Search results for: metal-proton exchange reaction

Authors: Saeed Chehri, Sirvan Moradi, Amin Rostami

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Cooperative catalyst systems have been developed as highly promising sustainable alternatives to traditional catalysts. In these catalysts, two or more catalytic centers cooperate to reduce the energy of chemical transformations. In nature, such systems are abundantly seen in metalloenzymes that use metal and an organic cofactor. We have designed a reusable cooperative catalyst oxidation system consisting of palladium nanoparticles and polyoxometalate. This biomimetic cooperative catalytic system was synthesized by the stepwise immobilization of palladium nanoparticlesandpolyoxometalateinto the same cavity of siliceous mesocellularfoams (Pd-POM@MCF)and wascharacterizedby SEM, EDX, FT-IR, TGAand ICP techniques. POM-Pd@MCF/HQexhibits high activity toward aerobic oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compoundsin water solvent at room temperature. The major novelties and advantages of this oxidation method are as follows: (i) this is the first report of the co-immobilization of polyoxometalateand palladium for use as a robust and highlyefficient heterogeneouscooperative oxidative nanocatalyst system for aerobic oxidation of alcohols, (ii) oxidation of alcoholswere performed using an ideal oxidant with good to high yields in a green solvent at ambient temperature and (iii) the immobilization of the oxygen-activating catalyst(polyoxometalate) and oxidizing catalyst (Pd) onto MCF provide practical cooperative catalyst the system that can be reused several times without a significant loss of activity (vi) the methodsconform to several of the guiding principles of green chemistry.

Keywords: palladium nanoparticles, polyoxometalate, reusable cooperative catalytic system, biomimetic oxidation reaction

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Authors: Hossein Mottaghi T., Amir R. Masoodi

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This study presents a finite curved element for analyzing the static behavior of curved beams within the elastic range. The objective is to enhance accuracy while reducing the number of elements by incorporating first-order shear deformations of Timoshenko beams. Initially, finite element formulations are developed by considering polynomial initial functions for axial, shear, and rotational deformations for a three-node element. Subsequently, nodal interpolation functions for this element are derived, followed by the construction of the element stiffness matrix. To enable the utilization of the stiffness matrix in the static analysis of curved beams, the constructed matrix in the local coordinates of the element is transformed to the global coordinate system using the rotation matrix. A numerical benchmark example is investigated to assess the accuracy and effectiveness of this method. Moreover, the influence of spring stiffness on the rotation of the endpoint of a clamped beam is examined by substituting each support reaction of the beam with a spring. In the parametric study, the effect of the central angle of the beam on the rotation of the beam's endpoint in a cantilever beam under a concentrated load is examined. This research encompasses various mechanical, geometrical, and boundary configurations to evaluate the static characteristics of curved beams, thus providing valuable insights for their analysis and examination.

Keywords: curved beam, finite element method, first-order shear deformation theory, elastic support

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Authors: Seyyed Mohammad Amin Mousavi Sagharchi, Alireza Mahmoudi Nasab, Tim Bakker

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Introduction: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the most intelligent bacterium that existed in the world to our best knowledge. This bacterium can cause tuberculosis (TB) which is responsible for its spread speed and murder of millions of people around the world. MTB has the practical function to escape from anti-tuberculosis drugs (AT), for this purpose, it handles some mutations in the main genes and creates new patterns for inhibited genes. Method and materials: Researchers have their best tries to safely isolate MTB from the sputum specimens of 35 patients in some hospitals in the Tehran province and detect MTB by culture on Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium and microscopic examination. DNA was extracted from the established bacterial colony by enzymatic extraction method. It was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, reverse hybridization, and evaluation for detection of resistance genes; generally, researchers apply GenoType MTBDRplus assay. Results: Investigations of results declare us that 21 of the isolated specimens (about 60%) have mutation in rpoB gene, which resisted to rifampicin (most prevalence), and 8 of them (about 22.8%) have mutation in katG or inhA genes which resisted to isoniazid. Also, 4 of them (about 11.4%) don't have any mutation, and 2 of them (about 5.7%) have mutation in every three genes, which makes them resistant to the two drugs mentioned above. Conclusion: Rifampicin and isoniazid are two essential AT that using in the first line of treatment. Resistance in rpoB, and katG, and inhA genes related to mentioned drugs lead to ineffective treatment.

Keywords: mycobacterium tuberculosis, tuberculosis, drug resistance, isoniazid, rifampicin

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Authors: Jiang Xu, Daoping Wang, Qun Li, Yinghong Pan

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2,4-Epibrassinolide (EBR), which is a kind of plant hormone Brassinosteroids (BRs), is widely studied and applied in the global scale but the proteomic characteristics of EBR alleviating low temperature stress in rice seedling leaves are still not clear. In this study, seeding rice of Nipponbare were treated with EBR and distilled water, then stressed at 4℃ or 26 ℃, and analyzed by mass spectrometry analysis, verified by parallel reaction monitoring technique (PRM). The results showed that 5778 proteins were identified in total and 4834 proteins were identified with quantitative information. Among them, 401 up-regulated and 220 down-regulated proteins may be related to EBR alleviating low temperature stress in rice seedling leaves. The molecular functions of most of up-regulated proteins are RNA binding and hydrolase activity and are mainly enriched in the pathways of carbon metabolism, folic acid synthesis, and amino acid biosynthesis. The down-regulated proteins are mainly related to catalytic activity and oxidoreductase activity and are mainly enriched in the pathways of limonene and pinene degradation, riboflavin metabolism, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, and other metabolic pathways. PRM validation and literature analysis showed that NADP-malic acidase, peroxidase, 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, enolase, glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase are closely related to the effect of EBR on low temperature stress. These results also suggested that BRs could relieve the effect of low temperature stress on rice seed germination in many ways.

