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Authors: Flackson Tshuma, James Bennett, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel, Johan Labuschagne, Stephan van der Westhuizen, Francis Rayns

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Amongst other things, tillage and synthetic agrochemicals can be effective methods of seedbed preparation and pest control. Nonetheless, frequent and intensive tillage and excessive application of synthetic agrochemicals, such as herbicides and insecticides, can reduce soil microbial enzyme activity. A decline in soil microbial enzyme activity can negatively affect nutrient cycling and crop productivity. In this study, the effects of four tillage treatments; continuous mouldboard plough; shallow tine-tillage to a depth of about 75 mm; no-tillage; and tillage rotation (involving shallow tine-tillage once every four years in rotation with three years of no-tillage), and two rates of synthetic agrochemicals (standard: with regular application of synthetic agrochemicals; and reduced: fewer synthetic agrochemicals in combination with bio-chemicals/ or bio-stimulants) on soil microbial enzyme activity were investigated between 2018 and 2020 in a typical Mediterranean climate zone in South Africa. Four different bio-stimulants applied contained: Trichoderma asperellum, fulvic acid, silicic acid, and Nereocystis luetkeana extracts, respectively. The study was laid out as a complete randomised block design with four replicated blocks. Each block had 14 plots, and each plot measured 50 m x 6 m. The study aimed to assess the combined impact of tillage practices and reduced rates of synthetic agrochemical application on soil microbial enzyme activity in a dryland cropping system. It was hypothesised that the application of bio-stimulants in combination with minimum soil disturbance will lead to a greater increase in microbial enzyme activity than the effect of applying either in isolation. Six soil cores were randomly and aseptically collected from each plot for microbial enzyme activity analysis from the 0-150 mm layer of a field trial under a dryland crop rotation system in the Swartland region. The activities of four microbial enzymes, β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and urease, were assessed. The enzymes are essential for the cycling of glucose, phosphorus, and nitrogen, respectively. Microbial enzyme activity generally increased with a reduction of both tillage intensity and synthetic agrochemical application. The use of the mouldboard plough led to the least (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the reduced tillage treatments, whereas the system with bio-stimulants (reduced synthetic agrochemicals) led to the highest (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the standard systems. The application of bio-stimulants in combination with reduced tillage, particularly no-tillage, could be beneficial for enzyme activity in a dryland farming system.

Keywords: bio-stimulants, soil microbial enzymes, synthetic agrochemicals, tillage

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Authors: Yusuf U. Datti

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It is becoming increasingly clear that the consumption of resources now enjoyed in the developed nations will be impossible to be sustained worldwide. While developing countries still have the advantage of low consumption and a smaller ecological footprint per person, they cannot simply develop in the same way as other western cities have developed in the past. The severe reality of population and consumption inequalities makes it contentious whether studies done in developed countries can be translated and applied to developing countries. Additional to this disparities, there are few or no metabolism of energy studies in Nigeria. Rather more contentious majority of energy metabolism studies have been done only in developed countries. While researches in Nigeria concentrate on other aspects/principles of sustainability such as water supply, sewage disposal, energy supply, energy efficiency, waste disposal, etc., which will not accurately capture the environmental impact of energy flow in Nigeria, this research will set itself apart by examining the flow of energy in Nigeria and the impact that the flow will have on the environment. The aim of the study is to examine and quantify the metabolic flows of energy in Nigeria and its corresponding environmental impact. The study will quantify the level and pattern of energy inflow and the outflow of greenhouse emissions in Nigeria. This study will describe measures to address the impact of existing energy sources and suggest alternative renewable energy sources in Nigeria that will lower the emission of greenhouse gas emissions. This study will investigate the metabolism of energy in Nigeria through a three-part methodology. The first step involved selecting and defining the study area and some variables that would affect the output of the energy (time of the year, stability of the country, income level, literacy rate and population). The second step involves analyzing, categorizing and quantifying the amount of energy generated by the various energy sources in the country. The third step involves analyzing what effect the variables would have on the environment. To ensure a representative sample of the study area, Africa’s most populous country, with economy that is the second biggest and that is among the top largest oil producing countries in the world is selected. This is due to the understanding that countries with large economy and dense populations are ideal places to examine sustainability strategies; hence, the choice of Nigeria for the study. National data will be utilized unless where such data cannot be found, then local data will be employed which will be aggregated to reflect the national situation. The outcome of the study will help policy-makers better target energy conservation and efficiency programs and enables early identification and mitigation of any negative effects in the environment.

Keywords: built environment, energy metabolism, environmental impact, greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability

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Authors: Gokcen Akyurek, Hulya Kayihan, Deniz Yuce, Selen Yilmaz

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The stigma towards mental illness is still very rooted in our society, despite the number of studies, campaigns, and anti-stigma programs developed in recent years. Stigma represents a serious obstacle to recovery and social integration for people who experience a mental illness, affecting directly their well-being and quality of life. It implies that these persons have to deal with many other barriers apart from the disease symptoms (1-5). Convergent, recent literature suggests that less positive attitudes by mental health professionals interfere with the self-determination and recovery process (4-10).The aim of this study was to translate the Attribution Questionnaire-27 (AQ-27) to the Turkish language (AQ-27-T), and to examine the reliability and validity of this new Turkish version. Cultural adaptation was implemented according to the internationally suggested method. To determine the understandability and appropriateness of this measure for the Turkish culture, a pretest was administered and the final form was generated. Then, 424 randomly chosen people took part in the study. Participant’s mean age was 36.9±12.7 years and %52 of them female. Cronbach's alpha and intra-class coefficients were used to estimate instrument reliability. The AQ-27-T was assessed again 14 days later for test retest reliability. The AQ-27-T demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88 for the total scale and ranging between 0.86 and 0.89 for the items. The test-retest reliability was good, with Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.79 for the total scale and ranging between 0.35 and 0.77 for the items (p<0.05). Correlation between subscales was moderate-good, with Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.18-0.88 (p<0.05). Fit indices of the model supported the factor structure and paths. The AQ-27-T is a reliable measure to assess stigmatizing attitudes in Turkish.

