Search results for: soil and water treatment

Authors: L. Sánchez-Abella, I. Loinaz, H-J. Grande, D. Dupin

Abstract:

Aseptic loosening remains as the principal cause of revision in total hip arthroplasty (THA). For long-term implantations, submicron particles are generated in vivo due to the inherent wear of the prosthesis. When this occurs, macrophages undergo phagocytosis and secretion of bone resorptive cytokines inducing osteolysis, hence loosening of the implanted prosthesis. Therefore, new technologies are required to reduce the wear of the bearing materials and hence increase the life-span of the prosthesis. Our strategy focuses on surface modification of the bearing materials with a hydrophilic coating based on cross-linked water-soluble (meth)acrylic monomers to improve their tribological behavior. These coatings are biocompatible, with high swelling capacity and antifouling properties, mimicking the properties of natural cartilage, i.e. wear resistance with a permanent hydrated layer that prevents prosthesis damage. Cartilage mimicking based coatings may be also used to protect medical device surfaces from damage and scratches that will compromise their integrity and hence their safety. However, there are only a few reports on the mechanical and tribological characteristics of this type of coatings. Clear beneficial advantages of this coating have been demonstrated in different conditions and different materials, such as Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), Polyethylene (XLPE), Carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFR-PEEK), cobalt-chromium (CoCr), Stainless steel, Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) and Alumina. Using routine tribological experiments, the wear for UHMWPE substrate was decreased by 75% against alumina, ZTA and stainless steel. For PEEK-CFR substrate coated, the amount of material lost against ZTA and CrCo was at least 40% lower. Experiments on hip simulator allowed coated ZTA femoral heads and coated UHMWPE cups to be validated with a decrease of 80% of loss material. Further experiments on hip simulator adding abrasive particles (1 micron sized alumina particles) during 3 million cycles, on a total of 6 million, demonstrated a decreased of around 55% of wear compared to uncoated UHMWPE and uncoated XLPE. In conclusion, CIDETEC‘s hydrogel coating technology is versatile and can be adapted to protect a large range of surfaces, even in abrasive conditions.

Keywords: cartilage, hydrogel, hydrophilic coating, joint

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Friman Hen, Banner Ifaa, Shalom-Tuchin Bosmat, Einav Yulia

Abstract:

The action learning course is an academic course which involves academic learning and social activities. The courses deal with processes and social challenges, reveal different ideologies, and develop critical thinking and pragmatic ideas. Students receive course credits and a grade for being part of such courses. Participating students enroll in courses that involve action and activities to engage in the experiential learning process, thereby creating a dialogue and cross-fertilization between being taught in the classroom and experiencing the reality in the real world. A learning experience includes meeting with social organizations, institutions, and state authorities and carrying out practical work with diverse populations. Through experience, students strengthen their academic skills, formulate ethical attitudes toward reality, develop professional and civilian perspectives, and realize how they can influence their surrounding in the present and the hereafter. Under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Hen Friman, H.I.T. has built an innovative course that combines action and activities to increase the awareness and accessibility of the community in an experiential way. The end goal is to create Green Ambassadors—children with a high level of environmental awareness. This course is divided into two parts. The first part, focused on frontal teaching, delivers knowledge from extensive environmental fields to students. These areas include introduction to ecology, the process of electricity generation, air pollution, renewable energy, water economy, waste and recycling, and energy efficiency (first stage). In addition to the professional content in the environment field, students learn the method of effective and experiential teaching to younger learners (4 to 8 years old). With the attainment of knowledge, students are divided into operating groups. The second part of the course shows how the theory becomes practical and concrete. At this stage, students are asked to introduce to the first- and second-graders of ‘Revivim’ School in Holon a lesson of 90 minutes focused on presenting the issues and their importance during the course (second stage). This course is the beginning of a paradigm shift regarding energy usage in the modern society in Israel. The objective of the course is to expand worldwide and train the first and second-graders, and even pre-schoolers, in a wide scope to increase population awareness rate, both in Israel and all over the world, for a green future.

Keywords: air pollution, green ambassador, recycling, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Kristina Zuzek, Xuan Xu, Awais Ikram, Richard Sheridan, Allan Walton, Saso Sturm

Abstract:

Recycling of end-of-life REEs based Nd-Fe-B magnets is an important strategy for reducing the environmental dangers associated with rare-earth mining and overcoming the well-documented supply risks related to the REEs. However, challenges on their reprocessing still remain. We report on the possibility of direct electrochemical recycling and reprocessing of Nd-Fe(B)-based magnets. In this investigation, we were able first to electrochemically leach the end-of-life NdFeB magnet and to electrodeposit Nd–Fe using a 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium dicyanamide ([EMIM][DCA]) ionic liquid-based electrolyte. We observed that Nd(III) could not be reduced independently. However, it can be co-deposited on a substrate with the addition of Fe(II). Using advanced TEM techniques of electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) it was shown that Nd(III) is reduced to Nd(0) during the electrodeposition process. This gave a new insight into determining the Nd oxidation state, as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has certain limitations. This is because the binding energies of metallic Nd (Nd0) and neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) are very close, i. e., 980.5-981.5 eV and 981.7-982.3 eV, respectively, making it almost impossible to differentiate between the two states. These new insights into the electrodeposition process represent an important step closer to efficient recycling of rare piles of earth in metallic form at mild temperatures, thus providing an alternative to high-temperature molten-salt electrolysis and a step closer to deposit Nd-Fe-based magnetic materials. Further, we propose a new concept of recycling the sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets by direct recovering the 2:14:1 matrix phase. Via an electrochemical etching method, we are able to recover pure individual 2:14:1 grains that can be re-used for new types of magnet production. In the frame of physical reprocessing, we have successfully synthesized new magnets out of hydrogen (HDDR)-recycled stocks with a contemporary technique of pulsed electric current sintering (PECS). The optimal PECS conditions yielded fully dense Nd-Fe-B magnets with the coercivity Hc = 1060 kA/m, which was boosted to 1160 kA/m after the post-PECS thermal treatment. The Br and Hc were tackled further and increased applied pressures of 100 – 150 MPa resulted in Br = 1.01 T. We showed that with a fine tune of the PECS and post-annealing it is possible to revitalize the Nd-Fe-B end-of-life magnets. By applying advanced TEM, i.e. atomic-scale Z-contrast STEM combined with EDXS and EELS, the resulting magnetic properties were critically assessed against various types of structural and compositional discontinuities down to atomic-scale, which we believe control the microstructure evolution during the PECS processing route.

Keywords: electrochemistry, Nd-Fe-B, pulsed electric current sintering, recycling, reprocessing

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Somayeh Khanjani, Samaneh Nabavi, Shirin Jalili

Abstract:

Aluminum phosphide (ALP) is an inorganic phosphide used to control insects and is a highly effective insecticide and rodenticide used frequently to protect stored grain. Acute poisoning with this compound is common in some countries including India and Iran, and is a serious health problem. In Iran it was known as "rice tablet", for its use to preserve rice. Two kinds of rice tablets one being herbal while other containing 3g aluminum phosphide (AlP) are available for use in Iranian households to protect stored food grains from pests and rodents. The toxicity of Aluminum phosphide is attributed to the liberation of phosphine gas in contact with water or weak acid and is the major cause of poisoning and deaths. Rice tablet (Aluminum Phosphid) poisoning may be associated with serious and sometimes incurable complications. In 61.3% of patients were shown uniform ingestion. Vomiting was the most common symptoms reported by 96.4% patients. Agitation was reported in 36.9% and felling of thirsty in 27.9 %. Although many complications such as Hypotension, Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Acute Renal Failure (ARF) AND Multi Organ Failure (MOF) were the common complications observed in these patients, but the most lethal complication was Cardiac Arrhythmias occurred in 36.9% of cases. Abdominal pain in 31.4% of the patients, nausea in 79.4% of the patients and 41.1% of the patients showed metabolic acidosis. Suicidal intention was the most common cause of poisoning leading to deaths in 18.6% of the patients. Aluminum phosphide can cause either elevation, decrease or no change in electrolytes, bicarbonate and blood glucose level. The possible mechanism for changes in blood glucose levels are complex and depend on the balance of factors which increase its concentration and those which reduce it. AlP poisoning has been postulated to stimulate cortisol which leads to increasing blood level of cortisol, also it may cause stimulation of glucagon, and Adrenaline secretion; in addition, it can inhibit insulin synthesis which may lead to hyperglycemia. Another suggested mechanism of hyperglycemia is rennin activity in some cases, an increase in magnesium level of plasma and that of tissues, and high phosphate level. Although hyperglycemia is most frequent in this poisoning and also is known as a marker of poor prognostic, hypoglycemia in aluminum phosphide poisoning is a rare finding which may be so dangerous. Patients showed sever hypotension and sever acidosis in addition to sever hypoglycemia. The presenting features of AlP intoxication are rapid onset of shock, severe metabolic acidosis, cardiac dysrhythmias and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Keywords: aluminum phosphide (ALP), rice tablet, poisoning, phosphine gas

