Search results for: software development education
5740 Cardiac Hypertrophy in Diabetes; The Role of Factor Forkhead Box Class O-Regulation by O-GlcNAcylation
Authors: Mohammadjavad Sotoudeheian, Navid Farahmandian
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Cardiac hypertrophy arises in response to persistent increases in hemodynamic loads. In comparison, diabetic cardiomyopathy is defined by an abnormal myocardial changes without other cardiac-related risk factors. Pathological cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial remodeling are hallmarks of cardiovascular diseases and are risk factors for heart failure. The transcription factor forkhead box class O (FOXOs) can protect heart tissue by hostile oxidative stress and stimulating apoptosis and autophagy. FOXO proteins, as sensitive elements and mediators in response to environmental changes, have been revealed to prevent and inverse cardiac hypertrophy. FOXOs are inhibited by insulin and are critical mediators of insulin action. Insulin deficiency and uncontrolled diabetes lead to a catabolic state. FOXO1 acts downstream of the insulin-dependent pathways, which are dysregulated in diabetes. It regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy downstream of IGF1R/PI3K/Akt activation, which are critical regulators of cardiac hypertrophy. The complex network of signaling pathways comprising insulin/IGF-1 signaling, AMPK, JNK, and Sirtuins regulate the development of cardiovascular dysfunction by modulating the activity of FOXOs. Insulin receptors and IGF1R act via the PI3k/Akt and the MAPK/ERK pathways. Activation of Akt in response to insulin or IGF-1 induces phosphorylation of FOXOs. Increased protein synthesis induced by activation of the IGF-I/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway leads to hypertrophy. This pathway and the myostatin/Smad pathway are potent negative muscle development regulators. In cardiac muscle, insulin receptor substrates (IRS)-1 or IRS-2 activates the Akt signaling pathway and inactivate FOXO1. Under metabolic stress, p38 MAPK promotes degradation of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in cardiac myocytes and activates FOXO1, leading to cardiomyopathy. Sirt1 and FOXO1 interaction play an essential role in starvation-induced autophagy in cardiac metabolism. Inhibition of Angiotensin-II induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is associated with reduced FOXO1 acetylation and activation of Sirt1. The NF-κB, ERK, and FOXOs are de-acetylated by SIRT1. De-acetylation of FOXO1 induces the expression of genes involved in autophagy and stimulates autophagy flux. Therefore, under metabolic stress, FOXO1 can cause diabetic cardiomyopathy. The overexpression of FOXO1 leads to decreased cardiomyocyte size and suppresses cardiac hypertrophy through inhibition of the calcineurin–NFAT pathway. Diabetes mellitus is associated with elevation of O-GlcNAcylation. Some of its binding partners regulate the substrate selectivity of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). O-GlcNAcylation of essential contractile proteins may inhibit protein-protein interactions, reduce calcium sensitivity, and modulate contractile function. Uridine diphosphate (UDP)-GlcNAc is the obligatory substrate of OGT, which catalyzes a reversible post-translational protein modification. The increase of O-GlcNAcylation is accompanied by impaired cardiac hypertrophy in diabetic hearts. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcylation blocks activation of ERK1/2 and hypertrophic growth. O-GlcNAc modification on NFAT is required for its translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus, where NFAT stimulates the transcription of various hypertrophic genes. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcylation dampens NFAT-induced cardiac hypertrophic growth. Transcriptional activity of FOXO1 is enriched by improved O-GlcNAcylation upon high glucose stimulation or OGT overexpression. In diabetic conditions, the modification of FOXO1 by O-GlcNAc is promoted in cardiac troponin I and myosin light chain 2. Therefore targeting O-GlcNAcylation represents a potential therapeutic option to prevent hypertrophy in the diabetic heart.Keywords: diabetes, cardiac hypertrophy, O-GlcNAcylation, FOXO1, Akt, PI3K, AMPK, insulin
Procedia PDF Downloads 1045739 Assessing the Adaptive Re-Use Potential of Buildings as Part of the Disaster Management Process
Authors: A. Esra İdemen, Sinan M. Şener, Emrah Acar
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The technological paradigm of the disaster management field, especially in the case of governmental intervention strategies, is generally based on rapid and flexible accommodation solutions. From various technical solution patterns used to address the immediate housing needs of disaster victims, the adaptive re-use of existing buildings can be considered to be both low-cost and practical. However, there is a scarcity of analytical methods to screen, select and adapt buildings to help decision makers in cases of emergency. Following an extensive literature review, this paper aims to highlight key points and problem areas associated with the adaptive re-use of buildings within the disaster management context. In other disciplines such as real estate management, the adaptive re-use potential (ARP) of existing buildings is typically based on the prioritization of a set of technical and non-technical criteria which are then weighted to arrive at an economically viable investment decision. After a disaster, however, the assessment of the ARP of buildings requires consideration of different/additional layers of analysis which stem from general disaster management principles and the peculiarities of different types of disasters, as well as of their victims. In this paper, a discussion of the development of an adaptive re-use potential (ARP) assessment model is presented. It is thought that governmental and non-governmental decision makers who are required to take quick decisions to accommodate displaced masses following disasters are likely to benefit from the implementation of such a model.Keywords: adaptive re-use of buildings, disaster management, temporary housing, assessment model
Procedia PDF Downloads 3255738 Air Pollutants Assessment across the UAE Using Repeated Measures
Authors: Karam Al-Assaf, Israa Al Khaffaf, Ryan Al Tayeb, Ayman Alzaatreh
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A significant, manageable hazard to public health, happiness, and the achievement of sustainable development is air pollution. Outdoor air pollution has increased globally over the previous years, exposing billions of people worldwide to hazardous air. With UAE being no different, there are a variety of pollution-related problems that need to be addressed. Therefore, to gain insights from the government and decision makers, this study aims to analyze the annual trends of the five major air pollutants (NO2, SO2, O3, CO, and PM10) across five emirates in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, and Ras AL Khaimah) from 2013 to 2020. The results of the analysis revealed that air pollutants NO2, SO2, and PM10 were significantly different across the years and states. Moreover, it was found that the levels of NO2 are significantly different in Dubai across the years. Moreover, the levels of SO2 are significantly different in Sharjah across the years. Furthermore, it was found that PM10 was significantly different in Ajman across the years. Moreover, the analysis of the significant difference in the pollutants in the three areas (Downtown, Residential, Industrial) revealed that there is no significant difference in the pollutant levels across the years in the three different areas. This tool has shown its effectiveness in monitoring pollutant trends, providing valuable data for government investigations and control measures across the UAE. Additionally, it serves as a valuable resource for decision-makers to develop and implement policies aimed at improving pollutant levels.Keywords: air pollution, air pollutant, repeated measures, MANOVA, UAE
