Search results for: wasted water treatment plants

Authors: Chiqian Zhang, Kyle D. McIntosh, Nathan Sienkiewicz, Ian Struewing, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu

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Phytoplankton plays an essential role in freshwater aquatic ecosystems and is the primary group synthesizing organic carbon and providing food sources or energy to ecosystems. Therefore, the identification and quantification of phytoplankton are important for estimating and assessing ecosystem productivity (carbon fixation), water quality, and eutrophication. Microscopy is the current gold standard for identifying and quantifying phytoplankton composition and abundance. However, microscopic analysis of phytoplankton is time-consuming, has a low sample throughput, and requires deep knowledge and rich experience in microbial morphology to implement. To improve this situation, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was considered for phytoplankton identification and quantification. Using qPCR to assess phytoplankton composition and abundance, however, has not been comprehensively evaluated. This study focused on: 1) conducting a comprehensive performance comparison of qPCR and microscopy techniques in identifying and quantifying phytoplankton and 2) examining the use of qPCR as a tool for assessing eutrophication. Twelve large rivers located throughout the United States were evaluated using data collected from 2017 to 2019 to understand the relation between qPCR-based phytoplankton abundance and eutrophication. This study revealed that temporal variation of phytoplankton abundance in the twelve rivers was limited within years (from late spring to late fall) and among different years (2017, 2018, and 2019). Midcontinent rivers had moderately greater phytoplankton abundance than eastern and western rivers, presumably because midcontinent rivers were more eutrophic. The study also showed that qPCR- and microscope-determined phytoplankton abundance had a significant positive linear correlation (adjusted R² 0.772, p-value < 0.001). In addition, phytoplankton abundance assessed via qPCR showed promise as an indicator of the eutrophication status of those rivers, with oligotrophic rivers having low phytoplankton abundance and eutrophic rivers having (relatively) high phytoplankton abundance. This study demonstrated that qPCR could serve as an alternative tool to traditional microscopy for phytoplankton quantification and eutrophication assessment in freshwater rivers.

Keywords: phytoplankton, eutrophication, river, qPCR, microscopy, spatiotemporal variation

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: M. R. Vijayakumar, K. Priyanka, Ramoji Kosuru, Lakshmi, Sanjay Singh

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Trans resveratrol (RES) is a non-flavonoid poly-phenolic compound proved for its therapeutic and preventive effect against various types of cancer. However, the practical application of RES in cancer treatment is limited because of its higher dose (up to 7.5 g/day in humans), low biological half life, rapid metabolism and faster elimination in mammals. PEGylated core-shell type lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles are the novel drug delivery systems for long circulation and improved anti cancer effect of its therapeutic payloads. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to extend the biological half life (long circulation) and improve the therapeutic efficacy of RES through core shell type of nanoparticles. D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (vitamin E TPGS), a novel surfactant is applied for the preparation of PEGylated lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles. The prepared nanoparticles were evaluated by various state of the art techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique for particle size and zeta potential, TEM for shape, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for interaction analysis and XRD for crystalline changes of drug. Entrapment efficiency and invitro drug release were determined by ultracentrifugation method and dialysis bag method, respectively. Cancer cell viability studies were performed by MTT assay, respectively. Pharmacokinetic studies after i.v administration were performed in sprague dawley rats. The prepared NPs were found to be spherical in shape with smooth surfaces. Particle size and zeta potential of prepared NPs were found to be in the range of 179.2±7.45 to 266.8±9.61 nm and -0.63 to -48.35 mV, respectively. DSC revealed absence of potential interaction. XRD study revealed presence of amorphous form in nanoparticles. Entrapment efficiency was found to be 83.7 % and drug release was found to be in controlled manner. MTT assay showed low MEC and pharmacokinetic studies showed higher AUC of nanoformulaition than its pristine drug. All these studies revealed that the RES loaded PEG modified core-shell type lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles can be an alternative tool for chemopreventive and therapeutic application of RES in cancer.

Keywords: trans resveratrol, cancer nanotechnology, long circulating nanoparticles, bioavailability enhancement, core shell nanoparticles, lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 472

Authors: S. Maleczek, K. Drabczyk, L. Bogdan, A. Iwan

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It is known that for industrial applications using solar panel constructed from silicon solar cells require high-efficiency performance. One of the main problems in solar panels is different mechanical and structural defects, causing the decrease of generated power. To analyse defects in solar cells, various techniques are used. However, the thermal imaging is fast and simple method for locating defects. The main goal of this work was to analyze defects in constructed flexible silicon photovoltaic modules via thermal imaging and electroluminescence method. This work is realized for the GEKON project (No. GEKON2/O4/268473/23/2016) sponsored by The National Centre for Research and Development and The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. Thermal behavior was observed using thermographic camera (VIGOcam v50, VIGO System S.A, Poland) using a DC conventional source. Electroluminescence was observed by Steinbeis Center Photovoltaics (Stuttgart, Germany) equipped with a camera, in which there is a Si-CCD, 16 Mpix detector Kodak KAF-16803type. The camera has a typical spectral response in the range 350 - 1100 nm with a maximum QE of 60 % at 550 nm. In our work commercial silicon solar cells with the size 156 × 156 mm were cut for nine parts (called single solar cells) and used to create photovoltaic modules with the size of 160 × 70 cm (containing about 80 single solar cells). Flexible silicon photovoltaic modules on polyamides or polyester fabric were constructed and investigated taking into consideration anomalies on the surface of modules. Thermal imaging provided evidence of visible voltage-activated conduction. In electro-luminescence images, two regions are noticeable: darker, where solar cell is inactive and brighter corresponding with correctly working photovoltaic cells. The electroluminescence method is non-destructive and gives greater resolution of images thereby allowing a more precise evaluation of microcracks of solar cell after lamination process. Our study showed good correlations between defects observed by thermal imaging and electroluminescence. Finally, we can conclude that the thermographic examination of large scale photovoltaic modules allows us the fast, simple and inexpensive localization of defects at the single solar cells and modules. Moreover, thermographic camera was also useful to detection electrical interconnection between single solar cells.

Keywords: electro-luminescence, flexible devices, silicon solar cells, thermal imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Luvindran Sugumaran, Mohd Nashrul Mohd Zubir, Kazi Md Salim Newaz, Tuan Zaharinie Tuan Zahari, Suazlan Mt Aznam, Aiman Mohd Halil

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With the fast growth of integrated circuits and the trend towards making electronic devices smaller, the heat dissipation load of electronic devices has continued to go over the limit. The high heat flux element would not only harm the operation and lifetime of the equipment but would also impede the performance upgrade brought about by the iteration of technological updates, which would have a direct negative impact on the economic and production cost benefits of rising industries. Hence, in high-tech industries like radar, information and communication, electromagnetic power, and aerospace, the development and implementation of effective heat dissipation technologies were urgently required. Pool boiling is favored over other cooling methods because of its capacity to dissipate a high heat flux at a low wall superheat without the usage of mechanical components. Enhancing the pool boiling performance by increasing the heat transfer coefficient via surface modification techniques has received a lot of attention. There are several surface modification methods feasible today, but the stability and durability of surface modification are the greatest priority. Thus, laser machining is an interesting choice for surface modification due to its low production cost, high scalability, and repeatability. In this study, different patterns of laser-processed copper surfaces are fabricated to investigate the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer performance of distilled water. The investigation showed that there is a significant enhancement in the pool boiling heat transfer performance of the laser-processed surface compared to the reference surface due to the notable increase in nucleation frequency and nucleation site density. It was discovered that the heat transfer coefficients increased when both the surface area ratio and the ratio of peak-to-valley height of the microstructure were raised. It is believed that the development of microstructures on the surface as a result of laser processing is the primary factor in the enhancement of heat transfer performance.

