing the obtained Pb(II) compounds according to their structural diversity, luminescence, and thermal properties. The choice of Pb(II) as the central ion of MOCPs was motivated by several reasons mentioned in the literature: i) a large ionic radius allowing for a wide range of coordination numbers, ii) the stereoactivity of the 6s2 lone electron pair leading to a hemidirected or holodirected geometry, iii) a flexible coordination environment, and iv) the possibility to form secondary bonds and unusual non-covalent interactions, such as classic hydrogen bonds and π···π stacking interactions, as well as nonconventional hydrogen bonds and rarely reported tetrel bonds, Pb(lone pair)···π interactions, C–H···Pb agostic-type interactions or hydrogen bonds, and chelate ring stacking interactions. Moreover, the construction of coordination polymers requires the selection of proper ligands acting as linkers, because we are looking for materials exhibiting different network topologies and fluorescence properties, which point to potential applications. The reaction of Pb(NO₃)₂ with 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid (2prCOOH) leads to the formation of a new four-nuclear Pb(II) polymer, [Pb4(2prCOO)₈(H₂O)]ₙ, which has been characterized by CHN, FT-IR, TG, PL and single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. In view of the primary Pb–O bonds, Pb1 and Pb2 show hemidirected pentagonal pyramidal geometries, while Pb2 and Pb4 display hemidirected octahedral geometries. The topology of the strongest Pb–O bonds was determined as the (4·8²) fes topology. Taking the secondary Pb–O bonds into account, the coordination number of Pb centres increased, Pb1 exhibited a hemidirected monocapped pentagonal pyramidal geometry, Pb2 and Pb4 exhibited a holodirected tricapped trigonal prismatic geometry, and Pb3 exhibited a holodirected bicapped trigonal prismatic geometry. Moreover, the Pb(II) lone pair stereoactivity was confirmed by DFT calculations. The 2D structure was expanded into 3D by the existence of non-covalent O/C–H···π and Pb···π interactions, which was confirmed by the Hirshfeld surface analysis. The above mentioned interactions improve the rigidity of the structure and facilitate the charge and energy transfer between metal centres, making the polymer a promising luminescent compound.

Keywords: coordination polymers, fluorescence properties, lead(II), lone electron pair stereoactivity, non-covalent interactions

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Authors: S.I.Mukhin, S. Seidov, A. Mukherjee

Abstract:

The Dicke model is a key tool for the description of correlated states of quantum atomic systems, excited by resonant photon absorption and subsequently emitting spontaneous coherent radiation in the superradiant state. The Dicke Hamiltonian (DH) is successfully used for the description of the dynamics of the Josephson Junction (JJ) array in a resonant cavity under applied current. In this work, we have investigated a generalized model, which is described by DH with a frustrating interaction term. This frustrating interaction term is explicitly the infinite coordinated interaction between all the spin half in the system. In this work, we consider an array of N superconducting islands, each divided into two sub-islands by a Josephson Junction, taken in a charged qubit / Cooper Pair Box (CPB) condition. The array is placed inside the resonant cavity. One important aspect of the problem lies in the dynamical nature of the physical observables involved in the system, such as condensed electric field and dipole moment. It is important to understand how these quantities behave with time to define the quantum phase of the system. The Dicke model without frustrating term is solved to find the dynamical solutions of the physical observables in analytic form. We have used Heisenberg’s dynamical equations for the operators and on applying newly developed Rotating Holstein Primakoff (HP) transformation and DH we have arrived at the four coupled nonlinear dynamical differential equations for the momentum and spin component operators. It is possible to solve the system analytically using two-time scales. The analytical solutions are expressed in terms of Jacobi's elliptic functions for the metastable ‘bound luminosity’ dynamic state with the periodic coherent beating of the dipoles that connect the two double degenerate dipolar ordered phases discovered previously. In this work, we have proceeded the analysis with the extended DH with a frustrating interaction term. Inclusion of the frustrating term involves complexity in the system of differential equations and it gets difficult to solve analytically. We have solved semi-classical dynamic equations using the perturbation technique for small values of Josephson energy EJ. Because the Hamiltonian contains parity symmetry, thus phase transition can be found if this symmetry is broken. Introducing spontaneous symmetry breaking term in the DH, we have derived the solutions which show the occurrence of finite condensate, showing quantum phase transition. Our obtained result matches with the existing results in this scientific field.

