Search results for: chemistry classes

Authors: Armin Nabaei, M. Omair Ahmad, M. N. S. Swamy

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Many facial expression and emotion recognition methods in the traditional approaches of using LDA, PCA, and EBGM have been proposed. In recent years deep learning models have provided a unique platform addressing by automatically extracting the features for the detection of facial expression and emotions. However, deep networks require large training datasets to extract automatic features effectively. In this work, we propose an efficient emotion detection algorithm using face images when only small datasets are available for training. We design a deep network whose feature extraction capability is enhanced by utilizing several parallel modules between the input and output of the network, each focusing on the extraction of different types of coarse features with fined grained details to break the symmetry of produced information. In fact, we leverage long range dependencies, which is one of the main drawback of CNNs. We develop this work by introducing a Dynamic Soft-Margin SoftMax.The conventional SoftMax suffers from reaching to gold labels very soon, which take the model to over-fitting. Because it’s not able to determine adequately discriminant feature vectors for some variant class labels. We reduced the risk of over-fitting by using a dynamic shape of input tensor instead of static in SoftMax layer with specifying a desired Soft- Margin. In fact, it acts as a controller to how hard the model should work to push dissimilar embedding vectors apart. For the proposed Categorical Loss, by the objective of compacting the same class labels and separating different class labels in the normalized log domain.We select penalty for those predictions with high divergence from ground-truth labels.So, we shorten correct feature vectors and enlarge false prediction tensors, it means we assign more weights for those classes with conjunction to each other (namely, “hard labels to learn”). By doing this work, we constrain the model to generate more discriminate feature vectors for variant class labels. Finally, for the proposed optimizer, our focus is on solving weak convergence of Adam optimizer for a non-convex problem. Our noteworthy optimizer is working by an alternative updating gradient procedure with an exponential weighted moving average function for faster convergence and exploiting a weight decay method to help drastically reducing the learning rate near optima to reach the dominant local minimum. We demonstrate the superiority of our proposed work by surpassing the first rank of three widely used Facial Expression Recognition datasets with 93.30% on FER-2013, and 16% improvement compare to the first rank after 10 years, reaching to 90.73% on RAF-DB, and 100% k-fold average accuracy for CK+ dataset, and shown to provide a top performance to that provided by other networks, which require much larger training datasets.

Keywords: computer vision, facial expression recognition, machine learning, algorithms, depp learning, neural networks

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Authors: Lijuan Li

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Nitric oxide (NO) has become a fascinating entity in biological chemistry over the past few years. It is a gaseous lipophilic radical molecule that plays important roles in several physiological and pathophysiological processes in mammals, including activating the immune response, serving as a neurotransmitter, regulating the cardiovascular system, and acting as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor. NO functions in eukaryotes both as a signal molecule at nanomolar concentrations and as a cytotoxic agent at micromolar concentrations. The latter arises from the ability of NO to react readily with a variety of cellular targets leading to thiol S-nitrosation, amino acid N-nitrosation, and nitrosative DNA damage. Nitric oxide can readily bind to metals to give metal-nitrosyl (M-NO) complexes. Some of these species are known to play roles in biological NO storage and transport. These complexes have different biological, photochemical, or spectroscopic properties due to distinctive structural features. These recent discoveries have spawned a great interest in the development of transition metal complexes containing NO, particularly its iron complexes that are central to the role of nitric oxide in the body. Spectroscopic evidence would appear to implicate species of “Fe(NO)2+” type in a variety of processes ranging from polymerization, carcinogenesis, to nitric oxide stores. Our research focuses on isolation and structural studies of non-heme iron nitrosyls that mimic biologically active compounds and can potentially be used for anticancer drug therapy. We have shown that reactions between Fe(NO)2(CO)2 and a series of imidazoles generated new non-heme iron nitrosyls of the form Fe(NO)2(L)2 [L = imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole, benzimidazole, 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole, and L-histidine] and a tetrameric cluster of [Fe(NO)2(L)]4 (L=Im, 4-MeIm, BzIm, and Me2BzIm), resulted from the interactions of Fe(NO)2 with a series of substituted imidazoles was prepared. Recently, a series of sulfur bridged iron di nitrosyl complexes with the general formula of [Fe(µ-RS)(NO)2]2 (R = n-Pr, t-Bu, 6-methyl-2-pyridyl, and 4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidyl), were synthesized by the reaction of Fe(NO)2(CO)2 with thiols or thiolates. Their structures and properties were studied by IR, UV-vis, 1H-NMR, EPR, electrochemistry, X-ray diffraction analysis and DFT calculations. IR spectra of these complexes display one weak and two strong NO stretching frequencies (νNO) in solution, but only two strong νNO in solid. DFT calculations suggest that two spatial isomers of these complexes bear 3 Kcal energy difference in solution. The paramagnetic complexes [Fe2(µ-RS)2(NO)4]-, have also been investigated by EPR spectroscopy. Interestingly, the EPR spectra of complexes exhibit an isotropic signal of g = 1.998 - 2.004 without hyperfine splitting. The observations are consistent with the results of calculations, which reveal that the unpaired electron dominantly delocalize over the two sulfur and two iron atoms. The difference of the g values between the reduced form of iron-sulfur clusters and the typical monomeric di nitrosyl iron complexes is explained, for the first time, by of the difference in unpaired electron distributions between the two types of complexes, which provides the theoretical basis for the use of g value as a spectroscopic tool to differentiate these biologically active complexes.

Keywords: di nitrosyl iron complex, metal nitrosyl, non-heme iron, nitric oxide

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Authors: Daniela Velichová

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Plenty of ideas on how to adopt active learning methods in education are available nowadays. Mathematics is a subject where the active involvement of students is required in particular in order to achieve desirable results regarding sustainable knowledge and deep understanding. The present article is based on the outcomes of an Erasmus+ project DrIVE-MATH, that was aimed at developing a novel and integrated framework to teach maths classes in engineering courses at the university level. It is fundamental for students from the early years of their academic life to have agile minds. They must be prepared to adapt to their future working environments, where enterprises’ views are always evolving, where all collaborate in teams, and relations between peers are thought for the well-being of the whole - workers and company profit. This reality imposes new requirements on higher education in terms of adaptation of different pedagogical methods, such as project-based and active-learning methods used within the course curricula. Active learning methodologies are regarded as an effective way to prepare students to meet the challenges posed by enterprises and to help them in building critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and insight to the solved complex problems from different perspectives. Fostering learning-by-doing activities in the pedagogical process can help students to achieve learning independence, as they could acquire deeper conceptual understanding by experimenting with the abstract concept in a more interesting, useful, and meaningful way. Clear information about learning outcomes and goals might help students to take more responsibility for their learning results. Active learning methods implemented by the project team members in their teaching practice, eduScrum and Jigsaw in particular, proved to provide better scientific and soft skills support to students than classical teaching methods. EduScrum method enables teachers to generate a working environment that stimulates students' working habits and self-initiative as they become aware of their responsibilities within the team, their own acquired knowledge, and their abilities to solve problems independently, though in collaboration with other team members. This method enhances collaborative learning, as students are working in teams towards a common goal - knowledge acquisition, while they are interacting with each other and evaluated individually. Teams consisting of 4-5 students work together on a list of problems - sprint; each member is responsible for solving one of them, while the group leader – a master, is responsible for the whole team. A similar principle is behind the Jigsaw technique, where the classroom activity makes students dependent on each other to succeed. Students are divided into groups, and assignments are split into pieces, which need to be assembled by the whole group to complete the (Jigsaw) puzzle. In this paper, analysis of students’ perceptions concerning the achievement of deeper conceptual understanding in mathematics and the development of soft skills, such as self-motivation, critical thinking, flexibility, leadership, responsibility, teamwork, negotiation, and conflict management, is presented. Some new challenges are discussed as brought by introducing active learning methods in the basic mathematics courses. A few examples of sprints developed and used in teaching basic maths courses at technical universities are presented in addition.

Keywords: active learning methods, collaborative learning, conceptual understanding, eduScrum, Jigsaw, soft skills

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Authors: Zhuang Ma, Zihan Zhang, Yu Li

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Environmental concerns from stakeholders (e.g., governments & customers) have pushed firms to integrate environmental management systems into business processes such as R&D, manufacturing, and marketing. Environmental systems include managing environmental risks and pollution control (e.g., air pollution control, waste-water treatment, noise control, energy recycling & solid waste treatment) through raw material management, the elimination and reduction of contaminants, recycling, and reuse in firms' operational processes. Despite increasing studies on firms' proactive adoption of environmental management, their focus is primarily on large corporations operating in developed economies. Investigations in the environmental management efforts of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are scarce. This is problematic for SMEs because, unlike large corporations, SMEs have limited awareness, resources, capabilities to adapt their operational routines to address environmental impacts. The purpose of this study is to explore how SMEs develop organizational capabilities through interactions with business partners (e.g., environmental management specialists & customers). Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and an organizational capabilities perspective, this study investigates the interactively developed capabilities that allow SMEs to adopt environmental management systems. Using an exploratory approach, the study includes 12 semi-structured interviews with senior managers from four SMEs, two environmental management specialists, and two customers in the pharmaceutical sector in Chongqing, China. Findings of this study include four key organizational capabilities: 1) ‘dynamic marketing’ capability, which allows SMEs to recoup the investments in environmental management systems by developing environmentally friendly products to address customers' ever-changing needs; 2) ‘process improvement’ capability, which allows SMEs to select and adopt the latest technologies from biology, chemistry, new material, and new energy sectors into the production system for improved environmental performance and cost-reductions; and 3) ‘relationship management’ capability which allows SMEs to improve corporate image among the public, social media, government agencies, and customers, who in turn help SMEs to overcome their competitive disadvantages. These interactively developed capabilities help SMEs to address larger competitors' foothold in the local market, reduce market constraints, and exploit competitive advantages in other regions (e.g., Guangdong & Jiangsu) of China. These findings extend the RBV and organizational capabilities perspective; that is, SMEs can develop the essential resources and capabilities required for environmental management through interactions with upstream and downstream business partners. While a limited number of studies did highlight the importance of interactions among SMEs, customers, suppliers, NGOs, industrial associations, and consulting firms, they failed to explore the specific capabilities developed through these interactions. Additionally, the findings can explain how a proactive adoption of environmental management systems could help some SMEs to overcome the institutional and market restraints on their products, thereby springboarding into larger, more environmentally demanding, yet more profitable markets compared with their existing market.

