Search results for: modified pacific South west inter agency committee model (MPSIAC)

Authors: Igor V. Grigoriev

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Understanding of biological processes encoded in fungi is instrumental in addressing future food, feed, and energy demands of the growing human population. Genomics is a powerful and quickly evolving tool to understand these processes. The Fungal Genomics Program of the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) partners with researchers around the world to explore fungi in several large scale genomics projects, changing the fungal genomics landscape. The key trends of these changes include: (i) rapidly increasing scale of sequencing and analysis, (ii) developing approaches to go beyond culturable fungi and explore fungal ‘dark matter,’ or unculturables, and (iii) functional genomics and multi-omics data integration. Power of comparative genomics has been recently demonstrated in several JGI projects targeting mycorrhizae, plant pathogens, wood decay fungi, and sugar fermenting yeasts. The largest JGI project ‘1000 Fungal Genomes’ aims at exploring the diversity across the Fungal Tree of Life in order to better understand fungal evolution and to build a catalogue of genes, enzymes, and pathways for biotechnological applications. At this point, at least 65% of over 700 known families have one or more reference genomes sequenced, enabling metagenomics studies of microbial communities and their interactions with plants. For many of the remaining families no representative species are available from culture collections. To sequence genomes of unculturable fungi two approaches have been developed: (a) sequencing DNA from fruiting bodies of ‘macro’ and (b) single cell genomics using fungal spores. The latter has been tested using zoospores from the early diverging fungi and resulted in several near-complete genomes from underexplored branches of the Fungal Tree, including the first genomes of Zoopagomycotina. Genome sequence serves as a reference for transcriptomics studies, the first step towards functional genomics. In the JGI fungal mini-ENCODE project transcriptomes of the model fungus Neurospora crassa grown on a spectrum of carbon sources have been collected to build regulatory gene networks. Epigenomics is another tool to understand gene regulation and recently introduced single molecule sequencing platforms not only provide better genome assemblies but can also detect DNA modifications. For example, 6mC methylome was surveyed across many diverse fungi and the highest among Eukaryota levels of 6mC methylation has been reported. Finally, data production at such scale requires data integration to enable efficient data analysis. Over 700 fungal genomes and other -omes have been integrated in JGI MycoCosm portal and equipped with comparative genomics tools to enable researchers addressing a broad spectrum of biological questions and applications for bioenergy and biotechnology.

Keywords: fungal genomics, single cell genomics, DNA methylation, comparative genomics

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Authors: Ayten Ekin Meşe, Selahattin Şentürk, Melike Duvanoğlu

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Petroleum refineries are a highly complex process industry with continuous production and high operating costs. Physical separation of crude oil starts with the crude oil distillation unit, continues with various conversion and purification units, and passes through many stages until obtaining the final product. To meet the desired product specification, process parameters are strictly followed. To be able to ensure the quality of distillates, routine analyses are performed in quality control laboratories based on appropriate international standards such as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard methods and European Standard (EN) methods. The cut point of distillates in the crude distillation unit is very crucial for the efficiency of the upcoming processes. In order to maximize the process efficiency, the determination of the quality of distillates should be as fast as possible, reliable, and cost-effective. In this sense, an alternative study was carried out on the crude oil distillation unit that serves the entire refinery process. In this work, studies were conducted with three different crude oil distillates which are Light Straight Run Naphtha (LSRN), Heavy Straight Run Naphtha (HSRN), and Kerosene. These products are named after separation by the number of carbons it contains. LSRN consists of five to six carbon-containing hydrocarbons, HSRN consist of six to ten, and kerosene consists of sixteen to twenty-two carbon-containing hydrocarbons. Physical properties of three different crude distillation unit products (LSRN, HSRN, and Kerosene) were determined using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy with multivariate calibration. The absorbance spectra of the petroleum samples were obtained in the range from 10000 cm⁻¹ to 4000 cm⁻¹, employing a quartz transmittance flow through cell with a 2 mm light path and a resolution of 2 cm⁻¹. A total of 400 samples were collected for each petroleum sample for almost four years. Several different crude oil grades were processed during sample collection times. Extended Multiplicative Signal Correction (EMSC) and Savitzky-Golay (SG) preprocessing techniques were applied to FT-NIR spectra of samples to eliminate baseline shifts and suppress unwanted variation. Two different multivariate calibration approaches (Partial Least Squares Regression, PLS and Genetic Inverse Least Squares, GILS) and an ensemble model were applied to preprocessed FT-NIR spectra. Predictive performance of each multivariate calibration technique and preprocessing techniques were compared, and the best models were chosen according to the reproducibility of ASTM reference methods. This work demonstrates the developed models can be used for routine analysis instead of conventional analytical methods with over 90% accuracy.

Keywords: crude distillation unit, multivariate calibration, near infrared spectroscopy, data preprocessing, refinery

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Authors: E. Omanya, E. Mueni, G. Makau, M. Kariuki

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HIV infection is the strongest risk factor for a person to develop TB. Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for People Living with HIV (PLWHIV) not only reduces the individual patients’ risk of developing active TB but mitigates cross infection. In Kenya, IPT for six months was recommended through the National TB, Leprosy and Lung Disease Program to treat latent TB. In spite of this recommendation by the national government, uptake of IPT among PLHIV remained low in Kenya by the end of 2015. The USAID/Kenya and East Africa Afya Jijini project, which supports 42 TBHIV health facilities in Nairobi County, began addressing low uptake of IPT through Quality Improvement (QI) teams set up at the facility level. Quality is characterized by WHO as one of the four main connectors between health systems building blocks and health systems outputs. Afya Jijini implements the Kenya Quality Model for Health, which involves QI teams being formed at the county, sub-county and facility levels. The teams review facility performance to identify gaps in service delivery and use QI tools to monitor and improve performance. Afya Jijini supported the formation of these teams in 42 facilities and built the teams’ capacity to review data and use QI principles to identify and address performance gaps. When the QI teams began working on improving IPT uptake among PLHIV, uptake was at 31.8%. The teams first conducted a root cause analysis using cause and effect diagrams, which help the teams to brainstorm on and to identify barriers to IPT uptake among PLHIV at the facility level. This is a participatory process where program staff provides technical support to the QI teams in problem identification and problem-solving. The gaps identified were inadequate knowledge and skills on the use of IPT among health care workers, lack of awareness of IPT by patients, inadequate monitoring and evaluation tools, and poor quantification and forecasting of IPT commodities. In response, Afya Jijini trained over 300 health care workers on the administration of IPT, supported patient education, supported quantification and forecasting of IPT commodities, and provided IPT data collection tools to help facilities monitor their performance. The facility QI teams conducted monthly meetings to monitor progress on implementation of IPT and took corrective action when necessary. IPT uptake improved from 31.8% to 61.2% during the second year of the Afya Jijini project and improved to 80.1% during the third year of the project’s support. Use of QI teams and root cause analysis to identify and address service delivery gaps, in addition to targeted program interventions and continual performance reviews, can be successful in increasing TB related service delivery uptake at health facilities.

Keywords: isoniazid, quality, health care workers, people leaving with HIV

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Authors: Tomasz Borowski, Dawid Sołoducha, Agata Markowska-Szczupak, Aneta Wesołowska, Marian Kordas, Rafał Rakoczy

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Essential oils (EOs) are fragrant volatile oils obtained from plants. These are used for cooking (for flavor and aroma), cleaning, beauty (e.g., rosemary essential oil is used to promote hair growth), health (e.g. thyme essential oil cures arthritis, normalizes blood pressure, reduces stress on the heart, cures chest infection and cough) and in the food industry as preservatives and antioxidants. Rosemary and thyme essential oils are considered the most eminent herbs based on their history and medicinal properties. They possess a wide range of activity against different types of bacteria and fungi compared with the other oils in both in vitro and in vivo studies. However, traditional uses of EOs are limited due to rosemary and thyme oils in high concentrations can be toxic. In light of the accessible data, the following hypothesis was put forward: Low frequency rotating magnetic field (RMF) increases the antimicrobial potential of EOs. The aim of this work was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of commercial Salvia Rosmarinus L. and Thymus vulgaris L. essential oil from Polish company Avicenna-Oil under Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF) at f = 25 Hz. The self-constructed reactor (MAP) was applied for this study. The chemical composition of oils was determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Model bacteria Escherichia coli K12 (ATCC 25922) was used. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against E. coli were determined for the essential oils. Tested oils in very small concentrations were prepared (from 1 to 3 drops of essential oils per 3 mL working suspensions). From the results of disc diffusion assay and MIC tests, it can be concluded that thyme oil had the highest antibacterial activity against E. coli. Moreover, the study indicates the exposition to the RMF, as compared to the unexposed controls causing an increase in the efficacy of antibacterial properties of tested oils. The extended radiation exposure to RMF at the frequency f= 25 Hz beyond 160 minutes resulted in a significant increase in antibacterial potential against E. coli. Bacteria were killed within 40 minutes in thyme oil in lower tested concentration (1 drop of essential oils per 3 mL working suspension). Rapid decrease (>3 log) of bacteria number was observed with rosemary oil within 100 minutes (in concentration 3 drops of essential oils per 3 mL working suspension). Thus, a method for improving the antimicrobial performance of essential oil in low concentrations was developed. However, it still remains to be investigated how bacteria get killed by the EOs treated by an electromagnetic field. The possible mechanisms relies on alteration in the permeability of ionic channels in ionic channels in the bacterial cell walls that transport in the cells was proposed. For further studies, it is proposed to examine other types of essential oils and other antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), which are causing a serious concern throughout the world.