Keywords: heat transfer coefficient, laser processing, micro structured surface, pool boiling

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Ana Carolina Kogawa, Selma Gutierrez Antonio, Hérida Regina Nunes Salgado

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Rifaximin is an oral antimicrobial, gut - selective and not systemic with adverse effects compared to placebo. It is used for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy, travelers diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, Clostridium difficile, ulcerative colitis and acute diarrhea. The crystalline form present in the rifaximin with minimal systemic absorption is α, being the amorphous form significantly different. Regulators are increasingly attention to polymorphisms. Polymorphs can change the form by altering the drug characteristics compromising the effectiveness and safety of the finished product. International Conference on Harmonization issued the ICH Guidance Q6A, which aim to improve the control of polymorphism in new and existing pharmaceuticals. The objective of this study was to obtain polymorphic forms of rifaximin employing recrystallization processes and characterize them by thermal analysis (thermogravimetry - TG and differential scanning calorimetry - DSC), X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and solubility test. Six polymorphic forms of rifaximin, designated I to VI were obtained by the crystallization process by evaporation of the solvent. The profiles of the TG curves obtained from polymorphic forms of rifaximin are similar to rifaximin and each other, however, the DTG are different, indicating different thermal behaviors. Melting temperature values of all the polymorphic forms were greater to that shown by the rifaximin, indicating the higher thermal stability of the obtained forms. The comparison of the diffractograms of the polymorphic forms of rifaximin with rifaximin α, β and γ constant in patent indicate that forms III, V and VI are formed by mixing polymorph β and α and form III is formed by polymorph β. The polymorphic form I is formed by polymorph β, but with a significant amount of amorphous material. Already, the polymorphic form II consists of polymorph γ, amorphous. In scanning electron microscope is possible to observe the heterogeneity of morphological characteristics of crystals of polymorphic forms among themselves and with rifaximin. The solubility of forms I and II was greater than the solubility of rifaximin, already, forms III, IV and V presented lower solubility than of rifaximin. Similarly, the bioavailability of the amorphous form of rifaximin is considered significantly higher than the form α, the polymorphic forms obtained in this work can not guarantee the excellent tolerability of the reference medicine. Therefore, studies like these are extremely important and they point to the need for greater requirements by the regulatory agencies competent about polymorphs analysis of the raw materials used in the manufacture of medicines marketed globally. These analyzes are not required in the majority of official compendia. Partnerships between industries, research centers and universities would be a viable way to consolidate researches in this area and contribute to improving the quality of solid drugs.

Keywords: electronic microscopy, polymorphism, rifaximin, solubility, X-ray diffraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 664

Authors: Carlos Roberto De Rolt, Julio da Silva Dias, Rafael Tezza, Luca Foschini, Matteo Mura

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The seasonal population fluctuation presents a challenge to touristic cities since the number of inhabitants can double according to the season. The aim of this work is to develop a model that correlates the waste collected with the population of the city and also allow cooperation between the inhabitants and the local government. The model allows public managers to evaluate the impact of the seasonal population fluctuation on waste generation and also to improve planning resource utilization throughout the year. The study uses data from the company that collects the garbage in Florianópolis, a Brazilian city that presents the profile of a city that attracts tourists due to numerous beaches and warm weather. The fluctuations are caused by the number of people that come to the city throughout the year for holidays, summer time vacations or business events. Crowdsensing will be accomplished through smartphones with access to an app for data collection, with voluntary participation of the population. Crowdsensing participants can access information collected in waves for this portal. Crowdsensing represents an innovative and participatory approach which involves the population in gathering information to improve the quality of life. The management of crowdsensing solutions plays an essential role given the complexity to foster collaboration, establish available sensors and collect and process the collected data. Practical implications of this tool described in this paper refer, for example, to the management of seasonal tourism in a large municipality, whose public services are impacted by the floating of the population. Crowdsensing and big data support managers in predicting the arrival, permanence, and movement of people in a given urban area. Also, by linking crowdsourced data to databases from other public service providers - e.g., water, garbage collection, electricity, public transport, telecommunications - it is possible to estimate the floating of the population of an urban area affected by seasonal tourism. This approach supports the municipality in increasing the effectiveness of resource allocation while, at the same time, increasing the quality of the service as perceived by citizens and tourists.

Keywords: big data, dashboards, floating population, smart city, urban management solutions

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Nadine khadraoui, Rym Essid, Olfa Tabbene, Imen Chniba, Safa Boujemaa, Selim Jallouli, Nadia Fares, Behija Mlik, Boutheina Ben Abdelmoumen Mardassi

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Background and aim: Mycoplasma hominis is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause various gynecological infections such cervicitis, infertility, and, less frequently, extra-genital infections. Previous studies on the antimicrobial susceptibility of Mycoplasma hominis Tunisian strains have highlighted a significant resistance, even multi-resistance, to the most used antibiotic in the therapy of consequential infections. To address this concern, the present study aimed for the alternative of phytotherapy. Peganum harmala seed extract was tested as an antibacterial agent against multidrug-resistant M.hominis clinical strains. Material and Methods: Peganum harmala plant was collected from Ain Sebaa, Tabarka, North West region of Tunisia in April 2018, air-dried, grounded and extracted by different solvents.The crude methanolic extract was further partitioned with n-HEX, DCM, EtOAC and n-BuOl. Antibacterial activity was evaluated against M. hominis ATCC 23114 and 20 M. hominis clinical strains.The antimycoplasmal activity was tested by the microdilution method, and MIC values were determined. Phytochemical analysis and hemolytic activity on human erythrocytes were also performed. The active fraction was then subjected to purification, and the chemical identification of the active compound was investigated. Results: Among the tested fractions, the n-BuOH extract was the most active fraction since it exhibited an inhibitory effect against M. hominis ATCC 23114 and 80% of the tested clinical strains with MIC between 125 and 1000 µg/ml. The phytochemical analysis of the n-BuOH revealed its metabolic abundance in polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannin with levels of 257.37 mg AGE/g, 172.27 mg EC/g and 58.27 mg EC/g, respectively. In addition, P. harmala n-BuOH extract exhibited potent bactericidal activity against all M. hominis isolates with CMB values ranging between 125 and 4000 µg/ml. Further, the active fraction exhibited weak cytotoxicity effect at active concentrations when tested on human erythrocytes. The active compound was identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry as an indole alkaloid harmaline. Conclusion: In summary, Peganum harmala extract demonstrated an interesting anti-mycoplasmal activity against M. hominis Tunisian strains. Therefore, it could be considered as a potential candidate for the treatment of consequential infections. However, further studies are necessary to evaluate its mechanism of action in mycoplasmas.

Keywords: mycoplasma hominis, peganum harmala, antibioresistance, phytotherapy, phytochemical analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Mark Morgan, Christine Li, Shuangyu Xu, Jenny McCarty

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The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the U.S. Congress in 1968 (Public Law 90-542; 16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.) to preserve outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values of some U.S. rivers in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations. This Act is notable for safeguarding the special character of these rivers while supporting management action that encourages public participation for co-creating river protection goals and strategies. This is not an easy task. To meet the challenges of modern ecosystem management, federal resource agencies must address many legal, environmental, economic, political, and social issues. The U.S. Forest Service manages a 44-mile section of the Eleven Point National Scenic River (EPR) in southern Missouri, mainly for outdoor recreation purposes. About half of the acreage is in private lands, while the remainder flows through the Mark Twain National Forest. Private land along the river is managed by scenic easements to ensure protection of scenic values and natural resources, without public access. A portion of the EPR lies adjacent to a 16,500-acre tract known as the Irish Wilderness. The spring-fed river has steep bluffs, deep pools, clear water, and a slow current, making it an ideal setting for outdoor enthusiasts. A 10-month visitor study was conducted at five access points along the EPR during 2019 so the US Forest Service could update their river management plan. A mail-back survey was administered to 560 on-site visitors, yielding a response rate of 53%. Although different types of visitors use the EPR, boating and fishing were the predominant forms of outdoor recreation. Some river use was from locals, but other visitors came from farther away. Formulating unbiased policies for outdoor recreation is difficult because managers must assign relative values to recreational activities and travel distance. Because policymaking is a subjective process, management decisions can affect user groups in different ways (i.e., boaters vs. fishers; proximate vs. distal visitors), as seen through a GIS analysis.