Keywords: Dicke Model, nonlinear dynamics, perturbation theory, superconductivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Fang Li, Jiazhao Wang, Jianmin Ma

Abstract:

The practical application of Li-S batteries is hampered due to poor cycling stability caused by electrolyte-dissolved lithium polysulfides. Dual functionalities such as strong chemical adsorption stability and high conductivity are highly desired for an ideal host material for a sulfur-based cathode. Polypyrrole (PPy), as a conductive polymer, was widely studied as matrixes for sulfur cathode due to its high conductivity and strong chemical interaction with soluble polysulfides. Thus, a novel cathode structure consisting of a free-standing sulfur-polypyrrole cathode and a polypyrrole coated separator was designed for flexible Li-S batteries. The PPy materials show strong interaction with dissoluble polysulfides, which could suppress the shuttle effect and improve the cycling stability. In addition, the synthesized PPy film with a rough surface acts as a current collector, which improves the adhesion of sulfur materials and restrain the volume expansion, enhancing the structural stability during the cycling process. For further enhancing the cycling stability, a PPy coated separator was also applied, which could make polysulfides into the cathode side to alleviate the shuttle effect. Moreover, the PPy layer coated on commercial separator is much lighter than other reported interlayers. A soft-packaged flexible Li-S battery has been designed and fabricated for testing the practical application of the designed cathode and separator, which could power a device consisting of 24 light-emitting diode (LED) lights. Moreover, the soft-packaged flexible battery can still show relatively stable cycling performance after repeated bending, indicating the potential application in flexible batteries. A novel vapor phase deposition method was also applied to prepare uniform polypyrrole layer coated sulfur/graphene aerogel composite. The polypyrrole layer simultaneously acts as host and adsorbent for efficient suppression of polysulfides dissolution through strong chemical interaction. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the polypyrrole could trap lithium polysulfides through stronger bonding energy. In addition, the deflation of sulfur/graphene hydrogel during the vapor phase deposition process enhances the contact of sulfur with matrixes, resulting in high sulfur utilization and good rate capability. As a result, the synthesized polypyrrole coated sulfur/graphene aerogel composite delivers a specific discharge capacity of 1167 mAh g⁻¹ and 409.1 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 C and 5 C respectively. The capacity can maintain at 698 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.5 C after 500 cycles, showing an ultra-slow decay rate of 0.03% per cycle.

Keywords: polypyrrole, strong chemical interaction, long-term stability, Li-S batteries

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Authors: Chen Yuan, Nick Green, Stuart Blackburn

Abstract:

The investment casting process offers a great freedom of design combined with the economic advantage of near net shape manufacturing. It is widely used for the production of high value precision cast parts in particularly in the aerospace sector. Various combinations of materials have been used to produce the ceramic moulds, but most investment foundries use a silica based binder system in conjunction with fused silica, zircon, and alumino-silicate refractories as both filler and coarse stucco materials. However, in the context of advancing alloy technologies, silica based systems are struggling to keep pace, especially when net-shape casting titanium alloys. Study has shown that the casting of titanium based alloys presents considerable problems, including the extensive interactions between the metal and refractory, and the majority of metal-mould interaction is due to reduction of silica, present as binder and filler phases, by titanium in the molten state. Cleaner, more refractory systems are being devised to accommodate these changes. Although yttria has excellent chemical inertness to titanium alloy, it is not very practical in a production environment combining high material cost, short slurry life, and poor sintering properties. There needs to be a cost effective solution to these issues. With limited options for using pure oxides, in this work, a silica-free magnesia spinel MgAl₂O₄ was used as a primary coat filler and alumina as a binder material to produce facecoat in the investment casting mould. A comparison system was also studied with a fraction of the rare earth oxide Y₂O₃ adding into the filler to increase the inertness. The stability of the MgAl₂O₄/Al₂O₃ and MgAl₂O₄/Y₂O₃/Al₂O₃ slurries was assessed by tests, including pH, viscosity, zeta-potential and plate weight measurement, and mould properties such as friability were also measured. The interaction between the face coat and titanium alloy was studied by both a flash re-melting technique and a centrifugal investment casting method. The interaction products between metal and mould were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The depth of the oxygen hardened layer was evaluated by micro hardness measurement. Results reveal that introducing a fraction of Y₂O₃ into magnesia spinel can significantly increase the slurry life and reduce the thickness of hardened layer during centrifugal casting.

Keywords: titanium alloy, mould, MgAl₂O₄, Y₂O₃, interaction, investment casting

Procedia PDF Downloads 113