Search results for: surface water quality

Authors: Onesmus Nyaude

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The aim of the study was to investigate participants’ views on how corruption can be combated to enhance learner academic achievement. The study was undertaken on three select public secondary institutions in Zimbabwe. This study also focuses on exploring the various views of educators; parents and the learners on the role played by corruption in perpetuating the seemingly existing learner academic achievement disparities in various educational institutions. The study further interrogates and examines the nexus between the prevalence of corruption in schools and the subsequent influence on the academic achievement of learners. Corruption is considered a form of social injustice; hence in Zimbabwe, the general consensus is that it is perceived rife to the extent that it is overtaking the traditional factors that contributed to the poor academic achievement of learners. Coupled to this, have been the issue of gross abuse of power and some malpractices emanating from concealment of essential and official transactions in the conduct of business. Through proposing robust anti-corruption mechanisms, teaching and learning resources poured in schools would be put into good use. This would prevent the unlawful diversion and misappropriation of the resources in question which has always been the culture. This study is of paramount significance to curriculum planners, teachers, parents, and learners. The study was informed by the interpretive paradigm; thus qualitative research approaches were used. Both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted in ‘site and participants’ selection. A representative sample of (150) participants was used. The study found that the majority of the participants perceived corruption as a social problem and a human right threat affecting the quality of teaching and learning processes in the education sector. It was established that corruption prevalence within institutions is as a result of the perpetual weakening of ethical values and other variables linked to upholding of ‘Ubuntu’ among general citizenry. It was further established that greediness and weak systems are major causes of rampant corruption within institutions of higher learning and are manifesting through abuse of power, bribery, misappropriation and embezzlement of material and financial resources. Therefore, there is great need to collectively address the problem of corruption in educational institutions and society at large. The study additionally concludes that successful combating of corruption will promote successful moral development of students as well as safeguarding their human rights entitlements. The study recommends the adoption of principles of good corporate governance within educational institutions in order to successfully curb corruption. The study further recommends the intensification of interventionist strategies and strengthening of systems in educational institutions as well as regular audits to overcome the problem associated with rampant corruption cases.

Keywords: academic achievement, combating, corruption, good corporate governance, qualitative study

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Authors: Asmit Neupane, Narayan Prasad Gautam, Prabin Bhusal

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Indian pangolin, locally called as ‘Salak’, ‘Sal machha’, ‘Pakho machha’, is a globally endangered species, nationally categorized as a critically endangered species, protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (NPWC) Act 1973 and appended in Appendix I of CITES. Indian pangolins occur in the tropical areas of Terai region and Chure foothills of eastern Nepal, and India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They utilize a wide range of habitats, including primary and secondary tropical forest, limestone forest, bamboo forest, grassland, and agricultural lands. So, in regard to this fact, this research is aimed to provide detailed information regarding the current distribution pattern, status, habitat preference, prevailing threats and attitude of local people towards species conservation in Madhesh Province, Nepal. The study was conducted in four CFs, two from Bara district and two from Dhanusha district. The study area comprised of Churia range and foothills with tropical and sub-tropical vegetation. A total of 24 transects were established, each of 500*50 m2, where indirect signs of Indian pangolin, including active/old burrows, pugmarks and scratches, were found. Altogether 93 burrows were found, where only 20 were active burrows. Similarly, a vegetation survey and social survey was also conducted. The data was analyzed using Stata 16 and SPSS software. Distance from settlement, ground cover, aspect, presence/absence of ants/termites and human disturbance were the important habitat parameters having statistically significant relationship with the distribution of Indian pangolin in the area. The species was found to prefer an elevation of 360 to 540m, 0-15º slope, red soil, North-east aspect, moderate crown and ground cover, without fire and rocks, vicinity of water, roads, settlement, Sal dominated forest and minimum disturbed by human activities. Similarly, the attitude of local people towards Indian pangolin conservation was found to be significantly different with respect to age, sex and education level. The study concludes that majority of active burrows were found in Churia hills, which indicates that Indian pangolin population is gradually moving uphill towards higher elevation as hilly area supports better prey availability and also less human disturbance. Further studies are required to investigate microhabitat preferences, seasonal variability and impacts of climate change on the distribution, habitat and prey availability of Indian pangolin for the sustainable conservation of this species.

Keywords: conservation, IUCN red list, local participation, small mammal, status, threats

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Authors: Alireza Barari, Ahmad Abdi

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Introduction: Plyometric training (PT) is popular among individuals involved in dynamic sports, and is executed with a goal to improve muscular performance. Cytokines are considered as immunoregulatory molecules for regulation of immune function and other body responses. In addition, the pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α andIL-1β, have been reported to be increased during and after exercises. If some of the cytokines which cause responses such as inflammation of cells in skeletal muscles, with manipulating of training program or optimizing nutrition, it can be avoided or limited from those injuries caused by cytokines release. Its shows that mistletoe extracts show immune-modulating effects. Materials and methods: present study was to investigate the effect of six weeks PT with or without mistletoe supplementation (MS)(10 mg/kg) on cytokine responses and performance in male basketball players. This study is semi-experimental. Statistic society of this study was basketball player’s male students of Mahmoud Abad city. Statistic samples are concluded of 32 basketball players with an age range of 14–17 years was selected from randomly. Selection of samples in four groups of 8 individuals Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (E, n=16) that performed plyometric exercises with (n=8) or without (n=8) MS, or a control group that rested (C, n=16) with (n=8) or without (n=8) MS. Plants were collected in June from the Mazandaran forest in north of Iran. Then they dried in exposure to air without any exposition to sunlight, on a clean textile. For better drying the plants were high and down until they lost their water. Each subject consumed 10 mg/kg/day of extract for six weeks of intervention. Pre and post-testing was performed in the afternoon of the same day. Blood samples (10 ml) were collected from the intermediate cubital vein of the subjects. Serum concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α were measured by ELISA method. Data analysis was performed using pretest to posttest changes that assessed by t-test for paired samples. After the last plyometric training program, the second blood samples were in the next day. Group differences at baseline were evaluated using One-way ANOVA (post-hock Tukey) test is used for analysis and comparison of three group’s variables. Results: PT with or without MS improved the one repetition maximum leg and chest press, Sargeant test and power in RAST (P < 0.05). However there were no statistically significant differences between groups in Vo2max measures (P > 0.05). PT resulted in a significant increase in plasma IL-1β concentration from 1.08±0.4 mg/ml in pre-training to 1.68±0.18 mg/ml in post-training (P=0.006). While the MS significantly decreased the training-induced increment of IL-1β (P=0.007). In contrast, neither PT nor MS had any effect on TNF-α levels (P > 0.05). Discussion: The results of this investigation indicate that PT improved muscular performance and increases the IL-1β concentration. Increasing of IL-1β after exercise in damaged skeletal muscle has shown of the role of this cytokine in inflammation processes and damaged skeletal muscle repair. However mistletoe supplementation ameliorates the increment of IL-1β levels, indicating the beneficial effect of mistletoe on immune response following plyometric training.

Keywords: mistletoe supplementation, training, IL-1β, TNF-α

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Authors: Mustapha A. Tijjani, Fanna I. Abdulrahman, Irfan Z. Khan, Umar K. Sandabe, Cong Li

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Air dried sample V. doniana after collection and identification was extracted with ethanol and further partition with chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Ethanolic extract (11.9g) was fractionated on a silica gel accelerated column chromatography using solvents such as n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. Each eluent fractions (150ml aliquots) were collected and monitored with thin layer chromatography. Fractions with similar Rf values from same solvents system were pooled together. Phytochemical test of all the fractions were performed using standard procedure. Complete elution yielded 48 fractions (150ml/fraction) which were pooled to 24 fractions base on the Rf values. It was further recombined and 12 fractions were obtained on the basis on Rf values and coded Vd1 to Vd12 fractions. Vd8 was further eluted with ethylacetate and methanol and gave fourteen sub fractions Vd8-a, -Vd8-m. Fraction Vd8-a (56mg) gave a white crystal compound coded V1. It was further checked on TLC and observed under ultraviolet lamp and was found to give a single spot. The Rf values were calculated to be 0.433. The melting point was determined using Gallenkamp capillary melting point apparatus and found to be 241-243°C uncorrected. Characterization of the isolated compound coded V1 was done using FT-infra-red spectroscopy, HNMR, 13CNMR(1and 2D) and HRESI-MS. The IR spectrum of compound V1 shows prominent peaks that corresponds to OHstr (3365cm-1) and C=0 (1652cm-1) etc. This spectrum suggests that among the functional moiety in compound V1 are the carbonyl and hydroxyl group. The 1H NMR (400 MHz) spectrum of compound V1 in DMSO-d6 displayed five singlet signals at δ 0.72 (3H, s, H-18), 0.79 (3H, s, H-19), 1.03 (3H, s, H-21), 1.04 (3H, s, H-26), 1.06 (3H, s, H-27) each integrating for three protons indicating the five methyl functional groups present in the compound. It further showed a broad singlet at δ 5.58 integrated for 1 H due to an olefinic H-atom adjacent to the carbonyl carbon atom. Three signals at δ 3.10 (d, J = 9.0 Hz, H-22), 3.59 (m, 1H, 2H-a) and 3.72 (m, 1H, 3H-e), each integrating for one proton is due to oxymethine protons indicating that three oxymethine H-atoms are present in the compound. These all signals are characteristic to the ecdysteroid skeletons. The 13C-NMR spectrum showed the presence of 27 carbon atoms, suggesting that may be steroid skeleton. The DEPT-135 experiment showed the presence of five CH3, eight CH2, and seven CH groups, and seven quaternary C-atoms. The molecular formula was established as C27H44O7 by high resolution electron spray ionization-mass spectroscopy (HRESI-MS) positive ion mode m/z 481.3179. The signals in mass spectrum are 463, 445, and 427 peaks corresponding to losses of one, two, three, or four water molecules characteristic for ecdysterone skeleton reported in the literature. Based on the spectral analysis (HNMR, 13CNMR, DEPT, HMQC, IR, HRESI-MS) the compound V1 is thus concluded to have ecdysteriod skeleton and conclusively conforms with 2β, 3β 14α, 20R, 22R, 25-hexahydroxy-5 β cholest-7-ene-6- one, or 2, 3, 14, 20, 22, 25 hexahydroxy cholest-7-ene-6-one commonly known as 20-hydroxyecdysone.

