bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ANALISIS FAKTOR BUDAYA KESELAMATAN DAN KESEHATAN KERJA (K3) PADA PENANGANAN KARGO DI BANDARA SOEKARNO HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Authors: Kania Dinar Dewi , Probo Eko , Hanifah Hanifah
Published: July 2017

Flight safety  determined by various factors  which  related to human factors, both preflight and in-flight service. Cargo Handling  is one of the contributors of airplane crash in the air. The purpose of this study  are to obtain a profile of  Health and  Safety Culture (K3) and also to  determine the factors that shape the  Health and Safety Culture  at the level of organizations, groups, individuals and the physical environment. This study can be categorized as a  quantitative research with survey approach took place at   Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Methods of analysis  which employed in this research  are  Safety Climate Measurement Model of The British Health  Safety Commission and Factor analysis . Population of this research is 110 employees of cargo warehousing with sample 53 employees using simple random sampling technique. The result of the anylisis shows that the values of Healt and Safety Culture  in the cargo  handling at Soekarno Hatta Airport  are above the score / index average 5.0  which means that in general the whole individual in this section  posses the moderate level of  Healt and Safety values . The factor analysis  which applied has reduced 19  factors  into 11 factors that influence the Health and Safety Culture.
JASA PELAYANAN BANDARA HALIM PERDANA KUSUMA DAN BANDARA HUSEIN SASTRANEGARA
Authors: Andri Andri , Kasim Roswan , Wahyuni Endang
Published: July 2017

The study entitled “Analysis Comparison of Satisfaction Passenger Against the Service Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in Jakarta and Bandung Husein Sastranegara Airport in 2015” was conducted to determine and analyze the quality comparison service consisting of responsiveness, assurance, tangibles, empathy and reliability to consumer satisfaction on Hussein Airport Sastranegara and Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport. This study was conducted to determine and analyze the dominant service quality dimensions that influence satisfaction. The benefits of this research is to get a general idea about the services at Soekarno Hatta and Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in Jakarta. To determine the level of satisfaction of passengers on each variable services at Bandung Husein Sastranegara Airport and Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport.
KUALITAS PELAYANAN COMMUTER LINE SERVICE QUALITY OF COMMUTER LINE
Authors: Saidah Deslida
Published: July 2017

The increase in number of passengers is influenced by schedule, price, and improved infrastructure and facilities. The study aims to identify the effect of new schedule and price on service quality.  The study used non probability sampling method to acquire data from passengers. Regression was used to analyze the data collected. Hypothesis test show coesfficient of schedule towards service quality is 0.568 while tariff affects service quality with a coefficient of 0.535. The study suggests improvement on scheduling and tariff.
Therapeutic potential and pharmacological significance of the marine algae Gracilaria corticata
Authors: S. Deepa , B. Bhuvana , S. Hemamalini , C. Janet , K Sathesh Kumar
Published: July 2017

Generally seaweeds are an essential source in the field of pharmaceutical industry because of their bioactive metabolites. Life threatening diseases like acquired immuno defieciency syndrome (AIDS), cancer and other infectious diseases can be trated with the constituents present in the Gracilaria species. This paper deals with a compilation of the literature for Gracilaria corticata algae extracts from the beginning of this century with its pharmacological benefits and recognizes opportunities for forthcoming research.
Antifungal potential of improved crude extracts of Mitracarpus scaber (Zucc) against Candida guilliermondii and Candida parapsilosis
Authors: Kporou E. K. , Ibourahema C. , Ackah A. J. , Ouattara S.
Published: July 2017

Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate antifungal potential of improved crude extracts of Mitracarpus scaber Zucc., an ivorian traditional medicinal plant against two species of clinical yeast isolates: Candida parapsilosis and Candida guilliermondii.Methods: For evaluation of antifungal activity, double dilution method in slope tubes was used. Crude extracts of M. scaber were prepared by extracting with a blender in aqueous and hydroalcohol. In first; Aqueous (XAq) and Hydroalcoholic (X0) extracts were evaluated, and secondary the crude extract X0 was improved by partition in mixture of aqueous and hexanic solvent 50:50 v/v. Each dried phase was also examined. A phytochemical screening has been performed on most active extracts.Results: In vitro antifungal activity showed that crude extract X0 was the most active with MIC = 6.25 mg/ml. Among the extracts obtained by partition from extract X0, extract X11 (Hexanic phase) was the better with lowest antifungal parameters MIC and MFC range between 1.562 mg/ml and 0.781 mg/ml and IC50 range between 0.73 mg/ml to 0.598 mg/ml. In addition, the most active extract contained only terpens and steroids.Conclusions: Antifungal activity of M. scaber was improved by partition of an hydroalcoholic extract (X0) in mixture hexane-water 50:50 v/v. Hexanic phase (X11) was more active against C. parapsilosis and C. guilliermondii.
Design and characterization of metoprolol floating matrix tablet
Authors: Bakshi Vasudha , S. Swapna , Choudhary Deepa Kumari , Revanth Ch. , KumarCh. Praveen B. Sai , Praveen Ch.
Published: July 2017

Objective: The objective of the present research was to develop a matrix embedded floating tablet of Metoprolol for the sustained activity and prolongation of gastric residence time to improve the bioavailability of the drug. Metoprolol was chosen as a model drug because it is better absorbed in the stomach than the lower gastro intestinal tract.Methods: The experimental work was divided into pre-formulation studies, formulation development, and evaluation. Standardization of drug and excipients confirmed the authentication of the samples. Floating test were conducted for all formulations, In vitro dissolution studies were carried out in a dissolution testing apparatus-II, FTIR study was performed to interpret the drug ,excipient interaction.Results: Floating tests were also performed for 15 formulations and among them five formulations have passed the floating tests (F1, F3, F5, F7, and F14). The In-vitro release kinetics study of this tablet indicated sustained release for Metoprolol and followed zero order release and 95% drug in 8 h in vitro. The drug release profile of formulated product was compared with marketed product Metolar. The floating tablets extended the drug release up to 8 hours. The drug-polymer interaction was evaluated by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).Conclusions: F3 formulation showed the best floating results. The comparative study between F3 and Metolar (Marketed Product) showed the similar in vitro drug release profile. Thus, the optimzed formulation F-3 can be successfully used for the management of hypertension.
Drug resistance: important criteria for cancer drug development
Authors: Chelamalla Radhika
Published: July 2017

Molecularly targeted agents light at end of tunnel to resolve therapeutics by drawing together morbidity and mortality in patients by the whole of cancer. However, still an urgent has a passion for preferably effective anticancer compounds, state-of-the-art preclinical abused substance evaluations largely overlook to answer a need the demand. New preclinical strategies, including the review of with all the extras mouse models and co-clinical design designs, are for used to boost the predictive price tag of animal-based translational aries research. Here, we saw in a new light the society of born with a silver spoon preclinical antineoplastic agents, their associated limitations, and arbitrary methods to feel in one bones clinical outcomes.
Recent advances in Parkinson disease
Authors: Chandra Suresh , Srivastav Mayank , Chauhan Neelam
Published: July 2017

The article reviewed various therapies other than dopamine treatment like A2a antagonists: antiparkinson medication reducing the over reactivity of substantia nigra due to loss of dopamine; Levodopa/Carbidopa Intestinal Gel: an aqueous gel containing levodopa and carbidopa; stem-cell therapies like embryonic and adult stem cell can be act through several mechanism; acupuncture: reduced the motor symptoms and other disease related factors; various antiparkinson medications like IPX066 and ND0611 are sustained release and transdermal patches which are transported to GIT through high nutrients and patches are found to be useful in increasing the concentration, half-life of levodopa, thus downs the threatening risk of PD. The future treatment for PD should be considered as they have less side-effect and better results than other treatment as they not only decrease the symptoms but also the incidences of PD. If the symptoms are diagnosed early patient should go for genetic therapy to relieve from the disease which not only reduce the progressive increase of symptoms and disease. Considering all therapies, future treatments shows the weightage in reducing the progressive increase of PD in patient. Though these treatments are proven to be effective in treatment but still more targeted tools and techniques are required which can specifically target the cause and thus lowers the graph and rating scale of PD.
Formulation and evaluation of orodispersible tablet of ivabradine hydrochloride
Authors: Patel D. B. , Patel K. J. , Bharadia P. D.
Published: July 2017