Keywords: rotating magnetic field, rosemary, thyme, essential oils, Escherichia coli

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Authors: Despina Giannadaki, Jos Lelieveld, Andrea Pozzer, John Evans

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Outdoor air pollution by fine particles ranks among the top ten global health risk factors that can lead to premature mortality. Epidemiological cohort studies, mainly conducted in United States and Europe, have shown that the long-term exposure to PM2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5μm) is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Fine particulates can cause health impacts even at very low concentrations. Previously, no concentration level has been defined below which health damage can be fully prevented. The World Health Organization ambient air quality guidelines suggest an annual mean PM2.5 concentration limit of 10μg/m3. Populations in large parts of the world, especially in East and Southeast Asia, and in the Middle East, are exposed to high levels of fine particulate pollution that by far exceeds the World Health Organization guidelines. The aim of this work is to evaluate the implementation of recent air quality standards for PM2.5 in the EU, the US and other countries worldwide and estimate what measures will be needed to substantially reduce premature mortality. We investigated premature mortality attributed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) under adults ≥ 30yrs and children < 5yrs, applying a high-resolution global atmospheric chemistry model combined with epidemiological concentration-response functions. The latter are based on the methodology of the Global Burden of Disease for 2010, assuming a ‘safe’ annual mean PM2.5 threshold of 7.3μg/m3. We estimate the global premature mortality by PM2.5 at 3.15 million/year in 2010. China is the leading country with about 1.33 million, followed by India with 575 thousand and Pakistan with 105 thousand. For the European Union (EU) we estimate 173 thousand and the United States (US) 52 thousand in 2010. Based on sensitivity calculations we tested the gains from PM2.5 control by applying the air quality guidelines (AQG) and standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), the EU, the US and other countries. To estimate potential reductions in mortality rates we take into consideration the deaths that cannot be avoided after the implementation of PM2.5 upper limits, due to the contribution of natural sources to total PM2.5 and therefore to mortality (mainly airborne desert dust). The annual mean EU limit of 25μg/m3 would reduce global premature mortality by 18%, while within the EU the effect is negligible, indicating that the standard is largely met and that stricter limits are needed. The new US standard of 12μg/m3 would reduce premature mortality by 46% worldwide, 4% in the US and 20% in the EU. Implementing the AQG by the WHO of 10μg/m3 would reduce global premature mortality by 54%, 76% in China and 59% in India. In the EU and US, the mortality would be reduced by 36% and 14%, respectively. Hence, following the WHO guideline will prevent 1.7 million premature deaths per year. Sensitivity calculations indicate that even small changes at the lower PM2.5 standards can have major impacts on global mortality rates.

Keywords: air quality guidelines, outdoor air pollution, particulate matter, premature mortality

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Authors: Hemendra Singh Rathod

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Frequency is, among other factors, one of the governing parameters for maintaining electrical grid stability. The quality of an electrical transmission and supply system is mainly described by the stability of the grid frequency. Over the past few decades, energy generation by intermittent sustainable sources like wind and solar has seen a significant increase globally. Consequently, controlling the associated deviations in grid frequency within safe limits has been gaining momentum so that the balance between demand and supply can be maintained. Lithium-ion battery energy storage system (Li-Ion BESS) has been a promising technology to tackle the challenges associated with grid instability. BESS is, therefore, an effective response to the ongoing debate whether it is feasible to have an electrical grid constantly functioning on a hundred percent renewable power in the near future. In recent years, large-scale manufacturing and capital investment into battery production processes have made the Li-ion battery systems cost-effective and increasingly efficient. The Li-ion systems require very low maintenance and are also independent of geographical constraints while being easily scalable. The paper highlights the use of stationary and moving BESS for balancing electrical energy, thereby maintaining grid frequency at a rapid rate. Moving BESS technology, as implemented in the selected railway network in Germany, is here considered as an exemplary concept for demonstrating the same functionality in the electrical grid system. Further, using certain applications of Li-ion batteries, such as self-consumption of wind and solar parks or their ancillary services, wind and solar energy storage during low demand, black start, island operation, residential home storage, etc. offers a solution to effectively integrate the renewables and support Europe’s future smart grid. EMT software tool DIgSILENT PowerFactory has been utilised to model an electrical transmission system with 100% renewable energy penetration. The stability of such a transmission system has been evaluated together with BESS within a defined frequency band. The transmission system operators (TSO) have the superordinate responsibility for system stability and must also coordinate with the other European transmission system operators. Frequency control is implemented by TSO by maintaining a balance between electricity generation and consumption. Li-ion battery systems are here seen as flexible, controllable loads and flexible, controllable generation for balancing energy pools. Thus using Li-ion battery storage solution, frequency-dependent load shedding, i.e., automatic gradual disconnection of loads from the grid, and frequency-dependent electricity generation, i.e., automatic gradual connection of BESS to the grid, is used as a perfect security measure to maintain grid stability in any case scenario. The paper emphasizes the use of stationary and moving Li-ion battery storage for meeting the demands of maintaining grid frequency and stability for near future operations.

Keywords: frequency control, grid stability, li-ion battery storage, smart grid

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Authors: Mao Zhaofang, Xu Yida, Fang Kan, Fu Enyuan, Zhao Zhao

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Nowadays, last-mile distribution plays an increasingly important role in the whole industrial chain delivery link and accounts for a large proportion of the whole distribution process cost. Promoting the upgrading of logistics networks and improving the layout of final distribution points has become one of the trends in the development of modern logistics. Due to the discrete and heterogeneous needs and spatial distribution of customer demand, which will lead to a higher delivery failure rate and lower vehicle utilization, last-mile delivery has become a time-consuming and uncertain process. As a result, courier companies have introduced a range of innovative parcel storage facilities, including pick-up points and lockers. The introduction of pick-up points and lockers has not only improved the users’ experience but has also helped logistics and courier companies achieve large-scale economy. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 of the previous period, contactless delivery has become a new hotspot, which has also created new opportunities for the development of collection services. Therefore, a key issue for logistics companies is how to design/redesign their last-mile distribution network systems to create integrated logistics and distribution networks that consider pick-up points and lockers. This paper focuses on the introduction of self-pickup facilities in new logistics and distribution scenarios and the heterogeneous demands of customers. In this paper, we consider two types of demand, including ordinary products and refrigerated products, as well as corresponding transportation vehicles. We consider the constraints associated with self-pickup points and lockers and then address the location-routing problem with self-pickup facilities and heterogeneous demands (LRP-PFHD). To solve this challenging problem, we propose a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model that aims to minimize the total cost, which includes the facility opening cost, the variable transport cost, and the fixed transport cost. Due to the NP-hardness of the problem, we propose a hybrid adaptive large-neighbourhood search algorithm to solve LRP-PFHD. We evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm by using instances generated based on benchmark instances. The results demonstrate that the hybrid adaptive large neighbourhood search algorithm is more efficient than MILP solvers such as Gurobi for LRP-PFHD, especially for large-scale instances. In addition, we made a comprehensive analysis of some important parameters (e.g., facility opening cost and transportation cost) to explore their impacts on the results and suggested helpful managerial insights for courier companies.

Keywords: city logistics, last-mile delivery, location-routing, adaptive large neighborhood search

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Authors: José Manuel Palma, Paula Pereira, Margarida Tomás

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Foreseen the future: Human factors integration in European Horizon Projects The development of new technology as artificial intelligence, smart sensing, robotics, cobotics or intelligent machinery must integrate human factors to address the need to optimize systems and processes, thereby contributing to the creation of a safe and accident-free work environment. Human Factors Integration (HFI) consistently pose a challenge for organizations when applied to daily operations. AGILEHAND and FORTIS projects are grounded in the development of cutting-edge technology - industry 4.0 and 5.0. AGILEHAND aims to create advanced technologies for autonomously sort, handle, and package soft and deformable products, whereas FORTIS focuses on developing a comprehensive Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) solution. Both projects employ different approaches to explore HFI. AGILEHAND is mainly empirical, involving a comparison between the current and future work conditions reality, coupled with an understanding of best practices and the enhancement of safety aspects, primarily through management. FORTIS applies HFI throughout the project, developing a human-centric approach that includes understanding human behavior, perceiving activities, and facilitating contextual human-robot information exchange. it intervention is holistic, merging technology with the physical and social contexts, based on a total safety culture model. In AGILEHAND we will identify safety emergent risks, challenges, their causes and how to overcome them by resorting to interviews, questionnaires, literature review and case studies. Findings and results will be presented in “Strategies for Workers’ Skills Development, Health and Safety, Communication and Engagement” Handbook. The FORTIS project will implement continuous monitoring and guidance of activities, with a critical focus on early detection and elimination (or mitigation) of risks associated with the new technology, as well as guidance to adhere correctly with European Union safety and privacy regulations, ensuring HFI, thereby contributing to an optimized safe work environment. To achieve this, we will embed safety by design, and apply questionnaires, perform site visits, provide risk assessments, and closely track progress while suggesting and recommending best practices. The outcomes of these measures will be compiled in the project deliverable titled “Human Safety and Privacy Measures”. These projects received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No101092043 (AGILEHAND) and No 101135707 (FORTIS).

