Search results for: education system

Authors: Iqraq Kamal, Akmal Razif, Sivadas Chandra Sekaran, Ahmad Syazwan Hisaburi

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Painting plays a crucial role in the aerospace manufacturing industry, serving both protective and cosmetic purposes for components. However, the traditional manual painting method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, posing challenges for the sector in achieving higher efficiency. Additionally, the current automated robot path planning has been a bottleneck for spray painting processes, as typical manual teaching methods are time-consuming, error-prone, and skill-dependent. Therefore, it is essential to develop automated tool path planning methods to replace manual ones, reducing costs and improving product quality. Focusing on flat panel painting in aerospace manufacturing, this study aims to address issues related to unreliable part identification techniques caused by the high-mixture, low-volume nature of the industry. The proposed solution involves using a spray gun and a UR10 robotic arm with a vision system that utilizes one-shot object detection (OS2D) to identify parts accurately. Additionally, the research optimizes path planning by concentrating on the region of interest—specifically, the identified part, rather than uniformly covering the entire painting tray.

Keywords: aerospace manufacturing, one-shot object detection, automated spray painting, vision-based path optimization, deep learning, automation, robotic arm

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: Maureen Kamau, Gulnaz Mohamoud, Adelaide Lusambili, Njeri Nyanja

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Life expectancy has increased over the last century amongst older individuals, and in particular, those 60 years and over. The World Health Organization estimates that the world's population of persons over 60 years will rise to 22 per cent by the year 2050. Ageing is associated with increasing disability, multiple chronic conditions, and an increase in the use of health services. These multiple chronic conditions are managed with polypharmacy. Polypharmacy has numerous adverse effects including non-adherence, poor compliance to the various medications, reduced appetite, and risk of fall. Studies on polypharmacy and ageing are few and poorly understood especially in low and middle - income countries. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of older people towards polypharmacy. A qualitative study of 15 patients aged 60 years and above, taking more than five medications per day were conducted at the Aga Khan University using Semi-structured in-depth interviews. Three interviews were pilot interviews, and data analysis was performed on 12 interviews. Data were analyzed using NVIVO 12 software. A thematic qualitative analysis was carried out guided by Braun and Clarke (2006) framework. Themes identified; - knowledge of their co-morbidities and of the medication that older persons take, sources of information about medicines, and storage of the medication, experiences and attitudes of older patients towards polypharmacy both positive and negative, older peoples beliefs and their coping mechanisms with polypharmacy. The study participants had good knowledge on their multiple co-morbidities, and on the medication they took. The patients had positive attitudes towards medication as it enhanced their health and well-being, and enabled them to perform their activities of daily living. There was a strong belief among older patients that the medications were necessary for their health. All these factors enhanced compliance to the multiple medication. However, some older patients had negative attitudes due to the pill burden, side effects of the medication, and stigma associated with being ill. Cost of healthcare was a concern, with most of the patients interviewed relying on insurance to cover the cost of their medication. Older patients had accepted that the medication they were prescribed were necessary for their health, as it enabled them to complete their activities of daily living. Some concerns about the side effects of the medication arose, and brought about the need for patient education that would ensure that the patients are aware of the medications they take, and potential side effects. The effect that the COVID 19 pandemic had in the healthcare of the older patients was evident by the number of the older patients avoided coming to the hospital during the period of the pandemic. The relationship with the primary care physician and the older patients is an important one, especially in LMICs such as Kenya, as many of the older patients trusted the doctors wholeheartedly to make the best decision about their health and about their medication. Prescription review is important to avoid the use of potentially inappropriate medication.

Keywords: polypharmacy, older patients, multiple chronic conditions, Kenya, Africa, qualitative study, indepth interviews, primary care

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: Radwa E. Sweif, Amira A. A. Abdallah

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Background: Evaluation of gait efficiency is used to examine energy consumption especially in patients with movement disorders. Hypothesis/Purpose: This study compared the physiological and mechanical measures of gait efficiency between patients with ACL reconstruction (ACLR) and healthy controls and correlated among these measures. Methods: Seventeen patients with ACLR and sixteen healthy controls with mean ± SD age 23.06±4.76 vs 24.85±6.47 years, height 173.93±6.54 vs 175.64±7.37cm, and weight 74.25±12.1 vs 76.52±10.14 kg, respectively, participated in the study. The patients were operated on six months prior to testing. They should have completed their accelerated rehabilitation program during this period. A 3D motion analysis system was used for collecting the mechanical measures (Biomechanical Efficiency Quotient (BEQ), the maximum degree of knee internal rotation during stance phase and speed of walking). The physiological measures (Physiological Cost Index (PCI) and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)) were collected after performing the 6- minute walking test. Results: MANOVA showed that the maximum degree of knee internal rotation, PCI, and RPE increased and the speed decreased significantly (p<0.05) in the patients compared with the controls with no significant difference for the BEQ. Finally, there were significant (p<0.05) positive correlations between each of the PCI & RPE and each of the BEQ, speed of walking and the maximum degree of knee internal rotation in each group. Conclusion: It was concluded that there are alterations in both mechanical and physiological measures of gait efficiency in patients with ACLR after being rehabilitated, clarifying the need for performing additional endurance as well as knee stability training programs. Moreover, the positive correlations indicate that using either of the mechanical or physiological measures for evaluating gait efficiency is acceptable.

Keywords: ACL reconstruction, mechanical, physiological, gait efficiency

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Authors: Timir Baran Roy, Luis Guerreiro, Ashutosh Bagchi

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Dynamic study is important in order to design, repair and rehabilitation of structures. It has played an important role in the behavior characterization of structures; such as bridges, dams, high-rise buildings etc. There had been a substantial development in this area over the last few decades, especially in the field of dynamic identification techniques of structural systems. Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) and Time Domain Decomposition are most commonly used methods to identify modal parameters; such as natural frequency, modal damping, and mode shape. The focus of the present research is to study the dynamic characteristics of typical timber masonry walls commonly used in Portugal. For that purpose, a multi-storey structural prototypes of such walls have been tested on a seismic shake table at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, Portugal (LNEC). Signal processing has been performed of the output response, which is collected from the shaking table experiment of the prototype using accelerometers. In the present work signal processing of the output response, based on the input response has been done in two ways: FDD and Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI). In order to estimate the values of the modal parameters, algorithms for FDD are formulated, and parametric functions for the SSI are computed. Finally, estimated values from both the methods are compared to measure the accuracy of both the techniques.

