Search results for: orthogonal design method

Authors: A. Kouloumpis, P. Zygouri, G. Potsi, K. Spyrou, D. Gournis

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Much of the research effort on graphene focuses on its use as building block for the development of new hybrid nanostructures with well-defined dimensions and behavior suitable for applications among else in gas storage, heterogeneous catalysis, gas/liquid separations, nanosensing and biology. Towards this aim, here we describe a new bottom-up approach, which combines the self-assembly with the Langmuir Schaefer technique, for the production of fullerene-intercalated graphene hybrid materials. This new method uses graphene nanosheets as a template for the grafting of various fullerene C60 molecules (pure C60, bromo-fullerenes, C60Br24, and fullerols, C60(OH)24) in a bi-dimensional array, and allows for perfect layer-by-layer growth with control at the molecular level. Our film preparation approach involves a bottom-up layer-by-layer process that includes the formation of a hybrid organo-graphene Langmuir film hosting fullerene molecules within its interlayer spacing. A dilute water solution of chemically oxidized graphene (GO) was used as subphase on the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition system while an appropriate amino surfactant (that binds covalently with the GO) was applied for the formation of hybridized organo-GO. After the horizontal lift of a hydrophobic substrate, a surface modification of the GO platelets was performed by bringing the surface of the transferred Langmuir film in contact with a second amino surfactant solution (capable to interact strongly with the fullerene derivatives). In the final step, the hybrid organo-graphene film was lowered in the solution of the appropriate fullerene derivative. Multilayer films were constructed by repeating this procedure. Hybrid fullerene-based thin films deposited on various hydrophobic substrates were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray reflectivity (XRR), FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies, Atomic Force Microscopy, and optical measurements. Acknowledgments. This research has been co‐financed by the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)‐Research Funding Program: THALES. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund (no. 377285).

Keywords: hybrids, graphene oxide, fullerenes, langmuir-blodgett, intercalated structures

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Authors: Navid Mirzaei Varzeghani, Mahmoud Saffarzadeh, Ali Naderan, Amirhossein Taheri

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Countries are progressing, and the world's busiest airports see year-on-year increases in travel demand. Passenger acceptability of an airport depends on the airport's appeals, which may include one of these routes between the city and the airport, as well as the facilities to reach them. One of the critical roles of transportation planners is to predict future transportation demand so that an integrated, multi-purpose system can be provided and diverse modes of transportation (rail, air, and land) can be delivered to a destination like an airport. In this study, 356 questionnaires were filled out in person over six days. First, the attraction of business and non-business trips was studied using data and a linear regression model. Lower travel costs, a range of ages more significant than 55, and other factors are essential for business trips. Non-business travelers, on the other hand, have prioritized using personal vehicles to get to the airport and ensuring convenient access to the airport. Business travelers are also less price-sensitive than non-business travelers regarding airport travel. Furthermore, carrying additional luggage (for example, more than one suitcase per person) undoubtedly decreases the attractiveness of public transit. Afterward, based on the manner and purpose of the trip, the locations with the highest trip generation to the airport were identified. The most famous district in Tehran was District 2, with 23 visits, while the most popular mode of transportation was an online taxi, with 12 trips from that location. Then, significant variables in separation and behavior of travel methods to access the airport were investigated for all systems. In this scenario, the most crucial factor is the time it takes to get to the airport, followed by the method's user-friendliness as a component of passenger preference. It has also been demonstrated that enhancing public transportation trip times reduces private transportation's market share, including taxicabs. Based on the responses of personal and semi-public vehicles, the desire of passengers to approach the airport via public transportation systems was explored to enhance present techniques and develop new strategies for providing the most efficient modes of transportation. Using the binary model, it was clear that business travelers and people who had already driven to the airport were the least likely to change.

Keywords: multimodal transportation, demand modeling, travel behavior, statistical models

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Authors: Su Chul Han, Seungwoo Park

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As the increasing incidence of cancer, the technology and modality of radiotherapy have advanced and the importance of preclinical model is increasing in the cancer research. Furthermore, the small animal dosimetry is an essential part of the evaluation of the relationship between the absorbed dose in preclinical small animal and biological effect in preclinical study. In this study, we carried out realistic modeling of the preclinical small animal phantom possible to verify irradiated dose using commercial software. The small animal phantom was modeling from 4D Digital Mouse whole body phantom. To manipulate Moby phantom in commercial software (Mimics, Materialise, Leuven, Belgium), we converted Moby phantom to DICOM image file of CT by Matlab and two- dimensional of CT images were converted to the three-dimensional image and it is possible to segment and crop CT image in Sagittal, Coronal and axial view). The CT images of small animals were modeling following process. Based on the profile line value, the thresholding was carried out to make a mask that was connection of all the regions of the equal threshold range. Using thresholding method, we segmented into three part (bone, body (tissue). lung), to separate neighboring pixels between lung and body (tissue), we used region growing function of Mimics software. We acquired 3D object by 3D calculation in the segmented images. The generated 3D object was smoothing by remeshing operation and smoothing operation factor was 0.4, iteration value was 5. The edge mode was selected to perform triangle reduction. The parameters were that tolerance (0.1mm), edge angle (15 degrees) and the number of iteration (5). The image processing 3D object file was converted to an STL file to output with 3D printer. We modified 3D small animal file using 3- Matic research (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) to make space for radiation dosimetry chips. We acquired 3D object of realistic small animal phantom. The width of small animal phantom was 2.631 cm, thickness was 2.361 cm, and length was 10.817. Mimics software supported efficiency about 3D object generation and usability of conversion to STL file for user. The development of small preclinical animal phantom would increase reliability of verification of absorbed dose in small animal for preclinical study.

Keywords: mimics, preclinical small animal, segmentation, 3D printer

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Authors: Theresa Bacon-Baguley, Martina Reinhold

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Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of both formative and summative evaluation of a Physician Assistant (PA) program with a distant campus delivered through Interactive Television (ITV) to assure equity of educational experiences. Methodology: A needs assessment utilizing a case-control design determined the need and interest in expanding the existing PA program to northern Michigan. A federal grant was written and funded, which supported the hiring of two full-time faculty members and support staff at the distant site. The strengths and weaknesses of delivering a program through ITV were evaluated using weekly formative evaluation, and bi-semester summative evaluation. Formative evaluation involved discussion of lecture content to be delivered, special ITV needs, orientation of new lecturers to the system, student concerns, support staff updates, and scheduling of student/faculty traveling between the two campuses. The summative evaluation, designed from a literature review of barriers to ITV, included 19 statements designed to evaluate the following items: quality of technology (audio, video, etc.), confidence in the ITV system, quality of instruction and instructor interaction between the two locations, and availability of resources at each location. In addition, students were given the opportunity to write qualitative remarks for each course delivered between the two locations. This summative evaluation was given to all students at mid-semester and at the end of the semester. The goal of the summative evaluation was to have 80% or greater of the students respond favorably (‘Very Good’ or ‘Good’) to each of the 19 statements. Results: Prior to the start of the first cohort at the distant campus, the technology was tested. During this time period, the formative evaluations identified key components needing modification, which were rapidly addressed: ability to record lectures, lighting, sound, and content delivery. When the mid-semester summative survey was given to the first cohort of students, 18 of the 19 statements in the summative evaluation met the goal of 80% or greater in the favorable category. When the summative evaluation statements were stratified by the two cohorts, the summative evaluation identified that students at the home location responded that they did not have adequate access to printers, and students at the expansion location responded that they did not have adequate access to library resources. These results allowed the program to address the deficiencies through contacting informational technology for additional printers, and to provide students with knowledge on how to access library resources. Conclusion: Successful expansion of programs to a distant site utilizing ITV technology requires extensive monitoring using both formative and summative evaluation. The formative evaluation allowed for quick identification of issues that could immediately be addressed, both at the planning and developing stage, as well as during implementation. Through use of the summative evaluation the program is able to monitor the success/ effectiveness of the expansion and identify specific needs of students at each location.

