Search results for: easily identification

Authors: Behzad Behnia, Noah LaRussa-Trott

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In recent years, fibers have been successfully used as an additive to reinforce asphalt concrete materials and to enhance the sustainability and resiliency of transportation infrastructure. Roads covered with fiber-reinforced asphalt concrete (FRAC) require less frequent maintenance and tend to have a longer lifespan. The present work investigates the application of sasobit-coated aramid fibers in asphalt pavements and employs machine learning to develop prediction models to evaluate the cracking performance of FRAC materials. For the experimental part of the study, the effects of several important parameters such as fiber content, fiber length, and testing temperature on fracture characteristics of FRAC mixtures were thoroughly investigated. Two mechanical performance tests, i.e., the disk-shaped compact tension [DC(T)] and indirect tensile [ID(T)] strength tests, as well as the non-destructive acoustic emission test, were utilized to experimentally measure the cracking behavior of the FRAC material in both macro and micro level, respectively. The experimental results were used to train the supervised machine learning approach in order to establish prediction models for fracture performance of the FRAC mixtures in the field. Experimental results demonstrated that adding fibers improved the overall fracture performance of asphalt concrete materials by increasing their fracture energy, tensile strength and lowering their 'embrittlement temperature'. FRAC mixtures containing long-size fibers exhibited better cracking performance than regular-size fiber mixtures. The developed prediction models of this study could be easily employed by pavement engineers in the assessment of the FRAC pavements.

Keywords: fiber reinforced asphalt concrete, machine learning, cracking performance tests, prediction model

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Authors: Enze Zhang

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One of the most challenging steps in implementing virtual water content (VWC) analysis of crops is to get properly the total volume of consumptive water use (CWU) and, therefore, the choice of a reliable crop CWU estimation method. In practice, lots of previous researches obtaining CWU of crops follow a classical procedure for calculating crop evapotranspiration which is determined by multiplying reference evapotranspiration by appropriate coefficient, such as crop coefficient and water stress coefficients. However, this manner of calculation requires lots of field experimental data at point scale and more seriously, when current growing conditions differ from the standard conditions, may easily produce deviation between the calculated CWU and the actual CWU. Since evapotranspiration caused by crop planting always plays a vital role in surface water-energy balance in an agricultural region, this study decided to alternatively estimates crop evapotranspiration by Budyko framework. After brief introduce the development process of Budyko framework. We choose a modified Budyko framework under unsteady-state to better evaluated the actual CWU and apply it in an agricultural irrigation area in North China Plain which rely on underground water for irrigation. With the agricultural statistic data, this calculated CWU was further converted into VWC and its subdivision of crops at the annual scale. Results show that all the average values of VWC, VWC_blue and VWC_green show a downward trend with increased agricultural production and improved acreage. By comparison with the previous research, VWC calculated by Budyko framework agree well with part of the previous research and for some other research the value is greater. Our research also suggests that this methodology and findings may be reliable and convenient for investigation of virtual water throughout various agriculture regions of the world.

Keywords: virtual water content, Budyko framework, consumptive water use, crop evapotranspiration

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Authors: Davoud Maleki, Neda Zamani

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The present study aims at exploring the effective accountability model of Islamic Azad University using a qualitative approach of grounded theory. The data of this study were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 25 professors and scholars in Islamic Azad University of Tehran who were selected by theoretical sampling method. In the data analysis, the stepwise method and Strauss and Corbin analytical methods (1992) were used. After identification of the main component (balanced response to stakeholders’ needs) and using it to bring the categories together, expressions and ideas representing the relationships between the main and subcomponents, and finally, the revealed components were categorized into six dimensions of the paradigm model, with the relationships among them, including causal conditions (7 components), main component (balanced response to stakeholders’ needs), strategies (5 components), environmental conditions (5 components), intervention features (4 components), and consequences (3 components). Research findings show an exploratory model for describing the relationships between causal conditions, main components, accountability strategies, environmental conditions, university environmental features, and that consequences.

Keywords: accountability, effectiveness, Islamic Azad University, grounded theory

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Authors: Elizabeta Krstić Vukelja

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Digitization of personal data is a consequence of the development of information and communication technologies that create a new work environment with many advantages and challenges, but also potential threats to privacy and personal data protection. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council is becoming a law and obligation that should address the issues of personal data protection and information security. The existence of the Regulation leads to the conclusion that national legislation in the field of virtual environment, protection of the rights of EU citizens and processing of their personal data is insufficiently effective. In the health system, special emphasis is placed on the processing of special categories of personal data, such as health data. The healthcare industry is recognized as a particularly sensitive area in which a large amount of medical data is processed, the digitization of which enables quick access and quick identification of the health insured. The protection of the individual requires quality IT solutions that guarantee the technical protection of personal categories. However, the real problems are the technical and human nature and the spatial limitations of the application of the Regulation. Some conclusions will be drawn by analyzing the implementation of the basic principles of the Regulation on the example of the Croatian health care system and comparing it with similar activities in other EU member states.