Procedia PDF Downloads 505

Authors: Andrey A. Lipovskii, Alexey V. Redkov, Vyacheslav V. Rusan, Dmitry K. Tagantsev, Valentina V. Zhurikhina

Abstract:

The presented research is related to the development of recently proposed technique of the formation of composite materials, like optical glass-ceramics, with predetermined structure and properties of the crystalline component. The technique is based on the control of the size and concentration of the crystalline grains using the phenomenon of glass-ceramics decrystallization (vitrification) induced by ion-exchange. This phenomenon was discovered and explained in the beginning of the 2000s, while related theoretical description was given in 2016 only. In general, the developed theory enables one to model the process and optimize the conditions of ion-exchange processing of glass-ceramics, which provide given properties of crystalline component, in particular, profile of the average size of the crystalline grains. The optimization is possible if one knows two dimensionless parameters of the theoretical model. One of them (β) is the value which is directly related to the solubility of crystalline component of the glass-ceramics in the glass matrix, and another (γ) is equal to the ratio of characteristic times of ion-exchange diffusion and crystalline grain dissolution. The presented study is dedicated to the development of experimental technique and simulation which allow determining these parameters. It is shown that these parameters can be deduced from the data on the space distributions of diffusant concentrations and average size of crystalline grains in the glass-ceramics samples subjected to ion-exchange treatment. Measurements at least at two temperatures and two processing times at each temperature are necessary. The composite material used was a silica-based glass-ceramics with crystalline grains of Li2OSiO2. Cubical samples of the glass-ceramics (6x6x6 mm3) underwent the ion exchange process in NaNO3 salt melt at 520 oC (for 16 and 48 h), 540 oC (for 8 and 24 h), 560 oC (for 4 and 12 h), and 580 oC (for 2 and 8 h). The ion exchange processing resulted in the glass-ceramics vitrification in the subsurface layers where ion-exchange diffusion took place. Slabs about 1 mm thick were cut from the central part of the samples and their big facets were polished. These slabs were used to find profiles of diffusant concentrations and average size of the crystalline grains. The concentration profiles were determined from refractive index profiles measured with Max-Zender interferometer, and profiles of the average size of the crystalline grains were determined with micro-Raman spectroscopy. Numerical simulation were based on the developed theoretical model of the glass-ceramics decrystallization induced by ion exchange. The simulation of the processes was carried out for different values of β and γ parameters under all above-mentioned ion exchange conditions. As a result, the temperature dependences of the parameters, which provided a reliable coincidence of the simulation and experimental data, were found. This ensured the adequate modeling of the process of the glass-ceramics decrystallization in 520-580 oC temperature interval. Developed approach provides a powerful tool for fine tuning of the glass-ceramics structure, namely, concentration and average size of crystalline grains.

Keywords: diffusion, glass-ceramics, ion exchange, vitrification

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Angela T. H. Kwan, Wenjun Liang, Jack Wellington, Mohammad Mofatteh, Thanh N. Nguyen, Pingzhong Fu, Juanmei Chen, Zile Yan, Weijuan Wu, Yongting Zhou, Shuiquan Yang, Sijie Zhou, Yimin Chen

Abstract:

Background: Endovascular Therapy (EVT)—in the form of mechanical thrombectomy—following intravenous thrombolysis is the standard gold treatment for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to large vessel occlusion (LVO). It is well established that an ASPECTS ≥ 7 is associated with an increased likelihood of positive post-EVT outcomes, as compared to an ASPECTS < 7. There is also prognostic utility in coupling posterior circulation ASPECTS (pc-ASPECTS) with magnetic resonance imaging for evaluating the post-EVT functional outcome. However, the value of pc-ASPECTS applied to CT must be explored further to determine its usefulness in predicting functional outcomes following EVT. Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine whether pc-ASPECTS on CT can predict post-EVT functional outcomes among patients with AIS due to LVO. Methods: A total of 247 consecutive patients aged 18 and over receiving EVT for LVO-related AIS were recruited into a prospective database. The data were retrospectively analyzed between March 2019 to February 2022 from two comprehensive tertiary care stroke centers: Foshan Sanshui District People’s Hospital and First People's Hospital of Foshan in China. Patient parameters included EVT within 24hrs of symptom onset, premorbid modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≤ 2, presence of distal and terminal cerebral blood vessel occlusion, and subsequent 24–72-hour post-stroke onset CT scan. Univariate comparisons were performed using the Fisher exact test or χ2 test for categorical variables and the Mann–Whitney U test for continuous variables. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was statistically significant. Results: A total of 247 patients met the inclusion criteria; however, 3 were excluded due to the absence of post-CTs and 8 for pre-EVT ASPECTS < 7. Overall, 236 individuals were examined: 196 anterior circulation ischemic strokes and 40 posterior strokes of basilar artery occlusion. We found that both baseline post- and pc-ASPECTS ≥ 7 serve as strong positive markers of favorable outcomes at 90 days post-EVT. Moreover, lower rates of inpatient mortality/hospice discharge, 90-day mortality, and 90-day poor outcome were observed. Moreover, patients in the post-ASPECTS ≥ 7 anterior circulation group had shorter door-to-recanalization time (DRT), puncture-to-recanalization time (PRT), and last known normal-to-puncture-time (LKNPT). Conclusion: Patients of anterior and posterior circulation ischemic strokes with baseline post- and pc-ASPECTS ≥ 7 may benefit from EVT.

Keywords: endovascular therapy, thrombectomy, large vessel occlusion, cerebral ischemic stroke, ASPECTS

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: P. Tardi, B. Szilagyi, A. Makai, P. Acs, M. Hock, M. Jaromi

Abstract:

Osteoporosis is becoming a major public health problem, particularly in postmenopausal women, as the incidence of this disease is getting higher. Nowadays, one of the most common chronic musculoskeletal diseases is osteoporosis. Osteoporosis-related knowledge is an important contributor to prevent or to treat osteoporosis. The most important strategies to prevent or treat the disease are increasing the level of physical activity at all ages, cessation of smoking, reduction of alcohol consumption, adequate dietary calcium, and vitamin D intake. The aim of the study was to measure the osteoporosis-related knowledge and physical activity among women age over 50 years. For the measurements, we used the osteoporosis questionnaire (OPQ) to examine the disease-specific knowledge and the global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) to measure the quantity and quality of the physical activity. The OPQ is a self-administered 20-item questionnaire with five categories: general information, risk factors, investigations, consequences, and treatment. There are four choices per question (one of them is the 'I do not know'). The filler gets +1 for a good answer, -1 point for a bad answer, and 0 for 'I do not know' answer. We contacted with 326 women (63.08 ± 9.36 year) to fill out the questionnaires. Descriptive analysis was carried out, and we calculated Spearman's correlation coefficient to examine the relationship between the variables. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel, and all statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (Version 24). The participants of the study (n=326) reached 8.76 ± 6.94 points on OPQ. Significant (p < 0.001) differences were found in the results of OPQ according to the highest level of education. It was observed that the score of the participants with osteoporosis (10.07 ± 6.82 points) was significantly (p=0.003) higher than participants without osteoporosis (9.38 ± 6.66 points) and the score of those women (6.49 ± 6.97 points) who did not know that osteoporosis exists in their case. The GPAQ results showed the sample physical activity in the dimensions of vigorous work (479.86 ± 684.02 min/week); moderate work (678.16 ± 804.5 min/week); travel (262.83 ± 380.27 min/week); vigorous recreation (77.71 ± 123.46 min/week); moderate recreation (115.15 ± 154.82 min/week) and total weekly physical activity (1645.99 ± 1432.88 min/week). Significant correlations were found between the osteoporosis-related knowledge and the physical activity in travel (R=0.21; p < 0.001), vigorous recreation (R=0.35; p < 0.001), moderate recreation (R=0.35; p < 0.001), total vigorous minutes/week (R=0.15; p=0.001) and total moderate minutes/week (R=0.13; p=0.04) dimensions. According to the results that were achieved, the highest level of education significantly determines osteoporosis-related knowledge. Physical activity is an important contributor to prevent or to treat osteoporosis, and it showed a significant correlation with osteoporosis-related knowledge. Based on the results, the development of osteoporosis-related knowledge may help to improve the level of physical activity, especially recreation. Acknowledgment: Supported by the ÚNKP-20-1 New National Excellence Program of The Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the Source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

