Search results for: Peter Charles Woods

Authors: Ntloana Hlabishi Peter

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The availability of public transportation modes and qualitative infrastructure is a burning issue that affects urban sustainability. Public transportation is indispensable in providing adequate transportation means to people at an affordable price, and it promotes public transport reliance. Burgersfort town has a critical condition on the urban public transportation infrastructure which affects the bus and taxi public transport modes and the existing infrastructure. The municipality is regarded as one of the mining towns in Limpopo Province considering the availability of mining activities and proposal on establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The study aim is to assess the efficacy of current public transportation infrastructure and to propose relevant recommendations that will unlock the possibility of future supportable public transportation systems. The Key Informant Interview (KII) was used to acquire data on the views from commuters and stakeholders involved. There KII incorporated three relevant questions in relation to services rendered in public transportation. Relevant literature relating to public transportation modes and infrastructure revealed the imperatives of public transportation infrastructure, and relevant legislation was reviewed concerning public transport infrastructure. The finding revealed poor conditions on the public transportation ranks and also inadequate parking space for public transportation modes. The study reveals that 100% of people interviewed were not satisfied with the condition of public transportation infrastructure and 100% are not satisfied with the services offered by public transportation sectors. The findings revealed that the municipality is the main player who can upgrade the existing conditions of public transportation. The study recommended that an intermodal transportation facility must be established to resolve the emerging challenges.

Keywords: public transportation, modes, infrastructure, urban sustainability

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Authors: Katerina Balounova, Jiri Pacha, Peter Ergang, Martin Vodicka, Pavlina Kvapilova

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MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs involved in a wide range of physiological processes. Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by microRNAs gives the organism a further level of control of the gene-expression program and the disruption of this microRNA regulatory mechanism seems to increase the risk of various pathophysiological conditions including tumorigenesis. To the present day, microRNAs were shown to participate in the mayor signalization pathways leading to tumorigenesis, including proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and metastasis formation. In addition, microRNAs have been found to play important roles in the generation and maintenance of circadian clock. These clocks generate circadian rhythms, which participate in a number of regulatory pathways. Disruption of the circadian signals seems to be associated with the development and the progression of tumours including colorectal cancer. We investigated therefore whether the diurnal profiles of miRNAs linked to tumorigenesis and regulation of circadian clock are changed during tumorigenesis. Based on published data we chose 10 microRNAs linked to tumorigenesis or circadian clock (let-7b-5p, miR 1 3p, miR 106b 5p, miR 141 3p, miR 191 5p, miR 20a 5p, miR 25 3p, miR 29a 3p, miR 34a 5p and miR 93 5p) and compared their 24-hr expression profiles in healthy and in chemically induces primary colorectal tumours of 52week-old mice. Using RT-qPCR we proved circadian rhythmicity in let-7b-5p, miR 106b 5p, miR 141 3p, miR 191 5p, miR 20a 5p, miR 25 3p, miR 29a 3p and miR 93 5p in healthy colon but not in tumours. The acrophases of miR 106b 5p, miR 141 3p, miR 191 5p, miR 20a 5p, miR 25 3p and miR 93 5p were reached around CT 24, the acrophases of let-7b-5p and miR-29a-3p were slightly shifted and reached around CT 21. In summary, our results show that circadian regulation of some colonic microRNAs is greatly affected by neoplastic transformation.

Keywords: circadian rhythm, colon, colorectal cancer, microRNA, tumorigenesis

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Fiston Masudi Tambwe, Lwanga Charles, Arfang Badji, Unzimai Innocent

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The development of maize varieties combining Provitamin A (PVA), high yield, and Striga resistance is an effective and affordable strategy to contribute to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, where maize is a staple food crop. There has been limited research on introgressing PVA genes into Striga-resistant maize genotypes. The objectives of this study were to: i) determine the mode of gene action controlling PVA carotenoid accumulation in Striga-resistant maize, ii) identify Striga-resistant maize hybrids with high PVA content and stable yield, and iii) validate the presence of PVA functional markers in offspring. Six elite, Striga-resistant inbred females were crossed with six high-PVA inbred males in a North Carolina Design II and their offspring were evaluated in four environments, following a 5x8 alpha lattice design with four hybrid checks. Results revealed that both additive and non-additive gene action control carotenoid accumulation in the present study, with a predominance of non-additive gene effects for PVA. Hybrids STR1004xCLHP0352 and STR1004xCLHP0046 - identified as Striga-resistant because they supported fewer Striga plants – were the highest-yielding genotypes with a moderate PVA concentration of 5.48 and 5.77 µg/g, respectively. However, those two hybrids were not stable in terms of yield across all environments. Hybrid STR1007xCLHP0046, however, supported fewer Striga plants, had a yield of 4.52 T/ha, a PVA concentration of 4.52 µg/g, and was also stable. Gel-based marker systems of CrtRB1 and LCYE were used to screen the hybrids and favorable alleles of CrtRB1 primers were detected in 20 hybrids, confirming good levels of PVA carotenoids. Hybrids with favorable alleles of LCYE had the highest concentration of non-PVA carotenoids. These findings will contribute to the development of high-yielding PVA-rich maize varieties in Uganda.

Keywords: gene action, stability, striga resistance, provitamin A markers, beta-carotene hydroxylase 1, CrtRB1, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene epsilon cyclase, LCYE

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Authors: Peter Smolianov, Jed Smith, Lisa Chen, Steven Dion, Christopher Schoen, Jaclyn Norberg

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This study evaluated the effectiveness of an experimental training program used to improve performance and health of competitive athletes and recreational sport participants. This holistic program integrated and advanced Eastern and Western methods of prolonging elite sports participation and enjoying lifelong fitness, particularly from China, India, Russia, and the United States. The program included outdoor, gym, and water training approaches focused on strengthening while stretching/decompressing and on full body activation-all in order to improve performance as well as treat and prevent common disorders and pains. The study observed and surveyed over 100 users of the program including recreational fitness and sports enthusiasts as well as elite athletes who competed for national teams of different countries and for Division I teams of National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. Different types of sport were studied, including territorial games (e.g., American football, basketball, volleyball), endurance/cyclical (athletics/track and field, swimming), and artistic (e.g., gymnastics and synchronized swimming). Results of the study showed positive effects on the participants’ performance and health, particularly for those who used the program for more than two years and especially in reducing spinal disorders and in enabling to perform new training tasks which previously caused back pain.

