Search results for: patient related elbow evaluation scale

Authors: Andrew Gennett

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Designing for fungal development means embracing the symbiotic relationship between the living system and built environment. The potential of mycelium post-colonization is explored for the fabrication of advanced pure mycelium products, going beyond the conventional methods of aggregating materials. Fruiting induction imparts desired material properties such as enhanced environmental resistance. Production approach allows for simultaneous generation of multiple products while scaling up raw materials supply suitable for architectural applications. The following work explores the integration of fungal environmental perception with computational design of built fruiting chambers. Polyporales, are classified by their porous reproductive tissues supported by a wood-like context tissue covered by a hard waterproofing coat of hydrobpobins. Persisting for years in the wild, these species represent material properties that would be highly desired in moving beyond flat sheets of arial mycelium as with leather or bacon applications. Understanding the inherent environmental perception of fungi has become the basis for working with and inducing desired hyphal differentiation. Working within the native signal interpretation of a mycelium mass during fruiting induction provides the means to apply textures and color to the final finishing coat. A delicate interplay between meeting human-centered goals while designing around natural processes of living systems represents a blend of art and science. Architecturally, physical simulations inform model design for simple modular fruiting chambers that change as fungal growth progresses, while biological life science principles describe the internal computations occurring within the fungal hyphae. First, a form filling phase of growth is controlled by growth chamber environment. Second, an initiation phase of growth forms the final exterior finishing texture. Hyphal densification induces cellular cascades, in turn producing the classical hardened cuticle, UV protective molecule production, as well, as waterproofing finish. Upon fruiting process completion, the fully colonized spent substrate holds considerable value and is not considered waste. Instead, it becomes a valuable resource in the next cycle of production scale-up. However, the acquisition of new substrate resources poses a critical question, particularly as these resources become increasingly scarce. Pursuing a regenerative design paradigm from the environmental perspective, the usage of “agricultural waste” for architectural materials would prove a continuation of the destructive practices established by the previous industrial regime. For these residues from fields and forests serve a vital ecological role protecting the soil surface in combating erosion while reducing evaporation and fostering a biologically diverse food web. Instead, urban centers have been identified as abundant sources of new substrate material. Diverting the waste from secondary locations such as food processing centers, papers mills, and recycling facilities not only reduces landfill burden but leverages the latent value of these waste steams as precious resources for mycelium cultivation. In conclusion, working with living systems through innovative built environments for fungal development, provides the needed gain of function and resilience of mycelium products. The next generation of sustainable fungal products will go beyond the current binding process, with a focus upon reducing landfill burden from urban centers. In final considerations, biophilic material builds to an ecologically regenerative recycling production cycle.

Keywords: regenerative agriculture, mycelium fabrication, growth chamber design, sustainable resource acquisition, fungal morphogenesis, soil fertility

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Authors: Raptis Sotirios

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Health and social care (HSc) services planning and scheduling are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic pressure and also suffer from unplanned spending that is negatively impacted by the global financial crisis. Data-driven can help to improve policies, plan and design services provision schedules using algorithms assist healthcare managers’ to face unexpected demands using fewer resources. The paper discusses services packing using statistical significance tests and machine learning (ML) to evaluate demands similarity and coupling. This is achieved by predicting the range of the demand (class) using ML methods such as CART, random forests (RF), and logistic regression (LGR). The significance tests Chi-Squared test and Student test are used on data over a 39 years span for which HSc services data exist for services delivered in Scotland. The demands are probabilistically associated through statistical hypotheses that assume that the target service’s demands are statistically dependent on other demands as a NULL hypothesis. This linkage can be confirmed or not by the data. Complementarily, ML methods are used to linearly predict the above target demands from the statistically found associations and extend the linear dependence of the target’s demand to independent demands forming, thus groups of services. Statistical tests confirm ML couplings making the prediction also statistically meaningful and prove that a target service can be matched reliably to other services, and ML shows these indicated relationships can also be linear ones. Zero paddings were used for missing years records and illustrated better such relationships both for limited years and in the entire span offering long term data visualizations while limited years groups explained how well patients numbers can be related in short periods or can change over time as opposed to behaviors across more years. The prediction performance of the associations is measured using Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) AUC and ACC metrics as well as the statistical tests, Chi-Squared and Student. Co-plots and comparison tables for RF, CART, and LGR as well as p-values and Information Exchange(IE), are provided showing the specific behavior of the ML and of the statistical tests and the behavior using different learning ratios. The impact of k-NN and cross-correlation and C-Means first groupings is also studied over limited years and the entire span. It was found that CART was generally behind RF and LGR, but in some interesting cases, LGR reached an AUC=0 falling below CART, while the ACC was as high as 0.912, showing that ML methods can be confused padding or by data irregularities or outliers. On average, 3 linear predictors were sufficient, LGR was found competing RF well, and CART followed with the same performance at higher learning ratios. Services were packed only if when significance level(p-value) of their association coefficient was more than 0.05. Social factors relationships were observed between home care services and treatment of old people, birth weights, alcoholism, drug abuse, and emergency admissions. The work found that different HSc services can be well packed as plans of limited years, across various services sectors, learning configurations, as confirmed using statistical hypotheses.

Keywords: class, cohorts, data frames, grouping, prediction, prob-ability, services

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Authors: Alireza Barari, Saeed Shirali, Ahmad Abdi

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Abstract: Introduction: Physical activity may be related to male reproductive function by affecting on thehypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal(HPG) axis. Our aim was to determine the effects of 6 weeks resistance exercise on reproductive hormones, HPG axis. The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis refers tothe effects of endocrine glands in three-level including (i) the hypothalamic releasing hormone GnRH, which is synthesized in in a small heterogenous neuronal population and released in a pulsatile fashion, (ii) the anterior pituitary hormones, follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) and (iii) the gonadal hormones, which include both steroid such as testosterone (T), estradiol and progesterone and peptide hormones (such as inhibin). Hormonal changes that create a more anabolic environment have been suggested to contribute to the adaptation to strength exercise. Physical activity has an extensive impact on male reproductive function depending upon the intensity and duration of the exercise and the fitness level of the individual. However, strenuous exercise represents a physical stress and inflammation changed that challenges homeostasis. Materials and methods: Sixteen male volunteered were included in a 6-week control period followed by 6 weeks of resistance training (leg press, lat pull, chest press, squat, seatedrow, abdominal crunch, shoulder press, biceps curl and triceps press down) four times per week. intensity of training loading was 60%-75% of one maximum repetition. Participants performed 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Rest periods were two min between exercises and sets. Start with warm up exercises include: The muscles relax and stretch the body, which was for 10 minutes. Body composition, VO2max and the circulating level of free testosterone (fT), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and inhibin B measured prior and post 6-week intervention. The hormonal levels of each serum sample were measured using commercially available ELISA kits. Analysis of anthropometrical data and hormonal level were compared using the independent samples t- test in both groups and using SPSS (version 19). P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: For muscle strength, both lower- and upper-body strength were increased significantly. Aerobic fitness level improved in trained participant from 39.4 ± 5.6 to 41.9 ± 5.3 (P = 0.002). fT concentration rise progressively in the trained group and was significantly greater than those in the control group (P = 0.000). By the end of the 6-week resistance training, serum SHBG significantly increased in the trained group compared with the control group (P = 0.013). In response to resistance training, LH, FSH and inhibin B were not significantly changed. Discussion: According to our finfings, 6 weeks of resistance training induce fat loss without any changes in body weight and BMI. A decline of 25.3% in percentage of body fat with statiscally same weight was due to increase in muscle mass that happened during resistance exercise periods . Six weeks of resistance training resulted in significant improvement in BF%, VO2max and increasing strength and the level of fT and SHBG.

Keywords: resistance, hypothalamic, pituitary, gonadal axis

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Hadush Kidane Meresa

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The hydrological extremes frequency analysis is the foundation for the hydraulic engineering design, flood protection, drought management and water resources management and planning to utilize the available water resource to meet the desired objectives of different organizations and sectors in a country. This spatial variation of the statistical characteristics of the extreme flood and drought events are key practice for regional flood and drought analysis and mitigation management. For different hydro-climate of the regions, where the data set is short, scarcity, poor quality and insufficient, the regionalization methods are applied to transfer at-site data to a region. This study aims in regional high and low flow frequency analysis for Poland River Basins. Due to high frequent occurring of hydrological extremes in the region and rapid water resources development in this basin have caused serious concerns over the flood and drought magnitude and frequencies of the river in Poland. The magnitude and frequency result of high and low flows in the basin is needed for flood and drought planning, management and protection at present and future. Hydrological homogeneous high and low flow regions are formed by the cluster analysis of site characteristics, using the hierarchical and C- mean clustering and PCA method. Statistical tests for regional homogeneity are utilized, by Discordancy and Heterogeneity measure tests. In compliance with results of the tests, the region river basin has been divided into ten homogeneous regions. In this study, frequency analysis of high and low flows using AM for high flow and 7-day minimum low flow series is conducted using six statistical distributions. The use of L-moment and LL-moment method showed a homogeneous region over entire province with Generalized logistic (GLOG), Generalized extreme value (GEV), Pearson type III (P-III), Generalized Pareto (GPAR), Weibull (WEI) and Power (PR) distributions as the regional drought and flood frequency distributions. The 95% percentile and Flow duration curves of 1, 7, 10, 30 days have been plotted for 10 stations. However, the cluster analysis performed two regions in west and east of the province where L-moment and LL-moment method demonstrated the homogeneity of the regions and GLOG and Pearson Type III (PIII) distributions as regional frequency distributions for each region, respectively. The spatial variation and regional frequency distribution of flood and drought characteristics for 10 best catchment from the whole region was selected and beside the main variable (streamflow: high and low) we used variables which are more related to physiographic and drainage characteristics for identify and delineate homogeneous pools and to derive best regression models for ungauged sites. Those are mean annual rainfall, seasonal flow, average slope, NDVI, aspect, flow length, flow direction, maximum soil moisture, elevation, and drainage order. The regional high-flow or low-flow relationship among one streamflow characteristics with (AM or 7-day mean annual low flows) some basin characteristics is developed using Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) and Generalized Least Square (GLS) regression model, providing a simple and effective method for estimation of flood and drought of desired return periods for ungauged catchments.