Keywords: osteoporosis, osteoporosis-related knowledge, physical activity, prevention

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: D. Tedesco, G. Feletti, P. Trucco

Abstract:

The present study aims to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) to support the operational decision of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) regarding the assignment of medical emergency requests to Emergency Departments (ED). In the literature, this problem is also known as “hospital selection” and concerns the definition of policies for the selection of the ED to which patients who require further treatment are transported by ambulance. The employed research methodology consists of the first phase of revision of the technical-scientific literature concerning DSSs to support the EMS management and, in particular, the hospital selection decision. From the literature analysis, it emerged that current studies are mainly focused on the EMS phases related to the ambulance service and consider a process that ends when the ambulance is available after completing a request. Therefore, all the ED-related issues are excluded and considered as part of a separate process. Indeed, the most studied hospital selection policy turned out to be proximity, thus allowing to minimize the transport time and release the ambulance in the shortest possible time. The purpose of the present study consists in developing an optimization model for assigning medical emergency requests to the EDs, considering information relating to the subsequent phases of the process, such as the case-mix, the expected service throughput times, and the operational capacity of different EDs in hospitals. To this end, a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model was created to evaluate different hospital selection policies. Therefore, the next steps of the research consisted of the development of a general simulation architecture, its implementation in the AnyLogic software and its validation on a realistic dataset. The hospital selection policy that produced the best results was the minimization of the Time To Provider (TTP), considered as the time from the beginning of the ambulance journey to the ED at the beginning of the clinical evaluation by the doctor. Finally, two approaches were further compared: a static approach, which is based on a retrospective estimate of the TTP, and a dynamic approach, which is based on a predictive estimate of the TTP determined with a constantly updated Winters model. Findings reveal that considering the minimization of TTP as a hospital selection policy raises several benefits. It allows to significantly reduce service throughput times in the ED with a minimum increase in travel time. Furthermore, an immediate view of the saturation state of the ED is produced and the case-mix present in the ED structures (i.e., the different triage codes) is considered, as different severity codes correspond to different service throughput times. Besides, the use of a predictive approach is certainly more reliable in terms of TTP estimation than a retrospective approach but entails a more difficult application. These considerations can support decision-makers in introducing different hospital selection policies to enhance EMSs performance.

Keywords: discrete event simulation, emergency medical services, forecast model, hospital selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: B. Lefranc, C. Aufauvre-Poupon, C. Martin-Krumm, M. Trousselard

Abstract:

Isolated and confined environments (ICE) present several challenges which may adversely affect human’s psychology and physiology. Submariners in Sub-Surface Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) mission exposed to these environmental constraints must be able to perform complex tasks as part of their normal duties, as well as during crisis periods when emergency actions are required or imminent. The operational and environmental constraints they face contribute to challenge human adaptability. The impact of such a constrained environment has yet to be explored. Establishing a knowledge framework is a determining factor, particularly in view of the next long space travels. Ensuring that the crews are maintained in optimal operational conditions is a real challenge because the success of the mission depends on them. This study focused on the evaluation of the impact of stress on mental health and sensory degradation of submariners during a mission on SSBN using cardiac biosignal (heart rate variability, HRV) clustering. This is a pragmatic exploratory study of a prospective cohort included 19 submariner volunteers. HRV was recorded at baseline to classify by clustering the submariners according to their stress level based on parasympathetic (Pa) activity. Impacts of high Pa (HPa) versus low Pa (LPa) level at baseline were assessed on emotional state and sensory perception (interoception and exteroception) as a cardiac biosignal during the patrol and at a recovery time one month after. Whatever the time, no significant difference was found in mental health between groups. There are significant differences in the interoceptive, exteroceptive and physiological functioning during the patrol and at recovery time. To sum up, compared to the LPa group, the HPa maintains a higher level in psychosensory functioning during the patrol and at recovery but exhibits a decrease in Pa level. The HPa group has less adaptable HRV characteristics, less unpredictability and flexibility of cardiac biosignals while the LPa group increases them during the patrol and at recovery time. This dissociation between psychosensory and physiological adaptation suggests two treatment modalities for ICE environments. To our best knowledge, our results are the first to highlight the impact of physiological differences in the HRV profile on the adaptability of submariners. Further studies are needed to evaluate the negative emotional and cognitive effects of ICEs based on the cardiac profile. Artificial intelligence offers a promising future for maintaining high level of operational conditions. These future perspectives will not only allow submariners to be better prepared, but also to design feasible countermeasures that will help support analog environments that bring us closer to a trip to Mars.

Keywords: adaptation, exteroception, HRV, ICE, interoception, SSBN

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Olumuyiwa Ayoola Kokapi, Olugbenga Solomon Bello

Abstract:

Dyes are organic compounds with complex aromatic molecular structure that resulted in fast colour on a substance. Dye effluent found in wastewater generated from the dyeing industries is one of the greatest contributors to water pollution. Groundnut hull (GH) is an agricultural material that constitutes waste in the environment. Environmental contamination by hazardous organic chemicals is an urgent problem, which is partially solved through adsorption technologies. The choice of groundnut hull was promised on the understanding that some materials of agricultural origin have shown potentials to act as Adsorbate for hazardous organic chemicals. The aim of this research is to evaluate the potential of groundnut hull to adsorb Crystal violet dye through kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies. The prepared groundnut hulls was characterized using Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Operational parameters such as contact time, initial dye concentration, pH, and effect of temperature were studied. Equilibrium time for the adsorption process was attained in 80 minutes. Adsorption isotherms used to test the adsorption data were Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms model. Thermodynamic parameters such as ∆G°, ∆H°, and ∆S° of the adsorption processes were determined. The results showed that the uptake of dye by groundnut hulls occurred at a faster rate, corresponding to an increase in adsorption capacity at equilibrium time of 80 min from 0.78 to 4.45 mg/g and 0.77 to 4.45mg/g with an increase in the initial dye concentration from 10 to 50 mg/L for pH 3.0 and 8.0 respectively. High regression values obtained for pseudo-second-order kinetic model, sum of square error (SSE%) values along with strong agreement between experimental and calculated values of qe proved that pseudo second-order kinetic model fitted more than pseudo first-order kinetic model. The result of Langmuir and Freundlich model showed that the adsorption data fit the Langmuir model more than the Freundlich model. Thermodynamic study demonstrated the feasibility, spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption process due to negative values of free energy change (∆G) at all temperatures and positive value of enthalpy change (∆H) respectively. The positive values of ∆S showed that there was increased disorderliness and randomness at the solid/solution interface of crystal violet dye and groundnut hulls. The present investigation showed that, groundnut hulls (GH) is a good low-cost alternative adsorbent for the removal of Crystal Violet (CV) dye from aqueous solution.