Keywords: activity selection, forest recreation, policy, travel distance

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Molakala Mourya Vardhan Reddy, Kandimala Revanth, Koduru Sumanth, Beena B. M.

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Emergency response and recovery operations are severely hampered by natural catastrophes, especially floods. Understanding post-flood scenarios is essential to disaster management because it facilitates quick evaluation and decision-making. To this end, we introduce FloodNet, a brand-new high-resolution aerial picture collection created especially for comprehending post-flood scenes. A varied collection of excellent aerial photos taken during and after flood occurrences make up FloodNet, which offers comprehensive representations of flooded landscapes, damaged infrastructure, and changed topographies. The dataset provides a thorough resource for training and assessing computer vision models designed to handle the complexity of post-flood scenarios, including a variety of environmental conditions and geographic regions. Pixel-level semantic segmentation masks are used to label the pictures in FloodNet, allowing for a more detailed examination of flood-related characteristics, including debris, water bodies, and damaged structures. Furthermore, temporal and positional metadata improve the dataset's usefulness for longitudinal research and spatiotemporal analysis. For activities like flood extent mapping, damage assessment, and infrastructure recovery projection, we provide baseline standards and evaluation metrics to promote research and development in the field of post-flood scene comprehension. By integrating FloodNet into machine learning pipelines, it will be easier to create reliable algorithms that will help politicians, urban planners, and first responders make choices both before and after floods. The goal of the FloodNet dataset is to support advances in computer vision, remote sensing, and disaster response technologies by providing a useful resource for researchers. FloodNet helps to create creative solutions for boosting communities' resilience in the face of natural catastrophes by tackling the particular problems presented by post-flood situations.

Keywords: image classification, segmentation, computer vision, nature disaster, unmanned arial vehicle(UAV), machine learning.

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: H. Pegram, R. Stevens, L. De Girolamo

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Aligned electrospun nanofibres act as effective neuronal and glial cell scaffolds that can be layered to contain multiple sheets harboring different cell populations. This allows personalised biofunctional prostheses to be manufactured with both acellular and cellularised layers for the treatment of spinal cord injury. Additionally, the manufacturing route may be configured to produce in-vitro 3D cell based model of spinal cord injury to aid drug development and enhance prosthesis performance. The goal of this investigation was to optimise the multi-layer scaffold design parameters for prosthesis manufacture, to enable the development of multi-layer patient specific implant therapies. The work has also focused on the fabricating aligned nanofibre scaffolds that promote in-vitro neuronal and glial cell population growth, cell-to-cell interaction and long-term survival following trauma to mimic an in-vivo spinal cord lesion. The approach has established reproducible lesions and has identified markers of trauma and regeneration marked by effective neuronal migration across the lesion with glial support. The investigation has advanced the development of an in-vitro model of traumatic spinal cord injury and has identified a route to manufacture prostheses which target the repair spinal cord injury. Evidence collated to investigate the multi-layer concept suggests that physical cues provided by nanofibres provide both a natural extra-cellular matrix (ECM) like environment and controls cell proliferation and migration. Specifically, aligned nanofibre layers act as a guidance system for migrating and elongating neurons. On a larger scale, material type in multi-layer systems also has an influence in inter-layer migration as cell types favour different material types. Results have shown that layering nanofibre membranes create a multi-level scaffold system which can enhance or prohibit cell migration between layers. It is hypothesised that modifying nanofibre layer material permits control over neuronal/glial cell migration. Using this concept, layering of neuronal and glial cells has become possible, in the context of tissue engineering and also modelling in-vitro induced lesions.

Keywords: electrospinning, layering, lesion, modeling, nanofibre

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: F. Pires, V. Geraldo, O. N. Oliveira Jr., M. Raposo

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Catechins are powerful antioxidants which have attractive properties useful for tumor therapy. Considering their antioxidant activity, these molecules can act as a scavenger of the reactive oxygen species (ROS), alleviating the damage of cell membrane induced by oxidative stress. The complexity and dynamic nature of the cell membrane compromise the analysis of the biophysical interactions between drug and cell membrane and restricts the transport or uptake of the drug by intracellular targets. To avoid the cell membrane complexity, we used biomimetic systems as liposomes and Langmuir monolayers to study the interaction between catechin and membranes at the molecular level. Liposomes were formed after the dispersion of anionic 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)(sodium salt) (DPPG) phospholipids in an aqueous solution, which mimic the arrangement of lipids in natural cell membranes and allows the entrapment of catechins. Langmuir monolayers were formed after dropping amphiphilic molecules, DPPG phospholipids, dissolved in an organic solvent onto the water surface. In this work, we mixed epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) with DPPG liposomes and exposed them to ultra-violet radiation in order to evaluate the antioxidant potential of these molecules against oxidative stress induced by radiation. The presence of EGCG in the mixture decreased the rate of lipid peroxidation, proving that EGCG protects membranes through the quenching of the reactive oxygen species. Considering the high amount of hydroxyl groups (OH groups) on structure of EGCG, a possible mechanism to these molecules interact with membrane is through hydrogen bonding. We also investigated the effect of EGCG at various concentrations on DPPG Langmuir monolayers. The surface pressure isotherms and infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) results corroborate with absorbance results preformed on liposome-model, showing that EGCG interacts with polar heads of the monolayers. This study elucidates the physiological action of EGCG which can be incorporated in lipid membrane. These results are also relevant for the improvement of the current protocols used to incorporate catechins in drug delivery systems.

Keywords: catechins, lipid membrane, anticancer agent, molecular interactions

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: M. A. Okezue, K. L. Clase, S. R. Byrn

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The requirement for maintaining data integrity in laboratory operations is critical for regulatory compliance. Automation of procedures reduces incidence of human errors. Quality control laboratories located in low-income economies may face some barriers in attempts to automate their processes. Since data from quality control tests on pharmaceutical products are used in making regulatory decisions, it is important that laboratory reports are accurate and reliable. Zinc Sulphate (ZnSO₄) tablets is used in treatment of diarrhea in pediatric population, and as an adjunct therapy for COVID-19 regimen. Unfortunately, zinc content in these formulations is determined titrimetrically; a manual analytical procedure. The assay for ZnSO4 tablets involves time-consuming steps that contain mathematical formulae prone to calculation errors. To achieve consistency, save costs, and improve data integrity, validated spreadsheets were developed to simplify the two critical steps in the analysis of ZnSO4 tablets: standardization of 0.1M Sodium Edetate (EDTA) solution, and the complexometric titration assay procedure. The assay method in the United States Pharmacopoeia was used to create a process flow for ZnSO₄ tablets. For each step in the process, different formulae were input into two spreadsheets to automate calculations. Further checks were created within the automated system to ensure validity of replicate analysis in titrimetric procedures. Validations were conducted using five data sets of manually computed assay results. The acceptance criteria set for the protocol were met. Significant p-values (p < 0.05, α = 0.05, at 95% Confidence Interval) were obtained from students’ t-test evaluation of the mean values for manual-calculated and spreadsheet results at all levels of the analysis flow. Right-first-time analysis and principles of data integrity were enhanced by use of the validated spreadsheet calculators in titrimetric evaluations of ZnSO₄ tablets. Human errors were minimized in calculations when procedures were automated in quality control laboratories. The assay procedure for the formulation was achieved in a time-efficient manner with greater level of accuracy. This project is expected to promote cost savings for laboratory business models.