Keywords: human factors integration, automation, digitalization, human robot interaction, industry 4.0 and 5.0

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Authors: Simran Baweja, Bhavika Kalal, Surajit Maity

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Photoinduced tautomerization reactions have been the centre of attention among the scientific community over the past several decades because of their significance in various biological systems. 7-azaindole (7AI) is considered a model system for DNA base pairing and to understand the role of such tautomerization reactions in mutations. To the best of our knowledge, extensive studies have been carried out on 7-azaindole and its solvent clusters exhibiting proton/ hydrogen transfer in both solution as well as gas phases. Derivatives of the above molecule, like 2,7- and 2,6-diazaindoles are proposed to have even better photophysical properties due to the presence of -aza group on the 2nd position. However, there are studies in the solution phase that suggest the relevance of these molecules, but there are no experimental studies reported in the gas phase yet. In our current investigation, we present the first gas phase spectroscopic data of 2,7-diazaindole (2,7-DAI) and its solvent cluster (2,7-DAI-H2O). In this, we have employed state-of-the-art laser spectroscopic methods such as fluorescence excitation (LIF), dispersed fluorescence (DF), resonant two-photon ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (2C-R2PI), photoionization efficiency spectroscopy (PIE), IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy, i.e., fluorescence-dip infrared spectroscopy (FDIR) and resonant ion-dip infrared spectroscopy (IDIR) to understand the electronic structure of the molecule. The origin band corresponding to the S1 ← S0 transition of the bare 2,7-DAI is found to be positioned at 33910 cm-1, whereas the origin band corresponding to S1 ← S0 transition of the 2,7-DAI-H2O is positioned at 33074 cm-1. The red-shifted transition in the case of solvent cluster suggests the enhanced feasibility of excited state hydrogen/ proton transfer. The ionization potential for the 2,7-DAI molecule is found to be 8.92 eV which is significantly higher than the previously reported 7AI (8.11 eV) molecule, making it a comparatively complex molecule to study. The ionization potential is reduced by 0.14 eV in the case of 2,7-DAI-H2O (8.78 eV) cluster compared to that of 2,7-DAI. Moreover, on comparison with the available literature values of 7AI, we found the origin band of 2,7-DAI and 2,7-DAI-H2O to be red-shifted by -729 and -280 cm-1 respectively. The ground and excited state N-H stretching frequencies of the 27DAI molecule were determined using fluorescence-dip infrared spectra (FDIR) and resonant ion dip infrared spectroscopy (IDIR), obtained at 3523 and 3467 cm-1, respectively. The lower value of vNH in the electronically excited state of 27DAI implies the higher acidity of the group compared to the ground state. Moreover, we have done extensive computational analysis, which suggests that the energy barrier in the excited state reduces significantly as we increase the number of catalytic solvent molecules (S= H2O, NH3) as well as the polarity of solvent molecules. We found that the ammonia molecule is a better candidate for hydrogen transfer compared to water because of its higher gas-phase basicity. Further studies are underway to understand the excited state dynamics and photochemistry of such N-rich chromophores.

Keywords: excited state hydrogen transfer, supersonic expansion, gas phase spectroscopy, IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy, laser induced fluorescence, photoionization efficiency spectroscopy

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Authors: Majed A. Alsalem

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In our contemporary world, literacy is an essential skill that enables students to increase their efficiency in managing the many assignments they receive that require understanding and knowledge of the world around them. In addition, literacy enhances student participation in society improving their ability to learn about the world and interact with others and facilitating the exchange of ideas and sharing of knowledge. Therefore, literacy needs to be studied and understood in its full range of contexts. It should be seen as social and cultural practices with historical, political, and economic implications. This study aims to rebuild and reorganize the instructional designs that have been used for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students to improve their literacy level. The most critical part of this process is the teachers; therefore, teachers will be the center focus of this study. Teachers’ main job is to increase students’ performance by fostering strategies through collaborative teamwork, higher-order thinking, and effective use of new information technologies. Teachers, as primary leaders in the learning process, should be aware of new strategies, approaches, methods, and frameworks of teaching in order to apply them to their instruction. Literacy from a wider view means acquisition of adequate and relevant reading skills that enable progression in one’s career and lifestyle while keeping up with current and emerging innovations and trends. Moreover, the nature of literacy is changing rapidly. The notion of new literacy changed the traditional meaning of literacy, which is the ability to read and write. New literacy refers to the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate, and create information using a range of digital technologies. The term new literacy has received a lot of attention in the education field over the last few years. New literacy provides multiple ways of engagement, especially to those with disabilities and other diverse learning needs. For example, using a number of online tools in the classroom provides students with disabilities new ways to engage with the content, take in information, and express their understanding of this content. This study will provide teachers with the highest quality of training sessions to meet the needs of DHH students so as to increase their literacy levels. This study will build a platform between regular instructional designs and digital materials that students can interact with. The intervention that will be applied in this study will be to train teachers of DHH to base their instructional designs on the notion of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory. Based on the power analysis that has been done for this study, 98 teachers are needed to be included in this study. This study will choose teachers randomly to increase internal and external validity and to provide a representative sample from the population that this study aims to measure and provide the base for future and further studies. This study is still in process and the initial results are promising by showing how students have engaged with digital books.

Keywords: deaf and hard of hearing, digital books, literacy, technology

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Authors: Lucas Derks, Christine Beenhakker, Michiel Brandt, Gert Arts, Ruud van Langeveld

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Background: The method Depression in Awareness Space (DAS) is a psychotherapeutic intervention technique based on the principles of spatial cognition and imagination therapy with spatial components. The basic assumptions are: mental space is the primary organizing principle in the mind, and all psychological issues can be treated by first locating and by next relocating the conceptualizations involved. The most clinical experience was gathered over the last 20 years in the area of social issues (with the social panorama model). The latter work led to the conclusion that a mental object (image) gains emotional impact when it is placed more central, closer and higher in the visual field – and vice versa. Changing the locations of mental objects in space thus alters the (socio-) emotional meaning of the relationships. The experience of depression seems always associated with darkness. Psychologists tend to see the link between depression and darkness as a metaphor. However, clinical practice hints to the existence of more literal forms of darkness. Aims: The aim of the method Depression in Awareness Space is to reduce the distress of clients with depression in the clinical counseling practice, as a reliable alternative method of psychological therapy for the treatment of depression. The method Depression in Awareness Space aims at making dark areas smaller, lighter and more transparent in order to identify the problem or the cause of the depression which lies behind the darkness. It was hypothesized that the darkness is a subjective side-effect of the neurological process of repression. After reducing the dark clouds the real problem behind the depression becomes more visible, allowing the client to work on it and in that way reduce their feelings of depression. This makes repression of the issue obsolete. Results: Clients could easily get into their 'sadness' when asked to do so and finding the location of the dark zones proved pretty easy as well. In a recent pilot study with five participants with mild depressive symptoms (measured on two different scales and tested against an untreated control group with similar symptoms), the first results were also very promising. If the mental spatial approach to depression can be proven to be really effective, this would be very good news. The Society of Mental Space Psychology is now looking for sponsoring of an up scaled experiment. Conclusions: For spatial cognition and the research into spatial psychological phenomena, the discovery of dark areas can be a step forward. Beside out of pure scientific interest, it is great to know that this discovery has a clinical implication: when darkness can be connected to depression. Also, darkness seems to be more than metaphorical expression. Progress can be monitored over measurement tools that quantify the level of depressive symptoms and by reviewing the areas of darkness.

