Search results for: system transformation

Authors: Andrey Cherdantsev, Mikhail Cherdantsev, Sergey Isaenkov, Dmitriy Markovich

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In annular gas-liquid flow, liquid flows as a film along pipe walls sheared by high-velocity gas stream. Film surface is covered by large-scale disturbance waves which affect pressure drop and heat transfer in the system and are necessary for entrainment of liquid droplets from film surface into the core of gas stream. Disturbance waves are a highly complex and their properties are affected by numerous parameters. One of such aspects is flow development, i.e., change of flow properties with the distance from the inlet. In the present work, this question is studied using brightness-based laser-induced fluorescence (BBLIF) technique. This method enables one to perform simultaneous measurements of local film thickness in large number of points with high sampling frequency. In the present experiments first 50 cm of upward and downward annular flow in a vertical pipe of 11.7 mm i.d. is studied with temporal resolution of 10 kHz and spatial resolution of 0.5 mm. Thus, spatiotemporal evolution of film surface can be investigated, including scenarios of formation, acceleration and coalescence of disturbance waves. The behaviour of disturbance waves' velocity depending on phases flow rates and downstream distance was investigated. Besides measuring the waves properties, the goal of the work was to investigate the interrelation between disturbance waves properties and integral characteristics of the flow such as interfacial shear stress and flow rate of dispersed phase. In particular, it was shown that the initial acceleration of disturbance waves, defined by the value of shear stress, linearly decays with downstream distance. This lack of acceleration which may even lead to deceleration is related to liquid entrainment. Flow rate of disperse phase linearly grows with downstream distance. During entrainment events, liquid is extracted directly from disturbance waves, reducing their mass, area of interaction to the gas shear and, hence, velocity. Passing frequency of disturbance waves at each downstream position was measured automatically with a new algorithm of identification of characteristic lines of individual disturbance waves. Scenarios of coalescence of individual disturbance waves were identified. Transition from initial high-frequency Kelvin-Helmholtz waves appearing at the inlet to highly nonlinear disturbance waves with lower frequency was studied near the inlet using 3D realisation of BBLIF method in the same cylindrical channel and in a rectangular duct with cross-section of 5 mm by 50 mm. It was shown that the initial waves are generally two-dimensional but are promptly broken into localised three-dimensional wavelets. Coalescence of these wavelets leads to formation of quasi two-dimensional disturbance waves. Using cross-correlation analysis, loss and restoration of two-dimensionality of film surface with downstream distance were studied quantitatively. It was shown that all the processes occur closer to the inlet at higher gas velocities.

Keywords: annular flow, disturbance waves, entrainment, flow development

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Authors: Johns Paul, Santhosh J. Nalluveettil, P. Purushothaman, M. Premdas

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Lunar landing is one of the most critical phases of lunar mission. The lander is provided with a soft landing system to prevent structural damage of lunar module by absorbing the landing shock and also assure stability during landing. Presently available software are not capable to simulate the rigid body dynamics coupled with contact simulation and elastic/plastic deformation analysis. Hence a separate mathematical model has been generated for studying the dynamics of a typical lunar soft lander. Parameters used in the analysis includes lunar surface slope, coefficient of friction, initial touchdown velocity (vertical and horizontal), mass and moment of inertia of lander, crushing force due to energy absorbing material in the legs, number of legs and geometry of lander. The mathematical model is capable to simulate plastic and elastic deformation of honey comb, frictional force between landing leg and lunar soil, surface contact simulation, lunar gravitational force, rigid body dynamics and linkage dynamics of inverted tripod landing gear. The non linear differential equations generated for studying the dynamics of lunar lander is solved by numerical method. Matlab programme has been used as a computer tool for solving the numerical equations. The position of each kinematic joint is defined by mathematical equations for the generation of equation of motion. All hinged locations are defined by position vectors with respect to body fixed coordinate. The vehicle rigid body rotations and motions about body coordinate are only due to the external forces and moments arise from footpad reaction force due to impact, footpad frictional force and weight of vehicle. All these force are mathematically simulated for the generation of equation of motion. The validation of mathematical model is done by two different phases. First phase is the validation of plastic deformation of crushable elements by employing conservation of energy principle. The second phase is the validation of rigid body dynamics of model by simulating a lander model in ADAMS software after replacing the crushable elements to elastic spring element. Simulation of plastic deformation along with rigid body dynamics and contact force cannot be modeled in ADAMS. Hence plastic element of primary strut is replaced with a spring element and analysis is carried out in ADAMS software. The same analysis is also carried out using the mathematical model where the simulation of honeycomb crushing is replaced by elastic spring deformation and compared the results with ADAMS analysis. The rotational motion of linkages and 6 degree of freedom motion of lunar Lander about its CG can be validated by ADAMS software by replacing crushing element to spring element. The model is also validated by the drop test results of 4 leg lunar lander. This paper presents the details of mathematical model generated and its validation.

Keywords: honeycomb, landing leg tripod, lunar lander, primary link, secondary link

Procedia PDF Downloads 351

Authors: Olga Kruzhkova, Irina Vorobyeva, Roman Porozov

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Vandalism is a common phenomenon, but its definition is still not clearly defined. In the public sense, vandalism is the blatant cases of pogroms in cemeteries, destruction of public places (regardless of whether these actions are authorized), damage to significant objects of culture and history (monuments, religious buildings). From a legal point of view, only such an act can be called vandalism, which is aimed at 'desecrating buildings or other structures, damaging property on public transport or in other public places'. The key here is the notion of public property that is being damaged. In addition, the principal is the semantics of messages, expressed in a kind of sign system (drawing, inscription, symbol), which initially threatens public order, the calmness of citizens, public morality. Because of this, the legal qualification of vandalism doesn’t include a sufficiently wide layer of environmental destructions that are common in modern urban space (graffiti and other damage to private property, broken shop windows, damage to entrances and elevator cabins), which in ordinary consciousness are seen as obvious facts of vandalism. At the same time, the understanding of vandalism from the position of psychology implies an appeal to the question of the limits of the activity of the subject of vandalism and his motivational basis. Also recently, the discourse on the positive meaning of some forms of vandalism (graffiti, street-art, etc.) has been activated. But there is no discussion of the role and significance of vandalism in public and individual life, although, like any socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon, vandalism is not groundless and meaningless. Our aim of the study was to identify and describe the functions of vandalism as a socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon of the life of the urban community, as well as personal determinants of its manifestations. The study was conducted in the spatial environment of the Russian megalopolis (Ekaterinburg) by photographing visual results of vandal acts (6217 photos) with subsequent trace-assessment and image content analysis, as well as diagnostics of personal characteristics and motivational basis of vandal activity of possible subjects of vandalism among youth. The results of the study allowed to identify the functions of vandalism at the socio-environmental and individual-subjective levels. The socio-environmental functions of vandalism include the signaling function, the function of preparing of social changes, the constructing function, and the function of managing public moods. The demonstrative-protest function, the response function, the refund function, and the self-expression function are assigned to the individual-subjective functions of vandalism. A two-dimensional model of vandal functions has been formed, where functions are distributed in the spaces 'construction reconstruction', 'emotional regulation/moral regulation'. It is noted that any function of vandal activity at the individual level becomes a kind of marker of 'points of tension' at the social and environmental level. Acknowledgment: The research was supported financially by Russian Science Foundation, (Project No. 17-18-01278).

Keywords: destruction, urban environment, vandal behavior, vandalism, vandalism functions

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Authors: Laura Alvarez-Alonso, Francisco Garcia-Carro, Jorge Loredo

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Population growth and industrial development imply an increase in the energy demands and the problems caused by emissions of greenhouse effect gases, which has inspired the search for clean sources of energy. Hydrogen (H₂) is expected to play a key role in the world’s energy future by replacing fossil fuels. The properties of H₂ make it a green fuel that does not generate pollutants and supplies sufficient energy for power generation, transportation, and other applications. Supercritical Water Gasification (SCWG) represents an attractive alternative for the recovery of energy from wastes. SCWG allows conversion of a wide range of raw materials into a fuel gas with a high content of hydrogen and light hydrocarbons through their treatment at conditions higher than those that define the critical point of water (temperature of 374°C and pressure of 221 bar). Methane used as a transport fuel is another important gasification product. The number of different uses of gas and energy forms that can be produced depending on the kind of material gasified and type of technology used to process it, shows the flexibility of SCWG. This feature allows it to be integrated with several industrial processes, as well as power generation systems or waste-to-energy production systems. The final aim of this work is to study which conditions and equipment are the most efficient and advantageous to explore the possibilities to obtain streams rich in H₂ from oily wastes, which represent a major problem both for the environment and human health throughout the world. In this paper, the relative complexity of technology needed for feasible gasification process cycles is discussed with particular reference to the different feedstocks that can be used as raw material, different reactors, and energy recovery systems. For this purpose, a review of the current status of SCWG technologies has been carried out, by means of different classifications based on key features as the feed treated or the type of reactor and other apparatus. This analysis allows to improve the technology efficiency through the study of model calculations and its comparison with experimental data, the establishment of kinetics for chemical reactions, the analysis of how the main reaction parameters affect the yield and composition of products, or the determination of the most common problems and risks that can occur. The results of this work show that SCWG is a promising method for the production of both hydrogen and methane. The most significant choices of design are the reactor type and process cycle, which can be conveniently adopted according to waste characteristics. Regarding the future of the technology, the design of SCWG plants is still to be optimized to include energy recovery systems in order to reduce costs of equipment and operation derived from the high temperature and pressure conditions that are necessary to convert water to the SC state, as well as to find solutions to remove corrosion and clogging of components of the reactor.

