CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-P63WKM1TM1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-P63WKM1TM1'); </script>  <script type="text/javascript" > (function(m,e,t,r,i,k,a){m[i]=m[i]||function(){(m[i].a=m[i].a||[]).push(arguments)}; m[i].l=1*new Date(); for (var j = 0; j < document.scripts.length; j++) {if (document.scripts[j].src === r) { return; }} k=e.createElement(t),a=e.getElementsByTagName(t)[0],k.async=1,k.src=r,a.parentNode.insertBefore(k,a)}) (window, document, "script", "https://mc.yandex.ru/metrika/tag.js", "ym"); ym(55165297, "init", { clickmap:false, trackLinks:true, accurateTrackBounce:true, webvisor:false }); </script> <noscript><div><img src="https://mc.yandex.ru/watch/55165297" style="position:absolute; left:-9999px;" alt="" /></div></noscript>    <title>Search results for: skin whitening products</title> <meta name="description" content="Search results for: skin whitening products"> <meta name="keywords" content="skin whitening products"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut icon"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/fontawesome/css/all.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/css/site.css?v=150220211555" rel="stylesheet"> </head> <body> <header> <div class="container"> <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light"> <a class="navbar-brand" href="https://waset.org"> <img src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/images/wasetc.png" alt="Open Science Research Excellence" title="Open Science Research Excellence" /> </a> <button class="d-block d-lg-none navbar-toggler ml-auto" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarMenu" aria-controls="navbarMenu" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation"> <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span> </button> <div class="w-100"> <div class="d-none d-lg-flex flex-row-reverse"> <form method="get" action="https://waset.org/search" class="form-inline my-2 my-lg-0"> <input class="form-control mr-sm-2" type="search" placeholder="Search Conferences" value="skin whitening products" name="q" aria-label="Search"> <button class="btn btn-light my-2 my-sm-0" type="submit"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button> </form> </div> <div class="collapse navbar-collapse mt-1" id="navbarMenu"> <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto align-items-center" id="mainNavMenu"> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/conferences" title="Conferences in 2024/2025/2026">Conferences</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/disciplines" title="Disciplines">Disciplines</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/committees" rel="nofollow">Committees</a> </li> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="navbarDropdownPublications" role="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> Publications </a> <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="navbarDropdownPublications"> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts">Abstracts</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org">Periodicals</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org/archive">Archive</a> </div> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/page/support" title="Support">Support</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> <main> <div class="container mt-4"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-9 mx-auto"> <form method="get" action="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search"> <div id="custom-search-input"> <div class="input-group"> <i class="fas fa-search"></i> <input type="text" class="search-query" name="q" placeholder="Author, Title, Abstract, Keywords" value="skin whitening products"> <input type="submit" class="btn_search" value="Search"> </div> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="row mt-3"> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Commenced</strong> in January 2007</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Frequency:</strong> Monthly</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Edition:</strong> International</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Paper Count:</strong> 5320</div> </div> </div> </div> <h1 class="mt-3 mb-3 text-center" style="font-size:1.6rem;">Search results for: skin whitening products</h1> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">250</span> Design Approach to Incorporate Unique Performance Characteristics of Special Concrete</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Devendra%20Kumar%20Pandey">Devendra Kumar Pandey</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Debabrata%20Chakraborty"> Debabrata Chakraborty</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The advancement in various concrete ingredients like plasticizers, additives and fibers, etc. has enabled concrete technologists to develop many viable varieties of special concretes in recent decades. Such various varieties of concrete have significant enhancement in green as well as hardened properties of concrete. A prudent selection of appropriate type of concrete can resolve many design and application issues in construction projects. This paper focuses on usage of self-compacting concrete, high early strength concrete, structural lightweight concrete, fiber reinforced concrete, high performance concrete and ultra-high strength concrete in the structures. The modified properties of strength at various ages, flowability, porosity, equilibrium density, flexural strength, elasticity, permeability etc. need to be carefully studied and incorporated into the design of the structures. The paper demonstrates various mixture combinations and the concrete properties that can be leveraged. The selection of such products based on the end use of structures has been proposed in order to efficiently utilize the modified characteristics of these concrete varieties. The study involves mapping the characteristics with benefits and savings for the structure from design perspective. Self-compacting concrete in the structure is characterized by high shuttering loads, better finish, and feasibility of closer reinforcement spacing. The structural design procedures can be modified to specify higher formwork strength, height of vertical members, cover reduction and increased ductility. The transverse reinforcement can be spaced at closer intervals compared to regular structural concrete. It allows structural lightweight concrete structures to be designed for reduced dead load, increased insulation properties. Member dimensions and steel requirement can be reduced proportionate to about 25 to 35 percent reduction in the dead load due to self-weight of concrete. Steel fiber reinforced concrete can be used to design grade slabs without primary reinforcement because of 70 to 100 percent higher tensile strength. The design procedures incorporate reduction in thickness and joint spacing. High performance concrete employs increase in the life of the structures by improvement in paste characteristics and durability by incorporating supplementary cementitious materials. Often, these are also designed for slower heat generation in the initial phase of hydration. The structural designer can incorporate the slow development of strength in the design and specify 56 or 90 days strength requirement. For designing high rise building structures, creep and elasticity properties of such concrete also need to be considered. Lastly, certain structures require a performance under loading conditions much earlier than final maturity of concrete. High early strength concrete has been designed to cater to a variety of usages at various ages as early as 8 to 12 hours. Therefore, an understanding of concrete performance specifications for special concrete is a definite door towards a superior structural design approach. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=high%20performance%20concrete" title="high performance concrete">high performance concrete</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=special%20concrete" title=" special concrete"> special concrete</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=structural%20design" title=" structural design"> structural design</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=structural%20lightweight%20concrete" title=" structural lightweight concrete"> structural lightweight concrete</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/81287/design-approach-to-incorporate-unique-performance-characteristics-of-special-concrete" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/81287.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">305</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">249</span> Investigating the Key Success Factors of Supplier Collaboration Governance in the Aerospace Industry</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Maria%20Jose%20Granero%20Paris">Maria Jose Granero Paris</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Ana%20Isabel%20Jimenez%20Zarco"> Ana Isabel Jimenez Zarco</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Agustin%20Pablo%20Alvarez%20Herranz"> Agustin Pablo Alvarez Herranz</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> In the industrial sector collaboration with suppliers is key to the development of innovations in the field of processes. Access to resources and expertise that are not available in the business, obtaining a cost advantage, or the reduction of the time needed to carry out innovation are some of the benefits associated with the process. However, the success of this collaborative process is compromised, when from the beginning not clearly rules have been established that govern the relationship. Abundant studies developed in the field of innovation emphasize the strategic importance of the concept of “Governance”. Despite this, there have been few papers that have analyzed how the governance process of the relationship must be designed and managed to ensure the success of the collaboration process. The lack of literature in this area responds to the wide diversity of contexts where collaborative processes to innovate take place. Thus, in sectors such as the car industry there is a strong collaborative tradition between manufacturers and suppliers being part of the value chain. In this case, it is common to establish mechanisms and procedures that fix formal and clear objectives to regulate the relationship, and establishes the rights and obligations of each of the parties involved. By contrast, in other sectors, collaborative relationships to innovate are not a common way of working, particularly when their aim is the development of process improvements. It is in this case, it is when the lack of mechanisms to establish and regulate the behavior of those involved, can give rise to conflicts, and the failure of the cooperative relationship. Because of this the present paper analyzes the similarities and differences in the processes of governance in collaboration with suppliers in the European aerospace industry With these ideas in mind, we present research is twofold: Understand the importance of governance as a key element of the success of the collaboration in the development of product and process innovations, Establish the mechanisms and procedures to ensure the proper management of the processes of collaboration. Following the methodology of the case study, we analyze the way in which manufacturers and suppliers cooperate in the development of new products and processes in two industries with different levels of technological intensity and collaborative tradition: the automotive and aerospace. The identification of those elements playing a key role to establish a successful governance and relationship management and the compression of the mechanisms of regulation and control in place at the automotive sector can be use to propose solutions to some of the conflicts that currently arise in aerospace industry. The paper concludes by analyzing the strategic implications for the aerospace industry entails the adoption of some of the practices traditionally used in other industrial sectors. Finally, it is important to highlight that in this paper are presented the first results of a research project currently in progress describing a model of governance that explains the way to manage outsourced services to suppliers in the European aerospace industry, through the analysis of companies in the sector located in Germany, France and Spain. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=supplier%20collaboration" title="supplier collaboration">supplier collaboration</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=supplier%20relationship%20governance" title=" supplier relationship governance"> supplier relationship governance</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=innovation%20management" title=" innovation management"> innovation management</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=product%20innovation" title=" product innovation"> product innovation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=process%20innovation" title=" process innovation"> process innovation</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/20973/investigating-the-key-success-factors-of-supplier-collaboration-governance-in-the-aerospace-industry" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/20973.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">459</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">248</span> Motives for Reshoring from China to Europe: A Hierarchical Classification of Companies</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Fabienne%20Fel">Fabienne Fel</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Eric%20Griette"> Eric Griette</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Reshoring, whether concerning back-reshoring or near-reshoring, is a quite recent phenomenon. Despite the economic and political interest of this topic, academic research questioning determinants of reshoring remains rare. Our paper aims at contributing to fill this gap. In order to better understand the reasons for reshoring, we conducted a study among 280 French firms during spring 2016, three-quarters of which sourced, or source, in China. 105 firms in the sample have reshored all or part of their Chinese production or supply in recent years, and we aimed to establish a typology of the motives that drove them to this decision. We asked our respondents about the history of their Chinese supplies, their current reshoring strategies, and their motivations. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 22 and SPAD 8. Our results show that change in commercial and financial terms with China is the first motive explaining the current reshoring movement from this country (it applies to 54% of our respondents). A change in corporate strategy is the second motive (30% of our respondents); the reshoring decision follows a change in companies’ strategies (upgrading, implementation of a CSR policy, or a 'lean management' strategy). The third motive (14% of our sample) is a mere correction of the initial offshoring decision, considered as a mistake (under-estimation of hidden costs, non-quality and non-responsiveness problems). Some authors emphasize that developing a short supply chain, involving geographic proximity between design and production, gives a competitive advantage to companies wishing to offer innovative products. Admittedly 40% of our respondents indicate that this motive could have played a part in their decision to reshore, but this reason was not enough for any of them and is not an intrinsic motive leading to leaving Chinese suppliers. Having questioned our respondents about the importance given to various problems leading them to reshore, we then performed a Principal Components Analysis (PCA), associated with an Ascending Hierarchical Classification (AHC), based on Ward criterion, so as to point out more specific motivations. Three main classes of companies should be distinguished: -The 'Cost Killers' (23% of the sample), which reshore their supplies from China only because of higher procurement costs and so as to find lower costs elsewhere. -The 'Realists' (50% of the sample), giving equal weight or importance to increasing procurement costs in China and to the quality of their supplies (to a large extend). Companies being part of this class tend to take advantage of this changing environment to change their procurement strategy, seeking suppliers offering better quality and responsiveness. - The 'Voluntarists' (26% of the sample), which choose to reshore their Chinese supplies regardless of higher Chinese costs, to obtain better quality and greater responsiveness. We emphasize that if the main driver for reshoring from China is indeed higher local costs, it is should not be regarded as an exclusive motivation; 77% of the companies in the sample, are also seeking, sometimes exclusively, more reactive suppliers, liable to quality, respect for the environment and intellectual property. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=China" title="China">China</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=procurement" title=" procurement"> procurement</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=reshoring" title=" reshoring"> reshoring</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=strategy" title=" strategy"> strategy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=supplies" title=" supplies"> supplies</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/65689/motives-for-reshoring-from-china-to-europe-a-hierarchical-classification-of-companies" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/65689.