Keywords: depression, spatial cognition, spatial imagery, social panorama

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Authors: Roberto M. G. Velásquez, Jonas R. Gazoli, Nelson Ponce Jr, Valério L. Borges, Alessandro Sete, Fernanda M. C. Tomé, Julian D. Hunt, Heitor C. Lira, Cristiano L. de Souza, Fabio T. Bindemann, Wilmar Wounnsoscky

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Nowadays, society is working toward reducing energy losses and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as seeking clean energy sources, as a result of the constant increase in energy demand and emissions. Energy loss occurs in the gas pressure reduction stations at the delivery points in natural gas distribution systems (city gates). Installing pressure reduction turbines (PRT) parallel to the static reduction valves at the city gates enhances the energy efficiency of the system by recovering the enthalpy of the pressurized natural gas, obtaining in the pressure-lowering process shaft work and generating electrical power. Currently, the Brazilian natural gas transportation network has 9,409 km in extension, while the system has 16 national and 3 international natural gas processing plants, including more than 143 delivery points to final consumers. Thus, the potential of installing PRT in Brazil is 66 MW of power, which could yearly avoid the emission of 235,800 tons of CO2 and generate 333 GWh/year of electricity. On the other hand, an economic viability analysis of these energy efficiency projects is commonly carried out based on estimates of the project's cash flow obtained from several variables forecast. Usually, the cash flow analysis is performed using representative values of these variables, obtaining a deterministic set of financial indicators associated with the project. However, in most cases, these variables cannot be predicted with sufficient accuracy, resulting in the need to consider, to a greater or lesser degree, the risk associated with the calculated financial return. This paper presents an approach applied to the technical-economic viability analysis of PRTs projects that explicitly considers the uncertainties associated with the input parameters for the financial model, such as gas pressure at the delivery point, amount of energy generated by TRP, the future price of energy, among others, using sensitivity analysis techniques, scenario analysis, and Monte Carlo methods. In the latter case, estimates of several financial risk indicators, as well as their empirical probability distributions, can be obtained. This is a methodology for the financial risk analysis of PRT projects. The results of this paper allow a more accurate assessment of the potential PRT project's financial feasibility in Brazil. This methodology will be tested at the Cuiabá thermoelectric plant, located in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and can be applied to study the potential in other countries.

Keywords: pressure reduction turbine, natural gas pressure drop station, energy efficiency, electricity generation, monte carlo methods

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Authors: Paula I. Buonfiglio, Carlos David Bruque, Lucia Salatino, Vanesa Lotersztein, Sebastián Menazzi, Paola Plazas, Ana Belén Elgoyhen, Viviana Dalamón

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Hearing loss (HL) is the most prevalent sensorineural disorder affecting about 10% of the global population, with more than half due to genetic causes. About 1 in 500-1000 newborns present congenital HL. Most of the patients are non-syndromic with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. To date, more than 100 genes are related to HL. Therefore, the Whole-exome sequencing (WES) technique has become a cost-effective alternative approach for molecular diagnosis. Nevertheless, new challenges arise from the detection of novel variants, in particular missense changes, which can lead to a spectrum of genotype-to-phenotype correlations, which is not always straightforward. In this work, we aimed to identify the genetic causes of HL in isolated and familial cases by designing a multistep approach to analyze target genes related to hearing impairment. Moreover, we performed in silico and in vivo analyses in order to further study the effect of some of the novel variants identified in the hair cell function using the zebrafish model. A total of 650 patients were studied by Sanger Sequencing and Gap-PCR in GJB2 and GJB6 genes, respectively, diagnosing 15.5% of sporadic cases and 36% of familial ones. Overall, 50 different sequence variants were detected. Fifty of the undiagnosed patients with moderate HL were tested for deletions in STRC gene by Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification technique (MLPA), leading to 6% of diagnosis. After this initial screening, 50 families were selected to be analyzed by WES, achieving diagnosis in 44% of them. Half of the identified variants were novel. A missense variant in MYO6 gene detected in a family with postlingual HL was selected to be further analyzed. A protein modeling with AlphaFold2 software was performed, proving its pathogenic effect. In order to functionally validate this novel variant, a knockdown phenotype rescue assay in zebrafish was carried out. Injection of wild-type MYO6 mRNA in embryos rescued the phenotype, whereas using the mutant MYO6 mRNA (carrying c.2782C>A variant) had no effect. These results strongly suggest the deleterious effect of this variant on the mobility of stereocilia in zebrafish neuromasts, and hence on the auditory system. In the present work, we demonstrated that our algorithm is suitable for the sequential multigenic approach to HL in our cohort. These results highlight the importance of a combined strategy in order to identify candidate variants as well as the in silico and in vivo studies to analyze and prove their pathogenicity and accomplish a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the physiopathology of the hearing impairment.

Keywords: diagnosis, genetics, hearing loss, in silico analysis, in vivo analysis, WES, zebrafish

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Authors: Somnath Bhattacharya, Kamal Sharma, Vaibhav Sonkar

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Composite materials emerged in the middle of the 20th century as a promising class of engineering materials providing new prospects for modern technology. Recently, a new class of composite materials known as functionally graded materials (FGMs) has drawn considerable attention of the scientific community. In general, FGMs are defined as composite materials in which the composition or microstructure or both are locally varied so that a certain variation of the local material properties is achieved. This gradual change in composition and microstructure of material is suitable to get gradient of properties and performances. FGMs are synthesized in such a way that they possess continuous spatial variations in volume fractions of their constituents to yield a predetermined composition. These variations lead to the formation of a non-homogeneous macrostructure with continuously varying mechanical and / or thermal properties in one or more than one direction. Lightweight functionally graded composites with high strength to weight and stiffness to weight ratios have been used successfully in aircraft industry and other engineering applications like in electronics industry and in thermal barrier coatings. In the present work, elastic-plastic crack growth problems (using Ramberg-Osgood Model) in an FGM plate under cyclic load has been explored by extended finite element method. Both edge and centre crack problems have been solved by taking additionally holes, inclusions and minor cracks under plane stress conditions. Both soft and hard inclusions have been implemented in the problems. The validity of linear elastic fracture mechanics theory is limited to the brittle materials. A rectangular plate of functionally graded material of length 100 mm and height 200 mm with 100% copper-nickel alloy on left side and 100% ceramic (alumina) on right side is considered in the problem. Exponential gradation in property is imparted in x-direction. A uniform traction of 100 MPa is applied to the top edge of the rectangular domain along y direction. In some problems, domain contains major crack along with minor cracks or / and holes or / and inclusions. Major crack is located the centre of the left edge or the centre of the domain. The discontinuities, such as minor cracks, holes, and inclusions are added either singly or in combination with each other. On the basis of this study, it is found that effect of minor crack in the domain’s failure crack length is minimum whereas soft inclusions have moderate effect and the effect of holes have maximum effect. It is observed that the crack growth is more before the failure in each case when hard inclusions are present in place of soft inclusions.

Keywords: elastic-plastic, fatigue crack, functionally graded materials, extended finite element method (XFEM)

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Authors: Samuele Ghignoli, Valentina de Lorenzi, Gianmarco Ferri, Stefano Luin, Francesco Cardarelli

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Insulin and glucagon are the two essential hormones for maintaining proper blood glucose homeostasis, which is disrupted in Diabetes. A constantly growing research interest has been focused on the study of the subcellular structures involved in hormone secretion, namely insulin- and glucagon-containing granules, and on the mechanisms regulating their behaviour. Yet, while several successful attempts were reported describing the dynamic properties of insulin granules, little is known about their counterparts in α cells, the glucagon-containing granules. To fill this gap, we used αTC1 clone 9 cells as a model of α cells and ZIGIR as a fluorescent Zinc chelator for granule labelling. We started by using spatiotemporal fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in the form of imaging-derived mean square displacement (iMSD) analysis. This afforded quantitative information on the average dynamical and structural properties of glucagon granules having insulin granules as a benchmark. Interestingly, the iMSD sensitivity to average granule size allowed us to confirm that glucagon granules are smaller than insulin ones (~1.4 folds, further validated by STORM imaging). To investigate possible heterogeneities in granule dynamic properties, we moved from correlation spectroscopy to single particle tracking (SPT). We developed a MATLAB script to localize and track single granules with high spatial resolution. This enabled us to classify the glucagon granules, based on their dynamic properties, as ‘blocked’ (i.e., trajectories corresponding to immobile granules), ‘confined/diffusive’ (i.e., trajectories corresponding to slowly moving granules in a defined region of the cell), or ‘drifted’ (i.e., trajectories corresponding to fast-moving granules). In cell-culturing control conditions, results show this average distribution: 32.9 ± 9.3% blocked, 59.6 ± 9.3% conf/diff, and 7.4 ± 3.2% drifted. This benchmarking provided us with a foundation for investigating selected experimental conditions of interest, such as the glucagon-granule relationship with the cytoskeleton. For instance, if Nocodazole (10 μM) is used for microtubule depolymerization, the percentage of drifted motion collapses to 3.5 ± 1.7% while immobile granules increase to 56.0 ± 10.7% (remaining 40.4 ± 10.2% of conf/diff). This result confirms the clear link between glucagon-granule motion and cytoskeleton structures, a first step towards understanding the intracellular behaviour of this subcellular compartment. The information collected might now serve to support future investigations on glucagon granules in physiology and disease. Acknowledgment: This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 866127, project CAPTUR3D).