Keywords: flood , drought, frequency, magnitude, regionalization, stochastic, ungauged, Poland

Procedia PDF Downloads 568

Authors: J. Chamorro-Servent, S. Tassani, M. A. Gonzalez-Ballester, L. J. Roca, J. Romeu, O. Camara

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Electromagnetic and microwave imaging (MWI) have been used in medical imaging in the last years, being the most common applications of breast cancer and stroke detection or monitoring. In those applications, the subject or zone to observe is surrounded by a number of antennas, and the Nyquist criterium can be satisfied. Additionally, the space between the antennas (transmitting and receiving the electromagnetic fields) and the zone to study can be prepared in a homogeneous scenario. However, this may differ in other cases as could be intracardiac catheters, stomach monitoring devices, pelvic organ systems, liver ablation monitoring devices, or uterine fibroids’ ablation systems. In this work, we analyzed different MWI algorithms to find the most suitable method for dealing with an intrabody scenario. Due to the space limitations usually confronted on those applications, the device would have a cylindrical configuration of a maximum of eight transmitters and eight receiver antennas. This together with the positioning of the supposed device inside a body tract impose additional constraints in order to choose a reconstruction method; for instance, it inhabitants the use of well-known algorithms such as filtered backpropagation for diffraction tomography (due to the unusual configuration with probes enclosed by the imaging region). Finally, the difficulty of simulating a realistic non-homogeneous background inside the body (due to the incomplete knowledge of the dielectric properties of other tissues between the antennas’ position and the zone to observe), also prevents the use of Born and Rytov algorithms due to their limitations with a heterogeneous background. Instead, we decided to use a time-reversed algorithm (mostly used in geophysics) due to its characteristics of ignoring heterogeneities in the background medium, and of focusing its generated field onto the scatters. Therefore, a 2D time-reversed finite difference time domain was developed based on the time-reversed approach for microwave breast cancer detection. Simultaneously an in-silico testbed was also developed to compare ground-truth dielectric properties with corresponding microwave imaging reconstruction. Forward and inverse problems were computed varying: the frequency used related to a small zone to observe (7, 7.5 and 8 GHz); a small polyp diameter (5, 7 and 10 mm); two polyp positions with respect to the closest antenna (aligned or disaligned); and the (transmitters-to-receivers) antenna combination used for the reconstruction (1-1, 8-1, 8-8 or 8-3). Results indicate that when using the existent time-reversed method for breast cancer here for the different combinations of transmitters and receivers, we found false positives due to the high degrees of freedom and unusual configuration (and the possible violation of Nyquist criterium). Those false positives founded in 8-1 and 8-8 combinations, highly reduced with the 1-1 and 8-3 combination, being the 8-3 configuration de most suitable (three neighboring receivers at each time). The 8-3 configuration creates a region-of-interest reduced problem, decreasing the ill-posedness of the inverse problem. To conclude, the proposed algorithm solves the main limitations of the described intrabody application, successfully detecting the angular position of targets inside the body tract.

Keywords: FDTD, time-reversed, medical imaging, microwave imaging

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Authors: Maria De Los Angeles Ortega, Denis Bruneau, Patrick Sebastian, Jean-Pierre Nadeau, Alain Sommier, Saed Raji

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Phase change materials (PCM) present attractive features that made them a passive solution for thermal comfort assessment in buildings during summer time. They show a large storage capacity per volume unit in comparison with other structural materials like bricks or concrete. If their use is matched with the peak load periods, they can contribute to the reduction of the primary energy consumption related to cooling applications. Despite these promising characteristics, they present some drawbacks. Commercial PCMs, as paraffines, offer a low thermal conductivity affecting the overall performance of the system. In some cases, the material can be enhanced, adding other elements that improve the conductivity, but in general, a design of the unit that optimizes the thermal performance is sought. The material selection is the departing point during the designing stage, and it does not leave plenty of room for optimization. The PCM melting point depends highly on the atmospheric characteristics of the building location. The selection must relay within the maximum, and the minimum temperature reached during the day. The geometry of the PCM container and the geometrical distribution of these containers are designing parameters, as well. They significantly affect the heat transfer, and therefore its phenomena must be studied exhaustively. During its lifetime, an air-PCM unit in a building must cool down the place during daytime, while the melting of the PCM occurs. At night, the PCM must be regenerated to be ready for next uses. When the system is not in service, a minimal amount of thermal exchanges is desired. The aforementioned functions result in the presence of sensible and latent heat storage and release. Hence different types of mechanisms drive the heat transfer phenomena. An experimental test was designed to study the heat transfer phenomena occurring in a circular tube bundle air-PCM exchanger. An in-line arrangement was selected as the geometrical distribution of the containers. With the aim of visual identification, the containers material and a section of the test bench were transparent. Some instruments were placed on the bench for measuring temperature and velocity. The PCM properties were also available through differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) tests. An evolution of the temperature during both cycles, melting and solidification were obtained. The results showed some phenomena at a local level (tubes) and on an overall level (exchanger). Conduction and convection appeared as the main heat transfer mechanisms. From these results, two approaches to analyze the heat transfer were followed. The first approach described the phenomena in a single tube as a series of thermal resistances, where a pure conduction controlled heat transfer was assumed in the PCM. For the second approach, the temperature measurements were used to find some significant dimensionless numbers and parameters as Stefan, Fourier and Rayleigh numbers, and the melting fraction. These approaches allowed us to identify the heat transfer phenomena during both cycles. The presence of natural convection during melting might have been stated from the influence of the Rayleigh number on the correlations obtained.

Keywords: phase change materials, air-PCM exchangers, convection, conduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Kimberley Adamek

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According to the Council on Tall Buildings, there has been a rapid increase in the construction of tall or “megatall” buildings over the past two decades. Simultaneously, the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that there has been a steady increase in climate related natural disasters since the 1970s; the eastern expansion of the USA's infamous Tornado Alley being just one of many current issues. In the future, this could mean that tall buildings, which already guide high speed winds down to pedestrian levels would have to withstand stronger forces and protect pedestrians in more extreme ways. Although many projects are required to be verified within wind tunnels and a handful of cities such as San Francisco have included wind testing within building code standards, there are still many examples where wind is only considered for basic loading. This typically results in and an increase of structural expense and unwanted mitigation strategies that are proposed late within a project. When building cities, architects rarely consider how each building alters the invisible patterns of wind and how these alterations effect other areas in different ways later on. It is not until these forces move, overpower and even destroy cities that people take notice. For example, towers have caused winds to blow objects into people (Walkie-Talkie Tower, Leeds, England), cause building parts to vibrate and produce loud humming noises (Beetham Tower, Manchester), caused wind tunnels in streets as well as many other issues. Alternatively, there exist towers which have used their form to naturally draw in air and ventilate entire facilities in order to eliminate the needs for costly HVAC systems (The Met, Thailand) and used their form to increase wind speeds to generate electricity (Bahrain Tower, Dubai). Wind and weather exist and effect all parts of the world in ways such as: Science, health, war, infrastructure, catastrophes, tourism, shopping, media and materials. Working in partnership with a leading wind engineering company RWDI, a series of tests, images and animations documenting discovered interactions of different building forms with wind will be collected to emphasize the possibilities for wind use to architects. A site within San Francisco (due to its increasing tower development, consistently wind conditions and existing strict wind comfort criteria) will host a final design. Iterations of this design will be tested within the wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamic systems which will expose, utilize and manipulate wind flows to create new forms, technologies and experiences. Ultimately, this thesis aims to question the amount which the environment is allowed to permeate building enclosures, uncover new programmatic possibilities for wind in buildings, and push the boundaries of working with the wind to ensure the development and safety of future cities. This investigation will improve and expand upon the traditional understanding of wind in order to give architects, wind engineers as well as the general public the ability to broaden their scope in order to productively utilize this living phenomenon that everyone constantly feels but cannot see.

Keywords: wind engineering, climate, visualization, architectural aerodynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Serap Durkut, A. Eser Elcin, Y. Murat Elcin

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Stimuli-sensitive polymeric hydrogels have received extensive attention in the biomedical field due to their sensitivity to physical and chemical stimuli (temperature, pH, ionic strength, light, etc.). This study describes the rheological properties of a novel thermoresponsive poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)-g-collagen hydrogel. In the study, we first synthesized a facile and novel synthetic carboxyl group-terminated thermo-responsive poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)-COOH (PNVCL-COOH) via free radical polymerization. Further, this compound was effectively grafted with native collagen, by utilizing the covalent bond between the carboxylic acid groups at the end of the chains and amine groups of the collagen using cross-linking agent (EDC/NHS), forming PNVCL-g-Col. Newly-formed hybrid hydrogel displayed novel properties, such as increased mechanical strength and thermoresponsive characteristics. PNVCL-g-Col showed low critical solution temperature (LCST) at 38ºC, which is very close to the body temperature. Rheological studies determine structural–mechanical properties of the materials and serve as a valuable tool for characterizing. The rheological properties of hydrogels are described in terms of two dynamic mechanical properties: the elastic modulus G′ (also known as dynamic rigidity) representing the reversible stored energy of the system, and the viscous modulus G″, representing the irreversible energy loss. In order to characterize the PNVCL-g-Col, the rheological properties were measured in terms of the function of temperature and time during phase transition. Below the LCST, favorable interactions allowed the dissolution of the polymer in water via hydrogen bonding. At temperatures above the LCST, PNVCL molecules within PNVCL-g-Col aggregated due to dehydration, causing the hydrogel structure to become dense. When the temperature reached ~36ºC, both the G′ and G″ values crossed over. This indicates that PNVCL-g-Col underwent a sol-gel transition, forming an elastic network. Following temperature plateau at 38ºC, near human body temperature the sample displayed stable elastic network characteristics. The G′ and G″ values of the PNVCL-g-Col solutions sharply increased at 6-9 minute interval, due to rapid transformation into gel-like state and formation of elastic networks. Copolymerization with collagen leads to an increase in G′, as collagen structure contains a flexible polymer chain, which bestows its elastic properties. Elasticity of the proposed structure correlates with the number of intermolecular cross-links in the hydrogel network, increasing viscosity. However, at 8 minutes, G′ and G″ values sharply decreased for pure collagen solutions due to the decomposition of the elastic and viscose network. Complex viscosity is related to the mechanical performance and resistance opposing deformation of the hydrogel. Complex viscosity of PNVCL-g-Col hydrogel was drastically changed with temperature and the mechanical performance of PNVCL-g-Col hydrogel network increased, exhibiting lesser deformation. Rheological assessment of the novel thermo-responsive PNVCL-g-Col hydrogel, exhibited that the network has stronger mechanical properties due to both permanent stable covalent bonds and physical interactions, such as hydrogen- and hydrophobic bonds depending on temperature.