Keywords: data integrity, spreadsheets, titrimetry, validation, zinc sulphate tablets

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Irmina Miernicka

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Nowadays, dress codes and widely understood appearance are becoming more important in the workplace. They are often used in the workplace to standardize image of an employer, to communicate a corporate image and ensure that customers can easily identify it. It is also a way to build professionalism of employer. Additionally, in many cases, an employer will introduce a dress code for health and safety reasons. Employers more often oblige employees to follow certain rules concerning their clothing, grooming, make-up, body art or even weight. An important research problem is to find the limits of the employer's interference with the external appearance of employees. They are primarily determined by the two main obligations of the employer, i. e. the obligation to respect the employee's personal rights and the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination in employment. It should also be remembered that the limits of the employer's interference will be different when certain rules concerning the employee's appearance result directly from the provisions of laws and other acts of universally binding law (workwear, official clothing, and uniform). The analysis of this issue was based on literature and jurisprudence, both domestic and foreign, including the U.S. and European case law, and led the author to put forward a thesis that there are four main principles, which will protect the employer from the allegation of discrimination. First, it is the principle of adequacy - the means requirements regarding dress code must be appropriate to the position and type of work performed by the employee. Secondly, in accordance with the purpose limitation principle, an employer may introduce certain requirements regarding the appearance of employees if there is a legitimate, objective justification for this (such as work safety or type of work performed), not dictated by the employer's subjective feelings and preferences. Thirdly, these requirements must not place an excessive burden on workers and be disproportionate in relation to the employer's objective (principle of proportionality). Fourthly, the employer should also ensure that the requirements imposed in the workplace are equally burdensome and enforceable from all groups of employees. Otherwise, it may expose itself to grounds of discrimination based on sex or age. At the same time, it is also possible to differentiate the situation of some employees if these differences are small and reflect established habits and traditions and if employees are obliged to maintain the same level of professionalism in their positions. Although this subject may seem to be insignificant, frequent application of dress codes and increasing awareness of both employees and employers indicate that its legal aspects need to be thoroughly analyzed. Many legal cases brought before U.S. and European courts show that employees look for legal protection when they consider that their rights are violated by dress code introduced in a workplace.

Keywords: labor law, the appearance of an employee, discrimination in the workplace, dress code in a workplace

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: A. M. Tarola, R. Preti, A. M. Girelli, P. Campana

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Safeguarding, studying and enhancing biodiversity play an important and indispensable role in re-launching agriculture. The ancient local varieties are therefore a precious resource for genetic and health improvement. In order to protect biodiversity through the recovery and valorization of autochthonous varieties, in this study we analyzed 12 samples of four ancient apple cultivars representative of Friuli Venezia Giulia, selected by local farmers who work on a project for the recovery of ancient apple cultivars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the polyphenolic profile and the antioxidant capacity that characterize the organoleptic and functional qualities of this fruit species, besides having beneficial properties for health. In particular, for each variety, the following compounds were analyzed, both in the skins and in the pulp: gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, rutin, phlorizin, phloretin and quercetin to highlight any differences in the edible parts of the apple. The analysis of individual phenolic compounds was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a diode array UV detector (DAD), the antioxidant capacity was estimated using an in vitro essay based on a Free Radical Scavenging Method and the total phenolic compounds was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method. From the results, it is evident that the catechins are the most present polyphenols, reaching a value of 140-200 μg/g in the pulp and of 400-500 μg/g in the skin, with the prevalence of epicatechin. Catechins and phlorizin, a dihydrohalcone typical of apples, are always contained in larger quantities in the peel. Total phenolic compounds content was positively correlated with antioxidant activity in apple pulp (r² = 0,850) and peel (r² = 0,820). Comparing the results, differences between the varieties analyzed and between the edible parts (pulp and peel) of the apple were highlighted. In particular, apple peel is richer in polyphenolic compounds than pulp and flavonols are exclusively present in the peel. In conclusion, polyphenols, being antioxidant substances, have confirmed the benefits of fruit in the diet, especially as a prevention and treatment for degenerative diseases. They demonstrated to be also a good marker for the characterization of different apple cultivars. The importance of protecting biodiversity in agriculture was also highlighted through the exploitation of native products and ancient varieties of apples now forgotten.

Keywords: apple, biodiversity, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, HPLC-DAD, characterization

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Olarinde Olaniran, Oluyomi A. Sowemimo

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Toxoplasmosis is frequently misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed, and it is the third most common cause of hospitalization due to food-borne infection. Intra-uterine infection with Toxoplasma gondii due to active parasitaemia during pregnancy can cause severe and often fatal cerebral damage, abortion, and stillbirth of a fetus. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of T. gondii infection in women of childbearing age in selected communities of Osun State with a view to determining the risk factors which predispose to the T. gondii infection. Five (5) ml of blood was collected by venopuncture into a plain blood collection tube by a medical laboratory scientist. Serum samples were separated by centrifuging the blood samples at 3000 rpm for 5 mins. The sera were collected with Eppendorf tubes and stored at -20°C analysis for the presence of IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit (Demeditec Diagnostics GmbH, Germany) conducted according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The optical densities of wells were measured by a photometer at a wavelength of 450 nm. Data collected were analysed using appropriate computer software. The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii among the women of child-bearing age in selected seven communities in Osun state was 76.3%. Out of 76.3% positive for Toxoplasma gondii infection, 70.0% were positive for anti- T. gondii IgG, and 32.3% were positive for IgM, and 26.7% for both IgG and IgM. The prevalence of T. gondii was lowest (58.9%) among women from Ile Ife, a peri-urban community, and highest (100%) in women residing in Alajue, a rural community. The prevalence of infection was significantly higher (P= 0.000) among Islamic women (87.5%) than in Christian women (70.8%). The highest prevalence (86.3%) was recorded in women with primary education, while the lowest (61.2%) was recorded in women with tertiary education (p =0.016). The highest prevalence (79.7%) was recorded in women that reside in rural areas, and the lowest (70.1%) was recorded in women that reside in peri-urban area (p=0.025). The prevalence of T. gondii infection was highest (81.4%) in women with one miscarriage, while the prevalence was lowest in women with no miscarriages (75.9%). The age of the women (p=0.042), Islamic religion (p=0.001), the residence of the women (p=0.001), and water source were all positively associated with T. gondii infection. The study concluded that there was a high seroprevalence of T. gondii recorded among women of child-bearing age in the study area. Hence, there is a need for health education and create awareness of the disease and its transmission to women of reproductive age group in general and pregnant women in particular to reduce the risk of T. gondii in pregnant women.