Keywords: frequency domain decomposition (fdd), modal parameters, signal processing, stochastic subspace identification (ssi), time domain decomposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Maria Luiza Fulga, Georgeta Truca, Mihaela Alexandru, Andriescu Mariana, Crin Marcean

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The significance of nursing as a subject in the post-secondary healthcare curriculum is a major. We aimed to enable our students to assess the patient's risk, to establish prevention measures and to adapt to a specific learning context, in order to acquire the skills and abilities necessary for the nursing profession. In order to achieve these objectives, during the three years of study, teachers put an emphasis on acquiring communication skills, because in our country after the first cycle of hospital accreditation concluded in 2016, the National Authority for Quality of Health Management has introduced the criteria for the implementation and application of the nursing process according to the accreditation standards. According to these requirements, the nurse has to carry out the nursing assessment, based on communication as a distinct component, so that they can identify nursing diagnoses and implement the nursing plan. In this respect, we, the teachers, have refocused, by approaching various teaching strategies and preparing students for the real context of learning and applying what they learn. In the educational process, the tutors in the hospitals have an important role to play in acquiring professional skills. Students perform their activity in the hospital in accordance with the curriculum, in order to verify the practical applicability of the theoretical knowledge acquired in the school classes and also have the opportunity to acquire their skills in a real learning context. In clinical education, the student nurse learns in the middle of a guidance team which includes a practice tutor, who is a nurse that takes responsibility for the practical/clinical learning of the students in their field of activity. In achieving this objective, the tutor's abilities involve pedagogical knowledge, knowledge for the good of the individual and nursing theory, in order to be able to guide clinical practice in accordance with current requirements. The aim of this study is to find out the students’ confidence level in practice tutors in hospitals, the students’ degree of satisfaction in the pedagogical skills of the tutors and the practical applicability of the theoretical knowledge. In this study, we used as a method of investigation a student satisfaction questionnaire regarding the clinical practice in the hospital and the sample of the survey consisted of 100 students aged between 20 and 50 years, from the first, second and third year groups, with the General Nurse specialty (nurses responsible for general care), from 'Fundeni' Healthcare Post-Secondary School, Bucharest, Romania. Following the analysis of the data provided, we arrived the conclusion that the hospital tutor needs to improve his/her pedagogical skills, the knowledge of nursing diagnostics, and the implementation of the nursing plan, so that the applicability of the theoretical notions would be increased. Future plans include the pedagogical training of the medical staff, as well as updating the knowledge needed to implement the nursing process in order to meet current requirements.

Keywords: clinical training, nursing process, pedagogical skills, tutor

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Popoola Sulaimon Akorede, Muinat A. Agbabiaka-Mustapha

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The Quranic / piazza school where the rudiments of Islam are being imparted from the teaching of Arabic/ Quranic alphabets which later metamorphosized to higher fundamental principles of Islam is the major determinant of the existence of Islam in any part of south western Nigeria. In other words, one can successfully say that where there is a few or non-existence of such schools in that part of the country, the practice of the religion of Islam would be either very low or not existing at all. However, it has been discovered in the modern worlds that several challenges are militating against the development of these schools and among these challenges are poor admission policy, inadequate facilities such as learning environment and instructional materials, curriculum inadequacy and the management and the administration of the schools which failed to change in order to meet the modern contemporary Educational challenges. The focus of this paper therefore is to improve the conditions of these basic Islamic schools through the introduction of quality assurance and integrating accreditation Exercise to improve their status in order to enhance economic empowerment and to further their educational career in the future so that they will be able to compete favourably among the graduates of conventional universities. The scope of this study is limited to only seven (7) states of yorubaland and with only three (3) proprietors/ schools from each state which are Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and parts of Kwara State. The study revealed that quality assurance as well as accreditation exercise are lacking in all the local Arabic/Quranic schools. Suggestions are proffered towards correcting the anomalies in these schools so that they can meet the modern Educational standard.

Keywords: accreditation, quality assurance, Quranic schools, South-western Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: M. C. Yu, Z. L. Niu, L. G. Zhang, W. W. Cui, Y. L. Zhang

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According to the theory of the vibration isolation for linear systems, linear damping can reduce the transmissibility at the resonant frequency, but inescapably increase the transmissibility of the isolation frequency region. To resolve this problem, nonlinear vibration isolation technology has recently received increasing attentions. Shear thickening fluid (STF) is a special colloidal material. When STF is subject to high shear rate, it rheological property changes from a flowable behavior into a rigid behavior, i.e., it presents shear thickening effect. STF isolator is a vibration isolator using STF as working material. Because of shear thickening effect, STF isolator is a variable-damped isolator. It exhibits small damping under high vibration frequency and strong damping at resonance frequency due to shearing rate increasing. So its special inherent character is very favorable for vibration isolation, especially for restraining resonance. In this paper, firstly, STF was prepared by dispersing nano-particles of silica into polyethylene glycol 200 fluid, followed by rheological properties test. After that, an STF isolator was designed. The vibration isolation system supported by STF isolator was modeled, and the numerical simulation was conducted to study the vibration isolation properties of STF. And finally, the effect factors on vibrations isolation performance was also researched quantitatively. The research suggests that owing to its variable damping, STF vibration isolator can effetely restrain resonance without bringing unfavorable effect at high frequency, which meets the need of ideal damping properties and resolves the problem of traditional isolators.

