Search results for: transforming growth factor beta 2

Authors: Ramon Hernán, Maria Teresa Corzo

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This study examines the impact and contribution of the main journals in the discipline of behavioral finance to determine the state of the art of the discipline and the growth lines and concepts studied to date. This is a unique and novel study given that a review of the discipline has not been carried out through the keywords of the articles that allows visualizing through this component of the research, which are the main topics of discussion and the relationships that arise between the concepts discussed. To carry out this study, 3,876 articles have been taken as a reference, which includes 15,859 keywords from the main journals responsible for the growth of the discipline.; Journal of Behavioral Finance, Review of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics and Review of Behavioral Finance. The results indicate which are the topics most covered in the discipline throughout the period from 2000 to 2020, how these concepts have been dealt with on a recurring basis along with others throughout the aforementioned period and how the different concepts have been grouped based on the keywords established by the authors for the classification of their articles with a network diagram to complete the analysis.

Keywords: behavioral finance, keywords, co-words, top journals, data visualization

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Authors: Saba Gachpaz, Hamid Reza Heidari

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The sharp increase in population growth leads to more pressure on agricultural areas to satisfy the food supply. To achieve this, more resources should be consumed and, besides other environmental concerns, highlight sustainable agricultural development. Land-use management is a crucial factor in obtaining optimum productivity. Machine learning is a widely used technique in the agricultural sector, from yield prediction to customer behavior. This method focuses on learning and provides patterns and correlations from our data set. In this study, nine physical control factors, namely, soil classification, electrical conductivity, normalized difference water index (NDWI), groundwater level, elevation, annual precipitation, pH of water, annual mean temperature, and slope in the alluvial plain in Khuzestan (an agricultural hotspot in Iran) are used to decide the best agricultural land use for both rainfed and irrigated agriculture for ten different crops. For this purpose, each variable was imported into Arc GIS, and a raster layer was obtained. In the next level, by using training samples, all layers were imported into the python environment. A random forest model was applied, and the weight of each variable was specified. In the final step, results were visualized using a digital elevation model, and the importance of all factors for each one of the crops was obtained. Our results show that despite 62% of the study area being allocated to agricultural purposes, only 42.9% of these areas can be defined as a suitable class for cultivation purposes.

Keywords: land suitability, machine learning, random forest, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Haile F. Darge, Hsieh C. Tsai

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The tumor microenvironment affects the therapeutic outcomes of cancer disease. In a malignant tumor, overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) provokes the production of pathologic vascular networks. This results in a hostile tumor environment that hinders anti-cancer drug activities and profoundly fuels tumor progression. In this study, we develop a strategy of sequential sustain release of the anti-angiogenic drug: Bevacizumab(BVZ), and anti-cancer drug: Doxorubicin(DOX) which had a synergistic effect on cancer treatment. Poly (D, L-Lactide)- Poly (ethylene glycol) –Poly (D, L-Lactide) (PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA) thermo-sensitive hydrogel was used as a vehicle for local delivery of drugs in a single platform. The in vitro release profiles of the drugs were investigated and confirmed a relatively rapid release of BVZ (73.56 ± 1.39%) followed by Dox (61.21 ± 0.62%) for a prolonged period. The cytotoxicity test revealed that the copolymer exhibited negligible cytotoxicity up to 2.5 mg ml-1 concentration on HaCaT and HeLa cells. The in vivo study on Hela xenograft nude mice verified that hydrogel co-loaded with BVZ and DOX displayed the highest tumor suppression efficacy for up to 36 days with pronounce anti-angiogenic effect of BVZ and with no noticeable damage on vital organs. Therefore, localized co-delivery of anti-angiogenic drug and anti-cancer drugs by the hydrogel system may be a promising approach for enhanced chemotherapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment.

Keywords: anti-angiogenesis, chemotherapy, controlled release, thermo-sensitive hydrogel

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Mikiale Gebreslase Gebremariam, Chai Huaqi, Tesfay Gebretsdkan Gebremichael, Dawit Nega Bekele

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In recent years, brownfield redevelopment projects (BRPs) have contributed to the overarching paradigm of the United Nations 2030 agendas. In the present circumstance, most developed nations adopted BRPs, an efficacious urban policy tool. However, in developing and some advanced countries, BRPs are lacking due to limitations of awareness, policy tools, and financial capability for cleaning up brownfield sites. For example, the growth and development of Ethiopian cities were achieved at the cost of poor urban planning, including no community consultations and excessive urbanization for future growth. The demand for land resources is more and more urgent as the result of an intermigration to major cities and towns for socio-economic reasons and population growth. In the past, the development mode of spreading major cities has made horizontal urbanizations stretching outwards. Expansion in search of more land resources, while the outer cities are growing, the inner cities are polluted by environmental pollution. It is noteworthy that the rapid development of cities has not brought about an increase in people's happiness index. Thus, the proposed management framework for managing brownfields in Ethiopia as a lesson to the developing nation facing similar challenges and growth will add immense value in solving the problems and give insights into brownfield land utilization. Under the umbrella of the grey incidence decision-making model and with the consideration of multiple stakeholders and tight environmental and economic constraints, the proposed management framework integrates different criteria from economic, social, environmental, technical, and risk aspects into the grey incidence decision-making model and gives useful guidance to manage brownfields in Ethiopia. Furthermore, it will contribute to the future development of the social economy and the missions of the 2030 UN sustainable development goals.