Keywords: 2, 4-Epibrassinolid, low temperature stress, proteomic analysis, rice

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Authors: Siti Aishah Hasbullah

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Studies on identification of pork content in food have grown rapidly to meet the Halal food standard in Malaysia. The used mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) approaches for the identification of pig species is thought to be the most precise marker due to the mtDNA genes are present in thousands of copies per cell, the large variability of mtDNA. The standard method commonly used for DNA detection is based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method combined with gel electrophoresis but has major drawback. Its major drawbacks are laborious, need longer time and toxic to handle. Therefore, the need for simplicity and fast assay of DNA is vital and has triggered us to develop DNA biosensors for porcine DNA detection. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop electrochemical DNA biosensor based on ruthenium (II) complex, [Ru(bpy)2(p-PIP)]2+ as DNA hybridization label. The interaction of DNA and [Ru(bpy)2(p-HPIP)]2+ will be studied by electrochemical transduction using Gold Screen-Printed Electrode (GSPE) modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and succinimide acrylic microspheres. The electrochemical detection by redox active ruthenium (II) complex was measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The results indicate that the interaction of [Ru(bpy)2(PIP)]2+ with hybridization complementary DNA has higher response compared to single-stranded and mismatch complementary DNA. Under optimized condition, this porcine DNA biosensor incorporated modified GSPE shows good linear range towards porcine DNA.

Keywords: gold, screen printed electrode, ruthenium, porcine DNA

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Authors: Jia Xue, Frederica G. Lamar, Siyu Lin, Jennifer G. Lamori, Samendra Sherchan

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Brackish water samples from Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana were assessed for the presence of pathogenic amoeba Naegleria fowleri, which causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). In our study, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods were used to determine N. fowleri, E. coli, and Enterococcus in water collected from Lake Pontchartrain. A total of 158 water samples were analyzed over the 10-month sampling period. Statistically significant positive correlation between water temperature and N. fowleri concentration was observed. N. fowleri target sequence was detected at 35.4% (56/158) of the water samples from ten sites around the Lake ranged from 11.6 GC/100 ml water to 457.8 GC/100 ml water. A single factor (ANOVA) analysis shows the average concentration of N. fowleri in summer (119.8 GC/100 ml) was significantly higher than in winter (58.6 GC/100 ml) (p < 0.01). Statistically significant positive correlations were found between N. fowleri and qPCR E. coli results and N. fowleri and colilert E. coli (culture method), respectively. A weak positive correlation between E. coli and Enterococcus was observed from both qPCR (r = 0.27, p < 0.05) and culture based method (r = 0.52, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, significant positive correlation between qPCR and culture based methods for E. coli (r = 0.30, p < 0.05) and Enterococcus concentration was observed (r = 0.26, p < 0.05), respectively. Future research is needed to determine whether sediment is a source of N. fowleri found in the water column.

Keywords: brackish water, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Naegleria fowleri, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), qPCR

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Authors: Ranjith Kumar Kankala, Wei-Zhi Lin, Chia-Hung Lee

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Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has become an emergency situation clinically. To improve the efficacy of antibiotics in resistant strains, advancement of nanoparticles is inevitable than ever. Herewith, we demonstrate a design by immobilizing tetracycline (TET) in copper substituted mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Cu-MSNs) through a pH-sensitive coordination link, enabling its release in the acidic environment. Subsequently, MSNs are coated with silver nanoparticles stabilized polyethyleneimine (PEI-SNP) to act against drug-resistant (MDR) bacterial strains. Silver ions released from SNP are capable of sensitizing the resistant strains and facilitate the generation of free radicals capable of damaging the cell components. In addition, copper ions in the framework are also capable of generating free radicals through Fenton-like reaction. Furthermore, the nanoparticles are well-characterized physically, and various antibacterial efficacious tests against isolated multidrug resistant bacterial strain were highly commendable. However, this formulation has no significant toxic effect on normal mammalian fibroblast cells accounting its high biocompatibility. These MSN trio-hybrids, i.e., SNP, tetracycline, and copper ions result in synergistic effects, and their advancement could bypass resistance and allow synergism for effective treatment of antibiotic clinically.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, copper, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, Ph-sensitive release, polyethyleneimine, silver, tetracycline

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Authors: Deva Kanta Phukan

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An investigation is made to carry out to study the thermal-diffusion and diffusion thermo-effects in hydro-magnetic unsteady flow by a mixed convection boundary layer past an impermeable vertical stretching sheet embedded in a conducting fluid-saturated porous medium in the presence of a chemical reaction effect. The velocity of stretching surface, the surface temperature and the concentration are assumed to vary linearly with the distance along the surface. The governing partial differential equations are transformed in to self similar unsteady equations using similarity transformations and solved numerically by the Runge kutta fourth order scheme in association with the shooting method for the whole transient domain from the initial state to the final steady state flow. Numerical results for the velocity, temperature, the concentration, the skin friction , and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are shown graphically for various flow parameters. The results reveal that there is a smooth transition of flow from unsteady state to the final steady state. A special case of our results is in good agreement with an earlier published work.