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">326</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">247</span> Impact of Agricultural Infrastructure on Diffusion of Technology of the Sample Farmers in North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Saikat%20Majumdar">Saikat Majumdar</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=D.%20C.%20Kalita"> D. C. Kalita</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The Agriculture sector plays an important role in the rural economy of India. It is the backbone of our Indian economy and is the dominant sector in terms of employment and livelihood. Agriculture still contributes significantly to export earnings and is an important source of raw materials as well as of demand for many industrial products particularly fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural implements and a variety of consumer goods, etc. The performance of the agricultural sector influences the growth of Indian economy. According to the 2011 Agricultural Census of India, an estimated 61.5 percentage of rural populations are dependent on agriculture. Proper Agricultural infrastructure has the potential to transform the existing traditional agriculture into a most modern, commercial and dynamic farming system in India through its diffusion of technology. The rate of adoption of modern technology reflects the progress of development in agricultural sector. The adoption of any improved agricultural technology is also dependent on the development of road infrastructure or road network. The present study was consisting of 300 sample farmers out which 150 samples was taken from the developed area and rest 150 samples was taken from underdeveloped area. The samples farmers under develop and underdeveloped areas were collected by using Multistage Random Sampling procedure. In the first stage, North 24 Parganas District have been selected purposively. Then from the district, one developed and one underdeveloped block was selected randomly. In the third phase, 10 villages have been selected randomly from each block. Finally, from each village 15 sample farmers was selected randomly. The extents of adoption of technology in different areas were calculated through various parameters. These are percentage area under High Yielding Variety Cereals, percentage area under High Yielding Variety pulses, area under hybrids vegetables, irrigated area, mechanically operated area, amount spent on fertilizer and pesticides, etc. in both developed and underdeveloped areas of North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal. The percentage area under High Yielding Variety Cereals in the developed and underdeveloped areas was 34.86 and 22.59. 42.07 percentages and 31.46 percentages for High Yielding Variety pulses respectively. In the case the area under irrigation it was 57.66 and 35.71 percent while for the mechanically operated area it was 10.60 and 3.13 percent respectively in developed and underdeveloped areas of North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. It clearly showed that the extent of adoption of technology was significantly higher in the developed area over underdeveloped area. Better road network system helps the farmers in increasing his farm income, farm assets, cropping intensity, marketed surplus and the rate of adoption of new technology. With this background, an attempt is made in this paper to study the impact of Agricultural Infrastructure on the adoption of modern technology in agriculture in North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=agricultural%20infrastructure" title="agricultural infrastructure">agricultural infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=adoption%20of%20technology" title=" adoption of technology"> adoption of technology</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=farm%20income" title=" farm income"> farm income</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=road%20network" title=" road network"> road network</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/99028/impact-of-agricultural-infrastructure-on-diffusion-of-technology-of-the-sample-farmers-in-north-24-parganas-district-west-bengal" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/99028.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">101</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">246</span> Arc Plasma Thermochemical Preparation of Coal to Effective Combustion in Thermal Power Plants</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Vladimir%20Messerle">Vladimir Messerle</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Alexandr%20Ustimenko"> Alexandr Ustimenko</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Oleg%20Lavrichshev"> Oleg Lavrichshev</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> This work presents plasma technology for solid fuel ignition and combustion. Plasma activation promotes more effective and environmentally friendly low-rank coal ignition and combustion. To realise this technology at coal fired power plants plasma-fuel systems (PFS) were developed. PFS improve efficiency of power coals combustion and decrease harmful emission. PFS is pulverized coal burner equipped with arc plasma torch. Plasma torch is the main element of the PFS. Plasma forming gas is air. It is blown through the electrodes forming plasma flame. Temperature of this flame is varied from 5000 to 6000 K. Plasma torch power is varied from 100 to 350 kW and geometrical sizes are the following: the height is 0.4-0.5 m and diameter is 0.2-0.25 m. The base of the PFS technology is plasma thermochemical preparation of coal for burning. It consists of heating of the pulverized coal and air mixture by arc plasma up to temperature of coal volatiles release and char carbon partial gasification. In the PFS coal-air mixture is deficient in oxygen and carbon is oxidised mainly to carbon monoxide. As a result, at the PFS exit a highly reactive mixture is formed of combustible gases and partially burned char particles, together with products of combustion, while the temperature of the gaseous mixture is around 1300 K. Further mixing with the air promotes intensive ignition and complete combustion of the prepared fuel. PFS have been tested for boilers start up and pulverized coal flame stabilization in different countries at power boilers of 75 to 950 t/h steam productivity. They were equipped with different types of pulverized coal burners (direct flow, muffle and swirl burners). At PFS testing power coals of all ranks (lignite, bituminous, anthracite and their mixtures) were incinerated. Volatile content of them was from 4 to 50%, ash varied from 15 to 48% and heat of combustion was from 1600 to 6000 kcal/kg. To show the advantages of the plasma technology before conventional technologies of coal combustion numerical investigation of plasma ignition, gasification and thermochemical preparation of a pulverized coal for incineration in an experimental furnace with heat capacity of 3 MW was fulfilled. Two computer-codes were used for the research. The computer simulation experiments were conducted for low-rank bituminous coal of 44% ash content. The boiler operation has been studied at the conventional mode of combustion and with arc plasma activation of coal combustion. The experiments and computer simulation showed ecological efficiency of the plasma technology. When a plasma torch operates in the regime of plasma stabilization of pulverized coal flame, NOX emission is reduced twice and amount of unburned carbon is reduced four times. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Agreement on grant No. 14.613.21.0005, project RFMEFI61314X0005). <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=coal" title="coal">coal</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=ignition" title=" ignition"> ignition</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=plasma-fuel%20system" title=" plasma-fuel system"> plasma-fuel system</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=plasma%20torch" title=" plasma torch"> plasma torch</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=thermal%20power%20plant" title=" thermal power plant"> thermal power plant</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/57021/arc-plasma-thermochemical-preparation-of-coal-to-effective-combustion-in-thermal-power-plants" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/57021.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">278</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">245</span> Methodology to Assess the Circularity of Industrial Processes</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Bruna%20F.%20Oliveira">Bruna F. Oliveira</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Teresa%20I.%20Gon%C3%A7alves"> Teresa I. Gonçalves</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Marcelo%20M.%20Sousa"> Marcelo M. Sousa</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Sandra%20M.%20Pimenta"> Sandra M. Pimenta</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Oct%C3%A1vio%20F.%20Ramalho"> Octávio F. Ramalho</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Jos%C3%A9%20B.%20Cruz"> José B. Cruz</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Fl%C3%A1via%20V.%20Barbosa"> Flávia V. Barbosa</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The EU Circular Economy action plan, launched in 2020, is one of the major initiatives to promote the transition into a more sustainable industry. The circular economy is a popular concept used by many companies nowadays. Some industries are better forwarded to this reality than others, and the tannery industry is a sector that needs more attention due to its strong environmental impact caused by its dimension, intensive resources consumption, lack of recyclability, and second use of its products, as well as the industrial effluents generated by the manufacturing processes. For these reasons, the zero-waste goal and the European objectives are further being achieved. In this context, a need arises to provide an effective methodology that allows to determine the level of circularity of tannery companies. Regarding the complexity of the circular economy concept, few factories have a specialist in sustainability to assess the company’s circularity or have the ability to implement circular strategies that could benefit the manufacturing processes. Although there are several methodologies to assess circularity in specific industrial sectors, there is not an easy go-to methodology applied in factories aiming for cleaner production. Therefore, a straightforward methodology to assess the level of circularity, in this case of a tannery industry, is presented and discussed in this work, allowing any company to measure the impact of its activities. The methodology developed consists in calculating the Overall Circular Index (OCI) by evaluating the circularity of four key areas -energy, material, economy and social- in a specific factory. The index is a value between 0 and 1, where 0 means a linear economy, and 1 is a complete circular economy. Each key area has a sub-index, obtained through key performance indicators (KPIs) regarding each theme, and the OCI reflects the average of the four sub-indexes. Some fieldwork in the appointed company was required in order to obtain all the necessary data. By having separate sub-indexes, one can observe which areas are more linear than others. Thus, it is possible to work on the most critical areas by implementing strategies to increase the OCI. After these strategies are implemented, the OCI is recalculated to check the improvements made and any other changes in the remaining sub-indexes. As such, the methodology in discussion works through continuous improvement, constantly reevaluating and improving the circularity of the factory. The methodology is also flexible enough to be implemented in any industrial sector by adapting the KPIs. This methodology was implemented in a selected Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) tannery industry and proved to be a relevant tool to measure the circularity level of the factory. It was witnessed that it is easier for non-specialists to evaluate circularity and identify possible solutions to increase its value, as well as learn how one action can impact their environment. In the end, energetic and environmental inefficiencies were identified and corrected, increasing the sustainability and circularity of the company. Through this work, important contributions were provided, helping the Portuguese SMEs to achieve the European and UN 2030 sustainable goals. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=circular%20economy" title="circular economy">circular economy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=circularity%20index" title=" circularity index"> circularity index</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=sustainability" title=" sustainability"> sustainability</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=tannery%20industry" title=" tannery industry"> tannery industry</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=zero-waste" title=" zero-waste"> zero-waste</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/173961/methodology-to-assess-the-circularity-of-industrial-processes" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/173961.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">68</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">244</span> Combustion Characteristics and Pollutant Emissions in Gasoline/Ethanol Mixed Fuels</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Shin%20Woo%20Kim">Shin Woo Kim</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Eui%20Ju%20Lee"> Eui Ju Lee</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The recent development of biofuel production technology facilitates the use of bioethanol and biodiesel on automobile. Bioethanol, especially, can be used as a fuel for gasoline vehicles because the addition of ethanol has been known to increase octane number and reduce soot emissions. However, the wide application of biofuel has been still limited because of lack of detailed combustion properties such as auto-ignition temperature and pollutant emissions such as NOx and soot, which has been concerned mainly on the vehicle fire safety and environmental safety. In this study, the combustion characteristics of gasoline/ethanol fuel were investigated both numerically and experimentally. For auto-ignition temperature and NOx emission, the numerical simulation was performed on the well-stirred reactor (WSR) to simulate the homogeneous gasoline engine and to clarify the effect of ethanol addition in the gasoline fuel. Also, the response surface method (RSM) was introduced as a design of experiment (DOE), which enables the various combustion properties to be predicted and optimized systematically with respect to three independent variables, i.e., ethanol mole fraction, equivalence ratio and residence time. The results of stoichiometric gasoline surrogate show that the auto-ignition temperature increases but NOx yields decrease with increasing ethanol mole fraction. This implies that the bioethanol added gasoline is an eco-friendly fuel on engine running condition. However, unburned hydrocarbon is increased dramatically with increasing ethanol content, which results from the incomplete combustion and hence needs to adjust combustion itself rather than an after-treatment system. RSM results analyzed with three independent variables predict the auto-ignition temperature accurately. However, NOx emission had a big difference between the calculated values and the predicted values using conventional RSM because NOx emission varies very steeply and hence the obtained second order polynomial cannot follow the rates. To relax the increasing rate of dependent variable, NOx emission is taken as common logarithms and worked again with RSM. NOx emission predicted through logarithm transformation is in a fairly good agreement with the experimental results. For more tangible understanding of gasoline/ethanol fuel on pollutant emissions, experimental measurements of combustion products were performed in gasoline/ethanol pool fires, which is widely used as a fire source of laboratory scale experiments. Three measurement methods were introduced to clarify the pollutant emissions, i.e., various gas concentrations including NOx, gravimetric soot filter sampling for elements analysis and pyrolysis, thermophoretic soot sampling with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Soot yield by gravimetric sampling was decreased dramatically as ethanol was added, but NOx emission was almost comparable regardless of ethanol mole fraction. The morphology of the soot particle was investigated to address the degree of soot maturing. The incipient soot such as a liquid like PAHs was observed clearly on the soot of higher ethanol containing gasoline, and the soot might be matured under the undiluted gasoline fuel. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=gasoline%2Fethanol%20fuel" title="gasoline/ethanol fuel">gasoline/ethanol fuel</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=NOx" title=" NOx"> NOx</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=pool%20fire" title=" pool fire"> pool fire</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=soot" title=" soot"> soot</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=well-stirred%20reactor%20%28WSR%29" title=" well-stirred reactor (WSR)"> well-stirred reactor (WSR)</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/78182/combustion-characteristics-and-pollutant-emissions-in-gasolineethanol-mixed-fuels" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/78182.