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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: Lizinis Cassendra Frederick Dony, Jirom Jeremy Frederick Dony, Andrew Nicholas, Dewi Binti Tajuddin

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Starting and surviving a business is influenced by various entrepreneurship socio-economics activities. The study revealed that some of the entrepreneurs are not registered under SME but running own business as an intermediary with the private organization entrusted as “Self-Employed.” SME is known as “Small Medium Enterprise” contributes growth in Malaysia. Therefore, the entrepreneurialism business interest and entrepreneurial intention enhancing new spurring production, expanding employment opportunities, increasing productivity, promoting exports, stimulating innovation and providing new avenue in the business market place. This study has identified the unique contribution to the full understanding of complex mechanisms through entrepreneurship obstacles and education impacts on happiness and well-being to society. Moreover, “Ethnic” term has defined as a curious meaning refers to a classification of a large group of people customs implies to ancestral, racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic and cultural origins. It is a social phenomenon.1 According to Sabah data population is amounting to 2,389,494 showed the predominant ethnic group being the Kadazan Dusun (18.4%) followed by Bajau (17.3%) and Malays (15.3%). For the year 2010, data statistic immigrants population report showed the amount to 239,765 people which cover 4% of the Sabahan’s population.2 Sabah has numerous group of talented entrepreneurs. The business environment among the minority ethnics are influenced with the business sentiment competition. The literature on ethnic entrepreneurship recognizes two main type entrepreneurships: the middleman and enclave entrepreneurs. According to Adam Smith,3 there are evidently some principles disposition to admire and maintain the distinction business rank status and cause most universal business sentiments. Due to credit barriers competition, the minority ethnics are losing the business market and since 2014, many illegal immigrants have been found to be using permits of the locals to operate businesses in Malaysia.4 The development of small business entrepreneurship among the minority ethnics in Sabah evidenced based variety of complex perception and differences concepts. The studies also confirmed the effects of heterogeneity on group decision and thinking caused partly by excessive pre-occupation with maintaining cohesiveness and the presence of cultural diversity in groups should reduce its probability.5 The researchers proposed that there are seven success determinants particularly to determine the involvement of minority ethnics comparing to the involvement of the immigrants in Sabah. Although, (SMEs) have always been considered the backbone of the economy development, the minority ethnics are often categorized it as the “second-choice.’ The study showed that illegal immigrants entrepreneur imposed a burden on Sabahan social programs as well as the prison, court and health care systems. The tension between the need for cheap labor and the impulse to protect Malaysian in Sabah workers, entrepreneurs and taxpayers, among the subjects discussed in this study. This is clearly can be advantages and disadvantages to the Sabah economic development.

Keywords: entrepreneurial firms, self-employed, immigrants, minority ethnic, economic impacts

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Authors: John Hardy

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Over the last decade, the increasing utility of extremist narratives to the operational effectiveness of terrorist organizations has been evidenced by the proliferation of inspired or affiliated attacks across the world. Famous examples such as regional al-Qaeda affiliates and the self-styled “Islamic State” demonstrate the effectiveness of leveraging communication technologies to disseminate propaganda, recruit members, and orchestrate attacks. Terrorist organizations with the capacity to harness the communicative power offered by digital communication technologies and effective political narratives have held an advantage over their targets in recent years. Terrorists have leveraged the perceived legitimacy of grass-roots actors to appeal to a global audience of potential supporters and enemies alike, and have wielded a proficiency in profile-raising which remains unmatched by counter terrorism narratives around the world. In contrast, many attempts at propagating official counter-narratives have been received by target audiences as illegitimate, top-down and impersonally bureaucratic. However, the benefits provided by widespread communication and extremist narratives have come at an operational cost. Terrorist organizations now face a significant challenge in protecting their access to communications technologies and authority over the content they create and endorse. The dissemination of effective narratives has emerged as a core function of terrorist organizations with international reach via inspired or affiliated attacks. As such, it has become a critical function which can be targeted by intelligence and security forces. This study applies network targeting principles which have been used by coalition forces against a range of non-state actors in the Middle East and South Asia to the communicative function of terrorist organizations. This illustrates both a conceptual link between functional targeting and operational disruption in the abstract and a tangible impact on the operational effectiveness of terrorists by degrading communicative ability and legitimacy. Two case studies highlight the utility of applying functional targeting against terrorist organizations. The first case is the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda propagandist who crafted a permissive narrative and effective propaganda videos to attract recruits who committed inspired terrorist attacks in the US and overseas. The second is a series of operations against Islamic State propagandists in Syria, including the capture or deaths of a cadre of high profile Islamic State members, including Junaid Hussain, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, Neil Prakash, and Rachid Kassim. The group of Islamic State propagandists were linked to a significant rise in affiliated and enabled terrorist attacks and were subsequently targeted by law enforcement and military agencies. In both cases, the disruption of communication between the terrorist organization and recruits degraded both communicative and operational functions. Effective functional targeting on member recruitment and operational tempo suggests that narratives are a critical function which can be leveraged against terrorist organizations. Further application of network targeting methods to terrorist narratives may enhance the efficacy of a range of counter terrorism techniques employed by security and intelligence agencies.

Keywords: countering violent extremism, counter terrorism, intelligence, terrorism, violent extremism

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Authors: Dirk Bruland, Paulo Pinheiro, Ullrich Bauer

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Introduction: Over 3 million children, about one quarter of all students, experience at least one parent with mental disorder in Germany every year. Children of mentally-ill parents are at considerably higher risk of developing serious mental health problems. The different burden patterns and coping attempts often become manifest in children's school lives. In this context, schools can have an important protective function, but can also create risk potentials. In reference to Jorm, pupil-related teachers’ mental health literacy (Teacher-MHL) includes the ability to recognize change behaviour, the knowledge of risk factors, the implementation of first aid intervention, and seeking professional help (teacher as gatekeeper). Although teachers’ knowledge and increased awareness of this topic is essential, the literature provides little information on the extent of teachers' abilities. As part of a German-wide research consortium on health literacy, this project, launched in March for 3 years, will conduct evidence-based mental health literacy research. The primary objective is to measure Teacher-MHL in the context of pupil-related psychosocial factors at primary and secondary schools (grades 5 & 6), while also focussing on children’s social living conditions. Methods: (1) A systematic literature review in different databases to identify papers with regard to Teacher-MHL (completed). (2) Based on these results, an interview guide was developed. This research step includes a qualitative pre-study to inductively survey the general profiles of teachers (n=24). The evaluation will be presented on the conference. (3) These findings will be translated into a quantitative teacher survey (n=2500) in order to assess the extent of socio-analytical skills of teachers as well as in relation to institutional and individual characteristics. (4) Based on results 1 – 3, developing a training program for teachers. Results: The review highlights a lack of information for Teacher-MHL and their skills, especially related to high-risk-groups like children of mentally ill parents. The literature is limited to a few studies only. According to these, teacher are not good at identifying burdened children and if they identify those children they do not know how to handle the situations in school. They are not sufficiently trained to deal with these children, especially there are great uncertainties in dealing with the teaching situation. Institutional means and resources are missing as well. Such a mismatch can result in insufficient support and use of opportunities for children at risk. First impressions from the interviews confirm these results and allow a greater insight in the everyday school-life according to critical life events in families. Conclusions: For the first time schools will be addressed as a setting where children are especially "accessible" for measures of health promotion. Addressing Teacher-MHL gives reason to expect high effectiveness. Targeting professionals' abilities for dealing with this high-risk-group leads to a discharge for teacher themselves to handle those situations and increases school health promotion. In view of the fact that only 10-30% of such high-risk families accept offers of therapy and assistance, this will be the first primary preventive and health-promoting approach to protect the health of a yet unaffected, but particularly burdened, high-risk group.

Keywords: children of mentally ill parents, health promotion, mental health literacy, school

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Authors: Sweta Rout-Hoolash

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Each year, selected students from around 20 countries begin their degrees at Middlesex University with the International Foundation Program (IFP), developing the skills required for academic study at a UK university. The IFP runs for 30 learning/teaching weeks at Middlesex University Mauritius Branch Campus, which is an international campus of UK’s Middlesex University. Successful IFP students join their degree courses already settled into life at their chosen campus (London, Dubai, Mauritius or Malta) and confident that they understand what is required for degree study. Although part of the School of Science and Technology, in Mauritius it prepares students for undergraduate level across all Schools represented on campus – including disciplines such as Accounting, Business, Computing, Law, Media and Psychology. The researcher has critically reviewed the framework and resources in the curriculum for a particular six week period of IFP study (dedicated group work phase). Despite working together closely for 24 weeks, IFP students approach the final 6 week small group work project phase with mainly inhibitive feelings. It was observed that students did not engage effectively in the group work exercise. Additionally, groups who seemed to be working well did not necessarily produce results reflecting effective collaboration, nor individual members’ results which were better than prior efforts. The researcher identified scope for change and innovation in the IFP curriculum and how group work is introduced and facilitated. The study explores the challenges of groupwork in the context of the Mauritius campus, though it is clear that the implications of the project are not restricted to one campus only. The presentation offers a reflective review on the previous structure put in place for the management of small group assessed projects on the programme from both the student and tutor perspective. The focus of the research perspective is the student voice, by taking into consideration past and present IFP students’ experiences as written in their learning journals. Further, it proposes the introduction of a revised framework to help students take greater ownership of the group work process in order to engage more effectively with the learning outcomes of this crucial phase of the programme. The study has critically reviewed recent and seminal literature on how to achieve greater student ownership during this phase especially under an environment of assessed multicultural group work. The presentation proposes several new approaches for encouraging students to take more control of the collaboration process. Detailed consideration is given to how the proposed changes impact on the work of other stakeholders, or partners to student learning. Clear proposals are laid out for evaluation of the different approaches intended to be implemented during the upcoming academic year (student voice through their own submitted reflections, focus group interviews and through the assessment results). The proposals presented are all realistic and have the potential to transform students’ learning. Furthermore, the study has engaged with the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education, and demonstrates practice at the level of ‘fellow’ of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Keywords: collaborative peer learning, enhancing learning experiences, group work assessment, learning communities, multicultural diverse classrooms, studying abroad