Keywords: lifelong fitness, injury prevention, prolonging sport participation, improving performance and health

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Authors: Felix U. Asoiro, Daniel I. Eleazar, Peter O. Offor

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As a result of increasing energy demands, research in bioethanol has increased in recent years all through the world, in abide to partially or totally replace renewable energy supplies. The first and third generation feedstocks used for biofuel production have fundamental drawbacks. Waste rice straw and cake from second generation feedstock like Jatropha curcas l. kernel (JC) is seen as non-food feedstock and promising candidates for the industrial production of bioethanol. In this study, JC and rice husk (RH) wastes were characterized for proximate composition. Bioethanol was produced from the residual polysaccharides present in rice husk (RH) and Jatropha seed cake by sequential hydrolytic and fermentative processes at varying mixing proportions (50 g JC/50 g RH, 100 g JC/10 g RH, 100 g JC/20 g RH, 100 g JC/50 g RH, 100 g JC/100 g RH, 100 g JC/200 g RH and 200 g JC/100 g RH) and particle sizes (0.25, 0.5 and 1.00 mm). Mixing proportions and particle size significantly affected both bioethanol yield and some bioethanol properties. Bioethanol yield (%) increased with an increase in particle size. The highest bioethanol (8.67%) was produced at a mixing proportion of 100 g JC/50g RH at 0.25 mm particle size. The bioethanol had the lowest values of specific gravity and density of 1.25 and 0.92 g cm-3 and the highest values of 1.57 and 0.97 g cm-3 respectively. The highest values of viscosity (4.64 cSt) were obtained with 200 g JC/100 g RH, at 1.00 mm particle size. The maximum flash point and cloud point values were 139.9 oC and 23.7oC (100 g JC/200 g RH) at 1 mm and 0.5 mm particle sizes respectively. The maximum pour point value recorded was 3.85oC (100 g JC/50 g RH) at 1 mm particle size. The paper concludes that bioethanol can be recovered from JC and RH wastes. JC and RH blending proportions as well as particle sizes are important factors in bioethanol production.

Keywords: bioethanol, hydrolysis, Jatropha curcas l. kernel, rice husk, fermentation, proximate composition

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Authors: Girma Y. Iyassu Menelik

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The international community has gone through indescribable atrocities resulting from acts of war. These atrocities turned Europe and Africa into a wilderness of bloodshed and crime. In the period 1960- 1970s Africa witnessed unprecedented and well-documented assaults on life and property. This necessitated the adoption, signing and ratification of the International Criminal Court, establishment of the International Court of Justice which is a great achievement for the protection and fulfilling of human rights in the context of international political instability. The ICC came as an important opportunity to advance justice for serious crimes committed in violation of international law. Thus the Rome statute has become a formidable contribution to peace and security. There are concerns that the ICC is targeting African states. However, the ICC cannot preside over cases that are not parties to the Rome statute unless the UN Security council refers the situation or the relevant state asks the court to become involved. The instable international political situation thus deals with criminal prosecutions where amnesty is not permissible or is strongly repudiated. The court has become important justice instruments for states that are unable or unwilling to fulfill their obligation to address legacies of massive human rights violations. The ICJ as a court has a twofold role; to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. All members of the UN are ipso facto parties to the statute of the ICJ. The court gives advisory opinion on any legal question. These courts are the most appropriate fora to pronounce on international crimes and are in a better position to know and apply international law. Cases that have been brought to the courts include Rwanda’s genocide, Liberia’s Charles Taylor etc. The receptiveness and cooperation of the local populations are important to the courts and if the ICC and ICJ can provide appropriate protections for the physical and economic safety of victims then peace and human rights observance can be attained. This paper will look into the effectiveness and impediments of these courts in handling criminal and injustices in international politics as while as what needs to be done to strengthen the capacity of these courts.

Keywords: ICC, international politics, justice, UN security council, violence, protection, fulfilling

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Authors: Claudius Peter Van Wyk

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Given the increasingly manifest phenomena, as described in complexity theory, of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), Taleb's notion of 'antifragility, has a significant contribution to make to positive psychology applied to wellbeing. Antifragility is argued to be fundamentally different from the concepts of resiliency; as the ability to recover from failure, and robustness; as the ability to resist failure. Rather it describes the capacity to reorganise in the face of stress in such a way as to cope more effectively with systemic challenges. The concept, which has been applied in disciplines ranging from physics, molecular biology, planning, engineering, and computer science, can now be considered for its application in individual human and social wellbeing. There are strong correlations to Antonovsky's model of 'salutogenesis' in which an attitude and competencies are developed of transforming burdening factors into greater resourcefulness. We demonstrate, from the perspective of neuroscience, how technology measuring nervous system coherence can be coupled to acquired psychodynamic approaches to not only identify contextual stressors, utilise biofeedback instruments for facilitating greater coherence, but apply these insights to specific life stressors that compromise well-being. Employing an on-going case study with BMW South Africa, the neurological mapping is demonstrated together with 'reframing' and emotional anchoring techniques from neurolinguistic programming. The argument is contextualised in the discipline of psychoneuroimmunology which describes the stress pathways from the CNS and endocrine systems and their impact on immune function and the capacity to restore homeostasis.

Keywords: antifragility, complexity, neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology, salutogenesis, volatility

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Authors: Charles Amoatey, Ebenezer Kumah

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of implementation of Distributor Management Solution (DMS) on supply chain performance in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry in Ghana. Methodology: A purposive sampling approach was used in selecting the respondents for the study. Data was collected from senior management and field supervisors from sales, distribution and customer service units of the case study firm and its channel members. This study made use of systematic literature review and results of survey data analysis to assess how information system has been used to improve supply chain performance. Findings: Results from the study showed that the critical effect factors from implementation of a DMS include (1) Obtain prompt and reliable feedback from the market; (2) Building the capacity and skills levels of employees as well as 3rd Party Agents; (3) Motivated top management to invest in MIS; and (4) Performance improvement in sales route management. The most critical challenges to an effective and sustainable MIS implementation are lack of enough trained IT employees and high barriers to cultural change especially with distributors. The paper recommends consistent investment in IS infrastructure and development of IT skills. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the literature by exploring the effects of distribution management solution implementation and supply chain performance in a developing country context. Considering the fact that this study is based on data from only one case study firm and its channel members, generalization of the results should be treated with caution. Practical implications: The findings have confirmed the benefits of implementing a Management Information System. The result should encourage channel members to allocate adequate resources for building MIS capacity to enhance their supply chain performance. Originality/Value: In this paper, the relationship between DMS/MIS implementation and improvement in supply chain performance, in the Ghanaian context, has been established.