Keywords: assessment, distance learning, formative feedback, interactive television (ITV), student experience, summative feedback, support

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Authors: Pawel Albrycht, Monika Ksiezopolska-Gocalska, Robert Holyst

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Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a technique of growing importance not only in purely scientific research related to analytical chemistry. It finds more and more applications in broadly understood testing - medical, forensic, pharmaceutical, food - and everywhere works perfectly, on one condition that SERS substrates used for testing give adequate enhancement, repeatability, and homogeneity of SERS signal. This is a problem that has existed since the invention of this technique. Some laboratories use as SERS amplifiers colloids with silver or gold nanoparticles, others form rough silver or gold surfaces, but results are generally either weak or unrepeatable. Furthermore, these structures are very often highly specific - they amplify the signal only of a small group of compounds. It means that they work with some kinds of analytes but only with those which were used at a developer’s laboratory. When it comes to research on different compounds, completely new SERS 'substrates' are required. That underlay our decision to develop universal substrates for the SERS spectroscopy. Generally, each compound has different affinity for both silver and gold, which have the best SERS properties, and that's what depends on what signal we get in the SERS spectrum. Our task was to create the platform that gives a characteristic 'fingerprint' of the largest number of compounds with very high repeatability - even at the expense of the intensity of the enhancement factor (EF) (possibility to repeat research results is of the uttermost importance). As specified above SERS substrates are offered by SERSitive company. Applied method is based on cyclic potentiodynamic electrodeposition of silver or silver-gold nanoparticles on the conductive surface of ITO-coated glass at controlled temperature of the reaction solution. Silver nanoparticles are supplied in the form of silver nitrate (AgNO₃, 10 mM), gold nanoparticles are derived from tetrachloroauric acid (10 mM) while sodium sulfite (Na₂O₃, 5 mM) is used as a reductor. To limit and standardize the size of the SERS surface on which nanoparticles are deposited, photolithography is used. We secure the desired ITO-coated glass surface, and then etch the unprotected ITO layer which prevents nanoparticles from settling at these sites. On the prepared surface, we carry out the process described above, obtaining SERS surface with nanoparticles of sizes 50-400 nm. The SERSitive platforms present highly sensitivity (EF = 10⁵-10⁶), homogeneity and repeatability (70-80%).

Keywords: electrodeposition, nanoparticles, Raman spectroscopy, SERS, SERSitive, SERS platforms, SERS substrates

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Authors: Peggy Näser

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Factory planning is a systematic, objective-oriented process for planning a factory, structured into a sequence of phases, each of which is dependent on the preceding phase and makes use of particular methods and tools, and extending from the setting of objectives to the start of production. The digital factory, on the other hand, is the generic term for a comprehensive network of digital models, methods, and tools – including simulation and 3D visualisation – integrated by a continuous data management system. Its aim is the holistic planning, evaluation and ongoing improvement of all the main structures, processes and resources of the real factory in conjunction with the product. Digital factory planning has already become established in factory planning. The application of Building Information Modeling has not yet been established in factory planning but has been used predominantly in the planning of public buildings. Furthermore, this concept is limited to the planning of the buildings and does not include the planning of equipment of the factory (machines, technical equipment) and their interfaces to the building. BIM is a cooperative method of working, in which the information and data relevant to its lifecycle are consistently recorded, managed and exchanged in a transparent communication between the involved parties on the basis of digital models of a building. Both approaches, the planning approach of Building Information Modeling and the methodical approach of the Digital Factory, are based on the use of a comprehensive data model. Therefore it is necessary to examine how the approach of Building Information Modeling can be extended in the context of factory planning in such a way that an integration of the equipment planning, as well as the building planning, can take place in a common digital model. For this, a number of different perspectives have to be investigated: the equipment perspective including the tools used to implement a comprehensive digital planning process, the communication perspective between the planners of different fields, the legal perspective, that the legal certainty in each country and the quality perspective, on which the quality criteria are defined and the planning will be evaluated. The individual perspectives are examined and illustrated in the article. An approach model for the integration of factory planning into the BIM approach, in particular for the integrated planning of equipment and buildings and the continuous digital planning is developed. For this purpose, the individual factory planning phases are detailed in the sense of the integration of the BIM approach. A comprehensive software concept is shown on the tool. In addition, the prerequisites required for this integrated planning are presented. With the help of the newly developed approach, a better coordination between equipment and buildings is to be achieved, the continuity of the digital factory planning is improved, the data quality is improved and expensive implementation errors are avoided in the implementation.

Keywords: building information modeling, digital factory, digital planning, factory planning

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Authors: Shola H. Adeosun, Lekan M. Togunwa, Kolawole Z. Amos

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This paper appraises ‘Newspaper Coverage of 2015 General Election: A study of The Punch and Guardian Newspapers’. The objectives of the study were to examine how credible newspaper reports of 2015 election were and to examine the significant role Nigeria Newspapers played in the 2015 general elections. Also this study examined the extent at which the print media contributed to the success of 2015 general election and to ascertain the extent at which print media reports serve as a tool for sensitizing the masses. The research questions that guided this research include: How credible was newspaper report of 2015 general election? To what extent did the print media contributed to the success of 2015 general elections? To what extent did the print media reports serve as a tool for sensitizing the masses? The research work was given solid theoretical foundation with the review of Agenda-setting theory, Media System Dependency Theory and Normative theories. This study was given solid theoretical foundation with the review of Agenda-setting theory, Media Dependency Theory and Normative theories. The theory was conducted using content analysis method of research and 30 publications of both The Guardian and Punch Newspaper between January 1st and March 30, 2015 forms the population for this research work. Selection of the dates and editions of Newspaper under study were done using the composite week sampling technique. All the days of the week were used for the newspapers because they (The Punch and The Guardian) are published all the days of the week. Coding sheet was the tool of data collection for the content analysis of this study. Findings of the study revealed that by the Punch newspaper and Guardian has played a significant role in eradicating election malpractices in Nigeria. It therefore concludes that media is metaphoric when we termed it to be a watchdog of the nation as well the mirror through which the nation see and recognize itself. The study also recommends that Nigerian media should strike balance between entertainment stories, crisis stories, economic stories, law story, education stories, terrorism stories, health stories, sport stories, metropolitan stories instead of portraying the country as being crime oriented.

Keywords: newspaper, coverage, general elections, impact

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Authors: Hamad Almebayedh, Chuxia Lin, Yu wang

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The environmental impact assessment (EIA) must be improved, assessed, and quality checked for human and environmental health and safety. Soil contamination is expanding, and sites and soil remediation activities proceeding around the word which simplifies the answer “quality soil characterization” will lead to “quality EIA” to illuminate the contamination level and extent and reveal the unknown for the way forward to remediate, countifying, containing, minimizing and eliminating the environmental damage. Spatial interpolation methods play a significant role in decision making, planning remediation strategies, environmental management, and risk assessment, as it provides essential elements towards site characterization, which need to be informed into the EIA. The Innovative 3D soil mapping and soil characterization technology presented in this research paper reveal the unknown information and the extent of the contaminated soil in specific and enhance soil characterization information in general which will be reflected in improving the information provided in developing the EIA related to specific sites. The foremost aims of this research paper are to present novel 3D mapping technology to quality and cost-effectively characterize and estimate the distribution of key soil characteristics in contaminated sites and develop Innovative process/procedure “assessment measures” for EIA quality and assessment. The contaminated site and field investigation was conducted by innovative 3D mapping technology to characterize the composition of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soils in a decommissioned oilfield waste pit in Kuwait. The results show the depth and extent of the contamination, which has been interred into a developed assessment process and procedure for the EIA quality review checklist to enhance the EIA and drive remediation and risk assessment strategies. We have concluded that to minimize the possible adverse environmental impacts on the investigated site in Kuwait, the soil-capping approach may be sufficient and may represent a cost-effective management option as the environmental risk from the contaminated soils is considered to be relatively low. This research paper adopts a multi-method approach involving reviewing the existing literature related to the research area, case studies, and computer simulation.

Keywords: quality EIA, spatial interpolation, soil characterization, contaminated site

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Authors: Shailendra Kumar, Lokesh Kashyap, Puneet Khanna, Nishant Patel, Rakesh Kumar, Arshad Ayub, Kelika Prakash, Yudhyavir Singh, Krithikabrindha V.