Keywords: attribution questionnaire, validity, reliability, stigma

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Authors: Ovett Nwosimiri

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African tradition and what it entails are the content of African concepts of knowledge. The study of African concepts of knowledge is also known as African epistemology. In other words, African epistemology is a branch of African philosophy that deals with knowledge. This branch of African philosophy engages with the nature and concept of knowledge, the ways in which knowledge can be gained, the ways in which one can justify an epistemic claim or validate a knowledge claim and the limit of human knowledge, etc. The protagonists of African epistemology based their argument for a distinctive or unique African epistemology on the premise or proposition “that each race is endowed with a distinctive nature and embodies in its civilization a particular spirit”. All human beings share some certain basic values and perceptions irrespective of where you come from, and this idea actually fosters some forms of interaction between people from different nationality. Africans like other people share in some certain values, perceptions, and interaction with the rest of the world. These basic values, perceptions, and interaction that Africans share with the rest of the word prompted African people to attempt to “modernize” their societies or develop some forms of their tradition in harmony with the ethos of the contemporary world. Based on the above ideas, it would be interesting to investigate if such (African) epistemology is still unique. The advocates of African epistemology focus on the externalist notion of justification and neglect the idea that both the internalist and externalist notion of justification are needed in order to arrive at a coherent and well-founded account of epistemic justification. Thus, this paper will critically examine the claims that there is a unique African epistemology (a mode of knowing that is peculiar to Africans, and that African mode of knowing is social, monism and situated notion of knowledge), and the grounds for justifying beliefs and epistemic claims.

Keywords: internalist, externalist, knowledge, justification

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Authors: J. Magerman, P. Martin

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Nursing students' clinical abilities is highly dependent on the quality of the clinical experience obtained while placed in the clinical environment. The clinical environment has amongst other, key role players which include the clinical supervisor. The primary role of the clinical supervisor is to guide nursing students to become the best practice nursing professionals. However, globally literature alludes to the failure of educating institutions to deliver competent nursing professionals to meet the needs of patients and deliver quality patient care. At the participating university, this may be due to various factors such as large student numbers and social and environmental challenges experienced by clinical supervisors. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of clinical supervisors who supervise nursing students at a higher education institution. The study employed a qualitative research approach utilizing a descriptive phenomenological design. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, who supervised first and second year nursing studnets at the higher education institution under study. TH esample comprised of eight clinical supervisors who supervise first and secon year nursing studnets at teh institution under study. Data was collected by means of in-depht interviews. Data was analysed using Collaizzi's seven steps method of qualitative analysis. Five major themes identified , focussed on the experiences regarding time a sa constraint to job productivity, the impact of teh organisational culture on the fluidity of support, interpersonal relationships a sa dynamic communication process, impact on the self, and limited resources. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured by means of applying Guba's model of truth value, applicability, consistency and neutrality. Reflexivity was also used by the researcher to further enhance trustworthiness.

Keywords: clinical supervision, clinical supervisors, nursing students, clinical placements

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Authors: Claudia García-García, Catalina B. García-García, Román Salmerón-Gómez

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Much economic-environmental research includes the analysis of possible interactions by using Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA), which is a specific application of multiple linear regression analysis. This methodology allows analyzing how the effect of one of the independent variables is moderated by a second independent variable by adding a cross-product term between them as an additional explanatory variable. Due to the very specification of the methodology, the moderated factor is often highly correlated with the constitutive terms. Thus, great multicollinearity problems arise. The appearance of strong multicollinearity in a model has important consequences. Inflated variances of the estimators may appear, there is a tendency to consider non-significant regressors that they probably are together with a very high coefficient of determination, incorrect signs of our coefficients may appear and also the high sensibility of the results to small changes in the dataset. Finally, the high relationship among explanatory variables implies difficulties in fixing the individual effects of each one on the model under study. These consequences shifted to the moderated analysis may imply that it is not worth including an interaction term that may be distorting the model. Thus, it is important to manage the problem with some methodology that allows for obtaining reliable results. After a review of those works that applied the MRA among the ten top journals of the field, it is clear that multicollinearity is mostly disregarded. Less than 15% of the reviewed works take into account potential multicollinearity problems. To overcome the issue, this work studies the possible application of recent methodologies to MRA. Particularly, the raised regression is analyzed. This methodology mitigates collinearity from a geometrical point of view: the collinearity problem arises because the variables under study are very close geometrically, so by separating both variables, the problem can be mitigated. Raise regression maintains the available information and modifies the problematic variables instead of deleting variables, for example. Furthermore, the global characteristics of the initial model are also maintained (sum of squared residuals, estimated variance, coefficient of determination, global significance test and prediction). The proposal is implemented to data from countries of the European Union during the last year available regarding greenhouse gas emissions, per capita GDP and a dummy variable that represents the topography of the country. The use of a dummy variable as the moderator is a special variant of MRA, sometimes called “subgroup regression analysis.” The main conclusion of this work is that applying new techniques to the field can improve in a substantial way the results of the analysis. Particularly, the use of raised regression mitigates great multicollinearity problems, so the researcher is able to rely on the interaction term when interpreting the results of a particular study.

Keywords: multicollinearity, MRA, interaction, raise

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Authors: O. Nthoi-Molefe, V. Makwinja

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In the North West district of Botswana, Heritage tourism has the potential to offer tremendous economic and social opportunities for local communities in terms of supporting Tourism product development and entrepreneurship. This paper Identifies that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneur brings to the market goods and services, organizes and runs cultural heritage in a commercial or non-profit manner depending on characteristics of cultural resources identified. Data was collected through a series of focus group discussions that included sixteen village community members within the region. Data collected was transcribed and then further analyzed thematically to bring forward results to be analysed. Using Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site as a case study, the researchers acknowledged that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs in that area should use a creative approach in order toidentify suitable solutions for financing different tourism activities starting with sponsored events, grant funds, donations, including the benefits of financial opportunities brough be foreign visitors and domestic tourists alike. The researchers also identified a need for specialized training for the identified entrepreneurs in order to maintain quality services of tourism products and sites (interpretation), information for tourists, visitation services, diversification, and upgrading of the heritage experience. The research reveals that the identified Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs prefer economic motivation, exploitation over the cultural value of their resources, further calling for recommendations of the research that emphasize on the need for detailed training on how to valorize their cultural resources for the growth of Tourism in the area.

Keywords: education, community development, entrepreneurship, cultural tourism

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Authors: Paschal Ohalehi

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Purpose - The purpose of this paper, which is part of a PhD thesis is to examine the role of risk based approach in minimising financial crime in the charity sector as well as offer recommendations to improving the quality of charity regulation whilst still retaining risk based approach as a regulatory framework and also making a case for a new regulatory model. Increase in financial crimes in the charity sector has put the role of regulation in minimising financial crime up for debates amongst researchers and practitioners. Although previous research has addressed the regulation of charities, research on the role of risk based approach to minimising financial crime in the charity sector is limited. Financial crime is a concern for all organisation including charities. Design/methodology/approach - This research adopts a social constructionist’s epistemological position. This research is carried out using semi structured in-depth interviews amongst randomly selected 24 charity trustees divided into three classes: 10 small charities, 10 medium charities and 4 large charities. The researcher also interviewed 4 stakeholders (NFA, Charity Commission and two different police forces in terms of size and area of coverage) in the charity sector. Findings - The results of this research show that reliance on risk based approach to financial crime in the sector is weak and fragmented with the research pointing to a clear evidence of disconnect between the regulator and the regulated leading to little or lack of regulation of trustees’ activities, limited monitoring of charities and lack of training and awareness on financial crime in the sector. Originality – This paper shows how regulation of charities in general and risk based approach in particular can be improved in order to meet the expectations of the stakeholders, the public, the regulator and the regulated.

