Search results for: Robert A. Alphinas

Authors: Azadeh Jafari, Robert G. Owens

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In this study, a geometrical multiscale approach which means coupling together the 2-D Navier-Stokes equations, constitutive equations and 0-D lumped parameter models is investigated. A multiscale approach, suggest a natural way of coupling detailed local models (in the flow domain) with coarser models able to describe the dynamics over a large part or even the whole cardiovascular system at acceptable computational cost. In this study we introduce a new velocity correction scheme to decouple the velocity computation from the pressure one. To evaluate the capability of our new scheme, a comparison between the results obtained with Neumann outflow boundary conditions on the velocity and Dirichlet outflow boundary conditions on the pressure and those obtained using coupling with the lumped parameter model has been performed. Comprehensive studies have been done based on the sensitivity of numerical scheme to the initial conditions, elasticity and number of spectral modes. Improvement of the computational algorithm with stable convergence has been demonstrated for at least moderate Weissenberg number. We comment on mathematical properties of the reduced model, its limitations in yielding realistic and accurate numerical simulations, and its contribution to a better understanding of microvascular blood flow. We discuss the sophistication and reliability of multiscale models for computing correct boundary conditions at the outflow boundaries of a section of the cardiovascular system of interest. In this respect the geometrical multiscale approach can be regarded as a new method for solving a class of biofluids problems, whose application goes significantly beyond the one addressed in this work.

Keywords: geometrical multiscale models, haemorheology model, coupled 2-D navier-stokes 0-D lumped parameter modeling, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Dario Barsi, Marina Ubaldi, Pietro Zunino, Robert Fink

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A design and optimization procedure is proposed and developed to provide the geometry of a high efficiency compact hydraulic propeller turbine for low head. For the preliminary design of the machine, classic design criteria, based on the use of statistical correlations for the definition of the fundamental geometric parameters and the blade shapes are used. These relationships are based on the fundamental design parameters (i.e., specific speed, flow coefficient, work coefficient) in order to provide a simple yet reliable procedure. Particular attention is paid, since from the initial steps, on the correct conformation of the meridional channel and on the correct arrangement of the blade rows. The preliminary geometry thus obtained is used as a starting point for the hydrodynamic optimization procedure, carried out using a CFD calculation software coupled with a genetic algorithm that generates and updates a large database of turbine geometries. The optimization process is performed using a commercial approach that solves the turbulent Navier Stokes equations (RANS) by exploiting the axial-symmetric geometry of the machine. The geometries generated within the database are therefore calculated in order to determine the corresponding overall performance. In order to speed up the optimization calculation, an artificial neural network (ANN) based on the use of an objective function is employed. The procedure was applied for the specific case of a propeller turbine with an innovative design of a modular type, specific for applications characterized by very low heads. The procedure is tested in order to verify its validity and the ability to automatically obtain the targeted net head and the maximum for the total to total internal efficiency.

Keywords: renewable energy conversion, hydraulic turbines, low head hydraulic energy, optimization design

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Authors: Ronald Collins, Jonathon Coleman, Joel Dasari, George Holt, Carl Metelko, Matthew Murdoch, Alexander Morgan, Yan-Jie Schnellbach, Robert Mills, Gareth Edwards, Alexander Roberts

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At the Wylfa Magnox Power Plant between 2014–2016, the VIDARR prototype anti-neutrino detector was deployed. It is comprised of extruded plastic scintillating bars measuring 4 cm × 1 cm × 152 cm and utilised wavelength shifting fibres (WLS) and multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs) to detect and quantify radiation. During deployment, it took cosmic muon data in accidental coincidence with the anti-neutrino measurements with the power plant site buildings obscuring the muon sky. Cosmic muons have a significantly higher probability of being attenuated and/or absorbed by denser objects, and so one-sided cosmic muon tomography was utilised to image the reactor site buildings. In order to achieve clear building outlines, a control data set was taken at the University of Liverpool from 2016 – 2018, which had minimal occlusion of the cosmic muon flux by dense objects. By taking the ratio of these two data sets and using GEANT4 simulations, it is possible to perform a one-sided cosmic muon tomography analysis. This analysis can be used to discern specific buildings, building heights, and features at the Wylfa reactor site, including the reactor core/reactor core shielding using ∼ 3 hours worth of cosmic-ray detector live time. This result demonstrates the feasibility of using cosmic muon analysis to determine a segmented detector’s location with respect to surrounding buildings, assisted by aerial photography or satellite imagery.

Keywords: anti-neutrino, GEANT4, muon, tomography, occlusion

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Authors: Louise Moles, Steve Riley, Sarah D. Lichenstein, Marzieh Babaeianjelodar, Robert Kohler, Annie Cheng, Corey Horien Abigail Greene, Wenjing Luo, Jonathan Ahern, Bohan Xu, Yize Zhao, Chun Chieh Fan, R. Todd Constable, Sarah W. Yip

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Background: Risks for depression are myriad and include both genetic and brain-based factors. However, relationships between these systems are poorly understood, limiting understanding of disease etiology, particularly at the developmental level. Methods: We use a data-driven machine learning approach connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) to identify functional connectivity signatures associated with polygenic risk scores for depression (DEP-PRS) among youth from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study across diverse brain states, i.e., during resting state, during affective working memory, during response inhibition, during reward processing. Results: Using 10-fold cross-validation with 100 iterations and permutation testing, CPM identified connectivity signatures of DEP-PRS across all examined brain states (rho’s=0.20-0.27, p’s<.001). Across brain states, DEP-PRS was positively predicted by increased connectivity between frontoparietal and salience networks, increased motor-sensory network connectivity, decreased salience to subcortical connectivity, and decreased subcortical to motor-sensory connectivity. Subsampling analyses demonstrated that model accuracies were robust across random subsamples of N’s=1,000, N’s=500, and N’s=250 but became unstable at N’s=100. Conclusions: These data, for the first time, identify neural networks of polygenic depression risk in a large sample of youth before the onset of significant clinical impairment. Identified networks may be considered potential treatment targets or vulnerability markers for depression risk.

