Search results for: copy number variant

Authors: Balaji Viswanathan, Tim Oates

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A number of pilot projects have commenced across the world to use robots for senior care. We aim to measure the likeability of these robots among seniors and help robot designers focus on the features that matter. We built a robot likability score with over 30 parameters and used this to interview 50 seniors in various locations in the United States. This paper presents the results of this field research.

Keywords: HRI, assistive robotics, social robotics, HCI, aging

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Authors: Massimiliano Biagini, Marco Spinsanti, Gabriella De Angelis, Sara Tomei, Ilaria Ferlenghi, Maria Scarselli, Alessia Biolchi, Alessandro Muzzi, Brunella Brunelli, Silvana Savino, Marzia M. Giuliani, Isabel Delany, Paolo Costantino, Rino Rappuoli, Vega Masignani, Nathalie Norais

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The gram-negative bacterium Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) is an exclusively human pathogen representing the major cause of meningitides and severe sepsis in infants and children but also in young adults. This pathogen is usually present in the 30% of healthy population that act as a reservoir, spreading it through saliva and respiratory fluids during coughing, sneezing, kissing. Among surface-exposed protein components of this diplococcus, factor H binding protein is a lipoprotein proved to be a protective antigen used as a component of the recently licensed Bexsero vaccine. fHbp is a highly variable meningococcal protein: to reflect its remarkable sequence variability, it has been classified in three variants (or two subfamilies), and with poor cross-protection among the different variants. Furthermore, the level of fHbp expression varies significantly among strains, and this has also been considered an important factor for predicting MenB strain susceptibility to anti-fHbp antisera. Different methods have been used to assess fHbp expression on meningococcal strains, however, all these methods use anti-fHbp antibodies, and for this reason, the results are affected by the different affinity that antibodies can have to different antigenic variants. To overcome the limitations of an antibody-based quantification, we developed a quantitative Mass Spectrometry (MS) approach. Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM) recently emerged as a powerful MS tool for detecting and quantifying proteins in complex mixtures. SRM is based on the targeted detection of ProteoTypicPeptides (PTPs), which are unique signatures of a protein that can be easily detected and quantified by MS. This approach, proven to be highly sensitive, quantitatively accurate and highly reproducible, was used to quantify the absolute amount of fHbp antigen in total extracts derived from 105 clinical isolates, evenly distributed among the three main variant groups and selected to be representative of the fHbp circulating subvariants around the world. We extended the study at the genetic level investigating the correlation between the differential level of expression and polymorphisms present within the genes and their promoter sequences. The implications of fHbp expression on the susceptibility of the strain to killing by anti-fHbp antisera are also presented. To date this is the first comprehensive fHbp expression profiling in a large panel of Neisseria meningitidis clinical isolates driven by an antibody-independent MS-based methodology, opening the door to new applications in vaccine coverage prediction and reinforcing the molecular understanding of released vaccines.

Keywords: quantitative mass spectrometry, Neisseria meningitidis, vaccines, bexsero, molecular epidemiology

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Authors: Raj Kumar, Prem Felix Siril

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The poor aqueous solubility of many pharmaceutical drugs and potential drug candidates is a big challenge in drug development. Nanoformulation of such candidates is one of the major solutions for the delivery of such drugs. We initially developed the evaporation assisted solvent-antisolvent interaction (EASAI) method. EASAI method is use full to prepared nanoparticles of poor water soluble drugs with spherical morphology and particles size below 100 nm. However, to further improve the effect formulation to reduce number of dose and side effect it is important to control the delivery of drugs. However, many drug delivery systems are available. Among the many nano-drug carrier systems, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have many advantages over the others such as high biocompatibility, stability, non-toxicity and ability to achieve controlled release of drugs and drug targeting. SLNs can be administered through all existing routes due to high biocompatibility of lipids. SLNs are usually composed of lipid, surfactant and drug were encapsulated in lipid matrix. A number of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have poor bioavailability resulting from their poor aqueous solubility. In the present work, SLNs loaded with NSAIDs such as Nabumetone (NBT), Ketoprofen (KP) and Ibuprofen (IBP) were successfully prepared using different lipids and surfactants. We studied and optimized experimental parameters using a number of lipids, surfactants and NSAIDs. The effect of different experimental parameters such as lipid to surfactant ratio, volume of water, temperature, drug concentration and sonication time on the particles size of SLNs during the preparation using hot-melt sonication was studied. It was found that particles size was directly proportional to drug concentration and inversely proportional to surfactant concentration, volume of water added and temperature of water. SLNs prepared at optimized condition were characterized thoroughly by using different techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). We successfully prepared the SLN of below 220 nm using different lipids and surfactants combination. The drugs KP, NBT and IBP showed 74%, 69% and 53% percentage of entrapment efficiency with drug loading of 2%, 7% and 6% respectively in SLNs of Campul GMS 50K and Gelucire 50/13. In-vitro drug release profile of drug loaded SLNs is shown that nearly 100% of drug was release in 6 h.

Keywords: nanoparticles, delivery, solid lipid nanoparticles, hot-melt sonication, poor water soluble drugs, solubility, bioavailability

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Authors: Thaminda Liyanage, Anuga Liyanage, Chamila Kurukulasuriya, Sidath Bandara

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Background: The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is growing rapidly around the world, particularly in Asia. Over the last two decades Sri Lanka has experienced an epidemic of CKD with ever growing number of patients pursuing medical care due to CKD and its complications, specially in the “Mahaweli” river basin in north central region of the island nation. This was apparently a new form of CKD which was not attributable to conventional risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension or infection and widely termed as “CKD-unknown” or “CKDu”. In the past decade a number of small scale studies were conducted to determine the aetiology, prevalence and complications of CKDu in North Central region. These hospital-based studies did not provide an accurate estimate of the problem as merely 10% or less of the people with CKD are aware of their diagnosis even in developed countries with better access to medical care. Interestingly, similar observations were made on the changing epidemiology of obesity in the region but no formal study was conducted to date to determine the magnitude of obesity burden. Moreover, if increasing obesity in the region is associated with CKD epidemic is yet to be explored. Methods: We will conduct an area wide cross sectional survey among all adult residents of the “Mahaweli” development project area 5, in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. We will collect relevant medical history, anthropometric measurements, blood and urine for hematological and biochemical analysis. We expect a participation rate of 75%-85% of all eligible participants. Participation in the study is voluntary, there will be no incentives provided for participation. Every analysis will be conducted in a central laboratory and data will be stored securely. We will calculate the prevalence of obesity and chronic kidney disease, overall and by stage using total number of participants as the denominator and report per 1000 population. The association of obesity and CKD will be assessed with regression models and will be adjusted for potential confounding factors and stratified by potential effect modifiers where appropriate. Results: This study will provide accurate information on the prevalence of obesity and CKD in the region. Furthermore, this will explore the association between obesity and CKD, although causation may not be confirmed. Conclusion: Obesity and CKD are increasingly recognized as major public health problems in Sri Lanka. Clearly, documenting the magnitude of the problem is the essential first step. Our study will provide this vital information enabling the government to plan a coordinated response to tackle both obesity and CKD in the region.