Keywords: adsorption, crystal violet dye, groundnut halls, kinetics

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Matias Hargreaves, Martin Del Valle, Diego Rodriguez, Riveros Jose Luis

Abstract:

Trough years, all kind of social development projects have tried to solve social problems such as hunger, poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity, among others, with poor success. Both private and state initiatives have invested resources in several countries and communities. Nevertheless, most of these initiatives are scientific or external developers-centered, with a lack of local participation. This compromises the sustainability of any intervention and also leads to a poor empowerment of local community. The participatory approach aims to rescue and enhance the local knowledge since it recognizes that this kind of problems are better known by native actors. The objective of the study was to describe the role played by the community empowerment on food security improvement in the NGO “O Viveiro” (15°43'37.77"S; 32°46'27.53"E) and Barrio Broma village (15°43'58.78"S; 32°46'7.27"E) in Chitima, Mozambique. A center for training in goat livestock and orchard was build. A community orchard was co-constructed between foreign technicians and local actors. The prototype was installed in February, 2016 by the technician team and local community with 16 m2 as a nursery garden. Two orchard workshops were conducted in order to design a sustainable productive model which mixes both local and technological approaches. Two goat meat workshops were conducted in order to describe local methods and train the community to conduce their own techniques with high sanitary and productive standards. Technician team stayed in Mozambique until May, 2016. The quorum for the orchard workshops was 20 and 14 persons respectively, which represents 100% and 70%of the total requested quorum (20). For the goat meat workshops were 4 and 5 persons, which representa80% and 100% of the total requested quorum (5). Until August, 2016, the orchard is 3.219 m2 and it grows several vegetables as beans, chili pepper, garlic, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet potato, yuca potato, cabbage, eggplant, papaya trees, mango, and cassava. The process of increasing in size and diversification of vegetables grown was led entirely by the local community. In connection with this, the local community started to harvest and began to sell the vegetable products at the local market. At the meat goat workshops, local participants rescued a local knowledge by describing and practicing a traditional way to process goat meat by drying it outdoors and then doing a smoked treatment. This information might contribute to describe the level of empowerment of this community, and thus give evidence of acceptance of foreign intervention for improving their own proceedings and traditions.

Keywords: children malnutrition, food security, Local community, participatory approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Blessings Masuku

Abstract:

This study positions itself within the nascent of street food vending that plays a crucial role in addressing urban household food security across the urban landscape of South Africa. The study aimed to understand how various forms of infrastructure systems (i.e., energy, water and sanitation, housing, and transport, among others) intersect with food and urban informality and how vendors and households’ choices and decisions made around food are influenced by infrastructure assemblages. This study noted that most of the literature studies on food security have mainly focused on the rural agricultural sector, with limited attention to urban food security, notably the role of informality practices in addressing urban food insecurity at the household level. This study pays close attention to how informal informality practices such as street food vending can be used as a catalyst to address urban poverty and household food security and steer local economies for sustainable livelihoods of the urban poor who live in the periphery of the city in Johannesburg. This study deconstructs the infrastructure needs of street food vendors, and the aim was to understand how such infrastructure needs intersect with food and policy that governs urban informality practices. The study argues that the decisions and choices of informality actors in the city of Johannesburg are chiefly determined by the assemblages of infrastructure, including regulatory frameworks that govern the informal sector in the city of Johannesburg. A qualitative approach that includes surveys (open-ended questions), archival research (i., e policy and other key document reviews), and key interviews mainly with city officials and informality actors. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected. This study contributes to greater debates on urban studies and burgeoning literature on urban food security in many ways that include Firstly, the pivotal role that the informal food sector, notably street food vending, plays within the urban economy to address urban poverty and household food security, therefore questioning the conservative perspectives that view the informal sector as a hindrance to a ‘modern city’ and an annoyance to ‘modern’ urban spaces. Secondly, this study contributes to the livelihood and coping strategies of the urban poor who, despite harsh and restrictive regulatory frameworks, devise various agentive ways to generate incomes and address urban poverty and food insecurities.

Keywords: urban food security, street food vending, informal food sector, infrastructure systems, livelihood strategies, policy framework and governance

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Ewelina Musielak, Agnieszka Feliczak-Guzik, Izabela Nowak

Abstract:

Based on the latest data, it is expected that the substances of therapeutic interest used will be as natural as possible. Therefore, active substances with the highest possible efficacy and low toxicity are sought. Among natural substances with therapeutic effects, those of plant origin stand out. Curcumin isolated from the Curcuma longa plant has proven to be particularly important from a medical point of view. Due to its ability to regulate many important transcription factors, cytokines, and protein kinases, curcumin has found use as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiproliferative, antiangiogenic, and anticancer agent. The unfavorable properties of curcumin, such as low solubility, poor bioavailability, and rapid degradation under neutral or alkaline pH conditions, limit its clinical application. These problems can be solved by combining curcumin with suitable carriers such as hierarchical zeolites. This is a new class of materials that exhibit several advantages. Hierarchical zeolites used as drug carriers enable delayed release of the active ingredient and promote drug transport to the desired tissues and organs. In addition, hierarchical zeolites play an important role in regulating micronutrient levels in the body and have been used successfully in cancer diagnosis and therapy. To apply curcumin to hierarchical zeolites synthesized from commercial FAU zeolite, solutions containing curcumin, carrier and acetone were prepared. The prepared mixtures were then stirred on a magnetic stirrer for 24 h at room temperature. The curcumin-filled hierarchical zeolites were drained into a glass funnel, where they were washed three times with acetone and distilled water, after which the obtained material was air-dried until completely dry. In addition, the effect of piperine addition to zeolite carrier containing a sufficient amount of curcumin was studied. The resulting products were weighed and the percentage of pure curcumin in the hierarchical zeolite was calculated. All the synthesized materials were characterized by several techniques: elemental analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), N2 adsorption, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The aim of the presented study was to improve the biological activity of curcumin by applying it to hierarchical zeolites based on FAU zeolite. The results showed that the loading efficiency of curcumin into hierarchical zeolites based on commercial FAU-type zeolite is enhanced by modifying the zeolite carrier itself. The hierarchical zeolites proved to be very good and efficient carriers of plant-derived active ingredients such as curcumin.

Keywords: carriers of active substances, curcumin, hierarchical zeolites, incorporation

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Marcio Emilio Dos Santos, Kelly C. F. Dos Santos

Abstract:

Caregivers of patients diagnosed with ASD are subjected to high stress situations due to the complexity and multiple levels of daily activities that require the organization of events, behaviors and socioemotional situations, such as immediate decision making and in public spaces. The cognitive and emotional requirement needed to fulfill this caregiving role exceeds the regular cultural process that adults receive in their process of preparation for conjugal and parental life. Therefore, in many cases, caregivers present a high level of overload, poor capacity to organize and mediate the development process of the child or patient about their care. Aims: Improvement in the cognitive and emotional capacities related to the caregiver function, allowing the reduction of the overload, the feeling of incompetence and the characteristic level of stress, developing a more organized conduct and decision making more oriented towards the objectives and procedural gains necessary for the integral development of the patient with diagnosis of ASD. Method: The study was performed with 20 relatives, randomly selected from a total of 140 patients attended. The family members were submitted to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III intelligence test and the Family assessment Management Measure (FaMM) questionnaire as a previous evaluation. Therapeutic activity in a small group of family members or caregivers, with weekly frequency, with a minimum workload of two hours, using the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Cognitive Development Program - Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment for ten months. Reapplication of the previous tests to verify the gains obtained. Results and Discussion: There is a change in the level of caregiver overload, improvement in the results of the Family assessment Management Measure and highlight to the increase of performance in the cognitive aspects related to problem solving, planned behavior and management of behavioral crises. These results lead to the discussion of the need to invest in the integrated care of patients and their caregivers, mainly by enabling cognitively to deal with the complexity of Autism. This goes beyond the simple therapeutic orientation about adjustments in family and school routines. The study showed that when the caregiver improves his/her capacity of management, the results of the treatment are potentiated and there is a reduction of the level of the caregiver's overload. Importantly, the study was performed for only ten months and the number of family members attended in the study (n = 20) needs to be expanded to have statistical strength.

