Search results for: rapid microbial identification

Authors: Mohamed A. Saleem

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Using mostly seismic data, this study intends to show some examples of igneous intrusions found in some areas of the Sirt Basin and explore the period of their emplacement as well as the interrelationships between these sills. The study area is located in the south of the Zallah Trough, south-west Sirt basin, Libya. It is precisely between the longitudes 18.35ᵒ E and 19.35ᵒ E, and the latitudes 27.8ᵒ N and 28.0ᵒ N. Based on a variety of criteria that are usually used as marks on the igneous intrusions, twelve igneous intrusions (Sills), have been detected and analysed using 3D seismic data. One or more of the following were used as identification criteria: the high amplitude reflectors paired with abrupt reflector terminations, vertical offsets, or what is described as a dike-like connection, the violation, the saucer form, and the roughness. Because of their laying between the hosting layers, the majority of these intrusions are classified as sills. Another distinguishing feature is the intersection geometry link between some of these sills. Every single sill has given a name just to distinguish the sills from each other such as S-1, S-2, and …S-12. To avoid the repetition of description, the common characteristics and some statistics of these sills are shown in summary tables, while the specific characters that are not common and have been noticed for each sill are shown individually. The sills, S-1, S-2, and S-3, are approximately parallel to one other, with the shape of these sills being governed by the syncline structure of their host layers. The faults that dominated the strata (pre-upper Cretaceous strata) have a significant impact on the sills; they caused their discontinuity, while the upper layers have a shape of anticlines. S-1 and S-10 are the group's deepest and highest sills, respectively, with S-1 seated near the basement's top and S-10 extending into the sequence of the upper cretaceous. The dramatic escalation of sill S-4 can be seen in N-S profiles. The majority of the interpreted sills are influenced and impacted by a large number of normal faults that strike in various directions and propagate vertically from the surface to the basement's top. This indicates that the sediment sequences were existed before the sill’s intrusion, were deposited, and that the younger faults occurred more recently. The pre-upper cretaceous unit is the current geological depth for the Sills S-1, S-2 … S-9, while Sills S-10, S-11, and S-12 are hosted by the Cretaceous unit. Over the sills S-1, S-2, and S-3, which are the deepest sills, the pre-upper cretaceous surface has a slightly forced folding, these forced folding is also noticed above the right and left tips of sill S-8 and S-6, respectively, while the absence of these marks on the above sequences of layers supports the idea that the aforementioned sills were emplaced during the early upper cretaceous period.

Keywords: Sirt Basin, Zallah Trough, igneous intrusions, seismic data

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Authors: Luyao Liu, Dekui Yuan, Xu Li

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As one of the most important bays of China, the water exchange capacity of Bohai Bay can influence the economic development and urbanization of surrounding cities. However, the rapid reclamation has influenced the weak water exchange capacity of this semi-enclosed bay in recent years. This paper sets two hydrodynamic models of Bohai Bay with two shorelines before and after reclamation. The mean value and distribution of Turn-over Time, the distribution of residual current, and the feature of the tracer path are compared. After comparison, it is found that Bohai Bay keeps these characteristics; the spending time of water exchange in the northern is longer than southern, and inshore is longer than offshore. However, the mean water exchange time becomes longer after reclamation. In addition, the material spreading is blocked because of the inwardly extending shorelines, and the direction changed from along the shoreline to towards the center after reclamation.

Keywords: Bohai Bay, water exchange, reclamation, turn-over time

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Authors: Hosein I. Hosein, Ragab Azzam, Ahmed M. S. Menshawy, Sherin Rouby, Khaled Hendy, Ayman Mahrous, Hany Hussien