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Introduction: Spinal anesthesia is considered a standard anesthesia technique for caesarean delivery. The incidence of spinal hypotension during caesarean delivery is 70 -80%. Spinal hypotension may cause cerebral hypoperfusion in the mother, but physiologically cerebral autoregulatory mechanisms accordingly prevent cerebral hypoxia. Cerebral blood flow remains constant in the 50-150 mmHg of Cerebral Perfusion Pressure (CPP) range. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive technology that is used to detect Cerebral Desaturation Events (CDEs) immediately compared to other conventional intraoperative monitoring techniques. Objective: The primary aim of the study is to correlate the change in cerebral oxygen saturation using NIRS with respect to a fall in mean blood pressure after spinal anaesthesia and to find out the effects of spinal hypotension on neonatal APGAR score, neonatal acid-base variations, and presence of Postoperative Delirium (POD). Methodology: NIRS sensors were attached to the forehead of all the patients, and their baseline readings of cerebral oxygenation on the right and left frontal regions and mean blood pressure were noted. Subarachnoid block was given with hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine plus fentanyl, the dose being determined by the individual anaesthesiologist. Co-loading of IV crystalloid solutions was given to the patient. Blood pressure reading and cerebral saturation were recorded every 1 minute till 30min. Hypotension was a fall in MAP less than 20% of the baseline values. Patients going for hypotension were treated with an IV Bolus of phenylephrine/ephedrine. Umbilical cord blood samples were taken for blood gas analysis, and neonatal APGAR was noted by a neonatologist. Study design: A prospective observational study conducted in a population of Thirty ASA 2 and 3 parturients scheduled for lower segment caesarean section (LSCS). Results: Mean fall in regional cerebral saturation is 28.48 ± 14.7% with respect to the mean fall in blood pressure 38.92 ± 8.44 mm Hg. The correlation coefficient between fall in saturation and fall in mean blood pressure is 0.057, and p-value {0.7} after subarachnoid block. A fall in regional cerebral saturation occurred 2±1 min before a fall in mean blood pressure. Twenty-nine out of thirty patients required vasopressors during hypotension. The first dose of vasopressor requirement is needed at 6.02±2 min after the block. The mean APGAR score was 7.86 and 9.74 at 1 and 5 min of birth, respectively, and the mean umbilical arterial pH of 7.3±0.1. According to DRS-98 (Delirium Rating Scale), the mean delirium rating score on postoperative day 1 and day 2 were 0.1 and 0.7, respectively. Discussion: There was a fall in regional cerebral oxygen saturation, which started before with respect to a significant fall in mean blood pressure readings but was statistically not significant. Maximal fall in blood pressure requiring vasopressors occurs within 10 min of SAB. Neonatal APGAR scores and acid-base variations were in the normal range with maternal hypotension, and there was no incidence of postoperative delirium in patients with post-spinal hypotension.

Keywords: cerebral oxygenation, LSCS, NIRS, spinal hypotension

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Authors: Reuben Newell, Edward Archer, Alistair McIlhagger, Calvin Ralph

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Modern industry has developed a need for innovative 3D composite materials due to their attractive material properties. Composite materials are composed of a fibre reinforcement encased in a polymer matrix. The fibre reinforcement consists of warp, weft and binder yarns or tows woven together into a preform. The mechanical performance of composite material is largely controlled by the properties of the preform. As a result, the bulk of recent textile research has been focused on the design of high-strength preform architectures. Studies looking at optimisation of the weaving process have largely been neglected. It has been reported that yarns experience varying levels of damage during weaving, resulting in filament breakage and ultimately compromised composite mechanical performance. The weaving parameters involved in causing this yarn damage are not fully understood. Recent studies indicate that poor yarn tension control may be an influencing factor. As tension is increased, the yarn-to-yarn and yarn-to-weaving-equipment interactions are heightened, maximising damage. The correlation between yarn tension variation and weaving damage severity has never been adequately researched or quantified. A novel study is needed which accesses the influence of tension variation on the mechanical properties of woven yarns. This study has looked to quantify the variation of yarn tension throughout weaving and sought to link the impact of tension to weaving damage. Multiple yarns were randomly selected, and their tension was measured across the creel and shedding stages of weaving, using a hand-held tension meter. Sections of the same yarn were subsequently cut from the loom machine and tensile tested. A comparison study was made between the tensile strength of pristine and tensioned yarns to determine the induced weaving damage. Yarns from bobbins at the rear of the creel were under the least amount of tension (0.5-2.0N) compared to yarns positioned at the front of the creel (1.5-3.5N). This increase in tension has been linked to the sharp turn in the yarn path between bobbins at the front of the creel and creel I-board. Creel yarns under the lower tension suffered a 3% loss of tensile strength, compared to 7% for the greater tensioned yarns. During shedding, the tension on the yarns was higher than in the creel. The upper shed yarns were exposed to a decreased tension (3.0-4.5N) compared to the lower shed yarns (4.0-5.5N). Shed yarns under the lower tension suffered a 10% loss of tensile strength, compared to 14% for the greater tensioned yarns. Interestingly, the most severely damaged yarn was exposed to both the largest creel and shedding tensions. This study confirms for the first time that yarns under a greater level of tension suffer an increased amount of weaving damage. Significant variation of yarn tension has been identified across the creel and shedding stages of weaving. This leads to a variance of mechanical properties across the woven preform and ultimately the final composite part. The outcome from this study highlights the need for optimised yarn tension control during preform manufacture to minimize yarn-induced weaving damage.

Keywords: optimisation of preform manufacture, tensile testing of damaged tows, variation of yarn weaving tension, weaving damage

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Authors: Sk Ajim Ali

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The present study is an attempt to overview on the major environmental and health impacts due to hazardous waste generation and poor management. In present scenario, not only hazardous waste, but as a common term ‘Waste’ is one of the acceptable and thinkable environmental issues. With excessive increasing population, industrialization and standardization of human’s life style heap in extra waste generation which is directly or indirectly related with hazardous waste generation. Urbanization and population growth are solely responsible for establishing industrial sector and generating various Hazardous Waste (HW) and concomitantly poor management practice arising adverse effect on environment and human health. As compare to other Indian state, West Bengal is not too much former in HW generation. West Bengal makes a rank of 7th in HW generation followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, U.P, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. During the last 30 years, the industrial sectors in W.B have quadrupled in size, during 1995 there were only 440 HW generating Units in West Bengal which produced 129826 MTA hazardous waste but in 2011, it rose up into 609 units and it produced about 259777 MTA hazardous waste. So, the notable thing is that during a 15 year interval there increased 169 waste generating units but it produced about 129951 MTA of hazardous waste. Major chemical industries are the main sources of HW and causes of adverse effect on the environment and human health. HW from industrial sectors contains heavy metals, cyanides, pesticides, complex aromatic compounds (i.e. PCB) and other chemical which are toxic, flammable, reactive, and corrosive and have explosive properties which highly affect the surrounding environment and human health in and around he disposal sites. The main objective of present study is to highlight on the sources and components of hazardous waste in West Bengal and impacts of improper HW management on health and environment. This study is carried out based on a secondary source of data and qualitative method of research. The secondary data has been collected annual report of WBPCB, WHO’s report, research paper, article, books and so on. It has been found that excessive HW generation from various sources and communities has serious health hazards that lead to the spreading of infectious disease and environmental change.

Keywords: environmental impacts, existing HW generation and management practice, hazardous waste (HW), health impacts, recommendation and planning

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Authors: Omar Youssef, Aija Knuuttila, Paivi Piirilä, Virinder Sarhadi, Sakari Knuutila

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Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a unique sample that allows studying different genetic changes in lung carcinoma through a non-invasive way. With the aid of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, analysis of genetic mutations has been more efficient with increased sensitivity for detection of genetic variants. In order to investigate the possibility of applying this method for cancer diagnostics, mutations in EBC DNA from lung cancer patients and healthy individuals were studied by using NGS. The key aim is to assess the feasibility of using this approach to detect clinically important mutations in EBC. EBC was collected from 20 healthy individuals and 9 lung cancer patients (four lung adenocarcinomas, four 8 squamous cell carcinoma, and one case of mesothelioma). Mutations in hotpot regions of 22 genes were studied by using Ampliseq Colon and Lung cancer panel and sequenced on Ion PGM. Results demonstrated that all nine patients showed a total of 19 cosmic mutations in APC, BRAF, EGFR, ERBB4, FBXW7, FGFR1, KRAS, MAP2K1, NRAS, PIK3CA, PTEN, RET, SMAD4, and TP53. In controls, 15 individuals showed 35 cosmic mutations in BRAF, CTNNB1, DDR2, EGFR, ERBB2, FBXW7, FGFR3, KRAS, MET, NOTCH1, NRAS, PIK3CA, PTEN, SMAD4, and TP53. Additionally, 45 novel mutations not reported previously were also seen in patients’ samples, and 106 novel mutations were seen in controls’ specimens. KRAS exon 2 mutations G12D was identified in one control specimen with mutant allele fraction of 6.8%, while KRAS G13D mutation seen in one patient sample showed mutant allele fraction of 17%. These findings illustrate that hotspot mutations are present in DNA from EBC of both cancer patients and healthy controls. As some of the cosmic mutations were seen in controls too, no firm conclusion can be drawn on the clinical importance of cosmic mutations in patients. Mutations reported in controls could represent early neoplastic changes or normal homeostatic process of apoptosis occurring in lung tissue to get rid of mutant cells. At the same time, mutations detected in patients might represent a non-invasive easily accessible way for early cancer detection. Follow up of individuals with important cancer mutations is necessary to clarify the significance of these mutations in both healthy individuals and cancer patients.

