Search results for: the triple jump

Authors: Masoumeh Shojaei, Natalie Gedayloo, Amir Sarshin

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of Isokinetic fatigue of muscles around the ankle, knee, and hip on the indicators of dynamic postural stability. Therefore, 15 female university students (age 19.7± 0.6 years old, weight 54.6± 9.4 kg, and height 163.9± 5.6 cm) participated in within-subjects design for 5 different days. In the first session, the postural stability indices (time to stabilization after jump-landing) without fatigue were assessed by force plate and in each next sessions, one of muscle groups of the lower limb including the muscles around ankles, knees, and hip was randomly exhausted by Biodex Isokinetic dynamometer and the indices were assessed immediately after the fatigue of each muscle group. The method involved landing on a force plate from a dynamic state, and transitioning balance into a static state. Results of ANOVA with repeated measures indicated that there was no significant difference between the time to stabilization (TTS) before and after Isokinetic fatigue of the muscles around the ankle, knee and hip in medial – lateral direction (p > 0.05), but in the anterior – posterior (AP) direction, the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Least Significant Difference (LSD) post hoc test results also showed that there was significant difference between TTS in knee and hip muscles before and after isokinetic fatigue in AP direction. In the other hand knee and hip muscles group were affected by isokinetic fatigue only in AP surface (p < 0.05).

Keywords: dynamic balance, fatigue, lower limb muscles, postural control

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Authors: Aswathaman Vijayan, Manish Jha, Ullas Theertha

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Climate change and Global warming have become an issue for both developed and developing countries and perhaps the biggest threat to the environment. We at ITC Limited believe that a company’s performance must be measured by its Triple Bottom Line contribution to building economic, social and environmental capital. This Triple Bottom Line strategy focuses on - Embedding sustainability in business practices, Investing in social development and Adopting a low carbon growth path with a cleaner environment approach. The Agri Business Division - ILTD operates in the tobacco crop growing regions of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka province of India. The Agri value chain of the company comprises of two distinct phases: First phase is Agricultural operations undertaken by ITC trained farmers and the second phase is Industrial operations which include marketing and processing of the agricultural produce. This research work covers the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) management strategy of ITC in the Agricultural operations undertaken by the farmers. The agriculture sector adds considerably to global GHG emissions through the use of carbon-based energies, use of fertilizers and other farming operations such as ploughing. In order to minimize the impact of farming operations on the environment, ITC has a taken a big leap in implementing system and process in reducing the GHG impact in farm value chain by partnering with the farming community. The company has undertaken a unique three-pronged approach for GHG management at the farm value chain: 1) GHG inventory at farm value chain: Different sources of GHG emission in the farm value chain were identified and quantified for the baseline year, as per the IPCC guidelines for greenhouse gas inventories. The major sources of emission identified are - emission due to nitrogenous fertilizer application during seedling production and main-field; emission due to diesel usage for farm machinery; emission due to fuel consumption and due to burning of crop residues. 2) Identification and implementation of technologies to reduce GHG emission: Various methodologies and technologies were identified for each GHG emission source and implemented at farm level. The identified methodologies are – reducing the consumption of chemical fertilizer usage at the farm through site-specific nutrient recommendation; Usage of sharp shovel for land preparation to reduce diesel consumption; implementation of energy conservation technologies to reduce fuel requirement and avoiding burning of crop residue by incorporation in the main field. These identified methodologies were implemented at farm level, and the GHG emission was quantified to understand the reduction in GHG emission. 3) Social and farm forestry for CO2 sequestration: In addition, the company encouraged social and farm forestry in the waste lands to convert it into green cover. The plantations are carried out with fast growing trees viz., Eucalyptus, Casuarina, and Subabul at the rate of 10,000 Ha of land per year. The above approach minimized considerable amount of GHG emission at the farm value chain benefiting farmers, community, and environment at a whole. In addition, the CO₂ stock created by social and farm forestry program has made the farm value chain to become environment-friendly.

Keywords: CO₂ sequestration, farm value chain, greenhouse gas, ITC limited

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Authors: Wahab Ali Shah, Junjia He

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In this work, we performed a large-scale investigation into leader development in a 10 m rod-plane gap under a long front positive impulse. To describe the leader propagation under slow front impulse voltages, we recorded the leader propagation with a high-speed charge coupled device (CCD) camera. It is important to figure out this phenomenon to deepen our understanding of leader discharge. The observation results showed that the leader mechanism is a very complex physical phenomenon; it could be categorized into two types of leader process, namely, continuous and the discontinuous leader streamer-leader propagation. Furthermore, we studied the continuous leader development parameters, including two-dimensional (2-D) leader length, injected charge, and final jump stage, as well as leader velocity for rod–plane configuration. We observed that the discontinuous leader makes an important contribution to the appearance of channel re-illuminations of the positive leader. The comparative study shows better results in terms of standard switch impulse and long front positive impulse. Finally, the results are presented with a view toward improving our understanding of propagation mechanisms related to restrike phenomena, which are rarely reported. To clarify the above doubts under long front cases, we carried out extensive experiments in this study.