Keywords: Brownfields, environmental sustainability, Ethiopia, grey-incidence decision-making, sustainable urban development

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Authors: Tae Young Jin, Jin Soo Kim

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Carbon emissions have emerged as global concerns. Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) have published reports about Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions regularly. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have held a conference yearly since 1995. Especially, COP21 held at December 2015 made the Paris agreement which have strong binding force differently from former COP. The Paris agreement was ratified as of 4 November 2016, they finally have legal binding. Participating countries set up their own Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), and will try to achieve this. Thus, carbon emissions must be reduced. The energy sector is one of most responsible for carbon emissions and fossil fuels particularly are. Thus, this paper attempted to examine the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth. To achieve this, we adopted the Cobb-Douglas production function that consists of natural gas consumption, economic growth, capital, and labor using dependent panel analysis. Data were preprocessed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to remove cross-sectional dependency which can disturb the panel results. After confirming the existence of time-trended component of each variable, we moved to cointegration test considering cross-sectional dependency and structural breaks to describe more realistic behavior of volatile international indicators. The cointegration test result indicates that there is long-run equilibrium relationship between selected variables. Long-run cointegrating vector and Granger causality test results show that while natural gas consumption can contribute economic growth in the short-run, adversely affect in the long-run. From these results, we made following policy implications. Since natural gas has positive economic effect in only short-run, the policy makers in developing countries must consider the gradual switching of major energy source, from natural gas to sustainable energy source. Second, the technology transfer and financing business suggested by COP must be accelerated. Acknowledgement—This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Resources Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted financial resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20152510101880) and by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-205S1A3A2046684).

Keywords: developing countries, economic growth, natural gas consumption, panel data analysis

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Authors: Nouha Ben Salah, Mohamed Ali Omri

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This paper treats the association between disclosure level and the cost of equity capital in Tunisian’slisted firms. This relation is tested by using two models. The first is used for testing this relation directly by regressing firm specific estimates of cost of equity capital on market beta, firm size and a measure of disclosure level. The second model is used for testing this relation by introducing information asymmetry as mediator variable. This model is suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986) to demonstrate the role of mediator variable in general. Based on a sample of 21 non-financial Tunisian’s listed firms over a period from 2000 to 2004, the results prove that greater disclosure is associated with a lower cost of equity capital. However, the results of indirect relationship indicate a significant positive association between the level of voluntary disclosure and information asymmetry and a significant negative association between information asymmetry and cost of equity capital in contradiction with our previsions. Perhaps this result is due to the biases of measure of information asymmetry.

Keywords: cost of equity capital, voluntary disclosure, information asymmetry, and Tunisian’s listed non-financial firms

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Authors: Hyunjoo Park, Taehyun Kim, Taehyun Kim

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The government that declared 'de-nuclearization' pushes up renewable energy policies such as solar power and wind power as an alternative to nuclear power generation. However, local residents who are concerned about the development and natural disasters have been hit by opposition, and related businesses around the country are experiencing difficulties. There is also a voice saying that installing a large wind power generator will cause landslides, low frequencies and noise, which will have a bad influence. Renewal is only a harmful and disgusting facility for the residents. In this way, it is expected that extreme social conflicts will occur in the decision making process related to the locally unwanted land-use (LULU). The government's efforts to solve this problem have been steadily progressing, but the systematic methodology for bringing in active participation and opinion gathering of the residents has not yet been established except for the simple opinion poll or referendum. Therefore, it is time to identify the factors that concern the local residents about the wind power generation facilities, and to find ways to make policy decision-making possible. In this study, we analyze the perception of people about offshore and onshore wind power facilities through questionnaires or interviews, and examine quantitative and qualitative precedent studies to analyze them. In addition, the study evaluates what factors affect the local acceptance of wind power facilities. As a result of the factor analysis of the questionnaire items, factors affecting the residents' acceptance of the wind power facility were extracted from four factors such as environmental, economic, risk, social, and management factor. The study also found that the influence of the determinants of local acceptance on the regional acceptability differs according to the demographic characteristics such as gender and income level. This study will contribute to minimizing the conflict on the installation of wind power facilities through communication among the local residents.

