Search results for: spatial sequence

Authors: Sidra Pervez, Afsheen Aman, Shah Ali Ul Qader

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The importance of attaining an optimum performance of an enzyme is often a question of devising an effective method for its immobilization. Cross-linked enzyme aggregate (CLEAs) is a new approach for immobilization of enzymes using carrier free strategy. This method is exquisitely simple (involving precipitation of the enzyme from aqueous buffer followed by cross-linking of the resulting physical aggregates of enzyme molecules) and amenable to rapid optimization. Among many industrial enzymes, amyloglucosidase is an important amylolytic enzyme that hydrolyzes alpha (1→4) and alpha (1→6) glycosidic bonds in starch molecule and produce glucose as a sole end product. Glucose liberated by amyloglucosidase can be used for the production of ethanol and glucose syrups. Besides this amyloglucosidase can be widely used in various food and pharmaceuticals industries. For production of amyloglucosidase on commercial scale, filamentous fungi of genera Aspergillus are mostly used because they secrete large amount of enzymes extracellularly. The current investigation was based on isolation and identification of filamentous fungi from genus Aspergillus for the production of amyloglucosidase in submerged fermentation and optimization of cultivation parameters for starch saccharification. Natural isolates were identified as Aspergillus niger KIBGE-IB36, Aspergillus fumigatus KIBGE-IB33, Aspergillus flavus KIBGE-IB34 and Aspergillus terreus KIBGE-IB35 on taxonomical basis and 18S rDNA analysis and their sequence were submitted to GenBank. Among them, Aspergillus fumigatus KIBGE-IB33 was selected on the basis of maximum enzyme production. After optimization of fermentation conditions enzyme was immobilized on CLEA. Different parameters were optimized for maximum immobilization of amyloglucosidase. Data of enzyme stability (thermal and Storage) and reusability suggested the applicability of immobilized amyloglucosidase for continuous saccharification of starch in industrial processes.

Keywords: aspergillus, immobilization, industrial processes, starch saccharification

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Authors: Carmela Perta

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In Italy the coexistence of standard language, its varieties and different minority languages - historical and migration languages - has been a way to study language contact in different directions; the focus of most of the studies is either the relations among the languages of the social repertoire, or the study of contact phenomena occurring in a particular structural level. However, studies on contact facts in relation to a given sociolinguistic situation of the speech community are still not present in literature. As regard the language level to investigate from the perspective of contact, it is commonly claimed that the lexicon is the most volatile part of language and most likely to undergo change due to superstrate influence, indeed first lexical features are borrowed, then, under long term cultural pressure, structural features may also be borrowed. The aim of this paper is to analyse language contact in two historical minority communities where Francoprovençal is spoken, in relation to their sociolinguistic situation. In this perspective, firstly lexical borrowings present in speakers’ speech production will be examined, trying to find a possible correlation between this part of the lexicon and informants’ sociolinguistic variables; secondly a possible correlation between a particular community sociolinguistic situation and lexical borrowing will be found. Methods used to collect data are based on the results obtained from 24 speakers in both the villages; the speaker group in the two communities consisted of 3 males and 3 females in each of four age groups, ranging in age from 9 to 85, and then divided into five groups according to their occupations. Speakers were asked to describe a sequence of pictures naming common objects and then describing scenes when they used these objects: they are common objects, frequently pronounced and belonging to semantic areas which are usually resistant and which are thought to survive. A subset of this task, involving 19 items with Italian source is examined here: in order to determine the significance of the independent variables (social factors) on the dependent variable (lexical variation) the statistical package SPSS, particularly the linear regression, was used.

Keywords: borrowing, Francoprovençal, language change, lexicon

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Authors: Manuel A. Alonso-Tarajano, Roberto Mosca, Patrick Aloy

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Protein kinases participate in a myriad of cellular processes of major biomedical interest. The in vivo substrate specificity of these enzymes is a process determined by several factors, and despite several years of research on the topic, is still far from being totally understood. In the present work, we have quantified the contributions to the kinase substrate specificity of i) the phosphorylation sites and their surrounding residues in the sequence and of ii) the association of kinases to adaptor or scaffold proteins. We have used position-specific scoring matrices (PSSMs), to represent the stretches of sequences phosphorylated by 93 families of kinases. We have found negative correlations between the number of sequences from which a PSSM is generated and the statistical significance and the performance of that PSSM. Using a subset of 22 statistically significant PSSMs, we have identified specificity determinant residues (SDRs) for 86% of the corresponding kinase families. Our results suggest that different SDRs can function as positive or negative elements of substrate recognition by the different families of kinases. Additionally, we have found that human proteins with known function as adaptors or scaffolds (kAS) tend to interact with a significantly large fraction of the substrates of the kinases to which they associate. Based on this characteristic we have identified a set of 279 potential adaptors/scaffolds (pAS) for human kinases, which is enriched in Pfam domains and functional terms tightly related to the proposed function. Moreover, our results show that for 74.6% of the kinase– pAS association found, the pAS colocalize with the substrates of the kinases they are associated to. Finally, we have found evidence suggesting that the association of kinases to adaptors and scaffolds, may contribute significantly to diminish the in vivo substrate crossed- specificity of protein kinases. In general, our results indicate the relevance of several SDRs for both the positive and negative selection of phosphorylation sites by kinase families and also suggest that the association of kinases to pAS proteins may be an important factor for the localization of the enzymes with their set of substrates.