Keywords: glucagon granules, single particle tracking, correlation spectroscopy, ZIGIR

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Authors: L. Spencer, S. O’ Donohoe

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Much of the research to date on internationalisation relates to large firms with much less known about how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engage in internationalisation. Given the crucial role of SMEs in contributing to economic growth, there is now an emphasis on the need for SMEs internationalise. Yet little is known about how SMEs undertake and finance such expansion and whether or not internationalisation actually hinders or helps them in securing finance. The purpose of this research is to explore the internationalisation process for SMEs, the sources of funding used in financing this expansion and support received from the state agencies in assisting their overseas expansion. A conceptual framework has been devised which marries the two strands of literature together (internationalisation and financing the firm). The exploratory nature of this research dictates that the most appropriate methodology was to use semi-structured interviews with SME owners; bank representatives and support agencies. In essence, a triangulated approach to the research problem facilitates assessment of the perceptions and experiences from firms, the state and the financial institutions. Our sample is drawn from SMEs operating in Ireland and Scotland, two small but very open economies where SMEs are the dominant form of organisation. The sample includes a range of industry sectors. Key findings to date suggest some SMEs are born global; others are born again global whilst a significant cohort can be classed as traditional internationalisers. Unsurprisingly there is a strong industry effect with firms in the high tech sector more likely to be faster internationalisers in contrast to those in the traditional manufacturing sectors. Owner manager’s own funds are deemed key to financing initial internationalisation lending support for the financial growth life cycle model albeit more important for the faster internationalisers in contrast to the slower cohort who are more likely to deploy external sources especially bank finance. Retained earnings remain the predominant source of on-going financing for internationalising firms but trade credit is often used and invoice discounting is utilised quite frequently. In terms of lending, asset based lending backed by personal guarantees appears paramount for securing bank finance. Whilst the lack of diversified sources of funding for internationalising SMEs was found in both jurisdictions there appears no evidence to suggest that internationalisation impedes firms in securing finance. Finally state supports were cited as important to the internationalisation process, in particular those provided by Enterprise Ireland were deemed very valuable. Considering the paucity of studies to date on SME internationalisation and in particular the funding mechanisms deployed by them; this study seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in both the international business and finance disciplines.

Keywords: funding, government support, international pathways, modes of entry

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Authors: Adi Sharabi, Dafna Marom-Golan

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Parents’ involvement in the care of their children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its beneficial effect on the children’s developmental and educational outcomes is well documented. At the same time, parents of children with ASD tend to experience greater psychological distress than parents of children with other developmental disabilities or with typical development. Positive social support is an important resource used by parents to reduce their psychological distress. The goal of the current research was to examine the contribution of formal and informal social support in explaining mothers’ and fathers’ involvement with their young children with ASD. The sample consisted of 107 parents who live in Israel (61 mothers and 46 fathers) of children aged between 2 and 7, all diagnosed with ASD and attending special kindergartens or special day care for children with ASD. Parental involvement and social support perception were assessed. Initial analysis focused on the relations between involvement, support, and demographic variables. In addition, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test differences between mothers and fathers. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the predicted factors in the involvement model while controlling for group (mothers/fathers). Results indicate that mothers reported significantly higher levels of parenting involvement than fathers. Mothers reported higher levels of general involvement and all sub-types of involvement. For example, mothers reported that they were more interested in and have higher levels of attendance in their child’s educational program. They were also more collaborative in their child’s educational therapeutic program, and socialized with other parents of children from their child’s kindergarten than fathers. Mothers’ involvement was found to be related to their informal support (non-formal relatives). Findings also reveal significant differences between mothers and fathers on the formal support subscale measure of specializes services. Fathers, more than mothers, reported more specializes services support such as social workers or professional therapists. Separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a unique gender difference in the factors that explained parental involvement. Specifically, informal support only had a unique positive contribution in explaining mothers’, but not fathers’ involvement. This study highlights the central role of mothers in maintaining constant contact with the educational system and the professionals who help care for their child with ASD. At the same time, this research emphasizes the crucial role of both mothers and fathers in their child's development and well-being at every development stage, particularly in early development. Further, different kinds of social support seem to relate to the different kinds of parental involvement. It is in the best interest of educators and family therapists who work with families with children with ASD to support the cohesiveness of the family and the collaboration of the parents by understanding and respecting the way each member addresses the responsibilities of parenting a child with ASD, and her or his need for different types of social support.

Keywords: parental differences, parental involvement, social support, specialized support services

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Authors: Magdalena Suárez-Ortega, M. Fe. Sánchez-García

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This paper focuses on the analysis of the motivations that lead people to undertake and consolidate their business. It is addressed from the framework of planned behavior theory, which recognizes the importance of the social environment and cultural values, both in the decision to undertake business and in business consolidation. Similarly, it is also based on theories of career development, which emphasize the importance of career management competencies and their connections to other vital aspects of people, including their roles within their families and other personal activities. This connects directly with the impact of entrepreneurship on the career and the professional-personal project of each individual. This study is part of the project titled Career Design and Talent Management (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain, State Plan 2013-2016 Excellence Ref. EDU2013-45704-P). The aim of the study is to identify and describe entrepreneurial competencies and motivational profiles in a sample of 248 Spanish entrepreneurs, considering the consolidated profile and the profile in transition (n = 248).In order to obtain the information, the Questionnaire of Motivation and conditioners of the entrepreneurial career (MCEC) has been applied. This consists of 67 items and includes four scales (E1-Conflicts in conciliation, E2-Satisfaction in the career path, E3-Motivations to undertake, E4-Guidance Needs). Cluster analysis (mixed method, combining k-means clustering with a hierarchical method) was carried out, characterizing the groups profiles according to the categorical variables (chi square, p = 0.05), and the quantitative variables (ANOVA). The results have allowed us to characterize three motivational profiles relevant to the motivation, the degree of conciliation between personal and professional life, and the degree of conflict in conciliation, levels of career satisfaction and orientation needs (in the entrepreneurial project and life-career). The first profile is formed by extrinsically motivated entrepreneurs, professionally satisfied and without conflict of vital roles. The second profile acts with intrinsic motivation and also associated with family models, and although it shows satisfaction with their professional career, it finds a high conflict in their family and professional life. The third is composed of entrepreneurs with high extrinsic motivation, professional dissatisfaction and at the same time, feel the conflict in their professional life by the effect of personal roles. Ultimately, the analysis has allowed us to line the kinds of entrepreneurs to different levels of motivation, satisfaction, needs and articulation in professional and personal life, showing characterizations associated with the use of time for leisure, and the care of the family. Associations related to gender, age, activity sector, environment (rural, urban, virtual), and the use of time for domestic tasks are not identified. The model obtained and its implications for the design of training actions and orientation to entrepreneurs is also discussed.

Keywords: motivation, entrepreneurial career, guidance needs, life-work balance, job satisfaction, assessment

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Authors: Drago Diaz Aleman, Jose Luis Saorin Perez, Cecile Meier, Itahisa Perez Conesa, Jorge De La Torre Cantero

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Traditional manufacturing techniques used in artistic contexts compete with highly productive and efficient industrial procedures. The craft techniques and associated business models tend to disappear under the pressure of the appearance of mass-produced products that compete in all niche markets, including those traditionally reserved for the work of art. The surplus value derived from the prestige of the author, the exclusivity of the product or the mastery of the artist, do not seem to be sufficient reasons to preserve this productive model. In the last years, the adoption of open source digital manufacturing technologies in small art workshops can favor their permanence by assuming great advantages such as easy accessibility, low cost, and free modification, adapting to specific needs of each workshop. It is possible to use pieces modeled by computer and made with FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D printers that use PLA (polylactic acid) in the procedures of artistic casting. Models printed by PLA are limited to approximate minimum sizes of 3 cm, and optimal layer height resolution is 0.1 mm. Due to these limitations, it is not the most suitable technology for artistic casting processes of smaller pieces. An alternative to solve size limitation, are printers from the type (SLS) "selective sintering by laser". And other possibility is a laser hardens, by layers, metal powder and called DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering). However, due to its high cost, it is a technology that is difficult to introduce in small artistic foundries. The low-cost DLP (Digital Light Processing) type printers can offer high resolutions for a reasonable cost (around 0.02 mm on the Z axis and 0.04 mm on the X and Y axes), and can print models with castable resins that allow the subsequent direct artistic casting in precious metals or their adaptation to processes such as electroforming. In this work, the design of a DLP 3D printer is detailed, using backlit LCD screens with ultraviolet light. Its development is totally "open source" and is proposed as a kit made up of electronic components, based on Arduino and easy to access mechanical components in the market. The CAD files of its components can be manufactured in low-cost FDM 3D printers. The result is less than 500 Euros, high resolution and open-design with free access that allows not only its manufacture but also its improvement. In future works, we intend to carry out different comparative analyzes, which allow us to accurately estimate the print quality, as well as the real cost of the artistic works made with it.

