Search results for: Social skills development

Authors: Oto J. Okwu, Ornan Henry, Victor A. Otene

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The agricultural sector contributes a great deal to the sustenance of Nigeria’s food security and economy, with an attendant impact on rural development. In spite of the relatively high number of farmers in the country, self-sufficiency in food production is still a challenge. Farmers are faced with myriad problems which hinder their production efficiency, one of which is their access to agricultural inputs required for optimum production. To meet the challenges faced by farmers, the government at the federal level has come up with many agricultural policies, one of which is the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) is one of the critical components of ATA, which is aimed at ensuring the effective distribution of agricultural inputs delivered directly to farmers, and at a regulated cost. After about 8 years of launching this policy, it will be necessary to carry out an assessment of GESS and determine the impact it has made on rural farmers with respect to their access to farm inputs. This study was carried out to assess the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Crop farmers who registered under the GESS in Adamawa State, Nigeria, formed the population for the study. Primary data for the study were obtained through a survey, and the use of a structured questionnaire. A sample size of 167 respondents was selected using multi-stage, purposive, and random sampling techniques. The validity and reliability of the research instrument (questionnaire) were obtained through pilot testing and test-retest method, respectively. The objectives of the study were to determine the difference in the level of access to agricultural inputs before and after GESS, determine the difference in cost of agricultural inputs before and after GESS, and to determine the challenges faced by rural farmers in accessing agricultural inputs through GESS. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the collected data. Specifically, Mann-Whitney, student t-test, and factor analysis were used to test the stated hypotheses. Research findings revealed there was a significant difference in the level of access to farm inputs after the introduction of GESS (Z=14.216). Also, there was a significant difference in the cost of agro-inputs after the introduction of GESS (Pr |T| > |t|= 0.0000). The challenges faced by respondents in accessing agro-inputs through GESS were administrative and technical in nature. Based on the findings of the research, it was recommended that efforts be made by the government to sustain the GESS, as it has significantly improved the level of farmers’ access to agricultural inputs and has reduced the cost of agro-inputs, while administrative challenges faced by the respondents in accessing inputs be addressed by the government, and extension agents assist the farmers to overcome the technical challenges they face in accessing inputs.

Keywords: agricultural policy, agro-inputs, assessment, growth enhancement support scheme, rural farmers

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Authors: Avijit Dey, Antony Gomes, Subir Chandra Dasgupta

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Tea (Camellia sinensis) is the most popular beverages in the world and is ranked second after the water. Tea has been considered as a health promoting beverage since ancient times due to its health-promoting activity. Recently, immunomodulatory, anti-arthritic, antioxidant, anticancer and cardioprotective activity of tea has been established. Very few studies have demonstrated the effect of high dose of black tea on health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of low & high dose of Black Tea Extract (BTE) on the different physiological parameters of mother and pups during prenatal and postnatal developmental period in the experimental rodent. BTE was orally administered in LD (50mg BTE/kg/day) and HD (100mg BTE/kg/day) except control groups of rats (n=6/group) throughout the prenatal (day 0-21) and postnatal (day 21-42) periods. During prenatal period (0, 7th, 14th, 20th days) body weight, urinary calcium, magnesium, urea and creatinine was measured. In postnatal period physical (0, 10th, 21th days) parameters of pups like body weight, cranial length, cranial diameter, neck width, tail length, craniosacral length of pups were analyzed. Liver and lungs from pups and kidney spleen, etc. from mothers were collected on day 42 for histopathological studies. The comparative urine strip and morphology of RBC was also analyzed by SEM from mothers of different groups on day 42. The level of cytokines like IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-alpha were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on day 0, day 20 and day 42. The body weight of LD and HD mothers were also significantly (P<0.05) less than control mothers at 20th day of pregnancy and there was also significant changes in urinary calcium, urea, creatinine. The bio morphometric analysis of pups showed significant alteration (P<0.05) in HD groups relative to control. Some histological alterations were also observed in pups and mothers. Comparative urine strip analysis and morphology of RBC showed significant changes in treated groups. LD and HD treated mothers showed an increase in proinflammatory cytokines like IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokine-like IL-10 on day 20 compared to PC mothers. This study clearly indicated that high dose of BTE possesses detrimental effect on pregnant mother and the pup. Further studies are in progress to elucidate the molecular mechanism of actions. This project work has been sponsored by National Tea Research Foundation vide Project Sanction No.: 17 (305)/2013/4423 dated 11th March, 2014. All experimental protocols described in the study were approved by animal ethics committee.

Keywords: black tea extract, pregnancy, prenatal and postnatal development, inflammation

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Authors: Moien Mojabi, Aurelien Hospital, Daniel Potts, Chris Young, Albert Leung

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The wave analysis is an integral part of the hydrotechnical assessment carried out during the permitting and design phases for coastal structures, such as marinas. This analysis aims in quantifying: i) the Suitability of the coastal structure design against Small Craft Harbour wave tranquility safety criterion; ii) Potential environmental impacts of the structure (e.g., effect on wave, flow, and sediment transport); iii) Mooring and dock design and iv) Requirements set by regulatory agency’s (e.g., WSA section 11 application). While a complex three-dimensional hydrodynamic modelling approach can be applied on large-scale projects, the need for an efficient and reliable wave analysis method suitable for smaller scale marina projects was identified. As a result, Tetra Tech has developed and applied an integrated analysis framework (hereafter TT approach), which takes the advantage of the state-of-the-art numerical models while preserving the level of simplicity that fits smaller scale projects. The present paper aims to describe the TT approach and highlight the key advantages of using this integrated framework in lake marina projects. The core of this methodology is made by integrating wind, water level, bathymetry, and structure geometry data. To respond to the needs of specific projects, several add-on modules have been added to the core of the TT approach. The main advantages of this method over the simplified analytical approaches are i) Accounting for the proper physics of the lake through the modelling of the entire lake (capturing real lake geometry) instead of a simplified fetch approach; ii) Providing a more realistic representation of the waves by modelling random waves instead of monochromatic waves; iii) Modelling wave-structure interaction (e.g. wave transmission/reflection application for floating structures and piles amongst others); iv) Accounting for wave interaction with the lakebed (e.g. bottom friction, refraction, and breaking); v) Providing the inputs for flow and sediment transport assessment at the project site; vi) Taking in consideration historical and geographical variations of the wind field; and vii) Independence of the scale of the reservoir under study. Overall, in comparison with simplified analytical approaches, this integrated framework provides a more realistic and reliable estimation of wave parameters (and its spatial distribution) in lake marinas, leading to a realistic hydrotechnical assessment accessible to any project size, from the development of a new marina to marina expansion and pile replacement. Tetra Tech has successfully utilized this approach since many years in the Okanagan area.

Keywords: wave modelling, wind-wave, extreme value analysis, marina

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Authors: Barbora Svechova, Monika Licbinska

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Geochemical modeling of mineralogical changes of various materials in contact with an aqueous solution is an important tool for predicting the processes and development of given materials at the site. The modeling focused on the mutual interaction of groundwater at the contact with the rock mass and its subsequent influence on concrete structures. The studied locality is located in Slovakia in the area of the Liptov Basin, which is a significant inter-mountain lowland, which is bordered on the north and south by the core mountains belt of the Tatras, where in the center the crystalline rises to the surface accompanied by Mesozoic cover. Groundwater in the area is bound to structures with complicated geological structures. From the hydrogeological point of view, it is an environment with a crack-fracture character. The area is characterized by a shallow surface circulation of groundwater without a significant collector structure, and from a chemical point of view, groundwater in the area has been classified as calcium bicarbonate with a high content of CO2 and SO4 ions. According to the European standard EN 206-1, these are waters with medium aggression towards the concrete. Three rock samples were taken from the area. Based on petrographic and mineralogical research, they were evaluated as calcareous shale, micritic limestone and crystalline shale. These three rock samples were placed in demineralized water for one month and the change in the chemical composition of the water was monitored. During the solution-rock interaction there was an increase in the concentrations of all major ions, except nitrates. There was an increase in concentration after a week, but at the end of the experiment, the concentration was lower than the initial value. Another experiment was the interaction of groundwater from the studied locality with a concrete structure. The concrete sample was also left in the water for 1 month. The results of the experiment confirmed the assumption of a reduction in the concentrations of calcium and bicarbonate ions in water due to the precipitation of amorphous forms of CaCO3 on the surface of the sample.Vice versa, it was surprising to increase the concentration of sulphates, sodium, iron and aluminum due to the leaching of concrete. Chemical analyzes from these experiments were performed in the PHREEQc program, which calculated the probability of the formation of amorphous forms of minerals. From the results of chemical analyses and hydrochemical modeling of water collected in situ and water from experiments, it was found: groundwater at the site is unsaturated and shows moderate aggression towards reinforced concrete structures according to EN 206-1a, which will affect the homogeneity and integrity of concrete structures; from the rocks in the given area, Ca, Na, Fe, HCO3 and SO4. Unsaturated waters will dissolve everything as soon as they come into contact with the solid matrix. The speed of this process then depends on the physicochemical parameters of the environment (T, ORP, p, n, water retention time in the environment, etc.).

