Search results for: Evidence based treatment
12532 Analysis of DNA from Fired Cartridge Casings
Authors: S. Mawlood, L. Dennany, N. Watson, B. Pickard
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DNA analysis has been widely accepted as providing valuable evidence concerning the identity of the source of biological traces. Our work has showed that DNA samples can survive on cartridges even after firing. The study also raised the possibility of determining other information such as the age of the donor. Such information may be invaluable in certain cases where spent cartridges from automatic weapons are left behind at the scene of a crime. In spite of the nature of touch evidence and exposure to high chamber temperatures during shooting, we were still capable to retrieve enough DNA for profile typing. In order to estimate age of contributor, DNA methylation levels were analyzed using EpiTect system for retrieved DNA. However, results were not conclusive, due to low amount of input DNA.Keywords: Age prediction, Fired cartridge, Trace DNA sample.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 389612531 Uniformity of Dose Distribution in Radiation Fields Surrounding the Spine using Film Dosimetry and Comparison with 3D Treatment Planning Software
Authors: Sadegh Masoudi , Vahid Fayaz , Hassan Zandi, Asieh Tavakol
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The overall penumbra is usually defined as the distance, p20–80, separating the 20% and 80% of the dose on the beam axis at the depth of interest. This overall penumbra accounts also for the fact that some photons emitted by the distal parts of the source are only partially attenuated by the collimator. Medulloblastoma is the most common type of childhood brain tumor and often spreads to the spine. Current guidelines call for surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed by radiation of the brain and spinal cord, and finally treatment with chemotherapy. The purpose of this paper was to present results on an Uniformity of dose distribution in radiation fields surrounding the spine using film dosimetry and comparison with 3D treatment planning software.Keywords: Absorbed Dose , Spine , Radiotherapy, 3D treatment planning software
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 183312530 Uniform Heating during Focused Ultrasound Thermal Therapy
Authors: To-Yuan Chen, Tzu-Ching Shih, Hao-Li Liu, Kuen-Cheng Ju
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The focal spot of a high intensity focused ultrasound transducer is small. To heat a large target volume, multiple treatment spots are required. If the power of each treatment spot is fixed, it could results in insufficient heating of initial spots and over-heating of later ones, which is caused by the thermal diffusion. Hence, to produce a uniform heated volume, the delivered energy of each treatment spot should be properly adjusted. In this study, we proposed an iterative, extrapolation technique to adjust the required ultrasound energy of each treatment spot. Three different scanning pathways were used to evaluate the performance of this technique. Results indicate that by using the proposed technique, uniform heating volume could be obtained.Keywords: focused ultrasound, thermal therapy, uniform heating, iteration, extrapolation, scan
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 161812529 The Effect of Damping Treatment for Noise Control on Offshore Platforms Using Statistical Energy Analysis
Authors: Ji Xi, Cheng Song Chin, Ehsan Mesbahi
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Structure-borne noise is an important aspect of offshore platform sound field. It can be generated either directly by vibrating machineries induced mechanical force, indirectly by the excitation of structure or excitation by incident airborne noise. Therefore, limiting of the transmission of vibration energy throughout the offshore platform is the key to control the structureborne noise. This is usually done by introducing damping treatment to the steel structures. Two types of damping treatment using onboard are presented. By conducting a Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) simulation on a jack-up rig, the noise level in the source room, the neighboring rooms, and remote living quarter cabins are compared before and after the damping treatments been applied. The results demonstrated that, in the source neighboring room and living quarter area, there is a significant noise reduction with the damping treatment applied, whereas in the source room where air-borne sound predominates that of structure-borne sound, the impact is not obvious. The conclusion on effective damping treatment in the offshore platform is made which enable acoustic professionals to implement noise control during the design stage for offshore crews’ hearing protection and habitant comfortability.Keywords: Statistical energy analysis, damping treatment, noise control, offshore platform.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 211612528 Case Study of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Methods of Treatment for a Professional Driver
Authors: R. Pääkkönen, L. Korpinen, T. Kava, I. Salmi
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This study evaluates obstructive sleep apnea treatment through a case study involving a 67-year-old male driver who had a successful continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment at home but experienced difficulties with traveling and dental care. There are many cheap sleep apnea and snoring devices available, but there is little professional advice on what kind of devices can help. Professional drivers receive yearly specialized medical care follow-up.