Keywords: traditional artistic techniques, DLP 3D printer, artistic casting, electroforming

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Authors: Daniel Martin Fellows, Sean P. Walton, Jennifer Thompson, Oubay Hassan, Kevin Tinkham, Ella Quigley

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Structural integrity for cladding products is a key performance parameter, especially concerning fire performance. Cladding products such as PIR-based sandwich panels are tested rigorously, in line with industrial standards. Physical fire tests are necessary to ensure the customer's safety but can give little information about critical behaviours that can help develop new materials. Numerical modelling is a tool that can help investigate a fire's behaviour further by replicating the fire test. However, fire is an interdisciplinary problem as it is a chemical reaction that behaves fluidly and impacts structural integrity. An analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is needed to capture all aspects of a fire performance test. One method is a two-way coupling analysis that imports the updated changes in thermal data, due to the fire's behaviour, to the FEA solver in a series of iterations. In light of our recent work with Tata Steel U.K using a two-way coupling methodology to determine the fire performance, it has been shown that a program called FDS-2-Abaqus can make predictions of a BS 476 -22 furnace test with a degree of accuracy. The test demonstrated the fire performance of Tata Steel U.K Trisomet product, a Polyisocyanurate (PIR) based sandwich panel used for cladding. Previous works demonstrated the limitations of the current version of the program, the main limitation being the computational cost of modelling three Trisomet panels, totalling an area of 9 . The computational cost increases substantially, with the intention to scale up to an LPS 1181-1 test, which includes a total panel surface area of 200 .The FDS-2-Abaqus program is developed further within this paper to overcome this obstacle and better accommodate Tata Steel U.K PIR sandwich panels. The new developments aim to reduce the computational cost and error margin compared to experimental data. One avenue explored is a multi-scale approach in the form of Reduced Order Modeling (ROM). The approach allows the user to include refined details of the sandwich panels, such as the overlapping joints, without a computationally costly mesh size.Comparative studies will be made between the new implementations and the previous study completed using the original FDS-2-ABAQUS program. Validation of the study will come from physical experiments in line with governing body standards such as BS 476 -22 and LPS 1181-1. The physical experimental data includes the panels' gas and surface temperatures and mechanical deformation. Conclusions are drawn, noting the new implementations' impact factors and discussing the reasonability for scaling up further to a whole warehouse.

Keywords: fire testing, numerical coupling, sandwich panels, thermo fluids

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Authors: Ibtissem Hosni, Lilia Bennaceur Farah, Saber Mohamed Naceur

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In order to assess the water availability in the soil, it is crucial to have information about soil distributed moisture content; this parameter helps to understand the effect of humidity on the exchange between soil, plant cover and atmosphere in addition to fully understanding the surface processes and the hydrological cycle. On the other hand, aerodynamic roughness length is a surface parameter that scales the vertical profile of the horizontal component of the wind speed and characterizes the surface ability to absorb the momentum of the airflow. In numerous applications of the surface hydrology and meteorology, aerodynamic roughness length is an important parameter for estimating momentum, heat and mass exchange between the soil surface and atmosphere. It is important on this side, to consider the atmosphere factors impact in general, and the natural erosion in particular, in the process of soil evolution and its characterization and prediction of its physical parameters. The study of the induced movements by the wind over soil vegetated surface, either spaced plants or plant cover, is motivated by significant research efforts in agronomy and biology. The known major problem in this side concerns crop damage by wind, which presents a booming field of research. Obviously, most models of soil surface require information about the aerodynamic roughness length and its temporal and spatial variability. We have used a bi-dimensional multi-scale (2D MLS) roughness description where the surface is considered as a superposition of a finite number of one-dimensional Gaussian processes each one having a spatial scale using the wavelet transform and the Mallat algorithm to describe natural surface roughness. We have introduced multi-layer aspect of the humidity of the soil surface, to take into account a volume component in the problem of backscattering radar signal. As humidity increases, the dielectric constant of the soil-water mixture increases and this change is detected by microwave sensors. Nevertheless, many existing models in the field of radar imagery, cannot be applied directly on areas covered with vegetation due to the vegetation backscattering. Thus, the radar response corresponds to the combined signature of the vegetation layer and the layer of soil surface. Therefore, the key issue of the numerical estimation of soil moisture is to separate the two contributions and calculate both scattering behaviors of the two layers by defining the scattering of the vegetation and the soil blow. This paper presents a synergistic methodology, and it is for estimating roughness and soil moisture from C-band radar measurements. The methodology adequately represents a microwave/optical model which has been used to calculate the scattering behavior of the aerodynamic vegetation-covered area by defining the scattering of the vegetation and the soil below.

Keywords: aerodynamic, bi-dimensional, vegetation, synergistic

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Authors: Sinead Morrison, Ann Swillen, Therese Van Amelsvoort, Samuel Chawner, Elfi Vergaelen, Michael Owen, Marianne Van Den Bree

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22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) is caused by the deletion of approximately 60 genes on chromosome 22 and is associated with high rates of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The presentation of these disorders in 22q11.2DS is reported to be comparable to idiopathic forms and therefore presents a valuable model for understanding mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders. Cognitive deficits are thought to be a core feature of neurodevelopmental disorders, and possibly manifest in behavioural and emotional problems. There have been mixed findings in 22q11.2DS on whether the presence of ADHD or ASD is associated with greater cognitive deficits. Furthermore, the influence of developmental stage has never been taken into account. The aim was therefore to examine whether the presence of ADHD or ASD was associated with cognitive deficits in childhood and/or adolescence in 22q11.2DS. We conducted the largest study to date of this kind in 22q11.2DS. The same battery of tasks measuring processing speed, attention and spatial working memory were completed by 135 participants with 22q11.2DS. Wechsler IQ tests were completed, yielding Full Scale (FSIQ), Verbal (VIQ) and Performance IQ (PIQ). Age-standardised difference scores were produced for each participant. Developmental stages were defined as children (6-10 years) and adolescents (10-18 years). ADHD diagnosis was ascertained from a semi-structured interview with a parent. ASD status was ascertained from a questionnaire completed by a parent. Interaction and main effects of cognitive performance of those with or without a diagnosis of ADHD or ASD in childhood or adolescence were conducted with 2x2 ANOVA. Significant interactions were followed up with t-tests of simple effects. Adolescents with ASD displayed greater deficits in all measures (processing speed, p = 0.022; sustained attention, p = 0.016; working memory, p = 0.006) than adolescents without ASD; there was no difference between children with and without ASD. There were no significant differences on IQ measures. Both children and adolescents with ADHD displayed greater deficits on sustained attention (p = 0.002) than those without ADHD. There were no significant differences on any other measures for ADHD. Magnitude of cognitive deficit in individuals with 22q11.2DS varied by cognitive domain, developmental stage and presence of neurodevelopmental disorder. Adolescents with 22q11.2DS and ASD showed greater deficits on all measures, which suggests there may be a sensitive period in childhood to acquire these domains, or reflect increasing social and academic demands in adolescence. The finding of poorer sustained attention in children and adolescents with ADHD supports previous research and suggests a specific deficit which can be separated from processing speed and working memory. This research provides unique insights into the association of ASD and ADHD with cognitive deficits in a group at high genomic risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Keywords: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, cognitive development

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Authors: Neeti Nayak, Khalid Duri

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Despite the many advances made in transportation planning, the number of injuries and fatalities in the United States which involve motorized vehicles near intersections remain largely unchanged year over year. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2018 indicates accidents involving motorized vehicles at traffic intersections accounted for 8,245 deaths and 914,811 injuries. Furthermore, collisions involving pedal cyclists killed 861 people (38% at intersections) and injured 46,295 (68% at intersections), while accidents involving pedestrians claimed 6,247 lives (25% at intersections) and injured 71,887 (56% at intersections)- the highest tallies registered in nearly 20 years. Some of the causes attributed to the rising number of accidents relate to increasing populations and the associated changes in land and traffic usage patterns, insufficient visibility conditions, and inadequate applications of traffic controls. Intersections that were initially designed with a particular land use pattern in mind may be rendered obsolete by subsequent developments. Many accidents involving pedestrians are accounted for by locations which should have been designed for safe crosswalks. Conventional solutions for evaluating intersection safety often require costly deployment of engineering surveys and analysis, which limit the capacity of resource-constrained administrations to satisfy their community’s needs for safe roadways adequately, effectively relegating mitigation efforts for high-risk areas to post-incident responses. This paper demonstrates how geospatial technology can identify high-risk locations and evaluate the viability of specific intersection management techniques. GIS is used to simulate relevant real-world conditions- the presence of traffic controls, zoning records, locations of interest for human activity, design speed of roadways, topographic details and immovable structures. The proposed methodology provides a low-cost mechanism for empowering urban planners to reduce the risks of accidents using 2-dimensional data representing multi-modal street networks, parcels, crosswalks and demographic information alongside 3-dimensional models of buildings, elevation, slope and aspect surfaces to evaluate visibility and lighting conditions and estimate probabilities for jaywalking and risks posed by blind or uncontrolled intersections. The proposed tools were developed using sample areas of Southern California, but the model will scale to other cities which conform to similar transportation standards given the availability of relevant GIS data.