Procedia PDF Downloads 685737 Experimental Characterization of the Thermal Behavior of a Sawdust Mortar
Authors: F. Taouche-Kheloui, O. Fedaoui-Akmoussi, K. Ait tahar, Li. Alex
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Currently, the reduction of energy consumption, through the use of abundant and recyclable natural materials, for better thermal insulation represents an important area of research. To this end, the use of bio-sourced materials has been identified as one of the green sectors with a very high economic development potential for the future. Because of its role in reducing the consumption of fossil-based raw materials, it contributes significantly to the storage of atmospheric carbon, limits greenhouse gas emissions and creates new economic opportunities. This study constitutes a contribution to the elaboration and the experimental characterization of the thermal behavior of a sawdust-reduced mortar matrix. We have taken into account the influence of the size of the grain fibers of sawdust, hence the use of three different ranges and also different percentage in the different confections. The intended practical application consists of producing a light weight compound at a lower cost to ensure a better thermal and acoustic behavior compared to that existing in the field, in addition to the desired resistances. Improving energy performance, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector, is amongst the objectives to be achieved. The results are very encouraging and highlight the value of the proposed design of organic-source mortar panels which have specific mechanical properties acceptable for their use, low densities, lower cost of manufacture and labor, and above all a positive impact on the environment.Keywords: mortar, sawdust waste, thermal, experimental, analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 805736 An Adaptive Dimensionality Reduction Approach for Hyperspectral Imagery Semantic Interpretation
Authors: Akrem Sellami, Imed Riadh Farah, Basel Solaiman
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With the development of HyperSpectral Imagery (HSI) technology, the spectral resolution of HSI became denser, which resulted in large number of spectral bands, high correlation between neighboring, and high data redundancy. However, the semantic interpretation is a challenging task for HSI analysis due to the high dimensionality and the high correlation of the different spectral bands. In fact, this work presents a dimensionality reduction approach that allows to overcome the different issues improving the semantic interpretation of HSI. Therefore, in order to preserve the spatial information, the Tensor Locality Preserving Projection (TLPP) has been applied to transform the original HSI. In the second step, knowledge has been extracted based on the adjacency graph to describe the different pixels. Based on the transformation matrix using TLPP, a weighted matrix has been constructed to rank the different spectral bands based on their contribution score. Thus, the relevant bands have been adaptively selected based on the weighted matrix. The performance of the presented approach has been validated by implementing several experiments, and the obtained results demonstrate the efficiency of this approach compared to various existing dimensionality reduction techniques. Also, according to the experimental results, we can conclude that this approach can adaptively select the relevant spectral improving the semantic interpretation of HSI.Keywords: band selection, dimensionality reduction, feature extraction, hyperspectral imagery, semantic interpretation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3455735 An Investigation on Smartphone-Based Machine Vision System for Inspection
Authors: They Shao Peng
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Machine vision system for inspection is an automated technology that is normally utilized to analyze items on the production line for quality control purposes, it also can be known as an automated visual inspection (AVI) system. By applying automated visual inspection, the existence of items, defects, contaminants, flaws, and other irregularities in manufactured products can be easily detected in a short time and accurately. However, AVI systems are still inflexible and expensive due to their uniqueness for a specific task and consuming a lot of set-up time and space. With the rapid development of mobile devices, smartphones can be an alternative device for the visual system to solve the existing problems of AVI. Since the smartphone-based AVI system is still at a nascent stage, this led to the motivation to investigate the smartphone-based AVI system. This study is aimed to provide a low-cost AVI system with high efficiency and flexibility. In this project, the object detection models, which are You Only Look Once (YOLO) model and Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) model, are trained, evaluated, and integrated with the smartphone and webcam devices. The performance of the smartphone-based AVI is compared with the webcam-based AVI according to the precision and inference time in this study. Additionally, a mobile application is developed which allows users to implement real-time object detection and object detection from image storage.Keywords: automated visual inspection, deep learning, machine vision, mobile application
Procedia PDF Downloads 1195734 Price Heterogeneity in Establishing Real Estate Composite Price Index as Underlying Asset for Property Derivatives in Russia
Authors: Andrey Matyukhin
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Russian official statistics have been showing a steady decline in residential real estate prices for several consecutive years. Price risk in real estate markets is thus affecting various groups of economic agents, namely, individuals, construction companies and financial institutions. Potential use of property derivatives might help mitigate adverse consequences of negative price dynamics. Unless a sustainable price indicator is developed, settlement of such instruments imposes constraints on counterparties involved while imposing restrictions on real estate market development. The study addresses geographical and classification heterogeneity in real estate prices by means of variance analysis in various groups of real estate properties. In conclusion, we determine optimal sample structure of representative real estate assets with sufficient level of price homogeneity. The composite price indicator based on the sample would have a higher level of robustness and reliability and hence improving liquidity in the market for property derivatives through underlying standardization. Unlike the majority of existing real estate price indices, calculated on country-wide basis, the optimal indices for Russian market shall be constructed on the city-level.Keywords: price homogeneity, property derivatives, real estate price index, real estate price risk