Keywords: BMI, Chronic Kidney Disease, obesity, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Mary Cheptanui Sambu

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Teaching practice is an integral component of students who are training to be teachers, as it provides them with an opportunity to gain experience in an actual teaching and learning environment. This study explored the experiences of trainee teachers from a local university in Kenya, undergoing a three-month teaching practice in Special Secondary schools in the country. The main aim of the study was to understand the trainees’ experiences, their expectations, and the realities encountered during the teaching practice period. The study focused on special secondary schools for learners with hearing impairment. A descriptive survey design was employed and a sample size of forty-four respondents from special secondary schools for learners with hearing impairment was purposively selected. A questionnaire was administered to the respondents and the data obtained analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Preliminary analysis shows that challenges facing special secondary schools include inadequate teaching and learning facilities and resources, low academic performance among learners with hearing impairment, an overloaded curriculum and inadequate number of teachers for the learners. The study findings suggest that the Kenyan government should invest more in the education of special needs children, particularly focusing on increasing the number of trained teachers. In addition, the education curriculum offered in special secondary schools should be tailored towards the needs and interest of learners. These research findings will be useful to policymakers and curriculum developers, and will provide information that can be used to enhance the education of learners with hearing impairment; this will lead to improved academic performance, consequently resulting in better transitions and the realization of Vision 2030.

Keywords: hearing impairment, special secondary schools, trainee, teaching practice

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Authors: A. E. Buyken, D. J. Mela, P. Dussort, I. T. Johnson, I. A. Macdonald, A. Piekarz, J. D. Stowell, F. Brouns

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Recently a number of renewed dietary guidelines have been published by various health authorities. The aim of the present work was 1) to review the processes (systematic approach/review, inclusion of public consultation) and methodological approaches used to identify and select the underpinning evidence base for the established recommendations for total carbohydrate (CHO), fiber and sugar consumption, and 2) examine how differences in the methods and processes applied may have influenced the final recommendations. A search of WHO, US, Canada, Australia and European sources identified 13 authoritative dietary guidelines with the desired detailed information. Each of these guidelines was evaluated for its scientific basis (types and grading of the evidence) and the processes by which the guidelines were developed Based on the data retrieved the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) Generally, a relatively high total CHO and fiber intake and limited intake of sugars (added or free) is recommended. 2) Even where recommendations are quite similar, the specific, justifications for quantitative/qualitative recommendations differ across authorities. 3) Differences appear to be due to inconsistencies in underlying definitions of CHO exposure and in the concurrent appraisal of CHO-providing foods and nutrients as well the choice and number of health outcomes selected for the evidence appraisal. 4) Differences in the selected articles, time frames or data aggregation method appeared to be of rather minor influence. From this assessment, the main recommendations are for: 1) more explicit quantitative justifications for numerical guidelines and communication of uncertainty; and 2) greater international harmonization, particularly with regard to underlying definitions of exposures and range of relevant nutrition-related outcomes.

Keywords: carbohydrates, dietary fibres, dietary guidelines, recommendations, sugars

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Authors: Baboo Ali, Avni Ugur

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Pesticide namely, Diflubenzuron, is tremendously used in pear orchards against different insect pests of pear fruit trees in Turkey. The predatory bug, Anthocoris nemoralis (F.) is found in pear orchard feeding on Cacopsylla pyri (L.) (Homoptera: Psyllidae), is an insect pest of pear fruit trees. In this study, the effectiveness of the above mentioned pesticide on various biological stages of predatory bug were investigated under laboratory conditions of 25±1˚C, 75±5% RH, and photoperiod of 16L: 8D h. Newly emerged 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th instars as well as the female and male stages of the predatory bug were placed on treated petri dishes and their mortality was checked after every 24 hours till the survival of the last individual. Prey consumption of surviving instars as well as the adult stages was determined simultaneously. All biological stages of the predatory bug were fed with eggs of Ephestia kuehniella during the whole research work. Percent hatch of treated eggs was recorded after every 24 hours, and the behavioral test of the male and female stages against Diflubenzuron was also determined using Y-tube olfactometer. Consequently, the mortality rate of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th instars was 61.32 %, 67.50%, 74. 91%, 80.11%, and 83.04%, respectively. In case of male and female stages, it has been recorded as 95.47% and 95.50%, respectively. Thus, a significant difference was not found between female and male mortality rates. Prey consumption of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th surviving instars was noted as 8.01, 11. 72, 13.24, 16.93 and 20.49 number of eggs/day while in females and males, it was 12.05 and 12.71 number of eggs/day, respectively. Hatching ratio of treated eggs of predator was 25.32±4.08. As far as the behavioral test is concerned, it has been indicated that Diflubenzuron has 65% repellent effect on the newly emerged male and female stages of the predatory bug while using Y-tube olfactometer under laboratory conditions.

Keywords: behavior, biological stages, diflubenzuron, effectiveness, pesticide, predatory bug

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Authors: Burak M. Gonultas

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Criminal investigation provides a practical contribution to this process while criminology provides a theoretical background in the apprehension of criminals arrest and clarification of crimes. However, studies on criminal investigation, which is a practical aspect of this process, are not sufficient. Every crime involves different dynamics in terms of investigation. But investigations of serious crimes are versatile and contains complex processes because of cases they are conducted. Therefore, professionals who conduct serious crime investigations differ in some aspects from others in the field. The most fundamental element of this differentiation is skills and abilities of these professionals. According to Eurostat data, Turkey is in an important position in terms of homicide rates. Therefore, in Turkey practice of serious crime investigation is specialized. The present study aims to research the skills and abilities expected from professionals in conducting an effective serious criminal investigation in Turkey and so aims to offer a number of suggestions. 25 emerged ability and skills collected from literature were asked to professionals (n=289) with semi-structured form according to 5 provinces with the highest and 2 provinces with the lowest number of serious crime cases. Three data categories were collected during experience: 1- Five most important skills and abilities, 2- The most important skills for knowledge and inquiry management and 3- Ability and skills that stand out for five stages of serious criminal investigation. The most rated skills and abilities are investigative skill (13%, n=134), planning/designing (9,2%, n=95) and interpersonal relations/communication (8,8%, n=91) in 1010 skills and abilities. While the 1st and 2nd suggest elections of these professionals, the 3rd also suggests how and what type of training will be given to these professionals. This practice differs from other studies in the area in terms of separately addressing the skills and abilities expected in stages of investigation and in terms of selected methodology.