Keywords: regulation, healthcare system, personal dana protection, quality data assurance

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Authors: Morteza Hamidpour, Kambeez Shahroudi

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The aim of this research was to identify the factors affecting the measurement and management of marketing performance in Iran's airports and air navigation companies (Economics in Air and Airport Transport). This study was exploratory and used a qualitative content analysis technique. The study population consisted of university professors in the field of air transportation and senior airport managers, with 15 individuals selected as samples using snowball technique. Based on the results, 15 main indicators were identified for measuring the marketing performance of Iran's airports and air navigation companies. These indicators include airport staff, general and operational expenses, annual passenger reception capacity, number of counter receptions and passenger dispatches, airport runway length, airline companies' loyalty to using airport space and facilities, regional market share of transit and departure flights, claims and net profit (aviation and non-aviation). By keeping the input indicators constant, the output indicators can be improved, enhancing performance efficiency and consequently increasing the economic situation in air transportation.

Keywords: air transport economics, marketing performance management, marketing performance input factors, marketing performance intermediary factors, marketing performance output factors, content analysis

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Authors: Wenjiang Deng, Tian Mou, Yudi Pawitan, Trung Nghia Vu

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Estimation of isoform-level gene expression from RNA-seq data depends on simplifying assumptions, such as uniform reads distribution, that are easily violated in real data. Such violations typically lead to biased estimates. Most existing methods provide a bias correction step(s), which is based on biological considerations, such as GC content–and applied in single samples separately. The main problem is that not all biases are known. For example, new technologies such as single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) may introduce new sources of bias not seen in bulk-cell data. This study introduces a method called XAEM based on a more flexible and robust statistical model. Existing methods are essentially based on a linear model Xβ, where the design matrix X is known and derived based on the simplifying assumptions. In contrast, XAEM considers Xβ as a bilinear model with both X and β unknown. Joint estimation of X and β is made possible by simultaneous analysis of multi-sample RNA-seq data. Compared to existing methods, XAEM automatically performs empirical correction of potentially unknown biases. XAEM implements an alternating expectation-maximization (AEM) algorithm, alternating between estimation of X and β. For speed XAEM utilizes quasi-mapping for read alignment, thus leading to a fast algorithm. Overall XAEM performs favorably compared to other recent advanced methods. For simulated datasets, XAEM obtains higher accuracy for multiple-isoform genes, particularly for paralogs. In a differential-expression analysis of a real scRNA-seq dataset, XAEM achieves substantially greater rediscovery rates in an independent validation set.

Keywords: alternating EM algorithm, bias correction, bilinear model, gene expression, RNA-seq

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Authors: Sandip Tambare, Revati Ghadge

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Alcohol withdrawal syndrome continue to be concerning health issue worldwide in alcoholics. Many current option for treating alcohol withdrawal signs are habit forming causing dependency of sedatives. The divine science of Ayurveda recommends Nasya for improvement of alcohol withdrawal signs. As per the latest reports 1/3 of the Indian population is using alcohol in an unhealthy manner, the complication being wide and varied among which, the Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome is the dominant one. The presentation varies from mild sleep loss or anxiety to delirium. Ayurveda has given utmost in the context of Madatyaya(Alcoholism). Various protocols based on the identification of the status of tridoshas are explained which includes sodhana, samana and satwavachaya chikitsa. Various medications are being used, with appreciated effects in the clinical practice. As per reports, the panchakarma procedure nasya seems highly effective, in managing of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Nasya with Ksheerabala Taila is given for 7 days in the condition of Alcohol Withdrawal syndrome and it was the non Randomized trial with 30 subjects satisfying the DSM V criteria for alcohol withdrawl and the assessment was done using the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol Scale revised (CIWA-Ar). Conclusion: Among the symptoms which were studied after the interventions, it was found that there was high significant response in almost all the symptoms in the given subjects. The eternal science of Ayurveda is able to answer the existing problem of alcohol and its abuse in the society.

Keywords: nasya, alcohol withdrawal, madatyaya, ksheerabala taila

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Authors: Chandra Shekhar Majumder, Md. Shamsul Haque, Khondaker Anower Hossain, Md. Rafiqul Islam

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Introduction: Ocular helminths are parasites that infect the eye or its adnexa. They can be either motile worms or sessile worms that form cysts. These parasites require two hosts for their life cycle, a definite host (usually a human) and an intermediate host (usually an insect). While there have been reports of ocular helminths infecting various structures of the eye, including the anterior chamber and subconjunctival space, there is no previous record of such a case involving the lens. Research Aim: The aim of this case report is to present a rare case of ocular helminth infection in the lens and to contribute to the understanding of this unusual site of infection. Methodology: This study is a case report, presenting the details and findings of an 80-year-old retired policeman who presented with severe pain, redness, and vision loss in the left eye. The patient had a history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The examination revealed the presence of a thread-like helminth in the lens. The patient underwent treatment and follow-up, and the helminth specimen was sent for identification to the department of Parasitology. Case report: An 80-year-old retired policeman attended the OPD, Faridpur Medical College Hospital with the complaints of severe pain, redness and gross dimness of vision of the left eye for 5 days. He had a history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension for 3 years. On examination, L/E visual acuity was PL only, moderate ciliary congestion, KP 2+, cells 2+ and posterior synechia from 5 to 7 O’clock position was found. Lens was opaque. A thread like helminth was found under the anterior of the lens. The worm was moving and changing its position during examination. On examination of R/E, visual acuity was 6/36 unaided, 6/18 with pinhole. There was lental opacity. Slit-lamp and fundus examination were within normal limit. Patient was admitted in Faridpur Medical College Hospital. Diabetes mellitus was controlled with insulin. ICCE with PI was done on the same day of admission under depomedrol coverage. The helminth was recovered from the lens. It was thread like, about 5 to 6 mm in length, 1 mm in width and pinkish in colour. The patient followed up after 7 days, VA was HM, mild ciliary congestion, few KPs and cells were present. Media was hazy due to vitreous opacity. The worm was sent to the department of Parasitology, NIPSOM, Dhaka for identification. Findings: The findings of this case report highlight the presence of a helminth in the lens, which has not been previously reported. The helminth was successfully removed from the lens, but the patient experienced complications such as anterior uveitis and vitreous opacity. The exact mechanism by which the helminth enters the lens remains unclear. Theoretical Importance: This case report contributes to the existing literature on ocular helminth infections by reporting a unique case involving the lens. It highlights the need for further research to understand the pathogenesis and mechanism of entry of helminths in the lens. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The data for this case report were collected through clinical examination and medical records of the patient. The findings were described and presented in a descriptive manner. No statistical analysis was conducted. Question Addressed: This case report addresses the question of whether ocular helminth infections can occur in the lens, which has not been previously reported. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of ocular helminth infection in the lens. The presence of the helminth in the lens raises interesting questions regarding its pathogenesis and entry mechanism. Further study and research are needed to explore these aspects. Ophthalmologists and parasitologists should be aware of the possibility of ocular helminth infections in unusual sites like the lens.