Procedia PDF Downloads 3035733 The Effectiveness of Banks’ Web Sites: A Study of Turkish Banking Sector
Authors: Raif Parlakkaya, Huseyin Cetin, Duygu Irdiren
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By the development of World Wide Web, the usage rate of Internet has rapidly grown globally; and provided a basis for the emergence of electronic business. As well as other sectors, the banking sector has adopted the use of internet with the developments in information and communication technologies. Due to the public disclosure and transparency principle of Corporate Governance, the importance of information disclosure of banks on their web sites has increased significantly. For the purpose of this study, a Bank Disclosure Attribute Index (BDAI) in Turkey has been constructed through classifying the information disclosure on banks’ web sites into general, financial, investors and corporate governance attributes. All 47 banks in Turkish Banking System have been evaluated according to the index with the aim of providing a comparison between banks. By Chi Square Test, Pearson Correlation, T-Test, and ANOVA statistical tools, it has been concluded that the majority of banks in Turkey have shared information on their web sites adequately with respect to their total index score. Although there is a positive correlation between various types of information on banks’ web sites, there is no uniformity among them. Also, no significant difference between various types of information disclosure and bank types has been observed. Compared with the total index score averages of the five largest banks in Turkey, there are some banks that need to improve the content of their web sites.Keywords: internet banking, websites evaluation, customer adoption, Turkey
Procedia PDF Downloads 3855732 Gypsum Composites with CDW as Raw Material
Authors: R. Santos Jiménez, A. San-Antonio-González, M. del Río Merino, M. González Cortina, C. Viñas Arrebola
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On average, Europe generates around 890 million tons of construction and demolition waste (CDW) per year and only 50% of these CDW are recycled. This is far from the objectives determined in the European Directive for 2020 and aware of this situation, the European Countries are implementing national policies to prevent the waste that can be avoidable and to promote measures to increase recycling and recovering. In Spain, one of these measures has been the development of a CDW recycling guide for the manufacture of mortar, concrete, bricks and lightweight aggregates. However, there is still not enough information on the possibility of incorporating CDW materials in the manufacture of gypsum products. In view of the foregoing, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid is creating a database with information on the possibility of incorporating CDW materials in the manufacture of gypsum products. The objective of this study is to improve this database by analysing the feasibility of incorporating two different CDW in a gypsum matrix: ceramic waste bricks (perforated brick and double hollow brick), and extruded polystyrene (XPS) waste. Results show that it is possible to incorporate up to 25% of ceramic waste and 4% of XPS waste over the weight of gypsum in a gypsum matrix. Furhtermore, with the addition of ceramic waste an 8% of surface hardness increase and a 25% of capillary water absorption reduction can be obtained. On the other hand, with the addition of XPS, a 26% reduction of density and a 37% improvement of thermal conductivity can be obtained.Keywords: CDW, waste materials, ceramic waste, XPS, construction materials, gypsum
Procedia PDF Downloads 5015731 Large-Eddy Simulations for Aeronautical Systems
Authors: R. R. Mankbadi
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There are several technologically-important flow situations in which there is a need to control the outcome of the fluid flow. This could include flow separation, drag, noise, as well as particulate separations, to list only a few. One possible approach is the passive control, in which the design geometry is changed. An alternative approach is the Active Flow Control (AFC) technology in which an actuator is embedded in the flow field to change the outcome. Examples of AFC are pulsed jets, synthetic jets, plasma actuators, heating, and cooling, etc. In this work will present an overview of the development of this field. Some examples will include Airfoil Noise Suppression: Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) is used to simulate the effect of synthetic jet actuator on controlling the far field sound of a transitional airfoil. The results show considerable suppression of the noise if the synthetic jet is operated at frequencies. Mixing Enhancement and suppression: Results will be presented to show that imposing acoustic excitations at the nozzle exit can lead to enhancement or reduction of the jet plume mixing. In vertical takeoff of Aircrafts or in Space Launch, we will present results on the effects of water injection on reducing noise, and on protecting the structure and payload from fatigue damage. Other applications will include airfoil-gust interaction and propulsion systems optimizations.Keywords: aeroacoustics, flow control, aerodynamics, large eddy simulations
Procedia PDF Downloads 2815730 The Fishery and Electricity Symbiosis Environment and Social Inspection in Taiwan: The Kaohsiung City Example
Authors: Bing-Shun Huang, Hung-Ju Chiu, Wen-Kai Hsieh, Hsiu-Chuan Lin, Ming-Lung Hung
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Taiwan's solar photovoltaic target in 2025 is 20 GW, of which the fish-electricity symbiosis target is 4 GW. In the future, many solar photovoltaic installations may cause local environmental or social impacts. Therefore, the Taiwan government inspects the fish-electricity symbiosis to reduce the impact of solar photovoltaics on the local environment or society. This stuy takes the symbiosis of fishery and electricity in Kaohsiung City as an example to explore Taiwan's environmental and social inspection practices. It mainly analyzes the two aspects of environmental ecology and social economy. The results show that the environmental inspection is mainly through site surveys, ecological information mapping, on-site interviews, and public consultation meetings. Social inspection mainly includes document analysis, on-site interviews, site surveys, expert discussions, and public consultations to identify possible local problems. Although the government had recognized the local issues, the future status may also change. It is recommended that future photoelectric companies should reconfirm the current situation of development sites when applying for the installation and propose countermeasures to solve the problem.Keywords: taiwan, fish-electricity symbiosis, environment, society, inspection