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">212</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">243</span> Sensor and Sensor System Design, Selection and Data Fusion Using Non-Deterministic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Matthew%20Yeager">Matthew Yeager</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Christopher%20Willy"> Christopher Willy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=John%20Bischoff"> John Bischoff</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The conceptualization and design phases of a system lifecycle consume a significant amount of the lifecycle budget in the form of direct tasking and capital, as well as the implicit costs associated with unforeseeable design errors that are only realized during downstream phases. Ad hoc or iterative approaches to generating system requirements oftentimes fail to consider the full array of feasible systems or product designs for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: initial conceptualization that oftentimes incorporates a priori or legacy features; the inability to capture, communicate and accommodate stakeholder preferences; inadequate technical designs and/or feasibility studies; and locally-, but not globally-, optimized subsystems and components. These design pitfalls can beget unanticipated developmental or system alterations with added costs, risks and support activities, heightening the risk for suboptimal system performance, premature obsolescence or forgone development. Supported by rapid advances in learning algorithms and hardware technology, sensors and sensor systems have become commonplace in both commercial and industrial products. The evolving array of hardware components (i.e. sensors, CPUs, modular / auxiliary access, etc…) as well as recognition, data fusion and communication protocols have all become increasingly complex and critical for design engineers during both concpetualization and implementation. This work seeks to develop and utilize a non-deterministic approach for sensor system design within the multi-attribute tradespace exploration (MATE) paradigm, a technique that incorporates decision theory into model-based techniques in order to explore complex design environments and discover better system designs. Developed to address the inherent design constraints in complex aerospace systems, MATE techniques enable project engineers to examine all viable system designs, assess attribute utility and system performance, and better align with stakeholder requirements. Whereas such previous work has been focused on aerospace systems and conducted in a deterministic fashion, this study addresses a wider array of system design elements by incorporating both traditional tradespace elements (e.g. hardware components) as well as popular multi-sensor data fusion models and techniques. Furthermore, statistical performance features to this model-based MATE approach will enable non-deterministic techniques for various commercial systems that range in application, complexity and system behavior, demonstrating a significant utility within the realm of formal systems decision-making. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=multi-attribute%20tradespace%20exploration" title="multi-attribute tradespace exploration">multi-attribute tradespace exploration</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=data%20fusion" title=" data fusion"> data fusion</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=sensors" title=" sensors"> sensors</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=systems%20engineering" title=" systems engineering"> systems engineering</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=system%20design" title=" system design"> system design</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/76761/sensor-and-sensor-system-design-selection-and-data-fusion-using-non-deterministic-multi-attribute-tradespace-exploration" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/76761.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">183</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">242</span> Influence of Infrared Radiation on the Growth Rate of Microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Natalia%20Politaeva">Natalia Politaeva</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Iuliia%20Smiatskaia"> Iuliia Smiatskaia</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Iuliia%20Bazarnova"> Iuliia Bazarnova</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Iryna%20Atamaniuk"> Iryna Atamaniuk</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Kerstin%20Kuchta"> Kerstin Kuchta</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Nowadays, the progressive decrease of primary natural resources and ongoing upward trend in terms of energy demand, have resulted in development of new generation technological processes which are focused on step-wise production and residues utilization. Thus, microalgae-based 3<sup>rd</sup> generation bioeconomy is considered one of the most promising approaches that allow production of value-added products and sophisticated utilization of residues biomass. In comparison to conventional biomass, microalgae can be cultivated in wide range of conditions without compromising food and feed production, and thus, addressing issues associated with negative social and environmental impacts. However, one of the most challenging tasks is to undergo seasonal variations and to achieve optimal growing conditions for indoor closed systems that can cover further demand for material and energetic utilization of microalgae. For instance, outdoor cultivation in St. Petersburg (Russia) is only suitable within rather narrow time frame (from mid-May to mid-September). At earlier and later periods, insufficient sunlight and heat for the growth of microalgae were detected. On the other hand, without additional physical effects, the biomass increment in summer is 3-5 times per week, depending on the solar radiation and the ambient temperature. In order to increase biomass production, scientists from all over the world have proposed various technical solutions for cultivators and have been studying the influence of various physical factors affecting biomass growth namely: magnetic field, radiation impact, and electric field, etc. In this paper, the influence of infrared radiation (IR) and fluorescent light on the growth rate of microalgae <em>Chlorella sorokiniana </em>has been studied. The cultivation of <em>Chlorella sorokiniana </em>was carried out in 500 ml cylindrical glass vessels, which were constantly aerated. To accelerate the cultivation process, the mixture was stirred for 15 minutes at 500 rpm following 120 minutes of rest time. At the same time, the metabolic needs in nutrients were provided by the addition of micro- and macro-nutrients in the microalgae growing medium. Lighting was provided by fluorescent lamps with the intensity of 2500 ± 300 lx. The influence of IR was determined using IR lamps with a voltage of 220 V, power of 250 W, in order to achieve the intensity of 13 600 ± 500 lx. The obtained results show that under the influence of fluorescent lamps along with the combined effect of active aeration and variable mixing, the biomass increment on the 2<sup>nd</sup> day was three times, and on the 7<sup>th</sup> day, it was eight-fold. The growth rate of microalgae under the influence of IR radiation was lower and has reached 22.6·10<sup>6</sup> cells·mL<sup>-1</sup>. However, application of IR lamps for the biomass growth allows maintaining the optimal temperature of microalgae suspension at approximately 25-28°C, which might especially be beneficial during the cold season in extreme climate zones. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=biomass" title="biomass">biomass</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=fluorescent%20lamp" title=" fluorescent lamp"> fluorescent lamp</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=infrared%20radiation" title=" infrared radiation"> infrared radiation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=microalgae" title=" microalgae"> microalgae</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/80078/influence-of-infrared-radiation-on-the-growth-rate-of-microalgae-chlorella-sorokiniana" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/80078.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">187</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">241</span> Wood Energy, Trees outside Forests and Agroforestry Wood Harvesting and Conversion Residues Preparing and Storing</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Adeiza%20Matthew">Adeiza Matthew</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Oluwadamilola%20Abubakar"> Oluwadamilola Abubakar</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Wood energy, also known as wood fuel, is a renewable energy source that is derived from woody biomass, which is organic matter that is harvested from forests, woodlands, and other lands. Woody biomass includes trees, branches, twigs, and other woody debris that can be used as fuel. Wood energy can be classified based on its sources, such as trees outside forests, residues from wood harvesting and conversion, and energy plantations. There are several policy frameworks that support the use of wood energy, including participatory forest management and agroforestry. These policies aim to promote the sustainable use of woody biomass as a source of energy while also protecting forests and wildlife habitats. There are several options for using wood as a fuel, including central heating systems, pellet-based systems, wood chip-based systems, log boilers, fireplaces, and stoves. Each of these options has its own benefits and drawbacks, and the most appropriate option will depend on factors such as the availability of woody biomass, the heating needs of the household or facility, and the local climate. In order to use wood as a fuel, it must be harvested and stored properly. Hardwood or softwood can be used as fuel, and the heating value of firewood depends on the species of tree and the degree of moisture content. Proper harvesting and storage of wood can help to minimize environmental impacts and improve wildlife habitats. The use of wood energy has several environmental impacts, including the release of greenhouse gases during combustion and the potential for air pollution from combustion by-products. However, wood energy can also have positive environmental impacts, such as the sequestration of carbon in trees and the reduction of reliance on fossil fuels. The regulation and legislation of wood energy vary by country and region, and there is an ongoing debate about the potential use of wood energy in renewable energy technologies. Wood energy is a renewable energy source that can be used to generate electricity, heat, and transportation fuels. Woody biomass is abundant and widely available, making it a potentially significant source of energy for many countries. The use of wood energy can create local economic and employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas. Wood energy can be used to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Properly managed forests can provide a sustained supply of woody biomass for energy, helping to reduce the risk of deforestation and habitat loss. Wood energy can be produced using a variety of technologies, including direct combustion, co-firing with fossil fuels, and the production of biofuels. The environmental impacts of wood energy can be minimized through the use of best practices in harvesting, transportation, and processing. Wood energy is regulated and legislated at the national and international levels, and there are various standards and certification systems in place to promote sustainable practices. Wood energy has the potential to play a significant role in the transition to a low-carbon economy and the achievement of climate change mitigation goals. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=biomass" title="biomass">biomass</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=timber" title=" timber"> timber</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=charcoal" title=" charcoal"> charcoal</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=firewood" title=" firewood"> firewood</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/161541/wood-energy-trees-outside-forests-and-agroforestry-wood-harvesting-and-conversion-residues-preparing-and-storing" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/161541.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">100</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">240</span> Customer Focus in Digital Economy: Case of Russian Companies</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Maria%20Evnevich">Maria Evnevich</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> In modern conditions, in most markets, price competition is becoming less effective. On the one hand, there is a gradual decrease in the level of marginality in main traditional sectors of the economy, so further price reduction becomes too ‘expensive’ for the company. On the other hand, the effect of price reduction is leveled, and the reason for this phenomenon is likely to be informational. As a result, it turns out that even if the company reduces prices, making its products more accessible to the buyer, there is a high probability that this will not lead to increase in sales unless additional large-scale advertising and information campaigns are conducted. Similarly, a large-scale information and advertising campaign have a much greater effect itself than price reductions. At the same time, the cost of mass informing is growing every year, especially when using the main information channels. The article presents generalization, systematization and development of theoretical approaches and best practices in the field of customer focus approach to business management and in the field of relationship marketing in the modern digital economy. The research methodology is based on the synthesis and content-analysis of sociological and marketing research and on the study of the systems of working with consumer appeals and loyalty programs in the 50 largest client-oriented companies in Russia. Also, the analysis of internal documentation on customers’ purchases in one of the largest retail companies in Russia allowed to identify if buyers prefer to buy goods for complex purchases in one retail store with the best price image for them. The cost of attracting a new client is now quite high and continues to grow, so it becomes more important to keep him and increase the involvement through marketing tools. A huge role is played by modern digital technologies used both in advertising (e-mailing, SEO, contextual advertising, banner advertising, SMM, etc.) and in service. To implement the above-described client-oriented omnichannel service, it is necessary to identify the client and work with personal data provided when filling in the loyalty program application form. The analysis of loyalty programs of 50 companies identified the following types of cards: discount cards, bonus cards, mixed cards, coalition loyalty cards, bank loyalty programs, aviation loyalty programs, hybrid loyalty cards, situational loyalty cards. The use of loyalty cards allows not only to stimulate the customer to purchase ‘untargeted’, but also to provide individualized offers, as well as to produce more targeted information. The development of digital technologies and modern means of communication has significantly changed not only the sphere of marketing and promotion, but also the economic landscape as a whole. Factors of competitiveness are the digital opportunities of companies in the field of customer orientation: personalization of service, customization of advertising offers, optimization of marketing activity and improvement of logistics. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=customer%20focus" title="customer focus">customer focus</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=digital%20economy" title=" digital economy"> digital economy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=loyalty%20program" title=" loyalty program"> loyalty program</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=relationship%20marketing" title=" relationship marketing"> relationship marketing</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/94934/customer-focus-in-digital-economy-case-of-russian-companies" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/94934.