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Authors: Anil Kumar, Rajnish Kaur, Mateusz Czyzycki, Alessandro Migilori, Andreas Germanos Karydas, Sanjiv Puri

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The radiative decay of Li(i=1-3) sub-shell vacancies produced through photoionization results in production of the characteristic emission spectrum comprising several X-ray lines, whereas non-radiative vacancy decay results in Auger electron spectrum. Accurate reliable data on the Li(i=1-3) sub-shell X-ray production (XRP) cross sections is of considerable importance for investigation of atomic inner-shell ionization processes as well as for quantitative elemental analysis of different types of samples employing the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis technique. At incident photon energies in vicinity of the absorption edge energies of an element, the many body effects including the electron correlation, core relaxation, inter-channel coupling and post-collision interactions become significant in the photoionization of atomic inner-shells. Further, in case of compounds, the characteristic emission spectrum of the specific element is expected to get influenced by the chemical environment (coordination number, oxidation state, nature of ligand/functional groups attached to central atom, etc.). These chemical effects on L X-ray fluorescence parameters have been investigated by performing the measurements at incident photon energies much higher than the Li(i=1-3) sub-shell absorption edge energies using EDXRF spectrometers. In the present work, the cross sections for production of the Lk(k= γ2,3, γ4) X-rays have been measured for some compounds of 66Dy, namely, Dy2O3, Dy2(CO3)3, Dy2(SO4)3.8H2O, DyI2 and Dy metal by tuning the incident photon energies few eV above the L1 absorption-edge energy in order to investigate the influence of chemical effects on these cross sections in presence of the many body effects which become significant at photon energies close to the absorption-edge energies. The present measurements have been performed under vacuum at the IAEA end-station of the X-ray fluorescence beam line (10.1L) of ELETTRA synchrotron radiation facility (Trieste, Italy) using self-supporting pressed pellet targets (1.3 cm diameter, nominal thicknesses ~ 176 mg/cm2) of 66Dy compounds (procured from Sigma Aldrich) and a metallic foil of 66Dy (nominal thickness ~ 3.9 mg/cm2, procured from Good Fellow, UK). The present measured cross sections have been compared with theoretical values calculated using the Dirac-Hartree-Slater(DHS) model based fluorescence and Coster-Kronig yields, Dirac-Fock(DF) model based X-ray emission rates and two sets of L1 sub-shell photoionization cross sections based on the non-relativistic Hartree-Fock-Slater(HFS) model and those deduced from the self-consistent Dirac-Hartree-Fock(DHF) model based total photoionization cross sections. The present measured XRP cross sections for 66Dy as well as for its compounds for the L2,3 and L4 X-rays, are found to be higher by ~14-36% than the two calculated set values. It is worth to be mentioned that L2,3 and L4 X-ray lines are originated by filling up of the L1 sub-shell vacancies by the outer sub-shell (N2,3 and O2,3) electrons which are much more sensitive to the chemical environment around the central atom. The present observed differences between measured and theoretical values are expected due to combined influence of the many-body effects and the chemical effects.

Keywords: chemical effects, L X-ray production cross sections, Many body effects, Synchrotron radiation

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Authors: Mazaher Yarmohamadi-Vasel, Ali Reza Modarresi-Alama, Sahar Shabzendedara

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Purpose/Objectives: The first purpose was synthesize Poly(N-(sulfophenyl)aniline) nanoflowers (PSANFLs) and Poly(N-(sulfophenyl)aniline) nanofibers/titanium dioxide nanoparticles ((PSANFs/TiO2NPs) by a solid-state mechano-chemical reaction and template-free method and use them in hybrid solar cell. Also, our second aim was to increase the solubility and the processability of conjugated nanomaterials in water through polar functionalized materials. poly[N-(4-sulfophenyl)aniline] is easily soluble in water because of the presence of polar groups of sulfonic acid in the polymer chain. Materials/Methods: Iron (III) chloride hexahydrate (FeCl3∙6H2O) were bought from Merck Millipore Company. Titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2, <20 nm, anatase) and Sodium diphenylamine-4-sulfonate (99%) were bought from Sigma-Aldrich Company. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles paste (PST-20T) was prepared from Sharifsolar Co. Conductive glasses coated with indium tin oxide (ITO) were bought from Xinyan Technology Co (China). For the first time we used the solid-state mechano-chemical reaction and template-free method to synthesize Poly(N-(sulfophenyl)aniline) nanoflowers. Moreover, for the first time we used the same technique to synthesize nanocomposite of Poly(N-(sulfophenyl)aniline) nanofibers and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (PSANFs/TiO2NPs) also for the first time this nanocomposite was synthesized. Examining the results of electrochemical calculations energy gap obtained by CV curves and UV–vis spectra demonstrate that PSANFs/TiO2NPs nanocomposite is a p-n type material that can be used in photovoltaic cells. Doctor blade method was used to creat films for three kinds of hybrid solar cells in terms of different patterns like ITO│TiO2NPs│Semiconductor sample│Al. In the following, hybrid photovoltaic cells in bilayer and bulk heterojunction structures were fabricated as ITO│TiO2NPs│PSANFLs│Al and ITO│TiO2NPs│PSANFs /TiO2NPs│Al, respectively. Fourier-transform infrared spectra, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), ultraviolet-visible spectra, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrical conductivity were the analysis that used to characterize the synthesized samples. Results and Conclusions: FE-SEM images clearly demonstrate that the morphology of the synthesized samples are nanostructured (nanoflowers and nanofibers). Electrochemical calculations of band gap from CV curves demonstrated that the forbidden band gap of the PSANFLs and PSANFs/TiO2NPs nanocomposite are 2.95 and 2.23 eV, respectively. I–V characteristics of hybrid solar cells and their power conversion efficiency (PCE) under 100 mWcm−2 irradiation (AM 1.5 global conditions) were measured that The PCE of the samples were 0.30 and 0.62%, respectively. At the end, all the results of solar cell analysis were discussed. To sum up, PSANFLs and PSANFLs/TiO2NPs were successfully synthesized by an affordable and straightforward mechanochemical reaction in solid-state under the green condition. The solubility and processability of the synthesized compounds have been improved compared to the previous work. We successfully fabricated hybrid photovoltaic cells of synthesized semiconductor nanostructured polymers and TiO2NPs as different architectures. We believe that the synthesized compounds can open inventive pathways for the development of other Poly(N-(sulfophenyl)aniline based hybrid materials (nanocomposites) proper for preparing new generation solar cells.

Keywords: mechanochemical synthesis, PSANFLs, PSANFs/TiO2NPs, solar cell

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Authors: Miguel García-Ferrús, Yolanda Domínguez, M Angeles Castillo, M Antonia Ferrús, Ana Jiménez-Belenguer

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Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health concern worldwide, and it is now regarded as a critical issue within the "One Health" approach that affects human and animal health, agriculture, and environmental waste management. This concept focuses on the interconnected nature of human, animal and environmental health, and WHO highlights zoonotic diseases, food safety, and antimicrobial resistance as three particularly relevant areas for this framework. Fresh vegetables are garnering attention in the food chain due to the presence of pathogens and because they can act as a reservoir for Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARG). These fresh products are frequently consumed raw, thereby contributing to the spread and transmission of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study the microbiological quality, the prevalence of ARB, and their role in the dissemination of ARG in fresh vegetables intended for human consumption. For this purpose, 102 samples of fresh vegetables (30 lettuce, 30 cabbage, 18 strawberries and 24 spinach) from different retail establishments in Valencia (Spain) have been analyzed to determine their microbiological quality and their role in spreading ARB and ARG. The samples were collected and examined according to standardized methods for total viable bacteria, coliforms, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. Isolation was made in culture media supplemented with antibiotics (cefotaxime and meropenem). A total of 239 strains resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics (Third-Generation Cephalosporins and Carbapenems) were isolated. Thirty Gram-negative isolates were selected and biochemically identified or partial sequencing of 16S rDNA. Their sensitivity to 12 antibiotic discs was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique to different therapeutic groups. To determine the presence of ARG, PCR assays for the direct sample and selected isolate DNA were performed for main expanded spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-, carbapenemase-encoding genes and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes. From the total samples, 68% (24/24 spinach, 28/30 lettuce and 17/30 cabbage) showed total viable bacteria levels over the accepted standard 10(2)-10(5) cfu/g range; and 48% (24/24 spinach, 19/30 lettuce and 6/30) showed coliforms levels over the accepted standard 10(2)-10(4) cfu/g range. In 9 samples (3/24 spinach, 3/30 lettuce, 3/30 cabbage; 9/102 (9%)) E. coli levels were higher than the standard 10(3) cfu/g limit. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and STEC have not been detected. Six different bacteria species were isolated from samples. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (64%) was the prevalent species, followed by Acinetobacter pitii (14%) and Burkholderia cepacia (7%). All the isolates were resistant to at least one tested antibiotic, including meropenem (85%) and ceftazidime (46%). Of the total isolates, 86% were multidrug-resistant and 68% were ESBL productors. Results of PCR showed the presence of resistance genes to beta-lactams blaTEM (4%) and blaCMY-2 (4%), to carbapenemes blaOXA-48 (25%), blaVIM (7%), blaIMP (21%) and blaKPC (32%), and to quinolones QnrA (7%), QnrB (11%) and QnrS (18%). Thus, fresh vegetables harboring ARB and ARG constitute a potential risk to consumers. Further studies must be done to detect ARG and how they propagate in non-medical environments.

Keywords: ESBL, β-lactams, resistances, fresh vegetables.