Keywords: shear thickening fluid, variable-damped isolator, vibration isolation, restrain resonance

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Lutfi Abosrra, Alseddeq Alabaoub, Nuri Elhaloudi

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Corrosion processes in the Oil & Gas industry can lead to failures that are usually costly to repair, costly in terms of loss of contaminated product, in terms of environmental damage and possibly costly in terms of human safety. This article describes the results of the corrosion review and criticality assessment done at Mellitah Gas (SRU unit) for pressure equipment and piping system. The information gathered through the review was intended for developing a qualitative RBI study. The corrosion criticality assessment has been carried out by applying company procedures and industrial recommended practices such as API 571, API 580/581, ASME PCC 3, which provides a guideline for establishing corrosion integrity assessment. The corrosion review is intimately related to the probability of failure (POF). During the corrosion study, the process units are reviewed by following the applicable process flow diagrams (PFDs) in the presence of Mellitah’s personnel from process engineering, inspection, and corrosion/materials and reliability engineers. The expected corrosion damage mechanism (internal and external) was identified, and the corrosion rate was estimated for every piece of equipment and corrosion loop in the process units. A combination of both Consequence and Likelihood of failure was used for determining the corrosion risk. A qualitative consequence of failure (COF) for each individual item was assigned based on the characteristics of the fluid as per its flammability, toxicity, and pollution into three levels (High, Medium, and Low). A qualitative probability of failure (POF)was applied to evaluate the internal and external degradation mechanism, a high-level point-based (0 to 10) for the purpose of risk prioritizing in the range of Low, Medium, and High.

Keywords: corrosion, criticality assessment, RBI, POF, COF

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Authors: E. S. Kozlyakova, A. A. Eliseev, A. V. Moskin, A. Y. Akhrorov, P. S. Berdonosov, V. A. Dolgikh, K. N. Denisova, P. Lemmens, B. Rahaman, S. Das, T. Saha-Dasgupta, A. N. Vasiliev, O. S. Volkova

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Considerable attention has been paid recently to FeTe₂O₅Cl due to reduced dimensionality and frustration in the magnetic subsystem, succession of phase transitions, and multiferroicity. The efforts to grow its selenite sibling resulted in mixed halide compound, Fe(Te₁.₅Se₀.₅)O₅Cl, which was found crystallizing in a new structural type and possessing properties drastically different from those of a parent system. Hereby we report the studies of magnetization M and specific heat Cₚ, combined with Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations in Fe(Te₁.₅Se₀.₅)O₅Cl. Its magnetic subsystem features weakly coupled Fe³⁺ - Fe³⁺ dimers showing the regime of short-range correlations at TM ~ 70 K and long-range order at TN = 22 K. In a magnetically ordered state, sizable spin-orbital interactions lead to a small canting of Fe³⁺ moments. The density functional theory calculations of leading exchange interactions were found in agreement with measurements of thermodynamic properties and Raman spectroscopy. Besides, because of the relatively large magnetic moment of the Fe³⁺ ion, we found that magnetic dipole-dipole interactions contribute significantly to experimentally observed orientation of magnetization easy axis in ac-plane. As a conclusion, we suggest a model of magnetic subsystem in magnetically ordered state of Fe(Te₁.₅Se₀.₅)O₅Cl based on a model of interacting dimers.

Keywords: dipole-dipole interactions, low dimensional magnetism, selenite, spin canting

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Authors: Huajuan Shi

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Background: The biopsy of the preimplantation embryo may increase the potential risk and concern of embryo viability. Clinically discarded spent embryo medium (SEM) has entered the view of researchers, sparking an interest in noninvasive embryo screening. However, one of the major restrictions is the extremelty low quantity of cf-RNA, which is difficult to efficiently and unbiased amplify cf-RNA using traditional methods. Hence, there is urgently need to an efficient and low bias amplification method which can comprehensively and accurately obtain cf-RNA information to truly reveal the state of SEM cf-RNA. Result: In this present study, we established an agarose PCR amplification system, and has significantly improved the amplification sensitivity and efficiency by ~90 fold and 9.29 %, respectively. We applied agarose to sequencing library preparation (named AG-seq) to quantify and characterize cf-RNA in SEM. The number of detected cf-RNAs (3533 vs 598) and coverage of 3' end were significantly increased, and the noise of low abundance gene detection was reduced. The increasing percentage 5' end adenine and alternative splicing (AS) events of short fragments (< 400 bp) were discovered by AG-seq. Further, the profiles and characterizations of cf-RNA in spent cleavage medium (SCM) and spent blastocyst medium (SBM) indicated that 4‐mer end motifs of cf-RNA fragments could remarkably differentiate different embryo development stages. Significance: This study established an efficient and low-cost SEM amplification and library preparation method. Not only that, we successfully described the characterizations of SEM cf-RNA of preimplantation embryo by using AG-seq, including abundance features fragment lengths. AG-seq facilitates the study of cf-RNA as a noninvasive embryo screening biomarker and opens up potential clinical utilities of trace samples.

Keywords: cell-free RNA, agarose, spent embryo medium, RNA sequencing, non-invasive detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Manikandan S. P., Sharmila N.

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Pain in the neck, intermediate and anterior, and even low back may occur in one or more locations. Numerous factors can lead to back discomfort, which can manifest into sensations in the other parts of your body. Up to 80% of people will have low back problems at a certain stage of their lives, making spine-related pain a highly prevalent ailment. Roughly twice as commonly as neck pain, low back discomfort also happens about as often as knee pain. According to current studies, using digital devices for extended periods of time and poor sitting posture are the main causes of neck and low back pain. There are numerous monitoring techniques provided to enhance the sitting posture for the aforementioned problems. A sophisticated technique to monitor the extended sitting position is suggested in this research based on this problem. The system is made up of an inertial measurement unit, a T-shirt, an Arduino board, a buzzer, and a mobile app with cloud services. Based on the anatomical position of the spinal cord, the inertial measurement unit was positioned on the inner back side of the T-shirt. The IMU (inertial measurement unit) sensor will evaluate the hip position, imbalanced shoulder, and bending angle. Based on the output provided by the IMU, the data will be analyzed by Arduino, supplied through the cloud, and shared with a mobile app for continuous monitoring. The buzzer will sound if the measured data is mismatched with the human body's natural position. The implementation and data prediction with design to identify balanced and unbalanced posture using a posture monitoring t-shirt will be further discussed in this research article.