Keywords: vitex, phytochemical, purification, isolation, chromatography, spectroscopy

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Authors: Nguyen J. M., Lucas G., Ruan S., Digonnet H., Antonioli D.

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Introduction: Deep Learning (DL) is a very powerful tool for analyzing image data. But for tabular data, it cannot compete with machine learning methods like XGBoost. The research question becomes: can tabular data be transformed into images that can be analyzed by simple CNNs (Convolutional Neuron Networks)? Will DL be the absolute tool for data classification? All current solutions consist in repositioning the variables in a 2x2 matrix using their correlation proximity. In doing so, it obtains an image whose pixels are the variables. We implement a technology, DeepNIC, that offers the possibility of obtaining an image for each variable, which can be analyzed by simple CNNs. Material and method: The 'ROP' (Regression OPtimized) model is a binary and atypical decision tree whose nodes are managed by a new artificial neuron, the Neurop. By positioning an artificial neuron in each node of the decision trees, it is possible to make an adjustment on a theoretically infinite number of variables at each node. From this new decision tree whose nodes are artificial neurons, we created the concept of a 'Random Forest of Perfect Trees' (RFPT), which disobeys Breiman's concepts by assembling very large numbers of small trees with no classification errors. From the results of the RFPT, we developed a family of 10 statistical information criteria, Nguyen Information Criterion (NICs), which evaluates in 3 dimensions the predictive quality of a variable: Performance, Complexity and Multiplicity of solution. A NIC is a probability that can be transformed into a grey level. The value of a NIC depends essentially on 2 super parameters used in Neurops. By varying these 2 super parameters, we obtain a 2x2 matrix of probabilities for each NIC. We can combine these 10 NICs with the functions AND, OR, and XOR. The total number of combinations is greater than 100,000. In total, we obtain for each variable an image of at least 1166x1167 pixels. The intensity of the pixels is proportional to the probability of the associated NIC. The color depends on the associated NIC. This image actually contains considerable information about the ability of the variable to make the prediction of Y, depending on the presence or absence of other variables. A basic CNNs model was trained for supervised classification. Results: The first results are impressive. Using the GSE22513 public data (Omic data set of markers of Taxane Sensitivity in Breast Cancer), DEEPNic outperformed other statistical methods, including XGBoost. We still need to generalize the comparison on several databases. Conclusion: The ability to transform any tabular variable into an image offers the possibility of merging image and tabular information in the same format. This opens up great perspectives in the analysis of metadata.

Keywords: tabular data, CNNs, NICs, DeepNICs, random forest of perfect trees, classification

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Authors: André Augusto Ceballos Melo

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Design to facilitate the recognition of congruent prosthetic movements, context-to-motion translations guided by image, verbal prompt, users nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, paralinguistics, scene context, and object recognition contributes to this process though it can also be applied to other tasks, such as walking, Prosthetic limbs as assistive technology through gestures, sound codes, signs, facial, body expressions, and scene context The context-to-motion model is a machine learning approach that is designed to improve the control and dexterity of prosthetic limbs. It works by using sensory input from the prosthetic limb to learn about the dynamics of the environment and then using this information to generate smooth, stable movements. This can help to improve the performance of the prosthetic limb and make it easier for the user to perform a wide range of tasks. There are several key benefits to using the context-to-motion model for prosthetic limb control. First, it can help to improve the naturalness and smoothness of prosthetic limb movements, which can make them more comfortable and easier to use for the user. Second, it can help to improve the accuracy and precision of prosthetic limb movements, which can be particularly useful for tasks that require fine motor control. Finally, the context-to-motion model can be trained using a variety of different sensory inputs, which makes it adaptable to a wide range of prosthetic limb designs and environments. Stable diffusion is a machine learning method that can be used to improve the control and stability of movements in robotic and prosthetic systems. It works by using sensory feedback to learn about the dynamics of the environment and then using this information to generate smooth, stable movements. One key aspect of stable diffusion is that it is designed to be robust to noise and uncertainty in the sensory feedback. This means that it can continue to produce stable, smooth movements even when the sensory data is noisy or unreliable. To implement stable diffusion in a robotic or prosthetic system, it is typically necessary to first collect a dataset of examples of the desired movements. This dataset can then be used to train a machine learning model to predict the appropriate control inputs for a given set of sensory observations. Once the model has been trained, it can be used to control the robotic or prosthetic system in real-time. The model receives sensory input from the system and uses it to generate control signals that drive the motors or actuators responsible for moving the system. Overall, the use of the context-to-motion model has the potential to significantly improve the dexterity and performance of prosthetic limbs, making them more useful and effective for a wide range of users Hand Gesture Body Language Influence Communication to social interaction, offering a possibility for users to maximize their quality of life, social interaction, and gesture communication.

Keywords: stable diffusion, neural interface, smart prosthetic, augmenting

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Authors: Ozlem Uguz, Ali Demirci, Hanzade Haykiri-Acma, Serdar Yaman

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Lignitic coal holds its position as Turkey’s most important indigenous energy source to generate energy in thermal power plants. Hence, efficient and environmental-friendly use of lignite in electricity generation is of great importance. Thus, clean coal technologies have been planned to mitigate emissions and provide more efficient burning in power plants. In this context, oxygen enriched combustion (oxy-combustion) is regarded as one of the clean coal technologies, which based on burning with oxygen concentrations higher than that in air. As it is known that the most of the Turkish coals are low rank with high mineral matter content, unburnt carbon trapped in ash is, unfortunately, high, and it leads significant losses in the overall efficiencies of the thermal plants. Besides, the necessity of burning huge amounts of these low calorific value lignites to get the desired amount of energy also results in the formation of large amounts of ash that is rich in unburnt carbon. Oxygen enriched combustion technology enables to increase the burning efficiency through the complete burning of almost all of the carbon content of the fuel. This also contributes to the protection of air quality and emission levels drop reasonably. The aim of this study is to investigate the unburnt carbon content and the burning reactivities of several different lignite samples under oxygen enriched conditions. For this reason, the combined effects of temperature and oxygen/nitrogen ratios in the burning atmosphere were investigated and interpreted. To do this, Turkish lignite samples from Adıyaman-Gölbaşı and Kütahya-Tunçbilek regions were characterized first by proximate and ultimate analyses and the burning profiles were derived using DTA (Differential Thermal Analysis) curves. Then, these lignites were subjected to slow burning process in a horizontal tube furnace at different temperatures (200ºC, 400ºC, 600ºC for Adıyaman-Gölbaşı lignite and 200ºC, 450ºC, 800ºC for Kütahya-Tunçbilek lignite) under atmospheres having O₂+N₂ proportions of 21%O₂+79%N₂, 30%O₂+70%N₂, 40%O₂+60%N₂, and 50%O₂+50%N₂. These burning temperatures were specified based on the burning profiles derived from the DTA curves. The residues obtained from these burning tests were also analyzed by proximate and ultimate analyses to detect the unburnt carbon content along with the unused energy potential. Reactivity of these lignites was calculated using several methodologies. Burning yield under air condition (21%O₂+79%N₂) was used a benchmark value to compare the effectiveness of oxygen enriched conditions. It was concluded that oxygen enriched combustion method enhanced the combustion efficiency and lowered the unburnt carbon content of ash. Combustion of low-rank coals under oxygen enriched conditions was found to be a promising way to improve the efficiency of the lignite-firing energy systems. However, cost-benefit analysis should be considered for a better justification of this method since the use of more oxygen brings an unignorable additional cost.

