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Poor physical development in young children has been shown to impact readiness for school, behaviour, social development and academic achievement. This research sought to explore whether a physical intervention programme (Movement for Learning) can improve children’s physical development. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd edition, MABC-2) was used to assess 108 children (aged 4-5) from three schools in the UK at the start and end of the Reception Year (4-5 years). A monitoring and evaluation survey was completed by 37 teachers which highlighted ways in which the programme had impacted children. Univariate ANOVA using change scores showed significant changes in favour of the intervention group who had undertaken the movement programme.
Pat Preedy has had a long and distinguished career in education, which includes being a global Chief Academic Officer for early childhood education, Executive Principal of a school catering for pupils from 3 months to 18 years with boarding, Head Teacher of one of the first Beacon Schools in the UK and a school inspector. She has conducted a range of research including the ‘Movement for Learning’ and ‘Parents as Play Partners’ projects. As honorary research consultant for Twins Trust Pat has conducted extensive research into meeting the educational needs of multiple birth children and has developed an online accredited course for teachers with Professor John Mascazine through Ohio Dominican University.
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Corrosion and its mitigation costs dearly (any developed economy loses 3-4% of GDP due to corrosion, which translates to ~$300b to annual loss USA). In spite of traditional approaches of corrosion mitigation (e.g., use of corrosion resistance alloys such as stainless steels and coatings), loss of infrastructure due to corrosion continues to be a vexing problem. So, it is technologically as well as commercially attractive to explore disruptive approaches for durable corrosion resistance. Graphene has triggered unprecedented research excitement for its exceptional characteristics. The most relevant properties of graphene as corrosion resistance barrier are its remarkable chemical inertness, impermeability and toughness, i.e., the requirements of an ideal surface barrier coating for corrosion resistance. However, the extent of corrosion resistance has been found to vary considerably in different studies. The author’s group has demonstrated an ultra-thin graphene coating to improve corrosion resistance of copper by two orders of magnitude in an aggressive chloride solution (i.e., similar to sea-water). In contrast, other reports suggest the graphene coating to actually enhance corrosion rate of copper, particularly during extended exposures. Authors group has investigated the reasons for such contrast in corrosion resistance due to graphene coating as reported by different researchers. On the basis of the findings, author’s group has succeeded in demonstration of durable corrosion resistance as result of development of suitable graphene coating. The presentation will also assess the challenges in developing corrosion resistant graphene coating on most common engineering alloys, such as mild steel, and present results demonstrating circumvention of these challenges.
Raman Singh’s expertise includes: Alloy Nano/Microstructure-Corrosion Relationship, Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC), Corrosion/SCC of Biomaterials, Corrosion Mitigation by Novel Material (e.g., Graphene), Advanced and Environmentally Friendly Coatings, High Temperature Corrosion. His distinctions include: supervision of 50 PhD students, Guest Professorship at ETH Zurich, US Naval Research Lab, Indian Inst of Science and University of Connecticut, Editor of a book on Cracking of Welds (CRC Press), Lead Editor of a book on Non-destructive Evaluation of Corrosion (Wiley), over 260 peer-reviewed international journal publications, 15 book chapters and over 100 reviewed conference publications, Editor-in-chief of an Elsevier and an MDPI journal, Fellow ASM International and Fellow Engineers Australia, over 50 keynote/plenary talks at international conferences (besides numerous invited talks), leadership (as chairperson) of a few international conferences.
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Micro-nanobubbles exhibit unique properties, such as mass transfer, electroflotation, disinfection, decontamination, bioactivity and cleansing. Among them, we note the cleansing property, in which oil on skin, hair, and cloth can be effectively washed off using water with micro-nanobubbles. We propose that this cleansing property is due to the Pickering-like emulsification of oil induced by fine bubbles. When air, water, and oil exhibit a three-phase contact angle, bubbles can attach to the interface between the water and oil. In this case, the oil is expected to form an oil-in-water emulsion stabilized via bubbles even without surfactants, similar to a Pickering emulsion stabilized via solid particles. Although the lifetime of the bubble-induced Pickering-like emulsion is limited, this emulsion appears transiently and is expected to enhance the cleansing property of fine bubbles. To demonstrate this, we theoretically analyzed the interfacial energy of a system comprising a water–oil interface and a single bubble or multiple bubbles. The results indicate that the interfacial energy decreases when a bubble residing in water attaches to the water–oil interface. This predicts that an oil-in-water emulsion, which includes fine bubbles in water, is stabilized by the attachment of bubbles and forms a Pickering-like emulsion. Furthermore, self-emulsification occurs when this energy decrease exceeds the energy required to generate a new water–oil interface. The conditions required for self-emulsification were depicted as a phase diagram of γ_GW⁄γ_WO vs. γ_GO⁄γ_WO , where γ_GW, γ_GO, and γ_WO represent the air–water, air–oil, and water–oil interfacial tensions, respectively (Figure 1). Hopefully, these theoretical predictions will enliven experimental studies on the interaction between an emulsion and fine bubbles, including direct observation of emulsions incorporating fine bubbles via the scanning electron microscope and high-speed video camera.
Tomohiro Onda was a Research Fellow (at present, senior partner) at Kao corporation, who specializes in theoretical physics and interface science. He was engaged in the development of super-water-repellent surface, recordable optical disc, and visceral-fat measurement apparatus. Subsequently, he managed the mathematical science group and mathematically solved scientific problems that arose when developing a variety of products such as cosmetics, cleaning agents, diapers, and containers. His recent research focuses on theoretical investigation of interface phenomena such as wetting, bubble, and emulsion. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Tokyo. He worked as an assistant professor for a few years at the University of Tokyo.
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Control of spin alignment in magnetic materials is crucial for developing switching devices. In molecular magnets, magnetic anisotropy can be rationally controlled by varying their ligands that allow tuning of ligand field splitting energy. However, the inherent weak magnetic interaction between spins or spin-cluster results in spin reorientation (SR) occurring only at low temperatures. Here, we show that layered perovskite oxyfluoride Pb3Fe2O5F2 exhibits a SR transition at 380 K, with the magnetic moments changing from perpendicular to parallel to the c-axis. It is found that the SR is caused by a ferroelectric-like phase transition, where the magnetic HOMO-LUMO interaction changes upon the structural transition due to the concerted effect of the heteroleptic FeO5F coordination and the steric effect of Pb. This finding indicates that the design of spin orientation by local coordination environment, which is common in molecular magnets, can be extended to extended oxides by introducing different anions.
Kengo Oka received the Ph. D. of science from Kyoto University in 2010. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo in 2010, and moved to Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology as an assistant professor (2010-2014). He was an assistant professor of Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University from 2014 to 2019. He is currently a lecturer at Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kindai University.
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Is the assumption of a constant solidus temperature—which has been empirically adopted in general steel solidification analysis without firm validation—valid in all solidification stages? This query has still remained owing to the difficulties in achieving the reliable measurements of the solidus temperature in real processes, while those of the liquidus temperature reasonably agree with phase diagrams. To examine this assumption of a constant solidus temperature in all solidification stages for multicomponent steels, heat- and solute-transfer equations were simultaneously solved using the finite thickness model1), which focuses on early-to-late stage solidification except final stage solidification. In early-to-middle stage solidification, the model provides a constant solidus temperature, as predicted by the previously reported semi-infinite thickness model2),3) by the present authors wherein the solidification front was far from the strand center. In late stage solidification, however, the present model exhibited a slightly decreased solidus temperature—almost within the temperature measurement accuracy range. This suggests that the assumption of a constant solidus temperature does not exactly hold in late stage solidification, but is not unreasonable from a practical viewpoint. The obtained solutions agree well with numerical analyses and are in reasonable agreement with thermo-analytical measurements and industrial findings. Thus, the present model supports the assumption of a constant solidus temperature and estimates the solidus temperature in early-to-late stage solidification, which can play a role in search of an adequate solidus temperature as an approximate analytical solution for multicomponent steels.
Toshio Fujimura is now a technical adviser, JFE Techno Research Corp.. He got B.E. and M.E., Kyoto University and Ph.D., Hokkaido University, Japan. Dr. Fujimura got the Natl. Invention Award of Japan, for “Continuous Forging Process for Continuous Casing”, 1997. He worked as the manager of Steelmaking works, Mizushima works. JFE steel, the technical manager, Middletown works, AK Steel, USA, worked as Director, JFE bars &Shapes, Board member of JFE Civil Eng. & Construction and Rinko Corp. and the chairman for the steelmaking subcommittee, Iron and Steel Inst. of Japan.
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The integrated hydrobulging of stainless-steel prolate ellipsoids from preforms with two thicknesses was investigated. The produced ellipsoids were closed with two 16-mm-thick closures and had nominal semiminor and semimajor axes of 89 and 125 mm, respectively. The ellipsoidal preforms comprised eight conical segments inscribed inside the target perfect ellipsoid. The four end and middle segments of the preforms had nominal thicknesses of 0.67 and 0.83 mm, respectively. The hydrobulging of these preforms was explored analytically and numerically and was compared with that of prolate ellipsoids with constant thickness. Two nominally identical ellipsoidal preforms were fabricated, measured, and hydrobulged to confirm the theoretical predictions. The results indicated that varying the preform thicknesses is an efficient method of overcoming insufficient hydrobulging of the ends of prolate ellipsoids in other methods. This can be achieved by reducing the thickness because lower thickness results in higher equivalent stress. The fabrication of the ellipsoidal preforms and hydrobulging of the prolate ellipsoids were reasonably accurate and repeatable. The prolate ellipsoids were slightly outbulged, but the deviations from nominal geometry were small. Relatively large deviations were observed at the ends and weld seams of the prolate ellipsoids; these deviations were attributed to imperfections in the preforms. The thickness distributions of the fabricated ellipsoidal preforms and hydrobulged prolate ellipsoids were nearly uniform. Moreover, hydrobulging instability can be effectively monitored by measuring geometric dimensions, such as axial height. High residual stresses and plastic strains were observed in the hydrobulged prolate ellipsoids. This tensile residual stress due to internal pressure may be beneficial for underwater applications; however, this phenomenon requires further investigation. The segmented boundaries are subjected to stress and strain concentrations because of the bending effect and geometric discontinuities.
Jian Zhang was born in Shuyang, Jiangsu, China in 1984. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Jiangsu University. He also received his second Ph.D degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Saitama Institute of Technology, Japan. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Chinese Ship Scientific Research Center. He has worked with School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology for about 13 years and has been Professor since 2020. His research interests include buckling of pressure vessels, integrity of pressure hulls, deep-sea pipeline restoration, integral hydro-bulging of shells of revolution.
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Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to be a potential research tool yet the gap between traditional and VR behavioral experiment systems poses a challenge for many behavioral researchers. To address the challenge posed, the present study first adopted a modularity design strategy and proposed a five-module architectural framework for a VR behavioral experiment system that aimed to reduce complexity and costs of development. Applying the five-module architectural framework, the present study developed the SkyrimVR based Behavioral Experimental Framework module (SkyBXF), a basic experimental framework module that adopted and integrated the classic human behaviour experiment structure (i.e. session-block-trial model) with the modifiable VR massive gaming franchise The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR. A modified version of a previous behavioral research to investigate the effects of masked peripheral vision on visually-induced motion sickness in immersive virtual environment was conducted as a proof of concept to showcase the feasibility of the proposed five-module architectural framework and the SkyBXF module developed. Behavioral data acquired through the case study were consistent with those from previous behavioral research. This indicates the viability of the proposed five-module architectural framework and the SkyBXF module developed, and provides proof that future behavioral researchers with minimal programming proficiency, 3D environment development expertise, time, personnel, and resources may reuse ready-to-go resources and behavioral experiment templates offered by SkyBXF to swiftly establish realistic virtual worlds that can be further customized for experimental need on the go.