Keywords: continuous and discontinuous leader, high-speed photographs, long air gap, positive long front impulse, restrike phenomena

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Authors: M. Peña Aguilar Juan, E. Nava Galván Claudia, Pastrana Palma Alberto

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In this work was developed and implemented a thermal fogging disinfection system to counteract pathogens from poultry feces in agribusiness farms, to reduce mortality rates and increase biosafety in them. The control system consists of two phases for the conditioning of the farm during the sanitary break. In the first phase, viral and bacterial inactivation was performed by treating the stool dry cleaning, along with the development of a specialized product that foster the generation of temperatures above 55 °C in less than 24 hr, for virus inactivation. In the second phase, a process for disinfection by fogging was implemented, along with the development of a specialized disinfectant that guarantee no risk for the operators’ health or birds. As a result of this process, it was possible to minimize the level of mortality of chickens on farms from 12% to 5.49%, representing a reduction of 6.51% in the death rate, through the formula applied to the treatment of poultry litter based on oxidising agents used as antiseptics, hydrogen peroxide solutions, glacial acetic acid and EDTA in order to act on bacteria, viruses, micro bacteria and spores.

Keywords: innovation, triple helix, poultry farms, biosecurity

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Authors: Yusuf Yılmaz, Kevser Dincer, Derya Saygılı

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In this study, performance of PEMs was experimentally investigated. Coating on the cathode side of the PEMs fuel cells was accomplished with the spray method by using NaCaNiBO. A solution having 0,1 gr NaCaNiBO +10 mL methanol was prepared. This solution was taken out and filled into a spray. Then the cathode side of PEMs fuel cells was cladded with NaCaNiBO by using spray method. After coating, the membrane was left out to dry for 24 hours. The PEM fuel cells were mounted to the system in single, double, triple and fourfold manner in order to spot the best performance. The performance parameter considered was the power to current ratio. The best performance was found to occur at the 300th second with the power/current ratio of 3.55 Watt/Ampere and on the fourfold parallel mounting after the coating; whereas the poorest performance took place at the 210th second, power to current ratio of 0.12 Watt/Ampere and on the twofold parallel connection after the coating.

Keywords: nano-composites, proton exchange membranes, performance improvement, fuel cell

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Authors: E. A. Asabina, V. I. Pet'kov, P. A. Mayorov, A. V. Markin, N. N. Smirnova, A. M. Kovalskii, A. A. Usenko

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The purpose of this work was to synthesize and investigate phase formation, structure and thermophysical properties of the phosphates M_0.5+xM'_xZr_2–x(PO₄)₃ (M – Cd, Sr, Pb; M' – Mg, Co, Mn). The compounds were synthesized by sol-gel method. The results showed formation of limited solid solutions of NZP/NASICON type. The crystal structures of triple phosphates of the compositions MMg_0.5Zr_1.5(PO₄)₃ were refined by the Rietveld method using XRD data. Heat capacity (8–660 K) of the phosphates Pb_0.5+xMg_xZr_2-x(PO₄)₃ (x = 0, 0.5) was measured, and reversible polymorphic transitions were found at temperatures, close to the room temperature. The results of Rietveld structure refinement showed the polymorphism caused by disordering of lead cations in the cavities of NZP/NASICON structure. Thermal expansion (298−1073 K) of the phosphates MMg_0.5Zr_1.5(PO₄)₃ was studied by XRD method, and the compounds were found to belong to middle and low-expanding materials. Thermal diffusivity (298–573 K) of the ceramic samples of phosphates slightly decreased with temperature increasing. As was demonstrated, the studied phosphates are characterized by the better thermophysical characteristics than widespread fire-resistant materials, such as zirconia and etc.

Keywords: NASICON, NZP, phosphate, structure, synthesis, thermophysical properties

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Authors: Rijnbout-St.James Willem, Lindner Volkhard, Scholand Mary Beth, Ashton M. Tillett, Di Gennaro Michael Jude, Smith Silvia Enrica

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Introduction: Fibrosing lung diseases are characterized by changes in the lung interstitium and are classified based on etiology: 1) environmental/exposure-related, 2) autoimmune-related, 3) sarcoidosis, 4) interstitial pneumonia, and 4) idiopathic. Among interstitial lung diseases (ILD) idiopathic forms, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most severe. Pathogenesis of IPF is characterized by an increased presence of proinflammatory mediators, resulting in alveolar injury, where injury to alveolar epithelium precipitates an increase in collagen deposition, subsequently thickening the alveolar septum and decreasing gas exchange. Identifying biomarkers implicated in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis is key to developing new therapies and improving the efficacy of existing therapies. The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-B1), a mediator of tissue repair associated with WNT5A signaling, is partially responsible for fibroblast proliferation in ILD and is the target of Pirfenidone, one of the antifibrotic therapies used for patients with IPF. Canonical TGF-B signaling is mediated by the proteins SMAD 2/3, which are, in turn, indirectly regulated by Collagen Triple Helix Repeat Containing 1 (CTHRC1). In this study, we tested the following hypotheses: 1) CTHRC1 is more elevated in the ILD cohort compared to unaffected controls, and 2) CTHRC1 is differently expressed among ILD types. Material and Methods: CTHRC1 levels were measured by ELISA in 171 plasma samples from the deidentified University of Utah ILD cohort. Data represent a cohort of 131 ILD-affected participants and 40 unaffected controls. CTHRC1 samples were categorized by a pulmonologist based on affectation status and disease subtypes: IPF (n = 45), sarcoidosis (4), nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (16), hypersensitivity pneumonitis (n = 7), interstitial pneumonia (n=13), autoimmune (n = 15), other ILD - a category that includes undifferentiated ILD diagnoses (n = 31), and unaffected controls (n = 40). We conducted a single-factor ANOVA of plasma CTHRC1 levels to test whether CTHRC1 variance among affected and non-affected participants is statistically significantly different. In-silico analysis was performed with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis® to characterize the role of CTHRC1 in the pathway of lung fibrosis. Results: Statistical analyses of CTHRC1 in plasma samples indicate that the average CTHRC1 level is significantly higher in ILD-affected participants than controls, with the autoimmune ILD being higher than other ILD types, thus supporting our hypotheses. In-silico analyses show that CTHRC1 indirectly activates and phosphorylates SMAD3, which in turn cross-regulates TGF-B1. CTHRC1 also may regulate the expression and transcription of TGFB-1 via WNT5A and its regulatory relationship with CTNNB1. Conclusion: In-silico pathway analyses demonstrate that CTHRC1 may be an important biomarker in ILD. Analysis of plasma samples indicates that CTHRC1 expression is positively associated with ILD affectation, with autoimmune ILD having the highest average CTHRC1 values. While characterizing CTHRC1 levels in plasma can help to differentiate among ILD types and predict response to Pirfenidone, the extent to which plasma CTHRC1 level is a function of ILD severity or chronicity is unknown.