Keywords: hydrogen production, organic wastes, supercritical water gasification, system integration, waste-to-energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: M. Ciminello, I. Dimino, S. Ameduri, A. Concilio

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Improving aircraft's efficiency is one of the key elements of Aeronautics. Modern aircraft possess many advanced functions, such as good transportation capability, high Mach number, high flight altitude, and increasing rate of climb. However, no aircraft has a possibility to reach all of this optimized performance in a single airframe configuration. The aircraft aerodynamic efficiency varies considerably depending on the specific mission and on environmental conditions within which the aircraft must operate. Structures that morph their shape in response to their surroundings may at first seem like the stuff of science fiction, but take a look at nature and lots of examples of plants and animals that adapt to their environment would arise. In order to ensure both the controllable and the static robustness of such complex structural systems, a monitoring network is aimed at verifying the effectiveness of the given control commands together with the elastic response. In order to achieve this kind of information, the use of FBG sensors network is, in this project, proposed. The sensor network is able to measure morphing structures shape which may show large, global displacements due to non-standard architectures and materials adopted. Chord -wise variations may allow setting and chasing the best layout as a function of the particular and transforming reference state, always targeting best aerodynamic performance. The reason why an optical sensor solution has been selected is that while keeping a few of the contraindication of the classical systems (like cabling, continuous deployment, and so on), fibre optic sensors may lead to a dramatic reduction of the wires mass and weight thanks to an extreme multiplexing capability. Furthermore, the use of the ‘light’ as ‘information carrier’, permits dealing with nimbler, non-shielded wires, and avoids any kind of interference with the on-board instrumentation. The FBG-based transducers, herein presented, aim at monitoring the actual shape of adaptive trailing edge. Compared to conventional systems, these transducers allow more fail-safe measurements, by taking advantage of a supporting structure, hosting FBG, whose properties may be tailored depending on the architectural requirements and structural constraints, acting as strain modulator. The direct strain may, in fact, be difficult because of the large deformations occurring in morphing elements. A modulation transducer is then necessary to keep the measured strain inside the allowed range. In this application, chord-wise transducer device is a cantilevered beam sliding trough the spars and copying the camber line of the ATE ribs. FBG sensors array position are dimensioned and integrated along the path. A theoretical model describing the system behavior is implemented. To validate the design, experiments are then carried out with the purpose of estimating the functions between rib rotation and measured strain.

Keywords: fiber optic sensor, morphing structures, strain sensor, shape reconstruction

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Authors: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi, Maisa Ciampi Guillardi, Flávia Rodrigues Patrício, Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho

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Certified agricultural products are important components of the food industry. However, certifiers have been expanding the list of restricted or prohibited pesticides, limiting the options of products for phytosanitary control of plant diseases, but without offering alternatives to the farmers. Soybean and coffee leaf rust, brown eye spots, and Phoma leaf spots are the main fungal diseases that pose a serious threat to soybean and coffee cultivation worldwide. In conventional farming systems, these diseases are controlled by using synthetic fungicides, which, in addition to intensifying the occurrence of fungal resistance, are highly toxic to the environment, farmers, and consumers. In organic, agroecological, or regenerative farming systems, product options for plant protection are limited, being available only copper-based compounds, and biodefensivesornon-standard homemade products. Therefore, there is a growing demand for effective bioprotectors with low environmental impact for adoption in more sustainable agricultural systems. Then, to contribute to covering such a gap, we have developed a compound based on plant extracts and metallic elements for foliar application. This product has both biostimulant and bioprotective action, which promotes sustainable disease control, increases productivity as well as reduces damage to the environment. The product's components have complementary mechanisms that promote protection against the disease by directly acting on the pathogens and activating the plant's natural defense system. The protective ability of the product against three coffee diseases (coffee leaf rust, brown eye spot, and Phoma leaf spot) and against soybean rust disease was evaluated, in addition to its ability to promote plant growth. Our goal is to offer an effective alternative to control the main coffee fungal diseases and soybean fungal diseases, with a biostimulant effect and low toxicity. The proposed product can also be part of the integrated management of coffee and soybean diseases in conventional farming associated with chemical and biological pesticides, offering the market a sustainable coffee and soybean with high added value and low residue content. Experiments were carried out under controlled conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the product in controlling rust, phoma, and cercosporiosis in comparison to control-inoculated plants that did not receive the product. The in vitro and in vivo effects of the product on the pathogen were evaluated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The fungistatic action of the product was demonstrated by a reduction of 85% and 95% in spore germination and disease symptoms severity on the leaves of coffee plants, respectively. The formulation had both a protective effect, acting to prevent infection by coffee leaf rust, and a curative effect, reducing the rust symptoms after its establishment.

Keywords: plant disease, natural fungicide, plant health, sustainability, alternative disease management

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Authors: Ayush Aditya

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In today's digitised world, the extent of an individual’s social involvement is largely determined by their interaction over the internet. The Internet has emerged as a primary source of information consumption and a reliable medium for receiving updates on everyday activities. Owing to this change in the information consumption pattern, the internet has also emerged as a hotbed of misinformation. Experts are of the view that media literacy has emerged as one of the most effective strategies for addressing the issue of misinformation. This paper aims to study the evolution of the Kerala government's media literacy policy, its implementation strategy, challenges and opportunities. The objective of this paper is to create a conceptual framework containing details of the implementation strategy based on the Kerala model. Extensive secondary research of literature, newspaper articles, and other online sources was carried out to locate the timeline of this policy. This was followed by semi-structured interview discussions with government officials from Kerala to trace the origin and evolution of this policy. Preliminary findings based on the collected data suggest that this policy is a case of policy by chance, as the officer who headed this policy during the state level implementation was the one who has already piloted a media literacy program in a district called Kannur as the district collector. Through this paper, an attempt is made to trace the history of the media literacy policy starting from the Kannur intervention in 2018, which was started to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy around measles rubella(MR) vaccination. If not for the vaccine hesitancy, this program would not have been rolled out in Kannur. Interviews with government officials suggest that when authorities decided to take up this initiative in 2020, a huge amount of misinformation emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic was the trigger. There was misinformation regarding government orders, healthcare facilities, vaccination, and lockdown regulations, which affected everyone, unlike the case of Kannur, where it was only a certain age group of kids. As a solution to this problem, the state government decided to create a media literacy curriculum to be taught in all government schools of the state starting from standard 8 till graduation. This was a tricky task, as a new course had to be immediately introduced in the school curriculum amid all the disruptions in the education system caused by the pandemic. It was revealed during the interview that in the case of the state-wide implementation, every step involved multiple checks and balances, unlike the earlier program where stakeholders were roped-in as and when the need emerged. On the pedagogy, while the training during the pilot could be managed through PowerPoint presentation, designing a state-wide curriculum involved multiple iterations and expert approvals. The reason for this is COVID-19 related misinformation has lost its significance. In the next phase of the research, an attempt will be made to compare other aspects of the pilot implementation with the state-wide implementation.

Keywords: media literacy, digital media literacy, curriculum based media literacy intervention, misinformation

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Authors: Mengdan Guo, Zongmin Wang, Haibo Yang

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Drought is one of the most complex and destructive natural disasters, with a huge impact on both nature and society. In recent years, adverse climate conditions and uncontrolled human activities have exacerbated the occurrence of global droughts, among which socio-economic droughts are closely related to human survival. The study of socio-economic drought risk assessment is crucial for sustainable social development. Therefore, this study comprehensively considered the risk of disaster causing factors, the exposure level of the disaster-prone environment, and the vulnerability of the disaster bearing body to construct a socio-economic drought risk assessment model for Chuxiong Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Firstly, a threedimensional frequency analysis of intensity area duration drought was conducted, followed by a statistical analysis of the drought risk of the socio-economic system. Secondly, a grid analysis model was constructed to assess the exposure levels of different agents and study the effects of drought on regional crop growth, industrial economic growth, and human consumption thresholds. Thirdly, an agricultural vulnerability model for different irrigation levels was established by using the DSSAT crop model. Industrial economic vulnerability and domestic water vulnerability under the impact of drought were investigated by constructing a standardized socio-economic drought index and coupling water loss. Finally, the socio-economic drought risk was assessed by combining hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. The results show that the frequency of drought occurrence in Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan Province is relatively high, with high population and economic exposure concentrated in urban areas of various counties and districts, and high agricultural exposure concentrated in mountainous and rural areas. Irrigation can effectively reduce agricultural vulnerability in Chuxiong, and the yield loss rate under the 20mm winter irrigation scenario decreased by 10.7% compared to the rain fed scenario. From the perspective of comprehensive risk, the distribution of long-term socio-economic drought risk in Chuxiong Prefecture is relatively consistent, with the more severe areas mainly concentrated in Chuxiong City and Lufeng County, followed by counties such as Yao'an, Mouding and Yuanmou. Shuangbai County has the lowest socio-economic drought risk, which is basically consistent with the economic distribution trend of Chuxiong Prefecture. And in June, July, and August, the drought risk in Chuxiong Prefecture is generally high. These results can provide constructive suggestions for the allocation of water resources and the construction of water conservancy facilities in Chuxiong Prefecture, and provide scientific basis for more effective drought prevention and control. Future research is in the areas of data quality and availability, climate change impacts, human activity impacts, and countermeasures for a more comprehensive understanding and effective response to drought risk in Chuxiong Prefecture.