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Authors: Neelofar, Khursheed Alam, Jamal Ahmad

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Protein modification in diabetes mellitus may lead to early glycation products (EGPs) or amadori product as well as advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Early glycation involves the reaction of glucose with N-terminal and lysyl side chain amino groups to form Schiff’s base which undergoes rearrangements to form more stable early glycation product known as Amadori product. After Amadori, the reactions become more complicated leading to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that interact with various AGE receptors, thereby playing an important role in the long-term complications of diabetes. Millard reaction or nonenzymatic glycation reaction accelerate in diabetes due to hyperglycation and alter serum protein’s structure, their normal functions that lead micro and macro vascular complications in diabetic patients. In this study, Human Serum Albumin (HSA) with a constant concentration was incubated with different concentrations of glucose at 370C for a week. At 4th day, Amadori product was formed that was confirmed by colorimetric method NBT assay and TBA assay which both are authenticate early glycation product. Conformational changes in native as well as all samples of Amadori albumin with different concentrations of glucose were investigated by various biophysical and biochemical techniques. Main biophysical techniques hyperchromacity, quenching of fluorescence intensity, FTIR, CD and SDS-PAGE were used. Further conformational changes were observed by biochemical assays mainly HMF formation, fructoseamine, reduction of fructoseamine with NaBH4, carbonyl content estimation, lysine and arginine residues estimation, ANS binding property and thiol group estimation. This study find structural and biochemical changes in Amadori modified HSA with normal to hyperchronic range of glucose with respect to native HSA. When glucose concentration was increased from normal to chronic range biochemical and structural changes also increased. Highest alteration in secondary and tertiary structure and conformation in glycated HSA was observed at the hyperchronic concentration (75mM) of glucose. Although it has been found that Amadori modified proteins is also involved in secondary complications of diabetes as AGEs but very few studies have been done to analyze the conformational changes in Amadori modified proteins due to early glycation. Most of the studies were found on the structural changes in Amadori protein at a particular glucose concentration but no study was found to compare the biophysical and biochemical changes in HSA due to early glycation with a range of glucose concentration at a constant incubation time. So this study provide the information about the biochemical and biophysical changes occur in Amadori modified albumin at a range of glucose normal to chronic in diabetes. Although many implicates currently in use i.e. glycaemic control, insulin treatment and other chemical therapies that can control many aspects of diabetes. However, even with intensive use of current antidiabetic agents more than 50 % of diabetic patient’s type 2 suffers poor glycaemic control and 18 % develop serious complications within six years of diagnosis. Experimental evidence related to diabetes suggests that preventing the nonenzymatic glycation of relevant proteins or blocking their biological effects might beneficially influence the evolution of vascular complications in diabetic patients or quantization of amadori adduct of HSA by authentic antibodies against HSA-EGPs can be used as marker for early detection of the initiation/progression of secondary complications of diabetes. So this research work may be helpful for the same.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, glycation, albumin, amadori, biophysical and biochemical techniques

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Authors: Ye Xue, Zhenhua Deng

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Objectives: Facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) data could be obtained from CT scans by measuring the face-to-skull distances at sparsely distributed anatomical landmarks by manually located on face and skull. However, automated measurement using 3D facial and skull models by dense points using open-source software has become a viable option due to the development of computed assisted imaging technologies. By utilizing dense FSTT information, it becomes feasible to generate plausible automated facial approximations. Therefore, establishing a comprehensive and detailed, densely calculated FSTT database is crucial in enhancing the accuracy of facial approximation. Materials and methods: This study utilized head CT scans from 250 Chinese adults of Han ethnicity, with 170 participants originally born and residing in northern China and 80 participants in southern China. The age of the participants ranged from 14 to 82 years, and all samples were divided into five non-overlapping age groups. Additionally, samples were also divided into three categories based on BMI information. The 3D Slicer software was utilized to segment bone and soft tissue based on different Hounsfield Unit (HU) thresholds, and surface models of the face and skull were reconstructed for all samples from CT data. Following procedures were performed unsing MeshLab, including converting the face models into hollowed cropped surface models amd automatically measuring the Hausdorff Distance (referred to as FSTT) between the skull and face models. Hausdorff point clouds were colorized based on depth value and exported as PLY files. A histogram of the depth distributions could be view and subdivided into smaller increments. All PLY files were visualized of Hausdorff distance value of each vertex. Basic descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, maximum, minimum and standard deviation etc.) and distribution of FSTT were analysis considering the sex, age, BMI and birthplace. Statistical methods employed included Multiple Regression Analysis, ANOVA, principal component analysis (PCA). Results: The distribution of FSTT is mainly influenced by BMI and sex, as further supported by the results of the PCA analysis. Additionally, FSTT values exceeding 30mm were found to be more sensitive to sex. Birthplace-related differences were observed in regions such as the forehead, orbital, mandibular, and zygoma. Specifically, there are distribution variances in the depth range of 20-30mm, particularly in the mandibular region. Northern males exhibit thinner FSTT in the frontal region of the forehead compared to southern males, while females shows fewer distribution differences between the northern and southern, except for the zygoma region. The observed distribution variance in the orbital region could be attributed to differences in orbital size and shape. Discussion: This study provides a database of Chinese individuals distribution of FSTT and suggested opening source tool shows fine function for FSTT measurement. By incorporating birthplace as an influential factor in the distribution of FSTT, a greater level of detail can be achieved in facial approximation.

Keywords: forensic anthropology, forensic imaging, cranial facial reconstruction, facial soft tissue thickness, CT, open-source tool

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Authors: V. Saccà, A. Sarica, F. Novellino, S. Barone, T. Tallarico, E. Filippelli, A. Granata, P. Valentino, A. Quattrone

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The work aim was to evaluate how well Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms could support the early diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) from resting-state functional connectivity data. In particular, we wanted to explore the ability in distinguishing between controls and patients of mean signals extracted from ICA components corresponding to 15 well-known networks. Eighteen patients with early-MS (mean-age 37.42±8.11, 9 females) were recruited according to McDonald and Polman, and matched for demographic variables with 19 healthy controls (mean-age 37.55±14.76, 10 females). MRI was acquired by a 3T scanner with 8-channel head coil: (a)whole-brain T1-weighted; (b)conventional T2-weighted; (c)resting-state functional MRI (rsFMRI), 200 volumes. Estimated total lesion load (ml) and number of lesions were calculated using LST-toolbox from the corrected T1 and FLAIR. All rsFMRIs were pre-processed using tools from the FMRIB's Software Library as follows: (1) discarding of the first 5 volumes to remove T1 equilibrium effects, (2) skull-stripping of images, (3) motion and slice-time correction, (4) denoising with high-pass temporal filter (128s), (5) spatial smoothing with a Gaussian kernel of FWHM 8mm. No statistical significant differences (t-test, p < 0.05) were found between the two groups in the mean Euclidian distance and the mean Euler angle. WM and CSF signal together with 6 motion parameters were regressed out from the time series. We applied an independent component analysis (ICA) with the GIFT-toolbox using the Infomax approach with number of components=21. Fifteen mean components were visually identified by two experts. The resulting z-score maps were thresholded and binarized to extract the mean signal of the 15 networks for each subject. Statistical and machine learning analysis were then conducted on this dataset composed of 37 rows (subjects) and 15 features (mean signal in the network) with R language. The dataset was randomly splitted into training (75%) and test sets and two different classifiers were trained: RF and RBF-SVM. We used the intrinsic feature selection of RF, based on the Gini index, and recursive feature elimination (rfe) for the SVM, to obtain a rank of the most predictive variables. Thus, we built two new classifiers only on the most important features and we evaluated the accuracies (with and without feature selection) on test-set. The classifiers, trained on all the features, showed very poor accuracies on training (RF:58.62%, SVM:65.52%) and test sets (RF:62.5%, SVM:50%). Interestingly, when feature selection by RF and rfe-SVM were performed, the most important variable was the sensori-motor network I in both cases. Indeed, with only this network, RF and SVM classifiers reached an accuracy of 87.5% on test-set. More interestingly, the only misclassified patient resulted to have the lowest value of lesion volume. We showed that, with two different classification algorithms and feature selection approaches, the best discriminant network between controls and early MS, was the sensori-motor I. Similar importance values were obtained for the sensori-motor II, cerebellum and working memory networks. These findings, in according to the early manifestation of motor/sensorial deficits in MS, could represent an encouraging step toward the translation to the clinical diagnosis and prognosis.

Keywords: feature selection, machine learning, multiple sclerosis, random forest, support vector machine

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Authors: Rocio Murad, Marcela Sanchez, Mariana Calderon Jaramillo, Danny Rivera, Angela Cifuentes, Daniela Roldán, Juan Carlos Rivillas

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Women and girls have specific health needs, but during health pandemics such as COVID19 they are less likely to have access to quality essential health information, commodities and services, or insurance coverage for routine and catastrophic health expenses, especially in rural and marginalized communities. This is compounded by multiple or intersecting inequalities, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, and sexual orientation, among others. Despite concerted collective action, there is a lack of information on the situation of women, adolescents and youth, including gender inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic. Much more needs to be done to amplify the lived realities of women and adolescents in global and national advocacy and policy responses. The COVID 19 pandemic reflects the need for systematic advocacy policies based on the lived experiences of women and adolescents, underpinned by human rights. This research is part of the initiative of Profamilia Association (Solidarity Study), and its objective is twofold: i) to analyze the behavioral changes and immediate expectations of Colombians during the stage of relaxation of the confinement measures decreed by the national government; and ii) to identify the needs, experiences and resilient practices of adolescents and young women during the COVID-19 crisis in Colombia. Descriptive analysis of data collected by Profamilia through the Solidaridad study, an exploratory cross-sectional descriptive study that used subnational level data from a nonprobabilistic sample survey conducted to 1735 adults, between September 01 and 11, 2020. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders about their experiences during COVID19, under three key axes: i) main challenges for adolescents and young women; ii) examples of what has worked well in responding to the challenge; and iii) how/what services are/should be provided during COVID-19 (and beyond) to address the challenge. Interviewees were selected based on prior mapping of social groups of interest. In total, 23 adolescents and young women participated in the interviews. The results show that people adopted behavioral changes such as wearing masks, avoiding people with symptoms, and reducing mobility, but there was also a doubling of concerns for many reasons, from effects on mental health, sexual health, and unattended reproductive health to the burden of care and working at home. The favorable perception that people had at the beginning of the quarantine about the response and actions of the national and local government to control Covid-19 decreased over the course of the quarantine. The challenges and needs of adolescents and young women were highlighted during the most restrictive measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in disruptions to daily activities, education and work, as well as restrictions to mobility and social interaction. Concerns raised by participants included: impact on mental health and wellbeing due to disruption of daily life; limitations in access to formal and informal education; food insecurity; migration; loss of livelihoods; lack of access to health information and services; limitations to sexual and reproductive health and rights; insecurity problems; and problems in communication and treatment among household members.

