Search results for: activation code

Authors: Marchant Van Der Schyff

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South Africa remains one of the most dangerous places for women – lesbians in particular – to live freely and safely, where a culture of patriarchy and a lack of socio-economic opportunity are ubiquitous throughout its communities. While the Internet has given a wider platform to provide insights to issues plaguing lesbians, very little information exists regarding the elements used in the construction of these online reports. This is not only due to the lack of language required to contextualise lesbian issues, but also persistent institutional and societal homophobia. This article describes the technical frames used in the online news reporting of four case studies of ‘queercide’. Through using a thematic coding sheet, data was collected from 70 online articles purposively selected based on priori population characteristics. The study found technical elements, such as the length of online reports, credible sources used, ‘code driven’-, and ‘user driven’ elements which were identified in the coded online articles. From the conclusions some clear trends emerged enabling the construction of a Venn-type diagram which present insights to how the murder of lesbians (referred to as ‘queercide’ in the article) is being reported on by online news media compared to the contemporary theoretical discussions on how these cases should be reported on.

Keywords: journalism, lesbian murder, queercide, technical frames, reporting, online

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Authors: Md. Mizanur Rahman, Anquan Liu, Anna Frostegård, Johan Frostegård

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The role of the human immune system is essential in cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis. Activated cells in atherosclerosis produce abundant amounts of cytokines, but the exact mechanisms involved in the effects of these inflammatory cytokines are not clear in atherosclerosis. In a large clinical cohort, we have previously determined that antibodies against phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) are negatively and independently associated with both development of atherosclerosis and also a low risk of cardiovascular disease. Further, we reported that rheumatoid arthritis patients who were non-responders to TNF-inhibitors, where those with low anti-PC levels. Upon anti-TNF treatment, anti-PC levels increased. We, therefore, hypothesised that proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF could play a role in anti-PC regulation. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were cultured with or without TNF and anti-TNF. The cell supernatants were collected after six days for ELISA measurements. In separate experiments, cells were cultured for 24 hours in both polystyrene plates and ELISPOT plates under a similar condition for ELISA and ELISPOT assays respectively. Total RNA was extracted after 6 hours of cell culture to perform RT-qPCR. Cell viability was confirmed by trypan blue staining and MTT assays. ELISA measurements detected less than 40% of anti-PC in TNF-treated cells, in comparison to control cells, whereas anti-PC production was recovered by anti-TNF treatment. ELISPOT assays showed that TNF suppresses anti-PC production by inhibiting anti-PC producing B-cells. In addition, RT-qPCR and ELISA showed that TNF also has effects also on B-cell activation as BAFF expression was inhibited by TNF treatment. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases, but anti-PC is a protection marker for atherosclerosis development. Our findings show that TNF is a negative regulator of anti-PC production. Immune modulation and rising of anti-PC could be of major significance for the patients.

Keywords: anti-PC, Anti-TNF, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, phosphorylecholine

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Authors: Sudeshna Mukherjee, Leena Fageria, R. Venkataramana Dilip, Rajdeep Chowdhury, Jitendra Panwar

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Metal nanoparticles in recent years have gained importance in cancer therapy due to their enhanced permeability retention effect. Among various nanomaterials, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have received considerable attention due to their unique properties like conductivity, chemical stability, relative lower toxicity and outstanding therapeutic potential, such as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-cancerous activities. In this study, we took a greener approach to synthesize silver nanoparticle from fungus and analyze its effects on both epithelial and mesenchymal derived cancer cells. Much research has been done on nanoparticle-induced apoptosis, but little is known about its role in autophagy. In our study, the silver nanoparticles were seen to induce autophagy which was analyzed by studying the expression of several autophagy markers like, LC3B-II and ATG genes. Monodansylcadaverine (MDC) assay also revealed the induction of autophagy upon treatment with AgNPs. Inhibition of autophagy by chloroquine resulted in increased cell death suggesting autophagy as a survival strategy adopted by the cells. In parallel to autophagy induction, silver nanoparticles induced ROS accumulation. Interestingly, autophagy inhibition by chloroquine increased ROS level, resulting in enhanced cell death. We further analyzed MAPK signaling upon AgNP treatment. It was observed that along with autophagy, activation of JNK signaling served as pro-survival while ERK signaling served as a pro-death signal. Our results provide valuable insights into the role of autophagy upon AgNP exposure and provide cues to probabilistic strategies to effectively sensitize cancer cells.

Keywords: autophagy, JNK signalling, reactive oxygen species, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Diogo Ferreira Lima Filho, José Roberto Amazonas

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Nanotechnology opens the door to new paradigms that introduces a variety of novel tools enabling a plethora of potential applications in the biomedical, industrial, environmental, and military fields. This work proposes an integrated node model by applying the same concepts of TCNet to networks of nanodevices where the nodes are cooperatively interconnected with a low-complexity Mealy Machine (MM) topology integrating in the same electronic system the modules necessary for independent operation in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), consisting of Rectennas (RF to DC power converters), Code Generators based on Finite State Machine (FSM) & Trellis Decoder and On-chip Transmit/Receive with autonomy in terms of energy sources applying the Energy Harvesting technique. This approach considers the use of a Graphene Composite Substrate (GCS) for the integrated electronic circuits meeting the following characteristics: mechanical flexibility, miniaturization, and optical transparency, besides being ecological. In addition, graphene consists of a layer of carbon atoms with the configuration of a honeycomb crystal lattice, which has attracted the attention of the scientific community due to its unique Electrical Characteristics.