Keywords: ability, criminal investigation, criminology, homicide, serious crimes, skill, Turkey

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Authors: Nihal Chandratilaka Matara Arachchige, Nishantha Sampath Punichihewa

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Intellectual property (IP) assets are the ‘crown-jewels’ of innovation-driven businesses in the knowledge-based economy. In that sense, IP rights such as patents, trademarks and copyrights afford enormous economic opportunities to an enterprise, especially Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). As can be gleaned from the latest statistics, the domestic industries in Sri Lanka are predominantly represented by SMEs. Undeniably, in terms of economic contribution, the SME sector is considered to be the backbone of the country’s ‘real economy’. However, the SME sector in Sri Lanka faces number of challenges. One of the nearly-insurmountable-hurdles for small businesses is the access to credit facilities, due to the lack of collateral. In the eyes of law, the collateral is something pledged as security for repayment in the event of default. Even though the intellectual property rights are used as collateral in order to facilitate obtaining credit for businesses in number of Asian jurisdictions, financial institutions in Sri Lanka are extremely reluctant to accept IP rights as collateral for granting financial resources to SMEs. Against this backdrop, this research investigates from a legal perspective reasons for not accepting IP rights as collateral when granting loans for SMEs. Drawing emerging examples from other jurisdiction, it further examines the inadequacies of existing legal framework in relation to the use of IP rights as collateral. The methodology followed in this paper is qualitative research. Empirical research and analysis concerning the core research question are carried out by conducting in-depth interviews with stakeholders, including leading financial institutions in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: intellectual property assets, SMEs, collaterals financial facilities, credits

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Authors: Donghun Jeong, Somyoung Shin, Yeoil Yun

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A large-scale traffic accident refers to an accident in which more than three people die or more than thirty people are dead or injured. In order to prevent a large-scale traffic accident from causing a big loss of lives or establish effective improvement measures, it is important to analyze accident situations in-depth and understand the effects of major accident variables on an accident. This study aims to analyze the contribution of individual accident variables to accident results, based on the accurate reconstruction of traffic accidents using PC-Crash’s Multi-Body, which is an accident reconstruction program, and simulation of each scenario. Multi-Body system of PC-Crash accident reconstruction program is used for multi-body accident reconstruction that shows motions in diverse directions that were not approached previously. MB System is to design and reproduce a form of body, which shows realistic motions, using several bodies. Targeting the 'freight truck cargo drop accident around the Changwon Tunnel' that happened in November 2017, this study conducted a simulation of the freight truck cargo drop accident and analyzed the contribution of individual accident majors. Then on the basis of the driving speed, cargo load, and stacking method, six scenarios were devised. The simulation analysis result displayed that the freight car was driven at a speed of 118km/h(speed limit: 70km/h) right before the accident, carried 196 oil containers with a weight of 7,880kg (maximum load: 4,600kg) and was not fully equipped with anchoring equipment that could prevent a drop of cargo. The vehicle speed, cargo load, and cargo anchoring equipment were major accident variables, and the accident contribution analysis results of individual variables are as follows. When the freight car only obeyed the speed limit, the scattering distance of oil containers decreased by 15%, and the number of dropped oil containers decreased by 39%. When the freight car only obeyed the cargo load, the scattering distance of oil containers decreased by 5%, and the number of dropped oil containers decreased by 34%. When the freight car obeyed both the speed limit and cargo load, the scattering distance of oil containers fell by 38%, and the number of dropped oil containers fell by 64%. The analysis result of each scenario revealed that the overspeed and excessive cargo load of the freight car contributed to the dispersion of accident damage; in the case of a truck, which did not allow a fall of cargo, there was a different type of accident when driven too fast and carrying excessive cargo load, and when the freight car obeyed the speed limit and cargo load, there was the lowest possibility of causing an accident.

Keywords: accident reconstruction, large-scale traffic accident, PC-Crash, MB system

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Authors: Mohammed A. Elhaj, Jamal S. Yassin

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Owing to the lack of synchronization between the solar energy availability and the heat demands in a specific application, the energy storing sub-system is necessary to maintain the continuity of thermal process. The present work is dealing with an active solar heating storing system in which an air solar collector is connected to storing unit where this energy is distributed and provided to the heated space in a controlled manner. The solar collector is a box type absorber where the air flows between a number of vanes attached between the collector absorber and the bottom plate. This design can improve the efficiency due to increasing the heat transfer area exposed to the flowing air, as well as the heat conduction through the metal vanes from the top absorbing surface. The storing unit is a packed bed type where the air is coming from the air collector and circulated through the bed in order to add/remove the energy through the charging / discharging processes, respectively. The major advantage of the packed bed storage is its high degree of thermal stratification. Numerical solution of the packed bed energy storage is considered through dividing the bed into a number of equal segments for the bed particles and solved the energy equation for each segment depending on the neighbor ones. The studied design and performance parameters in the developed simulation model including, particle size, void fraction, etc. The final results showed that the collector efficiency was fluctuated between 55%-61% in winter season (January) under the climatic conditions of Misurata in Libya. Maximum temperature of 52ºC is attained at the top of the bed while the lower one is 25ºC at the end of the charging process of hot air into the bed. This distribution can satisfy the required load for the most house heating in Libya.

Keywords: solar energy, thermal process, performance, collector, packed bed, numerical analysis, simulation

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Authors: Takamitsu Kodama, Eiji Kawamoto

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Introduction: Ultrasound in emergency room has advantages of safer, faster, repeatable and noninvasive. Especially focused Point-Of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) is used daily for prompt and accurate diagnoses, for quickly identifying critical and life-threatening conditions. That is why ultrasound has demonstrated its usefulness in emergency medicine. The true value of ultrasound has been once again recognized in recent years. It is thought that all resident physicians working at emergency room should perform an ultrasound scan to interpret signs and symptoms of deteriorating patients in the emergency room. However, a practical education on ultrasound is still in development. To resolve this issue, we established a new educational program using high-fidelity simulators and evaluated the efficacy of this course. Methods: Educational program includes didactic lectures and skill stations in half-day course. Instructor gives a lecture on POCUS such as Rapid Ultrasound in Shock (RUSH) and/or Focused Assessment Transthoracic Echo (FATE) protocol at the beginning of the course. Then, attendees are provided for training of scanning with cooperation of normal simulated patients. In the end, attendees learn how to apply focused POCUS skills at clinical situation using high-fidelity simulators such as SonoSim® (SonoSim, Inc) and SimMan® 3G (Laerdal Medical). Evaluation was conducted through surveillance questionnaires to 19 attendees after two pilot courses. The questionnaires were focused on understanding course concept and satisfaction. Results: All attendees answered the questionnaires. With respect to the degree of understanding, 12 attendees (number of valid responses: 13) scored four or more points out of five points. High-fidelity simulators, especially SonoSim® was highly appreciated to enhance learning how to handle ultrasound at an actual practice site by 11 attendees (number of valid responses: 12). All attendees encouraged colleagues to take this course because the high level of satisfaction was achieved. Discussion: Newly introduced educational course using high-fidelity simulators realizes the circle of learning to deepen the understanding on focused POCUS by gradual stages. SonoSim® can faithfully reproduce scan images with pathologic findings of ultrasound and provide experimental learning for a growth number of beginners such as resident physicians. In addition, valuable education can be provided if it is used combined with SimMan® 3G. Conclusions: Newly introduced educational course using high-fidelity simulators is supposed to be effective and helps in providing better education compared with conventional courses for emergency physicians.