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">163</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">239</span> Privacy Paradox and the Internet of Medical Things</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Isabell%20Koinig">Isabell Koinig</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Sandra%20Diehl"> Sandra Diehl</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> In recent years, the health-care context has not been left unaffected by technological developments. In recent years, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)has not only led to a collaboration between disease management and advanced care coordination but also to more personalized health care and patient empowerment. With more than 40 % of all health technology being IoMT-related by 2020, questions regarding privacy become more prevalent, even more so during COVID-19when apps allowing for an intensive tracking of people’s whereabouts and their personal contacts cause privacy advocates to protest and revolt. There is a widespread tendency that even though users may express concerns and fears about their privacy, they behave in a manner that appears to contradict their statements by disclosing personal data. In literature, this phenomenon is discussed as a privacy paradox. While there are some studies investigating the privacy paradox in general, there is only scarce research related to the privacy paradox in the health sector and, to the authors’ knowledge, no empirical study investigating young people’s attitudes toward data security when using wearables and health apps. The empirical study presented in this paper tries to reduce this research gap by focusing on the area of digital and mobile health. It sets out to investigate the degree of importance individuals attribute to protecting their privacy and individual privacy protection strategies. Moreover, the question to which degree individuals between the ages of 20 and 30 years are willing to grant commercial parties access to their private data to use digital health services and apps are put to the test. To answer this research question, results from 6 focus groups with 40 participants will be presented. The focus was put on this age segment that has grown up in a digitally immersed environment. Moreover, it is particularly the young generation who is not only interested in health and fitness but also already uses health-supporting apps or gadgets. Approximately one-third of the study participants were students. Subjects were recruited in August and September 2019 by two trained researchers via email and were offered an incentive for their participation. Overall, results indicate that the young generation is well informed about the growing data collection and is quite critical of it; moreover, they possess knowledge of the potential side effects associated with this data collection. Most respondents indicated to cautiously handle their data and consider privacy as highly relevant, utilizing a number of protective strategies to ensure the confidentiality of their information. Their willingness to share information in exchange for services was only moderately pronounced, particularly in the health context, since health data was seen as valuable and sensitive. The majority of respondents indicated to rather miss out on using digital and mobile health offerings in order to maintain their privacy. While this behavior might be an unintended consequence, it is an important piece of information for app developers and medical providers, who have to find a way to find a user base for their products against the background of rising user privacy concerns. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=digital%20health" title="digital health">digital health</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=privacy" title=" privacy"> privacy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=privacy%20paradox" title=" privacy paradox"> privacy paradox</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=IoMT" title=" IoMT"> IoMT</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/134107/privacy-paradox-and-the-internet-of-medical-things" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/134107.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">136</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">238</span> Synthesis, Computational Studies, Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Bio-Evaluation of 2,5-Disubstituted- 1,3,4-Oxadiazole Derivatives</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Sibghat%20Mansoor%20Rana">Sibghat Mansoor Rana</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Muhammad%20Islam"> Muhammad Islam</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Hamid%20Saeed"> Hamid Saeed</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Hummera%20Rafique"> Hummera Rafique</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Muhammad%20Majid"> Muhammad Majid</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Muhammad%20Tahir%20Aqeel"> Muhammad Tahir Aqeel</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Fariha%20Imtiaz"> Fariha Imtiaz</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Zaman%20Ashraf"> Zaman Ashraf</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives Ox-6a-f have been synthesized by incorporating flur- biprofen moiety with the aim to explore the potential of target molecules to decrease the oxidative stress. The title compounds Ox-6a-f were prepared by simple reactions in which a flurbiprofen –COOH group was esterified with methanol in an acid-catalyzed medium, which was then reacted with hydrazine to afford the corresponding hydrazide. The acid hydrazide was then cyclized into 1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol by reacting with CS2 in the presence of KOH. The title compounds Ox-6a-f were synthesized by the reaction of an –SH group with various alkyl/aryl chlorides, which involves an S-alkylation reaction. The structures of the synthesized Ox-6a-f derivatives were ascer- tained by spectroscopic data. The in silico molecular docking was performed against target proteins cyclooxygenase-2 COX-2 (PDBID 5KIR) and cyclooxygenase-1 COX-1 (PDBID 6Y3C) to determine the binding affinity of the synthesized compounds with these structures. It has been inferred that most of the synthesized compounds bind well with an active binding site of 5KIR compared to 6Y3C, and especially compound Ox-6f showed excellent binding affinity (7.70 kcal/mol) among all synthesized compounds Ox-6a-f. The molecular dynamic (MD) simulation has also been performed to check the stability of docking complexes of ligands with COX-2 by determining their root mean square deviation and root mean square fluctuation. Little fluctuation was observed in case of Ox-6f, which forms the most stable complex with COX-2. The comprehensive antioxidant potential of the synthesized compounds has been evaluated by determining their free radical scavenging activity, including DPPH, OH, nitric oxide (NO), and iron chelation assay. The derivative Ox-6f showed promising results with 80.23% radical scavenging potential at a dose of 100 μg/mL while ascorbic acid exhibited 87.72% inhibition at the same dose. The anti-inflammatory activity of the final products has also been performed, and inflammatory markers were assayed, such as a thiobarbituric acid-reducing substance, nitric oxide, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and COX-2. The derivatives Ox-6d and Ox-6f displayed higher anti-inflammatory activity, exhibiting 70.56% and 74.16% activity, respectively. The results were compared with standard ibuprofen, which showed 84.31% activity at the same dose, 200 μg/mL. The anti-inflammatory potential has been performed by following the carrageen-induced hind paw edema model, and results showed that derivative Ox-6f exhibited 79.83% reduction in edema volume compared to standard ibuprofen, which reduced 84.31% edema volume. As dry lab and wet lab results confirm each other, it has been deduced that derivative Ox-6f may serve as the lead structure to design potent compounds to address oxidative stress. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=synthetic%20chemistry" title="synthetic chemistry">synthetic chemistry</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=pharmaceutical%20chemistry" title=" pharmaceutical chemistry"> pharmaceutical chemistry</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=oxadiazole%20derivatives" title=" oxadiazole derivatives"> oxadiazole derivatives</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=anti-inflammatory" title=" anti-inflammatory"> anti-inflammatory</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=anti-cancer%20compounds" title=" anti-cancer compounds"> anti-cancer compounds</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/193708/synthesis-computational-studies-antioxidant-and-anti-inflammatory-bio-evaluation-of-25-disubstituted-134-oxadiazole-derivatives" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/193708.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">15</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">237</span> Effects of Culture Conditions on the Adhesion of Yeast Candida spp. and Pichia spp. to Stainless Steel with Different Polishing and Their Control</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Ru%C5%BEica%20Tomi%C4%8Di%C4%87">Ružica Tomičić</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Zorica%20Tomi%C4%8Di%C4%87"> Zorica Tomičić</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Peter%20Raspor"> Peter Raspor</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> An abundant growth of unwanted yeasts in food processing plants can lead to problems in quality and safety with significant financial losses. Candida and Pichia are the genera mainly involved in spoilage of products in the food and beverage industry. These contaminating microorganisms can form biofilms on food contact surfaces, being difficult to eradicate, increasing the probability of microbial survival and further dissemination during food processing. It is well known that biofilms are more resistant to antimicrobial agents compared to planktonic cells and this makes them difficult to eliminate. Among the strategies used to overcome resistance to antifungal drugs and preservatives, the use of natural substances such as plant extracts has shown particular promise, and many natural substances have been found to exhibit antifungal properties. This study aimed to investigated the impact of growth medium (Malt Extract broth (MEB) or Yeast Peptone Dextrose (YPD) broth) and temperatures (7°C, 37°C, 43°C for Candida strains and 7°C, 27°C, 32°C for Pichia strains) on the adhesion of Candida spp. and Pichia spp. to stainless steel (AISI 304) discs with different degrees of surface roughness (Ra = 25.20 – 961.9 nm), a material commonly used in the food industry. We also evaluated the antifungal and antiadhesion activity of plant extracts such as Humulus lupulus, Alpinia katsumadai and Evodia rutaecarpa against C. albicans, C glabrata and P. membranifaciens and investigated whether these plant extracts can interfere with biofilm formation. The adhesion was assessed by the crystal violet staining method, while the broth microdilution method CLSI M27-A3 was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of plant extracts. Our results indicated that the nutrient content of the medium significantly influenced the amount of adhered cells of the tested yeasts. The growth medium which resulted in a higher adhesion of C. albicans and C. glabrata was MEB, while for C. parapsilosis and C. krusei was YPD. In the case of P. pijperi and P. membranifaciens, YPD broth was more effective in promoting adhesion than MEB. Regarding the effect of temperature, C. albicans strain adhered to stainless steel surfaces in significantly higher level at a temperature of 43°C, while on the other hand C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei showed a different behavior with significantly higher adhesion at 37°C than at 7°C and 43°C. Further, the adherence ability of Pichia strains was highest at 27°C. Based on the MIC values, all plant extracts exerted significant antifungal effects with MIC values ranged from 100 to 400 μg/mL. It was observed that biofilm of C. glabrata were more resistance to plant extracts as compared to C. albicans. However, extracts of A. katsumadai and E. rutaecarpa promoted the growth and development of the preformed biofilm of P. membranifaciens. Thus, the knowledge of how these microorganisms adhere and which factors affect this phenomenon is of great importance in order to avoid their colonization on food contact surfaces. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=adhesion" title="adhesion">adhesion</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Candida%20spp." title=" Candida spp."> Candida spp.</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Pichia%20spp." title=" Pichia spp."> Pichia spp.</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=plant%20extracts" title=" plant extracts"> plant extracts</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/171715/effects-of-culture-conditions-on-the-adhesion-of-yeast-candida-spp-and-pichia-spp-to-stainless-steel-with-different-polishing-and-their-control" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/171715.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">194</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">236</span> Corporate In-Kind Donations and Economic Efficiency: The Case of Surplus Food Recovery and Donation</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Sedef%20Sert">Sedef Sert</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Paola%20Garrone"> Paola Garrone</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Marco%20Melacini"> Marco Melacini</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Alessandro%20Perego"> Alessandro Perego</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> This paper is aimed at enhancing our current understanding of motivations behind corporate in-kind donations and to find out whether economic efficiency may be a major driver. Our empirical setting is consisted of surplus food recovery and donation by companies from food supply chain. This choice of empirical setting is motivated by growing attention on the paradox of food insecurity and food waste i.e. a total of 842 million people worldwide were estimated to be suffering from regularly not getting enough food, while approximately 1.3 billion tons per year food is wasted globally. Recently, many authors have started considering surplus food donation to nonprofit organizations as a way to cope with social issue of food insecurity and environmental issue of food waste. In corporate philanthropy literature the motivations behind the corporate donations for social purposes, such as altruistic motivations, enhancements to employee morale, the organization’s image, supplier/customer relationships, local community support, have been examined. However, the relationship with economic efficiency is not studied and in many cases the pure economic efficiency as a decision making factor is neglected. Although in literature there are some studies give us the clue on economic value creation of surplus food donation such as saving landfill fees or getting tax deductions, so far there is no study focusing deeply on this phenomenon. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework which explores the economic barriers and drivers towards alternative surplus food management options i.e. discounts, secondary markets, feeding animals, composting, energy recovery, disposal. The case study methodology is used to conduct the research. Protocols for semi structured interviews are prepared based on an extensive literature review and adapted after expert opinions. The interviews are conducted mostly with the supply chain and logistics managers of 20 companies in food sector operating in Italy, in particular in Lombardy region. The results shows that in current situation, the food manufacturing companies can experience cost saving by recovering and donating the surplus food with respect to other methods especially considering the disposal option. On the other hand, retail and food service sectors are not economically incentivized to recover and donate surplus food to disfavored population. The paper shows that not only strategic and moral motivations, but also economic motivations play an important role in managerial decision making process in surplus food management. We also believe that our research while rooted in the surplus food management topic delivers some interesting implications to more general research on corporate in-kind donations. It also shows that there is a huge room for policy making favoring the recovery and donation of surplus products. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=corporate%20philanthropy" title="corporate philanthropy">corporate philanthropy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=donation" title=" donation"> donation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=recovery" title=" recovery"> recovery</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=surplus%20food" title=" surplus food"> surplus food</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/26212/corporate-in-kind-donations-and-economic-efficiency-the-case-of-surplus-food-recovery-and-donation" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/26212.