Keywords: exhaled breath condensate, lung cancer, mutations, next generation sequencing

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Authors: M. Ciminello, I. Dimino, S. Ameduri, A. Concilio

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Improving aircraft's efficiency is one of the key elements of Aeronautics. Modern aircraft possess many advanced functions, such as good transportation capability, high Mach number, high flight altitude, and increasing rate of climb. However, no aircraft has a possibility to reach all of this optimized performance in a single airframe configuration. The aircraft aerodynamic efficiency varies considerably depending on the specific mission and on environmental conditions within which the aircraft must operate. Structures that morph their shape in response to their surroundings may at first seem like the stuff of science fiction, but take a look at nature and lots of examples of plants and animals that adapt to their environment would arise. In order to ensure both the controllable and the static robustness of such complex structural systems, a monitoring network is aimed at verifying the effectiveness of the given control commands together with the elastic response. In order to achieve this kind of information, the use of FBG sensors network is, in this project, proposed. The sensor network is able to measure morphing structures shape which may show large, global displacements due to non-standard architectures and materials adopted. Chord -wise variations may allow setting and chasing the best layout as a function of the particular and transforming reference state, always targeting best aerodynamic performance. The reason why an optical sensor solution has been selected is that while keeping a few of the contraindication of the classical systems (like cabling, continuous deployment, and so on), fibre optic sensors may lead to a dramatic reduction of the wires mass and weight thanks to an extreme multiplexing capability. Furthermore, the use of the ‘light’ as ‘information carrier’, permits dealing with nimbler, non-shielded wires, and avoids any kind of interference with the on-board instrumentation. The FBG-based transducers, herein presented, aim at monitoring the actual shape of adaptive trailing edge. Compared to conventional systems, these transducers allow more fail-safe measurements, by taking advantage of a supporting structure, hosting FBG, whose properties may be tailored depending on the architectural requirements and structural constraints, acting as strain modulator. The direct strain may, in fact, be difficult because of the large deformations occurring in morphing elements. A modulation transducer is then necessary to keep the measured strain inside the allowed range. In this application, chord-wise transducer device is a cantilevered beam sliding trough the spars and copying the camber line of the ATE ribs. FBG sensors array position are dimensioned and integrated along the path. A theoretical model describing the system behavior is implemented. To validate the design, experiments are then carried out with the purpose of estimating the functions between rib rotation and measured strain.

Keywords: fiber optic sensor, morphing structures, strain sensor, shape reconstruction

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Authors: A. Saghatelyan, Sh. Asmaryan, G. Tepanosyan, V. Muradyan

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One of major concern to Armenia has been soil degradation emerged as a result of unsustainable management and use of grasslands, this in turn largely impacting environment, agriculture and finally human health. Hence, assessment of soil degradation is an essential and urgent objective set out to measure its possible consequences and develop a potential management strategy. Since recently, an essential tool for assessing pasture degradation has been remote sensing (RS) technologies. This research was done with an intention to measure preciseness of Linear spectral unmixing (LSU) and NDVI-SMA methods to estimate soil surface components related to degradation (fractional vegetation cover-FVC, bare soils fractions, surface rock cover) and determine appropriateness of these methods for mapping man-induced soil degradation in high mountain pastures. Taking into consideration a spatially complex and heterogeneous biogeophysical structure of the studied site, we used high resolution multispectral QuickBird imagery of a pasture site in one of Armenia’s rural communities - Nerkin Sasoonashen. The accuracy assessment was done by comparing between the land cover abundance data derived through RS methods and the ground truth land cover abundance data. A significant regression was established between ground truth FVC estimate and both NDVI-LSU and LSU - produced vegetation abundance data (R2=0.636, R2=0.625, respectively). For bare soil fractions linear regression produced a general coefficient of determination R2=0.708. Because of poor spectral resolution of the QuickBird imagery LSU failed with assessment of surface rock abundance (R2=0.015). It has been well documented by this particular research, that reduction in vegetation cover runs in parallel with increase in man-induced soil degradation, whereas in the absence of man-induced soil degradation a bare soil fraction does not exceed a certain level. The outcomes show that the proposed method of man-induced soil degradation assessment through FVC, bare soil fractions and field data adequately reflects the current status of soil degradation throughout the studied pasture site and may be employed as an alternate of more complicated models for soil degradation assessment.

Keywords: Armenia, linear spectral unmixing, remote sensing, soil degradation

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Authors: J. C. Colmenares, M. Paszkiewicz-Gawron, D. Lomot, S. R. Pradhan, A. Qayyum

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This work is a report of recent selected experiments of photocatalysis intensification using flow microphotoreactors (fabricated by an ultrasound-based technique) for photocatalytic selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BnOH) to benzaldehyde (PhCHO) (in the frame of the concept of lignin valorization), and the proof of concept of intensifying a flow selective photocatalytic oxidation process by acoustic cavitation. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by using different techniques such as UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, thermal gravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. More specifically, the work will be on: a Design and development of metal-containing TiO₂ coated microflow reactor for photocatalytic partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol: The current work introduces an efficient ultrasound-based metal (Fe, Cu, Co)-containing TiO₂ deposition on the inner walls of a perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA) microtube under mild conditions. The experiments were carried out using commercial TiO₂ and sol-gel synthesized TiO₂. The rough surface formed during sonication is the site for the deposition of these nanoparticles in the inner walls of the microtube. The photocatalytic activities of these semiconductor coated fluoropolymer based microreactors were evaluated for the selective oxidation of BnOH to PhCHO in the liquid flow phase. The analysis of the results showed that various features/parameters are crucial, and by tuning them, it is feasible to improve the conversion of benzyl alcohol and benzaldehyde selectivity. Among all the metal-containing TiO₂ samples, the 0.5 at% Fe/TiO₂ (both, iron and titanium, as cheap, safe, and abundant metals) photocatalyst exhibited the highest BnOH conversion under visible light (515 nm) in a microflow system. This could be explained by the higher crystallite size, high porosity, and flake-like morphology. b. Designing/fabricating photocatalysts by a sonochemical approach and testing them in the appropriate flow sonophotoreactor towards sustainable selective oxidation of key organic model compounds of lignin: Ultrasonication (US)-assitedprecipitaion and US-assitedhydrosolvothermal methods were used for the synthesis of metal-oxide-based and metal-free-carbon-based photocatalysts, respectively. Additionally, we report selected experiments of intensification of a flow photocatalytic selective oxidation through the use of ultrasonic waves. The effort of our research is focused on the utilization of flow sonophotocatalysis for the selective transformation of lignin-based model molecules by nanostructured metal oxides (e.g., TiO₂), and metal-free carbocatalysts. A plethora of parameters that affects the acoustic cavitation phenomena, and as a result the potential of sonication were investigated (e.g. ultrasound frequency and power). Various important photocatalytic parameters such as the wavelength and intensity of the irradiated light, photocatalyst loading, type of solvent, mixture of solvents, and solution pH were also optimized.

