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Authors: Mehmet Salih Bayraktutan, Emre Tokmak

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Great Ararat Volcano is the highest peak in South Caucasus Volcanic Plateau. Uplifted by Quaternary basaltic pyroclastic and lava flows. Numerous volcanic cones formed along with the tensional fractures under N-S compressional geodynamic framework. Basaltic flows have fresh surface morphology give ages of 650-680 K years. Hyperstene andesites constitute a major mass of Greater Ararat gives ages of 450-490 K years. During the early eruption period, predominately pyroclastics, cinder, lapilly-ash volcanic bombs were extruded. Third-period eruptions dominantly basaltic lava flows. Andesitic domes aligned along with the NW-SE striking fractures. Hyalo basalt and hornblende basaltic lavas are the latest lava eruptions. Hyalo-basaltic eruptions occurred via parasitic cones distributed far from the center. Parasitic cones are most common at the foot of Mount covered by recent NW flowing basaltic lava. Some of the cones are distributed on a circular pattern. One of the most hazardous disasters recorded in Eastern Turkey was July 1840 Cehennem Canyon Flood. Volcanic activities seismically triggered resulted in melting of glacier cap, mixed with ash and pyroclastics, flowed down along the Valley. Mud rich Slush urged catastrophically northwards, crossed Ars River and damned Surmeli Basin, forming reservoir behind. Ararat volcanoes are located on NW-SE striking Agri Fault Zone. Right lateral extensional faults, along which a series of andesitic domes formed. Great Ararat, in general strato-type volcano. This huge structure, developed in two main parts with different topographic and morphological features. The large lower base covers a widespread area composed of predominantly pyroclastics, ignimbrites, aglomerates, thick pumice, perlite deposits. Approximately 1/3 of the Crest by height formed of this basement. And 2/3 of the upper part with a conic- shape composed of basaltic lava flows. The active tectonic structure consists of three different patterns. The first network is radially distributed fractures formed during the last stage of lava eruptions. The second group of active faults striking in NW direction, and continue in N30W strike, formes Igdir Fault Zone. The third set of faults, dipping in the northwest with 75-80 degrees, strikes NE- SW across the whole Mount, slicing Great Ararat into four segments. In the upper stage of Cehennem Canyon, this set cutting volcanic layers caused numerous Waterfalls, Rock Avalanches, Mud Flows along the canyon, threatens the Village of Yanidogan, at the apex of flood deposits. Great Ararat Region has high seismo-tectonic risk and by occurrence frequency and magnitude, which caused in history caused heavy disasters, at villages surrounding the Ararat Basement.

Keywords: Eastern Turkey, geohazard, great ararat volcano, seismo-tectonic features

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: N. Marzban, J. K. Heydarzadeh M. Pourmohammadbagher, M. H. Hatami, A. Samia

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A nano-alumina-zirconia composite catalyst was synthesized by a simple aqueous sol-gel method using AlCl₃.6H₂O and ZrCl₄ as precursors. Thermal decomposition of the precursor and subsequent formation of γ-Al₂O₃ and t-Zr were investigated by thermal analysis. XRD analysis showed that γ-Al₂O₃ and t-ZrO₂ phases were formed at 700 °C. FT-IR analysis also indicated that the phase transition to γ-Al₂O₃ occurred in corroboration with X-ray studies. TEM analysis of the calcined powder revealed that spherical particles were in the range of 8-12 nm. The nano-alumina-zirconia composite particles were mesoporous and uniformly distributed in their crystalline phase. In order to measure the catalytic activity, esterification reaction was carried out. Biodiesel, as a renewable fuel, was formed in a continuous packed column reactor. Free fatty acid (FFA) was esterified with ethanol in a heterogeneous catalytic reactor. It was found that the synthesized γ-Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ composite had the potential to be used as a heterogeneous base catalyst for biodiesel production processes.

Keywords: nano alumina-zirconia, composite catalyst, thin film, biodiesel

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Chien-Jen Liu, Shu Ching Yang

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Using the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study examined the external variables of technological complexity (TC) to acquire a better understanding of the factors that influence the acceptance of computer application courses by learners at Active Aging Universities. After the learners in this study had completed a 27-hour Facebook course, 44 learners responded to a modified TAM survey. Data were collected to examine the path relationships among the variables that influence the acceptance of Facebook-mediated community learning. The partial least squares (PLS) method was used to test the measurement and the structural model. The study results demonstrated that attitudes toward Facebook use directly influence behavioral intentions (BI) with respect to Facebook use, evincing a high prediction rate of 58.3%. In addition to the perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) measures that are proposed in the TAM, other external variables, such as TC, also indirectly influence BI. These four variables can explain 88% of the variance in BI and demonstrate a high level of predictive ability. Finally, limitations of this investigation and implications for further research are discussed.

