Search results for: performance assessment analysis

Authors: Raphael Palucci Rosa, Giuseppe Rosace

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Stereolithography (SLA) is one of the 3D-printing technologies that has been steadily growing in popularity for both industrial and personal applications due to its versatility, high accuracy, and low cost. Its printing process consists of using a light emitter to solidify photosensitive liquid resins layer-by-layer to produce solid objects. However, the majority of the resins used in SLA are derived from petroleum and characterized by toxicity, stability, and recalcitrance to degradation in natural environments. Aiming to develop an eco-friendly resin, in this work, different combinations of a standard commercial SLA resin (Peopoly UV professional) with a vegetable-based resin were investigated. To reach this goal, different mass concentrations (varying from 10 to 50 wt%) of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO), a vegetable resin produced from soyabean oil, were mixed with a commercial acrylate-based resin. 1.0 wt% of Diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO) was used as photo-initiator, and the samples were printed using a Peopoly moai 130. The machine was set to operate at standard configurations when printing commercial resins. After the print was finished, the excess resin was drained off, and the samples were washed in isopropanol and water to remove any non-reacted resin. Finally, the samples were post-cured for 30 min in a UV chamber. FT-IR analysis was used to confirm the UV polymerization of the formulated resin with different AESO/Peopoly ratios. The signals from 1643.7 to 1616, which corresponds to the C=C stretching of the AESO acrylic acids and Peopoly acrylic groups, significantly decreases after the reaction. The signal decrease indicates the consumption of the double bonds during the radical polymerization. Furthermore, the slight change of the C-O-C signal from 1186.1 to 1159.9 decrease of the signals at 809.5 and 983.1, which corresponds to unsaturated double bonds, are both proofs of the successful polymerization. Mechanical analyses showed a decrease of 50.44% on tensile strength when adding 10 wt% of AESO, but it was still in the same range as other commercial resins. The elongation of break increased by 24% with 10 wt% of AESO and swelling analysis showed that samples with a higher concentration of AESO mixed absorbed less water than their counterparts. Furthermore, high-resolution prototypes were printed using both resins, and visual analysis did not show any significant difference between both products. In conclusion, the AESO resin was successful incorporated into a commercial resin without affecting its printability. The bio-based resin showed lower tensile strength than the Peopoly resin due to network loosening, but it was still in the range of other commercial resins. The hybrid resin also showed better flexibility and water resistance than Peopoly resin without affecting its resolution. Finally, the development of new types of SLA resins is essential to provide new sustainable alternatives to the commercial petroleum-based ones.

Keywords: 3D-printing, bio-based, resin, soybean, stereolithography

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Linda Muswaka

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The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 ranks the Constitution as the Supreme law of the Republic. Law or conduct, inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is invalid to the extent of the inconsistency. The Constitution binds all persons and legislative, executive and judicial organs of the State at all levels of government. The Constitution embodies a Bill of Rights and expressly allows for judicial review. The introduction of a chapter of rights requires the judiciary to examine the decisions of the legislature and the executive. In a situation where these conflicts with the Bill of Rights, the judiciary have the constitutional power to overrule such decisions. In exercising its adjudicatory and interpretative powers, the judiciary sometimes arrives at unpopular decisions and accusations of judicial overreach are made. A problem, therefore, emerges on the issue of the separation of powers and judicial review. This paper proposes to, through the South African perspective, investigate the application of the doctrine of separation of powers and judicial review. In this regard, the qualitative method of research will be employed. The reason is that it is best suited to this type of study which entails a critical analysis of legal issues. The following findings are made: (i) a complete separation of powers is not possible. This is because some overlapping of the functions of the three branches of state are unavoidable; (ii) the powers vested in the judiciary does not make it more powerful than the executive and the legislature; (iii) interference by the judiciary in matters concerning other branches is not automatically, judicial overreach; and (iv) if both the executive and legislative organs of government adhere to their constitutional obligations there would be a decrease in the need for judicial interference through court adjudication. The researcher concludes by submitting that the judiciary should not derogate from their constitutionally mandated function of judicial review. The rationale being that that if the values contained in the Constitution are not scrupulously observed and their precepts not carried out conscientiously, the result will be a constitutional crisis of great magnitude.

Keywords: constitution, judicial review, judicial overreach, separation of powers

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Authors: Selen Demirtas Zorbaz, Ozlem Ulas

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Examining the reasons of child behaviour problems has been one of the focus of psychology and related disciplines for so long. It can be said there is a lot of reasons of child behaviour problems and familial factors might be the leading ones. When taking into account the prevalence of the children having behaviour problems in Turkey, it can be said that it is important to carry out studies putting forward the reasons of behaviour problems. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to examine dissertations and thesis putting forward the relationship between problem behaviour of the children (12-year-old and younger) and teenagers (12-18 years old), and familial factors. For that purpose, 46 dissertations that were chosen according to the study criteria out of 141 dissertations scanned by using the keywords of ‘behaviour problems’ and ‘behaviour disorder’ at Higher Education Thesis Centre between the years of 1989 and 2016 have been taken into the scope of the study. ‘Thesis Examination Draft Form’ has been prepared for the purpose of being used for data collecting tool. For the analysis of the data, percentage, and frequency analysis methods have been used. When the results of these studies are evaluated on the whole, it is seen that all the dissertations and thesis done are descriptive study, and it was not encountered any studies designed as experimental. When looked at the distribution of dissertations by years, it is seen that the first thesis was done in 1989 and the most number of dissertations were done in the years of 2014 and 2016. When looked at the department in which the dissertations were done, it can be said that dissertations and thesis were done in many different fields of disciplines ranging from psychology and special education. In addition to this, when investigated the group taken into the scope of dissertations and thesis research, it is seen that the children mostly worked with are below the age of 12 and types of studies are master’s thesis. When the dissertations and thesis are examined by means of topics, it is seen that mostly-studied topics are demographic variables such as gender, whether the family is fragmented or not, education level of the family and the parents’ attitude. Obtained findings have been examined in the light of literature.