Keywords: kinase, phosphorylation, substrate specificity, adaptors, scaffolds, cellular colocalization

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Authors: Muhammad Feteha

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The socio-political Middle East scene has radically changed over the last decade, and one major contributor to this change was the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The massive impact of this revolution that originally started as a small protest in the Tahrir square has attracted more scholars to study the public space in Egypt, where it has become a necessity in order to understand and improve the socio-political conditions. The status of public space in Egypt has been deteriorating due to many reasons, including privatization and neglect. This paper studies one of the major problems of the contemporary public space in Cairo, which is the lack of identity. This takes place through a comparative analysis between selected case studies from both medieval and contemporary Cairo. The theoretical framework upon which the analysis is based views public space as a ‘container of social action’ and a ‘product of spatial practice’. Through the ‘deciphering of space’, differences in the socio-political role, symbolism, and identity of public spaces between both eras are shown. The paper aims to extract some lessons from public space in medieval Cairo, which was truly the ‘centerpiece of the public realm’ and a ‘fundamental expressions’ of the unique trans-dynastic architectural identity of Cairo. In addition, it suggests some strategies to revive the Cairene identity of public space instead of constructing new ones to be only ‘utilitarian spaces used for circulation’ and lack any identity.

Keywords: architectural identity, Cairene public space, Islamic architectural history, production of space

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Asadollah Bahrami

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In the present study, spectral radiative entropy generation is analyzed in a furnace filled with a mixture of H₂O, CO₂ and soot at radiative equilibrium. For the angular and spatial discretization of the radiative transfer equation and radiative entropy generation equations, the discrete ordinates method and the finite volume method are used, respectively. Spectral radiative properties are obtained using the correlated-k (CK) non-gray model with updated parameters based on the HITEMP2010 high-resolution database. In order to evaluate the effects of the location of the heat source, boundary condition and wall emissivity on radiative entropy generation, five cases are considered with different conditions. The spectral and total radiative entropy generation in the system are calculated for all cases and the effects of mentioned parameters on radiative entropy generation are attentively analyzed and finally, the optimum condition is especially presented. The most important results can be stated as follows: Results demonstrate that the wall emissivity has a considerable effect on the radiative entropy generation. Also, irreversible radiative transfer at the wall with lower temperatures is the main source of radiative entropy generation in the furnaces. In addition, the effect of the location of the heat source on total radiative entropy generation is less than other factors. Eventually, it can be said that characterizing the effective parameters of radiative entropy generation provides an approach to minimizing the radiative entropy generation and enhancing the furnace's performance practicality.

Keywords: spectral radiative entropy generation, non-gray medium, correlated k(CK) model, heat source

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Authors: Mohammad W. Dewan, Jahangir Alam, Khurshida Sharmin

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Synthetic fibers (carbon, glass, aramid, etc.) are generally utilized to make composite materials for better mechanical and thermal properties. However, they are expensive and non-biodegradable. In the perspective of Bangladesh, jute fibers are available, inexpensive, and comprising good mechanical properties. The improved properties (i.e., low cost, low density, eco-friendly) of natural fibers have made them a promising reinforcement in hybrid composites without sacrificing mechanical properties. In this study, jute and e-glass fiber reinforced hybrid composite materials are fabricated utilizing hand lay-up followed by a compression molding technique. Room temperature cured two-part epoxy resin is used as a matrix. Approximate 6-7 mm thick composite panels are fabricated utilizing 17 layers of woven glass and jute fibers with different fiber layering sequences- only jute, only glass, glass, and jute alternatively (g/j/g/j---) and 4 glass - 9 jute – 4 glass (4g-9j-4g). The fabricated composite panels are analyzed through fiber volume calculation, tensile test, bending test, and water absorption test. The hybridization of jute and glass fiber results in better tensile, bending, and water absorption properties than only jute fiber-reinforced composites, but inferior properties as compared to only glass fiber reinforced composites. Among different fiber layering sequences, 4g-9j-4g fibers layering sequence resulted in better tensile, bending, and water absorption properties. The effect of chemical treatment on the woven jute fiber and chopped glass microfiber infusion are also investigated in this study. Chemically treated jute fiber and 2 wt. % chopped glass microfiber infused hybrid composite shows about 12% improvements in flexural strength as compared to untreated and no micro-fiber infused hybrid composite panel. However, fiber chemical treatment and micro-filler do not have a significant effect on tensile strength.

Keywords: compression molding, chemical treatment, hybrid composites, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: I. Gusti Agung Aditya Surya Wibawa, Andri Syafriya, Beiruny Syam

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Gumai Formation which acts as regional seal for Talang Akar Formation becomes one of the most prolific reservoir in South Sumatra Basin and the primary exploration target in this area. Marine conditions were eventually established during the continuation of transgression sequence leads an open marine facies deposition in Early Miocene. Marine clastic deposits where calcareous shales, claystone and siltstones interbedded with fine-grained calcareous and glauconitic sandstones are the domination of lithology which targeted as the hydrocarbon reservoir. All this time, the main objective of PetroChina’s exploration and production in Betara area is only from Lower Talang Akar Formation. Successful testing in some exploration wells which flowed gas & condensate from Gumai Formation, opened the opportunity to optimize new reservoir objective in Betara area. Limitation of conventional wireline logs data in Gumai interval is generating technical challenge in term of geological approach. A utilization of Gas While Drilling indicator initiated with the objective to determine the next Gumai reservoir candidate which capable to increase Jabung hydrocarbon discoveries. This paper describes how Gas While Drilling indicator is processed to generate potential and non-potential zone by cut-off analysis. Validation which performed by correlation and comparison with well logs, Drill Stem Test (DST), and Reservoir Performance Monitor (RPM) data succeed to observe Gumai reservoir in Betara Complex. After we integrated all of data, we are able to generate a Betara Complex potential map and overlaid with reservoir characterization distribution as a part of risk assessment in term of potential zone presence. Mud log utilization and geophysical data information successfully covered the geological challenges in this study.