Keywords: risk, risk based approach, financial crime, fraud, self-regulation

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Authors: Houyem Kotti

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The development in societies requires that these societies are continuously changing in various aspects, a change that requires continuous adaptation to the data of the technical age. In order for the individual to perform his/her duty or task in a perfect way, it is necessary to provide all the basic requirements and necessities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the personnel working to accomplish their tasks, requirements, and work successfully. The success of the industries and organizations are linked to the need to create individuals in the creative and innovative field. Formation process is considered an economic development and social prosperity, and to improve the quantity and quality of artistic work. Therefore, creativity and innovation play an important role in improving the performance of the artistic organization as it is one of the variables affecting the organization's ability to grow and invest. In order to provide better services to their customers, especially in the face of competition and traditional methods of work, and in an environment that discourages and hinders creativity and impairs any process of development, change or creative behavior. The research methodology that will be performed for this study is described as qualitative by conducting several interviews with artistic people, experts in the artistic field and reviewing the related literature to collect the necessary and required qualitative data from secondary sources such as statistical reports, previous research studies, etc. In this research, we will attempt to clarify the relationship between innovation and its importance in the artistic organization, the conditions of achieving innovation and its constraints, barriers, and challenges. The creativity and innovation and their impacts on the performance of artistic organizations, explaining this mechanism, so as to ensure continuity of these organizations and keeping pace with developments in the global economic environment.

Keywords: artistic work, creativity and innovation, artistic organization, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Anu Shrestha, Krassi Rumchev, Ben Mullins, Yun Zhao, Linda Selvey

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Cycling is often promoted as a means of reducing vehicular congestion, noise and greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions in urban areas. It is also indorsed as a healthy means of transportation in terms of reducing the risk of developing a range of physical and psychological conditions. However, people who cycle regularly may not be aware that they can become exposed to high levels of Vehicular Air Pollutants (VAP) emitted by nearby traffics and therefore experience adverse health effects as a result. The study will highlight the present scenario of ambient air pollution level in different cycling routes in Perth and also highlight significant contribution to the understanding of health risks that cyclist may face from exposure to particulate air pollution. Methodology: This research was conducted in Perth, Western Austral and consisted of two groups of cyclists cycling near high (2 routes) and low (two routes) vehicular traffic roads, at high and low levels of exertion, during the cold and warm seasons. A sample size of 123 regular cyclists who cycled at least 80 km/week, aged 20-55, and non-smoker were selected for this study. There were altogether 100 male and 23 female who were asked to choose one or more routes among four different routes, and each participant cycled the route for warm or cold or both seasons. Cyclist who reported cardiovascular and other chronic health conditions (excluding asthma) were not invited into the study. Exposures to selected air pollutants were assessed by undertaking background and personal measurements alone with the measurement of heart and breathe rate of each participant. Finding: According to the preliminary study findings, the cyclists who used cycling route close to high traffic route were exposed to higher levels of measured air pollutants Nitrogen Oxide (NO₂) =0.12 ppm, sulfur dioxide (SO₂)=0.06 ppm and carbon monoxide (CO)=0.25 PPM compared to those who cycled away from busy roads. However, we measured high concentrations of particulate air pollution near one of the low traffic route which we associate with the close proximity to ferry station. Concluding Statement: As a conclusion, we recommend that cycling routes should be selected away from high traffic routes. If possible, we should also consider that if the cycling route is surrounded by the dense populated infrastructures, it can trap the pollutants and always facilitate in increasing inhalation of particle count among the cyclists.

Keywords: air pollution, carbon monoxide, cyclists' health, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, respirable particulate matters

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Authors: SeyedKeivan Nateghi, Jan Kaczmarczyk

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People nowadays spend most of their time in buildings. Accordingly, maintaining a good quality of indoor air is very important. New universal matters related to the prevalence of Covid-19 also highlight the importance of indoor air conditioning in reducing the risk of virus infection. Cooling and Heating of a house will provide a suitable zone of air temperature for residents. One of the significant factors in energy demand is energy consumption in the building. In general, building divisions compose more than 30% of the world's fundamental energy requirement. As energy demand increased, greenhouse effects emerged that caused global warming. Regardless of the environmental damage to the ecosystem, it can spread infectious diseases such as malaria, cholera, or dengue to many other parts of the world. With the advent of the Covid-19 phenomenon, the previous instructions to reduce energy consumption are no longer responsive because they increase the risk of virus infection among people in the room. Two problems of high energy consumption and coronavirus infection are opposite. A classroom with 30 students and one teacher in Katowice, Poland, considered controlling two objectives simultaneal. The probability of transmission of the disease is calculated from the carbon dioxide concentration of people. Also, in a certain period, the amount of energy consumption is estimated by EnergyPlus. The effect of three parameters of number, angle, and time or schedule of opening windows on the probability of infection transmission and energy consumption of the class were investigated. Parameters were examined widely to determine the best possible condition for simultaneous control of infection spread and energy consumption. The number of opening windows is discrete (0,3), and two other parameters are continuous (0,180) and (8 AM, 2 PM). Preliminary results show that changes in the number, angle, and timing of window openings significantly impact the likelihood of virus transmission and class energy consumption. The greater the number, tilt, and timing of window openings, the less likely the student will transmit the virus. But energy consumption is increasing. When all the windows were closed at all hours of the class, the energy consumption for the first day of January was only 0.2 megajoules. In comparison, the probability of transmitting the virus per person in the classroom is more than 45%. But when all windows were open at maximum angles during class, the chance of transmitting the infection was reduced to 0.35%. But the energy consumption will be 36 megajoules. Therefore, school classrooms need an optimal schedule to control both functions. In this article, we will present a suitable plan for the classroom with natural ventilation through windows to control energy consumption and the possibility of infection transmission at the same time.