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Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial zoonotic disease of a worldwide spread and has different names; Infectious or enzootic abortion and Bang's disease in animals; and Mediterranean or Malta fever, Undulant Fever and Rock fever in humans. It is caused by the different species of genus Brucella which is a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore forming, facultative intracellular bacterium. Brucella affects a wide range of mammals including bovines, small ruminants, pigs, equines, rodents, marine mammals as well as human resulting in serious economic losses in animal populations. In human, Brucella causes a severe illness representing a great public health problem. The disease was reported in Egypt for the first time in 1939; since then the disease remained endemic at high levels among cattle, buffalo, sheep and goat and is still representing a public health hazard. The annual economic losses due to brucellosis were estimated to be about 60 million Egyptian pounds yearly, but actual estimates are still missing despite almost 30 years of implementation of the Egyptian control programme. Despite being the gold standard, bacterial isolation has been reported to show poor sensitivity for samples with low-level of Brucella and is impractical for regular screening of large populations. Thus, serological tests still remain the corner stone for routine diagnosis of brucellosis, especially in developing countries. In the present study, a total of 1533 cows (256 from Beni-Suef Governorate, 445 from Al-Fayoum Governorate and 832 from Damietta Governorate), were employed for estimation of relative sensitivity, relative specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of buffered acidified plate antigen test (BPAT), rose bengal test (RBT) and complement fixation test (CFT). The overall seroprevalence of brucellosis revealed (19.63%). Relative sensitivity, relative specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of BPAT,RBT and CFT were estimated as, (96.27 %, 96.76 %, 87.65 % and 99.10 %), (93.42 %, 96.27 %, 90.16 % and 98.35%) and (89.30 %, 98.60 %, 94.35 %and 97.24 %) respectively. BPAT showed the highest sensitivity among the three employed serological tests. RBT was less specific than BPAT. CFT showed the least sensitivity 89.30 % among the three employed serological tests but showed the highest specificity. Different tissues specimens of 22 seropositive cows (spleen, retropharyngeal udder, and supra-mammary lymph nodes) were subjected for bacteriological studies for isolation and identification of Brucella organisms. Brucella melitensis biovar 3 could be recovered from 12 (54.55%) cows. Bacteriological examinations failed to classify 10 cases (45.45%) and were culture negative. Bruce-ladder PCR was carried out for molecular identification of the 12 Brucella isolates at the species level. Three fragments of 587 bp, 1071 bp and 1682 bp sizes were amplified indicating Brucella melitensis. The results indicated the importance of using several procedures to overcome the problem of escaping of some infected animals from diagnosis.Bruce-ladder PCR is an important tool for diagnosis and epidemiologic studies, providing relevant information for identification of Brucella spp.

Keywords: brucellosis, relative sensitivity, relative specificity, Bruce-ladder, Egypt

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Authors: Panagiotis Kyratsis, Konstantinos Kakoulis

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Nowadays, the rapid development of CAD systems’ programming environments results in the creation of multiple downstream applications, which are developed and becoming increasingly available. CAD based manufacturing simulations is gradually following the same trend. Drilling is the most popular hole-making process used in a variety of industries. A specially built piece of software that deals with the drilling kinematics is presented. The cutting forces are calculated based on the tool geometry, the cutting conditions and the tool/work piece materials. The results are verified by experimental work. Finally, the response surface methodology (RSM) is applied and mathematical models of the total thrust force and the thrust force developed because of the main cutting edges are proposed.

Keywords: CAD, application programming interface, response surface methodology, drilling, RSM

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Authors: Isabel L. Guidote

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Continued advancements and innovation in the technological arena may yield both beneficial and detrimental effects to market competition in the Philippines. This paper discusses recent developments in the digital sphere which have resulted in improved access to the Philippine market for both producers and consumers. Acknowledging that these developments are likely to disrupt or alter prevailing market conditions, this paper likewise tackles competition theories of harm that may arise as a result of such technological innovations, with reference to cases decided by foreign competition authorities and the European Commission. As the Philippine moves closer to the digital frontier, it is imperative that producers, consumers, and regulators alike be well-equipped to address the risks and challenges posed by these rapid advancements in technology.

Keywords: antitrust, competition law, market competition, technology

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Authors: Jumin Zhao, Na Li, Dengao Li, Yujuan Yan

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As the rapid rise of the networking industry, the shortage of Internet of Things (IoT) talented people greatly stimulates the majority of colleges to speed up the pace of professional networking reform. Caused by the construction of the original specialty, many problems appear such as the vague specialty, the mixed theoretical, the poor practical ability and the different goal. To solve the issues above, we build a ‘theory-practice-theory-improvement’ four-step model of school-enterprise integration of personnel training. Besides, we integrate the advanced teaching philosophy: flip class and Mu class, making IoT teaching more professional and the ability of students more comprehensive.

Keywords: IoT, theory-practice-theory-promotion, major construction, school-enterprise cooperation

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Authors: J. G. Batista, T. S. Santiago, E. A. Ribeiro, G. A. P. Thé

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This work deals with parameter identification of permanent magnet motors, a class of ac motor which is particularly important in industrial automation due to characteristics like applications high performance, are very attractive for applications with limited space and reducing the need to eliminate because they have reduced size and volume and can operate in a wide speed range, without independent ventilation. By using experimental data and genetic algorithm we have been able to extract values for both the motor inductance and the electromechanical coupling constant, which are then compared to measure and/or expected values.