Keywords: geochemical modeling, concrete , dissolution , PHREEQc

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Authors: Iñaki Milton-Laskibar, Leixuri Aguirre, Maria P. Portillo

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Introduction: Energy restriction is an effective approach in preventing liver steatosis. However, due to social and economic reasons among others, compliance with this treatment protocol is often very poor, especially in the long term. Resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound that belongs to stilbene group, has been widely reported to imitate the effects of energy restriction. Objective: To analyze the effects of resveratrol under normoenergetic feeding conditions and under a mild energy restriction on liver fat accumulation and hepatic fatty acid oxidation. Methods: 36 male six-week-old rats were fed a high-fat high-sucrose diet for 6 weeks in order to induce steatosis. Then, rats were divided into four groups and fed a standard diet for 6 additional weeks: control group (C), resveratrol group (RSV, resveratrol 30 mg/kg/d), restricted group (R, 15 % energy restriction) and combined group (RR, 15 % energy restriction and resveratrol 30 mg/kg/d). Liver triacylglycerols (TG) and total cholesterol contents were measured by using commercial kits. Carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1a (CPT 1a) and citrate synthase (CS) activities were measured spectrophotometrically. TFAM (mitochondrial transcription factor A) and peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor alpha (PPARα) protein contents, as well as the ratio acetylated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC1α)/Total PGC1α were analyzed by Western blot. Statistical analysis was performed by using one way ANOVA and Newman-Keuls as post-hoc test. Results: No differences were observed among the four groups regarding liver weight and cholesterol content, but the three treated groups showed reduced TG when compared to the control group, being the restricted groups the ones showing the lowest values (with no differences between them). Higher CPT 1a and CS activities were observed in the groups supplemented with resveratrol (RSV and RR), with no difference between them. The acetylated PGC1α /total PGC1α ratio was lower in the treated groups (RSV, R and RR) than in the control group, with no differences among them. As far as TFAM protein expression is concerned, only the RR group reached a higher value. Finally, no changes were observed in PPARα protein expression. Conclusions: Resveratrol administration is an effective intervention for liver triacylglycerol content reduction, but a mild energy restriction is even more effective. The mechanisms of action of these two strategies are different. Thus resveratrol, but not energy restriction, seems to act by increasing fatty acid oxidation, although mitochondriogenesis seems not to be induced. When both treatments (resveratrol administration and a mild energy restriction) were combined, no additive or synergic effects were appreciated. Acknowledgements: MINECO-FEDER (AGL2015-65719-R), Basque Government (IT-572-13), University of the Basque Country (ELDUNANOTEK UFI11/32), Institut of Health Carlos III (CIBERobn). Iñaki Milton is a fellowship from the Basque Government.

Keywords: energy restriction, fat, liver, oxidation, resveratrol

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Authors: Padma Chutoo, Elena Kulinskaya, Ilyas Bakbergenuly, Nicholas Steel, Dmitri Pchejetski

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Stroke is associated with a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. There is scarcity of research on the long-term survival after first-ever ischaemic stroke (IS) events in England with regards to effects of different medical therapies and comorbidities. The objective of this study was to model the all-cause mortality after an IS diagnosis in the adult population of England. Using a retrospective case-control design, we extracted the electronic medical records of patients born prior to or in year 1960 in England with a first-ever ischaemic stroke diagnosis from January 1986 to January 2017 within the Health and Improvement Network (THIN) database. Participants with a history of ischaemic stroke were matched to 3 controls by sex and age at diagnosis and general practice. The primary outcome was the all-cause mortality. The hazards of the all-cause mortality were estimated using a Weibull-Cox survival model which included both scale and shape effects and a shared random effect of general practice. The model included sex, birth cohort, socio-economic status, comorbidities and medical therapies. 20,250 patients with a history of IS (cases) and 55,519 controls were followed up to 30 years. From 2008 to 2015, the one-year all-cause mortality for the IS patients declined with an absolute change of -0.5%. Preventive treatments to cases increased considerably over time. These included prescriptions of statins and antihypertensives. However, prescriptions for antiplatelet drugs decreased in the routine general practice since 2010. The survival model revealed a survival benefit of antiplatelet treatment to stroke survivors with hazard ratio (HR) of 0.92 (0.90 – 0.94). IS diagnosis had significant interactions with gender and age at entry and hypertension diagnosis. IS diagnosis was associated with high risk of all-cause mortality with HR= 3.39 (3.05-3.72) for cases compared to controls. Hypertension was associated with poor survival with HR = 4.79 (4.49 - 5.09) for hypertensive cases relative to non-hypertensive controls, though the detrimental effect of hypertension has not reached significance for hypertensive controls, HR = 1.19(0.82-1.56). This study of English primary care data showed that between 2008 and 2015, the rates of prescriptions of stroke preventive treatments increased, and a short-term all-cause mortality after IS stroke declined. However, stroke resulted in poor long-term survival. Hypertension, a modifiable risk factor, was found to be associated with poor survival outcomes in IS patients. Antiplatelet drugs were found to be protective to survival. Better efforts are required to reduce the burden of stroke through health service development and primary prevention.

Keywords: general practice, hazard ratio, health improvement network (THIN), ischaemic stroke, multiple imputation, Weibull-Cox model.

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Authors: Anastasios Georgoulas, Manolia Andredaki, Marco Marengo

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The present paper investigates the hydrodynamics and heat transfer characteristics of slug-plug flows under saturated flow boiling conditions within circular micro-channels. Numerical simulations are carried out, using an enhanced version of the open-source CFD-based solver ‘interFoam’ of OpenFOAM CFD Toolbox. The proposed user-defined solver is based in the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method for interface advection, and the mentioned enhancements include the implementation of a smoothing process for spurious current reduction, the coupling with heat transfer and phase change as well as the incorporation of conjugate heat transfer to account for transient solid conduction. In all of the considered cases in the present paper, a single phase simulation is initially conducted until a quasi-steady state is reached with respect to the hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layer development. Then, a predefined and constant frequency of successive vapour bubbles is patched upstream at a certain distance from the channel inlet. The proposed numerical simulation set-up can capture the main hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of slug-plug flow regimes within circular micro-channels. In more detail, the present investigation is focused on exploring the interaction between subsequent vapour slugs with respect to their generation frequency, the hydrodynamic characteristics of the liquid film between the generated vapour slugs and the channel wall as well as of the liquid plug between two subsequent vapour slugs. The proposed investigation is carried out for the 3 different working fluids and three different values of applied heat flux in the heated part of the considered microchannel. The post-processing and analysis of the results indicate that the dynamics of the evolving bubbles in each case are influenced by both the upstream and downstream bubbles in the generated sequence. In each case a slip velocity between the vapour bubbles and the liquid slugs is evident. In most cases interfacial waves appear close to the bubble tail that significantly reduce the liquid film thickness. Finally, in accordance with previous investigations vortices that are identified in the liquid slugs between two subsequent vapour bubbles can significantly enhance the convection heat transfer between the liquid regions and the heated channel walls. The overall results of the present investigation can be used to enhance the present understanding by providing better insight of the complex, underpinned heat transfer mechanisms in saturated boiling within micro-channels in the slug-plug flow regime.