Keywords: point-of-care ultrasound, high-fidelity simulators, education, circle of learning

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Authors: Sungpyo Kim, Changseok Oh, Ga-Young Lee, Hyun-Man Kim

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Intercellular junction of keratinocytes is crucial for epithelia to build an epithelial barrier. Junctional epithelium (JE) seals the interfaces between tooth and gingival tissue. Keratinocytes of JE attach to surfaces roughened by abrasion or erosion with aging. Thus behavior of oral keratinocytes on the rough substrates may help understand the epithelial seal of JE of which major intercellular junction is E-cadherin junction (ECJ). The present study investigated the influence of various substrate roughnesses on the development of ECJ between normal human gingival epithelial keratinocytes, HOK-16B cells. HOK-16B cells were slow in the development of ECJ on the rough substrates compared to on the smooth substrates. Furthermore, oral keratinocytes on the substrates of higher roughnesses were delayed in the development of E-cadherin junction than on the substrates of lower roughnesses. Delayed development of E-cadherin junction on the rough substrates was ascribed to the impaired spreading of cells and its higher JNK activity. Cells on the smooth substrates rapidly spread wide cytoplasmic extensions around cells. However, cells on the rough substrates slowly extended narrow cytoplasmic extensions of which number was limited due to the substrate irregularity. As these cytoplasmic extensions formed ECJ when met with the extensions of neighboring cells, thus, the present study demonstrated that a limited chance of contacts between cytoplasmic extensions due to the limited number of cytoplasmic extensions and slow development of cytoplasmic extensions brought about a delayed development of ECJ in oral keratinocytes on the rougher substrates. Sealing between cells was not complete because only part of cell membrane contributes to the formation of intercellular junction between cells on the substrates of higher roughnesses. Interestingly, inhibition of JNK activity promoted the development of ECJ on the rough substrates, of which mechanism remains to be studied further.

Keywords: substrate roughness, E-cadherin junction, oral keratinocyte, cell spreading, JNK

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Authors: Mounir Baccar, Imen Jmal

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Because of the rise in energy costs, thermal storage systems designed for the heating and cooling of buildings are becoming increasingly important. Energy storage can not only reduce the time or rate mismatch between energy supply and demand but also plays an important role in energy conservation. One of the most preferable storage techniques is the Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) by Phase Change Materials (PCM) due to its important energy storage density and isothermal storage process. This paper presents a numerical study of the solidification of a PCM (paraffin RT27) in a rectangular thermal storage exchanger for air conditioning systems taking into account the presence of natural convection. Resolution of continuity, momentum and thermal energy equations are treated by the finite volume method. The main objective of this numerical approach is to study the effect of natural convection on the PCM solidification time and the impact of fins number on heat transfer enhancement. It also aims at investigating the temporal evolution of PCM solidification, as well as the longitudinal profiles of the HTF circling in the duct. The present research undertakes the study of two cases: the first one treats the solidification of PCM in a PCM-air heat exchanger without fins, while the second focuses on the solidification of PCM in a heat exchanger of the same type with the addition of fins (3 fins, 5 fins, and 9 fins). Without fins, the stratification of the PCM from colder to hotter during the heat transfer process has been noted. This behavior prevents the formation of thermo-convective cells in PCM area and then makes transferring almost conductive. In the presence of fins, energy extraction from PCM to airflow occurs at a faster rate, which contributes to the reduction of the discharging time and the increase of the outlet air temperature (HTF). However, for a great number of fins (9 fins), the enhancement of the solidification process is not significant because of the effect of confinement of PCM liquid spaces for the development of thermo-convective flow. Hence, it can be concluded that the effect of natural convection is not very significant for a high number of fins. In the optimum case, using 3 fins, the increasing temperature of the HTF exceeds approximately 10°C during the first 30 minutes. When solidification progresses from the surfaces of the PCM-container and propagates to the central liquid phase, an insulating layer will be created in the vicinity of the container surfaces and the fins, causing a low heat exchange rate between PCM and air. As the solid PCM layer gets thicker, a progressive regression of the field of movements is induced in the liquid phase, thus leading to the inhibition of heat extraction process. After about 2 hours, 68% of the PCM became solid, and heat transfer was almost dominated by conduction mechanism.

Keywords: heat transfer enhancement, front solidification, PCM, natural convection

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Authors: Hong Geng, Zaiyu Fan

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With the acceleration of urbanization and motorization in China, the scale of cities and the travel distance of residents are constantly expanding, and the number of cars is continuously increasing, so the urban traffic problem is more and more serious. Traffic congestion, environmental pollution, energy consumption, travel safety and direct interference between traffic and other urban activities are increasingly prominent problems brought about by motorized development. This not only has a serious impact on the lives of the residents but also has a major impact on the healthy development of the city. The paper found that, in order to solve the development of motorization, a number of problems will arise; urban planning and traffic planning and design in residential planning often take into account the development of motorized traffic but neglects the demand for street life. This kind of planning has resulted in the destruction of the traditional communication space of the residential area, the pollution of noise and exhaust gas, and the potential safety risks of the residential area, which has disturbed the previously quiet and comfortable life of the residential area, resulting in the inconvenience of residents' life and the loss of street vitality. Based on these facts, this paper takes a residential area in Wuhan as the research object, through the actual investigation and research, from the perspective of micro-transformation analysis, combined with the concept of traffic micro-reconstruction governance. And research puts forward the residential traffic optimization strategies such as strengthening the interaction and connection between the residential area and the urban street system, street traffic classification and organization.