Keywords: IMU, posture, IOT, textile

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Amadou Fall Dia, Maurras Ulbricht Togbe, Aliou Boly, Zakia Kazi Aoul, Elisabeth Metais

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Existing RDF (Resource Description Framework) Stream Processing (RSP) systems allow continuous processing of RDF data issued from different application domains such as weather station measuring phenomena, geolocation, IoT applications, drinking water distribution management, and so on. However, processing window phase often expires before finishing the entire session and RSP systems immediately delete data streams after each processed window. Such mechanism does not allow optimized exploitation of the RDF data streams as the most relevant and pertinent information of the data is often not used in a due time and almost impossible to be exploited for further analyzes. It should be better to keep the most informative part of data within streams while minimizing the memory storage space. In this work, we propose an RDF graph summarization system based on an explicit and implicit expressed needs through three main approaches: (1) an approach for user queries (SPARQL) in order to extract their needs and group them into a more global query, (2) an extension of the closeness centrality measure issued from Social Network Analysis (SNA) to determine the most informative parts of the graph and (3) an RDF graph summarization technique combining extracted user query needs and the extended centrality measure. Experiments and evaluations show efficient results in terms of memory space storage and the most expected approximate query results on summarized graphs compared to the source ones.

Keywords: centrality measures, RDF graphs summary, RDF graphs stream, SPARQL query

Procedia PDF Downloads 206

Authors: Linda Chularojmontri, Seewaboon Sireeratawong, Suvara Wattanapitayakul

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Terminalia arjuna Roxb. (family Combretaceae) is commonly known as ‘Sa maw thet’ in Thai. The fruit is used in traditional medicine as natural mild laxatives, carminative and expectorant. Aim of the study: This research aims to study the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of Terminalia arjuna extract by using animal models in comparison to the reference drugs. Materials and Methods: The anti-inflammatory study was conducted by two experimental animal models namely ethyl phenylpropionate (EPP)-induced ear edema and carrageenan-induced paw edema. The study of analgesic activity used two methods of pain induction including acetic acid and heat-induced pain. In addition, the antipyretic activity study was performed by induced hyperthermia with yeast. Results: The results showed that the oral administration of Terminalia arjuna extract possessed acute anti-inflammatory effect in carrageenan-induced paw edema. Terminalia arjuna extract showed the analgesic activity in acetic acid-induced writhing response and heat-induced pain. This indicates its peripheral effect by inhibiting the biosynthesis and/or release of some pain mediators and some mechanism through Central nervous system. Moreover, Terminalia arjuna extract at the dose of 1000 and 1500 mg/kg body weight showed the antipyretic activity, which might be because of the inhibition of prostaglandins. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that the Terminalia arjuna extract possesses the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities in animals.

Keywords: analgesic activity, anti-inflammatory activity, antipyretic activity, Terminalia arjuna extract

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Authors: Zayedali Shaikh

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Increasingly now more than ever, UV damage brings with it a litany of minor deformities that can range from mild lesions and discoloring to cataracts and blindness. Pluripotent stem cells in planaria and human skin can be used to treat wounds and skin damage, with the primary limitations being inadequate growth factors. Photobiomodulation therapy in the form of low-intensity red light therapy has been proven to provide helpful benefits in the healing of skin that displays some of the symptoms of UV damage, such as burns and lesions, along with stimulating the proliferation of stem cells in recellularizing tissue. This paper puts forth an alternate means by which to treat the effects of UV damage using the freshwater planarian model system, Dugesia dorotocephala, known for its regenerative abilities and abundance of pluripotent stem cells, which allow for the rapid growth and repair of missing or damaged structures. Our work consisted of exposing planaria to different types of light: red light, blue light, white light, darkness, red and blue light together, UV light, and finally, red and UV light together. The primary focus of this research was on the red and UV lights, with six controls acting as metrics to compare our findings. Through computer-assisted morphological analysis, the results show that there is no significant difference in the rates of regeneration of planaria treated with simultaneous exposure to red and UV light versus planaria in darkness (p > .05), a representation of their preferred natural habitat. Our research suggests the viability of red-light therapy in actively combating UV damage and expediting the growth of epidermal stem cells by acting as another growth factor.

Keywords: regenerative medicine, stem cells, planaria, photobiomodulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Bouabdellah Abed, Mohamed Bouzit, Lakhdar Bouarbi

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The objective of this study is to investigate numerically the effect of roof shaped on wind flow and pollutant dispersion in a street canyon with one row of trees of pore volume, Pvol = 96%. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for evaluating air flow and pollutant dispersion within an urban street canyon using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and the k-Epsilon EARSM turbulence model as close of the equation system. The numerical model is performed with ANSYS-CFX code. Vehicle emissions were simulated as double line sources along the street. The numerical model was validated against the wind tunnel experiment. Having established this, the wind flow and pollutant dispersion in urban street canyons of six roof shapes are simulated. The numerical simulation agrees reasonably with the wind tunnel data. The results obtained in this work, indicate that the flow in 3D domain is more complicated, this complexity is increased with presence of tree and variability of the roof shapes. The results also indicated that the largest pollutant concentration level for two walls (leeward and windward wall) is observed with the upwind wedge-shaped roof. But the smallest pollutant concentration level is observed with the dome roof-shaped. The results also indicated that the corners eddies provide additional ventilation and lead to lower traffic pollutant concentrations at the street canyon ends.

