Search results for: complexity by interaction

Authors: Mohammed Alkharusi

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This study addresses issues of gender identity faced by female and male Omani students studying at educational higher institutions. The study interviewed 16 male and female students to understand how cultural expectations of gender influence these students’ communication, and as a result how these students negotiate their gender identity to facilitate communication practices (or not) with the opposite sex. The context, focus, and theoretical underpinnings of the study are presented. Given that the researcher is also an Omani Arab, methodological and ethical challenges (e.g., recruiting and engaging with participants, and conducting semi-structured face-to-face interviews) will be discussed reflexively. The analysis found that students continued to following cultural expectations. They kept minimum interaction with the opposite sex that was illustrated by preferring to work with the same sex in group assignments only, avoiding sitting alone with the opposite sex, and not participating in academic activities. In the social context, the students started negotiating their gender identity and adopted communication practices that facilitated their social communication with the opposite sex. For example, they accepted to work with the opposite sex in different social mixed activities. In conclusion, students desired to maintain their cultural expectations but adopted certain communication practices to interact with the opposite sex.

Keywords: communication, cultural expectations, gender, identity, negotiation

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Authors: Ragini Verma, J. Ponmozhi

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The oral cavity is home to a wide variety of microorganisms that lead to various diseases and even oral cancer. Despite advancements in the diagnosis and detection at the initial phase, the situation hasn’t improved much. Saliva-on-a-chip is an innovative point-of-care platform for early diagnosis of oral cancer and other oral diseases in live and dead cells using a microfluidic device with a current perspective. Some of the major challenges, like real-time imaging of the oral cancer microbes, high throughput values, obtaining a high spatiotemporal resolution, etc. were faced by the scientific community. Integrated microfluidics and microscopy provide powerful approaches to studying the dynamics of oral pathology, microbe interaction, and the oral microenvironment. Here we have developed a saliva-on-chip (salivary microbes) device to monitor the effect on oral cancer. Adhesion of cancer-causing F. nucleatum; subsp. Nucleatum and Prevotella intermedia in the device was observed. We also observed a significant reduction in the oral cancer growth rate when mortality and morbidity were induced. These results show that this approach has the potential to transform the oral cancer and early diagnosis study.

Keywords: microfluidic device, oral cancer microbes, early diagnosis, saliva-on-chip

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Authors: Sophia Barquete, Adriana H. Trevisan, Janaina Mascarenhas

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The circular economy (CE) aims at the cycling of resources through restorative and regenerative strategies. To achieve circularity, coordination of several actors who have different responsibilities is necessary. The interaction among multiple actors allows the connection between the CE and business ecosystem research fields. Although fundamental, the relationships between actors within an ecosystem to foster circularity are not deeply explored in the literature. The objective of this study was to identify the possibilities of cooperation, competition, or even coopetition among the members of business ecosystems that adopt circular strategies. In particular, the motivations that make these actors interact to achieve a circular economy were investigated. A systematic literature review was adopted to select business ecosystem cases that adopt circular strategies. As a result, several motivations were identified for actors to engage in relationships within ecosystems, such as sharing knowledge and infrastructure, developing products with a circular design, promoting reverse logistics, among others. The results suggest that partnerships between actors are, in fact, important for the implementation of circular strategies. In order to achieve a complete and circular solution, actors must be able to clearly understand their roles and relationships within the network so that they can establish new partnerships or reframe those already established.

Keywords: business ecosystem, circular economy, cooperation, coopetition, competition

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Authors: L. Major, J. M. Lackner, M. Dyner, B. Major

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Development of new generation bio- tribological, multilayer coatings, opens an avenue for fabrication of future high- tech functional surfaces. In the presented work, nano- composite, Cr/CrN+[Cr/ a-C:H implanted by metallic nanocrystals] multilayer coatings have been developed for surface protection of medical tools. Thin films were fabricated by a hybrid Pulsed Laser Deposition technique. Complex microstructure analysis of nano- multilayer coatings, subjected to mechanical and biological tests, were performed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Microstructure characterization revealed the layered arrangement of Cr23C6 nanoparticles in multilayer structure. Influence of deposition conditions on bio- tribological properties of the coatings were studied. The bio-tests were used as a screening tool for the analyzed nano- multilayer coatings before they could be deposited on medical tools. Bio- medical tests were done using fibroblasts. The mechanical properties of the coatings were investigated by means of a ball-on-disc mechanical test. The microhardness was done using Berkovich indenter. The scratch adhesion test was done using Rockwell indenter. From the bio- tribological point of view, the optimal properties had the C106_1 material.

Keywords: bio- tribological coatings, cell- material interaction, hybrid PLD, tribology

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Authors: Xiaoyun Zhao, Rami Darwish, Anna Pernestål

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Automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential to enhance road capacity, improving road safety and traffic efficiency. Research and development on AVs have been going on for many years. However, when the complicated traffic rules and real situations interacted, AVs fail to make decisions on contradicting situations, and are not able to have control in all conditions due to highly dynamic driving scenarios. This limits AVs’ usage and restricts the full potential benefits that they can bring. Furthermore, regulations, infrastructure development, and public acceptance cannot keep up at the same pace as technology breakthroughs. Facing these challenges, this paper proposes automated vehicle traffic control tower (AVTCT) acting as a safe, efficient and integrated solution for AV control. It introduces a concept of AVTCT for control, management, decision-making, communication and interaction with various aspects in transportation. With the prototype demonstrations and simulations, AVTCT has the potential to overcome the control challenges with AVs and can facilitate AV reaching their full potential. Possible functionalities, benefits as well as challenges of AVTCT are discussed, which set the foundation for the conceptual model, simulation and real application of AVTCT.