Keywords: poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)-g-collagen, thermoresponsive polymer, rheology, elastic modulus, stimuli-sensitive

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Vladimir Smirnov, Roman Tominov, Vadim Avilov, Oleg Ageev

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The creation of a new generation micro- and nanoelectronics elements opens up unlimited possibilities for electronic devices parameters improving, as well as developing neuromorphic computing systems. Interest in the latter is growing up every year, which is explained by the need to solve problems related to the unstructured classification of data, the construction of self-adaptive systems, and pattern recognition. However, for its technical implementation, it is necessary to fulfill a number of conditions for the basic parameters of electronic memory, such as the presence of non-volatility, the presence of multi-bitness, high integration density, and low power consumption. Several types of memory are presented in the electronics industry (MRAM, FeRAM, PRAM, ReRAM), among which non-volatile resistive memory (ReRAM) is especially distinguished due to the presence of multi-bit property, which is necessary for neuromorphic systems manufacturing. ReRAM is based on the effect of resistive switching – a change in the resistance of the oxide film between low-resistance state (LRS) and high-resistance state (HRS) under an applied electric field. One of the methods for the technical implementation of neuromorphic systems is cross-bar structures, which are ReRAM cells, interconnected by cross data buses. Such a structure imitates the architecture of the biological brain, which contains a low power computing elements - neurons, connected by special channels - synapses. The choice of the ReRAM oxide film material is an important task that determines the characteristics of the future neuromorphic system. An analysis of literature showed that many metal oxides (TiO2, ZnO, NiO, ZrO2, HfO2) have a resistive switching effect. It is worth noting that the manufacture of nanocomposites based on these materials allows highlighting the advantages and hiding the disadvantages of each material. Therefore, as a basis for the neuromorphic structures manufacturing, it was decided to use ZnₓTiᵧHfzOᵢ nanocomposite. It is also worth noting that the ZnₓTiᵧHfzOᵢ nanocomposite does not need an electroforming, which degrades the parameters of the formed ReRAM elements. Currently, this material is not well studied, therefore, the study of the effect of resistive switching in forming-free ZnₓTiᵧHfzOᵢ nanocomposite is an important task and the goal of this work. Forming-free nanocomposite ZnₓTiᵧHfzOᵢ thin film was grown by pulsed laser deposition (Pioneer 180, Neocera Co., USA) on the SiO2/TiN (40 nm) substrate. Electrical measurements were carried out using a semiconductor characterization system (Keithley 4200-SCS, USA) with W probes. During measurements, TiN film was grounded. The analysis of the obtained current-voltage characteristics showed a resistive switching from HRS to LRS resistance states at +1.87±0.12 V, and from LRS to HRS at -2.71±0.28 V. Endurance test shown that HRS was 283.21±32.12 kΩ, LRS was 1.32±0.21 kΩ during 100 measurements. It was shown that HRS/LRS ratio was about 214.55 at reading voltage of 0.6 V. The results can be useful for forming-free nanocomposite ZnₓTiᵧHfzOᵢ films in neuromorphic systems manufacturing. This work was supported by RFBR, according to the research project № 19-29-03041 mk. The results were obtained using the equipment of the Research and Education Center «Nanotechnologies» of Southern Federal University.

Keywords: nanotechnology, nanocomposites, neuromorphic systems, RRAM, pulsed laser deposition, resistive switching effect

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Authors: Faheema Khan

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To investigate the ability of sensitive and tolerant genotype of Glycine max to adapt to a saline environment in a field, we examined the growth performance, water relation and activities of antioxidant enzymes in relation to photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll a fluorescence, photosynthetic pigment concentration, protein and proline in plants exposed to salt stress. Ten soybean genotypes (Pusa-20, Pusa-40, Pusa-37, Pusa-16, Pusa-24, Pusa-22, BRAGG, PK-416, PK-1042, and DS-9712) were selected and grown hydroponically. After 3 days of proper germination, the seedlings were transferred to Hoagland’s solution (Hoagland and Arnon 1950). The growth chamber was maintained at a photosynthetic photon flux density of 430 μmol m−2 s−1, 14 h of light, 10 h of dark and a relative humidity of 60%. The nutrient solution was bubbled with sterile air and changed on alternate days. Ten-day-old seedlings were given seven levels of salt in the form of NaCl viz., T1 = 0 mM NaCl, T2=25 mM NaCl, T3=50 mM NaCl, T4=75 mM NaCl, T5=100 mM NaCl, T6=125 mM NaCl, T7=150 mM NaCl. The investigation showed that genotype Pusa-24, PK-416 and Pusa-20 appeared to be the most salt-sensitive. genotypes as inferred from their significantly reduced length, fresh weight and dry weight in response to the NaCl exposure. Pusa-37 appeared to be the most tolerant genotype since no significant effect of NaCl treatment on growth was found. We observed a greater decline in the photosynthetic variables like photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll content, in salt-sensitive (Pusa-24) genotype than in salt-tolerant Pusa-37 under high salinity. Numerous primers were verified on ten soybean genotypes obtained from Operon technologies among which 30 RAPD primers shown high polymorphism and genetic variation. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficient values for each pairwise comparison between cultivars were calculated and similarity coefficient matrix was constructed. The closer varieties in the cluster behaved similar in their response to salinity tolerance. Intra-clustering within the two clusters precisely grouped the 10 genotypes in sub-cluster as expected from their physiological findings.Salt tolerant genotype Pusa-37, was further analysed by 2-Dimensional gel electrophoresis to analyse the differential expression of proteins at high salt stress. In the Present study, 173 protein spots were identified. Of these, 40 proteins responsive to salinity were either up- or down-regulated in Pusa-37. Proteomic analysis in salt-tolerant genotype (Pusa-37) led to the detection of proteins involved in a variety of biological processes, such as protein synthesis (12 %), redox regulation (19 %), primary and secondary metabolism (25 %), or disease- and defence-related processes (32 %). In conclusion, the soybean plants in our study responded to salt stress by changing their protein expression pattern. The photosynthetic, biochemical and molecular study showed that there is variability in salt tolerance behaviour in soybean genotypes. Pusa-24 is the salt-sensitive and Pusa-37 is the salt-tolerant genotype. Moreover this study gives new insights into the salt-stress response in soybean and demonstrates the power of genomic and proteomic approach in plant biology studies which finally could help us in identifying the possible regulatory switches (gene/s) controlling the salt tolerant genotype of the crop plants and their possible role in defence mechanism.

Keywords: glycine max, salt stress, RAPD, genomic and proteomic variability

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Authors: Huan Peng, Chenye Zeng, Zhao Wang

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of dementia syndromes and has become a huge burden on society and families. The main pathological features of AD involve excessive deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ) and Tau proteins in the brain, resulting in loss of neurons, expansion of neuroinflammation, and cognitive dysfunction in patients. Researchers have found effective drugs to clear the brain of error-accumulating proteins or to slow the loss of neurons, but their direct administration has key bottlenecks such as single-drug limitation, rapid blood clearance rate, impenetrable blood-brain barrier (BBB), and poor ability to target tissues and cells. Therefore, we are committed to seeking a suitable and efficient delivery system. Inspired by the possibility that exosomes may be involved in the secretion and transport mechanism of many signaling molecules or proteins in the brain, exosomes have attracted extensive attention as natural nanoscale drug carriers. We selected exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-EXO) with low immunogenicity and exosomes derived from hippocampal neurons (HT22-EXO) that may have excellent homing ability to overcome the deficiencies of oral or injectable pathways and bypass the BBB through nasal administration and evaluated their delivery ability and effect on AD. First, MSC-EXO and HT22 cells were isolated and cultured, and MSCs were identified by microimaging and flow cytometry. Then MSC-EXO and HT22-EXO were obtained by gradient centrifugation and qEV SEC separation column, and a series of physicochemical characterization were performed by transmission electron microscope, western blot, nanoparticle tracking analysis and dynamic light scattering. Next, exosomes labeled with lipophilic fluorescent dye were administered to WT mice and APP/PS1 mice to obtain fluorescence images of various organs at different times. Finally, APP/PS1 mice were administered intranasally with two exosomes 20 times over 40 days and 20 μL each time. Behavioral analysis and pathological section analysis of the hippocampus were performed after the experiment. The results showed that MSC-EXO and HT22-EXO were successfully isolated and characterized, and they had good biocompatibility. MSC-EXO showed excellent brain enrichment in APP/PS1 mice after intranasal administration, could improve the neuronal damage and reduce inflammation levels in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice, and the improvement effect was significantly better than HT22-EXO. However, intranasal administration of the two exosomes did not cause depression and anxious-like phenotypes in APP/PS1 mice, nor significantly improved the short-term or spatial learning and memory ability of APP/PS1 mice, and had no significant effect on the content of Aβ plaques in the hippocampus, which also meant that MSC-EXO could use their own advantages in combination with other drugs to clear Aβ plaques. The possibility of realizing highly effective non-invasive synergistic treatment for AD provides new strategies and ideas for clinical research.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cell, intranasal administration, therapy-carrier dual roles

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Authors: Qianxi Lv, Junying Liang