Yu-Hsin Chen specializes in both computer science and psychology; moreover utilizes the interdisciplinary knowledge to invent and obtain patents for experimental/diagnostic equipment; collaborating and publishing his work in various EI, SCI and SSCI peer-reviewed journals. Psychological research mainly revolve around facial expressions, emotions, nonverbal deceptive behavioral cues, visual cognition, and time perception. Clinical research focuses on various substance and behavioral addiction. Recent interdisciplinary research involves the integration of virtual reality technology and behavioral research, including but not limited to the development of a framework that combines the data infrastructure of virtual environment creation and expert domain knowledge of experimental psychology to optimize and encourage the utilization of virtual reality technology in psychology and social science research.
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Honey is a natural product of bees, and its chemical composition depends on the nectar sources of the surrounding flora as well as environmental factors. However, keeping hives in areas polluted with heavy metals can affect the quality of bee products such as honey. To date, there are very few studies on the health risks of consuming honey in various locations in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo, in relation to food standards and heavy metal contamination of honey from the stingless bee, Heterotrigona itama in association with pollutant sources. A total of 63 samples of raw and unprocessed honey were collected directly from beekeepers producing honey at five sites in Sabah comprises of urban and industrial areas. All selected heavy metals were measured using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophometer (ICP-OES). Overall, the most frequently detected element was Zn (0.090 mg/kg), followed by Pb (0.012 mg/kg), As (0.004 mg/kg) and Cr (0.003 mg/kg), while Cd (0.001 mg/kg) was the lowest element in honey from all areas. Excluding Cr and Zn, a significant correlation was found between PCA factor score 1 and heavy metal concentration in honey for Pb, Cd and As, suggesting that the source of pollution for these metal elements was from hives closer to major roads, cities / town, petrochemical hub and power plants. Although the heavy metal concentrations in the honey samples did not exceed the food standard limits and therefore do not pose a health risk, the observed increase in heavy metal concentrations in honey in industrial areas could pose a potential risk in the future due to the growing interest in rearing of stingless bees for honey production in these areas of Sabah.
Suzan Benedick has been working as an entomologist at the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Sandakan, Sabah State, Malaysia since 2007. She has worked with various researchers from European countries on the biodiversity of many insect groups in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Since 1999, she has extensive experience in research on Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, especially in the areas of insect diversity, insect pests and beneficial insects. She is also consistently a key speaker to the community and industry in Sabah, Malaysia, on the importance of bees as pollinators for agricultural crops, the benefits of bee products for human health, and good practise in rearing stingless bees.
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In this article we derived the energy gap function, the normal and anomalous Green’s functions, and eventually the optical conductivity of ‘dirty’ high-Tc superconductors at the zero-temperature limit. This process in particular is primarily done by using the Heisenberg equation of motion, the effective Hamiltonian from spin polaron theory, and Matsubara (finite temperature) Green’s functions. Having done this, we proceeded to calculate the optical conductivity of ‘dirty’ high-T¬c superconductor by assuming energy conservation but not momentum and by evaluating the Kubo formula. This Kubo formula expresses the current-current correlation function, now as functions of the high-T¬c forms of the normal and anomalous Green’s functions. Then by using the Wick’s theorem made it possible to simplify the product of operators (holons as spinless fermions and bosons as normal bosons). Subsequently, the frequency summations were evaluated using the coherence factors approach. Analytic continuation was then applied in order to obtain the retarded current-current correlation function; after which the zero-temperature limit was taken. The optical conductivity, as a function of the momentum and frequency, was then obtained from the imaginary part of the retarded current-current correlation function. Our result, which is mathematically similar in form as that of conventional superconductors, reveals that the incident photon is absorbed by having its energy converted into two quasiparticles with separate energies.
Unofre B. Pili is a recent graduate of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (Ph.D. in Physics) from University of San Carlos in which he is also affiliated as a faculty member of the Department of Physics. For his dissertation, he did research in theoretical high-temperature superconductivity in the spin polaron formulation and finite temperature (Matsubara) Green’s functions. At the moment, together with his dissertation adviser, Dr. Danilo M. Yanga, he is deriving the optical conductivity of clean d-wave high-Tc superconductors using the same approach that he employed in his doctoral dissertation but with a different mathematical technique in performing the frequency summations. In addition, he is also deriving the high-T¬c version, via spin polaron theory and Matsubara Green’s functions, of the BCS derivation of the optical conductivity of ‘dirty’ low-Tc superconductors at the zero-temperature limit. Also teaching introductory physics, he also does research and publishes in physics education.
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Background: Acoustic radiation force impulse point shear wave elastography (ARFI-pSWE), measuring shear-wave velocity (SWV), has been utilized to examine the liver stiffness caused by different etiologies. However, information on its reliability in staging liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients is scarce. Purpose: The aim of the study is to examine the diagnostic performance of ARFI-pSWE and determine the optimal SWV cut-off values to predict significant fibrosis ( F ≥2) and cirrhosis (F4) in CHB patients. Material and Methods: All 114 adult CHB patients visiting the University Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam between February 2019 and March 2021 underwent liver stiffness measurement using ARFI-pSWE and FibroScan. SWV results were tested against FibroScan for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was used to identify the optimal SWV cut-off values. Results: There was a strong agreement between ARFI-pSWE and FibroScan ( r = 0.92, p <0.001). The optimal SWV cut-off value for detecting significant fibrosis was 1.37 m/s with an AUROC of 0.975, sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, and NPV of 81%. The optimal cut-off value for predicting cirrhosis was 1.70 m/s with an AUROC of 0.986, sensitivity of 97%, specificity of 93%, PPV of 95%, and NPV of 96%. Conclusion: ARFI-pSWE could be an effective technique for evaluating liver fibrosis in CHB patients. SWV cut-off values of 1.37 and 1.70 m/s could be used to diagnose significant fibrosis and cirrhosis, respectively.
Chuong Dinh Nguyen was born in 1992 in Vietnam. In October of 2016, he received his MD degree from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, and in December of 2019, he received his Internal Medicine resident physician diploma. He is a young gastrointestinal physician with great passion. He is currently the Chief of the Gastrointestinal Motility Unit at University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In addition to gastrointestinal diseases, his research also focuses on liver fibrosis assessment methods. He was selected for the “Professor Mindie H. Nguyen Award for Outstanding Clinical Research by Early Career Investigators” at the Liver Meeting 2022, organized by American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
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In recent years, magnesium-based metal matrix composites have been widely used in many automotive, aerospace, and domestic applications due to their light weight, high specific strength, and excellent damping properties. The mechanical behavior of metal matrix composites mainly depends on the types of matrix and reinforcement materials. The size of reinforcement particles is mostly influenced by the properties of composite materials. In recent years, many researchers have concentrated their research on nanosize particles because they exhibit excellent mechanical properties. The main aim of the presentation is to investigate the mechanical behavior of magnesium-based metal matrix composites. The composites were fabricated by using ultrasonic gravitational stir casting techniques. Nano-graphene particles were used as reinforcement. The mechanical behaviors were evaluated by a tensile test, an impact test, and a micro hardness test. The wear behavior was analyzed by the pin-on-disc method. The composite sample structures were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope. The experimental results revealed that the mechanical behavior of composites is influenced by the presence of graphene particles in aluminum-based matrix composites. The ductile properties decrease, and the tensile, hardness properties are also increased gradually with the addition of nanographene in the matrix materials. Wear test results indicated that wear behavior also depends upon the presence of graphene in the aluminum-based metal matrix composites.
G.G.Sozhamannan, Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College, India. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 from Madras University. He received his Master of Engineering in Manufacturing Engineering in 2004 from Annamalai University, and received his Ph.D in 2010 from Anna University. His research addresses the interface bonding strength between an Aluminium Matrix with SiCp reinforcement. He has received a research fellowship from UGC, Inida and recognised as a Research Supervisor by Pondicherry Central University, India. His interests include interface bonding strength, mechanical characterization, and corrosion behaviour of composites. He has published 30 journal articles/book chapter in these areas.
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Despite being high wear resistance, bioinert and biocompatible, some of the limitations like poor fracture toughness, lack of bioactivity and electrical conductivity properties restrict the use of monolith alumina as bone replacement material. In this paper, we address one such issue and will demonstrate how addition of CaTiO3 (CT) to nano Al2O3 matrix enhances bioactivity, physical and electrical properties like dielectric constant and electrical conductivity etc. Therefore, the strategy in the current research is to design a dense alumina Al2O3-CT nanobiocomposites using conventional pressure less sintering technique (1400 oC, 2 hours) that can be enhanced the functional properties compared to that of monolith alumina. The microstructural as well as functional characterizations were carried out by using XRD, SEM and impedance analyser. As results, the dielectric constant and electrical conductivity increases with function of frequency and temperature was higher compared to other composites. Finally, the results of in vitro analysis indicate that effect of electrically bioactive Al2O3-CT nanocomposite will be potential candidate materials for electronic interfacing materials for biomedical application.
Prafulla Kumar Mallik has been Graduated from Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology (IGIT) Sarang of B.E, 2001, with the specialties including Metallurgical and Materials Engg from the University of Utkal, Odisha, India. Later on, he obtained his post-graduation (MTech & PhD) from University of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur with subjects Materials and Metallurgical Engg. Presently he has been working at the IGIT Sarang, Associate Professor & HOD, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, where he has continued his research.
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The human skin being the largest and most exposed organ in the body provides various essential information including touch, temperature, pressure, vibration, and humidity of the surrounding for smooth and safe functioning of our body. Similarly, artificial soft electronic skin, like human skin, perceives various environmental stimuli by transducing them into an electrical signal. Soft artificial skin capable of sensing touch and pressure is essential in many applications, including social robotics, healthcare, and augmented reality. However, several hurdles remain challenging, such as highly complex and expensive fabrication processes, instability in long-term use, and difficulty producing large areas and mass production. Here, we present a robust 3D printable large area soft artificial optical skin made of a soft and resilient polymer capable of detecting touch, load, and bending with extreme sensitivity to touch and load, 750 times higher than earlier work. The soft artificial optical skin shows excellent long-term stability and consistent performance up to almost a year. In addition, we describe a fabrication process capable of producing large areas, large numbers, yet cost-effective. The soft artificial optical skin consists of a uniquely designed optical waveguide and a layer of a soft membrane with an array of soft structures which work as passive sensing nodes. The use of a soft structure provides the freedom of stretching to the soft artificial optical skin without considering the disjoints among the sensing nodes. The soft artificial optical skin's operation has been shown using a variety of techniques.
