Search results for: Higher Education Institutions

Authors: Phayong Thepaksorn

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The objective of this study was to assess whether living in proximity to a roofing fiber cement factory in southern Thailand was associated with physical, mental, social, and spiritual health domains measured in a self-reported health risk assessment (HRA) questionnaire. A cross-sectional study was conducted among community members divided into two groups: near population (living within 0-2km of factory) and far population (living within 2-5km of factory) (N=198). A greater proportion of those living far from the factory (65.34%) reported physical health problems than the near group (51.04%) (p =0.032). This study has demonstrated that the near population group had higher proportion of participants with positive ratings on mental assessment (30.34%) and social health impacts (28.42%) than far population group (10.59% and 16.67%, respectively) (p <0.001). The near population group (29.79%) had similar proportion of participants with positive ratings in spiritual health impacts compared with far population group (27.08%). Among females, but not males, this study demonstrated that a higher proportion of the near population had a positive summative score for the self-HRA, which included all four health domain, compared to the far population (p<0.001 for females; p = 0.154 for males). In conclusion, this self-HRA of physical, mental, social, and spiritual health domains reflected the risk perceptions of populations living in the vicinity of the roofing fiber cement factory. This type of tool can bring attention to population concerns and complaints in the factory’s surrounding community. Our findings may contribute to future development of self-HRA for HIA development procedure in Thailand.

Keywords: Cement dust, health impact assessment, risk assessment, walk-though survey.

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Authors: Zahra Emami, Mohammad Ebrahim Khamseh, Nahid Hashemi Madani, Iman Kermani

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The aim of the study was to map scientific research on adrenal gland diseases in the Middle East countries through the Web of Science database using scientometric analysis. Data were analyzed with Excel software; and HistCite was used for mapping of the scientific texts. In this study, from a total of 268 retrieved records, 1125 authors from 328 institutions published their texts in 138 journals. Among 17 Middle East countries, Turkey ranked first with 164 documents (61.19%), Israel ranked second with 47 documents (15.53%) and Iran came in the third place with 26 documents. Most of the publications (185 documents, 69.2%) were articles. Among the universities of the Middle East, Istanbul University had the highest science production rate (9.7%). The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism had the highest TGCS (243 citations). In the scientific mapping, 7 clusters were formed based on TLCS (Total Local Citation Score) & TGCS (Total Global Citation Score). considering the study results, establishment of scientific connections and collaboration with other countries and use of publications on adrenal gland diseases from high ranking universities can help in the development of this field and promote the medical practice in this regard. Moreover, investigation of the formed clusters in relation to Congenital Hyperplasia and puberty related disorders can be research priorities for investigators.

Keywords: Mapping, scientific research, adrenal gland diseases, scientometric.

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Authors: V. G. Cappellesso, D. M. G. da Silva, J. A. Arndt, N. dos Santos Petry, A. B. Masuero, D. C. C. Dal Molin

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Concrete elements are subject to cracking, which can be an access point for deleterious agents that can trigger pathological manifestations reducing the service life of these structures. Finding ways to minimize or eliminate the effects of this aggressive agents’ penetration, such as the sealing of these cracks, is a manner of contributing to the durability of these structures. The cementitious self-healing phenomenon can be classified in two different processes. The autogenous self-healing that can be defined as a natural process in which the sealing of this cracks occurs without the stimulation of external agents, meaning, without different materials being added to the mixture, while on the other hand, the autonomous seal-healing phenomenon depends on the insertion of a specific engineered material added to the cement matrix in order to promote its recovery. This work aims to evaluate the autogenous self-healing of concretes produced with different water/cement ratios and exposed to wet/dry cycles, considering two ages of crack openings, 3 days and 28 days. The self-healing phenomenon was evaluated using two techniques: crack healing measurement using ultrasonic waves and image analysis performed with an optical microscope. It is possible to observe that by both methods, it possible to observe the self-healing phenomenon of the cracks. For young ages of crack openings and lower water/cement ratios, the self-healing capacity is higher when compared to advanced ages of crack openings and higher water/cement ratios. Regardless of the crack opening age, these concretes were found to stabilize the self-healing processes after 80 days or 90 days.

Keywords: Self-healing, autogenous, water/cement ratio, curing cycles, test methods.

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Authors: Mafawez Alharbi, Mahdi Jemmali

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E-learning is a developing area especially in education. E-learning can provide several benefits to learners. An intelligent system to collect all components satisfying user preferences is so important. This research presents an approach that it capable to personalize e-information and give the user their needs following their preferences. This proposal can make some knowledge after more evaluations made by the user. In addition, it can learn from the habit from the user. Finally, we show a walk-through to prove how intelligent process work.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, architecture, e-learning, software engineering, processing.