Keywords: factor analysis, local acceptance, locally unwanted land-use, LULU, wind power generation facilities

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Authors: Tony Rizk

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Recent material advances and cost efficiencies are transforming the housing industry away from traditional lumber and gypsum material to alternate fiberboard material that is workable and resistant to fire, mold, and pest infestation. The use of these materials may add to the initial cost of construction. However, the life cycle (cradle to grave) cost of houses using these construction materials and methods are lower than the life cycle costs using traditional housing construction materials and methods. This paper will present four (4) case studies of sustainable house projects. Each project was designed and constructed using earthen-based, sustainable fiberboard material that is resistant to fire, mold, and infestation and fabricated at a very low material calorific value. These house projects have a living space ranging from 625 sq. ft. for an accessory dwelling unit and up to 3,200 sq. ft. 1-story and 2-story homes. For each case study, we will present the house engineering design and construction method, the initial construction costs, a summary of the life cycle costs, and a comparison to the life cycle cost of traditional housing available in the literature.

Keywords: residential housing, sustainable housing, life cycle cost, fire resistance, mold, infestation resistance

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Authors: A. D. Chandio, P. Xiao

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In this study, nickel aluminide coatings were deposited onto CMSX-4 single crystal superalloy and pure Ni substrates by using in-situ chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technique. The microstructural evolutions and coating thickness (CT) were studied upon the variation of processing conditions i.e. time and temperature. The results demonstrated (under identical conditions) that coating formed on pure Ni contains no substrate entrapments and have lower CT in comparison to one deposited on the CMSX-4 counterpart. In addition, the interdiffusion zone (IDZ) of Ni substrate is a γ’-Ni3Al in comparison to the CMSX-4 alloy that is βNiAl phase. The higher CT on CMSX-4 superalloy is attributed to presence of γ-Ni/γ’-Ni3Al structure which contains ~ 15 at.% Al before deposition (that is already present in superalloy). Two main deposition parameters (time and temperature) of the coatings were also studied in addition to standard comparison of substrate effects. The coating formation time was found to exhibit profound effect on CT, whilst temperature was found to change coating activities. In addition, the CT showed linear trend from 800 to 1000 °C, thereafter reduction was observed. This was attributed to the change in coating activities.

Keywords: βNiAl, in-situ CVD, CT, CMSX-4, Ni, microstructure

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Authors: Subbarao Pichuka, Amar Balakrishna Tej, Vikas Vemula

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In recent years, the frequency and intensity of urban floods have increased due to climate change all over the world provoking a significant loss in terms of human lives and property. This study investigates the effect of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes and population growth on the urban environmental conditions in the Indian metropolitan city namely Hyderabad. The centennial built-up area data have been downloaded from the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) web portal for various periods (1975 to 2014). The ArcGIS version 10.8 software is employed to convert the GHSL data into shape files and also to calculate the amount of built-up area in the study locations. The decadal population data are obtained from the Census from 1971 to 2011 and forecasted for the required years (1975 and 2014) utilizing the Geometric Increase Method. Next, the analysis has been carried out with respect to the increase in population and the corresponding rise in the built-up area. Further the effects of extreme rainfall events, which exacerbate urban flooding have also been reviewed. Results demonstrate that the population growth was the primary cause of the increase in impervious surfaces in the urban regions. It in turn leads to the intensification of surface runoff and thereby leads to Urban flooding. The built-up area has been doubled from 1975 to 2014 and the population growth has been observed between 109.24% to 400% for the past four decades (1971 to 2014) in the study area (Hyderabad). Overall, this study provides the hindsight on the current urban flooding scenarios, and the findings of this study can be used in the future planning of cities.

Keywords: urban LULC change, urban flooding, GHSL built-up data, climate change, ArcGIS

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Authors: Burak Köken, Hatice D. Arslan, Bilgehan Y. Çakmak

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Analyzing the relation networks between the hospital buildings which have complex structure and distinctive spatial relationships is quite difficult. The hospital buildings which require specialty in spatial relationship solutions during design and self-innovation through the developing technology should survive and keep giving service even after the disasters such as earthquakes. In this study, a hospital building where the load-bearing system was strengthened because of the insufficient earthquake performance and the construction of an additional building was required to meet the increasing need for space was discussed and a comparative spatial evaluation of the hospital building was made with regard to its status before the change and after the change. For this reason, spatial organizations of the building before change and after the change were analyzed by means of Space Syntax method and the effects of the change on space organization parameters were searched by applying an analytical procedure. Using Depthmap UCL software, connectivity, visual mean depth, beta and visual integration analyses were conducted. Based on the data obtained after the analyses, it was seen that the relationships between spaces of the building increased after the change and the building has become more explicit and understandable for the occupants. Furthermore, it was determined according to findings of the analysis that the increase in depth causes difficulty in perceiving the spaces and the changes considering this problem generally ease spatial use.