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Among the various modes of interpreting, simultaneous interpreting (SI) is regarded as a ‘complex’ and ‘extreme condition’ of cognitive tasks while consecutive interpreters (CI) do not have to share processing capacity between tasks. Given that SI exerts great cognitive demand, it makes sense to posit that the output of SI may be more compromised than that of CI in the linguistic features. The bulk of the research has stressed the varying cognitive demand and processes involved in different modes of interpreting; however, related empirical research is sparse. In keeping with our interest in investigating the quantitative linguistic factors discriminating between SI and CI, the current study seeks to examine the potential lexical simplification, syntactic complexity and sequential organization mechanism with a self-made inter-model corpus of transcribed simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, translated speech and original speech texts with a total running word of 321960. The lexical features are extracted in terms of the lexical density, list head coverage, hapax legomena, and type-token ratio, as well as core vocabulary percentage. Dependency distance, an index for syntactic complexity and reflective of processing demand is employed. Frequency motif is a non-grammatically-bound sequential unit and is also used to visualize the local function distribution of interpreting the output. While SI is generally regarded as multitasking with high cognitive load, our findings evidently show that CI may impose heavier or taxing cognitive resource differently and hence yields more lexically and syntactically simplified output. In addition, the sequential features manifest that SI and CI organize the sequences from the source text in different ways into the output, to minimize the cognitive load respectively. We reasoned the results in the framework that cognitive demand is exerted both on maintaining and coordinating component of Working Memory. On the one hand, the information maintained in CI is inherently larger in volume compared to SI. On the other hand, time constraints directly influence the sentence reformulation process. The temporal pressure from the input in SI makes the interpreters only keep a small chunk of information in the focus of attention. Thus, SI interpreters usually produce the output by largely retaining the source structure so as to relieve the information from the working memory immediately after formulated in the target language. Conversely, CI interpreters receive at least a few sentences before reformulation, when they are more self-paced. CI interpreters may thus tend to retain and generate the information in a way to lessen the demand. In other words, interpreters cope with the high demand in the reformulation phase of CI by generating output with densely distributed function words, more content words of higher frequency values and fewer variations, simpler structures and more frequently used language sequences. We consequently propose a revised effort model based on the result for a better illustration of cognitive demand during both interpreting types.

Keywords: cognitive demand, corpus-based, dependency distance, frequency motif, interpreting types, lexical simplification, sequential units distribution, syntactic complexity

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Authors: Yaser S. Kishawi, Sadi R. Ali

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Part of Palestine, Gaza Strip (365 km2 and 1.8 million habitants) is considered a semi-arid zone relies solely on the Coastal Aquifer. The coastal aquifer is only source of water with only 5-10% suitable for human use. This barely covers the domestic and agricultural needs of Gaza Strip. Palestinian Water Authority Strategy is finding non-conventional water resource from treated wastewater to cover agricultural requirements and serve the population. A new WWTP project is to replace the old-overloaded Biet Lahia WWTP. The project consists of three parts; phase A (pressure line and infiltration basins-IBs), phase B (a new WWTP) and phase C (Recovery and Reuse Scheme–RRS– to capture the spreading plume). Currently, only phase A is functioning. Nearly 23 Mm3 of partially treated wastewater were infiltrated into the aquifer. Phase B and phase C witnessed many delays and this forced a reassessment of the RRS original design. An Environmental Management Plan was conducted from Jul 2013 to Jun 2014 on 13 existing monitoring wells surrounding the project location. This is to measure the efficiency of the SAT system and the spread of the contamination plume with relation to the efficiency of the proposed RRS. Along with the proposed location of the 27 recovery wells as part of the proposed RRS. The results of monitored wells were assessed compared with PWA baseline data. This was put into a groundwater model to simulate the plume to propose the best suitable solution to the delays. The redesign mainly manipulated the pumping rate of wells, proposed locations and functioning schedules (including wells groupings). The proposed simulations were examined using visual MODFLOW V4.2 to simulate the results. The results of monitored wells were assessed based on the location of the monitoring wells related to the proposed recovery wells locations (200m, 500m, and 750m away from the IBs). Near the 500m line (the first row of proposed recovery wells), an increase of nitrate (from 30 to 70mg/L) compare to a decrease in Chloride (1500 to below 900mg/L) was found during the monitoring period which indicated an expansion of plume to this distance. On this rate with the required time to construct the recovery scheme, keeping the original design the RRS will fail to capture the plume. Based on that many simulations were conducted leading into three main scenarios. The scenarios manipulated the starting dates, the pumping rate and the locations of recovery wells. A simulation of plume expansion and path-lines were extracted from the model monitoring how to prevent the expansion towards the nearby municipal wells. It was concluded that the location is the most important factor in determining the RRS efficiency. Scenario III was adopted and showed effective results even with a reduced pumping rates. This scenario proposed adding two additional recovery wells in a location beyond the 750m line to compensate the delays and effectively capture the plume. A continuous monitoring program for current and future monitoring wells should be in place to support the proposed scenario and ensure maximum protection.

Keywords: soil aquifer treatment, recovery reuse scheme, infiltration basins, North Gaza

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Authors: Аndrey Marchenko, Oleg Linkov, Alexander Osetrov, Sergiy Kravchenko

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The low-calorie of gases include biogas, coal gas, coke oven gas, associated petroleum gas, gases sewage, etc. These gases are usually released into the atmosphere or burned on flares, causing substantial damage to the environment. However, with the right approach, low-calorie gas fuel can become a valuable source of energy. Specified determines the relevance of areas related to the development of low-calorific gas utilization technologies. As an example, in the work considered one of way of utilization of coalmine gas, because Ukraine ranks fourth in the world in terms of coal mine gas emission (4.7% of total global emissions, or 1.2 billion m³ per year). Experts estimate that coal mine gas is actively released in the 70-80 percent of existing mines in Ukraine. The main component of coal mine gas is methane (25-60%) Methane in 21 times has a greater impact on the greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide disposal problem has become increasingly important in the context of the increasing need to address the problems of climate, ecology and environmental protection. So marked causes negative effect of both local and global nature. The efforts of the United Nations and the World Bank led to the adoption of the program 'Zero Routine Flaring by 2030' dedicated to the cessation of these gases burn in flares and disposing them with the ability to generate heat and electricity. This study proposes to use coal gas as a fuel for gas engines to generate heat and electricity. Analyzed the physical-chemical properties of low-calorie gas fuels were allowed to choose a suitable engine, as well as estimate the influence of the composition of the fuel at its techno-economic indicators. Most suitable for low-calorie gas is engine with pre-combustion chamber jet ignition. In Ukraine is accumulated extensive experience in exploitation and production of gas engines with capacity of 1100 kW type GD100 (10GDN 207/2 * 254) fueled by natural gas. By using system pre- combustion chamber jet ignition and quality control in the engines type GD100 introduces the concept of burning depleted burn fuel mixtures, which in turn leads to decrease in the concentration of harmful substances of exhaust gases. The main problems of coal mine gas as a fuel for ICE is low calorific value, the presence of components that adversely affect combustion processes and terms of operation of the ICE, the instability of the composition, weak ignition. In some cases, these problems can be solved by adaptation engine design using coal mine gas as fuel (changing compression ratio, fuel injection quantity increases, change ignition time, increase energy plugs, etc.). It is shown that the use of coal mine gas engines with prechamber has not led to significant changes in the indicator parameters (ηi = 0.43 - 0.45). However, this significantly increases the volumetric fuel consumption, which requires increased fuel injection quantity to ensure constant nominal engine power. Thus, the utilization of low-calorie gas fuels in stationary gas engine type-based GD100 will significantly reduce emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere when the generate cheap electricity and heat.

Keywords: gas engine, low-calorie gas, methane, pre-combustion chamber, utilization

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Authors: Amandeep Kaur

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Farming is one of the most influential traditions which started around 10000 BC and has revolutionized human civilization. It is believed that farming originated at a separate location. Thus it has a great impact on local culture, which in turn gave rise to diversified farming practices. Farming activities are influenced by the culture of a particular region or community as local people have their own knowledge and belief system about soil and crops. With the inception of the Green Revolution, 'a high tech machinery model' in Punjab, various traditional farming methods and techniques changed. The present research concentrates on the local knowledge of farmers and local farming systems from an anthropological perspective. In view of the prevailing agrarian crisis in Punjab, this research is focused on farmer’s experiences and their perception regarding farming practices. Thus an attempt has to be made to focus on the local knowledge, perception, and experience of farmers for eco-friendly and sustainable agricultural development. Farmers voices are used to understand the relationship between farming practices and socio-cultural life of farmers in Faridkot district, Punjab. The research aims to comprehend the nature of changes taking place in the socio-cultural life of people with the development of capitalism and agricultural modernization. The study is based on qualitative methods of ethnography in Sarawan village of Faridkot District. Inferences drawn from in-depth case studies collected from 60 agricultural households lead to the concept of the process of diffusion, innovation, and adoption of farming technology, a variety of crops and the dissemination of agricultural skills regarding various cultural farming practices. The data is based on random sampling; the respondents were both males and females above the age of 18 years to attain a holistic understanding across the generations. A Quasi-participant observation related to lifestyle, the standard of living, and various farming practices performed by them were done. Narratives derived from the fieldwork depicts that farmers usually oppose the restrictions imposed by the government on certain farming practices, especially ban on stubble burning. This paper presents the narratives of farmers regarding the dissemination of awareness about the use of new varieties of seeds, technology, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. The study reveals that farming systems have developed in ways reflecting the activities and choices of farmers influenced by environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political situations. Modern farming practices have forced small farmers into debt as farmers feel pride in buying new machinery. It has also led to the loss of work culture and excessive use of drugs among youngsters. Even laborers did not want to work on the land with cultivating farmers primarily for social and political reasons. Due to lack of proper marketing of crops, there is a continuum of the wheat-rice cycle instead of crop diversification in Punjab. Change in the farming system also affects the social structure of society. Agricultural modernization has commercialized the socio-cultural relations in Punjab and is slowly urbanizing the rural landscape revolutionizing the traditional social relations to capitalistic relations.