Keywords: heterogeneous photo-catalysis, metal-free carbonaceous materials, selective redox flow sonophotocatalysis, titanium dioxide

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Authors: Carla Palencia-Aguilar

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In order to attain the 2050’s zero emissions goal, it is necessary to know the carbon dioxide changes over time either from pollution to attenuations in the mining industry versus at green zones to establish real goals and redirect efforts to reduce greenhouse effects. Two methods were used to compute the amount of CO2 tons in specific mining zones in Colombia. The former by means of NPP with MODIS MOD17A3HGF from years 2000 to 2021. The latter by using MODIS MYD021KM bands 33 to 36 with maximum values of 644 data points distributed in 7 sites corresponding to surface mineral mining of: coal, nickel, iron and limestone. The green zones selected were located at the proximities of the studied sites, but further than 1 km to avoid information overlapping. Year 2012 was selected for method 2 to compare the results with data provided by the Colombian government to determine range of values. Some data was compared with 2022 MODIS energy values and converted to kton of CO2 by using the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator by EPA. The results showed that Nickel mining was the least pollutant with 81 kton of CO2 e.q on average and maximum of 102 kton of CO2 e.q. per year, with green zones attenuating carbon dioxide in 103 kton of CO2 on average and 125 kton maximum per year in the last 22 years. Following Nickel, there was Coal with average kton of CO2 per year of 152 and maximum of 188, values very similar to the subjacent green zones with average and maximum kton of CO2 of 157 and 190 respectively. Iron had similar results with respect to 3 Limestone sites with average values of 287 kton of CO2 for mining and 310 kton for green zones, and maximum values of 310 kton for iron mining and 356 kton for green zones. One of the limestone sites exceeded the other sites with an average value of 441 kton per year and maximum of 490 kton per year, eventhough it had higher attenuation by green zones than a close Limestore site (3.5 Km apart): 371 kton versus 281 kton on average and maximum 416 kton versus 323 kton, such vegetation contribution is not enough, meaning that manufacturing process should be improved for the most pollutant site. By comparing bands 33 to 36 for years 2012 and 2022 from January to August, it can be seen that on average the kton of CO2 were similar for mining sites and green zones; showing an average yearly balance of carbon dioxide emissions and attenuation. However, efforts on improving manufacturing process are needed to overcome the carbon dioxide effects specially during emissions’ peaks because surrounding vegetation cannot fully attenuate it.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, MODIS, surface mining, vegetation

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Simona Dostalova, Dita Munzova, Ana Maria Jimenez Jimenez, Marketa Vaculovicova, Vojtech Adam, Rene Kizek

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The boom of nanomedicine in recent years has led to the development of numerous new nanomaterials that can be used as nanocarriers in the drug delivery. These nanocarriers can either be synthetic or natural-based. The disadvantage of many synthetic nanocarriers is their toxicity in patient’s body. Protein cages that can naturally be found in human body do not exhibit such disadvantage. However, the release of cargo from some protein cages in target cells can be problematic. As a special type of protein cages can serve the capsid of many viruses, including phage. Phages infect bacterial cells; therefore they are not harmful to human cells. The targeting of phage particles to cancer cells can be solved by producing of empty phage capsids during which the targeting moieties (e.g. peptides) can be cloned into genes of phage capsid to decorate its surface. Moreover, the produced capsids do not contain viral nucleic acid and are therefore not infectious to beneficial bacteria in the patient’s body. The protein cage composed of viral capsid is larger than other frequently used apoferritin cage but its size is still small enough to benefit from passive targeting by Enhanced Permeability and Retention effect. In this work, bacteriophage λ was used, both whole and its empty capsid for delivery of different cytotoxic drugs (cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, etoposide and doxorubicin). Large quantities of phage λ were obtained from phage λ-producing strain of E. coli cultivated in medium with 0.2 % maltose. After killing of E. coli with chloroform and its removal by centrifugation, the phage was concentrated by ultracentrifugation at 130 000 g and 4 °C for 3 h. The encapsulation of the drugs was performed by infusion method and four different concentrations of the drugs were encapsulated (200; 100; 50; 25 µg/ml). Free molecules of drugs were removed by dialysis. The encapsulation was verified using spectrophotometric and electrochemical methods. The amount of encapsulated drug linearly increased with the amount of applied drug (determination coefficient R2=0.8013). 76% of applied drug was encapsulated in phage λ particles (concentration of 10 µg/ml), even with the highest applied concentration of drugs, 200 µg/ml. Only 1% of encapsulated drug was detected in phage DNA. Similar results were obtained with encapsulation in phage empty capsid. Therefore, it can be concluded that the encapsulation of drugs into phage particles is efficient and mostly occurs by interaction of drugs with protein capsid.

Keywords: cytostatics, drug delivery, nanocarriers, phage capsid

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Authors: Petros Dlamini, Bethiweli Malambo, Maggie Masenya

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Knowledge management practices are very important in public libraries, especial in the era of the information society. The success of public libraries depends on the recognition and application of knowledge management practices. The study investigates the value and challenges of knowledge management practices in public libraries. Three research objectives informed the study: to identify knowledge management practices in public libraries, understand the value of knowledge management practices in public libraries, and determine the factors hampering knowledge management practices in public libraries. The study was informed by the interpretivism research paradigm, which is associated with qualitative studies. In that light, the study collected data from eight librarians and or library heads, who were purposively selected from public libraries. The study adopted a social anthropological approach, which thoroughly evaluated each participant's response. Data was collected from the respondents through telephonic semi-structured interviews and assessed accordingly. Furthermore, the study used the latest content concept for data interpretation. The chosen data analysis method allowed the study to achieve its main purpose with concrete and valid information. The study's findings showed that all six (100%) selected public libraries apply knowledge management practices. The findings of the study revealed that public libraries have knowledge sharing as the main knowledge management practice. It was noted that public libraries employ many practices, but each library employed its practices of choice depending on their knowledge management practices structure. The findings further showed that knowledge management practices in public libraries are employed through meetings, training, information sessions, and awareness, to mention a few. The findings revealed that knowledge management practices make the libraries usable. Furthermore, it has been asserted that knowledge management practices in public libraries meet users’ needs and expectations and equip them with skills. It was discovered that all participating public libraries from Umkhanyakude district municipality valued their knowledge management practices as the pillar and foundation of services. Noticeably, knowledge management practices improve users ‘standard of living and build an information society. The findings of the study showed that librarians should be responsible for the value of knowledge management practices as they are qualified personnel. The results also showed that 83.35% of public libraries had factors hampering knowledge management practices. The factors are not limited to shortage of funds, resources and space, and political interference. Several suggestions were made to improve knowledge management practices in public libraries. These suggestions include improving the library budget, increasing libraries’ building sizes, and conducting more staff training.

Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge management practices, storage, dissemination

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Jessie Rapoza, Petr Moroshkin, Jimmy Xu

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Chirality is omnipresent, in nature, in life, and in the field of physics. One intriguing example is the homochirality that has remained a great secret of life. Another is the pairs of mirror-image molecules – enantiomers. They are identical in atomic composition and therefore indistinguishable in the scalar physical properties. Yet, they can be either therapeutic or toxic, depending on their chirality. Recent studies suggest a potential link between abnormal levels of certain D-amino acids and some serious health impairments, including schizophrenia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and potentially cancer. Although indistinguishable in their scalar properties, the chirality of a molecule reveals itself in interaction with the surrounding of a certain chirality, or more generally, a broken mirror-symmetry. In this work, we report on a system for chiral molecule detection, in which the mirror-symmetry is doubly broken, first by asymmetric structuring a nanopatterned plasmonic surface than by the incidence of circularly polarized light (CPL). In this system, the incident circularly-polarized light induces a surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave, propagating along the asymmetric plasmonic surface. This SPP field itself is chiral, evanescently bound to a near-field zone on the surface (~10nm thick), but with an amplitude greatly intensified (by up to 104) over that of the incident light. It hence probes just the molecules on the surface instead of those in the volume. In coupling to molecules along its path on the surface, the chiral SPP wave favors one chirality over the other, allowing for chirality detection via the change in an optical rectification current measured at the edges of the sample. The asymmetrically structured surface converts the high-frequency electron plasmonic-oscillations in the SPP wave into a net DC drift current that can be measured at the edge of the sample via the mechanism of optical rectification. The measured results validate these design concepts and principles. The observed optical rectification current exhibits a clear differentiation between a pair of enantiomers. Experiments were performed by focusing a 1064nm CW laser light at the sample - a gold grating microchip submerged in an approximately 1.82M solution of either L-arabinose or D-arabinose and water. A measurement of the current output was then recorded under both rights and left circularly polarized lights. Measurements were recorded at various angles of incidence to optimize the coupling between the spin-momentums of the incident light and that of the SPP, that is, spin-momentum locking. In order to suppress the background, the values of the photocurrent for the right CPL are subtracted from those for the left CPL. Comparison between the two arabinose enantiomers reveals a preferential signal response of one enantiomer to left CPL and the other enantiomer to right CPL. In sum, this work reports on the first experimental evidence of the feasibility of chiral molecule detection via optical rectification in a metal meta-grating. This nanoscale interfaced electrical detection technology is advantageous over other detection methods due to its size, cost, ease of use, and integration ability with read-out electronic circuits for data processing and interpretation.