Keywords: composite substrate, energy harvesting, finite state machine, graphene, nanotechnology, rectennas, wireless sensor networks

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Authors: ZerarkaHizia, Akchiche Mustapha, Prunier Florent

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Landslide of Ain El Hammam (AEH) has been an old slip since 1969; it was reactivated after an intense rainfall period in 2008 where it presents a complex shape and affects broad areas. The schist of AEH is more or less altered; the alteration is facilitated by the fracturing of the rock in its upper part, the presence of flowing water as well as physical and chemical mechanisms of desegregation in joint of altered schist. The factors following these instabilities are mostly related to the geological formation, the hydro-climatic conditions and the topography of the region. The city of AEH is located on the top of a steep slope at 50 km from the city of TiziOuzou (Algeria). AEH’s topographic monitoring of unstable slope allows analyzing the structure and the different deformation mechanism and the gradual change in the geometry, the direction of change of slip. It also allows us to delimit the area affected by the movement. This work aims to study the behavior of AEH landslide with topographic monitoring and to validate the results with numerical modeling of the slip site, when the hydraulic factors are identified as the most important factors for the reactivation of this landslide. With the help of the numerical code PLAXIS 2D and PlaxFlow, the precipitations and the steady state flow are modeled. To identify the mechanism of deformation and to predict the spread of the AEH landslide numerically, we used the equivalent deviatory strain, and these results were visualized by MATLAB software.

Keywords: equivalent deviatory strain, landslide, numerical modeling, topographic monitoring

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Authors: Rida Batool, Faizah Altaf, Saba Nadeem, Afifa Aslam, Faisal Alamgir, Ghazanfar Abbas

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Today, the need of the hour is to find out alternative renewable energy resources in order to reduce the burden on fossil fuels and prevent alarming environmental degradation. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is considered a good alternative energy conversion device because it is environmentally benign and supplies energy on demand. The only drawback associated with SOFC is its high operating temperature. In order to reduce operating temperature, different types of composite material are prepared. In this work, titanium doped lanthanum gallium cerate (LGCT) composite is prepared through the co-precipitation method as electrolyte and examined for low temperature SOFCs (LTSOFCs). The structural properties are analyzed by X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometry. The surface properties are investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The electrolyte LGCT has the formula LGCTO₃ because it showed two phases La.GaO and Ti.CeO₂. The average particle size is found to be (32 ± 0.9311) nm. The ionic conductivity is achieved to be 0.073S/cm at 650°C. Arrhenius plots are drawn to calculate activation energy and found 2.96 eV. The maximum power density and current density are achieved at 68.25mW/cm² and 357mA/cm², respectively, at 650°C with hydrogen. The prepared material shows excellent ionic conductivity at comparatively low temperature, that makes it a potentially good candidate for LTSOFCs.

Keywords: solid oxide fuel cell, LGCTO₃, cerium composite oxide, ionic conductivity, low temperature electrolyte

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Authors: Hao Liu, Lihui Zheng, Chinedu J. Okere, Chao Wang, Xiangchun Wang, Peng Zhang

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The coalbed methane (CBM) extraction industry (an unconventional energy source) is yet to promulgated an established standard code of practice for the experimental evaluation of sensitivity damage of coal samples. The existing experimental process of previous researches mainly followed the industry standard for conventional oil and gas reservoirs (CIS). However, the existing evaluation method ignores certain critical differences between CBM reservoirs and conventional reservoirs, which could inevitably result in an inaccurate evaluation of sensitivity damage and, eventually, poor decisions regarding the formulation of formation damage prevention measures. In this study, we propose improved experimental guidelines for evaluating seepage sensitivity damage of CBM reservoirs by leveraging on the shortcomings of the existing methods. The proposed method was established via a theoretical analysis of the main drawbacks of the existing methods and validated through comparative experiments. The results show that the proposed evaluation technique provided reliable experimental results that can better reflect actual reservoir conditions and correctly guide future development of CBM reservoirs. This study is pioneering the research on the optimization of experimental parameters for efficient exploration and development of CBM reservoirs.

Keywords: coalbed methane, formation damage, permeability, unconventional energy source

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Authors: Esraa Mohamed El-Fawal

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A facile solvothermal procedure was applied to fabricate zinc ferrite nanoparticles (ZnFe₂O₄ NPs). Activated carbon (AC) derived from peanut shells is synthesized using a microwave through the chemical activation method. The ZnFe₂O₄-AC composite is then mixed with a cerium-based metal-organic framework (CeMOF) by solid-state adding to formulate ZnFe₂O₄-AC/CeMOF composite. The synthesized photo materials were tested by scanning/transmission electron microscope (SEM/TEM), Photoluminescence (PL), (XRD) X-Ray diffraction, (FTIR) Fourier transform infrared, (UV-Vis/DRS) ultraviolet-visible/diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The prepared ZnFe₂O₄-AC/CeMOFphotomaterial shows significantly boosted efficiency for photodegradation of methyl orange /methylene blue (MO/MB) compared with the pristine ZnFe₂O₄ and ZnFe₂O₄-AC composite under the irradiation of visible-light. The favorable ZnFe₂O₄-AC/CeMOFphotocatalyst displays the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency of MB/MO (R: 91.5-88.6%, consecutively) compared with the other as-prepared materials after 30 min of visible-light irradiation. The apparent reaction rate K: 1.94-1.31 min-1 is also calculated. The boosted photocatalytic proficiency is ascribed to the heterojunction at the interface of prepared photo material that assists the separation of the charge carriers. To reach optimization, statistical analysis using response surface methodology was applied. The effect of independent parameters (such as A (pH), B (irradiation time), and (c) initial pollutants concentration on the response function (%)photodegradation of MB/MO dyes (as examples of azodyes) was investigated via using central composite design. At the optimum condition, the photodegradation efficiency (%) of the MB/MO is 99.8-97.8%, respectively. ZnFe2O₄-AC/CeMOF hybrid reveals good stability over four consecutive cycles.