Objective: The objective of present research work was to develop formulation of orodispersible tablets of Ivabradine HCl and evaluate it for different evaluation parameters.Methods: The tablets were prepared by direct compression method. The formulation of the tablets were evaluated before compression for characterization of flow properties and after compression for different parameters of orodispersible tablet formulation.Results: Ivabradine hydrochloride orodispersible tablets were developed with considerable increase in drug release as compared to marketed formulations; nine formulations were developed and studied. The difference in drug release values was found to be 100.88 ± 0.10 respectively. The drug was characterized according to different compendial methods, on the basis of identification by HPLC, pH, organoleptic properties and other tests. Parameters evaluated were within prescribed limits and indicated good free flowing properties. The F6 batch with disintegration time 21 ± 3.0 and dissolution 99.29% was selected as optimized formulation. This was compared with conventional marketed formulation and was found superior. Batch F6 was also subjected to stability studies for two months and was tested for its hardness, wetting time, disintegration time, drug contents and dissolution behaviour monthly.Conclusions: By appropriate selection of excipients, it was possible to develop orodispersible tablets of Ivabradine HCl.
Analytical method validation for estimation of avanafil and dapoxetine hydrochloride tablet dosage form by HPTLC method
Authors: Shah Dhwani A. , Vegad Kunjal L. , Patel Ekta D. , Prajapati Hitesh K. , Patel Ronak N. , Patel Yogesh K.
Published: July 2017

Objective: A simple, specific, accurate and precise RP-HPTLC method has been developed and validated for simultaneous estimation of Avanafil and Dapoxetine.Methods: The chromatographic separation was achieved on Aluminium plates precoated with Silica gel 60 F254 using chloroform: methanol: ethyl acetate: glacial acetic acid (5:2:3:0.2, v/v/v/v) as mobile phase detected at 279 nm.Results: The correlation coefficient for RP-HPLC method was found to be 0.9987 for Avanafil and 0.9991 Dapoxetine and the linearity range was found to be 1040-3640 ng*spot-1 for Avanafil and 80-280 ng*spot-1 for Dapoxetine.Conclusions: The developed method was successfully applied to marketed tablet dosage form and the results were found with higher confidence.
Aldose reductase and advanced glycation end products formation inhibitory activity of standardized extracts of Picrorhiza kurroa (Royle ex benth) and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Linn.)
Authors: Santhosh Anasuri , Veeresham C. , Rama Rao A.
Published: July 2017

Objective: The objectives were to study the in-vitro and in-vivo aldose reductase and in-vitro advanced glycation end products formation inhibitory activities of the standardized extracts of Picrorhiza kurroa roots and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flowers.Methods: In-vitro Aldose reductase inhibitory activity was studied by using isolated rat lens and kidney Aldose reductase by UV-Visible spectro photo metric method by using Quercetin as reference compound. In-vivo Aldose reductase inhibitory activity was evaluated by using experimental rat models of galactosemia and the final lens galactitol was evaluated by High performance liquid chromatography and Gas chromatography methods by using Quercetin as reference compound. In-vitro advanced glycation end products formation inhibitory activity was estimated by using laboratory test reaction with protein and sugars by spectro fluorimetric method by sung aminoguanidine as reference compound. Statistical analysis of the results was done by using Analysis of the variance method.Results: The plant extracts were found to possess significant aldose reductase and advanced glycation end products formation inhibitory activity.Conclusions: More study is required for isolation and characterization of the chief chemical constituents responsible for the biological activity of the plant extracts.
PoDMan: Policy Deviation Management
Authors: Bakshi Aishwarya , Talaei-Khoei Amir , Ray Pradeep , Solvoll Terje
Published: July 2017