Abhijit Chandra Roy started working as a DST-Inspire Faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore's Department of Physics in year 2017. He earned Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 2017 and have experience in soft materials and optical technologies. His M. Tech in Bioelectronics and Master of Science in Nanoscience and Technology degrees came from Tezpur University in Assam, India, in 2009 and 2011, respectively. He earned bachelor’s degree in physics in 2007 from Gauhati University in Assam, India. Eleven of his papers has been published in International Journals. He applied for twelve patents, including one in the US and eight in India. The Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) awarded him the INAE-Innovative Ph.D. thesis prize in the year 2018 and was selected as a member of INAE, India. He has also received the Gandhian Young Technology Innovation Award (BIRAC-SRISTI).
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In this work, a two port circularly polarized (CP) MIMO Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antenna (CDRA) with Quad-band response is designed for terahertz (THz) application. This antenna is new since MIMO Graphene DRA antennas in the THz frequency range is insignificantly studied. The unique feature of this antenna is, it provides resonance at four bands and provides quad sense CP response in the pass band at THz frequency region. Moreover, by varying graphene potential of the antenna, isolation between the two antennas is increased and CP tuning can also be achieved. The proposed DRA generates two higher order modes (HEM11δ and HEM12δ). This antenna provides 10 dB Impedance Bandwidth (IBW) of 5.86%, 4.96%, 2.64% and 5.23% at four resonant frequencies. The 3dB Axial Ratio Bandwidth (ARBW) is 8.22%, 2.48%, 3.67% and 5.67% at the quad-band frequencies. Various MIMO performance parameters are evaluated and found in acceptable limits. Advantages of the proposed design are quad response, higher order modes generation, CP tuning and good isolation between the ports. The tunability of graphene material allows it to provide CP responses in the frequency region that is most useful in biomedical applications. The use of a CP antenna in a THz biomedical application can improve system sensitivity by reducing polarisation losses and aligning them. All these features make the proposed MIMO DRA a unique and is suitable for THz applications. Figure1 shows the structure of our designed MIMO DRA and Figure2 shows simulation results of |S11| and axial ratio in dB.
Amarjit Kumar has completed M.Tech and Ph.D degrees from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee India in the year 2012 and 2018. He has about 10 years of research work experience in the development of passive and active RF circuits with concurrent multiband, reconfigurable and multifunctional capabilities for next-generation (5G) wireless applications and Development of RF/microwave sensors for the wireless monitoring of pressure and temperature variations for Industrial Internet of Things applications. He has developed microwave phase shifter, tunable bandpass filters, Wilkinson power dividers, branch-line couplers, planar Antennas, reconfigurable filtering dualband low-noise amplifiers, voltage-controlled oscillator, Wireless sensors using RF transceivers. He has published around 30 research papers in reputed international journals and conferences. Currently, he is associated with NIT Warangal as an Assistant Professor in ECE department. His current research focus is in design of millimeter-wave and Terahertz (THz) devices for 5G and future 6G wireless communication systems.
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In the recent years analysis of Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal has played vital role in automatic sleep scoring technique. Classification of sleep stages help in understanding sleep related issues. Manual analysis of sleep scoring is costly, tedious and time-consuming process. It is essential to design an automatic sleep scoring technique which is convenient to patients and simplifies the diagnostic process using EEG signals. Implementation of such technique enable experts to identify sleep related issues. In this paper, EEG signals are recorded for 60 subjects and preprocessed using Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter. Sleep stages are classified into three major stages viz stage 1, 2 and 3 with 10 s epoch duration using statistical features of EEG and machine learning algorithms with five-fold cross validation. Proposed method is more feasible for physicians to diagnose sleep disorders and proves to be the better technique with improved accuracy compared to other existing studies.
Sagar Santaji, B.E in Electronics and Communication Engineering, M.Tech in Digital Communication Networking , Ph.D in Bio Medical Signal Processing. Work/Recognition/Achievements 1) Best Project award for “Sleep Classification Using Machine Learning” by Karnataka State Science Council and Technology in 2019 2) Research Collaboration with University of Toronto, Canada 3) Research Collaboration with University of Tennessee, USA 4) Published 7 papers in peer reviewed Journals on the topic Bio Medical Signal Processing, Machine Learning Subject Expertise Digital Communication, Information Theory, Wireless Communication, Sensor Networks
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The upsurge in energy demand have laid burden on fossil fuels. This burden will eventually lead to depletion of fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are detrimental to the environment. The alternatives for fossil fuels are still in prototype stage. To date, technology utilizing ruthenium-based complexes in catalysis, perovskites and inorganic compounds (including silicon metal) in energy conversions and carbonaceous-oxide multiparty and mesoporous compounds in energy storage have shown excellent performance in the respective fields, however often suffer from various critical issues. The attempts are being made to eradicate these issues by designing the newer multi-functional materials for use in greener way in catalysis, truly energy conversion devices and efficient energy storage materials. In this context, the nature-based biological agent, porphyrins and their derivatives are promising and are being developed because of its versatile and tuneable properties that mimics the principle of photoenergy-conversion in light harvesting and in biological catalysis. Porphyrin can be engineered to cope with the desired characteristics to design a new functional motif and are expected to make a major contribution in the near future. At present, A metal free porphyrin derivative incorporated with ionic liquids have been emerged as excellent photocatalyst under greener protocols giving a very good yields, stability, recyclability in several C-C, C-H bond formation and other organic transformations. The oligomeric porphyrin structures with several donors, accepting agents and conjugation have recently shown appreciable 9.3% PEC in a truly energy generating DSSC system. The doping of these structures with variable oxidation states enables it for the use faradaic type electrode material in supercapacitors. The porphyrin-carbonaceous based electrode material presents a typical stable type nanostructured surfaces morphology giving mixed type of capacitance with 571 F/g at 1.0 A/g supercapacitance and better capacitance retention. This talk review the use of porphyrin-based materials for emerging key applications such as energy conversion, energy storage and photo catalysis. It is divided into three key sections focusing on latest development of porphyrin-based materials in photovoltaics, photocatalysts, and energy storage devices.
Darpan Vijaykumar Bhuse received his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Rajaram College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. Perused his master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry from Jaisingpur College Jaisingpur, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. He received his doctorate degree (PhD) in Dye sensitized solar cell and Photocatalysis from Vellore Institute of Technology, VIT, Vellore. His research is focused on Porphyrin synthesis, DSSC and Supercapacitor.
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The quick spread of the new coronavirus particularly increases the vulnerability of diabetics. Diabetes is already regarded as a pandemic illness. WHO estimates that there are 422 million people worldwide who have diabetes, omitting a significant portion of the population who have not yet received a diagnosis. Invasive, semi-invasive, and non-invasive methods can all be used to determine the blood glucose levels in the body. It is still usual practice to get a blood sample invasively in order to determine the blood glucose level. To detect blood glucose levels from capillary fluid, certain Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Meters (SMBG) have already been released on the market. Frequent blood glucose monitoring by invasive or semi-invasive techniques results in localized infection spread, discomfort, irritability, and patient dread. The development and progression of related illnesses such retinopathy, nephropathy, cardiomyopathy, and neuropathy are reduced by 40–80% when blood glucose levels are closely monitored and controlled. However, there is still no known permanent treatment for diabetes. For diabetic individuals, non-invasive procedures (NIP) that continuously monitor glucose levels may be an option. A non-invasive method for glucose measurement is provided by spectroscopy methods. A deterministic scientific method called PhotoAcoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) is used to find glucose in the Near Infra-Red (NIR) spectrum. The Photoacoustic (PA) measurement apparatus was constructed, and PA measurements were made on glucose solutions at multiple NIR excitation wavelengths. The generated PA signal has been extracted with the help of a piezoelectric transducer. The Peak-to-peak amplitude of the PA signal increases in direct proportion to blood glucose levels. Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances (ROHS) advised against using lead in electronic appliances due to the negative environmental impact of lead zirconate titanate (PZT-5A) material. For a lead-free transducer, the mixture of barium zirconate titanate (BZT) and barium calcium titanate (BCT) appears promising and fits the general criteria for piezoelectric properties. Compared to our prior output findings, we predict an instrument with enhanced efficiency and resolution.
Pradyut Kumar Sanki received his B.Tech. and M.Tech. degrees from West Bengal University of Technology, India in 2006 and 2008 respectively, and a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India in 2017. He served NIIT University, Neemrana, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar and Alliance University, Anekal as an Assistant Professor after graduation. He is currently employed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh. He now holds the positions of faculty coordinator, IETE, ISF, and counsellor, IEEE Student Branch. His research interest includes digital VLSI design, biomedical instrumentation, and digital signal processing. He has authored over 20 publications in peer‑reviewed international journals and conferences. He has also authored a book and a book chapter in international publication and is an inventor in three Indian Patents. He recently received a Core Research Grant (CRG) with an approximate budget of 33 Lakhs from the DST‑SERB, Government of India.
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Identification of soil components and soil organic matter characterization by functional group differentiation are the important applications of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Study intended to identify the FTIR spectra of changes in the carbon functional groups by the growth of rubber seedlings in three different pH and base cation soils between initial and after 240 days. Weighed, sieved soil samples powered in an agate mill were homogenized and mixed KBr (FT-IR grade) and the pellets were made using a hydraulic press at 12 bar, dried FTIR Spectra recorded with a Spectrophotometer (Varian 660 – IR FTIR) with specified resolution. Results indicated that the spectrum of all three soils comprised of the clay mineral (left portion) organic matter (middle portion) and minerals (right portion) in the peaks obtained in three soils. The spectrum of the two acidic soil (pH 4.4 and pH 5.5) were similar and these were different from the neutral soil (pH 7.4). In pH 4.4 and pH 5.5, 6 peaks in the left portion were similar. This corresponds to the clay minerals and naturally these were identical in the acidic soils dominated in Kaolinite clay mineral. But in pH 7.4 among the 6 peaks two were present and instead of other peaks there was a broad peak corresponds to the centre point at intensity of 3400 cm-1associated with the hydrogen bonding with the functional group OH and it is a determining factor of the presence of exchangeable cations like K, Na, Ca and Mg. This was the confirmation of the characteristic difference in pH 7.4 soil from pH 4.4 and FTIR spectrum is applicable in identification of soil differentiation by carbon groups.
Ambily. K.K, Senior Scientist (Soils &Agricultural Chemistry) in Agronomy/Soils Division of Rubber Research Institute of India, Rubber Board, Kottayam, Kerala, India. She received my Ph. D degree in Chemistry on the topic “Rhizosphere Chemistry and adaptations of Natural Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) to acidic soil conditions’’ from Mahatma Gandhi university, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Received Master’s Degree in Analytical Chemistry and graduate degree in chemistry from the same university. Presently she is a Senior Scientist(Agronomy/Soils) and engaged in research on Rhizosphere chemistry on rubber trees, soil fertility and fertilizer recommendation for rubber, FTIR spectrum identification of carbon functional groups in soils, plant nutrition related to yield, potassium and drought tolerance of Rubber clones, elemental profiling of rubber clones and tree parts of rubber trees of the major disease Tapping panel dryness affected trees and environmental studies like carbon sequestration potential of clones. Involved in the development of online fertilizer recommendation programme “RUBSIS- Rubber Soil Information System” for offering online fertilizer recommendation for rubber. 25 related publications including Research articles in Peer-reviewed journals, National and International seminars/conferences, and book chapter and received training programmes of the concerned fields. Reviewer of the international journals Plant and Soil, Journal of Plant and Soil Science.