Keywords: azo-dyes, photo-catalysis, zinc ferrite, response surface methodology

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Authors: A. El-S. Makled, M. K. Al-Tamimi

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A mathematical model to predict the performance parameters (thrusts, chamber pressures, fuel mass flow rates, mixture ratios, and regression rates during firing time) of hybrid rocket motor (HRM) is evaluated. The internal ballistic (IB) hybrid combustion model assumes that the solid fuel surface regression rate is controlled only by heat transfer (convective and radiative) from flame zone to solid fuel burning surface. A laboratory HRM is designed, manufactured, and tested for low thrust profile space missions (10-15 N) and for validating the mathematical model (computer program). The polymer material and gaseous oxidizer which are selected for this experimental work are polymethyle-methacrylate (PMMA) and polyethylene (PE) as solid fuel grain and gaseous oxygen (GO₂) as oxidizer. The variation of various operational parameters with time is determined systematically and experimentally in firing of up to 20 seconds, and an average combustion efficiency of 95% of theory is achieved, which was the goal of these experiments. The comparison between recording fire data and predicting analytical parameters shows good agreement with the error that does not exceed 4.5% during all firing time. The current mathematical (computer) code can be used as a powerful tool for HRM analytical design parameters.

Keywords: hybrid combustion, internal ballistics, hybrid rocket motor, performance parameters

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Authors: Shuyu Zhang

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The waterfront historical district, as a type of historical districts on the verge of waters such as the sea, lake, and river, have a relatively special urban form. In the past preservation and renewal of traditional historic districts, there have been many discussions on the land range, and the waterfront and marginal spaces are easily overlooked. However, the waterfront space of the historic districts, as a cultural landscape heritage combining historical buildings and landscape elements, has strong ecological and sustainable values. At the same time, Suzhou and Venice, as sister water cities in history, have more waterfront spaces that can be compared in urban form and other levels. Therefore, this paper focuses on the waterfront historic districts in Venice and Suzhou, establishes quantitative evaluation indicators for environmental perception, makes analogies, and promotes the renewal and activation of the entire historical district by improving the spatial quality and vitality of the waterfront area. First, this paper uses multi-source data for analysis, such as Baidu Maps and Google Maps API to crawl the street view of the waterfront historic districts, uses machine learning algorithms to analyze the proportion of cultural landscape elements such as green viewing rate in the street view pictures, and uses space syntax software to make quantitative selectivity analysis, so as to establish environmental perception evaluation indicators for the waterfront historic districts. Finally, by comparing and summarizing the waterfront historic districts in Venice and Suzhou, it reveals their similarities and differences, characteristics and conclusions, and hopes to provide a reference for the heritage preservation and renewal of other waterfront historic districts.

Keywords: waterfront historical district, cultural landscape, perception, multi-source Data

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Authors: Pedro Esteban

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Today’s electrical networks, including microgrids, are evolving into smart grids. The smart grid concept brings the idea that the power comes from various sources (continuous or intermittent), in various forms (AC or DC, high, medium or low voltage, etc.), and it must be integrated into the electric power system in a smart way to guarantee a continuous and reliable supply that complies with power quality and energy efficiency standards and grid code requirements. This idea brings questions for the different players like how the required power will be generated, what kind of power will be more suitable, how to store exceeding levels for short or long-term usage, and how to combine and distribute all the different generation power sources in an efficient way. To address these issues, there has been lots of development in recent years on the field of on-grid and off-grid hybrid power systems (HPS). These systems usually combine one or more modes of electricity generation together with energy storage to ensure optimal supply reliability and high level of energy security. Hybrid power systems combine power generation and energy storage technologies together with real-time energy management and innovative power quality and energy efficiency improvement functionalities. These systems help customers achieve targets for clean energy generation, they add flexibility to the electrical grid, and they optimize the installation by improving its power quality and energy efficiency.

Keywords: microgrids, hybrid power systems, energy storage, power quality improvement

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Authors: Gheorghe Ionita, Sebastian Brad, Ioan Stefanescu

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In any fusion device, tritium plays a key role both as a fuel component and, due to its radioactivity and easy incorporation, as tritiated water (HTO). As for the ITER project, to reduce the constant potential of tritium emission, there will be implemented a Water Detritiation System (WDS) and an Isotopic Separation System (ISS). In the same time, during operation of fission CANDU reactors, the tritium content increases in the heavy water used as moderator and cooling agent (due to neutron activation) and it has to be reduced, too. In Romania, at the National Institute for Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies (ICIT Rm-Valcea), there is an Experimental Pilot Plant for Tritium Removal (Exp. TRF), with the aim of providing technical data on the design and operation of an industrial plant for heavy water depreciation of CANDU reactors from Cernavoda NPP. The selected technology is based on the catalyzed isotopic exchange process between deuterium and liquid water (LPCE) combined with the cryogenic distillation process (CD). This paper presents an updated review of activities in the field carried out in Romania after the year 2000 and in particular those related to the development and operation of Tritium Removal Experimental Pilot Plant. It is also presented a comparison between the experimental pilot plant and industrial plant to be implemented at Cernavoda NPP. The similarities between the experimental pilot plant from ICIT Rm-Valcea and water depreciation and isotopic separation systems from ITER are also presented and discussed. Many aspects or 'opened issues' relating to WDS and ISS could be checked and clarified by a special research program, developed within ExpTRF. By these achievements and results, ICIT Rm - Valcea has proved its expertise and capability concerning tritium management therefore its competence may be used within ITER project.