Whenever an unexpected or exceptional situation occurs, complying with the existing policies may not be possible. The main objective of this work is to assist individuals and organizations to decide in the process of deviating from policies and performing a non-complying action. The paper proposes utilizing software agents as supportive tools to provide the best non-complying action while deviating from policies. The article also introduces a process in which the decision on the choice of non-complying action can be made. The work is motivated by a real scenario observed in a hospital in Norway and demonstrated through the same settings.
Measuring Drivers’ Attitudes Toward Use of Electronic Toll Collection Systems in Spain
Authors: Heras-Molina Javier , Gomez Juan , Manuel Vassallo Jose
Published: July 2017

Electronic payment is increasing inexorably as a means of paying for the use of toll roads worldwide. However, it is necessary to increase the effectiveness and expediency of this mechanism, as well as improve policy issues such as privacy or data management. The state of the art in this field typically analyzes users’ perceptions and willingness to pay to use toll roads. However, research addressing drivers’ attitudes toward the use of electronic toll collection (ETC) systems is not sufficiently developed. The aim of this paper is to identify the explanatory variables influencing toll road users’ use of ETC technologies. For that purpose, based on a nationwide survey directed toward road users of interurban toll roads in Spain, a binomial logit model was developed to explore users’ attitudes toward the use of ETC systems. The research concludes that drivers’ tag ownership is related mainly to trip-related attributes, while personal socioeconomic characteristics play a minor role. In addition, free tags would be an effective policy measure to increase toll road use, given that a majority of respondents show a positive response.
Who Should Pay for Local Streets? Who Does?: Survey of New Jersey Municipalities
Authors: Peters Carl E. , Peters Jonathan R. , Gordon Cameron
Published: July 2017

Many trips, if not most, begin and end on local roads. Thus, there is a system aspect to such roads in the sense that local streets can have spillover benefits and costs for larger trips that use the total road network. Yet curbs and sidewalks and local streets are typically almost entirely provided locally in the United States. There are historical and institutional reasons for this fact and great variation of practice across jurisdictions. But two key planning and policy questions arise. Who pays for sidewalks and local streets? And who should pay? To find some empirical answers to those questions, this paper reports on a 2015 New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers survey, developed by one of the authors, to collect data on the prevalence of curb and sidewalk installations on municipal streets. The survey explored the management and operational practices that municipal governments use to maintain their local transportation infrastructure. The results indicate that local streets in New Jersey are heavily funded and managed by localities with little focus on any broader network effects that might accrue outside those localities. Analysis of the data suggests a need of more than $1.2 billion annually in New Jersey, against a projected state and federal funding of roughly $100 million annually, a gap in funding that suggests the need to establish a long-term funding mechanism for local streets, curbs, and sidewalks.
Making Self-Help Finance Work: Overcoming the Legislative Obstacles to Using Local Option Taxes for Regional Transportation
Authors: Weinreich David
Published: July 2017

Because of the stagnation of federal money for new transportation infrastructure, local jurisdictions have increasingly found the need to fund capital projects themselves through transportation voter initiatives, known as local option taxes. Localized funding decisions make coordination across jurisdictions more difficult despite growing needs to solve regional problems, such as air quality, economic growth, and transport of the economically disadvantaged. In an effort to self-finance new projects while building an integrated regional system, some regions have taken the ambitious step of developing multijurisdictional self-help taxes and asking voters across multiple counties to support their proposals. However, few states authorize such taxes, and in some cases, advocates have had to lobby for legislative permission to hold a referendum. Although local obstacles are significant, legislative ones may stop such proposals before they can even begin. This study looks at seven cases that have occurred in four regions since 1990. Using interviews and archival evidence, this study examined how state-authorizing legislation and other factors shaped each process. The study finds that restrictive legislation can be problematic, although the need for new legislation makes the process cumbersome and difficult to repeat. Conversely, preauthorization using permissive language for particular factors—such as the tax rate, the timing and election cycle, the jurisdictions to be included, and the rules for selecting projects—is particularly important to ensuring that the process can adapt to local politics and changing circumstances. This approach can lift a significant obstacle to the use of multijurisdictional option tax processes as a way to fund regional transportation on a more regular basis.
Optimal Portfolio Strategy for Risk Management in Toll Road Forecasts and Investments
Authors: Shah Rohan , Jammalamadaka Phani R.
Published: July 2017