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">312</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">235</span> The Duty of Sea Carrier to Transship the Cargo in Case of Vessel Breakdown</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Mojtaba%20Eshraghi%20Arani">Mojtaba Eshraghi Arani</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Concluding the contract for carriage of cargo with the shipper (through bill of lading or charterparty), the carrier must transport the cargo from loading port to the port of discharge and deliver it to the consignee. Unless otherwise agreed in the contract, the carrier must avoid from any deviation, transfer of cargo to another vessel or unreasonable stoppage of carriage in-transit. However, the vessel might break down in-transit for any reason and becomes unable to continue its voyage to the port of discharge. This is a frequent incident in the carriage of goods by sea which leads to important dispute between the carrier/owner and the shipper/charterer (hereinafter called “cargo interests”). It is a generally accepted rule that in such event, the carrier/owner must repair the vessel after which it will continue its voyage to the destination port. The dispute will arise in the case that temporary repair of the vessel cannot be done in the short or reasonable term. There are two options for the contract parties in such a case: First, the carrier/owner is entitled to repair the vessel while having the cargo onboard or discharged in the port of refugee, and the cargo interests must wait till the breakdown is rectified at any time, whenever. Second, the carrier/owner will be responsible to charter another vessel and transfer the entirety of cargo to the substitute vessel. In fact, the main question revolves around the duty of carrier/owner to perform transfer of cargo to another vessel. Such operation which is called “trans-shipment” or “transhipment” (in terms of the oil industry it is usually called “ship-to-ship” or “STS”) needs to be done carefully and with due diligence. In fact, the transshipment operation for various cargoes might be different as each cargo requires its own suitable equipment for transfer to another vessel, so this operation is often costly. Moreover, there is a considerable risk of collision between two vessels in particular in bulk carriers. Bulk cargo is also exposed to the shortage and partial loss in the process of transshipment especially during bad weather. Concerning tankers which carry oil and petrochemical products, transshipment, is most probably followed by sea pollution. On the grounds of the above consequences, the owners are afraid of being held responsible for such operation and are reluctant to perform in the relevant disputes. The main argument raised by them is that no regulation has recognized such duty upon their shoulders so any such operation must be done under the auspices of the cargo interests and all costs must be reimbursed by themselves. Unfortunately, not only the international conventions including Hague rules, Hague-Visby Rules, Hamburg rules and Rotterdam rules but also most domestic laws are silent in this regard. The doctrine has yet to analyse the issue and no legal researches was found out in this regard. A qualitative method with the concept of interpretation of data collection has been used in this paper. The source of the data is the analysis of regulations and cases. It is argued in this article that the paramount rule in the maritime law is “the accomplishment of the voyage” by the carrier/owner in view of which, if the voyage can only be finished by transshipment, then the carrier/owner will be responsible to carry out this operation. The duty of carrier/owner to apply “due diligence” will strengthen this reasoning. Any and all costs and expenses will also be on the account pf the owner/carrier, unless the incident is attributable to any cause arising from the cargo interests’ negligence. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=cargo" title="cargo">cargo</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=STS" title=" STS"> STS</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=transshipment" title=" transshipment"> transshipment</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=vessel" title=" vessel"> vessel</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=voyage" title=" voyage"> voyage</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/156741/the-duty-of-sea-carrier-to-transship-the-cargo-in-case-of-vessel-breakdown" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/156741.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">119</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">234</span> Comparative Investigation of Two Non-Contact Prototype Designs Based on a Squeeze-Film Levitation Approach</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=A.%20Almurshedi">A. Almurshedi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=M.%20Atherton"> M. Atherton</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=C.%20Mares"> C. Mares</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=T.%20Stolarski"> T. Stolarski</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=M.%20Miyatake"> M. Miyatake</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Transportation and handling of delicate and lightweight objects is currently a significant issue in some industries. Two common contactless movement prototype designs, ultrasonic transducer design and vibrating plate design, are compared. Both designs are based on the method of squeeze-film levitation, and this study aims to identify the limitations, and challenges of each. The designs are evaluated in terms of levitation capabilities, and characteristics. To this end, theoretical and experimental explorations are made. It is demonstrated that the ultrasonic transducer prototype design is better suited to the terms of levitation capabilities. However, the design has some operating and mechanical designing difficulties. For making accurate industrial products in micro-fabrication and nanotechnology contexts, such as semiconductor silicon wafers, micro-components and integrated circuits, non-contact oil-free, ultra-precision and low wear transport along the production line is crucial for enabling. One of the designs (design A) is called the ultrasonic chuck, for which an ultrasonic transducer (Langevin, FBI 28452 HS) comprises the main part. Whereas the other (design B), is a vibrating plate design, which consists of a plain rectangular plate made of Aluminium firmly fastened at both ends. The size of the rectangular plate is 200x100x2 mm. In addition, four rounded piezoelectric actuators of size 28 mm diameter with 0.5 mm thickness are glued to the underside of the plate. The vibrating plate is clamped at both ends in the horizontal plane through a steel supporting structure. In addition, the dynamic of levitation using the designs (A and B) has been investigated based on the squeeze film levitation (SFL). The input apparatus that is used with designs consist of a sine wave signal generator connected to an amplifier type ENP-1-1U (Echo Electronics). The latter has to be utilised to magnify the sine wave voltage that is produced by the signal generator. The measurements of the maximum levitation for three different semiconductor wafers of weights 52, 70 and 88 [g] for design A are 240, 205 and 187 [um], respectively. Whereas the physical results show that the average separation distance for a disk of 5 [g] weight for design B reaches 70 [um]. By using the methodology of squeeze film levitation, it is possible to hold an object in a non-contact manner. The analyses of the investigation outcomes signify that the non-contact levitation of design A provides more improvement than design B. However, design A is more complicated than design B in terms of its manufacturing. In order to identify an adequate non-contact SFL design, a comparison between two common such designs has been adopted for the current investigation. Specifically, the study will involve making comparisons in terms of the following issues: floating component geometries and material type constraints; final created pressure distributions; dangerous interactions with the surrounding space; working environment constraints; and complication and compactness of the mechanical design. Considering all these matters is essential for proficiently distinguish the better SFL design. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=ANSYS" title="ANSYS">ANSYS</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=floating" title=" floating"> floating</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=piezoelectric" title=" piezoelectric"> piezoelectric</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=squeeze-film" title=" squeeze-film"> squeeze-film</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/87311/comparative-investigation-of-two-non-contact-prototype-designs-based-on-a-squeeze-film-levitation-approach" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/87311.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">149</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">233</span> Literacy Practices in Immigrant Detention Centers: A Conceptual Exploration of Access, Resistance, and Connection</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Mikel%20W.%20Cole">Mikel W. Cole</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Stephanie%20M.%20Madison"> Stephanie M. Madison</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Adam%20Henze"> Adam Henze</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Since 2004, the U.S. immigrant detention system has imprisoned more than five million people. President John F. Kennedy famously dubbed this country a “Nation of Immigrants.” Like many of the nation’s imagined ideals, the historical record finds its practices have never lived up to the tenets championed as defining qualities.The United Nations High Commission on Refugees argues the educational needs of people in carceral spaces, especially those in immigrant detention centers, are urgent and supported by human rights guarantees. However, there is a genuine dearth of literacy research in immigrant detention centers, compounded by a general lack of access to these spaces. Denying access to literacy education in detention centers is one way the history of xenophobic immigration policy persists. In this conceptual exploration, first-hand accounts from detained individuals, their families, and the organizations that work with them have been shared with the authors. In this paper, the authors draw on experiences, reflections, and observations from serving as volunteers to develop a conceptual framework for the ways in which literacy practices are enacted in detention centers. Literacy is an essential tool for accessing those detained in immigrant detention centers and a critical tool for those being detained to access legal and other services. One of the most striking things about the detention center is how to behave; gaining access for a visit is neither intuitive nor straightforward. The men experiencing detention are also at a disadvantage. The lack of access to their own documents is a profound barrier to men navigating the complex immigration process. Literacy is much more than a skill for gathering knowledge or accessing carceral spaces; literacy is fundamentally a source of personal empowerment. Frequently men find a way to reclaim their sense of dignity through work on their own terms by exchanging their literacy services for products or credits at the commissary. They write cards and letters for fellow detainees, read mail, and manage the exchange of information between the men and their families. In return, the men who have jobs trade items from the commissary or transfer money to the accounts of the men doing the reading, writing, and drawing. Literacy serves as a form of resistance by providing an outlet for productive work. At its core, literacy is the exchange of ideas between an author and a reader and is a primary source of human connection for individuals in carceral spaces. Father’s Day and Christmas are particularly difficult at detention centers. Men weep when speaking about their children and the overwhelming hopelessness they feel by being separated from them. Yet card-writing campaigns have provided these men with words of encouragement as thousands of hand-written cards make their way to the detention center. There are undoubtedly more literacies being practiced in the immigrant detention center where we work and at other detention centers across the country, and these categories are early conceptions with which we are still wrestling. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=detention%20centers" title="detention centers">detention centers</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=education" title=" education"> education</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=immigration" title=" immigration"> immigration</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=literacy" title=" literacy"> literacy</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/153163/literacy-practices-in-immigrant-detention-centers-a-conceptual-exploration-of-access-resistance-and-connection" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/153163.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">128</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">232</span> Network Impact of a Social Innovation Initiative in Rural Areas of Southern Italy</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=A.%20M.%20Andriano">A. M. Andriano</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=M.%20Lombardi"> M. Lombardi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=A.%20Lopolito"> A. Lopolito</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=M.%20Prosperi"> M. Prosperi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=A.%20Stasi"> A. Stasi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=E.%20Iannuzzi"> E. Iannuzzi</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> In according to the scientific debate on the definition of Social Innovation (SI), the present paper identifies SI as new ideas (products, services, and models) that simultaneously meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. This concept offers important tools to unravel the difficult condition for the agricultural sector in marginalized areas, characterized by the abandonment of activities, low level of farmer education, and low generational renewal, hampering new territorial strategies addressed at and integrated and sustainable development. Models of SI in agriculture, starting from bottom up approach or from the community, are considered to represent the driving force of an ecological and digital revolution. A system based on SI may be able to grasp and satisfy individual and social needs and to promote new forms of entrepreneurship. In this context, Vazapp ('Go Hoeing') is an emerging SI model in southern Italy that promotes solutions for satisfying needs of farmers and facilitates their relationships (creation of network). The Vazapp’s initiative, considered in this study, is the Contadinners ('Farmer’s dinners'), a dinner held at farmer’s house where stakeholders living in the surrounding area know each other and are able to build a network for possible future professional collaborations. The aim of the paper is to identify the evolution of farmers’ relationships, both quantitatively and qualitatively, because of the Contadinner’s initiative organized by Vazapp. To this end, the study adopts the Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology by using UCINET (Version 6.667) software to analyze the relational structure. Data collection was realized through a questionnaire distributed to 387 participants in the twenty 'Contadinners', held from February 2016 to June 2018. The response rate to the survey was about 50% of farmers. The elaboration data was focused on different aspects, such as: a) the measurement of relational reciprocity among the farmers using the symmetrize method of answers; b) the measurement of the answer reliability using the dichotomize method; c) the description of evolution of social capital using the cohesion method; d) the clustering of the Contadinners' participants in followers and not-followers of Vazapp to evaluate its impact on the local social capital. The results concern the effectiveness of this initiative in generating trustworthy relationships within the rural area of southern Italy, typically affected by individualism and mistrust. The number of relationships represents the quantitative indicator to define the dimension of the network development; while the typologies of relationships (from simple friendship to formal collaborations, for branding new cooperation initiatives) represents the qualitative indicator that offers a diversified perspective of the network impact. From the analysis carried out, Vazapp’s initiative represents surely a virtuous SI model to catalyze the relationships within the rural areas and to develop entrepreneurship based on the real needs of the community. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=" title=""></a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/106180/network-impact-of-a-social-innovation-initiative-in-rural-areas-of-southern-italy" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/106180.