Keywords: DSSAT model, risk assessment, socio-economic drought, standardized socio-economic drought index

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Authors: Ioan Rusu

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In the operation of power transformers of 110 kV/MV from substations, these are traveled by fault current resulting from MV line damage. Defect electrical contacts are heated when they are travelled from fault currents. In the case of high temperatures when 135 °C is reached, the electrical insulating oil in the vicinity of the electrical faults comes into contact with these contacts releases gases, and activates the electrical protection. To avoid auto-flammability of electro-insulating oil, we designed a security system thermal of electrical contact defects by pouring fire-resistant polyurethane foam, mastic or mortar fire inside a cardboard electro-insulating cylinder. From practical experience, in the exploitation of power transformers of 110 kV/MT in oil electro-insulating were recorded some passing disconnecting commanded by the gas protection at internal defects. In normal operation and in the optimal load, nominal currents do not require thermal secure contacts inside electrical transformers, contacts are made at the fabrication according to the projects or to repair by solder. In the case of external short circuits close to the substation, the contacts inside electrical transformers, even if they are well made in sizes of Rcontact = 10^‑6 Ω, are subjected to short-circuit currents of the order of 10 kA-20 kA which lead to the dissipation of some significant second-order electric powers, 100 W-400 W, on contact. At some internal or external factors which action on electrical contacts, including electrodynamic efforts at short-circuits, these factors could be degraded over time to values in the range of 10^-4 Ω to 10^-5 Ω and if the action time of protection is great, on the order of seconds, power dissipation on electrical contacts achieve high values of 1,0 kW to 40,0 kW. This power leads to strong local heating, hundreds of degrees Celsius and can initiate self-ignition and burning oil in the vicinity of electro-insulating contacts with action the gas relay. Degradation of electrical contacts inside power transformers may not be limited for the duration of their operation. In order to avoid oil burn with gas release near electrical contacts, at short-circuit currents 10 kA-20 kA, we have outlined the following solutions: covering electrical contacts in fireproof materials that would avoid direct burn oil at short circuit and transmission of heat from electrical contact along the conductors with heat dissipation gradually over time, in a large volume of cooling. Flame retardant materials are: polyurethane foam, mastic, cement (concrete). In the normal condition of operation of transformer, insulating of conductors coils is with paper and insulating oil. Ignition points of its two components respectively are approximated: 135 °C heat for oil and 200 ⁰C for paper. In the case of a faulty electrical contact, about 10^-3 Ω, at short-circuit; the temperature can reach for a short time, a value of 300 °C-400 °C, which ignite the paper and also the oil. By burning oil, there are local gases that disconnect the power transformer. Securing thermal electrical contacts inside the transformer, in cardboard tube with polyurethane foams, mastik or cement, ensures avoiding gas release and also gas protection working.

Keywords: power transformer, oil insulatation, electric contacts, Bucholtz relay

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Authors: Luisa Müting, Wisnu Harto Adiwijoyo

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Agroforestry systems transform the agricultural landscapes in the Sahel region of Africa, providing food and farming products consumed for subsistence or sold for income. In the incrementally dry climate of the Sahel region, the spreading of agroforestry practices is integral for policymaker efforts to counteract land degradation and provide soil restoration in the region. Several measures on agroforestry practices have been implemented in the region by governmental and non-governmental institutions in recent years. However, despite the efforts, past research shows that awareness of how policies and interventions are being consumed and perceived by the public remains low. Therefore, interpreting public policy dilemmas by analyzing the public perception regarding agroforestry concepts and practices is necessary. Public perceptions and discourses can be an essential driver or constraint for the adoption of agroforestry practices in the region. Thus, understanding the public discourse behavior of crucial stakeholders could assist policymakers in developing inclusive and contextual policies that are relevant to the context of agroforestry adoption in Sahel region. To answer how information about agroforestry spreads and is perceived by the public. As internet usage increased drastically over the past decade, reaching a share of 33 percent of the population being connected to the internet, this research is based on online conversation data. Social media data from Facebook are gathered daily between April 2021 and April 2022 in Djibouti, Senegal, Mali, and Nigeria based on their share of active internet users compared to other countries in the Sahel region. A systematic methodology was applied to the extracted social media using discourse network analysis (DNA). This study then clustered the data by the types of agroforestry practices, sentiments, and country. Additionally, this research extracted the text data from online news media during the same period to pinpoint events related to the topic of agroforestry. The preliminary result indicates that tree management, crops, and livestock integration, diversifying species and genetic resources, and focusing on interactions and productivity across the agricultural system; are the most notable keywords in agroforestry-related conversations within the four countries in the Sahel region. Additionally, approximately 84 percent of the discussions were still dominated by big actors, such as NGO or government actors. Furthermore, as a subject of communication within agroforestry discourse, the Great Green Wall initiative generates almost 60 percent positive sentiment within the captured social media data, effectively having a more significant outreach than general agroforestry topics. This study provides an understanding for scholars and policymakers with a springboard for further research or policy design on agroforestry in the four countries of the Sahel region with systematically uncaptured novel data from the internet.

Keywords: sahel, djibouti, senegal, mali, nigeria, social networks analysis, public discourse analysis, sentiment analysis, content analysis, social media, online news, agroforestry, land restoration

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Authors: Amelia J. McFarland, Andrew K. Davey, Shailendra Anoopkumar-Dukie

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Microglia are the resident macrophage population of the central nervous system (CNS), contributing to both innate and adaptive immune response, and brain homeostasis. Activation of microglia occurs in response to a multitude of pathogenic stimuli in their microenvironment; this induces morphological and functional changes, resulting in a state of acute neuroinflammation which facilitates injury resolution. Adequate microglial function is essential for the health of the neuroparenchyma, with microglial dysfunction implicated in numerous CNS pathologies. Given the critical role that these macrophage-derived cells play in CNS homeostasis, there is a high demand for microglial models suitable for use in neuroscience research. The isolation of primary human microglia, however, is both difficult and costly, with microglial activation an unwanted but inevitable result of the extraction process. Consequently, there is a need for the development of alternative experimental models which exhibit morphological, biochemical and functional characteristics of human microglia without the difficulties associated with primary cell lines. In this study, our aim was to evaluate whether THP-1 human peripheral blood monocytes would display microglial-like qualities following an induced differentiation, and, therefore, be suitable for use as surrogate microglia. To achieve this aim, THP-1 human peripheral blood monocytes from acute monocytic leukaemia were differentiated with a range of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) concentrations (50-200 nM) using two different protocols: a 5-day continuous PMA exposure or a 3-day continuous PMA exposure followed by a 5-day rest in normal media. In each protocol and at each PMA concentration, microglial-like cell morphology was assessed through crystal violet staining and the presence of CD-14 microglial / macrophage cell surface marker. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli (055: B5) was then added at a range of concentrations from 0-10 mcg/mL to activate the PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells. Functional microglial-like behavior was evaluated by quantifying the release of prostaglandin (PG)-E2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α using mediator-specific ELISAs. Furthermore, production of global reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined fluorometrically using dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) and diaminofluorescein diacetate (DAF-2-DA) respectively. Following PMA-treatment, it was observed both differentiation protocols resulted in cells displaying distinct microglial morphology from 10 nM PMA. Activation of differentiated cells using LPS significantly augmented IL-1β, TNF-α and PGE2 release at all LPS concentrations under both differentiation protocols. Similarly, a significant increase in DCFH-DA and DAF-2-DA fluorescence was observed, indicative of increases in ROS and NO production. For all endpoints, the 5-day continuous PMA treatment protocol yielded significantly higher mediator levels than the 3-day treatment and 5-day rest protocol. Our data, therefore, suggests that the differentiation of THP-1 human monocyte cells with PMA yields a homogenous microglial-like population which, following stimulation with LPS, undergo activation to release a range of pro-inflammatory mediators associated with microglial activation. Thus, the use of PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells represents a suitable microglial model for in vitro research.