Keywords: capabilities, environmental management systems, interactions, SMEs

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Authors: Istvan Szilagyi, Marko Pavlovic, Paul Rouster

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Antioxidant enzymes are the most efficient defense systems against reactive oxygen species, which cause severe damage in living organisms and industrial products. However, their supplementation is problematic due to their high sensitivity to the environmental conditions. Immobilization on carrier nanoparticles is a promising research direction towards the improvement of their functional and colloidal stability. In that way, their applications in biomedical treatments and manufacturing processes in the food, textile and cosmetic industry can be extended. The main goal of the present research was to prepare and formulate antioxidant bionanocomposites composed of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme, anionic clay (layered double hydroxide, LDH) nanoparticle and heparin (HEP) polyelectrolyte. To characterize the structure and the colloidal stability of the obtained compounds in suspension and solid state, electrophoresis, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, spectrophotometry, thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy were used as experimental techniques. LDH-SOD composite was synthesized by enzyme immobilization on the clay particles via electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, which resulted in a strong adsorption of the SOD on the LDH surface, i.e., no enzyme leakage was observed once the material was suspended in aqueous solutions. However, the LDH-SOD showed only limited resistance against salt-induced aggregation and large irregularly shaped clusters formed during short term interval even at lower ionic strengths. Since sufficiently high colloidal stability is a key requirement in most of the applications mentioned above, the nanocomposite was coated with HEP polyelectrolyte to develop highly stable suspensions of primary LDH-SOD-HEP particles. HEP is a natural anticoagulant with one of the highest negative line charge density among the known macromolecules. The experimental results indicated that it strongly adsorbed on the oppositely charged LDH-SOD surface leading to charge inversion and to the formation of negatively charged LDH-SOD-HEP. The obtained hybrid materials formed stable suspension even under extreme conditions, where classical colloid chemistry theories predict rapid aggregation of the particles and unstable suspensions. Such a stabilization effect originated from electrostatic repulsion between the particles of the same sign of charge as well as from steric repulsion due to the osmotic pressure raised during the overlap of the polyelectrolyte chains adsorbed on the surface. In addition, the SOD enzyme kept its structural and functional integrity during the immobilization and coating processes and hence, the LDH-SOD-HEP bionanocomposite possessed excellent activity in decomposition of superoxide radical anions, as revealed in biochemical test reactions. In conclusion, due to the improved colloidal stability and the good efficiency in scavenging superoxide radical ions, the developed enzymatic system is a promising antioxidant candidate for biomedical or other manufacturing processes, wherever the aim is to decompose reactive oxygen species in suspensions.

Keywords: clay, enzyme, polyelectrolyte, formulation

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Authors: Rohan M. Dalal, Elena Pirondini, Shanu Somvanshi

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Introduction: The current state of reproductive health outcomes in lower-income countries is poor, with inadequate knowledge and culture among adolescent boys. Moreover, boys have traditionally not been a priority target. To explore the opportunity to educate adolescent boys in the developing world regarding accurate reproductive health information, the purpose of this study is to investigate how adolescent boys in the developing world engage and use technology, utilizing cell phones. This electronic survey and video interview study were conducted to determine the feasibility of a mobile phone platform for an educational video game specifically designed for boys that will improve health knowledge, influence behavior, and change health outcomes, namely teen pregnancies. Methods: With the assistance of Plan India, a subsidiary of Plan International, informed consent was obtained from parents of adolescent males who participated in an electronic survey and video interviews via Microsoft Teams. An electronic survey was created with 27 questions, including topics of mobile phone usage, gaming preferences, and sexual and reproductive health, with a sample size of 181 adolescents, ages 11-25, near New Delhi, India. The interview questions were written to explore more in-depth topics after the completion of the electronic survey. Eight boys, aged 15, were interviewed for 40 minutes about gaming and usage of mobile phones as well as sexual and reproductive health. Data/Results. 154 boys and 27 girls completed the survey. They rated their English fluency as relatively high. 97% of boys (149/154) had access to mobile phones. The majority of phones were smartphones (97%, 143/148). 48% (71/149) of boys borrowed cell phones. The most popular phone platform was Samsung (22%, 33/148). 36% (54/148) of adolescent males looked at their phones 1-10 times per day for 1-2 hours. 55% (81/149) of the boys had parental restrictions. 51% (76/148) had 32 GB of storage on their phone. 78% (117/150) of the boys had wifi access. 80% (120/150) of respondents reported ease in downloading apps. 97% (145/150) of male adolescents had social media, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube. 58% (87/150) played video games. Favorite video games included Free Fire, PubG, and other shooting games. In the video interviews, the boys revealed what made games fun and engaging, including customized avatars, progression to higher levels, realistic interactive platforms, shooting/guns, the ability to perform multiple actions, and a variety of worlds/settings/adventures. Ideas to improve engagement in sexual and reproductive health classes included open discussions in the community, enhanced access to information, and posting on social media. Conclusion: This study involving an electronic survey and video interviews provides an initial foray into understanding mobile phone usage among adolescent males and understanding sexual and reproductive health education in New Delhi, India. The data gathered from this study support using mobile phone platforms, and this will be used to create a serious video game to educate adolescent males about sexual and reproductive health in an attempt to lower the rate of unwanted pregnancies in the world.

Keywords: adolescent males, India, mobile phone, sexual and reproductive health

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Authors: Sugam Kale, Arif Uzair Bin Mohammed Roslan, Cindy Lee, Syed Beevee Mohammed Ismail

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Preemptive analgesia is an established concept in the modern practice of anaesthesia. To be most effective, it is best instituted earlier than the surgical stimulus and should last beyond the offset of surgically induced pain till healing is complete. Whereas the start of afferent pain blockade with regional anaesthesia is common, its effect often falls short to cover the entire period of pain impulses making their way to CNS in the post-operative period. We tried to use a combination of two regional anaesthetic techniques used sequentially to overcome this handicap. Madam S., a 56 year old lady, was scheduled for elective surgery for pancreatic cancer. She underwent laparotomy and distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy, bilateral salpingo oophorectomy, and sigmoid colectomy. Surgery was expected to be extensive, and it was presumed that the standard pain relief with PCA with opiates and oral analgesics would not be adequate. After counselling the patient pre-operative about the technique of regional anaesthesia techniques, including epidural catheterization and rectus sheath catheter placement, their benefits, and potential complications, informed consent was obtained. Epidural catheter was placed awake, and general anaesthesia was then induced. Epidural infusion of local anaesthetics was started prior to surgical incision and was continued till 60 hours into the postoperative period. Before skin closure, the surgeons inserted commercially available rectus sheath catheters bilaterally along the midline incision used for laparotomy. After 46 hours post-op, local anaesthetic infusion via these was started as bridging while the epidural infusion rate was tapered off. The epidural catheter was removed at 75 hours. Elastomeric pumps were used to provide local anaesthetic infusion with the ability to vary infusion rates. Acute pain service followed up the patient’s vital signs and effectiveness of pain relief twice daily or more frequently as required. Rectus sheath catheters were removed 137 hours post-op. The patient had good post-op analgesia with the minimal additional analgesic requirement. For the most part, the visual analog score (VAS) for pain remained at 1-3 on a scale of 1 to 10. Haemodynamics remained stable, and surgical recovery was as expected. Minimal opiate requirement after an extensive laparotomy also translates to the early return of intestinal motility. Our experience was encouraging, and we are hoping to extend this combination of two regional anaesthetic techniques to patients undergoing similar surgeries. Epidural analgesia is denser and offers excellent pain relief for both visceral and somatic pain in the first few days after surgery. As the pain intensity grows weaker, rectus sheath block and oral analgesics provide almost the same degree of pain relief after the epidural catheter is removed. We discovered that the background infusion of local anaesthetic down the rectus sheath catherter largely reduced the requirement for other classes of analgesics. We aim to study this further with a larger patient cohort and hope that it may become an established clinical practice that benefits patients everywhere.

Keywords: rectus sheath, epidural infusion, post operative analgesia, elastomeric

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Mihaela Beregoi, Horia Iovu, Cristina Busuioc, Alexandru Evanghelidis, Elena Matei, Monica Enculescu, Ionut Enculescu

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Nanomaterials field is very attractive for all researchers who are attempting to develop new devices with the same or improved properties than the micro-sized ones, while reducing the reagents and power consumptions. In this way, a wide range of nanomaterials were fabricated and integrated in applications for electronics, optoelectronics, solar cells, tissue reconstruction and drug delivery. Obviously, the most appealing ones are those dedicated to the medical domain. Different types of nano-sized materials, such as particles, fibers, films etc., can be synthesized by using physical, chemical or electrochemical methods. One of these techniques is electrospinning, which enable the production of fibers with nanometric dimensions by pumping a polymeric solution in a high electric field; due to the electrostatic charging and solvent evaporation, the precursor mixture is converted into nonwoven meshes with different fiber densities and mechanical properties. Moreover, polyaniline is a conducting polymer with interesting optical properties, suitable for displays and electrochromic windows. Otherwise, polyaniline is an electroactive polymer that can contract/expand by applying electric stimuli, due to the oxidation/reduction reactions which take place in the polymer chains. These two main properties can be exploited in order to synthesize smart materials that change their dimensions, exhibiting in the same time good electrochromic properties. In the context aforesaid, a poly(methyl metacrylate) solution was spun to get webs composed of fibers with diameter values between 500 nm and 1 µm. Further, the polymer meshes were covered with a gold layer in order to make them conductive and also appropriate as working electrode in an electrochemical cell. The gold shell was deposited by DC sputtering. Such metalized fibers can be transformed into smart materials by covering them with a thin layer of conductive polymer. Thus, the webs were coated with a polyaniline film by the electrochemical route, starting from and aqueous solution of aniline and sulfuric acid, where sulfuric acid acts as oxidant agent. For the polymerization of aniline, a saturated calomel electrode was employed as reference, a platinum plate as counter electrode and the gold covered webs as working electrode. Chronoamperometry was selected as deposition method for polyaniline, by modifying the deposition time. Metalized meshes with different fiber densities were used, the transmission ranging between 70 and 80 %. The morphological investigation showed that polyaniline layer has a granular structure for all deposition experiments. As well, some preliminary optical tests were done by using sulfuric acid as electrolyte, which revealed the modification of polyaniline colour from green to dark blue when applying a voltage. In conclusion, new multilayered materials were obtained by a simple approach: the merge of the electrospinning method benefits with polyaniline chemistry. This synthesis method allows the fabrication of structures with reproducible characteristics, suitable for display or tissue substituents.