Keywords: micro-transformation, residential traffic, residents demand, traffic microcirculation

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Authors: Rabeb Triki, Hassene Djemel, Mounir Baccar

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Surface scraping is a passive heat transfer enhancement technique that is directly used in scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE). The scraping action prevents the accumulation of the product on the inner wall, which intensifies the heat transfer and avoids the formation of dead zones. SSHEs are widely used in industry for several applications such as crystallization, sterilization, freezing, gelatinization, and many other continuous processes. They are designed to deal with products that are viscous, sticky or that contain particulate matter. This research work presents a three-dimensional numerical simulation of the coupled thermal and hydrodynamic behavior within a SSHE which includes Archimedes’ screw instead of scraper blades. The finite volume Fluent 15.0 was used to solve continuity, momentum and energy equations using multiple reference frame formulation. The process fluid investigated under this study is the pure glycerin. Different geometrical parameters were studied in the case of steady, non-isothermal, laminar flow. In particular, attention is focused on the effect of the conicity of the rotor and the pitch of Archimedes’ screw on temperature and velocity distribution and heat transfer rate. Numerical investigations show that the increase of the number of turns in the screw from five to seven turns leads to amelioration of heat transfer coefficient, and the increase of the conicity of the rotor from 0.1 to 0.15 leads to an increase in the rate of heat transfer. Further studies should investigate the effect of different operating parameters (axial and rotational Reynolds number) on the hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of the SSHE.

Keywords: ANSYS-Fluent, hydrodynamic behavior, scraped surface heat exchange, thermal behavior

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Authors: Andrea Marcela Morales Reyes

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In the year 2000, the federal government of the United States of America enacted anti-trafficking legislation to prevent human trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and protect the victims. Since then, all 50 states have followed the federal government's example by enacting state-level anti-trafficking legislation. In order to fight human trafficking in the United States, it is paramount that this legislation is not only comprehensively enacted but also enforced. This study reviewed the anti-trafficking laws enacted in each of the 50 states and investigated the success of such laws by reporting the number of trafficking related prosecutions, cases identified, and victims protected. This study reviewed human trafficking reports issued by nonprofits, and state and federal level agencies. An increase in the number of cases investigated since the state laws have been passed reflects a moderate success in the fight against human trafficking in the U.S. This review also found that although every state has passed anti-trafficking legislation, many still lack a comprehensive approach to combat human trafficking; some states lack key provisions to prevent human trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and protect it victims. This, along with the lack of enforcement of the anti-trafficking plans included in each of the state legislations, has meant that the human trafficking cases investigated in fiscal year 2016 are not near the estimated numbers; which in turn suggests that this crime is still greatly unaccounted for. This study concludes that although important steps have been taken at the national and state level to combat human trafficking, the identification and prosecution of human trafficking cases still proves challenging in the United States.

Keywords: enforcement of laws, human trafficking, anti-trafficking legislation, United States

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Authors: Miguel Chen Austin, Denis Bruneau, Alain Sempey, Laurent Mora, Alain Sommier

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An experimental study in a Plus Energy House (PEH) prototype was conducted in August 2016. It aimed to highlight the energy charge and discharge of a concrete-slab floor submitted to the day-night-cycles heat exchanges in the southwestern part of France and to identify the heat transfer phenomena that take place in both processes: charge and discharge. The main features of this PEH, significant to this study, are the following: (i) a non-active slab covering the major part of the entire floor surface of the house, which include a concrete layer 68 mm thick as upper layer; (ii) solar window shades located on the north and south facades along with a large eave facing south, (iii) large double-glazed windows covering the majority of the south facade, (iv) a natural ventilation system (NVS) composed by ten automatized openings with different dimensions: four are located on the south facade, four on the north facade and two on the shed roof (north-oriented). To highlight the energy charge and discharge processes of the non-active slab, heat flux and temperature measurement techniques were implemented, along with airspeed measurements. Ten “measurement-poles” (MP) were distributed all over the concrete-floor surface. Each MP represented a zone of measurement, where air and surface temperatures, and convection and radiation heat fluxes, were intended to be measured. The airspeed was measured only at two points over the slab surface, near the south facade. To identify the heat transfer phenomena that take part in the charge and discharge process, some relevant dimensionless parameters were used, along with statistical analysis; heat transfer phenomena were identified based on this analysis. Experimental data, after processing, had shown that two periods could be identified at a glance: charge (heat gain, positive values) and discharge (heat losses, negative values). During the charge period, on the floor surface, radiation heat exchanges were significantly higher compared with convection. On the other hand, convection heat exchanges were significantly higher than radiation, in the discharge period. Spatially, both, convection and radiation heat exchanges are higher near the natural ventilation openings and smaller far from them, as expected. Experimental correlations have been determined using a linear regression model, showing the relation between the Nusselt number with relevant parameters: Peclet, Rayleigh, and Richardson numbers. This has led to the determination of the convective heat transfer coefficient and its comparison with the convective heat coefficient resulting from measurements. Results have shown that forced and natural convection coexists during the discharge period; more accurate correlations with the Peclet number than with the Rayleigh number, have been found. This may suggest that forced convection is stronger than natural convection. Yet, airspeed levels encountered suggest that it is natural convection that should take place rather than forced convection. Despite this, Richardson number values encountered indicate otherwise. During the charge period, air-velocity levels might indicate that none air motion occurs, which might lead to heat transfer by diffusion instead of convection.

Keywords: heat flux measurement, natural ventilation, non-active concrete slab, plus energy house

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Authors: Arfan Ali, Idrees Ahmad Nasir

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The critical evaluation of tolerance in tomato plants against the induced saline soil were assessed by transcript analysis of genes coding for products potentially involved in stress tolerance. A reverse transcriptase PCR experiment was performed with Hsp90-1, MT2, and GR1like protein genes using RNA isolated from different tissues of tomato plants. Four strains of Bacillus magisterium were inoculated with 100 Mm & 200 Mm concentrations of salt. Eleven treatments each ten replica pots were installed in green house experiment and the parameters taken into account were morphological (length, weight, number of leaves, leaf surface area), chemical (anthocyanin, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, carotenoids) and biological (gene expression). Results bare a response i.e. highest response of MT2 like gene was at 24 hpi and the highest levels of GR1 like protein transcript accumulation were detected at 36 hpi. The chemical and morphological parameters at diverse salt concentrations bequeath superlative response amongst strains which candidly flank on Zm7 and Zm4. Therefore, Bacillus magisterium Zm7 strains and somehow Zm4 strain can be used in saline condition to make plants tolerant. The overall performance of strains Zm7, Zm6, and Zm4 was found better for all studied traits under salt stress conditions. Significant correlations among traits root length, shoot length, number of leaves, leaf surface area, carotenoids, anthocyanin, chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b were found and suggested that the salt tolerance in tomato may be improved through the use of PGPR strains.