Keywords: COVID-19, changes in behavior, adolescents, women

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Authors: A. C. Facin, M. C. Maronezi , M. P. Menezes, G. L. Montanhim, L. Pavan, M. A. R. Feliciano, R. P. Nociti, R. A. R. Uscategui, P. C. Moraes

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The incidence of brachycephalic syndrome (BS) in the clinical routine of small animals has increased significantly giving the higher proportion of brachycephalic pets in the last years and has been considered as an animal welfare problem. The treatment of BS is surgical and the clinical signs related can be considerably attenuated. Nevertheless, the systemic effects of the BS are still poorly reported and little is known about these when the surgical correction is not performed early. Affected dogs are more likely to develop cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal and sleep disorders in which the chronic hypoxemia plays a major role. This syndrome is compared with the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in humans, both considered as causes of systemic and metabolic dysfunction. Among the several consequences of the BS little is known if the syndrome also affects the hepatic tissue of brachycephalic patients. Elastography is a promising ultrasound technique that evaluates tissue elasticity and has been recently used with the purpose of diagnosis of liver fibrosis. In medicine, it is a growing concern regarding the hepatic injury of patients affected by OSA. This prospective study hypothesizes if there is any consequence of BS in the hepatic parenchyma of brachycephalic dogs that don’t receive any surgical treatment. This study was conducted following the approval of the Animal Ethics and Welfare Committee of the Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, UNESP, Campus Jaboticabal, Brazil (protocol no 17944/2017) and funded by Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, process no 2017/24809-4). The methodology was based in ARFI elastography using the ACUSON S2000/SIEMENS device, with convex multifrequential transducer and specific software as well as clinical evaluation of the syndrome, in order to determine if they can be used as a prognostic non-invasive tool. On quantitative elastography, it was collected three measures of shear wave velocity (meters per second) and depth in centimeters in the left lateral, left medial, right lateral, right medial and caudate lobe of the liver. The brachycephalic patients, 16 pugs and 30 french bulldogs, were classified using a previously established 4-point functional grading system based on clinical evaluation before and after a 3-minute exercise tolerance test already established and validated. The control group was based on the same features collected in 22 beagles. The software R version 3.3.0 was used for the analysis and the significance level was set at 0.05. The data were analysed for normality of residuals and homogeneity of variances by Shapiro-Wilks test. Comparisons of parametric continuous variables between breeds were performed by using ANOVA with a post hoc test for pair wise comparison. The preliminary results show significant statistic differences between the brachycephalic groups and the control group in all lobes analysed (p ≤ 0,05), with higher values of shear wave velocities in the hepatic tissue of brachycephalic dogs. In this context, the results obtained in this study contributes to the understanding of BS as well as its consequences in our patients, reflecting in evidence that one more systemic consequence of the syndrome may occur in brachycephalic patients, which was not related in the veterinary literature yet.

Keywords: airway obstruction, brachycephalic airway obstructive syndrome, hepatic injury, obstructive sleep apnea

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Authors: Dr Grace Scaplehorn, Mr Muhammad Adeel Akhtar, Dr Jane Gibson

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Background: Canoe Slalom entails the skilful navigation of a carbon composite canoe or kayak through a series of 18-25 hanging gates, strategically positioned along the course, either upstream or downstream, amidst currents of whitewater rapids in natural and man-made river settings. Athletes compete individually in timed trials, competing for the fastest course time, typically around 80 to 120 seconds. In the new discipline of Kayak Cross, descents of the course are initiated by groups of four athletes freefalling simultaneously from a starting platform situated 3m above the river. Kayak Cross athletes, in contrast to Canoe Slalom, can make physical contact with suspended gates without incurring time penalties and are required to perform a kayak roll half way down the course. The Canoe Slalom World Championships were held at Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, London, from 19th to 24th September 2023. The event comprised 299 international athletes competing for 10 World Championship titles in Canoe/Kayak Slalom events (Olympic Debut Munich 1972), and the new Kayak Cross discipline (Olympic Debut Paris 2024). The inaugural appearance of Kayak Cross at the World Championships occurred in 2017, in Pau, France. There is limited literature surrounding Kayak Cross and the incidence of athlete injuries compared to traditional Canoe Slalom, hence it was felt important to undertake this review to address the perception that the event is dangerous. Aim: The study aimed to quantify and collate data collected from athletes presenting to the event medical centre. Methods: Athletes’ details were collected at initial assessments from the start of the practice period (16th–18th September) and throughout the event. Demographics such as age, sex and nationality were recorded along with presenting complaints, treatment, medication administered and outcome. Specifically, injuries were then sub-classified into body regions. The data does not include athletes who sought medical attention from their own governing body’s medical team. Results: During the 8-day period, there were 11 individual presentations to the medical centre, 3.7% of the athlete population (n=299). The mean age was 23.9 years (n=7), 6 were male (n=10). The most common presentation was minor injury (n=9), with 6 being musculoskeletal and 3 comprising skin damage, followed by insect sting/allergy (n=1) and pain relief requests (n=1). Five presentations were event-related, all being musculoskeletal injuries; 2 shoulder/arm, 1 head/neck, 1 hand/wrist and 1 other (data was not recorded). Of these injuries, the only intervention was 2 cases of 400mg Ibuprofen, which was given to both shoulder/arm injuries. Four of the 11 presentations were pre-existing injuries, which had been exacerbated due to increased intensity of practice. Two patients were advised to return for review, with 100% compliance. There were no unplanned re-presentations, and no emergency transfers to secondary care. Both the Kayak Cross and Canoe Slalom competitions resulted in 1 new event-related athlete presentation each. Conclusion: The event resulted in a negligible incidence of presentations at the medical centre, for both Kayak Cross and Canoe Slalom. This data holds significance in informing risk assessments and medical protocols necessary for the organisation of canoe slalom events.

Keywords: canoe slalom, kayak cross, athlete injuries, event injuries

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Authors: Deon Bezuidenhout

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Pre-seeding with autologous endothelial cells improves the long-term patency of synthetic vascular grafts levels obtained with autografts, but is limited to a single centre due to resource, time and other constraints. Spontaneous in vivo endothelialization would obviate the need for pre-seeding, but has been shown to be absent in man due to limited transanastomotic and fallout healing, and the lack of transmural ingrowth due to insufficient porosity. Two types of graft scaffolds with increased interconnected porosity for improved tissue ingrowth and healing are thus proposed and described. Foam-type polyurethane (PU) scaffolds with small, medium and large, interconnected pores were made by phase inversion and spherical porogen extraction, with and without additional surface modification with covalently attached heparin and subsequent loading with and delivery of growth factors. Fibrillar scaffolds were made either by standard electrospinning using degradable PU (Degrapol®), or by dual electrospinning using non-degradable PU. The latter process involves sacrificial fibres that are co-spun with structural fibres and subsequently removed to increased porosity and pore size. Degrapol samples were subjected to in vitro degradation, and all scaffold types were evaluated in vivo for tissue ingrowth and vascularization using rat subcutaneous model. The foam scaffolds were additionally evaluated in a circulatory (rat infrarenal aortic interposition) model that allows for the grafts to be anastomotically and/or ablumenally isolated to discern and determine endothelialization mode. Foam-type grafts with large (150 µm) pores showed improved subcutaneous healing in terms of vascularization and inflammatory response over smaller pore sizes (60 and 90µm), and vascularization of the large porosity scaffolds was significantly increased by more than 70% by heparin modification alone, and by 150% to 400% when combined with growth factors. In the circulatory model, extensive transmural endothelialization (95±10% at 12 w) was achieved. Fallout healing was shown to be sporadic and limited in groups that were ablumenally isolated to prevent transmural ingrowth (16±30% wrapped vs. 80±20% control; p<0.002). Heparinization and GF delivery improved both mural vascularization and lumenal endothelialization. Degrapol electrospun scaffolds showed decrease in molecular mass and corresponding tensile strength over the first 2 weeks, but very little decrease in mass over the 4w test period. Studies on the effect of tissue ingrowth with and without concomitant degradation of the scaffolds, are being used to develop material models for the finite element modelling. In the case of the dual-spun scaffolds, the PU fibre fraction could be controlled shown to vary linearly with porosity (P = −0.18FF +93.5, r2=0.91), which in turn showed inverse linear correlation with tensile strength and elastic modulus (r2 > 0.96). Calculated compliance and burst pressures of the scaffolds increased with fibre fraction, and compliances matching the human popliteal artery (5-10 %/100 mmHg), and high burst pressures (> 2000 mmHg) could be achieved. Increasing porosity (76 to 82 and 90%) resulted in increased tissue ingrowth from 33±7 to 77±20 and 98±1% after 28d. Transmural endothelialization of highly porous foamed grafts is achievable in a circulatory model, and the enhancement of porosity and tissue ingrowth may hold the key the development of spontaneously endothelializing electrospun grafts.