Keywords: Chirality, detection, molecule, spin

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Authors: Luís R. Silva, Ana C. Gonçalves, Catarina Bento, Fábio Jesus, Branca M. Silva

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Prunus avium Linnaeus, more known as sweet cherry, is one of the most appreciated fruit worldwide. Most of these quantities are produced in Fundão region, being Saco the cultivar most produced. Saco is very rich in bioactive compounds, especially phenolics, and presents great antioxidant capacity. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the chemical profile and biological potential, concerning antioxidant, anti-diabetic activity and protective effects towards erythrocytes by Saco sweet cherry collected from Fundão region (Portugal). The hydroethanolic extracts were prepared and passed through a C18 solid-phase extraction column. The phenolic profile analyzed by LC-DAD method allowed to the identification of 22 phenolic compounds, being 16 non-phenolics and 6 anthocyanins. In respect to non-coloured phenolics, 3-O-caffeoylquinic and ρ-coumaroylquinic acids were the main ones. Concerning to anthocyanins, cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside was found in higher amounts. Relatively to biological potential, Saco showed great antioxidant potential, through DPPH and NO radical assays, with IC50 =16.24 ± 0.46 µg/mL and IC50 = 176.69 ± 3.35 µg/mL for DPPH and NO, respectively. These results were similar to those obtained for ascorbic acid control (IC50 = 16.92 ± 0.69 and IC50 = 162.66 ± 1.31 μg/mL for DPPH and NO, respectively). In respect to antidiabetic potential, Saco revealed capacity to inhibit α-glucosidase in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 = 10.79 ± 0.40 µg/mL), being much active than positive control acarbose (IC50 = 306.66 ± 0.84 μg/mL). Additionally, Saco extracts revealed protective effects against ROO•-mediated toxicity generated by AAPH in human blood erythrocytes, inhibiting hemoglobin oxidation (IC50 = 38.57 ± 0.96 μg/mL) and hemolysis (IC50 = 73.03 ± 1.48 μg/mL), in a concentration-dependent manner. However, Saco extracts were less effective than quercetin control (IC50 = 3.10 μg/mL and IC50 = 0.7 μg/mL for inhibition of hemoglobin oxidation and hemolysis, respectively). The results obtained showed that Saco is an excellent source of phenolic compounds. These ones are natural antioxidant substances, which easily capture reactive species. This work presents new insights regarding sweet cherry antioxidant properties which may be useful for the future development of new therapeutic strategies for preventing or attenuating oxidative-related disorders.

Keywords: antioxidant capacity, health benefits, phenolic compounds, saco

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Authors: Dhritilekha Deka, Deepak Patwa, Ravi K., Archana M. Nair

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Bioaccumulation of heavy metal contaminants due to intense anthropogenic interference degrades the environment and ecosystem functions. Conventional physicochemical methods involve energy-intensive and costly methodologies. Phytoremediation, on the other hand, provides an efficient nature-based strategy for the reclamation of heavy metal-contaminated sites. However, the slow process and adaptation to high-concentration contaminant sequestration often limit the efficiency of the method. This necessitates natural amendments such as biochar to improve phytoextraction and stabilize the green cover. Biochar is a highly porous structure with high carbon sequestration potential and containing negatively charged functional groups that provide binding sites for the positively charged metals. This study aims to develop and determine the synergy between sugarcane bagasse biochar content and phytoremediation. A 60-day pot experiment using perennial tussock vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) was conducted for different biochar contents of 1%, 2%, and 4% for the removal of cadmium and zinc. A concentration of 500 ppm is maintained for the amended and unamended control (CK) samples. The survival rates of the plants, biomass production, and leaf area index were measured for the plant growth characteristics. Results indicate a visible change in the plant growth and the heavy metal concentration with the biochar content. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) in the plant improved significantly for the 4% biochar content by 57% in comparison to the control CK treatment in Cd-treated soils. The Zn soils indicated the highest reduction in the metal concentration by 50% in the 2% amended samples and an increase in the BCF in all the amended samples. The translocation from the rhizosphere to the shoots was low but not dependent on the amendment content and varied for each contaminant type. The root-to-shoot ratio indicates higher values compared to the control samples. The enhanced tolerance capacities can be attributed to the nutrients released by the biochar in the soil. The study reveals the high potential of biochar as a phytoremediation amendment, but its effect is dependent on the soil and heavy metal and accumulator species.

Keywords: phytoextraction, biochar, heavy metals, chrysopogon zizanioides, bioaccumulation factor

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Authors: Seda Muftugil-Yalcin

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With the proliferation of the number of social enterprises worldwide, there is now a whole ecosystem full of different organisational actors revolving around social enterprises. Impact hubs, incubation centers, and organisations (profit or non-profit) that offer consultancy services to social enterprises can be said to constitute one such cluster in the eco-system. These organisations offer a variety of services to social enterprises which desire to maximize their positive social impact. Especially with regards to impact measurement, there are numerous systems/guides/approaches/tools developed that claim to benefit social enterprises. Many organisations choose one of the existing tools and craft programs that help social enterprises to measure and to manage their social impacts. However, empirical evidence with regards to how the services of these consultancy organisations are precisely utilized on the field is scarce. This inevitably casts doubt on the impact of these organisations themselves. This research dwells on four case studies from the Netherlands and Turkey. In each country, two university-affiliated impact centers and two independent consultancy agencies that work with social entrepreneurs in the area of social impact measurement are closely examined. The overarching research question has been 'With regards to impact measurement, how do the founders/managers of these organisations perceive and make sense of their contribution to social enterprises and to the social entrepreneurship eco-system at large?' As for methodology, in-depth interviews were carried out with the managers/founders of these organisations and discourse analysis method has been used for data analysis together with grounded theory. The comparison between Turkey and Netherlands elucidate common denominators of impact measurement hype and discourses that are currently existing worldwide. In addition, it also reveals differing priorities of social enterprises in these different settings, which shape the expectations of social enterprises of consultancy organisations. Comparison between university affiliated impact hubs and independent consultancy organisations also give away important data about how different forms of consultancy organisations (in this case university based and independent) position themselves in relation to alike organisations with similar aims. The overall aim of the research is to reveal the contribution of the consultancy organisations that work with social enterprises to the social entrepreneurship field as perceived by them through a cross cultural study. The findings indicate that in both settings, the organisations that were claiming to bring positive social impact on the social entrepreneurship eco-system through their impact measurement trainings were themselves having a hard time in concretizing their own contributions; which indicated that these organisations were in need of a different impact measurement discourse than the ones they were championing.

Keywords: consultancy organisations, social entrepreneurship, social impact measurement, social impact discourse

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Authors: Jianzhou Ni, Hua Fan

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It has been determined that supervisor support has a major influence on postgraduate students' academic emotions and is considered a method of successfully anticipating postgraduates' good psychological well-being levels. As a result, by assessing the mediating influence upon academic emotions for contemporary postgraduates in China, this study investigated the tight reciprocal relationship between psychological empowerment and positive mental well-being among postgraduates. To that end, a help enables a theoretical analysis of role clarity, academic emotion, and positive psychological health was developed, and its validity and reliability were demonstrated for the first time using the normalized postgrad relationship with supervisor scale, academic emotion scale, and positive mental scale, as well as questionnaire data from Chinese postgraduate students. This study used the cross-lagged (ARCL) panel model data to longitudinally measure 798 valid data from two survey questions polls taken in 2019 (T1) and 2021 (T2) to investigate the link between supervisor support and positive graduate student mental well-being in a bidirectional relationship of influence. The study discovered that mentor assistance could have a considerable beneficial impact on graduate students' academic emotions and, as a result, indirectly help learners attain positive mental health development. This verifies the theoretical premise that academic emotions partially mediate the effect of mentor support on positive mental health development and argues for the coexistence of the two. The outcomes of this study can help researchers gain a better knowledge of the dynamic interplay among three different research variables: supervisor support, academic emotions, and positive mental health, as well as fill gaps in previous research. In this regard, the study indicated that mentor assistance directly stimulates students' academic drive and assists graduate students in developing good academic emotions, which contributes to the development of positive mental health. However, given the restricted measurement time in this study's cross-lagged panel data and the potential effect of moderating effects other than academic mood on graduate students' good mental health, the results of this study need to be more fully understood and validated.