Keywords: ocular, helminth, unsual site, lens

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Authors: Malarvizhi Selvaraj, Paul Fergus, Andy Shaw

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Uterine contractions produced during labour have the potential to damage the foetus by diminishing the maternal blood flow to the placenta. In order to observe this phenomenon labour and delivery are routinely monitored using cardiotocography monitors. An obstetrician usually makes the diagnosis of foetus hypoxia by interpreting cardiotocography recordings. However, cardiotocography capture and interpretation is time-consuming and subjective, often lead to misclassification that causes damage to the foetus and unnecessary caesarean section. Both of these have a high impact on the foetus and the cost to the national healthcare services. Automatic detection of foetal heart rate may be an objective solution to help to reduce unnecessary medical interventions, as reported in several studies. This paper aim is to provide a system for better identification and interpretation of abnormalities of the fetal heart rate using RStudio. An open dataset of 552 Intrapartum recordings has been filtered with 0.034 Hz filters in an attempt to remove noise while keeping as much of the discriminative data as possible. Features were chosen following an extensive literature review, which concluded with FIGO features such as acceleration, deceleration, mean, variance and standard derivation. The five features were extracted from 552 recordings. Using these features, recordings will be classified either normal or abnormal. If the recording is abnormal, it has got more chances of hypoxia.

Keywords: cardiotocography, foetus, intrapartum, hypoxia

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Authors: M.F. Elkady, Sahar Zaki, Desouky Abd-El-Haleem

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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are already widely prepared using different technologies. However, there are limited data on the effects of hydrogen ion concentration on nano-silver production. In this investigation, the impact of the pH reaction medium toward the particle size, agglomeration and the yield of the produced bio-synthesized silver were established. Quasi-spherical silver nanoparticles were synthesized through the biosynthesis green production process using the Egyptian E. coli bacterial strain 23N at different pH values. The formation of AgNPs has been confirmed with ultraviolet–visible spectra through identification of their characteristic peak at 410 nm. The quantitative production yield and the orientation planes of the produced nano-silver were examined using X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Quantitative analyses indicated that the silver production yield was promoted at elevated pH regarded to increase the reduction rate of silver precursor through both chemical and biological processes. As a result, number of the nucleus and thus the size of the silver nanoparticles were tunable through changing pH of the reaction system. Accordingly, the morphological structure and size of the produced silver and its aggregates were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. It was considered that the increment in pH value of the reaction media progress the aggregation of silver clusters. However, the presence of stain 23N biomass decreases the possibility of silver aggregation at the pH 7.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, biosynthesis, reaction media pH, nano-silver characterization

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Authors: Afshan Ejaz, Syed Asim Ali

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The reality is a combination of perception, reconstruction, and interaction. Augmented Reality is the advancement that layer over consistent everyday existence which includes content based interface, voice-based interfaces, voice-based interface and guide based or gesture-based interfaces, so designing augmented reality application interfaces is a difficult task for the maker. Designing a user interface which is not only easy to use and easy to learn but its more interactive and self-explanatory which have high perceived affordability, perceived usefulness, consistency and high discoverability so that the user could easily recognized and understand the design. For this purpose, a lot of interface design principles such as learnability, Affordance, Simplicity, Memorability, Feedback, Visibility, Flexibly and others are introduced but there no such principles which explain the most appropriate interface design principles for designing an Augmented Reality application interfaces. Therefore, the basic goal of introducing design principles for Augmented Reality application interfaces is to match the user efforts and the computer display (‘plot user input onto computer output’) using an appropriate interface action symbol (‘metaphors’) or to make that application easy to use, easy to understand and easy to discover. In this study by observing Augmented reality system and interfaces, few of well-known design principle related to GUI (‘user-centered design’) are identify and through them, few issues are shown which can be determined through the design principles. With the help of multiple studies, our study suggests different interface design principles which makes designing Augmented Reality application interface more easier and more helpful for the maker as these principles make the interface more interactive, learnable and more usable. To accomplish and test our finding, Pokémon Go an Augmented Reality game was selected and all the suggested principles are implement and test on its interface. From the results, our study concludes that our identified principles are most important principles while developing and testing any Augmented Reality application interface.