Keywords: genetics, functional connectivity, pre-adolescents, depression

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Authors: Jenny Radeva, Anke-Gundula Roth, Christian Goebbert, Robert Niestroj-Pahl, Lars Daehne, Axel Wolfram, Juergen Wiese

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Ceramic membranes for water purification combine excellent stability with long-life characteristics and high chemical resistance. Layer-by-Layer coating is a well-known technique for customization and optimization of filtration properties of membranes but is mostly used on polymeric membranes. Ceramic membranes comprising a metal oxide filtration layer of Al2O3 or TiO2 are charged and therefore highly suitable for polyelectrolyte adsorption. The high stability of the membrane support allows efficient backwash and chemical cleaning of the membrane. The presented study reports metal oxide/organic composite membrane with an increased rejection of bivalent salts like MgSO4 and the organic micropollutant Diclofenac. A self-build apparatus was used for applying the polyelectrolyte multilayers on the ceramic membrane. The device controls the flow and timing of the polyelectrolytes and washing solutions. As support for the Layer-by-Layer coat, ceramic mono-channel membranes were used with an inner capillary of 8 mm diameter, which is connected to the coating device. The inner wall of the capillary is coated subsequently with polycat- and anions. The filtration experiments were performed with a feed solution of MgSO4 and Diclofenac. The salt content of the permeate was detected conductometrically and Diclofenac was measured with UV-Adsorption. The concluded results show retention values of magnesium sulfate of 70% and diclofenac retention of 60%. Further experimental research studied various parameters of the composite membrane-like Molecular Weight Cut Off and pore size, Zeta potential and its mechanical and chemical robustness.

Keywords: water purification, polyelectrolytes, membrane modification, layer-by-layer coating, ceramic membranes

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Authors: Zhibo Zhao, Horst Hahn, Robert Kruk, Abhisheck Sarkar

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High entropy oxides (HEOs), based on the incorporation of multiple-principal cations into the crystal lattice, offer the possibility to explore previously inaccessible oxide compositions and unconventional properties. Here it is demonstrated that despite the chemical complexity of HEOs external stimuli, such as epitaxial strain, can selectively stabilize certain magneto-electronic states. Epitaxial (Co₀.₂Cr₀.₂Fe₀.₂Mn₀.₂Ni₀.₂)₃O₄-HEO thin films are grown in three different strain states: tensile, compressive, and relaxed. A unique coexistence of rocksalt and spinel-HEO phases, which are fully coherent with no detectable chemical segregation, is revealed by transmission electron microscopy. This dual-phase coexistence appears as a universal phenomenon in (Co₀.₂Cr₀.₂Fe₀.₂Mn₀.₂Ni₀.₂)₃O₄ epitaxial films. Prominent changes in the magnetic anisotropy and domain structure highlight the strain-induced bidirectional control of magnetic properties in HEOs. When the films are relaxed, their magnetization behavior is isotropic, similar to that of bulk materials. However, under tensile strain, the hardness of the out-of-plane (OOP) axis increases significantly. On the other hand, compressive straining results in an easy OOP magnetization and a maze-like magnetic domain structure, indicating perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Generally, this study emphasizes the adaptability of the high entropy design strategy, which, when combined with coherent strain engineering, opens additional prospects for fine-tuning properties in oxides.

Keywords: high entropy oxides, thin film, strain tuning, perpendicular magnetic anistropy

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Authors: Zbigniew Wochynski, Justyna Skrzynska, Robert Jedrys, Zdzislaw Kobos

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The aim of the study is to determine the types of motor skills and their impact on achieving results while undergoing Aviation Synthetic Efficiency Test (ASET). The study involved 59 cadets, 21 years-old on average, who are studying on first year for a pilot. The average weight of the respondents is 73.8 kg. The subjects were divided into two groups by weight: up to 73.8 kg -group A (n-30) and above 73,8kg -group B (n-29). All subjects underwent the following tests: running at 40m, 100m, 1000m, 2000m, pull-ups, ASET. In both groups, the cadets were divided into two motor skills types taking into advance 40 m running, pull-ups, 2000 meters running and then subjected to do ASET. There has been shown statistically significant increase in group B in body height, weight and BMI with p <0.0003, p <0.0001, p <0.0001 compared to group A. The results indicate that the dominant motor type in all subjects is the endurance-strength model, which reached the speed V = 1,42m/s in overcoming ASET. This is confirmed by the correlation between 2000m and pull-ups r = 0.37 (p <0.05). In group A, the results indicate that the dominant type of motor is a high-speed-endurance model (26.6%), which reached speed V = 1,42m/s in overcoming ASET. In Group B, there was type of motor speed-strength (20.6%), which reached speed of V = 1.45m/s in overcoming ASET. This confirms the correlation between ASET and pull-ups r = 0.56 (p <0.005). Examined cadets who were having one dominant characteristic achieved worse results is ASET. The best results from all examined cadets in overcoming ASET had the type of motor endurance-strength, in group A endurance-speed model and in group B type of speed-strength

Keywords: ASET, Aviation Synthetic Efficiency Test, motor skills, physical tests, pilot-cadets

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Authors: Phakamani Xaba, Robert Huberts, Bilainu Oboirien

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The present study was aimed at developing & comparing two neural-network-based predictive models to predict shelf-life/product age of South African margarine using free fatty acid (FFA), water droplet size (D3.3), water droplet distribution (e-sigma), moisture content, peroxide value (PV), anisidine valve (AnV) and total oxidation (totox) value as input variables to the model. Brick margarine products which had varying ages ranging from fresh i.e. week 0 to week 47 were sourced. The brick margarine products which had been stored at 10 & 25 °C and were characterized. JMP and MATLAB models to predict shelf-life/ margarine age were developed and their performances were compared. The key performance indicators to evaluate the model performances were correlation coefficient (CC), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) relative to the actual data. The MATLAB-developed model showed a better performance in all three performance indicators. The correlation coefficient of the MATLAB model was 99.86% versus 99.74% for the JMP model, the RMSE was 0.720 compared to 1.005 and the MAPE was 7.4% compared to 8.571%. The MATLAB model was selected to be the most accurate, and then, the number of hidden neurons/ nodes was optimized to develop a single predictive model. The optimized MATLAB with 10 neurons showed a better performance compared to the models with 1 & 5 hidden neurons. The developed models can be used by margarine manufacturers, food research institutions, researchers etc, to predict shelf-life/ margarine product age, optimize addition of antioxidants, extend shelf-life of products and proactively troubleshoot for problems related to changes which have an impact on shelf-life of margarine without conducting expensive trials.