Keywords: caregiver overload, cognitive development program ASD caregivers, feuerstein instrumental enrichment, family assessment management measure

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Tassia Batista Pessato, Francielli Pires Ribeiro Morais, Fernanda Guimaraes Drummond Silva, Flavia Maria Netto

Abstract:

Proteins and phenolic compounds can interact mainly by hydrophobic interactions. Those interactions may lead to structural changes in both molecules, which in turn could affect positively or negatively their functional and nutritional properties. Here, the structural changes of whey proteins (WPI) due to interaction with caffeic acid (CA) were investigated by intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence. The effects of protein-phenolic compounds interactions on the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were also assessed. The WPI-CA complexes were obtained by mixture of WPI and CA stock solutions in deionized water. The complexation was carried out at room temperature during 60 min, using 0.1 M NaOH to adjust pH at 7.0. The WPI concentration was fixed at 5 mg/mL, whereas the CA concentration varied in order to obtain four different WPI:CA molar relations (1:1; 2:1; 5:1; 10:1). WPI and phenolic solutions were used as controls. Intrinsic fluorescence spectra of the complexes (mainly due to Trp fluorescence emission) were obtained at λex = 280 nm and the emission intensities were measured from 290 to 500 nm. Extrinsic fluorescence was obtained as the measure of protein surface hydrophobicity (S0) using ANS as a fluorescence probe. Total phenolic content was determined by Folin-Ciocalteau and the antioxidant activity by FRAP and ORAC methods. Increasing concentrations of CA resulted in decreasing of WPI intrinsic fluorescence. The emission band of WPI red shifted from 332 to 354 nm as the phenolic concentration increased, which is related to the exposure of Trp residue to the more hydrophilic environment and unfolding of protein structure. In general, the complexes presented lower S0 values than WPI, suggesting that CA hindered ANS binding to hydrophobic sites of WPI. The total phenolic content in the complexes was lower than the sum of two compounds isolated. WPI showed negligible AA measured by FRAP. However, as the relative concentration of CA increased in the complexes, the FRAP values enhanced, indicating that AA measure by this technique comes mainly from CA. In contrast, the WPI ORAC value (82.3 ± 1.5 µM TE/g) suggest that its AA is related to the capacity of H+ transfer. The complexes exhibited no important improvement of AA measured by ORAC in relation to the isolated components, suggesting complexation partially suppressed AA of the compounds. The results hereby presented indicate that interaction of WPI and CA occurred, and this interaction caused a structural change in the proteins. The complexation can either hide or expose antioxidant sites of both components. In conclusion, although the CA can undergo an AA suppression due to the interaction with proteins, the AA of WPI could be enhanced due to protein unfolding and exposure of antioxidant sites.

Keywords: bioactive properties, milk proteins, phenolic acids, protein-phenolic compounds complexation

Procedia PDF Downloads 536

Authors: Daniela Pellin, Wilson Engelmann

Abstract:

Brazil has sought to accelerate your development through technology and innovation as a response to the global influences, which has received in internal management practices. For this, it had edited the Brazilian Law of Innovation 13.243/2016. However observing the Law overestimated economic aspects the respective application will not consider the stakeholders and the technological risks because there is no legal treatment. The economic exploitation and the technological risks must be controlled by limits of democratic system to find better social development to contribute with the economics agents for making decision to conform with global directions. The research understands this is a problem to face given the social particularities of the country because there has been the literal import of the North American Triple Helix Theory consolidated in developed countries and the negative consequences when applied in developing countries. Because of this symptomatic scenario, it is necessary to create adjustment to conduct the management of the law besides social democratic interests to increase the country development. For this, therefore, the Government will have to adopt some conducts promoting side by side with universities, civil society and companies, informational transparency, catch of partnerships, create a Confort Letter document for preparation to ensure the operation, joint elaboration of a Manual of Good Practices, make accountability and data dissemination. Also the Universities must promote informational transparency, drawing up partnership contracts and generating revenue, development of information. In addition, the civil society must do data analysis about proposals received for discussing to give opinion related. At the end, companies have to give public and transparent information about investments and economic benefits, risks and innovation manufactured. The research intends as a general objective to demonstrate that the efficiency of the propeller deployment will be possible if the innovative decision-making process goes through the institutional logic. As specific objectives, the American influence must undergo some modifications to better suit the economic-legal incentives to potentiate the development of the social system. The hypothesis points to institutional model for application to the legal system can be elaborated based on emerging characteristics of the country, in such a way that technological risks can be foreseen and there will be global conformity with attention to the full development of society as proposed by the researchers.The method of approach will be the systemic-constructivist with bibliographical review, data collection and analysis with the construction of the institutional and democratic model for the management of the Law.

Keywords: development, governance of law, institutionalization, triple helix

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Tatjana Stefanovic Stanojevic, Milica Tosic Radev, Aleksandra Bogdanovic

Abstract:

Depression is considered to be a leading cause of death and disability in the female population, and that is the reason why understanding the dynamics of the onset of depressive symptomatology is important. A review of the literature indicates the relationship between depressive symptoms and insecure attachment patterns, but very few studies have examined the mechanism underlying this relation. The aim of the study was to examine the pathway from the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptomatology, as well as to test the mediation effect of mentalization, social anxiety and rumination in this relationship using a serial mediation model. The research was carried out on a geographical cluster sample from the general population of Serbia included within the project ‘Indicators and models of family and work roles harmonization’ funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. This research was carried out on a subsample of 791 working-age female adults from 37 urban and rural locations distributed through 20 administrative districts of Serbia. The respondents filled in a battery of instruments, including Relationship Questionnaire - Clinical Version (RQ - CV), The Mentalization Scale (MentS), Scale of Social Anxiety (SA), Patient Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire (RTSQ), Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The results confirm our assumption that the total indirect effect of the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptoms is significant across all mediators separately. More importantly, this effect is still present in a model with a sequential mediator relationship, where social anxiety, rumination, and mentalization were perceived as serial mediators of a relationship between preoccupied attachment and depressive symptoms (estimated indirect effect=0.004, boot-strapped 95% CI=0.002 to 0.007). Our findings suggest that there is a significant specific indirect effect of the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptoms, occurring through mentalization, social anxiety and rumination, indicating that preoccupied attachment cause decrease of a self related mentalization, which in turn causes increasing of social anxiety and rumination, concluding in depressive symptoms as a final consequence. The finding that the path from the preoccupied attachment pattern to depressive symptoms is typical in women is understandable from the perspective of both evolutionary and culturally conditioned gender differences. The practical implications of the study are reflected in the recommendations for the prevention and forehand psychotherapy response among preoccupied women with depressive symptomatology. Treatment of this specific group of depressed patients should be focused on strengthening mentalization, learning to accept and to understand herself better, reducing anxiety in situations where mistakes are visible to others, and replacing the rumination strategy with more constructive coping strategies.

Keywords: preoccupied attachment, depression, serial mediation model, mentalization, rumination

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

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

Abstract:

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Anirban Dey, Sukanta Kumar Dash, Bishnupada Mandal

Abstract:

Carbondioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas responsible for global warming and fossil fuel power plants are the main emitting sources. Therefore the capture of CO2 is essential to maintain the emission levels according to the standards. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered as an important option for stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gases and minimizing global warming effects. There are three approaches towards CCS: Pre combustion capture where carbon is removed from the fuel prior to combustion, Oxy-fuel combustion, where coal is combusted with oxygen instead of air and Post combustion capture where the fossil fuel is combusted to produce energy and CO2 is removed from the flue gases left after the combustion process. Post combustion technology offers some advantage as existing combustion technologies can still be used without adopting major changes on them. A number of separation processes could be utilized part of post –combustion capture technology. These include (a) Physical absorption (b) Chemical absorption (c) Membrane separation (d) Adsorption. Chemical absorption is one of the most extensively used technologies for large scale CO2 capture systems. The industrially important solvents used are primary amines like Monoethanolamine (MEA) and Diglycolamine (DGA), secondary amines like diethanolamine (DEA) and Diisopropanolamine (DIPA) and tertiary amines like methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA). Primary and secondary amines react fast and directly with CO2 to form stable carbamates while Tertiary amines do not react directly with CO2 as in aqueous solution they catalyzes the hydrolysis of CO2 to form a bicarbonate ion and a protonated amine. Concentrated Piperazine (PZ) has been proposed as a better solvent as well as activator for CO2 capture from flue gas with a 10 % energy benefit compared to conventional amines such as MEA. However, the application of concentrated PZ is limited due to its low solubility in water at low temperature and lean CO2 loading. So following the performance of PZ its derivative 2-Aminoethyl piperazine (AEP) which is a cyclic amine can be explored as an activator towards the absorption of CO2. Vapour liquid equilibrium (VLE) in CO2 capture systems is an important factor for the design of separation equipment and gas treating processes. For proper thermodynamic modeling accurate equilibrium data for the solvent system over a wide range of temperatures, pressure and composition is essential. The present work focuses on the determination of VLE data for (AEP + H2O) system at 40 °C for various composition range.