Keywords: modeling, AC servomotor, permanent magnet synchronous motor-PMSM, genetic algorithm, vector control, robotic manipulator, control

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Authors: Arianna Nativio, Zoran Kapelan, Jan Peter van der Hoek

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Bio-composite materials are becoming increasingly popular in various applications, such as the automotive industry. Usually, bio-composite materials are made from natural resources recovered from plants, now, a new type of bio-composite material has begun to be produced in the Netherlands. This material is made from resources recovered from drinking water treatments (calcite), wastewater treatment (cellulose), and material from surface water management (aquatic plants). Surface water, raw drinking water, and wastewater can be contaminated with pathogens and chemical compounds. Therefore, it would be valuable to develop a framework to assess, monitor, and control the potential risks. Indeed, the goal is to define the major risks in terms of human health, quality of materials, and environment associated with the production and application of these new materials. This study describes the general risk assessment framework, starting with a qualitative risk assessment. The qualitative risk analysis was carried out by using the HAZOP methodology for the hazard identification phase. The HAZOP methodology is logical and structured and able to identify the hazards in the first stage of the design when hazards and associated risks are not well known. The identified hazards were analyzed to define the potential associated risks, and then these were evaluated by using the qualitative Event Tree Analysis. ETA is a logical methodology used to define the consequences for a specific hazardous incidents, evaluating the failure modes of safety barriers and dangerous intermediate events that lead to the final scenario (risk). This paper shows the effectiveness of combining of HAZOP and qualitative ETA methodologies for hazard identification and risk mapping. Then, key risks were identified, and a quantitative framework was developed based on the type of risks identified, such as QMRA and QCRA. These two models were applied to assess human health risks due to the presence of pathogens and chemical compounds such as heavy metals into the bio-composite materials. Thus, due to these contaminations, the bio-composite product, during its application, might release toxic substances into the environment leading to a negative environmental impact. Therefore, leaching tests are going to be planned to simulate the application of these materials into the environment and evaluate the potential leaching of inorganic substances, assessing environmental risk.

Keywords: bio-composite, risk assessment, water reuse, resource recovery

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Authors: Stanley Dula, Oluwatosini A. Ijabadeniyi

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Biofilm formation is a major source of materials and foodstuffs contamination, contributing to occurrence of pathogenic and spoilage microbes in food processing resulting in food spoilage, transmission of diseases and significant food hygiene and safety issues. This study elucidates biofilm formation of E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes ATCC 7644 grown under food related environmental stress conditions of varying pH (5.0;7.0; and 8.5) and temperature (15, 25 and 37 ℃). Both strains showed confluent biofilm formation at 25 ℃ and 37 ℃, at pH 8.5 after 5 days. E. coli showed curli fimbriae production at various temperatures, while L. monocytogenes did not show pronounced expression. Swarm, swimming and twitching plate assays were used to determine strain motilities. Characterization of cell hydrophobicity was done using the microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons (MATH) assay using n-hexadecane. Both strains showed hydrophilic characteristics as they fell within a < 20 % interval. FT-IR revealed COOH at 1622 cm-1, and a strong absorption band at 3650 cm-1 – 3200 cm-1 indicating the presence of both -OH and -NH groups. Both strains were hydrophilic and could form biofilm at different combinations of temperature and pH. EPS produced in both species proved to be an acidic hetero-polysaccharide.

Keywords: biofilm, pathogens, hydrophobicity, motility

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Authors: Ghorab Sara, Meziani Lila, Rubin Harvey Stuart

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The rapid growth of deep learning has led to intricate and resource-intensive deep neural networks widely used in computer vision tasks. However, their complexity results in high computational demands and memory usage, hindering real-time application. To address this, research focuses on model compression techniques. The paper provides an overview of recent advancements in compressing neural networks and categorizes the various methods into four main approaches: network pruning, quantization, network decomposition, and knowledge distillation. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive outline of both the advantages and limitations of each method.

Keywords: model compression, deep neural network, pruning, knowledge distillation, quantization, low-rank decomposition

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Authors: Victorita Radulescu

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Introduction: The sewage treatment plants, in the second stage, are formed by tanks having as main purpose the formation of the suspensions with high possible solid concentration values. The paper presents a solution to produce a rapid concentration of the slurry and sludge, having as main purpose the minimization as much as possible the size of the tanks. The solution is based on a rotor with bars, tested into two different areas of industrial activity: the remediation of the wastewater from the oil industry and, in the last year, into the mining industry. Basic Methods: It was designed, realized and tested a thickening system with vertical bars that manages to reduce sludge moisture content from 94% to 87%. The design was based on the hypothesis that the streamlines of the vortices detached from the rotor with vertical bars accelerate, under certain conditions, the sludge thickening. It is moved at the lateral sides, and in time, it became sediment. The formed vortices with the vertical axis in the viscous fluid, under the action of the lift, drag, weight, and inertia forces participate at a rapid aggregation of the particles thus accelerating the sludge concentration. Appears an interdependence between the Re number attached to the flow with vortex induced by the vertical bars and the size of the hydraulic compaction phenomenon, resulting from an accelerated process of sedimentation, therefore, a sludge thickening depending on the physic-chemical characteristics of the resulting sludge is projected the rotor's dimensions. Major findings/ Results: Based on the experimental measurements was performed the numerical simulation of the hydraulic rotor, as to assure the necessary vortices. The experimental measurements were performed to determine the optimal height and the density of the bars for the sludge thickening system, to assure the tanks dimensions as small as possible. The time thickening/settling was reduced by 24% compared to the conventional used systems. In the present, the thickeners intend to decrease the intermediate stage of water treatment, using primary and secondary settling; but they assume a quite long time, the order of 10-15 hours. By using this system, there are no intermediary steps; the thickening is done automatically when are created the vortices. Conclusions: The experimental tests were carried out in the wastewater treatment plant of the Refinery of oil from Brazi, near the city Ploiesti. The results prove its efficiency in reducing the time for compacting the sludge and the smaller humidity of the evacuated sediments. The utilization of this equipment is now extended and it is tested the mining industry, with significant results, in Lupeni mine, from the Jiu Valley.