Keywords: coal, energy, oxygen enriched combustion, reactivity

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Authors: Constantinos S. Mammas, Andreas Lazaris, Adamantia S. Mamma-Graham, Georgia Kostopanagiotou, Chryssa Lemonidou, John Mantas, Eustratios Patsouris

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The process to build a better safety culture, methods of error analysis, and preventive measures, starts with an understanding of the effects when human factors engineering refer to remote microscopic diagnosis in surgery and specially in organ transplantation for the evaluation of the grafts. Α high percentage of solid organs arrive at the recipient hospitals and are considered as injured or improper for transplantation in the UK. Digital microscopy adds information on a microscopic level about the grafts (G) in Organ Transplant (OT), and may lead to a change in their management. Such a method will reduce the possibility that a diseased G will arrive at the recipient hospital for implantation. Aim: The aim of this study is to analyze the ergonomics of digital microscopy (DM) based on virtual slides, on telemedicine systems (TS) for tele-pathological evaluation (TPE) of the grafts (G) in organ transplantation (OT). Material and Methods: By experimental simulation, the ergonomics of DM for microscopic TPE of renal graft (RG), liver graft (LG) and pancreatic graft (PG) tissues is analyzed. In fact, this corresponded to the ergonomics of digital microscopy for TPE in OT by applying virtual slide (VS) system for graft tissue image capture, for remote diagnoses of possible microscopic inflammatory and/or neoplastic lesions. Experimentation included the development of an OTE-TS similar experimental telemedicine system (Exp.-TS) for simulating the integrated VS based microscopic TPE of RG, LG and PG Simulation of DM on TS based TPE performed by 2 specialists on a total of 238 human renal graft (RG), 172 liver graft (LG) and 108 pancreatic graft (PG) tissues digital microscopic images for inflammatory and neoplastic lesions on four electronic spaces of the four used TS. Results: Statistical analysis of specialist‘s answers about the ability to accurately diagnose the diseased RG, LG and PG tissues on the electronic space among four TS (A,B,C,D) showed that DM on TS for TPE in OT is elaborated perfectly on the ES of a desktop, followed by the ES of the applied Exp.-TS. Tablet and mobile-phone ES seem significantly risky for the application of DM in OT (p<.001). Conclusion: To make the largest reduction in errors and adverse events referring to the quality of the grafts, it will take application of human factors engineering to procurement, design, audit, and awareness-raising activities. Consequently, it will take an investment in new training, people, and other changes to management activities for DM in OT. The simulating VS based TPE with DM of RG, LG and PG tissues after retrieval, seem feasible and reliable and dependable on the size of the electronic space of the applied TS, for remote prevention of diseased grafts from being retrieved and/or sent to the recipient hospital and for post-grafting and pre-transplant planning.

Keywords: digital microscopy, organ transplantation, tele-pathology, virtual slides

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Authors: Rikke Lybæk, Tyge Kjær

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The Baltic Sea is suffering from nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, which causes eutrophication of the maritime environment and hence threatens the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea area. The intensified quantity of nutrients in the water has created challenges with the growth of seaweed being discarded on beaches around the sea. The cast seaweed has led to odor problems hampering the use of beach areas around the Bay of Køge in Denmark. This is the case in, e.g., Solrød Municipality, where recreational activities have been disrupted when cast seaweed pile up on the beach. Initiatives have, however, been introduced within the municipality to remove the cast seaweed from the beach and utilize it for renewable energy production at the nearby Solrød Biogas Plant, thus being co-digested with animal manure for power and heat production. This paper investigates which type of technology application’s have been applied in the effort to optimize the collection of cast seaweed, and will further reveal, how the seaweed has been pre-treated at the biogas plant to be utilized for energy production the most efficient, hereunder the challenges connected with the content of sand. Heavy metal contents in the seaweed and how it is managed will also be addressed, which is vital as the digestate is utilized as soil fertilizer on nearby farms. Finally, the paper will outline the energy production scheme connected to the use of seaweed as feedstock for biogas production, as well as the amount of nitrogen-rich fertilizer produced. The theoretical approach adopted in the paper relies on the thinking of Circular Bio-Economy, where biological materials are cascaded and re-circulated etc., to increase and extend their value and usability. The data for this research is collected as part of the EU Interreg project “Cluster On Anaerobic digestion, environmental Services, and nuTrients removAL” (COASTAL Biogas), 2014-2020. Data gathering consists of, e.g., interviews with relevant stakeholders connected to seaweed collection and operation of the biogas plant in Solrød Municipality. It further entails studies of progress and evaluation reports from the municipality, analysis of seaweed digestion results from scholars connected to the research, as well as studies of scientific literature to supplement the above. Besides this, observations and photo documentation have been applied in the field. This paper concludes, among others, that the seaweed harvester technology currently adopted is functional in the maritime environment close to the beachfront but inadequate in collecting seaweed directly on the beach. New technology hence needs to be developed to increase the efficiency of seaweed collection. It is further concluded that the amount of sand transported to Solrød Biogas Plant with the seaweed continues to pose challenges. The seaweed is pre-treated for sand in a receiving tank with a strong stirrer, washing off the sand, which ends at the bottom of the tank where collected. The seaweed is then chopped by a macerator and mixed with the other feedstock. The wear down of the receiving tank stirrer and the chopper are, however, significant, and new methods should be adopted.

Keywords: biogas, circular bio-economy, Denmark, maritime technology, cast seaweed, solrød municipality

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Authors: Neha Gupta, Sonika Verma, Seema Puri, Nikhil Tandon, Narendra K. Arora

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The concurrent increasing prevalence of underweight and overweight/obesity among children with changing lifestyle and the rapid transitioning society has necessitated the need for a unifying/multi-level approach to understand the determinants of the problem. The present community-based cross-sectional research study was conducted to assess the associations between lifestyle behavior and food environment of the child at household, neighborhood, and school with the BMI of children (6-12 year old) (n=612) residing in three rural clusters of Palwal district, Haryana. The study used innovative and robust methods for assessing the lifestyle and various components of food environment in the study. The three rural clusters selected for the study were located at three different locations according to their access to highways in the SOMAARTH surveillance site. These clusters were significantly different from each other in terms of their socio-demographic and socio-economic profile, living conditions, environmental hygiene, health seeking behavior and retail density. Despite of being different, the quality of living conditions and environmental hygiene was poor across three clusters. The children had higher intakes of dietary energy and sugars; one-fifth share of the energy being derived from unhealthy foods, engagement in high levels of physical activity and significantly different food environment at home, neighborhood and school level. However, despite having a high energy intake, 22.5% of the recruited children were thin/severe thin, and 3% were overweight/obese as per their BMI-for-age categories. The analysis was done using multi-variate logistic regression at three-tier hierarchy including individual, household and community level. The factors significantly explained the variability in governing the risk of getting thin/severe thin among children in rural area (p-value: 0.0001; Adjusted R2: 0.156) included age (>10years) (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.0-4.4), the interaction between minority category and poor SES of the household (OR: 4.4; 95% CI: 1.6-12.1), availability of sweets (OR: 0.9; 95% CI: 0.8-0.99) and cereals (OR: 0.9; 95% CI: 0.8-1.0) in the household and poor street condition (proxy indicator of the hygiene and cleanliness in the neighborhood) (OR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1-1.1). The homogeneity of other factors at neighborhood and school level food environment diluted the heterogeneity in the lifestyles and home environment of the recruited children and their households. However, it is evident that when various individual factors interplay at multiple levels amplifies the risk of undernutrition in a rural community. Conclusion: These rural areas in Haryana are undergoing developmental, economic and societal transition. In correspondence, no improvements in the nutritional status of children have happened. Easy access to the unhealthy foods has become a paradox.

Keywords: transition, food environment, lifestyle, undernutrition, overnutrition

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Authors: Sophio Kobauri, Temur Kantaria, Nina Kulikova, David Tugushi, Ramaz Katsarava

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Polymeric nanoparticles-based drug delivery systems and therapeutics have a great potential in the treatment of a numerous diseases, due to they are characterizing the flexible properties which is giving possibility to modify their structures with a complex definition over their structures, compositions and properties. Important characteristics of the polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) used as drug carriers are high particle’s stability, high carrier capacity, feasibility of encapsulation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs, and feasibility of variable routes of administration, including oral application and inhalation; NPs are especially effective for intracellular drug delivery since they penetrate into the cells’ interior though endocytosis. A variety of PNPs based drug delivery systems including charged and neutral, degradable and non-degradable polymers of both natural and synthetic origin have been developed. Among these huge varieties the biodegradable PNPs which can be cleared from the body after the fulfillment of their function could be considered as one of the most promising. For intracellular uptake it is highly desirable to have positively charged PNPs since they can penetrate deep into cell membranes. For long-lasting circulation of PNPs in the body it is important they have so called “stealth coatings” to protect them from the attack of immune system of the organism. One of the effective ways to render the PNPs “invisible” for immune system is their PEGylation which represent the process of pretreatment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the surface of PNPs. The present work deals with constructing PNPs from amino acid based biodegradable polymers – regular poly(ester amide) (PEA) composed of sebacic acid, leucine and 1,6-hexandiol (labeled as 8L6), cationic PEA composed of sebacic acid, arginine and 1,6-hexandiol (labeled as 8R6), and comb-like co-PEA composed of sebacic acid, malic acid, leucine and 1,6-hexandiol (labeled as PEG-PEA). The PNPs were fabricated using the polymer deposition/solvent displacement (nanoprecipitation) method. The regular PEA 8L6 form stable negatively charged (zeta-potential within 2-12 mV) PNPs of desired size (within 150-200 nm) in the presence of various surfactants (Tween 20, Tween 80, Brij 010, etc.). Blending the PEAs 8L6 and 8R6 gave the 130-140 nm sized positively charged PNPs having zeta-potential within +20 ÷ +28 mV depending 8L6/8R6 ratio. The PEGylating PEA PEG-PEA was synthesized by interaction of epoxy-co-PEA [8L6]0,5-[tES-L6]0,5 with mPEG-amine-2000 The stable and positively charged PNPs were fabricated using pure PEG-PEA as a surfactant. A firm anchoring of the PEG-PEA with 8L6/8R6 based PNPs (owing to a high afinity of the backbones of all three PEAs) provided good stabilization of the NPs. In vitro biocompatibility study of the new PNPs with four different stable cell lines: A549 (human), U-937 (human), RAW264.7 (murine), Hepa 1-6 (murine) showed they are biocompatible. Considering high stability and cell compatibility of the elaborated PNPs one can conclude that they are promising for subsequent therapeutic applications. This work was supported by the joint grant from the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine and Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia #6298 “New biodegradable cationic polymers composed of arginine and spermine-versatile biomaterials for various biomedical applications”.