Keywords: family, child behaviour problem, dissertations, thesis

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Authors: N. Mahmoudnia, M. Khormali

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This experiment was conducted to determine the apparent protein digestibility of poultry by- product meal (PBPM) from two industrial poultry slaughter houses on Ross 308 male broiler chickens in independed comparisons. The experiment consisted of seven dietary treatments and three replicates per treatment with three broiler chickens per replicate in a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments consisted of a control corn- soybean diet, and levels 3, 6 and 9% PBPM produced by slaughter house 1 and levels 3, 6 and 9% PBPM produced by slaughter house 2. Chromic oxide was added to the experimental diets as indigestible marker. The apparent protein digestibility of each diet were determined with two methods of sample collection of ileum and excreta in 21-28 d of age. The results this experiment showed that use of PBPM had no significantly effect on performance of broiler chicks during period of experiments. The apparent protein digestibility of PBPM groups was significantly higher than control group by excreta sampling procedure (P<0.05). Using of PBPM 2 significantly (P<0.05) decreased the apparent protein digestibility values based on ileum sampling procedure vs control ( 85.21 vs 90.14).Based results of this experiment,it is possible to use of PBPM 1 in broiler chicken.

Keywords: poultry by-product meal, apparent protein digestibility, independed comparison, broiler chicken

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Authors: Zeyad M. Abdelgawad, A. Samer Ezeldin, Waleed El Nemr

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The Egyptian construction industry has evolved significantly over the past decade, driven by enhanced economic sectors and the need for industrial development. This complexity requires diverse and flexible alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques. Dispute boards (DB) are globally recognized as effective ADR methods, especially since their introduction to World Bank projects in 1995. Despite their advantages, dispute boards remain underutilized in Egypt aside from the World Bank-financed projects due to several misconceptions. The study reveals the perceptions hindering the wider adoption of dispute boards in the Egyptian construction industry through detailed literature review and interviews with the experts. The perceptions encompassed the lack of awareness and understanding of dispute boards and implementation procedures, misconceptions about the costs associated with implementing dispute boards and the impact on the bid prices, the common orientation of resolving disputes internally and avoid resorting to external parties to preserve the long-term relationship, and lack of trust in the ability of the dispute boards to positively affect the project performance. In response to these identified misconceptions, a proposed alternative draft to the FIDIC 2017 clause twenty-one “Disputes and Arbitration” is provided, offering a way for a practical application of the dispute boards within the Egyptian context.

Keywords: alternative dispute resolution, claim management system, dispute boards, Egyptian construction industry, FIDIC

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Authors: Lela Gadrani, Mariam Tsitsagi

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Human is a part of the urban landscape and responsible for it. Urbanization of cities includes the longest phase; thus none of the environment ever undergoes such anthropogenic impact as the area of large cities. The post-Soviet period is very interesting in terms of scientific research. The changes that have occurred in the cities since the collapse of the Soviet Union have not yet been analyzed best to our knowledge. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyze the changes in the land use of the three large cities of Georgia (Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi). Tbilisi as a capital city, Batumi as a port city, and Kutaisi as a former industrial center. Data used during the research process are conventionally divided into satellite and supporting materials. For this purpose, the largest topographic maps (1:10 000) of all three cities were analyzed, Tbilisi General Plans (1896, 1924), Tbilisi and Kutaisi historical maps. The main emphasis was placed on the classification of Landsat images. In this case, we have classified the images LULC (LandUse / LandCover) of all three cities taken in 1987 and 2016 using the supervised and unsupervised methods. All the procedures were performed in the programs: Arc GIS 10.3.1 and ENVI 5.0. In each classification we have singled out the following classes: built-up area, water bodies, agricultural lands, green cover and bare soil, and calculated the areas occupied by them. In order to check the validity of the obtained results, additionally we used the higher resolution images of CORONA and Sentinel. Ultimately we identified the changes that took place in the land use in the post-Soviet period in the above cities. According to the results, a large wave of changes touched Tbilisi and Batumi, though in different periods. It turned out that in the case of Tbilisi, the area of developed territory has increased by 13.9% compared to the 1987 data, which is certainly happening at the expense of agricultural land and green cover, in particular, the area of agricultural lands has decreased by 4.97%; and the green cover by 5.67%. It should be noted that Batumi has obviously overtaken the country's capital in terms of development. With the unaided eye it is clear that in comparison with other regions of Georgia, everything is different in Batumi. In fact, Batumi is an unofficial summer capital of Georgia. Undoubtedly, Batumi’s development is very important both in economic and social terms. However, there is a danger that in the uneven conditions of urban development, we will eventually get a developed center - Batumi, and multiple underdeveloped peripheries around it. Analysis of the changes in the land use is of utmost importance not only for quantitative evaluation of the changes already implemented, but for future modeling and prognosis of urban development. Raster data containing the classes of land use is an integral part of the city's prognostic models.

Keywords: analysis, geo information system, remote sensing, LULC

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Authors: Sahil Patel

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Increasing urbanization leads to a concrete forest. The effects of new development practices occur in the natural hydrologic cycle. Here the concerns have been raised about the groundwater recharge in sufficient quantity. With further development, porous surfaces reduce rapidly. A city like Ahmedabad, with a non-perennial river, is 100% dependent on groundwater. The Ahmedabad city receives its domestic use water from the Narmada river, located about 200 km away. The expenses to bring water is much higher. Ahmedabad city receives annually 800 mm rainfall, and mostly this water increases the local level waterlogging problems; after that, water goes to the Sabarmati river and merges into the sea. The existing developed area of Ahmedabad city is very dense, and does not offer many chances to change the built form and increase porous surfaces to absorb storm-water. Therefore, there is a need to plan upcoming areas with more effective solutions to manage storm-water. This paper is focusing on the management of stormwater for new development by retaining natural hydrology. The Low Impact Development (LID) concept is used to manage storm-water efficiently. Ahmedabad city has a tool called the “Town Planning Scheme,” which helps the local body drive new development by land pooling mechanism. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the selected area (proposed Town Planning Scheme area by the local authority) in Ahmedabad. Here the development control regulations for individual developers and some physical elements for public places are presented to manage storm-water. There is a different solution for the Town Planning scheme than that of the conventional way. A local authority can use it for any area, but it can be site-specific. In the end, there are benefits to locals with some financial analysis and comparisons.