Keywords: interstitial lung disease, CTHRC1, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pathway analyses

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Authors: Trevor R. Higgins

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To speed/enhance recovery from sport, cold water immersion (CWI) and contrast water therapy (CWT) have become common practice within the high-level team sport. Initially, research into CWI and CWT protocols and recovery was sparse; athletes relied solely upon an anecdotal support. However, an increase into recovery research has occurred. A number of reviews have subsequently been conducted to clarify scientific evidence. However, as the nature of physiological stress and training status of participants will impact on results, an opportunity existed to narrow the focus to a more exacting review evaluating hydrotherapy for recovery in a team sport. A Boolean logic [AND] keyword search of databases was conducted: SPORTDiscus; AMED; CINAHL; MEDLINE. Data was extracted and the standardized mean differences were calculated with 95% CI. The analysis of pooled data was conducted using a random-effect model, with Heterogeneity assessed using I2. 23 peer reviewed papers (n=606) met the criteria. Meta-analyses results indicated CWI was likely beneficial for recovery at 24h (Countermovement Jump (CMJ): p= 0.05, CI -0.004 to 0.578; All-out sprint: p=0.02, -0.056 to 0.801; DOMS: p=0.08, CI -0.092 to 1.936) and at 72h (accumulated sprinting: p=0.07, CI -0.062 to 1.209; DOMS: p=0.09, CI -0.121 to 1.555) following team sport. Whereas CWT was likely beneficial for recovery at 1h (CMJ: p= 0.07, CI -0.004 to 0.863) and at 48h (fatigue: p=0.04, CI 0.013 to 0.942) following team sport. Athlete’s perceptions of muscle soreness and fatigue are enhanced with CWI and/or CWT, however even though CWI and CWT were beneficial in attenuating decrements in neuromuscular performance 24 hours following team sport, indications are those benefits were no longer Sydney evident 48 hours following team sport.

Keywords: cold water immersion, contrast water therapy, recovery, team sport

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Authors: Revant Nayar

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In this work, we recast the equations describing large scale structure, and by extension all nonlinear fluids, in the path integral formalism. We first calculate the well known two and three point functions using Schwinger Keldysh formalism used commonly to perturbatively solve path integrals in non- equilibrium systems. Then we include EFT corrections due to pressure, viscosity, and noise as effects on the time-dependent propagator. We are able to express results for arbitrary two and three point correlation functions in LSS in terms of differential operators acting on a triple K master intergral. We also, for the first time, get analytical results for more general initial conditions deviating from the usual power law P∝kⁿ by introducing a mass scale in the initial conditions. This robust field theoretic formalism empowers us with tools from strongly coupled QFT to study the strongly non-linear regime of LSS and turbulent fluid dynamics such as OPE and holographic duals. These could be used to capture fully the strongly non-linear dynamics of fluids and move towards solving the open problem of classical turbulence.

Keywords: quantum field theory, cosmology, effective field theory, renormallisation

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Authors: Muhammad Azam, Micheal Olaolu Arowolo, Fei He, Mihail Popescu, Dong Xu

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The number of biological papers is growing quickly, which means that the number of biological pathway figures in those papers is also increasing quickly. Each pathway figure shows extensive biological information, like the names of genes and how the genes are related. However, manually annotating pathway figures takes a lot of time and work. Even though using advanced image understanding models could speed up the process of curation, these models still need to be made more accurate. To improve gene name recognition from pathway figures, we applied a Siamese network to map image segments to a library of pictures containing known genes in a similar way to person recognition from photos in many photo applications. We used a triple loss function and a triplet spatial pyramid pooling network by combining the triplet convolution neural network and the spatial pyramid pooling (TSPP-Net). We compared VGG19 and VGG16 as the Siamese network model. VGG16 achieved better performance with an accuracy of 93%, which is much higher than OCR results.