Keywords: agricultural modernization, capitalism, farming practices, narratives

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Authors: I. Martinez-Conesa, E. Garcia-Meca, M. Barradas-Quiroz

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The objective of this study is to assess the impact on earnings management of latest two Hofstede cultural dimensions: long-term orientation and indulgence. Long-term orientation represents the alignment of a society towards the future and indulgence expresses the extent to which a society exhibits willingness, or restrain, to realise their impulses. Additionally, this paper tests if there are relevant differences by testing the moderating role of the legal tradition, Continental versus Anglo-Saxon. Our sample comprises 15 countries: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Sweden, and Thailand, with a total of 12,936 observations from 2003 to 2013. Our results show that managers in countries with high levels of long-term orientation reduce their levels of discretionary accruals. The findings do not confirm the effect of indulgence on earnings management. In addition, our results confirm previous literature regarding the effect of individualism, noting that firms in countries with high levels of collectivism might be more inclined to use earnings discretion to protect the welfare of the collective group of firm stakeholders. Uncertainty avoidance results in downwards earnings management as well as high disclosure, suggesting that less manipulation takes place when transparency is higher. Indulgence is the cultural dimension that confronts wellbeing versus survival; dimension is formulated including happiness, the perception of live control and the importance of leisure. Indulgence shows a weak negative correlation with power distance indicating a slight tendency for more hierarchical societies to be less indulgent. Anglo-Saxon countries are a positive effect of individualism and a negative effect of masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and disclosure. With respect to continental countries, we can see a significant and positive effect of individualism and a significant and negative effect of masculinity, long-term orientation, and indulgence. Therefore, we observe the negative effect on earnings management provoked by higher disclosure and uncertainty avoidance only happens in Anglo-Saxon countries. Meanwhile, the improvement in reporting quality motivated by higher long-term orientation and higher indulgence is dominant in Continental countries. Our results confirm that there is a moderating effect of the legal system in the association between culture and earnings management. This effect is especially relevant in the dimensions related to uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation, indulgence, and disclosure. The negative effect of long-term orientation on earnings management only happens in those countries set in continental legal systems because of the Anglo-Saxon legal systems is supported by the decisions of the courts and the traditions, so it already has long-term orientation. That does not occur in continental systems, depending mainly of contend of the law. Sensitivity analysis used with Jones modified CP model, Jones Standard model and Jones Standard CP model confirm the robustness of these results. This paper collaborates towards a better understanding on how earnings management, culture and legal systems relate to each other, and contribute to previous literature by examining the influence of the two latest Hofstede’s dimensions not previously studied in papers.

Keywords: Hofstede, long-term-orientation, earnings management, indulgence

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Authors: Siti Zabedah Saidin, Aidi Ahmi, Azharudin Ali, Wan Norhayati Wan Ahmad

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In today's increasingly complex and interconnected world, the concept of sustainability has transcended mere corporate social responsibility, evolving into a fundamental driver of organizational behaviour and disclosure. This content analysis study delves into the Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies’ annual report for the year 2021, aiming to elucidate the extent of sustainability disclosures within the non-financial sections of these reports. The escalating global emphasis on sustainability has prompted organizations to embrace transparency as a means to demonstrate their commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations. Voluntary sustainability disclosure has emerged as a crucial channel through which organizations communicate their efforts, initiatives, and impacts in these areas, thereby fostering trust and accountability with stakeholders. The study aims to identify and examine the types of sustainability information disclosed voluntarily by the federal-level statutory bodies, concentrating on the non-financial sections of the annual reports. To achieve this, the study adopts a simplified disclosure index, a pragmatic tool that quantifies the extent of sustainability reporting in a standardized manner. Using convenience sampling, the study selects a sample of annual reports from the federal-level statutory bodies in Malaysia, as provided on their respective websites. The content analysis is centred on the non-financial sections of these reports, allowing for an in-depth exploration of sustainability disclosures. The findings of the study present the extent to which Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies embrace sustainability reporting. Through thorough content analysis, the study uncovered diverse dimensions of sustainability information, encompassing environmental impact assessments, social engagement endeavours, and governance frameworks. This reveals a deliberate effort by these bodies to encapsulate their holistic organizational contributions and challenges, transcending traditional financial metrics. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the evolving landscape of sustainability disclosure practices among Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies. The findings underline the proactive nature of these bodies in voluntarily sharing sustainability-related information, reflecting their recognition of the interconnectedness between organizational success and societal well-being. Furthermore, the study underscores the potential influence of regulatory guidelines and societal expectations in shaping the extent and nature of voluntary sustainability disclosures. Organizations are not merely responding to regulatory mandates but are actively aligning with global sustainability goals and stakeholder expectations. As organizations continue to navigate the intricate web of stakeholder expectations and sustainability imperatives, this study enriches the discourse surrounding transparency and sustainability reporting. The analysis emphasizes the important role of non-financial disclosures in portraying a holistic organizational narrative. In an era where stakeholders demand accountability, and the interconnectedness of global challenges necessitates collaborative action, the voluntary disclosure of sustainability information stands as a testament to the commitment of Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies in shaping a more sustainable future.

Keywords: voluntary disclosure, sustainability information, annual report, federal-level statutory body

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Authors: Azhar Naila, Steuer Benjamin

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Over-exploitation of resources and the burden on natural systems have provoked worldwide concerns about the potential resource as well as supply risks in the future. It has been estimated that the consumption of materials and resources will double by 2060, substantially mounting the amount of waste and emissions produced by individuals, organizations, and businesses, which necessitates sustainable technological innovations to address the problem. Therefore, there is a need to design products and services purposefully for material resource efficiency. This directs us toward the conceptualization and implementation of the ‘Circular Economy (CE),’ which has gained considerable attention among policymakers, researchers, and businesses in the past decade. A large amount of literature focuses on the concept of CE. However, contextual empirical research on the need to embrace CE in an emerging economy like Pakistan is still scarce, where the traditional economic model of take-make-dispose is quite common. Textile exports account for approximately 61% of Pakistan's total exports, and the industry provides employment for about 40% of the country's total industrial workforce. The industry provides job opportunities to above 10 million farmers, with cotton as the main crop of Pakistan. Consumers, companies, as well as the government have explored very limited CE potential in the country. This gap has motivated us to carry out the present study. The study is based on a mixed method approach, for which key informant interviews have been conducted to get insight into the present situation of the ecosystem readiness for the adoption of CE in 20 textile manufacturing industries. The subject study has been conducted on the following areas i) the level of understanding of the CE concept among key stakeholders in the textile manufacturing industry ii) Companies are pushing boundaries to invest in circularity-based initiatives, exploring the depths of risk-taking iii) the current national policy framework support the adoption of CE. Qualitative assessment has been undertaken using MAXQDA to analyze the data received after the key informant interviews. The data has been transcribed and coded for further analysis. The results show that most of the key stakeholders have a clear understanding of the concept, whereas few consider it to be only relevant to the end-of-life treatment of waste generated from the industry. Non-governmental organizations have been observed to be key players in creating awareness among the manufacturing industries. Maximum companies have shown their consent to invest in initiatives related to the adoption of CE. Whereas a few consider themselves far behind the race due to a lack of financial resources and support from responsible institutions. Mostly, the industries have an ambitious vision for integrating CE into the company’s policy but seem not to be ready to take any significant steps to nurture a culture for experimentation. However, the government is not playing any vital role in the transition towards CE; rather, they have been busy with the state’s uncertain political situation. Presently, Pakistan does not have any policy framework that supports the transition towards CE. Acknowledging the present landscape a well-informed CE transition is immediately required.

Keywords: circular economy, textile supply chain, textile manufacturing industries, resource efficiency, ecosystem readiness, multi-case study analysis

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Authors: Lamin B Ceesay, Cecilia Rossignoli

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Inter-organizational collaboration is a growing phenomenon in both research and practice. The partnership between organizations enables firms to leverage external resources, experiences, and technology that lie with other firms. This collaborative practice is a source of improved business model performance, technological advancement, and increased competitive advantage for firms. However, the competitive intents, and even diverse institutional logics of firms, make inter-firm innovation-based partnership even more complex, and its governance more challenging. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of research linking the inter-organizational relationship of firms with their innovation practice and specify the different project management issues and gaps addressed in previous research. To do this, we employed a systematic review of the literature on inter-organizational innovation using two complementary scholarly databases - ScienceDirect and Web of Science (WoS). Article scoping relies on the combination of keywords based on similar terms used in the literature:(1) inter-organizational relationship, (2) business network, (3) inter-firm project, and (4) innovation network. These searches were conducted in the title, abstract, and keywords of conceptual and empirical research papers done in English. Our search covers between 2010 to 2019. We applied several exclusion criteria including Papers published outside the years under the review, papers in a language other than English, papers neither listed in WoS nor ScienceDirect and papers that are not sharply related to the inter-organizational innovation-based partnership were removed. After all relevant search criteria were applied, a final list of 84 papers constitutes the data for this review. Our review revealed an increasing evolution of inter-organizational relationship research during the period under the review. The descriptive analysis of papers according to Journal outlets finds that International Journal of Project Management (IJPM), Journal of Industrial Marketing, Journal of Business Research (JBR), etc. are the leading journal outlets for research in the inter-organizational innovation project. The review also finds that Qualitative methods and quantitative approaches respectively are the leading research methods adopted by scholars in the field. However, literature review and conceptual papers constitute the least in the field. During the content analysis of the selected papers, we read the content of each paper and found that the selected papers try to address one of the three phenomena in inter-organizational innovation research: (1) project antecedents; (2) project management and (3) project performance outcomes. We found that these categories are not mutually exclusive, but rather interdependent. This categorization also helped us to organize the fragmented literature in the field. While a significant percentage of the literature discussed project management issues, we found fewer extant literature on project antecedents and performance. As a result of this, we organized the future research agenda addressed in several papers by linking them with the under-researched themes in the field, thus providing great potential to advance future research agenda especially, in the under-researched themes in the field. Finally, our paper reveals that research on inter-organizational innovation project is generally fragmented which hinders a better understanding of the field. Thus, this paper contributes to the understanding of the field by organizing and discussing the extant literature to advance the theory and application of inter-organizational relationship.