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Authors: Mun Yee Chan, Sin Ming Goh, Lisa Gaik Ai Ong

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Approximately 10,000 different types of dyes and pigments are being used in various industrial applications yearly, which include the textile and printing industries. However, these dyes are difficult to degrade naturally once they enter the aquatic system. Their high persistency in natural environment poses a potential health hazard to all form of life. Hence, there is a need for alternative dye removal strategy in the environment via bioremediation. In this study, fungi laccase is investigated via commercial agar dyes plates and submerged fermentation to explore the application of fungi laccase in textile dye wastewater treatment. Two locally isolated basidiomycetes were screened for laccase activity using media added with commercial dyes such as 2, 2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), guaiacol and Remazol Brillant Blue R (RBBR). Isolate TBB3 (1.70±0.06) and EL2 (1.78±0.08) gave the highest results for ABTS plates with the appearance of greenish halo on around the isolates. Submerged fermentation performed on Isolate TBB3 with the productivity 3.9067 U/ml/day, whereas the laccase activity for Isolate EL2 was much lower (0.2097 U/ml/day). As isolate TBB3 showed higher laccase production, it was subjected to molecular characterization by DNA isolation, PCR amplification and sequencing of ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. After being compared with other sequences in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI database), isolate TBB3 is probably from species Trametes hirsutei. Further research work can be performed on this isolate by upscale the production of laccase in order to meet the demands of the requirement for higher enzyme titer for the bioremediation of textile dyes.

Keywords: Bioremediation, dyes, fermentation, laccase.

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Authors: Chandrakala Varatharajoo, Adelina Binti Asmawi, Nabeel Abdallah Mohammad Abedalaziz

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The research explored the effect of morphemic analysis awareness on ESL secondary school students’ vocabulary acquisition. The quasi-experimental study was conducted with 100 ESL secondary school students in two experimental groups (inflectional and derivational) and one control group. The students’ vocabulary acquisition was assessed through two measures: Morph-Analysis Test and Morph-Vocabulary Test in the pretest and posttest before and after an intervention programme. Results of ANCOVA revealed that both the experimental groups achieved a significant score in Morph- Analysis Test and Vocabulary-Morphemic Test. However, the inflectional group obtained a fairly higher score than the derivational group. Thus, the findings of the research are discussed in two main areas. First, individual instructions of two types of morphemic awareness have contributed significant results on inflectional and derivational awareness among the ESL secondary school students. Nevertheless, derivational morphology achieved a significant but relatively smaller amount of effect on secondary school students’ morphological awareness compared to inflectional morphology in this research. Second finding showed that the awareness of inflectional and derivational morphology was found significantly related to vocabulary achievement of ESL secondary school students. Nevertheless, inflectional morphemic awareness had higher significant effect on ESL secondary school students’ vocabulary acquisition. Despite these findings, the study implies that morphemic analysis awareness can serve as an alternative strategy for ESL secondary school students in acquiring English vocabulary.

Keywords: Morphemic analysis, vocabulary, ESL students.

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Authors: Jukka Heinonen

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Higher density reduces distances, private car dependency and thus reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). As a result, increased density has been given a central role among urban development targets. However, it is not just travel behavior that changes along with density. Rather, the consumption patterns, or overall lifestyles, change along with changing urban structure, particularly with changing housing types and consumption opportunities. Furthermore, elevated consumption of services, more frequent flying and less intra-household sharing have been shown to potentially outweigh the gains from reduced driving in more dense urban settlements. In this study, the geography of carbon footprints (CFs) in California is analyzed paying close attention to the household size differences and the resulting economies-of-scale advantages and disadvantages. A hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) framework is employed together with consumer expenditure data to assess the CFs. According to the study, small urban households have the highest CFs in California. Their transport related emissions are significantly lower than those of the residents of less urbanized areas, but higher emissions from other consumption categories, together with the low degree of sharing of goods, overweigh the gains. Two functional units, per capita and per household, are used to analyze the CFs and to demonstrate the importance of household size. The lifestyle impacts visible through the consumption data are also discussed. The study suggests that there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the premises of low-carbon human settlements.

Keywords: Carbon footprint, life cycle assessment, consumption, lifestyle, household size, economies-of-scale.

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Authors: Sushil Kumar Swar, Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Hari Krishan Sharma, Sushil Kumar

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The seriously damaged structures during earthquakes show the need and importance of design of reinforced concrete structures with high ductility. Reinforced concrete beam-column joints have an important function in all structures. Under seismic excitation, the beam column joint region is subjected to horizontal and vertical shear forces whose magnitude is many times higher than the adjacent beam and column. Strength and ductility of structures depends mainly on proper detailing of the reinforcement in beamcolumn joints and the old structures were found ductility deficient. DSP materials are obtained by using high quantities of super plasticizers and high volumes of micro silica. In the case of High Performance Densified Small Particle Concrete (HPDSPC), since concrete is dense even at the micro-structure level, tensile strain would be much higher than that of the conventional SFRC, SIFCON & SIMCON. This in turn will improve cracking behaviour, ductility and energy absorption capacity of composites in addition to durability. The fine fibers used in our mix are 0.3mm diameter and 10 mm which can be easily placed with high percentage. These fibers easily transfer stresses and act as a composite concrete unit to take up extremely high loads with high compressive strength. HPDSPC placed in the beam column joints helps in safety of human life due to prolonged failure.