Keywords: biodegradable poly(ester amide)s, cationic poly(ester amide), pegylating poly(ester amide), nanoparticles

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Authors: Charlotte Dreger, Erik Bollaert

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This paper presents two environmentally-friendly coastal structures realized on the Lake of Neuchâtel. Both structures reflect current environmental issues of concern on the lake and have been strongly affected by extreme meteorological conditions between their period of design and their actual operational period. The Lake of Neuchatel is one of the biggest Swiss lakes and measures around 38 km in length and 8.2 km in width, for a maximum water depth of 152 m. Its particular topographical alignment, situated in between the Swiss Plateau and the Jura mountains, combines strong winds and large fetch values, resulting in significant wave heights during storm events at both north-east and south-west lake extremities. In addition, due to flooding concerns, historically, lake levels have been lowered by several meters during the Jura correction works in the 19th and 20th century. Hence, during storm events, continuous erosion of the vulnerable molasse shorelines and sand banks generate frequent and abundant littoral transport from the center of the lake to its extremities. This phenomenon does not only cause disturbances of the ecosystem, but also generates numerous problems at natural or man-made infrastructures located along the shorelines, such as reed plants, harbor entrances, canals, etc. A first example is provided at the southwestern extremity, near the city of Yverdon, where an ensemble of 11 small islands, the Iles des Vernes, have been artificially created in view of enhancing biological conditions and food availability for bird species during their migration process, replacing at the same time two larger islands that were affected by lack of morphodynamics and general vegetalization of their surfaces. The article will present the concept and dimensioning of these islands based on 2D numerical modelling, as well as the realization and follow-up campaigns. In particular, the influence of several major storm events that occurred immediately after the works will be pointed out. Second, a sediment retention dike is discussed at the northeastern extremity, at the entrance of the Canal de la Broye into the lake. This canal is heavily used for navigation and suffers from frequent and significant sedimentation at its outlet. The new coastal structure has been designed to minimize sediment deposits around the exutory of the canal into the lake, by retaining the littoral transport during storm events. The article will describe the basic assumptions used to design the dike, as well as the construction works and follow-up campaigns. Especially the huge influence of changing meteorological conditions on the littoral transport of the Lake of Neuchatel since project design ten years ago will be pointed out. Not only the intensity and frequency of storm events are increasing, but also the main wind directions alter, affecting in this way the efficiency of the coastal structure in retaining the sediments.

Keywords: meteorological evolution, sediment transport, lake of Neuchatel, numerical modelling, environmental measures

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: Sophie-Bo Heinkel, Andrea Rechenburg, Thomas Kistemann

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The current status of wellbeing and life satisfaction of subsistence farmers in a wetland in Uganda and the contributing role of place attachment has been assessed. The aim of this study is to shed light on environmental factors supporting wellbeing in a wetland setting. Furthermore, it has been assessed, how the emotional bonding to the wetland as ‘place’ influences the peoples’ wellbeing and life satisfaction. The results shed light on the human-environment-relationship. A survey was carried out in three communities in urban and rural areas in a wetland basin in Uganda. A sample (n=235) provided information about the attachment to the wetland, the participants’ relation to the place of their residence and their emotional wellbeing. The Wellbeing Index (WHO-5) was assessed as well as the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem scale (RSE). Furthermore, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was applied as well as the Place Attachment Inventory (PAI), which consists of the two intertwined dimensions of place identity and place dependence. Beside this, binary indicators as ‘feeling save’ and ‘feeling comfortable’ and ‘enjoying to live at the place of residence’ have been assessed. A bivariate correlation analysis revealed a high interconnectivity between all metric scales. Especially, the subscale ‘place identity’ showed significances with all other scales. A cluster analysis revealed three groups, which differed in the perception of place-related indicators and their attachment to the wetland as well as the status of wellbeing. First, a cluster whose majority is dissatisfied with their lives, but mainly had a good status of emotional well-being. This group does not feel attached to the wetland and lives in a town. Comparably less persons of this group feel safe and comfortable at their place of residence. In the second cluster, persons feel highly attached to the wetland and identify with it. This group was characterized by the high number of persons preferring their current place of residence and do not consider moving. All persons feel well and satisfied with their lives. The third group of persons is mainly living in rural areas and feels highly attached to the wetland. They are satisfied with their lives, but only a small minority is in a good emotional state of wellbeing. The emotional attachment to a place influences life satisfaction and, indirectly, the emotional wellbeing. In the present study it could be shown that subsistence farmers are attached to the wetland, as it is the source of their livelihood. While those living in areas with a good infrastructure are less dependent on the wetland and, therefore, less attached to. This feeling also was mirrored in the perception of a place as being safe and comfortable. The identification with a place is crucial for the feeling of being at “home”. Subsistence farmers feel attached to the ecosystem, but they also might be exposed to environmental and social stressors influencing their short-term emotional wellbeing. The provision of place identity is an ecosystem service provided by wetlands, which supports the status of wellbeing in human beings.

Keywords: mental health, positive environments, quality of life, wellbeing

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Thao Nguyen, Maximiliano Hyon, Sany Rajagukguk, Anna Melkonyan

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Introduction: Type 2 Diabetes is a well-established risk factor for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia in patients with established or newly diagnosed diabetes is associated with poor outcomes, including increased mortality and hospital length of stay. Objectives: Our study aims to compare three different glycemic management strategies and their association with clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized for moderate to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Identifying optimal glycemic management strategies will improve the quality of patient care and improve their outcomes. Method: This is a retrospective observational study on patients hospitalized at Adventist Health White Memorial with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection from 11/1/2020 to 02/28/2021. The following inclusion criteria were used: positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, age >18 yrs old, diabetes or random glucose >200 mg/dL on admission, oxygen requirement >4L/min, and treatment with glucocorticoids. Our exclusion criteria included: ICU admission within 24 hours, discharge within five days, death within five days, and pregnancy. The patients were divided into three glycemic management groups: Group 1, managed solely by the Primary Team, Group 2, by Pharmacy; and Group 3, by Endocrinologist. Primary outcomes were average glucose on Day 5, change in glucose between Days 3 and 5, and average insulin dose on Day 5 among groups. Secondary outcomes would be upgraded to ICU, inpatient mortality, and hospital length of stay. For statistics, we used IBM® SPSS, version 28, 2022. Results: Most studied patients were Hispanic, older than 60, and obese (BMI >30). It was the first CV-19 surge with the Delta variant in an unvaccinated population. Mortality was markedly high (> 40%) with longer LOS (> 13 days) and a high ICU transfer rate (18%). Most patients had markedly elevated inflammatory markers (CRP, Ferritin, and D-Dimer). These, in combination with glucocorticoids, resulted in severe hyperglycemia that was difficult to control. Average glucose on Day 5 was not significantly different between groups primary vs. pharmacy vs. endocrine (220.5 ± 63.4 vs. 240.9 ± 71.1 vs. 208.6 ± 61.7 ; P = 0.105). Change in glucose from days 3 to 5 was not significantly different between groups but trended towards favoring the endocrinologist group (-26.6±73.6 vs. 3.8±69.5 vs. -32.2±84.1; P= 0.052). TDD insulin was not significantly different between groups but trended towards higher TDD for the endocrinologist group (34.6 ± 26.1 vs. 35.2 ± 26.4 vs. 50.5 ± 50.9; P=0.054). The endocrinologist group used significantly more preprandial insulin compared to other groups (91.7% vs. 39.1% vs. 65.9% ; P < 0.001). The pharmacy used more basal insulin than other groups (95.1% vs. 79.5% vs. 79.2; P = 0.047). There were no differences among groups in the clinical outcomes: LOS, ICU upgrade, or mortality. Multivariate regression analysis controlled for age, sex, BMI, HbA1c level, renal function, liver function, CRP, d-dimer, and ferritin showed no difference in outcomes among groups. Conclusion: Given high-risk factors in our population, despite efforts from the glycemic management teams, it’s unsurprising no differences in clinical outcomes in mortality and length of stay.

Keywords: glycemic management, strategies, hospitalized, SARS-CoV-2, outcomes

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Authors: Osungwu Emeka

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Until recently, Port Harcourt was known as the “Garden City of Nigeria” because of its neatness and the overwhelming presence of vegetation all over the metropolis. But today, the presence of piles of refuse dotting the entire city may have turned Port Harcourt into a “Garbage City”. Indiscriminate dumping of industrial, commercial and household wastes such as food waste, paper, polythene, textiles, scrap metals, glasses, wood, plastic, etc. at street corners and gutters, is still very common. The waste management problem in the state affects the citizens both directly and indirectly. The dumping of waste along the roadside obstructs traffic and, after mixing with rain water may sip underground with the possibility of the leachate contaminating the groundwater. The basic solid waste management processes of collection, transportation, segregation and final disposal appear to be very inefficient. This study was undertaken to assess waste utilization using metal waste scavengers. Highlighting their activities as a part of the informal sector of the solid waste management system with a view to identifying their challenges, prospects and possible contributions to the solid waste management system in the Port Harcourt metropolis. Therefore, the aim was to understand and assess scavenging as a system of solid waste management in Port Harcourt and to identify the main bottlenecks to its efficiency and the way forward. This study targeted people who engage in scavenging metal scraps across 5 major waste dump sites across Port Harcourt. To achieve this, a mixed method study was conducted to provide both experiential evidence on this waste utilization method using a qualitative study and a survey to collect numeric evidence on this subject. The findings from the qualitative string of this study provided insight on scavenging as a waste utilization activity and how their activities can reduce the gross waste generated and collected from the subject areas. It further showed the nature and characteristics of scavengers in the waste recycling system as a means of achieving the millennium development goals towards poverty alleviation, job creation and the development of a sustainable, cleaner environment. The study showed that in Port Harcourt, the waste management practice involves the collection, transportation and disposal of waste by refuse contractors using cart pushers and disposal vehicles at designated dumpsites where the scavengers salvage metal scraps for recycling and reuse. This study further indicates that there is a great demand for metal waste materials/products that are clearly identified as genuinely sustainable, even though they may be perceived as waste. The market for these waste materials shall promote entrepreneurship as a profitable venture for waste recovery and recycling in Port Harcourt. Therefore, the benefit of resource recovery and recycling as a means of the solid waste management system will enhance waste to wealth that will reduce pollution, create job opportunities thereby alleviate poverty.