Keywords: absorption, aminoethyl piperazine, carbondioxide, vapour liquid equilibrium

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Mirim Kim, Won-Oak Oh

Abstract:

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify hospitalized children's fall risk factors, fall prevention status and fall prevention strategies recognized by nurses and caregivers of hospitalized children and present an ecological model for fall preventive management in hospitalized children. Method: The participants of this study were 14 nurses working in medical institutions and having more than one year of child care experience and 14 adult caregivers of children under 6 years of age receiving inpatient treatment at a medical institution. One to one interview was attempted to identify their perception of fall preventive management. Transcribed data were analyzed through latent content analysis method. Results: Fall risk factors in hospitalized children were 'unpredictable behavior', 'instability', 'lack of awareness about danger', 'lack of awareness about falls', 'lack of child control ability', 'lack of awareness about the importance of fall prevention', 'lack of sensitivity to children', 'untidy environment around children', 'lack of personalized facilities for children', 'unsafe facility', 'lack of partnership between healthcare provider and caregiver', 'lack of human resources', 'inadequate fall prevention policy', 'lack of promotion about fall prevention', 'a performanceism oriented culture'. Fall preventive management status of hospitalized children were 'absence of fall prevention capability', 'efforts not to fall', 'blocking fall risk situation', 'limit the scope of children's activity when there is no caregiver', 'encourage caregivers' fall prevention activities', 'creating a safe environment surrounding hospitalized children', 'special management for fall high risk children', 'mutual cooperation between healthcare providers and caregivers', 'implementation of fall prevention policy', 'providing guide signs about fall risk'. Fall preventive management strategies of hospitalized children were 'restrain dangerous behavior', 'inspiring awareness about fall', 'providing fall preventive education considering the child's eye level', 'efforts to become an active subject of fall prevention activities', 'providing customed fall prevention education', 'open communication between healthcare providers and caregivers', 'infrastructure and personnel management to create safe hospital environment', 'expansion fall prevention campaign', 'development and application of a valid fall assessment instrument', 'conversion of awareness about safety'. Conclusion: In this study, the ecological model of fall preventive management for hospitalized children reflects various factors that directly or indirectly affect the fall prevention of hospitalized children. Therefore, these results can be considered as useful baseline data for developing systematic fall prevention programs and hospital policies to prevent fall accident in hospitalized children. Funding: This study was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Korea (grant number NRF-2016R1A2B1015455).

Keywords: fall down, safety culture, hospitalized children, risk factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Itee Chowdhury, Shikha Modi

Abstract:

Introduction: Cancer is beginning to outpace cardiovascular disease as a cause of death affecting every major organ system with profound implications for perioperative management. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in India, accounting for 27% of all cancers. The small changes in analgesic management of cancer patients can greatly improve prognosis and reduce the risk of postsurgical cancer recurrence as opioid-based analgesia has a deleterious effect on cancer outcomes. Shortened postsurgical recovery time facilitates earlier return to intended oncological therapy maximising the chance of successful treatment. Literature reveals that the role of BIS since FDA approval has been assessed in various types of surgeries, but clinical data on its use in oncosurgical patients are scanty. Our study focuses on the role of BIS-guided anaesthesia for breast cancer surgery patients. Methods: A prospective randomized controlled study in patients aged 36-55years scheduled for modified radical mastectomy was conducted in 51 patients in each group who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and randomization was done by sealed envelope technique. In BIS guided anaesthesia group (B), sevoflurane was titrated to keep the BIS value 45-60, and thereafter if the patient showed hypertension/tachycardia, an opioid was given. In standard anaesthesia care (group C), sevoflurane was titrated to keep MAC in the range of 0.8-1, and fentanyl was given if the patient showed hypertension/tachycardia. Intraoperative opioid consumption was calculated. Postsurgery recovery characteristics, including Aldrete score, were assessed. Patients were questioned for pain, PONV, and recall of the intraoperative event. A comparison of age, BMI, ASA, recovery characteristics, opioid, and VAS score was made using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical data like intraoperative awareness of surgery and PONV was studied using the Chi-square test. A comparison of heart rate and MAP was made by an independent sample t-test. #ggplot2 package was used to show the trend of the BIS index for all intraoperative time points for each patient. For a statistical test of significance, the cut-off p-value was set as <0.05. Conclusions: BIS monitoring led to reduced opioid consumption and early recovery from anaesthesia in breast cancer patients undergoing MRM resulting in less postoperative nausea and vomiting and less pain intensity in the immediate postoperative period without any recall of the intraoperative event. Thus, the use of a Bispectral index monitor allows for tailoring of anaesthesia administration with a good outcome.

Keywords: bispectral index, depth of anaesthesia, recovery, opioid consumption

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Kumar Divyendra

Abstract:

Underwater Sensor Networks (UWSNs) have wide applications in areas such as water quality monitoring, marine wildlife management etc. A typical UWSN system consists of a set of sensors deployed randomly underwater which communicate with each other using acoustic links. RF communication doesn't work underwater, and GPS too isn't available underwater. Additionally Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are deployed to collect data from some special nodes called Cluster Heads (CHs). These CHs aggregate data from their neighboring nodes and forward them to the AUVs using optical links when an AUV is in range. This helps reduce the number of hops covered by data packets and helps conserve energy. We consider the three-dimensional model of the UWSN. Nodes are initially deployed randomly underwater. They attach themselves to the surface using a rod and can only move upwards or downwards using a pump and bladder mechanism. We use graph theory concepts to maximize the coverage volume while every node maintaining connectivity with at least one surface node. We treat the surface nodes as landmarks and each node finds out its hop distance from every surface node. We treat these hop-distances as coordinates and use them for AUV navigation. An AUV intending to move closer to a node with given coordinates moves hop by hop through nodes that are closest to it in terms of these coordinates. In absence of GPS, multiple different approaches like Inertial Navigation System (INS), Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), computer vision-based navigation, etc., have been proposed. These systems have their own drawbacks. INS accumulates error with time, vision techniques require prior information about the environment. We propose a method that makes use of the earth's magnetic field values for navigation and combines it with other methods that simultaneously increase the coverage volume under the UWSN. The AUVs are fitted with magnetometers that measure the magnetic intensity (I), horizontal inclination (H), and Declination (D). The International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is a mathematical model of the earth's magnetic field, which provides the field values for the geographical coordinateson earth. Researchers have developed an inverse deep learning model that takes the magnetic field values and predicts the location coordinates. We make use of this model within our work. We combine this with with the hop-by-hop movement described earlier so that the AUVs move in such a sequence that the deep learning predictor gets trained as quickly and precisely as possible We run simulations in MATLAB to prove the effectiveness of our model with respect to other methods described in the literature.

Keywords: clustering, deep learning, network backbone, parallel computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Olga Gomez De Miranda, Jose R. Ochoa-Gomez, Stefaan De Wildeman, Luciano Monsegue, Soraya Prieto, Leire Lorenzo, Cristina Dineiro

Abstract:

The chemical industry is facing a new revolution. As long as processes based on the exploitation of fossil resources emerged with force in the XIX century, Society currently demands a new radical change that will lead to the complete and irreversible implementation of a circular sustainable economic model. The implementation of biorefineries will be essential for this. There, renewable raw materials as sugars and other biomass resources are exploited for the development of new materials that will partially replace their petroleum-derived homologs in a safer, and environmentally more benign approach. Isosorbide, (1,4:3,6-dianhydro-d-glucidol) is a primary bio-based derivative obtained from the plant (poly) saccharides and a very interesting example of a useful chemical produced in biorefineries. It can, in turn, be converted to other secondary monomers as isosorbide bis-methyl carbonate (IBMC), whose main field of application can be as a key biodegradable intermediary substitute of bisphenol-A in the manufacture of polycarbonates, or as an alternative to the toxic isocyanates in the synthesis of new polyurethanes (non-isocyanate polyurethanes) both with a huge application market. New products will present advantageous mechanical or optical properties, as well as improved behavior in non-toxicity and biodegradability aspects in comparison to their petro-derived alternatives. A robust production process of IBMC, a biomass-derived chemical, is here presented. It can be used with different raw material qualities using dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as both co-reactant and solvent. It consists of the transesterification of isosorbide with DMC under soft operational conditions, using different basic catalysts, always active with the isosorbide characteristics and purity. Appropriate isolation processes have been also developed to obtain crude IBMC yields higher than 90%, with oligomers production lower than 10%, independently of the quality of the isosorbide considered. All of them are suitable to be used in polycondensation reactions for polymers obtaining. If higher qualities of IBMC are needed, a purification treatment based on nanofiltration membranes has been also developed. The IBMC reaction-isolation conditions established in the laboratory have been successfully modeled using appropriate software programs and moved to a pilot-scale (production of 100 kg of IBMC). It has been demonstrated that a highly efficient IBMC production process able to be up-scaled under suitable market conditions has been obtained. Operational conditions involved the production of IBMC involve soft temperature and energy needs, no additional solvents, and high operational efficiency. All of them are according to green manufacturing rules.