Keywords: Bacillus magisterium, gene expression glutathione reductase, metallothionein, PGPR, Rhizobacteria, saline

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Authors: Jared Beard, Ali Baheri

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As autonomous systems become more prominent in society, ensuring their safe application becomes increasingly important. This is clearly demonstrated with autonomous cars traveling through a crowded city or robots traversing a warehouse with heavy equipment. Human environments can be complex, having high dimensional state and action spaces. This gives rise to two problems. One being that analytic solutions may not be possible. The other is that in simulation based approaches, searching the entirety of the problem space could be computationally intractable, ruling out formal methods. To overcome this, approximate solutions may seek to find failures or estimate their likelihood of occurrence. One such approach is adaptive stress testing (AST) which uses reinforcement learning to induce failures in the system. The premise of which is that a learned model can be used to help find new failure scenarios, making better use of simulations. In spite of these failures AST fails to find particularly sparse failures and can be inclined to find similar solutions to those found previously. To help overcome this, multi-fidelity learning can be used to alleviate this overuse of information. That is, information in lower fidelity can simulations can be used to build up samples less expensively, and more effectively cover the solution space to find a broader set of failures. Recent work in multi-fidelity learning has passed information bidirectionally using “knows what it knows” (KWIK) reinforcement learners to minimize the number of samples in high fidelity simulators (thereby reducing computation time and load). The contribution of this work, then, is development of the bidirectional multi-fidelity AST framework. Such an algorithm, uses multi-fidelity KWIK learners in an adversarial context to find failure modes. Thus far, a KWIK learner has been used to train an adversary in a grid world to prevent an agent from reaching its goal; thus demonstrating the utility of KWIK learners in an AST framework. The next step is implementation of the bidirectional multi-fidelity AST framework described. Testing will be conducted in a grid world containing an agent attempting to reach a goal position and adversary tasked with intercepting the agent as demonstrated previously. Fidelities will be modified by adjusting the size of a time-step, with higher-fidelity effectively allowing for more responsive closed loop feedback. Results will compare the single KWIK AST learner with the multi-fidelity algorithm with respect to number of samples, distinct failure modes found, and relative effect of learning after a number of trials.

Keywords: multi-fidelity reinforcement learning, multi-fidelity simulation, safety validation, falsification

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Authors: Ramin Mansouri

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Due to the contrast of rivers discharge regime with water demands, one of the best ways to use water resources is to regulate the natural flow of the rivers and supplying water needs to construct dams. Optimal utilization of reservoirs, consideration of multiple important goals together at the same is of very high importance. To study about analyzing this method, statistical data of Bakhtiari and Roudbar dam over 46 years (1955 until 2001) is used. Initially an appropriate objective function was specified and using DE algorithm, the rule curve was developed. In continue, operation policy using rule curves was compared to standard comparative operation policy. The proposed method distributed the lack to the whole year and lowest damage was inflicted to the system. The standard deviation of monthly shortfall of each year with the proposed algorithm was less deviated than the other two methods. The Results show that median values for the coefficients of F and Cr provide the optimum situation and cause DE algorithm not to be trapped in local optimum. The most optimal answer for coefficients are 0.6 and 0.5 for F and Cr coefficients, respectively. After finding the best combination of coefficients values F and CR, algorithms for solving the independent populations were examined. For this purpose, the population of 4, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 members were studied in two generations (G=50 and 100). result indicates that the generation number 200 is suitable for optimizing. The increase in time per the number of population has almost a linear trend, which indicates the effect of population in the runtime algorithm. Hence specifying suitable population to obtain an optimal results is very important. Standard operation policy had better reversibility percentage, but inflicts severe vulnerability to the system. The results obtained in years of low rainfall had very good results compared to other comparative methods.

Keywords: reservoirs, differential evolution, dam, Optimal operation

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Authors: Philna Coetzee, Clara Msiza

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In modern society, audit committees are seen as the custodians of accountability and the conscience of management and the board. But who holds the audit committee accountable for their actions or non-actions and how do we know what they are supposed to be doing and what they are doing? The purpose of this article is to provide greater insight into the latter part of this problem, namely, determine what best practises for audit committees and the disclosure of what is the realities are. In countries where governance is well established, the roles and responsibilities of the audit committee are mostly clearly guided by legislation and/or guidance documents, with countries increasingly providing guidance on this topic. With high cost involved to adhere to governance guidelines, the public (for public organisations) and shareholders (for private organisations) expect to see the value of their ‘investment’. For audit committees, the dividends on the investment should reflect in less fraudulent activities, less corruption, higher efficiency and effectiveness, improved social and environmental impact, and increased profits, to name a few. If this is not the case (which is reflected in the number of fraudulent activities in both the private and the public sector), stakeholders have the right to ask: where was the audit committee? Therefore, the objective of this article is to contribute to the body of knowledge by comparing the adherence of audit committee to best practices guidelines as stipulated in the King Report across public listed companies, national and provincial government departments, state-owned enterprises and local municipalities. After constructs were formed, based on the literature, factor analyses were conducted to reduce the number of variables in each construct. Thereafter, cluster analyses, which is an explorative analysis technique that classifies a set of objects in such a way that objects that are more similar are grouped into the same group, were conducted. The SPSS TwoStep Clustering Component was used, being capable of handling both continuous and categorical variables. In the first step, a pre-clustering procedure clusters the objects into small sub-clusters, after which it clusters these sub-clusters into the desired number of clusters. The cluster analyses were conducted for each construct and the measure, namely the audit opinion as listed in the external audit report, were included. Analysing 228 organisations' information, the results indicate that there is a clear distinction between the four spheres of business that has been included in the analyses, indicating certain strengths and certain weaknesses within each sphere. The results may provide the overseers of audit committees’ insight into where a specific sector’s strengths and weaknesses lie. Audit committee chairs will be able to improve the areas where their audit committee is lacking behind. The strengthening of audit committees should result in an improvement of the accountability of boards, leading to less fraud and corruption.

Keywords: audit committee disclosure, cluster analyses, governance best practices, strengths and weaknesses

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Authors: Tejas Dhadphale

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The user-centered design (UCD) approach has led to an increased interest in empathy within the product development process. Designers have explored several empathetic methods and tools such as personas, empathy maps, journey maps, user needs statements and user scenarios to capture and visualize users’ needs. The goal of these tools is not only to generate a deeper and shared understanding of user needs but also to become a point of reference for subsequent decision making, brainstorming and concept evaluation tasks. The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of empathy priming on divergent brainstorming tasks. This study compares the effects of three empathy tools, personas, empathy maps and user needs statements, on ideation fluency and originality of ideas during brainstorming tasks. In a three-between-subjects experimental design study, sixty product design students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: persona, empathy maps and user needs statements. A one-way, between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a a statistically significant difference in empathy priming on fluency and originality of ideas. Participants in the persona group showed higher ideation fluency and generated a greater number of original ideas compared to the other groups. The results show that participants in the user need statement group to generate a greater number of feasible and relevant ideas. The study also aims to understand how formatting and visualization of empathy tools impact divergent brainstorming tasks. Participants were interviewed to understand how different visualizations of users’ needs (personas, empathy maps and user needs statements) facilitated idea generation during brainstorming tasks. Implications for design education are discussed.