Keywords: biological pathway, image understanding, gene name recognition, object detection, Siamese network, VGG

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Authors: Ugur Senturk, Ibrahım Erdemır, Faruk Guven, Cuma Ece

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The objective of this study is to compare flexion and extension movements in knee-joint group by measuring isokinetic knee power of amateur basketball and football players. For this purpose, total 21 players were included, which consist of football players (n=12) and basketball players (n=9), within the age range of 17–20. After receiving the age, length, body weight, vertical jump, and BMI measurements of all subjects, the measurement of lower extremity knee-joint movement (Flexion-Extension) was made with isokinetic dynamometer (isomed 2000) at 60 o/sec. and 240 o/sec. angular velocity. After arrangement and grouping of collected information forms and knee flexion and extension parameters, all data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows. Descriptive analyses of the parameters were made. Non-parametric t test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the parameters of football players and basketball players and to find the inter-group differences. The comparisons and relations in the range p<0.05 and p<0.01 between the groups were surveyed. As a conclusion, no statistical differences were found between isokinetic knee flexion and extension parameters of football and basketball players. However, it was found that the football players were older than the basketball players. In addition to this, the average values of the basketball players in the highest torque and the highest torque average curve were found higher than football players in comparisons of left knee extension. However, it was found that fat levels of the basketball players were found to be higher than the football players.

Keywords: isokinetic contraction, isokinetic dynamometer, peak torque, flexion, extension, football, basketball

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Authors: Shih-Ming Wang, Chun-Kai Yeh, Ming-Hwang Shie, Tai-Wei Lin, Chieh-Fu Chang

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This paper introduces a FPGA-based baseband signals generator (BSG) of X-band transmitter developed by National Space Organization (NSPO), Taiwan, for earth observation. In order to gain more flexibility for various applications, a number of modulation schemes, QPSK, DeQPSK and 8PSK 4D-TCM are included. For micro satellite scenario, the maximum symbol rate is up to 150Mbsps, and the EVM is as low as 1.9%. For CubeSat scenario, the maximum symbol rate is up to 60Mbsps, and the EVM is less than 1.7%. The maximum data rates are 412.5Mbps and 165Mbps, respectively. Besides, triple modular redundancy (TMR) scheme is implemented in order to reduce single event effect (SEE) induced by radiation. Finally, the theoretical error performance is provided based on comprehensive analysis, especially when BER is lower and much lower than 10⁻⁶ due to low error bit requirement of modern high-resolution earth remote-sensing instruments.

Keywords: X-band transmitter, FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), CubeSat, micro satellite

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Authors: Anne E. Goodenough

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Students often learn best ‘on the job’ through holistic real-world projects. They need real-world experiences to make classroom learning applicable and to increase their employability. Academics typically value working on projects where new knowledge is created and have a genuine desire to help students engage with learning and develop new skills. They might also have institutional pressure to enhance student engagement, retention, and satisfaction. External organizations - especially non-governmental bodies, charities, and small enterprises - often have fundamental and pressing questions, but lack the manpower and academic expertise to answer them effectively. They might also be on the lookout for talented potential employees. This study examines ways in which these diverse requirements can be met simultaneously by creating three-way projects that provide excellent academic and real-world outcomes for all involved. It studied a range of innovative projects across natural sciences (biology, ecology, physical geography and social sciences (human geography, sociology, criminology, and community engagement) to establish how to best harness the potential of this powerful approach. Focal collaborations included: (1) development of practitioner-linked modules; (2) frameworks where students collected/analyzed data for link organizations in research methods modules; (3) placement-based internships and dissertations; and (4) immersive fieldwork projects in novel locations to allow students engage first-hand with contemporary issues as diverse as rhino poaching in South Africa, segregation in Ireland, and gun crime in Florida. Although there was no ‘magic formula’ for success, the approach was found to work best when small projects were developed that were achievable in a short time-frame, both to tie into modular curricula and meet the immediacy expectations of many link organizations. Bigger projects were found to work well in some cases, especially when they were essentially a series of linked smaller projects, either running concurrently or successively with each building on previous work. Opportunities were maximized when there were tangible benefits to the link organization as this generally increased organization investment in the project and motivated students too. The importance of finding the right approach for a given project was found to be key: it was vital to ensure that something that could work effectively as an independent research project for one student, for example, was not shoehorned into being a project for multiple students within a taught module. In general, students were very positive about collaboration projects. They identified benefits to confidence, time-keeping and communication, as well as conveying their enthusiasm when their work was of benefit to the wider community. Several students have gone on to do further work with the link organization in a voluntary capacity or as paid staff, or used the experiences to help them break into the ever-more competitive job market in other ways. Although this approach involves a substantial time investment, especially from academics, the benefits can be profound. The approach has strong potential to engage students, help retention, improve student satisfaction, and teach new skills; keep the knowledge of academics fresh and current; and provide valuable tangible benefits for link organizations: a real triple win.

Keywords: authentic learning, curriculum development, effective education, employability, higher education, innovative pedagogy, link organizations, student experience

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Authors: K. C. Mujeebu Rahman

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Over the years, discussions in India regarding personal law in India have focused on its deficiencies, increasing involvement of the judiciary, and the pursuit of uniformity. However, little attention has been given to understanding how the law functions in a multicultural nation committed to political secularism. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the mahallu system in Malabar, shedding light on the decision-making process within Muslim personal law. It reveals that this process is deeply rooted in everyday micro-politics, sectarian dynamics, social pressure, and emotions. Through an in-depth examination of a triple talaq case, the paper demonstrates how love (or the lack of it), family expectations, and community authority intersect in resolving marital disputes. Instead of a straightforward legal interpretation, this process leads to a complex maze of micro-politics involving local religious factions and authorities. The paper underscores that the non-state quasi-legal institutions within the mahallu system represent a distinct form of legal pluralism characterized by intricate power dynamics at multiple levels. Moreover, it highlights the interplay between what is considered legally valid and what is deemed socially legitimate.