Keywords: heat and mass transfer, boundary layer flow, porous media, magnetic field, Soret number, Dufour’s number

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Authors: Lopamudra Ray, Malla Padma, Dibya Bhol, Samir Ranjan Mishra, A. N. Panda, Gurdeep Rastogi, T. K. Adhya, Ajit Kumar Pattnaik, Mrutyunjay Suar, Vishakha Raina

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Chilika Lake is the largest coastal estuarine brackish water lagoon in Asia situated on the east coast of India and is a designated Ramsar site. In the current study, several chitinolytic microorganisms were isolated and screened by appearance of clearance zone on 0.5% colloidal chitin agar plate. A strain designated as RC 1830 displayed maximum colloidal chitin degradation by release of 112 μmol/ml/min of N-acetyl D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) in 48h. The strain was taxonomically identified by polyphasic approach based on a range of phenotypic and genotypic properties and was found to be a novel species named Streptomyces chilikensis RC1830. The organism was halophilic (12% NaCl w/v), alkalophilic (pH10) and was capable of hydrolyzing chitin, starch, cellulose, gelatin, casein, tributyrin and tween 80. The partial purification of chitinase enzymes from RC1830 was performed by DEAE Sephacel anion exchange chromatography which revealed the presence of a very low molecular weight chitinase(10.5kD) which may be a probable chitobiosidase enzyme. The study reports the presence of a low MW chitinase (10.5kD) and a chitin decaetylase from a novel Streptomyces strain RC1830 isolated from Chilika Lake. Previously chitinases less than 20.5kD have not been reported from any other Streptomyces species. The enzymes was characterized with respect to optimum pH, temperature, and substrate specificity and temperature stability.

Keywords: chitinases, chitobiosidase, Chilika Lake, India

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Authors: Rita A. Sunday-Kanu

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This article reports on an evaluation of lunch hour concert and its effectiveness in improving undergraduate performance ability. In particular, it examines the aptitude of students in classroom applied music and their reaction/responses to true life concert situations. It further investigated factors affecting students’ confidence during performances, the relationship between stage fright and confidence building in regular concert participation. The Department of Music, University of Port Harcourt runs monthly lunch our concerts which are coordinated by undergraduates for the university community. Forty music students who have participated in or coordinated lunch hour concerts were chosen for this survey. Eight music lecturers who have supervised the monthly lunch hour concert were also chosen for this study. The attitude and view on the effectiveness of lunch hour concert in enhancing students’ performance skills were gotten through questionnaires survey, in-depth interview and participant observation to determine if classroom based applied music alone is as successful in grooming performance genius as the lunch hour concert. Result indicated that students’ participation in lunch hour concert did indeed broaden and strengthened their performance experiences. This observation led to a recommendation that regular community based concerts be considered as a standard for performance practices in the university curriculum since it serves as a preparatory platform for acquiring professional performance skills before graduation.

Keywords: lunch hour concert, performance, performing skill, community concert

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Authors: J. Prathap Kumar, G. Vaitheeswaran

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The present study investigates the role of ammonium and potassium ion in the electronic, bonding and optical properties of dinitramide salts due to their stability and non-toxic nature. A detailed analysis of bonding between NH₄ and K with dinitramide, optical transitions from the valence band to the conduction band, absorption spectra, refractive indices, reflectivity, loss function are reported. These materials are well known as oxidizers in solid rocket propellants. In the present work, we use full potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method which is implemented in the Wien2k package within the framework of density functional theory. The standard DFT functional local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) always underestimate the band gap by 30-40% due to the lack of derivative discontinuities of the exchange-correlation potential with respect to an occupation number. In order to get reliable results, one must use hybrid functional (HSE-PBE), GW calculations and Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson (TB-mBJ) potential. It is very well known that hybrid functionals GW calculations are very expensive, the later methods are computationally cheap. The new developed TB-mBJ functionals use information kinetic energy density along with the charge density employed in DFT. The TB-mBJ functionals cannot be used for total energy calculations but instead yield very much improved band gap. The obtained electronic band gap at gamma point for both the ammonium dinitramide and potassium dinitramide are found to be 2.78 eV and 3.014 eV with GGA functional, respectively. After the inclusion of TB-mBJ, the band gap improved by 4.162 eV for potassium dinitramide and 4.378 eV for ammonium dinitramide. The nature of the band gap is direct in ADN and indirect in KDN. The optical constants such as dielectric constant, absorption, and refractive indices, birefringence values are presented. Overall as there are no experimental studies we present the improved band gap with TB-mBJ functional following with optical properties.

Keywords: ammonium dinitramide, potassium dinitramide, DFT, propellants

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Authors: Ana Lucia Mosquera Rosado

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Media is believed to be the reflection of Peruvian society. However, the context in which media content is generated not always respond to an accurate representation of its cultural diversity, since many of the contents portray images of cultural minorities (indigenous and Afro-Peruvian) that contribute to the reproduction of negative stereotypes, having an impact on society. The current research paper aims to discuss the use of parody as a way of representing Afro-Peruvian population in the national television, through the reproduction of negative stereotypes and the construction of the black body, specifically relating the analysis to El Negro Mama, a very popular character in Peruvian television thought to be a portrait of the Afro-Peruvian men. In order to analyze these representations, the research will use the theory of simulation and simulacra, explained by James Baudrillard to understand the replacement of reality as a consequence of both of these concepts. This research paper will also focus on the social reaction to the existence of this character, in order to construct a hypothesis based on the theory of cultural hegemony, conceived by Jackson Lears as a legitimized group of patterns and behaviors that shape social interaction. This theoretical framework will be used to explain the popularity of this character among Peruvian society and the reactions caused by the controversy generated by the demands of civil society to remove the character from national television.