Keywords: differentiation, lipopolysaccharide, microglia, monocyte, neuroscience, THP-1

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Authors: Gautam, Gurcharan Singh, Mandeep Kaur, Yogesh Aggarwal, Sanjeev Naval

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The present ground reality scenario of suffering of humanity shows the evidence of failure to take wrong decisions to shape the civilization with Irresponsibilities in the history. A strong positive will of right responsibilities make the right civilization structure which affects itself and the whole world. Present suffering of humanity shows and reflect the failure of past decisions taken to shape the true culture with right social structure of society, due to unplanned system of Indian civilization and its rapid disaster of population make the failure to face all kind of problems which make the society sufferer. Our India is still suffering from disaster like earthquake, floods, droughts, tsunamis etc. and we face the uncountable disaster of deaths from the beginning of humanity at the present time. In this research paper our focus is to make a Disaster Resistance Structure having the solution of dense populated urban cities area by high vertical expansion HYBRID STRUCTURE. Our efforts are to analyse the Reinforced Concrete Hybrid Structure at different seismic zones, these concrete frames were analyzed using the response spectrum method to calculate and compare the different seismic displacement and drift. Seismic analysis by this method generally is based on dynamic analysis of building. Analysis results shows that the Reinforced Concrete Building at seismic Zone V having maximum peak story shear, base shear, drift and node displacement as compare to the analytical results of Reinforced Concrete Building at seismic Zone III and Zone IV. This analysis results indicating to focus on structural drawings strictly at construction site to make a HYBRID STRUCTURE. The study case is deal with the 10 story height of a vertical expansion Hybrid frame structure at different zones i.e. zone III, zone IV and zone V having the column 0.45x0.36mt and beam 0.6x0.36mt. with total height of 30mt, to make the structure more stable bracing techniques shell be applied like mage bracing and V shape bracing. If this kind of efforts or structure drawings are followed by the builders and contractors then we save the lives during earthquake disaster at Bhuj (Gujarat State, India) on 26th January, 2001 which resulted in more than 19,000 deaths. This kind of Disaster Resistance Structure having the capabilities to solve the problems of densely populated area of cities by the utilization of area in vertical expansion hybrid structure. We request to Government of India to make new plans and implementing it to save the lives from future disasters instead of unnecessary wants of development plans like Bullet Trains.

Keywords: history, irresponsibilities, unplanned social structure, humanity, hybrid structure, response spectrum analysis, DRIFT, and NODE displacement

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Authors: Chalise Kiran

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The prime idea of inclusive education is to mainstream every child in education. However, it will be challenging for implementation when there are policy and practice gaps. It will be even more challenging when children have disabilities. Generally, the focus will be on the policy gap, but the problem may not always be with policy. The proper practice could be a challenge in the countries like Nepal. In determining practice, the teachers’ perceptions toward inclusive will play a vital role. Nepal has categorized disability in 7 types (physical, visual, hearing, vision/hearing, speech, mental, and multiple). Out of these, hearing impairment is the study realm. In the context of a limited number of researches on children with disabilities and rare researches on CWHI and their education in Nepal, this study is a pioneering effort in knowing basically the problems and challenges of CWHI focused on inclusive education in the schools including gaps and barriers in its proper implementation. Philosophically, the paradigm of the study is post-positivism. In the post-positivist worldview, the quantitative approach with the description of the situation and inferential relationship are revealed out in the study. This is related to the natural model of objective reality. The data were collected from an individual survey with the teachers and head teachers of 35 schools in Nepal. The survey questionnaire was prepared and filled by the respondents from the schools where the CWHI study in 7 provincial 20 districts of Nepal. Through these considerations, the perceptions of CWHI focused inclusive education were explored in the study. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential tools on which the Likert scale-based analysis was done for descriptive analysis, and chi-square mathematical tool was used to know the significant relationship between dependent variables and independent variables. The descriptive analysis showed that the majority of teachers have positive perceptions toward implementing CWHI focused inclusive education, and the majority of them have positive perceptions toward CWHI focused inclusive education, though there are some problems and challenges. The study has found out the major challenges and problems categorically. Some of them are: a large number of students in a single class; availability of generic textbooks for CWHI and no availability of textbooks to all students; less opportunity for teachers to acquire knowledge on CWHI; not adequate teachers in the schools; no flexibility in the curriculum; less information system in schools; no availability of educational consular; disaster-prone students; no child abuse control strategy; no disabled-friendly schools; no free health check-up facility; no participation of the students in school activities and in child clubs and so on. By and large, it is found that teachers’ age, gender, years of experience, position, employment status, and disability with him or her show no statistically significant relation to successfully implement CWHI focused inclusive education and perceptions to CWHI focused inclusive education in schools. However, in some of the cases, the set null hypothesis was rejected, and some are completely retained. The study has suggested policy implications, implications for educational authority, and implications for teachers and parents categorically.

Keywords: children with hearing impairment, disability, inclusive education, perception

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Mari Jaakkola, Jasmiina Haverinen, Tiina Tolonen, Vesa Virtanen

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These process monitoring of biogas plant gives valuable information of the function of the process and help to maintain a stable process. The costs of basic monitoring are often much lower than the costs associated with re-establishing a biologically destabilised plant. Reactor acidification through reactor overload is one of the most common reasons for process deterioration in anaerobic digesters. This occurs because of a build-up of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced by acidogenic and acetogenic bacteria. VFAs cause pH values to decrease, and result in toxic conditions in the reactor. Ammonia ensures an adequate supply of nitrogen as a nutrient substance for anaerobic biomass and increases system's buffer capacity, counteracting acidification lead by VFA production. However, elevated ammonia concentration is detrimental to the process due to its toxic effect. VFAs are considered the most reliable analytes for process monitoring. To obtain accurate results, sample storage and transportation need to be carefully controlled. This may be a challenge for off-line laboratory analyses especially when the plant is located far away from the laboratory. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between fatty acids, ammonium, and bacteria in the anaerobic digestion samples obtained from an industrial biogas factory. The stability of the analytes was studied comparing the results of the on-site analyses performed in the factory site to the results of the samples stored at room temperature and -18°C (up to 30 days) after sampling. Samples were collected in the biogas plant consisting of three separate mesofilic AD reactors (4000 m³ each) where the main feedstock was swine slurry together with a complex mixture of agricultural plant and animal wastes. Individual VFAs, ammonium, and nutrients (K, Ca, Mg) were studied by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Longer chain fatty acids (oleic, hexadecanoic, and stearic acids) and bacterial profiles were studied by GC-MSD (Gas Chromatography-Mass Selective Detector) and 16S rDNA, respectively. On-site monitoring of the analytes was performed by CE. The main VFA in all samples was acetic acid. However, in one reactor sample elevated levels of several individual VFAs and long chain fatty acids were detected. Also bacterial profile of this sample differed from the profiles of other samples. Acetic acid decomposed fast when the sample was stored in a room temperature. All analytes were stable when stored in a freezer. Ammonium was stable even at a room temperature for the whole testing period. One reactor sample had higher concentration of VFAs and long chain fatty acids than other samples. CE was utilized successfully in the on-site analysis of separate VFAs and NH₄ in the biogas production site. Samples should be analysed in the sampling day if stored in RT or freezed for longer storage time. Fermentation reject can be stored (and transported) at ambient temperature at least for one month without loss of NH₄. This gives flexibility to the logistic solutions when reject is used as a fertilizer.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, capillary electrophoresis, ammonium, bacteria

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Tamar Bikashvili, Tamar Lordkipanidze, Ilia Lazrishvili

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Heavy metals remain one of serious environmental problems due to their toxic effects. The effect of arsenic and manganese compounds on rat behavior and neuromorphology was studied. Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: rats in control group were given regular water, while rats in other groups drank water with final manganese concentration of 10 mg/L (group A), 20 mg/L (group B) and final arsenic concentration 68 mg/L (group C), respectively, for a month. To study exploratory and anxiety behavior and also to evaluate aggressive performance in “home cage” rats were tested in “Open Field” and to estimate learning and memory status multi-branched maze was used. Statistically significant increase of motor and oriental-searching activity in experimental groups was revealed by an open field test, which was expressed in increase of number of lines crossed, rearing and hole reflexes. Obtained results indicated the suppression of fear in rats exposed to manganese. Specifically, this was estimated by the frequency of getting to the central part of the open field. Experiments revealed that 30-day exposure to 10 mg/ml manganese did not stimulate aggressive behavior in rats, while exposure to the higher dose (20 mg/ml), 37% of initially non-aggressive animals manifested aggressive behavior. Furthermore, 25% of rats were extremely aggressive. Obtained data support the hypothesis that excess manganese in the body is one of the immediate causes of enhancement of interspecific predatory aggressive and violent behavior in rats. It was also discovered that manganese intoxication produces non-reversible severe learning disability and insignificant, reversible memory disturbances. Studies of rodents exposed to arsenic also revealed changes in the learning process. As it is known, the distribution of metal ions differs in various brain regions. The principle manganese accumulation was observed in the hippocampus and in the neocortex, while arsenic was predominantly accumulated in nucleus accumbens, striatum, and cortex. These brain regions play an important role in the regulation of emotional state and motor activity. Histopathological analyzes of brain sections illustrated two morphologically distinct altered phenotypes of neurons: (1) shrunk cells with indications of apoptosis - nucleus and cytoplasm were very difficult to be distinguished, the integrity of neuronal cytoplasm was not disturbed; and (2) swollen cells - with indications of necrosis. Pyknotic nucleus, plasma membrane disruption and cytoplasmic vacuoles were observed in swollen neurons and they were surrounded by activated gliocytes. It’s worth to mention that in the cortex the majority of damaged neurons were apoptotic while in subcortical nuclei –neurons were mainly necrotic. Ultrastructural analyses demonstrated that all cell types in the cortex and the nucleus caudatus represent destructed mitochondria, widened neurons’ vacuolar system profiles, increased number of lysosomes and degeneration of axonal endings.