Keywords: distributor management solution, fast-moving consumer goods, supply chain management, information systems, Ghana

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Authors: Peter Ned Wales

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This paper is the result of a substantial amount of data looking at how industrially zoned land is changing post COVID in the 21st Century. With the impact of global megatrends such as globalisation, the rapid adaption of innovative technologies and elevated demands on the design typologies, the tradition view of employment lands is quickly evolving. The research findings discussed here clearly show that land use conflicts have begun to take their toll across numerous light industrial precincts within the booming City of the Gold Coast. The recent global pandemic has placed enormous pressures on land values and industrial lands in Southeast Queensland. considered a highly desirable place to live, work and play are morphing in new ways. This region of Australia has become one of the most desirable places to locate after extended pandemic lock downs in Sydney and Melbourne. Findings in the current business trends have highlighted a new way of applying land use zones that provide a sustainable hybrid of acceptable land uses for prosperous business activity. In the wake of a rapid rise in the knowledge economy and boutique products that reflect the younger demographic has resulted in new emerging business activities that are significantly different from business trends two decades ago, when these industrial land use controls were originally applied. This paper explores what are the new demands on these established employment precincts and how local governments can better support start-ups and a broad variety of land uses not previously considered relevant to local government planners.

Keywords: sustainable urban, urban design, industrial lands, employment lands, sustainable communities

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Authors: Tracey Woods

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In the ever-evolving landscape of academia, the traditional role of the librarian has undergone a remarkable transformation. Once considered as custodians of books and gatekeepers of information, librarians have the potential to take on the vital role of facilitators of cross and inter-disciplinary projects. This shift is driven by the growing recognition of the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing complex research questions in pursuit of novel solutions to real-world problems. This paper shall explore the potential of the academic librarian’s role in facilitating innovative, multi-disciplinary projects, both recognising and validating the vital role that the librarian plays in a somewhat underplayed profession. Academic libraries support teaching, the strengthening of knowledge discourse, and, potentially, the development of innovative practices. As the role of the library gradually morphs from a quiet repository of books to a community-based information hub, a potential opportunity arises. The academic librarian’s role is to build knowledge across a wide span of topics, from the advancement of AI to subject-specific information, and, whilst librarians are generally not offered the research opportunities and funding that the traditional academic disciplines enjoy, they are often invited to help build research in support of the academic. This identifies that one of the primary skills of any 21st-century librarian must be the ability to collaborate and facilitate multi-disciplinary projects. In universities seeking to develop research diversity and academic performance, there is an increasing awareness of the need for collaboration between faculties to enable novel directions and advancements. This idea has been documented and discussed by several researchers; however, there is not a great deal of literature available from recent studies. Having a team based in the library that is adept at creating effective collaborative partnerships is valuable for any academic institution. This paper outlines the development of such a project, initiated within and around an identified library-specific need: the replication of fragile special collections for object-based learning. The research was developed as a multi-disciplinary project involving the faculties of engineering (digital twins lab), architecture, design, and education. Centred around methods for developing a fragile archive into a series of tactile objects furthers knowledge and understanding in both the role of the library as a facilitator of projects, chairing and supporting, alongside contributing to the research process and innovating ideas through the bank of knowledge found amongst the staff and their liaising capabilities. This paper shall present the method of project development from the initiation of ideas to the development of prototypes and dissemination of the objects to teaching departments for analysis. The exact replication of artefacts is also balanced with the adaptation and evolutionary speculations initiated by the design team when adapted as a teaching studio method. The dynamic response required from the library to generate and facilitate these multi-disciplinary projects highlights the information expertise and liaison skills that the librarian possesses. As academia embraces this evolution, the potential for groundbreaking discoveries and innovative solutions across disciplines becomes increasingly attainable.

Keywords: Liaison librarian, multi-disciplinary collaborations, library innovations, librarian stakeholders

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Authors: Peter Thissen

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In this work, we report about the influence of the chemical potential of water on the carbonation reaction of wollastonite (CaSiO3) as model surface of cement and concrete. Total energy calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) combined with kinetic barrier predictions based on nudge elastic band (NEB) method show that the exposure of the water-free wollastonite surface to CO2 results in a barrier-less carbonation. CO2 reacts with the surface oxygen and forms carbonate (CO32-) complexes together with a major reconstruction of the surface. The reaction comes to a standstill after one carbonate monolayer has been formed. In case one water monolayer is covering the wollastonite surface, the carbonation is no more barrier-less, yet ending in a localized monolayer. Covered with multilayers of water, the thermodynamic ground state of the wollastonite completely changes due to a metal-proton exchange reaction (MPER, also called early stage hydration) and Ca2+ ions are partially removed from solid phase into the H2O/wollastonite interface. Mobile Ca2+ react again with CO2 and form carbonate complexes, ending in a delocalized layer. By means of high resolution time-of-flight secondary-ion mass-spectroscopy images (ToF-SIMS), we confirm that hydration can lead to a partially delocalization of Ca2+ ions on wollastonite surfaces. Finally, we evaluate the impact of our model surface results by means of Low Energy Ion Scattering (LEIS) spectroscopy combined with careful discussion about the competing reactions of carbonation vs. hydration.

Keywords: Calcium-silicate, carbonation, hydration, metal-proton exchange reaction

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Authors: Zohreh Mohammadi, Jan Kaspar, Peter Lohmander, Robert Marusak, Harald Vacik, Ljusk Ola Eriksson

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Storms are important damaging agents in European forest ecosystems. In the latest decades, significant economic losses in European forestry occurred due to storms. This study investigates the problem of optimal harvest planning when forest stands risk to be felled by storms. One of the most applicable mathematical methods which are being used to optimize forest management is stochastic dynamic programming (SDP). This method belongs to the adaptive optimization class. Sequential decisions, such as harvest decisions, can be optimized based on sequential information about events that cannot be perfectly predicted, such as the future storms and the future states of wind protection from other forest stands. In this paper, stochastic dynamic programming is used to maximize the expected present value of the profits from an area consisting of several forest stands. The region of analysis is the Czech Republic. The harvest decisions, in a particular time period, should be simultaneously taken in all neighbor stands. The reason is that different stands protect each other from possible winds. The optimal harvest age of a particular stand is a function of wind speed and different wind protection effects. The optimal harvest age often decreases with wind speed, but it cannot be determined for one stand at a time. When we consider a particular stand, this stand also protects other stands. Furthermore, the particular stand is protected by neighbor stands. In some forest stands, it may even be rational to increase the harvest age under the influence of stronger winds, in order to protect more valuable stands in the neighborhood. It is important to integrate wind risk in forestry decision-making.