Keywords: slug-plug flow regime, micro-channels, VOF method, OpenFOAM

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Authors: Juliana Chiarini Balbino Fernandes

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This article aims to investigate the Spanish didactic book, entitled ‘El Calculo y La Medida en El Primer Grado de La Escuela Decroly’, written by Dr. O. Decroly and A. Hamaide, published in Madrid, in the year 1934. In addition to analyzing how mathematical knowledge is present in the proposed Centers of Interest. The textbooks, in addition to pedagogical tools, reflect a certain moment in society and allow the analysis of the theoretical-methodological proposal that can be implemented by the teacher. The study proposed here will be carried out by the lens of Cultural History, supported by Roger Chartier (1991) and by the concepts on textbooks, based on Alain Choppin (2004). The textbook selected for this study exposes a program of ideas associated with the method of Centers of Interest and arithmetic is linked to these interests. In the first courses (six to eight years), most centers can be considered to correspond to occasional calls, as they take advantage of events that arise spontaneously to work with observation, measurement, association and expression exercises. The program of ideas associated with Centers of Interest addresses the biological and social aspects of children, as long as they can express their needs for activities and games, satisfying the natural curiosity. Still, the program of associated ideas offers occasions for problems whose data are taken in observation exercises and concrete expressions (manuals, drawings). In the method applied at the school of L'Ermitage, school created by Decroly in Belgium in 1907, observation, is the basis of each center of interest. It offers the chance to compare and measure. To observe is more than to perceive; it is also to establish relations between the graded aspects of the same object, to seek relations between different intensities; is to verify successions, special and temporary relationships; is to make comparisons, to notice differences and similarities in block or datable (analysis), is to establish a bridge between the world and the thought. To make the observation more precise, it is important to compare, measure, and resort to considered objects as natural units of measure. Measurement and calculation are, therefore, quite naturally subject to observation. Thus, it is possible to make the child enter into the interest in the calculation, linking it to the observation. It was observed that the Centers of Interest, according to Decroly, should respond to the concerns and attend to the motivations of the students and the teaching of arithmetical must obey a logical seriation, considering the interest and the experience of the children. The teaching of arithmetical should not be limited to the schedule, it should cover every quantitative aspect that arises in the other disciplines. The feeling of unity is established in observation, association and expression, which coordinate a whole program of cultural activities, concentrating it around a central idea.

Keywords: didactic book, centers of interest, mathematical knowledge, primary education

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Authors: Goulet Marie-Pier, Voyer Dominic, Simoneau Victoria

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In a previous research project (2011-2019) funded by the Quebec Ministry of Education, an educational approach was developed based on the teaching and learning of place value through children's literature. Subsequently, the effect of this approach on the conceptual understanding of the concept among first graders (6-7 years old) was studied. The current project aims to create a series of children's literature to help older elementary school students (8-10 years old) in developing a conceptual understanding of complex mathematical concepts taught at their grade level rather than a more typical procedural understanding. Knowing that there are no educational material or children's books that exist to achieve our goals, four stories, accompanied by mathematical activities, will be created to support students, and their teachers, in the learning and teaching of mathematical concepts that can be challenging within their mathematic curriculum. The stories will also introduce a mathematical dialogue into the characters' discourse with the aim to address various mathematical foundations for which there are often erroneous statements among students and occasionally among teachers. In other words, the stories aim to empower students seeking a real understanding of difficult mathematical concepts, as well as teachers seeking a way to teach these difficult concepts in a way that goes beyond memorizing rules and procedures. In order to choose the concepts that will be part of the stories, it is essential to understand the current landscape regarding the main difficulties experienced by students in third and fourth grade (8-10 years old) and their teacher’s needs. From this perspective, the preliminary phase of the study, as discussed in the presentation, will provide critical insight into the mathematical concepts with which the target grade levels struggle the most. From this data, the research team will select the concepts and develop their stories in the second phase of the study. Two questions are preliminary to the implementation of our approach, namely (1) what mathematical concepts are considered the most “difficult to teach” by teachers in the third and fourth grades? and (2) according to teachers, what are the main difficulties encountered by their students in numeracy? Self-administered online questionnaires using the SimpleSondage software will be sent to all third and fourth-grade teachers in nine school service centers in the Quebec region, representing approximately 300 schools. The data that will be collected in the fall of 2022 will be used to compare the difficulties identified by the teachers with those prevalent in the scientific literature. Considering that this ensures consistency between the proposed approach and the true needs of the educational community, this preliminary phase is essential to the relevance of the rest of the project. It is also an essential first step in achieving the two ultimate goals of the research project, improving the learning of elementary school students in numeracy, and contributing to the professional development of elementary school teachers.

Keywords: children’s literature, conceptual understanding, elementary school, learning and teaching, mathematics

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Authors: Anirudh Lahiri

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Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the intricate operations of biological neural networks, offers a revolutionary approach to overcoming the limitations of traditional computing architectures. This research proposes the integration of spintronics with neuromorphic systems, aiming to enhance computational performance, scalability, and energy efficiency. Traditional computing systems, based on the Von Neumann architecture, struggle with scalability and efficiency due to the segregation of memory and processing functions. In contrast, the human brain exemplifies high efficiency and adaptability, processing vast amounts of information with minimal energy consumption. This project explores the use of spintronics, which utilizes the electron's spin rather than its charge, to create more energy-efficient computing systems. Spintronic devices, such as magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) manipulated through spin-transfer torque (STT) and spin-orbit torque (SOT), offer a promising pathway to reducing power consumption and enhancing the speed of data processing. The integration of these devices within a neuromorphic framework aims to replicate the efficiency and adaptability of biological systems. The research is structured into three phases: an exhaustive literature review to build a theoretical foundation, laboratory experiments to test and optimize the theoretical models, and iterative refinements based on experimental results to finalize the system. The initial phase focuses on understanding the current state of neuromorphic and spintronic technologies. The second phase involves practical experimentation with spintronic devices and the development of neuromorphic systems that mimic synaptic plasticity and other biological processes. The final phase focuses on refining the systems based on feedback from the testing phase and preparing the findings for publication. The expected contributions of this research are twofold. Firstly, it aims to significantly reduce the energy consumption of computational systems while maintaining or increasing processing speed, addressing a critical need in the field of computing. Secondly, it seeks to enhance the learning capabilities of neuromorphic systems, allowing them to adapt more dynamically to changing environmental inputs, thus better mimicking the human brain's functionality. The integration of spintronics with neuromorphic computing could revolutionize how computational systems are designed, making them more efficient, faster, and more adaptable. This research aligns with the ongoing pursuit of energy-efficient and scalable computing solutions, marking a significant step forward in the field of computational technology.

Keywords: material science, biological engineering, mechanical engineering, neuromorphic computing, spintronics, energy efficiency, computational scalability, synaptic plasticity.

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Authors: Angela O. Ugwu, Sunday Ocheni

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Background: Cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) is a cause of morbidity and mortality among cancer patients. Several risk factors for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) also coexist with cancer patients, such as chemotherapy and immobilization, thus contributing to the higher risk of VTE in cancer patients when compared to non-cancer patients. This study aimed to determine if there is any correlation between levels of some inflammatory cytokines/haematological parameters and Khorana scores of newly diagnosed chemotherapy naïve ambulatory cancer patients (CNACP). Methods: This was a cross-sectional analytical study carried out from June 2021 to May 2022. Eligible newly diagnosed cancer patients 18 years and above (case group) were enrolled consecutively from the adult Oncology Clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku/Ozalla (UNTH). The control group was blood donors at UNTH Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu blood bank, and healthy members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), UNTH Chapter. Blood samples collected from the participants were assayed for IL-6, TNF-Alpha, and haematological parameters such as haemoglobin, white blood cell count (WBC), and platelet count. Data were entered into an Excel worksheet and were then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software version 21.0 for windows. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 200 participants (100 cases and 100 controls) were included in the study. The overall mean age of the participants was 47.42 ±15.1 (range 20-76). The sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups, including age, sex, educational level, body mass index (BMI), and occupation, were similar (P > 0.05). Following One Way ANOVA, there were significant differences between the mean levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (p = 0.036) and tumor necrotic factor-α (TNF-α) (p = 0.001) in the three Khorana score groups of the case group. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the Khorana scores and IL-6 (r=0.28, p = 0.031), TNF-α (r= 0.254, p= 0.011), and PLR (r= 0.240, p=0.016). The mean serum levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in CNACP than in the healthy controls [8.98 (8-12) pg/ml vs. 8.43 (2-10) pg/ml, P=0.0005]. There were also significant differences in the mean levels of the haemoglobin (Hb) level (P < 0.001)); white blood cell (WBC) count ((P < 0.001), and platelet (PL) count (P = 0.005) between the two groups of participants. Conclusion: There is a significant positive correlation between the serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and PLR and the Khorana scores of CNACP. The mean serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, PLR, WBC, and PL count were significantly higher in CNACP than in the healthy controls. Ambulatory cancer patients with high-risk Khorana scores may benefit from anti-inflammatory drugs because of the positive correlation with inflammatory cytokines. Recommendations: Ambulatory cancer patients with 2 Khorana scores may benefit from thromboprophylaxis since they have higher Khorana scores. A multicenter study with a heterogeneous population and larger sample size is recommended in the future to further elucidate the relationship between IL-6, TNF-α, PLR, and the Khorana scores among cancer patients in the Nigerian population.