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">111</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">231</span> Local Procurement in Ghana's Hotel Industry: A Study of the Driving Forces, Perceptions and Procurement Patterns</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Adu-Ampomah%20Yaw%20Junior">Adu-Ampomah Yaw Junior</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Local procurement has become one of the latest trends in the discourse of sustainable tourism due to the economic benefits it generates for tourist destinations in developing countries. Local procurement helps in creating jobs which consequently helps in alleviating poverty. However, there have been limited studies on local procurement patterns in developing countries. Research on hotel procurement practices has mainly emphasized the challenges that hoteliers face when procuring locally, leaving questions regarding their motivations to engage in local procurement unanswered. The institutional theory provides a suitable framework to better understand these motivations as it underlines the importance of individual cognitive perceptions on issues in shaping organizational response strategies. More specifically, the extent to which an issue is perceived to belong to the organization’s responsibility. Also the organizational actors’ belief of losses or gains resultant from acting or not acting on an issue (degree of importance). Furthermore the organizational actors’ belief of the probability of resolving an issue (degree of feasibility). These factors influence how an organization will act on this issue. Hence, this paper adopts an institutional perspective to examine local procurement patterns of food by hoteliers in Ghana. Qualitative interviews with 20 procurement managers about their procurement practices and motivations, as well as interviews with different stakeholders for data triangulation purposes, indicated that most hotels sourced their food from middlemen who imported most of their products. However, direct importation was more prevalent foreign owned hotels as opposed to locally owned ones. Notwithstanding, the importation and the usage of foreign foods as opposed to local ones can be explained by the lack of pressure from NGOs and trade associations on hotels to act responsibly. Though guests’ menu preferences were perceived as important to hoteliers business operations, western tourists demand foreign food primarily with the foreign owned hotels make it less important to procure local produce. Lastly hoteliers, particularly those in foreign owned ones, perceive local procurement to be less feasible, raising concerns about quality and variety of local produce. The paper outlines strategies to improve the perception and degree of local Firstly, there is the need for stakeholder engagement in order to make hoteliers feel responsible for acting on the issue.Again it is crucial for Ghana government to promote and encourage hotels to buy local produce. Also, the government has to also make funds and storage facilities available for farmers to impact on the quality and quantity of local produce. Moreover, Sites need to be secured for farmers to engage in sustained farming.Furthermore, there is the need for collaborations between various stakeholders to organize training programs for farmers. Notwithstanding hotels need to market local produce to their guests. Finally, the Ghana hotels association has to encourage hotels to indulge in local procurement. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=sustainable%20tourism" title="sustainable tourism">sustainable tourism</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=feasible" title=" feasible"> feasible</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=important" title=" important"> important</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=local%20procurement" title=" local procurement"> local procurement</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/53834/local-procurement-in-ghanas-hotel-industry-a-study-of-the-driving-forces-perceptions-and-procurement-patterns" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/53834.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">196</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">230</span> Using Human-Centred Service Design and Partnerships as a Model to Promote Cross-Sector Social Responsibility in Disaster Resilience: An Australian Case Study</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Keith%20Diamond">Keith Diamond</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Tracy%20Collier"> Tracy Collier</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Ciara%20Sterling"> Ciara Sterling</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Ben%20Kraal"> Ben Kraal</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The increased frequency and intensity of disaster events in the Asia-Pacific region is likely to require organisations to better understand how their initiatives, and the support they provide to their customers, intersect with other organisations aiming to support communities in achieving disaster resilience. While there is a growing awareness that disaster response and recovery rebuild programmes need to adapt to more integrated, community-led approaches, there is often a discrepancy between how programmes intend to work and how they are collectively experienced in the community, creating undesired effects on community resilience. Following Australia’s North Queensland Monsoon Disaster of 2019, this research set out to understand and evaluate how the service and support ecosystem impacted on the local community’s experience and influenced their ability to respond and recover. The purpose of this initiative was to identify actionable, cross-sector, people-centered improvements that support communities to recover and thrive when faced with disaster. The challenge arose as a group of organisations, including utility providers, banks, insurers, and community organisations, acknowledged that improving their own services would have limited impact on community wellbeing unless the other services people need are also improved and aligned. The research applied human-centred service design methods, typically applied to single products or services, to design a new way to understand a whole-of-community journey. Phase 1 of the research conducted deep contextual interviews with residents and small business owners impacted by the North Queensland Monsoon and qualitative data was analysed to produce community journey maps that detailed how individuals navigated essential services, such as accommodation, finance, health, and community. Phase 2 conducted interviews and focus groups with frontline workers who represented industries that provided essential services to assist the community. Data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the research was analysed and combined to generate a systems map that visualised the positive and negative impacts that occurred across the disaster response and recovery service ecosystem. Insights gained from the research has catalysed collective action to address future Australian disaster events. The case study outlines a transformative way for sectors and industries to rethink their corporate social responsibility activities towards a cross-sector partnership model that shares responsibility and approaches disaster response and recovery as a single service that can be designed to meet the needs of communities. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=corporate%20social%20responsibility" title="corporate social responsibility">corporate social responsibility</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=cross%20sector%20partnerships" title=" cross sector partnerships"> cross sector partnerships</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=disaster%20resilience" title=" disaster resilience"> disaster resilience</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=human-centred%20design" title=" human-centred design"> human-centred design</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=service%20design" title=" service design"> service design</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=systems%20change" title=" systems change"> systems change</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/144648/using-human-centred-service-design-and-partnerships-as-a-model-to-promote-cross-sector-social-responsibility-in-disaster-resilience-an-australian-case-study" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/144648.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">154</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">229</span> Treatment with Triton-X 100: An Enhancement Approach for Cardboard Bioprocessing</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Ahlam%20Said%20Al%20Azkawi">Ahlam Said Al Azkawi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Nallusamy%20Sivakumar"> Nallusamy Sivakumar</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Saif%20Nasser%20Al%20Bahri"> Saif Nasser Al Bahri</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Diverse approaches and pathways are under development with the determination to develop cellulosic biofuels and other bio-products eventually at commercial scale in “bio-refineries”; however, the key challenge is mainly the high level of complexity in processing the feedstock which is complicated and energy consuming. To overcome the complications in utilizing the naturally occurring lignocellulose biomass, using waste paper as a feedstock for bio-production may solve the problem. Besides being abundant and cheap, bioprocessing of waste paper has evolved in response to the public concern from rising landfill cost from shrinking landfill capacity. Cardboard (CB) is one of the major components of municipal solid waste and one of the most important items to recycle. Although 50-70% of cardboard constitute is known to be cellulose and hemicellulose, the presence of lignin around them cause hydrophobic cross-link which physically obstructs the hydrolysis by rendering it resistant to enzymatic cleavage. Therefore, pretreatment is required to disrupt this resistance and to enhance the exposure of the targeted carbohydrates to the hydrolytic enzymes. Several pretreatment approaches have been explored, and the best ones would be those can influence cellulose conversion rates and hydrolytic enzyme performance with minimal or less cost and downstream processes. One of the promising strategies in this field is the application of surfactants, especially non-ionic surfactants. In this study, triton-X 100 was used as surfactants to treat cardboard prior enzymatic hydrolysis and compare it with acid treatment using 0.1% H2SO4. The effect of the surfactant enhancement was evaluated through its effect on hydrolysis rate in respect to time in addition to evaluating the structural changes and modification by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and through compositional analysis. Further work was performed to produce ethanol from CB treated with triton-X 100 via separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). The hydrolysis studies have demonstrated enhancement in saccharification by 35%. After 72 h of hydrolysis, a saccharification rate of 98% was achieved from CB enhanced with triton-X 100, while only 89 of saccharification achieved from acid pre-treated CB. At 120 h, the saccharification % exceeded 100 as reducing sugars continued to increase with time. This enhancement was not supported by any significant changes in the cardboard content as the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content remained same after treatment, but obvious structural changes were observed through SEM images. The cellulose fibers were clearly exposed with very less debris and deposits compared to cardboard without triton-X 100. The XRD pattern has also revealed the ability of the surfactant in removing calcium carbonate, a filler found in waste paper known to have negative effect on enzymatic hydrolysis. The cellulose crystallinity without surfactant was 73.18% and reduced to 66.68% rendering it more amorphous and susceptible to enzymatic attack. Triton-X 100 has proved to effectively enhance CB hydrolysis and eventually had positive effect on the ethanol yield via SSF. Treating cardboard with only triton-X 100 was a sufficient treatment to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol production. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=cardboard" title="cardboard">cardboard</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=enhancement" title=" enhancement"> enhancement</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=ethanol" title=" ethanol"> ethanol</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=hydrolysis" title=" hydrolysis"> hydrolysis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=treatment" title=" treatment"> treatment</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Triton-X%20100" title=" Triton-X 100"> Triton-X 100</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/123553/treatment-with-triton-x-100-an-enhancement-approach-for-cardboard-bioprocessing" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/123553.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">152</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">228</span> Unifying RSV Evolutionary Dynamics and Epidemiology Through Phylodynamic Analyses</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Lydia%20Tan">Lydia Tan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Philippe%20Lemey"> Philippe Lemey</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Lieselot%20Houspie"> Lieselot Houspie</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Marco%20Viveen"> Marco Viveen</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Darren%20Martin"> Darren Martin</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Frank%20Coenjaerts"> Frank Coenjaerts</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Introduction: Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is the leading cause of severe respiratory tract infections in infants under the age of two. Genomic substitutions and related evolutionary dynamics of hRSV are of great influence on virus transmission behavior. The evolutionary patterns formed are due to a precarious interplay between the host immune response and RSV, thereby selecting the most viable and less immunogenic strains. Studying genomic profiles can teach us which genes and consequent proteins play an important role in RSV survival and transmission dynamics. Study design: In this study, genetic diversity and evolutionary rate analysis were conducted on 36 RSV subgroup B whole genome sequences and 37 subgroup A genome sequences. Clinical RSV isolates were obtained from nasopharyngeal aspirates and swabs of children between 2 weeks and 5 years old of age. These strains, collected during epidemic seasons from 2001 to 2011 in the Netherlands and Belgium by either conventional or 454-sequencing. Sequences were analyzed for genetic diversity, recombination events, synonymous/non-synonymous substitution ratios, epistasis, and translational consequences of mutations were mapped to known 3D protein structures. We used Bayesian statistical inference to estimate the rate of RSV genome evolution and the rate of variability across the genome. Results: The A and B profiles were described in detail and compared to each other. Overall, the majority of the whole RSV genome is highly conserved among all strains. The attachment protein G was the most variable protein and its gene had, similar to the non-coding regions in RSV, more elevated (two-fold) substitution rates than other genes. In addition, the G gene has been identified as the major target for diversifying selection. Overall, less gene and protein variability was found within RSV-B compared to RSV-A and most protein variation between the subgroups was found in the F, G, SH and M2-2 proteins. For the F protein mutations and correlated amino acid changes are largely located in the F2 ligand-binding domain. The small hydrophobic phosphoprotein and nucleoprotein are the most conserved proteins. The evolutionary rates were similar in both subgroups (A: 6.47E-04, B: 7.76E-04 substitution/site/yr), but estimates of the time to the most recent common ancestor were much lower for RSV-B (B: 19, A: 46.8 yrs), indicating that there is more turnover in this subgroup. Conclusion: This study provides a detailed description of whole RSV genome mutations, the effect on translation products and the first estimate of the RSV genome evolution tempo. The immunogenic G protein seems to require high substitution rates in order to select less immunogenic strains and other conserved proteins are most likely essential to preserve RSV viability. The resulting G gene variability makes its protein a less interesting target for RSV intervention methods. The more conserved RSV F protein with less antigenic epitope shedding is, therefore, more suitable for developing therapeutic strategies or vaccines. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=drug%20target%20selection" title="drug target selection">drug target selection</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=epidemiology" title=" epidemiology"> epidemiology</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=respiratory%20syncytial%20virus" title=" respiratory syncytial virus"> respiratory syncytial virus</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=RSV" title=" RSV"> RSV</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/30132/unifying-rsv-evolutionary-dynamics-and-epidemiology-through-phylodynamic-analyses" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/30132.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">413</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">227</span> Is Liking for Sampled Energy-Dense Foods Mediated by Taste Phenotypes?</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Gary%20J.%20Pickering">Gary J. Pickering</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Sarah%20Lucas"> Sarah Lucas</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Catherine%20E.%20Klodnicki"> Catherine E. Klodnicki</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Nicole%20J.