Keywords: architecture, hospital building, space syntax, strengthening

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Authors: Abderrezzak khatib

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Biogenic amines are low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds that have the potential to accumulate in food, posing a significant risk to food safety and human health. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory activity of three strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), against the growth and production of biogenic amines by both foodborne pathogens and food spoilage bacteria. The foodborne pathogens studied included Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella Paratyphi, while the food spoilage bacteria comprised Enterobacter cloacae and Proteus mirabilis. The methodology involved bacterial growth determination in petri dishes, bacterial culture extraction and derivatization, and biogenic amine analysis using HPLC. Our findings revealed that the inhibitory effects of LAB on these pathogens varied, with all three LAB strains demonstrating a remarkable reduction in the total bacterial count when combined with most pathogens, compared to the individual cultures of the pathogens. Furthermore, the presence of LAB in co-cultures with the pathogens resulted in a significant decrease in the production of tyramine and other biogenic amines by the pathogens themselves. These results suggest that LAB strains hold considerable promise in preventing the accumulation of biogenic amines in food products, thereby enhancing food safety. This study provides insights into the potential utilization of LAB in the context of preserving and ensuring the safety of food products. It highlights the significance of conducting additional research endeavors to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved and to identify the precise bioactive compounds that are responsible for the observed inhibitory effects.

Keywords: food safety, lactic acid bacteria, foodborne pathogens, food spoilage bacteria, biogenic amines, tyrosine

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Authors: Tushar Vasant Salunkhe, Sariput M. Nawghare, Maheboobsab B. Nadaf, Sushovan Dutta, J. N. Mandal

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The model tests were conducted in the laboratory without and with plastic recycled polymer in fly ash steep slopes overlaying soft foundation soils like fly ash and power soil in order to check the stability of steep slope. In this experiment, fly ash is used as a filling material, and Plastic Recycled Polymers of diameter = 3mm and length = 4mm were made from the waste plastic product (lower grade plastic product). The properties of fly ash and plastic recycled polymers are determined. From the experiments, load and settlement have measured. From these data, load–settlement curves have been reported. It has been observed from test results that the load carrying capacity of mixture fly ash with Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is more than that of fly ash slope. The deformation of Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is slightly more than that of fly ash slope. A Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) was also evaluated using PLAXIS 3D version. The failure pattern, deformations and factor of safety are reported based on analytical programme. The results from experimental data and analytical programme are compared and reported.

Keywords: factor of safety, finite element method (FEM), fly ash, plastic recycled polymer

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Authors: Samer Katerji, Mustafa Ozakça, Esra Demircioğlu

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The inner-city slums become a global phenomenon problem. It is widely distributed in separate zones through the urban textures, threatens cities in physical, economic and social aspects. It often has illegal settlements with unsafe and unhealthy conditions. By the time, it grown up rapidly followed by growing in its problems. According to United Nations, in some cities, up to 80 percent of the population lives in slums. Fifty-five million new slum dwellers have been added to the global population since 2000. Both developed and developing countries started to figure out mechanics to find solutions, which is suitable to solve the inner-city slums problems. In turn, the planning agenda of Turkey has been focused on urban transformation as a solution for inner-city slums problems since the 2000s. The current laws after 2004 changed all of the statements on the urban transformation of the country. This paper come to explain the urban transformation approach as qualified presses in dealing with inner-city slums problems of turkey. After that, it highlights one of the earliest ongoing transformation projects in Gaziantep city, which is adopted by the local municipalities. The study includes assessment of the pros and cons of pursuing the project and identifying the potential consequences. This is more likely to keep up with the efforts of Gaziantep Municipality in developing and transforming slum areas.

Keywords: transformation, urban, slums, Gaziantep

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Authors: Joanne Rieta Miranda

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Learning anatomy and physiology among Deaf Non-Science major students is a challenge. They have this mindset that Anatomy and Physiology are difficult and very technical. In this study, nine (9) deaf students who are business majors were considered. Non-conventional teaching strategies and classroom activities were employed such as cooperative learning, virtual lab, Facebook live, big sky, blood typing, mind mapping, reflections, etc. Of all the activities; the deaf students ranked cooperative learning as the best learning activity. This is where they played doctors. They measured the pulse rate, heart rate and blood pressure of their partner classmate. In terms of mindset, 2 out of 9 students have a growth mindset with some fixed ideas while 7 have a fixed mindset with some growth ideas. All the students passed the course. Three out of nine students got a grade of 90% and above. The teacher was evaluated by the deaf students as very satisfactory with a mean score of 3.54. This means that the learner-centered practices in the classroom are manifested to a great extent.

Keywords: deaf students, learning anatomy and physiology, teaching strategies, learner-entered practices

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Authors: Margareth E. Bolla, Ludfi Djakfar, Achmad Wicaksono

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The increase in the number of motorcycle users in Indonesia is in line with the increase in accidents involving motorcycles. Several previous studies have shown that humans are the biggest factor causing accidents, and the driver's personality factor will affect his behavior on the road. This study was conducted to see how a person's personality traits will affect the probability of having an accident while driving. The Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire and the Honda Riding Trainer (HRT) simulator were used as measuring tools, while the analysis carried out was logistic regression analysis. The results of the descriptive analysis of the respondent's personality based on the BFI show that the majority of drivers have the dominant character of neuroticism (34%), while the smallest group is the driver with the dominant type of openness character (6%). The percentage of motorists who were not involved in an accident was 54%. The results of the logistic regression analysis form a mathematical model as follows Y = -3.852 - 0.288 X1 + 0.596 X2 + 0.429 X3 - 0.386 X4 - 0.094 X5 + 0.436 X6 + 0.162 X7, where the results of hypothesis testing indicate that the variables openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, history of traffic accidents and age at starting driving did not have a significant effect on the probability of a motorcyclist being involved in an accident.