Keywords: water management, green field development, low impact development, town planning scheme

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Authors: Nguyen-Tri Phuong, Triki Ennouri, Gauvin Chantal, Tuduri Ludovic, Vu-Khanh Toan

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Hand injuries due to mechanical hazards such as cuts and punctures are major risks and concerns for several occupational groups, particularly for workers in the metal manufacturing sector and mechanical automotive services. Personal protective equipment such as gloves or clothing is necessary for many professionals to protect against a variety of occupational hazards, which arise daily in their work environments. In many working places such as metal manufacturing or automotive services, mechanical hazards often occur together with industrial contaminants, particularly metalworking fluids (MWFs). The presence of these contaminants could modify the properties of gloves made from polymeric materials and thus increase the risk of hand injuries for workers. The focus of this study is to determine the swelling characteristics and the resistance of six polymer membranes when they are contaminated with several industrial metalworking fluids. These polymer membranes, commonly used in protective gloves, are nitrile, neoprene, vinyl, butyl, polyurethane and latex rubbers. Changes swelling index were continuously followed during the contamination procedure to compare the performance of each polymer under different conditions. The modification of the samples surface, tensile properties during the contamination process was also investigated. The effect of temperature on mechanical properties and morphology of material was also examined.

Keywords: metalworking fluid, swelling behavior, protective glove materials, elastomers

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Authors: K. Saravanan, K. A.Rameshkumar, P. Maadeswaran

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The depletion of fossil resources and the rise in global temperatures are two of the most important concerns we confront today. There are numerous renewable energy sources like solar power, tidal power, wind energy, radiant energy, hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, and biomass available to generate the needed energy demand. Engineers and scientists around the world are facing a massive barrier in the development of storage technologies for the energy developed from renewable energy sources. The development of electrochemical capacitors as a future energy storage technology is at the forefront of current research and development. This is due to the fact that the electrochemical capacitors have a significantly higher energy density, a faster charging-discharging rate, and a longer life span than capacitors, and they also have a higher power density than batteries, making them superior to both. In this research, electrochemical capacitors using the Nd2O3/Mn3O4/ N-rGO electrode material is chosen since the of hexagonal and tetragonal crystal structures of Nd2O3 and Mn3O4 and also has cycling stability of 68% over a long time at 50mVs-1 and a high coulombic efficiency of 99.64% at 5 Ag-1. This approach may also be used to create novel electrode materials with improved electrochemical and cyclic stability for high-performance supercapacitors.

Keywords: Nd2O3/Mn3O4/N-rGO, nanocomposites, hydrothermal method, electrode material, specific capacitance, use of supercapacitors

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Authors: J. M. Mayoral, M. Anaya

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The urban and economic development of cities demands the construction of water use and flood control infrastructure. Likewise, it is necessary to determine the safety level of the structures built with the current standards and if it is necessary to define the reinforcement actions. The foregoing is even more important in structures of great importance, such as dams, since they imply a greater risk for the population in case of failure or undesirable operating conditions (e.g., seepage, cracks, subsidence). This article presents a methodology for determining the seismic integrity of dams in urban areas. From direct measurements of the dynamic properties using geophysical exploration and ambient seismic noise measurements, the seismic integrity of the concrete-faced rockfill dam selected as a case of study is evaluated. To validate the results, two accelerometer stations were installed (e.g., free field and crest of the dam). Once the dynamic properties were determined, three-dimensional finite difference models were developed to evaluate the dam seismic performance for different intensities of movement, considering the site response and soil-structure interaction effects. The seismic environment was determined from the uniform hazard spectra for several return periods. Based on the results obtained, the safety level of the dam against different seismic actions was determined, and the effectiveness of ambient seismic noise measurements in dynamic characterization and subsequent evaluation of the seismic integrity of urban dams was evaluated.

Keywords: risk, seismic, soil-structure interaction, urban dams

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Azar Mahmoudi

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Despite the rise of global anti-corruption movements and the strong emergence of international and national anti-corruption laws, corrupt practices are still prevalent in most places, and countries still struggle to translate these laws into practice. On the other hand, in most countries, political and economic elites oppose anti-corruption reforms. In such a situation, the role of external actors, like the other States, international organizations, and transnational actors, becomes essential. Among them, Transnational Corporations [TNCs] can develop their own regime-like framework to govern their internal activities, and through this, they can contribute to the regimes established by State actors to solve transnational issues. Among various regimes, TNCs may choose to comply with the transnational anti-corruption legal regime to avoid the cost of non-compliance with anti-corruption laws. As a result, they decide to strenghen their anti-corruption compliance as they expand into new overseas markets. Such a decision extends anti-corruption standards among their employees and third-party agents and within their projects across countries. To better address the challenges posed by corruption, TNCs have adopted a comprehensive anti-corruption toolkit. Among the various instruments, anti-corruption clauses have become one of the most anti-corruption means in international commercial agreements. Anti-corruption clauses, acting as a due diligence tool, can protect TNCs against the engagement of third-party agents in corrupt practices and further promote anti-corruption standards among businesses operating across countries. An anti-corruption clause allows parties to create a contractual commitment to exclude corrupt practices during the term of their agreement, including all levels of negotiation and implementation. Such a clause offers companies a mechanism to reduce the risk of potential corruption in their dealings with third parties while avoiding civil and administrative penalties. There have been few attempts to examine the role of anti-corruption clauses in the fight against corruption; therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap and examine anti-corruption clauses in a specific sector where corrupt practices are widespread and endemic, i.e., the petroleum industry. This paper argues that anti-corruption clauses are a positive step in ensuring that the petroleum industry operates in an ethical and transparent manner, helping to reducing the risk of corruption and promote integrity in this sector. Contractual anti-corruption clauses vary in terms of the types commitment, so parties have a wide range of options to choose from for their preferred clauses incorporated within their contracts. This paper intends to propose a categorization of anti-corruption clauses in the petroleum sector. It examines particularly the anti-corruption clauses incorporated in transnational hydrocarbon contracts published by the Resource Contract Portal, an online repository of extractive contracts. Then, this paper offers a quantitative assessment of anti-corruption clauses according to the types of contract, the date of conclusion, and the geographical distribution.

Keywords: anti-corruption, oil and gas, transnational corporations, due diligence, contractual clauses, hydrocarbon, petroleum sector

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Bassem Nassar, Wessam Hussein, Medhat Mokhtar

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The crucial concern of satellite operations is to ensure the health and safety of satellites. The worst case in this perspective is probably the loss of a mission but the more common interruption of satellite functionality can result in compromised mission objectives. All the data acquiring from the spacecraft are known as Telemetry (TM), which contains the wealth information related to the health of all its subsystems. Each single item of information is contained in a telemetry parameter, which represents a time-variant property (i.e. a status or a measurement) to be checked. As a consequence, there is a continuous improvement of TM monitoring systems in order to reduce the time required to respond to changes in a satellite's state of health. A fast conception of the current state of the satellite is thus very important in order to respond to occurring failures. Statistical multivariate latent techniques are one of the vital learning tools that are used to tackle the aforementioned problem coherently. Information extraction from such rich data sources using advanced statistical methodologies is a challenging task due to the massive volume of data. To solve this problem, in this paper, we present a proposed unsupervised learning algorithm based on Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The algorithm is particularly applied on an actual remote sensing spacecraft. Data from the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) was acquired under two operation conditions: normal and faulty states. The models were built and tested under these conditions and the results shows that the algorithm could successfully differentiate between these operations conditions. Furthermore, the algorithm provides competent information in prediction as well as adding more insight and physical interpretation to the ADCS operation.