The study leveraged modern portfolio theory and stochastic time series models to develop a risk management strategy for future traffic projections along brownfield toll facilities. Uncertainty in future traffic forecasts may raise concerns about performance reliability and revenue potential. Historical time series traffic data from brownfield corridors were used for developing econometric forecast estimates, and Monte Carlo simulation was used to quantify a priori risks or variance to develop optimal forecasts by using mean-variance optimization strategies. Numerical analysis is presented with historical toll transactions along the Massachusetts Turnpike system. Suggested diversification strategies were found to achieve better long-term forecast efficiencies with improved trade-offs between anticipated risks and returns. Planner and agency forecast performance expectations and risk propensity are thus jointly captured.
Evaluating Concentrations of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in the U.S. Peanut Crop in the Presence of Detection Limits
Authors: Blair Benjamin F. , Lamb Marshall C.
Published: July 2017

The concentration of mercury, cadmium, lead, and arsenic along with glyphosate and an extensive array of pesticides in the U.S. peanut crop was assessed for crop years 2013-2015. Samples were randomly selected from various buying points during the grading process. Samples were selected from the three major growing regions in order to attain a representative sample of U.S. peanut production. Samples were sent to an independent laboratory for testing. Appropriate statistical techniques were used to account for censored data due to test results below detection limits. Descriptive statistics and confidence intervals for the population mean concentration are presented where possible. For heavily censored data, the probability of a random sample from the population testing below the detection limit is estimated. Overall, concentrations were found to be low relative to health standards and consistent across crop years.
RETRACTED: l-Arginine Uptake by Cationic Amino Acid Transporter Promotes Intra-Macrophage Survival of Leishmania donovani by Enhancing Arginase-Mediated Polyamine Synthesis
Authors: Mandal Abhishek , Das Sushmita , Kumar Ajay , Roy Saptarshi , Verma Sudha , Ghosh Ayan Kumar , Singh Ruby , Abhishek Kumar , Saini Savita , Sardar Abul Hasan , Purkait Bidyut , Kumar Ashish , Mandal Chitra , Das Pradeep
Published: July 2017

The survival of intracellular protozoan parasite, Leishmania donovani, the causative agent of Indian visceral leishmaniasis (VL), depends on the activation status of macrophages. l-Arginine, a semi-essential amino acid plays a crucial regulatory role for activation of macrophages. However, the role of l-arginine transport in VL still remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that intra-macrophage survival of L. donovani depends on the availability of extracellular l-arginine. Infection of THP-1-derived macrophage/human monocyte-derived macrophage (hMDM) with Leishmania, resulted in upregulation of l-arginine transport. While investigating the involvement of the transporters, we observed that Leishmania survival was greatly impaired when the transporters were blocked either using inhibitor or siRNA-mediated downregulation. CAT-2 was found to be the main isoform associated with l-arginine transport in L. donovani-infected macrophages. l-arginine availability and its transport regulated the host arginase in Leishmania infection. Arginase and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression were reciprocally regulated when assayed using specific inhibitors and siRNA-mediated downregulation. Interestingly, induction of iNOS expression and nitric oxide production were observed in case of inhibition of arginase in infected macrophages. Furthermore, inhibition of l-arginine transport as well as arginase resulted in decreased polyamine production, limiting parasite survival inside macrophages. l-arginine availability and transport regulated Th1/Th2 cytokine levels in case of Leishmania infection. Upregulation of l-arginine transport, induction of host arginase, and enhanced polyamine production were correlated with increased level of IL-10 and decreased level of IL-12 and TNF-α in L. donovani-infected macrophages. Our findings provide clear evidence for targeting the metabolism of l-arginine and l-arginine-metabolizing enzymes as an important therapeutic and prophylactic strategy to treat VL.
An Improved MOEA/D with Optimal DE Schemes for Many-Objective Optimization Problems
Authors: Zheng Wei , Tan Yanyan , Fang Xiaonan , Li Shengtao
Published: July 2017