Keywords: Sleep, apnea patient, CPAP, professional driver.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 76312527 Influence of Sodium Acetate on Electroless Ni-P Deposits and Effect of Heat Treatment on Corrosion Behavior
Authors: Y. El Kaissi, M. Allam, A. Koulou, M. Galai, M. Ebn Touhami
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The aim of our work is to develop an industrial bath of nickel alloy deposit on mild steel. The optimization of the operating parameters made it possible to obtain a stable Ni-P alloy deposition formulation. To understand the reaction mechanism of the deposition process, a kinetic study was performed by cyclic voltammetry and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The coatings obtained have a very high corrosion resistance in a very aggressive acid medium which increases with the heat treatment.
Keywords: Ni–P coating, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, heat treatment, cyclic voltammetry, potentiodynamic polarization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 123212526 Internal Behavior of Biological Nutrient Removal System for Advanced Wastewater Treatment
Authors: J. K. Choi , D. W. Kim, H. S. Shin, H. J. Yeon, B. K. Kim, Yeon. Fan, D. Chang, S. B. Han, J.M. Hur, B. R. Jung, S. M. Park
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The purpose of this research was develop a biological nutrient removal (BNR) system which has low energy consumption, sludge production, and land usage. These indicate that BNR system could be a alternative of future wastewater treatment in ubiquitous city(U-city). Organics and nitrogen compounds could be removed by this system so that secondary or tertiary stages of wastewater treatment satisfy their standards. This system was composed of oxic and anoxic filter filed with PVDC and POM media. Anoxic/oxic filter system operated under empty bed contact time of 4 hours by increasing recirculation ratio from 0 to 100 %. The system removals of total nitrogen and COD were 76.3% and 93%, respectively. To be observed internal behavior in this system SCOD, NH3-N, and NO3-N were conducted and removal shows range of 25~100%, 59~99%, and 70~100%, respectively.Keywords: BNR, nitrification, denitrification, organics removal, anoxic, oxic, advanced treatment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 160412525 A Preliminary Literature Review of Digital Transformation Case Studies
Authors: Vesna Bosilj Vukšić, Lucija Ivančić, Dalia Suša Vugec
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While struggling to succeed in today’s complex market environment and provide better customer experience and services, enterprises encompass digital transformation as a means for reaching competitiveness and foster value creation. A digital transformation process consists of information technology implementation projects, as well as organizational factors such as top management support, digital transformation strategy, and organizational changes. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is little evidence about digital transformation endeavors in organizations and how they perceive it – is it only about digital technologies adoption or a true organizational shift is needed? In order to address this issue and as the first step in our research project, a literature review is conducted. The analysis included case study papers from Scopus and Web of Science databases. The following attributes are considered for classification and analysis of papers: time component; country of case origin; case industry and; digital transformation concept comprehension, i.e. focus. Research showed that organizations – public, as well as private ones, are aware of change necessity and employ digital transformation projects. Also, the changes concerning digital transformation affect both manufacturing and service-based industries. Furthermore, we discovered that organizations understand that besides technologies implementation, organizational changes must also be adopted. However, with only 29 relevant papers identified, research positioned digital transformation as an unexplored and emerging phenomenon in information systems research. The scarcity of evidence-based papers calls for further examination of this topic on cases from practice.