Keywords: accidents, BFI, probability, simulator

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Authors: Preshanthan Moodley, E. B. Gueguim Kana

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This study examines the kinetics of S. cerevisiae BY4743 growth and bioethanol production from sugarcane leaf waste (SLW), utilizing two different optimized pretreatment regimes; under two fermentation modes: steam salt-alkali filtered enzymatic hydrolysate (SSA-F), steam salt-alkali unfiltered (SSA-U), microwave salt-alkali filtered (MSA-F) and microwave salt-alkali unfiltered (MSA-U). The kinetic coefficients were determined by fitting the Monod, modified Gompertz, and logistic models to the experimental data with high coefficients of determination R² > 0.97. A maximum specific growth rate (µₘₐₓ) of 0.153 h⁻¹ was obtained under SSA-F and SSA-U whereas, 0.150 h⁻¹ was observed with MSA-F and MSA-U. SSA-U gave a potential maximum bioethanol concentration (Pₘ) of 31.06 g/L compared to 30.49, 23.26 and 21.79g/L for SSA-F, MSA-F and MSA-U respectively. An insignificant difference was observed in the μmax and Pm for the filtered and unfiltered enzymatic hydrolysate for both SSA and MSA pretreatments, thus potentially reducing a unit operation. These findings provide significant insights for process scale up.

Keywords: lignocellulosic bioethanol, microwave pretreatment, sugarcane leaves, kinetics

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Authors: Chih Ming Kung

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This study is an empirical study examining the enrollment rate and dropout rate of students from the perspectives of students’ learning, parents’ involvement and the learning process. Methods: Using the data collected from the entry website of Internet of Things (IoT), parents’ participation and the installation pattern of exit poll website, an investigation was conducted. Results: This study discovered that in the aspect of the degree of involvement, the attractiveness of courses, self-performance and departmental loyalty exerts significant influences on the four aspects: psychological benefits, physical benefits, social benefits and educational benefits of learning benefits. Parents’ participation also exerts a significant influence on the learning benefits. A suitable tool on the cloud was designed to collect the dynamic big data of students’ learning process. Conclusion: This research’s results can be valuable references for the government when making and promoting related policies, with more macro view and consideration. It is also expected to be contributory to schools for the practical study of promotion for enrollment.

Keywords: students’ learning factor, parents’ involvement, involvement, technology

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Authors: Eyal Boers

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This paper shall demonstrate how films can offer a valuable and innovative approach to the study of images, stereotypes, and national identity. "Black Book" ("Zwartboek", 2006), a World War Two film directed by Paul Verhoeven, tells the story of Rachel Stein, a young Jewish woman who becomes a member of a resistance group in the Netherlands. The main hypothesis in this paper maintains that Rachel's character possesses both features of the Dutch prototype (a white, secular, sexual, freedom-loving individualist who seems "Dutch" enough to be accepted into a Dutch resistance group and even infiltrate the local Nazi headquarters) and features which can be defined as specifically Jewish (a black-haired victim persecuted by the Nazis, transforming herself into a gentile, while remaining loyal to her fellow Jews and ultimately immigrating to Israel and becoming a Hebrew teacher in a Kibbutz). Finally, this paper claims that Rachel's "Dutchness" is symptomatic of Dutch nostalgia in the 21st century for the Jews as "others" who blend into dominant Dutch culture, while Rachel's "Jewish Otherness" reflects a transnational identity – one that is always shifting and traverses cultural and national boundaries. In this sense, a film about Dutch Jews in the Second World War reflects on issues of identity in the 21st Century.

Keywords: Dutch, film, stereotypes, identity

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Authors: Marianne D. M. Rendon, Sonia P. Acda, Veneranda A. Magpantay, Norma N. Fajardo, Amado A. Angeles

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The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of supplementing broiler starter diet with different levels of an essential oil blend (EOB) containing capsaicin, carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde on the performance of broilers. A total of 300 day-old straight-run Cobb broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three treatments after 7-day group brooding following a completely randomized design (CRD). Birds assigned in treatment 1 were given starter basal diet while those in treatments 2 and 3 were given starter basal diet with 400 mg/kg antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) and 150 mg/kg EOB, respectively, until the 28th day. Basal finisher feed were given for all the treatments until harvest. Following 37 d feeding, body weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, dressing percentage, livability and jejunal villi height were determined. Results showed no significant differences (P>0.05) in growth performance. However, villi height and crypt depth was significantly lower for birds fed EOB.