Keywords: arsenic, manganese, behavior, learning, neuron

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: B. K. Kanungo, Monika Thakur, Minati Baral

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8-hydroxyquinoline, (8HQ), experiences a renaissance due to its utility as a building block in metallosupramolecular chemistry and its versatile use of its derivatives in various fields of analytical chemistry, materials science, and pharmaceutics. It forms stable complexes with a variety of metal ions. Assembly of more than one such unit to form a polydentate chelator enhances its coordinating ability and the related properties due to the chelate effect resulting in high stability constant. Keeping in view the above, a nonadentate chelator N-[3,5-bis(8-hydroxyquinoline-2-amido)cyclohexyl]-8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxamide, (TACH2OX), containing a central cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane appended to three 8-hydroxyquinoline at 2-position through amide linkage is developed, and its solution thermodynamics, photophysical and Density Functional Theory (DFT) studies were undertaken. The synthesis of TACH2OX was carried out by condensation of cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane, (TACH) with 8‐hydroxyquinoline‐2‐carboxylic acid. The brown colored solid has been fully characterized through melting point, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, electrospray ionization mass and electronic spectroscopy. In solution, TACH2OX forms protonated complexes below pH 3.4, which consecutively deprotonates to generate trinegative ion with the rise of pH. Nine protonation constants for the ligand were obtained that ranges between 2.26 to 7.28. The interaction of the chelator with two trivalent metal ion Fe3+ and Al3+ were studied in aqueous solution at 298 K. The metal-ligand formation constants (ML) obtained by potentiometric and spectrophotometric method agree with each other. The protonated and hydrolyzed species were also detected in the system. The in-silico studies of the ligand, as well as the complexes including their protonated and deprotonated species assessed by density functional theory technique, gave an accurate correlation with each observed properties such as the protonation constants, stability constants, infra-red, nmr, electronic absorption and emission spectral bands. The nature of electronic and emission spectral bands in terms of number and type were ascertained from time-dependent density functional theory study and the natural transition orbitals (NTO). The global reactivity indices parameters were used for comparison of the reactivity of the ligand and the complex molecules. The natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis could successfully describe the structure and bonding of the metal-ligand complexes specifying the percentage of contribution in atomic orbitals in the creation of molecular orbitals. The obtained high value of metal-ligand formation constants indicates that the newly synthesized chelator is a very powerful synthetic chelator. The minimum energy molecular modeling structure of the ligand suggests that the ligand, TACH2OX, in a tripodal fashion firmly coordinates to the metal ion as hexa-coordinated chelate displaying distorted octahedral geometry by binding through three sets of N, O- donor atoms, present in each pendant arm of the central tris-cyclohexaneamine tripod.

Keywords: complexes, DFT, formation constant, TACH2OX

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Authors: Gideon Nyuimbe Gasu

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Sub Saharan Africa is at a critical point, experiencing rapid population growth, particularly in urban areas and young growing force. At the same time, the growing risk of catastrophic global climate change threatens to weaken food production system, increase intensity and frequency of drought, flood, and fires and undermine gains on development and poverty reduction. Although the region has the lowest per capital greenhouse gas emission level in the world, it will need to join global efforts to address climate change, including action to avoid significant increases and to encourage a green economy. Thus, there is a need for the concept of 'greening the economy' as was prescribed at Rio Summit of 1992. Renewable energy is one of the criterions to achieve this laudable goal of maintaining a green economy. There is need to address climate change while facilitating continued economic growth and social progress as energy today is critical to economic growth. Fossil fuels remain the major contributor of greenhouse gas emission. Thus, cleaner technologies such as carbon capture storage, renewable energy have emerged to be commercially competitive. This paper sets out to examine how to achieve a low carbon economy with minimal emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which is one of the outcomes of implementing a green economy. Also, the paper examines the different renewable energy sources such as nuclear, wind, hydro, biofuel, and solar voltaic as a panacea to the looming climate change menace. Finally, the paper assesses the different renewable energy and energy efficiency as a propeller to generating new sources of income and jobs and in turn reduces carbon emission. The research shall engage qualitative, evaluative and comparative methods. The research will employ both primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources of information shall be drawn from the sub Saharan African region and the global environmental organizations, energy legislation, policies and related industries and the judicial processes. The secondary sources will be made up of some books, journal articles, commentaries, discussions, observations, explanations, expositions, suggestions, prescriptions and other material sourced from the internet on renewable energy as a panacea to climate change. All information obtained from these sources will be subject to content analysis. The research result will show that the entire planet is warming as a result of the activities of mankind which is clear evidence that the current development is fundamentally unsustainable. Equally, the study will reveal that a low carbon development pathway in the sub Saharan African region should be embraced to minimize emission of greenhouse gases such as using renewable energy rather than coal, oil, and gas. The study concludes that until adequate strategies are devised towards the use of renewable energy the region will continue to add and worsen the current climate change menace and other adverse environmental conditions.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, climate change, legislation/law, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Manasi Mahanty

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In the current phase of globalization, the mobility of capital facilitates outsourcing and subcontracting of production processes to the developing economies for cheap and flexible labour force. In such process, the globalization of production networks operates at multi-locational points within the nation. Under the new quota regime in the globalization period, the Indian manufacturing exporters came under the influence of corporate buyers and large retailers from the importing countries. As part of such process, the garment manufacturing sector is expected to create huge employment opportunities and to expand the export market in the country. While following these, expectations, the apparel and garment industries mostly target to hire female migrant workers with a purpose of establishing more flexible industrial relations through the casual nature of employment contract. It leads to an increasing women’s participation in the labour market as well as the rise in precarious forms of female paid employment. In the context, the main objective of the paper is to understand the wider dynamics of globalization of production and its link with informalization, feminization of labour force and internal migration process of the country. For this purpose, the study examines the changing labour relations in the KINFRA Apparel Park at Kerala’s Special Economic Zone which operates under the scheme ‘Apparel Parks for Export’ (APE) of the Government of India. The present study was based on both quantitative and qualitative analysis. In the first, the secondary sources of data were collected from the source location (SEAM centre) and destination (KINFRA Park). The official figures and data were discussed and analyzed in order to find out the various dimensions of labour relations under globalization of production. In the second, the primary survey was conducted to make a comparative analysis of local and migrant female workers. The study is executed by taking 100 workers in total. The local workers comprised of 53% of the sample whereas the outside state workers were 47%. Even personal interviews with management staff, and workers were also made for collecting the information regarding the organisational structure, nature, and mode of recruitment, work environment, etc. The study shows the enormous presence of rural women migrant workers in KINFRA Apparel Park. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) arranged migration system is found as Skills for Employment in Apparel Manufacturing (SEAM) from where young women and girls are being sent to work in garment factories of Kerala’s KINFRA International Apparel Park under the guise of an apprenticeship based recruitment. The study concludes that such arrangements try to avoid standard employment relationships and strengthen informalization, casualization and contractualization of work. In this process, the recruitment of women migrant workers is to be considered as best option for the employers of private industries which could be more easily hired and fired.

Keywords: female migration, globalization, informalization, KINFRA apparel park

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Sonia P. Marrero Duran, Lilian Noya Dominguez, Lisandra Quintana Alvarez, Evert Martinez Perez, Ana Julia Acevedo Urquiaga

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Cuban business and economic policy are in the constant update as well as facing a client ever more knowledgeable and demanding. For that reason become fundamental for companies competitiveness through the optimization of its processes and services. One of the Cuban’s pillars, which has been sustained since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution back in 1959, is the free health service to all those who need it. This service is offered without any charge under the concept of preserving human life, but it implied costly management processes and logistics services to be able to supply the necessary medicines to all the units who provide health services. One of the key actors on the medicine supply chain is the Havana Distribution Center (HDC), which is responsible for the delivery of medicines in the province; as well as the acquisition of medicines from national and international producers and its subsequent transport to health care units and pharmacies in time, and with the required quality. This HDC also carries for all distribution centers in the country. Given the eminent need to create an actor in the supply chain that specializes in the medicines supply, the possibility of centralizing this operation in a logistics service provider is analyzed. Based on this decision, pharmacies operate as clients of the logistic service center whose main function is to centralize all logistics operations associated with the medicine supply chain. The HDC is precisely the logistic service provider in Havana and it is the center of this research. In 2017 the pharmacies had affectations in the availability of medicine due to deficiencies in the distribution routes. This is caused by the fact that they are not based on routing studies, besides the long distribution cycle. The distribution routs are fixed, attend only one type of customer and there respond to a territorial location by the municipality. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned problem, the objective of this research is to optimize the routes system in the Havana Distribution Center. To accomplish this objective, the techniques applied were document analysis, random sampling, statistical inference and tools such as Ishikawa diagram and the computerized software’s: ArcGis, Osmand y MapIfnfo. As a result, were analyzed four distribution alternatives; the actual rout, by customer type, by the municipality and the combination of the two last. It was demonstrated that the territorial location alternative does not take full advantage of the transportation capacities or the distance of the trips, which leads to elevated costs breaking whit the current ways of distribution and the currents characteristics of the clients. The principal finding of the investigation was the optimum option distribution rout is the 4th one that is formed by hospitals and the join of pharmacies, stomatology clinics, polyclinics and maternal and elderly homes. This solution breaks the territorial location by the municipality and permits different distribution cycles in dependence of medicine consumption and transport availability.