Keywords: electrospinning, fibers, smart materials, polyaniline

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Authors: Al. Tsertsvadze. L. Ebralidze, I. Matchutadze. D. Berashvili, A. Bakuridze

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Peatlands are landscape elements, they are formed over a very long period by physical, chemical, biologic, and geologic processes. In the moderate zone of Caucasus, the Kolkheti lowlands are distinguished by the diversity of relictual plants, a high degree of endemism, orographic, climate, landscape, and other characteristics of high levels of biodiversity. The unique properties of the Kolkheti region lead to the formation of special, so-called, endemic peat peloids. The composition and properties of peloids strongly depend on peat-forming plants. Peat is considered a unique complex of raw materials, which can be used in different fields of the industry: agriculture, metallurgy, energy, biotechnology, chemical industry, health care. They are formed in permanent wetland areas. As a result of decay, higher plants remain in the anaerobic area, with the participation of microorganisms. Peat mass absorbs soil and groundwater. Peloids are predominantly rich with humic substances, which are characterized by high biological activity. Humic acids stimulate enzymatic activity, regenerative processes, and have anti-inflammatory activity. Objects of the research were Kolkheti peat peloids (Ispani, Anaklia, Churia, Chirukhi, Peranga) possessing different formation phases. Due to specific physical and chemical properties of research objects, the aim of the research was to develop analytical methods in order to study the chemical composition of the objects. The research was held using modern instrumental methods of analysis: Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and Infrared spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Centrifuge, dry oven, Ultraturax, pH meter, fluorescence spectrometer, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), Gas chromatography. Based on the research ration between organic and inorganic substances, the spectrum of micro and macro elements, also the content of minerals was determined. The content of organic nitrogen was determined using the Kjeldahl method. The total composition of amino acids was studied by a spectrophotometric method using standard solutions of glutamic and aspartic acids. Fatty acid was determined using GC (Gas chromatography). Based on the obtained results, we can conclude that the method is valid to identify fatty acids in the research objects. The content of organic substances in the research objects was held using GC-MS. Using modern instrumental methods of analysis, the chemical composition of research objects was studied. Each research object is predominantly reached with a broad spectrum of organic (fatty acids, amino acids, carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds, organic acids and their esters, steroids) and inorganic (micro and macro elements, minerals) substances. Modified methods used in the presented research may be utilized for the evaluation of cosmetological balneological and pharmaceutical means prepared on the base of Kolkheti's Sphagnum Peat Peloids.

Keywords: modern analytical methods, natural resources, peat, chemistry

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Authors: Syed Jamil H. Kazmi, Faiza Sarwar

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The Indus delta of Sindh Province forms the largest creeks zone of Pakistan. The Sindh coast starts from the mouth of Hab River and terminates at Sir Creek area. In this paper, we have considered the major creeks from the site of Bin Qasim Port in Karachi to Jetty of Keti Bunder in Thatta District. A general decline in the mangrove forest has been observed that within a span of last 25 years. The unprecedented human interventions damage the creeks habitat badly which includes haphazard urban development, industrial and sewage disposal, illegal cutting of mangroves forest, reduced and inconsistent fresh water flow mainly from Jhang and Indus rivers. These activities not only harm the creeks habitat but affected the fish stock substantially. Fishing is the main livelihood of coastal people but with the above-mentioned threats, it is also under enormous pressure by fish catches resulted in unchecked overutilization of the fish resources. This pressure is almost unbearable when it joins with deleterious fishing methods, uncontrolled fleet size, increase trash and by-catch of juvenile and illegal mesh size. Along with these anthropogenic interventions study area is under the red zone of tropical cyclones and active seismicity causing floods, sea intrusion, damage mangroves forests and devastation of fish stock. In order to sustain the natural resources of the Indus Creeks, this study was initiated with the support of FAO, WWF and NIO, the main purpose was to develop a Geo-Spatial dataset for fish stock assessment. The study has been spread over a year (2013-14) on monthly basis which mainly includes detailed fish stock survey, water analysis and few other environmental analyses. Environmental analysis also includes the habitat classification of study area which has done through remote sensing techniques for 22 years’ time series (1992-2014). Furthermore, out of 252 species collected, fifteen species from estuarine and marine groups were short-listed to measure the weight, health and growth of fish species at each creek under GIS data through SPSS system. Furthermore, habitat suitability analysis has been conducted by assessing the surface topographic and aspect derivation through different GIS techniques. The output variables then overlaid in GIS system to measure the creeks productivity. Which provided the results in terms of subsequent classes: extremely productive, highly productive, productive, moderately productive and less productive. This study has revealed the Geospatial tools utilization along with the evaluation of the fisheries resources and creeks habitat risk zone mapping. It has also been identified that the geo-spatial technologies are highly beneficial to identify the areas of high environmental risk in Sindh Creeks. This has been clearly discovered from this study that creeks with high rugosity are more productive than the creeks with low levels of rugosity. The study area has the immense potential to boost the economy of Pakistan in terms of fish export, if geo-spatial techniques are implemented instead of conventional techniques.

Keywords: fish stock, geo-spatial, productivity analysis, risk

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Authors: Fei Jia, Xingjian Bai, Xiaowei Zhang, Wenjie Yan, Ruitong Dai, Xingmin Li, Jozef Kokini

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, aerobic, opportunistic human pathogen that is present in the soil, water, and food. This microbe has been recognized as a representative food-borne spoilage bacterium that can lead to many types of infections. Considering the casualties and property loss caused by P. aeruginosa, the development of a rapid and reliable technique for the detection of P. aeruginosa is crucial. The whole-cell aptasensor, an emerging biosensor using aptamer as a capture probe to bind to the whole cell, for food-borne pathogens detection has attracted much attention due to its convenience and high sensitivity. Here, a low-field magnetic resonance imaging (LF-MRI) aptasensor for the rapid detection of P. aeruginosa was developed. The basic detection principle of the magnetic relaxation switch (MRSw) nanosensor lies on the ‘T₂-shortening’ effect of magnetic nanoparticles in NMR measurements. Briefly speaking, the transverse relaxation time (T₂) of neighboring water protons get shortened when magnetic nanoparticles are clustered due to the cross-linking upon the recognition and binding of biological targets, or simply when the concentration of the magnetic nanoparticles increased. Such shortening is related to both the state change (aggregation or dissociation) and the concentration change of magnetic nanoparticles and can be detected using NMR relaxometry or MRI scanners. In this work, two different sizes of magnetic nanoparticles, which are 10 nm (MN₁₀) and 400 nm (MN₄₀₀) in diameter, were first immobilized with anti- P. aeruginosa aptamer through 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC)/N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) chemistry separately, to capture and enrich the P. aeruginosa cells. When incubating with the target, a ‘sandwich’ (MN₁₀-bacteria-MN₄₀₀) complex are formed driven by the bonding of MN400 with P. aeruginosa through aptamer recognition, as well as the conjugate aggregation of MN₁₀ on the surface of P. aeruginosa. Due to the different magnetic performance of the MN₁₀ and MN₄₀₀ in the magnetic field caused by their different saturation magnetization, the MN₁₀-bacteria-MN₄₀₀ complex, as well as the unreacted MN₄₀₀ in the solution, can be quickly removed by magnetic separation, and as a result, only unreacted MN₁₀ remain in the solution. The remaining MN₁₀, which are superparamagnetic and stable in low field magnetic field, work as a signal readout for T₂ measurement. Under the optimum condition, the LF-MRI platform provides both image analysis and quantitative detection of P. aeruginosa, with the detection limit as low as 100 cfu/mL. The feasibility and specificity of the aptasensor are demonstrated in detecting real food samples and validated by using plate counting methods. Only two steps and less than 2 hours needed for the detection procedure, this robust aptasensor can detect P. aeruginosa with a wide linear range from 3.1 ×10² cfu/mL to 3.1 ×10⁷ cfu/mL, which is superior to conventional plate counting method and other molecular biology testing assay. Moreover, the aptasensor has a potential to detect other bacteria or toxins by changing suitable aptamers. Considering the excellent accuracy, feasibility, and practicality, the whole-cell aptasensor provides a promising platform for a quick, direct and accurate determination of food-borne pathogens at cell-level.

Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging, meat spoilage, P. aeruginosa, transverse relaxation time

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Authors: Rifilwe Victor Modiba, Stefan Hendric Foord

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Alien invasive plants (IAP’s) have considerable negative impacts on freshwater habitats and South Africa has implemented an innovative Work for Water (WfW) programme for the systematic removal of these plants aimed at, amongst other objectives, restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services in these threatened habitats. These restoration processes are expensive and have to be evidence-based. In this study in-stream macroinvertebrate and adult Odonata assemblages were used as indicators of restoration success by quantifying the response of biodiversity metrics for these two groups to the removal of IAP’s in a strategic water resource of South Africa that is extensively invaded by invasive alien plants (IAP’s). The study consisted of a replicated design that included 45 sampling units, viz. 15 invaded, 15 uninvaded and 15 cleared sites stratified across the upper reaches of six sub-catchments of the Luvuvhu river catchment, Limpopo Province. Cleared sites were only considered if they received at least two WfW treatments in the last 3 years. The Benthic macroinvertebrate and adult Odonate assemblages in each of these sampling were surveyed from between November and March, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 respectively. Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with a log link function and Poisson error distribution were done for metrics (invaded, cleared, and uninvaded) whose residuals were not normally distributed or had unequal variance and for abundance. RDA was done for EPTO genera (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata) and adult Odonata species abundance. GLM was done to for the abundance of Genera and Odonates that had the association with the RDA environmental factors. Sixty four benthic macroinvertebrate families, 57 EPTO genera, and 45 adult Odonata species were recorded across all 45 sampling units. There was no significant difference between the SASS5 total score, ASPT, and family richness of the three invasion classes. Although clearing only had a weak positive effect on the adult Odonate species richness it had a positive impact on DBI scores. These differences were mainly the result of significantly larger DBI scores in the cleared sites as compared to the invaded sites. Results suggest that water quality is positively impacted by repeated clearing pointing to the importance of follow up procedures after initial clearing. Adult Odonate diversity as measured by richness, endemicity, threat and distribution respond positively to all forms of the clearing. The clearing had a significant impact on Odonate assemblage structure but did not affect EPTO structure. Variation partitioning showed that 21.8% of the variation in EPTO assemblage can be explained by spatial and environmental variables, 16% of the variation in Odonate structure was explained by spatial and environmental variables. The response of the diversity metrics to clearing increased in significance at finer taxonomic resolutions, particularly of adult Odonates whose metrics significantly improved with clearing and whose structure responded to both invasion and clearing. The study recommends the use of DBI for surveying river health when hydraulic biotopes are poor.

