Search results for: plant growth models

Authors: Abdunaser Abduelmula, Maria Luisa M. Bastos, José A. Gonçalves

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The modeling of the earth's surface and evaluation of urban environment, with 3D models, is an important research topic. New stereo capabilities of high-resolution optical satellites images, such as the tri-stereo mode of Pleiades, combined with new image matching algorithms, are now available and can be applied in urban area analysis. In addition, photogrammetry software packages gained new, more efficient matching algorithms, such as SGM, as well as improved filters to deal with shadow areas, can achieve denser and more precise results. This paper describes a comparison between 3D data extracted from tri-stereo and dual stereo satellite images, combined with pixel based matching and Wallis filter. The aim was to improve the accuracy of 3D models especially in urban areas, in order to assess if satellite images are appropriate for a rapid evaluation of urban environments. The results showed that 3D models achieved by Pleiades tri-stereo outperformed, both in terms of accuracy and detail, the result obtained from a Geo-eye pair. The assessment was made with reference digital surface models derived from high-resolution aerial photography. This could mean that tri-stereo images can be successfully used for the proposed urban change analyses.

Keywords: 3D models, environment, matching, pleiades

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Authors: Libena Cernohorska, Jan Cernohorsky

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This article aims to evaluate the impact of loans provided within the Czech banking sector on the growth of the Czech economy. The article is based on research of current scientific findings in respect to bank loans and economic development. The paper is based on data taken from the Czech Statistical Office on the development of the gross domestic product and data from the Czech National Bank on the development of loans from the period 2004-2015. Links between selected variables are tested using Granger causality tests. The results calculated confirm the hypothesis of the impact of the loans on economic growth, with a six-month delay. The results thus correspond to the standard economic findings and results of most previous studies.

Keywords: bank, business cycle, economic growth, loans

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Authors: Johanna Bapela, Heino Heyman, Marion Meyer

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Regardless of the significant advances accomplished in reducing the burden of malaria and other tropical diseases in recent years, malaria remains a major cause of mortality in endemic countries. This is especially the case in sub-Saharan Africa where 99% of the estimated global malaria deaths occurs on an annual basis. The emergence of resistant Plasmodium species and the lack of diversified chemotherapeutic agents provide the rationale for bioprospecting for antiplasmodial scaffolds. Crude extracts from twenty indigenous antimalarial plant species were screened for antimalarial activity and then subjected to 1H NMR-based metabolomic analysis. Ten plant extracts exhibited significant in vitro antiplasmodial activity (IC50 ≤ 5 µg/ml). The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the acquired 1H NMR spectra could not separate the analyzed plant extracts according to the detected antiplasmodial bioactivity. Application of supervised Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures–Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) to the 1H NMR profiles resulted in a discrimination pattern that could be correlated to bioactivity. A contribution plot generated from the OPLS-DA scoring plot illustrated the classes of compounds responsible for the observed grouping. Given the preliminary in vitro results, Tabernaemontana elegans Stapf. (Apocynaceae) and Vangueria infausta Burch. subsp. infausta (Rubiaceae) were subjected to further phytochemical investigations. Two indole alkaloids, dregamine and tabernaemontanine possessing antiplasmodial activity were isolated from T. elegans. Two compounds were isolated from V. infausta subsp. infausta and identified as friedelin (IC50 = 3.01 µg/ml) and morindolide (IC50 = 18.5 µg/ml). While these compounds have been previously identified, this is the first account of their occurrence in the genus Vangueria and their antiplasmodial activity. Based on the results of the study, metabolomics can be used to globally identify classes of plant secondary metabolites that are responsible for antiplasmodial activity.

Keywords: ethnopharmacology, Malaria, medicinal plants, metabolomics

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Authors: Indu Barwal, Shloka Thakur, Subhash C. Yadav

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The plant virus capsid protein based nanoparticles are extensively studied for their application in biomedical research for development of nanomedicines and drug delivery systems. We have developed a chimeric drug delivery system by controlled in vitro assembly of separately bioconjugated fluorescent dye (as reporting molecule), folic acid (as receptor binding biomolecule for targeted delivery) and doxorubicin (as anticancer drug) using modified EDC NHS chemistry on heterologously overexpressed (E. coli) capsid proteins of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV). This chimeric vehicle was further encapsidated on gold nanoparticles (20nm) coated with 5≠ thiolated DNA probe to neutralize the positive charge of capsid proteins. This facilitates the in vitro assembly of modified capsid subunits on the gold nanoparticles to develop chimeric GNPs encapsidated targeted drug delivery system. The bioconjugation of functionalities, number of functionality on capsid subunits as well as virus like nanoparticles, structural stability and in vitro assembly were confirmed by SDS PAGE, relative absorbance, MALDI TOF, ESI-MS, Circular dichroism, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, zeta particle size analyzer and TEM imaging. This vehicle was stable at pH 4.0 to 8.0 suitable for many organelles targeting. This in vitro assembled chimeric plant virus like particles could be suitable for ideal drug delivery vehicles for subcutaneous cancer treatment and could be further modified for other type of cancer treatment by conjugating other functionalities (targeting, drug) on capsids.