Keywords: space telemetry monitoring, multivariate analysis, PCA algorithm, space operations

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Authors: Ravi Kiran Jaladi, Ezz I. El-Masry

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Emerging technologies such as ultra-wide band wireless access technology that operate at ultra-low power present several challenges due to their inherent design that limits the use of voltage-mode filters. Therefore, Continuous-time current-mode (CTCM) filters have become very popular in recent times due to the fact they have a wider dynamic range, improved linearity, and extended bandwidth compared to their voltage-mode counterparts. The goal of this research is to develop analog filters which are suitable for the current scaling CMOS technologies. Bulk-driven MOSFET is one of the most popular low power design technique for the existing challenges, while other techniques have obvious shortcomings. In this work, a CTCM Gate-driven (GD) differentiator has been presented with a frequency range from dc to 100MHz which operates at very low supply voltage of 0.7 volts. A novel CTCM Bulk-driven (BD) differentiator has been designed for the first time which reduces the power consumption multiple times that of GD differentiator. These GD and BD differentiator has been simulated using CADENCE TSMC 65nm technology for all the bilinear and biquadratic band-pass frequency responses. These basic building blocks can be used to implement the higher order filters. A 6th order cascade CTCM Chebyshev band-pass filter has been designed using the GD and BD techniques. As a conclusion, a low power GD and BD 6th order chebyshev stagger-tuned band-pass filter was simulated and all the parameters obtained from all the resulting realizations are analyzed and compared. Monte Carlo analysis is performed for both the 6th order filters and the results of sensitivity analysis are presented.

Keywords: bulk-driven (BD), continuous-time current-mode filters (CTCM), gate-driven (GD)

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Authors: Alexander K. Guo

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PM2.5 poses a large threat to people’s health and the environment and is an issue of large concern in Beijing, brought to the attention of the government by the media. In addition, both the United States Embassy in Beijing and the government of China have increased monitoring of PM2.5 in recent years, and have made real-time data available to the public. This report utilizes hourly historical data (2008-2016) from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for the first time. The first objective was to attempt to fit probability distributions to the data to better predict a number of days exceeding the standard, and the second was to uncover any yearly, seasonal, monthly, daily, and hourly patterns and trends that may arise to better understand of air control policy. In these data, 66,650 hours and 2687 days provided valid data. Lognormal, gamma, and Weibull distributions were fit to the data through an estimation of parameters. The Chi-squared test was employed to compare the actual data with the fitted distributions. The data were used to uncover trends, patterns, and improvements in PM2.5 concentration over the period of time with valid data in addition to specific periods of time that received large amounts of media attention, analyzed to gain a better understanding of causes of air pollution. The data show a clear indication that Beijing’s air quality is unhealthy, with an average of 94.07µg/m3 across all 66,650 hours with valid data. It was found that no distribution fit the entire dataset of all 2687 days well, but each of the three above distribution types was optimal in at least one of the yearly data sets, with the lognormal distribution found to fit recent years better. An improvement in air quality beginning in 2014 was discovered, with the first five months of 2016 reporting an average PM2.5 concentration that is 23.8% lower than the average of the same period in all years, perhaps the result of various new pollution-control policies. It was also found that the winter and fall months contained more days in both good and extremely polluted categories, leading to a higher average but a comparable median in these months. Additionally, the evening hours, especially in the winter, reported much higher PM2.5 concentrations than the afternoon hours, possibly due to the prohibition of trucks in the city in the daytime and the increased use of coal for heating in the colder months when residents are home in the evening. Lastly, through analysis of special intervals that attracted media attention for either unnaturally good or bad air quality, the government’s temporary pollution control measures, such as more intensive road-space rationing and factory closures, are shown to be effective. In summary, air quality in Beijing is improving steadily and do follow standard probability distributions to an extent, but still needs improvement. Analysis will be updated when new data become available.

Keywords: Beijing, distribution, patterns, pm2.5, trends

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Authors: James Brown, Stella Kortekaas, Ian Finnie, George Zhang, Christine Devine, Neil Healy

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The use of GIS as an analysis tool for engineering decision making is now best practice in the offshore industry. GIS enables multidisciplinary data integration, analysis and visualisation which allows the presentation of large and intricate datasets in a simple map-interface accessible to all project stakeholders. Presenting integrated geoscience and geotechnical data in GIS enables decision makers to be well-informed. This paper is a successful case study of how GIS spatial analysis techniques were applied to help select the most favourable pipeline route. Routing a pipeline through any natural environment has numerous obstacles, whether they be topographical, geological, engineering or financial. Where the pipeline is subjected to external hydrostatic water pressure and is carrying pressurised hydrocarbons, the requirement to safely route the pipeline through hazardous terrain becomes absolutely paramount. This study illustrates how the application of modern, GIS-based pipeline routing techniques enabled the identification of a single most-favourable pipeline route crossing of a challenging seabed terrain. Conventional approaches to pipeline route determination focus on manual avoidance of primary constraints whilst endeavouring to minimise route length. Such an approach is qualitative, subjective and is liable to bias towards the discipline and expertise that is involved in the routing process. For very short routes traversing benign seabed topography in shallow water this approach may be sufficient, but for deepwater geohazardous sites, the need for an automated, multi-criteria, and quantitative approach is essential. This study combined multiple routing constraints using modern least-cost-routing algorithms deployed in GIS, hitherto unachievable with conventional approaches. The least-cost-routing procedure begins with the assignment of geocost across the study area. Geocost is defined as a numerical penalty score representing hazard posed by each routing constraint (e.g. slope angle, rugosity, vulnerability to debris flows) to the pipeline. All geocosted routing constraints are combined to generate a composite geocost map that is used to compute the least geocost route between two defined terminals. The analyses were applied to select the most favourable pipeline route for a potential gas development in deep water. The study area is geologically complex with a series of incised, potentially active, canyons carved into a steep escarpment, with evidence of extensive debris flows. A similar debris flow in the future could cause significant damage to a poorly-placed pipeline. Protruding inter-canyon spurs offer lower-gradient options for ascending an escarpment but the vulnerability of periodic failure of these spurs is not well understood. Close collaboration between geoscientists, pipeline engineers, geotechnical engineers and of course the gas export pipeline operator guided the analyses and assignment of geocosts. Shorter route length, less severe slope angles, and geohazard avoidance were the primary drivers in identifying the most favourable route.