Keywords: GUI, augmented reality, metaphors, affordance, perception, satisfaction, cognitive burden

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Authors: Amin Nezarat, Naeime Seifadini

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Trip mode selection is a behavioral characteristic of passengers with immense importance for travel demand analysis, transportation planning, and traffic management. Identification of trip mode distribution will allow transportation authorities to adopt appropriate strategies to reduce travel time, traffic and air pollution. The majority of existing trip mode inference models operate based on human selected features and traditional machine learning algorithms. However, human selected features are sensitive to changes in traffic and environmental conditions and susceptible to personal biases, which can make them inefficient. One way to overcome these problems is to use neural networks capable of extracting high-level features from raw input. In this study, the convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture is used to predict the trip mode distribution based on raw GPS trajectory data. The key innovation of this paper is the design of the layout of the input layer of CNN as well as normalization operation, in a way that is not only compatible with the CNN architecture but can also represent the fundamental features of motion including speed, acceleration, jerk, and Bearing rate. The highest prediction accuracy achieved with the proposed configuration for the convolutional neural network with batch normalization is 85.26%.

Keywords: predicting, deep learning, neural network, urban trip

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Authors: Nowbuth Manta Devi, Rasmally Mohammed Hussein

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Flood is one of the most devastating climate impacts that many countries are facing. Many different causes have been associated with the intensity of floods being recorded over time. Unplanned development, low carrying capacity of drains, clogged drains, construction in flood plains or increasing intensity of rainfall events. While a combination of these causes can certainly aggravate the flood conditions, in many cases, increasing drainage capacity has not reduced flood risk to the level that was expected. The present study analyzed the extent to which land use is contributing to aggravating impacts of flooding in a city. Satellite images have been analyzed over a period of 20 years at intervals of 5 years. Both unsupervised and supervised classification methods have been used with the image processing module of ArcGIS. The unsupervised classification was first compared to the basemap available in ArcGIS to get a first overview of the results. These results also aided in guiding data collection on-site for the supervised classification. The island of Mauritius is small, and there are large variations in land use over small areas, both within the built areas and in agricultural zones involving food crops. Larger plots of agricultural land under sugar cane plantations are relatively more easily identified. However, the growth stage and health of plants vary and this had to be verified during ground truthing. The results show that although there have been changes in land use as expected over a span of 20 years, this was not significant enough to cause a major increase in flood risk levels. A digital elevation model was analyzed for further understanding. It could not be noted that overtime, development tampered with natural flow paths in addition to increasing the impermeable areas. This situation results in backwater flows, hence increasing flood risks.

Keywords: climate change, flood, natural flow paths, small islands

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Authors: Ubaid Ur Rahman, Waqar Younas, Sooraj Kumar Chhabira

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Environmentally sustainable building construction has experienced significant growth during the past 10 years at international level. This paper shows that the conceptual framework adopts sustainability techniques in construction to develop environment friendly building called green building. Waste occurs during the different construction phases which causes the environmental problems like, deposition of waste on ground surface creates major problems such as bad smell. It also gives birth to different health diseases and produces toxic waste agent which is specifically responsible for making soil infertile. Old recycled building material is used in the construction of new building. Sustainable construction is economical and saves energy sources. Sustainable construction is the major responsibility of designer and project manager. The designer has to fulfil the client demands while keeping the design environment friendly. Project manager has to deliver and execute sustainable construction according to sustainable design. Steel is the most appropriate sustainable construction material. It is more durable and easily recyclable. Steel occupies less area and has more tensile and compressive strength than concrete, making it a better option for sustainable construction as compared to other building materials. New technology like green roof has made the environment pleasant, and has reduced the construction cost. It minimizes economic, social and environmental issues. This paper presents an overview of research related to the material use of green building and by using this research recommendation are made which can be followed in the construction industry. In this paper, we go through detailed analysis on construction material. By making suitable adjustments to project management practices it is shown that a green building improves the cost efficiency of the project, makes it environmental friendly and also meets future generation demands.

Keywords: sustainable construction, green building, recycled waste material, environment

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Authors: Caglayan Hizal, Hasan Emre Demirci, Engin Aktas, Alper Sezer

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Offshore wind turbines consist of a long slender tower with a heavy fixed mass on the top of the tower (nacelle), together with a heavy rotating mass (blades and hub). They are always subjected to environmental loads including wind and wave loads in their service life. This study presents a three-stage methodology for reliability-based condition assessment of offshore wind-turbines against the seismic, wave and wind induced effects considering the soil-structure interaction. In this context, failure criterions are considered as serviceability limits of a monopile supporting an Offshore Wind Turbine: (a) allowable horizontal displacement at pile head should not exceed 0.2 m, (b) rotations at pile head should not exceed 0.5°. A Bayesian system identification framework is adapted to the classical reliability analysis procedure. Using this framework, a reliability assessment can be directly implemented to the updated finite element model without performing time-consuming methods. For numerical verification, simulation data of the finite model of a real offshore wind-turbine structure is investigated using the three-stage methodology.