Keywords: automated vehicle, connectivity and automation, intelligent transport system, traffic control, traffic safety

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Authors: Raghad Dwaik

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It is well known in language acquisition literature that a mere understanding of a reading text is not enough to help students build proficiency in comprehension. Students should rather follow understanding by attempting to express what has been understood by pushing their competence to the limit. Learners' attempt to push their competence was given the term "comprehensible output" by Swain (1985). Teachers in large classes, however, find it sometimes difficult to give all students a chance to communicate their views or to share their ideas during the short class time. In most cases, students who are outgoing dominate class discussion and get more opportunities for practice which leads to ignoring the shy students totally while helping the good ones become better. This paper presents the idea of using Google Classroom features of posting and commenting to allow students who hesitate to participate in class discussions about a reading text to write their views on the wall of a Google Classroom and share them later after they have received feedback and comments from classmates. Such attempts lead to developing their proficiency through additional practice in comprehensible output and to enhancing their confidence in themselves and their views. It was found that virtual classroom interaction would help students maintain vocabulary, use more complex structures and focus on meaning besides form.

Keywords: learning groups, reading TESOL, Google Classroom, comprehensible output

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Authors: Piacentini Diego, Della Rovere Federica, Fattorini Laura, Lanni Francesca, Cittadini Martina, Altamura Maria Maddalena, Falasca Giuseppina

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Plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to cope with environmental cues. Changes in intracellular content and distribution of phytohormones, such as the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), have been involved in morphogenic adaptation to environmental stresses. In addition to phytohormones, plants can rely on a plethora of small signal molecules able to promptly sense and transduce the stress signals, resulting in morpho/physiological responses thanks also to their capacity to modulate the levels/distribution/reception of most hormones. Among these signaling molecules, nitrogen monoxide (nitric oxide – NO) is a critical component in several plant acclimation strategies to both biotic and abiotic stresses. Depending on its levels, NO increases plant adaptation by enhancing the enzymatic or non-enzymatic antioxidant systems or by acting as a direct scavenger of reactive oxygen/nitrogen (ROS/RNS) species produced during the stress. In addition, exogenous applications of NO-specific donor compounds showed the involvement of the signal molecule in auxin metabolism, transport, and signaling, under both physiological and stress conditions. However, the complex mechanisms underlying NO action in interacting with phytohormones, such as auxins, during metal stress responses are still poorly understood and need to be better investigated. Emphasis must be placed on the response of the root system since it is the first plant organ system to be exposed to metal soil pollution. The monocot Oryza sativa L. (rice) has been chosen given its importance as a stable food for some 4 billion people worldwide. In addition, increasing evidence has shown that rice is often grown in contaminated paddy soils with high levels of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) and metalloid arsenic (As). The facility through which these metals are taken up by rice roots and transported to the aerial organs up to the edible caryopses makes rice one of the most relevant sources of these pollutants for humans. This study aimed to evaluate if NO has a mitigatory activity in the roots of rice seedlings against Cd or As toxicity and to understand if this activity requires interactions with auxin. Our results show that exogenous treatments with the NO-donor SNP alleviate the stress induced by Cd, but not by As, in in-vitro-grown rice seedlings through increased intracellular root NO levels. The damages induced by the pollutants include root growth inhibition, root histological alterations and ROS (H2O2, O2●ˉ), and RNS (ONOOˉ) production. Also, SNP treatments mitigate both the root increase in root IAA levels and the IAA alteration in distribution monitored by the OsDR5::GUS system due to the toxic metal exposure. Notably, the SNP-induced mitigation of the IAA homeostasis altered by the pollutants does not involve changes in the expression of OsYUCCA1 and ASA2 IAA-biosynthetic genes. Taken together, the results highlight a mitigating role of NO in the rice root system, which is pollutant-specific, and involves the interaction of the signal molecule with both IAA and brassinosteroids at different (i.e., transport, levels, distribution) and multiple levels (i.e., transcriptional/post-translational levels). The research is supported by Progetti Ateneo Sapienza University of Rome, grant number: RG120172B773D1FF

Keywords: arsenic, auxin, cadmium, nitric oxide, rice, root system

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Authors: Bahia Braktia, Ana Marcela Montenegro Sanchez

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Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, has been used for teaching and learning for quite some time. These platforms have been proven to be a good tool to improve various language skills, students’ performance of the English language, motivation as well as trigger the authentic language interaction. However, little is known about the potential effects of social media usage on the learning performance of Arabic language learners. The present study explores the potential role that the social media technologies play in learning Arabic as a foreign language at a university in Southeast of United States. In order to investigate this issue, an online survey was administered to examine the perceptions and attitudes of American students learning Arabic. The research questions were: How does social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter, impact the students' Arabic language skills, and what is their attitude toward it? The preliminary findings of the study showed that students had a positive attitude toward the use of social media to enhance their Arabic language skills, and that they used a range of social media features to expose themselves to the Arabic language and communicate in Arabic with native Arabic speaking friends. More detailed findings will be shared in the light data analysis with the audience during the presentation.