Keywords: ITER project, heavy water detritiation, tritium removal, isotopic exchange

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Authors: Swarnapriya Thiyagarajan, Modesto Antonio Sosa Aquino, Miguel Vallejo Hernandez, Senthilkumar Kalaiselvan Dhivyaraj, Jayaramakrishnan Velusamy

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In this paper the lithium tetra borate (Li2B4O7) was prepared by used water/solution assisted synthesis method. Once finished the synthesization, Copper (Cu) were used to doping material with Li2B4O7 in order to enhance its thermo luminescent properties. The heating temperature parameters were 750°C for 2 hr and 150°C for 2hr. The samples produced by water assisted method were doped at different doping percentage (0.02%, 0.04%, 0.06%, 0.08%, 0.12%, 0.5%, 0.1%, and 1%) of Cu.The characteristics and identification of Li2B4O7 (undoped and doped) were determined in four tests. They are X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Photoluminescence (PL), Ultra violet visible spectroscopy (UV Vis). As it is evidence from the XRD and SEM results the obtained Li2B4O7 and Li2B4O7 doping with Cu was confirmed and also confirmed the chemical compositition and their morphologies. The obtained lithium tetraborate XRD pattern result was verified with the reference data of lithium tetraborate with tetragonal structure from JCPDS. The glow curves of Li2B4O7 and Li2B4O7 : Cu were obtained by thermo luminescence (TLD) reader (Harshaw 3500). The pellets were irradiated with different kind of dose (58mGy, 100mGy, 500mGy, and 945mGy) by using an X-ray source. Finally this energy response was also compared with TLD100. The order of kinetics (b), frequency factor (S) and activation energy (E) or the trapping parameters were calculated using peak shape method. Especially Li2B4O7: Cu (0.1%) presents good glow curve in all kind of doses. The experimental results showed that this Li2B4O7: Cu could have good potential applications in radiation dosimetry. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of synthesis on the TL properties of doped lithium tetra borate Li2B4O7.

Keywords: dosimetry, irradiation, lithium tetraborate, thermoluminescence

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Authors: Moumita Sit, Chaitali Ray

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The present article deals with the free vibration analysis of hybrid laminated composite structures with initial stresses developed in the laminates. Generally initial stresses may be developed in the laminates by temperature and moisture effect. In this study, an eight noded isoparametric plate bending element has been used for the finite element analysis of composite plates. A numerical model has been developed to assess the geometric nonlinear response of composite plates based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) considering the Green–Lagrange type nonlinearity. A computer code based on finite element method (FEM) has also been developed in MATLAB to perform the numerical calculations. To validate the accuracy of the proposed numerical model, the results obtained from the present study are compared with those available in published literature. Effects of the side to thickness ratio, different boundary conditions and initial stresses on the natural frequency of composite plates have been studied. The free vibration analysis of a hollow stiffened hybrid laminated panel has also been carried out considering initial stresses and presented as case study.

Keywords: geometric nonlinearity, higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT), hybrid composite laminate, the initial stress

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Authors: Darren Edwards, Thomas Pinna

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Background: Interoception and heart rate variability have been found to predict outcomes of mental health and well-being. However, these have usually been investigated independently of one another. Objectives: This review aimed to explore the associations between interoception and heart rate variability (HRV) with emotion regulation (ER) and ER strategies within the existing literature and utilizing systematic review methodology. Methods: The process of article retrieval and selection followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Databases PsychINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, and MEDLINE were scanned for papers published. Preliminary inclusion and exclusion criteria were specified following the patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) framework, whilst the checklist for critical appraisal and data extraction for systematic reviews of prediction modeling studies (CHARMS) framework was used to help formulate the research question, and to critically assess for bias in the identified full-length articles. Results: 237 studies were identified after initial database searches. Of these, eight studies were included in the final selection. Six studies explored the associations between HRV and ER, whilst three investigated the associations between interoception and ER (one of which was included in the HRV selection too). Overall, the results seem to show that greater HRV and interoception are associated with better ER. Specifically, high parasympathetic activity largely predicted the use of adaptive ER strategies such as reappraisal, and better acceptance of emotions. High interoception, instead, was predictive of effective down-regulation of negative emotions and handling of social uncertainty, there was no association with any specific ER strategy. Conclusions: Awareness of one’s own bodily feelings and vagal activation seem to be of central importance for the effective regulation of emotional responses.