MOEA/D is a promising multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition, and it has been used to solve many multi-objective optimization problems very well. However, there is a class of multi-objective problems, called many-objective optimization problems, but the original MOEA/D cannot solve them well. In this paper, an improved MOEA/D with optimal differential evolution (oDE) schemes is proposed, called MOEA/D-oDE, aiming to solve many-objective optimization problems. Compared with MOEA/D, MOEA/D-oDE has two distinguishing points. On the one hand, MOEA/D-oDE adopts a newly-introduced decomposition approach to decompose the many-objective optimization problems, which combines the advantages of the weighted sum approach and the Tchebycheff approach. On the other hand, a kind of combination mechanism for DE operators is designed for finding the best child solution so as to do the a posteriori computing. In our experimental study, six continuous test instances with 4–6 objectives comparing NSGA-II (nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II) and MOEA/D as accompanying experiments are applied. Additionally, the final results indicate that MOEA/D-oDE outperforms NSGA-II and MOEA/D in almost all cases, particularly in those problems that have complicated Pareto shapes and higher dimensional objectives, where its advantages are more obvious.
Performance Analysis and Design Strategy for a Second-Order, Fixed-Gain, Position-Velocity-Measured (α-β-η-θ) Tracking Filter
Authors: Saho Kenshi , Masugi Masao
Published: July 2017

We present a strategy for designing an α - β - η - θ filter, a fixed-gain moving-object tracking filter using position and velocity measurements. First, performance indices and stability conditions for the filter are analytically derived. Then, an optimal gain design strategy using these results is proposed and its relationship to the position-velocity-measured (PVM) Kalman filter is shown. Numerical analyses demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, as well as a performance improvement over the traditional position-only-measured α - β filter. Moreover, we apply an α - β - η - θ filter designed using this strategy to ultra-wideband Doppler radar tracking in numerical simulations. We verify that the proposed strategy can easily design the gains for an α - β - η - θ filter based on the performance of the ultra-wideband Doppler radar and a rough approximation of the target’s acceleration. Moreover, its effectiveness in predicting the steady state performance in designing the position-velocity-measured Kalman filter is also demonstrated.
Assessment of Indoor-Outdoor Particulate Matter Air Pollution: A Review
Authors: Bo Matteo , Salizzoni Pietro , Clerico Marina , Buccolieri Riccardo
Published: July 2017

Background: Air pollution is a major global environmental risk factor. Since people spend most of their time indoors, the sole measure of outdoor concentrations is not sufficient to assess total exposure to air pollution. Therefore, the arising interest by the international community to indoor-outdoor relationships has led to the development of various techniques for the study of emission and exchange parameters among ambient and non-ambient pollutants. However, a standardised method is still lacking due to the complex release and dispersion of pollutants and the site conditions among studies. Methods: This review attempts to fill this gap to some extent by focusing on the analysis of the variety of site-specific approaches for the assessment of particulate matter in work and life environments. Results: First, the main analogies and differences between indoor and outdoor particles emerging from several studies are briefly described. Commonly-used indicators, sampling methods, and other approaches are compared. Second, recommendations for further studies based on recent results in order to improve the assessment and management of those issues are provided. Conclusions: This review is a step towards a comprehensive understanding of indoor and outdoor exposures which may stimulate the development of innovative tools for further epidemiological and multidisciplinary research.
Integrins and Exosomes, a Dangerous Liaison in Cancer Progression
Authors: Paolillo Mayra , Schinelli Sergio
Published: July 2017