Keywords: Gumai, gas while drilling, classification, reservoir, potential

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Authors: Xiaoqing Liu, Kurt Friese, Karsten Rinke

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Lacustrine sediment archives rich paleoenvironmental information in lake and surrounding environment. Additionally, modern sediment is used as an effective medium for the monitoring of lake. Organic carbon in sediment is a heterogeneous mixture with varying turnover times and qualities which result from the different biogeochemical processes in the deposition of organic material. Therefore, the isolation of different carbon pools is important for the research of lacustrine condition in the lake. However, the numeric available fractionation procedures can hardly yield homogeneous carbon pools on terms of stability and age. In this work, a multi-step fractionation protocol that treated sediment with hot water, HCl, H2O2 and Na2S2O8 in sequence was adopted, the treated sediment from each step were analyzed for the isotopic and structural compositions with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer coupled with element analyzer (IRMS-EA) and Solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), respectively. The sequential extractions with hot-water, HCl, and H2O2 yielded a more homogeneous and C3 plant-originating OC fraction, which was characterized with an atomic C/N ratio shift from 12.0 to 20.8, and 13C and 15N isotopic signatures were 0.9‰ and 1.9‰ more depleted than the original bulk sediment, respectively. Additionally, the H2O2- resistant residue was dominated with stable components, such as the lignins, waxes, cutans, tannins, steroids and aliphatic proteins and complex carbohydrates. 6M HCl in the acid hydrolysis step was much more effective than 1M HCl to isolate a sedimentary OC fraction with higher degree of homogeneity. Owing to the extremely high removal rate of organic matter, the step of a Na2S2O8 oxidation is only suggested if the isolation of the most refractory OC pool is mandatory. We conclude that this multi-step chemical fractionation procedure is effective to isolate more homogeneous OC pools in terms of stability and functional structure, and it can be used as a promising method for OC pools fractionation of sediment or soil in future lake research.

Keywords: 13C-CPMAS-NMR, 13C signature, lake sediment, OC fractionation

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Authors: Zahid O. Alibrahim, Craig D. Williams, Clive L. Roberts

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The study area (Ecton mining area) is located in the southern part of the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It is bounded by the River Manifold from the west. This area has been mined for a long period. As a result, huge amounts of potentially toxic metals were released into the surrounding area and are most likely to be a significant source of heavy metal contamination to the local soil, water and vegetation. In order to appraise the potential heavy metal pollution in this area, 37 topsoil samples (5-20 cm depth) were collected and analysed for their total content of Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni and V using ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) optical emission spectroscopy. Multivariate Geospatial analyses using the GIS technique were utilised to draw geochemical maps of the metals of interest over the study area. A few hotspot points, areas of elevated concentrations of metals, were specified, which are presumed to be the results of anthropogenic activities. In addition, the soil’s environmental quality was evaluated by calculating the Mullers’ Geoaccumulation index (I geo), which suggests that the degree of contamination of the investigated heavy metals has the following trend: Pb > Zn > Cu > Mn > Ni = Cr = V. Furthermore, the potential ecological risk, using the enrichment factor (EF), was also specified. On the basis of the calculated amount or the EF, the levels of pollution for the studied metals in the study area have the following order: Pb>Zn>Cu>Cr>V>Ni>Mn.

Keywords: enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, GIS, heavy metals, multivariate analysis

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Authors: You-Lin Wu, Yi-Hsing Sung, Shih-Hung Lin, Jing-Jenn Lin

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Performance improvement in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and photodetectors has been reported when a polymer/ZnO nanorods stack is used. Resistance switching of polymer/ZnO nanocrystals (or nanorods) hybrid has also gained a lot of research interests recently. It has been reported that high- and low-resistance states of a metal/insulator/metal (MIM) structure diode with a polystyrene (PS) and ZnO hybrid as the insulator layer can be switched by applied bias after a high-voltage forming process, while the same device structure merely with a PS layer does not show any forming behavior. In this work, we investigated the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of an MIM device with a PS/ZnO nanorods stack deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate. The ZnO nanorods were grown by a hydrothermal method using a mixture of zinc nitrate, hexamethylenetetramine, and DI water. Following that, a PS layer was deposited by spin coating. Finally, the device with a structure of Ti/ PS/ZnO nanorods/FTO was completed by e-gun evaporated Ti layer on top of the PS layer. Semiconductor parameters analyzer Agilent 4156C was then used to measure the I-V characteristics of the device by applying linear ramp sweep voltage with sweep sequence of 0V → 4V → 0V → 3V → 0V → 2V → 0V → 1V → 0V in both positive and negative directions. It is interesting to find that the I-V characteristics are bias dependent and hysteretic, indicating that the device Ti/PS/ZnO nanorods/FTO structure has ferroelectricity. Our results also show that the maximum hysteresis loop height of the I-V characteristics as well as the voltage at which the maximum hysteresis loop height of each scan occurs increase with increasing maximum sweep voltage. It should be noticed that, although ferroelectricity has been found in ZnO at its melting temperature (1975℃) and in Li- or Co-doped ZnO, neither PS nor ZnO has ferroelectricity at room temperature. Using the same structure but with a PS or ZnO layer only as the insulator does not give and hysteretic I-V characteristics. It is believed that a charge polarization layer is induced near the PS/ZnO nanorods stack interface and thus causes the ferroelectricity in the device with Ti/PS/ZnO nanorods/FTO structure. Our results show that the PS/ZnO stack can find a potential application in a resistive switching memory device with MIM structure.