Keywords: Offshore wind turbines, SHM, reliability assessment, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: M. Sivakumar, D. Chamundeeswari

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Glycosmis pentaphylla is one of the medicinally important plants belonging to the family Rutaceae, commonly known as “Anam or Panal” in Tamil. Traditionally, leaves are useful in fever, hepatopathy, eczema, skin disease, helminthiasis, wounds, and erysipelas. The fruits are sweet and are useful in vitiated conditions of vata, kapha, cough, and bronchitis. The roots are good for facial inflammations, rheumatism, jaundice, and anemia. The preliminary phytochemical investigations indicated the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, sugar, glycoside, and phenolic compounds. In the present study, the root part of Glycosmis pentaphylla was used, and the root was collected from Western Ghats of South India. The root was sun/shade dried and pulverized to powder in a mechanical grinder. The powder was successively extracted with various solvents, and the ethyl acetate extract of Glycosmis pentaphylla has been subjected to the GC-MS analysis. Amongst the 46 chemical constituents identified from this plant, three major phytoconstituents were reported for the first time. Marmesin, a furanocumarin compound with the chemical structure 7H-Furo (3,2-G) (1)Benzopyran-7-one,2,3–dihydro–2 - (1-Hydroxy-1methylethyl)-(s) is one of the three compounds identified for the first time at the concentration of 11-60% in ethyl acetate extract of Glycosmis pentaphylla. Others include, Beta.-Fagarine (4.71%) and Paverine (13.08%).

Keywords: ethyl acetate extract, Glycosmis pentaphylla, GC-MS analysis, Phytochemicals

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Authors: M. Lizzy Madiwani, Ignatious Ncube, Evelyn Madoroba

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This study was designed to determine the distribution of pathogenic bacteria in household raised chickens and study their virulence and antibiotic profiles. For this purpose, 40 chickens were purchased from families in the Capricorn district and sacrificed for sampling. Tissues were cultured on different bacteriological media followed by biotyping using Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-time of Flight (MALDI-TOF). Disk diffusion test was performed to determine the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of these bacteria. Out of a total of 160 tissue samples evaluated, E. coli and Salmonella were detected in these tissues. Furthermore, determination of the pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella strains at species level using primer sets that target selected genes of interest in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was employed. The invA gene, a confirmatory gene of Salmonella was detected in all the Salmonella isolates. The study revealed that there is a high distribution of Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli in these chickens. Therefore, further studies on identification at the species level are highly recommended to provide management and sanitation practices to lower this prevalence. The antimicrobial susceptibly data generated from this study can be a valuable reference to veterinarians for treating bacterial diseases in poultry.

Keywords: antimicrobial, Escherichia coli, pathogens, Salmonella

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Authors: Reem Al-Shidhani, Isabelle S. R. Storer, Michael J. Bromley, Lydia Tabernero

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Invasive fungal diseases are an increasing global health concern that contributes to the high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients. The rising of antifungal resistance severely lowers the efficacy of the limited antifungal agents available. New antifungal drugs that target new mechanisms are necessary to tackle the current shortfalls. Amongst post- modifications, phosphorylation is a predominant and an outstanding protein alteration in all eukaryotes. In fungi, protein phosphorylation plays a vital role in many signal transduction pathways, including cell cycle, cell growth, metabolism, transcription, differentiation, proliferation, and virulence. The investigation of Aspergillus fumigatus phosphatases revealed seven genes essential for viability. Inhibiting one of these phosphatases is a new interesting route to develop novel antifungal drugs. In this study, we carried out an early drug discovery process targeting oneessential phosphatase, GlcA. Here, we report the identification of new GlcA inhibitors that show antifungal activity. These important finding open a new avenue to the development of novel antifungals to expand the current narrow arsenal of clinical candidates.

Keywords: invasive fungal diseases, phosphatases, GlcA, competitive inhibitors

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Authors: Rojan Afrouz

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Introduction: The immigration is a complex process of transitioning and transformation. Immigrants are more likely to come from the patriarchal and hierarchical society with traditional gender roles and women’s stereotypes. Changing the perception of women’s gender roles may result in challenges between women and their family and community. In this article, Afghan women’s perspectives on gender roles and stereotypes have been investigated as well as their experience of changes in the new context of Australia. Australian initiatives of challenging gender roles have provided the opportunities for Afghan women to emancipate from the traditional gender roles and pursue the value of gender equality. In this process, they may face many challenges in intersectional levels within their family, community and wider society which is a complex conflate of oppressive factors that may not be addressed easily and straightforward. Methods: This qualitative study has been conducted among Afghan women who have lived in Australia less than ten years. Semi-structured interviews either face to face or by phone have been used to collect data for this study. The interviews have been audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Nvivo software has been used for data analysis. Findings: Many participants mentioned that they had been taught that a good Afghan woman is devoted, obedient and loyal to their family and community. They believed that for many Afghan families, Afghan women's natural place was inside the home as a housewife, mother, daughter involving so many responsibilities and expectation of making sacrifices. Many women stated that their attitudes toward gender roles and their feeling of being a woman had been changed since they came to Australia although the process of change for women was complex and diverse. Some had to deal with conflicts with their stereotypes, traditional gender roles as well as strong disagreement with their family and community. Conclusion: Moving to a different country with more gender equality is an opportunity for Afghan women to change their perceptions of gender roles and stereotypes. However, challenging traditional stereotypes and gender roles in the new context is a complex process comprising intersectional levels.