Keywords: street canyon, pollutant dispersion, trees, building configuration, numerical simulation, k-Epsilon EARSM

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Authors: Albina V. Moskvicheva, Gevorg G. Kazarian, Anna R. Valeeva, Marina A. Efimova, Malik N. Mukminov, Eduard A. Shuralev, Rustam Kh. Ravilov, Kamil S. Khaertynov

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Improving the early diagnosis of tuberculosis and solving a number of problems associated with the differential diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis infection, nonspecific tuberculin reactions caused by sensitization of the body by non-tuberculosis mycobacteria, is urgent. The filtrates and extracts of M. bovis cell surface components are promising antigens with diagnostic potential. The purpose of this study was to isolate and characterize antigenic proteins and determine the dominant M. bovis antigens recognized by the humoral immune system. The mycobacterial cells were homogenized on FastPrep-24. Gel-filtration chromatography was used to fractionate the lysates of cell surface component extracts and proteins isolated from M. bovis culture supernatant. The separated fractions were analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by determination of antigen serological activity using immunoblot with specific hyperimmune rabbit blood serum. As a result of electrophoretic separation of components by molecular weight, 23 antigen fractions were obtained. Analysis of densitograms showed that the fractions contained two zones of antigens with pronounced serological activity, corresponding to molecular weights of 28 and 21 kDa. The high serological activity of the 28 kDa antigen was established by immunoblot using hyperimmune blood sera. Separated and characterized by M. bovis specific antigen with a molecular weight of 28 kDa was added to the collection of specific marker antigens for M. bovis.

Keywords: antigen, gel-filtration chromatography, immunoblot, Mycobacterium bovis

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Chien-Song Chyang, Wei-Chih Wang

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For the incineration process, the inhibition of dioxin formation is an important issue. Many investigations indicate that adding sulfur compounds in the combustion process can be an effectively inhibition for the dioxin formation. In the process, the ratio of sulfur-to-chlorine plays an important role for the reduction efficiency of dioxin formation. Ca-base sorbent is also a common used for the acid gas removing. Moreover, that is also the indirectly way for dioxin inhibition. Although sulfur and calcium can reduce the dioxin formation, it still have some confusion exists between these additives. To understand and clarify the relationship between the dioxin and simultaneous addition of sulfur and calcium are presented in this study. The experimental data conducted in a pilot scale fluidized bed combustion system at various operating conditions are analysis comprehensively. The focus is on the dioxin of fly ash in this study. The experimental data in this study showed that the PCDD/Fs concentration in the fly ash collected from the baghouse is increased slightly as the simultaneous addition of sulfur and calcium. This work described the CO concentration with the addition of sulfur and calcium at the freeboard temperature from 800°C to 900°C, which is raised by the fuel complexity. The positive correlation exists between the dioxin concentration and CO concentration and carbon contained in the fly ash.. At the same sulfur/chlorine ratio, the toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) can be reduced by increasing the actual concentration of sulfur and calcium. The homologue profiles showed that the P₅CDD and P₅CDF were the two major sources for the toxicity of dioxin. 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDF reduced by the addition of pyrite and hydrated lime. The experimental results showed that the trend of PCDD/Fs concentration in the fly ash was different by the different sulfur/chlorine ratio with the addition of sulfur at 800°C.

Keywords: reduction of dioxin emissions, sulfur-to-chlorine ratio, de-chlorination, Ca-based sorbent

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Authors: Jeni A. Popescu, Sorin G. Tomescu, Valeriu A. Vilag

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The paper focuses on the potential methods of increasing the performance of a microturbine by combining additional elements available for utilization in a cogeneration plant. The activity is carried out within the framework of a project aiming to develop, manufacture and test a microturbine functional model with high potential in energetic industry utilization. The main goal of the analysis is to determine the parameters of the fluid flow passing through each section of the turbine, based on limited data available in literature for the focus output power range or provided by experimental studies, starting from a reference cycle, and considering different cycle options, including simple, intercooled and recuperated options, in order to optimize a small cogeneration plant operation. The studied configurations operate under the same initial thermodynamic conditions and are based on a series of assumptions, in terms of individual performance of the components, pressure/velocity losses, compression ratios, and efficiencies. The thermodynamic analysis evaluates the expected performance of the microturbine cycle, while providing a series of input data and limitations to be included in the development of the experimental plan. To simplify the calculations and to allow a clear estimation of the effect of heat transfer between fluids, the working fluid for all the thermodynamic evolutions is, initially, air, the combustion being modelled by simple heat addition to the system. The theoretical results, along with preliminary experimental results are presented, aiming for a correlation in terms of microturbine performance.

Keywords: cogeneration, microturbine, performance, thermodynamic analysis

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Authors: Farhad Shafiepour Motlagh, Narges Salehi

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Purpose: The aim of the present study was a paradigm model of educational policy review strategies for the development of Professional schools in Iran. Research Methodology: The research method was based on Grounded theory. The statistical population included all articles of the ten years 2022-2010 and the method of sampling in a purposeful manner to the extent of theoretical saturation to 31 articles. For data analysis, open coding, axial coding and selective coding were used. Results: The results showed that causal conditions include social requirements (social expectations, educational justice, social justice); technology requirements (use of information and communication technology, use of new learning methods), educational requirements (development of educational territory, Development of educational tools and development of learning methods), contextual conditions including dual dimensions (motivational-psychological context, context of participation and cooperation), strategic conditions including (decentralization, delegation, organizational restructuring), intervention conditions (poor knowledge) Human resources, centralized system governance) and outcomes (school productivity, school professionalism, graduate entry into the labor market) were obtained. Conclusion: A review of educational policy is necessary to develop Iran's Professional schools, and this depends on decentralization, delegation, and, of course, empowerment of school principals.