Keywords: High Performance Densified Small Particle Concrete (HPDSPC), Steel Fıber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC), Slurry Infiltrated Concrete (SIFCON), Slurry Infiltrated Mat Concrete (SIMCON).

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Authors: James Kuria, John Kihiu

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This work presents a numerical model developed to simulate the dynamics and vibrations of a multistage tractor gearbox. The effect of time varying mesh stiffness, time varying frictional torque on the gear teeth, lateral and torsional flexibility of the shafts and flexibility of the bearings were included in the model. The model was developed by using the Lagrangian method, and it was applied to study the effect of three design variables on the vibration and stress levels on the gears. The first design variable, module, had little effect on the vibration levels but a higher module resulted to higher bending stress levels. The second design variable, pressure angle, had little effect on the vibration levels, but had a strong effect on the stress levels on the pinion of a high reduction ratio gear pair. A pressure angle of 25o resulted to lower stress levels for a pinion with 14 teeth than a pressure angle of 20o. The third design variable, contact ratio, had a very strong effect on both the vibration levels and bending stress levels. Increasing the contact ratio to 2.0 reduced both the vibration levels and bending stress levels significantly. For the gear train design used in this study, a module of 2.5 and contact ratio of 2.0 for the various meshes was found to yield the best combination of low vibration levels and low bending stresses. The model can therefore be used as a tool for obtaining the optimum gear design parameters for a given multistage spur gear train.

Keywords: bending stress levels, frictional torque, gear designparameters, mesh stiffness, multistage gear train, vibration levels.

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Authors: Vladyslav Povoroznyuk, Larysa Martynyuk, Iryna Syzonenko, Liliya Martynyuk

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Osteoporosis is one of the important problems in postmenopausal women due to an increased risk of sudden and unexpected fractures. This study is aimed to determine the connection between bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) in Ukrainian women suffering from metabolic syndrome. Participating in the study, 566 menopausal women aged 50-79 year-old were examined and divided into two groups: Group A included 336 women with no obesity (BMI ≤ 29.9 kg/m²), and Group B – 230 women with metabolic syndrome (diagnosis according to IDF criteria, 2005). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used for measuring of lumbar spine (L1-L4), femoral neck, total body and forearm BMD and bone quality indexes (last according to Med-Imaps installation). Data were analyzed using Statistical Package 6.0. A significant increase of lumbar spine (L1-L4), femoral neck, total body and ultradistal radius BMD was found in women with metabolic syndrome compared to those without obesity (p < 0.001) both in their totality and in groups of 50-59 years, 60-69 years, and 70-79 years. TBS was significantly higher in non-obese women compared to metabolic syndrome patients of 50-59 years and in the general sample (p < 0.05). Analysis showed significant positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) and BMD at all levels. Significant negative correlation between BMI and TBS (L1-L4) was established. Despite the fact that BMD indexes were significantly higher in women with metabolic syndrome, the frequency of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures did not differ significantly in the groups of patients.

Keywords: Bone mineral density, trabecular bone score, metabolic syndrome, fracture.

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

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

Keywords: Laser cladding, residual stress, neutron diffraction, HAZ.

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Authors: Orkide Donma, M. Metin Donma, Burcin Nalbantoglu, Birol Topcu, Feti Tulubas, Murat Aydin, Tuba Gokkus, Ahmet Gurel

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Increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has increased the interest in early and late indicators of gaining weight. Cell blood counts may be indicators of pro-inflammatory states. The aim was to evaluate associations of hematological parameters, including hematocrit (HTC), hemoglobin, blood cell counts and their indices with the degree of obesity in pediatric population. A total of 249; -139 morbidly obese (MO), 82 healthy normal weight (NW) and 28 overweight (OW) children were included into the scope of the study. WHO BMI-for age percentiles were used to form age- and sexmatched groups. Informed consent forms and the Ethics Committee approval were obtained. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Hematological parameters were determined. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. The degree for statistical significance was p≤0.05. Significant differences (p=0.000) between waist-to-hip ratios and head-to- neck ratios (hnrs) of MO and NW children were detected. A significant difference between hnrs of OW and MO children (p=0.000) was observed. Red cell distribution width (RDW) was higher in OW children than NW group (p=0.030). Such finding couldn’t be detected between MO and NW groups. Increased RDW was prominent in OW children. The decrease in mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values in MO children was sharper than the values in OW children (p=0.006 vs p=0.042) compared to those in NW group. Statistically higher HTC levels were observed between MO-NW (p=0.014), but none between OW-NW. Though the cause-effect relationship between obesity and erythrocyte indices still needs further investigation, alterations in RDW, HTC, MCHC during obesity may be of significance in the early life.