Integrin activity and function is classically related to the bi-directional regulation of cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) contacts that regulate a number of cell pathways linked to cell adhesion, cell detachment from ECM, cell migration, and anoikis. Interestingly, emerging data continue to uncover new roles for integrins in cancer-relevant pathways, particularly concerning the regulation of immune cell activity in the tumor niche, like myeloid cell differentiation and function and, very recently, the regulation of metastatic processes by exosomes. Exosomes are deeply involved in cell-cell communication processes and several studies have shown that integrins found in tumor-associated exosomes can promote cancer progression by two novel cooperative mechanisms: horizontal transfer of integrin transcripts as vescicle cargo, and selection of target tissues to form new tumor niches during metastatic spread by integrins carried on the exosome’s surface. In this review we will discuss mounting evidence that contribute to the development of a new picture for integrins in cancer, highlighting the role of integrins in the processes that leads to tumor niche formation. In particular, the role of the periostin pathway in the recruitment of tumor-associated macrophages, and the proposed contribution of exosome-derived integrins in the metastatic spread will be discussed. Finally, in light of the above considerations, an evaluation of integrins as possible therapeutic targets will be conducted.
Adaptation to Climate Change by Rural Ethnic Communities of Northern Thailand
Authors: Shrestha Rajendra , Chaweewan Nuanwan , Arunyawat Sunsanee
Published: July 2017

Northern Thailand has been experiencing the impact of climate change due to its fragile agro-ecosystem, inhabited by a resource-poor population. The study, conducted in a mountainous landscape of Doi Mae Salong area in Northern Thailand, explores the farmers’ perceptions of climate change, its impact on farming, and adaptation measures undertaken by the two ethnic communities in the area for coping with climate change impacts. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey of ninety farm households using the recall approach for the past twenty years. The findings suggest that the farmers have perceived the change in climate pattern of the study area, and its negative impact on farming. Farm households have been trying to cope with the impacts by adapting to alternate farming options and practices using traditional techniques. The impact was perceived to be higher in the community living at higher elevation compared to those at lower elevation. Although autonomous adaptation is occurring in the area, the vulnerability of farm households to the impact of climate change still exists in terms of the lack of knowledge and financial resources.
Light-Triggered Formation of Surface Topographies in Azo Polymers
Authors: Hendrikx Matthew , Schenning Albertus , Debije Michael , Broer Dirk
Published: July 2017

Properties such as friction, wettability and visual impact of polymer coatings are influenced by the surface topography. Therefore, control of the surface structure is of eminent importance to tuning its function. Photochromic azobenzene-containing polymers are an appealing class of coatings of which the surface topography is controllable by light. The topographies form without the use of a solvent, and can be designed to remain static or have dynamic properties, that is, be capable of reversibly switching between different states. The topographical changes can be induced by using linear azo polymers to produce surface-relief gratings. With the ability to address specific regions, interference patterns can imprint a variety of structures. These topographies can be used for nanopatterning, lithography or diffractive optics. For cross-linked polymer networks containing azobenzene moieties, the coatings can form topographies that disappear as soon as the light trigger is switched off. This allows the use of topography-forming coatings in a wide range of applications, ranging from optics to self-cleaning, robotics or haptics.
Graphene Field Effect Transistors for Biomedical Applications: Current Status and Future Prospects
Authors: Forsyth Rhiannan , Devadoss Anitha , Guy Owen
Published: July 2017