Keywords: scavengers, metal waste, waste-to-wealth, recycle, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, waste reduction, garden city, waste

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Authors: Ashok Kumar, Shiv Brat Singh, Kalyan Kumar Ray

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There is growing awareness to design steels against fatigue damage Ferrite martensite dual-phase steels are known to exhibit favourable mechanical properties like good strength, ductility, toughness, continuous yielding, and high work hardening rate. However, dual-phase steels containing bainite as second phase are potential alternatives for ferrite martensite steels for certain applications where good fatigue property is required. Fatigue properties of dual phase steels are popularly assessed by the nature of variation of crack growth rate (da/dN) with stress intensity factor range (∆K), and the magnitude of fatigue threshold (∆Kth) for long cracks. There exists an increased emphasis to understand not only the long crack fatigue behavior but also short crack growth behavior of ferrite bainite dual phase steels. The major objective of this report is to examine the influence of microstructures on the short and long crack growth behavior of a series of developed dual-phase steels with varying amounts of bainite and. Three low carbon steels containing Nb, Cr and Mo as microalloying elements steels were selected for making ferrite-bainite dual-phase microstructures by suitable heat treatments. The heat treatment consisted of austenitizing the steel at 1100°C for 20 min, cooling at different rates in air prior to soaking these in a salt bath at 500°C for one hour, and finally quenching in water. Tensile tests were carried out on 25 mm gauge length specimens with 5 mm diameter using nominal strain rate 0.6x10⁻³ s⁻¹ at room temperature. Fatigue crack growth studies were made on a recently developed specimen configuration using a rotating bending machine. The crack growth was monitored by interrupting the test and observing the specimens under an optical microscope connected to an Image analyzer. The estimated crack lengths (a) at varying number of cycles (N) in different fatigue experiments were analyzed to obtain log da/dN vs. log °∆K curves for determining ∆Kthsc. The microstructural features of these steels have been characterized and their influence on the near threshold crack growth has been examined. This investigation, in brief, involves (i) the estimation of ∆Kthsc and (ii) the examination of the influence of microstructure on short and long crack fatigue threshold. The maximum fatigue threshold values obtained from short crack growth experiments on various specimens of dual-phase steels containing different amounts of bainite are found to increase with increasing bainite content in all the investigated steels. The variations of fatigue behavior of the selected steel samples have been explained with the consideration of varying amounts of the constituent phases and their interactions with the generated microstructures during cyclic loading. Quantitative estimation of the different types of fatigue crack paths indicates that the propensity of a crack to pass through the interfaces depends on the relative amount of the microstructural constituents. The fatigue crack path is found to be predominantly intra-granular except for the ones containing > 70% bainite in which it is predominantly inter-granular.

Keywords: bainite, dual phase steel, fatigue crack growth rate, long crack fatigue threshold, short crack fatigue threshold

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: F. O’Dowd, G. Murphy, M. Roche, E. Shudell, F. Keane, M. O’Kane

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Intoduction: Apremilast (Otezla®) is an oral phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitor indicated for treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who have contraindications to have failed or intolerant of standard systemic therapy and/or phototherapy; and adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis. Apremilast influences intracellular regulation of inflammatory mediators. Two randomized, placebo-controlled trials evaluating apremilast in 1426 patients with moderate to severe plague psoriasis (ESTEEM 1 and 2) demonstrated that the commonest adverse reactions (AE’s) leading to discontinuation were nausea (1.6%), diarrhoea (1.0%), and headaches (0.8%). The overall proportion of subjects discontinuing due to adverse reactions was 6.1%. At week 16 these trials demonstrated significant more apremilast-treated patients (33.1%) achieved the primary end point PASI-75 than placebo (5.3%). We began prescribing apremilast in July 2015. Aim: To evaluate efficacy and tolerability of apremilast in an Irish teaching hospital psoriasis population. Methods: A proforma documenting clinical evaluation parameters, prior treatment experience and AE’s; was completed prospectively on all patients commenced on apremilast since July 2015 – July 2017. Data was collected at week 0,6,12,24,36 and week 52 with 20/71 patients having passed week 52. Efficacy was assessed using Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). AE’s documented included GI effects, infections, changes in weight and mood. Retrospective chart review and telephone review was utilised for missing data. Results: A total of 71 adult subjects (38 male, 33 female; age range 23-57), with moderate to severe psoriasis, were evaluated. Prior treatment: 37/71 (52%) were systemic/biologic/phototherapy naïve; 14/71 (20%) has prior phototherapy alone;20/71 (28%) had previous systemic/biologic exposure; 12/71 (17%) had both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. PASI responses: mean baseline PASI was 10.1 and DLQI was 15.Week 6: N=71, n=15 (21%) achieved PASI 75. Week 12: N= 48, n=6 (13%) achieved a PASI 100%; n=16 (34.5%) achieved a PASI 75. Week 24: N=40, n=10 (25%) achieved a PASI 100; n=15 (37.5%) achieved a PASI 75. Week 52: N= 20, n=4 (20%) achieved a PASI 100; n= 16 (80%) achieved a PASI 75. (N= number of pts having passed the time point indicated, n= number of pts (out of N) achieving PASI or DLQI responses at that time). DLQI responses: week 24: N= 40, n=30 (75%) achieved a DLQI score of 0; n=5 (12.5%) achieved a DLQI score of 1; n=1 (2.5%) achieved a DLQI score of 10 (due to lack of efficacy). Adverse Events: The proportion of patients that discontinued treatment due to AE’s was n=7 (9.8%). One patient experienced nausea alleviated by dose reduction; another developed significant dysgeusia for certain foods, both continued therapy. Two patients lost 2-3 kg. Conclusion: Initial Irish patient experience of Apremilast appears comparable to that observed in trials with good efficacy and tolerability.

Keywords: Apremilast, introduction, Ireland, clinical audit

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: A. Marais

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A challenging aspect of teaching cello to novice adult learners is finding adequate lesson material and applying relevant teaching methodologies. It could play a crucial role in adult learners' decision to commence or stop taking music lessons. This study contributes to the theory and practises of continuing education. This study is important to lifelong learning, especially with the focus on adult teaching and learning and the difficulties concerning these themes. The research problem identified for this study is we are not aware of adults' life stories; thus, cello lesson material is not always relevant for adult's specific needs for motivation and goals for starting cello lessons. In my experience, an adult does not necessarily want to play children songs when they learn a new instrument. They want material and lessons fitted to adult learners. Adults also learn differently from younger beginners. Adults ask questions such as how and why, while children more readily accept what is being taught. This research creates awareness of adults' musical needs and learning methods. If every adult shares their own story for commencing and continuing with cello lessons, material should be created, revised, or adapted for more individually appropriate lessons. A number of studies show that adults taking music lessons experience a decrease in feelings of loneliness and isolation. It gives adults a sense of wellbeing and can help improve immune systems. The purpose of this research study will be to discover the life stories of adult amateur cellists. At this stage in the research, the life stories of amateur cellists can generally be defined as personal reflections of their motivations for and experiences of commencing and continuing with individual lessons. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of cello lesson material for adult beginners based on their stories. This research could also encourage adults to commence with music lessons and could, in that way, contribute to their quality of life. Music learners become aware of deep spiritual, emotional, and social values incorporated or experienced through musical learning. This will be a qualitative study with a narrative approach making use of oral history. The chosen method will encapsulate the stories of amateur individual adults starting and continuing with cello lessons. The narrative method entails experiences as expressed in lived and told stories of individuals. Oral history is used as part of the narrative method and entails gathering of personal reflections of events and their cause and effects from an individual or several individuals. These findings from this study will contribute to adult amateur cellists' motivations to continue with music lessons and inspire others to commence. The inspiring life stories of the amateur cellists would provide insight into finding and creating new cello lesson material and enhance existing teaching methodologies for adult amateur cellists.