Keywords: supervisor support, academic emotions, positive mental health, interaction effects, longitudinal cross-lagged measurements

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Authors: Luisa Müting, Wisnu Harto Adiwijoyo

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Agroforestry systems transform the agricultural landscapes in the Sahel region of Africa, providing food and farming products consumed for subsistence or sold for income. In the incrementally dry climate of the Sahel region, the spreading of agroforestry practices is integral for policymaker efforts to counteract land degradation and provide soil restoration in the region. Several measures on agroforestry practices have been implemented in the region by governmental and non-governmental institutions in recent years. However, despite the efforts, past research shows that awareness of how policies and interventions are being consumed and perceived by the public remains low. Therefore, interpreting public policy dilemmas by analyzing the public perception regarding agroforestry concepts and practices is necessary. Public perceptions and discourses can be an essential driver or constraint for the adoption of agroforestry practices in the region. Thus, understanding the public discourse behavior of crucial stakeholders could assist policymakers in developing inclusive and contextual policies that are relevant to the context of agroforestry adoption in Sahel region. To answer how information about agroforestry spreads and is perceived by the public. As internet usage increased drastically over the past decade, reaching a share of 33 percent of the population being connected to the internet, this research is based on online conversation data. Social media data from Facebook are gathered daily between April 2021 and April 2022 in Djibouti, Senegal, Mali, and Nigeria based on their share of active internet users compared to other countries in the Sahel region. A systematic methodology was applied to the extracted social media using discourse network analysis (DNA). This study then clustered the data by the types of agroforestry practices, sentiments, and country. Additionally, this research extracted the text data from online news media during the same period to pinpoint events related to the topic of agroforestry. The preliminary result indicates that tree management, crops, and livestock integration, diversifying species and genetic resources, and focusing on interactions and productivity across the agricultural system; are the most notable keywords in agroforestry-related conversations within the four countries in the Sahel region. Additionally, approximately 84 percent of the discussions were still dominated by big actors, such as NGO or government actors. Furthermore, as a subject of communication within agroforestry discourse, the Great Green Wall initiative generates almost 60 percent positive sentiment within the captured social media data, effectively having a more significant outreach than general agroforestry topics. This study provides an understanding for scholars and policymakers with a springboard for further research or policy design on agroforestry in the four countries of the Sahel region with systematically uncaptured novel data from the internet.

Keywords: sahel, djibouti, senegal, mali, nigeria, social networks analysis, public discourse analysis, sentiment analysis, content analysis, social media, online news, agroforestry, land restoration

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Authors: Siyang Wang, Yujin Hu, Xuelin Wang, Wenqian Zhang

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Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in nuclear industry to manufacture critical components owing to their excellent corrosion resistance at high temperatures. Almost all the components used in nuclear power plants are produced by surface finishing (surface cold work) such as milling, grinding and so on. The change of surface states induced by machining has great influence on the corrosion behavior. In the present study, long time oxidation behavior of machined 316 austenitic stainless steel exposed to simulated pressure water reactor environment was investigated considering different surface states. Four surface finishes were produced by electro-polishing (P), grinding (G), and two milling (M and M1) processes respectively. Before oxidation, the surface Vickers micro-hardness, surface roughness of each type of sample was measured. Corrosion behavior of four types of sample was studied by using oxidation weight gain method for six oxidation periods. The oxidation time of each period was 120h, 216h, 336h, 504h, 672h and 1344h, respectively. SEM was used to observe the surface morphology of oxide film in several period. The results showed that oxide film on austenitic stainless steel has a duplex-layer structure. The inner oxide film is continuous and compact, while the outer layer is composed of oxide particles. The oxide particle consisted of large particles (nearly micron size) and small particles (dozens of nanometers to a few hundred nanometers). The formation of oxide particle could be significantly affected by the machined surface states. The large particle on cold worked samples (grinding and milling) appeared earlier than electro-polished one, and the milled sample has the largest particle size followed by ground one and electro-polished one. For machined samples, the large particles were almost distributed along the direction of machining marks. Severe exfoliation was observed on one milled surface (M) which had the most heavily cold worked layer, while rare local exfoliation occurred on the ground sample (G) and the other milled sample (M1). The electro-polished sample (P) entirely did not exfoliate.

Keywords: austenitic stainless steel, oxidation, machining, SEM

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Authors: C. Treadgold, S. Sivaraman

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The Starlight Children's Foundation (Starlight) is an Australian non-profit organisation that delivers programs, in partnership with health professionals, to support children, adolescents, and their families who are living with a serious illness. While supporting children and adolescents with life-limiting conditions has always been a feature of Starlight's work, providing a dedicated program, specifically targeting and meeting the needs of the paediatric palliative population, is a recent area of focus. Recognising the challenges in providing children’s palliative services, Starlight initiated a research and development project to better understand and meet the needs of this group. The aim was to create a program which enhances the wellbeing of children, adolescents, and their families receiving paediatric palliative care in their community through the provision of on-going, tailored, positive experiences or 'moments'. This paper will present the results of the formative evaluation of this unique program, highlighting the development processes and outcomes of the pilot. The pilot was designed using an innovation methodology, which included a number of research components. There was a strong belief that it needed to be delivered in partnership with a dedicated palliative care team, helping to ensure the best interests of the family were always represented. This resulted in Starlight collaborating with both the Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program (VPPCP) at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and the Sydney Children's Hospital Network (SCHN) to pilot the 'Moments' program. As experts in 'positive disruption', with a long history of collaborating with health professionals, Starlight was well placed to deliver a program which helps children, adolescents, and their families to experience moments of joy, connection and achieve their own sense of accomplishment. Building on Starlight’s evidence-based approach and experience in creative service delivery, the program aims to use the power of 'positive disruption' to brighten the lives of this group and create important memories. The clinical and Starlight team members collaborate to ensure that the child and family are at the centre of the program. The design of each experience is specific to their needs and ensures the creation of positive memories and family connection. It aims for each moment to enhance quality of life. The partnership with the VPPCP and SCHN has allowed the program to reach families across metropolitan and regional locations. In late 2019 a formative evaluation of the pilot was conducted utilising both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to document both the delivery and outcomes of the program. Central to the evaluation was the interviews conducted with both clinical teams and families in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of and satisfaction with the program. The findings, which will be shared in this presentation, provide practical insight into the delivery of the program, the key elements for its success with families, and areas which could benefit from additional research and focus. It will use stories and case studies from the pilot to highlight the impact of the program and discuss what opportunities, challenges, and learnings emerged.