Keywords: inter-organizational relationship, inter-firm collaboration, innovation projects, project management, systematic review

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Authors: Nazym Zhumabayeva, Aleksandr Mezin, Alexandra Knysheva

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Women's underrepresentation in STEM is critical, worsened by ineffective engagement in educational practices. UNICEF Kazakhstan and GameLab KBTU's collaborative initiatives aim to enhance female STEM participation by fostering an inclusive environment. Learning from LEVEL UP's 2023 program, which featured a hackathon, the 2024 strategy pivots towards non-competitive gamification. Although the data from last year's project showed higher than average student engagement, observations and in-depth interviews with participants showed that the format was stressful for the girls, making them focus on points rather than on other values. This study presents a gamified educational system, DPG Lab, aimed at incentivizing young women's participation in STEM through the development of digital public goods (DPGs). By prioritizing collaborative gamification elements, the project seeks to create an inclusive learning environment that increases engagement and interest in STEM among young women. The DPG Lab aims to find a solution to minimize competition and support collaboration. The project is designed to motivate female participants towards the development of digital solutions through an introduction to the concept of DPGs. It consists of a short online course, a simulation videogame, and a real-time online quest with an offline finale at the KBTU campus. The online course offers short video lectures on open-source development and DPG standards. The game facilitates the practical application of theoretical knowledge, enriching the learning experience. Learners can also participate in a quest that encourages participants to develop DPG ideas in teams by choosing missions throughout the quest path. At the offline quest finale, the participants will meet in person to exchange experiences and accomplishments without engaging in comparative assessments: the quest ensures that each team’s trajectory is distinct by design. This marks a shift from competitive hackathons to a collaborative format, recognizing the unique contributions and achievements of each participant. The pilot batch of students is scheduled to commence in April 2024, with the finale anticipated in June. It is projected that this group will comprise 50 female high-school students from various regions across Kazakhstan. Expected outcomes include increased engagement and interest in STEM fields among young female participants, positive emotional and psychological impact through an emphasis on collaborative learning environments, and improved understanding and skills in DPG development. GameLab KBTU intends to undertake a hypothesis evaluation, employing a methodology similar to that utilized in the preceding LEVEL UP project. This approach will encompass the compilation of quantitative metrics (conversion funnels, test results, and surveys) and qualitative data from in-depth interviews and observational studies. For comparative analysis, a select group of participants from the previous year's project will be recruited to engage in the DPG Lab. By developing and implementing a gamified framework that emphasizes inclusion, engagement, and collaboration, the study seeks to provide practical knowledge about effective gamification strategies for promoting gender diversity in STEM. The expected outcomes of this initiative can contribute to the broader discussion on gamification in education and gender equality in STEM by offering a replicable and scalable model for similar interventions around the world.

Keywords: collaborative learning, competitive learning, digital public goods, educational gamification, emerging regions, STEM, underprivileged groups

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Authors: Seonaid Hume, Gordon Dobie, Graeme West

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Detecting and localizing radioactive sources is a necessity for safe and secure decommissioning of nuclear facilities. An important aspect for the management of the sort-and-segregation process is establishing the spatial distributions and quantities of the waste radionuclides, their type, corresponding activity, and ultimately classification for disposal. The data received from surveys directly informs decommissioning plans, on-site incident management strategies, the approach needed for a new cell, as well as protecting the workforce and the public. Manual classification of nuclear waste from a nuclear cell is time-consuming, expensive, and requires significant expertise to make the classification judgment call. Also, in-cell decommissioning is still in its relative infancy, and few techniques are well-developed. As with any repetitive and routine tasks, there is the opportunity to improve the task of classifying nuclear waste using autonomous systems. Hence, this paper proposes a new framework for the automatic classification of nuclear waste. This framework consists of five main stages; 3D spatial mapping and object detection, object classification, radiological mapping, source localisation based on gathered evidence and finally, waste classification. The first stage of the framework, 3D visual mapping, involves object detection from point cloud data. A review of related applications in other industries is provided, and recommendations for approaches for waste classification are made. Object detection focusses initially on cylindrical objects since pipework is significant in nuclear cells and indeed any industrial site. The approach can be extended to other commonly occurring primitives such as spheres and cubes. This is in preparation of stage two, characterizing the point cloud data and estimating the dimensions, material, degradation, and mass of the objects detected in order to feature match them to an inventory of possible items found in that nuclear cell. Many items in nuclear cells are one-offs, have limited or poor drawings available, or have been modified since installation, and have complex interiors, which often and inadvertently pose difficulties when accessing certain zones and identifying waste remotely. Hence, this may require expert input to feature match objects. The third stage, radiological mapping, is similar in order to facilitate the characterization of the nuclear cell in terms of radiation fields, including the type of radiation, activity, and location within the nuclear cell. The fourth stage of the framework takes the visual map for stage 1, the object characterization from stage 2, and radiation map from stage 3 and fuses them together, providing a more detailed scene of the nuclear cell by identifying the location of radioactive materials in three dimensions. The last stage involves combining the evidence from the fused data sets to reveal the classification of the waste in Bq/kg, thus enabling better decision making and monitoring for in-cell decommissioning. The presentation of the framework is supported by representative case study data drawn from an application in decommissioning from a UK nuclear facility. This framework utilises recent advancements of the detection and mapping capabilities of complex radiation fields in three dimensions to make the process of classifying nuclear waste faster, more reliable, cost-effective and safer.

Keywords: nuclear decommissioning, radiation detection, object detection, waste classification

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Authors: Tholaine Matadi

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South Africa is a democratic country with a historical record of racially-motivated marginalisation and exclusion of the majority. During the apartheid era the country was run along pieces of legislation and policies based on racial segregation. The system held a tight clamp on interracial mixing which forced people to remain in segregated areas. For example, a citizen from the Indian community could not own property in an area allocated to white people. In this way, a great majority of people were denied basic human rights. Now, there is a supreme constitution with an entrenched justiciable Bill of Rights founded on democratic values of social justice, human dignity, equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution also enshrines the values of non-racialism and non-sexism. The Constitutional Court has the power to declare unconstitutional any law or conduct considered to be inconsistent with it. Now, more than two decades down the line, despite the abolition of apartheid, there is evidence that South Africa still experiences hate crimes which violate the entrenched right of vulnerable groups not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender, national origin, occupation, or disability. To remedy this mischief parliament has responded by drafting the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill. The Bill has been disseminated for public comment and suggestions. It is intended to combat hate crimes and hate speech based on sheer prejudice. The other purpose of the Bill is to bring South Africa in line with international human rights instruments against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related expressions of intolerance identified in several international instruments. It is against this backdrop that this paper intends to analyse the impact of the Bill on the rights to human dignity, equality, and freedom. This study is significant because the Bill was highly contested and creates a huge debate. This study relies on a qualitative evaluative approach based on desktop and library research. The article recurs to primary and secondary sources. For comparative purpose, the paper compares South Africa with countries such as Australia, Canada, Kenya, Cuba, and United Kingdom which have criminalised hate crimes and hate speech. The finding from this study is that despite the Bill’s expressed positive intentions, this draft legislation is problematic for several reasons. The main reason is that it generates considerable controversy mostly because it is considered to infringe the right to freedom of expression. Though the author suggests that the Bill should not be rejected in its entirety, she notes the brutal psychological effect of hate crimes on their direct victims and the writer emphasises that a legislature can succeed to combat hate-crimes only if it provides for them as a separate stand-alone category of offences. In view of these findings, the study recommended that since hate speech clauses have a negative impact on freedom of expression it can be promulgated, subject to the legislature enacting the Prevention and Combatting of Hate-Crimes Bill as a stand-alone law which criminalises hate crimes.

Keywords: freedom of expression, hate crimes, hate speech, human dignity

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Authors: Jiazhi Zeng, Leiyu Shi, Xia Zou, Wen Chen, Li Ling

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Background: China is facing the unprecedented challenge of rapidly increasing rural-to-urban migration. Due to the household registration system, migrants are in a vulnerable state when they attempt to access to primary care services. A strong primary care system can reduce health inequities and mitigate socioeconomic disparities in healthcare utilization. Literature indicated that migrants were more reliant on the primary care system than local residents. Although the Chinese government has attached great importance to creating an efficient health system, primary care services are still underutilized. The referral system between primary care institutions and hospitals has not yet been completely established in China. The general populations often go directly to hospitals instead of primary care institutions for their primary care. Primary care institutions generally consist of community health centers (CHCs) and community health stations (CHSs) in urban areas, and township health centers (THCs) and rural health stations (THSs) in rural areas. In addition, primary care services are also provided by the outpatient department of municipal hospitals and tertiary hospitals. A better understanding of migrants’ experiences with primary care in the above-mentioned medical institutions is critical for improving the performance of primary care institutions and providing indications of the attributes that require further attention. The purpose of this pioneering study is to explore rural-to-urban migrants’ experiences in primary care, compare their primary care experiences in four types of medical institutions in Guangzhou, China, and suggest implications for targeted interventions to improve primary care for the migrants. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 736 rural-to-urban migrants in Guangzhou, China, in 2014. A multistage sampling method was employed. A validated Chinese version of Primary Care Assessment Tool - Adult Short Version (PCAT-AS) was used to collect information on migrants’ primary care experiences. The PCAT-AS consists of 10 domains. Analysis of covariance was conducted for comparison on PCAT domain scores and total scores among migrants accessing four types of medical institutions. Multiple linear regression models were used to explore factors associated with PCAT total scores. Results: After controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, migrant characteristics, health status and health insurance status, migrants accessing primary care in tertiary hospitals had the highest PCAT total scores when compared with those accessing primary care THCs/ RHSs (25.49 vs. 24.18, P=0.007) and CHCs/ CHSs(25.49 vs. 24.24, P=0.006). There was no statistical significant difference for PCAT total scores between migrants accessing primary care in CHCs/CHSs and those in municipal hospitals (24.24 vs. 25.02, P=0.436). Factors positively associated with higher PCAT total scores also included insurance covering parts of healthcare payment (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study highlights the need for improvement in primary care provided by primary care institutions for rural-to-urban migrants. Migrants receiving primary care from THCs, RHSs, CHSs and CHSs reported worse primary care experiences than those receiving primary care from tertiary hospitals. Relevant policies related to medical insurance should be implemented for providing affordable healthcare services for migrants accessing primary care. Further research exploring the specific reasons for poorer PCAT scores of primary care institutions users will be needed.