Keywords: seroepidemiology, Toxoplasma gondii, women, child-bearing, age, communities, Ile -Ife, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Kanika Gupta, Ashok Kumar

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Biofilms are dense, highly hydrated cell clusters that are irreversibly attached to a substratum, to an interface or to each other, and are embedded in a self-produced gelatinous matrix composed of extracellular polymeric substances. Research in biofilm field has become very significant, as biofilm has shown high mechanical resilience and resistance to antibiotic treatment and constituted as a significant problem in both healthcare and other industry related to microorganisms. The massive information both stated and hidden in the biofilm literature are growing exponentially therefore it is not possible for researchers and practitioners to automatically extract and relate information from different written resources. So, the current work proposes and discusses the use of text mining techniques for the extraction of information from biofilm literature corpora containing 34306 documents. It is very difficult and expensive to obtain annotated material for biomedical literature as the literature is unstructured i.e. free-text. Therefore, we considered unsupervised approach, where no annotated training is necessary and using this approach we developed a system that will classify the text on the basis of growth and development, drug effects, radiation effects, classification and physiology of biofilms. For this, a two-step structure was used where the first step is to extract keywords from the biofilm literature using a metathesaurus and standard natural language processing tools like Rapid Miner_v5.3 and the second step is to discover relations between the genes extracted from the whole set of biofilm literature using pubmed.mineR_v1.0.11. We used unsupervised approach, which is the machine learning task of inferring a function to describe hidden structure from 'unlabeled' data, in the above-extracted datasets to develop classifiers using WinPython-64 bit_v3.5.4.0Qt5 and R studio_v0.99.467 packages which will automatically classify the text by using the mentioned sets. The developed classifiers were tested on a large data set of biofilm literature which showed that the unsupervised approach proposed is promising as well as suited for a semi-automatic labeling of the extracted relations. The entire information was stored in the relational database which was hosted locally on the server. The generated biofilm vocabulary and genes relations will be significant for researchers dealing with biofilm research, making their search easy and efficient as the keywords and genes could be directly mapped with the documents used for database development.

Keywords: biofilms literature, classifiers development, text mining, unsupervised learning approach, unstructured data, relational database

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Authors: Mei Li, Victor Meddalena

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Background: Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) has rapidly aging population and is characterized by its vast geography with high proportion of dispersed rural communities when compared to other provinces in Canada. Structural, demographic and geographic factors have created big gaps for rural residents across NL with respect to accessing various health and social services. While the barriers are well documented for patients’ access to cancer care in rural and remote areas, challenges faced by family caregivers are not fully recognized. Caregiving burden coupled with challenges associated with relocation and frequent travels create situations where caregivers are vulnerable physically, emotionally, financially and socially. This study examines the experiences of family caregivers living in rural NL through a social justice lens. It is expected to identify the gaps existing in social policy and support for rural family caregivers. It will make a novel contribution to the literature in this regard. Methods: Design: This qualitative study adopted the hermeneutic phenomenology to best describe and interpret rural-based family caregivers’ living experiences and explore the meaning, impact, and the influence of both individual experience and contextual factors shaping these experiences. Data Collection: In-depth interviews with key informants were conducted with 12 participants from various rural communities in NL. A case study was also used to explore an individual’s experience in complex social units consisting of multiple variables of in-depth understanding of the reality. Data Analysis: Thematic analysis guided by the Voice-Centred Relational (VCR) method was employed to explore the relationships and contexts of participants. Emerging Themes: Six major emerging themes were identified, namely, overwhelming caregiving burden on rural family caregivers, long existing financial hardship, separation from family and community, low level of social support and self-reliance coping strategies, and social vulnerability and isolation. Conclusion: Understanding the lived experiences of rural-based family caregivers is critical to inform the policy makers the gap of health and social service in NL. The findings of this study also have implications for family caregivers who are vulnerable in other similar contexts. This study adds innovative insights for policy making and service provision in this regard.

Keywords: family caregivers, policy, relocation, rural

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Fathima M. A., Milu Maria Anto

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Aim: The current study aims to explore the understanding about Mental Health and the likelihood to seek help for mental health problems among adolescents in the state of Kerala (India). Method: A cross sectional exploratory design was used. Samples were selected using convenience sampling. Ninety nine high school and higher secondary school students who had enrolled in the program “Responsible Adolescents (READ)” organized by MKMS Education from Kerala participated in this study. The data for the present study was collected using google forms prior to the commencement of the READ programme. Open-ended questions were used to explore the understanding of participants about mental health, mental health problems, causes of mental health problems and the role of mental health professionals. The likelihood to seek help (from friends, parents, teachers and mental health professionals) for mental health problems was assessed using a visual analogue scale. Further open-ended questions were used to identify what changes in teachers and parents will make them feel more comfortable to approach them when they need help. Content analysis was used to identify themes and coded data was further analyzed using correlation. Results: The results show that students have a fair idea about what Mental Health is. Even though the majority is familiar with the names of mental health disorders, relatively fewer students identify it as irregularity in mental functions such as thoughts, emotions and behaviors. The students tend to attribute symptoms of mental health problems as the cause of mental health problems. Very few students have the understanding that biological variations and adverse childhood experiences are primary causes for the development of mental health problems. Less than half of the students were aware of the role of psychiatrists and psychologists in mental health treatment. The students were more likely to seek help from parents and friends during distress. They had a medium inclination to seek help from mental health professionals and showed even lower likelihood to seek help from teachers. The majority of the students responded that they would be more comfortable approaching teachers if they were more open-minded and approachable as well as non-judgmental and non-dismissive. Conclusion: Findings show that there is inadequate awareness among adolescents about mental health problems and their causes. There is a lack of understanding about the roles of two main mental health professionals which can pose a big hurdle in accessing adequate help from the appropriate professional at the right time. The low likelihood to seek help from teachers for mental health problems is very concerning. The major barriers reported by the students in seeking help from teachers were the judgmental and dismissive approach. The findings throw light on the current level of awareness about mental health and mental health help-seeking, which can be utilized in framing mental health awareness programs for students as well as teachers.

Keywords: Mental Health Awareness, Adolescent Mental Health, Help Seeking Behavior, School Mental Health

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Edward Shizha

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Citizenship is not only political, but it is also a socio-cultural expectation that naturalized immigrants desire for. However, the outcomes of citizenship desirability are determined by forces outside the individual’s control based on legislation and laws that are designed at the macro and exosystemic levels by politicians and policy makers. These laws are then applied to determine the status (permanency or temporariness) of citizenship for immigrants and refugees, but the same laws do not apply to non-immigrant citizens who attain it by birth. While theoretically, citizenship has generally been considered an irrevocable legal status and the highest and most secure legal status one can hold in a state, it is not inviolate for immigrants. While Article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness provides grounds for revocation of citizenship obtained by immigrants and refugees in host countries, nation-states have their own laws tied to the convention that provide grounds for revocation. Ever since the 9/11 attacks in the USA, there has been a rise in conditional citizenship and the state’s withdrawal of citizenship through revocation laws that denaturalize citizens who end up not merely losing their citizenship but also the right to reside in the country of immigration. Because immigrants can be perceived as a security threat, the securitization of citizenship and the legislative changes have been adopted to specifically allow greater discretionary power in stripping people of their citizenship.The paper ‘Do We Really Belong Here?’ Transnationalism and the Temporality of Naturalized Citizenship examines literature on the temporality of naturalized citizenship and questions whether citizenship, for newcomers (immigrants and refugees), is a protected human right or a privilege. The paper argues that citizenship in a host country is a well sought-after status by newcomers. The question is whether their citizenship, if granted, has a permanent or temporary status and whether it is treated in the same way as that of non-immigrant citizens. The paper further argues that, despite citizenship having generally been considered an irrevocable status in most Western countries, in practice, if not in law, for immigrants and refugees, citizenship comes with strings attached because of policies and laws that control naturalized citizenship. These laws can be used to denationalize naturalized citizens through revocations for those stigmatized as ‘undesirables’ who are threatened with deportation. Whereas non-immigrant citizens (those who attain it by birth) have absolute right to their citizenship, this is seldom the case for immigrants.This paper takes a multidisciplinary approach using Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the macrosystem and exo-system, to examine and review literature on the temporality of naturalized citizenship and questions whether citizenship is a protected right or a privilege for immigrants. The paper challenges the human rights violation of citizenship revocation and argues for equality of treatment for all citizens despite how they acquired their citizenship. The fragility of naturalized citizenship undermines the basic rights and securities that citizenship status can provide to the person as an inclusive practice in a diverse society.