Keywords: geocost, geohazard, pipeline route determination, pipeline route optimisation, spatial analysis

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Authors: P. Afsharian, S. Mousazadeh, M. Shahhoseini, R. Aflatoonian

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Introduction: Matrix MetalloProteinases (MMPs) degrade extracellular matrix components to provide normal remodeling and contribute to pathological tissue destruction and cell migration in endometriosis. It is accepted that MMPs are resistant to suppression by progesterone in endometriotic tissues. The physiological effects of progesterone are mediated by its two progesterone receptor (PGR) isoforms, namely PGR-A and PGR-B. The capacity of progesterone affect to gene expression is dependent on the PGR-A/PGR-B ratio. The imbalance ratio in endometriotic tissue may be an important mechanism to be resulted in Progesterone resistance and modify progesterone action via differential regulation of specific progesterone response genes and improve endometriosis disease. Material and methods: RNA was extracted from twenty ectopic (endometriotic) and eutopic (endometrial) tissue samples of women undergoing laparoscopy for endometriosis and 20 healthy fertile women at Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran. Analysis of PGR-A, PGR-B, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression was performed using Real-time PCR in ectopic and eutopic tissues. Then, Statistical analysis was calculated according to the 2-ΔΔCT equation for all samples. Results: Quantitative RT–PCR analyses of PGR-A and PGR-B mRNA revealed that there were differences in both isoformes of PGRs mRNA expressions between ectopic and control eutopic tissues. We were able to demonstrate low expression levels of PGR-B isoforms in ectopic tissues. Although, PGR-A expression was significantly higher in the same ectopic samples compare to controls.This method permitted us to demonstrate significant overexpression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ectopic samples compared to control endometrial tissues, as well. Conclusions: Our data suggest that low expression levels of PGR-B and overexpression of PGR-A can alter PGR-A/PGR-B ratio in endometriotic ectopic tissues. Imbalance ratio of PGRs in endometriotic tissue may be able to consequence MMP-2 and MMP-9 overexpression which can be important in pathogenesis and treatment of disease.

Keywords: endometriosis, matrix metalloproteinases, progesterone receptor -A and -B, PGR-A/PGR-B ratio

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Authors: Antonio Munar-Frau, Sascha Klismoch, Manfred Schmolz, Federico Hernandez-Alfaro, Jordi Caballe-Serrano

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Introduction: Biocompatibility of biomaterials has been proposed as one of the main criteria for treatment success. For guided bone regeneration (GBR), barrier membranes present a conflict given the number of origins and modifications of these materials. The biologic response to biomaterials is orchestrated by a series of events leading to the integration or rejection of the biomaterial, posing questions such as if a longer occlusive property may trigger an inflammatory reaction. Whole blood cultures are a solution to study the immune response to drugs or biomaterials during the first 24-48 hours. The aim of this study is to determine the early immune response of different origins and chemical modifications of barrier membranes. Materials & Methods: 5 different widely used barrier membranes were included in this study: Acellular dermal matrix (AlloDerm, LifeCell®), Porcine Peritoneum (BioGide, Geistlich Pharma®), Porcine Pericardium (Jason, Botiss Biomaterials GmbH®), Porcine Cross-linked collagen (Ossix Plus, Datum Dental®) and d-PTFE (Cytoplast TXT, Osteogenics Biomedical®). Blood samples were extracted from 3 different healthy donors and incubated with the different samples of barrier membranes for 24 hours. After the incubation time, serum samples were obtained and analyzed by means of biocompatibility assays taking into account 42 markers. Results: In an early stage of the inflammatory response, the Acellular dermal matrix, porcine peritoneum and porcine cross-linked collagen expressed similar patterns of cytokine expression with a great manifestation of ENA 78. Porcine pericardium and d-PTFE presented similar cytokine activation, especially for MMP-3 and MMP-9, although other cytokines were highlighted with lower expression. For the later immune response, Porcine peritoneum and acellular dermal matrix MCP-1 and IL-15 were evident. Porcine pericardium, porcine cross-linked collagen and d-PTFE presented a high expression of IL-16 and lower manifestation of other cytokines. Different behaviors depending on an earlier or later stage of the inflammation process were observed. Barrier membrane inflammatory expression does not only differ depending on the origin, variables such as treatment of the collagen and polymers may also have a great impact on the cytokine expression of the studied barrier membranes during inflammation. Conclusions: Surface treatment and modifications might affect the biocompatibility of the membranes, as different cytokine expressions were evidently depending on the origin of the biomaterial. This study is only a brushstroke regarding the biocompatibility of materials, as it is one of the pioneer studies for ex vivo barrier membranes assays. Studies regarding surface modification are needed in order to clarify mystifications of barrier membrane science.

Keywords: biomaterials, bone regeneration, biocompatibility, inflammation

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Authors: Xinhuang Wu, Yousef Sardahi

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A hybrid and optimal multi-loop control structure combining linear and nonlinear control algorithms are introduced in this paper to regulate the position of a quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) driven by four brushless DC motors. To this end, a nonlinear mathematical model of the UAV is derived and then linearized around one of its operating points. Using the nonlinear version of the model, a sliding mode control is used to derive the control laws of the motor thrust forces required to drive the UAV to a certain position. The linear model is used to design two controllers, XG-controller and YG-controller, responsible for calculating the required roll and pitch to maneuver the vehicle to the desired X and Y position. Three attitude controllers are designed to calculate the desired angular rates of rotors, assuming that the Euler angles are minimal. After that, a many-objective optimization problem involving 20 design parameters and ten objective functions is formulated and solved by HypE (Hypervolume estimation algorithm), one of the widely used many-objective optimization algorithms approaches. Both stability and performance constraints are imposed on the optimization problem. The optimization results in terms of Pareto sets and fronts are obtained and show that some of the design objectives are competing. That is, when one objective goes down, the other goes up. Also, Numerical simulations conducted on the nonlinear UAV model show that the proposed optimization method is quite effective.