Keywords: thromboprophylaxis, cancer, Khorana scores, inflammatory cytokines, haematological parameters

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Authors: Adriana de Paula Lacerda Santos, Bruna Godke, Mauro Lacerda Santos Filho

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Several dams in the world have already collapsed, causing environmental, social and economic damage. The concern to avoid future disasters has stimulated the creation of a great number of laws and rules in many countries. In Brazil, Law 12.334/2010 was created, which establishes the National Policy on Dam Safety. Overall, this policy requires the dam owners to invest in the maintenance of their structures and to improve its monitoring systems in order to provide faster and straightforward responses in the case of an increase of risks. As monitoring tools, visual inspections has provides comprehensive assessment of the structures performance, while auscultation’s instrumentation has added specific information on operational or behavioral changes, providing an alarm when a performance indicator exceeds the acceptable limits. These limits can be set using statistical methods based on the relationship between instruments measures and other variables, such as reservoir level, time of the year or others instruments measuring. Besides the design parameters (uplift of the foundation, displacements, etc.) the dam instrumentation can also be used to monitor the behavior of defects and damage manifestations. Specifically in concrete gravity dams, one of the main causes for the appearance of cracks, are the concrete volumetric changes generated by the thermal origin phenomena, which are associated with the construction process of these structures. Based on this, the goal of this research is to propose a monitoring process of the thermal cracking behavior in concrete gravity dams, through the instrumentation data analysis and the establishment of control values. Therefore, as a case study was selected the Block B-11 of José Richa Governor Dam Power Plant, that presents a cracking process, which was identified even before filling the reservoir in August’ 1998, and where crack meters and surface thermometers were installed for its monitoring. Although these instruments were installed in May 2004, the research was restricted to study the last 4.5 years (June 2010 to November 2014), when all the instruments were calibrated and producing reliable data. The adopted method is based on simple linear correlations procedures to understand the interactions among the instruments time series, verifying the response times between them. The scatter plots were drafted from the best correlations, which supported the definition of the limit control values. Among the conclusions, it is shown that there is a strong or very strong correlation between ambient temperature and the crack meters and flowmeters measurements. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, it was possible to develop a tool for monitoring the behavior of the case study cracks. Thus it was fulfilled the goal of the research to develop a proposal for a monitoring process of the behavior of thermal cracking in concrete gravity dams.

Keywords: concrete gravity dam, dams safety, instrumentation, simple linear correlation

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Authors: Vinu Viswanath, Lawrence Dsouza, Ugo Ravon

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Syngas typically and intermediary gas product has a wide range of application of producing various chemical products, such as mixed alcohols, hydrogen, ammonia, Fischer-Tropsch products methanol, ethanol, aldehydes, alcohols, etc. There are several technologies available for the syngas production. An alternative to the conventional processes an attractive route of utilizing carbon dioxide and methane in equimolar ratio to generate syngas of ratio close to one has been developed which is also termed as Dry Reforming of Methane technology. It also gives the privilege to utilize the greenhouse gases like CO2 and CH4. The dry reforming process is highly endothermic, and indeed, ΔG becomes negative if the temperature is higher than 900K and practically, the reaction occurs at 1000-1100K. At this temperature, the sintering of the metal particle is happening that deactivate the catalyst. However, by using this strategy, the methane is just partially oxidized, and some cokes deposition occurs that causing the catalyst deactivation. The current research work was focused to mitigate the main challenges of dry reforming process such coke deposition, and metal sintering at high temperature.To achieve these objectives, we employed three different strategies of catalyst development. 1) Use of bulk catalysts such as olivine and pyrochlore type materials. 2) Use of metal doped support materials, like spinel and clay type material. 3) Use of core-shell model catalyst. In this approach, a thin layer (shell) of redox metal oxide is deposited over the MgAl2O4 /Al2O3 based support material (core). For the core-shell approach, an active metal is been deposited on the surface of the shell. The shell structure formed is a doped metal oxide that can undergo reduction and oxidation reactions (redox), and the core is an alkaline earth aluminate having a high affinity towards carbon dioxide. In the case of metal-doped support catalyst, the enhanced redox properties of doped CeO2 oxide and CO2 affinity property of alkaline earth aluminates collectively helps to overcome coke formation. For all of the mentioned three strategies, a systematic screening of the metals is carried out to optimize the efficiency of the catalyst. To evaluate the performance of them, the activity and stability test were carried out under reaction conditions of temperature ranging from 650 to 850 ̊C and an operating pressure ranging from 1 to 20 bar. The result generated infers that the core-shell model catalyst showed high activity and better stable DR catalysts under atmospheric as well as high-pressure conditions. In this presentation, we will show the results related to the strategy.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, dry reforming, supports, core shell catalyst

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Authors: Osman Turkoglu, Alvin Estilo, Ritu Gupta, Liliam Pineda-Salgado, Rajesh Pandey

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Background: Hepatotoxicity can be linked to a variety of clinical symptoms and histopathological signs, posing a great challenge in the surveillance of suspected drug-induced liver injury (DILI) cases in the safety database. Additionally, the majority of such cases are rare, idiosyncratic, highly unpredictable, and tend to demonstrate unique individual susceptibility; these qualities, in turn, lend to a pharmacovigilance monitoring process that is often tedious and time-consuming. Objective: Develop a multifactorial algorithm to assist pharmacovigilance physicians in identifying high-risk hepatotoxicity cases associated with DILI from the sponsor’s safety database (Argus). Methods: Multifactorial selection criteria were established using Structured Query Language (SQL) and the TIBCO Spotfire® visualization tool, via a combination of word fragments, wildcard strings, and mathematical constructs, based on Hy’s law criteria and pattern of injury (R-value). These criteria excluded non-eligible cases from monthly line listings mined from the Argus safety database. The capabilities and limitations of these criteria were verified by comparing a manual review of all monthly cases with system-generated monthly listings over six months. Results: On an average, over a period of six months, the algorithm accurately identified 92% of DILI cases meeting established criteria. The automated process easily compared liver enzyme elevations with baseline values, reducing the screening time to under 15 minutes as opposed to multiple hours exhausted using a cognitively laborious, manual process. Limitations of the algorithm include its inability to identify cases associated with non-standard laboratory tests, naming conventions, and/or incomplete/incorrectly entered laboratory values. Conclusions: The newly developed multifactorial algorithm proved to be extremely useful in detecting potential DILI cases, while heightening the vigilance of the drug safety department. Additionally, the application of this algorithm may be useful in identifying a potential signal for DILI in drugs not yet known to cause liver injury (e.g., drugs in the initial phases of development). This algorithm also carries the potential for universal application, due to its product-agnostic data and keyword mining features. Plans for the tool include improving it into a fully automated application, thereby completely eliminating a manual screening process.

Keywords: automation, drug-induced liver injury, pharmacovigilance, post-marketing

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Authors: Marcela De Oliveira, Marina P. Da Silva, Fernando C. G. Da Rocha, Jorge M. Santos, Jaime S. Cardoso, Paulo N. Lisboa-Filho

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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system characterized by neurodegeneration, inflammation, demyelination, and axonal loss. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), due to the richness in the information details provided, is the gold standard exam for diagnosis and follow-up of neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS. Brain atrophy, the gradual loss of brain volume, is quite extensive in multiple sclerosis, nearly 0.5-1.35% per year, far off the limits of normal aging. Thus, the brain volume quantification becomes an essential task for future analysis of the occurrence atrophy. The analysis of MRI has become a tedious and complex task for clinicians, who have to manually extract important information. This manual analysis is prone to errors and is time consuming due to various intra- and inter-operator variability. Nowadays, computerized methods for MRI segmentation have been extensively used to assist doctors in quantitative analyzes for disease diagnosis and monitoring. Thus, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the brain volume in MRI of MS patients. We used MRI scans with 30 slices of the five patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis according to the McDonald criteria. The computational methods for the analysis of images were carried out in two steps: segmentation of the brain and brain volume quantification. The first image processing step was to perform brain extraction by skull stripping from the original image. In the skull stripper for MRI images of the brain, the algorithm registers a grayscale atlas image to the grayscale patient image. The associated brain mask is propagated using the registration transformation. Then this mask is eroded and used for a refined brain extraction based on level-sets (edge of the brain-skull border with dedicated expansion, curvature, and advection terms). In the second step, the brain volume quantification was performed by counting the voxels belonging to the segmentation mask and converted in cc. We observed an average brain volume of 1469.5 cc. We concluded that the automatic method applied in this work can be used for the brain extraction process and brain volume quantification in MRI. The development and use of computer programs can contribute to assist health professionals in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In future works, we expect to implement more automated methods for the assessment of cerebral atrophy and brain lesions quantification, including machine-learning approaches. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a grant from Brazilian agency Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (number 2019/16362-5).