Keywords: DBI, evidence-based conservation, EPTO, macroinvetebrates

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Authors: Anna Carolina De Paula Sermarini, Rodrigo Flora Calili

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Energy Efficiency (EE) needs investments, new technologies, greater awareness and management on the side of citizens and organizations, and more planning. However, this issue is usually remembered and discussed only in moments of energy crises, and opportunities are missed to take better advantage of the potential of EE in the various sectors of the economy. In addition, there is little concern about the subject among the less favored classes, especially in low-income communities. Accordingly, this article presents suggestions for public policies that aim to increase EE for low-income housing and communities based on international and national experiences. After reviewing the literature, eight policies were listed, and to evaluate them; a multicriteria decision model was developed using the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods, combined with fuzzy logic. Nine experts analyzed the policies according to 9 criteria: economic impact, social impact, environmental impact, previous experience, the difficulty of implementation, possibility/ease of monitoring and evaluating the policies, expected impact, political risks, and public governance and sustainability of the sector. The results found in order of preference are (i) Incentive program for equipment replacement; (ii) Community awareness program; (iii) EE Program with a greater focus on low income; (iv) Staggered and compulsory certification of social interest buildings; (v) Programs for the expansion of smart metering, energy monitoring and digitalization; (vi) Financing program for construction and retrofitting of houses with the emphasis on EE; (vii) Income tax deduction for investment in EE projects in low-income households made by companies; (viii) White certificates of energy for low-income. First, the policy of equipment substitution has been employed in Brazil and the world and has proven effective in promoting EE. For implementation, efforts are needed from the federal and state governments, which can encourage companies to reduce prices, and provide some type of aid for the purchase of such equipment. In second place is the community awareness program, promoting socio-educational actions on EE concepts and with energy conservation tips. This policy is simple to implement and has already been used by many distribution utilities in Brazil. It can be carried out through bids defined by the government in specific areas, being executed by third sector companies with public and private resources. Third on the list is the proposal to continue the Energy Efficiency Program (which obliges electric energy companies to allocate resources for research in the area) by suggesting the return of the mandatory investment of 60% of the resources in projects for low income. It is also relatively simple to implement, requiring efforts by the federal government to make it mandatory, and on the part of the distributors, compliance is needed. The success of the suggestions depends on changes in the established rules and efforts from the interested parties. For future work, we suggest the development of pilot projects in low-income communities in Brazil and the application of other multicriteria decision support methods to compare the results obtained in this study.

Keywords: energy efficiency, low-income community, public policy, multicriteria decision making

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Authors: D. Madhushanka, Y. Liu, H. C. Fernando

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Fires are one of the foremost factors of land surface disturbance in diverse ecosystems, causing soil erosion and land-cover changes and atmospheric effects affecting people's lives and properties. Generally, the severity of the fire is calculated as the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) index. This is performed manually by comparing two images obtained afterward. Then by using the bitemporal difference of the preprocessed satellite images, the dNBR is calculated. The burnt area is then classified as either unburnt (dNBR<0.1) or burnt (dNBR>= 0.1). Furthermore, Wildfire Severity Assessment (WSA) classifies burnt areas and unburnt areas using classification levels proposed by USGS and comprises seven classes. This procedure generates a burn severity report for the area chosen by the user manually. This study is carried out with the objective of producing an automated tool for the above-mentioned process, namely the World Wildfire Severity Assessment Tool (WWSAT). It is implemented in Google Earth Engine (GEE), which is a free cloud-computing platform for satellite data processing, with several data catalogs at different resolutions (notably Landsat, Sentinel-2, and MODIS) and planetary-scale analysis capabilities. Sentinel-2 MSI is chosen to obtain regular processes related to burnt area severity mapping using a medium spatial resolution sensor (15m). This tool uses machine learning classification techniques to identify burnt areas using NBR and to classify their severity over the user-selected extent and period automatically. Cloud coverage is one of the biggest concerns when fire severity mapping is performed. In WWSAT based on GEE, we present a fully automatic workflow to aggregate cloud-free Sentinel-2 images for both pre-fire and post-fire image compositing. The parallel processing capabilities and preloaded geospatial datasets of GEE facilitated the production of this tool. This tool consists of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to make it user-friendly. The advantage of this tool is the ability to obtain burn area severity over a large extent and more extended temporal periods. Two case studies were carried out to demonstrate the performance of this tool. The Blue Mountain national park forest affected by the Australian fire season between 2019 and 2020 is used to describe the workflow of the WWSAT. This site detected more than 7809 km2, using Sentinel-2 data, giving an error below 6.5% when compared with the area detected on the field. Furthermore, 86.77% of the detected area was recognized as fully burnt out, of which high severity (17.29%), moderate-high severity (19.63%), moderate-low severity (22.35%), and low severity (27.51%). The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest Park, California, the USA, which is affected by the Cameron peak fire in 2020, is chosen for the second case study. It was found that around 983 km2 had burned out, of which high severity (2.73%), moderate-high severity (1.57%), moderate-low severity (1.18%), and low severity (5.45%). These spots also can be detected through the visual inspection made possible by cloud-free images generated by WWSAT. This tool is cost-effective in calculating the burnt area since satellite images are free and the cost of field surveys is avoided.

Keywords: burnt area, burnt severity, fires, google earth engine (GEE), sentinel-2

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Authors: Jayden R. Hunter, Brett A. Gordon, Stephen R. Bird, Amanda C. Benson

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The World Health Organisation recognises the workplace as an important setting for exercise promotion, with potential benefits including improved employee health and fitness, and reduced worker absenteeism and presenteeism. Despite these potential benefits to both employee and employer, there is a lack of evidence supporting the long-term effectiveness of workplace exercise programs. There is, therefore, a need for better-informed programs that cater to employee exercise preferences. Specifically, workplace exercise programs should address any time, motivation, internal and external barriers to participation reported by sub-groups of employees. This study sought to compare exercise participation to perceived barriers and facilitators to workplace exercise engagement of university employees. This information is needed to design and implement wider-reaching programs aiming to maximise long-term employee exercise adherence and subsequent health, fitness and productivity benefits. An online survey was advertised at an Australian university with the potential to reach 3,104 full-time employees. Along with exercise participation (International physical activity questionnaire) and behaviour (stage of behaviour change in relation to physical activity questionnaire), perceived barriers (corporate exercise barriers scale) and facilitators to workplace exercise participation were identified. The survey response rate was 8.1% (252 full-time employees; 95% white-collar; 60% female; 79.4% aged 30–59 years; 57% professional and 38% academic). Most employees reported meeting (43.7%) or exceeding (42.9%) exercise guidelines over the previous week (i.e. ⩾30 min of moderate-intensity exercise on most days or ⩾ 25 min of vigorous-intensity exercise on at least three days per week). Reported exercise behaviour over the previous six months showed that 64.7% of employees were in maintenance, 8.3% were in action, 10.9% were in preparation, 12.4% were in contemplation, and 3.8% were in the pre-contemplation stage of change. Perceived barriers towards workplace exercise participation were significantly higher in employees not attaining weekly exercise guidelines compared to employees meeting or exceeding guidelines, including a lack of time or reduced motivation (p < 0.001; partial eta squared = 0.24 (large effect)), exercise attitude (p < 0.05; partial eta squared = 0.04 (small effect)), internal (p < 0.01; partial eta squared = 0.10 (moderate effect)) and external (p < 0.01; partial eta squared = 0.06 (moderate effect)) barriers. The most frequently reported exercise facilitators were personal training (particularly for insufficiently active employees; 33%) and group exercise classes (20%). The most frequently cited preferred modes of exercise were walking (70%), swimming (50%), gym (48%), and cycling (45%). In conclusion, providing additional means of support such as individualised gym, swimming and cycling programs with personal supervision and guidance may be particularly useful for employees not meeting recommended moderate-vigorous volumes of exercise, to help overcome reported exercise barriers in order to improve participation, health, and fitness. While individual biopsychosocial factors should be considered when making recommendations for interventions, the specific barriers and facilitators to workplace exercise participation identified by this study can inform the development of workplace exercise programs aiming to broaden employee engagement and promote greater ongoing exercise adherence. This is especially important for the uptake of less active employees who perceive greater barriers to workplace exercise participation than their more active colleagues.