Keywords: ferroelectricity, hysteresis, polystyrene, resistance switching, ZnO nanorods

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Authors: Ikenna Charles Onyema, Tolut Prince Bako

Abstract:

A study was carried out in the Atlantic Ocean off the Lighthouse Beach, Lagos. There were monthly and spatial variations in physical and chemical characteristics of the neritic ocean (August - December, 2014). Mean and standard deviation values for air temperature were 27. 67, ± 2.98 °C, water temperature (28.37 ± 1.88), pH (7.85 ± 0.17), conductivity (44738.75 ± 6262.76 µS/cm), total dissolved solids (29236.71 ± 4273.30 mg/L), salinity (27.11 ± 3.91 ‰), alkalinity (126.99 ± 42.81 mg/L) and chloride (15056. 67 ± 2165.78 mg/L). Higher estimates were recorded in the dry than wet months for these characteristics. On the other hand, reducing values were recorded for acidity (2.34 ± 0.63 mg/L), total hardness (4711.98 ± 691.50 mg/L), phosphate (1.1 ± 0.78 mg/L), sulphate (2601.99 ± 447.04 mg/L) and nitrate (0.12 ± 0.06 mg/L). Values for total suspended solids and biological oxygen demand values were low (<1mg/L). Twenty-one species of phytoplankton were recorded. Diatoms recorded 80.92% and were the dominant group. Hemidiscus cuneiformis, Coscinodiscus centralis, Coscinodiscus lineatus, Coscinodiscus radiatus and Oscillatoria limosa were more frequently occurring species. Biddulphia sinensis and four species of Ceratium, were representatives of the dry season. The dry season also recorded comparatively higher individuals of phytoplankton than the wet season. Spirogyra sp. (green algae) appeared only in the wet season. Species abundance (N) was highest in December at Station 1 (13.15%) (dry season) and lowest in August (wet season) at Station 3 (2.96%). The physico-chemical factors and phytoplankton reflected a tropical unpolluted neritic oceanic environment.

Keywords: sea, physico-chemistry, lighthouse beach, microalgae

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Authors: Ping-Hung Chen, Han-Liang Lin

Abstract:

Taiwan has formed diverse settlement patterns in different time and space backgrounds. Various socio-network links are created between individuals, families, communities, and societies, and different living cultures are also derived. But rapid urbanization and social structural change have caused the creation of densely-packed assembly housing complexes and made neighborhood community upward developed. This, among others, seemed to have affected neighborhood relationship and also created social problems. To understand the complex relations and socio-spatial structure of the community, it is important to use mixed methods. This research employs the theory of space syntax to analyze the layout and structural indicators of the selected communities in Tainan city. On the other hand, this research does the survey about residents' interactions and the sense of community by questionnaire of the selected communities. Then the mean values of the syntax measures from each community were correlated with the results of the questionnaire using a Pearson correlation to examine how elements in physical design affect the sense of community and neighborhood relationship. In Taiwan, most urban morphology research methods are qualitative study. This paper tries to use space syntax to find out the correlation between the community layout and the neighborhood relationship. The result of this study could be used in future studies or improve the quality of residential communities in Taiwan.

Keywords: community layout, neighborhood relationship, space syntax, mixed-method

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Danielle C. B. Honorato, Rafael H. Carvalho, Adriana L. Soares, Ana Paula F. R. L. Bracarense, Paulo D. Guarnieri, Massami Shimokomaki, Elza I. Ida

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Over the past decade, the Brazilian production of turkey meat increased by more than 50%, indicating that the turkey meat is considered a great potential for the Brazilian economy contributing to the growth of agribusiness at the marketing international scenario. However, significant color changes may occur during its processing leading to the pale, soft and exudative (PSE) appearance on the surface of breast meat due to the low water holding capacity (WHC). Changes in PSE meat functional properties occur due to the myofibrils proteins denaturation caused by a rapid postmortem glycolysis resulting in a rapid pH decline while the carcass temperature is still warm. The aim of this study was to analyze the physical, chemical and histological characteristics of PSE turkey meat obtained from a Brazilian commercial processing plant. The turkey breasts samples were collected (n=64) at the processing line and classified as PSE at L* ≥ 53 value. The pH was also analyzed after L* measurement. In sequence, PSE meat samples were evaluated for WHC, cooking loss (CL), shear force (SF), myofibril fragmentation index (MFI), protein denaturation (PD) and histological evaluation. The abnormal color samples presented lower pH values, 16% lower fiber diameter, 11% lower SF and 2% lower WHC than those classified as normal. The CL, PD and MFI were, respectively, 9%, 18% and 4% higher in PSE samples. The Pearson correlation between the L* values and CL, PD and MFI was positive, while that SF and pH values presented negative correlation. Under light microscopy, a shrinking of PSE muscle cell diameter was approximately 16% shorter in relation to normal samples and an extracellular enlargement of endomysium and perimysium sheaths as the consequence of higher water contents lost as observed previously by lower WHC values. Thus, the results showed that PSE turkey breast meat presented significant changes in their physical, chemical and histological characteristics that may impair its functional properties.

Keywords: functional properties, histological evaluation, meat quality, PSE

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Authors: Chia-Jung Li, Kuan-Hao Tsui

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As women age, the quality of their oocytes deteriorates irreversibly, leading to reduced fertility. To better understand the role of Ferroptosis-related genes in ovarian aging, we employed a multi-omics analysis approach, including spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, human ovarian pathology, and clinical biopsies. Our study identified excess lipid peroxide accumulation in aging germ cells, metal ion accumulation via oxidative reduction, and the interaction between ferroptosis and cellular energy metabolism. We used multi-histological prediction of ferroptosis key genes to evaluate 75 patients with ovarian aging insufficiency and then analyzed changes in hub genes after supplementing with DHEA, Ubiquinol CoQ10, and Cleo-20 T3 for two months. Our results demonstrated a significant increase in TFRC, GPX4, NCOA4, and SLC3A2, which were consistent with our multi-component prediction. We theorized that these supplements increase the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) or electron transport chain (ETC), thereby increasing antioxidant enzyme GPX4 levels and reducing lipid peroxide accumulation and ferroptosis. Overall, our findings suggest that supplementation intervention significantly improves IVF outcomes in senescent cells by enhancing metal ion and energy metabolism and enhancing oocyte quality in aging women.