Keywords: children, families, memory making, pediatric palliative care, support

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Authors: P. S. Hsi, Y. F. Wang, Y. F. Ho, P. C. Hung

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The aim of the present study was to explore the dermal exposure assessment model of chemicals that have been developed abroad and to evaluate the feasibility of chemical dermal exposure assessment model for manufacturing industry in Taiwan. We conducted and analyzed six semi-quantitative risk management tools, including UK - Control of substances hazardous to health ( COSHH ) Europe – Risk assessment of occupational dermal exposure ( RISKOFDERM ), Netherlands - Dose related effect assessment model ( DREAM ), Netherlands – Stoffenmanager ( STOFFEN ), Nicaragua-Dermal exposure ranking method ( DERM ) and USA / Canada - Public Health Engineering Department ( PHED ). Five types of manufacturing industry were selected to evaluate. The Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the sensitivity of each factor, and the correlation between the assessment results of each semi-quantitative model and the exposure factors used in the model was analyzed to understand the important evaluation indicators of the dermal exposure assessment model. To assess the effectiveness of the semi-quantitative assessment models, this study also conduct quantitative dermal exposure results using prediction model and verify the correlation via Pearson's test. Results show that COSHH was unable to determine the strength of its decision factor because the results evaluated at all industries belong to the same risk level. In the DERM model, it can be found that the transmission process, the exposed area, and the clothing protection factor are all positively correlated. In the STOFFEN model, the fugitive, operation, near-field concentrations, the far-field concentration, and the operating time and frequency have a positive correlation. There is a positive correlation between skin exposure, work relative time, and working environment in the DREAM model. In the RISKOFDERM model, the actual exposure situation and exposure time have a positive correlation. We also found high correlation with the DERM and RISKOFDERM models, with coefficient coefficients of 0.92 and 0.93 (p<0.05), respectively. The STOFFEN and DREAM models have poor correlation, the coefficients are 0.24 and 0.29 (p>0.05), respectively. According to the results, both the DERM and RISKOFDERM models are suitable for performance in these selected manufacturing industries. However, considering the small sample size evaluated in this study, more categories of industries should be evaluated to reduce its uncertainty and enhance its applicability in the future.

Keywords: dermal exposure, risk management, quantitative estimation, feasibility evaluation

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Authors: Natalia V. Naryzhnaya, Alexandr V. Mukhomedzyanov, Ivan A. Derkachev, Boris K. Kurbatov, Leonid N. Maslov

Abstract:

Background: Techniques of adaptation to hypoxia and remote postconditioning (RPost) have great prospects for use in the clinic. However, recent studies have shown low efficacy of remote postconditioning in patients with AMI. We hypothesize that the reasons for this inefficiency may be metabolic disorders, which are very common, especially in patients with cardiovascular disease, and age of patients. The purpose of the study was to reveal the effectiveness of adaptation to chronic hypoxia and RPost. To determine the possible relationship between the decrease in the effectiveness of projective impacts and disorders of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Design: The study was carried out on Wistar rats 60 day old. MetS was induced by high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet (HСHFD). Modeling MS led to the formation of obesity, hypertension, impaired lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, hyperleptinemia, and moderate stress. Groups with adaptation to chronic hypoxia were subjected to hypoxia for 21 days at 12% O2 and 0.3% CO2 after complete of HСHFD. All animals were subjected to 45 min coronary occlusion and 120 min reperfusion. Groups with RPost, immediately after the end of ischemia, tourniquets were applied to the hind limbs in the area of the hip joint (3 times in the mode of 5 min ischemia, 5 min reperfusion). Results: RPost led to a twofold reduction of infarct size in rats with intact metabolism (р < 0.0001), while in rats with MetS, a decrease in infarct size during RPost was 25 % (p = 0.00003). A direct correlation was found between of infarct size during RPost and the serum leptin level of rats with MetC (r = 0.85). The presented data suggested that a decrease in the efficiency of remote postconditioning in rats with diet-induced metabolic syndrome depends on serum leptin. Chronic hypoxia resulted in a 38% reduced in infarct size in metabolically intact rats. The decrease of cardioprotection was observed in rats with chronic hypoxia and MetS. Infarct size showed a direct correlation with impaired glucose tolerance (AUC, glucose tolerance test, r = 0.034) and serum triglyceride levels (r = 0.39). Our study showed the dependence of cardioprotection in rats with metabolic syndrome during chronic hypoxia and DPost on opioids in the blood serum and myocardium, protein kinase C and NO synthase activity. Conclusion: The results obtained showed that the infarct-limiting efficiency of adaptation to hypoxia and remote postconditioning is reduced or completely absent in animals with metabolic syndrome. The increase in the infarction, in this case, directly depends on the disturbances in carbohydrate. lipid metabolism and opioids signaling. Funding: Investigation of effectiveness of chronic hypoxia at the metabolic syndrome was carried out within the support of Russian Science Foundation Grant 22-15-00048. Studies of the mechanisms of arterial hypertension in induced metabolic syndrome were carried out within the framework of the state assignment (122020300042-4). The work was performed using the Center for Collective Use "Medical Genomics".

Keywords: chronic hypoxia, opioids, remote postconditioning, metabolic syndrome

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Authors: Harriet Koshie Lamptey, Richard Boateng

Abstract:

Mobile learning (m-learning) is a novel approach to knowledge acquisition and dissemination and is gaining global attention. Steady progress in wireless technologies and the portability of communication devices continue to broaden the scope and use of mobiles. With the convergence of Web functionality onto mobile platforms and the affordability and availability of mobile technology, m-learning has the potential of being the next prevalent channel of education in both formal and informal settings. There is substantive literature on developed countries but the state in developing countries (DCs) however appears vague. This paper is a synthesis of extant literature on mobile learning in DCs. The research interest is based on the fact that in DCs, mobile communication and internet connectivity are popular. However, its use in education is under explored. There are some reviews on the state, conceptualizations, trends and teacher education, but to the authors’ knowledge, no study has focused on mobile learning adoption and integration issues. This study examines issues and gaps associated with its adoption and integration in DCs higher education institutions. A qualitative build-up of literature was conducted using articles pooled from electronic databases (Google Scholar and ERIC). To enable criteria for inclusion and incorporate diverse study perspectives, search terms used were m-learning, DCs, higher education institutions, challenges, benefits, impact, gaps and issues. The synthesis revealed that though mobile technology has diffused globally, its pedagogical pursuit in DCs remains quite low. The absence of a mobile Web and the difficulty of resource conversion into mobile format due to lack of funding and technical competence is a stumbling block. Again, the lack of established design and implementation rules to guide the development of m-learning platforms in DCs is a hindrance. The absence of access restrictions on devices poses security threats to institutional systems. Negative perceptions that devices are taking over faculty roles lead to resistance in some situations. Resistance to change can be a hindrance to the acceptance and success of new systems. Lack of interest for m-learning is also attributed to lower technological literacy levels of the underprivileged masses. Scholarly works on m-learning in DCs is yet to mature. Most technological innovations are handed down from developed countries, and this constantly creates a lag for DCs. Lack of theoretical grounding was also identified which reduces the objectivity of study reports. The socio-cultural terrain of DCs results in societies with different views and needs that have been identified as a hindrance to research. Institutional commitment decisions, adequate funding for the necessary infrastructural development as well as multiple stakeholder participation is important for project success. Evidence suggests that while adoption decisions are readily made, successful integration of the concept for its full benefits to be realized is often neglected. Recommendations to findings were made to provide possible remedies to identified issues.

Keywords: developing countries, higher education institutions, mobile learning, literature review

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Authors: Yemane Hailu Fissuh, Zhongzhan Zhang

Abstract:

a systematic observation from a defined time of origin up to certain failure or censor is known as survival data. Survival analysis is a major area of interest in biostatistics and biomedical researches. At the heart of understanding, the most scientific and medical research inquiries lie for a causality analysis. Thus, the main concern of this study is to investigate the causal effect of treatment on survival time conditional to the possibly time-varying covariates. The theory of causality often differs from the simple association between the response variable and predictors. A causal estimation is a scientific concept to compare a pragmatic effect between two or more experimental arms. To evaluate an average treatment effect on survival outcome, the estimating equation was adjusted for time-varying covariates under the semi-parametric transformation models. The proposed model intuitively obtained the consistent estimators for unknown parameters and unspecified monotone transformation functions. In this article, the proposed method estimated an unbiased average causal effect of treatment on survival time of interest. The modified estimating equations of semiparametric transformation models have the advantage to include the time-varying effect in the model. Finally, the finite sample performance characteristics of the estimators proved through the simulation and Stanford heart transplant real data. To this end, the average effect of a treatment on survival time estimated after adjusting for biases raised due to the high correlation of the left-truncation and possibly time-varying covariates. The bias in covariates was restored, by estimating density function for left-truncation. Besides, to relax the independence assumption between failure time and truncation time, the model incorporated the left-truncation variable as a covariate. Moreover, the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm iteratively obtained unknown parameters and unspecified monotone transformation functions. To summarize idea, the ratio of cumulative hazards functions between the treated and untreated experimental group has a sense of the average causal effect for the entire population.

Keywords: a modified estimation equation, causal effect, semiparametric transformation models, survival analysis, time-varying covariate

Procedia PDF Downloads 163