Keywords: crosswalks, cyclist safety, geotechnology, GIS, intersection safety, pedestrian safety, roadway safety, transportation planning, urban design

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Authors: Lubos Rojka

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The common perception of morally responsible behavior is that it presupposes freedom of choice, and that free decisions and actions are not determined by natural events, but by a person. In other words, the moral agent has the ability and the possibility of doing otherwise when making morally responsible decisions, and natural causal determinism cannot fully account for morally significant freedom. The incompatibility between a person’s morally significant freedom and causal determinism appears to be a natural position. Nevertheless, some of the most influential philosophical theories on moral responsibility are compatibilist or semi-compatibilist, and they exclude the requirement of alternative possibilities, which contradicts the claims of classical incompatibilism. The compatibilists often employ Frankfurt-style thought experiments to prove their theory. The goal of this paper is to examine the role of imaginary Frankfurt-style examples in compatibilist accounts. More specifically, the compatibilist accounts defended by John Martin Fischer and Michael McKenna will be inserted into the broader understanding of a person elaborated by Harry Frankfurt, Robert Kane and Walter Glannon. Deeper analysis reveals that the exclusion of alternative possibilities based on Frankfurt-style examples is problematic and misleading. A more comprehensive account of moral responsibility and morally significant (source) freedom requires higher order complex theories of human will and consciousness, in which rational and self-creative abilities and a real possibility to choose otherwise, at least on some occasions during a lifetime, are necessary. Theoretical moral reasons and their logical relations seem to require a sort of higher-order agent-causal incompatibilism. The ability of theoretical or abstract moral reasoning requires complex (strongly emergent) mental and conscious properties, among which an effective free will, together with first and second-order desires. Such a hierarchical theoretical model unifies reasons-responsiveness, mesh theory and emergentism. It is incompatible with physical causal determinism, because such determinism only allows non-systematic processes that may be hard to predict, but not complex (strongly) emergent systems. An agent’s effective will and conscious reflectivity is the starting point of a morally responsible action, which explains why a decision is 'up to the subject'. A free decision does not always have a complete causal history. This kind of an emergentist source hyper-incompatibilism seems to be the best direction of the search for an adequate explanation of moral responsibility in the traditional (merit-based) sense. Physical causal determinism as a universal theory would exclude morally significant freedom and responsibility in the traditional sense because it would exclude the emergence of and supervenience by the essential complex properties of human consciousness.

Keywords: consciousness, free will, determinism, emergence, moral responsibility

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Authors: Alinka Molnár-Tóth, Tímea Tánczos, Regina Barna, Katalin Jakab, Péter Klivényi

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Supported by neuroscientific findings, the so-called Hub-and-Spoke model of the human semantic system is based on two subcomponents of semantic cognition, namely the semantic control process and semantic representation. Our semantic knowledge is multimodal in nature, as the knowledge system stored in relation to a conception is extensive and broad, while different aspects of the conception may be relevant depending on the purpose. The motivation of our research is to develop a new diagnostic measurement procedure based on the preservation of semantic representation, which is appropriate to the specificities of the Hungarian language and which can be used to compare the non-verbal semantic knowledge of healthy and aphasic persons. The development of the test will broaden the Hungarian clinical diagnostic toolkit, which will allow for more specific therapy planning. The sample of healthy persons (n=480) was determined by the last census data for the representativeness of the sample. Based on the concept of the Pyramids and Palm Tree Test, and according to the characteristics of the Hungarian language, we have elaborated a test based on different types of semantic information, in which the subjects are presented with three pictures: they have to choose the one that best fits the target word above from the two lower options, based on the semantic relation defined. We have measured 5 types of semantic knowledge representations: associative relations, taxonomy, motional representations, concrete as well as abstract verbs. As the first step in our data analysis, we examined the normal distribution of our results, and since it was not normally distributed (p < 0.05), we used nonparametric statistics further into the analysis. Using descriptive statistics, we could determine the frequency of the correct and incorrect responses, and with this knowledge, we could later adjust and remove the items of questionable reliability. The reliability was tested using Cronbach’s α, and it can be safely said that all the results were in an acceptable range of reliability (α = 0.6-0.8). We then tested for the potential gender differences using the Mann Whitney-U test, however, we found no difference between the two (p < 0.05). Likewise, we didn’t see that the age had any effect on the results using one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05), however, the level of education did influence the results (p > 0.05). The relationships between the subtests were observed by the nonparametric Spearman’s rho correlation matrix, showing statistically significant correlation between the subtests (p > 0.05), signifying a linear relationship between the measured semantic functions. A margin of error of 5% was used in all cases. The research will contribute to the expansion of the clinical diagnostic toolkit and will be relevant for the individualised therapeutic design of treatment procedures. The use of a non-verbal test procedure will allow an early assessment of the most severe language conditions, which is a priority in the differential diagnosis. The measurement of reaction time is expected to advance prodrome research, as the tests can be easily conducted in the subclinical phase.

Keywords: communication disorders, diagnostic toolkit, neurorehabilitation, semantic knowlegde

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Authors: Swati Srivastava, Mattia Lauriola, Yuval Gilad, Adi Kimchi, Yosef Yarden

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The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) has been proposed to play important, but incompletely understood roles in cancer. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used as co-medication of various carcinomas, due to their ability to reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy. Furthermore, GR antagonism has proven to be a strategy to treat triple negative breast cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer. These observations suggest differential GR involvement in cancer subtypes. The goal of our study has been to elaborate the current understanding of GR signaling in tumor progression and metastasis. Our study involves two cellular models, non-tumorigenic breast epithelial cells (MCF10A) and Ewing sarcoma cells (CHLA9). In our breast cell model, the results indicated that the GR agonist dexamethasone inhibits EGF-induced mammary cell migration, and this effect was blocked when cells were stimulated with a GR antagonist, namely RU486. Microarray analysis for gene expression revealed that the mechanism underlying inhibition involves dexamenthasone-mediated repression of well-known activators of EGFR signaling, alongside with enhancement of several EGFR’s negative feedback loops. Because GR mainly acts primarily through composite response elements (GREs), or via a tethering mechanism, our next aim has been to find the transcription factors (TFs) which can interact with GR in MCF10A cells.The TF-binding motif overrepresented at the promoter of dexamethasone-regulated genes was predicted by using bioinformatics. To validate the prediction, we performed high-throughput Protein Complementation Assays (PCA). For this, we utilized the Gaussia Luciferase PCA strategy, which enabled analysis of protein-protein interactions between GR and predicted TFs of mammary cells. A library comprising both nuclear receptors (estrogen receptor, mineralocorticoid receptor, GR) and TFs was fused to fragments of GLuc, namely GLuc(1)-X, X-GLuc(1), and X-GLuc(2), where GLuc(1) and GLuc(2) correspond to the N-terminal and C-terminal fragments of the luciferase gene.The resulting library was screened, in human embryonic kidney 293T (HEK293T) cells, for all possible interactions between nuclear receptors and TFs. By screening all of the combinations between TFs and nuclear receptors, we identified several positive interactions, which were strengthened in response to dexamethasone and abolished in response to RU486. Furthermore, the interactions between GR and the candidate TFs were validated by co-immunoprecipitation in MCF10A and in CHLA9 cells. Currently, the roles played by the uncovered interactions are being evaluated in various cellular processes, such as cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion. In conclusion, our assay provides an unbiased network analysis between nuclear receptors and other TFs, which can lead to important insights into transcriptional regulation by nuclear receptors in various diseases, in this case of cancer.