Keywords: multi-omics, nutrients, ferroptosis, ovarian aging

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Authors: Lubna Eljabu, Mohammad Etemad, Stan Matwin

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Port authorities have many challenges in congested ports to allocate their resources to provide a safe and secure loading/ unloading procedure for cargo vessels. Selecting a destination port is the decision of a vessel master based on many factors such as weather, wavelength and changes of priorities. Having access to a tool which leverages AIS messages to monitor vessel’s movements and accurately predict their next destination port promotes an effective resource allocation process for port authorities. In this research, we propose a method, namely, Reference Route of Trajectory (RRoT) to assist port authorities in predicting inflow and outflow traffic in their local environment by monitoring Automatic Identification System (AIS) messages. Our RRoT method creates a reference route based on historical AIS messages. It utilizes some of the best trajectory similarity measure to identify the destination of a vessel using their recent movement. We evaluated five different similarity measures such as Discrete Fr´echet Distance (DFD), Dynamic Time Warping (DTW), Partial Curve Mapping (PCM), Area between two curves (Area) and Curve length (CL). Our experiments show that our method identifies the destination port with an accuracy of 98.97% and an fmeasure of 99.08% using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) similarity measure.

Keywords: spatial temporal data mining, trajectory mining, trajectory similarity, resource optimization

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Authors: Oseni Taiwo Amoo, Bloodless Dzwairo

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In this paper, we extend the versatility and usefulness of GIS as a methodology for any river basin hydrologic characteristics analysis (HCA). The Gurara River basin located in North-Central Nigeria is presented in this study. It is an on-going research using spatial Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Arc-Hydro tools to take inventory of the basin characteristics in order to predict water abstraction quantification on streamflow regime. One of the main concerns of hydrological modelling is the quantification of runoff from rainstorm events. In practice, the soil conservation service curve (SCS) method and the Conventional procedure called rational technique are still generally used these traditional hydrological lumped models convert statistical properties of rainfall in river basin to observed runoff and hydrograph. However, the models give little or no information about spatially dispersed information on rainfall and basin physical characteristics. Therefore, this paper synthesizes morphometric parameters in generating runoff. The expected results of the basin characteristics such as size, area, shape, slope of the watershed and stream distribution network analysis could be useful in estimating streamflow discharge. Water resources managers and irrigation farmers could utilize the tool for determining net return from available scarce water resources, where past data records are sparse for the aspect of land and climate.

Keywords: hydrological characteristic, stream flow, runoff discharge, land and climate

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Authors: Ikenna Charles Onyema, Prince Tolut Bako

Abstract:

A study was carried out in the Atlantic Ocean off the Lighthouse Beach, Lagos. There were monthly and spatial variations in physical and chemical characteristics of the neritic ocean (August-December, 2014). Mean and standard deviation values for air temperature were 27. 67, ± 2.98 oC, water temperature (28.37 ± 1.88), pH (7.85 ± 0.17), Conductivity (44738.75 ± 6262.76 µS/cm), Total dissolved solids (29236.71 ± 4273.30 mg/L), Salinity (27.11 ± 3.91 ‰), Alkalinity (126.99 ± 42.81 mg/L) and Chloride (15056. 67 ± 2165.78 mg/L). Higher estimates were recorded in the dry than wet months for these characteristics. On the other hand, reducing values were recorded for Acidity (2.34 ± 0.63 mg/L), Total hardness (4711.98 ± 691.50 mg/L), Phosphate (1.1 ± 0.78 mg/L), Sulphate (2601.99 ± 447.04 mg/L) and Nitrate (0.12 ± 0.06 mg/L). Values for Total suspended solids and Biological oxygen demand values were low ( < 1mg/L). Twenty-one species of phytoplankton were recorded. Diatoms recorded 80.92% and were the dominant group. Hemidiscus cuneiformis, Coscinodiscus centralis, Coscinodiscus lineatus, Coscinodiscus radiatus and Oscillatoria limosa were more frequently occurring species. Biddulphia sinensis and four species of Ceratium, were representatives of the dry season. The dry season also recorded comparatively higher individuals of phytoplankton than the wet season. Spirogyra sp. (green algae) appeared only in the wet season. Species abundance (N) was highest in December at Station 1 (13.15%) (dry season) and lowest in August (wet season) at Station 3 (2.96%). The physico-chemical factors and phytoplankton reflected a tropical unpolluted neritic oceanic environment.

Keywords: sea, physico-chemistry, micro-algae, lighthouse beach

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Authors: Muhammad Irfan Aziz, Thomas Owens, Uzair Khaleeq uz Zaman

Abstract:

The instantaneous and spatial localization for visually impaired people in dynamically changing environments with unexpected hazards and obstacles, is the most demanding and challenging issue faced by the navigation systems today. Since Bluetooth cannot utilize techniques like Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Time of Arrival (TOA), it uses received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to measure Receive Signal Strength (RSS). The measurements using RSSI can be improved significantly by improving the existing methodologies related to RSSI. Therefore, the current paper focuses on proposing an improved method using trilateration for localization of Bluetooth devices for visually impaired people. To validate the method, class 2 Bluetooth devices were used along with the development of a software. Experiments were then conducted to obtain surface plots that showed the signal interferences and other environmental effects. Finally, the results obtained show the surface plots for all Bluetooth modules used along with the strong and weak points depicted as per the color codes in red, yellow and blue. It was concluded that the suggested improved method of measuring RSS using trilateration helped to not only measure signal strength affectively but also highlighted how the signal strength can be influenced by atmospheric conditions such as noise, reflections, etc.