Keywords: broiler, capsaicin, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, essential oil

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Authors: Yadong Liu

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The experimental study on reduction carbonization of coke containing iron respectively with the particle size of <0.3mm, 0.3-0.6mm and 0.6-0.9mm and synthetic sea sand ore smelting reduction titanium-bearing slag as material were studied under the conditions of holding 6h at most at 1500℃. The effects of coke containing iron particle size and heat preservation time on the formation of TiC and the size of TiC crystal were studied by XRD, SEM and EDS. The results show that it is not good for the formation, concentration and growth of TiC crystal when the particle size of coke containing iron is too small or too large. The suitable particle size is 0.3~0.6mm. The heat preservation time of 2h basically ensures that all the component TiO2 in the slag are reduced and carbonized and converted to TiC. The size of TiC crystal will increase with the prolongation of heat preservation time. The thickness of the TiC layer can reach 20μm when the heat preservation time is 6h.

Keywords: coke containing iron, formation and concentration and growth of TiC, reduction and carbonization, titanium-bearing slag

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Authors: Staniek Halina

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The inappropriate trace elements supply such as iron(III) and chromium(III) may be risk factors of many metabolic disorders (e.g., anemia, diabetes, as well cause toxic effect). However, little is known about their mutual interactions and their impact on these disturbances. The effects of Cr(III) supplementation with a deficit or excess supply of Fe(III) in vivo conditions are not known yet. The objective of the study was to investigate the combined effect of different Fe(III) levels in the diet and simultaneous Cr(III) supplementation on the Ca distribution in organs in healthy rats. The assessment was based on a two-factor (2x3) experiment carried out on 54 female Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus). The animals were randomly divided into 9 groups and for 6 weeks, they were fed semi-purified diets AIN-93 with three different Fe(III) levels in the diet as a factor A [control (C) 45 mg/kg (100% Recommended Daily Allowance for rodents), deficient (D) 5 mg/kg (10% RDA), and oversupply (H) 180 mg/kg (400% RDA)]. The second factor (B) was the simultaneous dietary supplementation with Cr(III) at doses of 1, 50 and 500 mg/kg of the diet. Iron(III) citrate was the source of Fe(III). The complex of Cr(III) with propionic acid, also called Cr₃ or chromium(III) propionate (CrProp), was used as a source of Cr(III) in the diet. The Ca content of analysed samples (liver, kidneys, spleen, heart, and femur) was determined with the Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) method. It was found that different dietary Fe(III) supply as well as Cr(III) supplementation independently and in combination influenced Ca metabolism in healthy rats. Regardless of the supplementation of Cr(III), the oversupply of Fe(III) (180 mg/kg) decreased the Ca content in the liver and kidneys, while it increased the Ca saturation of bone tissue. High Cr(III) doses lowered the hepatic Ca content. Moreover, it tended to decrease the Ca content in the kidneys and heart, but this effect was not statistically significant. The combined effect of the experimental factors on the Ca content in the liver and the femur was observed. With the increase in the Fe(III) content in the diet, there was a decrease in the Ca level in the liver and an increase in bone saturation, and the additional Cr(III) supplementation intensified those effects. The study proved that the different Fe(III) content in the diet, independently and in combination with Cr(III) supplementation, affected the Ca distribution in organisms of healthy rats.

Keywords: calcium, chromium(III), iron(III), rats, supplementation

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Authors: Marko Kolakovic

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Creative industries are an important sector of growth and development of knowledge economies. They have a positive impact on employment, economic growth, export and the quality of life in the areas where they are developed. Creative sectors include architecture, design, advertising, publishing, music, film, television and radio, video games, visual and performing arts and heritage. Following the positive trends of development of creative industries on the global and European level, this paper analyzes creative industries in general and specific characteristics of creative entrepreneurship. Special focus in this paper is put on the influence of the information communication technology on the development of new creative business models and protection of the intellectual property rights. One part of the paper is oriented on the analysis of the status of creative industries and creative entrepreneurship in Croatia. The main objective of the paper is by using the statistical analysis of creative industries in Croatia and information gained during the interviews with entrepreneurs, to make conclusions about potentials and development of creative industries in Croatia. Creative industries in Croatia are at the beginning of their development and growth strategy still does not exist at the national level. Statistical analysis pointed out that in 2015 creative enterprises made 9% of all enterprises in Croatia, employed 5,5% of employed people and their share in GDP was 4,01%. Croatian creative entrepreneurs are building competitive advantage using their creative resources and creating specific business models. The main obstacles they meet are lack of business experience and impossibility of focusing on the creative activities only. In their business, they use digital technologies and are focused on export. The conclusion is that creative industries in Croatia have development potential, but it is necessary to take adequate measures to use this potential in a right way.