Keywords: stereotypes, gender role, immigration, Afghan women

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Authors: S. Chami, J. Chauvin, T. Demarest, Stan Ng, M. Straus, W. Jahner

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Biometrics tools such as fingerprint and iris are widely used in industry to protect critical assets. However, their vulnerability and lack of robustness raise several worries about the protection of highly critical assets. Biometrics based on Electrocardiographic (ECG) signals is a robust identification tool. However, most of the state-of-the-art techniques have worked on clinical signals, which are of high quality and less noisy, extracted from wearable devices like a smartwatch. In this paper, we are presenting a complete machine learning pipeline that identifies people using ECG extracted from an off-person device. An off-person device is a wearable device that is not used in a medical context such as a smartwatch. In addition, one of the main challenges of ECG biometrics is the variability of the ECG of different persons and different situations. To solve this issue, we proposed two different approaches: per person classifier, and one-for-all classifier. The first approach suggests making binary classifier to distinguish one person from others. The second approach suggests a multi-classifier that distinguishes the selected set of individuals from non-selected individuals (others). The preliminary results, the binary classifier obtained a performance 90% in terms of accuracy within a balanced data. The second approach has reported a log loss of 0.05 as a multi-class score.

Keywords: biometrics, electrocardiographic, machine learning, signals processing

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Authors: V. K. Srivastava

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The chemistry of compounds containing transition metals bound to sulfur containing ligands has been actively studied. Interest in these compounds arises from the identification of the biological importance of iron-sulfur containing proteins as well as the unusual behaviour of several types of synthetic metal-sulfur complexes. Metal complexes (C₆H₅)₄P)₂ Pt(Mos₄)₂, (C₆H₅)₄P)₂ Pd(MoS₄)₂, (C₆H₅)₄P)₂ Ni(MoS₄)₂ of bioinorganic relevance were investigated. The complexes [M(M'S₄)₂]²⁻ were prepared with high yield and purity as salts of the variety of organic cations. The diamagnetism and spectroscopic properties of these complexes confirmed that their structures are essentially equivalent with two bidentate M'S₄²⁻ ligands coordinated to the central d⁸ metal in a square planer geometry. The interaction of the complexes with CT-DNA was studied. Results showed that metal complexes increased DNA's relative viscosity and quench the fluorescence intensity of EB bound to DNA. In antimicrobial activities, all complexes showed good antimicrobial activity higher than ligand against gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi. The antitumor properties have been tested in vitro against two tumor human cell lines, Hela (derived from cervical cancer) and MCF-7 (derived from breast cancer) using metabolic activity tests. Result showed that the complexes are promising chemotherapeutic alternatives in the search of anticancer agents.

Keywords: anti cancer, biocidal, DNA binding, spectra

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Authors: Griaznova Svetlana, Umedov Mekhroz

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The current healthcare facilities trend is the creation of multidisciplinary large-scale centers to provide the maximum possible services in one place, minimizing the number of possible instances in the path of patient treatment. The multifunctional medical centers are mainly designed in urban infrastructure for good accessibility. However, many functions and connections define the building shape, often make it inharmonious, that greatly destroys the city's appearance. The purpose of the research is to scientifically substantiate the factors influencing the shaping, the formation of architectural solutions principles, the formation of recommendations and principles for the multifunctional medical centers' design. The result of the research is the elaboration of architectural and planning solutions principles and the determination of factors affecting the multifunctional healthcare facilities shaping. Research method: Study and generalization of international experience in scientific research, literature, standards, teaching aids, and design materials on the topic of research. An integrated approach to the study of existing international experience of multidisciplinary medical centers. Elaboration of graphical analysis and diagrams based on the system analysis of the processed information. Identification of methods and principles of functional zoning of nuclear medicine centers.

Keywords: health care, multifunctionality, form, medical center, hospital, PET, CT scan

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Authors: Ahmet Koyuncu, Abdullah Berkan Erdogmus, Orkun Dogu, Sinan Uygur

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Thermoelectric modules are integrated to electronic components to keep their temperature in specific values in electronic cooling applications. They can be used in different ambient temperatures. The cold side temperatures of thermoelectric modules depend on their hot side temperatures, operation currents, and heat loads. Performance curves of thermoelectric modules are given at most two different hot surface temperatures in product catalogs. Characteristic properties are required to select appropriate thermoelectric modules in thermal design phase of projects. Generally, manufacturers do not provide characteristic material property values of thermoelectric modules to customers for confidentiality. Common commercial software applied like ANSYS ICEPAK, FloEFD, etc., include thermoelectric modules in their libraries. Therefore, they can be easily used to predict the effect of thermoelectric usage in thermal design. Some software requires only the performance values in different temperatures. However, others like ICEPAK require three temperature-dependent equations for material properties (Seebeck coefficient (α), electrical resistivity (β), and thermal conductivity (γ)). Since the number and the variety of thermoelectric modules are limited in this software, definitions of characteristic material properties of thermoelectric modules could be required. In this manuscript, the method of derivation of characteristic material properties from the datasheet of thermoelectric modules is presented. Material characteristics were estimated from two different performance curves by experimentally and numerically in this study. Numerical calculations are accomplished in ICEPAK by using a thermoelectric module exists in the ICEPAK library. A new experimental setup was established to perform experimental study. Because of similar results of numerical and experimental studies, it can be said that proposed equations are approved. This approximation can be suggested for the analysis includes different type or brand of TEC modules.