Keywords: foreign language learning, social media, students’ perceptions, survey

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Authors: Thomas Wimmer, Bernhard Weigand

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The improvement of gas turbine efficiency is one of the main drivers of research and development in the gas turbine market. This has led to elevated gas turbine inlet temperatures beyond the melting point of the utilized materials. The turbine parts need to be actively cooled in order to withstand these harsh environments. However, the usage of compressor air as coolant decreases the overall gas turbine efficiency. Thus, coolant consumption needs to be minimized in order to gain the maximum advantage from higher turbine inlet temperatures. Therefore, sophisticated cooling designs for gas turbine parts aim to minimize coolant mass flow. New design space is accessible as additive manufacturing is maturing to industrial usage for the creation of hot gas flow path parts. By making use of this technology more efficient cooling schemes can be manufacture. In order to find such cooling schemes a generative design method is being developed. It generates cooling schemes randomly which adhere to a set of rules. These assure the sanity of the design. A huge amount of different cooling schemes are generated and implemented in a simulation environment where it is validated. Criteria for the fitness of the cooling schemes are coolant mass flow, maximum temperature and temperature gradients. This way the whole design space is sampled and a Pareto optimum front can be identified. This approach is applied to a flat plate, which resembles a simplified section of a hot gas flow path part. Realistic boundary conditions are applied and thermal barrier coating is accounted for in the simulation environment. The resulting cooling schemes are presented and compared to representative conventional cooling schemes. Further development of this method can give access to cooling schemes with an even better performance having higher complexity, which makes use of the available design space.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, cooling, gas turbine, heat transfer, heat transfer design, optimization

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Authors: Marlene Weber, Joseph Giacomin, Alessio Malizia, Lee Skrypchuk, Voula Gkatzidou

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Technological and sociological developments in the automotive sector are shifting the focus of design towards developing a better understanding of driver needs, desires and emotions. Human centred design methods are being more frequently applied to automotive research, including the use of systems to detect human emotions in real-time. One method for a non-contact measurement of emotion with low intrusiveness is Facial-Expression Analysis (FEA). This paper describes a research study investigating emotional responses of 22 participants in a naturalistic driving environment by applying a multi-method approach. The research explored the possibility to investigate emotional responses and their frequencies during naturalistic driving through real-time FEA. Observational analysis was conducted to assign causes to the collected emotional responses. In total, 730 emotional responses were measured in the collective study time of 440 minutes. Causes were assigned to 92% of the measured emotional responses. This research establishes and validates a methodology for the study of emotions and their causes in the driving environment through which systems and factors causing positive and negative emotional effects can be identified.

Keywords: affective computing, case study, emotion recognition, human computer interaction

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Authors: P. Ajmal Koya, Tariq Ahmad Wagay, K. Ismail

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One of the fundamental property of surfactant molecules are their ability to aggregate in water or binary mixtures of water and organic solvents as an effort to minimize their unfavourable interaction with the medium. In this work, influence two co-solvents (ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG)) on the aggregation properties of a cationic gemini surfactant, butanediyl-1,4-bis(tetradecyldimethylammonium bromide) (14–4–14), has been studied by conductance and steady state fluorescence at 298 K. The weight percentage of two co-solvents varied in between 0 and 50 % at an interval of 5 % up to 20 % and then 10 % up to 50 %. It was found that micellization process is delayed by the inclusion of both the co-solvents; consequently, a progressive increase was observed in critical micelle concentration (cmc) and Gibbs free energy of micellization (∆G0m), whereas a rough increase was observed in the values of degree of counter ion dissociation (α) and a decrease was obtained in values of average aggregation number (Nagg) and Stern-Volmer constant (KSV). At low weight percentage (up to 15 %) of co-solvents, 14–4–14 geminis were found to be almost equally prone to micellization both in EG–water (EG–WR) and in PG–water (PG–WR) mixed media while at high weight percentages they are more prone to micellization in EG–WR than in PG–WR mixed media.

Keywords: aggregation number, gemini surfactant, micellization, non aqueous solvent

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Authors: Roland Tolulope Loto, Cleophas Akintoye Loto, Abimbola Patricia Popoola

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The inhibiting action of 2-dimethylamine on the electrochemical behaviour of austenitic stainless steel (type 304) in dilute hydrochloric was evaluated through weight-loss method, open circuit potential measurement and potentiodynamic polarization tests at specific concentrations of the organic compound. Results obtained reveal that the compound performed effectively giving a maximum inhibition efficiency of 79% at 12.5% concentration from weight loss analysis and 80.9% at 12.5% concentration from polarization tests. The average corrosion potential of -321 mV was obtained the same concentration from other tests which is well within passivation potentials on the steel thus, providing good protection against corrosion in the acid solutions. 2-dimethylamine acted through physiochemical interaction at the steel/solution interface from thermodynamic calculations and obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The values of the inhibition efficiency determined from the three methods are in reasonably good agreement. Polarization studies showed that the compounds behaved as cathodic type inhibitor.