Keywords: chimeric drug delivery vehicles, bioconjugated plant, virus, capsid

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Authors: Gonzalo García-Reyes

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Conformastat spherically symmetric exact solutions of Einstein's field equations representing matter distributions made of fluid both perfect and anisotropic from given solutions of Poisson's equation of Newtonian gravity are investigated. The approach is used in the construction of new relativistic models of thick spherical shells and three-component models of galaxies (bulge, disk, and dark matter halo), writing, in this case, the metric in cylindrical coordinates. In addition, the circular motion of test particles (rotation curves) along geodesics on the equatorial plane of matter configurations and the stability of the orbits against radial perturbations are studied. The models constructed satisfy all the energy conditions.

Keywords: general relativity, exact solutions, spherical symmetry, galaxy, kinematics and dynamics, dark matter

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Authors: G. A. Amin, A. D. Al-Talhi

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The bacterium B. subtilis produced surfactin in conventional batch culture as a growth associated product and a growth rate (0.4 h-1). A fed-batch process was developed and the fermentative substrate and other nutrients were fed on hourly basis and according to the growth rate of the bacterium. Conversion of different quantities of Maldex-15 into surfactin was investigated in five different fermentation runs. In all runs, most of Maldex-15 was consumed and converted into surfactin and cell biomass with appreciable efficiencies. The best results were obtained with fermentation run supplied with 200 g Maldex-15. Up to 35.4 g.l-1 of surfactin and cell biomass of 30.2 g.l-1 were achieved in 12 hrs. Also, markedly substrate yield of 0.269 g/g and volumetric reactor productivity of 2.61 g.1-1.h-1 were obtained confirming the establishment of a cost effective commercial surfactin production.

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis, biosurfactant, exponentially fed-batch fermentation, surfactin

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Authors: Subhan Ahmad, Pradeep Bhargava, Ajay Chourasia

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Shear failure in reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement leads to loss of property and life since a very little or no warning occurs before failure as in case of flexural failure. Shear strength of reinforced concrete beams decreases as its depth increases. This phenomenon is generally called as the size effect. In this paper, a comparative analysis is performed to estimate the performance of shear strength models in capturing the size effect of reinforced concrete beams made with conventional concrete, self-compacting concrete, and recycled aggregate concrete. Four shear strength models that account for the size effect in shear are selected from the literature and applied on the datasets of slender reinforced concrete beams. Beams prepared with conventional concrete, self-compacting concrete, and recycled aggregate concrete are considered for the analysis. Results showed that all the four models captured the size effect in shear effectively and produced conservative estimates of the shear strength for beams made with normal strength conventional concrete. These models yielded unconservative estimates for high strength conventional concrete beams with larger effective depths ( > 450 mm). Model of Bazant and Kim (1984) captured the size effect precisely and produced conservative estimates of shear strength of self-compacting concrete beams at all the effective depths. Also, shear strength models considered in this study produced unconservative estimates of shear strength for recycled aggregate concrete beams at all effective depths.

Keywords: reinforced concrete beams; shear strength; prediction models; size effect

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Authors: Samuel Abebe Ebebo

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Scale precipitation causes a major issue for geothermal power plants because it reduces the production rate of geothermal energy. Each geothermal power plant's different chemical and physical conditions can cause the scale to precipitate under a particular set of fluid-rock interactions. Depending on the mineral, it is possible to have scale in the production well, steam separators, heat exchangers, reinjection wells, and everywhere in between. The scale consists mainly of smectite and trace amounts of chlorite, magnetite, quartz, hematite, dolomite, aragonite, and amorphous silica. The smectite scale is one of the difficult scales at injection wells in geothermal power plants. X-ray diffraction and chemical composition identify this smectite as Stevensite. The characteristics and the scale of each injection well line are different depending on the fluid chemistry. The smectite scale has been widely distributed in pipelines and surface plants. Mineral water equilibrium showed that the main factors controlling the saturation indices of smectite increased pH and dissolved Mg concentration due to the precipitate on the equipment surface. This study aims to characterize the scales and geothermal fluids collected from the Onuma geothermal power plant in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Field tests were conducted on October 30–November 3, 2021, at Onuma to determine the pH control methods for preventing magnesium silicate scaling, and as exemplified, the formation of magnesium silicate hydrates (M-S-H) with MgO to SiO2 ratios of 1.0 and pH values of 10 for one day has been studied at 25 °C. As a result, M-S-H scale formation could be suppressed, and stevensite formation could also be suppressed when we can decrease the pH of the fluid by less than 8.1, 7.4, and 8 (at 97 °C) in the fluid from O-3Rb and O-6Rb, O-10Rg, and O-12R, respectively. In this context, the scales and fluids collected from injection wells at a geothermal power plant in Japan were analyzed and characterized to understand the formation conditions of Mg-silicate scales with on-site synthesis experiments. From the results of the characterizations and on-site synthesis experiments, the inhibition method of their scale formation is discussed based on geochemical modeling in this study.