Keywords: brain volume, magnetic resonance imaging, multiple sclerosis, skull stripper

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Authors: Marine Regnier, Pascal Bost, Matthieu Horgnies

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Some of the problems to be solved for the concrete industry are linked to the use of low-reactivity cement, the hardening of concrete under cold-weather and the manufacture of pre-casted concrete without costly heating step. The development of these applications needs to accelerate the hydration kinetics, in order to decrease the setting time and to obtain significant compressive strengths as soon as possible. The mechanisms enhancing the hydration kinetics of alite or Portland cement (e.g. the creation of nucleation sites) were already studied in literature (e.g. by using distinct additions such as titanium dioxide nanoparticles, calcium carbonate fillers, water-soluble polymers, C-S-H, etc.). However, the goal of this study was to establish a clear ranking of the efficiency of several types of additions by using a robust and reproducible methodology based on isothermal calorimetry (performed at 20°C). The cement was a CEM I 52.5N PM-ES (Blaine fineness of 455 m²/kg). To ensure the reproducibility of the experiments and avoid any decrease of the reactivity before use, the cement was stored in waterproof and sealed bags to avoid any contact with moisture and carbon dioxide. The experiments were performed on Portland cement pastes by using a water-to-cement ratio of 0.45, and incorporating different compounds (industrially available or laboratory-synthesized) that were selected according to their main composition and their specific surface area (SSA, calculated using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model and nitrogen adsorption isotherms performed at 77K). The intrinsic effects of (i) dry powders (e.g. fumed silica, activated charcoal, nano-precipitates of calcium carbonate, afwillite germs, nanoparticles of iron and iron oxides , etc.), and (ii) aqueous solutions (e.g. containing calcium chloride, hydrated Portland cement or Master X-SEED 100, etc.) were investigated. The influence of the amount of addition, calculated relatively to the dry extract of each addition compared to cement (and by conserving the same water-to-cement ratio) was also studied. The results demonstrated that the X-SEED®, the hydrated calcium nitrate, the calcium chloride (and, at a minor level, a solution of hydrated Portland cement) were able to accelerate the hydration kinetics of Portland cement, even at low concentration (e.g. 1%wt. of dry extract compared to cement). By using higher rates of additions, the fumed silica, the precipitated calcium carbonate and the titanium dioxide can also accelerate the hydration. In the case of the nano-precipitates of calcium carbonate, a correlation was established between the SSA and the accelerating effect. On the contrary, the nanoparticles of iron or iron oxides, the activated charcoal and the dried crystallised hydrates did not show any accelerating effect. Future experiments will be scheduled to establish the ranking of these additions, in terms of accelerating effect, by using low-reactivity cements and other water to cement ratios.

Keywords: acceleration, hydration kinetics, isothermal calorimetry, Portland cement

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: Anna Lower, Michal Lower, Robert Masztalski, Agnieszka Szumilas

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Contemporary cities are facing serious congestion and parking problems. In urban transport policy the introduction of the park and ride system (P&R) is an increasingly popular way of limiting vehicular traffic. The determining of P&R facilities location is a key aspect of the system. Criteria for assessing the quality of the selected location are formulated generally and descriptively. The research outsourced to specialists are expensive and time consuming. The most focus is on the examination of a few selected places. The practice has shown that the choice of the location of these sites in a intuitive way without a detailed analysis of all the circumstances, often gives negative results. Then the existing facilities are not used as expected. Methods of location as a research topic are also widely taken in the scientific literature. Built mathematical models often do not bring the problem comprehensively, e.g. assuming that the city is linear, developed along one important communications corridor. The paper presents a new method where the expert knowledge is applied to fuzzy inference model. With such a built system even a less experienced person could benefit from it, e.g. urban planners, officials. The analysis result is obtained in a very short time, so a large number of the proposed location can also be verified in a short time. The proposed method is intended for testing of car parks location in a city. The paper will show selected examples of locations of the P&R facilities in cities planning to introduce the P&R. The analysis of existing objects will also be shown in the paper and they will be confronted with the opinions of the system users, with particular emphasis on unpopular locations. The research are executed using the fuzzy inference model which was built and described in more detail in the earlier paper of the authors. The results of analyzes are compared to documents of P&R facilities location outsourced by the city and opinions of existing facilities users expressed on social networking sites. The research of existing facilities were conducted by means of the fuzzy model. The results are consistent with actual users feedback. The proposed method proves to be good, but does not require the involvement of a large experts team and large financial contributions for complicated research. The method also provides an opportunity to show the alternative location of P&R facilities. The performed studies show that the method has been confirmed. The method can be applied in urban planning of the P&R facilities location in relation to the accompanying functions. Although the results of the method are approximate, they are not worse than results of analysis of employed experts. The advantage of this method is ease of use, which simplifies the professional expert analysis. The ability of analyzing a large number of alternative locations gives a broader view on the problem. It is valuable that the arduous analysis of the team of people can be replaced by the model's calculation. According to the authors, the proposed method is also suitable for implementation on a GIS platform.

Keywords: fuzzy logic inference, park and ride system, P&R facilities, P&R location

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Authors: Yuanyuan Fu

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Background and Purpose: Along with the change of society and economy, the traditional home function of old people has gradually weakened in the contemporary China. Acknowledging these situations, to better meet old people’s needs on formal services and improve the quality of later life, this study seeks to identify patterns of intended service use among frail old people living in the communities and examined determinants that explain heterogeneous variations in old people’s intended service use patterns. Additionally, this study also tested the relationship between culture value and intended service use patterns and the mediating role of enabling factors in terms of culture value and intended service use patterns. Methods：Participants were recruited from Haidian District, Beijing, China in 2015. The multi-stage sampling method was adopted to select sub-districts, communities and old people aged 70 years old or older. After screening, 577 old people with limitations in daily life, were successfully interviewed. After data cleaning, 550 samples were included for data analysis. This study establishes a conceptual framework based on the Anderson Model (including predisposing factors, enabling factors and need factors), and further developed it by adding culture value factors (including attitudes towards filial piety and attitudes towards social face). Using a latent class analysis (LCA), this study classifies overall patterns of old people’s formal service utilization. Fourteen types of formal services were taken into account, including housework, voluntary support, transportation, home-delivered meals, and home-delivery medical care, elderly’s canteen and day-care center/respite care and so on. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the direct effect of culture value on service use pattern, and the mediating effect of the enabling factors. Results: The LCA classified a hierarchical structure of service use patterns: multiple intended service use (N=69, 23%), selective intended service use (N=129, 23%), and light intended service use (N=352, 64%). Through SEM, after controlling predisposing factors and need factors, the results showed the significant direct effect of culture value on older people’s intended service use patterns. Enabling factors had a partial mediation effect on the relationship between culture value and the patterns. Conclusions and Implications: Differentiation of formal services may be important for meeting frail old people’s service needs and distributing program resources by identifying target populations for intervention, which may make reference to specific interventions to better support frail old people. Additionally, culture value had a unique direct effect on the intended service use patterns of frail old people in China, enriching our theoretical understanding of sources of culture value and their impacts. The findings also highlighted the mediation effects of enabling factors on the relationship between culture value factors and intended service use patterns. This study suggests that researchers and service providers should pay more attention to the important role of culture value factors in contributing to intended service use patterns and also be more sensitive to the mediating effect of enabling factors when discussing the relationship between culture value and the patterns.

Keywords: frail old people, intended service use pattern, culture value, enabling factors, contemporary China, latent class analysis

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Authors: Aziz Ikhlef

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Most of multi-slices CT scanners are built with detectors composed of scintillator - photodiodes arrays. The photodiodes arrays are mainly based on front-illuminated technology for detectors under 64 slices and on back-illuminated photodiode for systems of 64 slices or more. The designs based on back-illuminated photodiodes were being investigated for CT machines to overcome the challenge of the higher number of runs and connection required in front-illuminated diodes. In backlit diodes, the electronic noise has already been improved because of the reduction of the load capacitance due to the routing reduction. This translated by a better image quality in low signal application, improving low dose imaging in large patient population. With the fast development of multi-detector-rows CT (MDCT) scanners and the increasing number of examinations, the clinical community has raised significant concerns on radiation dose received by the patient in both medical and regulatory community. In order to reduce individual exposure and in response to the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) which suggests that all exposures should be kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), every manufacturer is trying to implement strategies and solutions to optimize dose efficiency and image quality based on x-ray emission and scanning parameters. The added demands on the CT detector performance also comes from the increased utilization of spectral CT or dual-energy CT in which projection data of two different tube potentials are collected. One of the approaches utilizes a technology called fast-kVp switching in which the tube voltage is switched between 80kVp and 140kVp in fraction of a millisecond. To reduce the cross-contamination of signals, the scintillator based detector temporal response has to be extremely fast to minimize the residual signal from previous samples. In addition, this paper will present an overview of detector technologies and image chain improvement which have been investigated in the last few years to improve the signal-noise ratio and the dose efficiency CT scanners in regular examinations and in energy discrimination techniques. Several parameters of the image chain in general and in the detector technology contribute in the optimization of the final image quality. We will go through the properties of the post-patient collimation to improve the scatter-to-primary ratio, the scintillator material properties such as light output, afterglow, primary speed, crosstalk to improve the spectral imaging, the photodiode design characteristics and the data acquisition system (DAS) to optimize for crosstalk, noise and temporal/spatial resolution.