Keywords: corrosion, 2-dimethylamine, inhibition, adsorption, hydrochloric acid, steel

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Authors: Elisabeth Pedersen

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Representations and interpretations of womanhood and female sexualities bring forth various questions regarding gender norms, and the implications of these norms, which are permeating and repetitive within various societies. Literature is one form of media which provides the space to represent and interpret women, their bodies, and sexualities, and also reveals the power of language as an affective and affected force. As literature allows an opportunity to explore history and the representations of gender, power dynamics, and sexuality through historical contexts, this paper uses engaged theory through a comparative analysis of two work of literature, The Duchess of Malfi by John Wester, and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. These novels span across space and time, which lends to the theory that repetitive tropes of womanhood and female sexuality in literature are influenced by and have an influence on the hegemonic social order throughout history. It analyzes how the representation of the dichotomy of male chivalry and honor, and female purity are disputed and questioned when a woman is portrayed as sexually emancipated, and explores the historical context in which these works were written to examine how socioeconomic events challenged the hegemonic social order. The analysis looks at how stereotypical ideals of womanhood and manhood have damaging implications on women, as the structure of society provides more privilege and power to men than to women, thus creating a double standard for men and women in regards to sexuality, sexual expression, and rights to sexual desire. This comparative analysis reveals how strict gender norms are permeating and have negative consequences. However, re-reading stories through a critical lens can provide an opportunity to challenge the repetitive tropes of female sexuality, and thus lead to the embrace of the complexity of female sexuality and expression.

Keywords: femininity, literature, representation, sexuality

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Authors: J. Karthik, G. Vinayagamurthy

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Aerodynamic flow control is achieved by interaction of flowing medium with corresponding structure so that its natural flow state is disturbed to delay the transition point. This paper explains the aerodynamic effect and optimized design of Vortex Generators on the turbine blade to achieve maximum flow control. The airfoil is chosen from NREL [National Renewable Energy Laboratory] S-series airfoil as they are characterized with good lift characteristics and lower noise. Vortex generators typically chosen are Ogival, Rectangular, Triangular and Tapered Fin shapes attached near leading edge. Vortex generators are typically distributed from the primary to tip of the blade section. The design wind speed is taken as 6m/s and the computational analysis is executed. The blade surface is simulated using k- ɛ SST model and results are compared with X-FOIL results. The computational results are validated using Wind Tunnel Testing of the blade corresponding to the design speed. The effect of Vortex generators on the flow characteristics is studied from the results of analysis. By comparing the computational and test results of all shapes of Vortex generators; the optimized design is achieved for effective flow control corresponding to the blade.

Keywords: flow control, vortex generators, design optimisation, CFD

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Authors: Pascal Mwenge, Tumisang Seodigeng

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The combination of world population and the third industrial revolution led to high demand for fuels. On the other hand, the decrease of global fossil 8fuels deposits and the environmental air pollution caused by these fuels has compounded the challenges the world faces due to its need for energy. Therefore, new forms of environmentally friendly and renewable fuels such as biodiesel are needed. The primary analytical techniques for methanolysis yield monitoring have been chromatography and spectroscopy, these methods have been proven reliable but are more demanding, costly and do not provide real-time monitoring. In this work, the in situ monitoring of biodiesel from sunflower oil using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) has been studied; the study was performed using EasyMax Mettler Toledo reactor equipped with a DiComp (Diamond) probe. The quantitative monitoring of methanolysis was performed by building a quantitative model with multivariate calibration using iC Quant module from iC IR 7.0 software. 15 samples of known concentrations were used for the modelling which were taken in duplicate for model calibration and cross-validation, data were pre-processed using mean centering and variance scale, spectrum math square root and solvent subtraction. These pre-processing methods improved the performance indexes from 7.98 to 0.0096, 11.2 to 3.41, 6.32 to 2.72, 0.9416 to 0.9999, RMSEC, RMSECV, RMSEP and R2Cum, respectively. The R² value of 1 (training), 0.9918 (test), 0.9946 (cross-validation) indicated the fitness of the model built. The model was tested against univariate model; small discrepancies were observed at low concentration due to unmodelled intermediates but were quite close at concentrations above 18%. The software eliminated the complexity of the Partial Least Square (PLS) chemometrics. It was concluded that the model obtained could be used to monitor methanol of sunflower oil at industrial and lab scale.

Keywords: biodiesel, calibration, chemometrics, methanolysis, multivariate analysis, transesterification, FTIR

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Authors: Fatmah Almathkour

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Managing and controlling the construction supply chain (CSC) are very important components of effective construction project execution. The goals of managing the CSC are to reduce uncertainty and optimize the performance of a construction project by improving efficiency and reducing project costs. The heart of much SC activity is addressing risk, and the CSC is no different. The delivery and consumption of construction materials is highly variable due to the complexity of construction operations, rapidly changing demand for certain components, lead time variability from suppliers, transportation time variability, and disruptions at the job site. Current notions of managing and controlling CSC, involve focusing on one project at a time with a push-based material ordering system based on the initial construction schedule and, then, holding a tremendous amount of inventory. A two-stage methodology was proposed to coordinate the feed-forward control of advanced order placement with a supplier to a feedback local control in the form of adding the ability to transship materials between projects to improve efficiency and reduce costs. It focused on the single supplier integrated production and transshipment problem with multiple products. The methodology is used as a design tool for the CSC because it includes an external storage site not associated with one of the projects. The idea is to add this feature to a highly constrained environment to explore its effectiveness in buffering the impact of variability and maintaining project schedule at low cost. The methodology uses deterministic optimization models with objectives that minimizing the total cost of the CSC. To illustrate how this methodology can be used in practice and the types of information that can be gleaned, it is tested on a number of cases based on the real example of multiple construction projects in Kuwait.