Keywords: margarine shelf-life, predictive modelling, neural networks, oil oxidation

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Authors: Akanimo Emene, Robert Edyvean

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In developing countries, a low cost method of wastewater treatment is highly recommended. Adsorption is an efficient and economically viable treatment process for wastewater. The utilisation of this process is based on the understanding of the relationship between the growth environment and the metal capacity of the biomaterial. Luffa cylindrica (LC), a plant material, was used as an adsorbent in adsorption design system of heavy metals. The chemically modified LC was used to adsorb heavy metals ions, lead and cadmium, from aqueous environmental solution at varying experimental conditions. Experimental factors, adsorption time, initial metal ion concentration, ionic strength and pH of solution were studied. The chemical nature and surface area of the tissues adsorbing heavy metals in LC biosorption systems were characterised by using electron microscopy and infra-red spectroscopy. It showed an increase in the surface area and improved adhesion capacity after chemical treatment. Metal speciation of the metal ions showed the binary interaction between the ions and the LC surface as the pH increases. Maximum adsorption was shown between pH 5 and pH 6. The ionic strength of the metal ion solution has an effect on the adsorption capacity based on the surface charge and the availability of the adsorption sites on the LC. The nature of the metal-surface complexes formed as a result of the experimental data were analysed with kinetic and isotherm models. The pseudo second order kinetic model and the two-site Langmuir isotherm model showed the best fit. Through the understanding of this process, there will be an opportunity to provide an alternative method for water purification. This will be provide an option, for when expensive water treatment technologies are not viable in developing countries.

Keywords: adsorption, luffa cylindrica, metal-surface complexes, pH

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Authors: Malihe Moeinin, Robert Hill, Ferranti Wong

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Background: A white spot lesion (WSL) is defined as subsurface enamel porosity from carious demineralisation on the smooth surfaces of the tooth. It appears as a milky white opacity. Lesions shown an apparently intact surface layer, followed underneath by the more porous lesion body. The small pores within the body of the lesion act as diffusion pathway for both acids and minerals, so allowing the demineralisation of enamel to occur at the advancing front of the lesion. Objectives: The objective is to mapthe porosity and its size on WSL with Focused Ion Bean- Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) Method: The basic method used for FIB-SEM consisted of depositing a one micron thick layer of platinum over 25μmx 25μm of the interest region of enamel. Then, making a rough cut (25μmx 5μmx 20μm) with 3nA current and 30Kv was applied with the help of drift suppression (DS), using a standard “cross-sectional” cutting pattern, which ended at the front of the deposited platinum layer. Two adjacent areas (25μmx 5μmx 20μm) on the both sides of the platinum layer were milled under the same conditions. Subsequent, cleaning cross-sections were applied to polish the sub-surface edge of interest running perpendicular to the surface. The "slice and view" was carried out overnight for milling almost 700 slices with 2Kv and 4nA and taking backscattered (BS) images. Then, images were imported into imageJ and analysed. Results: The prism structure is clearly apparent on FIB-SEM slices of WSL with the dissolution of prism boundaries as well as internal porosity within the prism itself. Porosity scales roughly 100-400nm, which is comparable to the light wavelength (500nm). Conclusion: FIB-SEM is useful to characterize the porosity of WSL and it clearly shows the difference between WSL and normal enamel.

Keywords: white spot lesion, FIB-SEM, enamel porosity, porosity

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Authors: Sarah Gaßmeyer, Nadine Hülsemann, Raphael Stoll, Kenji Miyamoto, Robert Kourist

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Enzymatic racemization allows the smooth interconversion of stereocenters under very mild reaction conditions. Racemases find frequent applications in deracemization and dynamic kinetic resolutions. Arylmalonate decarboxylase (AMDase) from Bordetella Bronchiseptica has high structural similarity to amino acid racemases. These cofactor-free racemases are able to break chemically strong CH-bonds under mild conditions. The racemase-like catalytic machinery of mutant G74C conveys it a unique activity in the racemisation of pharmacologically relevant derivates of 2-phenylpropionic acid (profenes), which makes AMDase G74C an interesting object for the mechanistic investigation of cofactor-independent racemases. Structure-guided protein engineering achieved a variant of this unique racemase with 40-fold increased activity in the racemisation of several arylaliphatic carboxylic acids. By saturation–transfer–difference NMR spectroscopy (STD-NMR), substrate binding during catalysis was investigated. All atoms of the substrate showed interactions with the enzyme. STD-NMR measurements revealed distinct nuclear Overhauser effects in experiments with and without molecular conversion. The spectroscopic analysis led to the identification of several amino acid residues whose variation increased the activity of G74C. While single-amino acid exchanges increased the activity moderately, structure-guided saturation mutagenesis yielded a quadruple mutant with a 40 times higher reaction rate. This study presents STD-NMR as versatile tool for the analysis of enzyme-substrate interactions in catalytically competent systems and for the guidance of protein engineering.

Keywords: racemase, rational protein design, STD-NMR, structure guided saturation mutagenesis

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Authors: Khizar Z. Choudhrya, Richard Coles, Salman Qureshi, Robert Ashford, Salim Khan, Rabia R. Mir

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Abstract: The majority of existing landscape research has been derived by conducting heuristic evaluations, without having empirical insight of real participant visual response. In this research, a modern multimodal measurement approach (using narratives and eye tracking) was applied to investigate visual behaviour in perceiving naturalistic and urban environments. This research is unique in exploring gaze behaviour on environmental images possessing different levels of saliency. Eye behaviour is predominantly attracted by salient locations. The concept of methodology of this research on naturalistic and urban environments is drawn from the approaches in market research. Borrowing methodologies from market research that examine visual responses and qualities provided a critical and hitherto unexplored approach. This research has been conducted by using mixed methodological quantitative and qualitative approaches. On the whole, the results of this research corroborated existing landscape research findings, but they also identified potential refinements. The research contributes both methodologically and empirically to human-environment interaction (HEI). This study focused on initial impressions of environmental images with the help of eye tracking. Taking under consideration the importance of the image, this study explored the factors that influence initial fixations in relation to expectations and preferences. In terms of key findings of this research it is noticed that each participant has his own unique navigation style while surfing through different elements of landscape images. This individual navigation style is given the name of ‘visual signature’. This study adds the necessary clarity that would complete the picture and bring an insight for future landscape researchers.