Keywords: magnesium silicate, scaling, inhibitor, geothermal power plant

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Authors: Cheila Pereira, Sara C. Cunha, Miguel A. Faria, José O. Fernandes

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The increasing world population brings several concerns, one of which is food security and sustainability. To meet this challenge, aquaculture, the farming of aquatic animals and plants, including fish, mollusks, bivalves, and algae, has experienced sustained growth and development in recent years. Recent advances in this industry have focused on reducing its economic and environmental costs, for example, the substitution of protein sources in fish feed. Plant-based proteins are now a common approach, and while it is a greener alternative to animal-based proteins, there are some disadvantages, such as their putative content and intoxicants such as mycotoxins. These are naturally occurring plant contaminants, and their exposure in fish can cause health problems, stunted growth or even death, resulting in economic losses for the producers and health concerns for the consumers. Different works have demonstrated the presence of both AFB1 (aflatoxin B1) and ENNB1 (enniatin B1) in fish feed and their capacity to be absorbed and bioaccumulate in the fish organism after digestion, further reaching humans through fish ingestion. The aim of this work was to evaluate the bioaccessibility of both mycotoxins in samples of Sparus aurata muscle using a static digestion model based on the INFOGEST protocol. The samples were subjected to different cooking procedures – raw, grilled and fried – and different seasonings – none, thyme and ginger – in order to evaluate their potential reduction effect on mycotoxins bioaccessibility, followed by the evaluation of the intestinal transport of both compounds with an in vitro cell model composed of Caco-2/HT-29 co-culture monolayers, simulating the human intestinal epithelium. The bioaccessible fractions obtained in the digestion studies were used in the transport studies for a more realistic approach to bioavailability evaluation. Results demonstrated the effect of the use of different cooking procedures and seasoning on the toxin's bioavailability. Sparus aurata was chosen in this study for its large production in aquaculture and high consumption in Europe. Also, with the continued evolution of fish farming practices and more common usage of novel feed ingredients based on plants, there is a growing concern about less studied contaminants in aquaculture and their consequences for human health. In pair with greener advances in this industry, there is a convergence towards alternative research methods, such as in vitro applications. In the case of bioavailability studies, both in vitro digestion protocols and intestinal transport assessment are excellent alternatives to in vivo studies. These methods provide fast, reliable and comparable results without ethical restraints.

Keywords: AFB1, aquaculture, bioaccessibility, ENNB1, intestinal transport.

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Authors: Ayoola Femi J., Kayode Balogun

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In some African Countries, increase in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) has not translated to real development as expected by common-man in his household. For decades, a lot of contests on economic growth and development has been a nagging issues. The focus of this study is to analysing the effects of economic determinants/factors on economic advances in some African Countries by employing panel data analysis. The yearly (1990-2013) data were obtained from the world economic outlook database of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for probing the effects of these variables on growth rate in some selected African countries which include: Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape-Verde, Cameroun, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic Of Congo, Cote di’ Voire, Egypt, Equatorial-Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, and Uganda. The effects of 6 macroeconomic variables on GDP were critically examined. We used 37 Countries GDP as our dependent variable and 6 independent variables used in this study include: Total Investment (totinv), Inflation (inf), Population (popl), current account balance (cab), volume of imports of goods and services (vimgs), and volume of exports of goods and services (vexgs). The results of our analysis shows that total investment, population and volume of exports of goods and services strongly affect the economic growth. We noticed that population of these selected countries positively affect the GDP while total investment and volume of exports negatively affect GDP. On the contrary, inflation, current account balance and volume of imports of goods and services’ contribution to the GDP are insignificant. The results of our analysis shows that total investment, population and volume of exports of goods and services strongly affect the economic growth. We noticed that population of these selected countries positively affect the GDP while total investment and volume of exports negatively affect GDP. On the contrary, inflation, current account balance and volume of imports of goods and services’ contribution to the GDP are insignificant. The results of this study would be useful for individual African governments for developing a suitable and appropriate economic policies and strategies. It will also help investors to understand the economic nature and viability of Africa as a continent as well as its individual countries.