Keywords: electrospinning, endothelialization, porosity, scaffold, vascular graft

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Authors: Michal Kielbik, Izabela Szulc-Kielbik, Anna Brzostek, Jaroslaw Dziadek, Magdalena Klink

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The goal of many research groups in the world is to find new components that are important for survival of mycobacteria in the host cells. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) possesses a number of enzymes degrading cholesterol that are considered to be an important factor for its survival and persistence in host macrophages. One of them - cholesterol oxidase (ChoD), although not being essential for cholesterol degradation, is discussed as a virulence compound, however its involvement in macrophages’ response to Mtb is still not sufficiently determined. The recognition of tubercle bacilli antigens by pathogen recognition receptors is crucial for the initiation of the host innate immune response. An important receptor that has been implicated in the recognition and/or uptake of Mtb is Toll-like receptor type 2 (TLR2). Engagement of TLR2 results in the activation and phosphorylation of intracellular signaling proteins including IRAK-1 and -4, TRAF-6, which in turn leads to the activation of target kinases and transcription factors responsible for bactericidal and pro-inflammatory response of macrophages. The aim of these studies was a detailed clarification of the role of Mtb cholesterol oxidase as a virulence factor affecting the TLR2 signaling pathway in human macrophages. As human macrophages the THP-1 differentiated cells were applied. The virulent wild-type Mtb strain (H37Rv), its mutant lacking a functional copy of gene encoding cholesterol oxidase (∆choD), as well as complimented strain (∆choD–choD) were used. We tested the impact of Mtb strains on the expression of TLR2-depended signaling proteins (mRNA level, cytosolic level and phosphorylation status). The cytokine and bactericidal response of THP-1 derived macrophages infected with Mtb strains in relation to TLR2 signaling pathway dependence was also determined. We found that during the 24-hours of infection process the wild-type and complemented Mtb significantly reduced the cytosolic level and phosphorylation status of IRAK-4 and TRAF-6 proteins in macrophages, that was not observed in the case of ΔchoD mutant. Decreasement of TLR2-dependent signaling proteins, induced by wild-type Mtb, was not dependent on the activity of proteasome. Blocking of TLR2 expression, before infection, effectively prevented the induced by wild-type strain reduction of cytosolic level and phosphorylation of IRAK-4. None of the strains affected the surface expression of TLR2. The mRNA level of IRAK-4 and TRAF-6 genes were significantly increased in macrophages 24 hours post-infection with either of tested strains. However, the impact of wild-type Mtb strain on both examined genes was significantly stronger than its ΔchoD mutant. We also found that wild-type strain stimulated macrophages to release high amount of immunosuppressive IL-10, accompanied by low amount of pro-inflammatory IL-8 and bactericidal nitric oxide in comparison to mutant lacking cholesterol oxidase. The influence of wild-type Mtb on this type of macrophages' response strongly dependent on fully active IRAK-1 and IRAK-4 signaling proteins. In conclusion, Mtb using cholesterol oxidase causes the over-activation of TLR2 signaling proteins leading to the reduction of their cytosolic level and activity resulting in the modulation of macrophages response to allow its intracellular survival. Supported by grant: 2014/15/B/NZ6/01565, National Science Center, Poland

Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, cholesterol oxidase, macrophages, TLR2-dependent signaling pathway

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Authors: Salah Jellali, Nusiba Suliman, Yassine Charabi, Jamal Al-Sabahi, Ahmed Al Raeesi, Malik Al-Wardy, Mejdi Jeguirim

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Huge amounts of agricultural biomasses are worldwide produced. At the same time, large quantities of phosphorus are annually discharged into water bodies with possible serious effects onto the environment quality. The main objective of this work is to turn a local Omani biomass (date palm fronds wastes: DPFW) into an effective material for phosphorus recovery from aqueous and the reuse of this P-loaded material in agriculture as ecofriendly amendment. For this aim, the raw DPFW were firstly impregnated with 1 M salt separated solutions of CaCl₂, MgCl₂, FeCl₃, AlCl₃, and a mixture of MgCl₂/AlCl₃ for 24 h, and then pyrolyzed under N2 flow at 500 °C for 2 hours by using an adapted tubular furnace (Carbolite, UK). The synthetized biochars were deeply characterized through specific analyses concerning their morphology, structure, texture, and surface chemistry. These analyses included the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy-dispersive X-Ray spectrometer (EDS), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), sorption micrometrics, and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) apparatus. Then, their efficiency in recovering phosphorus was investigated in batch mode for various contact times (1 min to 3 h), aqueous pH values (from 3 to 11), initial phosphorus concentrations (10-100 mg/L), presence of anions (nitrates, sulfates, and chlorides). In a second step, dynamic assays, by using laboratory columns (height of 30 cm and diameter of 3 cm), were performed in order to investigate the recovery of phosphorus by the modified biochar with a mixture of Mg/Al. The effect of the initial P concentration (25-100 mg/L), the bed depth height (3 to 8 g), and the flow rate (10-30 mL/min) was assessed. Experimental results showed that the biochars physico-chemical properties were very dependent on the type of the used modifying salt. The main affected parameters concerned the specific surface area, microporosity area, and the surface chemistry (pH of zero-point charge and available functional groups). These characteristics have significantly affected the phosphorus recovery efficiency from aqueous solutions. Indeed, the P removal efficiency in batch mode varies from about 5 mg/g for the Fe-modified biochar to more than 13 mg/g for the biochar functionalized with Mg/Al layered double hydroxides. Moreover, the P recovery seems to be a time dependent process and significantly affected by the pH of the aqueous media and the presence of foreign anions due to competition phenomenon. The laboratory column study of phosphorus recovery by the biochar functionalized with Mg/Al layered double hydroxides showed that this process is affected by the used phosphorus concentration, the flow rate, and especially the column bed depth height. Indeed, the phosphorus recovered amount increased from about 4.9 to more than 9.3 mg/g used biochar mass of 3 and 8 g, respectively. This work proved that salt-modified palm fronds-derived biochars could be considered as attractive and promising materials for phosphorus recovery from aqueous solutions even under dynamic conditions. The valorization of these P-loaded-modified biochars as eco-friendly amendment for agricultural soils is necessary will promote sustainability and circular economy concepts in the management of both liquid and solid wastes.

Keywords: date palm wastes, Mg/Al double-layered hydroxides functionalized biochars, phosphorus, recovery, sustainability, circular economy

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Authors: Sakshi Chopra, Ashima Nehra, Sumit Sinha, Harsimarpreet Kaur, Ravindra Mohan Pandey

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Background: Cognitive rehabilitation aims to retrain brain injured individuals with cognitive deficits to restore or compensate lost functions. As illiterates or people with low literacy levels represent a significant proportion of the world, specific rehabilitation modules for such populations are indispensable. Literacy is significantly associated with all neuropsychological measures and retraining programs widely use written or spoken techniques which essentially require the patient to read or write. So, the aim of the study was to develop and standardize a literacy free neuropsychological rehabilitation program for improving cognitive functioning in patients with mild and moderate Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Several studies have pointed out to the impairments seen in memory, executive functioning, and attention and concentration post-TBI, so the rehabilitation program focussed on these domains. Visual item memorization, stick constructions, symbol cancellations, and colouring techniques were used to construct the retraining program. Methodology: The development of the program consisted of planning, preparing, analyzing, and revising the different modules. The construction focussed on areas of retraining immediate and delayed visual memory, planning ability, focused and divided attention, concentration, and response inhibition (to control irritability and aggression). A total of 98 home based retraining modules were prepared in the 4 domains (42 for memory, 42 for executive functioning, 7 for attention and concentration, and 7 for response inhibition). The standardization was done on 20 healthy controls to review, select and edit items. For each module, the time, errors made and errors per second were noted down, to establish the difficulty level of each module and were arranged in increasing level of difficulty over a period of 6 weeks. The retraining tasks were then administered on 11 brain injured individuals (5 after Mild TBI and 6 after Moderate TBI). These patients were referred from the Trauma Centre to Clinical Neuropsychology OPD, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Results: The time was taken, errors made and errors per second were analysed for all domains. Education levels were divided into illiterates, up to 10 years, 10 years to graduation and graduation and above. Mean and standard deviations were calculated. Between group and within group analysis was done using the t-test. The performance of 20 healthy controls was analyzed and only a significant difference was observed on the time taken for the attention tasks and all other domains had non-significant differences in performance between different education levels. Comparing the errors, time taken between patient and control group, there was a significant difference in all the domains at the 0.01 level except the errors made on executive functioning, indicating that the tool can successfully differentiate between healthy controls and patient groups. Conclusions: Apart from the time taken for symbol cancellations, the entire cognitive rehabilitation program is literacy free. As it taps the major areas of impairment post-TBI, it could be a useful tool to rehabilitate the patient population with low literacy levels across the world. The next step is already underway to test its efficacy in improving cognitive functioning in a randomized clinical controlled trial.

Keywords: cognitive rehabilitation, illiterates, India, traumatic brain injury

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Authors: Ajay Ivan

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This paper focuses on the cultural politics of health-promotional and disease-preventive pedagogic practices in the context of the national tobacco control programme in India. Tobacco consumption is typically problematised as a paradox: tobacco poses objective health risks such as cancer and heart disease, but its production, sale and export contribute significantly to state revenue. A blanket ban on tobacco products, therefore, is infeasible though desirable. Instead, initiatives against tobacco use have prioritised awareness creation and behaviour change to reduce its demand. This paper argues that public health communication is not, as commonly assumed, an apolitical and neutral transmission of disease-preventive information. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality, it examines such campaigns as techniques of disciplining people rather than coercing them to give up tobacco use, which would be both impractical and counter-productive. At the level of the population, these programmes constitute a security mechanism that reduces risks without eliminating them, so as to ensure an optimal level of public health without hampering the economy. Anti-tobacco pedagogy thus aligns with a contemporary paradigm of health that emphasises risk-assessment and lifestyle management as tools of governance, using pedagogic techniques to teach people how to be healthy. The paper analyses the pictorial health warnings on tobacco packets and anti-tobacco advertisements in movie theatres mandated by the state, along with awareness-creation messages circulated by anti-tobacco advocacy groups in India, to show how they discursively construct tobacco and its consumption as a health risk. Smoking is resignified from a pleasurable and sociable practice to a deadly addiction that jeopardises the health of those who smoke and those who passively inhale the smoke. While disseminating information about the health risks of tobacco, these initiatives employ emotional and affective techniques of persuasion to discipline tobacco users. They incite fear of death and of social ostracism to motivate behaviour change, complementing their appeals to reason. Tobacco is portrayed as a grave moral danger to the family and a detriment to the vitality of the nation, such that using it contradicts one’s duties as a parent or citizen. Awareness programmes reproduce prevailing societal assumptions about health and disease, normalcy and deviance, and proper and improper conduct. Pedagogy thus functions as an apparatus of public health governance, recruiting subjects as volunteers in their own regulation and aligning their personal goals and aspirations to the objectives of tobacco control. The paper links this calculated management of subjectivity and the self-responsibilisation of the pedagogic subject to a distinct mode of neoliberal civic governance in contemporary India. Health features prominently in this mode of governance that serves the biopolitical obligation of the state as laid down in Article 39 of the Constitution, which includes a duty to ensure the health of its citizens. Insofar as the health of individuals is concerned, the problem is how to balance this duty of the state with the fundamental right of the citizen to choose how to live. Public health pedagogy, by directing the citizen’s ‘free’ choice without unduly infringing upon it, offers a tactical solution.