Keywords: human-environment interaction (HEI), multimodal measurement, narratives, eye tracking

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Authors: John Lamb, Robert Epstein, Vasundhara L. Bhupathi, Sanjeev Kumar Marimekala

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In this paper, we focus on the importance of scalable architecture for data centers and buildings in general to help an enterprise achieve environmental sustainability. The scalable architecture helps in many ways, such as adaptability to the business and user requirements, promotes high availability and disaster recovery solutions that are cost effective and low maintenance. The scalable architecture also plays a vital role in three core areas of sustainability: economy, environment, and social, which are also known as the 3 pillars of a sustainability model. If the architecture is scalable, it has many advantages. A few examples are that scalable architecture helps businesses and industries to adapt to changing technology, drive innovation, promote platform independence, and build resilience against natural disasters. Most importantly, having a scalable architecture helps industries bring in cost-effective measures for energy consumption, reduce wastage, increase productivity, and enable a robust environment. It also helps in the reduction of carbon emissions with advanced monitoring and metering capabilities. Scalable architectures help in reducing waste by optimizing the designs to utilize materials efficiently, minimize resources, decrease carbon footprints by using low-impact materials that are environmentally friendly. In this paper we also emphasize the importance of cultural shift towards the reuse and recycling of natural resources for a balanced ecosystem and maintain a circular economy. Also, since all of us are involved in the use of computers, much of the scalable architecture we have studied is related to data centers.

Keywords: scalable architectures, sustainability, application design, disruptive technology, machine learning and natural language processing, AI, social media platform, cloud computing, advanced networking and storage devices, advanced monitoring and metering infrastructure, climate change

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Authors: Dylan Yanano Mangani, Theodore Nkadimeng Mahosi

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Soon after independence on 18th April 1980, Zimbabwe’s foreign policy was shaped by the realities on the ground, which saw the country managing a sound relationship with both the Capitalist West and the Communist Eastern blocs. The post-independence foreign policy was therefore premised on security concerns illuminated by the Cold War era. This was one the reasons President Robert Mugabe adopted a policy of reconciliation and this earned his government recognition on the international platform. However, in Southern Africa apartheid South Africa was still the vanguard of capitalism and oppression such that she posed a serious threat to the newly born Zimbabwean nation which necessitated that Zimbabwe position herself both in the region and the continent to counter potential internal stability from within. Irrespective of how the international community viewed the country’s foreign policy Zimbabwe has continued to influence regional, continental and world geo-politics, especially on behalf of the developing nations. This raises a question why as a result of its foreign policy the country is now regarded a pariah state, especially some Western countries which used to applaud its political economic policies immediately after independence. Therefore, this study argues that the political economy of Zimbabwe had a far-reaching bearing on its foreign policy. For this reason, the problem necessitates the investigation of Zimbabwe’s foreign policy perspectives in Southern Africa since the turn of the 1990s. Two main theories which are Realism, Afro-centrism inform the study as an attempt to understand Zimbabwe’s foreign policy paradigm shift and perhaps provide answers to the objectives raised. The research therefore employs a qualitative approach where the conceptual nature of the study into the foreign policy of Zimbabwe is largely desktop research. However, the nature of the study will also require that oral interviews are conducted to substantiate some of the arguments advanced.

Keywords: cold war set up, foreign policy, look east policy, pan-africanism, post 2000 period, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe

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Authors: Malek Jamaliah, Robert Powell

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In spite of the influence of climate change on tourism destinations, particularly those rely heavily on natural resources, little attention paid to study the appropriate adaptation efforts to cope with, moderate and benefit from the impacts of climate change. The existing literature indicated that the research of climate change adaptation in the tourism and outdoor recreation field is at least 5-7 years behind other sectors such as water resources and agriculture. In Jordan, there are many observed changes in climate patterns such as higher temperatures, decreased precipitation and increased severity and frequency of drought. Dana Biosphere Reserve (DBR), the largest protected area and the major eco-tourism destination in Jordan, is facing climate change, which gradually degrading environment, shifting tourism seasons and changing livelihood and lifestyle of local communities. This study aims to assess climate change adaptation practices and policies used in DBR to cope with climate change related-risks. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with key informants in DBR to assess climate change adaptation practices. Direct content analysis (or a priori content analysis) was used to determine the components and indicators of climate change adaptation. The results found that DBR has implemented a wide range of adaptation practices, including infrastructure development, diversification of tourism products, environmentally-friendly practices, visitor management, land use management, rainwater collection, environmental monitoring and research, environmental education and collaboration with stakeholders. These diverse practices implicitly and explicitly play an important role in coping with the social, economic and environmental impacts caused by climate change. Finally, this study demonstrated that climate change adaptation is closely related to sustainable management of eco-tourism.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, dana biosphere reserve, ecotourism, sustainable management

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Authors: Abanoub Mikhael, Darryl Hardie, Derek Smith, Helena Petrosova, Robert Ernst, David Goodlett

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Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a hallmark virulence factor of Gram-negative bacteria. It is a complex, structurally het- erogeneous mixture due to variations in number, type, and position of its simplest units: fatty acids and monosaccharides. Thus, LPS structural characterization by traditional mass spectrometry (MS) methods is challenging. Here, we describe the benefits of field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) for analysis of intact R-type lipopolysaccharide complex mixture (lipooligo- saccharide; LOS). Structural characterization was performed using Escherichia coli J5 (Rc mutant) LOS, a TLR4 agonist widely used in glycoconjugate vaccine research. FAIMS gas phase fractionation improved the (S/N) ratio and number of detected LOS species. Additionally, FAIMS allowed the separation of overlapping isobars facilitating their tandem MS characterization and un- equivocal structural assignments. In addition to FAIMS gas phase fractionation benefits, extra sorting of the structurally related LOS molecules was further accomplished using Kendrick mass defect (KMD) plots. Notably, a custom KMD base unit of [Na-H] created a highly organized KMD plot that allowed identification of interesting and novel structural differences across the different LOS ion families, i.e., ions with different acylation degrees, oligosaccharides composition, and chemical modifications. Defining the composition of a single LOS ion by tandem MS along with the organized KMD plot structural network was sufficient to deduce the composition of 181 LOS species out of 321 species present in the mixture. The combination of FAIMS and KMD plots allowed in-depth characterization of the complex LOS mixture and uncovered a wealth of novel information about its structural variations.