Keywords: computed tomography, X-ray detector, medical imaging, image quality, artifacts

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: Farid Khosravikia, Patricia Clayton

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The main objective of this work is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of various machine learning techniques in two key steps of seismic hazard and risk assessment of different types of structures. The first step is the development of ground-motion models, which are used for forecasting ground-motion intensity measures (IM) given source characteristics, source-to-site distance, and local site condition for future events. IMs such as peak ground acceleration and velocity (PGA and PGV, respectively) as well as 5% damped elastic pseudospectral accelerations at different periods (PSA), are indicators of the strength of shaking at the ground surface. Typically, linear regression-based models, with pre-defined equations and coefficients, are used in ground motion prediction. However, due to the restrictions of the linear regression methods, such models may not capture more complex nonlinear behaviors that exist in the data. Thus, this study comparatively investigates potential benefits from employing other machine learning techniques as statistical method in ground motion prediction such as Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machine. The results indicate the algorithms satisfy some physically sound characteristics such as magnitude scaling distance dependency without requiring pre-defined equations or coefficients. Moreover, it is shown that, when sufficient data is available, all the alternative algorithms tend to provide more accurate estimates compared to the conventional linear regression-based method, and particularly, Random Forest outperforms the other algorithms. However, the conventional method is a better tool when limited data is available. Second, it is investigated how machine learning techniques could be beneficial for developing probabilistic seismic demand models (PSDMs), which provide the relationship between the structural demand responses (e.g., component deformations, accelerations, internal forces, etc.) and the ground motion IMs. In the risk framework, such models are used to develop fragility curves estimating exceeding probability of damage for pre-defined limit states, and therefore, control the reliability of the predictions in the risk assessment. In this study, machine learning algorithms like artificial neural network, random forest, and support vector machine are adopted and trained on the demand parameters to derive PSDMs for them. It is observed that such models can provide more accurate estimates of prediction in relatively shorter about of time compared to conventional methods. Moreover, they can be used for sensitivity analysis of fragility curves with respect to many modeling parameters without necessarily requiring more intense numerical response-history analysis.

Keywords: artificial neural network, machine learning, random forest, seismic risk analysis, seismic hazard analysis, support vector machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Skyler Kim

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An early diagnosis of leukemia has always been a challenge to doctors and hematologists. On a worldwide basis, it was reported that there were approximately 350,000 new cases in 2012, and diagnosing leukemia was time-consuming and inefficient because of an endemic shortage of flow cytometry equipment in current clinical practice. As the number of medical diagnosis tools increased and a large volume of high-quality data was produced, there was an urgent need for more advanced data analysis methods. One of these methods was the AI approach. This approach has become a major trend in recent years, and several research groups have been working on developing these diagnostic models. However, designing and implementing a leukemia diagnostic system in real clinical environments based on a deep learning approach with larger sets remains complex. Leukemia is a major hematological malignancy that results in mortality and morbidity throughout different ages. We decided to select acute lymphocytic leukemia to develop our diagnostic system since acute lymphocytic leukemia is the most common type of leukemia, accounting for 74% of all children diagnosed with leukemia. The results from this development work can be applied to all other types of leukemia. To develop our model, the Kaggle dataset was used, which consists of 15135 total images, 8491 of these are images of abnormal cells, and 5398 images are normal. In this paper, we design and implement a leukemia diagnostic system in a real clinical environment based on deep learning approaches with larger sets. The proposed diagnostic system has the function of detecting and classifying leukemia. Different from other AI approaches, we explore hybrid architectures to improve the current performance. First, we developed two independent convolutional neural network models: VGG19 and ResNet50. Then, using both VGG19 and ResNet50, we developed a hybrid deep learning architecture employing transfer learning techniques to extract features from each input image. In our approach, fusing the features from specific abstraction layers can be deemed as auxiliary features and lead to further improvement of the classification accuracy. In this approach, features extracted from the lower levels are combined into higher dimension feature maps to help improve the discriminative capability of intermediate features and also overcome the problem of network gradient vanishing or exploding. By comparing VGG19 and ResNet50 and the proposed hybrid model, we concluded that the hybrid model had a significant advantage in accuracy. The detailed results of each model’s performance and their pros and cons will be presented in the conference.

Keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hybrid model, leukemia diagnostic system, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Marita Pigłowska, Beata Kurc, Paweł Daszkiewicz

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Railway vehicles are divided into two groups: traction (powered) vehicles and wagons. The traction vehicles include locomotives (line and shunting), railcars (sometimes referred to as railbuses), and multiple units (electric and diesel), consisting of several or a dozen carriages. In vehicles with diesel traction, fuel energy (petrol, diesel, or compressed gas) is converted into mechanical energy directly in the internal combustion engine or via electricity. In the latter case, the combustion engine generator produces electricity that is then used to drive the vehicle (diesel-electric drive or electric transmission). In Poland, such a solution dominates both in heavy linear and shunting locomotives. The classic diesel drive is available for the lightest shunting locomotives, railcars, and passenger diesel multiple units. Vehicles with electric traction do not have their own source of energy -they use pantographs to obtain electricity from the traction network. To determine the competitiveness of the hydrogen propulsion system, it is essential to understand how it works. The basic elements of the construction of a railway vehicle drive system that uses hydrogen as a source of traction force are fuel cells, batteries, fuel tanks, traction motors as well as main and auxiliary converters. The compressed hydrogen is stored in tanks usually located on the roof of the vehicle. This resource is supplemented with the use of specialized infrastructure while the vehicle is stationary. Hydrogen is supplied to the fuel cell, where it oxidizes. The effect of this chemical reaction is electricity and water (in two forms -liquid and water vapor). Electricity is stored in batteries (so far, lithium-ion batteries are used). Electricity stored in this way is used to drive traction motors and supply onboard equipment. The current generated by the fuel cell passes through the main converter, whose task is to adjust it to the values required by the consumers, i.e., batteries and the traction motor. The work will attempt to construct a fuel cell with unique electrodes. This research is a trend that connects industry with science. The first goal will be to obtain hydrogen on a large scale in tube furnaces, to thoroughly analyze the obtained structures (IR), and to apply the method in fuel cells. The second goal is to create low-energy energy storage and distribution station for hydrogen and electric vehicles. The scope of the research includes obtaining a carbon variety and obtaining oxide systems on a large scale using a tubular furnace and then supplying vehicles. Acknowledgments: This work is supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Education, project "The best of the best! 4.0", number 0911/MNSW/4968 – M.P. and grant 0911/SBAD/2102—B.K.

Keywords: railway, hydrogen, fuel cells, hybrid vehicles

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Murari Prasad

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This paper is motivated by the implications of indentured migration depicted in Amitav Ghosh’s critically acclaimed novel, Sea of Poppies (2008). Ghosh’s perspective on the experiences of North Indian indentured labourers moving from their homeland to a distant and unknown location across the seas suggests a radical attitudinal change among the migrants on board the Ibis, a schooner chartered to carry the recruits from Calcutta to Mauritius in the late 1830s. The novel unfolds the life-altering trauma of the bonded servants, including their efforts to maintain a sense of self while negotiating significant social and cultural transformations during the voyage which leads to the breakdown of familiar life-worlds. Equally, the migrants are introduced to an alternative network of relationships to ensure their survival away from land. They relinquish their entrenched beliefs and prejudices and commit themselves to a new brotherhood formed by ‘ship siblings.’ With the official abolition of direct slavery in 1833, the supply of cheap labour to the sugar plantation in British colonies as far-flung as Mauritius and Fiji to East Africa and the Caribbean sharply declined. Around the same time, China’s attempt to prohibit the illegal importation of opium from British India into China threatened the lucrative opium trade. To run the ever-profitable plantation colonies with cheap labour, Indian peasants, wrenched from their village economies, were indentured to plantations as girmitiyas (vernacularized from ‘agreement’) by the colonial government using the ploy of an optional form of recruitment. After the British conquest of the Isle of France in 1810, Mauritius became Britain’s premier sugar colony bringing waves of Indian immigrants to the island. In the articulations of their subjectivities one notices how the recruits cope with the alienating drudgery of indenture, mitigate the hardships of the voyage and forge new ties with pragmatic acts of cultural syncretism in a forward-looking autonomous community of ‘ship-siblings’ following the fracture of traditional identities. This paper tests the hypothesis that Ghosh envisions a kind of futuristic/utopian political collectivity in a hierarchically rigid, racially segregated and identity-obsessed world. In order to ground the claim and frame the complex representations of alliance and love across the boundaries of caste, religion, gender and nation, the essential methodology here is a close textual analysis of the novel. This methodology will be geared to explicate the utopian futurity that the novel gestures towards by underlining new regulations of life during voyage and dissolution of multiple differences among the indentured migrants on board the Ibis.