Keywords: construction supply chain, inventory control supply chain, transshipment

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Authors: Damith Tennakoon, Mojgan Jadidi, Seyedreza Razavialavi

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With recent advancements of automation in robotics, from self-driving cars to autonomous 4-legged quadrupeds, one industry that has been stagnant is the construction industry. The methodologies used in a modern-day construction site consist of arduous physical labor and the use of heavy machinery, which has not changed over the past few decades. The dangers of a modern-day construction site affect the health and safety of the workers due to performing tasks such as lifting and moving heavy objects and having to maintain unhealthy posture to complete repetitive tasks such as painting, installing drywall, and laying bricks. Further, training for heavy machinery is costly and requires a lot of time due to their complex control inputs. The main focus of this research is using immersive wearable technology and robotic arms to perform the complex and intricate skills of modern-day construction workers while alleviating the physical labor requirements to perform their day-to-day tasks. The methodology consists of mounting a stereo vision camera, the ZED Mini by Stereolabs, onto the end effector of an industrial grade robotic arm, streaming the video feed into the Virtual Reality (VR) Meta Quest 2 (Quest 2) head-mounted display (HMD). Due to the nature of stereo vision, and the similar field-of-views between the stereo camera and the Quest 2, human-vision can be replicated on the HMD. The main advantage this type of camera provides over a traditional monocular camera is it gives the user wearing the HMD a sense of the depth of the camera scene, specifically, a first-person view of the robotic arm’s end effector. Utilizing the built-in cameras of the Quest 2 HMD, open-source hand-tracking libraries from OpenXR can be implemented to track the user’s hands in real-time. A mixed-reality (XR) Unity application can be developed to localize the operator's physical hand motions with the end-effector of the robotic arm. Implementing gesture controls will enable the user to move the robotic arm and control its end-effector by moving the operator’s arm and providing gesture inputs from a distant location. Given that the end effector of the robotic arm is a gripper tool, gripping and opening the operator’s hand will translate to the gripper of the robot arm grabbing or releasing an object. This human-robot interaction approach provides many benefits within the construction industry. First, the operator’s safety will be increased substantially as they can be away from the site-location while still being able perform complex tasks such as moving heavy objects from place to place or performing repetitive tasks such as painting walls and laying bricks. The immersive interface enables precision robotic arm control and requires minimal training and knowledge of robotic arm manipulation, which lowers the cost for operator training. This human-robot interface can be extended to many applications, such as handling nuclear accident/waste cleanup, underwater repairs, deep space missions, and manufacturing and fabrication within factories. Further, the robotic arm can be mounted onto existing mobile robots to provide access to hazardous environments, including power plants, burning buildings, and high-altitude repair sites.

Keywords: construction automation, human-robot interaction, hand-tracking, mixed reality

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Authors: Nor Khaizan Anuar, Nur Karimah Aziz, Tin Wui Wong, Ahmad Sazali Hamzah, Wan Rozita Wan Engah

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The physicochemical attributes and wound healing activity of pectin hydrogel in rat models, following partial thickness thermal injury were investigated. The pectin hydrogel was prepared by solvent evaporation method with the aid of glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent and glycerol as plasticizer. The physicochemical properties were mainly evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, while the wound healing activity was examined by the macroscopic images, wound size reduction and histological evaluation using haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain for 14 days. The DSC and FTIR analysis suggested that pectin hydrogel exhibited higher extent of polymer-polymer interaction at O-H functional group in comparison to the unprocessed pectin. This was indicated by the increase of endothermic enthalpy values from 139.35 ± 13.06 J/g of unprocessed pectin to 156.23 ± 2.86 J/g of pectin hydrogel, as well as the decrease of FTIR wavenumber corresponding to O-H at 3432.07 ± 0.49 cm-1 of unprocessed pectin to 3412.62 ± 13.06 cm-1 of pectin hydrogel. Rats treated with pectin hydrogel had significantly smaller wound size (Student’s t-test, p<0.05) when compared to the untreated group starting from day 7 until day 14. H&E staining indicated that wounds received pectin hydrogel had more fibroblasts, blood vessels and collagen bundles on day 14 in comparison to the untreated rats.