Keywords: creative entrepreneurship, knowledge economy, business models, intellectual property

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Authors: Gaoyuan Wang, Tian Chen, Junnan Liu

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Facing a period of major change that’s rarely seen in a century, China formulates the 14th Five-Year Plan and places emphasis on promoting high-quality development. In this context, the overall urban design has become a crucial and systematic tool for high-quality urban development. However, there are bottlenecks in the nature definition, content scope and transmission mechanisms of the current overall urban design in China. The paper interprets the emerging demands of the 14th Five-Year Plan on urban design in terms of new value-quality priority, new dynamic-space performance, new target-region coordination and new path-refined governance. Based on the new trend and appeal, the multi-dimensional thinking integrated with the major tasks of urban design are proposed accordingly, which is the biomass thinking in ecological, production and living element, the strategic thinking in spatial structure, the systematic thinking in the cityscape, the low-carbon thinking in urban form, the governance thinking in public space, the user thinking in design implementation. The paper explores the possibility of transforming the value thinking and technical system of urban design in China and provides a breakthrough path for the urban planning and design industry to better respond to the propositions of the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan.

Keywords: China’s 14th five-year plan, overall urban design, urban design thinking, transformation of urban design

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Authors: Svetlana Gusarova

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The essential role in the recent development of world economy has led to the developing countries, notably to BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Over the next 50 years the BRICS countries are expected to be the engines of global trade and economic growth. Trade cooperation of BRICS countries can enhance their economic development. BRICS countries were among Top 10 world exporters of office and telecom equipment, of textiles, of clothing, of iron and steel, of chemicals, of agricultural products, of automotive products, of fuel and mining products. China was one of the main trading partners of all BRICS countries, maintaining close relationship with all BRICS countries in the development of trade. Author analyzed trade complementarity of BRICS countries and revealed the high level of complementarity of their trade flows in connection with availability of specialization in different types of goods. The correlation and regression analysis of communication of Intra-BRICS merchandise turnover and their GDP (PPP) revealed very strong impact on the development of their economies.

Keywords: BRICS countries, trade cooperation, complementarity, regression analysis

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Authors: Ahmed Stifi, Sascha Gentes, Fritz Gehbauer

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The construction industry is perhaps one of the oldest industry of the world. The ancient monuments like the egyptian pyramids, the temples of Greeks and Romans like Parthenon and Pantheon, the robust bridges, old Roman theatres, the citadels and many more are the best testament to that. The industry also has a symbiotic relationship with other . Some of the heavy engineering industry provide construction machineries, chemical industry develop innovative construction materials, finance sector provides fund solutions for complex construction projects and many more. Construction Industry is not only mammoth but also very complex in nature. Because of the complexity, construction industry is prone to various tribulations which may have the propensity to hamper its growth. The comparitive study of this industry with other depicts that it is associated with a state of tardiness and delay especially when we focus on the managerial aspects and the study of triple constraint (time, cost and scope). While some institutes says the complexity associated with it as a major reason, others like lean construction, refers to the wastes produced across the construction process as the prime reason. This paper introduces corruption as one of the prime factors for such delays.To support this many international reports and studies are available depicting that construction industry is one of the most corrupt sectors worldwide, and the corruption can take place throught the project cycle comprising project selection, planning, design, funding, pre-qualification, tendering, execution, operation and maintenance, and even through the reconstrction phase. It also happens in many forms such as bribe, fraud, extortion, collusion, embezzlement and conflict of interest and the self-sufficient. As a solution to cope the corruption in construction industry, the paper introduces the integrity as a key factor and build a new integrity framework to develop and implement an integrity management system for construction companies and construction projects.

Keywords: corruption, construction industry, integrity, lean construction

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Authors: Yudhajit Datta

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Will is a phenomenon that has puzzled humanity for a long time. It is a belief that Will Power of an individual affects the success achieved by an individual in life. It is thought that a person endowed with great will power can overcome even the most crippling setbacks of life while a person with a weak will cannot make the most of life even the greatest assets. Behavioral aspects of the human experience such as will are rarely subjected to quantitative study owing to the numerous uncontrollable parameters involved. This work is an attempt to subject the phenomena of will to the test of an artificial neural network. The claim being tested is that will power of an individual largely determines success achieved in life. In the study, an attempt is made to incorporate the behavioral phenomenon of will into a computational model using data pertaining to the success of individuals obtained from an experiment. A neural network is to be trained using data based upon part of the model, and subsequently used to make predictions regarding will corresponding to data points of success. If the prediction is in agreement with the model values, the model is to be retained as a candidate. Ultimately, the best-fit model from among the many different candidates is to be selected, and used for studying the correlation between success and will.

Keywords: will power, will, success, apathy factor, random factor, characteristic function, life story