Keywords: Digital strategy, digital technologies, digital transformation, literature review.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 677512524 Evaluation of the Performance of ACTIFLO® Clarifier in the Treatment of Mining Wastewaters: Case Study of Costerfield Mining Operations, Victoria, Australia
Authors: Seyed Mohsen Samaei, Shirley Gato-Trinidad
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A pre-treatment stage prior to reverse osmosis (RO) is very important to ensure the long-term performance of the RO membranes in any wastewater treatment using RO. This study aims to evaluate the application of the Actiflo® clarifier as part of a pre-treatment unit in mining operations. It involves performing analytical testing on RO feed water before and after installation of Actiflo® unit. Water samples prior to RO plant stage were obtained on different dates from Costerfield mining operations in Victoria, Australia. Tests were conducted in an independent laboratory to determine the concentration of various compounds in RO feed water before and after installation of Actiflo® unit during the entire evaluated period from December 2015 to June 2018. Water quality analysis shows that the quality of RO feed water has remarkably improved since installation of Actiflo® clarifier. Suspended solids (SS) and turbidity removal efficiencies has been improved by 91 and 85 percent respectively in pre-treatment system since the installation of Actiflo®. The Actiflo® clarifier proved to be a valuable part of pre-treatment system prior to RO. It has the potential to conveniently condition the mining wastewater prior to RO unit, and reduce the risk of RO physical failure and irreversible fouling. Consequently, reliable and durable operation of RO unit with minimum requirement for RO membrane replacement is expected with Actiflo® in use.
Keywords: Actiflo® clarifier, membrane, mining wastewater, reverse osmosis, wastewater treatment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 117812523 Evaluation Biofilm Sewage Treatment Plant
Authors: K. M. Shahot. I. A. Ekhmaj
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The research study is carried out to determine the efficiency of the Biofilm sewage treatment plant which is located at the Engineering Complex-s. Wastewater analyses have been carried out at the Environmental Engineering laboratory to study the six parameters: Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand COD l, and Total Suspended Solids TSS, Ammoniac Nitrogen NH3-N and Phosphorous P which have been selected to determine the wastewater quality. The plant was designed to treat 750 Pe (population equivalent) at hydraulic retention time of 5 hours in the aerobic zone. The results show that Biofilm wastewater treatment plant was able to treat sewage successfully at different flow condition. The discharge has fulfilled the Malaysia Environmental of Standard A water quality. The achieved BOD removal is more than 85%, COD is more than 80%, TSS is more than 80%, NH3-N is more than 70%, and P was more than 70%. The Biofilm system provides a very efficient process for sewage treatment and it is compact in structure thus minimizes the required land area.
Keywords: Sewage, Bio film, Cosmo-Ball, Activated sludge
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 231012522 The Active Imagination Technique for Bruxism Treatment
Authors: Lyra S. R., Zaura-Bremm T., Boleta-Ceranto D. C. F.
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The research purpose was to evaluate the effect of Active Imagination Technique (AIT) for bruxism treatment. This project was approved by the Ethics Committee on Human Research (CAAE: 05619512.9.0000.0109). Twenty-one volunteers using interocclusal splint completed the study. Initially they filled in a questionnaire about their condition, composed of objective questions on signs and symptoms. Following they were underwent asingle session of AIT. After 15 days, the volunteers met again the same initial questionnaire. The results were compared and showed that the vast majority had pain symptoms, difficulty opening the mouth, pain when chewing, reduced, some of the participants abandoned the interocclusal splint during the evaluate period. It is concluded that the technique can be used in bruxism treatment. Results seem to be promising and demonstrates the need of highlighting Active Imagination Technique since it points a possibility of bruxism cure and that is unprecedented.Keywords: Active Imagination, bruxism, orofacial pain, treatment
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 215912521 Corporate Governance Practices and Audit Quality: An Empirical Study of the Listed Companies in Egypt
Authors: Mohamed Moustafa Soliman, Mohamed Abd Elsalam
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Recent financial international scandals around the world have led to a number of investigations into the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and audit quality. Although evidence of corporate governance practices and audit quality exists from developed economies, very scanty studies have been conducted in Egypt where corporate governance is just evolving. Therefore, this study provides evidence on the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and audit quality from a developing country. The data for analysis are gathered from the top 50 most active companies in the Egyptian Stock Exchange, covering the three year period 2007-2009. Logistic regression was used in investigating the questions that were raised in the study. Findings from the study show that board independence; CEO duality and audit committees significantly have relationship with audit quality. The results also, indicate that institutional investor and managerial ownership have no significantly relationship with audit quality. Evidence also exist that size of the company; complexity and business leverage are important factors in audit quality for companies quoted on the Egypt Stock Exchange.