Keywords: exercise barriers, exercise facilitators, physical activity, workplace health

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Wenfa Yu, Thuva Gnanasampanthan, John Finlay, Jessica Clarke, Charlotte Anderson, Tony Clare, Axel Rosenhahn

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Marine biofouling is a worldwide problem at vast economic and ecological costs. Historically it was combated with toxic coatings such as tributyltin. As those coatings being banned nowadays, finding environmental friendly antifouling solution has become an urgent topic. In this study antifouling coatings consisted of natural occurring polysaccharides hyaluronic acid (HA), alginic acid (AA), chitosan (Ch) and polyelectrolyte polyethylenimine (PEI) are constructed into polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) in a Layer-by-Layer (LbL) method. LbL PEM construction is a straightforward way to assemble biomacromolecular coatings on surfaces. Advantages about PEM include ease of handling, highly diverse PEM composition, precise control over the thickness and so on. PEMs have been widely employed in medical application and there are numerous studies regarding their protein adsorption, elasticity and cell adhesive properties. With the adjustment of coating composition, termination layer charge, coating morphology and cross-linking method, it is possible to prepare low marine biofouling coatings with PEMs. In this study, using spin coating technology, PEM construction was achieved at smooth multilayers with roughness as low as 2nm rms and highly reproducible thickness around 50nm. To obtain stability in sea water, the multilayers were covalently cross-linked either thermally or chemically. The cross-linking method affected surface energy, which was reflected in water contact angle, thermal cross-linking led to hydrophobic surfaces and chemical cross-linking generated hydrophilic surfaces. The coatings were then evaluated regarding its protein resistance and biological species resistance. While the hydrophobic thermally cross-linked PEM had low resistance towards proteins, the resistance of chemically cross-linked PEM strongly depended on the PEM termination layer and the charge of the protein, opposite charge caused high adsorption and same charge low adsorption, indicating electrostatic interaction plays a crucial role in the protein adsorption processes. Ulva linza was chosen as the biological species for antifouling performance evaluation. Despite of the poor resistance towards protein adsorption, thermally cross-linked PEM showed good resistance against Ulva spores settlement, the chemically cross-linked multilayers showed poor resistance regardless of the termination layer. Marine species adhesion is a complex process, although it involves proteins as bioadhesives, protein resistance its own is not a fully indicator for its antifouling performance. The species will pre select the surface, responding to cues like surface energy, chemistry, or charge and so on. Thus making it difficult for one single factors to determine its antifouling performance. Preparing PEM coating is a comprehensive work involving choosing polyelectrolyte combination, determining termination layer and the method for cross-linking. These decisions will affect PEM properties such as surface energy, charge, which is crucial, since biofouling is a process responding to surface properties in a highly sensitive and dynamic way.

Keywords: hyaluronic acid, polyelectrolyte multilayers, protein resistance, Ulva linza zoospores

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Authors: Monica Racha, Siva Chandrasekaran, Alex Stojcevski

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The engineering programs focus on promoting students' personal and professional development by ensuring that students acquire technical and professional competencies during four-year studies. The traditional engineering laboratory provides an opportunity for students to "practice by doing," and laboratory facilities aid them in obtaining insight and understanding of their discipline. Due to rapid technological advancements and the current COVID-19 outbreak, the traditional labs were transforming into virtual learning environments. Aim: To better understand the limitations of the physical laboratory, this research study aims to use a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm that interfaces with the Augmented Reality HoloLens and predicts the image behavior to classify and detect the electronic components. The automated electronic components error classification and detection automatically detect and classify the position of all components on a breadboard by using the ML algorithm. This research will assist first-year undergraduate engineering students in conducting laboratory practices without any supervision. With the help of HoloLens, and ML algorithm, students will reduce component placement error on a breadboard and increase the efficiency of simple laboratory practices virtually. Method: The images of breadboards, resistors, capacitors, transistors, and other electrical components will be collected using HoloLens 2 and stored in a database. The collected image dataset will then be used for training a machine learning model. The raw images will be cleaned, processed, and labeled to facilitate further analysis of components error classification and detection. For instance, when students conduct laboratory experiments, the HoloLens captures images of students placing different components on a breadboard. The images are forwarded to the server for detection in the background. A hybrid Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) algorithm will be used to train the dataset for object recognition and classification. The convolution layer extracts image features, which are then classified using Support Vector Machine (SVM). By adequately labeling the training data and classifying, the model will predict, categorize, and assess students in placing components correctly. As a result, the data acquired through HoloLens includes images of students assembling electronic components. It constantly checks to see if students appropriately position components in the breadboard and connect the components to function. When students misplace any components, the HoloLens predicts the error before the user places the components in the incorrect proportion and fosters students to correct their mistakes. This hybrid Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) algorithm automating electronic component error classification and detection approach eliminates component connection problems and minimizes the risk of component damage. Conclusion: These augmented reality smart glasses powered by machine learning provide a wide range of benefits to supervisors, professionals, and students. It helps customize the learning experience, which is particularly beneficial in large classes with limited time. It determines the accuracy with which machine learning algorithms can forecast whether students are making the correct decisions and completing their laboratory tasks.

Keywords: augmented reality, machine learning, object recognition, virtual laboratories

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Authors: Katherine Maurer

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Background and purpose: Violence that occurs within families is a global social problem. Children who are victims or witness to family violence are at risk for many negative effects both proximally and distally. One of the most disconcerting long-term effects occurs when child victims become adult perpetrators: the intergenerational transmission of family violence (ITFV). Early identification of those children most at risk for ITFV is needed to inform interventions to prevent future family violence perpetration and victimization. Only about 25-30% of child family violence victims become perpetrators of adult family violence (either child abuse, partner abuse, or both). Prior research has primarily been conducted using dichotomous measures of exposure (yes; no) to predict ITFV, given the low incidence rate in community samples. It is often assumed that exposure to greater amounts of violence predicts greater risk of ITFV. However, no previous longitudinal study with a community sample has tested a dose-response model of exposure to physical child abuse and parental physical intimate partner violence (IPV) using count data of frequency and severity of violence to predict adult ITFV. The current study used advanced statistical methods to test if increased childhood exposure would predict greater risk of ITFV. Methods: The study utilized 3 panels of prospective data from a cohort of 15 year olds (N=338) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods longitudinal study. The data were comprised of a stratified probability sample of seven ethnic/racial categories and three socio-economic status levels. Structural equation modeling was employed to test a hurdle regression model of dose-response to predict ITFV. A version of the Conflict Tactics Scale was used to measure physical violence victimization, witnessing parental IPV and young adult IPV perpetration and victimization. Results: Consistent with previous findings, past 12 months incidence rates severity and frequency of interpersonal violence were highly skewed. While rates of parental and young adult IPV were about 40%, an unusually high rate of physical child abuse (57%) was reported. The vast majority of a number of acts of violence, whether minor or severe, were in the 1-3 range in the past 12 months. Reported frequencies of more than 5 times in the past year were rare, with less than 10% of those reporting more than six acts of minor or severe physical violence. As expected, minor acts of violence were much more common than acts of severe violence. Overall, regression analyses were not significant for the dose-response model of ITFV. Conclusions and implications: The results of the dose-response model were not significant due to a lack of power in the final sample (N=338). Nonetheless, the value of the approach was confirmed for the future research given the bi-modal nature of the distributions which suggest that in the context of both child physical abuse and physical IPV, there are at least two classes when frequency of acts is considered. Taking frequency into account in predictive models may help to better understand the relationship of exposure to ITFV outcomes. Further testing using hurdle regression models is suggested.

Keywords: intergenerational transmission of family violence, physical child abuse, intimate partner violence, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Banu Pradheepa Kamarajan, Muthusamy Ananthasubramanian

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Biofilm forming Pseudomonads occupy the top third position in causing hospital acquired infections. P. aeruginosa is notoriously known for its tendency to develop drug resistance. Major classes of drug such as β-lactams, aminoglycosides, quinolones, and polymyxins are found ineffective against multi-drug resistance Pseudomonas. To combat the infections, rather than administration of a single antibiotic, use of combinations (tobramycin and essential oils from plants and/or silver nanoparticles, chitosan, nitric oxide, cis-2-decenoic acid) in single formulation are suggested to control P. aeruginosa biofilms. Conventional techniques to prevent hospital-acquired implant infections such as coatings with antibiotics, controlled release of antibiotics from the implant material, contact-killing surfaces, coating the implants with functional DNase I and, coating with glycoside hydrolase are being followed. Coatings with bioactive components besides having limited shelf-life, require cold-chain and, are likely to fail when bacteria develop resistance. Recently identified nano-scale physical architectures on the insect wings are expected to have potential bactericidal property. Nanopillars are bactericidal to Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, K. pnuemoniae and few species of Pseudomonas. Our study aims to investigate the survival rate of biofilm forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain over non-biofilm forming strain on the nanopillar architecture of dragonfly (Pantala flavescens) wing. Dragonflies were collected near house-hold areas and, insect identification was carried out by the Department of Entomology, Tamilnadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India. Two strains of P. aeruginosa such as PAO1 (potent biofilm former) and MTCC 1688 (non-weak biofilm former) were tested against the glass coverslip (control) and wings of dragonfly (test) for 48 h. The wings/glass coverslips were incubated with bacterial suspension in 48-well plate. The plates were incubated at 37 °C under static condition. Bacterial attachment on the nanopillar architecture of the wing surface was visualized using FESEM. The survival rate of P. aeruginosa was tested using colony counting technique and flow cytometry at 0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, 7 h, 24 h, and 48 h post-incubation. Cell death was analyzed using propidium iodide staining and DNA quantification. The results indicated that the survival rate of non-biofilm forming P. aeruginosa is 0.2 %, whilst that of biofilm former is 45 % on the dragonfly wings at the end of 48 h. The reduction in the survival rate of biofilm and non-biofilm forming P. aeruginosa was 20% and 40% respectively on the wings compared to the glass coverslip. In addition, Fourier Transformed Infrared Radiation was used to study the modification in the surface chemical composition of the wing during bacterial attachment and, post-sonication. This result indicated that the chemical moieties are not involved in the bactericidal property of nanopillars by the conserved characteristic peaks of chitin pre and post-sonication. The nanopillar architecture of the dragonfly wing efficiently deters the survival of non-biofilm forming P. aeruginosa, but not the biofilm forming strain. The study highlights the ability of biofilm formers to survive on wing architecture. Understanding this survival strategy will help in designing the architecture that combats the colonization of biofilm forming pathogens.