Keywords: technology acceptance model (TAM), technological complexity, partial least squares (PLS), perceived usefulness

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Siddharudha B. Patil

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Cotton is a premier commercial fibre crop of India subjected to ravages of insect pests. Sucking pests viz thrips, Thrips tabaci,(lind) leaf hopper Amrsca devastance,(dist) miridbug, Poppiocapsidea beseratense (Dist) and bollworms continue to inflict damage Bt Cotton right from seeding stage. Their infestation impact cotton yield to an extent of 30-40 percent. Chemical control is still adoptable as one of the techniques for combating these pests. Presently, growers have many challenges in selecting effective chemicals which fit in with an integrated pest management. Spinetoram has broad spectrum with excellent insecticidal activity against both sucking pests and bollworms. Hence, it is expected to make a great contribution to stable production and quality improvement of agricultural products. Spinetoram is a derivative of biologically active substances (Spinosyns) produced by soil actinomycetes, Saccharopolypara spinosa which is semi synthetic active ingredient representing Spinosyn chemical class of insecticide and has demonstrated higher level of efficacy with reduced risk on beneficial arthropods. The efforts were made in the present study to test the efficacy of Spinetoram against sucking pests and bollworms in comparison with other insecticides in Bt Cotton under field condition. Field experiment was laid out during 2013-14 and 2014-15 at Agricultural Research station Dharwad (Karnataka-India) in a randomized block design comprising eight treatments and three replications. Bt cotton genotype, Bunny BG-II was sown in a plot size of 5.4 m x5.4 m. Recommend agronomical practices were followed. The Spinetoram 12% SC alone and incombination with sulfaxaflore with varied dosages against pest complex was tested. Performance was compared with Spinosad 45% SC and thiamethoxam 25% WG. The results of consecutive seasons revealed that nonsignificant difference in thrips and leafhopper population and varied significantly after 3 days of imposition. Among the treatments, combiproduct, Spinetoram 10%WG + Sulfoxaflor 30% WG@ 140 gai/ha registered lowest population of thrips (3.91/3 leaves) and leaf hoppers (1.08/3 leaves) followed by its lower dosages viz 120 gai/ha (4.86/3 leaves and 1.14/3 leaves of thrips and leaf hoppers, respectively) and 100 gai/ha (6.02 and 1.23./3 leaves of thrips and leaf hoppers respectively) being at par, significantly superior to rest of the treatments. On the contrary, the population of thrips, leaf hopper and miridbugs in untreated control was on higher side. Similarly the higher dosage of Spinetoram 10% WG+ Sulfoxaflor 30% WG (140 gai/ha) proved its bioefficacy by registering lowest miridbug incidence of 1.70/25 squares, followed by its lower dosage (1.78 and 1.83/25 squares respectively) Further observation made on bollworms incidence revealed that the higher dosage of Spinetoram 10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG (140 gai/ha) registered lowest percentage of boll damage (7.22%), more number of good opened bolls (36.89/plant) and higher seed cotton yield (19.45q/ha) followed by rest of its lower dosages, Spinetoram 12% SC alone and Spinosad 45% SC being at par significantly superior to rest of the treatments. However, significantly higher boll damage (15.13%) and lower seed cotton yield (14.45 q/ha) was registered in untreated control. Thus Spinetoram10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG can be a promising option for pest management in Bt Cotton.

Keywords: Spinetoram10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG, sucking pests, bollworms, Bt cotton, management

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Nick Papanikolaou

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In modern world politics, International relations are very complex not only in their construction but also in their interpretation the ex-Yugoslavian(western Balkans) countries, due to the establishment of independent states, have also risen pending geopolitical and territorial issues such as the Kosovo dispute widely known as an active frozen conflict. Science of anthropology and its subfield of anthropology of conflict can suggest a sustainable plan of communities coexistence and abolishment of fondamentalism. The 1244 Security Council Resolution provides a framework of implementation of a transitional international joint international armed presence for ensuring control and stability in the territory. The changing international relations landscape and the rise of the integration of the Western Balkans in the European Union have brought the question of Kosovo and all the till now internationally controlled system of governance to a dead end. A new solution that will ensure a sustainable future needs to be applied in order to solve this case in a way that rights of both albanians and Serbians will be equally respected and both populations will coexist peacefully. What this presentation aims for is to present a plan for the peaceful coexistence and sovreignty of habitants of Kosovo in a whole new way of governance.

Keywords: sovereignty, Kosovo, Western Balkans, anthropology of conflict

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Faheema Khan

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We have investigated the effects of salt stress on the stability of plant growth, water relations, photosynthetic variables, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant system in salt-tolerant (PK-327) and salt-sensitive (PK-471) soybean genotypes. Ten-day-old salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive soybean plants were subjected to 0-150 mM NaCl for 15 days. While the growth of genotype PK-327 was not affected significantly up to 75 mM NaCl treatment, the growth of the PK-471 was reduced significantly beyond 25 mM NaCl treatments. Salt stress caused severe impairments in photosynthetic variables like photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll content, being more pronounced in salt-sensitive genotype than in salt-tolerant.The activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase) were higher in PK-327 than in PK-471 at various levels of salt treatments.It is concluded that tolerance capacity of PK-327 against salinity can be associated with the ability of this genotype in keeping an active photosynthetic system and strong antioxidant defence system.

Keywords: salt stress, soybean, antioxidant, photosynthesis

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Elham Rezaee, Sayyed Abbas Tabatabai

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Dual inhibition of COX-2 and sEH enzymes represents one of the distinct pharmaceutical approaches for the treatment of inflammation, pain, cancers, and other diseases. The discovery of these inhibitors for treatment is a great deal of attention because of some advantages such as increased efficacy, a promising safety profile, ease of formulation, and better target engagement. In this research, based on the structure-activity relationship of COX-2 and sEH inhibitors, some amide derivatives with oxadiazole and dihydropyrimidinone rings against sEH and COX-2 enzymes were developed. The designed compounds showed high affinity to the active site of both enzymes in docking studies and were synthesized in good yield and characterized by IR, Mass, 1HNMR, and 13CNMR. All of the novel compounds exhibited considerable in-vitro sEH and COX-2 inhibitory activities in comparison with 12-(3-Adamantan-1-yl-ureido)- dodecanoic acid and celecoxib (a potent urea-based sEH inhibitor and selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, respectively). Ethyl 6-methyl-4-(4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)benzamido)phenyl)-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylate was found to be the most selective COX-2 inhibitor (COX-2/COX-1 ratio: 683) with IC50 value of 2.1 nM targeting sEH enzyme.