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The present work reports an experimental investigation on influence of microstructures on dry sliding wear performance of different grades of ferritic ductile iron. Ductile cast iron samples of ferritic grade have been subjected to different heat-treatment processes at different temperatures and times. Taguchi optimization technique (L16) has been applied to evaluate the influence of different process variables (load, time, heat treatment, and grade) during ball-on-plate wear test. Meanwhile, analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was adopted to know the significance of aforesaid process variables. ANOVA results confirmed that the heat-treatment process has highest significance (54.76%) within all process variables. Among heat-treated specimens, austempered samples have outstanding wear resistance while the DMS samples have lower wear resistance. In addition, overall utility values have been evaluated by using individual utility values of weight loss and hardness. An obtained overall utility value gives the optimum combination for achieving higher wear resistance and hardness. Additionally, morphology of wear surfaces was examined in scanning electron microscope and the micrographs confirm the existence of inferior surface in terms of abrasive wear, adhesive wear, and particle pullout and delaminated sheets on wear track. Enrichment of oxygen element has been observed on the worn path through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms the existence of different compounds like iron and silicon oxides on the wear track surface which may improve its hardness.
Bramaramba.v has been a process and mechanical engineer for new product development for aluminium alloy wheels at synergies castings limited for two years. She completed her masters in CAD/CAM specialization. Later she joined as PhD scholar in metallurgical and materials engineering department in national institute of technology Rourkela, India. She is expertise in heat-treatment study, mechanical and physical metallurgy on ductile cast iron and Alsi7mg alloys. She has published three international journals on wear behavior and morphological study on ductile cast iron on different heat treatment processes. Currently, she has written tensile and compression behavior on ductile cast iron on different heat treatments, which will be published in early 2023.
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In this work, the complex impedance spectroscopy study of bismuth vanadate ceramics (BiVO4) ceramics with different additions of ZnO (25, 50 and 75 wt%) it is performed. The BiVO4 (BVO) was synthesized by the reaction method in solid state and calcined at 500 ºC and the BVO-ZnO composites were molded in sintered ceramic pellets at 700 ºC. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) was used to analyze he crystal structure of BVO and composites BVO-ZnO, none being observed synthesis spurious phase. Analysis by Complex Impedance Spectroscopic (CIS) showed that increasing the concentration of ZnO, reveals the presence of a thermo-activated charge transfer process with activation energy increasing for the sample with 25 wt% ZnO. At room temperature, the increase in the ZnO concentration in the BVO matrix maintained the high value of the dielectric constant (ε), in the order of 104 at the frequency of 1 Hz. The temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) displayed positive in the BVO and negative for composites. The adjustment through the equivalent circuit, presented excellent electrical response for the composites, being identified an association with three Resistors (R), each in parallel a Constant Phase Element (CPE), showing the influence of grain and grain boundary in the process of thermoactive conduction.
Daniel Xavier Gouveia, born in Fortaleza, Brazil (1951) has a degree in electronic engineering from the Federal University of Paraiba (1976), a Master's degree in Electrical-Electronics Engineering from the Federal University of Ceará (1996), a PhD in Physics from the Federal University of Ceará (2006). Post doctorate from the University of Aveiro, Portugal (2006/2007). He also had experience as an engineer in the machinery and electrical instrumentation industries. Since 1998 he has been a professor at the Federal Institute of Science, Education and Technology (IFCE-Ce). He is a collaborator of LOCEM (LOCEM-Telecommunication and Materials Science and Engineering of Laboratory) since 2005, with interest in dielectric properties of materials.
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Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) is an intrinsic compound of living organisms that plays an important role as a precursor of heme synthesis. On the other hand, PpIX is attracting special attention as a photosensitizer (PS) in photodynamic therapy (PDT), a non-invasive method for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, including bacterial and viral infections, and as a fluorescence probe in fluorescence cancer diagnostics (FD). The study of the interaction of synthetic protoporphyrin IX (PpIXs) and protoporphyrin IX extracted from Harderian glands of ssp Rattus novergicus albinus rats (PpIXe) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was conducted in water at pH 7.3 and pH 4.5 by optical absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. PpIXs is present as H- and J-aggregates in equilibrium with themselves and with monomers. The PpIXs charge is 2– at pH 7.3 and 1– at pH 4.5. This increases its aggregation at pH 4.5 and shifts the equilibrium in favor of J-aggregates. In spite of electrostatic attraction at pH 4.5, where BSA is positive, the binding constant (Kb) of PpIXs to BSA is 20% less than that at pH 7.3, where BSA is negative. This occurs because higher aggregation of PpIXs at pH 4.5 reduces the observed Kb value. At both pH, water-soluble PpIXe exists in the monomeric form with the charge of 1– and its Kb exceeds that of PpIXs. At pH 4.5, its Kb is 12 times higher than that at pH 7.3 due to electrostatic attraction between the positively charged BSA and the negatively charged PpIXe. The higher probability of PpIXe binding to BSA makes PpIXe more promising as a fluorescence probe for fluorescence diagnostics and as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. The existence of PpIXe in the monomeric form can explain its faster cell internalization.
Iouri Borissevitch is a full professor, now retired, the Head of the Photobiophysics group at the Physical Department of the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo University (DF-FFCLRP-USP). He was formed in Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1969 as a biophysicist. Since 1969 to 1994, he worked as a scientific researcher at the Department of Chemical and Biological Processes at the Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1994, he was invited to São Paulo University (Brazil) as a visiting professor and in 1999 was accepted as a docent at DF-FFCLRP-USP, where he organized the laboratory of Photobiophysics. From the beginning of his scientific life, his interests has been focused on the effects of light in biological objects and their application in medicine.
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A protocol to perform a prosthetically driven minimally invasive zygomatic osteotomy, named zygoma anatomy-guided approach (ZAGA) is introduced. The ZAGA method aims at promoting a patient-specific therapy by adapting the osteotomy type to the patient’s anatomy. In most cases, this method avoids the opening of a window or slot into the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus before implant placement. Instead, a mucoperiosteal flap, including the posterior maxillary wall and the superior zygomatic rim, is raised to allow visual control of the complete surgical field. The surgical management of the implant site is guided by the anatomy of the patient according to specific prosthetic, biomechanic, and anatomic criteria. The ZAGA Concept represents the logical evolution of the extra-sinus technique and ZAGA classification previously described. The results of using the combination of the ZAGA Concept together with the new ZAGA implant designs consistently show less traumatic osteotomy; better implant stability; improved bone to implant contact, and bone sealing around the implant neck. Additionally, the rate of late complications such as oral–sinus communication or soft tissue recession dramatically decreases when compared to the original technique.
André Sakima Serrano is a zygomatic implant expert and oral and maxillofacial surgeon. He is one of the owners and leading surgeons at ZAGA Center São Paulo. Also, he works in the leading hospitals in São Paulo city and has experience in Orthognatic Surgery, TMJ Surgery, Implantology (All-on-4 and Zygomatic implants), facial trauma and wisdom teeth. To this day he has 18 years of experience in the rehabilitation of atrophic maxilla.
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Building on prior research of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibril (TOCNF) sheet lamination with room temperature curable epoxy, we elucidated further mechanistic phenomena by varying the toughness of each overlay and effected an improvement of the brittle/ductile interface adhesion. Previously we found that TOCNF laminates underwent brittle failure via slight delamination at the ductile to brittle layer interface followed by rupture of the brittle layer. As the ductile layer was reduced in thickness the tendency for delamination increased due to suppression of its energy storage resulting in greater stress transfer to the TOCNF layer to an extent that it underwent micro-cracking. In this recent study we reduced the brittleness of the TOCNF with a water-soluble polymer and evaluated the effects on performance and damage mechanism as a function of the ductile layer’s rigidity. In addition, we evaluated the effect of interfacial adhesion, using a silane coupling agent to improve the stress transfer between the ductile and brittle layers. These modifications were completed while maintaining optical appearance.
Greg joined the USFS Forest Product Lab in 2009 as project leader of RWU 4707 Forest Biopolymer Science and Engineering and served in this role for 12 years. This unit focuses on research and development of advanced structures, composites, and nanotechnology. Prior to joining FPL he had 10 years of industrial experience working with Loctite, Henkel, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Mapei. During this time he gained experience with the materials science and development of nanocomposites, structural adhesives, sealants, semiconductor packaging materials and processes, and emulsion based adhesives. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His primary research goals are directed at overcoming the fundamental challenges toward control and tailoring of lignocellulosic nanomaterials and the performance and durability of the composites derived from them.
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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of chronic pain and disability, affecting >500 million adults globally. Clinically accepted treatment strategies are often ineffective, and opioids have been traditionally recommended as options for OA pain, contributing to a social problem – the opioid crisis. The expression level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is highly connected with OA severity1-4. Recently, we identified distinct roles for VEGF receptors: VEGFR1 is primarily responsible for joint pain transmission, and VEGFR2 is for cartilage degeneration5,6. Intraarticular (IA) injection (twice/week) of pazopanib, an FDA-approved selective inhibitor of VEGFR1/VEGFR2, markedly reduced joint pain and inhibited cartilage degeneration. To facilitate IA treatment of pazopanib in clinical settings, we developed a nanotechnology-based drug formulation for prolonged and sustained drug efficacy (referred to as nano-PAZ). We validated the drug efficacy of a single IA injection of nano-PAZ in two different OA models in different species (mice, rats) for reduced pain and pathology at different stages of OA disease progression (inflammatory, early- and, advanced OA). Toxicologic evaluations were done for safety using In Vivo Imaging analyses and drug abuse liability tests to ensure no addiction properties. A single IA injection of nano-PAZ abolished joint pain for >16 weeks in our preclinical animal models, in part, via reduction of (i) nerve growth factor (NGF) and its cognate receptor TrkA in the synovium and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons; (ii) NFkappaB and spinal glial activity. In conclusion, a single IA injection of nano-PAZ rapidly reduces knee joint pain and protects cartilage at any stage of OA disease progression, suggesting its potential as a novel OA disease-modifying drug. Nano-PAZ could be rapidly translatable to clinical settings not only for knee OA but also for a broad spectrum of musculoskeletal pain, including low back pain.
Im Sampen is a Principal Investigator funded by NIH, the Department of Defense (DoD), Veterans Affairs (VA) and Foundations as a multidisciplinary osteoarthritis (OA) pain research group. Her research has been instrumental in establishing preclinical rodent models to examine mutual cause-and-effect relationships in OA that link tissue degeneration with pain. She has served on multiple NIH and Foundation study sections administered by NIAMS, VA, or international funding agencies. She also served as an Editor-In-Chief for Gene Reports or Executive Editor (Gene) and an Editorial board member of numerous international journals. She has been a member of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) since 2000 and served the ORS as Nominating Committee (elected), an Executive Member of Women’s Leadership Forum and Asian Leadership Forum member. She received various awards and honors, such as the Arthritis National Research Foundation Scholar Award, OARSI Investigator Award, Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award from the ORS, and VA Research Scientist Award.