Keywords: Anthropometry, children, erythrocytes, obesity.

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Authors: Mohammad Asif

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A large number of chemical, bio-chemical and pollution-control processes use heterogeneous fixed-bed reactors. The use of finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellets can enhance conversion levels in such reactors. The absence of the pellet core can significantly lower the diffusional resistance associated with the solid phase. This leads to a better utilization of the catalytic material, which is reflected in the higher values for the effectiveness factor, leading ultimately to an enhanced conversion level in the reactor. It is however important to develop a rigorous heterogeneous model for the reactor incorporating the two-dimensional feature of the solid phase owing to the presence of the finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellet. Presently, heterogeneous models reported in the literature invariably employ one-dimension solid phase models meant for spherical catalyst pellets. The objective of the paper is to present a rigorous model of the fixed-bed reactors containing finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellets. The reaction kinetics considered here is the widely used Michaelis–Menten kinetics for the liquid-phase bio-chemical reactions. The reaction parameters used here are for the enzymatic degradation of urea. Results indicate that increasing the height to diameter ratio helps to improve the conversion level. On the other hand, decreasing the thickness is apparently not as effective. This could however be explained in terms of the higher void fraction of the bed that causes a smaller amount of the solid phase to be packed in the fixed-bed bio-chemical reactor.

Keywords: Fixed-bed reactor, Finite hollow cylinder, Catalyst pellet, Conversion, Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

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Authors: Elina Bakhtieva

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The variety of available digital tools, strategies and activities might confuse and disorient even an experienced marketer. This applies in particular to B2B companies, which are usually less flexible in uptaking of digital technology than B2C companies. B2B companies are lacking a framework that corresponds to the specifics of the B2B business, and which helps to evaluate a company’s capabilities and to choose an appropriate path. A B2B digital marketing maturity model helps to fill this gap. However, modern marketing offers no widely approved digital marketing maturity model, and thus, some marketing institutions provide their own tools. The purpose of this paper is building an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model based on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of existing models. The current study provides an analytical review of the existing digital marketing maturity models with open access. The results of the research are twofold. First, the provided SWOT analysis outlines the main advantages and disadvantages of existing models. Secondly, the strengths of existing digital marketing maturity models, helps to identify the main characteristics and the structure of an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model. The research findings indicate that only one out of three analyzed models could be used as a separate tool. This study is among the first examining the use of maturity models in digital marketing. It helps businesses to choose between the existing digital marketing models, the most effective one. Moreover, it creates a base for future research on digital marketing maturity models. This study contributes to the emerging B2B digital marketing literature by providing a SWOT analysis of the existing digital marketing maturity models and suggesting a structure and main characteristics of an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model.

Keywords: B2B digital marketing strategy, digital marketing, digital marketing maturity model, SWOT analysis.

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Authors: Fiona Wahr, Sitalakshmi Venkatraman

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Industry employers require new graduates to bring with them a range of knowledge, skills and abilities which mean these new employees can immediately make valuable work contributions. These will be a combination of discipline and professional knowledge, skills and abilities which give graduates the technical capabilities to solve practical problems whilst interacting with a range of stakeholders. Underpinning the development of these disciplines and professional knowledge, skills and abilities, are “enabling” knowledge, skills and abilities which assist students to engage in learning. These are academic and learning skills which are essential to common starting points for both the learning process of students entering the course as well as forming the foundation for the fully developed graduate knowledge, skills and abilities. This paper reports on a project created to introduce and strengthen these enabling skills into the first semester of a Bachelor of Information Technology degree in an Australian polytechnic. The project uses an action research approach in the context of ongoing continuous improvement for the course to enhance the overall learning experience, learning sequencing, graduate outcomes, and most importantly, in the first semester, student engagement and retention. The focus of this is implementing the new curriculum in first semester subjects of the course with the aim of developing the “enabling” learning skills, such as literacy, research and numeracy based knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). The approach used for the introduction and embedding of these KSAs, (as both enablers of learning and to underpin graduate attribute development), is presented. Building on previous publications which reported different aspects of this longitudinal study, this paper recaps on the rationale for the curriculum redevelopment and then presents the quantitative findings of entering students’ reading literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills degree as well as their perceived research ability. The paper presents the methodology and findings for this stage of the research. Overall, the cohort exhibits mixed KSA levels in these areas, with a relatively low aggregated score. In addition, the paper describes the considerations for adjusting the design and delivery of the new subjects with a targeted learning experience, in response to the feedback gained through continuous monitoring. Such a strategy is aimed at accommodating the changing learning needs of the students and serves to support them towards achieving the enabling learning goals starting from day one of their higher education studies.

Keywords: Enabling skills, student retention, embedded learning support, continuous improvement.