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Authors: Tuji Mohammed Sani

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Back ground: An open tibial fracture is an injury where the fractured bone directly communicates with the outside environment. Due to the specific anatomical features of the tibia (limited soft tissue coverage), more than quarter of its fractures are classified as open, representing the most common open long-bone injuries. Open tibial fractures frequently cause significant bone comminution, periosteal stripping, soft tissue loss, contamination and are prone to bacterial entry with biofilm formation, which increases the risk of deep bone infection. Objective: The main objective of the study was to determine Prevalence of infection and its associated factors in surgically treated open tibial fracture in Addis Ababa Burn Emergency and Trauma (AaBET) center. Method: A facility based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among patient treated for open tibial fracture at AaBET center from September 2018 to September 2021. The data was collected from patient’s chart using structured data collection form, and Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Bivariable and multiple binary logistic regression were fitted. Multicollinearity was checked among candidate variables using variance inflation factor and tolerance, which were less than 5 and greater than 0.2, respectively. Model adequacy were tested using Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fitness test (P=0.711). AOR at 95% CI was reported, and P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: This study found that 33.9% of the study participants had an infection. Initial IV antibiotic time (AOR=2.924, 95% CI:1.160- 7.370) and time of wound closure from injury (AOR=3.524, 95% CI: 1.798-6.908), injury to admission time (AOR=2.895, 95% CI: 1.402 – 5.977). and definitive fixation method (AOR=0.244, 95% CI: 0.113 – 0.4508) were the factors found to have a statistically significant association with the occurrence of infection. Conclusion: The rate of infection in open tibial fractures indicates that there is a need to improve the management of open tibial fracture treated at AaBET center. Time from injury to admission, time from injury to first debridement, wound closure time, and initial Intra Venous antibiotic time from the injury are an important factor that can be readily amended to improve the infection rate. Whether wound closed before seven days or not were more important factor associated with occurrences of infection.

Keywords: infection, open tibia, fracture, magnitude

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Authors: Men An Pan, Ho Hsiung Huang, Jui Chuan Lin, Tsui Hsun Wu, Hsing Yuan Yen

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Pingtung County, located in the southernmost region of Taiwan, has the largest number of pig farms in the country. In the past, livestock operators in Dongpian Village discharged their wastewater into the nearby water bodies, causing water pollution in the local rivers and polluting the air with the stench of the pig excrement. These resulted in many complaints from the local residents. In response to a long time fighting back of the community against the livestock farms due to the confrict, the County Government's Environmental Protection Bureau (PTEPB) examined potential wayouts in addition to heavy fines to the perpetrators. Through helping the livestock farms to upgrade their pollution prevention equipment, promoting the reuse of biogas residue and slurry from the pig excrement, and environmental education, the confrict was successfully resolved. The properly treated wastewater from the livestock farms has been freely provided to the neighboring farmlands via pipelines and tankers. Thus, extensive cultivation of bananas, papaya, red dragon fruit, Inca nut, and cocoa has resulted in 34% resource utilization of biogas residue as a fertilizer. This has encouraged farmers to reduce chemical fertilizers and use microbial materials like photosynthetic bacteria after banning herbicides while lowering the cost of wastewater treatment in livestock farms and alleviating environmental pollution simultaneously. That is, the livestock farms fully demonstrate the determination to fulfill their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Due to the success, Eight farms jointly established a social enterprise - "Dongpian Gemstone Village Co., Ltd." to promote organic farming through a "shared farm." The company appropriates 5% of its total revenue back to the community through caregiving services for the elderly and a fund for young local farmers. The community adopted the Satoyama Initiative in accordance with the Conference of the CBD COP10. Through the positive impact of environmental education, the community seeks to realize the coexistence between society and nature while maintaining and developing socio-economic activities (including agriculture) with respect for nature and building a harmonic relationship between humans and nature. By way of sustainable management of resources and ensuring biodiversity, the community is transforming into a socio-ecological production landscape. Apart from nature conservation and watercourse ecology, preserving local culture is also a key focus of the environmental education. To mitigate the impact of global warming and climate change, the community and the government have worked together to develop a disaster prevention and relief system, strive to establish a low-carbon emitting homeland, and become a model for resilient communities. By the power of environmental education, this community has turned its residents’ hearts and minds into concrete action, fulfilled social responsibility, and moved towards realizing the UN SDGs. Even though it is not the only community to integrate government agencies, research institutions, and NGOs for environmental education, it is a prime example of a low-carbon sustainable community that achieves more than 9 SDGs, including responsible consumption and production, climate change action, and diverse partnerships. The community is also leveraging environmental education to become a net-zero carbon community targeted by COP26.

Keywords: environmental education, biogas residue, biogas slurry, CSR, SDGs, climate change, net-zero carbon emissions

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Authors: Deng Tingting

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There is a very close interaction between the rapid development of the real estate industry and regional urbanization. The real estate problem can be boiled down to the problem of urbanization, in essence. The growth of hundreds of millions of people in the future will determine the development of low-level demand in the real estate market. At the same time, the practical problems of urbanization also seriously restrict the healthy development of real estate itself. The latter two interact with each other by adjusting the industrial structure, economic aggregate, regional population flow, and many other linkage factors. Through the case analysis of Chongqing, this paper finds that the urbanization of Chongqing and the overall development level of the real estate industry are still in the stage of development and upgrading, and its development potential and future development and application space are still very large. Therefore, from the perspective of the regional economy, studying the interaction between the two is of great significance to accelerate the process of urbanization in Chongqing, promote the healthy development of the real estate industry, and promote the rapid growth of the regional economy.

Keywords: urbanization, demographics, real estate, interrelationships

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