Keywords: media representation, media, race and ethnicity, racist discourse, afro-descendants in the media

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Authors: Elisa Negretto

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Improvisation is a fundamental form of musical practice and an increasing amount of literature shows a particular interest on the consequences it might have in different kinds of social contexts. A relevant aspect of the musical experience is the ability to create expectations, which reflects a basic strategy of the human mind, an intentional movement toward the future which is based on previous experiences. Musical Expectation – an unconscious tendency to project forward in time, to predict future sound events and the ongoing of a musical experience – can be regarded as a process that strongly influences the listeners’ emotional and affective response to music, as well as their social and aesthetic experience. While improvising, composers, interpreters and listeners generate and exchange expectations, thus creating a dynamic dialogue and meaningful relationships. The aim of this paper is to investigate how expectation contributes to the creation of such a dialogue during the unfolding of the musical experience and to what extent it influences the meaning music acquires during the performance. The difference between the ability to create expectations and the anticipation of the future ongoing of music will be questioned. Does it influence in different ways the meaning of music and the kind of dialogical relationship established between musicians and between performers and audience? Such questions will be investigated with reference to recent research in music cognition and the analysis of a particular case: a free jazz performance during which musicians improvise and/or change the location of the sound source. The present paper is an attempt to provide new insights for investigating and understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying improvisation as a musical and social practice. They contribute to the creation of a model that we can find in many others social practices in which people have to build meaningful relationships and responses to environmental stimuli.

Keywords: anticipation, expectation, improvisation, meaning, musical dialogue

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Authors: Shilpi Tripathi

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After independence, Bangladesh had to learn to survive on its own without any economic crutches (aid). Foreign direct investment (FDI) became a crucial economic tool for the country to become economically independent. The government started removing restrictions to encourage foreign investment, economic growth, international trade, and the environment. FDI is considered as a way to bridge the saving-investment gap, reduce poverty, balance trade, create jobs for its vast labour force, increase foreign exchange earnings and acquire new modern technology and management skills in the country. At the same time, spillovers of foreign investments in Bangladesh, such as low wages (compared to laborers of developed countries), poor working conditions and unbridled exploitation of the domestic resources, environmental externalities, etc., cannot be ignored. The most important adverse implications of FDI inflows noticed are the environmental problems, which are further impacting the health and society of the country. This paper empirically studies the relationship between FDI, economic growth, international trade (exports and Imports), and the environment since 1996. The first part of the paper focuses on the background and trends of FDI, GDP, trade, and environment (CO₂). The second part focuses on the literature review on the relationship between all the variables. The last part of the paper examines the results of empirical analysis like co-integration and Granger causality. The findings of the paper reveal that a uni-directional relationship exists between FDI, CO₂, and international trade (exports and imports). The direction of the causality reveals that FDI inflow is one of the major contributors to high-volume international trade. At the same time, FDI and international trade both are contributing to carbon emissions in Bangladesh. The paper concludes with the policy recommendations that will ensure environmentally friendly trade, investment, and growth in Bangladesh for the future.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, GDP, international trade, CO₂, Granger causality, environment

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Authors: Li Chin Law, Epaminondas Mastorakos, Mohd Roslee Othman, Antonis Trakakis

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The paper introduces an alternative concept of carbon capture for shipping by using pre-combustion carbon capture technology (Pre-CCS), which was proven to be less energy intensive than post-combustion carbon capture from the engine exhaust. Energy assessment on amine-based post-combustion CCS on LNG-fuelled ships showed that the energy efficiency of CCS ships reduced from 48% to 36.6%. Then, an energy assessment was carried out to compare the power and heat requirements of the most used hydrogen production methods and carbon capture technologies. Steam methane reformer (SMR) was found to be 20% more energy efficient and achieved a higher methane conversion than auto thermal reaction and methane decomposition. Next, pressure swing adsorber (PSA) has shown a lower energy requirement than membrane separation, cryogenic separation, and amine absorption in pre-combustion carbon capture. Hence, an integrated system combining SMR and PSA (SMR-PSA) with waste heat integration (WHR) was proposed. This optimized SMR-based integrated system has achieved 65% of CO₂ reduction with less than 7-percentage point of energy penalty (41.7% of energy efficiency). Further integration of post-combustion CCS with the SMR-PSA integrated system improved carbon capture rate to 86.3% with 9-percentage points of energy penalty (39% energy efficiency). The proposed system was shown to be able to meet the carbon reduction targets set by International Maritime Organization (IMO) with certain energy penalties.

Keywords: shipping, decarbonisation, alternative fuels, low carbon, hydrogen, carbon capture

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Authors: Nilgun Kuskonmaz

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Ceramic molding can produce castings with fine detail, smooth surface and high degree of dimensional accuracy. All these features are the key factors for producing decorated glass moulds. In the ceramic mold casting process, the fundamental parameters affecting the mold-metal reactions are the composition and the properties of the refractory materials used in the production of ceramic mold. As a result of the reactions taking place between the liquid metal and mold surface, it is not possible to achieve a perfect surface quality, a fine surface detail and maintain a high standard dimensional tolerances. The present research examines the effects of the binder composition on the structural and physical properties of the zircon ceramic mold. In the experiment, the ceramic slurry was prepared by mixing the refractory powders (zircon(ZrSiO4), mullit(3Al2O32SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3)) with the low alkaline silica (ethyl silicate (C8H20O4Si)) and acidic type gelling material suitable binder and gelling agent. This was followed by pouring that ceramic slurry on to a silicon pattern. After being gelled, the mold was removed from the silicon pattern and dried. Then, the ceramic mold was subjected to the reaction sintering at 1600°C for 2 hours in the furnace. The stainless steel (SS) was cast into the sintered ceramic mold. At the end of this process it was observed that the surface quality of decorated glass mold.