Keywords: citizenship, citizenship revocation, dual citizenship, human rights, naturalization, naturalized citizenship

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Priya Kulkarni, Soumya Koppikar, Narendrakumar Wagh, Dhanshri Ingle, Onkar Lande, Abhay Harsulkar

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Cartilage is an extracellular matrix composed of aggrecan, which imparts it with a great tensile strength, stiffness and resilience. Disruption in cartilage metabolism leading to progressive degeneration is a characteristic feature of Osteoarthritis (OA). The process involves enzymatic depolymerisation of cartilage specific proteoglycan, releasing free glycosaminoglycan (GAG). This released GAG in synovial fluid (SF) of knee joint serves as a direct measure of cartilage loss, however, limited due to its invasive nature. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) is widely used for assessing pain, stiffness and physical-functions in OA patients. The scale is comprised of three subscales namely, pain, stiffness and physical-function, intends to measure patient’s perspective of disease severity as well as efficacy of prescribed treatment. Twenty SF samples obtained from OA patients were analysed for their GAG values in SF using DMMB based assay. LK 1.0 vernacular version was used to attain WOMAC scale. The results were evaluated using SAS University software (Edition 1.0) for statistical significance. All OA patients revealed higher GAG values compared to the control value of 78.4±30.1µg/ml (obtained from our non-OA patients). Average WOMAC calculated was 51.3 while pain, stiffness and function estimated were 9.7, 3.9 and 37.7, respectively. Interestingly, a strong statistical correlation was established between WOMAC function subscale and GAG (p = 0.0102). This subscale is based on day-to-day activities like stair-use, bending, walking, getting in/out of car, rising from bed. However, pain and stiffness subscale did not show correlation with any of the studied markers and endorsed the atypical inflammation in OA pathology. On one side, where knee pain showed poor correlation with GAG, it is often noted that radiography is insensitive to cartilage degenerative changes; thus OA remains undiagnosed for long. Moreover, active cartilage degradation phase remains elusive to both, patient and clinician. Through analysis of large number of OA patients we have established a close association of Kellgren-Lawrence grades and increased cartilage loss. A direct attempt to correlate WOMAC and radiographic progression of OA with various biomarkers has not been attempted so far. We found a good correlation in GAG levels in SF and the function subscale.

Keywords: cartilage, Glycosaminoglycan, synovial fluid, western ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index

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Authors: Lisa Shambare, Jean Mulopo, Sehliselo Ndlovu

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One of the major challenges of sustainable development is promoting an industry which is both ecologically durable and economically viable. This requires processes that are material and energy efficient whilst also being able to limit the production of waste and toxic effluents through effective methods of process synthesis and intensification. In South Africa and globally, both miniaturisation and technological advances have substantially increased the amount of electronic wastes (e-waste) generated annually. Vast amounts of e-waste are being generated yearly with only a minute quantity being recycled officially. The passion for electronic devices cannot ignore the scarcity and cost of mining the noble metal resources which contribute significantly to the efficiency of most electronic devices. It has hence become imperative especially in an African context that sustainable strategies which are environmentally friendly be developed for recycling of the noble metals from e-waste. This paper investigates the recovery of gold, silver and palladium from electronic wastes, which consists of a vast array of metals, using ionic liquids which have the potential of reducing the gaseous and aqueous emissions associated with existing hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical technologies while also maintaining the economy of the overall recycling scheme through solvent recovery. The ionic liquids 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hydrogen sulphate (BmimHSO4) which behaves like a protic acid and was used in the present research for the selective leaching of gold and silver from e-waste. Different concentrations of the aqueous ionic liquid were used in the experiments ranging from 10% to 50%. Thiourea was used as the complexing agent in the investigation with Fe3+ as the oxidant. The pH of the reaction was maintained in the range of 0.8 to 1.5. The preliminary investigations conducted were successful in the leaching of silver and palladium at room temperature with optimum results being at 48hrs. The leaching results could not be explained because of the leaching of palladium with the absence of gold. Hence a conclusion could not be drawn and there was the need for further experiments to be run. The leaching of palladium was carried out with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant and 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride (BmimCl) as the solvent. The experiments at carried out at a temperature of 60 degrees celsius and a very low pH. The chloride ion was used to complex with palladium metal. From the preliminary results, it could be concluded that pretreatment of the treatment e-waste was necessary to improve the efficiency of the metal recovery process. A conclusion could not be drawn for the leaching experiments.

Keywords: BmimCl, BmimHSO4, gold, palladium, silver

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: Muhammad Arslan, Michael A. Kaminski, Bassam S. Tawabini, Fabrizio Frontalini

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We conducted a survey of living benthic foraminifera in a relatively unpolluted site of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf, with the aim of determining the seasonal variability in their populations, as well as various environmental parameters that affect their distribution. The maximum standing crop was observed during winter, with highest population of rotaliids, followed by a peak in miliolids. The highest population is attributed to an increasing number juveniles observed along the depth transect. A strong correlation between sediment grain size and the foraminiferal population indicates that juveniles were most abundant on coarser sandy substrate and less abundant on fine substrate. In spring, the total living population decreased, and lowest values are observed in the summer. The population started to increase again in the autumn with highest juveniles/adult ratios. Moreover, results of relative abundance and species consistency show that Ammonia is found to be consistent from the shallowest to the deepest station, whereas miliolids start appearing in the deeper stations. The average numbers of Peneroplis and Elphidium also increases along the depth transect. Environmental characterization reveals that although the site is subjected to eutrophication caused by nitrates and sulfates, pollution caused by hydrocarbons and heavy metals is not significant. The assessment of 63 heavy metals showed that none of the metals had concentrations that exceed internationally accepted norms [the devised level of Effect Range-Low], with the exception of strontium. The lack of a significant environmental effect of heavy metals is confirmed by a Foraminiferal Deformities Index value of less than 2%. Likewise, no hydrocarbon contamination was detected in the water or sediment samples. Lastly, observations of cytoplasmic streaming and pseudopodial activity in Petri dishes suggest that the foraminiferal population is not stressed. We conclude that the site in Bahrain is not yet adversely affected by human development, and therefore can provide baseline information for future comparison and assessment of foraminiferal assemblages in contaminated zones of the Arabian Gulf.

Keywords: Arabian Gulf, benthic foraminifera, standing crop, Western Bahrain

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Authors: Ashraf M. Khalifa, Hwat Bing So, Greg Maddocks

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Changes to the mining environmental approvals process in Queensland have been rolled out under the MERFP Act (2018). This includes requirements for a Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan (PRC Plan). Key considerations of the landform design report within the PRC Plan must include: (i) identification of materials available for landform rehabilitation, including their ability to achieve the required landform design outcomes, (ii) erosion assessments to determine landform heights, gradients, profiles, and material placement, (iii) slope profile design considering the interactions between soil erodibility, rainfall erosivity, landform height, gradient, and vegetation cover to identify acceptable erosion rates over a long-term average, (iv) an analysis of future stability based on the factors described above e.g., erosion and /or landform evolution modelling. ACARP funded an extensive and thorough erosion assessment program using rainfall simulators from 1998 to 2010. The ACARP program included laboratory assessment of 35 soil and spoil samples from 16 coal mines and samples from a gold mine in Queensland using 3 x 0.8 m laboratory rainfall simulator. The reliability of the laboratory rainfall simulator was verified through field measurements using larger flumes 20 x 5 meters and catchment scale measurements at three sites (3 different catchments, average area of 2.5 ha each). Soil cover systems are a primary component of a constructed mine landform. The primary functions of a soil cover system are to sustain vegetation and limit the infiltration of water and oxygen into underlying reactive mine waste. If the external surface of the landform erodes, the functions of the cover system cannot be maintained, and the cover system will most likely fail. Assessing a constructed landform’s potential ‘long-term’ erosion stability requires defensible erosion rate thresholds below which rehabilitation landform designs are considered acceptably erosion-resistant or ‘stable’. The process used to quantify erosion rates using rainfall simulators (flumes) to measure rill and inter-rill erosion on bulk samples under laboratory conditions or on in-situ material under field conditions will be explained.