Keywords: epidermal growth factor, glucocorticoid receptor, protein complementation assay, transcription factor

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Authors: Subhojyoti Chatterjee, Peter J. Mahon, Feng Wang

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Resveratrol (RvL), a phenolic compound, is a key ingredient in wine and tomatoes that has been studied over the years because of its important bioactivities such as anti-oxidant, anti-aging and antimicrobial properties. Out of the two isomeric forms of resveratrol i.e. trans and cis, the health benefit is primarily associated with the trans form. Thus, studying the structural properties of the isomers will not only provide an insight into understanding the RvL isomers, but will also help in designing parameters for differentiation in order to achieve 99.9% purity of trans-RvL. In the present study, density function theory (DFT) study is conducted, using the B3LYP/6-311++G** model to explore the through bond and through space intramolecular interactions. Properties such as vibrational spectroscopy (IR and Raman), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, excess orbital energy spectrum (EOES), energy based decomposition analyses (EDA) and Fukui function are calculated. It is discovered that the structure of trans-RvL, although it is C1 non-planar, the backbone non-H atoms are nearly in the same plane; whereas the cis-RvL consists of two major planes of R1 and R2 that are not in the same plane. The absence of planarity gives rise to a H-bond of 2.67Å in cis-RvL. Rotation of the C(5)-C(8) single bond in trans-RvL produces higher energy barriers since it may break the (planar) entire conjugated structure; while such rotation in cis-RvL produces multiple minima and maxima depending on the positions of the rings. The calculated FT-IR spectrum shows very different spectral features for trans and cis-RvL in the region 900 – 1500 cm-1, where the spectral peaks at 1138-1158 cm-1 are split in cis-RvL compared to a single peak at 1165 cm-1 in trans-RvL. In the Raman spectra, there is significant enhancement of cis-RvL in the region above 3000cm-1. Further, the carbon chemical environment (13C NMR) of the RvL molecule exhibit a larger chemical shift for cis-RvL compared to trans-RvL (Δδ = 8.18 ppm) for the carbon atom C(11), indicating that the chemical environment of the C group in cis-RvL is more diverse than its other isomer. The energy gap between highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest occupied molecular orbital (LUMO) is 3.95 eV for trans and 4.35 eV for cis-RvL. A more detailed inspection using the recently developed EOES revealed that most of the large energy differences i.e. Δεcis-trans > ±0.30 eV, in their orbitals are contributed from the outer valence shell. They are MO60 (HOMO), MO52-55 and MO46. The active sites that has been captured by Fukui function (f + > 0.08) are associated with the stilbene C=C bond of RvL and cis-RvL is more active at these sites than in trans-RvL, as cis orientation breaks the large conjugation of trans-RvL so that the hydroxyl oxygen’s are more active in cis-RvL. Finally, EDA highlights the interaction energy (ΔEInt) of the phenolic compound, where trans is preferred over the cis-RvL (ΔΔEi = -4.35 kcal.mol-1) isomer. Thus, these quantum mechanics results could help in unwinding the diversified beneficial activities associated with resveratrol.

Keywords: resveratrol, FT-IR, Raman, NMR, excess orbital energy spectrum, energy decomposition analysis, Fukui function

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Daniel O. Kleinsman

Abstract:

The 2019 terrorist attack on two masjidain in Christchurch, New Zealand, was a shocking demonstration of the harm that can be caused by hate crime. As legal and governmental responses to the attack struggle to provide effective remedies to its victims, restorative justice has emerged as a tool that can assist, in terms of both meeting victims’ needs and discharging the obligations of the state under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), arts 2(3), 26, 27. Restorative justice is a model that emphasizes the repair of harm caused or revealed by unjust behavior. It also prioritises the facilitation of dialogue, the restoration of equitable relationships, and the prevention of future harm. Returning to the case study, in the remarks of the sentencing judge, the terrorist’s actions were described as a hate crime of vicious malevolence that the Court was required to decisively reject, as anathema to the values of acceptance, tolerance and mutual respect upon which New Zealand’s inclusive society is based and which the country strives to maintain. This was one of the reasons for which the terrorist received a life sentence with no possibility of parole. However, in the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack, it was found that victims felt the attack occurred within the context of widespread racism, discrimination and Islamophobia, where hostile behaviors, including hate-based threats and attacks, were rarely recorded, analysed or acted on. It was also found that the Government had inappropriately concentrated intelligence resources on the risk of ‘Islamist’ terrorism and had failed to adequately respond to concerns raised about threats against the Muslim community. In this light, the remarks of the sentencing judge can be seen to reflect a criminal justice system that, in the absence of other remedies, denies systemic accountability and renders hate crime an isolated incident rather than an expression of more widespread discrimination and hate to be holistically addressed. One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission was to explore with victims the desirability and design of restorative justice processes. This presents an opportunity for victims to meet with state representatives and pursue effective remedies (ICCPR art 2(3)) not only for the harm caused by the terrorist but the harm revealed by a system that has exposed the minority Muslim community in New Zealand to hate in all forms, including but not limited to violent extremism. In this sense, restorative justice can also assist the state in discharging its wider obligations to protect all persons from discrimination (art 26) and allow ethnic and religious minorities to enjoy their own culture and profess and practice their own religion (art 27). It can also help give effect to the law and its purpose as a remedy to hate crime, as expressed in this case study by the sentencing judge.

Keywords: hate crime, restorative justice, minorities, victims' rights

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Ditsapelo M. McFarland

Abstract:

Background: Despite the availability of the Pap smear services in urban areas in Botswana, most women in such areas do not seem to screen regular for prevention of the cervical cancer disease. Reasons for non-use of the available Pap smear services are not well understood. Beliefs about cancer may influence participation in cancer screening in these women. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure beliefs about cervical cancer and Pap smear screening among Black women in Botswana, and evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument. Significance: Instruments that are designed to measure beliefs about cervical cancer and screening among black women in Botswana, as well as in the surrounding region, are presently not available. Valid and reliable instruments are needed for exploration of the women’s beliefs about cervical cancer. Conceptual Framework: The Health Belief Model (HBM) provided a conceptual framework for the study. Methodology: The study was done in four phases: Phase 1: item generation: 15 items were generated from literature review and qualitative data for each of four conceptually defined HBM constructs: Perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers (Version 1). Phase 2: content validity: Four experts who were advanced practice nurses of African descent and were familiar with the content and the HBM evaluated the content. Experts rated the items on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from: 1=not relevant, 2=somewhat relevant, 3=relevant and 4=very relevant. Fifty-five items were retained for instrument development: perceived susceptibility - 11, severity - 14, benefits - 15 and barriers - 15, all measuring on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4). (Version 2). Phase 3: pilot testing: The instrument was pilot tested on a convenient sample of 30 women in Botswana and revised as needed. Phase 4: reliability: the revised instrument (Version 3) was submitted to a larger sample of women in Botswana (n=300) for reliability testing. The sample included women who were Batswana by birth and decent, were aged 30 years and above and could complete an English questionnaire. Data were collected with the assistance of trained research assistants. Major findings: confirmatory factor analysis of the 55 items found that a number of items did not adequately load in a four-factor solution. Items that exhibited reasonable reliability and had low frequency of missing values (n=36) were retained: perceived barriers (14 items), perceived benefits (8 items), perceived severity (4 items), and perceived susceptibility (10 items). confirmatory factor analysis (principle components) for a four factor solution using varimax rotation demonstrated that these four factors explained 43% of the variation in these 36 items. Conclusion: reliability analysis using Cronbach’s Alpha gave generally satisfactory results with values from 0.53 to 0.89.

Keywords: cervical cancer, factor analysis, psychometric evaluation, varimax rotation

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: M. Lehtihet, S. Rosado, C. Pradère, J. Leng

Abstract:

Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS), is a polymer mixture well-known for its semiconducting properties and is widely used in the coating industry for its visible transparency and high electronic conductivity (up to 4600 S/cm) as a transparent non-metallic electrode and in organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). It also possesses strong absorption properties in the Near Infra-Red (NIR) range (λ ranging between 900 nm to 2.5 µm). In the present work, we take advantage of this absorption to explore its potential use as a transparent light-to-heat converter. PEDOT: PSS aqueous dispersions are deposited onto a glass substrate using a blade-coating technique in order to produce uniform coatings with controlled thicknesses ranging in ≈ 400 nm to 2 µm. Blade-coating technique allows us good control of the deposit thickness and uniformity by the tuning of several experimental conditions (blade velocity, evaporation rate, temperature, etc…). This liquid coating technique is a well-known, non-expensive technique to realize thin film coatings on various substrates. For coatings on glass substrates destined to solar insulation applications, the ideal coating would be made of a material able to transmit all the visible range while reflecting the NIR range perfectly, but materials possessing similar properties still have unsatisfactory opacity in the visible too (for example, titanium dioxide nanoparticles). NIR absorbing thin films is a more realistic alternative for such an application. Under solar illumination, PEDOT: PSS thin films heat up due to absorption of NIR light and thus act as planar heaters while maintaining good transparency in the visible range. Whereas they screen some NIR radiation, they also generate heat which is then conducted into the substrate that re-emits this energy by thermal emission in every direction. In order to quantify the heating power of these coatings, a sample (coating on glass) is placed in a black enclosure and illuminated with a solar simulator, a lamp emitting a calibrated radiation very similar to the solar spectrum. The temperature of the rear face of the substrate is measured in real-time using thermocouples and a black-painted Peltier sensor measures the total entering flux (sum of transmitted and re-emitted fluxes). The heating power density of the thin films is estimated from a model of the thin film/glass substrate describing the system, and we estimate the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) to quantify the light-to-heat conversion efficiency of such systems. Eventually, the effect of additives such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or optical scatterers (particles) on the performances are also studied, as the first one can alter the IR absorption properties of PEDOT: PSS drastically and the second one can increase the apparent optical path of light within the thin film material.

Keywords: PEDOT: PSS, blade-coating, heat, thin-film, Solar spectrum

Procedia PDF Downloads 162