Keywords: African countries, economic growth and development, gross domestic products, static panel data models

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Authors: Ghunchq Khan

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The increase in greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions is a main environmental problem. Diverse human activities and inappropriate economic growth have stimulated a trade-off between economic growth and environmental deterioration all over the world. The impact of economic growth on the environment has received attention as global warming and environmental problems have become more serious. The focus of this study is on carbon footprints (production and consumption) and analyses the impact of GDP per capita on carbon footprints. A balanced panel of 99 countries from 2000 to 2016 is estimated by employing autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) model – mean group (MG) and pooled mean group (PMG) estimators. The empirical results indicate that GDP per capita has a significant and positive impact in the short run but a negative effect in the long run on the carbon footprint of production in high-income countries by controlling trade openness, industry share, biological capacity, and population density. At the same time, GDP per capita has a significant and positive impact in both the short and long run on the carbon footprint of the production of non-high-income countries. The results also indicate that GDP per capita negatively impacts the carbon footprint of consumption for high-income countries; on the other hand, the carbon footprint of consumption increases as GDP per capita grows in non-high-income countries.

Keywords: ARDL, carbon footprint, economic growth, industry share, trade openness

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Authors: Juan Sepúlveda

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Energy is a fundamental component in sustainability, the access and use of this resource is related with economic growth, social improvements, and environmental impacts. In this sense, energy efficiency has been studied as a factor that enhances the positive impacts of energy in communities; however, the implementation of efficiency requires strong policy and strategies that usually rely on individual measures focused in independent dimensions. In this paper, the problem of energy efficiency as a multi-objective problem is studied, using scientometric analysis to discover trends and patterns that allow to identify the main variables and study approximations related with a further development of models to integrate energy efficiency and MCA into policy making for small communities.

Keywords: energy efficiency, MCA, scientometric, trends

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Authors: Hamidreza Ghazvinian, Khosro Ghazvinian, Touba Khodaiean

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The importance of evaporation estimation in water resources and agricultural studies is undeniable. Pan evaporation are used as an indicator to determine the evaporation of lakes and reservoirs around the world due to the ease of interpreting its data. In this research, intelligent models were investigated in estimating pan evaporation on a daily basis. Shahroud and Mayamey were considered as the studied cities. These two cities are located in Semnan province in Iran. The mentioned cities have dry weather conditions that are susceptible to high evaporation potential. Meteorological data of 11 years of synoptic stations of Shahrood and Mayamey cities were used. The intelligent models used in this study are Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LSSVM), and M5 tree models. Meteorological parameters of minimum and maximum air temperature (Tmax, Tmin), wind speed (WS), sunshine hours (SH), air pressure (PA), relative humidity (RH) as selected input data and evaporation data from pan (EP) to The output data was considered. 70% of data is used at the education level, and 30 % of the data is used at the test level. Models used with explanation coefficient evaluation (R2) Root of Mean Squares Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The results for the two Shahroud and Mayamey stations showed that the above three models' operations are rather appropriate.

Keywords: pan evaporation, intelligent methods, shahroud, mayamey

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Authors: Ahmed E. Al-Sabri, Mohamed A. Moslem, Sarfaraz Hadi

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To avoid the harmful effects of the chemical fungicides on the human and minimize the environmental pollution, an alternative eco-friendly control strategies should be developed. The extract of Commiphora myhrra L. was tested against twenty fungal genera isolated from the indoor air collected from different rooms in King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Disc diffusion test was modified for use in this study and the collected data was statistically analyzed. Variable antifungal efficacy of different myrrh extract was recorded against the investigated fungal genera. The efficacy of the extract was increased as the concentration increased. The highest growth inhibition (74.6%) was against Acremonium strictum followed by Trichoderma psuedokoningii (70.6%). On contrast, the lowest efficacy (12.7%) was against Ulocladium consortiale. It could be concluded that myrrh extract is promised as a source of substances from which of safer and eco-friendly could be used as antimicrobial agents against a number of pathogenic fungi.

Keywords: antifungal, myrrh, antimicrobial, medicinal plant

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Authors: Thaís T. Valério Caetano, Lívia de Carvalho Ferreira, João Máximo De Siqueira, Carlos Alexandre Carollo, Arthur Ladeira Macedo, Vanessa C. Stein

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Nicotiana glauca, commonly known as wild tobacco or tobacco bush, belongs to the Solanaceae family. It is native to South America but has become naturalized in various regions, including Australia, California, Africa, and the Mediterranean. N. glauca is listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and the Invasive Species Compendium (CABI). It is known for producing pyridine alkaloids, including anabasine, which is highly toxic. Anabasine is predominantly found in the leaves and can cause severe health issues such as neuromuscular blockade, respiratory arrest, and cardiovascular problems when ingested. Mistaken identity with edible plants like spinach has resulted in food poisoning cases in Israel and Brazil. Anabasine, a minor alkaloid constituent of tobacco, may contribute to tobacco addiction by mimicking or enhancing the effects of nicotine. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the production pattern of anabasine and its relationship to the developmental stages of the plant. This study aimed to establish the relationship between the phenological plant age, cultivation place, and the increase in anabasine concentration, which can lead to human intoxication cases. In this study, N. glauca plants were collected from three different rural areas in Brazil during a year to examine leaves at various stages of development. Samples were also obtained from cultivated plants in Marilândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as from Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In vitro cultivated plants on MS medium were included in the study. The collected leaves were dried, powdered, and stored. Alkaloid extraction was performed using a methanol and water mixture, followed by liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform. The anabasine content was determined using HPLC-DAD analysis with nicotine as a standard. The results indicated that anabasine production increases with the plant's development, peaking in adult leaves during the reproduction phase and declining afterward. In vitro, plants showed similar anabasine production to young leaves. The successful adaptation of N. glauca in new environments poses a global problem, and the correlation between anabasine production and the plant's developmental stages has been understudied. The presence of substances produced by the plant can pose a risk to other species, especially when mistaken for edible plants. The findings from this study shed light on the pattern of anabasine production and its association with plant development, contributing to a better understanding of the potential risks associated with N. glauca and the importance of accurate identification.