Procedia PDF Downloads 1955729 Initial Experiences of the First Version of Slovene Sustainable Building Indicators That are Based on Level(s)
Authors: Sabina Jordan, Marjana Šijanec Zavrl, Miha Tomšič, Friderik Knez
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To determine the possibilities for the implementation of sustainable building indicators in Slovenia, testing of the first version of the indicators, developed in the CARE4CLIMATE project and based on the EU Level(s) framework, was carried out in 2022. Invited and interested stakeholders of the construction process were provided with video content and instructions on the Slovenian e-platform of sustainable building indicators. In addition, workshops and lectures with individual subjects were also performed. The final phase of the training and testing procedure included a questionnaire, which was used to obtain information about the participants' opinions regarding the indicators. The analysis of the results of the testing, which was focused on level 2, confirmed the key preliminary finding of the development group, namely that currently, due to the lack of certain knowledge, data, and tools, all indicators for this level are not yet feasible in practice. The research also highlighted the greater need for training and specialization of experts in this field. At the same time, it showed that the testing of the first version itself was a big challenge: only 30 experts fully participated and filled out the online questionnaire. This number seems alarmingly low at first glance, but compared to level(s) testing in the EU member states, it is much more than 50 times higher. However, for the further execution of the indicators in Slovenia, it will therefore be necessary to invest a lot of effort and engagement. It is likely that state support will also be needed, for example, in the form of financial mechanisms or incentives and/or legislative background.Keywords: sustainability, building, indicator, implementation, testing, questionnaire
Procedia PDF Downloads 835728 The Impacts of Civil War on Import and Export in Ethiopia: A Case Study of the Tigray Region Conflict
Authors: Simegn Alemayehu Ayele
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Abstract: On November 4, 2020, the Ethiopian government launched a military operation against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia's Tigray Province, sparking the beginning of the Tigray War. This study focuses on the most recent Tigray War as it explores the effects of the civil war on Ethiopia's import and export activity. This study examines the consequences of violence on Ethiopia's trade relations, including its trading partners, export volume, and import requirements, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. The research outcome showed that Ethiopia's trade activities have suffered significantly as a result of the Tigray conflict, with both imports and exports declining. Particularly, the violence has hampered logistics and transportation networks, which has reduced the number of products exported and imported. Furthermore, the conflict has weakened Ethiopia's trading relationships and reduced demand for Ethiopian commodities. The survey also reveals that some of Ethiopia's major trade routes have been closed as a result of the conflict, severely restricting trade activities. These findings underline the necessity for political stability and conflict resolution procedures to support the nation's import and export activity by indicating that civil war has substantial repercussions for Ethiopia's economic development and trade activities.Keywords: import demands, logistic networks, trade partiners, trade relatinships
Procedia PDF Downloads 745727 Development and Characterization of Hydroxyapatite Based Nanocomposites for Local Drug Delivery to Periodontal Pockets
Authors: Indu Lata Kanwar, Preeti K. Suresh
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The aim of this study is to fabricate hydroxyapatite based nanocomposites for local drug delivery in periodontal pockets. Hydroxyapatite is chemically similar to the mineral component of bones and hard tissues in mammals. Synthetic biocompatibility and bioactivity with human teeth and bone, making it very attractive for biomedical applications. Nanocomposite is a multiphase solid material where one of the phases has one, two or three dimensions of less than 100 nanometres (nm), or structures having nanoscale repeat distances between the different phases that make up the material. Nanostructured calcium phosphate materials play an important role in the formation of hard tissues in nature. It is reported that calcium phosphates materials in nano-size can mimic the dimensions of constituent components of calcified tissues. Nano-sized materials offer improved performances compared with conventional materials due to their large surface-to-volume ratios. The specific biological properties of the nanocomposites, as well as their interaction with cells, include the use of bioactive molecules. The approach of periodontal tissue engineering is considered promising to restore bone defect through the use of engineered materials with the aim that they will prohibit the invasion of fibrous connective tissue and help repair the function during bone regeneration.Keywords: bioactive, hydroxyapatite, nanocomposities, periondontal
Procedia PDF Downloads 3205726 Challenging the Theory of Mind: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Construction, and Biochemical Explanation
Authors: Caroline Kim
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The designation autism spectrum disorder (ASD) groups complex disorders in the development of the brain. Autism is defined essentially as a condition in which an individual lacks a theory of mind. The theory of mind, in this sense, explains the ability of an individual to attribute feelings, emotions, or thoughts to another person. An autistic patient is characteristically unable to determine what an interlocutor is feeling, or to understand the beliefs of others. However, it is possible that autism cannot plausibly characterized as the lack of theory of mind in an individual. Genes, the bran, and its interplay with environmental factors may also cause autism. A mutation in a gene may be hereditary, or instigated by diseases such as mumps. Though an autistic patient may experience abnormalities in the cerebellum and the cortical regions, these are in fact only possible theories as to a biochemical explanation behind the disability. The prevailing theory identifying autism with lacking the theory of mind is supported by behavioral observation, but this form of observation is itself determined by socially constructed standards, limiting the possibility for empirical verification. The theory of mind infers that the beliefs and emotions of people are causally based on their behavior. This paper demonstrates the fallacy of this inference, critiquing its basis in socially constructed values, and arguing instead for a biochemical approach free from the conceptual apparatus of language and social expectation.Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, sociology of psychology, social construction, the theory of mind