%20Gaudette"> Nicole J. Gaudette</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Two taste pheno types that are of interest in the study of habitual diet-related risk factors and disease are 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness and thermal tasting. Individuals differ considerable in how intensely they experience the bitterness of PROP, which is partially explained by three major single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the TAS2R38 gene. Importantly, this variable responsiveness is a useful proxy for general taste responsiveness, and links to diet-related disease risk, including body mass index, in some studies. Thermal tasting - a newly discovered taste phenotype independent of PROP responsiveness - refers to the capacity of many individuals to perceive phantom tastes in response to lingual thermal stimulation, and is linked with TRPM5 channels. Thermal tasters (TTs) also experience oral sensations more intensely than thermal non-tasters (TnTs), and this was shown to associate with differences in self-reported food preferences in a previous survey from our lab. Here we report on two related studies, where we sought to determine whether PROP responsiveness and thermal tasting would associate with perceptual differences in the oral sensations elicited by sampled energy-dense foods, and whether in turn this would influence liking. We hypothesized that hyper-tasters (thermal tasters and individuals who experience PROP intensely) would (a) rate sweet and high-fat foods more intensely than hypo-tasters, and (b) would differ from hypo-tasters in liking scores. (Liking has been proposed recently as a more accurate measure of actual food consumption). In Study 1, a range of energy-dense foods and beverages, including table cream and chocolate, was assessed by 25 TTs and 19 TnTs. Ratings of oral sensation intensity and overall liking were obtained using gVAS and gDOL scales, respectively. TTs and TnTs did not differ significantly in intensity ratings for most stimuli (ANOVA). In a 2nd study, 44 female participants sampled 22 foods and beverages, assessing them for intensity of oral sensations (gVAS) and overall liking (9-point hedonic scale). TTs (n=23) rated their overall liking of creaminess and milk products lower than did TnTs (n=21), and liked milk chocolate less. PROP responsiveness was negatively correlated with liking of food and beverages belonging to the sweet or sensory food grouping. No other differences in intensity or liking scores between hyper- and hypo-tasters were found. Taken overall, our results are somewhat unexpected, lending only modest support to the hypothesis that these taste phenotypes associate with energy-dense food liking and consumption through differences in the oral sensations they elicit. Reasons for this lack of concordance with expectations and some prior literature are discussed, and suggestions for future research are advanced. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=taste%20phenotypes" title="taste phenotypes">taste phenotypes</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=sensory%20evaluation" title=" sensory evaluation"> sensory evaluation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=PROP" title=" PROP"> PROP</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=thermal%20tasting" title=" thermal tasting"> thermal tasting</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=diet-related%20health%20risk" title=" diet-related health risk"> diet-related health risk</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/21089/is-liking-for-sampled-energy-dense-foods-mediated-by-taste-phenotypes" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/21089.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">457</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">226</span> Sugar-Induced Stabilization Effect of Protein Structure </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Mitsuhiro%20Hirai">Mitsuhiro Hirai</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Satoshi%20Ajito"> Satoshi Ajito</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Nobutaka%20Shimizu"> Nobutaka Shimizu</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Noriyuki%20Igarashi"> Noriyuki Igarashi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Hiroki%20Iwase"> Hiroki Iwase</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Shinichi%20Takata"> Shinichi Takata</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Sugars and polyols are known to be bioprotectants preventing such as protein denaturation and enzyme deactivation and widely used as a nontoxic additive in various industrial and medical products. The mechanism of their protective actions has been explained by specific bindings between biological components and additives, changes in solvent viscosities, and surface tension and free energy changes upon transfer of those components into additive solutions. On the other hand, some organisms having tolerances against extreme environment produce stress proteins and/or accumulate sugars in cells, which is called cryptobiosis. In particular, trehalose has been drawing attention relevant to cryptobiosis under external stress such as high or low temperature, drying, osmotic pressure, and so on. The function of cryptobiosis by trehalose has been explained relevant to the restriction of the intra-and/or-inter-molecular movement by vitrification or from the replacement of water molecule by trehalose. Previous results suggest that the structure and interaction between sugar and water are a key determinant for understanding cryptobiosis. Recently, we have shown direct evidence that the protein hydration (solvation) and structural stability against chemical and thermal denaturation significantly depend on sugar species and glycerol. Sugar and glycerol molecules tend to be preferentially or weakly excluded from the protein surface and preserved the native protein hydration shell. Due to the protective action of the protein hydration shell by those molecules, the protein structure is stabilized against chemical (guanidinium chloride) and thermal denaturation. The protective action depends on sugar species. To understand the above trend and difference in detail, it is essentially important to clarify the characteristics of solutions containing those additives. In this study, by using wide-angle X-ray scattering technique covering a wide spatial region (~3-120 Å), we have clarified structures of sugar solutions with the concentration from 5% w/w to 65% w/w. The sugars measured in the present study were monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, mannose) and disaccharides (sucrose, trehalose, maltose). Due to observed scattering data with a wide spatial resolution, we have succeeded in obtaining information on the internal structure of individual sugar molecules and on the correlation between them. Every sugar gradually shortened the average inter-molecular distance as the concentration increased. The inter-molecular interaction between sugar molecules was essentially showed an exclusive tendency for every sugar, which appeared as the presence of a repulsive correlation hole. This trend was more weakly seen for trehalose compared to other sugars. The intermolecular distance and spread of individual molecule clearly showed the dependence of sugar species. We will discuss the relation between the characteristic of sugar solution and its protective action of biological materials. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=hydration" title="hydration">hydration</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=protein" title=" protein"> protein</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=sugar" title=" sugar"> sugar</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=X-ray%20scattering" title=" X-ray scattering"> X-ray scattering</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/107304/sugar-induced-stabilization-effect-of-protein-structure" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/107304.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">156</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">225</span> Methodology for the Determination of Triterpenic Compounds in Apple Extracts</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Mindaugas%20Liaudanskas">Mindaugas Liaudanskas</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Darius%20Kviklys"> Darius Kviklys</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Kristina%20Zymon%C4%97"> Kristina Zymonė</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Raimondas%20Raudonis"> Raimondas Raudonis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Jonas%20Vi%C5%A1kelis"> Jonas Viškelis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Norbertas%20Uselis"> Norbertas Uselis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Pranas%20Vi%C5%A1kelis"> Pranas Viškelis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Valdimaras%20Janulis"> Valdimaras Janulis</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Apples are among the most commonly consumed fruits in the world. Based on data from the year 2014, approximately 84.63 million tons of apples are grown per annum. Apples are widely used in food industry to produce various products and drinks (juice, wine, and cider); they are also used unprocessed. Apples in human diet are an important source of different groups of biological active compounds that can positively contribute to the prevention of various diseases. They are a source of various biologically active substances – especially vitamins, organic acids, micro- and macro-elements, pectins, and phenolic, triterpenic, and other compounds. Triterpenic compounds, which are characterized by versatile biological activity, are the biologically active compounds found in apples that are among the most promising and most significant for human health. A specific analytical procedure including sample preparation and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis was developed, optimized, and validated for the detection of triterpenic compounds in the samples of different apples, their peels, and flesh from widespread apple cultivars 'Aldas', 'Auksis', 'Connel Red', 'Ligol', 'Lodel', and 'Rajka' grown in Lithuanian climatic conditions. The conditions for triterpenic compound extraction were optimized: the solvent of the extraction was 100% (v/v) acetone, and the extraction was performed in an ultrasound bath for 10 min. Isocratic elution (the eluents ratio being 88% (solvent A) and 12% (solvent B)) for a rapid separation of triterpenic compounds was performed. The validation of the methodology was performed on the basis of the ICH recommendations. The following characteristics of validation were evaluated: the selectivity of the method (specificity), precision, the detection and quantitation limits of the analytes, and linearity. The obtained parameters values confirm suitability of methodology to perform analysis of triterpenic compounds. Using the optimised and validated HPLC technique, four triterpenic compounds were separated and identified, and their specificity was confirmed. These compounds were corosolic acid, betulinic acid, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid. Ursolic acid was the dominant compound in all the tested apple samples. The detected amount of betulinic acid was the lowest of all the identified triterpenic compounds. The greatest amounts of triterpenic compounds were detected in whole apple and apple peel samples of the 'Lodel' cultivar, and thus apples and apple extracts of this cultivar are potentially valuable for use in medical practice, for the prevention of various diseases, for adjunct therapy, for the isolation of individual compounds with a specific biological effect, and for the development and production of dietary supplements and functional food enriched in biologically active compounds. Acknowledgements. This work was supported by a grant from the Research Council of Lithuania, project No. MIP-17-8. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=apples" title="apples">apples</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=HPLC" title=" HPLC"> HPLC</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=triterpenic%20compounds" title=" triterpenic compounds"> triterpenic compounds</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=validation" title=" validation"> validation</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/84319/methodology-for-the-determination-of-triterpenic-compounds-in-apple-extracts" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/84319.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">173</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">224</span> Polymer Matrices Based on Natural Compounds: Synthesis and Characterization</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Sonia%20Kudlacik-Kramarczyk">Sonia Kudlacik-Kramarczyk</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Anna%20Drabczyk"> Anna Drabczyk</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Dagmara%20Malina"> Dagmara Malina</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Bozena%20Tyliszczak"> Bozena Tyliszczak</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Agnieszka%20Sobczak-Kupiec"> Agnieszka Sobczak-Kupiec</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Introduction: In the preparation of polymer materials, compounds of natural origin are currently gaining more and more interest. This is particularly noticeable in the case of synthesis of materials considered for biomedical use. Then, selected material has to meet many requirements. It should be characterized by non-toxicity, biodegradability and biocompatibility. Therefore special attention is directed to substances such as polysaccharides, proteins or substances that are the basic building components of proteins, i.e. amino acids. These compounds may be crosslinked with other reagents that leads to the preparation of polymer matrices. Such amino acids as e.g. cysteine or histidine. On the other hand, previously mentioned requirements may be met by polymers obtained as a result of biosynthesis, e.g. polyhydroxybutyrate. This polymer belongs to the group of aliphatic polyesters that is synthesized by microorganisms (selected strain of bacteria) under specific conditions. It is possible to modify matrices based on given polymer with substances of various origin. Such a modification may result in the change of their properties or/and in providing the material with new features desirable in viewpoint of specific application. Described materials are synthesized using UV radiation. Process of photopolymerization is fast, waste-free and enables to obtain final products with favorable properties. Methodology: Polymer matrices have been prepared by means of photopolymerization. First step involved the preparation of solutions of particular reagents and mixing them in the appropriate ratio. Next, crosslinking agent and photoinitiator have been added to the reaction mixture and the whole was poured into the Petri dish and treated with UV radiation. After the synthesis, polymer samples were dried at room temperature and subjected to the numerous analyses aimed at the determining their physicochemical properties. Firstly, sorption properties of obtained polymer matrices have been determined. Next, mechanical properties have been characterized, i.e. tensile strength. The ability to deformation under applied stress of all prepared polymer matrices has been checked. Such a property is important in viewpoint of the application of analyzed materials e.g. as wound dressings. Wound dressings have to be elastic because depending on the location of the wound and its mobility, such a dressing has to adhere properly to the wound. Furthermore, considering the use of the materials for biomedical purposes it is essential to determine its behavior in environments simulating these ones occurring in human body. Therefore incubation studies using selected liquids have also been conducted. Conclusions: As a result of photopolymerization process, polymer matrices based on natural compounds have been prepared. These exhibited favorable mechanical properties and swelling ability. Moreover, biocompatibility in relation to simulated body fluids has been stated. Therefore it can be concluded that analyzed polymer matrices constitute an interesting materials that may be considered for biomedical use and may be subjected to the further more advanced analyses using specific cell lines. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=photopolymerization" title="photopolymerization">photopolymerization</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=polymer%20matrices" title=" polymer matrices"> polymer matrices</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=simulated%20body%20fluids" title=" simulated body fluids"> simulated body fluids</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=swelling%20properties" title=" swelling properties"> swelling properties</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/107390/polymer-matrices-based-on-natural-compounds-synthesis-and-characterization" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/107390.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">128</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">223</span> Cytochrome B Diversity and Phylogeny of Egyptian Sheep Breeds</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Othman%20E.