Keywords: emotional regulation, vagal tone, interoception, chronic conditions, health and well-being, psychological flexibility

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Authors: Oumaima Khlifati, Khadija Baba

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Pavement distress is the main factor responsible for the deterioration of road structure durability, damage vehicles, and driver comfort. Transportation agencies spend a high proportion of their funds on pavement monitoring and maintenance. The auscultation of pavement distress was based on the manual survey, which was extremely time consuming, labor intensive, and required domain expertise. Therefore, the automatic distress detection is needed to reduce the cost of manual inspection and avoid more serious damage by implementing the appropriate remediation actions at the right time. Inspired by recent deep learning applications, this paper proposes an algorithm for automatic road distress detection and classification using on the Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN). In this study, the types of pavement distress are classified as transverse or longitudinal cracking, alligator, pothole, and intact pavement. The dataset used in this work is composed of public asphalt pavement images. In order to learn the structure of the different type of distress, the DCNN models are trained and tested as a multi-label classification task. In addition, to get the highest accuracy for our model, we adjust the structural optimization hyper parameters such as the number of convolutions and max pooling, filers, size of filters, loss functions, activation functions, and optimizer and fine-tuning hyper parameters that conclude batch size and learning rate. The optimization of the model is executed by checking all feasible combinations and selecting the best performing one. The model, after being optimized, performance metrics is calculated, which describe the training and validation accuracies, precision, recall, and F1 score.

Keywords: distress pavement, hyperparameters, automatic classification, deep learning

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Authors: T. Poppendieker, H. Maurer, C. Segieth

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Over the past ten years, foam rolling has become a new trend in the fitness and health market. It is also a frequently used technique for self-massage. However, the scope of effects from foam rolling has only recently started to be researched and understood. The focus of this study is to examine the effects of prolonged foam rolling on muscle performance. Isometric muscle force was used as a parameter to determine an improving impact of the myofascial roller in two different application volumes. Besides the maximal muscle force, data were also collected on muscle activation during all tests. Twenty-four (17 females, 7 males) healthy students with an average age of 23.4 ± 2.8 years were recruited. The study followed a cross-over pre-/post design in which the order of conditions was counterbalanced. The subjects performed a one-minute and three-minute foam rolling application set on two separate days. Isometric maximal muscle force of the dominant calf was tested before and after the self-myofascial release application. The statistic software program SPSS 22 was used to analyze the data of the maximal isometric force of the calf muscle by a 2 x 2 (time of measurement x intervention) analysis of variance with repeated measures. The statistic significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Neither for the main effect of time of measurement (F(1,23) = .93, p = .36, f = .20) nor for the interaction of time of measurement x intervention (F(1,23) = 1.99, p = .17, f = 0.29) significant p-values were found. However, the effect size indicates a mean interaction effect with a tendency of greater pre-post improvements under the three-minute foam rolling condition. Changes in maximal force did not correlate with changes in EMG-activity (r = .02, p = .95 in the short and r = -.11, p = .65 in the long rolling condition). Results support findings of previous studies and suggest a positive potential for use of the foam roll as a means for keeping muscle force at least at the same performance level while leading to an increase in flexibility.

Keywords: application volume differences, foam rolling, isometric maximal force, self-myofascial release

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Authors: Hadjer Sadoune, Liza Lamini, Scherazade Krim, Amel Djouadi, Rachida Rihani

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Deep neural networks are highly regarded for their accuracy in predicting intricate fermentation processes. Their ability to learn from a large amount of datasets through artificial intelligence makes them particularly effective models. The primary obstacle in improving the performance of these models is to carefully choose the suitable hyperparameters, including the neural network architecture (number of hidden layers and hidden units), activation function, optimizer, learning rate, and other relevant factors. This study predicts biogas production from real wastewater treatment plant data using a sophisticated approach: hybrid Bayesian optimization with a tree-structured Parzen estimator (BO-TPE) for an optimised deep neural network (DNN) model. The plant utilizes an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) digester that treats industrial wastewater from soft drinks and breweries. The digester has a working volume of 1574 m3 and a total volume of 1914 m3. Its internal diameter and height were 19 and 7.14 m, respectively. The data preprocessing was conducted with meticulous attention to preserving data quality while avoiding data reduction. Three normalization techniques were applied to the pre-processed data (MinMaxScaler, RobustScaler and StandardScaler) and compared with the Non-Normalized data. The RobustScaler approach has strong predictive ability for estimating the volume of biogas produced. The highest predicted biogas volume was 2236.105 Nm³/d, with coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.712, 164.610, and 223.429, respectively.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas production, deep neural network, hybrid bo-tpe, hyperparameters tuning

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Authors: Enoch F. Sam, Kris Brijs, Stijn Daniels, Tom Brijs, Geert Wets

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Notwithstanding the growing body of literature that recognises the importance of personal safety to public transport (PT) users, it remains unclear what PT users consider regarding their safety. In this study, we explore the criteria PT users in Ghana use to assess bus safety. This knowledge will afford a better understanding of PT users’ risk perceptions and assessments which may contribute to theoretical models of PT risk perceptions. We utilised phenomenological research methodology, with data drawn from 61 purposively sampled participants. Data collection (through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews) and analyses were done concurrently to the point of saturation. Our inductive data coding and analyses through the constant comparison and content analytic techniques resulted in 4 code categories (conceptual dimensions), 27 codes (safety items/criteria), and 100 quotations (data segments). Of the number of safety criteria participants use to assess bus safety, vehicle condition, driver’s marital status, and transport operator’s safety records were the most considered. With each criterion, participants rightly demonstrated its respective relevance to bus safety. These findings imply that investment in and maintenance of safer vehicles, and responsible and safety-conscious drivers, and prioritization of passengers’ safety are key-targets for public bus/minibus operators in Ghana.