Keywords: islamic law, sharia, fatwa, muslim personal law

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Authors: Devam Sheth

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Nuclear imaging with stress myocardial perfusion (stress test) is the preferred first line investigation for noninvasive evaluation of ischaemic heart condition. The sensitivity of this test is close to 90 % making it a very reliable test. However, rarely it gives a false negative result which can be explained by the phenomenon termed as “balanced ischaemia”. We present the case of a 78 year Caucasian female without any significant past cardiac history, who presents with chest pain and shortness of breath since one day. The initial ECG and cardiac enzymes were non-impressive. Few hours later, she had some substernal chest pain along with some ST segment depression in the lateral leads. Stress test comes back negative for any significant perfusion defects. However, given her typical symptoms, she underwent a cardiac catheterization which revealed significant triple vessel disease mandating her to get a bypass surgery. This unusual phenomenon of false nuclear stress test in the setting of positive ECG changes can be explained only by balanced ischemia wherein due to global myocardial ischemia, the stress test fails to reveal relative perfusion defects in the affected segments.

Keywords: balanced, false positive, ischemia, myocardial perfusion imaging

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Authors: Amir Moslehi, Gholamreza Raisali

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Microdosimetric detectors based on multiple-thick gas electron multiplier (multiple-THGEM) configurations are being used in various fields of radiation protection and dosimetry. In the present work, microdosimetric response of these detectors to fast neutrons has been investigated by Monte Carlo method. Three similar microdosimeters made of A-150 and rexolite as the wall materials are designed; the first based on single-THGEM, the second based on double-THGEM and the third is based on triple-THGEM. Sensitive volume of the three microdosimeters is a right cylinder of 5 mm height and diameter which is filled with the propane-based tissue-equivalent (TE) gas. The TE gas with 0.11 atm pressure at the room temperature simulates 1 µm of tissue. Lineal energy distributions for several neutron energies from 10 keV to 14 MeV including 241Am-Be neutrons are calculated by the Geant4 simulation toolkit. Also, mean quality factor and dose-equivalent value for any neutron energy has been determined by these distributions. Obtained data derived from the three microdosimeters are in agreement. Therefore, we conclude that the multiple-THGEM structures present similar microdosimetric responses to fast neutrons.

Keywords: fast neutrons, geant4, multiple-thick gas electron multiplier, microdosimeter

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Authors: Syed Irfan Sohail, Syed Muzahir Abbas

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This paper presents theoretical transmission response analysis of RF/Microwave signals propagating through a single- and multi-layer float glass panels. These signals are GSM cellular/mobile, GPS, PCS, VHF/UHF and mobile broadband signals that lie in 0-2 GHz range. In theoretical analysis and the experiments conducted, significant transmission response with minimum attenuation was found in all the panels for those signals. Through detailed parametric study, it was further observed that these panels can be further optimized to transmit the desired frequency signals while blocking the others. Moreover, with number of practical investigations, it was also found that the pass-band ripples, cut-off frequency and in-band attenuation of different transmission bands can be determined by the number of panels used and the gap kept between those panels. This allows the designers to optimize the outdoor glass-window-panels to meet some specific wireless cellular and mobile communication needs. Presented here are the predicted and measured results of a single-, dual- and a triple-layer float glass panel with a detailed discussion on the propagation phenomenon of RF/Microwave signals for each of the three float glass-panel.

Keywords: cutt-off, energy-saving glass, frequency, microwave, pass-band, RF

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Authors: D. T. Chabalala

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Currently South Africa is facing a triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. As such, communities have limited access to basic municipal services such as water, sanitation and electricity. Citizens such as those residing at Malamulele Township will be responsible to pay for the cost of water services that they consume instead of having the costs subsidised by the newly formed Municipality. The question on whether Malamulele residents would be willing to pay for water services provided for them need to be investigated. This study was conducted in Malamulele Township and surrounding villages. The article is based on a survey of 500 randomly selected households from township and villages surrounding Malamulele. The study uses the contingent valuation method to determine households’ willingness to pay for water services as well as the consequences they possibly will encounter in case their response is negative. The obtained results can be used by the Municipality and other Government Departments in order to better identify the affordable rates and the quantity of water service to be provided. Thus, it will make Municipality water supply services stable and sustainable. It will also be used as a tool to provide inform decisions about a range of infrastructure to enhance water supply systems.

Keywords: willingness to pay, contingent valuation method, water supply systems, Malamulele

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Ying-Chuan Chen, Yu-Ching Lin

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There has been renewal of interest in the relation between Green IT and cloud computing in recent years. Cloud computing has to be a highly elastic environment which provides stable services to users. The growing use of cloud computing facilities has caused marked energy consumption, putting negative pressure on electricity cost of computing center or data center. Each year more and more network devices, storages and computers are purchased and put to use, but it is not just the number of computers that is driving energy consumption upward. We could foresee that the power consumption of cloud computing facilities will double, triple, or even more in the next decade. This paper aims at resource allocation and scheduling technologies that are short of or have not well developed yet to reduce energy utilization in cloud computing platform. In particular, our approach relies on recalling services dynamically onto appropriate amount of the machines according to user’s requirement and temporarily shutting down the machines after finish in order to conserve energy. We present initial work on integration of resource and power management system that focuses on reducing power consumption such that they suffice for meeting the minimizing quality of service required by the cloud computing platform.