Keywords: public health communication, pedagogic power, tobacco control, neoliberal governance

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Authors: Vijay Samuel, Tina Thekkekkara, Shoma Ganguly

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There is no reported Hanta Seoul virus infection in children in the UK so far, making it quite challenging for clinicians in diagnosing, predicting and prognosticating the outcome of the infection to patients and parents. We report a case of a ten-year-old girl who presented with pyrexia associated with headache, photophobia and abdominal pain. The family had recently acquired two pet rats six weeks ago. She appeared flushed with peri-oral pallor, coated the strawberry tongue, inflamed tonsils and bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy. Her liver and splenic edges were palpable. Investigations showed that she was thrombocytopenic with deranged renal and liver functions. An ultrasound abdomen demonstrated a mildly enlarged spleen, peripancreatic lymph node and an acalculous cholecystitis. In view of her clinical presentation, a diagnosis of leptospirosis was considered and she was commenced on intravenous benzylpenicillin. The following day she became oliguric, developed significant proteinuria and her renal function deteriorated. Following conservative management, her urine output gradually improved along with her renal function, proteinuria and thrombocytopaenia. Serology for leptospirosis and various other viruses were negative. Following discussion with the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory at Porton hanta virus serology was requested and found to be strongly positive for Seoul hanta virus. Following discharge she developed palpitations, fatigue, severe headache and cognitive difficulties including memory loss and difficulties in spelling, reading and mathematics. Extensive investigations including ECG, MRI brain and CSF studies were performed and revealed no significant abnormalities. Since 2012, there have been six cases of acute kidney injury due to Hantavirus infection in the UK. Two cases were from the Humber region and were exposure to wild rats and the other four were exposed to specially bred pet fancy rats. Hanta virus infections can cause mild flu like symptoms but two clinical syndromes are associated with severe disease including haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which may be associated with thrombocytopenia and Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome. Neuropsychological impairments reported following hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and following Puumala virus infection have been reported. Minor white matter lesions were found in about half of the patients investigated with MRI brain. Seoul virus has a global distribution owing to the dispersal of its carrier host rats, through global trade. Several ports in the region could explain the possible establishment of Seoul virus in local populations of rats in the Yorkshire and Humber region. The risk of infection for occupationally exposed groups is 1-3% compared to 32.9% for specialist pet rat owners. The report highlight’s the importance of routinely asking about pets in the family. We hope to raise awareness of the emergence of hantavirus infection in the UK, particularly in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Clinicians should consider hantavirus infection as a potential cause of febrile illness causing renal impairment in children. Awareness of the possible neuro-cognitive sequele would help the clinicians offer appropriate information and support to children and their families. Contacting Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory at Porton is a useful resource for clinicians in UK when they consider unusual infections.

Keywords: Seoul hantavirus in child Porton, UK Acute kidney injury

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Authors: R. Di Lorenzo, S. Laneri, A. Sacchi

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Hair surface properties affect hair texture and shine, whereas the healthy state of the hair cortex sways hair ends. Even if cosmetic treatments are intrinsically safe, there is potentially damaging action on the hair fibers. Loss of luster, frizz, split ends, and other hair problems are particularly prevalent among people who repeatedly alter the natural style of their hair or among people with intrinsically weak hair. Technological and scientific innovations in hair care thus become invaluable allies to preserve their natural well-being and shine. The study evaluated restoring keratin-like ingredients that improve hair fibers' structural integrity, increase tensile strength, improve hair manageability and moisturizing. The hair shaft is composed of 65 - 95% of keratin. It gives the hair resistance, elasticity, and plastic properties and also contributes to their waterproofing. Providing exogenous keratin is, therefore, a practical approach to protect and nourish the hair. By analyzing the amino acid composition of keratin, we find a high frequency of hydrophobic amino acids. It confirms the critical role interactions, mainly hydrophobic, between cosmetic products and hair. The active ingredient analyzed comes from vegetable proteins through an enzymatic cut process that selected only oligo- and polypeptides (> 3500 KDa) rich in amino acids with hydrocarbon side chains apolar or sulfur. These chemical components are the most expressed amino acids at the level of the capillary keratin structure, and it determines the most significant possible compatibility with the target substrate. Given the biological variability of the sources, it isn't easy to define a constant and reproducible molecular formula of the product. Still, it consists of hydroxypropiltrimonium vegetable peptides with keratin-like performances. 20 natural hair tresses (30 cm in length and 0.50 g weight) were treated with the investigated products (5 % v/v aqueous solution) following a specific protocol and compared with non-treated (Control) and benchmark-keratin-treated strands (Benchmark). Their brightness, moisture content, cortical and surface integrity, and tensile strength were evaluated and statistically compared. Keratin-like treated hair tresses showed better results than the other two groups (Control and Benchmark). The product improves the surface with significant regularization of the cuticle closure, improves the cortex and the peri-medullar area filling, gives a highly organized and tidy structure, delivers a significant amount of sulfur on the hair, and is more efficient moisturization and imbibition power, increases hair brightness. The hydroxypropyltrimonium quaternized group added to the C-terminal end interacts with the negative charges that form on the hair after washing when disheveled and tangled. The interactions anchor the product to the hair surface, keeping the cuticles adhered to the shaft. The small size allows the peptides to penetrate and give body to the hair, together with a conditioning effect that gives an image of healthy hair. Results suggest that the product is a valid ally in numerous restructuring/conditioning, shaft protection, straightener/dryer-damage prevention hair care product.

Keywords: conditioning, hair damage, hair, keratin, polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis

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Authors: Melanie Schinnerl, Dorothea Greiling

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In the context of the 2020 strategy, poverty and its fight returned to the center of national political efforts. This served as motivation for an Austrian research grant-funded project to focus on the under-researched local government level with the aim to identify municipal best-practice cases and to derive policy implications for Austria. Designing effective poverty reduction strategies is a complex challenge which calls for an integrated multi-actor in approach. Cities are increasingly confronted to combat poverty, even in rich EU-member states. By doing so cities face substantial demographic, cultural, economic and social challenges as well as changing welfare state regimes. Furthermore, there is a low willingness of (right-wing) governments to support the poor. Against this background, the research questions are: 1. How do local governments define poverty? 2. Who are the main risk groups and what are the most pressing problems when fighting urban poverty? 3. What is regarded as successful anti-poverty initiatives? 4. What is the underlying welfare state concept? To address the research questions a multi-method approach was chosen, consisting of a systematic literature analysis, a comprehensive document analysis, and expert interviews. For interpreting the data the project follows the qualitative-interpretive paradigm. Municipal approaches for reducing poverty are compared based on deductive, as well as inductive identified criteria. In addition to an intensive literature analysis, interviews (40) were conducted in Austria since the project started in March 2018. From the other countries, 14 responses have been collected, providing a first insight. Regarding the definition of poverty the EU SILC-definition as well as counting the persons who receive need-based minimum social benefits, the Austrian form of social welfare, are the predominant approaches in Austria. In addition to homeless people, single-parent families, un-skilled persons, long-term unemployed persons, migrants (first and second generation), refugees and families with at least 3 children were frequently mentioned. The most pressing challenges for Austrian cities are: expected reductions of social budgets, a great insecurity of the central government's social policy reform plans, the growing number of homeless people and a lack of affordable housing. Together with affordable housing, old-age poverty will gain more importance in the future. The Austrian best practice examples, suggested by interviewees, focused primarily on homeless, children and young people (till 25). Central government’s policy changes have already negative effects on programs for refugees and elderly unemployed. Social Housing in Vienna was frequently mentioned as an international best practice case, other growing cities can learn from. The results from Austria indicate a change towards the social investment state, which primarily focuses on children and labour market integration. The first insights from the other countries indicate that affordable housing and labor market integration are cross-cutting issues. Inherited poverty and old-age poverty seems to be more pressing outside Austria.

Keywords: anti-poverty policies, European cities, empirical study, social investment

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Authors: Roshni Raha, Kavya P., Gayathri M.