Keywords: Covid-19, energy consumption, building, carbon dioxide, energyplus

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Authors: Aida Lamaj

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Death is an inevitable phenomenon in our life, in the same way, are also the ritual of death accompanied by the dirge and the keening performed by men. Keening is a phenomenon common among all peoples, the instances in which the ritual of death and keening coincide, as a special phenomenon of its, are numerous given the fact that keening is an outcome of an extremely special emotional state. However, even during the ritual of death, every people try to display through words its qualities, a multitude of characteristics preserved and transmitted with fanaticism from one generation to the other. The ritual of death constitutes an important element of our tradition and at the same time a material always interesting to be studied in minute details. In this study, we have tried to limit ourselves to the feminine speech, since keening, in general in Albania has been carried out by women. Differences and similarities among keening on the national scale, from the diachronic and synchronic point of view, can be seen clearly if we compare the Albanian creations in different regions. The similarities and differences within the Albanian culture serve as a typical paradigm to study how the ancient elements of outlook that the Albanians have had on death, history, and the social organization in these regions have been preserved and transmitted and above all, in what way these feelings have been clothed from the linguistic point of view, the typologies of keening and of all of the ritual of death, which clearly shows archaic forms as well as new developments. These data have been gathered not only by conducting various surveys but also by observing closely the linguistic behavior of women in Albania during the ritual of death. The study has encompassed the popular lyric poetry as well as new entries, whereas from the geographic point of view we focus mainly in the Southern regions, although examples from other regions where Albanian speaking people live are also present. The main results of the study show that women use much more than men dialect form, peripheral language elements and descriptive elements during their speech in the ritual of death.

Keywords: feminine speech in Albania, linguistic characteristics of the dirge, ritual of death, the typologies of keening

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Authors: Veliswa Nonfundo Hoho, Jabulani Gilford Kheswa

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HIV/AIDS has been a long-term condition worldwide, which does not only affect physical health but also causes psychological and social challenges in people living with this condition. In Sub-Saharan countries, namely; Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa, people living with HIV/AIDS come across different challenges especially after one has disclosed his/her status. They experience stigma and discrimination, isolation, lack of accessing and receiving treatment, lack of support and experience psychological distress. By using the evidence-based systematic review as a form of methodology, journal articles, dissertations, internet, and books were explored. This paper seeks to describe the challenges faced by people living with HIV/AIDS after disclosure, which forms a critical component of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment interventions. The disclosure process model is used to underpin the study. This theory allows one to understand when and why interpersonal and verbal self-disclosure is beneficial for individuals who live with concealable stigmatized identities such as HIV/AIDS. Literature findings advocate that both negative and positive results were noted after disclosing one’s HIV status and psychosocial well-being of the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS also get affected especially in societies which subscribe HIV/AIDS pandemic to witchcraft. As for the infected homosexuals, research indicates that they suffer in silence and to cover their emotional emptiness due to ostracism, they often report low- self-efficacy with regard to condom use and become susceptible to reinfections which further place their lives at heightened risk for low immune system. In this regard, this paper challenges the policies which protect the dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS and calls for unity and financial support in favour of psychoeducational programmes and support groups aimed at curbing discrimination.

Keywords: disclosure, discrimination, homosexuality, self-efficacy

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Authors: Marco Sewald

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WWSE School Development (Wahrnehmungs- und wertorientierte Schulentwicklung) contains surveys on pupils, teachers and parents and enables schools to align the development to the requirements mentioned by these three stakeholders. WWSE includes a derivative set of questions for Christian schools, meeting their specific needs. The conducted research on WWSE is reflecting contemporary questions on school development, questioning the quality of the implementation of the results of past surveys, delivered by WWSE School Development in Christian schools in Germany. The research focused on questions connected to organizational development, including leadership and change management. This is done contoured to the two other areas of WWSE: human resources development and development of school teaching methods. The chosen research methods are: (1) A quantitative triangulation on three sets of data. Data from a past evaluation taken in 2011, data from a second evaluation covering the same school conducted in 2014 and a structured survey among the teachers, headmasters and members of the school board taken within the research. (2) Interviews with teachers and headmasters have been conducted during the research as a second stage to fortify the result of the quantitative first stage. Results: WWSE is supporting modern school development. While organizational development, leadership, and change management are proofed to be important for modern school development, these areas are widespread underestimated by teachers and headmasters. Especially in comparison to the field of human resource development and to an even bigger extent in comparison to the area of development of school teaching methods. The research concluded, that additional efforts in the area of organizational development are necessary to meet modern demands and the research also shows which areas are the most important ones.

Keywords: school as a social organization, school development, school leadership, WWSE, Wahrnehmungs- und wertorientierte Schulentwicklung

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Authors: Junita Batubara

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Children with special needs, especially those with disability in mental, physical or social/emotional interactions, are marginalized. Many people still view them as troublesome, inconvenience, having learning difficulties, unproductive and burdensome to society. This study intends to investigate; how musical drama can develop the ability to control the coordination of mental functions; how musical dramas can assist children to work together; how musical dramas can assist to maintain the child's emotional and physical health; how musical dramas can improve children creativity. The objectives of the research are: To know whether musical drama can control the coordination of mental function of children; to know whether musical drama can improve communication ability and expression of children; to know whether musical drama can help children work with people around them; to find out if musical dramas can develop the child's emotional and physical health; to find out if musical drama can improve children's creativity. The study employed a qualitative research approach. Data was collecting by listening, observing in depth through public hearings that select the key informants who were teachers and principals, parents and children. The data obtained from each public hearing was then processed (reduced), conclusion drawing/verification, presentation of data (data display). Furthermore, the model obtained was implementing for musical performance, where the benefits of the show are: musical drama can improve language skills; musical dramas are capable of developing memory and storage of information; developing communication skills and express themselves; helping children work together; assisting emotional and physical health; enhancing creativity.

Keywords: children Down syndrome, music, drama script, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Hendrick Maxil Zárate Rocha, Ricardo da Silva Pereira, Manoel Fernandes Martins Nogueira, Carlos R. Pereira Belchior, Maria Emilia de Lima Tostes

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This study investigates experimentally the effects of hydrogen addition in the intake manifold of a diesel generator operating with a 7% biodiesel-diesel oil blend (B7). An experimental apparatus setup was used to conduct performance and emissions tests in a single cylinder, air cooled diesel engine. This setup consisted of a generator set connected to a wirewound resistor load bank that was used to vary engine load. In addition, a flowmeter was used to determine hydrogen volumetric flowrate and a digital anemometer coupled with an air box to measure air flowrate. Furthermore, a digital precision electronic scale was used to measure engine fuel consumption and a gas analyzer was used to determine exhaust gas composition and exhaust gas temperature. A thermopar was installed near the exhaust collection to measure cylinder temperature. In-cylinder pressure was measured using an AVL Indumicro data acquisition system with a piezoelectric pressure sensor. An AVL optical encoder was installed in the crankshaft and synchronized with in-cylinder pressure in real time. The experimental procedure consisted of injecting hydrogen into the engine intake manifold at different mass concentrations of 2,6,8 and 10% of total fuel mass (B7 + hydrogen), which represented energy fractions of 5,15, 20 and 24% of total fuel energy respectively. Due to hydrogen addition, the total amount of fuel energy introduced increased and the generators fuel injection governor prevented any increases of engine speed. Several conclusions can be stated from the test results. A reduction in specific fuel consumption as a function of hydrogen concentration increase was noted. Likewise, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) decreased as hydrogen concentration increased. On the other hand, nitrogen oxides emissions (NOx) increased due to average temperatures inside the cylinder being higher. There was also an increase in peak cylinder pressure and heat release rate inside the cylinder, since the fuel ignition delay was smaller due to hydrogen content increase. All this indicates that hydrogen promotes faster combustion and higher heat release rates and can be an important additive to all kind of fuels used in diesel generators.