Keywords: COX-2, dual inhibitors, sEH, synthesis

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Authors: Tran Le Luu, Jeyong Yoon

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RuO2-TiO2 electrode now becomes popular in the chlor-alkali industry because of high electrocatalytic and stability with chlorine and oxygen evolutions. Using alternative green method for preparation RuO2-TiO2 electrode is necessary to reduce the cost, time. In addition, it is needed to increase the electrocatalyst performance, stability, and environmental compatibility. In this study, the Ti/RuO2-TiO2 electrodes were synthesized using sol-gel method under microwave irradiation and investigated for the anodic chlorine and oxygen evolutions. This method produced small size and uniform distribution of RuO2-TiO2 nanoparticles with mean diameter of 8-10 nm on the big crack size surface which contributes for the increasing of the outer active surface area. The chlorine, oxygen evolution efficiency and stability comparisons show considerably higher for microwave-assisted coated electrodes than for those obtained by the conventional heating method. The microwave-assisted sol-gel route has been identified as a novel and powerful method for quick synthesis of RuO2–TiO2 electrodes with excellent chlorine and oxygen evolution performances.

Keywords: RuO2, electro-catalyst, sol-gel, microwave, chlorine, oxygen evolution

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Aura Alejandra Burbano Patino, Mariela Agotegaray, Veronica Lassalle, Fernanda Horst

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Water pollution is of worldwide concern due to its importance as an essential resource for life. Industrial and urbanistic growth are anthropogenic activities that have caused an increase of undesirable compounds in water. In the last decade, emerging pollutants have become of great interest since, at very low concentrations (µg/L and ng/L), they exhibit a hazardous effect on wildlife, aquatic ecosystems, and human organisms. One group of emerging pollutants that are a matter of study are pharmaceuticals. Their high consumption rate and their inappropriate disposal have led to their detection in wastewater treatment plant influent, effluent, surface water, and drinking water. In consequence, numerous technologies have been developed to efficiently treat these pollutants. Adsorption appears like an easy and cost-effective technology. One of the most used adsorbents of emerging pollutants removal is carbon-based materials such as hydrochars. This study aims to use a magnetic hydrochar nanocomposite to be employed as an adsorbent for diclofenac removal. Kinetics models and the adsorption efficiency in real water samples were analyzed. For this purpose, a magnetic hydrochar nanocomposite was synthesized through the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) technique hybridized to co-precipitation to add the magnetic component into the hydrochar, based on iron oxide nanoparticles. The hydrochar was obtained from sunflower husk residue as the precursor. TEM, TGA, FTIR, Zeta potential as a function of pH, DLS, BET technique, and elemental analysis were employed to characterize the material in terms of composition and chemical structure. Adsorption kinetics were carried out in distilled water and real water at room temperature, pH of 5.5 for distilled water and natural pH for real water samples, 1:1 adsorbent: adsorbate dosage ratio, contact times from 10-120 minutes, and 50% dosage concentration of DCF. Results have demonstrated that magnetic hydrochar presents superparamagnetic properties with a saturation magnetization value of 55.28 emu/g. Besides, it is mesoporous with a surface area of 55.52 m²/g. It is composed of magnetite nanoparticles incorporated into the hydrochar matrix, as can be proven by TEM micrographs, FTIR spectra, and zeta potential. On the other hand, kinetic studies were carried out using DCF models, finding percent removal efficiencies up to 85.34% after 80 minutes of contact time. In addition, after 120 minutes of contact time, desorption of emerging pollutants from active sites took place, which indicated that the material got saturated after that t time. In real water samples, percent removal efficiencies decrease up to 57.39%, ascribable to a possible mechanism of competitive adsorption of organic or inorganic compounds, ions for active sites of the magnetic hydrochar. The main suggested adsorption mechanism between the magnetic hydrochar and diclofenac include hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions as well as hydrogen bonds. It can be concluded that the magnetic hydrochar nanocomposite could be valorized into a by-product which appears as an efficient adsorbent for DCF removal as a model emerging pollutant. These results are being complemented by modifying experimental variables such as pollutant’s initial concentration, adsorbent: adsorbate dosage ratio, and temperature. Currently, adsorption assays of other emerging pollutants are being been carried out.

Keywords: environmental remediation, emerging pollutants, hydrochar, magnetite nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: Anita Jäger, Andrew Salazar, Jörg von Hagen, Harald Kolmar

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In the treatment of individuals with sensitive and psoriatic skin, several inflammation and itch-related molecular and cellular targets have been identified, but many of these have yet to be characterized. In this study, we present two potential targets in the skin that can be linked to the inflammation and itch cycle. 11ßHSD1 is the enzyme responsible for converting inactive cortisone to active cortisol used to transmit signals downstream. The activation of the receptor NK1R correlates with promoting inflammation and the perception of itch and pain in the skin. In this study, both targets have been investigated based on their involvement in inflammation. The role of both identified targets was characterized based on the secretion of inflammation cytokine- IL6, IL-8, and CCL2, as well as phosphorylation and signaling pathways. It was found that treating skin cells with molecules able to inhibit inflammatory pathways results in the reduction of inflammatory signaling molecules secreted by skin cells and increases their proliferative capacity. Therefore, these molecular targets and their associated pathways show therapeutic potential and can be mitigated via small molecules. This research can be used for further studies in inflammation and itch pathways and can help to treat pathological symptoms.