Procedia PDF Downloads 3965725 An Assessment of the Risk and Protective Factors Impacting Criminal Gang Involvement among At-Risk Boys Resident at a Juvenile Home in Trinidad and Tobago: The Peer/Individual Domain of the Risk Factor Prevention ParadIGM
Authors: Dianne Williams
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This study examined the peer/individual domain of the Risk Factor Prevention Paradigm (RFPP) to assess the risk and protective factors that impact criminal gang involvement among at-risk males residing in a juvenile home in Trinidad and Tobago. The RFPP allows for the identification of both risk and protective factors in a single, holistic framework to identify the relationship between risk factors, protective factors, and criminal gang involvement among at-risk male adolescents. Findings showed that having anti-social peers was the most significant risk factor associated with criminal gang involvement, while the most significant protective factor was having a positive social attitude. Moreover, while 65% of the boys reported never having been in a gang, 70% reported having hit, struck or used a weapon against someone, while 52% reported being involved in other violent incidents on more than two occasions. This suggests that while involvement with criminal gangs may not be common among this population, predisposing behavioral patterns are present. Results are expected to assist in the development of targeted strategies to reduce the attractiveness of gang membership.Keywords: risk factor prevention paradigm, risk factors, protective factors, peer/individual domain, gang involvement, at-risk youth, trinidad and tobago, juvenile home
Procedia PDF Downloads 5995724 Soil-Geopolymer Mixtures for Pavement Base and Subbase Layers
Authors: Mohammad Khattak, Bikash Adhikari, Sambodh Adhikari
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This research deals with the physical, microstructural, mechanical, and shrinkage characteristics of flyash-based soil-geopolymer mixtures. Medium and high plastic soils were obtained from local construction projects. Class F flyash was used with a mixture of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solution to develop soil-geopolymer mixtures. Several mixtures were compacted, cured at different curing conditions, and tested for unconfined compressive strength (UCS), linear shrinkage, and observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of the study demonstrated that the soil-geopolymer mixtures fulfilled the UCS criteria of cement treated design (CTD) and cement stabilized design (CSD) as recommended by the department of transportation for pavement base and subbase layers. It was found that soil-geopolymer demonstrated either similar or better UCS and shrinkage characteristics relative to conventional soil-cement mixtures. The SEM analysis revealed that microstructure of soil-geopolymer mixtures exhibited development and steady growth of geopolymerization during the curing period. Based on mechanical, shrinkage, and microstructural characteristics it was suggested that the soil-geopolymer mixtures, has an immense potential to be used as pavement subgrade, subbase, and base layers.Keywords: soil-geopolymer, pavement base, soil stabilization, unconfined compressive strength, shrinkage, microstructure, and morphology
Procedia PDF Downloads 1795723 The Relationship between Intermediate Input Source and Innovation Performance in Business Group-Affiliated Firms
Authors: M. Fernández, T. Gómez, J. Fleta
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Although firm innovation is a crucial factor for enhancing their competitive advantage in the current context of globalization, achieving innovations poses a significant challenge because of the degree of expertise required and the associated financial costs. Firms affiliated with business groups can choose whether their purchases of intermediate inputs are domestic (i.e., national source) or from foreign markets (i.e., international source) and whether the supplier firms are affiliated (i.e., internal source) or non-affiliated (i.e., external source). This has led to studies investigating the role of different sources of intermediate inputs in promoting innovation performance. The present study seeks to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between the source of intermediate inputs and innovation performance in firms belonging to Spanish non-MNE groups. For this purpose, we will distinguish among three intermediate input sources, international sourcing, domestic external sourcing, and internal sourcing, as their choice could be induced by different causes and have different consequences. Finally, it is analyzed radical and incremental innovation as innovation performance because they are closely related to the concept of technological development and reflect different innovation behavior. The paper includes a sample of around 4,100 firm-year observations of manufacturing firms (non-MNE) belonging to groups located in Spain between 2006 and 2020.Keywords: intermediate input source, innovation performance, business group affiliated firms, Spain
Procedia PDF Downloads 205722 An Application Framework for Integrating Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Precision Farmingas Web of Things to Cloud Interface Using PaaS
Authors: Sumaya Ismail, Aijaz Ahmad Reshi
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The advances in sensor and embedded technologies have led to rapid developments in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Presently researchers focus on the integration of WSNs to the Internet for their pervasive availability to access these network resources as the interoperable subsystems. The recent computing technologies like cloud computing has made resource sharing as a converged infrastructure with required service interfaces for the shared resources over the Internet. This paper presents application architecture for wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANS) following web of things, which allows easy integration of each node to the Internet in order to provide them with web accessibility. The architecture enables the sensors and actuator nodes accessed and controlled using cloud interface on WWW. The application architecture was implemented using existing web and its emerging technologies. In particular, the Representational State Transfer protocol (REST) was extended for the specific requirements of the application. The Cloud computing environment has been used as a development platform for the application to assess the possibility of integrating the WSAN nodes to Cloud services. The mushroom farm environment monitoring and control using WSANs has been taken as a research use case.Keywords: WSAN, REST, web of things, ZigBee, cloud interface, PaaS, sensor gateway
Procedia PDF Downloads 935721 Carvacrol Attenuates Lung Injury in Rats with Severe Acute Pancreatitis
Authors: Salim Cerig, Fatime Geyikoglu, Pınar Akpulat, Suat Colak, Hasan Turkez, Murat Bakir, Mirkhalil Hosseinigouzdagani, Kubra Koc