Keywords: Czech republic, forest stands, stochastic dynamic programming, wind risk

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Authors: Taposh Roy, Anna Paradowska, Ralph Abrahams, Quan Lai, Michael Law, Peter Mutton, Mehdi Soodi, Wenyi Yan

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In this investigation, a laser cladding process with a powder feeding was used to deposit stainless steel 410L (high strength, excellent resistance to abrasion and corrosion, and great laser compatibility) onto railhead (higher strength, heat treated hypereutectoid rail grade manufactured in accordance with the requirements of European standard EN 13674 Part 1 for R400HT grade), to investigate the development and controllability of process-induced residual stress in the cladding, heat-affected zone (HAZ) and substrate and to analyse their correlation with hardness profile during two different laser cladding directions (across and along the track). Residual stresses were analysed by neutron diffraction at OPAL reactor, ANSTO. Neutron diffraction was carried out on the samples in longitudinal (parallel to the rail), transverse (perpendicular to the rail) and normal (through thickness) directions with high spatial resolution through the thickness. Due to the thick rail and thin cladding, 4 mm thick reference samples were prepared from every specimen by Electric Discharge Machining (EDM). Metallography across the laser claded sample revealed four distinct zones: The clad zone, the dilution zone, HAZ and the substrate. Compressive residual stresses were found in the clad zone and tensile residual stress in the dilution zone and HAZ. Laser cladding in longitudinally cladding induced higher tensile stress in the HAZ, whereas transversely cladding rail showed lower tensile behavior.

Keywords: laser cladding, residual stress, neutron diffraction, HAZ

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Authors: Edoghogho Ogbeifun, Charles Mbohwa, J. H. C. Pretorius

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Effective infrastructure development scheme planned and executed has positive influence on the quantity of available stock of infrastructure to meet the immediate and expansion needs of an organization, as well as contribute to the overall economic development of a nation, community or the local entity where the infrastructure is hosted. It is noteworthy, however, that infrastructure development scheme spans a long time frame, usually longer than the political life of the administration that initiates the scheme. In the majority of circumstances, execution may start and achieve different levels of completion; at best, only limited numbers are completed and put into functional use during the life of the administration that initiated the infrastructure scheme. When there is a change in leadership, many of the uncompleted projects are usually abandoned. The new administration repeats the circle of its predecessors and develops another set of infrastructure scheme which will suffer similar fate as the ones developed by their predecessors; thus doting the landscape with many uncompleted projects, which leads to infrastructure deficit. These circle will continue unless each succeeding leader sees governance as single continuum. Therefore, infrastructure projects not completed by one administration should be continued by succeeding administration, in order to increase the stock of relevant infrastructure available for the smooth operations organization and enhance the needed developments, as well as reduce the negative effects of infrastructure deficit. The single case study of qualitative research method was adopted to investigate the actions of the administration of three successive Vice-Chancellors, in a higher education institution in Nigeria, over a longitudinal period of twelve years. This is with a view to exploring the effects of each administration on the development and execution of infrastructure projects, with particular interest on abandoned projects. The findings revealed that although two of Vice-Chancellors were committed to infrastructure upgrade, they executed more new projects than completing abandoned ones, while the current leader has shown more pragmatism in completing abandoned projects alongside constructing new ones; thus demonstrating the importance of the continuity of governance. In this regard, there is a steady increase in the stock of infrastructure to accommodate the expansion of existing academic programmes, host new ones as well as reduce the negative effects of infrastructure deficit caused by abandoned projects.

Keywords: abandoned projects, continuity of governance, infrastructure development scheme, long time frame

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Authors: Yunzi Chen, James Laybourne, Sarah Steven, Peter Carey, David Steel, Maria Sandinha

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Introduction: Bariatric surgery is popular with the rising incidence of obesity. Its well-known benefits include significant and rapid glycaemic control. However, cases of paradoxical worsening in diabetic retinopathy (DR) despite improved glycaemic control have been reported. Purpose: clarification on the evolution of diabetic retinopathy after bariatric surgery. Method: retrospective study of 40 patients with Type 2 diabetes who underwent bariatric surgery in a UK specialist bariatric unit between 2009 and 2011. Pre-operative and post-operative visual acuity (VA), weight, HbA1c and annual DRSS screening results were analysed. Median follow up was 50 months. Results: No significant change in VA was found during the post-operative period. 85% of patients improved HbA1c post-operatively of which 53% achieved non-diabetic HbA1c of <6.1% - despite this, 2 patients developed new DR. First post-operative screening showed 80% of patients experienced no change, 8% improved but 13% of patients developed new DR (1 case with sight-threatening maculopathy). 80% of these cases persisted up to 24 months. The proportion of patients developing new or worse DR fluctuated over time, peaking at the 3rd annual screening with 26% (15% regressed, 56% stable). The probability of developing new or worse DR postoperatively was significantly associated with a high pre-operative HbA1c (>8%) and male gender. Conclusions: bariatric surgery does not guarantee long-term improvement or prevention of DR. Asymptomatic changes in DR occurred up to 5 years postoperatively. We therefore consider it prudent to continue screening in this cohort of patients.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, diabetic retinopathy, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus

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Authors: M. B. Peter

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The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation has long been upheld, by the Catholic Church, as one of the Sacraments of healing, mainly due to the sense of peace, tranquility and psychological quiescence it accords the penitent upon receiving Sacramental absolution of sin through the action of the priest. This paper explores the Sacramental character of this practice and the psychological benefits of the celebration of the Sacrament. This is achieved in two parts: firstly, by the intellectual engagement of Sacred Scripture and the consolidated Sacred Tradition that the Catholic magisterium protects and, secondly, via a broad survey of the works of Carl Gustav Jung and Orval Hobart Mowrer regarding confession and forgiveness. The former will serve to demonstrate the Catholic belief of the divine institution of the Sacrament whilst the latter will demonstrate how this belief, coupled with the existing benefit of confessing guilt, collectively bolsters the Sacrament’s overall psychological efficacy. Fundamentally, the analysis of Jung and Mowrer’s works demonstrate that man, as a naturally religious being, has an inherent need for the confession of his wrong that he might be alleviated of psychological guilt in obtaining forgiveness of a (divinely ordained) minister who is sanctioned to absolve, i.e. the priest. The paper also presents the curative effect of the celebration of this Sacrament, illustrating how, without the act of confession, man remains in moral isolation from God and man; and, that with it, man is relieved of the mysterious feeling of guilt which lies at the root of his disquiet of mind and disturbance of will. Thus, the paper penultimately establishes how the Sacrament of Reconciliation is positioned in that place where psychology and theology meet: man’s sense of guilt. It is Jung’s views on confession and forgiveness that ultimately bridge the chasm between psychology and Christianity.

Keywords: Catholic, confession, Jung, Mowrer, penance, psychology, Sacrament of Reconciliation

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Authors: Peter Jin

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Ever since the recent resurgence of interest in political theorist Carl Schmitt’s work, much of the current analysis on Schmitt has fo-cused on evaluating Schmitt’s legacy by exposing contradictions in his rationale. Rather than condemn such contradictions, this paper instead seeks to analyze these contradictions in an effort to better understand the radical shift in Schmitt’s intellectual trajectory from an astute critic of liberal democracy to a fascist apologist towards the end of the Weimar period. An essential part of this change is his interest in what Schmitt called ‘the emergence of aesthetics.’ Schmitt diagnosed the underlying issue with the aesthetic in the political sphere to be its irrationalism, indifference, and indeci-siveness. For Schmitt, the latter two of these were especially prob-lematic for two of his key concepts: the ‘political’ and ‘the shared historical reality.’ Schmitt’s radical depiction of ‘the political’ as an existential opposition of allegiances that necessitated a state of emergency and a decisionist sovereign political struggle required an equally radical justification, or Schmitt’s call for ‘a shared his-torical reality’ not based in historical fact yet able to mobilize the masses. In this way, Schmitt clearly condemns the indifferent, indecisive aesthetic that runs against his decisionist, action-oriented political theory. Yet despite his firm stance against aestheticism, Schmitt himself used the evocative and irrational power of aesthet-icism as a tool to present his own ‘political myth’ that compelled believers to join in decisive unity against a common enemy. In short, Schmitt’s contradictions on aestheticism and his creation of a ‘political myth’ suggest that Schmitt’s underlying conflict with aestheticism was not as much of an issue of irrationality as it was a chronic preoccupation with coercing concrete action at the expense of rational deliberation.

Keywords: aesthetics of the political, Carl Schmitt, political myth, Weimar democracy

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Authors: Timine Suoware, Sylvester Edelugo, Charles Amgbari

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The susceptibility of natural fibre polymer composites to flame has necessitated research to improve and develop flame retardant (FR) to delay the escape of combustible volatiles. Previous approaches relied mostly on FR such as aluminium tri-hydroxide (ATH) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) to improve fire performances of wood sawdust polymer composites (WSPC) with emphasis on non-structural building applications. In this paper, APP was modified with gum Arabic powder (GAP) and then hybridized with ATH at 0, 12 and 18% loading ratio to form new FR species; WSPC12%APP-GAP and WSPC18%ATH/APP-GAP. The FR species were incorporated in wood sawdust waste reinforced in polyester resin to form panels for fireproof doors. The panels were produced using hand lay compression moulding technique and cured at room temperature. Specimen cut from panels were then tested for tensile strength (TS), flexural strength (FS) and impact strength (IS) using universal testing machine and impact tester; thermal stability using (TGA/DSC 1: Metler Toledo); time-to-ignition (Tig), heat release rates (HRR); peak HRR (HRRp), average HRR (HRRavg), total HRR (THR), peak mass loss rate (MLRp), average smoke production rate (SPRavg) and carbon monoxide production (COP ) were obtained using the cone calorimeter apparatus. From the mechanical properties obtained, improvements of IS for the panels were not noticeable whereas TS and FS for WSPC12%APP-GAP respectively stood at 12.44 MPa and 85.58 MPa more than those without FR (WSPC0%). For WSC18%ATH/APP-GAP TS and FS respectively stood at 16.45 MPa and 50.49 MPa more compared to (WSPC0%). From the thermal analysis, the panels did not exhibit any significant change as early degradation was observed. At 900 OC, the char residues improved by 15% for WSPC12%APP-GAP and 19% for WSPC18%ATH/APP-GAP more than (WSC0%) at 5%, confirming the APP-GAP to be a good FR. At 50 kW/m2 heat flux (HF), WSPC12%APP-GAP improved better the fire behaviour of the panels when compared to WSC0% as follows; Tig = 46 s, HRRp = 56.1 kW/2, HRRavg = 32.8 kW/m2, THR = 66.6 MJ/m2, MLRp = 0.103 g/s, TSR = 0.04 m2/s and COP = 0.051 kg/kg. These were respectively more than WSC0%. It can be concluded that the new concept of modifying FR with GAP in WSC could meet the requirement of a fireproof door for building applications.

Keywords: composite, flame retardant, wood sawdust, fireproof doors

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Authors: Omar Alhamd, Peter A. Thomas, Trevor J. Greenhough, Annette K. Shrive

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The Pseudomonas syringae species complex includes many plant pathogenic strains with highly specific interactions with varied host species and cultivars. The rapid spread of these bacteria over the last ten years has become a cause for concern. Nanoparticles have previously shown promise in microbiological action. We have therefore investigated in vitro and in vivo the effects of different types and sizes of nanoparticles in order to provide quantitative information about their effect on the bacteria. The effects of several different nanoparticles against several bacteria strains were investigated. The effect of NP on bacterial growth was studied by measuring the optical density, biochemical and nutritional tests, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to determine the shape and size of NP. Our results indicate that their effects varied, with either a negative or a positive impact on both bacterial and plant growth. Additionally, the methods of exposure to nanoparticles have a crucial role in accumulation, translocation, growth response and bacterial growth. The results of our studies on the behaviour and effects of nanoparticles in model plants showed. Cerium oxide (CeO₂) and silver (Ag) NP showed significant antibacterial activity against several pathogenic bacteria. It was found that titanium nanoparticles (TiO₂) can have either a negative or a positive impact, according to concentration and size. It is also thought that environmental conditions can have a major influence on bacterial growth. Studies were therefore also carried out under some environmental stress conditions to test bacterial survival and to assess bacterial virulence. All results will be presented including information about the effects of different nanoparticles on Pseudomonas syringae bacteria.