Keywords: computerized geographic software, distribution, distribution routs, vehicle problem routing (VPR)

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Susmita Ghosh

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Catchment area of Damodar River, India experiences seasonal rains due to the south-west monsoon every year and depending upon the intensity of the storms, floods occur. During the monsoon season, the rainfall in the area is mainly due to active monsoon conditions. The upstream reach of Damodar river system has five dams store the water for utilization for various purposes viz, irrigation, hydro-power generation, municipal supplies and last but not the least flood moderation. But, in the downstream reach of Damodar River, known as Lower Damodar region, is severely and frequently suffering from flood due to heavy monsoon rainfall and also release from upstream reservoirs. Therefore, an effective flood management study is required to know in depth the nature and extent of flood, water logging, and erosion related problems, affected area, and damages in the Lower Damodar region, by conducting mathematical model study. The design flood or discharge is needed to decide to assign the respective model for getting several scenarios from the simulation runs. The ultimate aim is to achieve a sustainable flood management scheme from the several alternatives. there are various methods for estimating flood discharges to be carried through the rivers and their tributaries for quick drainage from inundated areas due to drainage congestion and excess rainfall. In the present study, the flood frequency analysis is performed to decide the design flood discharge of the study area. This, on the other hand, has limitations in respect of availability of long peak flood data record for determining long type of probability density function correctly. If sufficient past records are available, the maximum flood on a river with a given frequency can safely be determined. The floods of different frequency for the Damodar has been calculated by five candidate distributions i.e., generalized extreme value, extreme value-I, Pearson type III, Log Pearson and normal. Annual peak discharge series are available at Durgapur barrage for the period of 1979 to 2013 (35 years). The available series are subjected to frequency analysis. The primary objective of the flood frequency analysis is to relate the magnitude of extreme events to their frequencies of occurrence through the use of probability distributions. The design flood for return periods of 10, 15 and 25 years return period at Durgapur barrage are estimated by flood frequency method. It is necessary to develop flood hydrographs for the above floods to facilitate the mathematical model studies to find the depth and extent of inundation etc. Null hypothesis that the distributions fit the data at 95% confidence is checked with goodness of fit test, i.e., Chi Square Test. It is revealed from the goodness of fit test that the all five distributions do show a good fit on the sample population and is therefore accepted. However, it is seen that there is considerable variation in the estimation of frequency flood. It is therefore considered prudent to average out the results of these five distributions for required frequencies. The inundated area from past data is well matched using this flood.

Keywords: design discharge, flood frequency, goodness of fit, sustainable flood management

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: Sachin Jain, Daniel Perez-Astudillo, Dunia A. Bachour, Antonio P. Sanfilippo

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The future of solar energy in Qatar is evolving steadily. Hence, high-quality spatial solar radiation data is of the uttermost requirement for any planning and commissioning of solar technology. Generally, two types of solar radiation data are available: satellite data and ground observations. Satellite solar radiation data is developed by the physical and statistical model. Ground data is collected by solar radiation measurement stations. The ground data is of high quality. However, they are limited to distributed point locations with the high cost of installation and maintenance for the ground stations. On the other hand, satellite solar radiation data is continuous and available throughout geographical locations, but they are relatively less accurate than ground data. To utilize the advantage of both data, a product has been developed here which provides spatial continuity and higher accuracy than any of the data alone. The popular satellite databases: National Solar radiation Data Base, NSRDB (PSM V3 model, spatial resolution: 4 km) is chosen here for merging with ground-measured solar radiation measurement in Qatar. The spatial distribution of ground solar radiation measurement stations is comprehensive in Qatar, with a network of 13 ground stations. The monthly average of the daily total Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) component from ground and satellite data is used for error analysis. The normalized root means square error (NRMSE) values of 3.31%, 6.53%, and 6.63% for October, November, and December 2019 were observed respectively when comparing in-situ and NSRDB data. The method is based on the Empirical Bayesian Kriging Regression Prediction model available in ArcGIS, ESRI. The workflow of the algorithm is based on the combination of regression and kriging methods. A regression model (OLS, ordinary least square) is fitted between the ground and NSBRD data points. A semi-variogram is fitted into the experimental semi-variogram obtained from the residuals. The kriging residuals obtained after fitting the semi-variogram model were added to NSRBD data predicted values obtained from the regression model to obtain the final predicted values. The NRMSE values obtained after merging are respectively 1.84%, 1.28%, and 1.81% for October, November, and December 2019. One more explanatory variable, that is the ground elevation, has been incorporated in the regression and kriging methods to reduce the error and to provide higher spatial resolution (30 m). The final GHI maps have been created after merging, and NRMSE values of 1.24%, 1.28%, and 1.28% have been observed for October, November, and December 2019, respectively. The proposed merging method has proven as a highly accurate method. An additional method is also proposed here to generate calibrated maps by using regression and kriging model and further to use the calibrated model to generate solar radiation maps from the explanatory variable only when not enough historical ground data is available for long-term analysis. The NRMSE values obtained after the comparison of the calibrated maps with ground data are 5.60% and 5.31% for November and December 2019 month respectively.

Keywords: global horizontal irradiation, GIS, empirical bayesian kriging regression prediction, NSRDB

Procedia PDF Downloads 89

Authors: R. P. Naik, A. K. Rakshit

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In recent years, with the rapid development in science and technology, people have increasing requirements on uses of clothing for new functions, which contributes to opportunities for further development and incorporation of new technologies along with novel materials. In this context, textiles are of fast decalescence or fast heat radiation media as per as comfort accountability of textile articles are concern. The microstructure and texture of textiles play a vital role in determining the heat-moisture comfort level of the human body because clothing serves as a barrier to the outside environment and a transporter of heat and moisture from the body to the surrounding environment to keep thermal balance between body heat produced and body heat loss. The main bottleneck which is associated with textile materials to be successful as thermal insulation materials can be enumerated as; firstly, high loft or bulkiness of material so as to provide predetermined amount of insulation by ensuring sufficient trapping of air. Secondly, the insulation depends on forced convection; such convective heat loss cannot be prevented by textile material. Third is that the textile alone cannot reach the level of thermal conductivity lower than 0.025 W/ m.k of air. Perhaps, nano-fibers can do so, but still, mass production and cost-effectiveness is a problem. Finally, such high loft materials for thermal insulation becomes heavier and uneasy to manage especially when required to carry over a body. The proposed works aim at developing lightweight effective thermal insulation textiles in combination with nanoporous silica-gel which provides the fundamental basis for the optimization of material properties to achieve good performance of the clothing system. This flexible nonwoven silica-gel composites fabric in intact monolith was successfully developed by reinforcing SiO2-gel in thermal bonded nonwoven fabric via sol-gel processing. Ambient Pressure Drying method is opted for silica gel preparation for cost-effective manufacturing. The formed structure of the nonwoven / SiO₂ -gel composites were analyzed, and the transfer properties were measured. The effects of structure and fibre on the thermal properties of the SiO₂-gel composites were evaluated. Samples are then tested against untreated samples of same GSM in order to study the effect of SiO₂-gel application on various properties of nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric composites reinforced with aerogel showed intact monolith structure were also analyzed for their surface structure, functional group present, microscopic images. Developed product reveals a significant reduction in pores' size and air permeability than the conventional nonwoven fabric. Composite made from polyester fibre with lower GSM shows lowest thermal conductivity. Results obtained were statistically analyzed by using STATISTICA-6 software for their level of significance. Univariate tests of significance for various parameters are practiced which gives the P value for analyzing significance level along with that regression summary for dependent variable are also studied to obtain correlation coefficient.