Keywords: school productivity, professional schools, educational policy, paradigm

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Authors: Ramazan F. Akkoc, Elif Erdem, Nalan Kaya, Gonca Ozan, D. Özlem Dabak, Enver Ozan

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Maternal tobacco smoke exposure is known to cause growth retardation in the neonatal skeletal system. Alpha lipoic acid, a natural antioxidant found in some foods, limits the activities of osteoclasts and supports the osteoblast's bone formation mechanism. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) on the height, long bones and tail lengths of pups exposed to maternal tobacco smoke. The rats were divided into four groups: 1) control group, 2) tobacco smoke group, 3) tobacco smoke + ALA group, and 4) ALA group. Rats in the group 2 (tobacco smoke), group 3 (tobacco smoke + ALA) were exposed to tobacco smoke twice a day for one hour starting from eight weeks before mating and during pregnancy. In addition to tobacco smoke, 20 mg/kg of alpha lipoic acid was administered via oral gavage to the rats in the group 3 (tobacco smoke + ALA). Only alpha lipoic acid was administered to the rats in the group 4. On day 21 postpartum, the height and tail lengths of the pups in all groups were measured, and the length of the extremity long bones was measured after decapitation. All morphometric measurements performed in group 2 (tobacco smoke) showed a significant decrease compared to group 1 (control), while all measurements in group 3 (tobacco smoke + ALA) showed a significant increase compared to group 2 (tobacco smoke). It has been shown that ALA has a protective effect against the regression of height, long bones and tail lengths of pups exposed to maternal tobacco smoke.

Keywords: alpha lipoic acid, bone, morphometry, rat, tobacco smoke

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Authors: Tesfaldet Mekonnen Estifanos, Chen Hui, Afewerki Weldezgi

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Background: Youth in general and young females in particular, remain at the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Sexual risk-taking among young unmarried women is relatively high and are the most vulnerable and highly exposed to HIV/AIDS. Improvements in the status of HIV/AIDS knowledge and acceptance attitude towards people living with HIV (PLWHIV) plays a great role in averting the incidence of HIV/AIDS. Thus, the aim of the study was to explore the level and correlates of HIV/AIDS knowledge and accepting attitude toward PLWHIV. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2016 (UDHS-2016). National level representative household surveys using a multistage cluster probability sampling method, face to face interviews with standard questionnaires were performed. Unmarried women aged 15-24 years with a sample size of 2019 were selected from the total sample of 8674 women aged 15-49 years and were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Independent variables such as age, religion, educational level, residence, and wealth index were included. Two binary outcome variables (comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge and acceptance attitude toward PLWHIV) were utilized. We used the chi-square test as well as multivariate regression analysis to explore correlations of explanatory variables with the outcome variables. The results were reported by odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI), taking a p-value less than 0.05 as significant. Results: Almost all (99.3%) of the unmarried women aged 15-24 years were aware of HIV/AIDS, but only 51.2% had adequate comprehensive knowledge on HIV/AIDS. Only 69.4% knew both methods: using a condom every time had sex, and having only one faithful uninfected partner can prevent HIV/AIDS transmission. About 66.6% of the unmarried women reject at least two common local misconceptions about HIV/AIDS. Moreover, an alarmingly few (20.3%) of the respondents had a positive acceptance attitude to PLWHIV. On multivariate analysis, age (20-24 years), living in urban, being educated and wealthier, were predictors of having adequate comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge. On the other hand, research participants with adequate comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS were highly likely (OR, 1.94 95% CI, 1.52-2.46) to have a positive acceptance attitude to PLWHIV than those with inadequate knowledge. Respondents with no education, Muslim, and Pentecostal religion were emerged less likely to have a positive acceptance attitude to PLWHIV. Conclusion: This study found out the highly accepted level of awareness, but the knowledge and positive acceptance attitude are not encouraging. Thus, expanding access to comprehensive sexuality and strengthening educational campaigns on HIV/AIDS in communities, health facilities, and schools is needed with a greater focus on disadvantaged women having low educational level, poor socioeconomic status, and those residing in rural areas. Sexual risk behaviors among the most affected people - young women have also a role in the spread of HIV/AIDS. Hence, further research assessing the significant contributing factors for sexual risk-taking might have a positive impact on the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Keywords: acceptance attitude, HIV/AIDS, knowledge, unmarried women

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Authors: Asma Lamin, Anna H. Kaksonen, Ivan Cole, Paul White, Xiao-Bo Chen

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Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a process in which microorganisms initiate, facilitate, or accelerate the electrochemical corrosion reactions of metallic components. Several reports documented that MIC accounts for about 20 to 40 % of the total cost of corrosion. Biofilm formation due to the presence of microorganisms on the surface of metal components is known to play a vital role in MIC, which can lead to severe consequences in various environmental and industrial settings. Quorum sensing (QS) system plays a major role in regulating biofilm formation and control the expression of some microbial enzymes. QS is a communication mechanism between microorganisms that involves the regulation of gene expression as a response to the microbial cell density within an environment. This process is employed by both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to regulate different physiological functions. QS involves production, detection, and responses to signalling chemicals, known as auto-inducers. QS controls specific processes important for the microbial community, such as biofilm formation, virulence factor expression, production of secondary metabolites and stress adaptation mechanisms. The use of QS inhibitors (QSIs) has been proposed as a possible solution to biofilm related challenges in many different applications. Although QSIs have demonstrated some strength in tackling biofouling, QSI-based strategies to control microbially influenced corrosion have not been thoroughly investigated. As such, our research aims to target the QS mechanisms as a strategy for mitigating MIC on metal surfaces in engineered systems.

Keywords: quorum sensing, quorum quenching, biofilm, biocorrosion

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Authors: Somit Dutta, Pallab Kar, Arnab Kumar Chakraborty, Arnab Sen, Tapas Kumar Chaudhuri

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In the present study three species of Clerodendrum; Clerodendrum indicum, Volkameria inermis and Clerodendrum colebrookianum were used to investigate the possible activity against oxidative stress. A detailed in-vivo and in-vitro antioxidant profiling, directly associated with inflammation-related carcinogenesis, has been executed with a motive to evaluate the free radical scavenging activity of Clerodendrum extract. Measurement of cell viability and ROS generation in HEK-293 (Human Embryonic Kidney Cell Line) cells was also estimated. The immune cell proliferative properties (MTT) and in-vitro assay for evaluation of their antioxidant activities including hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, singlet oxygen, peroxinitrate and hydrogen peroxide, etc. were investigated. GC-MS and FTIR analyses have been performed to identify the active biological compounds. These active biological compounds were further studied to assess their potential medicinal properties, aided by molecular docking and interaction analysis between the active compounds and different proteins related to oxidative stress leading to progression of carcinogenesis. The research article clearly demonstrates the role of ROS in various phases of carcinogenesis. Therefore, the antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacity of all the Clerodendrum species might prove beneficial for the immune system. It might be concluded that this plant species offers great promise for cancer prevention and therapy due to the presence of several bioactive compounds and potent antioxidant capacity of C. colebrookianum.