Keywords: lipopolysaccharide, ion mobility MS, Kendrick mass defect, Tandem mass spectrometry

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Authors: Shaista Maseeh

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English Literature from the beginning itself has had psychological, social and environment concerns. Virgil, Shakespeare, John Milton, William Wordsworth to the most current Robert Hass have shown and proved their environmental and ecological interests as well as distress related to its loss. Pastoral literature is also one such genre that links literature with environment. Thanks to the contemporary literary theories that they successfully are relating Literature formally to the subjects other than written text. One of such literary theory is 'Ecocriticism.' It stands under the umbrella of the Economics term, Sustainable Development,' or it can also be understood as an ecological extension of it. Ecocriticism helps the reader to study the dynamic relation between literature and our degrading environment. It draws attention towards the ravaged condition of nature and animals, that how nature is exploited by human beings for their own benefit leaving nature at a repairable loss. For instance, deforestation is reducing the size of forest every year, injuring permanently flora, fauna and also the habitat of animals. This paper will study the ecological and environmental concerns in the latest novel by Pakistani British writer Kamila Shamsie, A God in every Stone (2014). The book is not only a literary masterpiece in elegant prose, but also a novel posing a lot of questions about 'nature and environment' in general and 'animals' in particular. It gives the glimpses of the interesting history of Temple of Zeus in Greece and Ancient Caria, and covers many episodes of history the Indian freedom struggle. In course of novel's narrative Kamila Shamsie poses disturbing question about environmental abuse, about how human beings are more 'beasts' than so call beasts, poor animals. She also glorifies the simplicity of past. The novel has enough instances to prove Shamsie's positive stand on saving the earth that is being more abused than used by human beings. This paper will provide an ecocritical approach to study A God in Every Stone (2014).

Keywords: animals, ecocriticism, environment, nature

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Authors: Eric Fang, Robert Chen, Ghim Song Chia, Bien Soo Tan

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Objective and Rationale: Training of radiology residents hinges on practical, on-the-job training in all facets and modalities of diagnostic radiology. Although residency is structured to be comprehensive, clinical exposure depends on the case mix available locally and during the posting period. To supplement clinical training, there are several e-learning resources available to allow for greater exposure to radiological cases. The objective of this study was to survey residents and faculty on the usefulness of these e-learning resources. Methods: E-learning resources were shortlisted with input from radiology residents, Google search and online discussion groups, and screened by their purported focus. Twelve e-learning resources were found to meet the criteria. Both radiology residents and experienced radiology faculty were then surveyed electronically. The e-survey asked for ratings on breadth, depth, testing capability and user-friendliness for each resource, as well as for rankings for the top 3 resources. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS 9.4. Results: Seventeen residents and fifteen faculties completed an e-survey. Mean response rate was 54% ± 8% (Range: 14- 96%). Ratings and rankings were statistically identical between residents and faculty. On a 5-point rating scale, breadth was 3.68 ± 0.18, depth was 3.95 ± 0.14, testing capability was 2.64 ± 0.16 and user-friendliness was 3.39 ± 0.13. Top-ranked resources were STATdx (first), Radiopaedia (second) and Radiology Assistant (third). 9% of responders singled out R-ITI as potentially good but ‘prohibitively costly’. Statistically significant predictive factors for higher rankings are familiarity with the resource (p = 0.001) and user-friendliness (p = 0.006). Conclusion: A good e-learning system will complement on-the-job training with a broad case base, deep discussion and quality trainee evaluation. Based on our study on twelve e-learning resources, no single program fulfilled all requirements. The perception and use of radiology e-learning resources depended more on familiarity and user-friendliness than on content differences and testing capability.

Keywords: e-learning, medicine, radiology, survey

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Authors: Sara Franco Ortega, Alina Goldberg Cavalleri, Nawaporn Onkokesung, Richard Dale, Melissa Brazier-Hicks, Robert Edwards

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Safeners are agrochemicals that enhance the selective chemical control of wild grasses by increasing the ability of the crop to metabolise the herbicide. Although these compounds are widely used, their mode of action is not well understood. It is known that safeners enhance the metabolism of herbicides, by up-regulating the associated detoxification system we have termed the xenome. The xenome proteins involved in herbicide metabolism have been previously divided into four different phases, with cytochrome P450s (CYPs) playing a key role in phase I metabolism by catalysing hydroxylation and dealkylation reactions. Subsequently, glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and UDP-glucosyltransferases lead to the formation of Phase II conjugates prior to their transport into the vacuole by ABCs transporters (Phase III). Maize (Zea mays), was been treated with different safeners to explore the selective induction of xenome proteins, with a special interest in the regulation of the CYP superfamily. Transcriptome analysis enabled the identification of key safener-inducible CYPs that were then functionally assessed to determine their role in herbicide detoxification. In order to do that, CYP’s were codon optimised, synthesised and inserted into the yeast expression vector pYES3 using in-fusion cloning. CYP’s expressed as recombinant proteins in a strain of yeast engineered to contain the P450 co-enzyme (cytochrome P450 reductase) from Arabidopsis. Microsomes were extracted and treated with herbicides of different chemical classes in the presence of the cofactor NADPH. The reaction products were then analysed by LCMS to identify any herbicide metabolites. The results of these studies will be presented with the key CYPs identified in maize used as the starting point to find orthologs in other crops and weeds to better understand their roles in herbicide selectivity and safening.