Keywords: Bluetooth, indoor/outdoor localization, received signal strength indicator, visually impaired

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Authors: Hamid Yazdani, Fatemeh Abbasi

Abstract:

Understanding the natural potentials, as the basis for the prevailing context of human activities, environmental planning, and land-use form shows. In this regard, regional characteristics and spatial distribution of the dominant elements in shaping human behavior and environment play a role Knndhayy. As far as today's studies of human Byvklymay basis for urban planning, settlement, architecture, Tourism and so on. In this study, comfort or lack of comfort in Shiraz in Horn of models and indices based on eco-Baker, Trjvng, were examined and the best time to do-using 39 years of data (TCI) stress, and the effective temperature Environmental activities and tourism in the city was established. The results showed that the worth parameters used, the ability to detect Terms of comfort and discomfort are Shiraz, despite minor differences, relatively homogenous aspects of the city provide a comfortable climate. Studies showed that having diversity in the worth of Shiraz during the year, the situation is heating up much coolness; during winter and summer Find out eco comfort zone and during the transition from cold to warm in spring and autumn (April) and warm to cold (November) climate Iran is close to human comfort. Totally, unique human comfort conditions in spring, the best season for environmental activities Tourism in Shiraz.

Keywords: BIO comfort Klymayy, Trjvng, baker, effective temperature, stress and (TCI)

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Authors: Hiroki Takiguchi, Masahiro Furuya, Takahiro Arai

Abstract:

In order to quantitatively comprehend thermal flow for some industrial applications such as nuclear and chemical reactors, detailed measurements for temperature and abundance (concentration) of materials at high temporal and spatial resolution are required. Additionally, rigorous evaluation of the size effect is also important for practical realization. This paper introduces a real-time spectroscopic imaging method in micro scale field, which visualizes temperature and concentration distribution of a liquid or mix liquids with near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region. This imaging principle is based on absorption of pre-selected narrow band from absorption spectrum peak or its dependence property of target liquid in NIR region. For example, water has a positive temperature sensitivity in the wavelength at 1905 nm, therefore the temperature of water can be measured using the wavelength band. In the experiment, the real-time imaging observation of concentration distribution in micro channel was demonstrated to investigate the applicability of micro-scale diffusion coefficient and temperature measurement technique using this proposed method. The effect of thermal diffusion and binary mutual diffusion was evaluated with the time-series visualizations of concentration distribution.

Keywords: near-infrared spectroscopic imaging, micro fluid channel, concentration distribution, diffusion phenomenon

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Authors: Arushi Singh, Anjana Jain, Prakash Vyavahare

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Recently, Li-Fi(light-fiedelity) has been launched based on VLC(visible light communication) technique, 100 times faster than WiFi. Now 5G mobile communication system is proposed to use VLC-OFDM as the transmission technique. The VLC system focused on visible rays, is considered for efficient spectrum use and easy intensity modulation through LEDs. The reason of high speed in VLC is LED, as they flicker incredibly fast(order of MHz). Another advantage of employing LED is-it acts as low pass filter results no out-of-band emission. The VLC system falls under the category of ‘green technology’ for utilizing LEDs. In present scenario, OFDM is used for high data-rates, interference immunity and high spectral efficiency. Inspite of the advantages OFDM suffers from large PAPR, ICI among carriers and frequency offset errors. Since, the data transmission technique used in VLC system is OFDM, the system suffers the drawbacks of OFDM as well as VLC, the non-linearity dues to non-linear characteristics of LED and PAPR of OFDM due to which the high power amplifier enters in non-linear region. The proposed paper focuses on reduction of PAPR in VLC-OFDM systems. Many techniques are applied to reduce PAPR such as-clipping-introduces distortion in the carrier; selective mapping technique-suffers wastage of bandwidth; partial transmit sequence-very complex due to exponentially increased number of sub-blocks. The paper discusses three companding techniques namely- µ-law, A-law and advance A-law companding technique. The analysis shows that the advance A-law companding techniques reduces the PAPR of the signal by adjusting the companding parameter within the range. VLC-OFDM systems are the future of the wireless communication but non-linearity in VLC-OFDM is a severe issue. The proposed paper discusses the techniques to reduce PAPR, one of the non-linearities of the system. The companding techniques mentioned in this paper provides better results without increasing the complexity of the system.

Keywords: non-linear companding techniques, peak to average power ratio (PAPR), visible light communication (VLC), VLC-OFDM

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Authors: Sutapa Som Chaudhury, Chitrangada Das Mukhopadhyay

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Alzheimer’s disease is a well-known form of dementia since its discovery in 1906. Current Food and Drug Administration approved medications e.g. cholinesterase inhibitors, memantine offer modest symptomatic relief but do not play any role in disease modification or recovery. In last three decades many small molecules, chaperons, synthetic peptides, partial β-secretase enzyme blocker have been tested for the development of a drug against Alzheimer though did not pass the 3rd clinical phase trials. Here in this study, we designed a PEGylated, aminogenic, tripeptidic polymer with two different molecular weights based on the aggregation prone amino acid sequence 17-20 in amyloid beta (Aβ) 1-42. Being conjugated with poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) which self-assembles into hydrophilic nanoparticles, these PEGylated tripeptides constitute a very good drug delivery system crossing the blood brain barrier while the peptide remains protected from proteolytic degradation and non-specific protein interactions. Moreover, being completely aminogenic they would not raise any side effects. These peptide inhibitors were evaluated for their effectiveness against Aβ42 fibrillation at an early stage of oligomer to fibril formation as well as preformed fibril clearance via Thioflavin T (ThT) assay, dynamic light scattering analyses, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The inhibitors were proved to be safe at a higher concentration of 20µM by the reduction assay of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) dye. Moreover, SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells have shown a greater survivability when treated with the inhibitors following Aβ42 fibril and oligomer treatment as compared with the control Aβ42 fibril and/or oligomer treated neuroblastoma cells. These make the peptidic inhibitors a promising compound in the aspect of the discovery of alternative medication for Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, alternative medication, amyloid beta, PEGylated peptide