Keywords: inflammation, itch, signaling pathway, skin

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Faisal A. Salih, V. V. Egorov

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Verapamil is a drug used in medicine for arrhythmia, angina, and hypertension as a calcium channel blocker. In this study, a Verapamil-selective electrode was prepared, and the concentrations of the components in the membrane were as follows: PVC (32.8 wt %), O-NPhOE (66.6 wt %), and KTPClPB (0.6 wt % or approximately 0.01 M). The inner solution containing verapamil hydrochloride 1 x 10⁻³ M was introduced, and the electrodes were conditioned overnight in 1 x 10⁻³ M verapamil hydrochloride solution in 1 x 10⁻³ M orthophosphoric acid. These studies have demonstrated that O-NPhOE and KTPClPB are the best plasticizers and ion exchangers, while both direct potentiometry and potentiometric titration methods can be used for the determination of verapamil hydrochloride in tablets and injection solutions. Normalized weights of verapamil per tablet (80.4±0.2, 80.7±0.2, 81.0±0.4 mg) were determined by direct potentiometry and potentiometric titration, respectively. Weights of verapamil per average tablet weight determined by the methods of direct potentiometry and potentiometric titration were" 80.4±0.2, 80.7±0.2 mg determined for the same set of tablets, respectively. The masses of verapamil in solutions for injection, determined by direct potentiometry for two ampoules from one set, were (5.00±0.015, 5.004±0.006) mg. In all cases, good reproducibility and excellent correspondence with the declared quantities were observed.

Keywords: verapamil, potentiometry, ion-selective electrode, lipophilic physiologically active amines

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Bayan Alqassem, Israa A. Othman, Mohammed Abu Haija, Fawzi Banat

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The treatment of wastewater from highly toxic pollutants is one of the most challenging issues for humanity. In this study, the advanced oxidation process (AOP) was employed to study the catalytic degradation of phenol using different ferrite catalysts which are CoFe₂O₄, CrFe₂O₄, CuFe₂O₄, MgFe₂O₄, MnFe₂O₄, NiFe₂O₄ and ZnFe₂O₄. The ferrite catalysts were prepared via sol-gel and co-precipitation methods. Different ferrite composites were also prepared either by varying the metal ratios or incorporating chemically reduced graphene oxide in the ferrite cluster. The effect of phosphoric acid treatment on the copper ferrite activity. All of the prepared catalysts were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The ferrites catalytic activities were tested towards phenol degradation using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experimental results showed that ferrites prepared through sol-gel route were more active than those of the co-precipitation method towards phenol degradation. In both cases, CuFe₂O₄ exhibited the highest degradation of phenol compared to the other ferrites. The photocatalytic properties of the ferrites were also investigated.

Keywords: ferrite catalyst, ferrite composites, phenol degradation, photocatalysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Mira Zhonyssova, Nurlaym Ongarbayeva, Makpal Atykhanova

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Indicators of quality of grain chickpeas, the absorption of water different temperatures by grain chickpeas studied. Organoleptic and physicochemical changes in the germination of chickpeas studied. The total time of the duration of germination of chickpea grain is determined. As a result of the analysis of experimental data, it was found that the germination time at which the chickpea sprout length was 0.5- 3 mm varies from 21 to 25 hours. The change in the volume of chickpea grain during germination was investigated. It was found that in the first 2 hours the volume of chickpeas changes slightly – by 38%. This is due to the process of adsorption of water to a critical state. From 2 to 9 hours, the process of swelling of chickpea grain is observed – the vital activity of cells increases, enzymatic systems become active, the respiratory coefficient increases; gibberellin, stimulating the formation of a number of enzymes, is released. During this period, there is a sharp increase in the volume of chickpea grains – up to 138%. From 9 to 19 hours, “sprouting” of chickpea grains is observed, no morphological changes occur in the corcule – the grain volume remains at 138%. From 19 hours, the grain growth process begins, while the grain volume increases by 143%.

Keywords: chickpea, seeds, legumes, germination, physic-chemical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Milica B. Veljković, Milica B. Simović, Marija M. Ćorović, Ana D. Milivojević, Anja I. Petrov, Katarina M. Banjanac, Dejan I. Bezbradica