Keywords: biomass, catalyst, isosorbide bis-methyl carbonate, polycarbonate, polyurethane, transesterification

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Shivayogi Charantimath

Abstract:

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are effective for treating malignancies but are associated with side effects like oral mucositis. Chlorhexidine gluconate is one of the most commonly used mouthwash in prevention of signs and symptoms of mucositis. Evidence shows that chlorhexidine gluconate has side effects in terms of colonization of bacteria, bad breadth and less healing properties. Thus, it is essential to find a suitable alternative therapy which is more effective with minimal side effects. Curcumin, an extract of turmeric is gradually being studied for its wide-ranging therapeutic properties such as antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, antiseptic, chemo sensitizing and radio sensitizing properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical curcumin gel on radio-chemotherapy induced oral mucositis in cancer patients. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of curcumin gel in the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radio chemotherapy and compare with chlorhexidine. The study was conducted in K.L.E. Society’s Belgaum cancer hospital. 40 oral cancer patients undergoing the radiochemotheraphy with oral mucositis was selected and randomly divided into two groups of 20 each. The study group A [20 patients] was advised Cure next gel for 2 weeks. The control group B [20 patients] was advised chlorhexidine gel for 2 weeks. The NRS, Oral Mucositis Assessment scale and WHO mucositis scale were used to determine the grading. The results obtained were calculated by using SPSS 20 software. The comparison of grading was done by applying Mann-Whitney U test and intergroup comparison was calculated by Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The NRS scores observed from baseline to 1^st and 2^nd week follow up in both the group showed significant difference. The percentage of change in erythema in respect to group A was 63.3% for first week and for second week, changes were 100.0% with p = 0.0003. The changes in Group A in respect to erythema was 34.6% for 1^st week and 57.7% in second week. The intergroup comparison was significant with p value of 0.0048 and 0.0006 in relation to group A and group B respectively. The size of the ulcer score was measured which showed 35.5% [P=0.0010] of change in Group A for 1^st and 2^nd week showed totally reduction i.e. 103.4% [P=0.0001]. Group B showed 24.7% change from baseline to 1^st week and 53.6% for 2^nd week follow up. The intergroup comparison with Wilcoxon matched pair test was significant with p=0.0001 in group A. The result obtained by WHO mucositis score in respect to group A shows 29.6% [p=0.0004] change in first week and 75.0% [p=0.0180] change in second week which is highly significant in comparison to group B. Group B showed minimum changes i.e. 20.1% in 1^st week and 33.3% in 2^nd week. The p value with Wilcoxon was significant with 0.0025 in Group A for 1^st week follow up and 0.000 for 2^nd week follow up. Curcumin gel appears to an effective and safer alternative to chlorhexidine gel in treatment of oral mucositis.

Keywords: curcumin, chemotheraphy, mucositis, radiotheraphy

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Tony R. Walker, N. Devin MacAskill, Andrew Thalhiemer

Abstract:

Sydney Harbour, Nova Scotia has long been subject to effluent and atmospheric inputs of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from a large coking operation and steel plant that operated in Sydney for nearly a century until closure in 1988. Contaminated effluents from the industrial site resulted in the creation of the Sydney Tar Ponds, one of Canada’s largest contaminated sites. Since its closure, there have been several attempts to remediate this former industrial site and finally, in 2004, the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia committed to remediate the site to reduce potential ecological and human health risks to the environment. The Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens cleanup project has become the most prominent remediation project in Canada today. As an integral part of remediation of the site (i.e., which consisted of solidification/stabilization and associated capping of the Tar Ponds), an extensive multiple media environmental effects program was implemented to assess what effects remediation had on the surrounding environment, and, in particular, harbour sediments. Additionally, longer-term natural sediment recovery rates of select contaminants predicted for the harbour sediments were compared to current conditions. During remediation, potential contributions to sediment quality, in addition to remedial efforts, were evaluated which included a significant harbour dredging project, propeller wash from harbour traffic, storm events, adjacent loading/unloading of coal and municipal wastewater treatment discharges. Two sediment sampling methodologies, sediment grab and gravity corer, were also compared to evaluate the detection of subtle changes in sediment quality. Results indicated that overall spatial distribution pattern of historical contaminants remains unchanged, although at much lower concentrations than previously reported, due to natural recovery. Measurements of sediment indicator parameter concentrations confirmed that natural recovery rates of Sydney Harbour sediments were in broad agreement with predicted concentrations, in spite of ongoing remediation activities. Overall, most measured parameters in sediments showed little temporal variability even when using different sampling methodologies, during three years of remediation compared to baseline, except for the detection of significant increases in total PAH concentrations noted during one year of remediation monitoring. The data confirmed the effectiveness of mitigation measures implemented during construction relative to harbour sediment quality, despite other anthropogenic activities and the dynamic nature of the harbour.

Keywords: contaminated sediment, monitoring, recovery, remediation

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Pornpimol Chaiwuttisak, Honora Smith, Yue Wu

Abstract:

Blood is a perishable product which suffers from physical deterioration with specific fixed shelf life. Although its value during the shelf life is constant, fresh blood is preferred for treatment. However, transportation costs are a major factor to be considered by administrators of Regional Blood Centres (RBCs) which act as blood collection and distribution centres. A trade-off must therefore be reached between transportation costs and short-term holding costs. In this paper we propose a number of algorithms for online allocation and routing of blood supplies, for use in conditions of variable and insufficient blood supply. A case study in northern Thailand provides an application of the allocation and routing policies tested. The plan proposed for daily allocation and distribution of blood supplies consists of two components: firstly, fixed routes are determined for the supply of hospitals which are far from an RBC. Over the planning period of one week, each hospital on the fixed routes is visited once. A robust allocation of blood is made to hospitals on the fixed routes that can be guaranteed on a suitably high percentage of days, despite variable supplies. Secondly, a variable daily route is employed for close-by hospitals, for which more than one visit per week may be needed to fulfil targets. The variable routing takes into account the amount of blood available for each day’s deliveries, which is only known on the morning of delivery. For hospitals on the variables routes, the day and amounts of deliveries cannot be guaranteed but are designed to attain targets over the six-day planning horizon. In the conditions of blood shortage encountered in Thailand, and commonly in other developing countries, it is often the case that hospitals request more blood than is needed, in the knowledge that only a proportion of all requests will be met. Our proposal is for blood supplies to be allocated and distributed to each hospital according to equitable targets based on historical demand data, calculated with regard to expected daily blood supplies. We suggest several policies that could be chosen by the decision makes for the daily distribution of blood. The different policies provide different trade-offs between transportation and holding costs. Variations in the costs of transportation, such as the price of petrol, could make different policies the most beneficial at different times. We present an application of the policies applied to a realistic case study in the RBC at Chiang Mai province which is located in Northern region of Thailand. The analysis includes a total of more than 110 hospitals, with 29 hospitals considered in the variable route. The study is expected to be a pilot for other regions of Thailand. Computational experiments are presented. Concluding remarks include the benefits gained by the online methods and future recommendations.