Keywords: diesel engine, hydrogen, dual fuel, combustion analysis, performance, emissions

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Authors: Oliver Chunho Ma, Tszying Chang

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Background: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been widely used in the treatment of eczema. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive research on the overall effectiveness of TCM in treating eczema, particularly using the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score as an evaluation tool. Meta-analysis can integrate the results of multiple studies to provide more convincing evidence. Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis based on the EASI score to evaluate the overall effectiveness of TCM in the treatment of eczema. Specifically, the study will review and analyze published clinical studies that investigate TCM treatments for eczema and use the EASI score as an outcome measure, comparing the differences in improving the severity of eczema between TCM and other treatment modalities, such as conventional Western medicine treatments. Methods: Relevant studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials, that involve TCM treatment for eczema and use the EASI score as an outcome measure will be searched in medical literature databases such as PubMed, CNKI, etc. Relevant data will be extracted from the selected studies, including study design, sample size, treatment methods, improvement in EASI score, etc. The methodological quality and risk of bias of the included studies will be assessed using appropriate evaluation tools (such as the Cochrane Handbook). The results of the selected studies will be statistically analyzed, including pooling effect sizes (such as standardized mean differences, relative risks, etc.), subgroup analysis (e.g., different TCM syndromes, different treatment modalities), and sensitivity analysis (e.g., excluding low-quality studies). Based on the results of the statistical analysis and quality assessment, the overall effectiveness of TCM in improving the severity of eczema will be interpreted. Expected outcomes: By integrating the results of multiple studies, we expect to provide more convincing evidence regarding the specific effects of TCM in improving the severity of eczema. Additionally, subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis can further elucidate whether the effectiveness of TCM treatment is influenced by different factors. Besides, we will compare the results of the meta-analysis with the clinical data from our clinic. For both the clinical data and the meta-analysis results, we will perform descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, percentages, etc. and compare the differences between the two using statistical tests such as independent samples t-test or non-parametric tests to assess the statistical differences between them.

Keywords: Eczema, traditional Chinese medicine, EASI, systematic review, meta-analysis

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Authors: Vinayak Malhotra, Samanyu Raina, Ajinkya Vajurkar

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Enhancing the rocket efficiency by controlling the external factors in solid rockets motors has been an active area of research for most of the terrestrial and extra-terrestrial system operations. Appreciable work has been done, but the complexity of the problem has prevented thorough understanding due to heterogenous heat and mass transfer. On record, severe issues have surfaced amounting to irreplaceable loss of mankind, instruments, facilities, and huge amount of money being invested every year. The coupled effect of an external heat source and external heat sink is an aspect yet to be articulated in combustion. Better understanding of this coupled phenomenon will induce higher safety standards, efficient missions, reduced hazard risks, with better designing, validation, and testing. The experiment will help in understanding the coupled effect of an external heat sink and heat source on the burning process, contributing in better combustion and fire safety, which are very important for efficient and safer rocket flights and space missions. Safety is the most prevalent issue in rockets, which assisted by poor combustion efficiency, emphasizes research efforts to evolve superior rockets. This signifies real, engineering, scientific, practical, systems and applications. One potential application is Solid Rocket Motors (S.R.M). The study may help in: (i) Understanding the effect on efficiency of core engines due to the primary boosters if considered as source, (ii) Choosing suitable heat sink materials for space missions so as to vary the efficiency of the solid rocket depending on the mission, (iii) Giving an idea about how the preheating of the successive stage due to previous stage acting as a source may affect the mission. The present work governs the temperature (resultant) and thus the heat transfer which is expected to be non-linear because of heterogeneous heat and mass transfer. The study will deepen the understanding of controlled inter-energy conversions and the coupled effect of external source/sink(s) surrounding the burning fuel eventually leading to better combustion thus, better propulsion. The work is motivated by the need to have enhanced fire safety and better rocket efficiency. The specific objective of the work is to understand the coupled effect of external heat source and sink on propellant burning and to investigate the role of key controlling parameters. Results as of now indicate that there exists a singularity in the coupled effect. The dominance of the external heat sink and heat source decides the relative rocket flight in Solid Rocket Motors (S.R.M).

Keywords: coupled effect, heat transfer, sink, solid rocket motors, source

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Authors: Panupong Lohrattanarungrot, Falan Srisuriyachai

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Polymer flooding is a well-known technique used for controlling mobility ratio in heterogeneous reservoirs, leading to improvement of sweep efficiency as well as wellbore profile. However, low injectivity of viscous polymer solution attenuates oil recovery rate and consecutively adds extra operating cost. An attempt of this study is to improve injectivity of polymer solution while maintaining recovery factor, enhancing effectiveness of polymer flooding method. This study is performed by using reservoir simulation program to modify conventional single polymer slug into sequential polymer flooding, emphasizing on increasing of injectivity and also reduction of polymer amount. Selection of operating conditions for single slug polymer including pre-injected water, polymer concentration and polymer slug size is firstly performed for a layered-heterogeneous reservoir with Lorenz coefficient (Lk) of 0.32. A selected single slug polymer flooding scheme is modified into sequential polymer flooding with reduction of polymer concentration in two different modes: Constant polymer mass and reduction of polymer mass. Effects of Residual Resistance Factor (RRF) is also evaluated. From simulation results, it is observed that first polymer slug with the highest concentration has the main function to buffer between displacing phase and reservoir oil. Moreover, part of polymer from this slug is also sacrificed for adsorption. Reduction of polymer concentration in the following slug prevents bypassing due to unfavorable mobility ratio. At the same time, following slugs with lower viscosity can be injected easily through formation, improving injectivity of the whole process. A sequential polymer flooding with reduction of polymer mass shows great benefit by reducing total production time and amount of polymer consumed up to 10% without any downside effect. The only advantage of using constant polymer mass is slightly increment of recovery factor (up to 1.4%) while total production time is almost the same. Increasing of residual resistance factor of polymer solution yields a benefit on mobility control by reducing effective permeability to water. Nevertheless, higher adsorption results in low injectivity, extending total production time. Modifying single polymer slug into sequence of reduced polymer concentration yields major benefits on reducing production time as well as polymer mass. With certain design of polymer flooding scheme, recovery factor can even be further increased. This study shows that application of sequential polymer flooding can be certainly applied to reservoir with high value of heterogeneity since it requires nothing complex for real implementation but just a proper design of polymer slug size and concentration.