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In recent decades, the scientific community has recognized the growing importance of prebiotics, and therefore, numerous studies are focused on their economic production due to their low presence in natural resources. It has been confirmed that prebiotics is a source of energy for probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and enable their proliferation, consequently leading to the normal functioning of the intestinal microbiota. Also, products of their fermentation are short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which play a key role in maintaining and improving the health not only of the GIT but also of the whole organism. Among several confirmed prebiotics, fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are considered interesting candidates for use in a wide range of products in the food industry. They are characterized as low-calorie and non-cariogenic substances that represent an adequate sugar substitute and can be considered suitable for use in products intended for diabetics. The subject of this research will be the production of FOS by transforming sucrose using a fructosyltransferase (FTase) present in commercial preparation Pectinex® Ultra SP-L, with special emphasis on the development of adequate FTase immobilization method that would enable selective isolation of the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of FOS from the complex enzymatic mixture. This would lead to considerable enzyme purification and allow its direct incorporation into different sucrose-based products without the fear that the action of the other hydrolytic enzymes may adversely affect the products' functional characteristics. Accordingly, the possibility of selective immobilization of the enzyme using support with primary amino groups, Purolite® A109, which was previously activated and modified using glutaraldehyde (GA), was investigated. In the initial phase of the research, the effects of individual immobilization parameters such as pH, enzyme concentration, and immobilization time were investigated to optimize the process using support chemically activated with 15% and 0.5% GA to form dimers and monomers, respectively. It was determined that highly active immobilized preparations (371.8 IU/g of support - dimer and 213.8 IU/g of support – monomer) were achieved under acidic conditions (pH 4) provided that an enzyme concentration was 50 mg/g of support after 7 h and 3 h, respectively. Bearing in mind the obtained results of the expressed activity, it is noticeable that the formation of dimers showed higher reactivity compared to the form of monomers. Also, in the case of support modification using 15% GA, the value of the ratio of FTase and pectinase (as dominant enzyme mixture component) activity immobilization yields was 16.45, indicating the high feasibility of selective immobilization of FTase on modified polystyrene resin. After obtaining immobilized preparations of satisfactory features, they were tested in a reaction of FOS synthesis under determined optimal conditions. The maximum FOS yields of approximately 50% of total carbohydrates in the reaction mixture were recorded after 21 h. Finally, it can be concluded that the examined immobilization method yielded highly active, stable and, more importantly, refined enzyme preparation that can be further utilized on a larger scale for the development of continual processes for FOS synthesis, as well as for modification of different sucrose-based mediums.

Keywords: chemical modification, fructooligosaccharides, glutaraldehyde, immobilization of fructosyltransferase

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Guilherme M. Pereira, Kimmo Teinïla, Danilo Custódio, Risto Hillamo, Célia Alves, Pérola de C. Vasconcellos

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South American large cities often present serious air pollution problems and their atmosphere composition is influenced by a variety of emissions sources. The South American Emissions Megacities, and Climate project (SAEMC) has focused on the study of emissions and its influence on climate in the South American largest cities and it also included Lima (Peru) and Medellin (Colombia), sites where few studies of the genre were done. Lima is a coastal city with more than 8 million inhabitants and the second largest city in South America. Medellin is a 2.5 million inhabitants city and second largest city in Colombia; it is situated in a valley. The samples were collected in quartz fiber filters in high volume samplers (Hi-Vol), in 24 hours of sampling. The samples were collected in intensive campaigns in both sites, in July, 2010. Several species were determined in the aerosol samples of Lima and Medellin. Organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC) in thermal-optical analysis; biomass burning tracers (levoglucosan - Lev, mannosan - Man and galactosan - Gal) in high-performance anion exchange ion chromatography with mass spectrometer detection; water soluble ions in ion chromatography. The average particulate matter was similar for both campaigns, the PM10 concentrations were above the recommended by World Health Organization (50 µg m⁻³ – daily limit) in 40% of the samples in Medellin, while in Lima it was above that value in 15% of the samples. The average total ions concentration was higher in Lima (17450 ng m⁻³ in Lima and 3816 ng m⁻³ in Medellin) and the average concentrations of sodium and chloride were higher in this site, these species also had better correlations (Pearson’s coefficient = 0,63); suggesting a higher influence of marine aerosol in the site due its location in the coast. Sulphate concentrations were also much higher at Lima site; which may be explained by a higher influence of marine originated sulphate. However, the OC, EC and monosaccharides average concentrations were higher at Medellin site; this may be due to the lower dispersion of pollutants due to the site’s location and a larger influence of biomass burning sources. The levoglucosan average concentration was 95 ng m⁻³ for Medellin and 16 ng m⁻³ and OC was well correlated with levoglucosan (Pearson’s coefficient = 0,86) in Medellin; suggesting a higher influence of biomass burning over the organic aerosol in this site. The Lev/Man ratio is often related to the type of biomass burned and was close to 18, similar to the observed in previous studies done at biomass burning impacted sites in the Amazon region; backward trajectories also suggested the transport of aerosol from that region. Biomass burning appears to have a larger influence on the air quality in Medellin, in addition the vehicular emissions; while Lima showed a larger influence of marine aerosol during the study period.

Keywords: aerosol transport, atmospheric particulate matter, biomass burning, SAEMC project

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Ting Wu, Feiting Hu, Xinyue Zhang, Shuxin Tang, Xiaoyun Xu