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Authors: Jing Zhou, Weiqun Su, Naying Luo, Min Shang, Li Wu

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The coupling of land use system in geographical research is mainly the coupling of pattern and process, which is essentially the human-land coupling, and is an important part of the research and discussion of human-land relationship. Based on the Web of Science database, the paper titles, authors, keywords, and references from 1997-2020 related to land use coupling were used as data sources to explore the research progress of land use coupling. Cite Space bibliometric tool was used for co-occurrence analysis of the issuing country, issuing institution, co-cited author, disciplinary institution, and keywords. The results are shown as follows: (1) From 1997 to 2020, the United States, China, and Germany rank the top, with more than 250 published papers. Although China ranks second in the number of published papers on foreign literature, it has less centrality and less influence. (2) The top 10 institutions (universities) in the number of published papers (more than 300 articles) are mainly from the United States and China, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences has the highest output of papers. At the same time, the phenomenon of multi-institutional cooperation has increased in the field of land use coupling research. (3) From 1997 to 2020, land sensitivity research and the impact of climate change on land use patterns are the main directions of land use coupling research. However, in the past five years, scholars have mainly focused on the coupling research methods of land use and the coupling relationship between ecological and environmental factors and land use.

Keywords: Land use coupling, cite space, knowledge graph, visual analysis, research progress.

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Authors: Prima Luna, Afroditi Chatzifragkou, Dimitris Charalampopoulos

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Sorghum byproducts, namely bran, stalk, and panicle are examples of lignocellulosic biomass. These raw materials contain large amounts of polysaccharides, in particular hemicelluloses, celluloses, and lignins, which if efficiently extracted, can be utilised for the development of a range of added value products with potential applications in agriculture and food packaging sectors. The aim of this study was to characterise fractions extracted from sorghum bran and stalk with regards to their physicochemical properties that could determine their applicability as food-packaging materials. A sequential alkaline extraction was applied for the isolation of cellulosic, hemicellulosic and lignin fractions from sorghum stalk and bran. Lignin content, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were also investigated in the case of the lignin fraction. Thermal analysis using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) revealed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of cellulose fraction of the stalk was ~78.33 ^oC at amorphous state (~65%) and water content of ~5%. In terms of hemicellulose, the T_g value of stalk was slightly lower compared to bran at amorphous state (~54%) and had less water content (~2%). It is evident that hemicelluloses generally showed a lower thermal stability compared to cellulose, probably due to their lack of crystallinity. Additionally, bran had higher arabinose-to-xylose ratio (0.82) than the stalk, a fact that indicated its low crystallinity. Furthermore, lignin fraction had T_g value of ~93 ^oC at amorphous state (~11%). Stalk-derived lignin fraction contained more phenolic compounds (mainly consisting of p-coumaric and ferulic acid) and had higher lignin content and antioxidant capacity compared to bran-derived lignin fraction.

Keywords: Alkaline extraction, bran, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, sorghum, stalk.

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Authors: R. Ramli

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The impact of the information revolution is double edged. While it is applauded for its versatility and performance robustness and acclaimed for making life smooth and easy, on the other hand people are concerned about its dark side especially to younger generations. The education system should extend its educating role beyond the school to home. Parents should be included in forming the policies of Internet use as well as in the curriculum delivery. This paper discusses how curriculum can be instrumental in addressing social and ethical issues resulted from the Internet.

Keywords: Curriculum, Ethics, Internet Addiction, Social Issues

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Authors: Cenk Sezen, Turgay Partal

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North Sea Caspian Pattern Index (NCP) refers to an atmospheric teleconnection between the North Sea and North Caspian at the 500 hPa geopotential height level. The aim of this study is to search for effects of NCP on annual and seasonal mean temperature and also annual and seasonal precipitation totals in the Aegean region of Turkey. The study contains the data that consist of 46 years obtained from nine meteorological stations. To determine the relationship between NCP and the climatic parameters, firstly the Pearson correlation coefficient method was utilized. According to the results of the analysis, most of the stations in the region have a high negative correlation NCPI in all seasons, especially in the winter season in terms of annual and seasonal mean temperature (statistically at significant at the 90% level). Besides, high negative correlation values between NCPI and precipitation totals are observed during the winter season at the most of stations. Furthermore, the NCPI values were divided into two group as NCPI(-) and NCPI(+), and then mean temperature and precipitation total values, which are grouped according to the NCP(-) and NCP(+) phases, were determined as annual and seasonal. During the NCPI(-), higher mean temperature values are observed in all of seasons, particularly in the winter season compared to the mean temperature values under effect of NCP(+). Similarly, during the NCPI(-) in winter season precipitation total values have higher than the precipitation total values under the effect of NCP(+); however, in other seasons there no substantial changes were observed between the precipitation total values. As a result of this study, significant proof is obtained with regards to the influences of NCP on the temperature and precipitation regime in the Aegean region of Turkey.

Keywords: Aegean Region, North Sea Caspian Pattern, precipitation, temperature.