Keywords: antioxidant, cancer, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species (ROS)

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Authors: Rick Evans

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Despite over 40 years of research into why women choose not to enroll or leave undergraduate engineering programs, along with the subsequent and serious efforts to attract more women, women receiving bachelor's degrees in engineering in the US have remained disappointingly low. We know that even despite their struggles to become more welcoming and inclusive, engineering programs remain gendered, raced and classed. However, our research team has found that women who participate and indeed thrive in undergraduate engineering project teams do so in numbers that far exceed their participation in undergraduate programs. We believe part of the answer lies in the ways that project teams facilitate experiential learning, specifically providing opportunities for members to play, practice and perform. We employ a multi-case study method and assume a feminist, activist and interpretive perspective. We seek to generate concrete and context-dependent knowledge in order to explore potentially new variables and hypotheses. Our focus is to learn from those select women who are thriving. For this oral or e-poster presentation, we will focus on the results of the second of our semi-structured interviews – the learning journey interview. During this interview, we ask participants to tell us the story/ies of their participation in project teams. Our results suggest these women find joy in their experience of developing and applying engineering expertise. They experience this joy and develop their expertise in the highly patterned progression of play, practice and performance. Play is a purposeful activity in which someone enters an imaginary world, a world not yet real to them. However, this imaginary world is still very much connected to the real world, in this case, a particular kind of engineering, in that the ways of engaging are already established, codified and rule-governed. As such, these women are novices motivated to join a community of actors. Practice, better understood as practices, a count noun, is an embodied, materially interconnected collection of actions organized around the shared understandings of that community of actors. Those shared understandings reveal a social order – a particular field of engineering. No longer novices, these women begin to develop and display their emergent identities as engineers. Perform is activity meant either to demonstrate competence and/or to enable, even teach play and practice to others. As performers, these women participants become models for others. They direct play and practice, contextualizing both within a field of engineering and the specific aims of the project team community. By playing, practicing and performing engineering, women claim their identities as engineers and, equally important, have those identities acknowledged by team members. If we hope to transform our gendered, raced, classed institutions, we need to learn more about women who thrive within those institutions. We need to learn more about their processes of becoming and belonging as engineers. Our research presentation begins with a description of project teams and our multi-case study method. We then offer detailed descriptions of play, practice, and performance using the voices of women in project teams.

Keywords: engineering education, gender, identity, project teams

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Authors: M. S. M. Prahastomi, Riki Sunaryo, Lorasa Ximanes

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The research takes place in EP Area, in the Northern part of Buton, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It is one example of karst areas that have good water resources potential. The landscape is in the form of valleys and hills which is good enough for recharge zone and discharge zones of groundwater. However, the geological characteristics of karst dissolution and a complex geological structure are quite influential to the groundwater flow system in the region. The Discharge of groundwater to the surface can be caused by a fracture in the rock, Underground River due to dissolution, and the contact between permeable rocks with impermeable rocks. In the concept of hydrogeology, groundwater is one of the components of the hydrological cycle which is closely linked to the availability of water under the surface, precipitation, infiltration, percolation, evapotranspiration, and surface runoff. Conceptually, the condition of recharge and discharge areas can be identified through a research distribution springs in a region. The understanding of the condition and the nature of the potential catchment area of groundwater flow, mainly from the catchment area to the discharge area, is urgently needed. This research aimed to assess the general geological conditions of the study area, which is expected to provide an overview of groundwater flow events that used by the public as well as industry. Behavioral characteristics of groundwater become an integral part in the search for potential groundwater in the study area. As for the research methods used hydrogeology mapping and laboratory works.

Keywords: Buton Island, groundwater conservation, hydrogeochemistry preliminary, karst

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Authors: Jasna M. Čanadanović-Brunet, Gordana S. Ćetković, Jelena J. Vulić, Sonja M. Djilas, Vesna T. Tumbas Šaponjac, Sladjana M. Stajčić

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Honey serves as a source of natural antioxidants, which are effective in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, immune-system decline, cataracts, different inflammatory processes, and also prevent deteriorative oxidation reactions in foods such as enzymatic browning of fruit and vegetables. Honey is a natural saturated sugar solution, but it also contains certain minor constituents, proteins, enzymes, amino and organic acids, lipids, vitamins, phenolic acids, flavonoids and carotenoids. It is consumed in its natural form alone, but also in combination with nuts and various kinds of dried fruits. The aim of this research was to investigate the contribution of dried cherry on phenols (TPh) and flavonoids (Fl) contents and antioxidant activities of honey. Phenolic compounds in Serbian polyfloral (PH), linden (LH) and acacia (AH) honey and also in their mixtures with dried cherry, in 40% mass concentrations (PH40; LH40, AH40), were determined. In comparison to honey, TPh increased 2.25 times for LH40, 2.16 times for AH40 and 1.45 times for PH40, while Fl increased 2.81-fold for PH40, 1.21-fold for LH40 and 1.44-fold for AH40. Antioxidant activity was investigated with two assays, DPPH test and reducing power (RP), and expressed as EC50DPPH and RP0.5 values. The EC50DPPH values were: EC50PH40 = 1.16 mg/ml; EC50LH40= 1.42 mg/ml and EC50AH40= 1.69 mg/ml, while RP0.5 were: RP0.5PH40 = 15.05 mg/ml; RP0.5LH40 = 16.09 mg/ml and P0.5AH40 = 17.60 mg/ml. Our results indicate that supplementation of polyfloral, linden and acacia honey with 40% dried cherry improves antioxidant activity of honey by enriching the phenolic composition.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, dried cherry, honey, phenolics