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Parya Salimitari, Farhad Tabatabai Ghomsheh, Siyamak Khorramymehr, Hossein Taghadosi, Mohammad Hossein Dashti

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of heel height on the knee joint direction in Genu recurvatum patients compared to normal state. The test was performed on a patient with Genu recurvatum and a healthy person with similar and match biomechanical conditions. Subjects were tested under six different positions of shoes with heels 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cm after marking during the gate. The results of the spatial temporal geometry obtained from Vicon Motion System (six-camera T10 model, Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK), and were used to compute and analyze the kinematic results. In this study, we tried to determine the effect of shoe heel intervention on knee joint direction correction. The results indicate that the 1 cm heel has been optimized and significantly improved in knee joint flexion and flexion-extension angle so that the difference in knee flexion-extension angle between the patient and the healthy person at some stages of walking has reached zero (good posture). The 3 cm heel compared with the 0 cm heel has reduced the knee recurvatum index (KRI) by up to 21.74% in the patient (from 219.233 mm to 47.6714 mm). According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that heel increase is effective in correcting knee joints in Genu recurvatum and the optimum heel height is 1 cm.

Keywords: joint alignment of knee, gait analysis, genu recurvatum, heel lift, kinematics, motion-analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: Othman Elmahdy Othman, Agnés Germot, Daniel Petit, Muhammad Khodary, Abderrahman Maftah

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Recently, the control (D-loop) and cytochrome b (Cyt b) regions of mtDNA have received more attention due to their role in the genetic diversity and phylogenetic studies in different livestock which give important knowledge towards the genetic resource conservation. Studies based on sequencing of sheep mitochondrial DNA showed that there are five maternal lineages in the world for domestic sheep breeds; A, B, C, D and E. By using cytochrome B sequencing, we aimed to clarify the genetic affinities and phylogeny of six Egyptian sheep breeds. Blood samples were collected from 111 animals belonging to six Egyptian sheep breeds; Barki, Rahmani, Ossimi, Saidi, Sohagi and Fallahi. The total DNA was extracted and the specific primers were used for conventional PCR amplification of the cytochrome B region of mtDNA. PCR amplified products were purified and sequenced. The alignment of sequences was done using BioEdit software and DnaSP 5.00 software was used to identify the sequence variation and polymorphic sites in the aligned sequences. The result showed that the presence of 39 polymorphic sites leading to the formation of 29 haplotypes. The haplotype diversity in six tested breeds ranged from 0.643 in Rahmani breed to 0.871 in Barki breed. The lowest genetic distance was observed between Rahmani and Saidi (D: 1.436 and Dxy: 0.00127) while the highest distance was observed between Ossimi and Sohagi (D: 6.050 and Dxy: 0.00534). Neighbour-joining (Phylogeny) tree was constructed using Mega 5.0 software. The sequences of 111 analyzed samples were aligned with references sequences of different haplogroups; A, B, C, D and E. The phylogeny result showed the presence of four haplogroups; HapA, HapB, HapC and HapE in the examined samples whereas the haplogroup D was not found. The result showed that 88 out of 111 tested animals cluster with haplogroup B (79.28%), whereas 12 tested animals cluster with haplogroup A (10.81%), 10 animals cluster with haplogroup C (9.01%) and one animal belongs to haplogroup E (0.90%).

Keywords: phylogeny, genetic biodiversity, MtDNA, cytochrome B, Egyptian sheep

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Authors: Mamta Rana, K. K. Singh, Nisha Kumari

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The simulation models with its soil-weather-plant atmosphere interacting system are important tools for assessing the crops in changing climate conditions. The CERES-Wheat & Rice vs. 4.6 DSSAT was calibrated and evaluated for one of the major producers of wheat and rice state- Haryana, India. The simulation runs were made under irrigated conditions and three fertilizer applications dose of N-P-K to estimate crop yield and other growth parameters along with the phenological development of the crop. The genetic coefficients derived by iteratively manipulating the relevant coefficients that characterize the phenological process of wheat and rice crop to the best fit match between the simulated and observed anthesis, physological maturity and final grain yield. The model validated by plotting the simulated and remote sensing derived LAI. LAI product from remote sensing provides the edge of spatial, timely and accurate assessment of crop. For validating the yield and yield components, the error percentage between the observed and simulated data was calculated. The analysis shows that the model can be used to simulate crop yield and yield components for wheat and rice cultivar under different management practices. During the validation, the error percentage was less than 10%, indicating the utility of the calibrated model for climate risk assessment in the selected region.

Keywords: simulation model, CERES-wheat and rice model, crop yield, genetic coefficient

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Authors: Takashi Shimizu, Tomoaki Hashimoto

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Controlling the flow of fluids is a challenging problem that arises in many fields. Burgers’ equation is a fundamental equation for several flow phenomena such as traffic, shock waves, and turbulence. The optimal feedback control method, so-called model predictive control, has been proposed for Burgers’ equation. However, the model predictive control method is inapplicable to systems whose all state variables are not exactly known. In practical point of view, it is unusual that all the state variables of systems are exactly known, because the state variables of systems are measured through output sensors and limited parts of them can be only available. In fact, it is usual that flow velocities of fluid systems cannot be measured for all spatial domains. Hence, any practical feedback controller for fluid systems must incorporate some type of state estimator. To apply the model predictive control to the fluid systems described by Burgers’ equation, it is needed to establish a state estimation method for Burgers’ equation with limited measurable state variables. To this purpose, we apply unscented Kalman filter for estimating the state variables of fluid systems described by Burgers’ equation. The objective of this study is to establish a state estimation method based on unscented Kalman filter for Burgers’ equation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