Keywords: plant microbiome, nanoparticles, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, bacterial survival

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Authors: Peter Parkinson

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The research investigates the effects of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and fabric composition on the drying times of blood and assesses the degree of blood transfer that can occur during the drying process. An assortment of fabrics, of different composition and thicknesses, were collected and stained using two blood volumes and exposed to varying environmental conditions. The conclusion reached was that temperature, humidity, wind speed, and fabric thickness do have an effect on drying times. An increase in temperature and wind speed results in a decrease in drying times while an increase in fabric thickness and humidity extended the drying times of blood under similar conditions. Transfer experimentation utilized three donor fabrics, 100% white cotton, 100% acrylic, and 100% cotton denim, which were bloodstained using two blood volumes. The fabrics were subjected to both full and low/light force contact from the donor fabrics onto the recipient fabric, under different environmental conditions. Transfer times onto the 100% white cotton (recipient fabric) from all donor fabrics were shorter than the drying times observed. The intensities of the bloodstains decreased from high to low with time during the drying process. The degree of transfer at high, medium, and low intensities varied significantly between different materials and is dependent on the environmental conditions, fabric compositions, blood volumes, the type of contact (full or light force), and the drying times observed for the respective donor fabrics. These factors should be considered collectively and conservatively when assessing the time frame of secondary transfer in casework.

Keywords: blood, drying time, blood stain transfer, different environmental conditions, fabrics

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Authors: Bernard Igoche Igoche, Olumuyiwa Matthew, Peter Bednar, Alexander Gegov

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This study presents an ontology-driven approach for knowledge discovery and validation from admission databases in Nigerian polytechnic institutions. The research aims to address the challenges of extracting meaningful insights from vast amounts of admission data and utilizing them for decision-making and process improvement. The proposed methodology combines the knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process with a structural causal model (SCM) ontological framework. The admission database of Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo (Benpoly) is used as a case study. The KDD process is employed to mine and distill knowledge from the database, while the SCM ontology is designed to identify and validate the important features of the admission process. The SCM validation is performed using the conditional independence test (CIT) criteria, and an algorithm is developed to implement the validation process. The identified features are then used for machine learning (ML) modeling and prediction of admission status. The results demonstrate the adequacy of the SCM ontological framework in representing the admission process and the high predictive accuracies achieved by the ML models, with k-nearest neighbors (KNN) and support vector machine (SVM) achieving 92% accuracy. The study concludes that the proposed ontology-driven approach contributes to the advancement of educational data mining and provides a foundation for future research in this domain.

Keywords: admission databases, educational data mining, machine learning, ontology-driven knowledge discovery, polytechnic education, structural causal model

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Authors: Jaballah Jamil

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KLD (Peter Kinder, Steve Lydenberg and Amy Domini) research & analytics is an independent intermediary of social performance information that adopts an investor-pay model. KLD rating agency does not have an explicit monitoring on the rated firm which suggests that KLD ratings may not include private informations. Moreover, the incapacity of KLD to predict accurately the extra-financial rating of Enron casts doubt on the reliability of KLD ratings. Therefore, we first investigate whether KLD ratings affect investors' perception by studying the effect of KLD rating changes on firms' financial performances. Second, we study the impact of the Enron scandal on investors' perception of KLD rating changes by comparing the effect of KLD rating changes on firms' financial performances before and after the failure of Enron. We propose an empirical study that relates a number of equally-weighted portfolios returns, excess stock returns and book-to-market ratio to different dimensions of KLD social responsibility ratings. We first find that over the last two decades KLD rating changes influence significantly and negatively stock returns and book-to-market ratio of rated firms. This finding suggests that a raise in corporate social responsibility rating lowers the firm's risk. Second, to assess the Enron scandal's effect on the perception of KLD ratings, we compare the effect of KLD rating changes before and after the Enron scandal. We find that after the Enron scandal this significant effect disappears. This finding supports the view that the Enron scandal annihilates the KLD's effect on Socially Responsible Investors. Therefore, our findings may question results of recent studies that use KLD ratings as a proxy for Corporate Social Responsibility behavior.

Keywords: KLD social rating agency, investors' perception, investment decision, financial performance

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Authors: Catherine Thompson, Maryam Jalali, Peter Hills

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The allocation of visual attention is critical when driving and anything that limits attention will have a detrimental impact on safety. Engaging in a secondary task reduces the amount of attention directed to the road because drivers allocate resources towards this task, leaving fewer resources to process driving-relevant information. Yet the dangers associated with a secondary task do not end when the driver returns their attention to the road. Instead, the attentional settings adopted to complete a secondary task may persist to the road, affecting attention, and therefore affecting driver performance. This 'attentional inertia' effect was investigated in the current work. Forty drivers searched for hazards in driving video clips while their eye-movements were recorded. At varying intervals they were instructed to attend to a secondary task displayed on a tablet situated to their left-hand side. The secondary task consisted of three separate computer games that induced horizontal, vertical, and random eye movements. Visual search and hazard detection in the driving clips were compared across the three conditions of the secondary task. Results showed that the layout of information in the secondary task, and therefore the allocation of attention in this task, had an impact on subsequent search in the driving clips. Vertically presented information reduced the wide horizontal spread of search usually associated with accurate driving and had a negative influence on the detection of hazards. The findings show the additional dangers of engaging in a secondary task while driving. The attentional inertia effect has significant implications for semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles in which drivers have greater opportunity to direct their attention away from the driving task.