Keywords: experimental tests, hydrodynamic modeling, rotor efficiency, wastewater treatment

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Authors: T. Warinpramote, J. Sanguanjeen, P. Pholphakwaen, S. Kittisorayut, J. Kerdtubtim, S. Palachote, M. Taweechotipatr

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Cholesterol is a type of lipid molecule which is the significant risk factor for coronary heart disease. Currently, there are many cholesterol-lowering alternative treatments especially bile salt hydrolase positive lactobacilli. BSH can cleave the peptide linkage of bile salt, which results in removal of the amino acid group from the steroid core and increases production of the new bile acid by using more cholesterol. The purpose of this study was to isolate, and screen probiotic characteristics of lactobacilli from fermented Thai foods and further investigated for their comparative BSH activity. The result showed that 2 of 81 Lactobacillus strains, JPK2-2 and JPK3-2, isolated from Brassica juncea (L.) had significantly exhibited high BSH activity. In addition, these Lactobacillus strains showed their results that the ability to tolerate acid and bile salt. Furthermore, the using of 16S rDNA sequencing for definitive microbial identifications showed that these 2 strains belong to Lactobacillus plantarum. In the future, the L. plantarum with BSH activity strains JPK2-2 and JPK3-2 may be the candidate probiotics for application in functional foods and dairy products to improve in the patient with cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum, probiotics, bile salt hydrolase, cholesterol-lowering, fermented Thai food

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Authors: Pawasuth Saengdee, Chamras Promptmas, Ting Zeng, Silke Leimkühler, Ulla Wollenberger

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Sulfite has been used as a versatile preservative to limit the microbial growth and to control the taste in some food and beverage. However, it has been reported to cause a wide spectrum of severe adverse reactions. Therefore, it is important to determine the amount of sulfite in food and beverage to ensure consumer safety. An efficient electrocatalytic biosensor for sulfite detection was developed by immobilizing of human sulfite oxidase (hSO) on 3-aminoproplytriethoxysilane (APTES) modified indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. Cyclic voltammetry was employed to investigate the electrochemical characteristics of the hSO modified ITO electrode for various pretreatment and binding conditions. Amperometry was also utilized to demonstrate the current responses of the sulfite sensor toward sodium sulfite in an aqueous solution at a potential of 0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl 1 M KCl). The proposed sulfite sensor has a linear range between 0.5 to 2 mM with a correlation coefficient 0.972. Then, the additional polymer layer of PVA was introduced to extend the linear range of sulfite sensor and protect the enzyme. The linear range of sulfite sensor with 5% coverage increases from 2.8 to 20 mM at a correlation coefficient of 0.983. In addition, the stability of sulfite sensor with 5% PVA coverage increases until 14 days when kept in 0.5 mM Tris-buffer, pH 7.0 at 4 8C. Therefore, this sensor could be applied for the detection of sulfite in the real sample, especially in food and beverage.

Keywords: sulfite oxidase, bioelectrocatalytsis, indium tin oxide, direct electrochemistry, sulfite sensor

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Authors: Daniel Isaac Sanchez Chavez, Salvador Rodríguez Zaragoza, Patricia Velez Aguilar

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In arid and semi-arid regions, plants are essential in the functional activity and productivity, modifying the microclimatic conditions of their environment, which allows many organisms to grow under them. Within these organisms, oribatid mites play a key role in reintegrating nutrients into the soil through the consumption of soil fungi. However, oribatid mites feed on a vast array of fungal species, which is likely to have strong impacts on their population dynamics and their environment. So, in this study, the aim was to determine the gut content of the abundant oribatid mites Zygoribatula sp and Scheloribates sp, under the canopy of the bush P. laevigata in a semi-arid zone through DNA-based analysis. The results showed the presence in the gut of both mites of different fungal taxa. Fungi, such as Aspergillus sp and Mortierella sp, probably served as a food despite the production of deterrent compounds or structures from both fungal species. Saccharomyces sp might serve as well as a food source; however, it might be part of their microbial endosymbionts. On the other hand, the presence of Beauveria sp indicates a probable pathogenicity interaction, instead of fungal consumption, since this fungus is known to be entomopathogenic. Finally, the results might indicate a feeding preference to certain soil fungi according to diverse features from both taxa.