Keywords: adult, amateur, cello, education, learning, music, stories

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Marcin Debowski, Marcin Zielinski, Miroslaw Krzemieniewski, Agata Glowacka-Gil, Paulina Rusanowska, Magdalena Zielinska, Agnieszka Cydzik-Kwiatkowska

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Technologies of biogas upgrading are now perceived as competitive solution combustion and production of electricity and heat. Biomethane production will ensure broader application as energy carrier than biogas. Biomethane can be used as fuel in internal combustion engines or introduced into the natural gas transmission network. Therefore, there is a need to search for innovative, economically and technically justified methods for biogas enrichment. The aim of this paper is to present a technology solution for biogas upgrading with immobilized algae biomass. Reactor for biogas upgrading with immobilized algae biomass can be used for removing CO₂ from the biogas, flue gases and the waste gases especially coming from different industry sectors, e.g. from the food industry from yeast production process, biogas production systems, liquid and gaseous fuels combustion systems, hydrocarbon processing technology. The basis for the technological assumptions of presented technology were laboratory works and analyses that tested technological variants of biogas upgrading. The enrichment of biogas with a methane content of 90-97% pointed to technological assumptions for installation on a technical scale. Reactor for biogas upgrading with algae biomass is characterized by a significantly lower cubature in relation to the currently used solutions which use CO₂ removal processes. The invention, by its structure, assumes achieving a very high concentration of biomass of algae through its immobilization in capsules. This eliminates the phenomenon of lowering the pH value, i.e. acidification of the environment in which algae grow, resulting from the introduction of waste gases at a high CO₂ concentration. The system for introducing light into algae capsules is characterized by a higher degree of its use, due to lower losses resulting from the phenomenon of absorption of light energy by water. The light from the light source is continuously supplied to the formed biomass of algae or cyanobacteria in capsules by the light tubes. The light source may be sunlight or a light generator of a different wavelength of light from 300 nm to 800 nm. A portion of gas containing CO₂, accumulated in the tank and conveyed by the pump is periodically introduced into the housing of the photobioreactor tank. When conveying the gas that contains CO₂, it penetrates the algal biomass in capsules through the outer envelope, displacing, from the algal biomass, gaseous metabolic products which are discharged by the outlet duct for gases. It contributes to eliminating the negative impact of this factor on CO₂ binding processes. As a result of the cyclic dosing of gases containing carbon dioxide, gaseous metabolic products of algae are displaced and removed outside the technological system. Technology for biogas upgrading with immobilized algae biomass is suitable for the small biogas plant. The advantages of this technology are high efficiency as well as useful algae biomass which can be used mainly as animal feed, fertilizers and in the power industry. The construction of the device allows effective removal of carbon dioxide from gases at a high CO₂ concentration.

Keywords: biogas, carbon dioxide, immobilised biomass, microalgae, upgrading

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Authors: Bashar Mahmoud, Lee Mortimer, Michael Fairweather

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New methods have recently been introduced to improve the thermal property values of molten nitrate salts (a binary mixture of NaNO3:KNO3in 60:40 wt. %), by doping them with minute concentration of nanoparticles in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 wt. % to form the so-called: Nano-heat-transfer-fluid, apt for thermal energy transfer and storage applications. The present study aims to assess the stability of these nanofluids using the advanced computational modelling technique, Lagrangian particle tracking. A multi-phase solid-liquid model is used, where the motion of embedded nanoparticles in the suspended fluid is treated by an Euler-Lagrange hybrid scheme with fixed time stepping. This technique enables measurements of various multi-scale forces whose characteristic (length and timescales) are quite different. Two systems are considered, both consisting of 50 nm Al2O3 ceramic nanoparticles suspended in fluids of different density ratios. This includes both water (5 to 95 °C) and molten nitrate salt (220 to 500 °C) at various volume fractions ranging between 1% to 5%. Dynamic properties of both phases are coupled to the ambient temperature of the fluid suspension. The three-dimensional computational region consists of a 1μm cube and particles are homogeneously distributed across the domain. Periodic boundary conditions are enforced. The particle equations of motion are integrated using the fourth order Runge-Kutta algorithm with a very small time-step, Δts, set at 10-11 s. The implemented technique demonstrates the key dynamics of aggregated nanoparticles and this involves: Brownian motion, soft-sphere particle-particle collisions, and Derjaguin, Landau, Vervey, and Overbeek (DLVO) forces. These mechanisms are responsible for the predictive model of aggregation of nano-suspensions. An energy transport-based method of predicting the thermal conductivity of the nanofluids is also used to determine thermal properties of the suspension. The simulation results confirms the effectiveness of the technique. The values are in excellent agreement with the theoretical and experimental data obtained from similar studies. The predictions indicates the role of Brownian motion and DLVO force (represented by both the repulsive electric double layer and an attractive Van der Waals) and its influence in the level of nanoparticles agglomeration. As to the nano-aggregates formed that was found to play a key role in governing the thermal behavior of nanofluids at various particle concentration. The presentation will include a quantitative assessment of these forces and mechanisms, which would lead to conclusions about nanofluids, heat transfer performance and thermal characteristics and its potential application in solar thermal energy plants.

Keywords: thermal energy storage, molten salt, nano-fluids, multi-scale computational modelling

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Authors: Haftay Abraha Tadesse

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Background: Staphylococcus is a genus of worldwide distributed bacteria correlated to several infectious of different sites in humans and animals. They are among the most important causes of infection that are associated with the consumption of contaminated food. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the isolates, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and Public Health Significance of Staphylococcus aureus in raw meat from butchery and abattoir houses of Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to October 2019. Socio-demographic data and Public Health Significance were collected using a predesigned questionnaire. The raw meat samples were collected aseptically in the butchery and abattoir houses and transported using an ice box to Mekelle University, College of Veterinary Sciences, for isolating and identification of Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were determined by the disc diffusion method. Data obtained were cleaned and entered into STATA 22.0 and a logistic regression model with odds ratio was calculated to assess the association of risk factors with bacterial contamination. A P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In the present study, 88 out of 250 (35.2%) were found to be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. Among the raw meat specimens, the positivity rate of Staphylococcus aureus was 37.6% (n=47) and (32.8% (n=41), butchery and abattoir houses, respectively. Among the associated risks, factories not using gloves reduces risk was found to (AOR=0.222; 95% CI: 0.104-0.473), Strict Separation b/n clean & dirty (AOR= 1.37; 95% CI: 0.66-2.86) and poor habit of hand washing (AOR=1.08; 95%CI: 0.35 3.35) was found to be statistically significant and have associated with Staphylococcus aureus contamination. All isolates of thirty-seven of Staphylococcus aureus were checked and displayed (100%) sensitive to doxycycline, trimethoprim, gentamicin, sulphamethoxazole, amikacin, CN, Co trimoxazole and nitrofurantoi. Whereas the showed resistance to cefotaxime (100%), ampicillin (87.5%), Penicillin (75%), B (75%), and nalidixic acid (50%) from butchery houses. On the other hand, all isolates of Staphylococcus aureus isolate 100% (n= 10) showed sensitive chloramphenicol, gentamicin and nitrofurantoin, whereas they showed 100% resistance of Penicillin, B, AMX, ceftriaxone, ampicillin and cefotaxime from abattoirs houses. The overall multi-drug resistance pattern for Staphylococcus aureus was 90% and 100% of butchery and abattoir houses, respectively. Conclusion: 35.3% Staphylococcus aureus isolated were recovered from the raw meat samples collected from the butchery and abattoirs houses. More has to be done in the development of hand washing behavior and availability of safe water in the butchery houses to reduce the burden of bacterial contamination. The results of the present finding highlight the need to implement protective measures against the levels of food contamination and alternative drug options. The development of antimicrobial resistance is nearly always a result of repeated therapeutic and/or indiscriminate use of them. Regular antimicrobial sensitivity testing helps to select effective antibiotics and to reduce the problems of drug resistance development towards commonly used antibiotics.

Keywords: abattoir house, AMR, butchery house, S. aureus

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Authors: Artur Tyliszczak, Ewa Szymanek, Maciej Marek

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Flow through granular materials is important to a vast array of industries, for instance in construction industry where granular layers are used for bulkheads and isolators, in chemical engineering and catalytic reactors where large surfaces of packed granular beds intensify chemical reactions, or in energy production systems, where granulates are promising materials for heat storage and heat transfer media. Despite the common usage of granulates and extensive research performed in this field, phenomena occurring between granular solid elements or between solids and fluid are still not fully understood. In the present work we analyze the heat exchange process between the flowing medium (gas, liquid) and solid material inside the granular layers. We consider them as a composite of isolated solid elements and inter-granular spaces in which a gas or liquid can flow. The structure of the layer is controlled by shapes of particular granular elements (e.g., spheres, cylinders, cubes, Raschig rings), its spatial distribution or effective characteristic dimension (total volume or surface area). We will analyze to what extent alteration of these parameters influences on flow characteristics (turbulent intensity, mixing efficiency, heat transfer) inside the layer and behind it. Analysis of flow inside granular layers is very complicated because the use of classical experimental techniques (LDA, PIV, fibber probes) inside the layers is practically impossible, whereas the use of probes (e.g. thermocouples, Pitot tubes) requires drilling of holes inside the solid material. Hence, measurements of the flow inside granular layers are usually performed using for instance advanced X-ray tomography. In this respect, theoretical or numerical analyses of flow inside granulates seem crucial. Application of discrete element methods in combination with the classical finite volume/finite difference approaches is problematic as a mesh generation process for complex granular material can be very arduous. A good alternative for simulation of flow in complex domains is an immersed boundary-volume penalization (IB-VP) in which the computational meshes have simple Cartesian structure and impact of solid objects on the fluid is mimicked by source terms added to the Navier-Stokes and energy equations. The present paper focuses on application of the IB-VP method combined with large eddy simulation (LES). The flow solver used in this work is a high-order code (SAILOR), which was used previously in various studies, including laminar/turbulent transition in free flows and also for flows in wavy channels, wavy pipes and over various shape obstacles. In these cases a formal order of approximation turned out to be in between 1 and 2, depending on the test case. The current research concentrates on analyses of the flows in dense granular layers with elements distributed in a deterministic regular manner and validation of the results obtained using LES-IB method and body-fitted approach. The comparisons are very promising and show very good agreement. It is found that the size, number of elements and their distribution have huge impact on the obtained results. Ordering of the granular elements (or lack of it) affects both the pressure drop and efficiency of the heat transfer as it significantly changes mixing process.