Keywords: attention, eye-movements, hazard perception, visual search

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Authors: Charles Bijjah Nkhata, Memory Nekati Mvula, Milton Masautso Kalongonda, Martha Masamba, Isaac Thom Shawa

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Viral Hepatitis is a serious public health concern globally with deaths estimated at 1.4 million annually due to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis B and C are the most common viruses that cause liver damage. However, the majority of infected individuals are unaware of their serostatus. Viral Hepatitis has contributed to maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. There is no updated data on the Epidemiology of hepatitis B and C among pregnant mothers in Malawi. To assess the epidemiology of Hepatitis B and C viruses among pregnant women at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Specific Objectives • To determine sero-prevalence of HBsAg and Anti-HCV in pregnant women at QECH. • To investigate risk factors associated with HBV and HCV infection in pregnant women. • To determine the distribution of HBsAg and Anti-HCV infection among pregnant women of different age group. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women at QECH in last quarter of 2021. Of the 114 pregnant women, 96 participants were consented and enrolled using a convenient sampling technique. 12 participants were dropped due to various reasons; therefore 84 completed the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and behavior characteristics to assess the risk of exposure. Serum was processed from venous blood samples and tested for HBsAg and Anti-HCV markers utilizing Rapid screening assays for screening and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay for confirmatory. A total of 84 pregnant consenting pregnant women participated in the study, with 1.2% (n=1/84) testing positive for HBsAg and nobody had detectable anti-HCV antibodies. There was no significant link between HBV and HCV in any of the socio-demographic data or putative risk variables. The findings indicate a viral hepatitis prevalence lower than the set range by the WHO. This suggests that HBV and HCV are rare in pregnant women at QECH. Nevertheless, accessible screening for all pregnant women should be provided. The prevention of MTCT is key for reduction and prevention of the global burden of chronic viral Hepatitis.

Keywords: viral hepatitis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, pregnancy, malawi, liver disease, mother to child transmission

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Authors: David Ryan, Martin Breugst, Turlough Downes, Peter A. Byrne, Gerard P. McGlacken

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An ambident nucleophile is a nucleophile that possesses two or more distinct nucleophilic sites that are linked through resonance and are effectively “in competition” for reaction with an electrophile. Examples include enolates, pyridone anions, and nitrite anions, among many others. Reactions of ambident nucleophiles and electrophiles are extremely prevalent at all levels of organic synthesis. The principle of hard and soft acids and bases (the “HSAB principle”) is most commonly cited in the explanation of selectivities in such reactions. Although this rationale is pervasive in any discussion on ambident reactivity, the HSAB principle has received considerable criticism. As a result, the principle’s supplantation has become an area of active interest in recent years. This project focuses on developing a model for rationalizing ambident reactivity. Presented here is an approach that incorporates computational calculations and experimental kinetic data to construct Gibbs energy profile diagrams. The preferred site of alkylation of nitrite anion with a range of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ alkylating agents was established by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Pseudo-first-order rate constants were measured directly by ¹H NMR reaction monitoring, and the corresponding second-order constants and Gibbs energies of activation were derived. These, in combination with computationally derived standard Gibbs energies of reaction, were sufficient to construct Gibbs energy wells. By representing the ambident system as a series of overlapping Gibbs energy wells, a more intuitive picture of ambident reactivity emerges. Here, previously unexplained switches in reactivity in reactions involving closely related electrophiles are elucidated.

Keywords: ambident, Gibbs, nucleophile, rates

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Authors: Murad Gasanov, Shagen Danielyan, Ali Gasanov, Yuri Teterin, Peter Yartsev

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Background: Despite the advances made in modern surgery, the treatment of patients with esophageal injuries remains one of the most topical and complex issues. In recent years, high-technology minimally invasive methods, such as endoscopic vacuum therapy (EVT) in the treatment of esophageal injuries. The effectiveness of EVT has been sufficiently studied in case of failure of esophageal anastomoses, however the application of this method in case of mechanical esophageal injuries is limited by a small series of observations, indicating the necessity of additional study. Aim: The aim was to аnalyzed of own experience in the use of endoscopic vacuum therapy (EVT) in a comprehensive examination of patients with esophageal injuries. Methods: We analyzed the results of treatment of 24 patients with mechanical injuries of the esophagus for the period 2019-2021. Complex treatment of patients included the use of minimally invasive technologies, including percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), EVT and video-assisted thoracoscopic debridement. Evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment was carried out using multislice computed tomography (MSCT), endoscopy and laboratory tests. The duration of inpatient treatment and the duration of EVT, the number of system replacements, complications and mortality were taken into account. Result: EVT in patients with mechanical injuries of the esophagus allowed to achieve epithelialization of the esophageal defect in 21 patients (87.5%) in the form of linear scar on the site of perforation or pseudodiverticulum. Complications were noted in 4 patients (16.6%), including bleeding (2) and and esophageal stenosis in the perforation area (2). Lethal outcome was in one observation (4.2%). Conclusion. EVT may be the method of choice in complex treatment in patients with esophageal lesions.

Keywords: esophagus injuries, damage to the esophagus, perforation of the esophagus, spontaneous perforation of the esophagus, mediastinitis, endoscopic vacuum therapy

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Authors: Martin H¨ausl, Maximilian Auch, Johannes Forster, Peter Mandl, Alexander Schill

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In order to survive on the market, companies must constantly develop improved and new products. These products are designed to serve the needs of their customers in the best possible way. The creation of new products is also called innovation and is primarily driven by a company’s internal research and development department. However, a new approach has been taking place for some years now, involving external knowledge in the innovation process. This approach is called open innovation and identifies customer knowledge as the most important source in the innovation process. This paper presents a concept of using social media posts as an external source to support the open innovation approach in its initial phase, the Ideation phase. For this purpose, the social media posts are semantically structured with the help of an ontology and the authors are evaluated using graph-theoretical metrics such as density. For the structuring and evaluation of relevant social media posts, we also use the findings of Natural Language Processing, e. g. Named Entity Recognition, specific dictionaries, Triple Tagger and Part-of-Speech-Tagger. The selection and evaluation of the tools used are discussed in this paper. Using our ontology and metrics to structure social media posts enables users to semantically search these posts for new product ideas and thus gain an improved insight into the external sources such as customer needs.