Keywords: open-cut, mining, erosion, rainfall simulator

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: M. Joris, O. Agirdag

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For over two decades, calls for citizenship education (CE) have been rising to the top of educational policy agendas in Europe. The main motive for the current treatment of CE as a key topic is a sense of crisis: social and political threats that go beyond the reach of nations and require action at the international and European level. On the one hand, this context has triggered abundant attention to the promotion of citizenship through education. On the other hand, the ubiquity of citizenship and education in policy language is paired with a self-evident manner of using the concepts: the more we call for citizenship in and through education, the less the concepts seem to be made explicit or be defined. Research and reflection on the normativity of the concepts of citizenship and CE in Europe are scarce. Departing from the idea that policies are always normative, this study, therefore, investigates the normativity of the current concepts of citizenship and education, in ’key’ European CE policy texts. The study consists of a content analysis of these texts, based on a normative framework developed around the different dimensions of citizenship as status, identity, virtues and agency. The framework also describes the purposes of education and its learning processes, content and practices, based on the assumption that good education always includes, next to qualification and socialisation, a purpose of emancipation: of helping young people become autonomous and independent subjects. The analysis shows how contemporary European citizenship is conceptualised around the dimension of competences. This focus on competences is also visible in the normative framing of education and its relationship to citizenship in the texts: CE should help young people learn how to become good citizens by acquiring a toolkit of competences, consisting of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that can be predetermined, measured and evaluated. This ideal of citizenship-as-competence entails a focus on the educational purposes of socialisation and qualification. Current policy texts thus seem to leave out the educational purpose of emancipating young people, allowing them to take on citizenship as something to which they can determine their own relation and position. It is, however, this purpose of CE that seems increasingly important in our current context. Young people are stepping out of school and onto the streets by the thousands in Belgium and throughout Europe, protesting for more and better environmental policies. They are making use of existing modes of citizenship, exactly to indicate to policymakers how these are falling short and are claiming their right and entitlement to a future that established practices of politics are putting at risk. The importance of citizenship education might then lie, now more than ever, not in the fact that it would prepare young people for competent citizenship, but in offering them a possibility, an emancipatory experience of being able to do something new. It seems that this is what we might want to expect from the school if we want it to educate our truly future citizens.

Keywords: citizenship education, normativity, policy, purposes of education

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Joanna Kobus-Cisowska, Daria Szymanowska, Piotr Szulc, Oskar Szczepaniak, Marcin Dziedzinski, Szymon Byczkiewicz

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A wide range of food products is offered on the market. However, increasing consumer awareness of the impact of food on health causes a growing interest in enriched products. Cereal products are an important element of the daily diet of man. In the literature, no data was found on the impact of Morus alba preparations on the content of active ingredients and properties of wholemeal bread. Mulberry leaves (Morus alba L) are a rich source of bioactive compounds with multidirectional antioxidant activity, which means that they can be a component of new foods that prevent disease or support therapy and improve the patient's health. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the addition of white mulberry leaf extract on the antioxidant activity of bread. It has been shown that bread can be a carrier of biologically active substances from mulberry leaves, because the addition of mulberry at a sensory acceptable level and meeting microbiological requirements significantly influenced the increase in the content of bioactive ingredients and the antioxidant activity of bread. The addition of mulberry leaf water extract to bread increased the level of flavonols and phenolic acids, in particular protocatechic, chlorogenic gallic and caffeic acid and isoquercetin and rutine, and also increased the antioxidant potential, which were microbiological stable during 5 days storage. It has been shown also that the addition of Morus alba preparations has a statistically significant effect on anti-radical activity. In addition, there were no differences in activity in DPPH · and ABTS · + tests between post-storage samples. This means that the compounds responsible for the anti-radical activity present in the bread were not inactivated during storage. It was found that the tested bread was characterized by high microbiological purity, which is indicated by the obtained results of analyzes performed for the titers of indicator microorganisms and the absence of pathogens. In the tested products from the moment of production throughout the entire storage period, no undesirable microflora was found, which proves their safety and guarantees microbiological stability during the storage period.

Keywords: antioxidants, bread, extract, quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: J. Tirano, H. Zea, C. Luhrs

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It is well known that titanium dioxide is a semiconductor with several applications in photocatalytic process. Its band gap makes it very interesting in the photoelectrodes manufacturing used in photoelectrochemical cells for hydrogen production, a clean and environmentally friendly fuel. The synthesis of 1D titanium dioxide nanostructures, such as nanotubes, makes possible to produce more efficient photoelectrodes for solar energy to hydrogen conversion. In essence, this is because it increases the charge transport rate, decreasing recombination options. However, its principal constraint is to be mainly sensitive to UV range, which represents a very low percentage of solar radiation that reaches earth's surface. One of the alternatives to modifying the TiO2’s band gap and improving its photoactivity under visible light irradiation is to dope the nanotubes with transition metals. This option requires fabricating efficient nanostructured photoelectrodes with controlled morphology and specific properties able to offer a suitable surface area for metallic doping. Hence, currently one of the central challenges in photoelectrochemical cells is the construction of nanomaterials with a proper band position for driving the reaction while absorbing energy over the VIS spectrum. This research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of Nidoped TiO2 nanotubes for improving its photocatalytic activity in solar energy conversion applications. Initially, titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) with controlled morphology were synthesized by two-step potentiostatic anodization of titanium foil. The anodization was carried out at room temperature in an electrolyte composed of ammonium fluoride, deionized water and ethylene glycol. Consequent thermal annealing of as-prepared TNTs was conducted in the air between 450 °C - 550 °C. Afterwards, the nanotubes were superficially modified by nickel deposition. Morphology and crystalline phase of the samples were carried out by SEM, EDS and XRD analysis before and after nickel deposition. Determining the photoelectrochemical performance of photoelectrodes is based on typical electrochemical characterization techniques. Also, the morphological characterization associated electrochemical behavior analysis were discussed to establish the effect of nickel nanoparticles modification on the TiO2 nanotubes. The methodology proposed in this research allows using other transition metal for nanotube surface modification.

Keywords: dimensionally stable electrode, nickel nanoparticles, photo-electrode, TiO₂ nanotubes

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: A. Kouloumpis, P. Zygouri, G. Potsi, K. Spyrou, D. Gournis

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Much of the research effort on graphene focuses on its use as building block for the development of new hybrid nanostructures with well-defined dimensions and behavior suitable for applications among else in gas storage, heterogeneous catalysis, gas/liquid separations, nanosensing and biology. Towards this aim, here we describe a new bottom-up approach, which combines the self-assembly with the Langmuir Schaefer technique, for the production of fullerene-intercalated graphene hybrid materials. This new method uses graphene nanosheets as a template for the grafting of various fullerene C60 molecules (pure C60, bromo-fullerenes, C60Br24, and fullerols, C60(OH)24) in a bi-dimensional array, and allows for perfect layer-by-layer growth with control at the molecular level. Our film preparation approach involves a bottom-up layer-by-layer process that includes the formation of a hybrid organo-graphene Langmuir film hosting fullerene molecules within its interlayer spacing. A dilute water solution of chemically oxidized graphene (GO) was used as subphase on the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition system while an appropriate amino surfactant (that binds covalently with the GO) was applied for the formation of hybridized organo-GO. After the horizontal lift of a hydrophobic substrate, a surface modification of the GO platelets was performed by bringing the surface of the transferred Langmuir film in contact with a second amino surfactant solution (capable to interact strongly with the fullerene derivatives). In the final step, the hybrid organo-graphene film was lowered in the solution of the appropriate fullerene derivative. Multilayer films were constructed by repeating this procedure. Hybrid fullerene-based thin films deposited on various hydrophobic substrates were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray reflectivity (XRR), FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies, Atomic Force Microscopy, and optical measurements. Acknowledgments. This research has been co‐financed by the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)‐Research Funding Program: THALES. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund (no. 377285).