Keywords: safety evaluations, public bus/minibus, passengers, phenomenology, Ghana

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Authors: Abdulsalam M. Alhawsawi

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Estimation of a radiation detector's efficiency plays a significant role in calculating the activity of radioactive samples. Detector efficiency is measured using sources that emit a variety of energies from low to high-energy photons along the energy spectrum. Some photon energies are hard to find in lab settings either because check sources are hard to obtain or the sources have short half-lives. This work aims to develop a method to determine the efficiency of a High Purity Germanium Detector (HPGe) based on the 662 keV gamma ray photon emitted from Cs-137. Cesium-137 is readily available in most labs with radiation detection and health physics applications and has a long half-life of ~30 years. Several photon efficiencies were calculated using the MCNP5 simulation code. The simulated efficiency of the 662 keV photon was used as a base to calculate other photon efficiencies in a point source and a Marinelli Beaker form. In the Marinelli Beaker filled with water case, the efficiency of the 59 keV low energy photons from Am-241 was estimated with a 9% error compared to the MCNP5 simulated efficiency. The 1.17 and 1.33 MeV high energy photons emitted by Co-60 had errors of 4% and 5%, respectively. The estimated errors are considered acceptable in calculating the activity of unknown samples as they fall within the 95% confidence level.

Keywords: MCNP5, MonteCarlo simulations, efficiency calculation, absolute efficiency, activity estimation, Cs-137

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Authors: Pureun-Haneul Lee, Byeong-Gon Kim, Sun-Hye Lee, An-Soo Jang

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Background: Nanoparticles may pose adverse health effects due to particulate matter inhalation. Nanoparticle exposure induces cell and tissue damage, causing local and systemic inflammatory responses. The inflammasome is a major regulator of inflammation through its activation of pro-caspase-1, which cleaves pro-interleukin-1β (IL-1β) into its mature form and may signal acute and chronic immune responses to nanoparticles. Objective: The aim of the study was to identify whether nanoparticles exaggerates inflammasome pathway leading to airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in an allergic mice model of asthma. Methods: Mice were treated with saline (sham), OVA-sensitized and challenged (OVA), or titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Lung interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 18 (IL-18), NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) and caspase-1 levels were assessed with Western Blot. Caspase-1 was checked by immunohistochemical staining. Reactive oxygen species were measured for the marker 8-isoprostane and carbonyl by ELISA. Results: Airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness increased in OVA-sensitized/challenged mice and these responses were exaggerated by TiO2 nanoparticles exposure. TiO2 nanoparticles treatment increased IL-1β and IL-18 protein expression in OVA-sensitized/challenged mice. TiO2 nanoparticles augmented the expression of NLRP3 and caspase-1 leading to the formation of an active caspase-1 in the lung. Lung caspase-1 expression was increased in OVA-sensitized/challenged mice and these responses were exaggerated by TiO2 nanoparticles exposure. Reactive oxygen species was increased in OVA-sensitized/challenged mice and in OVA-sensitized/challenged plus TiO2 exposed mice. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that inflammasome pathway activates in asthmatic lungs following nanoparticles exposure, suggesting that targeting the inflammasome may help control nanoparticles-induced airway inflammation and responsiveness.

Keywords: bronchial asthma, inflammation, inflammasome, nanoparticles

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Authors: Atif Zafar Khan, Swarnendra Singh, Imrana Naseem

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Breast cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies in women worldwide and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Therefore, there is a need to identify new chemotherapeutic strategies for cancer treatment. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells contain elevated copper levels which play an integral role in angiogenesis. Copper is an important metal ion associated with the chromatin DNA, particularly with guanine. Thus, targeting copper via copper-specific chelators in cancer cells can serve as effective anticancer strategy. Keeping in view these facts, we evaluated the anticancer activity and copper-dependent cytotoxic effect of coumestrol (phytoestrogen in soybean products) in breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Coumestrol inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, which was prevented by copper chelator neocuproine and ROS scavengers. Coumestrol treatment induced ROS generation coupled to DNA fragmentation, up-regulation of p53/p21, cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and caspases 9/3 activation. All these effects were suppressed by ROS scavengers and neocuproine. These results suggest that coumestrol targets elevated copper for redox cycling to generate ROS leading to DNA fragmentation. DNA damage leads to p53 up-regulation which directs the cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase and promotes caspase-dependent apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. In conclusion, coumestrol induces pro-oxidant cell death by chelating cellular copper to produce copper-coumestrol complexes that engages in redox cycling in breast cancer cells. Thus, targeting elevated copper levels might be a potential therapeutic strategy for selective cytotoxic action against malignant cells.

Keywords: apoptosis, breast cancer, copper chelation, coumestrol, reactive oxygens species, redox cycling

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Yogendra Singh, Mayur Pisode

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Many times it is observed that in multi-storeyed buildings the dynamic properties in the two directions are similar due to which there may be a coupling between the two orthogonal modes of the building. This is particularly observed in bi-symmetric buildings (buildings with structural properties and periods approximately equal in the two directions). There is a swapping of vibrational energy between the modes in the two orthogonal directions. To avoid this coupling the draft revision of IS:1893 proposes a minimum separation of more than 15% between the frequencies of the fundamental modes in the two directions. This study explores the seismic behaviour of bi-symmetrical buildings under uniaxial and bi-axial ground motions. For this purpose, three different types of 8 storey buildings symmetric in plan are modelled. The first building has square columns, resulting in identical periods in the two directions. The second building, with rectangular columns, has a difference of 20% in periods in orthogonal directions, and the third building has half of the rectangular columns aligned in one direction and other half aligned in the other direction. The numerical analysis of the seismic response of these three buildings is performed by using a set of 22 ground motions from PEER NGA database and scaled as per FEMA P695 guidelines to represent the same level of intensity corresponding to the Design Basis Earthquake. The results are analyzed in terms of the displacement-time response of the buildings at roof level and corresponding maximum inter-storey drift ratios.