Keywords: CYPs, herbicide detoxification, LCMS, RNA-Seq, safeners

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Authors: Rita Emília Szabó, Róbert Polanek, Tünde Tőkés, Zoltán Szabó, Szabolcs Czifrus, Katalin Hideghéty

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Purpose: Several feature of zebrafish are making them amenable for investigation on therapeutic approaches such as ionizing radiation. The establishment of zebrafish model for comprehensive radiobiological research stands in the focus of our investigation, comparing the radiation effect curves of neutron and photon irradiation. Our final aim is to develop an appropriate vertebrate model in order to investigate the relative biological effectiveness of laser driven ionizing radiation. Methods and Materials: After careful dosimetry series of viable zebrafish embryos were exposed to a single fraction whole-body neutron-irradiation (1,25; 1,875; 2; 2,5 Gy) at the research reactor of the Technical University of Budapest and to conventional 6 MeV photon beam at 24 hour post-fertilization (hpf). The survival and morphologic abnormalities (pericardial edema, spine curvature) of each embryo were assessed for each experiment at 24-hour intervals from the point of fertilization up to 168 hpf (defining the dose lethal for 50% (LD50)). Results: In the zebrafish embryo model LD50 at 20 Gy dose level was defined and the same lethality were found at 2 Gy dose from the reactor neutron beam resulting RBE of 10. Dose-dependent organ perturbations were detected on macroscopic (shortening of the body length, spine curvature, microcephaly, micro-ophthalmia, micrognathia, pericardial edema, and inhibition of yolk sac resorption) and microscopic (marked cellular changes in skin, cardiac, gastrointestinal system) with the same magnitude of dose difference. Conclusion: In our observations, we found that zebrafish embryo model can be used for investigating the effects of different type of ionizing radiation and this system proved to be highly efficient vertebrate model for preclinical examinations.

Keywords: ionizing radiation, LD50, relative biological effectiveness, zebrafish embryo

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Authors: Gabriela Ilie, Robert D. H. Rutledge

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A review of the literature reveals a need for longitudinal studies to properly understand the quality of life of prostate cancer survivors during their prostate cancer journey in order to identify opportunities for patient support and care during prostate cancer survivorship. In this study, mental health and relationship satisfaction were assessed longitudinally and by treatment modality among a population-based sample of Canadian adult men with a history of prostate cancer diagnosis. A total of 98 men, aged 51 or older with a history of prostate cancer completed an on-line 15-minute survey between May 2017 and February 2018, assessing mental health (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale) and relationship satisfaction (Dyadic Adjustment Scale) at baseline and at three months post-treatment with either active or nonactive prostate cancer treatment. Almost 1 in 6 men in this sample screened positive for mental health issues (17.34%, n=17) irrespective of treatment modality and most (n=11) were not currently on medication for depression, anxiety or both. Mental health outcomes were poorer for men with multimorbidity. For every instance of screening positive for mental health issues, 2.021 (95% CI:1.1 to 3.8) times more comorbidities were recorded. Relationship satisfaction and dyadic cohesion were statistically significantly lower from first assessment to 3 months for men who underwent multiple treatment modalities (surgery and radiation with hormonal therapy). Relationship satisfaction was also lower at 3 months for men who underwent radiation therapy. Almost 1 in 2 men in this sample (74%) indicated they did not attend a prostate cancer support group. Results suggest that treatment for mental health is underutilized in men with prostate cancer. Men who undergo multiple forms of active treatment appear more vulnerable to relationship dissatisfaction and feeling disconnected from their partner. Data points to important opportunities for patient education and care support during survivorship.

Keywords: prostate cancer survivorship, mental health, quality of life, relationship satisfaction

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Authors: Victoria Bessonova, Robert Dorrell, Nina Dethlefs, Evdokia Tapoglou, Katharine York

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As the global pursuit of renewable energy intensifies, offshore wind farms have emerged as a promising solution to combat climate change. The global offshore wind installed capacity is projected to increase 56-fold by 2055. However, the impacts of climate change, particularly changes in wave climate, are not widely understood. Offshore wind installation and maintenance activities often require specific weather windows, characterized by calm seas and low wave heights, to ensure safe and efficient operations. However, climate change-induced alterations in wave characteristics can reduce the availability of suitable weather windows, leading to delays and disruptions in project timelines. it applied the operational limits of installation and maintenance vessels to past and future climate wave projections. This revealed changes in the annual and monthly accessibility of offshore wind farms at key global development locations. When accessibility is only defined by significant wave height, spatial patterns in the annual accessibility roughly follow changes in significant wave height, with increased availability where significant wave height is decreasing. This resulted in a 1-6% increase in Europe and North America and a similar decrease in South America, Australia and Asia. Monthly changes suggest unchanged or slightly decreased (1-2%) accessibility in summer months and increased (2-6%) in winter. Further assessment includes assessing the sensitivity of accessibility to operational limits defined by wave height combined with wave period and wave height combined with wind speed. Results of this assessment will be included in the presentation. These findings will help stakeholders inform climate change adaptations in installation and maintenance planning practices.

Keywords: climate change, offshore wind, offshore wind installation, operations and maintenance, wave climate, wind farm accessibility

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Authors: Robert Prohaska, Arnaud Konan, Kenneth Kelly, Adam Ragatz, Adam Duran

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In an effort to evaluate the in-use performance of electrified Power Take-off (PTO) usage on bucket utility trucks operating under real-world conditions, data from 20 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles operating in California, USA were collected, compiled, and analyzed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Fleet Test and Evaluation team. In this paper, duty-cycle statistical analyses of class 5, medium-duty quick response trucks and class 8, heavy-duty material handler trucks are performed to examine and characterize vehicle dynamics trends and relationships based on collected in-use field data. With more than 100,000 kilometers of driving data collected over 880+ operating days, researchers have developed a robust methodology for identifying PTO operation from in-field vehicle data. Researchers apply this unique methodology to evaluate the performance and utilization of the conventional and electric PTO systems. Researchers also created custom representative drive-cycles for each vehicle configuration and performed modeling and simulation activities to evaluate the potential fuel and emissions savings for hybridization of the tractive driveline on these vehicles. The results of these analyses statistically and objectively define the vehicle dynamic and kinematic requirements for each vehicle configuration as well as show the potential for further system optimization through driveline hybridization. Results are presented in both graphical and tabular formats illustrating a number of key relationships between parameters observed within the data set that relates specifically to medium- and heavy-duty utility vehicles operating under real-world conditions.