Keywords: pectin, physicochemical, rats, wound

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Authors: Tsu-Hsu Yen

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The interfacial gas adsorption presents a frequent challenge and opportunity for micro-/nano-fluidic operation. In this study, we investigate the wettability, gas accumulation, and nanobubble formation on various homogeneous surface conditions by using MD simulation, including a series of 3D and quasi-2D argon-water-solid systems simulation. To precisely determine the wettability on various substrates, several indicators were calculated. Among these wettability indicators, the water PMF (potential of mean force) has the most correlation tendency with interfacial water molecular orientation than depletion layer width and droplet contact angle. The results reveal that the aggregation of argon molecules on substrates not only depending on the level of hydrophobicity but also determined by the competition between gas-solid and water-solid interaction as well as water molecular structure near the surface. In addition, the surface nanobubble is always observed coexisted with the gas enrichment layer. The water structure adjacent to water-gas and water-solid interfaces also plays an important factor in gas out-flux and gas aggregation, respectively. The quasi-2D simulation shows that only a slight difference in the curved argon-water interface from the plane interface which suggests no noticeable obstructing effect on gas outflux from the gas-water interfacial water networks.

Keywords: gas aggregation, interfacial nanobubble, molecular dynamics simulation, wettability

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Authors: Pheiroijam Pooja, P. Chinnamuthu

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A novel vertical 1D In2O3/TiO2 nanocolumn (NC) axial heterostructure has been successfully synthesized using Glancing Angle Deposition (GLAD) technique inside E-Beam Evaporator chamber. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) has been used to evaluate the morphology of the structure grown. The estimated length of In2O3/TiO2 NC is ~250 nm and ~300nm for In2O3 and TiO2 respectively with diameter ~60-90 nm. The surface of the heterostructure is porous in nature which can affect the interfacial wettability properties. The grown structure has been further characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible absorption measurement. The polycrystalline nature of the sample has been examined using XRD with prominent peaks obtained with phase (101) for anatase TiO2 and (211) for In2O3. Here, 1D axial heterostructure NC thus favors efficient segregation of photo-excited carriers due to their type II band alignment between the constituent materials. Moreover, the 1D nanostructure is known for their large surface area and excellent ionic charge transport property. On exposure to UV light illumination, the surface properties of In2O3/TiO2 NC changes whereby the hydrophobic nature of the heterostructure changes to hydrophilic. As a result, the reversible surface wettability of heterostructure on interaction with UV light can give potential applications as antifogging and self-cleaning surfaces.

Keywords: GLAD, heterostructure, In2O3/TiO2 NC, surface wettability

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Authors: Andra-Iulia Ursa

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James Joyce employs several unconventional stylistic features in this landmark novel meant to experiment with language. The episode known as “Sirens” is entirely conceived around music and linguistic structures subordinated to sound. However, the aspiration to the condition of music is reflected throughout this entire literary work, as musical effects are echoed systematically. The numerous melodies scattered across the narrative play an important role in enhancing the thoughts and feelings that pass through the minds of the characters. Often the lyrics are distorted or interweaved with other words, preoccupations or memories, intensifying the stylistic effect. The Victorian song “Love’s old sweet song” is one of the most commonly referred to and meaningful musical allusions in Ulysses, becoming a leitmotif of infidelity. The lyrics of the song “M’appari”, from the opera “Martha”, are compared to an event from Molly and Bloom’s romantic history. Moreover, repeated phrases using words from “The bloom is on the rye” or “The croppy boy” serve as glances into the minds of the characters. Therefore, the central purpose of this study is to shed light on the way musical allusions flit through the episodes from the point of view of the stream of consciousness technique and to compare and analyse how these constructions are rendered into Romanian. Mircea Ivănescu, the single Romanian translator who succeeded in carrying out the translation of the entire ‘stylistic odyssey’, received both praises and disapprovals from the critics. This paper is not meant to call forth eventual flaws of the Romanian translation, but rather to elaborate the complexity of the task. Following an attentive examination and analysis of the two texts, from the point of view of form and meaning of the references to various songs, the conclusions of this study will be able to point out the intricacies of the process of translation.

Keywords: Joyce, melodious constructions, stream of consciousness, style, translation

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Authors: A. Amar

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A new model, namely the crystal model, has been modified to calculate the radius and density distribution of light nuclei up to ⁸Be. The crystal model has been modified according to solid-state physics, which uses the analogy between nucleon distribution and atoms distribution in the crystal. The model has analytical analysis to calculate the radius where the density distribution of light nuclei has obtained from analogy of crystal lattice. The distribution of nucleons over crystal has been discussed in a general form. The equation that has been used to calculate binding energy was taken from the solid-state model of repulsive and attractive force. The numbers of the protons were taken to control repulsive force, where the atomic number was responsible for the attractive force. The parameter has been calculated from the crystal model was found to be proportional to the radius of the nucleus. The density distribution of light nuclei was taken as a summation of two clusters distribution as in ⁶Li=alpha+deuteron configuration. A test has been done on the data obtained for radius and density distribution using double folding for d+⁶,⁷Li with M3Y nucleon-nucleon interaction. Good agreement has been obtained for both the radius and density distribution of light nuclei. The model failed to calculate the radius of ⁹Be, so modifications should be done to overcome discrepancy.