Keywords: silica-gel, heat insulation, nonwoven fabric, thermal barrier clothing

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Sahar El Shair, Laura Greco, William Reay, Murray Cairns

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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systematic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease that involves damages to joints and erosions to the associated bones and cartilage, resulting in reduced physical function and disability. RA is a multifactorial disorder influenced by heterogenous genetic and environmental factors. Whilst different medications have proven successful in reducing inflammation associated with RA, they often come with significant side effects and limited efficacy. To address this, the novel pharmagenic enrichment score (PES) algorithm was tested in self-reported RA patients from the UK Biobank (UKBB), which is a cohort of predominantly European ancestry, and identified individuals with a high genetic risk in clinically actionable biological pathways to identify novel opportunities for precision interventions and drug repurposing to treat RA. Methods and materials: Genetic association data for rheumatoid arthritis was derived from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics (N=97173). The PES framework exploits competitive gene set enrichment to identify pathways that are associated with RA to explore novel treatment opportunities. This data is then integrated into WebGestalt, Drug Interaction database (DGIdb) and DrugBank databases to identify existing compounds with existing use or potential for repurposed use. The PES for each of these candidates was then profiled in individuals with RA in the UKBB (Ncases = 3,719, Ncontrols = 333,160). Results A total of 209 pathways with known drug targets after multiple testing correction were identified. Several pathways, including interferon gamma signaling and TID pathway (which relates to a chaperone that modulates interferon signaling), were significantly associated with self-reported RA in the UKBB when adjusting for age, sex, assessment centre month and location, RA polygenic risk and 10 principal components. These pathways have a major role in RA pathogenesis, including autoimmune attacks against certain citrullinated proteins, synovial inflammation, and bone loss. Encouragingly, many also relate to the mechanism of action of existing RA medications. The analyses also revealed statistically significant association between RA polygenic scores and self-reported RA with individual PES scorings, highlighting the potential utility of the PES algorithm in uncovering additional genetic insights that could aid in the identification of individuals at risk for RA and provide opportunities for more targeted interventions. Conclusions In this study, pharmacologically annotated genetic risk was explored through the PES framework to overcome inter-individual heterogeneity and enable precision drug repurposing in RA. The results showed a statistically significant association between RA polygenic scores and self-reported RA and individual PES scorings for 3,719 RA patients. Interestingly, several enriched PES pathways were targeted by already approved RA drugs. In addition, the analysis revealed genetically supported drug repurposing opportunities for future treatment of RA with a relatively safe profile.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, precision medicine, drug repurposing, system biology, bioinformatics

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Authors: N. Singh, G. K. Darbha

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Since the last decade, a wave of research has begun to study the prevalence and impact of ever-increasing plastic pollution in the environment. The wide application and ubiquitous distribution of plastic have become a global concern due to its persistent nature. The disposal of plastics has emerged as one of the major challenges for waste management landfills. Microplastics (MPs) have found its existence in almost every environment, from the high altitude mountain lake to the deep sea sediments, polar icebergs, coral reefs, estuaries, beaches, and river, etc. Microplastics are fragments of plastics with size less than 5 mm. Microplastics can be classified as primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastics includes purposefully introduced microplastics into the end products for consumers (microbeads used in facial cleansers, personal care product, etc.), pellets (used in manufacturing industries) or fibres (from textile industries) which finally enters into the environment. Secondary microplastics are formed by disintegration of larger fragments under the exposure of sunlight, mechanical abrasive forces by rain, waves, wind and/or water. A number of factors affect the quantity of microplastic present in freshwater environments. In addition to physical forces, human population density proximal to the water body, proximity to urban centres, water residence time, and size of the water body also affects plastic properties. With time, other complex processes in nature such as physical, chemical and biological break down plastics by interfering with its structural integrity. Several studies demonstrate that microplastics found in wastewater sludge being used as manure for agricultural fields, thus having the tendency to alter the soil environment condition influencing the microbial population as well. Inadequate data are available on the fate and transport of microplastics under varying environmental conditions that are required to supplement important information for further research. In addition, microplastics have the tendency to absorb heavy metals and hydrophobic organic contaminants such as PAHs and PCBs from its surroundings and thus acting as carriers for these contaminants in the environment system. In this study, three kinds of microplastics (polyethylene, polypropylene and expanded polystyrene) of different densities were chosen. Plastic samples were placed in sand with different aqueous media (distilled water, surface water, groundwater and marine water). It was incubated at varying temperatures (25, 35 and 40 °C) and agitation levels (rpm). The results show that the number of plastic fragments enhanced with increase in temperature and agitation speed. Moreover, the rate of disintegration of expanded polystyrene is high compared to other plastics. These results demonstrate that temperature, salinity, and mechanical abrasion plays a major role in degradation of plastics. Since weathered microplastics are more harmful as compared to the virgin microplastics, long-term studies involving other environmental factors are needed to have a better understanding of degradation of plastics.

Keywords: environmental contamination, fragmentation, microplastics, temperature, weathering

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Authors: Nejmeddine Ouhichi, Fethi Lachaal, Radhouane Hamdi, Olivier Grunberger

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Located in Cap Bon peninsula (Tunisia), the Lebna dam was built in 1987 to balance local water salt intrusion taking place in the coastal aquifer of Korba. The first intention was to reduce coastal groundwater over-pumping by supplying surface water to a large irrigation system. The unpredicted beneficial effect was recorded with the occurrence of a direct localized recharge to the coastal aquifer by leakage through the geological material of the southern bank of the lake. The hydrological balance of the reservoir dam gave an estimation of the annual leakage volume, but dynamic processes and sound quantification of recharge inputs are still required to understand the localized effect of the recharge in terms of piezometry and quality. Present work focused on simulating the recharge process to confirm the hypothesis, and established a sound quantification of the water supply to the coastal aquifer and extend it to multi-annual effects. A spatial frame of 30km² was used for modeling. Intensive outcrops and geophysical surveys based on 68 electrical resistivity soundings were used to characterize the aquifer 3D geometry and the limit of the Plio-quaternary geological material concerned by the underground flow paths. Permeabilities were determined using 17 pumping tests on wells and piezometers. Six seasonal piezometric surveys on 71 wells around southern reservoir dam banks were performed during the 2019-2021 period. Eight monitoring boreholes of high frequency (15min) piezometric data were used to examine dynamical aspects. Model boundary conditions were specified using the geophysics interpretations coupled with the piezometric maps. The dam-groundwater flow model was performed using Visual MODFLOW software. Firstly, permanent state calibration based on the first piezometric map of February 2019 was established to estimate the permanent flow related to the different reservoir levels. Secondly, piezometric data for the 2019-2021 period were used for transient state calibration and to confirm the robustness of the model. Preliminary results confirmed the temporal link between the reservoir level and the localized recharge flow with a strong threshold effect for levels below 16 m.a.s.l. The good agreement of computed flow through recharge cells on the southern banks and hydrological budget of the reservoir open the path to future simulation scenarios of the dilution plume imposed by the localized recharge. The dam reservoir-groundwater flow-model simulation results approve a potential for storage of up to 17mm/year in existing wells, under gravity-feed conditions during level increases on the reservoir into the three years of operation. The Lebna dam groundwater flow model characterized a spatiotemporal relation between groundwater and surface water.

Keywords: leakage, MODFLOW, saltwater intrusion, surface water-groundwater interaction

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Authors: Meitham Amereh, Mohsen Akbari, Ben Nadler

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Cancer has been recognized as one of the most challenging problems in biology and medicine. Aggressive tumors are a lethal type of cancers characterized by high genomic instability, rapid progression, invasiveness, and therapeutic resistance. Their behavior involves complicated molecular biology and consequential dynamics. Although tremendous effort has been devoted to developing therapeutic approaches, there is still a huge need for new insights into the dark aspects of tumors. As one of the key requirements in better understanding the complex behavior of tumors, mathematical modeling and continuum physics, in particular, play a pivotal role. Mathematical modeling can provide a quantitative prediction on biological processes and help interpret complicated physiological interactions in tumors microenvironment. The pathophysiology of aggressive tumors is strongly affected by the extracellular cues such as stresses produced by mechanical forces between the tumor and the host tissue. During the tumor progression, the growing mass displaces the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM), and due to the level of tissue stiffness, stress accumulates inside the tumor. The produced stress can influence the tumor by breaking adherent junctions. During this process, the tumor stops the rapid proliferation and begins to remodel its shape to preserve the homeostatic equilibrium state. To reach this, the tumor, in turn, upregulates epithelial to mesenchymal transit-inducing transcription factors (EMT-TFs). These EMT-TFs are involved in various signaling cascades, which are often associated with tumor invasiveness and malignancy. In this work, we modeled the tumor as a growing hyperplastic mass and investigated the effects of mechanical stress from surrounding ECM on tumor invasion. The invasion is modeled as volume-preserving inelastic evolution. In this framework, principal balance laws are considered for tumor mass, linear momentum, and diffusion of nutrients. Also, mechanical interactions between the tumor and ECM is modeled using Ciarlet constitutive strain energy function, and dissipation inequality is utilized to model the volumetric growth rate. System parameters, such as rate of nutrient uptake and cell proliferation, are obtained experimentally. To validate the model, human Glioblastoma multiforme (hGBM) tumor spheroids were incorporated inside Matrigel/Alginate composite hydrogel and was injected into a microfluidic chip to mimic the tumor’s natural microenvironment. The invasion structure was analyzed by imaging the spheroid over time. Also, the expression of transcriptional factors involved in invasion was measured by immune-staining the tumor. The volumetric growth, stress distribution, and inelastic evolution of tumors were predicted by the model. Results showed that the level of invasion is in direct correlation with the level of predicted stress within the tumor. Moreover, the invasion length measured by fluorescent imaging was shown to be related to the inelastic evolution of tumors obtained by the model.