Keywords: optimal control, many-objective optimization, sliding mode control, linear control, cascade controllers, UAV, drones

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Authors: Shiri Elisheva Decktor, Sharon Hornstein

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Highway merges and unmarked junctions are key components in any urban road network, which can act as bottlenecks and create traffic disruption. Inefficient highway merges may trigger traffic instabilities such as stop-and-go waves, pose safety conditions and lead to longer journey times. These phenomena occur spontaneously if the average vehicle density exceeds a certain critical value. This study focuses on modeling the traffic using a microscopic traffic flow model. A hybrid traffic model, which combines human-driven and controlled vehicles is assumed. The controlled vehicles obey different driving policies when approaching the merge, or in the vicinity of other vehicles. We developed a co-simulation model in SUMO (Simulation of Urban Mobility), in which the human-driven cars are modeled using the IDM model, and the controlled cars are modeled using a dedicated controller. The scenario chosen for this study is a closed track with one merge and one exit, which could be later implemented using a scaled infrastructure on our lab setup. This will enable us to benchmark the results of this study obtained in simulation, to comparable results in similar conditions in the lab. The metrics chosen for the comparison of the performance of our algorithm on the overall traffic conditions include the average speed, wait time near the merge, and throughput after the merge, measured under different travel demand conditions (low, medium, and heavy traffic).

Keywords: highway merges, traffic modeling, SUMO, driving policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Tatiana Belmonte dos Santos Rodrigues

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This is a comparative study between the training process of teachers of English as a foreign language in a Brazilian institution and an Italian institution, analyzing the academic curriculum, which includes courses mandatory internship activities, among other curricular aspects, and investigating the motivations that lead pre-service teachers to pursue a teaching career. The two institutions involved in this research are considered the oldest in Brazil, the Federal University of Amazonas, created in 1909, and the oldest in Italy, the University of Bologna, created in 1088. The general problem, or guiding question of this research, therefore, is: What is the role of the academic curriculum in motivating and consolidating the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) as a professional career? The hypothesis be investigated is that the degree courses of the two institutions apply in their curricula the pedagogical contours described in Shulman (2005), essential for the consolidation of the specificities of professional teacher training, which would lead to the strengthening of motivation pre-service professors to remain in this professional career plan, both for those who have already entered the course with pre-established external or internal motivations and for those who entered without apparent motivation. This is qualitative research (CRESWELL, 2007), with the application of field research, where documental analysis of the academic curriculum was carried out together with interviews with preservice teachers of the two institutions and analysis through interpretivism (MERTENS, 2010). The curriculum was analyzed in the light of Shulman (2005) and the interviewees' motivational discourse were analyzed from the perspective of Lovely (2012)'s discoveries. At the end, the data was crossed to answer the guiding question of the research, generating the proposed comparative study.

Keywords: preservice teachers, academic curriculum, motivation, english as a foreign language

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Authors: Tangyie Evani, Edmond Biloa, Emmanuel Nforbi, Lem Lilian Atanga, Kom Beatrice

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The dynamics of languages in contact necessitates a close study of how its users negotiate meanings from shared values in the process of cross-cultural communication. A transverse analysis of the situation demonstrates the existence of complex efforts on connecting cultural knowledge to cross-linguistic competencies within a widening range of communicative exchanges. This paper sets to examine the psychology of cross-cultural communication in a multi-linguistic setting like Cameroon where many local and international languages are in close contact. The paper equally analyses the pertinence of existing macro sociological concepts as fundamental knowledge traits in literal and idiomatic cross semantic mapping. From this point, the article presents a path model of connecting sociolinguistics to the increasing adoption of a widening range of communicative genre piloted by the on-going globalisation trends with its high-speed information technology machinery. By applying a cross cultural analysis frame, the paper will be contributing to a better understanding of the fundamental changes in the nature and goals of cross-cultural knowledge in pragmatics of communication and cultural acceptability’s. It emphasises on the point that, in an era of increasing global interchange, a comprehensive inclusive global culture through bridging gaps in cross-cultural communication would have significant potentials to contribute to achieving global social development goals, if inadequacies in language constructs are adjusted to create avenues that intertwine with sociocultural beliefs, ensuring that meaningful and context bound sociolinguistic values are observed within the global arena of communication.

Keywords: cross-cultural communication, customary language, literalisms, primary meaning, subclasses, transubstantiation

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Authors: Omaima E. S. Mohammed, Amira A. A. Abdallah, Amal A. M. El Borady

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Background: Core stability training has recently attracted attention for improving muscle performance. Purpose: This study investigated the effect of beginners' core stability exercises on trunk active repositioning error at 30° and 60° trunk flexion. Methods: Forty healthy males participated in the study. They were divided into two equal groups; experimental “group I” and control “group II”. Their mean age, weight and height were 19.35±1.11 vs 20.45±1.64 years, 70.15±6.44 vs 72.45±6.91 kg and 174.7±7.02 vs 176.3±7.24 cm for group I vs group II. Data were collected using the Biodex Isokinetic system at an angular velocity of 60º/s. The participants were tested twice; before and after a 6-week period during which group I performed a core stability training program. Results: The Mixed 3-way ANOVA revealed significant increases (p<0.05) in the absolute error (AE) at 30˚ compared with 60˚ flexion in the pre-test condition of group I and II and the post-test condition of group II. Moreover, there were significant decreases (p<0.05) in the AE in the post-test condition compared with the pre-test in group I at both 30˚ and 60˚ flexion with no significant differences for group II. Finally, there were significant decreases (p<0.05) in the AE in group I compared with group II in the post-test condition at 30˚ and 60˚ flexion with no significant differences for the pre-test condition Interpretation/Conclusion: The improvement in trunk proprioception indicated by the decrease in the active repositioning error in the experimental group recommends including core stability training in the exercise programs that aim to improve trunk proprioception.