Keywords: Corporate governance, Boards of directors, corporate ownership, Audit Committees, Audit quality, and Egypt.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 390812520 Design of a Carbon Silicon Electrode for Iontophoresis Treatment towards Alopecia
Authors: Q. Wei, D. G. Hwang, Z. Mohy-Udin, D. H. Shin, J. H. Park, M. Y. Kang, J. H. Cho
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This study presents design of a carbon silicon electrode for iontophorsis treatment towards alopecia. The alopecia is a medical description means loss of hair from the body. For solving this problem, the drug need to be delivered into the scalp, therefore, the iontophoresis was chosen to use in this treatment. However, almost common electrodes of iontophoresis device are made with metal material, the electrodes could give patients hurt when they using it, and it is hard to avoid the hair for attaching the hair. For this reason, an electrode is made with silicon material to decrease the hurt from the electrodes, and the carbon material is mixed in it for increasing conductance. The several cones with stainless material on the electrode make the electrode is able to void hair to attach the affected part. According to the results of a vivo-experiment, the carbon silicon electrode showed a good performance and in treatment comfortably.Keywords: Carbon silicon, drug delivery system, iontophoresis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 169112519 Preparation and Characterization of Pure PVA and PVA/MMT Matrix: Effect of Thermal Treatment
Authors: Albana Hasimi, Edlira Tako, Partizan Malkaj, Elvin Çomo, Blerina Papajani, Mirela Ndrita, Ledjan Malaj
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Many endeavors have been exerted during the last years for developing new artificial polymeric membranes, which fulfill the demanded conditions for biomedical uses. One of the most tested polymers is Poly(vinyl alcohol) [PVA]. Our teams are based on the possibility of using PVA for personal protective equipment against COVID-19. In personal protective equipment, we explore the possibility of modifying the properties of the polymer by adding Montmorillonite [MMT]. Heat-treatment above the glass transition temperature is used to improve mechanical properties mainly by increasing the crystallinity of the polymer, which acts as a physical network. Temperature-Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TMDSC) measurements indicated that the presence of 0.5% MMT in PVA causes a higher Tg value and shaped peak of crystallinity. Decomposition is observed at two of the melting points of the crystals during heating 25-240 oC and overlap of the recrystallization ridges during cooling 240-25 oC. This is indicative of the presence of two types (quality or structure) of polymer crystals. On the other hand, some indication of improvement of the quality of the crystals by heat-treatment is given by the distinct non-reversing contribution to melting. Data on sorption and transport of water in PVA films: PVA pure and PVA/MMT matrix, modified by thermal treatment are presented. The membranes become more rigid as a result of the heat treatment and because of this the water uptake is significantly lower in membranes. That is indicated by analysis of the resulting water uptake kinetics. The presence of 0.5% w/w of MMT has no significant impact on the properties of PVA membranes. Water uptake kinetics deviate from Fick’s law due to slow relaxation of glassy polymer matrix for all types of membranes.