Keywords: biofilm, nanopillars, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, survival rate

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Authors: Mohosina Jabin Toma, Gerald Tembrevilla, Marina Milner-Bolotin

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Science education in Bangladesh is losing its appeal at an alarming rate due to the lack of science laboratory equipment, excessive teacher-student ratio, and outdated teaching strategies. Research-based educational technologies aim to address some of the problems faced by teachers who have limited access to laboratory resources, like many Bangladeshi teachers. Physics Education Technology (PhET) research team has been developing science and mathematics interactive simulations to help students develop deeper conceptual understanding. Still, PhET simulations are rarely used in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study is to explore Bangladeshi teachers’ challenges in learning to implement PhET-enhanced pedagogies and examine teachers’ views on PhET’s pedagogical opportunities in secondary science education. Since it is a new technology for Bangladesh, seven workshops on PhET were conducted in Dhaka city for 129 in-service and pre-service teachers in the winter of 2023 prior to data collection. This study followed an explanatory mixed method approach that included a pre-and post-workshop survey and five semi-structured interviews. Teachers participated in the workshops voluntarily and shared their experiences at the end. Teachers’ challenges were also identified from workshop discussions and observations. The interviews took place three to four weeks after the workshop and shed light on teachers’ experiences of using PhET in actual classroom settings. The results suggest that teachers had difficulty handling new technology; hence, they recommended preparing a booklet and Bengali YouTube videos on PhET to assist them in overcoming their struggles. Teachers also faced challenges in using any inquiry-based learning approach due to the content-loaded curriculum and exam-oriented education system, as well as limited experience with inquiry-based education. The short duration of classes makes it difficult for them to design PhET activities. Furthermore, considering limited access to computers and the internet in school, teachers think PhET simulations can bring positive changes if used in homework activities. Teachers also think they lack pedagogical skills and sound content knowledge to take full advantage of PhET. They highly appreciated the workshops and proposed that the government designs some teacher training modules on how to incorporate PhET simulations. Despite all the challenges, teachers believe PhET can enhance student learning, ensure student engagement and increase student interest in STEM Education. Considering the lack of science laboratory equipment, teachers recognized the potential of PhET as a supplement to hands-on activities for secondary science education in Bangladesh. They believed that if PhET develops more curriculum-relevant sims, it will bring revolutionary changes to how Bangladeshi students learn science. All the participating teachers in this study came from two organizations, and all the workshops took place in urban areas; therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to all secondary science teachers. A nationwide study is required to include teachers from diverse backgrounds. A further study can shed light on how building a professional learning community can lessen teachers’ challenges in incorporating PhET-enhanced pedagogy in their teaching.

Keywords: educational technology, inquiry-based learning, PhET interactive simulations, PhET-enhanced pedagogies, science education, science laboratory equipment, teacher professional development

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Authors: Naresh Kumar, Savita Kumari, Naresh Kochhar

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The objective of the study was to assess the role of mineralogy and subsurface structure on water quality of Tosham, Malani Igneous Suite (MIS), Western Rajasthan, India. MIS is the largest (55,000 km2) A-type, anorogenic and high heat producing acid magmatism in the peninsular India and owes its origin to hot spot tectonics. Apart from agricultural and industrial wastes, geogenic activities cause fluctuations in quality parameters of water resources. Twenty water samples (20) selected from Tosham and surrounding areas were analyzed for As, Pb, B, Al, Zn, Fe, Ni using Inductive coupled plasma emission and F by Ion Chromatography. The concentration of As, Pb, B, Ni and F was above the stipulated level specified by BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards IS-10500, 2012). The concentration of As and Pb in surrounding areas of Tosham ranged from 1.2 to 4.1 mg/l and from 0.59 to 0.9 mg/l respectively which is higher than limits of 0.05mg/l (As) and 0.01 mg/l (Pb). Excess trace metal accumulation in water is toxic to humans and adversely affects the central nervous system, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, skin and cause mental confusion. Groundwater quality is defined by nature of rock formation, mineral water reaction, physiography, soils, environment, recharge and discharge conditions of the area. Fluoride content in groundwater is due to the solubility of fluoride-bearing minerals like fluorite, cryolite, topaz, and mica, etc. Tosham is comprised of quartz mica schist, quartzite, schorl, tuff, quartz porphyry and associated granites, thus, fluoride is leached out and dissolved in groundwater. In the study area, Ni concentration ranged from 0.07 to 0.5 mg/l (permissible limit 0.02 mg/l). The primary source of nickel in drinking water is leached out nickel from ore-bearing rocks. Higher concentration of As is found in some igneous rocks specifically containing minerals as arsenopyrite (AsFeS), realgar (AsS) and orpiment (As2S3). MIS consists of granite (hypersolvus and subsolvus), rhyolite, dacite, trachyte, andesite, pyroclasts, basalt, gabbro and dolerite which increased the trace elements concentration in groundwater. Nakora, a part of MIS rocks has high concentration of trace and rare earth elements (Ni, Rb, Pb, Sr, Y, Zr, Th, U, La, Ce, Nd, Eu and Yb) which percolates the Ni and Pb to groundwater by weathering, contacts and joints/fractures in rocks. Additionally, geological setting of MIS also causes dissolution of trace elements in water resources beneath the surface. NE–SW tectonic lineament, radial pattern of dykes and volcanic vent at Nakora created a way for leaching of these elements to groundwater. Rain water quality might be altered by major minerals constituents of host Tosham rocks during its percolation through the rock fracture, joints before becoming the integral part of groundwater aquifer. The weathering process like hydration, hydrolysis and solution might be the cause of change in water chemistry of particular area. These studies suggest that geological relation of soil-water horizon with MIS rocks via mineralogical variations, structures and tectonic setting affects the water quality of the studied area.

Keywords: geochemistry, groundwater, malani igneous suite, tosham

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Authors: Utpal Das, Sona Das

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InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice (T2SL) Mid-wave infrared (MWIR) focal plane arrays (FPAs) have recently seen rapid development. However, in small pixel size large format FPAs, the occurrence of high mesa sidewall surface leakage current is a major constraint necessitating proper surface passivation. A simple pixel isolation technique in InAs/GaSb T2SL detector arrays without the conventional mesa etching has been proposed to isolate the pixels by forming a more resistive higher band gap material from the SL, in the inter-pixel region. Here, a single step femtosecond (fs) laser anneal of the T2SL structure of the inter-pixel T2SL regions, have been used to increase the band gap between the pixels by QW-intermixing and hence increase isolation between the pixels. The p-i-n photodiode structure used here consists of a 506nm, (10 monolayer {ML}) InAs:Si (1x10¹⁸cm⁻³)/(10ML) GaSb SL as the bottom n-contact layer grown on an n-type GaSb substrate. The undoped absorber layer consists of 1.3µm, (10ML)InAs/(10ML)GaSb SL. The top p-contact layer is a 63nm, (10ML)InAs:Be(1x10¹⁸cm⁻³)/(10ML)GaSb T2SL. In order to improve the carrier transport, a 126nm of graded doped (10ML)InAs/(10ML)GaSb SL layer was added between the absorber and each contact layers. A 775nm 150fs-laser at a fluence of ~6mJ/cm² is used to expose the array where the pixel regions are masked by a Ti(200nm)-Au(300nm) cap. Here, in the inter-pixel regions, the p+ layer have been reactive ion etched (RIE) using CH₄+H₂ chemistry and removed before fs-laser exposure. The fs-laser anneal isolation improvement in 200-400μm pixels due to spatially selective quantum well intermixing for a blue shift of ~70meV in the inter-pixel regions is confirmed by FTIR measurements. Dark currents are measured between two adjacent pixels with the Ti(200nm)-Au(300nm) caps used as contacts. The T2SL quality in the active photodiode regions masked by the Ti-Au cap is hardly affected and retains the original quality of the detector. Although, fs-laser anneal of p+ only etched p-i-n T2SL diodes show a reduction in the reverse dark current, no significant improvement in the full RIE-etched mesa structures is noticeable. Hence for a 128x128 array fabrication of 8μm square pixels and 10µm pitch, SU8 polymer isolation after RIE pixel delineation has been used. X-n+ row contacts and Y-p+ column contacts have been used to measure the optical response of the individual pixels. The photo-response of these 8μm and other 200μm pixels under a 2ns optical pulse excitation from an Optical-Parametric-Oscillator (OPO), shows a peak responsivity of ~0.03A/W and 0.2mA/W, respectively, at λ~3.7μm. Temporal response of this detector array is seen to have a fast response ~10ns followed typical slow decay with ringing, attributed to impedance mismatch of the connecting co-axial cables. In conclusion, response times of a few ns have been measured in 8µm pixels of a 128x128 array. Although fs-laser anneal has been found to be useful in increasing the inter-pixel isolation in InAs/GaSb T2SL arrays by QW inter-mixing, it has not been found to be suitable for passivation of full RIE etched mesa structures with vertical walls on InAs/GaSb T2SL.

Keywords: band-gap blue-shift, fs-laser-anneal, InAs/GaSb T2SL, Inter-pixel isolation, ns-Response, photodiode array

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Authors: David Philpott, Karen Kennedy

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In recognition of an increasingly diverse student population, a Teaching and Learning Framework was developed at Memorial University of Newfoundland. This framework emphasizes work that is engaging, supportive, inclusive, responsive, committed to discovery, and is outcomes-oriented for both educators and learners. The goal of the Teaching and Learning framework was to develop a number of initiatives that builds on existing knowledge, proven programs, and existing supports in order to respond to the specific needs of identified groups of diverse learners: 1) academically vulnerable first year students; 2) students with individual learning needs associated with disorders and/or mental health issues; 3) international students and those from non-western cultures. This session provides an overview of this process. The strategies employed to develop these initiatives were drawn primarily from research on student success and retention (literature review), information on pre-existing programs (environmental scan), an analysis of in-house data on students at our institution; consultations with key informants at all of Memorial’s campuses. The first initiative that emerged from this research was a pilot project proposal for a first-year success program in support of the first-year experience of academically vulnerable students. This program offers a university experience that is enhanced by smaller classes, supplemental instruction, learning communities, and advising sessions. The second initiative that arose under the mandate of the Teaching and Learning Framework was a collaborative effort between two institutions (Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic). Both institutions participated in a shared conversation to examine programs and services that support an accessible and inclusive environment for students with disorders and/or mental health issues. A report was prepared based on these conversations and an extensive review of research and programs across the country. Efforts are now being made to explore possible initiatives that address culturally diverse and non-traditional learners. While an expanding literature has emerged on diversity in higher education, the process of developing institutional initiatives is usually excluded from such discussions, while the focus remains on effective practice. The proposals that were developed constitute a co-ordination and strengthening of existing services and programs; a weaving of supports to engage a diverse body of students in a sense of community. This presentation will act as a guide through the process of developing projects addressing learner diversity and engage attendees in a discussion of institutional practices that have been implemented in support of overcoming challenges, as well as provide feedback on institutional and student outcomes. The focus of this session will be on effective practice, and will be of particular interest to university administrators, educational developers, and educators wishing to implement similar initiatives on their campuses; possible adaptations for practice will be addressed. A presentation of findings from this research will be followed by an open discussion where the sharing of research, initiatives, and best practices for the enhancement of teaching and learning is welcomed. There is much insight and understanding to be gained through the sharing of ideas and collaborative practice as we move forward to further develop the program and prepare other initiatives in support of diversity and inclusion.