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As a by-product of yuba, processing wastewater of Yuba (PWY) contains many bioactive components such as soybean isoflavones, soybean polysaccharides and soybean oligosaccharides, which is a good source of prebiotics and has a potential of high value utilization. The use of Lactobacillus plantarum to ferment PWY can be considered as a potential biogenic element, which can regulate the balance of intestinal microbiota. In this study, firstly, Lactobacillus plantarum was used to ferment PWY to improve its content of active components and antioxidant activity. Then, the health effect of fermented processing wastewater of yuba (FPWY) was measured in vitro. Finally, microencapsulation technology was used applied to improve the sustained release of FPWY and reduce the loss of active components in the digestion process, as well as to improving the activity of FPWY. The main results are as follows: (1) FPWY presented a good antioxidant capacity with DPPH free radical scavenging ability (0.83 ± 0.01 mmol Trolox/L), ABTS free radical scavenging ability (7.47 ± 0.35 mmol Trolox/L) and iron ion reducing ability (1.11 ± 0.07 mmol Trolox/L). Compared with non-fermented processing wastewater of yuba (NFPWY), there was no significant difference in the content of total soybean isoflavones, but the content of glucoside soybean isoflavones decreased, and aglyconic soybean isoflavones increased significantly. After fermentation, PWY can effectively reduce the soluble monosaccharides, disaccharides and oligosaccharides, such as glucose, fructose, galactose, trehalose, stachyose, maltose, raffinose and sucrose. (2) FPWY can significantly enhance the growth of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, Ruminococcus and Akkermansia, significantly inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria E.coli, regulate the structure of intestinal microbiota, and significantly increase the content of short-chain fatty acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isovaleric acid. Higher amount of lactic acid in the gut can be further broken down into short chain fatty acids. (3) In order to improve the stability of soybean isoflavones in FPWY during digestion, sodium alginate and chitosan were used as wall materials for embedding. The FPWY freeze-dried powder was embedded by the method of acute-coagulation bath. The results show that when the core wall ratio is 3:1, the concentration of chitosan is 1.5%, the concentration of sodium alginate is 2.0%, and the concentration of calcium is 3%, the embossing rate is 53.20%. In the simulated in vitro digestion stage, the release rate of microcapsules reached 59.36% at the end of gastric digestion and 82.90% at the end of intestinal digestion. Therefore, the core materials with good sustained-release performance of microcapsules were almost all released. The structural analysis results of FPWY microcapsules show that the microcapsules have good mechanical properties. Its hardness, springness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness and resilience were 117.75± 0.21 g, 0.76±0.02, 0.54±0.01, 63.28±0.71 g·sec, 48.03±1.37 g·sec, 0.31±0.01, respectively. Compared with the unembedded FPWY, the infrared spectrum results showed that the microcapsules had embedded effect on the FPWY freeze-dried powder.

Keywords: processing wastewater of yuba, lactobacillus plantarum, intestinal microbiota, microcapsule

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Authors: Komal Babbar

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Multiuser Detection is the intelligent estimation/demodulation of transmitted bits in the presence of Multiple Access Interference. The authors have presented the Bit-error rate (BER) achieved by linear multi-user detectors: Matched filter (which treats the MAI as AWGN), Decorrelating and MMSE. In this work, authors investigate the bit error probability analysis for Matched filter, decorrelating, and MMSE. This problem arises in several practical CDMA applications where the receiver may not have full knowledge of the number of active users and their signature sequences. In particular, the behavior of MAI at the output of the Multi-user detectors (MUD) is examined under various asymptotic conditions including large signal to noise ratio; large near-far ratios; and a large number of users. In the last section Authors also shows Matlab Simulation results for Multiuser detection techniques i.e., Matched filter, Decorrelating, MMSE for 2 users and 10 users.

Keywords: code division multiple access, decorrelating, matched filter, minimum mean square detection (MMSE) detection, multiple access interference (MAI), multiuser detection (MUD)

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Authors: Khadijat T. Bamigbade, Olufade F. W. Onifade

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The field of automatic facial expression analysis has been an active research area in the last two decades. Its vast applicability in various domains has drawn so much attention into developing techniques and dataset that mirror real life scenarios. Many techniques such as Local Binary Patterns and its variants (CLBP, LBP-TOP) and lately, deep learning techniques, have been used for facial expression recognition. However, the problem of occlusion has not been sufficiently handled, making their results not applicable in real life situations. This paper develops a simple, yet highly efficient method tagged Local Binary Pattern-Histogram of Gradient (LBP-HOG) with occlusion detection in face image, using a multi-class SVM for Action Unit and in turn expression recognition. Our method was evaluated on three publicly available datasets which are JAFFE, CK, SFEW. Experimental results showed that our approach performed considerably well when compared with state-of-the-art algorithms and gave insight to occlusion detection as a key step to handling expression in wild.

Keywords: automatic facial expression analysis, local binary pattern, LBP-HOG, occlusion detection

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Authors: Ehsan Khorshidian, Afshin Farahbakhsh, Sina Aghili

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Enzymes are promising biocatalysts for many organic reactions. They have excellent features like high activity, specificity and selectivity, and can catalyze under mild and environment friendly conditions. Epoxy-activated supports are almost-ideal ones to perform very easy immobilization of proteins and enzymes at both laboratory and industrial scale. The activated epoxy supports (chitosan/alginate, Eupergit C) may be very suitable to achieve the multipoint covalent attachment of proteins and enzymes, therefore, to stabilize their three-dimensional structure. The enzyme is firstly covalently immobilized under conditions pH 7.0 and 10.0. The remaining groups of the support are blocked to stop additional interaction between the enzyme and support by mercaptoethanol or Triton X-100. The results show support allowed obtaining biocatalysts with high immobilized protein amount and hydrolytic activity. The immobilization of lipases on epoxy support may be considered as attractive tool for obtaining highly active biocatalysts to be used in both aqueous and anhydrous aqueous media.

Keywords: immobilization of enzymes, epoxy supports, enzyme multipoint covalent attachment, microbial lipases

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Authors: Shai Gabay

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The tunnel effect describes the phenomenon where a moving object seems to persist even when temporarily hidden from view. Numerous studies indicate that humans, infants, and nonhuman primates possess object persistence, relying on spatiotemporal cues to track objects that are dynamically occluded. While this ability is associated with neural activity in the cerebral neocortex of humans and mammals, the role of subcortical mechanisms remains ambiguous. In our current investigation, we explore the functional contribution of monocular aspects of the visual system, predominantly subcortical, to the representation of occluded objects. This is achieved by manipulating whether the reappearance of an object occurs in the same or different eye from its disappearance. Additionally, we employ Archerfish, renowned for their precision in dislodging insect prey with water jets, as a phylogenetic model to probe the evolutionary origins of the tunnel effect. Our findings reveal the active involvement of subcortical structures in the mental representation of occluded objects, a process evident even in species that do not possess cortical tissue.