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08:30-09:00
A new type of pitting corrosion in copper, namely “moundless” corrosion, has recently been reported in Japan. This type of pitting corrosion has some unique morphological features that differ from ordinary types of pitting corrosion, such as type I or type II. Firstly, this type of pitting corrosion has no mound of corrosion products that cover the mouth of the pit. In addition, a glassy verdigris exists around the pit. Furthermore, the pit measures <1 mm in diameter, but is extremely deep. We herein present and discuss the morphological aspects and water quality features of moundless pitting corrosion after field surveys and field tests in Noboribetsu City, Hokkaido Prefecture. In addition, a laboratory experiment is conducted using synthetic freshwater to reproduce the moundless pitting corrosion. The various corroded copper tube specimens are then examined by a range of analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscory (EDS), Fourier transform infrated (FT-IR) spectroscopy, optical microscopy. XRD and FT-IR analyses revealed that the verdigris around the pit was amorphous and a copper-containing silicate mineral chrysocolla. Upon examination of the water quality of various regions of the Noboribetsu City to determine the prerequisites for pit formation, it was found that the silica level was higher than the average Japanese level. In addition, the levels of sulfate ions in pitting detected area were also higher than the Japanese average, while those of bicarbonate ions were lower than the Japanese average. Furthermore, we succeeded in reproducing moundless pits in Noboribetsu City using a 4-year field test. Following this simulation, we found that the mouths of some pits were closed in the early stages, and that these pits were covered with thin films that contained mainly silica. It was therefore concluded that the formation of moundless pits is largely dependent on the water quality, and silica is considered indispensable for their generation.
Masahiro Sakai is an associate professor of College of Design and Manufacturing Technology at Muroran Institute of Technology. His work focuses specifically on the corrosion of non-ferrous metals, especially a copper and an aluminum.
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The increasing manufacture of nanoproducts and plastics has resulted in a significant concern regarding unknown chronic effects upon exposure of nanomaterials and nanoplastic particles to humans. Indeed, nanoparticles and nano-sized plastic debris are found everywhere, in the environmental media via various sources including consumer products and transport pathways. Because of the heterogeneous properties of nanomaterials and nanoplastics, addressing toxicity becomes a challenging issue, particularly with regard to emerging contaminants of concern (e.g., superbugs) adsorbed on nanomaterials and nanoplastics. This presentation provides three objectives, namely (1) toxicity assessment of nanomaterials and nanoplastics (2) exploring toxicity mechanisms of antibiotic-resistant superbugs adsorption on nano-sized particles, and (3) addressing environmental and public health risks of nanomaterials and plastic debris. Data from recent publications were used to address the aforementioned three objectives. A case study on antibiotic-resistant superbugs adsorbed nanomaterials will be illustrated in this presentation. Given the review on antibiotic-resistant superbugs adsorbed nanomaterials, the development of green strategies and the application of biodegradable materials to the manufacture of consumer products are encouraged.
Joo is currently co-leading the Plastic-Free Specialized Graduate School at the University of Seoul. She was an Environmental Engineering Professor at the University of Miami, Florida USA, and is an affiliate of the Dr. John T. McDonald Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute. She has over 20 years of experience in Environmental Engineering and Science. She has expertise in the field of Environmental Nanotechnology, Toxicity Assessment of Nanomaterials, and Innovative Processes of Water/Wastewater Treatment. She is a recipient of multiple awards and has published research and review papers in prominent scientific journals and is the author of books.
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Aligning steel fibers is an effective way to improve the mechanical properties of steel fiber cementitious composites (SFRC). In this study, the magnetic field method was used to prepare the aligned hooked-end steel fiber cementitious composites (ASFRC) and the fracture behavior was investigated. In order to achieve the alignment of steel fibers, the key parameters including the rheology of the mixture and magnetic induction of electromagnetic field were theoretically analyzed. The orientation efficiency factor of ASFRC and SFRC was 0.8 and 0.58, respectively. The results showed that, compared with SFRC, the cracking load and the ultimate load of ASFRC were increased about 24–55% and 51–86%, respectively, depending on the fiber addition content. In addition, the flexural tensile strength and residual flexural strength of ASFRC were found to increase up to 105% and 100%, respectively. The orientation of steel fibers also has a significant effect on energy consumption. The fracture energy of ASFRC was 56–70% greater than SFRC and the reinforcement effect of hooked-end steel fiber was higher than straight steel fiber. It was concluded that the fracture properties were enhanced significantly by the orientation of steel fibers. The fractural properties of ASFRC with Vf = 0.8% were found to be superior or equal to those of SFRC with Vf = 1.2%, which confirmed the advantage of ASFRC over SFRC and obtained high fracture properties, at a lesser amount of steel fibers, compared to SFRC. The fibers in the fracture surface showed that not only was the number of fibers of ASFRC higher than that of SFRC, but also the orientation efficiency factor of ASFRC was superior to SFRC, which explains the improvement of fracture behavior of ASFRC.
Sujjaid khan is a Pakistani civil engineer, did his Bachelor degree from Sarhad university of science and information technology (2013-2017) and for further master degree moved to china, Tianjin on Chinese government scholarship where he graduated from the school of civil and transportation engineering of Hebei university of technology (2018-2022) in good grades, memories and enlighten ambitions. He organized many scientific events throughout his graduate studies. During this time, he published two articles in renowned journals, working on the alignment technique of hooked ended and straight fibers in aligned and random directions and investigating fractured properties. He is passionate about science, technology and human experiences. He is always looking for initiatives to promote research and make it more accessible.
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India has a wide range of agricultural and ecological varieties. India is the leading producer of milk, pulses, jute, rice, wheat, sugarcane, vegetables, fruits, and cotton. The average yield of many Indian crops is inferior. Plant diseases are one of the significant causes of the low yield of crops. These diseases are caused by micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. This article reveals the research findings of the classification of fungi-affected diseases of popular fruit plants such as Apple, Custard Apple and Guava based on their camera-captured (14,412 images) and microscopic images (602 images). Besides, it calculates the infected area of the leaf for further processing. The experimental results are exciting and highly encouraging to justify as state-of-the-art results, i.e. 97.52%.
Mallikarjun Hangarge, Associate Professor and Head Department of P. G. Studies and Research in Computer Science, Karnatak Arts, Science and Commerce College, Bidar. He received a prestigious IAPR Travel grant to attend ICPR in Hongkong in 2006. UGC Travel grants to present his research at ICDAR, 2013 at Washington DC USA, in 2013. He has received three Best Paper Awards at International conferences. He received Faculty Summer Research Fellowship in 2012 from the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has completed three major research projects of Rs. 30.0 lakhs. He has collaborated with the University of South Dakota, USA, Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata and Speech Processing Laboratory, IIIT Hyderabad. His research interests are in Image Processing and Pattern Recognition and its applications such as Automatic Handwriting Analysis, Document Image Processing, etc. He is the author of more than 100 research articles and three books published in reputed International and National Journals and conferences. He serves on the Editorial Board of 6 International Journals.
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Photo Electro Chemical (PEC) water splitting is the latest technology to produce safe hydrogen and electricity by using sun light. This technology permits to split water in to its basic constituents i.e. hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen being highly flammable gas can be used as fuel in different sectors of life to overcome the energy needs. Oxygen gas can be utilized by the human beings for respiration. The process resembles with photosynthesis of plants to prepare food in the presence of sun light. Tungsten Oxide (WO3) and reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) were the materials used under different compositions to fabricate PEC cells for production of safe electricity. The low band gap of tungsten oxide (WO3) enables it as a suitable candidate for PEC water splitting. Graphene Oxide (GO) is a material having extra thin sheets and a very large surface area with extreme electrical conductivity. GO has been synthesized by using modified Hummer’s method. Later on hydrothermal reduction of GO gives rGO. WO3–rGO composites of different ratios have been prepared hydrothermally and then coated on indium tin oxide coated glass to make electrodes for water splitting. Renewable energy technologies have their immense scope after the scarcity of fossil fuels. Various characterization techniques such as UV–visible, Diffusion Reflectance Spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Linear Sweep Voltammetry were used to study the absorbance/reflectance, structure, morphology, and optical/electrical properties of prepared nanostructures. In addition, WO3 particles were distributed on the strong sheets of rGO randomly. The IV-measurements were taken of WO3 / rGO electrodes under dark environment (very minor current~250 nA) by using LSV. The electrodes exhibit maximum of ~ 450 μA under dark environment, while photocurrent initiates from 1.0 mA to 3.2 mA under artificial sunlight. That is convincingly an exceptional result in the field of PEC cells.
Shahzad Munir Ansari is a PhD fellow of Federal Urdu University of Arts Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan in Applied Physics Department. He earned Degree of Masters of Philosophy in Applied Physics with specialization in the field of renewable energy technology mainly focused on “Novel Materials for Energy Applications” from the same university. Because of the remarkable properties of Graphene, his research is focused on it with its different compositions. He served as Researcher at National Centre for Physics Islamabad Pakistan for two years. He has hands on experience of Synthesis of Graphene / Graphene Oxide / reduced Graphene Oxide and their different compositions with metal oxides and other semiconductor materials for various energy applications. He has published two research articles in the well-known international scientific journals. Recently prepared Copper Plated-Graphene Based Ultra Capacitors and their testing is in progress. In the meanwhile research and development is going on Graphene Batteries.
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Luminescence studies on Eu3+ ions doped in Borate glasses (7TiO2+3Al2O3+(60-x)B2O3+xEu2O3+ 5LiCO3 + 25SrCO3) (where x =0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20), containing heavy metals, alkali and alkaline were prepared using a conventional melt quenching technique. Judd-Ofelt (JO) intensity parameters were determined from the luminescence spectra and used to investigate the nature of Eu3+ ions with its surrounding ligands. The JO parameters (Ω2, Ω4 and Ω6) were used to determine the radiative spectroscopic properties such as radiative transition probability (AR), branching ratio (βR) and stimulated emission cross-section(σ_P^E ) for the 5D0-->7F2,4,5 transitions of Eu3+ ions. Theoretically optical gain parameter and gain bandwidth were calculated, shows a vital role in laser application. The higher values of Ω2 confirms the hypersensitive nature of the 5D0-->7F2 transition and further it indicates the covalent nature of the Eu-O bond and higher asymmetry of all the prepared glasses. Among the prepared glass in 0.2 mole Eu3+ doped glass found to have better values. The stimulated emission cross-section, branching ratio and quantum efficiency for the glass corresponding to 5D0->7F2 transition is found to be 8.98 ×10-22 cm2, 0.62 and 80.2% which indicates its suitability for red laser application.
M. Priya has a doctoral degree in Physics and her research passion is on Alkali Halides, High-temperature crystals, Nanomaterials, and Metallic glasses. Having a research experience from 2005, she had published nearly 75 papers in international, high-impact journals. Seven of her Ph.D. scholars are awarded doctorate degrees and she is guiding five more scholars in various fields of materials research. She is a reviewer for many high-impact journals. She has completed two funded projects successfully and currently, one project with BRNS funding is ongoing. She has published three patents and was granted two patents. She visited China for Research Collaboration( bulk crystal growth) and as Visiting Professor at Changchun University, China. She also conducted many conferences & webinars for knowledge sharing which helped the research community to carry out research work with Indian and International Scientists.