Keywords: eco-scale, green analysis, environmentally-friendly, pharmaceuticals analysis

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Authors: Seema Kothari, Dinesh Panday

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An observed correlation of the reaction rates with the changes in the nature of substituent present on one of the reactants often reveals the nature of transition state. Selective oxidation of organic compounds under non-aqueous media is an important transformation in synthetic organic chemistry. Inorganic chromates and dichromates being drastic oxidant and are generally insoluble in most organic solvents, a number of different chromium (VI) derivatives have been synthesized. Benzimidazolium dichromate (BIDC) is one of the recently reported Cr(VI) reagents which is neither hygroscopic nor light sensitive being, therefore, much stable. Not many reports on the kinetics of the oxidations by BIDC are seemed to be available in the literature. In the present investigation, the kinetics and mechanism of benzyl alcohol (BA) and a number of para- and meta-substituted benzyl alcohols by benzimidazolium dichromate (BIDC), in dimethyl sulphoxide, is reported. The reactions were followed spectrophotometrically at 364 nm by monitoring the decrease in [BIDC] for up to 85-90% reaction, the temperature being constant. The observed oxidation product is the corresponding benzaldehyde. The reactions were of first order with respect to each the alcohol and BIDC. The reactions are catalyzed by proton, and the dependence is of the form: kobs = a + b[H+]. The reactions thus follow both, an acid-dependent and acid-independent paths. The oxidation of [1,1 2H2]benzyl alcohol exhibited the presence of a substantial kinetic isotope effect ( kH/kD = 6.20 at 298 K ). This indicated the cleavage of a α-C-H bond in the rate-determining step. An analysis of the temperature dependence of the deuterium isotope effect showed that the loss of hydrogen proceeds through a concerted cyclic process. The rate of oxidation of BA was determined in 19 organic solvents. An analysis of the solvent effect by Swain’s equation indicated that though both the anion and cation-solvating powers of the solvent contribute to the observed solvent effect, the role of cation-solvation is major. The rates of the para and meta compounds, at 298 K, failed to exhibit a significant correlation in terms of Hammett or Brown's substituent constants. The rates were then subjected to analyses in terms of dual substituent parameter (DSP) equations. The rates of oxidation of the para-substituted benzyl alcohols show an excellent correlation with Taft's σI and σRBA values. However, the rates for the meta-substituted benzyl alcohols show an excellent correlation with σI and σR0. The polar reaction constants are negative indicating an electron-deficient transition state. Hence the overall mechanism is proposed to involve the formation of a chromate ester in a fast pre-equilibrium and then a decomposition of the ester in a subsequent slow step via a cyclic concerted symmetrical transition state, involving hydride-ion transfer, leading to the product. The first order dependence on alcohol may be accounted in terms of the small value of the formation constant of the ester intermediate. An another reaction mechanism accounting the acid-catalysis involve the formation of a protonated BIDC prior to formation of an ester intermediate which subsequently decomposes in a slow step leading to the product.

Keywords: benzimidazolium dichromate, benzyl alcohols, correlation analysis, kinetics, oxidation

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Authors: Neil Singla, Derek Muse, Karen DiDonato, Pamela Palmer

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Introduction: Pain is the most common reason people visit emergency rooms. Studies indicate however, that Emergency Department (ED) physicians often do not provide adequate analgesia to their patients as a result of gender and age bias, opiophobia and insufficient knowledge of and formal training in acute pain management. Novel classes of analgesics have recently been introduced, but many patients suffer from acute pain in settings where the availability of intravenous (IV) access may be limited, so there remains a clinical need for rapid-acting, potent analgesics that do not require an invasive route of delivery. A sublingual sufentanil tablet (SST), dispensed using a single-dose applicator, is in development for treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in a medically-supervised setting. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the repeat-dose efficacy, safety and tolerability of sufentanil 20 mcg and 30 mcg sublingual tablets compared to placebo for the management of acute pain as determined by the time-weighted sum of pain intensity differences (SPID) to baseline over the 12-hour study period (SPID12). Key secondary efficacy variables included SPID over the first hour (SPID1), Total pain relief over the 12-hour study period (TOTPAR12), time to perceived pain relief (PR) and time to meaningful PR. Safety variables consisted of adverse events (AE), vital signs, oxygen saturation and early termination. Methods: In this Phase 2, double-blind, dose-finding study, an equal number of male and female patients were randomly assigned in a 2:2:1 ratio to SST 20 mcg, SS 30 mcg or placebo, respectively, following bunionectomy. Study drug was dosed as needed, but not more frequently than hourly. Rescue medication was available as needed. The primary endpoint was the Summed Pain Intensity Difference to baseline over 12h (SPIDI2). Safety was assessed by continuous oxygen saturation monitoring and adverse event reporting. Results: 101 patients (51 Male/50 Female) were randomized, 100 received study treatment (intent-to-treat [ITT] population), and 91 completed the study. Reasons for early discontinuation were lack of efficacy (6), adverse events (2) and drug-dosing error (1). Mean age was 42.5 years. For the ITT population, SST 30 mcg was superior to placebo (p=0.003) for the SPID12. SPID12 scores in the active groups were superior for both male (ANOVA overall p-value =0.038) and female (ANOVA overall p-value=0.005) patients. Statistically significant differences in favour of sublingual sufentanil were also observed between the SST 30mcg and placebo group for SPID1(p<0.001), TOTPAR12(p=0.002), time to perceived PR (p=0.023) and time to meaningful PR (p=0.010). Nausea, vomiting and somnolence were more frequent in the sufentanil groups but there were no significant differences between treatment arms for the proportion of patients who prematurely terminated due to AE or inadequate analgesia. Conclusions: Sufentanil tablets dispensed sublingually using a single-dose applicator is in development for treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe acute pain in a medically-supervised setting where immediate IV access is limited. When administered sublingually, sufentanil’s pharmacokinetic profile and non-invasive delivery makes it a useful alternative to IM or IV dosing.

Keywords: acute pain, pain management, sublingual, sufentanil

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Authors: Siddharudha B. Patil

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Cotton is a premier commercial fibre crop of India subjected to ravages of insect pests. Sucking pests viz thrips, Thrips tabaci,(lind) leaf hopper Amrsca devastance,(dist) miridbug, Poppiocapsidea beseratense (Dist) and bollworms continue to inflict damage Bt Cotton right from seeding stage. Their infestation impact cotton yield to an extent of 30-40 percent. Chemical control is still adoptable as one of the techniques for combating these pests. Presently, growers have many challenges in selecting effective chemicals which fit in with an integrated pest management. Spinetoram has broad spectrum with excellent insecticidal activity against both sucking pests and bollworms. Hence, it is expected to make a great contribution to stable production and quality improvement of agricultural products. Spinetoram is a derivative of biologically active substances (Spinosyns) produced by soil actinomycetes, Saccharopolypara spinosa which is semi synthetic active ingredient representing Spinosyn chemical class of insecticide and has demonstrated higher level of efficacy with reduced risk on beneficial arthropods. The efforts were made in the present study to test the efficacy of Spinetoram against sucking pests and bollworms in comparison with other insecticides in Bt Cotton under field condition. Field experiment was laid out during 2013-14 and 2014-15 at Agricultural Research station Dharwad (Karnataka-India) in a randomized block design comprising eight treatments and three replications. Bt cotton genotype, Bunny BG-II was sown in a plot size of 5.4 m x5.4 m. Recommend agronomical practices were followed. The Spinetoram 12% SC alone and incombination with sulfaxaflore with varied dosages against pest complex was tested. Performance was compared with Spinosad 45% SC and thiamethoxam 25% WG. The results of consecutive seasons revealed that nonsignificant difference in thrips and leafhopper population and varied significantly after 3 days of imposition. Among the treatments, combiproduct, Spinetoram 10%WG + Sulfoxaflor 30% WG@ 140 gai/ha registered lowest population of thrips (3.91/3 leaves) and leaf hoppers (1.08/3 leaves) followed by its lower dosages viz 120 gai/ha (4.86/3 leaves and 1.14/3 leaves of thrips and leaf hoppers, respectively) and 100 gai/ha (6.02 and 1.23./3 leaves of thrips and leaf hoppers respectively) being at par, significantly superior to rest of the treatments. On the contrary, the population of thrips, leaf hopper and miridbugs in untreated control was on higher side. Similarly the higher dosage of Spinetoram 10% WG+ Sulfoxaflor 30% WG (140 gai/ha) proved its bioefficacy by registering lowest miridbug incidence of 1.70/25 squares, followed by its lower dosage (1.78 and 1.83/25 squares respectively) Further observation made on bollworms incidence revealed that the higher dosage of Spinetoram 10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG (140 gai/ha) registered lowest percentage of boll damage (7.22%), more number of good opened bolls (36.89/plant) and higher seed cotton yield (19.45q/ha) followed by rest of its lower dosages, Spinetoram 12% SC alone and Spinosad 45% SC being at par significantly superior to rest of the treatments. However, significantly higher boll damage (15.13%) and lower seed cotton yield (14.45 q/ha) was registered in untreated control. Thus Spinetoram10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG can be a promising option for pest management in Bt Cotton.