Keywords: alkaloid production, invasive species, nicotiana glauca, plant phenology

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Authors: Syed Makhdoom Hussain, Muhammad Afzal, Farhat Jabeen, Arshad Javid, Tasneem Hameed

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A feeding trial was conducted with Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings to study the effects of microbial phytase with graded levels (0, 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 FTUkg-1) by sunflower meal based diet on growth performance and nutrient digestibility. The chromic oxide was added as an indigestible marker in the diets. Three replicate groups of 15 fish (Average wt 5.98 g fish-1) were fed once a day and feces were collected twice daily. The results of present study showed improved growth and feed performance of Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings in response to phytase supplementation. Maximum growth performance was obtained by the fish fed on test diet-III having 1000 FTU kg-1 phytase level. Similarly, nutrient digestibility was also significantly increased (p<0.05) by phytase supplementation. Digestibility coefficients for sunflower meal based diet increased 15.76%, 17.70%, and 12.70% for crude protein, crude fat and apparent gross energy as compared to the reference diet, respectively at 1000 FTU kg-1 level. Again, maximum response of nutrient digestibility was recorded at the phytase level of 1000 FTU kg-1 diet. It was concluded that the phytase supplementation to sunflower meal based diet at 1000 FTU kg-1 level is optimum to release adequate chelated nutrients for maximum growth performance of C. mrigala fingerlings. Our results also suggested that phytase supplementation to sunflower meal based diet can help in the development of sustainable aquaculture by reducing the feed cost and nutrient discharge through feces in the aquatic ecosystem.

Keywords: sunflower meal, Cirrhinus mrigala, growth, nutrient digestibility, phytase

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Authors: Mohamad Ali Yazdani Sadati, Mir Hamed Sayed Hassani, Mahmoud Shakorian, Rezvanollah Kazemi, Bahareh Younes Haghighi

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The efficiency of two rearing environments in culture and effect on growth performance of beluga (Huso huso) were investigated. In accordance two group of three years Huso huso ((Average weight of 9.93±0.305 and 10±0.5Kg) density (0.5 and 25 kg/m2)) with 3 replicate were stocked in two culture environment and reared with formulated diet including protein 43% and energy 22 MJ/ kg for 12 month from 2014.6.19 to 2015.9.10 A.D. In the end of rearing period, indices of Final weight, final biomass, daily growth and body percent weight fish reared in cement tank (20.1±0.6, 2016.66±5.77,0.112±0.00239 and 102.35±1.1kg) were significantly higher than fish reared in pond (17.4±0.4, 1746.66±7.2, 0.082±0.118 and 74.15±4.71 kg), respectively P < 0.05). Food efficiency ratio between two group was not significantly different (P > 0.05). The result of this study indicated that except of primary cost of building concrete tank, Huso huso prebroodstocking in cement tank is better than pond for result of increasing growth rate in culture rearing and more effective management.

Keywords: cement tank, earthen pond, Huso huso, prebroodstocking

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Authors: Awol Seid Ebrie

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HIV results as an incurable disease, AIDS. After a person is infected with virus, the virus gradually destroys all the infection fighting cells called CD4 cells and makes the individual susceptible to opportunistic infections which cause severe or fatal health problems. Several studies show that the CD4 cells count is the most determinant indicator of the effectiveness of the treatment or progression of the disease. The objective of this paper is to investigate the progression of the disease over time among patient under HAART treatment. Two main approaches of the generalized multilevel ordinal models; namely the proportional odds model and the nonproportional odds model have been applied to the HAART data. Also, the multilevel part of both models includes random intercepts and random coefficients. In general, four models are explored in the analysis and then the models are compared using the deviance information criteria. Of these models, the random coefficients nonproportional odds model is selected as the best model for the HAART data used as it has the smallest DIC value. The selected model shows that the progression of the disease increases as the time under the treatment increases. In addition, it reveals that gender, baseline clinical stage and functional status of the patient have a significant association with the progression of the disease.