Keywords: Crystallinity, montmorillonite, nanocomposite, poly(vinyl alcohol).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20012518 Applications of Artificial Neural Network to Building Statistical Models for Qualifying and Indexing Radiation Treatment Plans
Authors: Pei-Ju Chao, Tsair-Fwu Lee, Wei-Luen Huang, Long-Chang Chen, Te-Jen Su, Wen-Ping Chen
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The main goal in this paper is to quantify the quality of different techniques for radiation treatment plans, a back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN) combined with biomedicine theory was used to model thirteen dosimetric parameters and to calculate two dosimetric indices. The correlations between dosimetric indices and quality of life were extracted as the features and used in the ANN model to make decisions in the clinic. The simulation results show that a trained multilayer back-propagation neural network model can help a doctor accept or reject a plan efficiently. In addition, the models are flexible and whenever a new treatment technique enters the market, the feature variables simply need to be imported and the model re-trained for it to be ready for use.Keywords: neural network, dosimetric index, radiation treatment, tumor
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 167612517 eLearning Tools Evaluation based on Quality Concept Distance Computing. A Case Study
Authors: Mihai Caramihai, Irina Severin
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Despite the extensive use of eLearning systems, there is no consensus on a standard framework for evaluating this kind of quality system. Hence, there is only a minimum set of tools that can supervise this judgment and gives information about the course content value. This paper presents two kinds of quality set evaluation indicators for eLearning courses based on the computational process of three known metrics, the Euclidian, Hamming and Levenshtein distances. The “distance" calculus is applied to standard evaluation templates (i.e. the European Commission Programme procedures vs. the AFNOR Z 76-001 Standard), determining a reference point in the evaluation of the e-learning course quality vs. the optimal concept(s). The case study, based on the results of project(s) developed in the framework of the European Programme “Leonardo da Vinci", with Romanian contractors, try to put into evidence the benefits of such a method.Keywords: eLearning, European programme, metrics, quality evaluation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 150712516 Multimedia Data Fusion for Event Detection in Twitter by Using Dempster-Shafer Evidence Theory
Authors: Samar M. Alqhtani, Suhuai Luo, Brian Regan
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Data fusion technology can be the best way to extract useful information from multiple sources of data. It has been widely applied in various applications. This paper presents a data fusion approach in multimedia data for event detection in twitter by using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. The methodology applies a mining algorithm to detect the event. There are two types of data in the fusion. The first is features extracted from text by using the bag-ofwords method which is calculated using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF). The second is the visual features extracted by applying scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT). The Dempster - Shafer theory of evidence is applied in order to fuse the information from these two sources. Our experiments have indicated that comparing to the approaches using individual data source, the proposed data fusion approach can increase the prediction accuracy for event detection. The experimental result showed that the proposed method achieved a high accuracy of 0.97, comparing with 0.93 with texts only, and 0.86 with images only.Keywords: Data fusion, Dempster-Shafer theory, data mining, event detection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 179012515 Jamun Juice Extraction Using Commercial Enzymes and Optimization of the Treatment with the Help of Physicochemical, Nutritional and Sensory Properties
Authors: Payel Ghosh, Rama Chandra Pradhan, Sabyasachi Mishra
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Jamun (Syzygium cuminii L.) is one of the important indigenous minor fruit with high medicinal value. The jamun cultivation is unorganized and there is huge loss of this fruit every year. The perishable nature of the fruit makes its postharvest management further difficult. Due to the strong cell wall structure of pectin-protein bonds and hard seeds, extraction of juice becomes difficult. Enzymatic treatment has been commercially used for improvement of juice quality with high yield. The objective of the study was to optimize the best treatment method for juice extraction. Enzymes (Pectinase and Tannase) from different stains had been used and for each enzyme, best result obtained by using response surface methodology. Optimization had been done on the basis of physicochemical property, nutritional property, sensory quality and cost estimation. According to quality aspect, cost analysis and sensory evaluation, the optimizing enzymatic treatment was obtained by Pectinase from Aspergillus aculeatus strain. The optimum condition for the treatment was 44 oC with 80 minute with a concentration of 0.05% (w/w). At these conditions, 75% of yield with turbidity of 32.21NTU, clarity of 74.39%T, polyphenol content of 115.31 mg GAE/g, protein content of 102.43 mg/g have been obtained with a significant difference in overall acceptability.Keywords: Jamun, enzymatic treatment, physicochemical property, sensory analysis, optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 154312514 Experimental Validation of Treatment Planning for Multiple Radiotherapy Fields by EDR2 Film Dosimeter
Authors: Vahid Fayaz , Asieh Tavakol