Keywords: ceramic mold, stainless steel casting, decorated glass mold

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Authors: Kathleen Cooney, Jennifer Coates, Lesley Leach, Kristin Hrenchir

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The objective of this retrospective study was to determine whether intrarenal injection of pentobarbital sodium is a practicable method of euthanasia in client-owned cats. 131 Cats were anesthetized using a combination of tiletamine, zolazepam, and acepromazine given by of subcutaneous or intramuscular injection. Once an appropriate plane of anesthesia was reached, 6 ml of pentobarbital sodium was injected into either the left or right kidney. The patient’s age, sex, estimated weight, presenting condition, estimated dehydration level, palpable characteristics of the kidney pre and post injection, physical response of the cat, and time to cardiopulmonary arrest were recorded. Analysis of 131 records revealed that cats receiving an intrarenal injection of pentobarbital sodium had an average time to cardiopulmonary arrest of 1 minute. The great majority (79%) experienced cardiopulmonary arrest in less than one minute with the remainder experiencing cardiopulmonary arrest between 1 and 8 minutes of the injection. 95% of cats had no observable reaction to intrarenal injection other than cardiopulmonary arrest. In the 19% of cases where kidney swelling was not palpable upon injection, average time to cardiopulmonary arrest increased from 0.9 to 1.6 min. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Intrarenal injections of pentobarbital sodium are similar in effect to intravenous methods of euthanasia. Veterinarians who elect to use intrarenal injections can expect cardiopulmonary arrest to occur quickly in the majority of patients with few agonal reactions. Intrarenal injection of pentobarbital sodium in anesthetized cats has ideally suited for cases of owner observed euthanasia when obtaining intravenous access would difficult or disruptive.

Keywords: euthanasia, injection, intrarenal, pentobarbital sodium

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Authors: Angela Fabris, Joerg Helbig

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Our paper deals with feature films set in Venice which focus on the influence of Italian life style on anglophone characters. Usually, these films emphasize the different cultures and mentalities of Italian and British (or American) people. More often than not, these encounters result in a profound change of the anglophone characters' attitude towards romance and sensuality. A case in point is David Lean's Summer Madness (UK 1955). This film recounts the love affair between the American tourist Jane Hudson (Katherine Hepburn) and the Venetian antique shop owner Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi). Jane is a spinster in her mid-forties who longs for love and romance. The chance arrives when she meets Renato who feels attracted to her. Jane's immediate reaction, however, is to reject Renato's advances. What follows is a struggle between the strict morality of a puritan upbringing and the irresitable charm of Mediterranean temptations. Similar conflicts can be found in many other movies. Apart from Summer Madness we will discuss Aldo Lado's Chi l'ha vista morire? (It 1972), Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (UK/It 1973) and Paul Schrader's The Comfort of Strangers (It/UK/USA 1990). Our paper raises the question whether or not these and other films present false stereotypes and chlichés. The paper is part of our large-scale research project which explores the history of erotic cinema in Italy and England.

Keywords: culture clash, erotic cinema, film, Venice

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Authors: Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Qurat-ul-Ain, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Nisar Khan, Asma Kausar, Adil Ejaz

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Rickettsiosis, caused by a Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae (SFGR), is considered as an emerging infectious disease from public and veterinary perspective. The present study reports distribution of SFGR in the host (buffalo and cattle) and vector (ticks) population determined through gene specific amplification through PCR targeting outer membrane protein (ompA). Tick and blood samples were collected using standard protocols through convenient sampling from district Faisalabad. Ticks were dissected to extract salivary glands (SG). Blood and tick SG pools were subjected to DNA extraction and amplification of ompA using PCR. Overall prevalence of SFGR was reported as 21.5% and 33.6 % from blood and ticks, respectively. Hyalomma anatolicum was more prevalent tick associated with SFGR as compared to Rhipicephalus sp. Higher prevalence of SFGR was reported in cattle (25%) population as compared to that of buffalo (17.07%). On seasonal basis, high SFGR prevalence was recorded during spring season (48.1%, 26.32%, 17.76%) as compared to winter (27.9%, 21.43%, 15.38%) in vector and host (cattle and buffalo respectively) population. Sequencing analysis indicated that rickettsial endo-symbionts were associated with ticks of the study area. These results provided baseline information about the prevalence of SFGR in vector and host population.