Keywords: core stability, isokinetic, trunk proprioception, biomechanics

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Authors: Gaurav Bisht, Rahul Rathnakumar, Ravikumar Duggirala

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Predictive simulations are one of the key focus areas in safety-critical industries such as aerospace and high-performance automotive engineering. The stone-chipping study is one such effort taken up by the industry to predict and evaluate the damage caused due to gravel impact on vehicles. This paper describes a finite elements based method that can simulate the ejection of gravel chips from a vehicle tire. The FE simulations were used to obtain the initial ejection velocity of the stones for various driving conditions using a computational contact mechanics approach. To verify the accuracy of the tire model, several parametric studies were conducted. The FE simulations resulted in stone loft velocities ranging from 0–8 m/s, regardless of tire speed. The stress on the tire at the instant of initial contact with the stone increased linearly with vehicle speed. Mesh convergence studies indicated that a highly resolved tire mesh tends to result in better momentum transfer between the tire and the stone. A fine tire mesh also showed a linearly increasing relationship between the tire forward speed and stone lofting speed, which was not observed in coarser meshes. However, it also highlighted a potential challenge, in that the ejection velocity vector of the stone seemed to be sensitive to the mesh, owing to the FE-based contact mechanical formulation of the problem.

Keywords: abaqus, contact mechanics, foreign object debris, stone chipping

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Authors: Awadhesh Kishore

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One of the most unique characteristics of rabbit feeding behaviour is caecotrophy, which involves the excretion and immediate consumption of specific faeces known as soft faeces. Caecotrophy in rabbits is the instinctual behaviour of eating soft faeces; reduced caecotrophy decreases rabbit growth and lipid synthesis in the liver. Caecotroph ingestion is highest when rabbits are fed a diet high in indigestible fibre. The colon produces two types of waste: hard and soft pellets. The hard pellets are expelled, but the soft pellets are re-ingested by the rabbit directly upon being expelled from the anus by twisting itself around and sucking in those pellets as they emerge from the anus. The type of alfalfa hay in the feed of the rabbits does not affect volatile fatty acid concentration, the pattern of fermentation, or pH in the faeces. The cecal content and the soft faeces contain significant amounts of retinoids and carotenoids, while in the tissues (blood, liver, and kidney), these pigments do not occur in substantial amounts. Preventing caecotrophy reduced growth and altered lipid metabolism, depressing the development of new approaches for rabbit feeding and production. Relative abundance is depressed for genes related to metabolic pathways such as vitamin C and sugar metabolism, vitamin B2 metabolism, and bile secretion. The key microorganisms that regulate the rapid growth performance of rabbits may provide useful references for future research and the development of microecological preparations.

Keywords: caecocolonic microorganisms, caecotrophy, fasting caecotrophy, rabbits, soft pellets

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Authors: Ahmed M. Khedr, Saad M. Abdelrahman, Kareem M. Tonbol

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Two geo-referenced sea level datasets (September 2008 – November 2010) and (April 2012 – January 2014) were recorded at Alexandria Western Harbour (AWH). Accurate re-definition of tidal datum, referred to the latest International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF-2014), was discussed and updated to improve our understanding of the old predefined tidal datum at Alexandria. Tidal and non-tidal components of sea level were separated with the use of Delft-3D hydrodynamic model-tide suit (Delft-3D, 2015). Tidal characteristics at AWH were investigated and harmonic analysis showed the most significant 34 constituents with their amplitudes and phases. Tide was identified as semi-diurnal pattern as indicated by a “Form Factor” of 0.24 and 0.25, respectively. Principle tidal datums related to major tidal phenomena were recalculated referred to a meaningful geodetic height datum. The portion of residual energy (surge) out of the total sea level energy was computed for each dataset and found 77% and 72%, respectively. Power spectral density (PSD) showed accurate resolvability in high band (1–6) cycle/days for the nominated independent constituents, except some neighbouring constituents, which are too close in frequency. Wind and atmospheric pressure data, during the recorded sea level time, were analysed and cross-correlated with the surge signals. Moderate association between surge and wind and atmospheric pressure data were obtained. In addition, long-term sea level rise trend at AWH was computed and showed good agreement with earlier estimated rates.

Keywords: Alexandria, Delft-3D, Egypt, geodetic reference, harmonic analysis, sea level

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Authors: S. Zeynep Siretioglu Girgin, Gizem Turna Cebeci

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Turkey’s immigration policy is a controversial issue considering its legal, economic, social, and political and human rights dimensions. Formulation of an immigration policy goes hand in hand with political processes, where natives’ attitudes play a significant role. On the other hand, as was the case in Turkey, radical changes made in immigration policy or policies lacking transparency may cause severe reactions by the host society. The underlying discussion paper aims to analyze quantitatively the effects of the existing ‘open door’ immigration policy on the economic integration of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and on the perception of the native population of refugees. For the analysis, semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group interviews have been conducted. After the introduction, a literature review is provided, followed by theoretical background on the explanation of natives’ attitudes towards immigrants. In the next section, a qualitative analysis of natives’ attitudes towards Syrian refugees is presented with the subtopics of (i) awareness, general opinions and expectations, (ii) open-door policy and management of the migration process, (iii) perception of positive and negative impacts of immigration, (iv) economic integration, and (v) cultural similarity. Results indicate that, natives concurrently have social, economic and security concerns regarding refugees, while difficulties regarding security and economic integration of refugees stand out. Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, such as the educational level and employment status, are not sufficient to explain the overall attitudes towards refugees, while they can be used to explain the awareness of the respondents and the priority of the concerns felt.

Keywords: economic integration, immigration policy, integration policies, migrants, natives’ sentiments, perception, Syrian refugees, Turkey