Keywords: cancer, invasion, mathematical modeling, microfluidic chip, tumor spheroids

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Authors: Ehsan Javanmardemamgheisi, Javad Mehr, Jason Ali-Lavroff, Damien Holloway, Michael Davis

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During the last decades, a growing interest in faster and more efficient waterborne transportation has led to the development of high-speed vessels for both commercial and military applications. To satisfy this global demand, a wide variety of arrangements of high-speed crafts have been proposed by designers. Among them, high-speed catamarans have proven themselves to be a suitable Roll-on/Roll-off configuration for carrying passengers and cargo due to widely spaced demi hulls, a wide deck zone, and a high ratio of deadweight to displacement. To improve passenger comfort and crew workability and enhance the operability and performance of high-speed catamarans, mitigating the severity of motions and structural loads using Ride Control Systems (RCS) is essential.In this paper, a set of towing tank tests was conducted on a 2.5 m scaled model of a 112 m Incat Tasmania high-speed catamaran in irregular head seas to investigate the effect of different ride control algorithms including linear and nonlinear versions of the heave control, pitch control, and local control on motion responses and passenger comfort of the full-scale ship. The RCS included a centre bow-fitted T-Foil and two transom-mounted stern tabs. All the experiments were conducted at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) towing tank at a model speed of 2.89 m/s (37 knots full scale), a modal period of 1.5 sec (10 sec full scale) and two significant wave heights of 60 mm and 90 mm, representing full-scale wave heights of 2.7 m and 4 m, respectively. Spectral analyses were performed using Welch’s power spectral density method on the vertical motion time records of the catamaran model to calculate heave and pitch Response Amplitude Operators (RAOs). Then, noting that passenger discomfort arises from vertical accelerations and that the vertical accelerations vary at different longitudinal locations within the passenger cabin due to the variations in amplitude and relative phase of the pitch and heave motions, the vertical accelerations were calculated at three longitudinal locations (LCG, T-Foil, and stern tabs). Finally, frequency-weighted Root Mean Square (RMS) vertical accelerations were calculated to estimate Motion Sickness Dose Value (MSDV) of the ship based on ISO 2631-recommendations. It was demonstrated that in small seas, implementing a nonlinear pitch control algorithm reduces the peak pitch motions by 41%, the vertical accelerations at the forward location by 46%, and motion sickness at the forward position by around 20% which provides great potential for further improvement in passenger comfort, crew workability, and operability of high-speed catamarans.

Keywords: high-speed catamarans, ride control system, response amplitude operators, vertical accelerations, motion sickness, irregular waves, towing tank tests.

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Authors: Harriet Bothwell, Lowri Evans, Kevin Jones

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Background: The University of Bristol provides all medical students the opportunity to undertake student selected components (SSCs) at multiple stages of the undergraduate programme. SSCs enable students to explore areas of interest that are not necessarily covered by the curriculum. Students are required to produce a written report and most use SSCs as an opportunity to undertake an audit or small research project. In 2013 Swindon Academy, based at the Great Western Hospital, offered eight students the opportunity of a global health SSC which included a two week trip to rural hospital in Uganda. This SSC has since expanded and in 2017 a total of 20 students had the opportunity to undertake small research projects at two hospitals in rural Uganda. 'Tomorrows Doctors' highlights the importance of understanding healthcare from a 'global perspective' and student feedback from previous SSCs suggests that self-assessed knowledge of global health increases as a result of this SSC. Through the most recent version of this SSC students had the opportunity to undertake projects in a wide range of specialties including paediatrics, palliative care, surgery and medical education. Methods: An anonymous online questionnaire was made available to students following the SSC. There was a response rate of 80% representing 16 out of the 20 students. This questionnaire surveyed students’ satisfaction and experience of the SSC including the level of academic, project and spiritual support provided as well as perceived challenges in completing the project and barriers to healthcare delivery in the low resource setting. This survey had multiple open questions allowing the collection of qualitative data. Further qualitative data was collected from the students’ project report. The suggested format included a reflection and all students completed these. All qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results: All respondents rated the overall experience of the SSC as 'good' or 'excellent'. Preliminary data suggest that students’ confidence in their knowledge of global health, diagnosis of tropical diseases and management of tropical diseases improved after completing this SSC. Thematic analysis of students' reflection is ongoing but suggests that students gain far more than improved knowledge of tropical diseases. Students reflect positively on having the opportunity to research in a low resource setting and feel that by completing these projects they will be 'useful' to the hospital. Several students reflect the stark contrast to healthcare delivery in the UK and recognise the 'privilege' of having a healthcare system that is free at the point of access. Some students noted the different approaches that clinicians in Uganda had to train in 'taking ownership' of their own learning. Conclusions: Students completing this SSC report increased knowledge of global health and tropical medicine. However, their reflections reveal much broader learning outcomes and demonstrate considerable insight in multiple topics including conducting research in the low resource setting, training and healthcare inequality.

Keywords: global health, medical education, student feedback, undergraduate

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Authors: Charlotte Bach, Albrecht Jahn, Mahnaz Motamedi, Maryam Karimi-Ghahfarokhi

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Background: Maternal and infant deaths are most prevalent in the first month after birth, emphasizing the critical need for quality healthcare services during this period. Immigrant women, who are more susceptible to adverse pregnancy outcomes, often face neglect in accessing proper healthcare. The lack of adequate postpartum care significantly contributes to mortality rates. Therefore, utilizing maternal health care services and implementing postpartum care is crucial in reducing maternal and child mortality. Aims: This study aims to evaluate the assessment of pre- and postnatal care among women with and without migration background. In addition, the study explores the impact of COVID-19 procedures on women's experiences during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Methods: This research employs a cross-sectional Mixed-Method design. Data collection was facilitated through structured questionnaires administered to participants, alongside the utilization of patient bases, including Maternity and child medical records. Following the assumption that the investigator aimed to gain comprehensive insights, qualitative sampling focused on individuals with substantial experiences related to COVID-19, regarded as rich cases. Results: our study highlighted the influence of educational level, marital status, and consensual partnerships on the likelihood of Cesarean deliveries. Regarding breastfeeding practices, migrant women exhibited higher rates of breastfeeding initiation and continuation. Contraception utilization revealed interesting patterns, with non-migrants displaying higher odds of contraceptive use. The qualitative component of our research adds depth to the exploration of women's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing nuanced challenges related to anxiety, hospital restrictions, breastfeeding support, and postnatal ward routines. Conclusion: Dissimilarity among studies toward cesarean rate between migrants and non-migrants underscores the importance of targeted interventions considering the diverse needs of distinct population groups. It also acknowledges potential cultural, contextual, and healthcare system influences on the association between mode of delivery and infant feeding practices. Studies acknowledge the influence of contextual variables on contraceptive preferences among migrants and non-migrants, emphasizing the need for tailored healthcare policies. The findings contribute to existing research, highlighting the need for a nuanced understanding of the impact of birth preparation courses on maternal and infant outcomes. Furthermore, they emphasize the universality of certain maternity care experiences, regardless of pandemic contexts, reinforcing the importance of patient-centred approaches in healthcare delivery.

Keywords: migration background, pregnancy outcome, covid-19, postpartum

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Authors: Zatovska T. V., Nesterova N. V., Baranova G. V., Zagorodnya S. D.

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In recent years, biosensor technologies based on the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are becoming increasingly used in biology and medicine. Their application facilitates exploration in real time progress of binding of biomolecules and identification of agents that specifically interact with biologically active substances immobilized on the biosensor surface (biochips). Special attention is paid to the use of Biosensor analysis in determining the antibody-antigen interaction in the diagnostics of diseases caused by viruses and bacteria. According to WHO, the diseases that are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV), take second place (15.8%) after influenza as a cause of death from viral infections. Current diagnostics of HSV infection include PCR and ELISA assays. The latter allows determination the degree of immune response to viral infection and respective stages of its progress. In this regard, the searches for new and available diagnostic methods are very important. This work was aimed to develop Biosensor chip for detection of specific antibodies to HSV-1 in the human blood serum. The proteins of HSV1 (strain US) were used as antigens. The viral particles were accumulated in cell culture MDBK and purified by differential centrifugation in cesium chloride density gradient. Analysis of the HSV1 proteins was performed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ELISA. The protein concentration was measured using De Novix DS-11 spectrophotometer. The device for detection of antigen-antibody interactions was an optoelectronic two-channel spectrometer ‘Plasmon-6’, using the SPR phenomenon in the Krechman optical configuration. It was developed at the Lashkarev Institute of Semiconductor Physics of NASU. The used carrier was a glass plate covered with 45 nm gold film. Screening of human blood serums was performed using the test system ‘HSV-1 IgG ELISA’ (GenWay, USA). Development of Biosensor chip included optimization of conditions of viral antigen sorption and analysis steps. For immobilization of viral proteins 0.2% solution of Dextran 17, 200 (Sigma, USA) was used. Sorption of antigen took place at 4-8°C within 18-24 hours. After washing of chip, three times with citrate buffer (pH 5,0) 1% solution of BSA was applied to block the sites not occupied by viral antigen. It was found direct dependence between the amount of immobilized HSV1 antigen and SPR response. Using obtained biochips, panels of 25 positive and 10 negative for the content of antibodies to HSV-1 human sera were analyzed. The average value of SPR response was 185 a.s. for negative sera and from 312 to. 1264 a.s. for positive sera. It was shown that SPR data were agreed with ELISA results in 96% of samples proving the great potential of SPR in such researches. It was investigated the possibility of biochip regeneration and it was shown that application of 10 mM NaOH solution leads to rupture of intermolecular bonds. This allows reuse the chip several times. Thus, in this study biosensor chip for detection of specific antibodies to HSV1 was successfully developed expanding a range of diagnostic methods for this pathogen.

Keywords: biochip, herpes virus, SPR

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