Keywords: China, PCAT, primary care, rural-to-urban migrants

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Authors: Volker Wannack

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Regional, national, and international strategies focusing on hydrogen (H₂) and blockchain are driving significant advancements in hydrogen and blockchain technology worldwide. These strategies lay the foundation for the groundbreaking "Blockchain Based Hydrogen Market (BBH₂)" project. The primary goal of this project is to develop a functional Blockchain Minimum Viable Product (B-MVP) for the hydrogen market. The B-MVP will leverage blockchain as an enabling technology with a common database and platform, facilitating secure and automated transactions through smart contracts. This innovation will revolutionize logistics, trading, and transactions within the hydrogen market. The B-MVP has transformative potential across various sectors. It benefits renewable energy producers, surplus energy-based hydrogen producers, hydrogen transport and distribution grid operators, and hydrogen consumers. By implementing standardized, automated, and tamper-proof processes, the B-MVP enhances cost efficiency and enables transparent and traceable transactions. Its key objective is to establish the verifiable integrity of climate-friendly "green" hydrogen by tracing its supply chain from renewable energy producers to end users. This emphasis on transparency and accountability promotes economic, ecological, and social sustainability while fostering a secure and transparent market environment. A notable feature of the B-MVP is its cross-border operability, eliminating the need for country-specific data storage and expanding its global applicability. This flexibility not only broadens its reach but also creates opportunities for long-term job creation through the establishment of a dedicated blockchain operating company. By attracting skilled workers and supporting their training, the B-MVP strengthens the workforce in the growing hydrogen sector. Moreover, it drives the emergence of innovative business models that attract additional company establishments and startups and contributes to long-term job creation. For instance, data evaluation can be utilized to develop customized tariffs and provide demand-oriented network capacities to producers and network operators, benefitting redistributors and end customers with tamper-proof pricing options. The B-MVP not only brings technological and economic advancements but also enhances the visibility of national and international standard-setting efforts. Regions implementing the B-MVP become pioneers in climate-friendly, sustainable, and forward-thinking practices, generating interest beyond their geographic boundaries. Additionally, the B-MVP serves as a catalyst for research and development, facilitating knowledge transfer between universities and companies. This collaborative environment fosters scientific progress, aligns with strategic innovation management, and cultivates an innovation culture within the hydrogen market. Through the integration of blockchain and hydrogen technologies, the B-MVP promotes holistic innovation and contributes to a sustainable future in the hydrogen industry. The implementation process involves evaluating and mapping suitable blockchain technology and architecture, developing and implementing the blockchain, smart contracts, and depositing certificates of origin. It also includes creating interfaces to existing systems such as nomination, portfolio management, trading, and billing systems, testing the scalability of the B-MVP to other markets and user groups, developing data formats for process-relevant data exchange, and conducting field studies to validate the B-MVP. BBH₂ is part of the "Technology Offensive Hydrogen" funding call within the research funding of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection in the 7th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Government.

Keywords: hydrogen, blockchain, sustainability, innovation, structural change

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Authors: Panagiota Katsikouli, William Hamilton Byrne, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, Tijs Slaats

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An individual who demonstrates a well-founded fear of persecution or faces real risk of being subjected to torture is eligible for asylum. In Danish law, the exact legal thresholds reflect those established by international conventions, notably the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1950 European Convention for Human Rights. These international treaties, however, remain largely silent when it comes to how states should assess asylum claims. As a result, national authorities are typically left to determine an individual’s legal eligibility on a narrow basis consisting of an oral testimony, which may itself be hampered by several factors, including imprecise language interpretation, insecurity or lacking trust towards the authorities among applicants. The leaky ground, on which authorities must assess their subjective perceptions of asylum applicants' credibility, questions whether, in all cases, adjudicators make the correct decision. Moreover, the subjective element in these assessments raises questions on whether individual asylum cases could be afflicted by implicit biases or stereotyping amongst adjudicators. In fact, recent studies have uncovered significant correlations between decision outcomes and the experience and gender of the assigned judge, as well as correlations between asylum outcomes and entirely external events such as weather and political elections. In this study, we analyze a publicly available dataset containing approximately 8,000 summaries of asylum cases, initially rejected, and re-tried by the Refugee Appeals Board (RAB) in Denmark. First, we look for variations in the recognition rates, with regards to a number of applicants’ features: their country of origin/nationality, their identified gender, their identified religion, their ethnicity, whether torture was mentioned in their case and if so, whether it was supported or not, and the year the applicant entered Denmark. In order to extract those features from the text summaries, as well as the final decision of the RAB, we applied natural language processing and regular expressions, adjusting for the Danish language. We observed interesting variations in recognition rates related to the applicants’ country of origin, ethnicity, year of entry and the support or not of torture claims, whenever those were made in the case. The appearance (or not) of significant variations in the recognition rates, does not necessarily imply (or not) bias in the decision-making progress. None of the considered features, with the exception maybe of the torture claims, should be decisive factors for an asylum seeker’s fate. We therefore investigate whether the decision can be predicted on the basis of these features, and consequently, whether biases are likely to exist in the decisionmaking progress. We employed a number of machine learning classifiers, and found that when using the applicant’s country of origin, religion, ethnicity and year of entry with a random forest classifier, or a decision tree, the prediction accuracy is as high as 82% and 85% respectively. tentially predictive properties with regards to the outcome of an asylum case. Our analysis and findings call for further investigation on the predictability of the outcome, on a larger dataset of 17,000 cases, which is undergoing.

Keywords: asylum adjudications, automated decision-making, machine learning, text mining

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Authors: Etienne Herrick

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As an economically and ecologically feasible method for farmers to introduce greater diversity into their crop rotations, cover cropping presents a valuable opportunity for improving the sustainability of food production. Planted in-between cash crop growing seasons, cover crops serve to enhance agroecosystem functioning, rather than being destined for sale or consumption. In fact, cover crops may hold the capacity to deliver multiple ecosystem functions or services simultaneously (multifunctionality). Building upon this line of research will not only benefit society at present, but also support its continued survival through its potential for restoring depleted soils and reducing the need for energy-intensive and harmful external inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. This study utilizes a trait-based approach to explore the influence of inter- and intra-specific interactions in summer cover crop mixtures and monocultures on functional trait expression and ecosystem services. Functional traits that enhance ecosystem services related to agricultural production include height, specific leaf area (SLA), root, shoot ratio, leaf C and N concentrations, and flowering phenology. Ecosystem services include biomass production, weed suppression, reduced N leaching, N recycling, and support of pollinators. Employing a trait-based approach may allow for the elucidation of mechanistic links between plant structure and resulting ecosystem service delivery. While relationships between some functional traits and the delivery of particular ecosystem services may be readily apparent through existing ecological knowledge (e.g. height positively correlating with weed suppression), this study will begin to quantify those relationships so as to gain further understanding of whether and how measurable variation in functional trait expression across cover crop mixtures and monocultures can serve as a reliable predictor of variation in the types and abundances of ecosystem services delivered. Six cover crop species, including legume, grass, and broadleaf functional types, were selected for growth in six mixtures and their component monocultures based upon the principle of trait complementarity. The tricultures (three-way mixtures) are comprised of a legume, grass, and broadleaf species, and include cowpea/sudex/buckwheat, sunnhemp/sudex/buckwheat, and chickling vetch/oat/buckwheat combinations; the dicultures contain the same legume and grass combinations as above, without the buckwheat broadleaf. By combining species with expectedly complimentary traits (for example, legumes are N suppliers and grasses are N acquirers, creating a nutrient cycling loop) the cover crop mixtures may elicit a broader range of ecosystem services than that provided by a monoculture, though trade-offs could exist. Collecting functional trait data will enable the investigation of the types of interactions driving these ecosystem service outcomes. It also allows for generalizability across a broader range of species than just those selected for this study, which may aid in informing further research efforts exploring species and ecosystem functioning, as well as on-farm management decisions.

Keywords: agroecology, cover crops, functional traits, multifunctionality, trait complementarity

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Authors: Mohamad Saab, Florent Real, Francois Virot, Laurent Cantrel, Valerie Vallet

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All spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants use the PUREX process (Plutonium Uranium Refining by Extraction), which is a liquid-liquid extraction method. The organic extracting solvent is a mixture of tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) and hydrocarbon solvent such as hydrogenated tetra-propylene (TPH). By chemical complexation, uranium and plutonium (from spent fuel dissolved in nitric acid solution), are separated from fission products and minor actinides. During a normal extraction operation, uranium is extracted in the organic phase as the UO₂(NO₃)₂(TBP)₂ complex. The TBP solvent can form an explosive mixture called red oil when it comes in contact with nitric acid. The formation of this unstable organic phase originates from the reaction between TBP and its degradation products on the one hand, and nitric acid, its derivatives and heavy metal nitrate complexes on the other hand. The decomposition of the red oil can lead to violent explosive thermal runaway. These hazards are at the origin of several accidents such as the two in the United States in 1953 and 1975 (Savannah River) and, more recently, the one in Russia in 1993 (Tomsk). This raises the question of the exothermicity of reactions that involve TBP and all other degradation products, and calls for a better knowledge of the underlying chemical phenomena. A simulation tool (Alambic) is currently being developed at IRSN that integrates thermal and kinetic functions related to the deterioration of uranyl nitrates in organic and aqueous phases, but not of the n-butyl phosphate. To include them in the modeling scheme, there is an urgent need to obtain the thermodynamic and kinetic functions governing the deterioration processes in liquid phase. However, little is known about the thermodynamic properties, like standard enthalpies of formation, of the n-butyl phosphate molecules and of the UO₂(NO₃)₂(TBP)₂ UO₂(NO₃)₂(HDBP)(TBP) and UO₂(NO₃)₂(HDBP)₂ complexes. In this work, we propose to estimate the thermodynamic properties with Quantum Methods (QM). Thus, in the first part of our project, we focused on the mono, di, and tri-butyl complexes. Quantum chemical calculations have been performed to study several reactions leading to the formation of mono-(H₂MBP), di-(HDBP), and TBP in gas and liquid phases. In the gas phase, the optimal structures of all species were optimized using the B3LYP density functional. Triple-ζ def2-TZVP basis sets were used for all atoms. All geometries were optimized in the gas-phase, and the corresponding harmonic frequencies were used without scaling to compute the vibrational partition functions at 298.15 K and 0.1 Mpa. Accurate single point energies were calculated using the efficient localized LCCSD(T) method to the complete basis set limit. Whenever species in the liquid phase are considered, solvent effects are included with the COSMO-RS continuum model. The standard enthalpies of formation of TBP, HDBP, and H2MBP are finally predicted with an uncertainty of about 15 kJ mol⁻¹. In the second part of this project, we have investigated the fundamental properties of three organic species that mostly contribute to the thermal runaway: UO₂(NO₃)₂(TBP)₂, UO₂(NO₃)₂(HDBP)(TBP), and UO₂(NO₃)₂(HDBP)₂ using the same quantum chemical methods that were used for TBP and its derivatives in both the gas and the liquid phase. We will discuss the structures and thermodynamic properties of all these species.