Keywords: microenvironment, endosymbionts, Oribatida, fungi

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Authors: Sang Guen Kim, Sib Sankar Giri, Jin Woo Jun, Saekil Yun, Hyoun Joong Kim, Sang Wha Kim, Jung Woo Kang, Se Jin Han, Se Chang Park

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Emerging of the super bacteria, bacteriophages are considered to be as an alternative to antibiotics. As the demand of phage increased, economical and large production of phage is becoming one of the critical points. For the therapeutic use, what is important is to eradicate the pathogenic bacteria as fast as possible, so higher concentration of phages is generally needed for effective therapeutic function. On the contrary, for the maximum production, bacteria work as a phage producing factory. As a microbial cell factory, bacteria is needed to last longer producing the phages without eradication. Consequently, killing the bacteria fast has a negative effect on large production. In this study, Multiplicity of Infection (MOI) was manipulated based on initial bacterial inoculation and used phage pAh-6C which has therapeutic effect against Aeromonas hydrophila. 1, 5 and 10 percent of overnight bacterial culture was inoculated and each bacterial culture was co-cultured with the phage of which MOI of 0.01, 0.0001, and 0.000001 respectively. Simply changing the initial MOI as well as bacterial inoculation concentration has regulated the production quantity of the phage without any other changes to culture conditions. It is anticipated that this result can be used as a foundational data for mass production of lytic bacteriophages which can be used as the therapeutic bio-control agent.

Keywords: bacteriophage, multiplicity of infection, optimization, Aeromonas hydrophila

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Authors: Nazaket Gazieva

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Voice biometric data associated with physiological, psychological and other factors are widely used in forensic phonoscopy. There are various methods for identifying and verifying a person by voice. This article explores the minimum speech signal data as individual parameters of a speech signal. Monozygotic twins are believed to be genetically identical. Using the minimum data of the speech signal, we came to the conclusion that the voice imprint of monozygotic twins is individual. According to the conclusion of the experiment, we can conclude that the minimum indicators of the speech signal are more stable and reliable for phonoscopic examinations.

Keywords: phonogram, speech signal, temporal characteristics, fundamental frequency, biometric fingerprints

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Authors: Badri Gechbaia

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Adaptive management as a fundamental element of the concept of the assurance of economy`s sustainability to the economic security of the system-synergetic type has been considered. It has been proved that the adaptive sustainable development is a transitional phase from the extensive one and later on from the rapid growth to the sustainable development. It has been determined that the adaptive system of the strategic assurance of the sustainability of the economy to the economic security threats is formed on the principles of the domination in its complex of the subsystems with weightier adaptive characteristics that negate the destructive influence of external and internal environmental factors on the sustainability of the national economy.

Keywords: adaptive management, adaptive properties, economic security, strategic assurance

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Authors: Refal Hussain, Saifuddin M. Nomanbhay

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Glycerol is a valuable raw material for the production of industrially useful metabolites. Among many promising applications for the use of glycerol is its bioconversion to high value-added compounds, such as bioethanol through microbial fermentation. Bioethanol is an important industrial chemical with emerging potential as a biofuel to replace vanishing fossil fuels. The yield of liquid fuel in this process was greatly influenced by various parameters viz, temperature, pH, glycerol concentration, organic concentration, and agitation speed were considered. The present study was undertaken to investigate optimum parameters for bioethanol production from raw glycerol by immobilized mutant Escherichia coli (E.coli) (ATCC11505) strain on chitosan cross linked glutaraldehyde optimized by Taguchi statistical method in shake flasks. The initial parameters were set each at four levels and the orthogonal array layout of L16 (45) conducted. The important controlling parameters for optimized the operational fermentation was temperature 38 °C, medium pH 6.5, initial glycerol concentration (250 g/l), and organic source concentration (5 g/l). Fermentation with optimized parameters was carried out in a custom fabricated shake flask. The predicted value of bioethanol production under optimized conditions was (118.13 g/l). Immobilized cells are mainly used for economic benefits of continuous production or repeated use in continuous as well as in batch mode.