Keywords: nonproportional odds model, proportional odds model, random coefficients model, random intercepts model

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Authors: Shilpi Tripathi

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India has adopted the policy of economic reforms (Globalization, Liberalization, and Privatization) in 1991 which has reduced the trade barriers and investment restrictions and further increased the economy’s international trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. The paper empirically studies the relationship between India’s international trades, GDP, FDI and environment during 1978-2012. The first part of the paper focuses on the background and trends of FDI, GDP, trade, and environment (CO2). The second part focuses on the literature regarding the relationship among all the variables. The last part of paper, we examine the results of empirical analysis like co integration and Granger causality between foreign trade, FDI inflows, GDP and CO2 since 1978. The findings of the paper revealed that there is only one uni- directional causality exists between GDP and trade. The direction of causality reveals that international trade is one of the major contributors to the economic growth (GDP). While, there is no causality found between GDP and FDI, FDI, and CO2 and International trade and CO2. The paper concludes with the policy recommendations that will ensure environmental friendly trade, investment and growth in India for future.

Keywords: international trade, foreign direct investment, GDP, CO2, co-integration, granger causality test

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Authors: Imen Hamed, Burcu Ak, Oya Işık, Leyla Uslu, Kubilay Kazım Vursavuş

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In this study, 3 species of Dunaliella (Dunaliella sp. Salt Lake isoalte (Tuz Gölü), Dunaliella salina CCAP19/18, and Dunaliella bardawil LB 2538) and their optical density, dry matter, chlorophyll a, total carotenoids, and β-carotene production were investigated in a batch system. The aim of this research was to compare carotenoids, and β-carotene production were investigated in a batch those 3 species. Therefore 2 stress factors were used: 2 different temperatures (20°C and 30°C) and 2 different salinities (30‰, and 60‰) were tested over a 17-day study. The highest growth and chlorophyll a was reported for Dunaliella sp. under 20°C/30‰ and 20°C/60‰ conditions respectively followed by D. bardawil and D. salina. Significant differences were noticed (p<0.05) for the other 3 species. The growth decreased as temperature and salinity increased since the lowest growth was noticed for the 30°C/60‰ group. The chlorophyll a content decreased also as temperature increased however when the NaCl concentration increased an augmentation of the content was noticed . In the 17^th day of experiment the highest carotenoids concentration was reported for D. bardawil 20°C/30‰ (65,639±0,400 μg.mL⁻¹) and the most important β carotene concentration was for D. salina 20°C/60‰ (8,98E-07±0,013 mol/L).

Keywords: Dunaliella sp., Dunaliella salina, Dunaliella bardawil, growth, pigments, stress factors

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Authors: Mohamed Hamed Mohamed Ahmed Alameer

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Population studies, essentially deals with the size, growth, and distribution of the population in a given area. Size, growth, and distribution are determined by three major factors, which are fertility mortality, and migration. Of these factors, fertility- as a number of live births a woman has actually had- is a potent socio-demographic force in vital process of population growth. So, fertility is a major component of population growth. It is one of the main determinants of population growth and has crucial role in population dynamic, because it measures the rate at which a population increased. In fact the levels of fertility are vary widely among nations, countries, geographic regions, ethnic, socio- economic groups, and religious groups. Fertility differential by religion have been empirically documented in a large numbers of countries. For instance, many researchers in developing and developed countries investigated the differential of fertility among Muslims and Non- Muslims. Most of them have found that fertility of Muslims is higher than fertility of non Muslims. And Muslims have a tendency for large families comparing to non- Muslims population. On the basis of this; Islam by it itself could play an important role in shaping attitudes and values of fertility, such as: sustainability of human kind, developmental reasons, religious Motivations, socioeconomic Motivations, and Psychological Motivation. Therefore, this paper investigates socio-economic values of fertility in Islam and compare it to Malthusian and neo Malthusian functionalists and conflict perspectives.

Keywords: islam, fertility, socioeconomic values, social sciences

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Authors: Masoud Alipanah, Sekineh Akbari, Gholamreza Dashab

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Myostatin genes or factor 8 affecting on growth and making differentiation works (GDF8) as a moderator in the development of skeletal muscle inhibitor. If mutations occurs in the coding region of myostatin, alter its inhibitory role and the muscle growth is increased. In this study, blood samples were collected randomly from 60 Kurdish sheep in northern Khorasan and DNA extraction was performed using a modified salt. A fragment 337 bp from exon 3 myostatin gene and-specific primers by using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were amplified. In order to detect different forms of an allele at this locus HaeΙΙΙ restriction enzymes and PCR-RFLP analysis were used. Band patterns clarification was performed using agarose gel electrophoresis. The frequency of genotypes mm, Mm, and MM, were respectively detected, 0, 0.15 and 0.85. The allele frequency for alleles m and M, were respectively, 0.07 and 0.93. The statistical analyses indicated that m allele was significantly associated with body weight. The results of this study suggest that the Myostatin gene possibly is a candidate gene that affects growth traits in Kurdish sheep.