Keywords: granular layers, heat transfer, immersed boundary method, numerical simulations

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Authors: Roy B. Clariana, Ryan L. Solnosky

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Structural feedback is any form of feedback that aims to improve the quality of students’ domain-normative conceptual interrelationships. Research with structural feedback points to the potential mediating role of network graphs as feedback for tuning students’ conceptual understanding; for example, improved content knowledge and motivation were observed for undergraduate students who accessed the instructor’s networks of course content. This exploratory study uses a one-group pretest-posttest design to examine the effects of instructor-provided network feedback during lectures on students’ knowledge structure measured using a concept sorting task at the pretest and posttest. Undergraduate students in an architectural engineering course (n = 32) completed a lesson module and then an end-of-unit quiz on building with wood and wood framing. Three weeks later, as a review, students completed a sorting task that used 26 terms from that lesson, then a week later, the sorting task data were used to create a group-average network, this network along with the instructor’s expert network were added to that week’s lecture slides and were compared and discussed during class time. A week later, students completed the sorting task again. The pre and post-sorting data were rendered into pathfinder networks, and then these students’ networks were compared to five referent networks, specifically the textbook chapter network, the lecture slides network, a network of the end-of-unit quiz, the actual expert network that served as the feedback intervention, and the group-average network. Inspection of means shows that knowledge structure measures improved for all five measures from pre-to-post, becoming more like the lesson content and like the expert. Repeated measures analysis with follow-up paired samples t-tests showed pre-to-post significant increases for both the end-of-unit quiz and the expert network referents. The findings show that instructor presentation of structural feedback as networks improved or ‘tuned’ students’ knowledge structure of the lesson content. This approach only takes a few extra minutes of class time and is fairly simple to implement in ordinary classrooms, and so it has wide potential to support classroom instruction and student learning. Further research is needed to determine how critical it is to present both the group-average network along with the expert network for comparison in order to highlight group-level misconceptions, or is presenting only the expert network sufficient? If a group-level network is necessary, then a simple clicker-like classroom tool could be developed to collect sorting task data during lectures that could then immediately provide the group-average network for class discussion and reflection.

Keywords: classroom instruction, engineering education, knowledge structure, pathfinder networks, structural feedback

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Authors: Alexander Harrison Greer, Edward King, Elijah Lee, Safa Obuz, Ruhao Sun, Aditya Sardesai, Toby Ma, Daniel Chow, Bryce Broadus, Calvin Costner, Troy Barnes, Biagio DeSimone, Yeshwin Sankuratri, Yiheng Chen, Holly Golecki

Abstract:

Although a relatively new field, soft robotics is experiencing a rise in applicability in the secondary school setting through The Soft Robotics Toolkit, shared fabrication resources and a design competition. Exposing students outside of university research groups to this rapidly growing field allows for development of the soft robotics industry in new and imaginative ways. Soft robotic actuators have remained difficult to implement in classrooms because of their relative cost or difficulty of fabrication. Traditionally, a two-part molding system is used; however, this configuration often results in delamination. In an effort to make soft robotics more accessible to young students, we aim to develop a simple, single-mold method of fabricating soft robotic actuators from common household materials. These actuators are made by embedding a soluble polymer insert into silicone. These inserts can be made from hand-cut polystyrene, 3D-printed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or molded sugar. The insert is then dissolved using an appropriate solvent such as water or acetone, leaving behind a negative form which can be pneumatically actuated. The resulting actuators are seamless, eliminating the instability of adhering multiple layers together. The benefit of this approach is twofold: it simplifies the process of creating a soft robotic actuator, and in turn, increases its effectiveness and durability. To quantify the increased durability of the single-mold actuator, it was tested against the traditional two-part mold. The single-mold actuator could withstand actuation at 20psi for 20 times the duration when compared to the traditional method. The ease of fabrication of these actuators makes them more accessible to hobbyists and students in classrooms. After developing these actuators, they were applied, in collaboration with a ceramics teacher at our school, to a glove used to transfer nuanced hand motions used to throw pottery from an expert artist to a novice. We quantified the improvement in the users’ pottery-making skill when wearing the glove using image analysis software. The seamless actuators proved to be robust in this dynamic environment. Seamless soft robotic actuators created by high school students show the applicability of the Soft Robotics Toolkit for secondary STEM education and outreach. Making students aware of what is possible through projects like this will inspire the next generation of innovators in materials science and robotics.

Keywords: pneumatic actuator fabrication, soft robotic glove, soluble polymers, STEM outreach

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Authors: Leigh G. Hayden, Susan E. Shepley, Cristina Passarelli, William Tingo

Abstract:

Introduction: Sensory interventions are popular therapeutic and recreational approaches for people living with all stages of dementia. However, it is unknown which sensory interventions are used to achieve which outcomes across all subtypes of dementia. Methods: To address this gap, we conducted a scoping review of sensory interventions for people living with dementia. We conducted a search of the literature for any article published in English from 1 January 1990 to 1 June 2019, on any sensory or multisensory intervention targeted to people living with any kind of dementia, which reported on patient health outcomes. We did not include complex interventions where only a small aspect was related to sensory stimulation. We searched the databases Medline, CINHAL, and Psych Articles using our institutional discovery layer. We conducted all screening in duplicate to reduce Type 1 and Type 2 errors. The data from all included papers were extracted by one team member, and audited by another, to ensure consistency of extraction and completeness of data. Results: Our initial search captured 7654 articles, and the removal of duplicates (n=5329), those that didn’t pass title and abstract screening (n=1840) and those that didn’t pass full-text screening (n=281) resulted in 174 articles included. The countries with the highest publication in this area were the United States (n=59), the United Kingdom (n=26) and Australia (n=15). The most common type of interventions were music therapy (n=36), multisensory rooms (n=27) and multisensory therapies (n=25). Seven articles were published in the 1990’s, 55 in the 2000’s, and the remainder since 2010 (n=112). Discussion: Multisensory rooms have been present in the literature since the early 1990’s. However, more recently, nature/garden therapy, art therapy, and light therapy have emerged since 2008 in the literature, an indication of the increasingly diverse scholarship in the area. The least popular type of intervention is a traditional food intervention. Taste as a sensory intervention is generally avoided for safety reasons, however it shows potential for increasing quality of life. Agitation, behavior, and mood are common outcomes for all sensory interventions. However, light therapy commonly targets sleep. The majority (n=110) of studies have very small sample sizes (n=20 or less), an indicator of the lack of robust data in the field. Additional small-scale studies of the known sensory interventions will likely do little to advance the field. However, there is a need for multi-armed studies which directly compare sensory interventions, and more studies which investigate the use of layering sensory interventions (for example, adding an aromatherapy component to a lighting intervention). In addition, large scale studies which enroll people at early stages of dementia will help us better understand the potential of sensory and multisensory interventions to slow the progression of the disease.

Keywords: sensory interventions, dementia, scoping review

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Authors: Juliane Spaak

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A life-cycle assessment was performed, looking at seven retrofit projects in New Zealand using LCAQuickV3.5. The study found that retrofits save up to 80% of embodied carbon emissions for the structural elements compared to a new building. In other words, it is only a 20% carbon investment to transform and extend a building’s life. In addition, the systems were evaluated by looking at environmental impacts over the design life of these buildings and resilience using FEMA P58 and PACT software. With the increasing interest in Zero Carbon targets, significant changes in the building and construction sector are required. Emissions for buildings arise from both embodied carbon and operations. Based on the significant advancements in building energy technology, the focus is moving more toward embodied carbon, a large portion of which is associated with the structure. Since older buildings make up most of the real estate stock of our cities around the world, their reuse through structural retrofit and wider refurbishment plays an important role in extending the life of a building’s embodied carbon. New Zealand’s building owners and engineers have learned a lot about seismic issues following a decade of significant earthquakes. Recent earthquakes have brought to light the necessity to move away from constructing code-minimum structures that are designed for life safety but are frequently ‘disposable’ after a moderate earthquake event, especially in relation to a structure’s ability to minimize damage. This means weaker buildings sit as ‘carbon liabilities’, with considerably more carbon likely to be expended remediating damage after a shake. Renovating and retrofitting older assets plays a big part in reducing the carbon profile of the buildings sector, as breathing new life into a building’s structure is vastly more sustainable than the highest quality ‘green’ new builds, which are inherently more carbon-intensive. The demolition of viable older buildings (often including heritage buildings) is increasingly at odds with society’s desire for a lower carbon economy. Bringing seismic resilience and carbon best practice together in decision-making can open the door to commercially attractive outcomes, with retrofits that include structural and sustainability upgrades transforming the asset’s revenue generation. Across the global real estate market, tenants are increasingly demanding the buildings they occupy be resilient and aligned with their own climate targets. The relationship between seismic performance and ‘sustainable design’ has yet to fully mature, yet in a wider context is of profound consequence. A whole-of-life carbon perspective on a building means designing for the likely natural hazards within the asset’s expected lifespan, be that earthquake, storms, damage, bushfires, fires, and so on, ¬with financial mitigation (e.g., insurance) part, but not all, of the picture.