Keywords: indenture, colonial, opium, sugar plantation

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Authors: Lisa Kasmer

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Teachers’ instructional decisions shape the structure and content of mathematics lessons and influence the mathematics that students are given the opportunity to learn. Therefore, it is important to better understand how teachers make instructional decisions and thus find new ways to help practicing and future teachers give their students a more effective and robust learning experience. Understanding the relationship between teachers’ instructional decisions and their goals, resources, and orientations (beliefs) is important given the heightened focus on geometric transformations in the middle school mathematics curriculum. This work is significant as the development and support of current and future teachers need more effective ways to teach geometry to their students. The following research questions frame this study: (1) As middle school mathematics teachers plan and enact instruction related to teaching transformations, what thinking processes do they engage in to make decisions about teaching transformations with or without a coordinate system and (2) How do the goals, resources and orientations of these teachers impact their instructional decisions and reveal about their understanding of teaching transformations? Teachers and students alike struggle with understanding transformations; many teachers skip or hurriedly teach transformations at the end of the school year. However, transformations are an important mathematical topic as this topic supports students’ understanding of geometric and spatial reasoning. Geometric transformations are a foundational concept in mathematics, not only for understanding congruence and similarity but for proofs, algebraic functions, and calculus etc. Geometric transformations also underpin the secondary mathematics curriculum, as features of transformations transfer to other areas of mathematics. Teachers’ instructional decisions in terms of goals, orientations, and resources that support these instructional decisions were analyzed using open-coding. Open-coding is recognized as an initial first step in qualitative analysis, where comparisons are made, and preliminary categories are considered. Initial codes and categories from current research on teachers’ thinking processes that are related to the decisions they make while planning and reflecting on the lessons were also noted. Surfacing ideas and additional themes common across teachers while seeking patterns, were compared and analyzed. Finally, attributes of teachers’ goals, orientations and resources were identified in order to begin to build a picture of the reasoning behind their instructional decisions. These categories became the basis for the organization and conceptualization of the data. Preliminary results suggest that teachers often rely on their own orientations about teaching geometric transformations. These beliefs are underpinned by the teachers’ own mathematical knowledge related to teaching transformations. When a teacher does not have a robust understanding of transformations, they are limited by this lack of knowledge. These shortcomings impact students’ opportunities to learn, and thus disadvantage their own understanding of transformations. Teachers’ goals are also limited by their paucity of knowledge regarding transformations, as these goals do not fully represent the range of comprehension a teacher needs to teach this topic well.

Keywords: coordinate plane, geometric transformations, instructional decisions, middle school mathematics

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Authors: Lynn Brunet

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In 2019 the author published a book-length study examining Jung’s Red Book. This study consisted of a close reading of each of the chapters in Liber Novus, focussing on the fantasies themselves and Jung’s accompanying paintings. It found that the plots, settings, characters and symbolism in each of these fantasies are not entirely original but remarkably similar to those found in some of the higher degrees of Continental Freemasonry. Jung was the grandson of his namesake, C.G. Jung (1794–1864), who was a Freemason and one-time Grand Master of the Swiss Masonic Lodge. The study found that the majority of Jung’s fantasies are very similar to those of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, practiced in Switzerland during the time of Jung’s childhood. It argues that the fantasies appear to be memories of a series of terrifying initiatory ordeals conducted using spurious versions of the Masonic rites. Spurious Freemasonry is a term that Masons use for the ‘irregular’ or illegitimate use of the rituals and are not sanctioned by the Order. Since the 1980s there have been multiple reports of ritual trauma amongst a wide variety of organizations, cults and religious groups that psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and forensic scientists have confirmed. The abusive use of Masonic rites features frequently in these reports. This initial study allows a reading of The Red Book that makes sense of the obscure references, bizarre scenarios and intense emotional trauma described by Jung throughout Liber Novus. It suggests that Jung appears to have undergone a cruel initiatory process as a child. The author is currently examining the extra material found in Jung’s Black Books and the results are confirming the original discoveries and demonstrating a number of aspects not covered in the first publication. These include the complex layering of ancient gods and belief systems in answer to Jung’s question, ‘In which underworld am I?’ It demonstrates that the majority of these ancient systems and their gods are discussed in a handbook for the Scottish Rite, Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike, but that the way they are presented by Philemon and his soul is intended to confuse him rather than clarify their purpose. This new study also examines Jung’s soul’s question ‘I am not a human being. What am I then?’ While further themes that emerge from the Black Books include his struggle with vanity and whether he should continue creating his ‘holy book’; and a comparison between Jung’s ‘mystery plays’ and examples from the Theatre of the Absurd. Overall, it demonstrates that Jung’s experience, while inexplicable in his own time, is now known to be the secret and abusive practice of initiation of the young found in a range of cults and religious groups in many first world countries. This paper will present a brief outline of the original study and then examine the themes that have emerged from the extra material found in the Black Books.

Keywords: C. G. Jung, the red book, the black books, masonic themes, trauma and dissociation, initiation rites, secret societies

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Authors: Ning Chang, Zelong Yuan, Yunpeng Wang, Jianchun Wang

Abstract:

Large eddy simulation (LES) has been extensively used in the investigation of turbulence. LES calculates the grid-resolved large-scale motions and leaves small scales modeled by sublfilterscale (SFS) models. Among the existing SFS models, the deconvolution model has been used successfully in the LES of the engineering flows and geophysical flows. Despite the wide application of deconvolution models, the effects of subfilter scale dynamics and filter anisotropy on the accuracy of SFS modeling have not been investigated in depth. The results of LES are highly sensitive to the selection of filters and the anisotropy of the grid, which has been overlooked in previous research. In the current study, two critical aspects of LES are investigated. Firstly, we analyze the influence of sub-filter scale (SFS) dynamics on the accuracy of direct deconvolution models (DDM) at varying filter-to-grid ratios (FGR) in isotropic turbulence. An array of invertible filters are employed, encompassing Gaussian, Helmholtz I and II, Butterworth, Chebyshev I and II, Cauchy, Pao, and rapidly decaying filters. The significance of FGR becomes evident, as it acts as a pivotal factor in error control for precise SFS stress prediction. When FGR is set to 1, the DDM models cannot accurately reconstruct the SFS stress due to the insufficient resolution of SFS dynamics. Notably, prediction capabilities are enhanced at an FGR of 2, resulting in accurate SFS stress reconstruction, except for cases involving Helmholtz I and II filters. A remarkable precision close to 100% is achieved at an FGR of 4 for all DDM models. Additionally, the further exploration extends to the filter anisotropy to address its impact on the SFS dynamics and LES accuracy. By employing dynamic Smagorinsky model (DSM), dynamic mixed model (DMM), and direct deconvolution model (DDM) with the anisotropic filter, aspect ratios (AR) ranging from 1 to 16 in LES filters are evaluated. The findings highlight the DDM's proficiency in accurately predicting SFS stresses under highly anisotropic filtering conditions. High correlation coefficients exceeding 90% are observed in the a priori study for the DDM's reconstructed SFS stresses, surpassing those of the DSM and DMM models. However, these correlations tend to decrease as lter anisotropy increases. In the a posteriori studies, the DDM model consistently outperforms the DSM and DMM models across various turbulence statistics, encompassing velocity spectra, probability density functions related to vorticity, SFS energy flux, velocity increments, strain-rate tensors, and SFS stress. It is observed that as filter anisotropy intensify, the results of DSM and DMM become worse, while the DDM continues to deliver satisfactory results across all filter-anisotropy scenarios. The findings emphasize the DDM framework's potential as a valuable tool for advancing the development of sophisticated SFS models for LES of turbulence.