Keywords: cloud computing, energy utilization, power consumption, resource allocation

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Authors: Hui-Fang Lee, Meng-Chu Liu, Wen-Chi Lu, Hsuan-Jung Hsieh

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The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of health program on the fitness ability of abnormal BMI students of Ching-Yun University of Science and Technology. In order to achieve this purpose, self-regulation theory and dietary education were applied, and the effect of 10-week sports activities and three-day diet records on pre-test and post-test of fitness activities was analyzed. There were 40 original participants. Then, nine people who were with normal BMI, low attendance or unfinished fitness test were eliminated from this research. The valid samples were 31 (77.5%) participants. The fitness activities included sit-bending, one minute sit-up, standing long jump, and three-minute stage boarding. The averages of three-day diet records were compared, and differences of pre-test and post-test of the four fitness activities were analyzed with paired-samples t test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between pre-test and post of male students’ BMI and one minute sit-up. Females’ sit-bending and one minute sit-up had the same effect. Females had high fat intake in three-day diet records. The research showed that the use of self-regulation theory and dietary education, the implementation of sports activities and three-day diet records could significantly enhance the physical fitness indicators or effects. While in the course of sports, we should guide students to think about the gap between self-behavior and ideal behavior, then realize the main reasons and improving methods, and finally go towards the goal and improve the effect of physical fitness.

Keywords: self-regulation theory, dietary education, three-day diet records, physical fitness

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Authors: F. Djaafar, B. Hadri, G. Bachir

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This paper presents the design parameters for a thin film 3J InGaP/GaAs/Ge solar cell with a simulated maximum efficiency of 32.11% using Tcad Silvaco. Design parameters include the doping concentration, molar fraction, layers’ thickness and tunnel junction characteristics. An initial dual junction InGaP/GaAs model of a previous published heterojunction cell was simulated in Tcad Silvaco to accurately predict solar cell performance. To improve the solar cell’s performance, we have fixed meshing, material properties, models and numerical methods. However, thickness and layer doping concentration were taken as variables. We, first simulate the InGaP\GaAs dual junction cell by changing the doping concentrations and thicknesses which showed an increase in efficiency. Next, a triple junction InGaP/GaAs/Ge cell was modeled by adding a Ge layer to the previous dual junction InGaP/GaAs model with an InGaP /GaAs tunnel junction.

Keywords: heterojunction, modeling, simulation, thin film, Tcad Silvaco

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Authors: B. R. Madushan, S. B. Navaratne, I. Wickramasinge

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Toddy sediment (TS) was cultured in a PDA medium to determine initial yeast load, and also it was undergone sun, shade, solar, dehumidified cold air (DCA) and hot air oven (at 400, 500 and 60oC) drying with a view to preserve viability of yeast. Thereafter, this study was conducted according to two factor factorial design in order to determine best preservation method. Therein the dried TS from the best drying method was taken and divided into two portions. One portion was mixed with 3: 7 ratio of TS: rice flour and the mixture was divided in to two again. While one portion was kept under in house condition the other was in a refrigerator. Same procedure was followed to the rest portion of TS too but it was at the same ratio of corn flour. All treatments were vacuum packed in triple laminate pouches and the best preservation method was determined in terms of leavening index (LI). The TS obtained from the best preservation method was used to make foods (bread and hopper) and organoleptic properties of it were evaluated against same of ordinary foods using sensory panel with a five point hedonic scale. Results revealed that yeast load or fresh TS was 58×106 CFU/g. The best drying method in preserving viability of yeast was DCA because LI of this treatment (96%) is higher than that of other three treatments. Organoleptic properties of foods prepared from best preservation method are as same as ordinary foods according to Duo trio test.

Keywords: biological leavening agent, coconut toddy, fermentation, yeast

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Authors: Fadi Chammas, Saad Alkhaldi, Tariq Alghamdi, Stefano Alexandirs

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The operating conditions and corrosive nature of the process fluid in the Haradh and Hawiyah areas are subjecting facility piping to undesirable corrosion phenomena. Therefore, production headers inside remote headers have been internally cladded with high alloy material to mitigate the corrosion damage mechanism. Corrosion mitigation in the jump-over lines, constructed between the existing flowlines and the newly constructed facilities to provide operational flexibility, is proposed. This corrosion mitigation system includes the application of fusion bond epoxy (FBE) coating on the internal surface of the pipe and depositing corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA) weld layers at pipe and fittings ends to protect the carbon steel material. In addition, high alloy CRA weld material is used to deposit the girth weld between the 90-degree elbows and mating internally coated segments. A rigorous testing and qualification protocol was established prior to actual adoption at the Haradh and Hawiyah Field Gas Compression Program, currently being executed by Saudi Aramco. The proposed mitigation system, aimed at applying the cladding at the ends of the internally FBE coated pipes/elbows, will resolve field joint coating challenges, eliminate the use of approximately (1700) breakout flanges, and prevent the potential hydrocarbon leaks.