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This study was designed to evaluate whether carvacrol (CAR) could provide protection against lung injury by acute pancreatitis development. The rats were randomized into groups to receive (I) no therapy; (II) 50 μg/kg cerulein at 1h intervals by four intraperitoneal injections (i.p.); (III) 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg CAR by one i.p.; and (IV) cerulein+CAR after 2h of cerulein injection. 12h later, serum samples were obtained to assess pancreatic function the lipase and amylase values. The animals were euthanized and lung samples were excised. The specimens were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), periodic acid–Schif (PAS), Mallory's trichrome and amyloid. Additionally, oxidative DNA damage was determined by measuring as increases in 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) adducts. The results showed that the serum activity of lipase and amylase in AP rats were significantly reduced after the therapy (p<0.05). We also found that the 100 mg/kg dose of CAR significantly decreased 8-OH-dG levels. Moreover, the severe pathological findings in the lung such as necrosis, inflammation, congestion, fibrosis, and thickened alveolar septum were attenuated in the AP+CAR groups when compared with AP group. Finally, the magnitude of the protective effect on lung is certain, and CAR is an effective therapy for lung injury caused by AP.Keywords: antioxidant activity, acute pancreatitis, carvacrol, experimental, lung injury, oxidative DNA damage
Procedia PDF Downloads 3605720 The Thermal Properties of Nano Magnesium Hydroxide Blended with LDPE/EVA/Irganox1010 for Insulator Application
Authors: Ahmad Aroziki Abdul Aziz, Sakinah Mohd Alauddin, Ruzitah Mohd Salleh, Mohammed Iqbal Shueb
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This paper illustrates the effect of nano Magnesium Hydroxide (MH) loading on the thermal properties of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)/ Poly (ethylene-co vinyl acetate)(EVA) nano composite. Thermal studies were conducted, as it understanding is vital for preliminary development of new polymeric systems. Thermal analysis of nano composite was conducted using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Major finding of TGA indicated two main stages of degradation process found at (350 ± 25 oC) and (480 ± 25 oC) respectively. Nano metal filler expressed better fire resistance as it stand over high degree of temperature. Furthermore, DSC analysis provided a stable glass temperature around 51 (±1 oC) and captured double melting point at 84 (±2 oC) and 108 (±2 oC). This binary melting point reflects the modification of nano filler to the polymer matrix forming melting crystals of folded and extended chain. The percent crystallinity of the samples grew vividly with increasing filler content. Overall, increasing the filler loading improved the degradation temperature and weight loss evidently and a better process and phase stability was captured in DSC.Keywords: thermal properties, nano MH, nano particles, cable and wire, LDPE/EVA
Procedia PDF Downloads 4475719 The Impact of a Sustainable Solar System on the Growth of Strawberry Plants in an Agricultural Greenhouse
Authors: Ilham Ihoume, Rachid Tadili, Nora Arbaoui
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This study examines the effects of a solar-based heating system, in a north-south oriented agricultural greenhouse on the development of strawberry plants during winter. This system relies on the circulation of water as a heat transfer fluid in a closed circuit installed on the greenhouse roof to store heat during the day and release it inside at night. A comparative experimental study was conducted in two greenhouses, one experimental with the solar heating system and the other for control without any heating system. Both greenhouses are located on the terrace of the Solar Energy and Environment Laboratory of the Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco. The devel-oped heating system consists of a copper coil inserted in double glazing and placed on the roof of the greenhouse, a water pump circulator, a battery, and a photovoltaic solar panel to power the electrical components. This inexpen-sive and environmentally friendly system allows the greenhouse to be heated during the winter and improves its microclimate system. This improvement resulted in an increase in the air temperature inside the experimental green-house by 6 °C and 8 °C, and a reduction in its relative humidity by 23% and 35% compared to the control greenhouse and the ambient air, respectively, throughout the winter. For the agronomic performance, it was observed that the production was 17 days earlier than in the control greenhouse.Keywords: sustainability, solar energy, thermal energy storage., greenhouse heating
Procedia PDF Downloads 305718 Increasing Business Competitiveness in Georgia in Terms of Globalization
Authors: Badri Gechbaia, Levan Gvarishvili
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Despite the fact that a lot of Georgian scientists have worked on the issue of the business competitiveness, it think that it is necessary to deepen the works in this sphere, it is necessary also to perfect the methodology in the estimation of the business competitiveness, we have to display the main factors which define the competitive advantages in the business sphere, we have also to establish the interconnections between the business competitiveness level and the quality of states economical involvement in the international economic processes, we have to define the ways to rise the business competitiveness and its role in the upgrading of countries economic development. The introduction part justifies the actuality of the studied topic and the thesis; It defines the survey subject, the object, and the goals with relevant objectives; theoretical-methodological and informational-statistical base for the survey; what is new in the survey and what the value for its theoretical and practical application is. The aforementioned study is an effort to raise public awareness on this issue. Analysis of the fundamental conditions for the efficient functioning of business in Georgia, identification of reserves for increasing its efficiency based on the assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the business sector. Methods of system analysis, abstract-logic, induction and deduction, synthesis and generalization, and positive, normative, and comparative analysis are used in the research process. Specific regularities of the impact of the globalization process on the determinants of business competitiveness are established. The reasons for business competitiveness in Georgia have been identifiedKeywords: competitiveness, methodology, georgian, economic
Procedia PDF Downloads 1025717 Assessing Public Open Spaces Availability and Distribution in a Socially Challenged City: A Case Study of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Abdulwahab Alalyani, Mahbub Rashid