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To investigate the applicability of the EDR-2 film for clinical radiation dosimetry, percentage depth-doses, profiles and distributions in open and dynamically wedged fields were measured using film and compared with data from a Treatment Planning system.The validity of the EDR2 film to measure dose in a plane parallel to the beam was tested by irradiating 10 cm×10 cm and 4 cm×4 cm fields from a Siemens, primus linac with a 6MV beam and a source-to-surface distance of 100 cm. The film was placed Horizontally between solid water phantom blocks and marked with pin holes at a depth of 10 cm from the incident beam surface. The film measurement results, in absolute dose, were compared with ion chamber measurements using a Welhoffer scanning water tank system and Treatment Planning system. Our results indicate a maximum underestimate of calculated dose of 8 % with Treatment Planning system.Keywords: 6MV Photon , EDR-2 film, Radiotherapy, TreatmentPlanning system
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 150312513 Effect of Different Moisture States of Surface-Treated Recycled Concrete Aggregate on Properties of Fresh and Hardened Concrete
Authors: Sallehan Ismail, Mahyuddin Ramli
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This study examined the properties of fresh and hardened concretes as influenced by the moisture state of the coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) after surface treatment. Surface treatment was performed by immersing the coarse RCA in a calcium metasilicate (CM) solution. The treated coarse RCA was maintained in three controlled moisture states, namely, air-dried, oven-dried, and saturated surface-dried (SSD), prior to its use in a concrete mix. The physical properties of coarse RCA were evaluated after surface treatment during the first phase of the experiment to determine the density and the water absorption characteristics of the RCA. The second phase involved the evaluation of the slump, slump loss, density, and compressive strength of the concretes that were prepared with different proportions of natural and treated coarse RCA. Controlling the moisture state of the coarse RCA after surface treatment was found to significantly influence the properties of the fresh and hardened concretes.
Keywords: Moisture state, recycled concrete aggregate, surface treatment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 323712512 Treatment of Tannery Effluents by the Process of Coagulation
Authors: G. Shegani
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Coagulation is a process that sanitizes leather effluents. It aims to reduce pollutants such as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), chloride, sulfate, chromium, suspended solids, and other dissolved solids. The current study aimed to evaluate coagulation efficiency of tannery wastewater by analyzing the change in organic matter, odor, color, ammonium ions, nutrients, chloride, H2S, sulfate, suspended solids, total dissolved solids, fecal pollution, and chromium hexavalent before and after treatment. Effluent samples were treated with coagulants Ca(OH)2 and FeSO4 .7H2O. The best advantages of this treatment included the removal of: COD (81.60%); ammonia ions (98.34%); nitrate ions (92%); chromium hexavalent (75.00%); phosphate (70.00%); chloride (69.20%); and H₂S (50%). Results also indicated a high level of efficiency in the reduction of fecal pollution indicators. Unfortunately, only a modest reduction of sulfate (19.00%) and TSS (13.00%) and an increase in TDS (15.60%) was observed.
Keywords: Coagulation, Effluent, Tannery, Treatment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 414812511 Analyzing Disclosure Practice of Religious Nonprofit Organizations using Partial Disclosure Index
Authors: Ruhaya Atan, Saunah Zainon, Roland Yeow Theng Nam, Sharifah Aliman
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This study examines the relevance of disclosure practices in improving the accountability and transparency of religious nonprofit organizations (RNPOs). The assessment of disclosure is based on the annual returns of RNPOs for the financial year 2010. In order to quantify the information disclosed in the annual returns, partial disclosure indexes of basic information (BI) disclosure index, financial information (FI) disclosure index and governance information (GI) disclosure index have been built which takes into account the content of information items in the annual returns. The empirical evidence obtained revealed low disclosure practices among RNPOs in the sample. The multiple regression results showed that the organizational attribute of the board size appeared to be the most significant predictor for both partial index on the extent of BI disclosure index, and FI disclosure index. On the other hand, the extent of financial information disclosure is related to the amount of donation received by RNPOs. On GI disclosure index, the existence of an external audit appeared to be significant variable. This study has contributed to the academic literature in providing empirical evidence of the disclosure practices among RNPOs.Keywords: disclosure, index, partial, NPOs, religious
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 186912510 Detergent Removal from Rinsing Water by Peroxi Electrocoagulation Process
Authors: A. Benhadji, M. Taleb Ahmed
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Among the various methods of treatment, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) are the most promising ones. In this study, Peroxi Electrocoagulation Process (PEP) was investigated for the treatment of detergent wastewater. The process was compared with electrooxidation treatment. The results showed that chemical oxygen demand (COD) was high 7584 mgO2.L-1, while the biochemical oxygen demand was low (250 mgO2.L-1). This wastewater was hardly biodegradable. Electrochemical process was carried out for the removal of detergent using a glass reactor with a volume of 1 L and fitted with three electrodes. A direct current (DC) supply was used. Samples were taken at various current density (0.0227 A/cm2 to 0.0378 A/cm2) and reaction time (1-2-3-4 and 5 hour). Finally, the COD was determined. The results indicated that COD removal efficiency of PEP was observed to increase with current intensity and reached to 77% after 5 h. The highest removal efficiency was observed after 5 h of treatment.