Keywords: pipelines, corrosion, cost-saving, project completion

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Authors: Majid Haghshenas, James Wilson, Ranganathan Kumar

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In this study, an Algebraic Coupled Level Set-Volume of Fluid (A-CLSVOF) method with capillary pressure treatment is proposed for the modeling of two-phase capillary flows. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is utilized to incorporate one-way coupling with the Level Set (LS) function in order to further improve the accuracy of the interface curvature calculation and resulting surface tension force. The capillary pressure is determined and treated independently of the hydrodynamic pressure in the momentum balance in order to maintain consistency between cell centered and interpolated values, resulting in a reduction in parasitic currents. In this method, both VOF and LS functions are transported where the new volume fraction determines the interface seed position used to reinitialize the LS field. The Hamilton-Godunov function is used with a second order (in space and time) discretization scheme to produce a signed distance function. The performance of the current methodology has been tested against some common test cases in order to assess the reduction in non-physical velocities and improvements in the interfacial pressure jump. The cases of a static drop, non-linear Rayleigh-Taylor instability and finally a droplets impact on a liquid pool were simulated to compare the performance of the present method to other well-known methods in the area of parasitic current reduction, interface location evolution and overall agreement with experimental results.

Keywords: two-phase flow, capillary flow, surface tension force, coupled LS with VOF

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Authors: Hui Luo, Zhenhong Li, Zhen Dong

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The analysis of multi-temporal InSAR (MTInSAR) such as persistent scatterer (PS) and small baseline subset (SBAS) techniques usually relies on temporal/spatial phase unwrapping (PU). Unfortunately, it always fails to unwrap the phase for two reasons: 1) spatial phase jump between adjacent pixels larger than π, such as layover and high discontinuous terrain; 2) temporal phase discontinuities such as time varied atmospheric delay. To overcome these limitations, a least-square based PU method is introduced in this paper, which incorporates baseline-combination interferograms and adjacent phase gradient network. Firstly, permanent scatterers (PS) are selected for study. Starting with the linear baseline-combination method, we obtain equivalent 'small baseline inteferograms' to limit the spatial phase difference. Then, phase different has been conducted between connected PSs (connected by a specific networking rule) to suppress the spatial correlated phase errors such as atmospheric artifact. After that, interval phase difference along arcs can be computed by least square method and followed by an outlier detector to remove the arcs with phase ambiguities. Then, the unwrapped phase can be obtained by spatial integration. The proposed method is tested on real data of TerraSAR-X, and the results are also compared with the ones obtained by StaMPS(a software package with 3D PU capabilities). By comparison, it shows that the proposed method can successfully unwrap the interferograms in urban areas even when high discontinuities exist, while StaMPS fails. At last, precise DEM errors can be got according to the unwrapped interferograms.

Keywords: phase unwrapping, time series, InSAR, urban areas

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Authors: M. Mohammadi

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In order to evaluate the effect of phosphate and Zn bio-fertilizers on the yield, phytic acid (PA), Zn concentration and PA/Zn molar ratio in bean, a field experiment was carried out for two years. The treatments included two cultivars of bean (Talash and Sadri), four levels of P (P₀, P₁: 100 kg ha^-1 triple super phosphate (TSP), P2: 50 kg ha^-1 TSP + phosphate bio-fertilizer, P₃: phosphate bio-fertilizer), three levels of Zn (Zn₀, Zn₁: 50 kg ha^-1 ZnSO4, Zn₂: Zn bio-fertilizer). Phosphate bio-fertilizer consisted of inoculum of mycorrhizal fungus and Azotobacter and Zn bio-fertilizer consisted of Pseudomonas bacteria. The results revealed that there was significant difference between yield and Zn concentration between years. The effect of cultivar was significant on studied parameters. The lowest content of PA and PA/Zn were obtained from Talash. P treatment caused to significant difference on parameters in which P₂ caused to increase yield, P and Zn concentration, and decrease PA and PA/Zn by 21.8%, 38.2%, 33.4%, 17.4% and 38.6% respectively. Zn treatment caused to significant difference on studied parameters. The maximum number of parameters were obtained from Zn₁ and Zn₂. The higher Zn concentration led to lower content of PA and PA/Zn. Using of P and Zn bio–fertilizers were caused to increasing nutrient uptake, improving growth condition and reducing PA and PA/Zn molar ratio.

Keywords: mycorrhizae, phosphorus, pseudomonas, zinc

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Authors: María José Benitez Jimenez

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This research is based on the hypothesis that, despite being found that the problem of violence against the female partner occurs in all social classes, the criminal intervention falls, above all, on victims and aggressors with sociodemographic characteristics of the most excluded social groups. The methodology used in this study has been a collection of information through Spanish official statistics from 2004 to 2016: population, police, judicial and penitentiary data from Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and statistics National Institute. The data provided show that women victims and aggressors who come into contact with criminal intervention bodies for filing a complaint or having been reported, respectively, show a very high percentage, usually well above 50%, only primary studies or even that. Their employment situation is also precarious, in a percentage that could also be around 70%. The percentage distribution of these two variables is clearly above that which occurs in the whole of the Spanish population, in a particularly marked way as regards the employment situation. Immigrants triple, as victims or as aggressors of gender violence, the percentages of the Spanish population in terms of their contact with the organs of criminal intervention. Also the rate of foreign inmates in prisons for violence against the female couple doubles that of Spanish inmates.