Keywords: PUREX process, red oils, quantum chemical methods, hydrolysis

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Authors: Roberta Mugellesi Dow

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As the climate crisis becomes unignorable, it is imperative that new services are developed addressing not only the needs of customers but also taking into account its impact on the environment. The Telecommunication and Integrated Application (TIA) Directorate of ESA is supporting the green transition with particular attention to the sustainable mobility.“Accelerating the shift to sustainable and smart mobility” is at the core of the European Green Deal strategy, which seeks a 90% reduction in related emissions by 2050 . Transforming the way that people and goods move is essential to increasing mobility while decreasing environmental impact, and transport must be considered holistically to produce a shared vision of green intermodal mobility. The use of space technologies, integrated with terrestrial technologies, is an enabler of smarter traffic management and increased transport efficiency for automated and connected multimodal mobility. Satellite connectivity, including future 5G networks, and digital technologies such as Digital Twin, AI, Machine Learning, and cloud-based applications are key enablers of sustainable mobility.SatCom is essential to ensure that connectivity is ubiquitously available, even in remote and rural areas, or in case of a failure, by the convergence of terrestrial and SatCom connectivity networks, This is especially crucial when there are risks of network failures or cyber-attacks targeting terrestrial communication. SatCom ensures communication network robustness and resilience. The combination of terrestrial and satellite communication networks is making possible intelligent and ubiquitous V2X systems and PNT services with significantly enhanced reliability and security, hyper-fast wireless access, as well as much seamless communication coverage. SatNav is essential in providing accurate tracking and tracing capabilities for automated vehicles and in guiding them to target locations. SatNav can also enable location-based services like car sharing applications, parking assistance, and fare payment. In addition to GNSS receivers, wireless connections, radar, lidar, and other installed sensors can enable automated vehicles to monitor surroundings, to ‘talk to each other’ and with infrastructure in real-time, and to respond to changes instantaneously. SatEO can be used to provide the maps required by the traffic management, as well as evaluate the conditions on the ground, assess changes and provide key data for monitoring and forecasting air pollution and other important parameters. Earth Observation derived data are used to provide meteorological information such as wind speed and direction, humidity, and others that must be considered into models contributing to traffic management services. The paper will provide examples of services and applications that have been developed aiming to identify innovative solutions and new business models that are allowed by new digital technologies engaging space and non space ecosystem together to deliver value and providing innovative, greener solutions in the mobility sector. Examples include Connected Autonomous Vehicles, electric vehicles, green logistics, and others. For the technologies relevant are the hybrid satcom and 5G providing ubiquitous coverage, IoT integration with non space technologies, as well as navigation, PNT technology, and other space data.

Keywords: sustainability, connectivity, mobility, satellites

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Authors: Mohammad Al-Refai, Majed Wakid

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Introduction: Soil-transmitted diseases (STD) are caused by intestinal worms that are transmitted via various routes into the human body resulting in various clinical manifestations. The intestinal worms causing these infections are known as soil transmitted helminths (STH), including Hook worms, Ascaris lumbricoides (A. lumbricoides), Trichuris trichiura (T. trichiura), and Strongyloides sterocoralis (S. sterocoralis). Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of STH among newly arrived expatriate labors in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia, using three different techniques (direct smears, sedimentation concentration, and real-time PCR). Methods: A total of 188 stool specimens were collected and investigated at the parasitology laboratory in the Special Infectious Agents Unit at King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Microscopic examination of wet mount preparations using normal saline and Lugols Iodine was carried out, followed by the formal ether sedimentation method. In addition, real-time PCR was used as a molecular tool to detect several STH and hookworm speciation. Results: Out of 188 stool specimens analyzed, in addition to STH parasite, several other types were detected. 9 samples (4.79%) were positive for Entamoeba coli, 7 samples (3.72%) for T. trichiura, 6 samples (3.19%) for Necator americanus, 4 samples (2.13%) for S. sterocoralis, 4 samples (2.13%) for A. lumbricoides, 4 samples (2.13%) for E. histolytica, 3 samples (1.60%) for Blastocystis hominis, 2 samples (1.06%) for Ancylostoma duodenale, 2 samples (1.06%) for Giardia lamblia, 1 sample (0.53%) for Iodamoeba buetschlii, 1 sample (0.53%) for Hymenolepis nana, 1 sample (0.53%) for Endolimax nana, and 1 sample (0.53%) for Heterophyes heterophyes. Out of the 35 infected cases, 26 revealed single infection, 8 with double infections, and only one triple infection of different STH species and other intestinal parasites. Higher rates of STH infections were detected among housemaids (11 cases) followed by drivers (7 cases) when compared to other occupations. According to educational level, illiterate participants represent the majority of infected workers (12 cases). The majority of workers' positive cases were from the Philippines. In comparison between laboratory techniques, out of the 188 samples screened for STH, real-time PCR was able to detect the DNA in (19/188) samples followed by Ritchie sedimentation technique (18/188), and direct wet smear (7/188). Conclusion: STH infections are a major public health issue to healthcare systems around the world. Communities must be educated on hygiene practices and the severity of such parasites to human health. As far as drivers and housemaids come to close contact with families, including children and elderlies. This may put family members at risk of developing serious side effects related to STH, especially as the majority of workers were illiterate, lacking the basic hygiene knowledge and practices. We recommend the official authority in Jeddah and around the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to revise the standard screening tests for newly arrived workers and enforce regular follow-up inspections to minimize the chances of the spread of STH from expatriate workers to the public.

Keywords: expatriate labors, Jeddah, prevalence, soil transmitted helminths

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Authors: Prajna Paramita Naik, Sujit Kumar Bhutia

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Background: Regardless of the development multimodal treatment strategies, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is often associated with a high rate of recurrence, metastasis and chemo- and radio- resistance. The present study inspected the relevance of CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 expression as a putative stem cell compartment in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and deciphered the role of autophagy in regulating the expression of aforementioned proteins, stemness and chemoresistance. Methods: A retrospective analysis of CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 expression with respect to the various clinicopathological factors of sixty OSCC patients were determined via immunohistochemistry. The correlation among CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 expression was established. Sphere formation assay, flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy were conducted to elucidate the stemness and chemoresistance nature of established cisplatin-resistant oral cancer cells (FaDu). The pattern of expression of CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 in parental (FaDu-P) and resistant FaDu cells (FaDu-CDDP-R) were investigated through fluorescence microscopy. Western blot analysis of autophagy marker proteins was performed to compare the status of autophagy in parental and resistant FaDu cell. To investigate the role of autophagy in chemoresistance and stemness, sphere formation assay, immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis was performed post transfection with siATG14 and the level of expression of autophagic proteins, mitochondrial protein and stemness-associated proteins were analyzed. The statistical analysis was performed by GraphPad Prism 4.0 software. p-value was defined as follows: not significant (n.s.): p > 0.05;*: p ≤ 0.05; **: p ≤ 0.01; ***: p ≤ 0.001; ****: p ≤ 0.0001 were considered statistically significant. Results: In OSCC, high CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 expression were significantly correlated with higher tumor grades and poor differentiation. However, the expression of these proteins was not related to the age and sex of OSCC patients. Moreover, the expression of CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 were positively correlated with each other. In vitro and OSCC tissue double labeling experiment data showed that CD44+ cells were highly associated with ABCB1 and ADAM17 expression. Further, FaDu-CDDP-R cells showed higher sphere forming capacity along with increased fraction of the CD44+ population and β-catenin expression FaDu-CDDP-R cells also showed accelerated expression of CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17. A comparatively higher autophagic flux was observed in FaDu-CDDP-R against FaDu-P cells. The expression of mitochondrial proteins was noticeably reduced in resistant cells as compared to parental cells indicating the occurrence of autophagy-mediated mitochondrial degradation in oral cancer. Moreover, inhibition of autophagy was coupled with the decreased formation of orospheres suggesting autophagy-mediated stemness in oral cancer. Blockade of autophagy was also found to induce the restoration of mitochondrial proteins in FaDu-CDDP-R cells indicating the involvement of mitophagy in chemoresistance. Furthermore, a reduced expression of CD44, ABCB1 and ADAM17 was also observed in ATG14 deficient cells FaDu-P and FaDu-CDDP-R cells. Conclusion: The CD44+ ⁄ABCB1+ ⁄ADAM17+ expression in OSCC might be associated with chemoresistance and a putative CSC compartment. Further, the present study highlights the contribution of mitophagy in chemoresistance and confirms the potential involvement of autophagic regulation in acquisition of stem-like characteristics in OSCC.

Keywords: ABCB1, ADAM17, autophagy, CD44, chemoresistance, mitophagy, OSCC, stemness

Procedia PDF Downloads 175