Keywords: Spinetoram10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG, sucking pests, bollworms, Bt cotton, management

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Authors: Prabhjot Kaur, B.K. Kang, Balwinder Singh

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The tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an agricultural important pest species. S. litura has a wide host range of approximately recorded 150 plant species worldwide. In Punjab, this pest attains sporadic status primarily on cauliflower, Brassica oleracea (L.). This pest destroys vegetable crop and particularly prefers the cruciferae family. However, it is also observed feeding on other crops such as arbi, Colocasia esculenta (L.), mung bean, Vigna radiata (L.), sunflower, Helianthus annuus (L.), cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.), castor, Ricinus communis (L.), etc. Larvae of this pest completely devour the leaves of infested plant resulting in huge crop losses which ranges from 50 to 70 per cent. Indiscriminate and continuous use of insecticides has contributed in development of insecticide resistance in insects and caused the environmental degradation as well. Moreover, a base line data regarding the toxicity of the newer insecticides would help in understanding the level of resistance developed in this pest and any possible cross-resistance there in, which could be assessed in advance. Therefore, present studies on development of resistance in S. litura against four new chemistry insecticides (emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole, indoxacarb and spinosad) were carried out in the Toxicology laboratory, Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India during the year 2011-12. Various stages of S. litura (eggs, larvae) were collected from four different locations (Malerkotla, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Samrala) of Punjab. Resistance is developed in third instars of lepidopterous pests. Therefore, larval bioassays were conducted to estimate the response of field populations of thirty third-instar larvae of S. litura under laboratory conditions at 25±2°C and 65±5 per cent relative humidity. Leaf dip bioassay technique with diluted insecticide formulations recommended by Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) was performed in the laboratory with seven to ten treatments depending on the insecticide class, respectively. LC50 values were estimated by probit analysis after correction to record control mortality data which was used to calculate the resistance ratios (RR). The LC50 values worked out for emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole, indoxacarb, spinosad are 0.081, 0.088, 0.380, 4.00 parts per million (ppm) against pest populations collected from Malerkotla; 0.051, 0.060, 0.250, 3.00 (ppm) of Amritsar; 0.002, 0.001, 0.0076, 0.10 ppm for Samrala and 0.000014, 0.00001, 0.00056, 0.003 ppm against pest population of Hoshiarpur, respectively. The LC50 values for populations collected from these four locations were in the order Malerkotla>Amritsar>Samrala>Hoshiarpur for the insecticides (emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole, indoxacarb and spinosad) tested. Based on LC50 values obtained, emamectin benzoate (0.000014 ppm) was found to be the most toxic among all the tested populations, followed by chlorantraniliprole (0.00001 ppm), indoxacarb (0.00056 ppm) and spinosad (0.003 ppm), respectively. The pairwise correlation coefficients of LC50 values indicated that there was lack of cross resistance for emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole, spinosad, indoxacarb in populations of S. litura from Punjab. These insecticides may prove to be promising substitutes for the effective control of insecticide resistant populations of S. litura in Punjab state, India.

Keywords: Spodoptera litura, insecticides, toxicity, resistance

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Authors: M. Mueller, M. Kuehn, M. Voelker

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In small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the challenge is to create a well-grounded and reliable basis for process analysis, optimization and planning due to a lack of data. SMEs have limited access to methods with which they can effectively and efficiently analyse processes and identify cause-and-effect relationships in order to generate the necessary database and derive optimization potential from it. The implementation of digitalization within the framework of Industry 4.0 thus becomes a particular necessity for SMEs. For these reasons, the abstract presents an analysis methodology that is subject to the objective of developing an SME-appropriate methodology for efficient, temporarily feasible data collection and evaluation in flexible production and logistics systems as a basis for process analysis and optimization. The overall methodology focuses on retrospective, event-based tracing and analysis of material flow objects. The technological basis consists of Bluetooth low energy (BLE)-based transmitters, so-called beacons, and smart mobile devices (SMD), e.g. smartphones as receivers, between which distance data can be measured and derived motion profiles. The distance is determined using the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), which is a measure of signal field strength between transmitter and receiver. The focus is the development of a software-based methodology for interpretation of relative movements of transmitters and receivers based on distance data. The main research is on selection and implementation of pattern recognition methods for automatic process recognition as well as methods for the visualization of relative distance data. Due to an existing categorization of the database regarding process types, classification methods (e.g. Support Vector Machine) from the field of supervised learning are used. The necessary data quality requires selection of suitable methods as well as filters for smoothing occurring signal variations of the RSSI, the integration of methods for determination of correction factors depending on possible signal interference sources (columns, pallets) as well as the configuration of the used technology. The parameter settings on which respective algorithms are based have a further significant influence on result quality of the classification methods, correction models and methods for visualizing the position profiles used. The accuracy of classification algorithms can be improved up to 30% by selected parameter variation; this has already been proven in studies. Similar potentials can be observed with parameter variation of methods and filters for signal smoothing. Thus, there is increased interest in obtaining detailed results on the influence of parameter and factor combinations on data quality in this area. The overall methodology is realized with a modular software architecture consisting of independently modules for data acquisition, data preparation and data storage. The demonstrator for initialization and data acquisition is available as mobile Java-based application. The data preparation, including methods for signal smoothing, are Python-based with the possibility to vary parameter settings and to store them in the database (SQLite). The evaluation is divided into two separate software modules with database connection: the achievement of an automated assignment of defined process classes to distance data using selected classification algorithms and the visualization as well as reporting in terms of a graphical user interface (GUI).

Keywords: event-based tracing, machine learning, process classification, parameter settings, RSSI, signal smoothing

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Authors: Abderrazak Bannari

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Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from mine wastes and contaminations of soils and water with metals are considered as a major environmental problem in mining areas. It is produced by interactions of water, air, and sulphidic mine wastes. This environment problem results from a series of chemical and biochemical oxidation reactions of sulfide minerals e.g. pyrite and pyrrhotite. These reactions lead to acidity as well as the dissolution of toxic and heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, etc.) from tailings waste rock piles, and open pits. Soil and aquatic ecosystems could be contaminated and, consequently, human health and wildlife will be affected. Furthermore, secondary minerals, typically formed during weathering of mine waste storage areas when the concentration of soluble constituents exceeds the corresponding solubility product, are also important. The most common secondary mineral compositions are hydrous iron oxide (goethite, etc.) and hydrated iron sulfate (jarosite, etc.). The objectives of this study focus on the detection and mapping of MIOP in the soil using Hyperion EO-1 (Earth Observing - 1) hyperspectral data and constrained linear spectral mixture analysis (CLSMA) algorithm. The abandoned Kettara mine, located approximately 35 km northwest of Marrakech city (Morocco) was chosen as study area. During 44 years (from 1938 to 1981) this mine was exploited for iron oxide and iron sulphide minerals. Previous studies have shown that Kettara surrounding soils are contaminated by heavy metals (Fe, Cu, etc.) as well as by secondary minerals. To achieve our objectives, several soil samples representing different MIOP classes have been resampled and located using accurate GPS ( ≤ ± 30 cm). Then, endmembers spectra were acquired over each sample using an Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) covering the spectral domain from 350 to 2500 nm. Considering each soil sample separately, the average of forty spectra was resampled and convolved using Gaussian response profiles to match the bandwidths and the band centers of the Hyperion sensor. Moreover, the MIOP content in each sample was estimated by geochemical analyses in the laboratory, and a ground truth map was generated using simple Kriging in GIS environment for validation purposes. The acquired and used Hyperion data were corrected for a spatial shift between the VNIR and SWIR detectors, striping, dead column, noise, and gain and offset errors. Then, atmospherically corrected using the MODTRAN 4.2 radiative transfer code, and transformed to surface reflectance, corrected for sensor smile (1-3 nm shift in VNIR and SWIR), and post-processed to remove residual errors. Finally, geometric distortions and relief displacement effects were corrected using a digital elevation model. The MIOP fraction map was extracted using CLSMA considering the entire spectral range (427-2355 nm), and validated by reference to the ground truth map generated by Kriging. The obtained results show the promising potential of the proposed methodology for the detection and mapping of mine iron oxide pollution in the soil.

Keywords: hyperion eo-1, hyperspectral, mine iron oxide pollution, environmental impact, unmixing

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Authors: Mei Chen, Yingping Hou, Michelle Hao, Soheil Aghamohammadzadeh, Esteban Terzo, Roger Clark, Vijay Modur

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Background: Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB) is a genetic skin condition characterized by skin tearing and unremitting blistering upon minimal trauma. Repeated blistering, fibrosis, and scarring lead to aggressive squamous cell carcinoma later in life. RDEB is caused by mutations in the COL7A1 gene encoding collagen type VII (C7), the major component of anchoring fibrils mediating epidermis-dermis adherence. Nonsense mutations in the COL7A1 gene of a subset of RDEB patients leads to premature termination codons (PTC). Similarly, most Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa (JEB) cases are caused by nonsense mutations in the LAMB3 gene encoding the β3 subunit of laminin 332. Currently, there is an unmet need for the treatment of RDEB and JEB. Zikani Therapeutics has discovered an array of macrocyclic compounds with ring structures similar to macrolide antibiotics that can facilitate readthrough activity of nonsense mutations in the COL7A1 and LAMB3 genes by acting as Ribosome Modulating Agents (RMAs). The medicinal chemistry synthetic advancements of these macrocyclic compounds have allowed targeting the human ribosome while preserving the structural elements responsible for the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of clinically used macrolide antibiotics. Methods: C7 expression was used as a measure of readthrough activity by immunoblot assays in two primary human fibroblasts from RDEB patients (R578X/R578X and R163X/R1683X-COL7A1). Similarly, immunoblot assays in C325X/c.629-12T > A-LAMB3 keratinocytes were used to measure readthrough activity for JEB. The relative readthrough activity of each compound was measured relative to Gentamicin. An imaging-based fibroblast migration assay was used as an assessment of C7 functionality in RDEB-fibroblasts over 16-20 hrs. The incubation period for the above experiments was 48 hrs for RDEB fibroblasts and 72 hours for JEB keratinocytes. Results: 9 RMAs demonstrated increased protein expression in both patient RDEB fibroblasts. The highest readthrough activity at tested concentrations without cytotoxicities increased protein expression up to 179% of Gentamicin (400 µg/ml), with favored readthrough activity in R163X/R1683X-COL7A1 fibroblasts. Concurrent with protein expression, fibroblast hypermotility phenotype observed in RDEB was rescued by reducing motility by ~35% to WT levels (the same level as 690 µM Gentamicin treated cells). Laminin β3 expression was also shown to be increased by 6 RMAs in keratinocytes to 33-83% of (400 µg/ml) Gentamicin. Conclusions: To date, 9 RMAs have been identified that enhance the expression of functional C7 in a mutation-dependent manner in two different RDEB patient fibroblast backgrounds (R578X/R578X and R163X/R1683X-COL7A1). A further 6 RMAs have been identified that enhance the readthrough of C325X-LAMB3 in JEB patient keratinocytes. Based on the clinical trial conducted by us with topical gentamycin in 2017, Zikani’s RMAs achieve clinically significant levels of read-through for the treatment of recessive dystrophic and Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa.

Keywords: epidermolysis bullosa, nonsense mutation, readthrough, ribosome modulation

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