Keywords: inmigrants, intimate partner violence, Spain, sociodemographic characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Mary-Ann N. Jallad, Dalal F. Jaber, Alexander M. Abdelnoor

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Introduction: Current evidence confirms that both innate and adaptive immune systems are capable of recognizing and abolishing malignant cells. The emergence of cancerous tumors in patients is, therefore, an indication that certain cancer cells can resist elimination by the immune system through a process known as “immune evasion”. In fact, cancer cells often exploit regulatory mechanisms to escape immunity. Such mechanisms normally exist to control the immune responses and prohibit exaggerated or autoimmune reactions. Recently, immunotherapies have shown promising yet limited results. Therefore this study investigates several immunotherapeutic combinations and devises a triple immunotherapy which harnesses the innate and acquired immune responses towards the annihilation of malignant cells through overcoming their ability of immune evasion, consequently hampering malignant progression and eliminating established tumors. The aims of the study are to rule out acute/chronic toxic effects of the proposed treatment combinations, to assess the effect of these combinations on tumor growth and survival rates, and to investigate potential mechanisms underlying the phenotypic results through analyzing serum levels of anti-tumor cytokines, angiogenic factors and tumor progression indicator, and the tumor-infiltrating immune-cells populations. Methodology: For toxicity analysis, cancer-free C57BL/6 mice are randomized into 9 groups: Group 1 untreated, group 2 treated with sterile saline (solvent of used treatments), group 3 treated with Monophosphoryl-lipid-A, group 4 with anti-CTLA4-antibodies, group 5 with 1-Methyl-Tryptophan (Indolamine-Dioxygenase-1 inhibitor), group 6 with both MPLA and anti-CTLA4-antibodies, group 7 with both MPLA and 1-MT, group 8 with both anti-CTLA4-antibodies and 1-MT, and group 9 with all three: MPLA, anti-CTLA4-antibodies and 1-MT. Mice are monitored throughout the treatment period and for three following months. At that point, histological sections from their main organs are assessed. For tumor progression and survival analysis, a murine melanoma model is generated by injecting analogous mice with B16F10 melanoma cells. These mice are segregated into the listed nine groups. Their tumor size and survival are monitored. For a depiction of underlying mechanisms, melanoma-bearing mice from each group are sacrificed at several time-points. Sera are tested to assess the levels of Interleukin-12 (IL-12), Vascular-Endothelial-Growth Factor (VEGF), and S100B. Furthermore, tumors are excised for analysis of infiltrated immune cell populations including T-cells, macrophages, natural killer cells and immune-regulatory cells. Results: Toxicity analysis shows that all treated groups present no signs of neither acute nor chronic toxicity. Their appearance and weights were comparable to those of control groups throughout the treatment period and for the following 3 months. Moreover, histological sections from their hearts, kidneys, lungs, and livers were normal. Work is ongoing for completion of the remaining study aims. Conclusion: Toxicity was the major concern for the success of the proposed comprehensive combinational therapy. Data generated so far ruled out any acute or chronic toxic effects. Consequently, ongoing work is quite promising and may significantly contribute to the development of more effective immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer patients.

Keywords: cancer immunotherapy, check-point blockade, combination therapy, melanoma

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Authors: Muhamad Nugraha

Abstract:

Economic growth always correlate positively with the magnitude of the unemployment rate. This is caused by labor which one of important variable to keep growth in the real sector of the region. Meanwhile, the economic structure in districts of Jember showed an increase of economic activity began to shift towards the industrial sector and some other economic sectors, so they have an affects to considerations for policy makers to increase economic growth in Jember as an autonomous region in East Java Province. At the fact, SMEs is among the factors driving economic growth in the region. This is shown by the high amount of SMEs. However, employment in the sector grew slightly slowed. It is caused by a lack of productivity in SMEs. Through the analysis of the transformation of economic structure theory, and the theory of Triple Helix using descriptive analytical method Location Quotient and Shift - Share, found that the results of the economic structure in Jember slowly shifting from the agricultural sector to the industrial sector, because it is dominated by trade sector, hotel and restaurant sector. In addition, SMEs is the potential sector of economic growth in Jember. While to maximizing role and functions of the institution's Research and Development Center of SMEs, there are three points to be known, that are Business Landscape, Business Architecture and Value Added.

Keywords: economic growth, SMEs, labor, Research and Development Center of SMEs

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Authors: Muzaffar Iqbal, Essam Ezzeldin, Khalid A. Al-Rashood

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Pomalidomide is a second generation oral immunomodulatory agent, being used for the treatment of multiple myeloma in patients with disease refractory to lenalidomide and bortezomib. In this study, a sensitive UPLC-MS/MS assay was developed and validated for high-throughput determination of pomalidomide in rat plasma using celecoxib as an internal standard (IS). Liquid liquid extraction using dichloromethane as extracting agent was employed to extract pomalidomide and IS from 200 µL of plasma. Chromatographic separation was carried on Acquity BEHTM C18 column (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm) using an isocratic mobile phase of acetonitrile:10 mM ammonium acetate (80:20, v/v), at a flow rate of 0.250 mL/min. Both pomalidomide and IS were eluted at 0.66 ± 0.03 and 0.80 ± 0.03 min, respectively with a total run time of 1.5 min only. Detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer using electrospray ionization in negative mode. The precursor to product ion transitions of m/z 272.01 → 160.89 for pomalidomide and m/z 380.08 → 316.01 for IS were used to quantify them respectively, using multiple reaction monitoring mode. The developed method was validated according to regulatory guideline for bioanalytical method validation. The linearity in plasma sample was achieved in the concentration range of 0.47–400 ng/mL (r2 ≥ 0.997). The intra and inter-day precision values were ≤ 11.1% (RSD, %) whereas accuracy values ranged from - 6.8 – 8.5% (RE, %). In addition, other validation results were within the acceptance criteria and the method was successfully applied in a pharmacokinetic study of pomalidomide in rats.

Keywords: pomalidomide, pharmacokinetics, LC-MS/MS, celecoxib

Procedia PDF Downloads 360