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Authors: Marian Sagat, Mariana Remesikova

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In civil engineering, there is a problem how to industrially produce tensile membrane structures that are non-developable surfaces. Nondevelopable surfaces can only be developed with a certain error and we want to minimize this error. To that goal, the non-developable surfaces are cut into plates along to the geodesic curves. We propose a numerical algorithm for finding approximations of open geodesics on meshes and surfaces based on geodesic curvature flow. For practical reasons, it is important to automatize the choice of the time step. We propose a method for automatic setting of the time step based on the diagonal dominance criterion for the matrix of the linear system obtained by discretization of our partial differential equation model. Practical experiments show reliability of this method. Because approximation of the model is made by numerical method based on classic derivatives, it is necessary to solve obstacles which occur for meshes with sharp corners. We solve this problem for big family of meshes with sharp corners via special rotations which can be seen as partial unfolding of the mesh. In practical applications, it is required that the approximation of geodesic has its vertices only on the edges of the mesh. This problem is solved by a specially designed pointing tracking algorithm. We also partially solve the problem of finding geodesics on meshes with holes. We implemented the whole algorithm in Rhinoceros (commercial 3D computer graphics and computer-aided design software ). It is done by using C# language as C# assembly library for Grasshopper, which is plugin in Rhinoceros.

Keywords: geodesic, geodesic curvature flow, mesh, Rhinoceros software

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Authors: Karina Nabilla, Dedi Sumantri, Nurul T. Rizal, Siti H. Yavitha

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Background: Composite resin is the most frequently used material for restoring teeth, but still failure cases are seen which leading to microleakage. Microleakage might be attributed to various factors, one of them is bonding agent. Various generations of bonding agents have been introduced to overcome the microleakage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microleakage of composite restorations using the fifth and seventh bonding agent. Methods: Class I cavities (3X2X2 mm) were prepared on the occlusal surfaces of 32 human upper premolars. Teeth were classified into two groups according to the type of bonding agent used (n =16). Group I: Fifth Generation of Bonding Agent-Adper Single Bond2. Group II: Seventh Generation of Bonding Agent-Single Bond Universal. All cavities were restored with Filtek Z250 XT composite resin, stored in sterile aquades water at 370C for 24 h. The root apices were sealed with sticky wax, and all the surfaces, except for 2 mm from the margins, were coated with nail varnish. The teeth were immersed in a 1% methylene blue dye solution for 24 h, and then rinsed in running water, blot-dried and sectioned longitudinally through the center of restorations from the buccal to palatal surface. The sections were blindly assessed for microleakage of dye penetration by using a stereomicroscope. Dye penetration along margin was measured in µm then calculated into the percentage and classified into scoring system 1 to 3. Data were collected and statistically analyzed by Chi-Square test. Result: There was no significant difference (p > 0,05) between two groups. Conclusion: Fifth generation of bonding agent revealed less leakage compared to the seventh generation even statistically there was no significant difference.

Keywords: composite restoration, fifth generation of bonding agent, microleakage, seventh generation of bonding agent

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Authors: Kasidis Chomrat, Nopasit Chakpitak, Anukul Tamprasirt, Annop Thananchana

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Internet of Things devices or IoT and Edge Computing has become one of the biggest things happening in innovations and one of the most discussed of the potential to improve and disrupt traditional business and industry alike. With rises of new hang cliff challenges like COVID-19 pandemic that posed a danger to workforce and business process of the system. Along with drastically changing landscape in business that left ruined aftermath of global COVID-19 pandemic, looming with the threat of global energy crisis, global warming, more heating global politic that posed a threat to become new Cold War. How emerging technology like edge computing and usage of specialized design visual processing units will be great opportunities for business. The literature reviewed on how the internet of things and disruptive wave will affect business, which explains is how all these new events is an effect on the current business and how would the business need to be adapting to change in the market and world, and example test benchmarking for consumer marketed of newer devices like the internet of things devices equipped with new edge computing devices will be increase efficiency and reducing posing a risk from a current and looming crisis. Throughout the whole paper, we will explain the technologies that lead the present technologies and the current situation why these technologies will be innovations that change the traditional practice through brief introductions to the technologies such as cloud computing, edge computing, Internet of Things and how it will be leading into future.

Keywords: internet of things, edge computing, machine learning, pattern recognition, image classification

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Authors: Wahyu Eko Diyanto, Amalia Dyah Arumsari, Ulfatu Layinatinnahdiyah Arrosyadi

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Tofu industry is one of the local food industry which is can being competitive industry in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). However, a lot of tofu entrepreneurs just thinking how to produce good quality product without considering the impact of environmental conditions from the production process. Production of tofu per day requires a number of 15 kg with liquid waste generated is 652.5 liters. That liquid waste is discharged directly into waterways, whereas tofu liquid waste contains organic compounds that quickly unraveled, so it can pollute waterways. In addition, tofu liquid waste is high in Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), nitrogen and phosphorus. This research is aim to create a method of handling liquid waste effectively and efficiently by using water lettuce. The method is done by observation and experiment by using phytoremediation method in the tofu liquid waste using water lettuce and adding aeration to reduce the concentration of contaminants. The results of the research analyzed the waste quality standard parameters based on SNI (National Standardization Agency of Indonesia). The efficiency concentration and parameters average of tofu liquid waste are obtained pH 3,42% (from 4,0 to be 3,3), COD 76,13% (from 3579 ppm to be 854 ppm), BOD 55 % (from 11600 ppm to be 5242 ppm), TSS 93,6% (from 3174 ppm to be 203 ppm), turbidity is 64,8% (from 977 NTU to be 1013 NTU), and temperature 36oC (from 45oC to be 40oC). The efficiency of these parameters indicates a safe value for the effluent to be channeled in waterways. Water lettuce and tofu liquid waste phytoremediation result will be used as biogas as renewable energy.

Keywords: aeration, phytoremediation, water letuce, tofu liquid waste

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