Keywords: polymer flooding, sequential, heterogeneous reservoir, residual resistance factor

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Authors: Virendra Nath, Vipin Kumar

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Background: TypeII Diabetes mellitus is a foremost health problem worldwide, predisposing to increased mortality and morbidity. Undesirable effects of the current medications have prompted the researcher to develop more potential drug(s) against the disease. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear receptors family and take part in a vital role in the regulation of metabolic equilibrium. They can induce or repress genes associated with adipogenesis, lipid, and glucose metabolism. Aims: Investigation of PPARα/γ agonistic hits were screened by hierarchical virtual screening followed by molecular dynamics simulation and knowledge-based structure-activity relation (SAR) analysis using approved PPAR α/γ dual agonist. Methods: The PPARα/γ agonistic activity of compounds was searched by using Maestro through structure-based virtual screening and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation application. Virtual screening of nuclear-receptor ligands was done, and the binding modes with protein-ligand interactions of newer entity(s) were investigated. Further, binding energy prediction, Stability studies using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of PPARα and γ complex was performed with the most promising hit along with the structural comparative analysis of approved PPARα/γ agonists with screened hit was done for knowledge-based SAR. Results and Discussion: The silicone chip-based approach recognized the most capable nine hits and had better predictive binding energy as compared to the reference drug compound (Tesaglitazar). In this study, the key amino acid residues of binding pockets of both targets PPARα/γ were acknowledged as essential and were found to be associated in the key interactions with the most potential dual hit (ChemDiv-3269-0443). Stability studies using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of PPARα and γ complex was performed with the most promising hit and found root mean square deviation (RMSD) stabile around 2Å and 2.1Å, respectively. Frequency distribution data also revealed that the key residues of both proteins showed maximum contacts with a potent hit during the MD simulation of 20 nanoseconds (ns). The knowledge-based SAR studies of PPARα/γ agonists were studied using 2D structures of approved drugs like aleglitazar, tesaglitazar, etc. for successful designing and synthesis of compounds PPARγ agonistic candidates with anti-hyperlipidimic potential.

Keywords: computational, diabetes, PPAR, simulation

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Authors: Nikoletta G. Karytsioti

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The European Union’s function and effectiveness are still an issue that minds, bringing about division even in the member-states interior. Recently, more serious issues have been added in the Union’s malfunction, which affects not only the Union’s function but also their residents’ safety. One of these issues is the migration crisis, which frustrates the European Union’s balances and the stability. The present paper’s aim to frame and interpret the Greek public opinion in basic migration matters, throughout the political philosophy and specifically via John Rawls ‘Theory of Justice’. The theory is deployed to examine if it may be used in a practical way, on a tangible issue and in a specific area. In order to obtain a real frame of the public opinion about the matter of migration, a questionnaire was addressed to Greek people. The sample was chosen for three main reasons: a) Greeks are experienced in the migration as they had migrated in the past, b) many young people migrated the recent years after the debt crisis, c) Greece is a reception state. Being based in the Theory of Justice and specifically in the ‘veil of ignorance’, is tried to overcome the obstacles of human nature’s subjectivity, while examining the variations in the responses per social group. The questionnaire will have demographic questions and special interest questions, related with the crisis, before and after ‘the veil of ignorance’. The paper’s originality comes from the fact that it is the first time that a philosophical theory is used to examine the migration issue in a practical manner. The main goals of the paper are three: - To examine the differences/similarities in the responses before and after the veil of ignorance, - to reveal opinions on migration crisis from E.U. citizens and - to confirm or not the practical usefulness of the Political Philosophy as a highlighting tool

Keywords: European Union, immigrants, migration crisis, political philosophy, theory of justice, veil of ignorance

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Authors: Shazia Anwer

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This paper has discussed the unusual form of resistance in theatre against censorship board in Pakistan. The atypical approach of dramaturgy created massive space for performers and audiences to integrate and communicate. The social and religious absolutes creates suffocation in Pakistani society, strict control over all Fine and Performing Art has made art political, contemporary dramatics has started an amalgamated theatre to avoid censorship. Contemporary Punjabi theatre techniques are directly dependent on human cognition. The idea of indirect thought processing is not unique but dependent on spectators. The paper has provided an account of these techniques and their specific use for conveying specific messages across the audiences. For the Dramaturge of today, theatre space is an expression representing a linguistic formulation that includes qualities of experimental and non-traditional use of classical theatrical space in the context of fulfilling the concept of open theatre. Paper has explained the transformation of the theatrical experience into an event where the actor and the audience are co-existing and co-experiencing the dramatical experience. The denial of the existence of the 4th -Wall made two-way communication possible. This paper has elaborated that the previously marginalized genres such as naach, jugat, miras, are extensively included to counter the censorship board. Figurativeness, visual elements, allegory, scenic imagery are basic support system for contemporary Punjabi theatre. The body of the actor is used as a source for non-verbal communication, and for an escape from traditional theatrical space which by every means has every element that could be controlled and reprimanded by the controlling authority.

Keywords: communication, Punjabi theatre, figurativeness, censorship

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Authors: Iris Vogeler, Rogerio Cichota, Armin Werner

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Dairy farms are under pressure to increase productivity while reducing environmental impacts. Effective fertiliser management practices are critical to achieve this. Determination of optimum nitrogen (N) fertilisation rates which maximise pasture growth and minimise N losses is challenging due to variability in plant requirements and likely near-future supply of N by the soil. Remote sensing can be used for mapping N nutrition status of plants and to rapidly assess the spatial variability within a field. An algorithm is, however, lacking which relates the N status of the plants to the expected yield response to additions of N. The aim of this simulation study was to develop a multi-variate model for determining N fertilisation rate for a target percentage of the maximum achievable yield based on the pasture N concentration (ii) use of an algorithm for guiding fertilisation rates, and (iii) evaluation of the model regarding pasture yield and N losses, including N leaching, denitrification and volatilisation. A simulation study was carried out using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). The simulations were done for an irrigated ryegrass pasture in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. A multi-variate model was developed and used to determine monthly required N fertilisation rates based on pasture N content prior to fertilisation and targets of 50, 75, 90 and 100% of the potential monthly yield. These monthly optimised fertilisation rules were evaluated by running APSIM for a ten-year period to provide yield and N loss estimates from both nonurine and urine affected areas. Comparison with typical fertilisation rates of 150 and 400 kg N/ha/year was also done. Assessment of pasture yield and leaching from fertiliser and urine patches indicated a large reduction in N losses when N fertilisation rates were controlled by the multi-variate model. However, the reduction in leaching losses was much smaller when taking into account the effects of urine patches. The proposed approach based on biophysical modelling to develop a multi-variate model for determining optimum N fertilisation rates dependent on pasture N content is very promising. Further analysis, under different environmental conditions and validation is required before the approach can be used to help adjust fertiliser management practices to temporal and spatial N demand based on the nitrogen status of the pasture.