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Authors: Sumiko Anno, Keiji Imaoka, Takeo Tadono, Tamotsu Igarashi, Subramaniam Sivaganesh, Selvam Kannathasan, Vaithehi Kumaran, Sinnathamby Noble Surendran

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Dengue outbreaks are affected by biological, ecological, socio-economic and demographic factors that vary over time and space. These factors have been examined separately and still require systematic clarification. The present study aimed to investigate the spatial-temporal clustering relationships between these factors and dengue outbreaks in the northern region of Sri Lanka. Remote sensing (RS) data gathered from a plurality of satellites were used to develop an index comprising rainfall, humidity and temperature data. RS data gathered by ALOS/AVNIR-2 were used to detect urbanization, and a digital land cover map was used to extract land cover information. Other data on relevant factors and dengue outbreaks were collected through institutions and extant databases. The analyzed RS data and databases were integrated into geographic information systems, enabling temporal analysis, spatial statistical analysis and space-time clustering analysis. Our present results showed that increases in the number of the combination of ecological factor and socio-economic and demographic factors with above the average or the presence contribute to significantly high rates of space-time dengue clusters.

Keywords: ALOS/AVNIR-2, Dengue, Space-time clustering analysis, Sri Lanka.

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Authors: Minjeoung Kim

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This paper deals with the development and obstacles of Korean women-s political participation in recent years. Since the year 1948 after the declaration of a modern state, Korea has tried to establish the democracy but still in the field of women-s political participation it meets a lot of problems such as women-s political consciousness, male dominated political culture and institutional constraints. After the introduction of quota system in the list of political party, women-s political participation began to change its configuration. More women candidates have willingly presented at elections.

Keywords: Korean women, political participation, quota, education.

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Authors: U. Pangnakorn, P. Tayamanont, R. Kurubunjerdjit

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The effect of wood vinegar, entomopathogenic nematodes ((Steinernema thailandensis n. sp.) and fermented organic substances from four plants such as: Derris elliptica Roxb, Stemona tuberosa Lour, Tinospora crispa Mier and Azadirachta indica J. were tested on the five varieties of sweetpotato with potential for bioethanol production ie. Taiwan, China, PROC No.65-16, Phichit 166-5, and Phichit 129-6. The experimental plots were located at Faculty of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of the five treatments for growth, yield and insect infestation on the five varieties of sweetpotato. Treatment with entomopathogenic nematodes gave the highest average weight of sweetpotato tubers (1.3 kg/tuber), followed by wood vinegar, fermented organic substances and mixed treatment with yields of 0.88, 0.46 and 0.43 kg/tuber, respectively. Also the entomopathogenic nematode treatment gave significantly higher average width and length of sweet potato (9.82 cm and 9.45 cm, respectively). Additionally, the entomopathogenic nematode provided the best control of insect infestation on sweetpotato leaves and tubers. Comparison among the varieties of sweetpotato, PROC NO.65-16 showed the highest weight and length. However, Phichit 129-6 gave significantly higher weight of 0.94 kg/tuber. Lastly, the lowest sweet potato weevil infestation on leaves and tubers occurred on Taiwan and Phichit 129-6.

Keywords: Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), sweetpotato weevil (Cylas formicarius Fabr), wood vinegar, Entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema thailandensis n. sp.), fermented organic substances.

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Authors: Nazira Kakulia

Abstract:

The analysis of transformation of institutional changes outlines two important characteristics. These are: the speed of the changes and their sequence. Successful transformation must be carried out in three different stages; On the first stage, macroeconomic stabilization must be achieved with the help of fiscal and monetary tools. Two-tier banking system should be established and the active functions of central bank should be replaced by the passive ones (reserve requirements and refinancing rate), together with the involvement growth of private sector. Fiscal policy by itself here means the creation of tax system which must replace previously existing direct state revenues; the share of subsidies in the state expenses must be reduced also. The second stage begins after reaching the macroeconomic stabilization at a time of change of formal institutes which must stimulate the private business. Corporate legislation creates a competitive environment at the market and the privatization of state companies takes place. Bankruptcy and contract law is created. he third stage is the most extended one, which means the formation of all state structures that is necessary for the further proper functioning of a market economy. These three stages about the cycle period of political and social transformation and the hierarchy of changes can also be grouped by the different methodology: on the first and the most short-term stage the transfer of power takes place. On the second stage institutions corresponding to new goal are created. The last phase of transformation is extended in time and it includes the infrastructural, socio-cultural and socio-structural changes. The main goal of this research is to explore and identify the features of such kind of models.

Keywords: Competitive, environment, fiscal policy, macro-economic stabilization.