Keywords: GDF8 gene, Kurdi Sheep of Northern Khorasan, polymorphism, weight traits

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Authors: Mohammad Abedi Sh. Khodamoradi

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The main aim of this research is to assess effective factors on citizens’ participations in plants clinics. Statistical society includes 153 citizens of region 15 of Tehran municipality, which in first six months of 2015 participated in educational classes held by Plant education center of Pardis and Pamchal Park located in region no.15. Sample size was calculated by Cochran formula and 10% was added to sample size in order to prevent probable problems and the final sample was n=124. Validity of questionnaire was calculated by professors of extension and education group in Oloom Tahghighat university of Tehran and reliability was 0.82 which was reported by editors. Data then was analyzed by SPSS software, and frequency table, comparing mean and correlation and regression also were assessed. Correlation was proved between age, type of activity and participation extent in plant clinics. Also participation would be increased in plant clinics due to positive and significant relation between educational factors and participation extent with improving educational factors. Moreover, there is inverse relation between literacy level and participation in level of 5%. Finally, regression analysis was used in order to predict each change which independent variable determines for dependent one.

Keywords: plants clinics, participations, Tehran, Iran

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Authors: Adesola Orimoloye, Edward Gobina

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Flue gas is the most prevalent source of carbon dioxide off-gas from numerous processes globally. Among the lion's share of this flue gas is the ever - present electric power plant, primarily fuelled by coal, and then secondly, natural gas. The carbon dioxide found in coal fired power plant off gas is among the dirtiest forms of carbon dioxide, even with many of the improvements in the plants; still this will yield sulphur and nitrogen compounds; among other rather nasty compounds and elements; all let to the atmosphere. This presentation will focus on the characterization of carbon dioxide-rich flue gas sources with a view of eventual conversion to chemicals and fuels using novel membrane reactors.

Keywords: Flue gas, carbon dioxide, membrane, catalyst, syngas

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Authors: Abhishek Saha, Serene Tay, Gerard Pijcke

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The availability of high-resolution topography and rainfall information in urban areas has made it necessary to revise modeling approaches used for simulating flood risk assessments. Lidar derived elevation models that have 1m or lower resolutions are becoming widely accessible. The classical approaches of 1D-2D flow models where channel flow is simulated and coupled with a coarse resolution 2D overland flow models may not fully utilize the information provided by high-resolution data. In this context, a study was undertaken to compare three different modeling approaches to simulate flooding in an urban area. The first model used is the base model used is Sobek, which uses 1D model formulation together with hydrologic boundary conditions and couples with an overland flow model in 2D. The second model uses a full 2D model for the entire area with shallow water equations at the resolution of the digital elevation model (DEM). These models are compared against another shallow water equation solver in 2D, which uses a subgrid method for grid refinement. These models are simulated for different horizontal resolutions of DEM varying between 1m to 5m. The results show a significant difference in inundation extents and water levels for different DEMs. They are also sensitive to the different numerical models with the same physical parameters, such as friction. The study shows the importance of having reliable field observations of inundation extents and levels before a choice of model and data can be made for spatial flood risk assessments.

Keywords: flooding, DEM, shallow water equations, subgrid

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Authors: Dalin Si, Azizan Aziz, Bertrand Lasternas

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To encourage building owners to purchase electricity at the wholesale market and reduce building peak demand, this study aims to develop models that predict day-ahead hourly electricity consumption and demand using artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM). All prediction models are built in Python, with tool Scikit-learn and Pybrain. The input data for both consumption and demand prediction are time stamp, outdoor dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, air handling unit (AHU), supply air temperature and solar radiation. Solar radiation, which is unavailable a day-ahead, is predicted at first, and then this estimation is used as an input to predict consumption and demand. Models to predict consumption and demand are trained in both SVM and ANN, and depend on cooling or heating, weekdays or weekends. The results show that ANN is the better option for both consumption and demand prediction. It can achieve 15.50% to 20.03% coefficient of variance of root mean square error (CVRMSE) for consumption prediction and 22.89% to 32.42% CVRMSE for demand prediction, respectively. To conclude, the presented models have potential to help building owners to purchase electricity at the wholesale market, but they are not robust when used in demand response control.

Keywords: building energy prediction, data mining, demand response, electricity market

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Authors: Sandeep Kaur, Jenny Vuong, Marcel Julliard, Sean O'Donoghue

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Time-series data are useful for modelling as they can enable model-evaluation. However, when reconstructing models from phosphoproteomic data, often non-exact methods are utilised, as the knowledge regarding the network structure, such as, which kinases and phosphatases lead to the observed phosphorylation state, is incomplete. Thus, such reactions are often hypothesised, which gives rise to uncertainty. Here, we propose a framework, implemented via a web-based tool (as an extension to Minardo), which given time-series phosphoproteomic datasets, can generate κ models. The incompleteness and uncertainty in the generated model and reactions are clearly presented to the user via the visual method. Furthermore, we demonstrate, via a toy EGF signalling model, the use of algorithmic verification to verify κ models. Manually formulated requirements were evaluated with regards to the model, leading to the highlighting of the nodes causing unsatisfiability (i.e. error causing nodes). We aim to integrate such methods into our web-based tool and demonstrate how the identified erroneous nodes can be presented to the user via the visual method. Thus, in this research we present a framework, to enable a user to explore phosphorylation proteomic time-series data in the context of models. The observer can visualise which reactions in the model are highly uncertain, and which nodes cause incorrect simulation outputs. A tool such as this enables an end-user to determine the empirical analysis to perform, to reduce uncertainty in the presented model - thus enabling a better understanding of the underlying system.