Keywords: hybrids, graphene oxide, fullerenes, langmuir-blodgett, intercalated structures

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: S. Al-Khalasi, O. Mahgoub, H. Yaakub

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This study evaluated the use of raw or processed Prosopis juliflora (Meskit) pods as a major ingredient in a formulated ration to provide an alternative non-conventional concentrate for livestock feeding in Oman. Dry Meskit pods were reduced to lengths of 0.5- 1.0 cm to ensure thorough mixing into three diets. Meskit pods were subjected to two types of treatments; roasting and soaking. They were roasted at 150оC for 30 minutes using a locally-made roasting device (40 kg barrel container rotated by electric motor and heated by flame gas cooker). Chopped pods were soaked in tap water for 24 hours and dried for 2 days under the sun with frequent turning. The Meskit-pod-based diets (MPBD) were formulated and pelleted from 500 g/kg ground Meskit pods, 240 g/kg wheat bran, 200 g/kg barley grain, 50 g/kg local dried sardines and 10 g/kg of salt. Twenty four 10 months-old intact Omani male lambs with average body weight of 27.3 kg (± 0.5 kg) were used in a feeding trial for 84 days. They were divided (on body weight basis) and allocated to four diet combination groups. These were: Rhodes grass hay (RGH) plus a general ruminant concentrate (GRC); RGH plus raw Meskit pods (RMP) based concentrate; RGH plus roasted Meskit pods (ROMP) based concentrate; RGH plus soaked Meskit pods (SMP) based concentrate Daily feed intakes and bi-weekly body weights were recorded. MPBD had higher contents of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) than the GRC. Animals fed various types of MPBD did not show signs of ill health. There was a significant effect of feeding ROMP on the performance of Omani sheep compared to RMP and SMP. The ROMP fed animals had similar performance to those fed the GRC in terms of feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR).This study indicated that roasted Meskit pods based diet may be used instead of the commercial concentrate for feeding Omani sheep without adverse effects on performance. It offers a cheap alternative source of protein and energy for feeding Omani sheep. Also, it might help in solving the spread impact of Meskit trees, maintain the ecosystem and helping in preserving the local tree species.

Keywords: growth, Meskit, Omani sheep, Prosopis juliflora

Procedia PDF Downloads 476

Authors: Meszár Tárik

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The aim of the study is to introduce the minority groups living in Iraq and to shed light on their current situation. The Middle East is a rather heterogeneous region in ethnic terms. It includes many ethnic, national, religious, linguistic, or ethnoreligious groups. The relationship between the majority and minority is the main cause of various conflicts in the region. It seems that most of the post-Ottoman states have not yet developed a unified national identity capable of integrating their multi-ethnic societies. The issue of minorities living in the Middle East is highly politicized and controversial, as the various Arab states consider the treatment of minorities as their internal affair, do not recognize discrimination or even deny the existence of any kind of minorities on their territory. This attitude of the Middle Eastern states may also be due to the fact that the minority issue can be abused and can serve as a reference point for the intervention policies of Western countries at any time. Methodologically, the challenges of these groups are perceived through the manifestos of prominent individuals and organizations belonging to minorities. The basic aim is to present the minorities’ own history in dealing with the issue. It also introduces the different ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and analyzes their situation during the operation of the terrorist organization „Islamic State” and in the aftermath. It is clear that the situation of these communities deteriorated significantly with the advance of ISIS, but it is also clear that even after the expulsion of the militant group, we cannot necessarily report an improvement in this area, especially in terms of the ability of minorities to assert their interests and physical security. The emergence of armed militias involved in the expulsion of ISIS sometimes has extremely negative effects on them. Until the interests of non-Muslims are adequately represented at the local level and in the legislature, most experts and advocates believe that little will change in their situation. When conflicts flare, many Iraqi citizens usually leave Iraq, but because of the poor public security situation (threats from terrorist organizations, interventions by other countries), emigration causes serious problems not only outside the country’s borders but also within the country. Another ominous implication for minorities is that their communities are very slow if ever, to return to their homes after fleeing their own settlements. An important finding of the study is that this phenomenon is changing the face of traditional Iraqi settlements and threatens to plunge groups that have lived there for thousands of years into the abyss of history. Therefore, we not only present the current situation of minorities living in Iraq but also discuss their future possibilities.

Keywords: Middle East, Iraq, Islamic State, minorities

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Evren C. Eroglu, Ridvan Arslan

Abstract:

Over the course of herbal production, various pretreatments are performed and some of which have serious effect on the bioactive properties. Especially in the production of herbal tea from fresh herbals, it is considered that elapsed time from blending to last product may affect the bioactive properties and antioxidant contents. Herbal infusion is basically prepared by mixing herbs with hot water for 10-20 min. During the brewing of these herbs, it is supposed to be significant decrease in the antioxidant and phenolics content. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of vitamin C (VitC), total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant contents (AO) of two brassica varieties (brussel sprouts and white head cabbage) with different holding time after blending. Second aim of this study was to understand the effect of herbal infusion on VitC, TPC and AO contents. In this study, fresh samples were subjected to 0-30 min holding time after blending. Then, samples was immediately taken to -80 °C and freeze drying process was performed. Herbal infusion was performed for 20 minutes. According to results, VitC contents in brussel sprouts was not changed significantly (p=0.12). However, there was a significant decreasing of VitC content in cabbage sample (p=0.034). 20 min of brewing caused a significant decrement in VitC of brussel sprouts by approximately 76% (1071 ppm dw), while decline in cabbage VitC content was 87% (531 ppm dw). AO and TPC values of unprocessed cabbage control sample (13791.87 ppm FeSO4·7H2O eq. dw and 5301.85 ppm gallic acid eq. dw) were higher than brussel sprouts control samples (11571.75 ppm FeSO4·7H2O dw and 5202.76 ppm, respectively). The change in AO and TPC of both brussel sprouts and cabbage samples were not statistically significant at the end of 30 minutes holding time (p=0.24 and p=0.38). After 20 minutes of brewing, AO content in brussel sprouts significantly decreased by 44% (p ˂0.05). Although, the decreasing of AO in white head cabbage was statistically important (p=0.034), decreasing was just 8%. TPC values were found to decrease by 54% in cabbage, while it was 35% in brussel sprouts after herbal infusion. It was observed that 30 min holding time had no statistically important effect on TPC values of both cabbage and brussel sprouts. As a conclusion, herbal infusion has more or less effect on VitC, TPC and AO contents of samples. Therefore, it is important to decrease brewing time. Another result was that there were no significant differences in TPC and AO content of both samples when holding samples 30 min outside after blending. However, this process had significant effect on VitC content of white head cabbage.

Keywords: Antioxidant content, brussel sprouts, herbal infusion, total phenolic content, white head cabbage, vitamin c

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