Keywords: APSIM modelling, optimum N fertilization rate, pasture N content, ryegrass pasture, three dimensional surface response function.

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Authors: Luis Guilherme Resende Santos, Ido Nevat, Leslie Norford

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The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is characterized by increased air temperatures in urban areas compared to undeveloped rural surrounding environments. With urbanization and densification, the intensity of UHI increases, bringing negative impacts on livability, health and economy. In order to reduce those effects, it is required to take into consideration design factors when planning future developments. Given design constraints such as population size and availability of area for development, non-trivial decisions regarding the buildings’ dimensions and their spatial distribution are required. We develop a framework for optimization of urban design in order to jointly minimize UHI intensity and buildings’ energy consumption. First, the design constraints are defined according to spatial and population limits in order to establish realistic boundaries that would be applicable in real life decisions. Second, the tools Urban Weather Generator (UWG) and EnergyPlus are used to generate outputs of UHI intensity and total buildings’ energy consumption, respectively. Those outputs are changed based on a set of variable inputs related to urban morphology aspects, such as building height, urban canyon width and population density. Lastly, an optimization problem is cast where the utility function quantifies the performance of each design candidate (e.g. minimizing a linear combination of UHI and energy consumption), and a set of constraints to be met is set. Solving this optimization problem is difficult, since there is no simple analytic form which represents the UWG and EnergyPlus models. We therefore cannot use any direct optimization techniques, but instead, develop an indirect “black box” optimization algorithm. To this end we develop a solution that is based on stochastic optimization method, known as the Cross Entropy method (CEM). The CEM translates the deterministic optimization problem into an associated stochastic optimization problem which is simple to solve analytically. We illustrate our model on a typical residential area in Singapore. Due to fast growth in population and built area and land availability generated by land reclamation, urban planning decisions are of the most importance for the country. Furthermore, the hot and humid climate in the country raises the concern for the impact of UHI. The problem presented is highly relevant to early urban design stages and the objective of such framework is to guide decision makers and assist them to include and evaluate urban microclimate and energy aspects in the process of urban planning.

Keywords: building energy consumption, stochastic optimization, urban design, urban heat island, urban weather generator

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Authors: Ayperi̇ Haspolat Özcan, Meltem Anafarta Şendağ

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This study aimed to establish a model in the light of current approaches for understanding the mediating role of early maladaptive schemas in the relationship between attachment and anger. Accordingly, the proposed mediation model was tested by mediation with bootstrapping technique, considering gender and attachment figure differences. The university students (N= 444) with ages ranging from 17 to 28 participated in the study. Participants filled out Parental and Peer Attachment Scale Short Form, Young Schema Questionnaire - Short Form 3, Trait Anger and Anger Expression Scales. The mediating role of early maladaptive schemas (impaired autonomy, disconnection and rejection, unrelenting standards, other-directedness, and impaired limits) in the relationship between attachment (mother and father) and anger aspects (trait anger, anger in, anger out and anger control) were found to be significant for both male and female participants. Separate mediation analyses for both genders and different attachment figures have also drawn attention to noticeable differences in the results. Specifically, for females, various paths were discovered in predicting various aspects of anger (anger in, anger out, anger control, and trait anger). On the other hand, for males only anger directed inwards was found to be predicted by any source of attachment through disconnection and rejection schema only. These obvious gender differences in understanding the mechanism of anger are discussed in the light of cultural gender roles and the social acceptance of anger in males. In the area of application, the study of various aspects of anger with particular attention to attachment and early maladaptive schemas as well as the importance of distinguishing the gender differences are emphasized as important points.

Keywords: anger expression, attachment, early maladaptive schemas, trait anger

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Authors: Lowai Abed

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The differences in languages play a big role in cross-cultural communication. If meanings are not translated accurately, the risk can be crucial not only on an interpersonal level, but also on the international and political levels. The use of metaphorical language by politicians can cause great confusion, often leading to statements being misconstrued. In these situations, it is the translators who struggle to put forward the intended meaning with clarity and this makes translation an important field to study and analyze when it comes to cross-cultural communication. Owing to the growing importance of language and the power of translation in politics, this research analyzes part of President Bush’s speech in 2001 in which he used the word “Crusade” which caused his statement to be misconstrued. The research uses a discourse analysis of cross-cultural communication literature which provides answers supported by historical, linguistic, and communicative perspectives. The first finding indicates that the word ‘crusade’ carries different meaning and significance in the narratives of the Western world when compared to the Middle East. The second one is that, linguistically, maintaining cultural meanings through translation is quite difficult and challenging. Third, when it comes to the cross-cultural communication perspective, the common and frequent usage of literal translation is a sign of poor strategies being followed in translation training. Based on the example of Bush’s speech, this paper hopes to highlight the weak practices in translation in cross-cultural communication which are still commonly used across the world. Translation studies have to take issues such as this seriously and attempt to find a solution. In every language, there are words and phrases that have cultural, historical and social meanings that are woven into the language. Literal translation is not the solution for this problem because that strategy is unable to convey these meanings in the target language.

Keywords: crusade, metaphor, mistranslation, war in terror

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Authors: Danny Hjeij, Karine Bilodeau, Caroline Arbour

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Background: Chemotherapy infusions often lead to a cluster of co-occurring and difficult-to-treat symptoms (nausea, tingling, etc.), which may negatively impact the treatment experience at the outpatient clinic. Although several complementary approaches have shown beneficial effects for chemotherapy-induced symptom management, they are not easily implementable during chemotherapy infusion. In response to this limitation, comfort talk (CT), a simple, fast conversational method inspired by the language principles of clinical hypnosis, is known to optimize the management of symptoms related to antineoplastic treatments. However, the perception of nurses who have had to integrate this practice into their care has never been documented. Study design: A qualitative descriptive study with iterative content analysis was conducted among oncology nurses working in a chemotherapy outpatient clinic who had previous experience with CT. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone, using a pre-tested interview guide and a sociodemographic survey to document their perception of CT. The conceptual framework. Results: A total of six nurses (4 women, 2 men) took part in the interviews (N=6). The average age of participants was 49 years (36-61 years). Participants had an average of 24 years of experience (10-38 years) as a nurse, including 14.5 years in oncology (5-32 years). Data saturation (i.e., redundancy of words) was observed around the fifth interview. A sixth interview was conducted as confirmation. Six themes emerged: two addressing contextual and organizational obstacles at the chemotherapy outpatient clinic, and three addressing the added value of CT for oncology nursing care. Specific themes included: 1) the outpatient oncology clinic, a saturated care setting, 2) the keystones that support the integration of CT into care, 3) added value for patients, 4) a positive and rewarding experience for nurses, 5) collateral benefits, and 6) CT an approach to consider during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: For the first time, this study describes nurses' perception of the integration of CT into the care surrounding the administration of chemotherapy at the outpatient oncology clinic. In summary, contextual and organizational difficulties, as well as the lack of training, are among the main obstacles that could hinder the integration of CT in oncology. Still, the experience was reported mostly as positive. Indeed, nurses saw HC as an added value to patient care and meeting their need for holistic care. HC also appears to be beneficial for patients on several levels (for pain management in particular). Results will be used to inform future knowledge transfer activities related to CT in oncology nursing.