Keywords: retrofit, sustainability, earthquake, reuse, carbon, resilient

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Authors: Geday Elias, Montaigne Etienne, Padilla Martine, Tollossa Degefa

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Smallholder farmers’ participation in agricultural value chain identified as a pathway to get out of poverty trap in Ethiopia. The smallholder dairy activities have a huge potential in poverty reduction through enhancing income, achieving food and nutritional security in the country. However, much less is known about the effects of smallholder’s participation in milk value chain on household food security and nutrition. This paper therefore, aims at evaluating the effects of smallholders’ participation in milk value chain on household food security taking in to account the four pillars of food security measurements (availability, access, utilization and stability). Using a semi-structured interview, a cross sectional farm household data collected from a randomly selected sample of 333 households (170 in Amhara and 163 in Oromia regions).Binary logit and propensity score matching( PSM) models are employed to examine the mechanisms through which smallholder’s participation in the milk value chain affects household food security where crop production, per capita calorie intakes, diet diversity score, and food insecurity access scale are used to measure food availability, access, utilization and stability respectively. Our findings reveal from 333 households, only 34.5% of smallholder farmers are participated in the milk value chain. Limited access to inputs and services, limited access to inputs markets and high transaction costs are key constraints for smallholders’ limited access to the milk value chain. To estimate the true average participation effects of milk value chain for participated households, the outcome variables (food security) of farm households who participated in milk value chain are compared with the outcome variables if the farm households had not participated. The PSM analysis reveals smallholder’s participation in milk value chain has a significant positive effect on household income, food security and nutrition. Smallholder farmers who are participated in milk chain are better by 15 quintals crops production and 73 percent of per capita calorie intakes in food availability and access respectively than smallholder farmers who are not participated in the market. Similarly, the participated households are better in dietary quality by 112 percents than non-participated households. Finally, smallholders’ who are participated in milk value chain are better in reducing household vulnerability to food insecurity by an average of 130 percent than non participated households. The results also shows income earned from milk value chain participation contributed to reduce capital’s constraints of the participated households’ by higher farm income and total household income by 5164 ETB and 14265 ETB respectively. This study therefore, confirms the potential role of smallholders’ participation in food value chain to get out of poverty trap through improving rural household income, food security and nutrition. Therefore, identified the determinants of smallholder participation in milk value chain and the participation effects on food security in the study areas are worth considering as a positive knock for policymakers and development agents to tackle the poverty trap in the study area in particular and in the country in general.

Keywords: effects, food security and nutrition, milk, participation, smallholders, value chain

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Authors: Mairaj Salim, Asma Zaheer

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Oman has accomplished as much or more than its fellow Gulf monarchies, despite starting from scratch considerably later, having less oil income to utilize, dealing with a larger and more rugged geography, and resolving a bitter civil war along the way. Of course, Oman's progress in the past 30-plus years has not been without problems and missteps, but the balance is squarely on the positive side of the ledger. Oil has been the driving force of the Omani economy since Oman began commercial production in 1967. The oil industry supports the country’s high standard of living and is primarily responsible for its modern and expansive infrastructure, including electrical utilities, telephone services, roads, public education and medical services. In addition to extensive oil reserves, Oman also has substantial natural gas reserves, which are expected to play a leading role in the Omani economy in the Twenty-first Century. To reduce the country’s dependence on oil revenues, the government is restructuring the economy by directing investment to non-oil activities. Since the 21st century IT has changed the performing tasks. To manage the affairs for the benefits of organizations and economy, the Omani government has adopted E-Business technologies for the development. E-Business is important because it allows • Transformation of old economy relationships (vertical/linear relationships) to new economy relationships characterized by end-to-end relationship management solutions (integrated or extended relationships) • Facilitation and organization of networks, small firms depend on ‘partner’ firms for supplies and product distribution to meet customer demands • SMEs to outsource back-end process or cost centers enabling the SME to focus on their core competence • ICT to connect, manage and integrate processes internally and externally • SMEs to join networks and enter new markets, through shortened supply chains to increase market share, customers and suppliers • SMEs to take up the benefits of e-business to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, improve client referral and attract quality partners • New business models of collaboration for SMEs to increase their skill base • SMEs to enter virtual trading arena and increase their market reach A national strategy for the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) has been worked out, mainly to introduce e-government, e-commerce, and a digital society. An information technology complex KOM (Knowledge Oasis Muscat) had been established, consisting of section for information technology, incubator services, a shopping center of technology software and hardware, ICT colleges, E-Government services and other relevant services. So, all these efforts play a vital role in the development of Oman economy.

Keywords: ICT, ITA, CRM, SCM, ERP, KOM, SMEs, e-commerce and e-business

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Authors: David A. Ullisch, Yantree D. Sankar-Thomas, Stefan Wilke, Thomas Selge, Matthias Pump, Thomas Leibold, Kai Schütte, Gilbert Gorr

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Plants have been considered as a source of natural substances for ages. Secondary metabolites from plants are utilized especially in medical applications but are more and more interesting as cosmetical ingredients and in the field of nutraceuticals. However, supply of compounds from natural harvest can be limited by numerous factors i.e. endangered species, low product content, climate impacts and cost intensive extraction. Especially in the pharmaceutical industry the ability to provide sufficient amounts of product and high quality are additional requirements which in some cases are difficult to fulfill by plant harvest. Whereas in many cases the complexity of secondary metabolites precludes chemical synthesis on a reasonable commercial basis, plant cells contain the biosynthetic pathway – a natural chemical factory – for a given compound. A promising approach for the sustainable production of natural products can be plant cell fermentation (PCF®). A thoroughly accomplished development process comprises the identification of a high producing cell line, optimization of growth and production conditions, the development of a robust and reliable production process and its scale-up. In order to address persistent, long lasting production, development of cryopreservation protocols and generation of working cell banks is another important requirement to be considered. So far the most prominent example using a PCF® process is the production of the anticancer compound paclitaxel. To demonstrate the power of plant suspension cultures here we present three case studies: 1) For more than 17 years Phyton produces paclitaxel at industrial scale i.e. up to 75,000 L in scale. With 60 g/kg dw this fully controlled process which is applied according to GMP results in outstanding high yields. 2) Thapsigargin is another anticancer compound which is currently isolated from seeds of Thapsia garganica. Thapsigargin is a powerful cytotoxin – a SERCA inhibitor – and the precursor for the derivative ADT, the key ingredient of the investigational prodrug Mipsagargin (G-202) which is in several clinical trials. Phyton successfully generated plant cell lines capable to express this compound. Here we present data about the screening for high producing cell lines. 3) The third case study covers ingenol-3-mebutate. This compound is found in the milky sap of the intact plants of the Euphorbiacae family at very low concentrations. Ingenol-3-mebutate is used in Picato® which is approved against actinic keratosis. Generation of cell lines expressing significant amounts of ingenol-3-mebutate is another example underlining the strength of plant cell culture. The authors gratefully acknowledge Inspyr Therapeutics for funding.

Keywords: Ingenol-3-mebutate, plant cell culture, sustainability, thapsigargin

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Authors: Matteo Gentilucci, Marco Materazzi, Gilberto Pambianchi

Abstract:

Climate change is an increasingly central issue in the world, because it affects many of human activities. In this context regional studies are of great importance because they sometimes differ from the general trend. This research focuses on a small area of central Italy which overlooks the Adriatic Sea, the province of Macerata. The aim is to analyze space-based climate changes, for precipitation and temperatures, in the last 3 climatological standard normals (1961-1990; 1971-2000; 1981-2010) through GIS software. The data collected from 30 weather stations for temperature and 61 rain gauges for precipitation were subject to quality controls: validation and homogenization. These data were fundamental for the spatialization of the variables (temperature and precipitation) through geostatistical techniques. To assess the best geostatistical technique for interpolation, the results of cross correlation were used. The co-kriging method with altitude as independent variable produced the best cross validation results for all time periods, among the methods analysed, with 'root mean square error standardized' close to 1, 'mean standardized error' close to 0, 'average standard error' and 'root mean square error' with similar values. The maps resulting from the analysis were compared by subtraction between rasters, producing 3 maps of annual variation and three other maps for each month of the year (1961/1990-1971/2000; 1971/2000-1981/2010; 1961/1990-1981/2010). The results show an increase in average annual temperature of about 0.1°C between 1961-1990 and 1971-2000 and 0.6 °C between 1961-1990 and 1981-2010. Instead annual precipitation shows an opposite trend, with an average difference from 1961-1990 to 1971-2000 of about 35 mm and from 1961-1990 to 1981-2010 of about 60 mm. Furthermore, the differences in the areas have been highlighted with area graphs and summarized in several tables as descriptive analysis. In fact for temperature between 1961-1990 and 1971-2000 the most areally represented frequency is 0.08°C (77.04 Km² on a total of about 2800 km²) with a kurtosis of 3.95 and a skewness of 2.19. Instead, the differences for temperatures from 1961-1990 to 1981-2010 show a most areally represented frequency of 0.83 °C, with -0.45 as kurtosis and 0.92 as skewness (36.9 km²). Therefore it can be said that distribution is more pointed for 1961/1990-1971/2000 and smoother but more intense in the growth for 1961/1990-1981/2010. In contrast, precipitation shows a very similar shape of distribution, although with different intensities, for both variations periods (first period 1961/1990-1971/2000 and second one 1961/1990-1981/2010) with similar values of kurtosis (1st = 1.93; 2nd = 1.34), skewness (1st = 1.81; 2nd = 1.62 for the second) and area of the most represented frequency (1st = 60.72 km²; 2nd = 52.80 km²). In conclusion, this methodology of analysis allows the assessment of small scale climate change for each month of the year and could be further investigated in relation to regional atmospheric dynamics.

Keywords: climate change, GIS, interpolation, co-kriging

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