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India, with a humongous population, remains the world's poorest developing nation in terms of nutritional status, with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) affecting the population. Despite efforts over the past decades, India's anaemia prevalence has not been reduced. Researchers are interested in developing therapies that will minimize the typical side effects of oral iron and optimize iron salts-based treatment through delivery methods based on the physiology of hepcidin regulation. However, they need to come up with iron therapies that will prevent making the infection worse. This article explores using bio-nanotechnology as the alternative, promising substitution of providing iron supplements for the treatment of diarrhoea and gut inflammation in kids and pregnant women. This article is an exploratory study using a literature survey and secondary research from review papers. In the realm of biotechnology, nanoparticles have become extremely famous due to unexpected variations in surface characteristics caused by particle size. Particle size distribution and shape exhibit unusual, enhanced characteristics when reduced to nanoscale. The article attempts to develop a model for a nanotechnology based solution in iron fortification to combat the problems of diarrhoea and gut inflammation. Certain dimensions that have been considered in the model include the size, shape, source, and biosynthesis of the iron nanoparticles. Another area of investigation addressed in the article is the cost-effective biocompatible production of these iron nanoparticles. Studies have demonstrated that a substantial reduction of metal ions to form nanoparticles from the bulk metal occurs in plants because of the presence of a wide diversity of biomolecules. Using this concept, the paper investigates the effectiveness and impact of how similar sources can be used for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles. Results showed that iron particles, when prepared in nano-metre size, offer potential advantages. When the particle size of the iron compound decreases and attains nano configuration, its surface area increases, which further improves its solubility in the gastric acid, leading to higher absorption, higher bioavailability, and producing the least organoleptic changes in food. It has no negative effects and possesses a safe, effective profile to reduce IDA. Considering all the parameters, it has been concluded that iron particles in nano configuration serve as alternative iron supplements for the complete treatment of IDA. Nanoparticles of ferric phosphate, ferric pyrophosphate, and iron oxide are the choices of iron supplements. From a sourcing perspective, the paper concludes green sources are the primary sources for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles. It will also be a cost-effective strategy since our goal is to treat the target population in rural India. Bio-nanotechnology serves as an alternative and promising substitution for iron supplements due to its low cost, excellent bioavailability, and strong organoleptic properties. One area of future research can be to explore the type of size and shape of iron nanoparticles that would be suitable for the different age groups of pregnant women and children and whether it would be influenced based on the topography in certain areas.

Keywords: anemia, bio-nanotechnology, iron-fortification, nanoparticle

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Authors: Sonam Behl, Raju, Ginu Rajan, Paul Farrar, B. Gangadhara Prusty

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Reinforcing dental composites with micro-sized fibres can significantly improve the physio-mechanical properties of dental composites. The short fibres can be oriented randomly within dental composites, thus providing quasi-isotropic reinforcing efficiency unlike unidirectional/bidirectional fibre reinforced composites enhancing anisotropic properties. Thus, short fibres reinforced dental composites are getting popular among practitioners. However, despite their popularity, resin-based dental composites are prone to failure on account of shrinkage during photo polymerisation. The shrinkage in the structure may lead to marginal gap formation, causing secondary caries, thus ultimately inducing failure of the restoration. The traditional methods to evaluate polymerisation shrinkage using strain gauges, density-based measurements, dilatometer, or bonded-disk focuses on average value of volumetric shrinkage. Moreover, the results obtained from traditional methods are sensitive to the specimen geometry. The present research aims to evaluate the real-time shrinkage strain at selected locations in the material with the help of optical fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Due to the miniature size (diameter 250 µm) of FBG sensors, they can be easily embedded into small samples of dental composites. Furthermore, an FBG array into the system can map the real-time shrinkage strain at different regions of the composite. The evaluation of real-time monitoring of shrinkage values may help to optimise the physio-mechanical properties of composites. Previously, FBG sensors have been able to rightfully measure polymerisation strains of anisotropic (unidirectional or bidirectional) reinforced dental composites. However, very limited study exists to establish the validity of FBG based sensors to evaluate volumetric shrinkage for randomly oriented fibres reinforced composites. The present study aims to fill this research gap and is focussed on establishing the usage of FBG based sensors for evaluating the shrinkage of dental composites reinforced with randomly oriented fibres. Three groups of specimens were prepared by mixing the resin (80% UDMA/20% TEGDMA) with 55% of silane treated BaAlSiO₂ particulate fillers or by adding 5% of micro-sized fibres of diameter 5 µm, and length 250/350 µm along with 50% of silane treated BaAlSiO₂ particulate fillers into the resin. For measurement of polymerisation shrinkage strain, an array of three fibre Bragg grating sensors was embedded at a depth of 1 mm into a circular Teflon mould of diameter 15 mm and depth 2 mm. The results obtained are compared with the traditional method for evaluation of the volumetric shrinkage using density-based measurements. Degree of conversion was measured using FTIR spectroscopy (Spotlight 400 FT-IR from PerkinElmer). It is expected that the average polymerisation shrinkage strain values for dental composites reinforced with micro-sized fibres can directly correlate with the measured degree of conversion values, implying that more C=C double bond conversion to C-C single bond values also leads to higher shrinkage strain within the composite. Moreover, it could be established the photonics approach could help assess the shrinkage at any point of interest in the material, suggesting that fibre-Bragg grating sensors are a suitable means for measuring real-time polymerisation shrinkage strain for randomly fibre reinforced dental composites as well.

Keywords: dental composite, glass fibre, polymerisation shrinkage strain, fibre-Bragg grating sensors

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Authors: Kaaryn Cater

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People vary in how they perceive, process, and react to internal, external, social, and emotional environmental factors; some are more sensitive than others. Compassionate people have a highly reactive nervous system and are more impacted by positive and negative environmental conditions (Differential Susceptibility). Further, some sensitive individuals are disproportionately able to benefit from positive and supportive environments without necessarily suffering negative impacts in less supportive environments (Vantage Sensitivity). Environmental sensitivity is underpinned by physiological, genetic, and personality/temperamental factors, and the phenotypic expression of high sensitivity is Sensory Processing Sensitivity. The hallmarks of Sensory Processing Sensitivity are deep cognitive processing, emotional reactivity, high levels of empathy, noticing environmental subtleties, a tendency to observe new and novel situations, and a propensity to become overwhelmed when over-stimulated. Several educational advantages associated with high sensitivity include creativity, enhanced memory, divergent thinking, giftedness, and metacognitive monitoring. High sensitivity can also lead to some educational challenges, particularly managing multiple conflicting demands and negotiating low sensory thresholds. A mixed methods study was undertaken. In the first quantitative study, participants completed the Perceived Success in Study Survey (PSISS) and the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS-12). Inclusion criteria were current or previous postsecondary education experience. The survey was presented on social media, and snowball recruitment was employed (n=365). The Excel spreadsheets were uploaded to the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS)26, and descriptive statistics found normal distribution. T-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) calculations found no difference in the responses of demographic groups, and Principal Components Analysis and the posthoc Tukey calculations identified positive associations between high sensitivity and three of the five PSISS factors. Further ANOVA calculations found positive associations between the PSISS and two of the three sensitivity subscales. This study included a response field to register interest in further research. Respondents who scored in the 70th percentile on the HSPS-12 were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Thirteen interviews were conducted remotely (12 female). Reflexive inductive thematic analysis was employed to analyse data, and a descriptive approach was employed to present data reflective of participant experience. The results of this study found that compassionate students prioritize work-life balance; employ a range of practical metacognitive study and self-care strategies; value independent learning; connect with learning that is meaningful; and are bothered by aspects of the physical learning environment, including lighting, noise, and indoor environmental pollutants. There is a dearth of research investigating sensitivity in the educational context, and these studies highlight the need to promote widespread education sector awareness of environmental sensitivity, and the need to include sensitivity in sector and institutional diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Keywords: differential susceptibility, highly sensitive person, learning, neurosensitivity, sensory processing sensitivity, vantage sensitivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Alexander K. Edwards

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Introduction: The moral dimension of teacher education globally has assumed a new paradigm of thinking based on the public gain (return-on-investments), value-creation (quality), professionalism (practice), and business strategies (innovations). Abundant literature reveals an interesting revolutionary trend in complimenting the raising of teachers and academic performances. Because of the global competition in the knowledge-creation and service areas, the C21st teacher at all levels is expected to be resourceful, strategic thinker, socially intelligent, relationship aptitude, and entrepreneur astute. This study is a significant contribution to practice and innovations to raise exemplary or primal teachers. In this study, the qualities needed were considered as ‘Quadrant Intelligence (Q-i)’ model for a primal teacher leadership beyond the classroom. The researcher started by examining the issue of the majority of teachers in Ghana Education Services (GES) in need of this Q-i to be effective and efficient. The conceptual framing became determinants of such Q-i. This is significant for global employability and versatility in teacher education to create premium and primal teacher leadership, which are again gaining high attention in scholarship due to failing schools. The moral aspect of teachers failing learners is a highly important discussion. In GES, some schools score zero percent at the basic education certificate examination (BECE). The question is what will make any professional teacher highly productive, marketable, and an entrepreneur? What will give teachers the moral consciousness of doing the best to succeed? Method: This study set out to develop a model for primal teachers in GES as an innovative way to highlight a premium development for the C21st business-education acumen through desk reviews. The study is conceptually framed by examining certain skill sets such as strategic thinking, social intelligence, relational and emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship to answer three main burning questions and other hypotheses. Then the study applied the causal comparative methodology with a purposive sampling technique (N=500) from CoE, GES, NTVI, and other teachers associations. Participants responded to a 30-items, researcher-developed questionnaire. Data is analyzed on the quadrant constructs and reported as ex post facto analyses of multi-variances and regressions. Multiple associations were established for statistical significance (p=0.05). Causes and effects are postulated for scientific discussions. Findings: It was found out that these quadrants are very significant in teacher development. There were significant variations in the demographic groups. However, most teachers lack considerable skills in entrepreneurship, leadership in teaching and learning, and business thinking strategies. These have significant effect on practices and outcomes. Conclusion and Recommendations: It is quite conclusive therefore that in GES teachers may need further instructions in innovations and creativity to transform knowledge-creation into business venture. In service training (INSET) has to be comprehensive. Teacher education curricula at Colleges may have to be re-visited. Teachers have the potential to raise their social capital, to be entrepreneur, and to exhibit professionalism beyond their community services. Their primal leadership focus will benefit many clienteles including students and social circles. Recommendations examined the policy implications for curriculum design, practice, innovations and educational leadership.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship, leadership, quadrant intelligence (q-i), primal teacher leadership, strategic thinking, social intelligence

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Tianfang Zhang, Luxi He, Zhengbin He, Songlin Yi