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Authors: Brian Considine, Aonghus McNabola, John Gallagher, Prashant Kumar

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Passive air pollution control devices known as aspiration efficiency reducers (AER) have been developed using aspiration efficiency (AE) concepts. Their purpose is to reduce the concentration of particulate matter (PM) drawn into a building air handling unit (AHU) through alterations in the inlet design improving energy consumption. In this paper an examination is conducted into the effect of installing a deflector system around an AER-AHU inlet for both a forward and rear-facing orientations relative to the wind. The results of the study found that these deflectors are an effective passive control method for reducing AE at various ambient wind speeds over a range of microparticles of varying diameter. The deflector system was found to induce a large wake zone at low ambient wind speeds for a rear-facing AER-AHU, resulting in significantly lower AE in comparison to without. As the wind speed increased, both contained a wake zone but have much lower concentration gradients with the deflectors. For the forward-facing models, the deflector system at low ambient wind speed was preferred at higher Stokes numbers but there was negligible difference as the Stokes number decreased. Similarly, there was no significant difference at higher wind speeds across the Stokes number range tested. The results demonstrate that a deflector system is a viable passive control method for the reduction of ventilation energy consumption.

Keywords: Aspiration efficiency, energy, particulate matter, ventilation.

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Authors: M. C. Venter, G. Hitge, S. C. Krygsman, J. Thiart

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For decades, South Africa has been planning transportation systems from a supply, rather than a demand side, perspective. In terms of parking, this relates to requiring the minimum parking provision that is enforced by city officials. Newer insight is starting to indicate that South Africa needs to re-think this philosophy in light of a new policy environment that desires a different outcome. Urban policies have shifted from reliance on the private car for access, to employing a wide range of alternative modes. Car dominated travel is influenced by various parameters, of which the availability and location of parking plays a significant role. The question is therefore, what is the right strategy to achieve the desired transport outcomes for SA. The focus of this paper is used to assess this issue with regard to parking provision, and specifically at a tertiary institution. A parking audit was conducted at the Stellenbosch campus of Stellenbosch University, monitoring occupancy at all 60 parking areas, every hour during business hours over a five-day period. The data from this survey was compared with the prescribed number of parking bays according to the Stellenbosch Municipality zoning scheme (requiring a minimum of 0.4 bays per student). The analysis shows that by providing 0.09 bays per student, the maximum total daily occupation of all the parking areas did not exceed an 80% occupation rate. It is concluded that the prevailing parking standards are not supportive of the new urban and transport policy environment, but that it is extremely conservative from a practical demand point of view.

Keywords: Parking provision, parking requirements, travel behaviour, travel demand management.

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Authors: Raymond Xu, Ashley Hua, Andrew Wang, Yuru Lin

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During COVID-19, the depression rate has increased dramatically. Young adults are most vulnerable to the mental health effects of the pandemic. Lower-income families have a higher ratio to be diagnosed with depression than the general population, but less access to clinics. This research aims to achieve early depression detection at low cost, large scale, and high accuracy with an interdisciplinary approach by incorporating clinical practices defined by American Psychiatric Association (APA) as well as multimodal AI framework. The proposed approach detected the nine depression symptoms with Natural Language Processing sentiment analysis and a symptom-based Lexicon uniquely designed for young adults. The experiments were conducted on the multimedia survey results from adolescents and young adults and unbiased Twitter communications. The result was further aggregated with the facial emotional cues analyzed by the Convolutional Neural Network on the multimedia survey videos. Five experiments each conducted on 10k data entries reached consistent results with an average accuracy of 88.31%, higher than the existing natural language analysis models. This approach can reach 300+ million daily active Twitter users and is highly accessible by low-income populations to promote early depression detection to raise awareness in adolescents and young adults and reveal complementary cues to assist clinical depression diagnosis.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, depression detection, facial emotion recognition, natural language processing, mental disorder.

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Authors: Van Thang Nguyen, Amelie Danlos, Richard Paridaens, Farid Bakir

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This article presents a study of the effect of a contra-rotating component on the efficiency of centrifugal compressors. A contra-rotating centrifugal compressor (CRCC) is constructed using two independent rotors, rotating in the opposite direction and replacing the single rotor of a conventional centrifugal compressor (REF). To respect the geometrical parameters of the REF one, two rotors of the CRCC are designed, based on a single rotor geometry, using the hub and shroud length ratio parameter of the meridional contour. Firstly, the first rotor is designed by choosing a value of length ratio. Then, the second rotor is calculated to be adapted to the fluid flow of the first rotor according aerodynamics principles. In this study, four values of length ratios 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 are used to create four configurations CF1, CF2, CF3, and CF4 respectively. For comparison purpose, the circumferential velocity at the outlet of the REF and the CRCC are preserved, which means that the single rotor of the REF and the second rotor of the CRCC rotate with the same speed of 16000rpm. The speed of the first rotor in this case is chosen to be equal to the speed of the second rotor. The CFD simulation is conducted to compare the performance of the CRCC and the REF with the same boundary conditions. The results show that the configuration with a higher length ratio gives higher pressure rise. However, its efficiency is lower. An investigation over the entire operating range shows that the CF1 is the best configuration in this case. In addition, the CRCC can improve the pressure rise as well as the efficiency by changing the speed of each rotor independently. The results of changing the first rotor speed show with a 130% speed increase, the pressure ratio rises of 8.7% while the efficiency remains stable at the flow rate of the design operating point.