Keywords: drive cycle, heavy-duty (HD), hybrid, medium-duty (MD), PTO, utility

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Authors: Wisdom Robert Duruji, Oluwasegun Christopher Akinleye

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This study reports on the impact of different ripening accelerators on the microbial load and proximate composition of plantain (Musa paradisiaca) and Banana (Musa sapientum) during the ripening process, and the nutrition implication for food security. The study comprised of four treatments, namely: Calcium carbide, Irvingia gabonensis fruits, Newbouldia laevis leaves and a control, where no ripening accelerator was applied to the fingers of plantain and banana. The unripe and ripened plantain and banana were subjected to microbial analysis by isolating and enumerating their micro flora using pour plate method; and also, their proximate composition was determined using standard methods. The result indicated that the bacteria count of plantain increased from 3.25 ± 0.33 for unripe to 5.31 ± 0.30 log cfu/g for (treated) ripened, and that of banana increased from 3.69 ± 0.11 for unripe to 5.26 ± 0.21 log cfu/g for ripened. Also, the fungal count of plantain increased from 3.20 ± 0.16 for unripe to 4.88 ± 0.22 log sfu/g for ripened; and that of banana increased from 3.61 ± 0.19 for unripe to 5.43 ± 0.26 for ripened. Ripened plantain fingers without any ripening accelerator (control) had significantly (p < 0.05) higher values of crude protein 3.56 ± 0.06%, crude fat 0.42 ± 0.04%, total ash 2.74 ± 0.15 and carbohydrate 31.10 ± 0.20; but with significantly lower value of moisture 62.14 ± 0.07% when compared with treated plantain. The proximate composition trend of treated and banana fingers control is similar to that of treated and plantain control, except that higher moisture content of 75.11 ± 0.07% and lesser protein, crude fat, total ash and carbohydrate were obtained from treated and ripened banana control when the treatments were compared with that of plantain. The study concluded that plantain is more nutritious (mealy) than a banana; also, the ripening accelerators increased the microbial load and reduced the nutritional status of plantain and banana.

Keywords: food nutrition, calcium carbide, rvingia gabonensis, newbouldia laevis, plantain, banana

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Authors: M. Gomaa Abdoelatef, Robert M. Field, Lee, Yong-Kwan

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Growing human populations have placed increased demands on water supplies and a heightened interest in desalination infrastructure. Key elements of the economics of desalination projects are thermal and electrical inputs. With growing concerns over the use of fossil fuels to (indirectly) supply these inputs, coupling of desalination with nuclear power production represents a significant opportunity. Individually, nuclear and desalination technologies have a long history and are relatively mature. For desalination, Reverse Osmosis (RO) has the lowest energy inputs. However, the economically driven output quality of the water produced using RO, which uses only electrical inputs, is lower than the output water quality from thermal desalination plants. Therefore, modern desalination projects consider that RO should be coupled with thermal desalination technologies (MSF, MED, or MED-TVC) with attendant steam inputs to permit blending to produce various qualities of water. A large nuclear facility is well positioned to dispatch large quantities of both electrical and thermal power. This paper considers the supply of thermal energy to a large desalination facility to examine heat balance impact on the nuclear steam cycle. The APR1400 nuclear plant is selected as prototypical from both a capacity and turbine cycle heat balance perspective to examine steam supply and the impact on electrical output. Extraction points and quantities of steam are considered parametrically along with various types of thermal desalination technologies to form the basis for further evaluations of economically optimal approaches to the interface of nuclear power production with desalination projects. In our study, the thermodynamic evaluation will be executed by DE-TOP which is the IAEA desalination program, it is approved to be capable of analyzing power generation systems coupled to desalination systems through various steam extraction positions, taking into consideration the isolation loop between the APR-1400 and the thermal desalination plant for safety concern.

Keywords: APR-1400, desalination, DE-TOP, IAEA, MSF, MED, MED-TVC, RO

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Authors: Omnia F. Elkommos

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In the course of teaching stylistics to undergraduate students of the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the linguistic tool kit of theories comes in handy and useful for the better understanding of the different literary genres: Poetry, drama, and short stories. In the present paper, a model of teaching of stylistics is compiled and suggested. It is a collaborative group project technique for use in the undergraduate diverse specialisms (Literature, Linguistics and Translation tracks) class. Students initially are introduced to the different linguistic tools and theories suitable for each literary genre. The second step is to apply these linguistic tools to texts. Students are required to watch videos performing the poems or play, for example, and search the net for interpretations of the texts by other authorities. They should be using a template (prepared by the researcher) that has guided questions leading students along in their analysis. Finally, a practical analysis would be written up using the practical analysis essay template (also prepared by the researcher). As per collaborative learning, all the steps include activities that are student-centered addressing differentiation and considering their three different specialisms. In the process of selecting the proper tools, the actual application and analysis discussion, students are given tasks that request their collaboration. They also work in small groups and the groups collaborate in seminars and group discussions. At the end of the course/module, students present their work also collaboratively and reflect and comment on their learning experience. The module/course uses a drama play that lends itself to the task: ‘The Bond’ by Amy Lowell and Robert Frost. The project results in an interpretation of its theme, characterization and plot. The linguistic tools are drawn from pragmatics, and discourse analysis among others.

Keywords: applied linguistic theories, collaborative learning, cooperative principle, discourse analysis, drama analysis, group project, online acting performance, pragmatics, speech act theory, stylistics, technology enhanced learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Ali A. Bazzi, Ameer Hamza, Riley O’Hara, Kimberly Kado, Karen H. Hagglund, Lamia Fathallah, Robert T. Morris