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Authors: Sadat Sembatya

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Tantalum metal is used in addressing capacitance challenge in the 21st-century technology growth. Tantalum is rarely found in its elemental form. Hence it’s often found with niobium and the radioactive elements of thorium and uranium. Industrial processes are required to extract pure tantalum. Its deposits are mainly oxide associated and exist in Ta-Nb oxides such as tapiolite, wodginite, ixiolite, rutile and pyrochlore-supergroup minerals are of minor importance. The stability and chemical inertness of tantalum makes it a valuable substance for laboratory equipment and a substitute for platinum. Each period of Tantalum ore formation is characterized by specific mineralogical and geochemical features. Compositions of Columbite-Group Minerals (CGM) are variable: Fe-rich types predominate in the Man Shield (Sierra Leone), the Congo Craton (DR Congo), the Kamativi Belt (Zimbabwe) and the Jos Plateau (Nigeria). Mn-rich columbite-tantalite is typical of the Alto Ligonha Province (Mozambique), the Arabian-Nubian Shield (Egypt, Ethiopia) and the Tantalite Valley pegmatites (southern Namibia). There are large compositional variations through Fe-Mn fractionation, followed by Nb-Ta fractionation. These are typical for pegmatites usually associated with very coarse quartz-feldspar-mica granites. They are young granitic systems of the Kibara Belt of Central Africa and the Older Granites of Nigeria. Unlike ‘simple’ Be-pegmatites, most Ta-Nb rich pegmatites have the most complex zoning. Hence we need systematic exploration tools to find and rapidly assess the potential of different pegmatites. The pegmatites exist as known deposits (e.g., abandoned mines) and the exposed or buried pegmatites. We investigate rocks and minerals to trace for the possibility of the effect of hydrothermal alteration mainly for exposed pegmatites, do mineralogical study to prove evidence of gradual replacement and geochemistry to report the availability of trace elements which are good indicators of mineralisation. Pegmatites are not good geophysical responders resulting to the exclusion of the geophysics option. As for more advanced prospecting, we bulk samples from different zones first to establish their grades and characteristics, then make a pilot test plant because of big samples to aid in the quantitative characterization of zones, and then drill to reveal distribution and extent of different zones but not necessarily grade due to nugget effect. Rapid assessment tools are needed to assess grade and degree of fractionation in order to ‘rule in’ or ‘rule out’ a given pegmatite for future work. Pegmatite exploration is also unique, high risk and expensive hence right traceability system and certification for 3Ts are highly needed.

Keywords: exploration, mineralogy, pegmatites, tantalum

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Authors: Mehmet Yanardag, Ilker Yilmaz

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Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enjoy and success the aquatic-based exercise and play skills in a pool instead of land-based exercise in a gym. Some authors also observed that many children with ASD experience more success in attaining movement skills in aquatic environment. Properties of the water and hydrodynamic principles cause buoyancy of the water and decrease effects of gravity and it leads to allow a child to practice important aquatic skills with limited motor skills. Also, some authors experience that parents liked the effects of the aquatic intervention program on children with ASD such as improving motor performance, movement capacity and learning basic swimming skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aquatic exercise training on water orientation and underwater working capacity were measured in the pool. This study included in four male children between 5 and 7 years old with ASD and 6.25±0.5 years old. Aquatic exercise skills were applied by using one of the error less teaching which is called the 'most to least prompt' procedure during 12-week, three times a week and 60 minutes a day. The findings of this study indicated that there were improvements test results both water orientation skill and underwater working capacity of children with ASD after 12-weeks exercise training. It was seen that the aquatic exercise intervention would be affected to improve working capacity and orientation skills with the special education approaches applying children with ASD in multidisciplinary team-works.

Keywords: aquatic, autism, orientation, ASD, children

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Authors: Seyed Esmail Seyedi Bariran, Khairul Salleh Mohamed Sahari

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Apparent quality defects such as warpage, shrinkage, weld line, etc. are such an irresistible phenomenon in mass production of auto plastic appearance parts. These frequently occurred manufacturing defects should be satisfied concurrently so as to achieve a final product with acceptable quality standards. Determining the significant control factors that simultaneously affect multiple quality characteristics can significantly improve the optimization results by eliminating the deviating effect of the so-called ineffective outliers. Hence, a robust quantitative approach needs to be developed upon which major control factors and their level can be effectively determined to help improve the reliability of the optimal processing parameter design. Hence, the primary objective of current study was to develop a systematic methodology for selection of significant control factors (SCF) relevant to multiple quality optimization of auto plastic appearance part. Auto bumper was used as a specimen with the most identical quality and production characteristics to APAP group. A preliminary failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) was conducted to nominate a database of pseudo significant significant control factors prior to the optimization phase. Later, CAE simulation Moldflow analysis was implemented to manipulate four rampant plastic injection quality defects concerned with APAP group including warpage deflection, volumetric shrinkage, sink mark and weld line. Furthermore, a step-backward elimination searching method (SESME) has been developed for systematic pre-optimization selection of SCF based on hierarchical orthogonal array design and priority-based one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The development of robust parameter design in the second phase was based on DOE module powered by Minitab v.16 statistical software. Based on the F-test (F 0.05, 2, 14) one-way ANOVA results, it was concluded that for warpage deflection, material mixture percentage was the most significant control factor yielding a 58.34% of contribution while for the other three quality defects, melt temperature was the most significant control factor with a 25.32%, 84.25%, and 34.57% contribution for sin mark, shrinkage and weld line strength control. Also, the results on the he least significant control factors meaningfully revealed injection fill time as the least significant factor for both warpage and sink mark with respective 1.69% and 6.12% contribution. On the other hand, for shrinkage and weld line defects, the least significant control factors were holding pressure and mold temperature with a 0.23% and 4.05% overall contribution accordingly.

Keywords: plastic injection moulding, quality optimization, FMEA, ANOVA, SESME, APAP

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Authors: Raquel Amanda Villamizar Gallardo, Oscar Orlando Ortíz Rodríguez

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Enteric viruses are cosmopolitan agents present in several environments including water. These viruses can cause different diseases including gastroenteritis, hepatitis, conjunctivitis, respiratory problems among others. Although in Colombia there are not regulations concerning to routine viral analysis of drinking water, an enhanced understanding of viral pollution and resistance to treatments is desired in order to assure pure water to the population. Viral detection is often complex due to the need of specialized and time-consuming procedures. In addition, viruses are highly diluted in water which is a drawback from the analytical point of view. To this end, a fast and selective detection method for detection enteric viruses (i.e. Hepatitis A and Rotavirus) were applied. Micro- magnetic particles were functionalized with monoclonal antibodies anti-Hepatitis and anti-Rotavirus and they were used to capture, concentrate and separate whole viral particles in raw water and drinking water samples from four treatment plants identified as CAR-01, MON-02, POR-03, TON-04 and located in the Northeastern Colombia. Viruses were molecularly by using RT-PCR One Step Superscript III. Each plant was analyzed at the entry and exit points, in order to determine the initial presence and eventual reduction of Hepatitis A and Rotavirus after disinfection. The results revealed the presence of both enteric viruses in a 100 % of raw water analyzed in all plants. This represents a potential health hazard, especially for those people whose use this water for agricultural purposes. However, in drinking water analysis, enteric viruses was only positive in CAR-01, where was found the presence of Rotavirus. As a conclusion, the results confirm Rotavirus as the best indicator to evaluate the efficacy of potable treatment plant in eliminating viruses. CAR potable water plant should improve their disinfection process in order to remove efficiently enteric viruses.

Keywords: drinking water, hepatitis A, rotavirus, virus removal

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