Keywords: Centrifugal compressor, contra-rotating, interaction rotor, vacuum.

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Authors: Mohammad Talha, B. N. Singh

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This paper deals with the thermo-mechanical deformation behavior of shear deformable functionally graded ceramicmetal (FGM) plates. Theoretical formulations are based on higher order shear deformation theory with a considerable amendment in the transverse displacement using finite element method (FEM). The mechanical properties of the plate are assumed to be temperaturedependent and graded in the thickness direction according to a powerlaw distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The temperature field is supposed to be a uniform distribution over the plate surface (XY plane) and varied in the thickness direction only. The fundamental equations for the FGM plates are obtained using variational approach by considering traction free boundary conditions on the top and bottom faces of the plate. A C0 continuous isoparametric Lagrangian finite element with thirteen degrees of freedom per node have been employed to accomplish the results. Convergence and comparison studies have been performed to demonstrate the efficiency of the present model. The numerical results are obtained for different thickness ratios, aspect ratios, volume fraction index and temperature rise with different loading and boundary conditions. Numerical results for the FGM plates are provided in dimensionless tabular and graphical forms. The results proclaim that the temperature field and the gradient in the material properties have significant role on the thermo-mechanical deformation behavior of the FGM plates.

Keywords: Functionally graded material, higher order shear deformation theory, finite element method, independent field variables.

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Authors: Reyna Singh, David Lokhat, Milan Carsky

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The world crude oil demand is projected to rise to 108.5 million bbl/d by the year 2035. With reserves estimated at 869 billion tonnes worldwide, coal remains an abundant resource. The aim of this work was to produce a high value hydrocarbon liquid product using a Direct Coal Liquefaction (DCL) process at, relatively mild operating conditions. Via hydrogenation, the temperature-staged approach was investigated in a dual reactor lab-scale pilot plant facility. The objectives included maximising thermal dissolution of the coal in the presence of tetralin as the hydrogen donor solvent in the first stage with 2:1 and 3:1 solvent: coal ratios. Subsequently, in the second stage, hydrogen saturation, in particular, hydrodesulphurization (HDS) performance was assessed. Two commercial hydrotreating catalysts were investigated viz. NickelMolybdenum (Ni-Mo) and Cobalt-Molybdenum (Co-Mo). GC-MS results identified 77 compounds and various functional groups present in the first and second stage liquid product. In the first stage 3:1 ratios and liquid product yields catalysed by magnetite were favoured. The second stage product distribution showed an increase in the BTX (Benzene, Toluene, Xylene) quality of the liquid product, branched chain alkanes and a reduction in the sulphur concentration. As an HDS performer and selectivity to the production of long and branched chain alkanes, Ni-Mo had an improved performance over Co-Mo. Co-Mo is selective to a higher concentration of cyclohexane. For 16 days on stream each, Ni-Mo had a higher activity than Co-Mo. The potential to cover the demand for low–sulphur, crude diesel and solvents from the production of high value hydrocarbon liquid in the said process, is thus demonstrated. 

Keywords: Catalyst, coal, liquefaction, temperature-staged.

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Authors: B. Chouhan, A. Denesyuk, J. Heino, M. S. Johnson, K. Denessiouk

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Integrins are a large family of multidomain α/β cell signaling receptors. Some integrins contain an additional inserted I domain, whose earliest expression appears to be with the chordates, since they are observed in the urochordates Ciona intestinalis (vase tunicate) and Halocynthia roretzi (sea pineapple), but not in integrins of earlier diverging species. The domain-s presence is viewed as a hallmark of integrins of higher metazoans, however in vertebrates, there are clearly three structurally-different classes: integrins without I domains, and two groups of integrins with I domains but separable by the presence or absence of an additional αC helix. For example, the αI domains in collagen-binding integrins from Osteichthyes (bony fish) and all higher vertebrates contain the specific αC helix, whereas the αI domains in non-collagen binding integrins from vertebrates and the αI domains from earlier diverging urochordate integrins, i.e. tunicates, do not. Unfortunately, within the early chordates, there is an evolutionary gap due to extinctions between the tunicates and cartilaginous fish. This, coupled with a knowledge gap due to the lack of complete genomic data from surviving species, means that the origin of collagen-binding αC-containing αI domains remains unknown. Here, we analyzed two available genomes from Callorhinchus milii (ghost shark/elephant shark; Chondrichthyes – cartilaginous fish) and Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey; Agnathostomata), and several available Expression Sequence Tags from two Chondrichthyes species: Raja erinacea (little skate) and Squalus acanthias (dogfish shark); and Eptatretus burgeri (inshore hagfish; Agnathostomata), which evolutionary reside between the urochordates and osteichthyes. In P. marinus, we observed several fragments coding for the αC-containing αI domain, allowing us to shed more light on the evolution of the collagen-binding integrins.

Keywords: Integrin αI domain, integrin evolution, collagen binding, structure, αC helix

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