Keywords: online algorithm, blood distribution, developing country, insufficient blood supply

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Tasleem Zafar, Jiwan Sidhu

Abstract:

Introduction: Chickpea flour is known to offer many benefits to diabetic persons, especially in maintaining their blood sugar levels in the acceptable range. Under this project we have studied the chemical composition and antioxidant capacity of white flour (WF), whole wheat flour (WWF) and chickpea flour (BF), in addition to the effect of replacement of WF and WWF with BF on the rheological characteristics of these flour blends, with the ultimate objective of producing acceptable quality flat as well as pan-bread for the diabetic consumers. Methods: WF and WWF were replaced with BF ranging from 0 to 40%, to investigate its effect on the rheological properties and functionality of blended flour dough using farinograph, viscoamylograph, mixograph and falling number apparatus as per the AACC standard methods. Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) was carried on the WF, WWF, and their blends with BF using Stable Micro System Texture Analyzer. Effect of certain additives, such as freeze-dried amla fruit powder (Phyllanthus emblica L.), guar gum, and xanthan gum on the dough rheological properties were also studied. Results: Freeze-dried amla fruit powder was found to be very rich in ascorbic acid and other phenolics having higher antioxidant activity. A decreased farinograph water absorption, increased dough development time, higher mixing tolerance index (i.e., weakening of dough), decreased resistance to extension, lower ratio numbers were obtained when the replacement with BF was increased from 0 to 40%. The BF gave lower peak viscosity, lower paste breakdown, and lower setback values when compared with WF. The falling number values were significantly lower in WWF (meaning higher α-amylase activity) than both the WF and BF. Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) carried on the WF, WWF, and their blends with BF showed significant variations in hardness and compressibility values, dough becoming less hard and less compressible when the replacement of WF and WWF with BF was increased from 0 to 40%. Conclusions: To overcome the deleterious effects of adding BF to WF and WWF on the rheological properties will be an interesting challenge when good quality pan bread and Arabic flatbread have to be commercially produced in a bakery. Use of freeze-dried amla fruit powder, guar gum, and xanthan gum did show some promise to improve the mixing characteristics of WF, WWF, and their blends with BF, and these additives are expected to be useful in producing an acceptable quality flat as well as pan-bread on a commercial scale.

Keywords: wheat flour, chickpea flour, amla fruit, rheology

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Avent Grange, Frederic Bertrand, Jean-Baptiste Droin, Amandine Marrel, Jean-Henry Ferrasse, Olivier Boutin

Abstract:

CEA and its industrial partners are designing a gas Power Conversion System (PCS) based on a Brayton cycle for the ASTRID Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor. Investigations of control and regulation requirements to operate this PCS during operating, incidental and accidental transients are necessary to adapt core heat removal. To this aim, we developed a methodology to optimize the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the reactor during normal operations, incidents and accidents. This methodology consists of a multi-objective optimization for a specific sequence, whose aim is to increase component lifetime by reducing simultaneously several thermal stresses and to bring the reactor into a stable state. Furthermore, the multi-objective optimization complies with safety and operating constraints. Operating, incidental and accidental sequences use specific regulations to control the thermal-hydraulic reactor behavior, each of them is defined by a setpoint, a controller and an actuator. In the multi-objective problem, the parameters used to solve the optimization are the setpoints and the settings of the controllers associated with the regulations included in the sequence. In this way, the methodology allows designers to define an optimized and specific control strategy of the plant for the studied sequence and hence to adapt PCS piloting at its best. The multi-objective optimization is performed by evolutionary algorithms coupled to surrogate models built on variables computed by the thermal-hydraulic system code, CATHARE2. The methodology is applied to a loss of off-site power sequence. Three variables are controlled: the sodium outlet temperature of the sodium-gas heat exchanger, turbomachine rotational speed and water flow through the heat sink. These regulations are chosen in order to minimize thermal stresses on the gas-gas heat exchanger, on the sodium-gas heat exchanger and on the vessel. The main results of this work are optimal setpoints for the three regulations. Moreover, Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control setting is considered and efficient actuators used in controls are chosen through sensitivity analysis results. Finally, the optimized regulation system and the reactor control procedure, provided by the optimization process, are verified through a direct CATHARE2 calculation.

Keywords: gas power conversion system, loss of off-site power, multi-objective optimization, regulation, sodium fast reactor, surrogate model

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: Chiranjit Das, Sanjay Jharkharia

Abstract:

This study is focused on transport mode selection under lead time variability and emissions constraint. In order to reduce the carbon emissions generation due to transportation, organization has often faced a dilemmatic choice of transport mode selection since logistic cost and emissions reduction are complementary with each other. Another important aspect of transportation decision is lead-time variability which is least considered in transport mode selection problem. Thus, in this study, we provide a comprehensive mathematical based analytical model to decide transport mode selection under emissions constraint. We also extend our work through analysing the effect of lead time variability in the transport mode selection by a sensitivity analysis. In order to account lead time variability into the model, two identically normally distributed random variables are incorporated in this study including unit lead time variability and lead time demand variability. Therefore, in this study, we are addressing following questions: How the decisions of transport mode selection will be affected by lead time variability? How lead time variability will impact on total supply chain cost under carbon emissions? To accomplish these objectives, a total transportation cost function is developed including unit purchasing cost, unit transportation cost, emissions cost, holding cost during lead time, and penalty cost for stock out due to lead time variability. A set of modes is available to transport each node, in this paper, we consider only four transport modes such as air, road, rail, and water. Transportation cost, distance, emissions level for each transport mode is considered as deterministic and static in this paper. Each mode is having different emissions level depending on the distance and product characteristics. Emissions cost is indirectly affected by the lead time variability if there is any switching of transport mode from lower emissions prone transport mode to higher emissions prone transport mode in order to reduce penalty cost. We provide a numerical analysis in order to study the effectiveness of the mathematical model. We found that chances of stock out during lead time will be higher due to the higher variability of lead time and lad time demand. Numerical results show that penalty cost of air transport mode is negative that means chances of stock out zero, but, having higher holding and emissions cost. Therefore, air transport mode is only selected when there is any emergency order to reduce penalty cost, otherwise, rail and road transport is the most preferred mode of transportation. Thus, this paper is contributing to the literature by a novel approach to decide transport mode under emissions cost and lead time variability. This model can be extended by studying the effect of lead time variability under some other strategic transportation issues such as modal split option, full truck load strategy, and demand consolidation strategy etc.

Keywords: carbon emissions, inventory theoretic model, lead time variability, transport mode selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: H. Scholz, P. Kuehne, G. Heckenberger

Abstract:

Dietary Anion-Cation Balance (DCAB) in grazing systems under German conditions has a tendency to decrease from May until September and often are measured DCAB lower than 100 meq per kg dry matter. Lower DCAB in grass feeding system can change the metabolic status of suckler cows and often are results in acidotic metabolism. Measurement of acid-base excretion in dairy cows has been proved to a method to evaluate the acid-base status. The hypothesis was that metabolic imbalances could be identified by urine measurement in suckler cows. The farm study was conducted during the grazing seasons 2017 and 2018 and involved 7 suckler cow farms in Germany. Suckler cows were grazing during the whole time of the investigation and had no access to other feeding components. Cows had free access to water and salt block and free access to minerals (loose). The dry matter of the grass was determined at 60 °C and were then analysed for energy and nutrient content and for the Dietary Cation-Anion Balance (DCAB). Urine was collected in 50 ml-glasses and analysed for net acid-base excretion (NSBA) and the concentration of creatinine and urea in the laboratory. Statistical analysis took place with ANOVA with fixed effects of farms (1-7), month (May until September), and number of lactations (1, 2, and ≥ 3 lactations) using SPSS Version 25.0 for windows. An alpha of 0.05 was used for all statistical tests. During the grazing periods of years 2017 and 2018, an average DCAB was observed in the grass of 167 meq per kg DM. A very high mean variation could be determined from -42 meq/kg to +439 meq/kg. Reference values in relation to DCAB were described between 150 meq and 400 meq per kg DM. It was found the high chlorine content with reduced potassium level led to this reduction in DCAB at the end of the grazing period. Between the DCAB of the grass and the NSBA in urine of suckler cows was a correlation according to PEARSON of r = 0.478 (p ≤ 0.001) or after SPEARMAN of r = 0.601 (p ≤ 0.001) observed. For the control of urine values of grazing suckler cows, the wide spread of the values poses a challenge of the interpretation, especially since the DCAB is unknown. The influence of several feeding components such as chlorine, sulfur, potassium, and sodium (ions for the DCAB) and dry matter feed intake during the grazing period of suckler cows should be taken into account in further research. The results obtained show that up a decrease in the DCAB is related to a decrease in NSBA in urine of suckler cows. Monitoring of metabolic disturbances should include analysis of urine, blood, milk, and ruminal fluid.

Keywords: dietary anion-cation balance, DCAB, net acid-base excretion, NSBA, suckler cow, grazing period

Procedia PDF Downloads 144