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Public Open Space (POS) availability and distribution among urban communities have a central role to promotes community health. However, growing health challenges in a city would raise attention to the planning quality of these community's assets. This research aims to measure the existing availability and distribution equity of POS in the context of Saudi Arabia using Riyadh city as a case study. The methodology for the POS availability was by calculating the total POS with respect to the population total (m²/inhabitant). All POS were mapped using geographical information systems (GIS), and the total area availability of POS was compared to global, regional, and local standards. To evaluate the significant differences in POS availability across low, medium, and high-income Riyadh neighborhoods, we used a One-way ANOVA analysis of covariance to test the differences. The results are as follows; POS availability was lower than global standers. Riyadh has only 1.40m² per capita of POS. Spatial equity of the availability were significantly different among Riyadh neighborhoods based on socioeconomic status. The future development of POS should be focused on increasing general POS availability and should be given priority to those low-income and unhealthy communities. Accessibility indicators of POS should be considered in future studies.Keywords: open spaces availability, open spaces distribution, spatial equity, healthy city, Riyadh City
Procedia PDF Downloads 1045716 Self-Efficacy, Self-Knowledge, Empathy and Psychological Well-Being as Predictors of Workers’ Job Performance in Food and Beverage Industries in the South-West, Nigeria
Authors: Michael Ayodeji Boyede
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Studies have shown that workers’ job performance is very low in Nigeria, especially in the food and beverage industry. This trend had been partially attributed to low workers’ self-efficacy, poor self-knowledge, lack of empathy and poor psychological well-being. The descriptive survey design was adopted. Four factories were purposively selected from three states in Southwestern, Nigeria (Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States). Proportionate random sampling techniques were used in selecting 1,820 junior and supervisory cadre workers in Nestle Plc (369), Coca-Cola Plc (392), Cadbury Plc (443) and Nigeria Breweries (616). The five research instruments used were: Workers’ self-efficacy (r=0.81), Workers’ self-knowledge (r=0.78), Workers’ empathy (r=0.74), Workers’ psychological well-being (r=0.70) and Workers’ performance rating (r=0.72) scales. Quantitative data were analysed using Pearson product moment correlation, Multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance. Findings show that there were significant relationships between Workers’ job performance and self-efficacy (r=.56), self-knowledge (r=.54), Empathy (r=.55) and Psychological Well-being (r=.69) respectively. Self-efficacy, self-knowledge, empathy and psychological well-being jointly predict workers’ job performance (F (4,1815) = 491.05) accounting for 52.0% of its variance. Psychological well-being (B=.52). Self-efficacy (B=.10), self-knowledge (B=.11), empathy (B=. 09) had predictive relative weights on workers’ job performance. Inadequate knowledge and training of the supervisors led to a mismatch of workers thereby reducing workers’ job performance. High self-efficacy, empathy, psychological well-being and good self-knowledge influence workers job performance in the food and beverage industry. Based on the finding employers of labour should provide work environment that would enhance and promote the development of these factors among the workers.Keywords: self-efficacy, self-knowledge, empathy, psychological well-being, job performance
Procedia PDF Downloads 2545715 Gut-Microbiota-Brain-Axis, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain: Pathophysiology of Second Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease- A Neuroscientific Riddle
Authors: Bilal Ahmad
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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative illnesses. However, how Gut-microbiota plays a role in the pathogenesis of AD is not well elucidated. The purpose of this literature review is to summarize and understand the current findings that may elucidate the gut microbiota's role in the development of AD. Methods: A literature review of all the relevant papers known to the author was conducted. Relevant articles, abstracts and research papers were collected from well-accepted web sources like PubMed, PMC, and Google Scholar. Results: Recent studies have shown that Gut-microbiota has an important role in the progression of AD via Gut-Microbiota-Brain Axis. The onset of AD supports the ‘Hygiene Hypothesis’, which shows that AD might begin in the Gut, causing dysbiosis, which interferes with the intestinal barrier by releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines and making its way up to the brain via the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Molecular mechanisms lipopolysaccharides and serotonin kynurenine (tryptophan) pathways have a direct association with inflammation, the immune system, neurodegeneration, and AD. Conclusion: The studies helped to analyze the molecular basis of AD, other neurological conditions like depression, autism, and Parkinson's disease and how they are linked to Gut-microbiota. Further, studies to explore the therapeutic effects of probiotics in AD and cognitive enhancement should be warranted to provide significant clinical and practical value.Keywords: gut-microbiota, Alzheimer’s disease, second brain aging, lipopolysaccharides, short-chain fatty acids
Procedia PDF Downloads 385714 Development of an Automatic Monitoring System Based on the Open Architecture Concept
Authors: Andrii Biloshchytskyi, Serik Omirbayev, Alexandr Neftissov, Sapar Toxanov, Svitlana Biloshchytska, Adil Faizullin
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Kazakhstan has adopted a carbon neutrality strategy until 2060. In accordance with this strategy, it is necessary to introduce various tools to maintain the environmental safety of the environment. The use of IoT, in combination with the characteristics and requirements of Kazakhstan's environmental legislation, makes it possible to develop a modern environmental monitoring system. The article proposes a solution for developing an example of an automated system for the continuous collection of data on the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere based on an open architecture. The Audino-based device acts as a microcontroller. It should be noted that the transmission of measured values is carried out via an open wireless communication protocol. The architecture of the system, which was used to build a prototype based on sensors, an Arduino microcontroller, and a wireless data transmission module, is presented. The selection of elementary components may change depending on the requirements of the system; the introduction of new units is limited by the number of ports. The openness of solutions allows you to change the configuration depending on the conditions. The advantages of the solutions are openness, low cost, versatility and mobility. However, there is no comparison of the working processes of the proposed solution with traditional ones.Keywords: environmental monitoring, greenhouse gases emissions, environmental pollution, Industry 4.0, IoT, microcontroller, automated monitoring system.