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Moso bamboo is a common non-wood forest resource in Asia that is widely used in construction, furniture, and other fields. Influenced by the heterogeneous structure and various hygroscopic groups of bamboo, the deformation occurs as moisture absorption and desorption when the environment temperature and humidity conditions change. Thermal modification is a well-established commercial technology for improving the dimensional stability of bamboo. However, the higher energy consumption and carbon emissions limit its further development. Previous studies have indicated that inorganic salt-assisted thermal modification could lead to significant reductions in moisture absorption and energy consumption. Represented by metal chlorides, it could show Lewis acid properties when dissolved in water, generating metal ion ligand complexes. In addition, ultrasonic treatment, as an efficient and environmentally friendly physical treatment method, improved the accessibility of pretreatment chemical impregnation agents and intensified mass and heat transfer during reactions. To save energy and reduce deformation, this study elucidates the influence of zinc chloride-ultrasonic treatment on the physicochemical properties of heat-treated bamboo, and the details of the bamboo deformation mechanism with Lewis acid are explained. Three sets of parameters (inorganic salt concentration, ultrasonic frequency and heat treatment temperature) were designed, and an optimized process was proposed to clarify this scientific question, that is: 5% (w/w) zinc chloride solution, 40 kHz ultrasonic waves and heat treatment at 160 °C. The samples were characterized by different means to analyze changes in their macroscopic features, pore structure, chemical structure and chemical composition. The results suggested that the maximum weight loss rate was reduced by at least 19.75%. The maximum thermal degradation peak of hemicellulose was significantly shifted forward. The hygroscopicity was reduced by 10.15%, the relative crystallinity was increased by 4.4%, the surface contact angle was increased by 25.2%, and the color change was increased by 23.60 in the optimal condition. From the electron microscope observation, the treated surface became rougher, and cracks appeared in some weaker areas, accelerating starch loss and removing granular attachments around the pits. By ion diffusion, zinc ions diffused into hemicellulose and a partial amorphous region of cellulose. Parts of the cell wall structure were subjected to swelling and degradation, leading to the broken state of parenchyma cells. From the Raman spectrum, compared to conventional thermal modifications, hemicellulose thermal degradation and lignin migration is promoted by Lewis acid under dilute acid-thermal condition. As shown in this work, the combined Lewis acid and ultrasonic pretreatment as an environmentally friendly, safe, and efficient physic-chemical combined pretreatment method improved the dimensional stability of Moso bamboo and lowered the thermal degradation conditions. This method has great potential for development in the field of bamboo heat treatment, and it might provide some guidance for making dark bamboo flooring.

Keywords: Moso bamboo, Lewis acid, ultrasound, heat treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Martyna Ekiert, Natalia Grzechnik, Joanna Karbowniczek, Urszula Stachewicz, Andrzej Mlyniec

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Tendon grafting is a common procedure performed to treat tendon rupture. Before the surgical procedure, tissues intended for grafts (i.e., Achilles tendon) are stored in ultra-low temperatures for a long time and also may be subjected to unfavorable conditions, such as repetitive freezing (F) and thawing (T). Such storage protocols may highly influence the graft mechanical properties, decrease its functionality and thus increase the risk of complications during the transplant procedure. The literature reports on the influence of multiple F/T cycles on internal structure and mechanical properties of tendons stay inconclusive, confirming and denying the negative influence of multiple F/T at the same time. An inconsistent research methodology and lack of clear limit of F/T cycles, which disqualifies tissue for surgical graft purposes, encouraged us to investigate the issue of multiple F/T cycles by the mean of biomechanical tensile tests supported with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging. The study was conducted on male bovine Achilles tendon-derived from the local abattoir. Fresh tendons were cleaned of excessive membranes and then sectioned to obtained fascicle bundles. Collected samples were randomly assigned to 6 groups subjected to 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 cycles of freezing-thawing (F/T), respectively. Each F/T cycle included deep freezing at -80°C temperature, followed by thawing at room temperature. After final thawing, thin slices of the side part of samples subjected to 1, 4, 8 and 12 F/T cycles were collected for SEM imaging. Then, the width and thickness of all samples were measured to calculate the cross-sectional area. Biomechanical tests were performed using the universal testing machine (model Instron 8872, INSTRON®, Norwood, Massachusetts, USA) using a load cell with a maximum capacity of 250 kN and standard atmospheric conditions. Both ends of each fascicle bundle were manually clamped in grasping clamps using abrasive paper and wet cellulose wadding swabs to prevent tissue slipping while clamping and testing. Samples were subjected to the testing procedure including pre-loading, pre-cycling, loading, holding and unloading steps to obtain stress-strain curves for representing tendon stretching and relaxation. The stiffness of AT fascicles bundle samples was evaluated in terms of modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus), calculated from the slope of the linear region of stress-strain curves. SEM imaging was preceded by chemical sample preparation including 24hr fixation in 3% glutaraldehyde buffered with 0.1 M phosphate buffer, washing with 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution and dehydration in a graded ethanol solution. SEM images (Merlin Gemini II microscope, ZEISS®) were taken using 30 000x mag, which allowed measuring a diameter of collagen fibrils. The results confirm a decrease in fascicle bundles Young’s modulus as well as a decrease in the diameter of collagen fibrils. These results confirm the negative influence of multiple F/T cycles on the mechanical properties of tendon tissue.

Keywords: biomechanics, collagen, fascicle bundles, soft tissue

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Soni T. L.

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Sustainable environmental stress is a major concern which needs immediate attention. This paper is an attempt to present participatory action research for sustainable agriculture. Being first and best culture, agriculture protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of people, and safeguards the health and welfare of all groups. During course of time agriculture turned to agribusiness, then the values are not safeguarded. Moreover, in today’s busy life many are not taking efforts to take part in agriculture production. Then children are not getting the opportunity to understand agriculture and farming practices. So student initiatives are vital to make them aware. Here the programmes structured by the researcher come under the auspicious of National Service Scheme, a student-centered educational programme, organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. The twin objectives of the study are to examine the role of student initiatives for sustainable agriculture and the role of participatory action research in student initiatives. SWOT analysis is made to study strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The Methodology adopted is Participatory Action Research. The method is participatory in a sense there is collaboration through participation. The method is action, there is lab land experiences which is real. The method is research that there is documented lessons and creation of new knowledge. Plan of action cover measures adopted and strategies taken i.e., bhavana – kalpana – yojana – sadhana. Through the team effort, the team was successful in converting more than 10 hectares of barren land into cultivable land within and outside the campus. Team efforts of students saved a huge amount of labour cost and produced a huge quantity of organic output and the team was also successful in creating 1000 rain pits in the premises of College for rainwater harvesting. The findings include conveyance of the Message: Food Production is superior to Food donation. Moreover, the study fostered good work ethic and social responsibility among students. Students undertake innovative programmes underlying social and environmental issues and participants got increased opportunities to interact with local and less privileged and acquired increased awareness about real-life experiences which make them confident to interact with people and it resulted in the strengthening of social capital- cooperation, team spirit, social commitment among students. Participants promoted sustainable domestic efforts and ultimately environmental protection is ensured. Finally, there is recognition to the team, institution and the researcher at the university level, state level and at the national level. The learned lessons are, if the approach is good, the response is good and success generates success. Participatory action research is empowering experience for practitioners, focusing the combined time, energy and creativity of a committed group we should lead so many programmes which makes the institution centre of excellence. Authorities should take necessary steps for the Inclusion of community development activities in the curriculum. Action research is problem, client and action centered. So, we must adapt and adopt, coordinates and correlates measures which preserve and conserve the environment.

Keywords: participatory action research, student initiatives, sustainable development, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Bangun F., Crevits B., Bellet T., Banet A., Boy G. A., Katili I.

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This paper seeks the incoherencies in cognitive process during an accident of Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) by understanding the factual sequences of events and causal relations for each case of accident. The principle of this approach is undertaking in-depth investigations on case per case of PTW accidents based on elaborate data acquisitions on accident sites that officially stamped in Police Crash Report (PCRs) 2012 of Medan with criteria, involved at least one PTW and resulted in serious injury and fatalities. The analysis takes into account four modules: accident chronologies, perpetrator, and victims, injury surveillance, vehicles and road infrastructures, comprising of traffic facilities, road geometry, road alignments and weather. The proposal for improvement could have provided a favorable influence on the chain of functional processes and events leading to collision. Decision Aiding Processes (DAP) assists in structuring different entities at different decisional levels, as each of these entities has its own objectives and constraints. The entities (A) are classified into 6 groups of accidents: solo PTW accidents; PTW vs. PTW; PTW vs. pedestrian; PTW vs. motor-trishaw; and PTW vs. other vehicles and consecutive crashes. The entities are also distinguished into 4 decisional levels: level of road users and street systems; operational level (crash-attended police officers or CAPO and road engineers), tactical level (Regional Traffic Police, Department of Transportation, and Department of Public Work), and strategic level (Traffic Police Headquarters (TCPHI)), parliament, Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Public Work). These classifications will lead to conceptualization of Problem Situations (P) and Problem Formulations (I) in DAP context. The DAP concerns the sequences process of the incidents until the time the accident occurs, which can be modelled in terms of five activities of procedural rationality: identification on initial human features (IHF), investigation on proponents attributes (PrAT), on Injury Surveillance (IS), on the interaction between IHF and PrAt and IS (intercorrelation), then unravel the sequences of incidents; filtering and disclosure, which include: what needs to activate, modify or change or remove, what is new and what is priority. These can relate to the activation or modification or new establishment of law. The PrAt encompasses the problems of environmental, road infrastructure, road and traffic facilities, and road geometry. The evaluation model (MP) is generated to bridge P and I since MP is produced by the intercorrelations among IHF, PrAT and IS extracted from the PCRs 2012 of Medan. There are 7 findings of incoherences: lack of knowledge and awareness on the traffic regulations and the risks of accidents, especially when riding between 0 < x < 10 km from house, riding between 22 p.m.–05.30 a.m.; lack of engagements on procurement of IHF Data by CAPO; lack of competency of CAPO on data procurement in accident-sites; no intercorrelation among IHF and PrAt and IS in the database systems of PCRs; lack of maintenance and supervision on the availabilities and the capacities of traffic facilities and road infrastructure; instrumental bias with wash-back impacts towards the TCPHI; technical robustness with wash-back impacts towards the CAPO and TCPHI.

Keywords: decision aiding processes, evaluation model, PTW accidents, police crash reports

Procedia PDF Downloads 127