Keywords: electrical resistivity, material characteristics, thermal conductivity, thermoelectric coolers, seebeck coefficient

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Authors: Wang Jie

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This article advances the reform of Chinese migration law through an analysis of the updated and former versions of the Chinese migration law, specifically for the Exit-Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China and Regulations on Foreigners’ Permanent Residence in the People’s Republic of China(Exposure Draft), which was most recently issued in 2012 and 2020 respectively. After a fundamental reform of China’s migration law, China’s immigration legal framework has become relatively well developed compared with the previous one. Immigration procedures are available online and these procedures have become relatively simple. Comparative research for the Chinese migration laws has been done during the past several years for its legislation, legal reference for western countries and its preliminary implementation. Some results show that the reform is a superficial one and may not have a practical effect on China’s current immigration legal framework. However, complete results cannot be obtained only through the comparative research of legal definitions. Some practical case studies will also be required to analyze in detail to demonstrate the reasons that some reforms still remain at the superficial level and what further progress is required in China's immigration legal framework. This is a perspective that has been overlooked in most comparative law studies. In the first part, this article will conduct a simple comparative study of the reform of Chinese migration law and use cases studies to illustrate the reform of Chinese migration law. In the second part, this article will point out another perspective that is easily overlooked, that is, how do the Chinese nationals treat the reform: whether it is a legislative advance or a failure, and whether it deepens social tensions between nationals and immigrants. In the third part, the article will discuss Chinese migration law through China’s international law perspective with international organizations, such as International Organization for Migration and International Labour Organization will also be discussed to dialectically judge the reform of Chinese migration law. This article will adopt case and comparative studies to conduct overall research based on the reform of Chinese migration law and try to put forward more constructive advice for China’s immigration legal framework.

Keywords: Chinese migration law, reform, foreigners, immigration legal framework

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Authors: Muna Mohamed Omer Mirghani

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This paper responds to one of the key national development strategies and a typical challenge in the Gash Basin as well as in different parts of Sudan, namely managing water scarcity in view of climate change impacts in minor water systems sustaining over 50% of the Sudan population. While now focusing on the Gash river basin, the ultimate aim is to replicate the same approach in similar water systems in central and west Sudan. The key objective of the paper is the identification of outcome-based water governance interventions in Gash Basin, guided by the global Sustainable Development Goal six (SDG 6 on water and sanitation) and the Sudan water resource policy framework. The paper concluded that improved water resources management of the Gash Basin is a prerequisite for ensuring desired policy outcomes of groundwater use and flood risk management purposes. Analysis of various water governance dimensions in the Gash indicated that the operationalization of a Basin-level institutional reform is critically focused on informed actors and adapted practices through knowledge and technologies along with the technical data and capacity needed to make that. Adapting the devolved Institutional structure at state level is recommended to strengthen the Gash basin regulatory function and improve compliance of groundwater users.

Keywords: water governance, Gash Basin, integrated groundwater management, Sudan

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Authors: Jisoo Song

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Today’s mobile applications are communicating with servers more and more in order to access external services or information. Also, server-side code changes are more frequent than client-side code changes in a mobile application. The frequent changes lead to an increase in testing cost increase. To reduce costs, UI based test automation can be one of the solutions. It is a common automation technique in system-level testing. However, it can be unsuitable for mobile applications. When you automate tests based on UI elements for mobile applications, there are some limitations such as the overhead of script maintenance or the difficulty of finding invisible defects that UI elements cannot represent. To overcome these limitations, we present a new automation technique based on Rest API. You can automate system-level tests through test scripts that you write. These scripts call a series of Rest API in a user’s action sequence. This technique does not require testers to know the internal implementation details, only input and expected output of Rest API. You can easily modify test cases by modifying Rest API input values and also find problems that might not be evident from the UI level by validating output values. For example, when an application receives price information from a payment server and user cannot see it at UI level, Rest API based scripts can check whether price information is correct or not. More than 10 mobile applications at our company are being tested automatically based on Rest API scripts whenever application source code, mostly server source code, is built. We are finding defects right away by setting a script as a build job in CI server. The build job starts when application code builds are completed. This presentation will also include field cases from our company.

Keywords: case studies at SK Planet, introduction of rest API based test automation, limitations of UI based test automation

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Authors: Elgendy M. Eman, Sameeh Y. Manal

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Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is so important plant for its medicinal properties from ancient time and used as a spicy herb all over the world. This study was designed to examine the chemical composition of the essential oil and various crude extracts (n-hexane, chloroform and ethanol) of Zingiber officinale as well. GC–MS analyses of the essential oil resulted in the identification of 68 compounds,; 1,8-cineole (8.9%) and linalool (15.1%) were the main components in the essential oil .The crude extracts were analyzed with TLC plates and revealed several spots under UV light; however the hexane extract exhibited the highest number of spots compared to the other extracts. Hexane extract was selected for GC-MS profile, and the results revealed the presence of several volatile compounds and linalool was the major component with high percentage (11.4 %). Further investigation on the structure elucidation of the bioactive compound (linalool) using IR, GC-MS and NMR techniques compared to authenticated linalool then subjected to purification using preparative and column chromatography. Linalool has been epoxidized using m-chloroperbenzoicacid (mcpba) at room temperature in the presence of florescent lamps to give two cyclic oxygenated products (furan epoxide & pyran epoxide) as a stereospecific product.it is concluded that, oxidation process is enhanced by irradiation to form epoxide derivative, which acts as the precursor of important products.