Keywords: nuclear physics, nuclear lattice, study nucleus as crystal, light nuclei till to ⁸Be

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Authors: Gabriel Wainer

Abstract:

Modeling and Simulation methods have been used to better analyze the behavior of complex physical systems, and it is now common to use simulation as a part of the scientific and technological discovery process. M&S advanced thanks to the improvements in computer technology, which, in many cases, resulted in the development of simulation software using ad-hoc techniques. Formal M&S appeared in order to try to improve the development task of very complex simulation systems. Some of these techniques proved to be successful in providing a sound base for the development of discrete-event simulation models, improving the ease of model definition and enhancing the application development tasks; reducing costs and favoring reuse. The DEVS formalism is one of these techniques, which proved to be successful in providing means for modeling while reducing development complexity and costs. DEVS model development is based on a sound theoretical framework. The independence of M&S tasks made possible to run DEVS models on different environments (personal computers, parallel computers, real-time equipment, and distributed simulators) and middleware. We will present a historical perspective of discrete-event M&S methodologies, showing different modeling techniques. We will introduce DEVS origins and general ideas, and compare it with some of these techniques. We will then show the current status of DEVS M&S, and we will discuss a technological perspective to solve current M&S problems (including real-time simulation, interoperability, and model-centered development techniques). We will show some examples of the current use of DEVS, including applications in different fields. We will finally show current open topics in the area, which include advanced methods for centralized, parallel or distributed simulation, the need for real-time modeling techniques, and our view in these fields.

Keywords: modeling and simulation, discrete-event simulation, hybrid systems modeling, parallel and distributed simulation

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Authors: Aouina Nabila Yasmina, Chaoui Zine El Abiddine

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This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the elastic mean free path (EMFP) of electrons colliding with pyrimidine, a precursor to the pyrimidine bases in DNA, employing the Screen Corrected Additivity Rule (SCAR) method. The SCAR method is introduced as a novel approach that combines classical and quantum mechanical principles to elucidate the interaction of electrons with pyrimidine. One of the most fundamental properties characterizing the propagation of a particle in the nuclear medium is its mean free path. Knowledge of the elastic mean free path is essential to accurately predict the effects of radiation on biological matter, as it contributes to the distances between collisions. Additionally, the mean free path plays a role in the interpretation of almost all experiments in which an excited electron moves through a solid. Pyrimidine, the precursor of the pyrimidine bases of DNA, has interesting physicochemical properties, which make it an interesting molecule to study from a fundamental point of view. These include a relatively large dipole polarizability and dipole moment and an electronic charge cloud with a significant spatial extension, which justifies its choice in this present study.

Keywords: elastic mean free path, elastic collision, pyrimidine, SCAR

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Authors: Manar Aslan, Ayse Yildiz

Abstract:

The study was conducted descriptively to assess their hospital institutionalization of upper and mid-level managers of 18 hospitals affiliated to Public Hospitals Association. In its simplest form institutionalization is whatever the subject matter, is dominated by the rules of articulated and determined behavior in all kinds of business, interaction, and communication. Hospital service is a type of service carried out chained together. It should not be forgotten that this kind of services is carried out without barrier, and who and what to do with definite lines, hospital management is a process, and this process can be achieved through institutionalization. With the establishment of the Public Hospitals Unions in Turkey, all the state hospitals in the provinces have been gathered under this roof. One of the goals is to establish control mechanisms to ensure that hospitals reach pre-determined financial, medical, and administrative standards. In this way, the preparations for the institutionalization of units and hospital enterprises will be completed. The data of the study were collected by institutionalization management attitude scale (cronbach alpha: 0.98) of composed of 5 sub-dimensions and 52 questions in 18 hospitals’ managers (N=310) in the largest province in Turkey. The results of the study revealed that the total score taken by managers at the institutionalization scale was 200.80, and this was close to the maximum score. In addition, it was determined that the difference between the mean score of the scale and its sub-dimensions with the gender, the hospitals, and the management position.

Keywords: institutionalization, hospital, manager, evaluation

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Authors: Rasha Alshaye

Abstract:

Blended learning has become an innovative model that combines face-to-face with e-learning approaches. The Saudi Electronic University (SEU) has adopted blended learning as a flexible approach that provides instructors and learners with a motivating learning environment to stimulate the teaching and learning process. This study investigates the perceptions of English language instructors, teaching the four English language skills at Saudi Electronic University. Four main domains were examined in this study; challenges that the instructors encounter while implementing the blended learning approach, enhancing student-instructor interaction, flexibility in teaching, and the lack of technical skills. Furthermore, the study identifies and represents the instructors’ aspirations and plans to utilize this approach in enhancing the teaching and learning experience. Main findings indicate that instructors at Saudi Electronic University experience some challenges while teaching the four language skills. However, they find the blended learning approach motivating and flexible for them and their students. This study offers some important understandings into how instructors are applying the blended learning approach and how this process can be enriched.

Keywords: blended learning, English language skills, English teaching, instructors' perceptions

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Khawlh A. Alzubaidi, Khadijah B. Alziyadi, Amor M. Alsayari

Abstract:

The discovery of a dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) in which ferromagnetism is carrier-mediated and persists above room temperature is a major step toward the implementation of spintronic devices for processing, transferring, and storing of information. Among the many types of DMS materials which have been investigated, Mn-doped GaAs has become one of the best candidates for technological application. However, despite major developments over the last few decades, the maximum Curie temperature (~200 K) remains well below room temperature. In this work, we have studied the effect of Mn content and strain on the GaMnAs effective masses of electron, heavy and light holes calculated in the different crystallographic direction. Also, the Curie temperature in the DMS GaMnAs alloy is determined. Compilation of GaMnAs band parameters have been carried out using the 8-band k.p model based on Lowdin perturbation theory where spin orbit, sp-d exchange interaction, and biaxial strain are taken into account. Our results show that effective masses, calculated along the different crystallographic directions, have a strong dependence on strain, ranging from -2% (tensile strain) to 2% (compressive strain), and Mn content increased from 1 to 5%. The Curie temperature is determined within the mean-field approach based on the Zener model.