Keywords: Rickettsia, livestock, polymerase chain reaction, sequencing, ticks, vectors

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Authors: Deria Adi Wijaya, Amad Saeroji, Jimmi Sandi P., Nanang Wijayanto

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Tourism and the creative economy are combinations that can become a sustainable source of welfare that can boost the economy so as to increase the country's foreign exchange. Therefore the development of the tourism sector is one of the priorities in President Joko Widodo's leadership framework for the 2019-2024 period. Entering the current pandemic, each party is required to be able to implement strict health protocols to slow the rate of SARS-Cov2 infection, or what is known as the coronavirus, but on the other hand, the need to turn the wheels of the economy must continue. Therefore, an effort is needed to develop tourism activities that are full of experiences that add health benefits. Anticipating this, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy collaborated with the Ministry of Health to offer an innovative development model, namely wellness tourism. The development of wellness tourism is an alternative that can make a positive contribution to the development of Indonesian tourism during the pandemic. This research seeks to synergize efforts to develop national tourism into the regional sphere; in this case, Baluwarti Tourism Village, which is located within the walls of the Surakarta Sunanate Palace, has the potential to be developed into a wellness tourism destination in Surakarta City. Considering that a village that is in the immediate vicinity of a palace certainly has a variety of potential attractions for royal wellness tourism. The main objectives of this study are 1) to identify the potential for palace-style wellness tourism in Baluwarti Tourism Village; 2) to formulate development in the form of tour packages in Baluwarti Tourism Village. Of course, the development of the wellness tour package is still based on local wisdom, namely a tour package that raises local potential as a palace-style wellness tourism attraction that can improve the economy of the local people through the tourism sector in the post-pandemic era.

Keywords: potential, wellness tourism, Baluwarti Tourism Village, Surakarta Sunanate Palace, Surakarta City

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Authors: A. Douka, S. Vouyiouka, L. M. Papaspyridi, D. Korres, C. Papaspyrides

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A "green" process was studied for the preparation of partially renewable aliphatic polyesters based on 1,4-butanediol and 1,8-octanediol with various diacids and derivatives, namely diethyl succinate, adipic acid, sebacic acid, 1,12-dodecanedioic acid and 1,14-tetradecanedioic acid. A first step of enzymatic prepolymerization was carried out in the presence of two different solvents, toluene and diphenylether, applying molecular sieves and vacuum, respectively, to remove polycondensation by-products. Poly(octylene adipate) (PE 8.6), poly(octylene dodecanate)(PE 8.12) and poly(octylene tetradecanate) (PE 8.14) were firstly enzymatically produced in toluene using molecular sieves giving however, low-molecular-weight products. Thereafter, the synthesis of PE 8.12 and PE 8.14 was examined under optimized conditions using diphenylether as solvent and a more vigorous by-product removal step, such as application of vacuum. Apart from these polyesters, the optimized process was also implemented for the production of another long-chain polyester-poly(octylene sebacate) (PE 8.10) and a short-chain polyester-poly(butylene succinate) (PE 4.4). Subsequently, bulk post-polymerization in the melt or solid state was performed. SSP runs involved absence of biocatalyst and reaction temperatures (T) in the vicinity of the prepolymer melting point (Tm-T varied between 15.5 up to 4oC). Focusing on PE 4.4 and PE 8.12, SSP took place under vacuum or flowing nitrogen leading to increase of the molecular weight and improvement of the end product physical appearance and thermal properties.

Keywords: aliphatic polyester, enzymatic polymerization, solid state polymerization, Novozym 435

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Authors: Majeed Mohammed Midhin, Clare Finburgh

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To maintain a healthy balanced loyalty between art and politics posits a debatable issue. The artist is always on the look out for the potential tension between those two realms. Therefore, one of the most painful dilemmas the artist finds is how to function in a society without sacrificing the aesthetic values of his/her work. In other words, the life-long awareness of failure which derives from the concept of the artist as caught between unflattering social realities and the need to invent genuine art forms becomes a fertilizing soil for the artists to dig deep into its origin. Thus, within the framework of this dilemma, the question of the responsibility of the artist and the relationship of the art to politics will be illuminating. The present paper tackles the idea of the amorality of the artist in selected plays by Tom Stoppard. However, Stoppard’s awareness of his situation as a refugee has led him to keep at a distance from politics. He tried hard to avoid any intervention into the realms of political debate, especially in his earliest work. On the one hand, it is not meant that he did not interest in politics as such, but rather he preferred to question it than to create a fixed ideological position. On the other hand, Stoppard’s refusal to intervene in politics is ascribed to his feeling of gratitude to Britain where he settled. As a result, Stoppard has frequently been criticized for a lack of political engagement and also for not leaning too much for the left when he does engage. His reaction to these public criticisms finds expression in his self-conscious statements which defensively stressed the artifice of his work. He, like Oscar Wilde thinks that the responsibility of the artist is devoted to the realm of his/her art. Consequently, his consciousness for the role of the artist is truly reflected in his two plays, Artist Descending a Staircase(1972) and Travesties(1974).

Keywords: amorality, dilemma, aesthetic, responsibility of the artist, political theatre

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Authors: Mohamed Zakareia Ghazy Aly Belal

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Commercial law is the set of legal rules that apply to business and regulates the trade of trade. The meaning of this is that the commercial law regulates certain relations only that arises as a result of carrying out certain businesses. which are business, as it regulates the activity of a specific sect, the sect of merchants, and the commercial law as other branches of the law has characteristics that distinguish it from other laws and various, and various sources from which its basis is derived from It is the objective or material source. the historical source, the official source and the interpretative source, and we are limited to official sources and explanatory sources. so what do you see what these sources are, and what is their degree and strength in taking it in commercial disputes. The first topic / characteristics of commercial law. Commercial law has become necessary for the world of trade and economics, which cannot be dispensed with, given the reasons that have been set as legal rules for commercial field. In fact, it is sufficient to refer to the stability and stability of the environment, and in exchange for the movement and the speed in which the commercial environment is in addition to confidence and credit. the characteristic of speed and the characteristic of trust, and credit are the ones that justify the existence of commercial law. Business is fast, while civil business is slow, stable and stability. The person concludes civil transactions in his life only a little. And before doing any civil action. he must have a period of thinking and scrutiny, and the investigation is the person who wants the husband, he must have a period of thinking and scrutiny. as if the person who wants to acquire a house to live with with his family, he must search and investigate Discuss the price before the conclusion of a purchase contract. In the commercial field, transactions take place very quickly because the time factor has an important role in concluding deals and achieving profits. This is because the merchant in contracting about a specific deal would cause a loss to the merchant due to the linkage of the commercial law with the fluctuations of the economy and the market. The merchant may also conclude more than one deal in one and short time. And that is due to the absence of commercial law from the formalities and procedures that hinder commercial transactions.