Keywords: Advanced oxidation processes, chemical oxygen demand, COD, detergent, peroxi electrocoagulation process, PEP, wastewater
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 89712509 A Tubular Electrode for Radiofrequency Ablation Therapy
Authors: Carlos L. Antunes, Tony R. Almeida, Nélia Raposeiro, Belarmino Gonçalves, Paulo Almeida, André Antunes
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In the last two decades radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been considered a promising medical procedure for the treatment of primary and secondary malignancies. However, the needle-based electrodes so far developed for this kind of treatment are not suitable for the thermal ablation of tumors located in hollow organs like esophagus, colon or bile duct. In this work a tubular electrode solution is presented. Numerical and experimental analyses were performed to characterize the volume of the lesion induced. Results show that this kind of electrode is a feasible solution and numerical simulation might provide a tool for planning RFA procedure with some accuracy.Keywords: 3D modeling, cancer, medical therapy, radiofrequency ablation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 186512508 Development of Online Islamic Medication Expert System (OIMES)
Authors: Hanita Daud, Noorhana Yahya, Low Tan Jung, Azizuddin Abd Aziz, Rabibah Ahmad Samawe
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This paper presents an overview of the design and implementation of an online rule-based Expert Systems for Islamic medication. T his Online Islamic Medication Expert System (OIMES) focuses on physical illnesses only. Knowledge base of this Expert System contains exhaustively the types of illness together with their related cures or treatments/therapies, obtained exclusively from the Quran and Hadith. Extensive research and study are conducted to ensure that the Expert System is able to provide the most suitable treatment with reference to the relevant verses cited in Quran or Hadith. These verses come together with their related 'actions' (bodily actions/gestures or some acts) to be performed by the patient to treat a particular illness/sickness. These verses and the instructions for the 'actions' are to be displayed unambiguously on the computer screen. The online platform provides the advantage for patient getting treatment practically anytime and anywhere as long as the computer and Internet facility exist. Patient does not need to make appointment to see an expert for a therapy.Keywords: Expert System, Quran and Hadith, Islamic Medication, Rule-Based.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 182812507 Combination of Electrodialysis and Electrodeionization for Treatment of Condensate from Ammonium Nitrate Production
Authors: Lubomir Machuca, Vit Fara
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Ammonium nitrate (AN) is produced by the reaction of ammonia and nitric acid, and a waste condensate is obtained. The condensate contains pure AN in concentration up to 10g/L. The salt content in the condensate is too high to discharge immediately into the river thus it must be treated. This study is concerned with the treatment of condensates from an industrial AN production by combination of electrodialysis (ED) and electrodeionization (EDI). The condensate concentration was in range 1.9–2.5g/L of AN. A pilot ED module with 25 membrane pairs following by a laboratory EDI module with 10 membrane pairs operated continuously during 800 hours. Results confirmed that the combination of ED and EDI is suitable for the condensate treatment.
Keywords: Desalination, electrodialysis, electrodeionization, fertilizer industry.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 314612506 Improving Financial Education for Young Women: A Case Study of Australian School Students
Authors: Laura de Zwaan, Tracey West
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There is a sustained observable gender gap in financial literacy, with females consistently having lower levels than males. This research explores the knowledge and experiences of high school students in Australia aged 14 to 18 in order to understand how this gap can be improved. Using a predominantly qualitative approach, we find evidence to support impacts on financial literacy from financial socialization and socio-economic environment. We also find evidence that current teaching and assessment approaches to financial literacy may disadvantage female students. We conclude by offering recommendations to improve the way financial literacy education is delivered within the curriculum.