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The demand for food is increasing day-by-day in line with the ever-increasing population. This puts extra pressure on the agricultural world to increase production within the limited land available for agriculture. Application of chemical fertilizers seems to be the only solution to double or triple the yield from the same area of land. Similarly, chemical pesticides are also extensively used to eliminate the pest and pathogen problem that can reduce the yield per area of the crop. However, these solutions have proven to have adverse long-term effects on the soil quality and biodiversity of agricultural lands. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are also the number one agricultural pollutant. The freshwater sources have been contaminated with hazardous agricultural pollutants making it undrinkable. Overall, these chemicals have a very dis-advantageous impact on health and ecosystem. Chitosan obtained from the shell waste of crustaceans are a promising alternative for the chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are one of the main reasons of agricultural pollution. Chitosan nanoparticles (ChNP) have been reported to have very good plant growth promoting capacity in many crop plants. There are many studies demonstrating the positive effect of ChNP on promoting plant growth of various crops such as rice, wheat, tomato etc. Owing to the antimicrobial activity of ChNP, it has shown to elicit plant defence reactions against many plant pathogens in plants. The biological origin of chitosan makes it non-toxic in nature. The soil toxicity, seed toxicity and cytotoxicity studies done on ChNP supports the fact that ChNP is a non-toxic compound. In this review, we will be observing the recent works on the agricultural application of ChNP.
Divya Koilparambil is a committed research scholar with excellent research potential and an ability to actively contribute to the research projects as well as a proven publication track record. She is currently working as Science Coordinator at British Curriculum School, Apple International School, Dubai She guides and mentors Science teachers of Key stage 2 and Key stage 3 in planning and delivering high quality lessons to students. She is also a Review Editor for Frontiers in Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants. Her key responsibilities are to ensure that experiments and studies were conducted correctly, considering appropriate ethical considerations, and that the conclusions are based on a valid, logical interpretation of the results. She was the Research Topic Coordinator for Research Topic Collection of Frontiers Journal of Drug Delivery; Section: Oral Drug Delivery “Chitosan Nanoparticles Preparation and Application for Oral Drug Delivery”.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in companies and affected the operational capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide, pushing them further towards technology adoption and innovation. However, the extent to which the impact of use of e-commerce, technology, and digitalization on companies’ sales, operations, customer satisfaction, and their overall performance during COVID-19 has not been investigated. The aim of this study is to conduct a path analysis assessment of performance and technology mediation in SMEs during the pandemic. The path analysis suggests existence of statistically significant partial mediation by the mediator variables (SMEs’ digitalization, use of technology, and use of e-Commerce during COVID-19) between independent variables (SMEs’ operation, sales, and customer satisfaction) and the dependent variable (SMEs’ performance). Operation, sales, and customer satisfaction directly affected SMEs’ performance during COVID-19. There was also an acceleration in the SMEs’ technology transformation during this period.
Ashraf Mishrif is the founding director and research chair of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Research Chair for Economic Studies, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Prior to that he was Associate Professor at King’s College London and taught at various universities including Qatar University, Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College Qatar, Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge, and the University of Greenwich, London, UK. He assumed several executive posts including Cultural Advisor for the Egyptian Embassy Cultural Bureau in London, Managing Director of the London-based consulting firm EU-Med International, and International Advisor and member of the Academic Board of Directors, Boston Business Management School, Singapore. He is an expert in economic development and the political economy of the Middle East, with a special focus on the Gulf region. He established and led several research clusters, masters and doctoral programs in political economy, foreign direct investment, international trade, economic diversification, and Euro-Arab economic relations. He provides advisory services to international organizations and governments including UNCTAD, UK Trade and Investment, Islamic Development Bank (Saudi Arabia), and Social Fund for Development (Egypt), Chambers of Commerce, Authority of Development of SMEs, Authority of Industrial Estates, and Special Economic Zones (Oman). He manages several strategic research projects and regional development programs, with a research budget of US$1.2 million and 32 research staff. He is Fellow of International Society for Development and Sustainability (Japan) and the Book Series Editor of Palgrave Macmillan Political Economy of the Middle East. He authored and edited several books, book chapters and peer-reviewed papers, including two volumes on economic diversification and nationalization of the labour market in the GCC.
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A Pythagorean fuzzy model has more flexibility to deal with human evaluation information than other fuzzy and vague models. In this article, the notions of normal arc, normal dominating set, normal domination number, abnormal independent set, abnormal independent number, normal cobondage set, and normal cobondage number are introduced, and some the relevant results are investigated. Eventually, a utilization relevant to decision making according to influencing factors on the company’s efficiency is presented. The presented model is a factor-based model, where the impact score of each factor is divided into two types of direct and indirect influence.
Sadegh Banitalebi specialized PhD in mathematics and a lecturer and researcher in the field of mathematical modeling, fuzzy mathematics, fuzzy logic and cognitive modeling.
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Objective: Errors in the laboratory process often occur in the preanalytical phase (PA). The study aims to calculate the direct cost elements of PA errors, including material, logistics, transfer, personnel workforce, and medical waste. Methods: Medical laboratory PA phase errors were retrospectively reviewed using the Laboratory Information Management System. We evaluated the whole 2019 laboratory data of the 836-bed Health Sciences University Umraniye Training and Research Hospital (UTRH). We assessed the direct cost elements of PA errors, such as those related to material, logistics, transfer, human resources, and waste. We performed the procedure for both samples analyzed in the hospital and transferred to the central laboratory. Results: We analyzed 1,939,650 patient samples and 46,534,532 parameters studied in 2019 for UTRH. The rates for rejected tests and rejected samples (tube) for UTRH were noted as 0.32% and 1.7%, respectively. The total direct cost for PA errors was TRY 438,284.51 (68,918.07 euros) for 32,783 patient samples and 147,893 tests. We calculated the total cost for PA test errors detected in the hospital as TRY 390,238.06, while the total cost for PA test errors detected in the central laboratory was TRY 48,046.45. 89% of the total cost was for PA errors detected in the hospital, and 11% was for the errors detected in the central laboratory. The 2019 direct PA error cost we calculated based on our hospital’s data was 0.153% of the 2019 hospital operating cost. We calculated the direct cost per rejected sample as TRY 13.37 (2.1 Euro). Conclusion: Providing reliable laboratory service with the least possible financial loss is one of the main goals in terms of laboratory medicine. In achieving this goal, the prevention of error costs is a priority. The direct cost elements for the PA phase, where laboratory errors are concentrated, can be easily identified. The amount of PA phase error direct cost will attract the attention of health policy decision-makers and field professionals and inspire further research. Therefore, we tried to determine a threshold cost regarding interventions and practices required to prevent PA phase errors.
Pinar Eker graduated from Ege University Faculty of Medicine in 1991, became a biochemistry and clinical biochemistry specialist in 1997, and have a master's degree in quality management in healthcare. She worked in different public hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey as a Biochemistry specialist for 20 years and as the director of the biggest and the first consolidated medical laboratory in Turkey since 2013, which processed more than 20.000 samples daily. She worked at Maltepe University Faculty of Medicine since 2021 and as medical laboratory director of Memorial Health Group of Hospitals in Turkey in Istanbul.
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There are a lot of techniques for obtaining new statistical distributions. Weibull distribution is one of the most capable statistical distribution in modeling strength data sets. Basic principle of gaining new distribution is increasing modelling efficiency. In this study a new distribution is proposed by taking the conditional diagonal section of the bivariate Farlie-Gumbel-Morgenstern distribution of which marginal distributions are Weibull distribution. Specifications and characteristics of this new distribution are studied. The structure of the proposed distribution is discussed statistically and the parameter estimation for the new distribution is made by known methods. In addition, reliability analysis has performed. Efficiency on the statistical modeling of the new distribution can be detected by using data sets in literature. The new distribution which is proposed in this study, is compared with Weibull distribution, which is the most known strength statistical distribution, in modeling efficiency. The Kolmogorov Smirnov test statistics was used as a compare method in modeling efficiency of distributions. In Kolmogorov Smirnov test statistics there is a p-value statistic which can be used as explanation rate of the dataset in the model. According to this statistic, modelling efficiency of Weibull Distribution can be improved by 20%. It is concluded that this new distribution offers a model that can be used effectively in strength datasets. With this approach, other statistical distributions modelling efficiency can be improved. Therefore, any researcher who wants to work with a specific distribution, but does not have enough goodness of fit, can increase efficiency with this method.
Huseyin Unozkan took Bachelor degree in System Engineering from Turkish Military Academy in 2006, later took Master and Doctorate degrees in Ankara University Statistics Department in 2016 and 2020. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Halic University and managing an international project in Coventry University in United Kingdom. Research areas of Huseyin Unozkan are; Statistical Theory, Statistical Distributions, Stochastic Processes, Reliability Analysis, Mathematical Modeling, Optimization, Cluster analyses, Artificial Neural Network, Machine Learning Algorithms.
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Introduction: Illicit drug analysis is widely applied in daily practice all over the world to overcome the rising crisis of drug addiction. Thus, the need for decentralization of the laboratory confirmatory methods to be portable and suits point of care (POC) settings has become a recent trend. Gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the traditional confirmatory gold standard for drug testing and is used for non-targeted substance screening, however, it uses large laboratory equipment, and it is limited to volatile non-polar compounds. Liquid chromatography- tandem MS (LC-tandem-MS) has become a new gold standard for its ability to identify more types of analytes (polar and non-polar), however, it is not suited for neither non-targeted drug screening nor for POC settings as it is not portable. Aim: Discuss the most advanced portable techniques for illicit drugs detection at point of care (POC) settings. Results: The emergence of miniature ambient ionization MS, that is portable and can analyze unprepared samples in native environment within one minute. Ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) is another advance that can identify compounds including isomers with high resolution within seconds and portable devices are available. Portable Raman and near infrared (NIR) spectrometers have allowed fast screening for drugs and have been efficiently used for other on-site forensic applications. Hence, these advanced techniques are promising for quick detection of illicit drugs in a POC setting. Conclusion: Miniature ambient ionization MS is very rapid with no sample preparation, but it is more expensive than other alternatives in POC testing. Thus, the best methods for POC drug testing are portable IMS, portable Raman spectrometer, and handheld NIR spectrometer for their accurate, easy, and quick analysis within seconds with affordable costs.
Ghadeer M. M. Abdelaal Senior lecturer of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University. Fellow of the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority in Cairo. Senior consultant at Forensic Medical Consultation Center of Zagazig University. A founding member of Zagazig Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Research Lab. A founding member of the Safe Woman Unit in Zagazig University Hospitals. Member of the Arab Union of Forensics and Toxicology. Member of the Egyptian Society of Clinical Toxicology. TEDx Speaker "Tomorrow's techniques for yesterday's crimes" talk. Speaker and organizer at many conferences. Forensic postgraduate quality coordinator. Strategic planning, and resources coordinator at the faculty quality assurance unit (2019-2021). Internship Qualification Program trainer in the professional GP course (2018). Participated in the Continuous Improvement and Qualifying for Accreditation Project (2012). Participated in Zagazig University's strategic planning (2011). Medical convoys' organizer in Sharkia, Egypt (2011). She has many international scientific publications in the field of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology.
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Calibration of surface plates becomes necessary demand in production metrology. These plates are considered as reference planes for many types of dimensional measurements. This study presents an analysis of straightness and flatness errors on the calibration of surface plates. A laser interferometer system is used in calibration of granite surface plate based on Union Jack method. The calibration is carried out using foot spacers of 2, 4 and 6 inches. A new method based on Python is proposed for statistical assessment of errors in each case. The sample size due to 4 inch foot spacer is most comparable for plate calibration. The associated uncertainties and measurement results are evaluated and compared.