Keywords: law, commercial law, business, commercial field

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Authors: J. E. Oti, J. M. Kinuthia, R. Robinson, P. Davies

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This work reports the potential of using Palm Kernel (PK) ash and shell as a partial substitute for Portland Cement (PC) and coarse aggregate in the development of mortar and concrete. PK ash and shell are agro-waste materials from palm oil mills, the disposal of PK ash and shell is an environmental problem of concern. The PK ash has pozzolanic properties that enables it as a partial replacement for cement and also plays an important role in the strength and durability of concrete, its use in concrete will alleviate the increasing challenges of scarcity and high cost of cement. In order to investigate the PC replacement potential of PK ash, three types of PK ash were produced at varying temperature (350-750 degrees) and they were used to replace up to 50% PC. The PK shell was used to replace up to 100% coarse aggregate in order to study its aggregate replacement potential. The testing programme included material characterisation, the determination of compressive strength, tensile splitting strength and chemical durability in aggressive sulfate-bearing exposure conditions. The 90 day compressive results showed a significant strength gain (up to 26.2 N/mm2). The Portland cement and conventional coarse aggregate has significantly higher influence in the strength gain compared to the equivalent PK ash and PK shell. The chemical durability results demonstrated that after a prolonged period of exposure, significant strength losses in all the concretes were observed. This phenomenon is explained, due to lower change in concrete morphology and inhibition of reaction species and the final disruption of the aggregate cement paste matrix.

Keywords: sustainability, concrete, mortar, palm kernel shell, compressive strength, consistency

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Authors: Rimzhim Gupta, Bhanupriya Boruah, Jayant M. Modak, Giridhar Madras

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Microbial contamination is one of the major concerns in the field of water treatment. AOP (advanced oxidation processes) is well-established method to resolve the issue of removal of contaminants in water. A Z-scheme composite g-C₃N₄/CuWO₄ was synthesized by sol-gel method for the photocatalytic inactivation of a mixed population of Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli). The photoinactivation was observed for different types of bacteria in the same medium together and individually in the absence of the nutrients. The lattice structures and phase purities were determined by X-ray diffraction. For morphological and topographical features, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses were carried out. The band edges of the semiconductor (valence band and conduction band) were determined by ultraviolet photoelectron microscopy. The lifetime of the charge carriers and band gap of the semiconductors were determined by time resolved florescence spectroscopy and diffused reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. The effect of weight ratio of C₃N₄ and CuWO₄ was observed by performing photocatalytic experiments. To investigate the exact mechanism and major responsible radicals for photocatalysis, scavenger studies were performed. The rate constants and order of the inactivation reactions were obtained by power law kinetics. For E. coli and S. aureus, the order of reaction and rate constants are 1.15, 0.9 and 1.39 ± 0.03 (CFU/mL)⁻⁰.¹⁵ h⁻¹, 47.95 ± 1.2 (CFU/mL)⁰.¹ h⁻¹, respectively.

Keywords: z-scheme, E. coli, S. aureus, sol-gel

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Authors: Yasaman Sanayei, Alireza Bahiraie

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This paper presents a systematic methodology based on the application of artificial neural networks for sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The SBR is a fill-and-draw biological wastewater technology, which is specially suited for nutrient removal. Employing reactive dye by Sphingomonas paucimobilis bacteria at sequence batch reactor is a novel approach of dye removal. The influent COD, MLVSS, and reaction time were selected as the process inputs and the effluent COD and BOD as the process outputs. The best possible result for the discrete pole parameter was a= 0.44. In orderto adjust the parameters of ANN, the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm was employed. The results predicted by the model were compared to the experimental data and showed a high correlation with R2> 0.99 and a low mean absolute error (MAE). The results from this study reveal that the developed model is accurate and efficacious in predicting COD and BOD parameters of the dye-containing wastewater treated by SBR. The proposed modeling approach can be applied to other industrial wastewater treatment systems to predict effluent characteristics. Note that SBR are normally operated with constant predefined duration of the stages, thus, resulting in low efficient operation. Data obtained from the on-line electronic sensors installed in the SBR and from the control quality laboratory analysis have been used to develop the optimal architecture of two different ANN. The results have shown that the developed models can be used as efficient and cost-effective predictive tools for the system analysed.