Keywords: Financial literacy, financial socialization, gender, maths.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32912505 Profile Calculation in Water Phantom of Symmetric and Asymmetric Photon Beam
Authors: N. Chegeni, M. J. Tahmasebi Birgani
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Nowadays, in most radiotherapy departments, the commercial treatment planning systems (TPS) used to calculate dose distributions needs to be verified; therefore, quick, easy-to-use and low cost dose distribution algorithms are desirable to test and verify the performance of the TPS. In this paper, we put forth an analytical method to calculate the phantom scatter contribution and depth dose on the central axis based on the equivalent square concept. Then, this method was generalized to calculate the profiles at any depth and for several field shapes regular or irregular fields under symmetry and asymmetry photon beam conditions. Varian 2100 C/D and Siemens Primus Plus Linacs with 6 and 18 MV photon beam were used for irradiations. Percentage depth doses (PDDs) were measured for a large number of square fields for both energies, and for 45º wedges which were employed to obtain the profiles in any depth. To assess the accuracy of the calculated profiles, several profile measurements were carried out for some treatment fields. The calculated and measured profiles were compared by gamma-index calculation. All γ–index calculations were based on a 3% dose criterion and a 3 mm dose-to-agreement (DTA) acceptance criterion. The γ values were less than 1 at most points. However, the maximum γ observed was about 1.10 in the penumbra region in most fields and in the central area for the asymmetric fields. This analytical approach provides a generally quick and fairly accurate algorithm to calculate dose distribution for some treatment fields in conventional radiotherapy.
Keywords: Dose distribution, equivalent field, asymmetric field, irregular field.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 303312504 Fenton’s Oxidation as Post-Treatment of a Mature Municipal Landfill Leachate
Authors: Susana Cortez, Pilar Teixeira, Rosário Oliveira, Manuel Mota
Abstract:
Mature landfill leachates contain some macromolecular organic substances that are resistant to biological degradation. Recently, Fenton-s oxidation has been investigated for chemical treatment or pre-treatment of mature landfill leachates. The aim of this study was to reduce the recalcitrant organic load still remaining after the complete treatment of a mature landfill leachate by Fenton-s oxidation post-treatment. The effect of various parameters such as H2O2 to Fe2+ molar ratio, dosage of Fe2+ reagent, initial pH, reaction time and initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) strength, that have an important role on the oxidation, was analysed. A molar ratio H2O2/Fe2+ = 3, a Fe2+ dosage of 4 mmol·L-1, pH 3, and a reaction time of 40 min were found to achieve better oxidation performances. At these favorable conditions, COD removal efficiency was 60.9% and 31.1% for initial COD of 93 and 743 mg·L-1 respectively (diluted and non diluted leachate). Fenton-s oxidation also presented good results for color removal. In spite of being extremely difficult to treat this leachate, the above results seem rather encouraging on the application of Fenton-s oxidation.
Keywords: Fenton's oxidation, mature landfill leachate, recalcitrant organic matter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 169812503 Chelate Enhanced Modified Fenton Treatment for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contaminated Soils
Authors: Venny, S. Gan, H. K. Ng
Abstract:
This work focuses on the remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-contaminated soil via Fenton treatment coupled with novel chelating agent (CA). The feasibility of chelated modified Fenton (MF) treatment to promote PAH oxidation in artificially contaminated soils was investigated in laboratory scale batch experiments at natural pH. The effects of adding inorganic and organic CA are discussed. Experiments using different iron catalyst to CA ratios were conducted, resulting in hydrogen peroxide: soil: iron: CA weight ratios that varied from 0.049: 1: 0.072: 0.008 to 0.049: 1: 0.072: 0.067. The results revealed that (1) inorganic CA could provide much higher PAH removal efficiency and (2) most of the proposed CAs were more efficient than commonly utilised CAs even at mild ratio. This work highlights the potential of novel chelating agents in maintaining a suitable environment throughout the Fenton treatment, particularly in soils with high buffer capacity.Keywords: Chelating agent, Fenton, hydroxyl radicals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1870