Keywords: diluted magnetic semiconductors, k.p method, effective masses, curie temperature, strain

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Authors: H. Vahdani

Abstract:

By the adsorption of polar compounds and/or the deposition of organic material, the wettability of originally water-wet reservoir rock can be altered. The degree of alteration is determined by the interaction of the oil constituents, the mineral surface, and the brine chemistry. Recently improving oil recovery by tuning wettability alteration is believed as a new recovery method. Various researchers have demonstrated that low salt water injection has a significant impact on oil recovery. It has been shown, for instance, that additional oil can be produced from reservoir rock by managing the injection water. Large wettability sensitivity has been observed, indicating that the oil/water capillary pressure profiles play a major role during low saline water injection simulation. Although the exact physics on how this alteration occurs is still a research topic; however, it has been reported that some of its effect can be captured by a relative permeability shift from an oil-wet system to a water-wet system. Modeling of low salt water injection mainly is based on the theory of wettability alteration and is hence strongly dependent on the wettability of the reservoir. In this article, combination of different wettabilities has been simulated and it is observed that the highest recoveries were from the cases were the reservoir initially was water-wet, and the lowest recoveries was from the cases were the reservoir initially was considered oil-wet. However for the cases where the reservoir initially was oil-wet, the effect of low-salinity waterflooding was the largest.

Keywords: low salt water injection, wettability alteration, modelling, relative permeability

Procedia PDF Downloads 489

Authors: Levent Basayigit, Sinan Demir, Yusuf Ucar, Burhan Kara

Abstract:

Many research projects require accurate delineation of the different land cover type of the agricultural area. Especially it is critically important for the definition of specific plants like cannabis. However, the complexity of vegetation stands structure, abundant vegetation species, and the smooth transition between different seconder section stages make vegetation classification difficult when using traditional approaches such as the maximum likelihood classifier. Most of the time, classification distinguishes only between trees/annual or grain. It has been difficult to accurately determine the cannabis mixed with other plants. In this paper, a mixed distribution models approach is applied to classify pure and mix cannabis parcels using Worldview-2 imagery in the Lakes region of Turkey. Five different land use types (i.e. sunflower, maize, bare soil, and cannabis) were identified in the image. A constrained Gaussian mixture discriminant analysis (GMDA) was used to unmix the image. In the study, 255 reflectance ratios derived from spectral signatures of seven bands (Blue-Green-Yellow-Red-Rededge-NIR1-NIR2) were randomly arranged as 80% for training and 20% for test data. Gaussian mixed distribution model approach is proved to be an effective and convenient way to combine very high spatial resolution imagery for distinguishing cannabis vegetation. Based on the overall accuracies of the classification, the Gaussian mixed distribution model was found to be very successful to achieve image classification tasks. This approach is sensitive to capture the illegal cannabis planting areas in the large plain. This approach can also be used for monitoring and determination with spectral reflections in illegal cannabis planting areas.

Keywords: Gaussian mixture discriminant analysis, spectral mixture model, Worldview-2, land parcels

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Authors: M. Bilal Ishfaq, Adnan N. Qureshi

Abstract:

COVID-19 is the most infectious disease these days, it was first reported in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei in China then it spread rapidly throughout the whole world. Later on 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a pandemic. Since COVID-19 is highly contagious, it has affected approximately 219M people worldwide and caused 4.55M deaths. It has brought the importance of accurate diagnosis of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and COVID-19 to the forefront. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach for the automated detection of COVID-19 using medical imaging. We have presented the hybridization of manually extracted and convolutional features. Our approach combines Haralick texture features and convolutional features extracted from chest X-rays and CT scans. We also employ a minimum redundancy maximum relevance (MRMR) feature selection algorithm to reduce computational complexity and enhance classification performance. The proposed model is evaluated on four publicly available datasets, including Chest X-ray Pneumonia, COVID-19 Pneumonia, COVID-19 CTMaster, and VinBig data. The results demonstrate high accuracy and effectiveness, with 0.9925 on the Chest X-ray pneumonia dataset, 0.9895 on the COVID-19, Pneumonia and Normal Chest X-ray dataset, 0.9806 on the Covid CTMaster dataset, and 0.9398 on the VinBig dataset. We further evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model using ROC curves, where the AUC for the best-performing model reaches 0.96. Our proposed model provides a promising tool for the early detection and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19, which can assist healthcare professionals in making informed treatment decisions and improving patient outcomes. The results of the proposed model are quite plausible and the system can be deployed in a clinical or research setting to assist in the diagnosis of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19, feature engineering, artificial neural networks, radiology images

Procedia PDF Downloads 72