Keywords: epoxide, ginger, irradiation, linalool

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Authors: Nandini Nalika, Suhel Parvez

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Nanotechnology has emerged to play a vital role in developing all through the industrial world with an immense production of nanomaterials including nanoparticles (NPs). Many toxicological studies have confirmed that due to unique small size and physico-chemical properties of NPs (1-100nm), they can be potentially hazardous. Metallic NPs of small size have been shown to induce higher levels of cellular oxidative stress and can easily pass through the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) and significantly accumulate in brain. With the wide applications of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TNPs) in day-to-day life in form of cosmetics, paints, sterilisation and so on, there is growing concern regarding the deleterious effects of TNPs on central nervous system and mitochondria appear to be important cellular organelles targeted to the pro-oxidative effects of NPs and an important source that contribute significantly for the production of reactive oxygen species after some toxicity or an injury. The aim of our study was to elucidate the effect of TNPs in anatase form with different concentrations (5-50 µg/ml) following with various oxidative stress markers in isolated brain mitochondria as an in vitro model. Oxidative stress was determined by measuring the different oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidation as well as the protein carbonyl content which was found to be significantly increased. Reduced glutathione content and major glutathione metabolizing enzymes were also modulated signifying the role of glutathione redox cycle in the pathophysiology of TNPs. The study also includes the mitochondrial enzymes (Complex 1, Complex II, complex IV, Complex V ) and the enzymes showed toxicity in a relatively short time due to the effect of TNPs. The study provide a range of concentration that were toxic to the neuronal cells and data pointing to a general toxicity in brain mitochondria by TNPs, therefore, it is in need to consider the proper utilization of NPs in the environment.

Keywords: mitochondria, nanoparticles, brain, in vitro

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Authors: Neha Narayanan

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The paper tries to explore the role of language in determining spaces occupied by women in everyday lives. It is inspired from an ongoing action research work which employs ‘immersion’- arriving at a research problematic through community research, as a methodology in a Kondh adivasi village, Kirkalpadu located in Rayagada district of the Indian state of Odisha. In the dominant development discourse, language is associated with either preservation or conservation of endangered language or empowerment through language. Beyond these, is the discourse of language as a structure, with the hegemonic quality to organise lifeworld in a specific manner. This rigid structure leads to an experience of constriction of space for women. In Kirkalpadu, the action research work is with young and unmarried women of the age 15-25. During daytime, these women are either in the agricultural field or in the bari -the backyard of the house whose rooms are linearly arranged one after the other ending with the kitchen followed by an open space called bari (in Odia) which is an intimate and gendered space- where they are not easily visible. They justify the experience of restriction in mobility and fear of moving out of the village alone by the argument that the place and the men are nihi-aaeh (not good). These women, who have dropped out of school early to contribute to the (surplus) labour requirement in the household, want to learn English to be able to read signboards when they are on the road, to be able to fill forms at a bank and use mobile phones to communicate with their romantic partner(s). But the incapacity to have within one’s grasp the province of language and the incapacity to take the mobile phone to the kind of requirements marked by the above mentioned impossible transactions with space restricts them to the bari of the house. The paper concludes by seeking to explore the possibilities of learning and rethinking languages which takes into cognizance the gendered experience of women and the desire of women to cross the borders and occupy spaces restricted to them.

Keywords: action research, gendered experience, language, space

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Authors: Abera Hailu Degaga, Emana Getu Degaga

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Spodoptera frugiperda is an invasive insect pest that infests and feeds various crops, particularly affecting maize yields. However, nature has its own way of maintaining balance, and in this case, natural enemies play a crucial role in regulating the population of S. frugiperda. Locally available and easily prepared botanical sources, bio-pesticides, are also important. The objectives of the study were to investigate the natural enemies of S. frugiperda in the Gurage zone and to compare Neem aqueous extracts against its larvae in central Ethiopia. S. frugiperda larvae and egg masses were collected randomly from smallholder maize farms infested with pests between June and August 2023. Our findings revealed the existence of diverse types of parasitoids, predators, and entomopathogenic fungi associated with S. frugiperda. Notably, we documented three species of parasitoids, namely Exorista xanthaspis and Tachina spp. (Diptera: Tachinidae) and Charops annulipes (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). All three species of parasitoids were recorded from Ethiopia for the first time. The overall parasitism rate was 5.3%, with individual rates ranging from 1.3 to 4%. Additionally, we identified ten species of predator insects from four different orders, including Hemiptera, Dermaptera, Coleoptera, and Mantodea, in the maize farms infested with S. frugiperda. Aqueous extract of Neem seed and leaf powder and green leaf exhibited similar mortality rates of S. frugiperda larvae at 72 hours even though there was a significant difference at 24 and 48 hours of the test. For effective management of S. frugiperda further research is necessary to fully exploit the potential of these natural enemies and additionally to use botanical source pesticides like Azadirachta indica.

Keywords: bio-pesticide, natural enemy, parasitoids, predators, Tachinid flies

Procedia PDF Downloads 67