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Introduction: Endometrial Cancer is a common gynecologic malignancy primarily treated with complete surgical staging, which may include complete pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. The role of lymphadenectomy is controversial, especially the intraoperative indications for the procedure. Three factors are important in decision to proceed with lymphadenectomy: Myometrial invasion, maximum tumor dimension, and histology. Many institutions incorporate these criteria in varying degrees in the decision to proceed with lymphadenectomy. This investigation assesses the use of intraoperatively measured MTD with and without pre-operative histologic grade. Methods: This study compared retrospectively EEC patients with intraoperatively measured MTD ≤2 cm to those with MTD >2 cm from January 1, 2002 to August 31, 2017. This assessment compared those with MTD ≤ 2cm with endometrial biopsy (EB) grade 1-2 to patients with MTD > 2cm with EB grade 3. Lymph node metastasis (LNM), recurrence, and survival were compared in these groups. Results: This study reviewed 222 patient cases. In tumors > 2 cm, LNM occurred in 20% cases while in tumors ≤ 2 cm, LNM was found in 6% cases (p=0.04). Recurrence and mean survival based on last follow up visit in these two groups were not statistically different (p=0.78 and 0.36 respectively). Data demonstrated a trend that when combined with preoperative EB International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) grade, a higher proportion of patients with EB FIGO Grade 3 and MTD > 2 cm had LNM compared to those with EB FIGO Grade 1-2 and MTD ≤ 2 cm (43% vs, 11%, p=0.06). LNM was found in 15% of cases in which lymphadenectomy was performed based on current practices, whereas if the criteria of EB FIGO 3 and MTD > 2 cm were used the incidence of LNM would have been 44% cases. However, using this criterion, two patients would not have had their nodal metastases detected. Compared to the current practice, the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed criteria would be 60% and 81%, respectively. The PPV and NPV would be 43% and 90%, respectively. Conclusion: The results indicate that MTD combined with EB FIGO grade can detect LNM in a higher proportion of cases when compared to current practice. MTD combined with EB FIGO grade may eliminate the need of frozen section sampling in a substantial number of cases.

Keywords: endometrial cancer, FIGO grade, lymphadenectomy, tumor size

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Authors: Judith Mogouong, Philippe Constant, Robert Lavallee, Claude Guertin

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The emerald ash borer (EAB) is an exotic wood borer insect native from China, which is associated with important environmental and economic damages in North America. Beetles are known to be vectors of microbial communities related to their adaptive capacities. It is now established that environmental stress factors may induce physiological events on the host trees, such as phytochemical changes. Consequently, that may affect the establishment comportment of herbivorous insect. Considering the number of insects collected on ash trees (insects’ density) as an abiotic factor related to stress damage, the aim of our study was to explore the dynamic of EAB gut microbial community genome (microbiome) when facing that factor and to monitor its diversity. Insects were trapped using specific green Lindgren© traps. A gradient of the captured insect population along the St. Lawrence River was used to create three levels of insects’ density (low, intermediate, and high). After dissection, total DNA extracted from insect guts of each level has been sent for amplicon sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS2 region. The composition of microbial communities among sample appeared largely diversified with the Simpson index significantly different across the three levels of density for bacteria. Add to that; bacteria were represented by seven phyla and twelve classes, whereas fungi were represented by two phyla and seven known classes. Using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on Bray Curtis distances of 16S rRNA sequences, we observed a significant variation between the structure of the bacterial communities depending on insects’ density. Moreover, the analysis showed significant correlations between some bacterial taxa and the three classes of insects’ density. This study is the first to present a complete overview of the bacterial and fungal communities associated with the gut of EAB base on culture-independent methods, and to correlate those communities with a potential stress factor of the host trees.

Keywords: gut microbiome, DNA, 16S rRNA sequences, emerald ash borer

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Authors: Anderson S. Fonseca, Italo F. S. Da Silva, Robert D. A. Santos, Mayara G. Da Silva, Pedro H. C. Vieira, Antonio M. S. Sobrinho, Victor H. B. Lemos, Petterson S. Diniz, Anselmo C. Paiva, Eliana M. G. Monteiro

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In Brazil, the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) establishes that electrical energy companies are responsible for measuring and billing their customers. Among these regulations, it’s defined that a company must bill your customers within 27-33 days. If a relocation or a change of period is required, the consumer must be notified in writing, in advance of a billing period. To make it easier to organize a workday’s measurements, these companies create a reading plan. These plans consist of grouping customers into reading groups, which are visited by an employee responsible for measuring consumption and billing. The creation process of a plan efficiently and optimally is a capacitated clustering problem with constraints related to homogeneity and compactness, that is, the employee’s working load and the geographical position of the consuming unit. This process is a work done manually by several experts who have experience in the geographic formation of the region, which takes a large number of days to complete the final planning, and because it’s human activity, there is no guarantee of finding the best optimization for planning. In this paper, the GBKMeans method presents a technique based on K-Means and genetic algorithms for creating a capacitated cluster that respects the constraints established in an efficient and balanced manner, that minimizes the cost of relocating consumer units and the time required for final planning creation. The results obtained by the presented method are compared with the current planning of a real city, showing an improvement of 54.71% in the standard deviation of working load and 11.97% in the compactness of the groups.

Keywords: capacitated clustering, k-means, genetic algorithm, districting problems

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Authors: Ayman A. Al Hayek, Asirvatham A. Robert, Mohamed A. Al Dawish, Rim B. Braham, Hanouf S. Goudeh, Fahad S. Al Sabaan

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Introduction: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of insulin pump therapy on diabetes treatment satisfaction and glycemic control among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A 6-month, prospective study was conducted among 47 patients (aged17–24 years) with T1DM who attended the Insulin Pump Clinic at Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between April 2014 and November 2014. The respondents were purposively and conveniently selected and were interviewed using the Arabic version of the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire at baseline, 3, and 6 months. Demographics and clinical variables including hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were also collected. Results: The mean (±standard deviation) age of the study cohort was 19.1 ± 1.93 years. Seventeen patients were male (36.2%) and 30 were female (63.8%). Compared to baseline, significant positive differences were found in treatment satisfaction among female patients and patients with long-standing T1DM at 6 months. Frequency of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia declined significantly in female patient’s at 6 months and in patients who had a shorter duration of T1DM. Furthermore, significant positive differences were found in HbA1c levels among female patients and among those who had a shorter duration of T1DM compared to baseline. Both female and male patients and those with a shorter duration of T1DM showed significant decline in insulin necessity at6months when compared to baseline. Conclusion: Although multiple daily injections is a feasible preference for insulin supply, insulin pumps should also be considered for patients with T1DM as it appears to increase patients’ treatment satisfaction, decrease the frequency of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and reduce HbA1c levels.

Keywords: type 1 diabetes, insulin pump, Saudi Arabia, T1DM

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