Keywords: empathy, persona, priming, Design research

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Authors: Yi H. Wong, Li L. Chan, Chee O. Leong, Stephen Ambu, Joon W. Mak, Priyadashi S. Sahu

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Background: Acanthamoeba is a free-living opportunistic protist which is ubiquitously distributed in the environment. Virulent Acanthamoeba can cause fatal encephalitis in immunocompromised patients and potential blinding keratitis in immunocompetent contact lens wearers. Approximately 24 species have been identified but only the A. castellanii, A. polyphaga and A. culbertsoni are commonly associated with human infections. Until to date, the precise molecular basis for Acanthamoeba pathogenesis remains unclear. Previous studies reported that Acanthamoeba virulence can be diminished through prolonged axenic culture but revived through serial mouse passages. As no clear explanation on this reversible pathogenesis is established, hereby, we postulate that the epigenetic regulators, DNA-methyltransferases (DNMT) and histone-deacetylases (HDAC), could possibly be involved in granting the virulence plasticity of Acanthamoeba spp. Methods: Four rounds of mouse passages were conducted to revive the virulence potential of the virulence-attenuated Acanthamoeba castellanii strain (ATCC 50492). Briefly, each mouse (n=6/group) was inoculated intraperitoneally with Acanthamoebae cells (2x 105 trophozoites/mouse) and incubated for 2 months. Acanthamoebae cells were isolated from infected mouse organs by culture method and subjected to subsequent mouse passage. In vitro cytopathic, encystment and gelatinolytic assays were conducted to evaluate the virulence characteristics of Acanthamoebae isolates for each passage. PCR primers which targeted on the 2 members (DNMT1 and DNMT2) and 5 members (HDAC1 to 5) of the DNMT and HDAC gene families respectively were custom designed. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed to detect and quantify the relative expression of the two gene families in each Acanthamoeba isolates. Beta-tubulin of A. castellanii (Genbank accession no: XP_004353728) was included as housekeeping gene for data normalisation. PCR mixtures were also analyzed by electrophoresis for amplicons detection. All statistical analyses were performed using the paired one-tailed Student’s t test. Results: Our pathogenicity tests showed that the virulence-reactivated Acanthamoeba had a higher degree of cytopathic effect on vero cells, a better resistance to encystment challenge and a higher gelatinolytic activity which was catalysed by serine protease. qPCR assay showed that DNMT1 expression was significantly higher in the virulence-reactivated compared to the virulence-attenuated Acanthamoeba strain (p ≤ 0.01). The specificity of primers which targeted on DNMT1 was confirmed by sequence analysis of PCR amplicons, which showed a 97% similarity to the published DNA-methyltransferase gene of A. castellanii (GenBank accession no: XM_004332804.1). Out of the five primer pairs which targeted on the HDAC family genes, only HDAC4 expression was significantly difference between the two variant strains. In contrast to DNMT1, HDAC4 expression was much higher in the virulence-attenuated Acanthamoeba strain. Conclusion: Our mouse passages had successfully restored the virulence of the attenuated strain. Our findings suggested that DNA-methyltransferase (DNMT1) and histone deacetylase (HDAC4) expressions are associated with virulence potential of Acanthamoeba spp.

Keywords: acanthamoeba, DNA-methyltransferase, histone deacetylase, virulence-associated proteins

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Authors: Henry Munoz, Muhammad Mohsan, Takashi Kiyota

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Strength and deformability characteristics of a liquefiable sand deposit including the development of earthquake-induced shear stress and shear strain as well as soil softening via the progressive degradation of shear modulus were studied via shaking table experiments. To do so, a model of a liquefiable sand deposit was constructed and densely instrumented where accelerations, pressures, and displacements at different locations were continuously monitored. Furthermore, the confinement effects on the strength and deformation characteristics of the liquefiable sand deposit due to an external surcharge by placing a heavy concrete slab (i.e. the model of an actual structural rigid pavement) on the ground surface were examined. The results indicate that as the number of seismic-loading cycles increases, the sand deposit softens progressively as large shear strains take place in different sand elements. Liquefaction state is reached after the combined effects of the progressive degradation of the initial shear modulus associated with the continuous decrease in the mean principal stress, and the buildup of the excess of pore pressure takes place in the sand deposit. Finally, the confinement effects given by a concrete slab placed on the surface of the sand deposit resulted in a favorable increasing in the initial shear modulus, an increase in the mean principal stress and a decrease in the softening rate (i.e. the decreasing rate in shear modulus) of the sand, thus making the onset of liquefaction to take place at a later stage. This is, only after the sand deposit having a concrete slab experienced a higher number of seismic loading cycles liquefaction took place, in contrast to an ordinary sand deposit having no concrete slab.

Keywords: liquefaction, shear modulus degradation, shaking table, earthquake

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Authors: Md Habibur Rahman, Jaeho Kim

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Efficient process scheduling is a crucial factor in ensuring optimal system performance and resource utilization in computer systems. While various algorithms have been proposed over the years, there are still limitations to their effectiveness. This paper introduces a new Wait-Optimized Scheduler (WOS) algorithm that aims to minimize process waiting time by dividing them into two layers and considering both process time and waiting time. The WOS algorithm is non-preemptive and prioritizes processes with the shortest WOS. In the first layer, each process runs for a predetermined duration, and any unfinished process is subsequently moved to the second layer, resulting in a decrease in response time. Whenever the first layer is free or the number of processes in the second layer is twice that of the first layer, the algorithm sorts all the processes in the second layer based on their remaining time minus waiting time and sends one process to the first layer to run. This ensures that all processes eventually run, optimizing waiting time. To evaluate the performance of the WOS algorithm, we conducted experiments comparing its performance with traditional scheduling algorithms such as First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) and Shortest-Job-First (SJF). The results showed that the WOS algorithm outperformed the traditional algorithms in reducing the waiting time of processes, particularly in scenarios with a large number of short tasks with long wait times. Our study highlights the effectiveness of the WOS algorithm in improving process scheduling efficiency in computer systems. By reducing process waiting time, the WOS algorithm can improve system performance and resource utilization. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in developing and implementing efficient process scheduling algorithms.