Keywords: deconvolution model, large eddy simulation, subfilter scale modeling, turbulence

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Authors: Ritika Chaturvedi

Abstract:

Introduction: Sexual objectification, characterized by the reduction of an individual to a mere object of sexual desire, remains a pervasive societal issue with profound repercussions on individual well-being. Such experiences, often rooted in systemic and cultural norms, have long-lasting implications for mental and emotional health. This study aims to explore the intricate relationship between experiences of sexual objectification and insidious trauma, further investigating the potential moderating effects of overexcitability as proposed by Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration. Methodology: The research involved a comprehensive cohort of 204 women, spanning ages from 18 to 65 years. Participants were tasked with completing self-administered questionnaires designed to capture their experiences with sexual objectification. Additionally, the questionnaire assessed symptoms indicative of insidious trauma and explored overexcitability across five distinct domains: emotional, intellectual, psychomotor, sensory, and imaginational. Employing advanced statistical techniques, including multiple regression and moderation analysis, the study sought to decipher the intricate interplay among these variables. Findings: The study's results revealed a compelling positive correlation between experiences of sexual objectification and the onset of symptoms indicative of insidious trauma. This correlation underscores the profound and detrimental effects of sexual objectification on an individual's psychological well-being. Interestingly, the moderation analyses introduced a nuanced understanding, highlighting the differential roles of various overexcitability. Specifically, emotional, intellectual, and sensual overexcitability were found to exacerbate trauma symptomatology. In contrast, psychomotor overexcitability emerged as a protective factor, demonstrating a mitigating influence on the relationship between sexual objectification and trauma. Implications: The study's findings hold significant implications for a diverse array of stakeholders, encompassing mental health practitioners, educators, policymakers, and advocacy groups. The identified moderating effects of overexcitability emphasize the need for tailored interventions that consider individual differences in coping and resilience mechanisms. By recognizing the pivotal role of overexcitability in modulating the traumatic consequences of sexual objectification, this research advocates for the development of more nuanced and targeted support frameworks. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of continued research endeavors to unravel the intricate mechanisms and dynamics underpinning these relationships. Such endeavors are crucial for fostering the evolution of informed, evidence-based interventions and strategies aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of sexual objectification and promoting holistic well-being.

Keywords: sexual objectification, insidious trauma, emotional overexcitability, intellectual overexcitability, sensual overexcitability, psychomotor overexcitability, imaginational overexcitability

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Authors: Charly Julien Nyobe, Eric Jacquelin, Denis Brizard, Alexy Mercier

Abstract:

The performance of road side safety barriers depends largely on the dynamic interactions between post and soil. These interactions play a key role in the response of barriers to crash testing. In the literature, soil-post interaction is modeled in crash test simulations using three approaches. Many researchers have initially used the finite element approach, in which the post is embedded in a continuum soil modelled by solid finite elements. This method represents a more comprehensive and detailed approach, employing a mesh-based continuum to model the soil’s behavior and its interaction with the post. Although this method takes all soil properties into account, it is nevertheless very costly in terms of simulation time. In the second approach, all the points of the post located at a predefined depth are fixed. Although this approach reduces CPU computing time, it overestimates soil-post stiffness. The third approach involves modeling the post as a beam supported by a set of nonlinear springs in the horizontal directions. For support in the vertical direction, the posts were constrained at a node at ground level. This approach is less costly, but the literature does not provide a simple procedure to determine the constitutive law of the springs The aim of this study is to propose a simple and low-cost procedure to obtain the constitutive law of nonlinear springs that model the soil-post interaction. To achieve this objective, we will first present a procedure to obtain the constitutive law of nonlinear springs thanks to the simulation of a soil compression test. The test consists in compressing the soil contained in the tank by a rigid solid, up to a vertical displacement of 200 mm. The resultant force exerted by the ground on the rigid solid and its vertical displacement are extracted and, a force-displacement curve was determined. The proposed procedure for replacing the soil with springs must be tested against a reference model. The reference model consists of a wooden post embedded into the ground and impacted with an impactor. Two simplified models with springs are studied. In the first model, called Kh-Kv model, the springs are attached to the post in the horizontal and vertical directions. The second Kh model is the one described in the literature. The two simplified models are compared with the reference model according to several criteria: the displacement of a node located at the top of the post in vertical and horizontal directions; displacement of the post's center of rotation and impactor velocity. The results given by both simplified models are very close to the reference model results. It is noticeable that the Kh-Kv model is slightly better than the Kh model. Further, the former model is more interesting than the latter as it involves less arbitrary conditions. The simplified models also reduce the simulation time by a factor 4. The Kh-Kv model can therefore be used as a reliable tool to represent the soil-post interaction in a future research and development of road safety barriers.

Keywords: crash tests, nonlinear springs, soil-post interaction modeling, constitutive law

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Authors: Shi-Bo Feng, Sheng-Jie Zhang, Jin Zhou

Abstract:

The relationship between microbial diversity and algal bloom has received considerable attention for decades. Microbes undoubtedly affect annual bloom events and impact the physiology of both partners, as well as shape ecosystem diversity. However, knowledge about interactions and network correlations among broader-spectrum microbes that lead to the dynamics in a complete bloom cycle are limited. In this study, pyrosequencing and network approaches simultaneously assessed the associate patterns among bacteria, archaea, and microeukaryotes in surface water and sediments in response to a natural dinoflagellate (Alexandrium sp.) bloom. In surface water, among the bacterial community, Gamma-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes dominated in the initial bloom stage, while Alpha-Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria become the most abundant taxa during the post-stage. In the archaea biosphere, it clustered predominantly with Methanogenic members in the early pre-bloom period while the majority of species identified in the later-bloom stage were ammonia-oxidizing archaea and Halobacteriales. In eukaryotes, dinoflagellate (Alexandrium sp.) was dominated in the onset stage, whereas multiply species (such as microzooplankton, diatom, green algae, and rotifera) coexistence in bloom collapse stag. In sediments, the microbial species biomass and richness are much higher than the water body. Only Flavobacteriales and Rhodobacterales showed a slight response to bloom stages. Unlike the bacteria, there are small fluctuations of archaeal and eukaryotic structure in the sediment. The network analyses among the inter-specific associations show that bacteria (Alteromonadaceae, Oceanospirillaceae, Cryomorphaceae, and Piscirickettsiaceae) and some zooplankton (Mediophyceae, Mamiellophyceae, Dictyochophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae) have a stronger impact on the structuring of phytoplankton communities than archaeal effects. The changes in population were also significantly shaped by water temperature and substrate availability (N & P resources). The results suggest that clades are specialized at different time-periods and that the pre-bloom succession was mainly a bottom-up controlled, and late-bloom period was controlled by top-down patterns. Additionally, phytoplankton and prokaryotic communities correlated better with each other, which indicate interactions among microorganisms are critical in controlling plankton dynamics and fates. Our results supplied a wider view (temporal and spatial scales) to understand the microbial ecological responses and their network association during algal blooming. It gives us a potential multidisciplinary explanation for algal-microbe interaction and helps us beyond the traditional view linked to patterns of algal bloom initiation, development, decline, and biogeochemistry.

Keywords: microbial community, harmful algal bloom, ecological process, network

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Authors: Maryam Tabrizi, Shahrzad Aarup

Abstract:

Objectives- Understanding the close association between oral health and overall health for older adults at the right time and right place, a person, focus treatment through Project ECHO telementoring. Methodology- Data from monthly ECHO telementoring sessions were provided for three years. Sessions including case presentations, overall health conditions, considering medications, organ functions limitations, including the level of cognition. Contributions- Providing the specialist level of providing care to all elderly regardless of their location and other health conditions and decreasing oral health inequity by increasing workforce via Project ECHO telementoring program worldwide. By 2030, the number of adults in the USA over the age of 65 will increase more than 60% (approx.46 million) and over 22 million (30%) of 74 million older Americans will need specialized geriatrician care. In 2025, a national shortage of medical geriatricians will be close to 27,000. Most individuals 65 and older do not receive oral health care due to lack of access, availability, or affordability. One of the main reasons is a significant shortage of Oral Health (OH) education and resources for the elderly, particularly in rural areas. Poor OH is a social stigma, a thread to quality and safety of overall health of the elderly with physical and cognitive decline. Poor OH conditions may be costly and sometimes life-threatening. Non-traumatic dental-related emergency department use in Texas alone was over $250 M in 2016. Most elderly over the age of 65 present with at least one or multiple chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, heart diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at higher risk to develop gum (periodontal) disease, yet they are less likely to get dental care. In addition, most older adults take both prescription and over-the-counter drugs; according to scientific studies, many of these medications cause dry mouth. Reduced saliva flow due to aging and medications may increase the risk of cavities and other oral conditions. Most dental schools have already increased geriatrics OH in their educational curriculums, but the aging population growth worldwide is faster than growing geriatrics dentists. However, without the use of advanced technology and creating a network between specialists and primary care providers, it is impossible to increase the workforce, provide equitable oral health to the elderly. Project ECHO is a guided practice model that revolutionizes health education and increases the workforce to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities. Training oral health providers for utilizing the Project ECHO model is a logical response to the shortage and increases oral health access to the elderly. Project ECHO trains general dentists & hygienists to provide specialty care services. This means more elderly can get the care they need, in the right place, at the right time, with better treatment outcomes and reduces costs.

Keywords: geriatric, oral health, project echo, chronic disease, oral health

Procedia PDF Downloads 171