Keywords: artificial neural network, COD removal, SBR, Sphingomonas paucimobilis

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Authors: Gabriela Kloudova, Miloslav Stehlik, Peter Sos

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The quality of sleep can affect combat performance where the vigilance, accuracy and reaction time are a decisive factor. In the present study, airborne and special units are measured on duty using actigraphy fingerprint scoring algorithm and QEEG (quantitative EEG). Actigraphic variables of interest will be: mean nightly sleep duration, mean napping duration, mean 24-h sleep duration, mean sleep latency, mean sleep maintenance efficiency, mean sleep fragmentation index, mean sleep onset time, mean sleep offset time and mean midpoint time. In an attempt to determine the individual somnotype of each subject, the data like sleep pattern, chronotype (morning and evening lateness), biological need for sleep (daytime and anytime sleepability) and trototype (daytime and anytime wakeability) will be extracted. Subsequently, a series of recommendations will be included in the training plan based on daily routine, timing of the day and night activities, duration of sleep and the number of sleeping blocks in a defined time. The aim of these modifications in the training plan is to reduce day-time sleepiness, improve vigilance, attention, accuracy, speed of the conducted tasks and to optimize energy supplies. Regular improvement of the training supposed to have long-term neurobiological consequences including neuronal activity changes measured by QEEG. Subsequently, that should enhance cognitive functioning in subjects assessed by the digital cognitive test batteries and improve their overall performance.

Keywords: sleep quality, combat performance, actigraph, somnotype

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Authors: Hosein Faramarzpour

Abstract:

This work presents the optimum operational conditions for a hydrogen-based micro-scale power source, using a verified mathematical model including fluid dynamics and reaction kinetics. Thereafter the stable operational flame regime is pursued as a key factor in optimizing the design of micro-combustors. The results show that with increasing velocities, four H2 flame regimes develop in the micro-combustor, namely: 1) periodic ignition-extinction regime, 2) steady symmetric regime, 3) pulsating asymmetric regime, and 4) steady asymmetric regime. The first regime that appears in 0.8 m/s inlet velocity is a periodic ignition-extinction regime which is characterized by counter flows and tulip-shape flames. For flow velocity above 0.2 m/s, the flame shifts downstream, and the combustion regime switches to a steady symmetric flame where temperature increases considerably due to the increased rate of incoming energy. Further elevation in flow velocity up to 1 m/s leads to the pulsating asymmetric flame formation, which is associated with pulses in various flame properties such as temperature and species concentration. Further elevation in flow velocity up to 1 m/s leads to the pulsating asymmetric flame formation, which is associated with pulses in various flame properties such as temperature and species concentration. Ultimately, when the inlet velocity reached 1.2 m/s, the last regime was observed, and a steady asymmetric regime appeared.

Keywords: thermophotovoltaic generator, micro combustor, micro power generator, combustion regimes, flame dynamic

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Authors: Saurabh Basu, Sudin Ganguly

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Conductance in graphene nanoribbons (GNR) in presence of magnetic (for example, Iron) and non-magnetic (for example, Gold) adatoms are explored theoretically within a Kane-Mele model for their possible spintronic applications and topologically non-trivial properties. In our work, we have considered the magnetic adatoms to induce a Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) and an exchange bias field, while the non-magnetic ones induce an RSOC and an intrinsic spin-orbit (SO) coupling. Even though RSOC is present in both, they, however, represent very different physical situations, where the magnetic adatoms do not preserve the time reversal symmetry, while the non-magnetic case does. This has important implications on the topological properties. For example, the non-magnetic adatoms, for moderately strong values of SO, the GNR denotes a quantum spin Hall insulator as evident from a 2e²/h plateau in the longitudinal conductance and presence of distinct conducting edge states with an insulating bulk. Since the edge states are protected by time reversal symmetry, the magnetic adatoms in GNR yield trivial insulators and do not possess any non-trivial topological property. However, they have greater utility than the non-magnetic adatoms from the point of view of spintronic applications. Owing to the broken spatial symmetry induced by the presence of adatoms of either type, all the x, y and z components of the spin-polarized conductance become non-zero (only the y-component survives in pristine Graphene owing to a mirror symmetry present there) and hence become suitable for spintronic applications. However, the values of the spin polarized conductances are at least two orders of magnitude larger in the case of magnetic adatoms than their non-magnetic counterpart, thereby ensuring more efficient spintronic applications. Further the applications are tunable by altering the adatom densities.

Keywords: magnetic and non-magnetic adatoms, quantum spin hall phase, spintronic applications, spin polarized conductance, time reversal symmetry

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Authors: Z. Abdollahi Biron, P. Pisu

Abstract:

Connected vehicles are one of the promising technologies for future Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). A connected vehicle system is essentially a set of vehicles communicating through a network to exchange their information with each other and the infrastructure. Although this interconnection of the vehicles can be potentially beneficial in creating an efficient, sustainable, and green transportation system, a set of safety and reliability challenges come out with this technology. The first challenge arises from the information loss due to unreliable communication network which affects the control/management system of the individual vehicles and the overall system. Such scenario may lead to degraded or even unsafe operation which could be potentially catastrophic. Secondly, faulty sensors and actuators can affect the individual vehicle’s safe operation and in turn will create a potentially unsafe node in the vehicular network. Further, sending that faulty sensor information to other vehicles and failure in actuators may significantly affect the safe operation of the overall vehicular network. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to take these issues into consideration while designing the control/management algorithms of the individual vehicles as a part of connected vehicle system. In this paper, we consider a connected vehicle system under Co-operative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and propose a fault diagnosis scheme that deals with these aforementioned challenges. Specifically, the conventional CACC algorithm is modified by adding a Kalman filter-based estimation algorithm to suppress the effect of lost information under unreliable network. Further, a sliding mode observer-based algorithm is used to improve the sensor reliability under faults. The effectiveness of the overall diagnostic scheme is verified via simulation studies.

Keywords: fault diagnostics, communication network, connected vehicles, packet drop out, platoon

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