Keywords: bioethanol, Escherichia coli, immobilization, optimization

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Authors: Pun Jankrajangjaeng

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Senna garrettiana is a climatic tropical plant in Southeast Asia. Senna garrettiana (Craib) is used as a medicinal plant in Thailand, in which the experiment reported that the plant contains triterpenoids, ligans, phenolics, and fungal metabolites. Thus, it is also reported that the plant possesses interesting biological activity such as antioxidant activity. Therefore, Senna garrettiana is selected to examine the antimicrobial activity. The purpose of this study is to examine the antimicrobial activity of Senna garrettiana (crab) extract against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Salmonella typhi, and the fungus Candida albicans. This study performed the agar disk-diffusion method and broth microdilution by using five concentrations of plant extract to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of S. garrettiana extract. The result showed that S. garrettiana extract gave the maximum zone inhibition of 11.7 mm, 13.7 mm, and 14.0 mm against S. aureus, S. typhi, and C. albicans, respectively. The MIC value of S. garrettiana against S. aureus was 125 µg/mL while the MIC in S. typhi and C. albicans greater than 2000 µg/mL. To conclude, S. garrettiana extract showed higher sensitivity of antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria. In addition, the plant extracts also possessed antifungal activity. Therefore, further investigation to confirm the mechanism of action of antimicrobial activity in S. garrettiana extract should be performed to identify the target of the antimicrobial action.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, Candida albicans, Salmonella typhi, Senna garrettiana, Staphylococcus aureus

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Authors: Hrvoje Simovic

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Paper analyses the key problems of fiscal sustainability in Croatia. To point out key challenges of fiscal sustainability, the public debt sustainability is analyzed using standard indicators of fiscal stability, accompanied with the identification of regime changes approach in the public debt trajectory using switching regression approach. The analysis is conducted for the period from 2001 to 2016. Results show huge vulnerability in recession period (2009-14), so key challenges in current fiscal policy and public debt management are recognized in maturity prolongation, interest rates trends, and credit rating expectations.

Keywords: fiscal sustainability, public debt, Croatia, budget deficit

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Authors: P. Christodoulou, M. Gerasimou, S. Mantzoukis, N. Varsamis, G. Kolliopoulou, N. Zotos

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Abstract— Purpose: The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) environment is conducive to the growth of microorganisms. A variety of microorganisms gain access to the intravascular area and are transported throughout the circulatory system. Therefore, examination of the catheters used in ICU patients is of paramount importance. Material and Method: The culture medium is a catheter tip, which is enriched with Tryptic soy broth (TSB). After one day of incubation, the broth is passaged in the following selective media: Blood, Mac conkey No. 2, chocolate, Mueller Hinton, Chapman, and Saboureaud agar. The above selective media is incubated for 2 days. After this period, if any number of microbial colonies is detected, gram staining is performed and then the microorganisms are identified by biochemical techniques in the automated Microscan (Siemens) system followed by a sensitivity test in the same system using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) technique. The sensitivity test is verified by a Kirby Bauer test. Results: In 2017, the Microbiology Laboratory received 84 catheters from the ICU. 42 were found positive. Of these, S. epidermidis was identified at 8, A. baumannii in 10, K. pneumoniae in 6, P. aeruginosa in 6, P. mirabilis in 3, S. simulans in 1, S. haemolyticus in 4, S. aureus in 3 and S. hominis in 1. Conclusions: The results show that the placement and maintenance of the catheters in ICU patients are relatively successful, despite the unfavorable environment of the unit.

Keywords: culture, intensive care unit, microorganisms, vascular catheters

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Authors: Abdul Rahman Hamdan

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has brought unprecedented technological advancements that have disrupted many industries worldwide. In keeping up with the technological advances and rapid disruption by the introduction of many technological advancements brought forth by the 4IR, the use of technology road mapping has emerged as one of the critical tools for organizations to leverage. Technology road mapping can be used by many companies to guide them to become more adaptable and anticipate future transformation and innovation, and avoid being redundant or irrelevant due to the rapid changes in technological advancement. This research paper provides a comprehensive analysis of technology road mapping within the context of the 4IR. The objectives of the paper are to provide companies with practical insights and a strategic framework of technology road mapping for them to navigate the fast-changing nature of the 4IR. This study also contributes to the understanding and practice of technology road mapping in the 4IR and, at the same time, provides organizations with the necessary tools and critical insight to navigate the 4IR transformation by leveraging technology road mapping. Based on the literature review and case studies, the study analyses key principles, methodologies, and best practices in technology road mapping and integrates them with the unique characteristics and challenges of the 4IR. The research paper gives the background of the fourth industrial revolution. It explores the disruptive potential of technologies in the 4IR and the critical need for technology road mapping that consists of strategic planning and foresight to remain competitive and relevant in the 4IR era. It also highlights the importance of technology road mapping as an organisation’s proactive approach to align the organisation’s objectives and resources to their technology and product development in meeting the fast-evolving technological 4IR landscape. The paper also includes the theoretical foundations of technology road mapping and examines various methodological approaches, and identifies external stakeholders in the process, such as external experts, stakeholders, collaborative platforms, and cross-functional teams to ensure an integrated and robust technological roadmap for the organisation. Moreover, this study presents a comprehensive framework for technology road mapping in the 4IR by incorporating key elements and processes such as technology assessment, competitive intelligence, risk analysis, and resource allocation. It provides a framework for implementing technology road mapping from strategic planning, goal setting, and technology scanning to road mapping visualisation, implementation planning, monitoring, and evaluation. In addition, the study also addresses the challenges and limitations related to technology roadmapping in 4IR, including the gap analysis. In conclusion of the study, the study will propose a set of practical recommendations for organizations that intend to leverage technology road mapping as a strategic tool in the 4IR in driving innovation and becoming competitive in the current and future ecosystem.