Keywords: archerfish, tunnel effect, mental representations, monocular channels, subcortical structures

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Authors: Ling Ai Wong, Hussain Shareef, Azah Mohamed, Ahmad Asrul Ibrahim

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The installation of photovoltaic based distributed generation (PVDG) in active distribution system can lead to voltage fluctuation due to the intermittent and unpredictable PVDG output power. This paper presented a method in mitigating the voltage rise by optimally locating and sizing the battery energy storage system (BESS) in PVDG integrated distribution network. The improved firefly algorithm is used to perform optimal placement and sizing. Three objective functions are presented considering the voltage deviation and BESS off-time with state of charge as the constraint. The performance of the proposed method is compared with another optimization method such as the original firefly algorithm and gravitational search algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed optimum BESS location and size improve the voltage stability.

Keywords: BESS, firefly algorithm, PVDG, voltage fluctuation

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Pavle Dakić, Dimitrije Kotur, Zoran Stojanović

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This paper presents the results of the study in which the excitation system fault of synchronous generator is simulated. In a case of excitation system fault (loss of field), distance relay is used to prevent further damage. Loss-of-field relay calculates complex impedance using measured voltage and current at the generator terminals. In order to obtain phasors from sampled measured values, discrete Fourier transform is used. All simulations are conducted using Matlab and Simulink software package. The analysis is conducted on the two machine system which supplies equivalent load. While simulating loss of excitation on one generator in different conditions (at idle operation, weakly loaded, and fully loaded), diagrams of active power, reactive power, and measured impedance are analyzed and monitored. Moreover, in the simulations, the effect of generator load on relay tripping time is investigated. In conclusion, the performed tests confirm that the fault in the excitation system can be detected by measuring the impedance.

Keywords: loss-of-excitation, synchronous generator, distance protection, Fourier transformation

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Miguel José Oliveira, Fátima Farinha, Elisa M. J. da Silva, Rui Lança, Manuel Duarte Pinheiro, Cátia Miguel

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The Observatory of Sustainability of the Algarve Region for Tourism (OBSERVE) will be a valuable tool to assess the sustainability of this region. The OBSERVE tool is designed to provide data and maintain an up-to-date, consistent set of indicators defined to describe the region on the environmental, sociocultural, economic and institutional domains. This ongoing two-year project has the active participation of the Algarve’s stakeholders, since they were consulted and asked to participate in the discussion for the indicators proposal. The environmental and sociocultural indicators chosen must indicate the characteristics of the region and should be in alignment with other global systems used to monitor the sustainability. This paper presents a review of sustainability indicators systems that support the first proposal for the environmental and sociocultural indicators. Others constraints are discussed, namely the existing data and the data available in digital platforms in a format suitable for automatic importation to the platform of OBSERVE. It is intended that OBSERVE will be a valuable tool to assess the sustainability of the region of Algarve.

Keywords: Algarve, development, environmental indicators, observatory, sociocultural indicators, sustainability, tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Lovro Štefan

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Background: The main purpose of the present study was to explore the correlations between physical activity and peak plantar pressure in dynamic mode. Methods: Participants were one hundred forty-six first-year university students (30.8% girls). Plantar pressure generated under each region of the foot (forefoot, midfoot, and heel) was measured by using Zebris dynamometric platform (Isny, Germany). The level of physical activity (PA) was calculated with the International Physical Activity questionnaire (IPAQ - short form). Results: In boys, forefoot peak plantar pressure was correlated with moderate PA (MPA; r=-0.21), vigorous PA (VPA; r=-0.18), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; r=-0.28). No significant correlations with other foot regions (p>0.05) were observed. In girls, forefoot peak plantar pressure was correlated with MPA (r =-0.30), VPA (r=-0.39) and MVPA (r=-0.38). Also, heel peak pressure was significantly correlated with MPA (r=-0.33), while no significant correlations with VPA (r=0.05) and MVPA (r=-0.15) were observed. Conclusion: This study shows that different intensities of PA were mostly correlated with forefoot peak plantar pressure in both boys and girls. Therefore, strategies that reduce plantar pressure through a more active lifestyle should be implemented within the education system.

Keywords: pedobarography, youth, exercise, associations

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Nikhil Jain, Bin Yu

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We explore the potential of using ultra-thin hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as both supporting substrate and gate dielectric for graphene-channel field effect transistors (GFETs). Different from commonly used oxide-based dielectric materials which are typically amorphous, very rough in surface, and rich with surface traps, h-BN is layered insulator free of dangling bonds and surface states, featuring atomically smooth surface. In a graphene-channel-last device structure with local buried metal gate electrode (TiN), thin h-BN multilayer is employed as both supporting “substrate” and gate dielectric for graphene active channel. We observed superior carrier mobility and electrical conduction, significantly improved from that in GFETs with SiO2 as substrate/gate insulator. In addition, we report excellent dielectric behavior of layered h-BN, including ultra-low leakage current and high critical electric field for breakdown.