Keywords: bi-symmetric buildings, design code, dynamic coupling, multi-storey buildings, seismic response

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Lavanya Mohan, Suneha Sethi

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This paper seeks to study the concept of existential anguish and its relation to personal growth. Generally, existential anguish is taken to be an all-pervading negative feeling arising from an individual’s knowledge of their absolute freedom. However, this paper investigates the possible positive impact of this sense of anguish, such as its role in commencing an individual’s journey towards authentic living, characterized by an internal locus of will, and acceptance of absolute freedom. This journey towards authentic living is what is referred to as personal growth, in this paper, in the context of existential philosophy. The work of four prominent existentialists has been used to elucidate existential anguish. A human’s scope for personal growth in the existential framework has been compared to that in the teleological framework of religion. In the latter, individuals must abide by the moral code of an external authority and work towards a pre-ordained purpose of life. This is illustrated by the examination of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. To test people’s levels of existential anguish, religiosity, and personal growth, a survey using an originally constructed questionnaire has been undertaken. Simple and partial correlation analyses have been used to ascertain the relationships between these three variables. Contrary to the hypothesis, the results indicate that existential anguish has a detrimental effect on personal growth, while religiosity does not affect it at all. Through their responses, it was also evident that the respondents do not adhere to teleological concepts of morality, despite a belief in God. This study has further scope in determining how variations in sample demography may influence the relationship of existential anguish with personal growth.

Keywords: existential anguish, existentialism, personal growth, religiosity, teleology

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: M. E. Kolpakova, A. A. Jakovleva, L. S. Poliakova, H. El Amghari, S. Soliman, D. R. Faizullina, V. V. Sharoyko

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Brain neuroplasticity is associated with blood-brain barrier vascular endothelial proteoglycans and post-stroke microglial activation. The study of the mechanisms of reperfusion injury limitation by remote ischemic postconditioning (RC) is of interest due to the effects on functional recovery after cerebral ischemia. The goal of the study is the assessment of the role of syndecan-1 (SDC-1) in restriction of ischemic-reperfusion injury on middle cerebral artery model in rats using RC protocol. Randomized controlled trials were conducted. Ischemia was performed by middle cerebral artery occlusion by Belayev L. (1996) on the Wistar rat-males (n= 87) weighting 250 ± 50 g. under general anesthesia (Zoletil 100 и Xylazine 2%). Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) concentration difference in plasma samples of false operated animals and animals with brain ischemia was 30% (30 min. МСАо: 41.4 * ± 1.3 ng/ml). SDC-1 concentration in animal plasma samples with ischemia + RC protocol was 112% (30 min МСАо+ RC): 67.8**± 5.8 ng/ml). Calculation of infarction volume in the ischemia group revealed brain injury in 31.97 ± 2.5%; the volume of infarction was 13.6 ± 1.3% in 30 min. МCАо + RC group. Swelling of tissue in the group 30 min. МCАо + RC was 16 ± 2.1%; it was 47 ± 3.3%. in 30 min. МCАо group. Correlation analysis showed a high direct correlation relationship between infarct area and muscle strength in the right forelimb (КК=0.72) in the 30 min. МCАо + RC group. Correlation analysis showed very high inverse correlation between infarct area and capillary blood flow in the 30 min. МCАо + RC group (p <0.01; r = -0.98). We believe the SDC-1 molecule in blood plasma may play role of potential messenger of ischemic-reperfusion injury restriction mechanisms. This leads to infarct-limiting effect of remote ischemic postconditioning and early functioning recovery.

Keywords: ischemia, МСАо, remote ischemic postconditioning, syndecan-1

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: J. H. Park, R. H. Hwang, K. B. Yi

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Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one of the important technology to reduce the CO₂ emission from large stationary sources such as a power plant. Among the carbon technologies for power plants, chemical looping combustion (CLC) has attracted much attention due to a higher thermal efficiency and a lower cost of electricity. A CLC process is consists of a fuel reactor and an air reactor which are interconnected fluidized bed reactor. In the fuel reactor, an oxygen carrier (OC) is reduced by fuel gas such as CH₄, H₂, CO. And the OC is send to air reactor and oxidized by air or O₂ gas. The oxidation and reduction reaction of OC occurs between the two reactors repeatedly. In the CLC system, high concentration of CO₂ can be easily obtained by steam condensation only from the fuel reactor. It is very important to understand the oxidation and reduction characteristics of oxygen carrier in the CLC system to determine the solids circulation rate between the air and fuel reactors, and the amount of solid bed materials. In this study, we have conducted the experiment and interpreted oxidation and reduction reaction characteristics via observing weight change of Ni-based oxygen carrier using the TGA with varying as concentration and temperature. Characterizations of the oxygen carrier were carried out with BET, SEM. The reaction rate increased with increasing the temperature and increasing the inlet gas concentration. We also compared experimental results and adapted basic reaction kinetic model (JMA model). JAM model is one of the nucleation and nuclei growth models, and this model can explain the delay time at the early part of reaction. As a result, the model data and experimental data agree over the arranged conversion and time with overall variance (R²) greater than 98%. Also, we calculated activation energy, pre-exponential factor, and reaction order through the Arrhenius plot and compared with previous Ni-based oxygen carriers.