Ahmed M. S. El Melegy is a researcher at the Engineering and Surface Metrology Laboratory – National Institute of Standards (NIS) Egypt. He is working in the field of Dimensional Metrology since 2007.
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Traditional disposal of agricultural bio-waste such as pig manure and banana peel waste poses an environmental nuisance. The uncontrolled disintegration of these waste materials decomposes to toxic effluent and methane a greenhouse gas twenty-one times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, which is detrimental to the climate by elevating temperatures. Agricultural bio-waste is rich in nutrients that include nitrogen and phosphorus. Selectively separating these nutrients from the solid phase to produce high value products has been envisaged as an effective method of waste valorisation. This study aims to investigate the solubilisation of phosphorus (P) during anaerobic digestion (AD) of pig manure with banana peel waste as the co-substrate. The objective was to enhance the biological dissolution of the phosphorus from solid pig manure to the aqueous phase as this is envisaged to subsequently ease the recovery of P as a concentrated product via crystallization. Thereafter, phosphorus is used as a slow-release mineral fertilizer. Biological acidification was effective in reducing the pH to less than 6.50 from an initial pH of 7.28 at higher doses of BPW >100g/L. Maximum dissolution of total phosphorus of 75% was observed at a pH of 5.40. Multiple regression analysis was used to correlate pH, banana peel waste concentration, and the anaerobic digestion time (ADT) to optimize the dissolution of P as this was deduced to be occurring at a low pH. A 2nd order polynomial was deduced to best fit the data with an R2 value of 0.90. The p values for the HRT and banana peel waste concentration were both <0.05 showing that both variables had a strong influence on the pH.
Langa Bright Moyo is currently a Lecturer at The National University of Science and Technology in the department of Chemical Engineering have been a lecturer for 4 years now specializing in Mass Transfer and Separation processes. He is also a PhD Candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the presentation he would be doing is a chapter in his PhD thesis on recovering phosphorus from pig manure using ferrochrome slag as a magnesium source. He had worked in the water treatment sector as well in South Africa for a period of 3 years specializing in waste beneficiation.
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Robotic process automation (RPA) is a software robot technology designed to execute rules-based business processes by mimicking human interactions across multiple applications. As a virtual workforce, this software application has proven valuable to organizations looking to automate repetitive, low-added-value work. The combination of RPA and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is called CRPA (Cognitive Robotic Process Automation) or IPA (Intelligent Process Automation) and has led to the next generation of RPA bots. It has been transforming the banking industry by making the core financial operations exponentially more efficient and allowing banks to tailor services to customers while at the same time improving safety and security. Although intelligent automation is enabling banks to redefine how they work, it has also raised challenges regarding protection of both consumer interests and the stability of the financial system. This article presents a case study on Deutsche Bank’s successful implementation of intelligent automation and also discusses the ethical responsibilities and challenges related to automation and employment. We demonstrate how Deutsche Bank successfully automated Adverse Media Screening (AMS), accelerating compliance, increasing adverse media search coverage and drastically reducing false positives. This research contributes to the academic literature on the topic of banking intelligent automation and provides insight into implementation and development.
Alice Villar is a Computer Scientist and Lawyer born in Brazil and currently living in Ohio (US). In May, 2021, during her Master's degree studies in Computer Science at the University of Essex Online (UK), she published "Robotic process automation in banking industry: a case study on Deutsche Bank" in Springer Nature (Journal of Banking and Financial Technology). That September, she was invited to be a Validation Panel Member in the course approval for Kaplan Open Learning’s MSc Data Science and MSc Artificial Intelligence, evaluating the degree programs in terms of academic content, quality, and fitness for purpose. Her current research interests include AI and ethics and emerging technologies of Industry 4.0, and Industry 5.0. Previously, she authored three law books, including an in-depth analysis of Brazilian Banking Law entitled “Direito Bancário”, as well as numerous articles. She is currently a Technical Research Writer at HELPFUL Engineering, Columbus (OH).
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Objective: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is caused by a specific mutation of the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene. The deficiency of PAH results in high phenylalanine levels (Phe), low tyrosine levels (Tyr), and reduced catecholamine neurotransmitters. The majority of PKU patients, if untreated, develop severe mental retardation. The specific contribution of high Phe and low Tyr levels in mental retardation is largely unknown. In this study, we used organic hippocampal slice cultures in an optimized medium as an adequate culture model to decipher the precise role of high Phe and low Tyr levels on synaptic and glial integrity in PKU. The hippocampus is closely related to learning and memory and reduced catecholamine neurotransmitter levels can be neglected since these neurotransmitters do not derive from the hippocampus. Cultures exposed to physiological concentrations of Phe were compared with cultures exposed to doses of Phe/Tyr, as in the cerebral fluid of PKU patients. Methods: Using capillary western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry, followed by quantitative image analysis, we tested the expression of various pre- and postsynaptic proteins (PSD95, synaptopodin, SNAP25, synaptophysin), glial cell markers (GFAP, Iba1, P2Y12, CD68, C3b), and the morphology of glial cells Results: We found a downregulation of the postsynaptic protein PSD95 and the presynaptic protein SNAP25 in the presence of high/low Phe/Tyr levels after 3 weeks, which, then however, recovered after 6 weeks in culture. Furthermore, no change in the expression pattern of glial proteins was observed. Conclusion: Our results show that high Phe levels/low Tyr levels alone are unlikely to substantially contribute to mental retardation in PKU. The direct neurotoxic potency of high Phe/low Tyr concentrations is almost negligible since the effects are transient. The transient character in the presence of unchanged levels of high Phe/low Tyr points to a role of reduced catecholamine derivate neurotransmitters, rather than of high Phe/low Tyr levels in PKU.
Julian Kylies is a Research assistant at the Institute of Neuroanatomy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Education:10/22 Second Medical Exam, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. 03/20 First Medical Exam (Physikum), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. 11/22 USMLE Step 2CK, passed with 264 points. 08/21 USMLE Step 1, passed with 235 points
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Robots in elder care, robot nannies, virtual companions, chatbots, robotic weapons systems, autonomous cars, etc. are examples of some of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems currently undergoing research and development. These kinds of systems usually need to engage in complex interactions with humans. To ensure that these systems will not violate the rights of human being and also will carry out only ethical actions (i.e., actions that follow ethical norms of the community in which they are deployed), a combination of AI and ethics has become mandatory. This is the subject for a newly emerging interdisciplinary field known under the name of Machine Ethics.
Abeer Dyoub is a researcher fellow at the Department of Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics (DISIM), University of La'Aquila. Her reserch interest focuses on Artificial Intelligence, with special focus on Computational Logic including Intelligent Agents and Multi Agent Systems, Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, Interpretable Machine Learning, and Machine Ethics. She is a fellow of ACM, GRIN, AIxIA, and GULP. She holds a baschelor's degree in electronic engineering from Tishreen University, Syria 2000, a master's degree in computer science 2004 from JMI university, India, and a PhD in ICT from the University of L'Aquila, Italy, 2019.
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In recent years, various nanomaterial-based drug delivery nanoplatforms have been widely developed in preclinical studies for the potential targeted cancer chemotherapy. However, the advanced microscopic study for better optimization of physicochemical properties of these drug delivery nanoplatforms is not well studied so far which limits their successes in clinical applications. Therefore, superior understandings of the interaction of nanocarrier with different physicochemical properties with biological systems are essential and challenging for improved cancer treatments. In this study, we are focusing on the evaluation of different physicochemical properties such as surface functionality and degradation of periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (nanoPMOs) by super-resolution STORM technique. For this purpose, we have synthesized a library of redox-responsive antibody-conjugated biodegradable nanoPMOs with controlled size, shape, composition, orientation, and multivalency. The structural properties (i.e. size and shape) of nanoPMOs labeled with STORM-compatible dye are resolved by direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) imaging due to higher spatial resolution compared to conventional microscopy. The degradation of functionalized nanoPMOs induced by elevated concentrations of reduced glutathione that mimic the intracellular reducing environment has been measured qualitatively and quantitatively for the first time using single-molecule localization microscopy (dSTORM). The results show that nanoPMOs properties significantly influence their degradation. To understand the role of multivalency in nanoPMOs targeting cancer cells, we have employed dSTORM imaging to evaluate the surface functionality of nanoPMOs conjugated with antibody in different orientations and multivalency. In addition to physical properties (i.e. size and shape), the surface functionality of nanoPMOs plays a significant role in their cellular uptake process. The outstanding drug loading capability into the mesoporous structure and glutathione-induced rapid drug release behaviour of selective nanoPMOs enable to produce the potent anticancer effects against prostate cancer. Thus, the nanoPMOs with optimized properties have a high potential as drug delivery nanoplatforms in targeted chemotherapy of prostate cancer.
Pradip Das obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) in 2009 and M.Sc. in 2011 in Chemistry from Vidyasagar University, India, and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India, respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, India (degree awarded by Jadavpur University, India) in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Nikhil R. Jana. He completed his first postdoctoral research with Prof. Ulrich J. Krull from the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada. Then he joined as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, for his second postdoctoral research with Prof. Davide Prosperi. He finished his postdoctoral research with Dr. Teresa Pellegrino at the Italian Institute of Technology Genova, Italy. Nowadays, he is working as a Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jean-Olivier Durand at the Institute Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, CNRS, France. He has published 26 papers that have been cited more than 1425 times.
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Development of new materials is a challenging task which involves not only selecting the final properties but also the whole processing route. Experimental verification is very important but very expensive and to limit the cost and time for the development one regularly uses computer simulations for many steps. For equilibrium calculations the Calphad method provides facilities to calculate phase diagrams but also many other kinds of diagrams providing phase amounts, chemical potentials and heat capacities at varying temperature and compositions. But a very important feature of the assessed Calphad thermodynamic databases is that they provide information about phase amounts, chemical potentials etc also for the metastable states during phase transformations. Combined with Phase Field Methods or other kinetic models the use of validated and assessed thermodynamic databases is essential.
Bo Sundman is professor emeritus at the Computational Thermodynamics (CT) division in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) department of KTH, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He graduated as a master in physics engineering at KTH in 1974, got a PhD in physical metallurgy in 1981, become lecturer at KTH in 1986, assistant professor in 1994 and professor in 2000. After 2006 he has been fully or partially on leave to work in France and other countries. From 2006 to 2009 he was at CIRIMAT at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse and from 2009 at INSTN, CEA Saclay and together with Dr Constantin Meis arranged a annual summer school on the use of thermodynamic calculations. He retired in 2012 but continued to work part time at INSTN and at the Central South University in Changsha, China. He published more than 180 papers and have more than 13000 citations (in 2020). He received the Calphad ”Triangle” Award 2002, the Hume-Rothery Award 2005 from IOM3 in UK, a Humboldt senior researcher award from Germany in 2012 and the NIMS Award in Japan 2017. Together with Dr Leo Lukas and Dr Suzana G Fries He written a book ”Computational Thermodynamics, the Calphad Method” published by Cambridge University press in 2007.