%20Othman">Othman E. Othman</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Agn%C3%A9s%20Germot"> Agnés Germot</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Daniel%20Petit"> Daniel Petit</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Abderrahman%20Maftah"> Abderrahman Maftah</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Threats to the biodiversity are increasing due to the loss of genetic diversity within the species utilized in agriculture. Due to the progressive substitution of the less productive, locally adapted and native breeds by highly productive breeds, the number of threatened breeds is increased. In these conditions, it is more strategically important than ever to preserve as much the farm animal diversity as possible, to ensure a prompt and proper response to the needs of future generations. Mitochondrial (mtDNA) sequencing has been used to explain the origins of many modern domestic livestock species. Studies based on sequencing of sheep mitochondrial DNA showed that there are five maternal lineages in the world for domestic sheep breeds; A, B, C, D and E. Because of the eastern location of Egypt in the Mediterranean basin and the presence of fat-tailed sheep breeds- character quite common in Turkey and Syria- where genotypes that seem quite primitive, the phylogenetic studies of Egyptian sheep breeds become particularly attractive. We aimed in this work to clarify the genetic affinities, biodiversity and phylogeny of five Egyptian sheep breeds using cytochrome B sequencing. Blood samples were collected from 63 animals belonging to the five tested breeds; Barki, Rahmani, Ossimi, Saidi and Sohagi. The total DNA was extracted and the specific primer allowed the conventional PCR amplification of the cytochrome B region of mtDNA (approximately 1272 bp). PCR amplified products were purified and sequenced. The alignment of Sixty-three samples was done using BioEdit software. DnaSP 5.00 software was used to identify the sequence variation and polymorphic sites in the aligned sequences. The result showed that the presence of 34 polymorphic sites leading to the formation of 18 haplotypes. The haplotype diversity in five tested breeds ranged from 0.676 in Rahmani breed to 0.894 in Sohagi breed. The genetic distances (D) and the average number of pairwise differences (Dxy) between breeds were estimated. The lowest distance was observed between Rahmani and Saidi (D: 1.674 and Dxy: 0.00150) while the highest distance was observed between Ossimi and Sohagi (D: 5.233 and Dxy: 0.00475). Neighbour-joining (Phylogeny) tree was constructed using Mega 5.0 software. The sequences of the 63 analyzed samples were aligned with references sequences of different haplogroups. The phylogeny result showed the presence of three haplogroups (HapA, HapB and HapC) in the 63 examined samples. The other two haplogroups described in literature (HapD and HapE) were not found. The result showed that 50 out of 63 tested animals cluster with haplogroup B (79.37%) whereas 7 tested animals cluster with haplogroup A (11.11%) and 6 animals cluster with haplogroup C (9.52%). In conclusion, the phylogenetic reconstructions showed that the majority of Egyptian sheep breeds belonging to haplogroup B which is the dominant haplogroup in Eastern Mediterranean countries like Syria and Turkey. Some individuals are belonging to haplogroups A and C, suggesting that the crosses were done with other breeds for characteristic selection for growth and wool quality. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=cytochrome%20B" title="cytochrome B">cytochrome B</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=diversity" title=" diversity"> diversity</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=phylogheny" title=" phylogheny"> phylogheny</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Egyptian%20sheep%20breeds" title=" Egyptian sheep breeds"> Egyptian sheep breeds</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/45865/cytochrome-b-diversity-and-phylogeny-of-egyptian-sheep-breeds" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/45865.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">374</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">222</span> Effect of Different Contaminants on Mineral Insulating Oil Characteristics</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=H.%20M.%20Wilhelm">H. M. Wilhelm</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=P.%20O.%20Fernandes"> P. O. Fernandes</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=L.%20P.%20Dill"> L. P. Dill</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=C.%20Steffens"> C. Steffens</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=K.%20G.%20Moscon"> K. G. Moscon</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=S.%20M.%20Peres"> S. M. Peres</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=V.%20Bender"> V. Bender</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=T.%20Marchesan"> T. Marchesan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=J.%20B.%20Ferreira%20Neto"> J. B. Ferreira Neto</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Deterioration of insulating oil is a natural process that occurs during transformers operation. However, this process can be accelerated by some factors, such as oxygen, high temperatures, metals and, moisture, which rapidly reduce oil insulating capacity and favor transformer faults. Parts of building materials of a transformer can be degraded and yield soluble compounds and insoluble particles that shorten the equipment life. Physicochemical tests, dissolved gas analysis (including propane, propylene and, butane), volatile and furanic compounds determination, besides quantitative and morphological analyses of particulate are proposed in this study in order to correlate transformers building materials degradation with insulating oil characteristics. The present investigation involves tests of medium temperature overheating simulation by means of an electric resistance wrapped with the following materials immersed in mineral insulating oil: test I) copper, tin, lead and, paper (heated at 350-400 °C for 8 h); test II) only copper (at 250 °C for 11 h); and test III) only paper (at 250 °C for 8 h and at 350 °C for 8 h). A different experiment is the simulation of electric arc involving copper, using an electric welding machine at two distinct energy sets (low and high). Analysis results showed that dielectric loss was higher in the sample of test I, higher neutralization index and higher values of hydrogen and hydrocarbons, including propane and butane, were also observed. Test III oil presented higher particle count, in addition, ferrographic analysis revealed contamination with fibers and carbonized paper. However, these particles had little influence on the oil physicochemical parameters (dielectric loss and neutralization index) and on the gas production, which was very low. Test II oil showed high levels of methane, ethane, and propylene, indicating the effect of metal on oil degradation. CO<sub>2</sub> and CO gases were formed in the highest concentration in test III, as expected. Regarding volatile compounds, in test I acetone, benzene and toluene were detected, which are oil oxidation products. Regarding test III, methanol was identified due to cellulose degradation, as expected. Electric arc simulation test showed the highest oil oxidation in presence of copper and at high temperature, since these samples had huge concentration of hydrogen, ethylene, and acetylene. Particle count was also very high, showing the highest release of copper in such conditions. When comparing high and low energy, the first presented more hydrogen, ethylene, and acetylene. This sample had more similar results to test I, pointing out that the generation of different particles can be the cause for faults such as electric arc. Ferrography showed more evident copper and exfoliation particles than in other samples. Therefore, in this study, by using different combined analytical techniques, it was possible to correlate insulating oil characteristics with possible contaminants, which can lead to transformers failure. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Ferrography" title="Ferrography">Ferrography</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=gas%20analysis" title=" gas analysis"> gas analysis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=insulating%20mineral%20oil" title=" insulating mineral oil"> insulating mineral oil</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=particle%20contamination" title=" particle contamination"> particle contamination</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=transformer%20failures" title=" transformer failures"> transformer failures</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/134514/effect-of-different-contaminants-on-mineral-insulating-oil-characteristics" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/134514.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">225</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card paper-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">221</span> Direct Contact Ultrasound Assisted Drying of Mango Slices</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=E.%20K.%20Mendez">E. K. Mendez</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=N.%20A.%20Salazar"> N. A. Salazar</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=C.%20E.%20Orrego"> C. E. Orrego</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> There is undoubted proof that increasing the intake of fruit lessens the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, and probable evidence that lowers the risk of cancer. Proper fruit drying is an excellent alternative to make their shelf-life longer, commercialization easier, and ready-to-eat healthy products or ingredients. The conventional way of drying is by hot air forced convection. However, this process step often requires a very long residence time; furthermore, it is highly energy consuming and detrimental to the product quality. Nowadays, power ultrasound (US) technic has been considered as an emerging and promising technology for industrial food processing. Most of published works dealing with drying food assisted by US have studied the effect of ultrasonic pre-treatment prior to air-drying on food and the airborne US conditions during dehydration. In this work a new approach was tested taking in to account drying time and two quality parameters of mango slices dehydrated by convection assisted by 20 KHz power US applied directly using a holed plate as product support and sound transmitting surface. During the drying of mango (Mangifera indica L.) slices (ca. 6.5 g, 0.006 m height and 0.040 m diameter), their weight was recorded every hour until final moisture content (10.0±1.0 % wet basis) was reached. After previous tests, optimization of three drying parameters - frequencies (2, 5 and 8 minutes each half-hour), air temperature (50-55-60⁰C) and power (45-70-95W)- was attempted by using a Box–Behnken design under the response surface methodology for the optimal drying time, color parameters and rehydration rate of dried samples. Assays involved 17 experiments, including a quintuplicate of the central point. Dried samples with and without US application were packed in individual high barrier plastic bags under vacuum, and then stored in the dark at 8⁰C until their analysis. All drying assays and sample analysis were performed in triplicate. US drying experimental data were fitted with nine models, among which the Verna model resulted in the best fit with R2 > 0.9999 and reduced χ2 ≤ 0.000001. Significant reductions in drying time were observed for the assays that used lower frequency and high US power. At 55⁰C, 95 watts and 2 min/30 min of sonication, 10% moisture content was reached in 211 min, as compared with 320 min for the same test without the use of US (blank). Rehydration rates (RR), defined as the ratio of rehydrated sample weight to that of dry sample and measured, was also larger than those of blanks and, in general, the higher the US power, the greater the RR. The direct contact and intermittent US treatment of mango slices used in this work improve drying rates and dried fruit rehydration ability. This technique can thus be used to reduce energy processing costs and the greenhouse gas emissions of fruit dehydration. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=ultrasonic%20assisted%20drying" title="ultrasonic assisted drying">ultrasonic assisted drying</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=fruit%20drying" title=" fruit drying"> fruit drying</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=mango%20slices" title=" mango slices"> mango slices</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=contact%20ultrasonic%20drying" title=" contact ultrasonic drying"> contact ultrasonic drying</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/31654/direct-contact-ultrasound-assisted-drying-of-mango-slices" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/31654.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">345</span> </span> </div> </div> <ul class="pagination"> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=169" rel="prev">&lsaquo;</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=1">1</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=2">2</a></li> <li class="page-item disabled"><span class="page-link">...</span></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=167">167</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=168">168</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=169">169</a></li> <li class="page-item active"><span class="page-link">170</span></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=171">171</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=172">172</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=173">173</a></li> <li class="page-item disabled"><span class="page-link">...</span></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=177">177</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=178">178</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=skin%20whitening%20products&page=171" rel="next">&rsaquo;</a></li> </ul> </div> </main> <footer> <div id="infolinks" class="pt-3 pb-2"> <div class="container"> <div style="background-color:#f5f5f5;" class="p-3"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> About <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support#legal-information">Legal</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/WASET-16th-foundational-anniversary.pdf">WASET celebrates its 16th foundational anniversary</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Account <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile">My Account</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Explore <li><a href="https://waset.org/disciplines">Disciplines</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/conferences">Conferences</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/conference-programs">Conference Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/committees">Committees</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org">Publications</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Research <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts">Abstracts</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org">Periodicals</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org/archive">Archive</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Open Science <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Science-Philosophy.pdf">Open Science Philosophy</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Science-Award.pdf">Open Science Award</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Society-Open-Science-and-Open-Innovation.pdf">Open Innovation</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Postdoctoral-Fellowship-Award.pdf">Postdoctoral Fellowship Award</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Scholarly-Research-Review.pdf">Scholarly Research Review</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Support <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">Support</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile/messages/create">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile/messages/create">Report Abuse</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container text-center"> <hr style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:.3rem;"> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" class="text-muted small">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a> <div id="copy" class="mt-2">© 2024 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology</div> </div> </footer> <a href="javascript:" id="return-to-top"><i class="fas fa-arrow-up"></i></a> <div class="modal" id="modal-template"> <div class="modal-dialog"> <div class="modal-content"> <div class="row m-0 mt-1"> <div class="col-md-12"> <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close"><span aria-hidden="true">×</span></button> </div> </div> <div class="modal-body"></div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/jquery-3.3.1.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/js/site.js?v=150220211556"></script> <script> jQuery(document).ready(function() { /*jQuery.get("https://publications.waset.org/xhr/user-menu", function (response) { jQuery('#mainNavMenu').append(response); });*/ jQuery.get({ url: "https://publications.waset.org/xhr/user-menu", cache: false }).then(function(response){ jQuery('#mainNavMenu').append(response); }); }); </script> </body> </html>