Keywords: chemical looping combustion, kinetic, nickel-based, oxygen carrier, spray drying method

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: A. Watson, G. Telford, D. I. Pritchard

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Objective: We investigated the immunomodulatory ability of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). Such activities could have value for the management of common immunological diseases in dogs, such as environmental allergy. This study investigated the potential of a Licorice root extract (LRE) to influence the relative expression of Th-1, Th-2, and Th-17 cytokines in canine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Methods: A LRE was prepared using an alcoholic-aqueous-based solvent method. The extract was tested in three in vitro assays using canine leukocytes to determine its toxicity and immunoregulatory profile. Extract toxicity was assessed using the human T-lymphocyte cell line, Jurkat E6.1. The impact of the extract on the proliferation of concanavalin-activated canine PBMC was also determined. Finally, the extract was assessed for its ability to influence cytokine release in activated PBMC, measuring culture medium concentrations of interleukin-17, interferon gamma, and interleukin-4. One-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s post-test was used for statistics using concanavalin positive control as reference (p ≤ 0.05). Results: There was evidence that the LRE had specific immunomodulatory properties, causing significant inhibition of IL4 expression over a non-toxic/non-cytostatic concentration range (p < 0.001). In the same cell incubations, there was no significant impact on IL17 nor IFNg over the same non-toxic/non-cytostatic concentration range. Conclusion: The study provides in vitro evidence that LRE preferentially reduces the expression of a Th-2-type cytokine, IL4. The dog population, as with humans, is prone to conditions associated with a Th-2 bias of the immune system, such as environmental allergy. Based on these results, licorice merits further evaluation as a useful immune modulator for such allergic diseases.

Keywords: cytokine, Glycyrrhiza glabra, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, T-cell activation

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Misook Ahn

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This study examined the Digital Curriculum Repository (DCR) project initiated at Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC). The purpose of the DCR is to build a centralized curriculum infrastructure, preserve all curriculum materials, and provide academic service to users (faculty, students, or other agencies). The DCR collection includes core language curriculum materials developed by each language school—foreign language textbooks, language survival kits, and audio files currently in or not in use at the schools. All core curriculum materials with audio and video files have been coded, collected, and preserved at the DCR. The DCR website was designed with MS SharePoint for easy accessibility by the DLIFLC’s faculty and students. All metadata for the collected curriculum materials have been input by language, code, year, book type, level, user, version, and current status (in use/not in use). The study documents digital curriculum preservation planning, actions, and challenges, including collecting, coding, collaborating, designing DCR SharePoint, and policymaking. DCR Survey data is also collected and analyzed for this research. Based on the finding, the study concludes that the mandatory policy for the DCR system and collaboration with school leadership are critical elements of a successful repository system. The sample collected items, metadata, and DCR SharePoint site are presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: MS share point, digital preservation, repository, policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Yoftahe Nigussie Worku

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This study focused on designing a Fire tube boiler to generate saturated steam with a 2000kg/h capacity at a 12bar design pressure. The primary project goal is to achieve efficient steam production while minimizing costs. This involves selecting suitable materials for component parts, employing cost-effective construction methods, and optimizing various parameters. The analysis phase employs iterative processes and relevant formulas to determine key design parameters. This includes optimizing the diameter of tubes for overall heat transfer coefficient, considering a two-pass configuration due to tube and shell size, and using heavy oil fuel no.6 with specific heating values. The designed boiler consumes 140.37kg/hr of fuel, producing 1610kw of heat at an efficiency of 85.25%. The fluid flow is configured as cross flow, leveraging its inherent advantages. The tube arrangement involves welding the tubes inside the shell, which is connected to the tube sheet using a combination of gaskets and welding. The design of the shell adheres to the European Standard code for pressure vessels, accounting for weight and supplementary accessories and providing detailed drawings for components like lifting lugs, openings, ends, manholes, and supports.

Keywords: efficiency, coefficient, saturated steam, fire tube

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: E. Satoh, R. Kasahara, T. Aoki, K. Fukatsu, D. Venkata Ramanarao, H. Harayama, T. Murata, A. Suwa

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Rice plant hoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) have been causing extensive economic damage in rice and are considered as serious threat in rice producing countries of Asia. They have developed resistance to major groups of chemical insecticide, and severe outbreaks occur commonly throughout Asia. To control these nuisance pests, Nihon Nohyaku Co., Ltd., recently discovered an insecticide, benzpyrimoxan (proposed ISO name), which is under development as NNI-1501 (development code). Benzpyrimoxan has a unique chemical structure which contains benzyloxy and cyclic acetal groups on pyrimidine moiety (5-(1,3-dioxan-2-yl)-4-[4- (trifluoromethyl)benzyloxy]pyrimidine). In order to clarify the biological properties of benzpyrimoxan, we conducted several experiments and found the following results. Benzpyrimoxan has high activity against nymphal stages of rice plant hoppers without any adulticidal activity. It provides excellent and long lasting control against rice plant hoppers, including populations that have developed resistance to several other chemical groups of insecticide. The study on its mode of action is undergoing. These features highlight the versatility of this insecticide as an effective and valuable tool from the viewpoints of insecticide resistance management and integrated pest management program. With the use of benzpyrimoxan, farmers shall be able to lead the best yield potential by keeping the population density of rice plant hoppers and associated virus diseases under control.

Keywords: acetal, benzpyrimoxan, insecticide, NNI-1501, pyrimidine, rice plant hoppers

Procedia PDF Downloads 202