Keywords: graphene, field-effect transistors, hexagonal boron nitride, dielectric strength, tunneling

Procedia PDF Downloads 427

Authors: Mohamad Sharif bin Mustaffa, Maizatul Akmam binti Abu Bakar, Mohd Harriszamani bin Abu Bakar

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Most teens who gave birth to an illegitimate child will suffer from depression. This depression issues arising from the incident itself which contains the teen will feel ashamed because labeled as immoral, apart from that most teenagers go through this episode without support from their spouse or family. Teens also face the possibility of a large part with the will be born babies because the issue of too young and needs to go back to school. Teens also can not make a decision on the future of the baby later because they are too immature and no baby care skills other than financial issues, where young people themselves are still dependent on their family. This paper will look at how to apply neurofeedback can be used to see the level of depression experienced by teenagers who get pregnant out of wedlock. Play therapy that will help improve adolescent focus will be used for this purpose. Each level experienced by teenagers going through the phase of easy-to-high difficulty level. Apart from that a recovery module will also be developed as a whole to reduce the level of depression to enable the youth to perform routine healthy activities and can go back to school with cheerful feeling, motivated and active.

Keywords: neurofeedback, depression, pregnant, adolescent, illegitimate

Procedia PDF Downloads 437

Authors: V. Pérez-Herranz, C. González-Buch, E. M. Ortega, S. Mestre

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In this work new macroporous Ni electrodes modified with Au nanoparticles for hydrogen production have been developed. The supporting macroporous Ni electrodes have been obtained by means of the electrodeposition at high current densities. Then, the Au nanoparticles were synthesized and added to the electrode surface. The electrocatalytic behaviour of the developed electrocatalysts was studied by means of pseudo-steady-state polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and hydrogen discharge curves. The size of the Au synthetized nanoparticles shows a monomodal distribution, with a very sharp band between 10 and 50 nm. The characteristic parameters d10, d50 and d90 were 14, 20 and 31 nm respectively. From Tafel polarization data has been concluded that the Au nanoparticles improve the catalytic activity of the developed electrodes towards the HER respect to the macroporous Ni electrodes. EIS permits to obtain the electrochemically active area by means of the roughness factor value. All the developed electrodes show roughness factor values in the same order of magnitude. From the activation energy results it can be concluded that the Au nanoparticles improve the intrinsic catalytic activity of the macroporous Ni electrodes.

Keywords: Au nano particles, hydrogen evolution reaction, porous Ni electrodes, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

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Authors: Marcin Maslowski, Marian Zaborski

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The aim of the study was to receive magnetorheological elastomer composites (MRE) with the best mechanical characteristics. MRE based on different magnetoactive fillers in ethylene-octene rubber are reported and studied. To improve mechanical properties of polymer mixtures, also carbon black (N550) was added during the composites preparation process. Micro and nan-sized magnetites (Fe3O4), as well as gamma iron oxide (gamma-Fe2O3) and carbonyl iron powder (CIP) are added together with carbon black (N550) were found to be an active fillers systems improving both static and dynamic mechanical properties of elastomers. They also changed magnetic properties of composites. Dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA) indicates the presence of strongly developed secondary structure in vulcanizates. Reinforcing character of applied different fillers systems results in an increased stress at 100% elongation, tensile strength and cross-linking density of the vulcanizates. Studies investigated by vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) proved that all composites exhibit good magnetic properties.

Keywords: carbon black, mechanical properties, magnetorheological composites, magnetic fillers

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Authors: Jamid Ul Islam, Zillur Rahman

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The impulse for customer engagement research in online brand communities (OBCs) is largely acknowledged in the literature. Applying congruity theory, this study proposes a model of customer engagement by examining how two congruities viz. self-brand image congruity and value congruity influence customers’ engagement in online brand communities. The consequent effect of customer engagement on brand loyalty is also studied. This study collected data through a questionnaire survey of 395 students of a higher educational institute in India, who were active on Facebook and followed a brand community (at least one). The data were analyzed using structure equation modelling. The results revealed that both the types of congruity i.e., self-brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect customer engagement. A positive effect of customer engagement on brand loyalty was also affirmed by the results. This study integrates and broadens extant explanations of different congruity effects on consumer behavior-an area that has received little attention. This study is expected to add new trends to engage customers in online brand communities and offer realistic insights to the domain of social media marketing.

Keywords: congruity theory, customer engagement, Facebook, online brand communities

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Ateeq Ur Rehman

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This article deals with the promotional effects of CeO2 on PtPd/CeO2-OMC electrocatalysts. The synthesized catalysts are characterized using different physicochemical techniques and evaluated in a formic acid oxidation fuel cell. N2 adsorption/desorption analysis shows that CeO2 modification increases the surface area of OMC from 1005 m2/g to 1119 m2/g. SEM, XRD and TEM analysis reveal that the presence of CeO2 enhances the active metal(s) dispersion on the CeO2-OMC surface. The average particle size of the dispersed metal decreases with the increase of Pt/Pd ratio on CeO2-OMC support. Cyclic voltametry measurement of Pd/CeO2-OMC gives 12 % higher anodic current activity with 83 mV negative shift of the peak potential as compared to unmodified Pd/OMC. In bimetallic catalysts, the addition of Pt improves the activity and stability of the catalysts significantly. Among the bimetallic samples, Pd3Pt1/CeO2-OMC displays superior current density (74.6 mA/cm2), which is 28.3 times higher than that of Pt/CeO2-OMC. It also shows higher stability in extended period of runs with least indication of CO poisoning effects.

Keywords: CeO2, ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC), nano particles, formic acid fuel cell

Procedia PDF Downloads 315