Procedia PDF Downloads 385713 Evaluation of Flood Events in Respect of Disaster Management in Turkey
Authors: Naci Büyükkaracığan, Hasan Uzun
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Flood is the event which damage to the surrounding lands, residential places, infrastructure and vibrant, because of the streams overflow events from its bed for several reasons. Flood is a natural formation which develops due to its region's climatic conditions, technical and topographical characteristics. However, factors causing floods with global warming caused by human activity are events such as uncontrolled urbanization. Floods in Turkey are natural disasters which cause huge economic losses after the earthquake. At the same time, the flood disaster is one of the most observed hydrometeorological disasters, compared to 30%, in Turkey. Every year, there are around 200 flood-flood disasters and the disaster as a result of financial losses of $ 100 million per year are reported to occur in public institutions. The amount allocated for carrying out investment-project activities for reducing and controlling of flood damage control are around US $ 30 million per year. The existence of a linear increase in the number of flood disasters is noteworthy due to various reasons in the last 50 years of observation. In this study, first of all, big events of the flood in Turkey and their reasons were examined. And then, the information about the work to be done in order to prevent flooding by government was given with examples. Meteorological early warning systems, flood risk maps and regulation of urban development studies are described for this purpose. As a result, recommendations regarding in the event of the occurrence of floods disaster management were issues raised.Keywords: flood, disaster, disaster management, Türkiye
Procedia PDF Downloads 3215712 From Abraham to Average Man: Game Theoretic Analysis of Divine Social Relationships
Authors: Elizabeth Latham
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Billions of people worldwide profess some feeling of psychological or spiritual connection with the divine. The majority of them attribute this personal connection to the God of the Christian Bible. The objective of this research was to discover what could be known about the exact social nature of these relationships and to see if they mimic the interactions recounted in the bible; if a worldwide majority believes that the Christian Bible is a true account of God’s interactions with mankind, it is reasonable to assume that the interactions between God and the aforementioned people would be similar to the ones in the bible. This analysis required the employment of an unusual method of biblical analysis: Game Theory. Because the research focused on documented social interaction between God and man in scripture, it was important to go beyond text-analysis methods. We used stories from the New Revised Standard Version of the bible to set up “games” using economics-style matrices featuring each player’s motivations and possible courses of action, modeled after interactions in the Old and New Testaments between the Judeo-Christian God and some mortal person. We examined all relevant interactions for the objectives held by each party and their strategies for obtaining them. These findings were then compared to similar “games” created based on interviews with people subscribing to different levels of Christianity who ranged from barely-practicing to clergymen. The range was broad so as to look for a correlation between scriptural knowledge and game-similarity to the bible. Each interview described a personal experience someone believed they had with God and matrices were developed to describe each one as social interaction: a “game” to be analyzed quantitively. The data showed that in most cases, the social features of God-man interactions in the modern lives of people were like those present in the “games” between God and man in the bible. This similarity was referred to in the study as “biblical faith” and it alone was a fascinating finding with many implications. The even more notable finding, however, was that the amount of game-similarity present did not correlate with the amount of scriptural knowledge. Each participant was also surveyed on family background, political stances, general education, scriptural knowledge, and those who had biblical faith were not necessarily the ones that knew the bible best. Instead, there was a high degree of correlation between biblical faith and family religious observance. It seems that to have a biblical psychological relationship with God, it is more important to have a religious family than to have studied scripture, a surprising insight with massive implications on the practice and preservation of religion.Keywords: bible, Christianity, game theory, social psychology
Procedia PDF Downloads 1455711 Scope of Public Policies in Promoting Resource-Recovery Sanitation Systems to Answer the Open Defecation Challenges of Indian Cities: Case of Ahmedabad
Authors: Isalyne Gennaro
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The lack of access to basic sanitation services and improper water infrastructure pollute the environment and expose people to water-borne diseases. In 2014, to address these concerns, the central government of India launched five-years urban development and sanitation programs. The national vision seemed to encourage the use of technologies which recycle and reuse wastewater for achieving open defecation free cities. As we approach 2019, it is time to reflect on these objectives. This research critically looked at the actual scope and limitations of policies and regulations to promote resource-recovery sanitation systems. This study was based on the case of the fast-growing city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The analysis examined the actions and priorities, financial and institutional arrangements and technologies promoted at the national, sub-national and local levels. The research work concluded that a paradigm shift is required, from providing infrastructures in a supply-driven manner to creating inclusive planning framework which focuses on local challenges and generates a demand-responsiveness from the potential users targeted.Keywords: India, public policy, resource-recovery, urban sanitation
Procedia PDF Downloads 131