Keywords: technology management, technology road mapping, technology transfer, technology planning

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Authors: Yenisleidy Martinez Martinez, Yannay Casas-Ledon, Jo Dewulf

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The ecosystem services (ES) concept has contributed to draw attention to the benefits ecosystems generate for people and how necessary natural resources are for human well-being. The identification and prioritization of the ES constitute the first steps to undertake conservation and valuation initiatives on behalf of people. Additionally, mapping the supply of ES is a powerful tool to support decision making regarding the sustainable management of landscape and natural resources. In this context, the present study aimed to identify, prioritize and map the primary ES in Biobio and Nuble regions using a methodology that combines expert judgment, multi-attribute evaluation methods, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Firstly, scores about the capacity of different land use/cover types to supply ES and the importance attributed to each service were obtained from experts and stakeholders via an online survey. Afterward, the ES assessment matrix was constructed, and the weighted linear combination (WLC) method was applied to mapping the overall capacity of supply of provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural services. Finally, prioritized ES for the study area were selected and mapped. The results suggest that native forests, wetlands, and water bodies have the highest supply capacities of ES, while urban and industrial areas and bare areas have a very low supply of services. On the other hand, fourteen out of twenty-nine services were selected by experts and stakeholders as the most relevant for the regions. The spatial distribution of ES has shown that the Andean Range and part of the Coastal Range have the highest ES supply capacity, mostly regulation and maintenance and cultural ES. This performance is related to the presence of native forests, water bodies, and wetlands in those zones. This study provides specific information about the most relevant ES in Biobio and Nuble according to the opinion of local stakeholders and the spatial identification of areas with a high capacity to provide services. These findings could be helpful as a reference by planners and policymakers to develop landscape management strategies oriented to preserve the supply of services in both regions.

Keywords: ecosystem services, expert judgment, mapping, multi-criteria decision making, prioritization

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Authors: Gurinder Singh, Kulbir Singh

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Digital multimedia contents such as image, video, and audio can be tampered easily due to the availability of powerful editing softwares. Multimedia forensics is devoted to analyze these contents by using various digital forensic techniques in order to validate their authenticity. Digital image forensics is dedicated to investigate the reliability of digital images by analyzing the integrity of data and by reconstructing the historical information of an image related to its acquisition phase. In this paper, a survey is carried out on the forgery detection by considering the most recent and promising digital image forensic techniques.

Keywords: Computer Forensics, Multimedia Forensics, Image Ballistics, Camera Source Identification, Forgery Detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Evgeny E. Tereshatov

Abstract:

Astatine-211 is considered one of the most promising radionuclides for Targeted Alpha Therapy. In order to develop reliable procedures to label biomolecules and utilize efficient delivery vehicle principles, one should understand the main chemical characteristics of astatine. The short half-life of 211At (~7.2 h) and absence of any stable isotopes of this element are limiting factors towards studying the behavior of astatine. Our team has developed a procedure for rapid and efficient isolation of astatine from irradiated bismuth material in nitric acid media based on 3-octanone and 1-octanol extraction chromatography resins. This process has been automated and it takes 20 min from the beginning of the target dissolution to the At-211 fraction elution. Our next step is to consider commercially available chromatography resins and their applicability in astatine purification in the same media. Results obtained along with the corresponding sorption mechanisms will be discussed.

Keywords: astatine-211, chromatography, automation, mechanism, radiopharmaceuticals

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Anthony Usoro

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In this paper, two classes of bilinear time series model are obtained under certain conditions from the general bilinear autoregressive moving average model. Bilinear Autoregressive (BAR) and Bilinear Moving Average (BMA) Models have been identified. From the general bilinear model, BAR and BMA models have been proved to exist for q = Q = 0, => j = 0, and p = P = 0, => i = 0 respectively. These models are found useful in modelling most of the economic and financial data.