Keywords: cancer, chemotherapy, comfort talk, oncology nursing role

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Authors: Savin Phoeun

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Long time civil war, economic, infrastructure, social, and political structure were destroyed and everything starts from zero. Transport and communication are the key feature of the national economic growth, especially inland transport and other mode take a complementary role which supported by government and international organization both direct and indirect to private sector and small and medium size enterprises. The objectives of this study are to study the general characteristics, capacity and competitive KPIs of Cambodian Inland Transport Operators. Questionnaire and interview were formed from capacity and competitiveness key performance indicators to take apart in survey to Inland Transport Companies in Phnom Penh capital city of Cambodia. And descriptive statistics was applied to identify the data. The result of this study divided into three distinct sectors: 1). Management ability of transport operators – capital management, financial and qualification are in similar level which can compete between local competitors (moderated level). 2). Ability in operation: customer service providing is better but seemed in high cost operation because mostly they are in family size. 3). Local Cambodian Inland Transport Service Providers are able to compete with each other because they are in similar operation level while Thai competitors mostly higher than. The suggestion and recommendation from the result that inland transport companies should access to new technology, improve strategic management, build partnership (join/corporate) to be bigger size of capital and company in order to attract truthfulness from customers and customize the services to satisfy. Inland Service Providers should change characteristic from only cost competitive to cost saving and service enhancement.

Keywords: assessment, competitiveness, inland transport, operator

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Elena Petersen, Inna Kornienko, Svetlana Guryeva, Sergey Simakov

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In vitro organoid cultivation requires the simultaneous provision of necessary vascularization and nutrients perfusion of cells during organoid development. However, many aspects of this problem are still unsolved. The functionality of vascular network intergrowth is limited during early stages of organoid development since a function of the vascular network initiated on final stages of in vitro organoid cultivation. Therefore, a microchannel network should be created in early stages of organoid cultivation in hydrogel matrix aimed to conduct and maintain minimally required the level of nutrients perfusion for all cells in the expanding organoid. The network configuration should be designed properly in order to exclude hypoxic and necrotic zones in expanding organoid at all stages of its cultivation. In vitro vascularization is currently the main issue within the field of tissue engineering. As perfusion and oxygen transport have direct effects on cell viability and differentiation, researchers are currently limited only to tissues of few millimeters in thickness. These limitations are imposed by mass transfer and are defined by the balance between the metabolic demand of the cellular components in the system and the size of the scaffold. Current approaches include growth factor delivery, channeled scaffolds, perfusion bioreactors, microfluidics, cell co-cultures, cell functionalization, modular assembly, and in vivo systems. These approaches may improve cell viability or generate capillary-like structures within a tissue construct. Thus, there is a fundamental disconnect between defining the metabolic needs of tissue through quantitative measurements of oxygen and nutrient diffusion and the potential ease of integration into host vasculature for future in vivo implantation. A model is proposed for growth prognosis of the organoid perfusion based on joint simulations of general nutrient diffusion, nutrient diffusion to the hydrogel matrix through the contact surfaces and microchannels walls, nutrient consumption by the cells of expanding organoid, including biomatrix contraction during tissue development, which is associated with changed consumption rate of growing organoid cells. The model allows computing effective microchannel network design giving minimally required the level of nutrients concentration in all parts of growing organoid. It can be used for preliminary planning of microchannel network design and simulations of nutrients supply rate depending on the stage of organoid development.

Keywords: 3D model, consumption model, diffusion, spheroid, tissue organoid

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Authors: Hellen L. De Castro e Silva, Ana A. Robles Aguilar, Erik Meers

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Digestates are residual by-products, rich in nutrients and trace elements, which can be used as organic fertilisers on soils. However, due to the non-digestibility of these elements and reduced dry matter during the anaerobic digestion process, metal concentrations are higher in digestates than in feedstocks, which might hamper their use as fertilisers according to the threshold values of some country policies. Furthermore, there is uncertainty regarding the required assimilated amount of these elements by some crops, which might result in their bioaccumulation. Therefore, further processing of the digestate to obtain safe fertilizing products has been recommended. This research aims to analyze the effect of applying the hydrothermal carbonization process to manure-derived digestates as a thermal treatment to reduce the bioavailability of heavy metals in mono and co-digestates derived from pig manure and maize from contaminated land in France. This study examined pig manure collected from a novel stable system (VeDoWs, province of East Flanders, Belgium) that separates the collection of pig urine and feces, resulting in a solid fraction of manure with high up-concentration of heavy metals and nutrients. Mono-digestion and co-digestion processes were conducted in semi-continuous reactors for 45 days at mesophilic conditions, in which the digestates were dried at 105 °C for 24 hours. Then, hydrothermal carbonization was applied to a 1:10 solid/water ratio to guarantee controlled experimental conditions in different temperatures (180, 200, and 220 °C) and residence times (2 h and 4 h). During the process, the pressure was generated autogenously, and the reactor was cooled down after completing the treatments. The solid and liquid phases were separated through vacuum filtration, in which the solid phase of each treatment -hydrochar- was dried and ground for chemical characterization. Different fractions (exchangeable / adsorbed fraction - F1, carbonates-bound fraction - F2, organic matter-bound fraction - F3, and residual fraction – F4) of some heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, and Cr) have been determined in digestates and derived hydrochars using the modified Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction procedure. The main results indicated a difference in the heavy metals fractionation between digestates and their derived hydrochars; however, the hydrothermal carbonization operating conditions didn’t have remarkable effects on heavy metals partitioning between the hydrochars of the proposed treatments. Based on the estimated potential ecological risk assessment, there was one level decrease (considerate to moderate) when comparing the HMs partitioning in digestates and derived hydrochars.

Keywords: heavy metals, bioavailability, hydrothermal treatment, bio-based fertilisers, agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 102