Keywords: κ-models, model verification, time-series phosphoproteomic datasets, uncertainty and error visualisation

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Authors: Khin Thanda Win, Chunying Zhang, Sanghyeob Lee

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Mildew resistance locus o (Mlo), a plant-specific gene family with seven-transmembrane (TM), plays an important role in plant resistance to powdery mildew (PM). PM caused by Podosphaera xanthii is a widespread plant disease and probably represents the major fungal threat for many Cucurbits. The recent Cucurbita maxima genome sequence data provides an opportunity to identify and characterize the MLO gene family in this species. Total twenty genes (designated CmaMLO1 through CmaMLO20) have been identified by using an in silico cloning method with the MLO gene sequences of Cucumis sativus, Cucumis melo, Citrullus lanatus and Cucurbita pepo as probes. These CmaMLOs were evenly distributed on 15 chromosomes of 20 C. maxima chromosomes without any obvious clustering. Multiple sequence alignment showed that the common structural features of MLO gene family, such as TM domains, a calmodulin-binding domain and 30 important amino acid residues for MLO function, were well conserved. Phylogenetic analysis of the CmaMLO genes and other plant species reveals seven different clades (I through VII) and only clade IV is specific to monocots (rice, barley, and wheat). Phylogenetic and structural analyses provided preliminary evidence that five genes belonged to clade V could be the susceptibility genes which may play the importance role in PM resistance. This study is the first comprehensive report on MLO genes in C. maxima to our knowledge. These findings will facilitate the functional analysis of the MLOs related to PM susceptibility and are valuable resources for the development of disease resistance in pumpkin.

Keywords: Mildew resistance locus o (Mlo), powdery mildew, phylogenetic relationship, susceptibility genes

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Authors: Malgorzata Krysiak, Anna Wegrzyn, Maciej Garstka, Radoslaw Mazur

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Under constantly fluctuating environmental conditions, the thylakoid membrane protein network evolved the ability to dynamically respond to changing biotic and abiotic factors. One of the most important protective mechanism is rearrangement of the chlorophyll-protein (CP) complexes, induced by protein phosphorylation. In a temperate climate, low temperature is one of the abiotic stresses that heavily affect plant growth and productivity. The aim of this study was to determine the role of LHCII antenna complex phosphorylation in the dark-chilling response. The study included an experimental model based on dark-chilling at 4 °C of detached chilling sensitive (CS) runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus L.) and chilling tolerant (CT) garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves. This model is well described in the literature as used for the analysis of chilling impact without any additional effects caused by light. We examined changes in thylakoid membrane protein phosphorylation, interactions between phosphorylated LHCII (P-LHCII) and CP complexes, and their impact on the dynamics of photosystem II (PSII) under dark-chilling conditions. Our results showed that the dark-chilling treatment of CS bean leaves induced a substantial increase of phosphorylation of LHCII proteins, as well as changes in CP complexes composition and their interaction with P-LHCII. The PSII photochemical efficiency measurements showed that in bean, PSII is overloaded with light energy, which is not compensated by CP complexes rearrangements. On the contrary, no significant changes in PSII photochemical efficiency, phosphorylation pattern and CP complexes interactions were observed in CT pea. In conclusion, our results indicate that different responses of the LHCII phosphorylation to chilling stress take place in CT and CS plants, and that kinetics of LHCII phosphorylation and interactions of P-LHCII with photosynthetic complexes may be crucial to chilling stress response. Acknowledgments: presented work was financed by the National Science Centre, Poland grant No.: 2016/23/D/NZ3/01276

Keywords: LHCII, phosphorylation, chilling stress, pea, runner bean

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Authors: S. B. V. S. P. Sastry, V. V. S. Kesava Rao

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In this paper, x-ray impact of Taguchi method and design of experiment philosophy to project relationship between various factors leading to output yield strength of rebar is studied. In bar mill of an integrated steel plant, there are two production lines called as line 1 and line 2. The metallic properties e.g. yield strength of finished product of the same material is varying for a particular grade material when rolled simultaneously in both the lines. A study has been carried out to set the process parameters at optimal level for obtaining equal value of yield strength simultaneously for both lines.

Keywords: bar mill, design of experiment, taguchi, yield strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 237