Keywords: observer systems, unscented Kalman filter, nonlinear systems, Burgers' equation

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Authors: Tesfay Mekonnen Weldegerima

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Analysis of precipitation time series is a fundamental undertaking in meteorology and hydrology. The extreme precipitation scenario of the Kulfo River watershed is studied using wavelet analysis and atmospheric transport, a lagrangian trajectory model. Daily rainfall data for the 1991-2020 study periods are collected from the office of the Ethiopian Meteorology Institute. Meteorological fields on a three-dimensional grid at 0.5o x 0.5o spatial resolution and daily temporal resolution are also obtained from the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS). Wavelet analysis of the daily precipitation processed with the lag-1 coefficient reveals some high power recurred once every 38 to 60 days with greater than 95% confidence for red noise. The analysis also identified inter-annual periodicity in the periods 2002 - 2005 and 2017 - 2019. Back trajectory analysis for 3-day periods up to May 19/2011, indicates the Indian Ocean source; trajectories crossed the eastern African escarpment to arrive at the Kulfo watershed. Atmospheric flows associated with the Western Indian monsoon redirected by the low-level Somali winds and Arabian ridge are responsible for the moisture supply. The time-localization of the wavelet power spectrum yields valuable hydrological information, and the back trajectory approaches provide useful characterization of air mass source.

Keywords: extreme precipitation events, power spectrum, back trajectory, kulfo watershed

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Authors: Neelma Ashraf

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Actinomycetes, particularly genus Streptomyces is of great importance due to their role in the discovery of new natural products, particularly antimicrobial secondary metabolites in the medicinal science and biotechnology industry. Different Streptomyces strains were isolated from Helianthus annuus plants and tested for antibacterial and antifungal activities. The most promising five strains were chosen for further investigation, and growth conditions for antibiotic synthesis were optimised. The supernatants were extracted in different solvents, and the extracted products were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and biological testing. From one of the potent strains Streptomyces globusus sp. BR123, a compound lavendamycin was identified using these analytical techniques. In addition, this potent strain also produces a strong antifungal polyene compound with a quasimolecular ion of 2072. Streptomyces sp. BR123 was genome sequenced because of its promising antimicrobial potential in order to identify the gene cluster responsible for analyzed compound “lavendamycin”. The genome analysis yielded candidate genes responsible for the production of this potent compound. The genome sequence of 8.15 Mb of Streptomyces sp. isolate BR123 with a GC content of 72.63% and 8103 protein coding genes was attained. Many antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and anticancerous compounds were detected through multiple biosynthetic gene clusters predicted by in-Silico analysis. Though, the novelty of metabolites was determined through the insignificant resemblance with known biosynthetic gene clusters. The current study gives insight into the bioactive potential of Streptomyces sp. isolate BR123 with respect to the synthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites through genomic and spectrometric analysis. Moreover, the comparative genome study revealed the connection of isolate BR123 with other Streptomyces strains, which could expand the knowledge of this genus and the mechanism involved in the discovery of new antimicrobial metabolites.

Keywords: streptomyces, secondary metabolites, genome, biosynthetic gene clusters, high performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: W. T. A. Mohammed, M. Eltaeb, R. Kashani

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The first bending modes of tall asymmetric structures in the two lateral X and Y-directions have two different natural frequencies. To add tuned damping to these bending modes, one needs to either a) use two pendulum-tuned mass dampers (PTMDs) with one tuning frequency, each PTMD targeting one of the bending modes, or b) use one PTMD with two tuning frequencies (one in each lateral directions). Option (a), being more massive, requiring more space, and being more expensive, is less attractive than option (b). Considering that the tuning frequency of a pendulum depends mainly on the pendulum length, one way of realizing option (b) is by constraining the swinging length of the pendulum in one direction but not in the other; such PTMD is dubbed passive Bi-PTMD. Alternatively, option (b) can be realized by actively setting the tuning frequencies of the PTMD in the two directions. In this work, accurate physical models of passive Bi-PTMD and active PTMD are developed and incorporated into the numerical model of a tall asymmetric structure. The model of PTMDs plus structure is used for a)synthesizing such PTMDs for particular applications and b)evaluating their damping effectiveness in mitigating the dynamic lateral responses of their target asymmetric structures, perturbed by wind load in X and Y-directions. Depending on how elaborate the control scheme is, the active PTMD can either be made to yield the same damping effectiveness as the passive Bi-PTMD of the same size or the passive Bi-TMD twice as massive as the active PTMD.

Keywords: active tuned mass damper, high-rise building, multi-frequency tuning, vibration control

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Bekir O. Bartin, Kaan Ozbay, Sandeep Mudigonda, Hong Yang

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The use of microscopic traffic simulation in evaluating the operational and safety conditions at toll plazas is demonstrated. Two toll plazas in New Jersey are selected as case studies and were developed and validated in Paramics traffic simulation software. In order to simulate drivers’ lane selection behavior in Paramics, a utility-based lane selection approach is implemented in Paramics Application Programming Interface (API). For each vehicle approaching the toll plaza, a utility value is assigned to each toll lane by taking into account the factors that are likely to impact drivers’ lane selection behavior, such as approach lane, exit lane and queue lengths. The results demonstrate that similar operational conditions, such as lane-by-lane toll plaza traffic volume can be attained using this approach. In addition, assessment of safety at toll plazas is conducted via a surrogate safety measure. In particular, the crash index (CI), an improved surrogate measure of time-to-collision (TTC), which reflects the severity of a crash is used in the simulation analyses. The results indicate that the spatial and temporal frequency of observed crashes can be simulated using the proposed methodology. Further analyses can be conducted to evaluate and compare various different operational decisions and safety measures using microscopic simulation models.

Keywords: microscopic simulation, toll plaza, surrogate safety, application programming interface

Procedia PDF Downloads 165