Keywords: process scheduling, wait-optimized scheduler, response time, non-preemptive, waiting time, traditional scheduling algorithms, first-come-first-serve, shortest-job-first, system performance, resource utilization

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Authors: John Sodeau, David O'Connor, Shane Daly, Stig Hellebust

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This study is the first to employ the online WIBS (Waveband Integrated Biosensor Sensor) technique for the monitoring of bioaerosol emissions and non-fluorescing “dust” released from a composting/green waste site. The purpose of the research was to provide a “proof of principle” for using WIBS to monitor such a location continually over days and nights in order to construct comparative “bioaerosol site profiles”. Current impaction/culturing methods take many days to achieve results available by the WIBS technique in seconds.The real-time data obtained was then used to assess variations of the bioaerosol counts as a function of size, “shape”, site location, working activity levels, time of day, relative humidity, wind speeds and wind directions. Three short campaigns were undertaken, one classified as a “light” workload period, another as a “heavy” workload period and finally a weekend when the site was closed. One main bioaerosol size regime was found to predominate: 0.5 micron to 3 micron with morphologies ranging from elongated to elipsoidal/spherical. The real-time number-concentration data were consistent with an Andersen sampling protocol that was employed at the site. The number-concentrations of fluorescent particles as a proportion of total particles counted amounted, on average, to ~1% for the “light” workday period, ~7% for the “heavy” workday period and ~18% for the weekend. The bioaerosol release profiles at the weekend were considerably different from those monitored during the working weekdays.

Keywords: bioaerosols, composting, fluorescence, particle counting in real-time

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Authors: Brian Considine, Aonghus McNabola, John Gallagher, Prashant Kumar

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Passive air pollution control devices known as aspiration efficiency reducers (AER) have been developed using aspiration efficiency (AE) concepts. Their purpose is to reduce the concentration of particulate matter (PM) drawn into a building air handling unit (AHU) through alterations in the inlet design improving energy consumption. In this paper an examination is conducted into the effect of installing a deflector system around an AER-AHU inlet for both a forward and rear-facing orientations relative to the wind. The results of the study found that these deflectors are an effective passive control method for reducing AE at various ambient wind speeds over a range of microparticles of varying diameter. The deflector system was found to induce a large wake zone at low ambient wind speeds for a rear-facing AER-AHU, resulting in significantly lower AE in comparison to without. As the wind speed increased, both contained a wake zone but have much lower concentration gradients with the deflectors. For the forward-facing models, the deflector system at low ambient wind speed was preferred at higher Stokes numbers but there was negligible difference as the Stokes number decreased. Similarly, there was no significant difference at higher wind speeds across the Stokes number range tested. The results demonstrate that a deflector system is a viable passive control method for the reduction of ventilation energy consumption.

Keywords: air handling unit, air pollution, aspiration efficiency, energy efficiency, particulate matter, ventilation

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Authors: Muhammad Naeem Chaudhry, Fahim Nawaz, Rana Nauman Shabbir

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New strategies aimed at increasing the resilience of crop plants to the negative effects of climate change represent important research priorities of plant scientists. The use of soil microorganisms to alleviate abiotic stresses like drought has gained particular importance in recent past. A field experiment was planned to investigate the effect of phosphorous solubilizing bacteria on yield and seed quality of Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) under water deficit conditions. The study was conducted at Agronomic Research Farm, University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, The Islamia University Bahawalpur, during 4th week of November, 2013. The available seeds of Camelina sativa were inoculated with two bacterial strains (pseudomonas and Bacillus spp.) and grown under various water stress levels i.e. D0, (four irrigations), D3 (three irrigation), D2 (two irrigations), and D1 (one irrigation). The results revealed that drought stress significantly reduced the plant growth and yield, consequently reducing protein contents and oil concentration in camelina. The exposure to drought stress decreased plant height (16%), plant population (27%), number of fertile branches (41-59%), number of pods per plant (35%) and seed per pod (33%). Drought stress also exerted a negative impact on yield characteristics by reducing the 1000-seed weight (65%), final seed yield (52%), biological yield (22%) and harvest index (39%) of camelina. However, the inoculation of seeds with Pseudomonas and Bacillus spp. promoted the plant growth characterized by increased plant height and enhanced plant population. It was noted that inoculation of seeds with Pseudomonas resulted in the maximum plant population (113.4 cm), primary branches (19 plant-1), and number of pods (664 plant-1), whereas Bacillus inoculation resulted in maximum plant height (113.4 cm), seeds per pod (15.9), 1000-seed weight (1.85 g), and seed yield (3378.8 kg ha-1). Moreover, the inoculation with Bacillus also significantly improved the quality attributes of camelina and gave 3.5% and 2.1% higher oil contents than Pseudomonas and control (no-inoculation), respectively. Similarly, the same strain also resulted in maximum protein contents (33.3%). Our results confirmed the hypothesis that inoculation of seeds with phosphorous solubilizing bacterial strains is an effective, viable and environment-friendly approach to improve yield and quality of camelina under water deficit conditions. However, further studies are suggested to investigate the physiological and molecular processes, stimulated by bacterial strains, for increasing drought tolerance in food crops.

Keywords: Camelina, drought stress, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, seed quality

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Authors: Justine Cyril E. Nunag, Nestor B. Sabado Jr., Jienne Chester M. Tolosa

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Concrete has high compressive strength but a low-tension strength. The small tensile strength of concrete is regarded as its primary weakness, which is why it is typically reinforced with steel, a material that is resistant to tension. Even with steel, however, cracking can occur. In strengthening concrete, only a few researchers have modified the water to be used in a concrete mix. This study aims to compare the split tensile strength of normal structural concrete to concrete prepared with magnetic water and a quick setting admixture. In this context, magnetic water is defined as tap water that has undergone a magnetic process to become magnetized water. To test the hypothesis that magnetized concrete leads to higher split tensile strength, twenty concrete specimens were made. There were five groups, each with five samples, that were differentiated by the number of cycles (0, 50, 100, and 150). The data from the Universal Testing Machine's split tensile strength were then analyzed using various statistical models and tests to determine the significant effect of magnetized water. The result showed a moderate (+0.579) but still significant degree of correlation. The researchers also discovered that using magnetic water for 50 cycles did not result in a significant increase in the concrete's split tensile strength, which influenced the analysis of variance. These results suggest that a concrete mix containing magnetic water and a quick-setting admixture alters the typical split tensile strength of normal concrete. Magnetic water has a significant impact on concrete tensile strength. The hardness property of magnetic water influenced the split tensile strength of concrete. In addition, a higher number of cycles results in a strong water magnetism. The laboratory test results show that a higher cycle translates to a higher tensile strength.

Keywords: hardness property, magnetic water, quick-setting admixture, split tensile strength, universal testing machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 146