Keywords: idea ontology, innovation management, semantic search, open information extraction

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Authors: Shivani Dhande, Sanjiv Choudhary, Adarshlata Singh

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Introduction: Chemical peeling is a popular, relatively inexpensive day procedure and generally safe method for treatment of pigmentary skin disorders and for skin rejuvenation. Chemical peels are classified by the depth of action into superficial, medium, and deep peels.Various facial pigmentary conditions have significant impact on quality of life causing psychological stress, necessitating its safe and effective treatment.Aim & Objectives:To compare the efficacy of Salicylic acid, Trichloroaceticacid & Glycolic Acid in facial melanosis(melasma,photomelanosis& post acne pigmentation).To study the side effects of above mentioned peeling agents. Method and Materials:It was a randomized parallel control single blind study consisting of total of 36 cases, 12 cases each of melasma, photo melanosis and post acne pigmentation within age group 20-50 years having fitzpatrick’s skin type4. Woods lamp examination was done to confirm the type of melasma.Patients with keloidal tendency, active herpes infection or past history of hypersensitivity to salicylic acid, trichloroaceticand glycolic acid as well aspatients on systemic isotretinoin were excluded.Clinical photographs at the beginning of therapy and then serially, were taken to assess the clinical response. Prior to application a written informed consent was obtained. A post auricular test peel was performed. Patients were divided into 3 groups, containing 12 patients each of melasma, photomelanosis and post acnepigmentation.All the three peels SA peel 20% (done once in 2 weeks), GA peel 50% (done once in 3 weeks) and TCA 15% (done once in 3 weeks) were used with total six settings for each patient. Before application of peel patients were counseled to wash the face with soap and water. Then face was dried and cleaned with spirit and acetone to remove all cutaneous oils. GA, TCA, SA were applied with cotton buds/gauze withmild strokes. After a contact period off 5-10mins neutralization was done with cold water. Post peel topical sunscreen application was mandatory. MASI was used pre and post treatment to assess melasma. Investigator’s global improvement scale- overall hyperpigmentation (4-significant, 3-moderate, 2-mild, 1-minimal, 0-no change ) and Patient’s satisfaction grading scale (>70%- excellent response, 50-70%- good response, <50%- average response) was used to assess improvement in all the three facial melanosis.Results:In our study of 12 patients of melasma, 4 (33.33%)patients showed excellent results;3 (25%) with GAand 1(8.33%) of TCA.Good response was seen in 4 (33.33%) patients;1(8.33%) each for GA & SA and 2(16.66%) for TCA.Poor response was seen in 4(33.33%) patients;1(8.33%) for TCA and 3 (25%) for SA.Of 12 patients of photomelanosis, excellent resultswas seen in 3(25%)patients of TCA. Good response was seen in 4 (33.33%) patients, 1(8.33%) each of TCA &SA and 2(16.66%) of GA.Poor responsewas seen in 5(41.66%) patients;3 (25%) for SA and 2(16.66%) of GA.Of 12 patients of post acne pigmentation, excellent responsein 3 (25%) patients;2(16.66%) of SA and 1(8.33%) of TCA.Good responsewas seen in 5(41.66%) patients;2(16.66%) of SA and GA and1(8.33%) of TCA.Poor response was seen in 4 (33.33%) patients; 2 (16.66%) for SA and TCA both. No major side effects in the form of scarring or persistant pigmentation was seen. Transient blackening of skin with burning sensation was seen in cases treated with TCA and SA. Post procedural itching and redness was noted with GA peel. Conclusion- In our study GA(50%),TCA(15%) & SA(20%) peels showed excellent response in melasma, photomelanosis and post-acne pigmentation respectively.All the 3 peeling agents were well tolerated without any significant side-effects in the above specified concentrations.

Keywords: facial melanosis, gycolic acid, salicylic acid, trichloroacetic acid

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Authors: Afaf Alhusayni, Elizabeth Sheppard, Asiyya Jaffrani, Peter Mitchell, Lauren Marsh

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Introduction: Previous research has found that people make systematic judgments about others based on small glimpses of their behavior. Furthermore, autistic people are consistently judged more negatively than non-autistic people in terms of favourability and approachability. Objectives: This project focuses on a hitherto unstudied type of judgment that is highly relevant within a university context, judgments about academic performance. This is particularly important as autistic university students are less likely to complete their degrees than neurotypical students. Methods: Twenty-five neurotypical perceivers (21 females - 4 males) viewed a series of 4s video clips featuring an individual ‘target’ displaying natural behavior. Nine of these targets were autistic and nine were neurotypical. Perceivers were asked to rate each target on four aspects related to university life (motivation, success, grades, and happiness). Results: Autistic targets were judged more negatively on all aspects compared to neurotypical targets. Conclusions: This study concludes that neurotypical perceivers negatively judge the academic performance of autistic students. This suggests that autistic university students face unfavorable scrutiny and judgment, which may negatively impact their academic success. Implications: These initial findings provide important evidence that autistic people are negatively stigmatized within education environments. Further work is needed to ascertain the extent to which these negative judgments may feed into attainment gaps for autistic students. This information is useful for the education department, government, and social care organizations, enabling change in the provision of support for autistic students.

Keywords: autistic person perception, academic performance, stigma and judgment, higher education

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Authors: Mandlenkosi George Robert Mahlobo, Tumelo Seadira, Major Melusi Mabuza, Peter Apata Olubambi

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Cathodic protection (CP) has been widely considered a suitable technique for mitigating corrosion of buried metal structures. Plenty of efforts have been made in developing techniques, in particular non-destructive techniques, for monitoring and quantifying the effectiveness of CP to ensure the sustainability and performance of buried steel structures. The aim of this study was to investigate the evolution of the electrochemical processes at the steel/soil interface during the application of CP on steel in simulated soil. Carbon steel was subjected to electrochemical tests with NS4 solution used as simulated soil conditions for 4 days before applying CP for a further 11 days. A previously modified non-destructive voltammetry technique was applied before and after the application of CP to measure the corrosion rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), in combination with mathematical modeling through equivalent electric circuits, was applied to determine the electrochemical behavior at the steel/soil interface. The measured corrosion rate was found to have decreased from 410 µm/yr to 8 µm/yr between days 5 and 14 because of the applied CP. Equivalent electrical circuits were successfully constructed and used to adequately model the EIS results. The modeling of the obtained EIS results revealed the formation of corrosion products via a mixed activation-diffusion mechanism during the first 4 days, while the activation mechanism prevailed in the presence of CP, resulting in a protective film. The x-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of corrosion products and the predominant protective film corresponding to the calcareous deposit.

Keywords: carbon steel, cathodic protection, NS4 solution, voltammetry, EIS

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