Keywords: autoregressive model, bilinear autoregressive model, bilinear moving average model, moving average model

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Luisa Mesquita Oliveira Ribeiro, Alexei Manso Correa Machado

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Handwritten signature is a unique form for recognizing an individual, used to discern documents, carry out investigations in the criminal, legal, banking areas and other applications. Signature verification is based on large amounts of biometric data, as they are simple and easy to acquire, among other characteristics. Given this scenario, signature forgery is a worldwide recurring problem and fast and precise techniques are needed to prevent crimes of this nature from occurring. This article carried out a study on the efficiency of the Capsule Network in analyzing and recognizing signatures. The chosen architecture achieved an accuracy of 98.11% and 80.15% for the CEDAR and GPDS databases, respectively.

Keywords: biometrics, deep learning, handwriting, signature forgery

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: F. A. Ogundolie, F. Okogue, D. V. Adegunloye

Abstract:

Greywater samples were obtained from three restaurants in the Federal University of Technology; Akure coded SSR, MGR and GGR. Fungi isolates obtained include Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, Mucor mucedo, Aspergillus flavus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Of these fungi isolates obtained, R. stolonifer, A. niger and A. flavus showed significant degradation ability on grey water and was used for this research. A simple bioreactor was constructed using biodegradation process in purification of waste water samples. Waste water undergoes primary treatment; secondary treatment involves the introduction of the isolated organisms into the waste water sample and the tertiary treatment which involved the use of filter candle and the sand bed filtration process to achieve the end product without the use of chemicals. A. niger brought about significant reduction in both the bacterial load and the fungi load of the greywater samples of the three respective restaurants with a reduction of (1.29 × 108 to 1.57 × 102 cfu/ml; 1.04 × 108 to 1.12 × 102 cfu/ml and 1.72 × 108 to 1.60 × 102 cfu/ml) for bacterial load in SSR, MGR and GGR respectively. Reduction of 2.01 × 104 to 1.2 × 101; 1.72 × 104 to 1.1 × 101, and 2.50 × 104 to 1.5 × 101 in fungi load from SSR, MGR and GGR respectively. Result of degradation of these selected waste water by the fungi showed that A. niger was probably more potent in the degradation of organic matter and hence, A. niger could be used in the treatment of wastewater.

Keywords: Aspergillus niger, greywater, bacterial, fungi, microbial load, bioreactor, biodegradation, purification, organic matter and filtration

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Stella Laletas, Andrea Reupert, Melinda Goodyear, Bradley Morgan

Abstract:

Background: Many people with a mental illness have young children. Research has shown that early childhood is a particularly vulnerable time for children whose parents have a mental illness. Moreover, repeated research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a multiagency approach to family focused practice for improving parental functioning and preventing adverse outcomes in children whose parents have a mental illness, particularly in the early years of a child’s life. However, there is a paucity of professional development resources for professionals who work with families where a parent has a mental illness and has young children. Significance of the study: This study will make a contribution to addressing knowledge gaps around resource development and workforce needs for early childhood and mental health professionals working with young children where a parent has a mental illness. Objective: This presentation describes a newly developed resource, 'Pathways of Care', specifically designed for early childhood educators and mental health workers, alongside pilot evaluation data regarding its effectiveness. ‘Pathways of Care’ aims to promote collaborative practice and present early identification and referral processes for workers in this sector. The resource was developed by the Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) National Initiative which is funded by the Australian Government. Method: Using a mixed method design, the effectiveness of the training resource is also presented. Fifteen workers completed the Family Focus Mental Health Practice Questionnaire pre and post using the resource, to measure confidence and practice change; semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eight of these same workers to further explore the utility of the resource. Findings: The findings indicated the resource was effective in increasing knowledge and confidence, particularly for new and/or inexperienced staff. Examples of how the resource was used in practice by various professions emerged from the interview data. Conclusions: Collaborative practice, early identification and intervention in early childhood can potentially play a key role in altering the life trajectory of children who are at risk. This information has important implications for workforce development and staff training in both the early childhood and mental health sectors. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Keywords: parents with mental ilnesses, early intervention, evaluation, preschool children

Procedia PDF Downloads 431

Authors: B. Güney, Ç. Teke

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In recent years, rapid and correct decision making is crucial for both people and enterprises. However, uncertainty makes decision-making difficult. Fuzzy logic is used for coping with this situation. Thus, fuzzy linear programming models are developed in order to handle uncertainty in objective function and the constraints. In this study, a problem of a factory in food industry is investigated, required data is obtained and the problem is figured out as a fuzzy linear programming model. The model is solved using Zimmerman approach which is one of the approaches for fuzzy linear programming. As a result, the solution gives the amount of production for each product type in order to gain maximum profit.

Keywords: food industry, fuzzy linear programming, fuzzy logic, linear programming

Procedia PDF Downloads 635