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Over some 60 years of asymmetric catalysis, the source of catalyst chirality has mainly been based on chiral organic molecules with stereogenic carbon atoms or chiral molecules exhibiting atropisomerism. However, there is a virtually unexplored option in the design of enantioselective catalysts, where the metal cation of the catalyst is a stereogenic center. In these cases, the metal center can be surrounded by any achiral ligand as long as they lead to metal complexes with the stereogenic metal, commonly called chiral-at-metal complexes. However, few examples of enantioselective catalysts with exclusive metal-centered chirality exhibit a stable configuration. This work describes the completely diastereoselective synthesis of the chiral complexes [RhCl2(κ4-L)] (1) and [Rh(κ4-L)(NCMe)2][SbF6] (2) containing a new tripodal tetradentate ligand. The resolution of the racemic mixture of 2 has been achieved through kinetic resolution using enantiopure (S)-2-(4-isopropyl-4,5-dihydrooxazol-2-yl)phenol as a chiral auxiliary. The results of catalytic tests on the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction proving that the chirality is efficiently transferred from the metal to the substrate.
Ricardo Rodríguez studied chemistry at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) and received his Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry from the University of Zaragoza. After postdoctoral research at the Fundamental and Applied Heterochemistry Laboratory-LHFA (Toulouse, France), he started working as a Tenure Track in the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis Institute-ISQCH (Zaragoza, Spain). Since 2021, he has been a Staff Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council-CSIC (Spain). His research is in the fields of metal-centered stereochemistry and transition metal frustrated lewis pairs for catalysis.
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The extraction of mandibular third molar (MTM) represents the most frequent surgical procedure performed in oral surgery with a percentage of 5 million per year in the United States. Different complications are encountered in the majority of the population in the first days following this extraction such as alveolitis, pain, trismus, edema as well as a difficulty swallowing. These complications might lead to deterioration in the quality of life (QoL) during the immediate postoperative period. QoL can be defined as “a state of well-being” which is based on two components. The first is the ability to perform daily activities that reflect physical, psychological and social well-being. The second is the patient’s satisfaction with the level of functioning, control of disease, and treatment-related symptoms. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of MTM extraction on a patient’s QoL. Methods: An electronic search was conducted through September 2021 on MEDLINE database, ScienceDirect, Ebsco, Scopus and Google Scholar to collect sufficient articles relevant to the subject. Data were extracted and analyzed according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines Data were extracted from selected studies including study type, sample size and characteristics, duration of the observation after removal of MTM, questionnaire used for evaluation of QoL and the result. From 107 studies, 40 representing 4990 cases met the inclusion criteria. The QoL was deteriorated but different factors contributed to his improvement. Different instruments have been used in these studies: OHIP-14, OHQoLUK, HRQOL,EQ-5D-3L QOL, and UW-QOL. The extraction of mandibular wisdom teeth has a negative effect on QoL during the first postoperative days but improved progressively by following the medical instructions given by the dental surgeon.
Bassima Chami is a Professor of pathology and oral surgery, Former head of department of surgery and oral pathology. Faculty of dental medicine in Rabat Mohamed 5 university Rabat Morocco. He is a Member of the laboratory of biostatistics and methodology in clinical research Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Rabat Morocco. He received University degree in clinical research methods from ISPED University of Bordaux France, University degree in dental care under sedation. He is the author of articles in pathology and oral surgery.
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This paper explores the use of Chitosan as sustainable agent to improve dyeing properties of cotton fabric dyed with Opuntia ficus-indica L fruit peel and the determination of the amount of anthocyanin pigments by the spectrophotometric method. The results of this study highlights that cotton fabrics treated with chitosan have better depth of shade (K/S = 12) than those untreated fabrics (K/S = 3.7) dyed with Opuntia ficus-indica L fruit peel. We have thoroughly investigated the effects of dye bath pH and temperature on the color properties of the aforementioned fabrics. UV protection of cotton fabrics increased after natural dyeing, and it was further improved after being treated with chitosan. Experimental results show that the fastness properties of dyed cotton fabrics treated with chitosan were improved from average to excellent.
Rym Mansour is an Assistant Professor in Textile Materials & Engineering. She obtained her diplomat of engineering. in Textile Engineering from Tunisian Engineering college of Monastir. She then worked at High institute of technology of Kairouan as a Textile Engineer, before pursuing a PhD in developing sustainable textile finishing processes using Natural dyes extracted from grape pomace and leaves at the faculty of sciences of Monastir. Following the PhD completion, she became a Research Assistant working on the use of chitosan extracted from crabs to enhance the dyeability of cotton fabtics with natural dyes and exploring their UV-protection. Since joining the high institute of arts and crafts of Kairouan in 2017, she has taught sciences of materials, besides she has come a contact point at European Horizon and at Erasmus+.
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The traditional method of science is reductionist in essence. Reductionism imposes severe limits in dealing with the complexity that is proper to some areas of research. To cope with complexity in research, it may be wise to combine different approaches, including systems approaches, qualitative methods and quantitative methods. Systems approaches can help researchers to cope with structural, behavioral or evolutionary complexity. They allow researchers to develop theoretical frameworks to comprise a broad perspective of a research problem. Theories are systems themselves. A system is a set of elements that interact with each other to meet some declared purpose. Analogously, a theory is a set of constructs related to each other by propositions. Qualitative methods can help a researcher to gather rich data to support the process of building a theoretical model and to ground theory on data. Quantitative methods contribute the rhetorical power of numbers. Multivariate data analysis methods, for instance, can help researchers to organize big data to support the process of theory building. Researchers can also apply quantitative methods to test and validate theory, by verifying key features of a systemic theoretical model. Methods must be however consistently combined, based on a solid epistemological approach. This requires a deep understanding of each method and the conditions under which the application of each method is valid, to not violate these conditions as methods are put together. Some articles illustrate how systems, quantitative and qualitative approaches can be combined to deal with complex research subjects such as the diagnosis of the situation of micro, small and medium enterprises in a city, the analysis of outcomes of sustainable development goals in countries, and sustainable competitive advantage in very dynamic markets.
Omar Sacilotto Donaires holds a degree in Electrical Engineer and a master's degree in Organizations Management, both from the University of São Paulo. He holds an MBA degree from the University of São Paulo and is PMP®, Project Manager Professional, certified by the PMI®. He has professional experience in industry at research and development, new product development, project management, development of software for process automation. His research interests include software engineering, new product development, project management, systems approach, sustainable development and dynamic capabilities.
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Objectives: Cell-based therapies have emerged as a novel approach to treat cancer and other conditions. Several studies highlighted the crucial role of quantifying surface CD19 using flow cytometry in providing guidance for proper selection of targeted Immunotherapy in B- cell malignancies. However, the lack of adequate reference materials and the complexity of the cytometer instrumentation have resulted in few reference standards to ensure comparable and quantitative CD19 expression analysis. This study was designed to evaluate CD19 expression in potential biological cell reference materials and provide an assessment of their suitability to support the development of CD19 reference standards. Methods: CD19 expression measurements were made using QuantiBrite PE and CD4 based quantification schemes. Additionally, CD19 expression on a selected human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was evaluated using mass cytometry to verify result comparability between two orthogonal measurement techniques. Three commercial PBMC-A, PBMC-B, and PBMC-C made by three different manufacturers and one synthetic CD19 B cell material were tested. Variables potentially contributing to the differences in CD19 expression, PBMC manufacturing process, number of healthy donors used for each PBMC lot, antibody reagent, operators, and experimental days were considered in the evaluation. Results & Conclusions: Mean of CD19 ABC (antibodies bound per cell) is 7700 with a range from 4700 to 11300 at a 95% confidence level was obtained for PBMC-A, 10900 with a range from 7400 to 14900 for PBMC-B, and 14000 with a range from 7200 to 22000 for PBMC-C. Full understanding of the sources of uncertainty, their relative contributions and areas of improvement will lead to production of high-quality and robust reference material for quantitative expression measurement for many application fields not limited to flow cytometry.
Lili Wang is Senior Research Scientist and Manager at the Biosystems and Biomaterials Division of NIST. She is a leading expert in quantitative flow cytometry critical for diagnostics and advanced therapeutic development. She serves as the Lead Manager for the NIST Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium, a major Public-Private Partnership with key stakeholders from other agencies, industry, and academia, where she and her team works with consortium members to address pressing measurement and standards needed for bioassays, including SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing for diagnostics, vaccine testing, surveillance. In collaboration with WHO, her team has established multiple standards and reference materials, including critical reference materials for HIV/AIDS monitoring, stem cell counting for blood transplantation, and most recently, the first international serology/antibody standard. She serves on multiple professional committees and published over 120 peer-reviewed articles. She is a recipient of the 2020 and 2021 US Department of Commerce Gold Medal.
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Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the biopolymer responsible to contain the sequence information for the polypeptide synthesis in living organisms. However, because of its physicochemical and molecular recognition properties, this macromolecule has been considered to produce a wide variety of nanostructured materials. Depending on the size and sequence of the molecule, single- and double-stranded DNA is able to template the aggregation of different chemical species in solution, followed by a chemical reaction to crystallize nanostructures of various topologies and sizes. Particularly, short single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) oligonucleotides (small molecules 8-50 nucleotides) in aqueous solutions, at different pH values, ionic strength, and low temperature (4°C), have templated the formation of metallic nanoparticles (silver, zinc and copper), exhibiting diverse structure dimensions and geometries produced by distinct synthesis process. This DNA-guided crystalization is based on the acid-base ionization of the heterocyclic bases, and the subsequent electrostatic aggregation of counterions around the formed electrically-charged sites in the chain, also affected by the nearest-neighbours base stacking. Accordingly, molecular ions and small polar compounds have been assayed to obtain nanostructures on these ionized short ssDNA, at different pH media, and even bound to substrates such as microcrystalline cellulose and starch. Preliminary results suggest the formation of nanostructures on short DNA homo-oligomers (identical monomer units), either in aqueous solution or attached to polysaccharides, attributable to clear shifts in the corresponding UV absorption spectra of ssDNA, with topologies and size of the nanostructures remaining pending. This alternative method to produce DNA-based nanostructures may have interesting applications in the field of Bionanotechnology, due to to the modularity of the short ssDNA, even coupled to other materials or DNA origamis.
González Olvera obtained both master’s and doctoral degrees in Advanced Technology from the Research Center in Applied Science and Advanced Technology, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Querétaro, Mexico), with a major in Biotechnology. During his doctoral work, Dr. González carried out a stay in the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Brno, Czech Republic, in which the protonation dynamics of short DNA chains was studied by NMR. Additionally, he has experience on spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of biomolecules, such as UV spectrophotometry, HPLC coupled to different detectors (diodes array, mass spectrometer, etc) and NMR. Today working as researcher professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Santa Rosa Jáuregui (Querétaro, Mexico), with research interest on Bionanotechnology, applied spectroscopy, experimental and computational biomolecules physics, reporting corresponding results in related international journals and congress.
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The fraction of α’-Martensite was measured on fracture surfaces of ten commercial austenitic stainless steels of different austenite stability by quantitative X-ray diffraction (XRD). Due to austenitic steels tend to transform partially to α’-Martensite upon straining as under tensile testing. Due to the influence of pressurized hydrogen the partition of α’-Martensite divers from steel to steel, when tensile tested in hydrogen compared to specimen tested in helium atmosphere. The formation of α’-martensite may help to result in hydrogen assisted crack initiation and propagation. For a given steel, α’-martensite contents on fracture surfaces of specimens tested in helium were higher compared to those tested in hydrogen and tensile reduction of area of the specimens tested in hydrogen decreases with increasing martensite content on the fracture surface. The relative reduction of area RRA is presented.
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