Since the discovery of the two-dimensional (2D) carbon material, graphene, just over a decade ago, the development of graphene-based field effect transistors (G-FETs) has become a widely researched area, particularly for use in point-of-care biomedical applications. G-FETs are particularly attractive as next generation bioelectronics due to their mass-scalability and low cost of the technology’s manufacture. Furthermore, G-FETs offer the potential to complete label-free, rapid, and highly sensitive analysis coupled with a high sample throughput. These properties, coupled with the potential for integration into portable instrumentation, contribute to G-FETs’ suitability for point-of-care diagnostics. This review focuses on elucidating the recent developments in the field of G-FET sensors that act on a bioaffinity basis, whereby a binding event between a bioreceptor and the target analyte is transduced into an electrical signal at the G-FET surface. Recognizing and quantifying these target analytes accurately and reliably is essential in diagnosing many diseases, therefore it is vital to design the G-FET with care. Taking into account some limitations of the sensor platform, such as Debye–Hükel screening and device surface area, is fundamental in developing improved bioelectronics for applications in the clinical setting. This review highlights some efforts undertaken in facing these limitations in order to bring G-FET development for biomedical applications forward.
Securing Relay Networks with Artificial Noise: An Error Performance-Based Approach
Authors: Liu Ying , Li Liang , Alexandropoulos George , Pesavento Marius
Published: July 2017

We apply the concept of artificial and controlled interference in a two-hop relay network with an untrusted relay, aiming at enhancing the wireless communication secrecy between the source and the destination node. In order to shield the square quadrature amplitude-modulated (QAM) signals transmitted from the source node to the relay, the destination node designs and transmits artificial noise (AN) symbols to jam the relay reception. The objective of our considered AN design is to degrade the error probability performance at the untrusted relay, for different types of channel state information (CSI) at the destination. By considering perfect knowledge of the instantaneous CSI of the source-to-relay and relay-to-destination links, we first present an analytical expression for the symbol error rate (SER) performance at the relay. Based on the assumption of an average power constraint at the destination node, we then derive the optimal phase and power distribution of the AN that maximizes the SER at the relay. Furthermore, we obtain the optimal AN design for the case where only statistical CSI is available at the destination node. For both cases, our study reveals that the Gaussian distribution is generally not optimal to generate AN symbols. The presented AN design takes into account practical parameters for the communication links, such as QAM signaling and maximum likelihood decoding.
Maintenance Tools applied to Electric Generators to Improve Energy Efficiency and Power Quality of Thermoelectric Power Plants
Authors: Junior Milton  Fonseca , Bezerra Ubiratan  Holanda , Leite Jandecy  Cabral , Moya Rodríguez Jorge  Laureano
Published: July 2017

This paper presents a specific method to improve the reliability of the equipment and the quality of power supplied to the electrical systems with the frequency and voltage control of a thermoelectric plant, to guarantee a more stable system. The method has the novelty of combining Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) using only four pillars, with Electrical Predictive Maintenance based in failure analysis and diagnostic. It prevents voltage drops caused by excessive reactive consumption, thus guaranteeing the company a perfect functioning of its equipment and providing a longer life of them. The Maintenance Management Program (MMP) seeks to prevent failures from causing the equipment to be shut down from the electrical system, which means large financial losses, either by reducing billing or by paying fines to the regulatory agency, in addition to prejudice the reliability of the system. Using management tools, but applying only four TPM pillars, it was possible to achieve innovation in power plants with internal combustion engines. This study aims to provide maintenance with a more reliable process, through the implantation of measurement, control and diagnostic devices, thus allowing the management to reduce breakdown of plant equipment. Some results have been achieved after the implementation, such as reduction of annual maintenance cost, reduction of corrective maintenance, increase of MTBF (Mean Time between Failures) and reduction of MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) in all areas. Probabilistic models able to describe real processes in a more realistic way, and facilitate the optimization at maximum reliability or minimum costs are presented. Such results are reflected in more reliable and continual power generation.
Optimizing the District Heating Primary Network from the Perspective of Economic-Specific Pressure Loss
Authors: Wang Haichao , Duanmu Lin , Li Xiangli , Lahdelma Risto
Published: July 2017

A district heating (DH) system is one of the most important components of infrastructures in cold areas. Proper DH network design should balance the initial investment and the heat distribution cost of the DH network. Currently, this design is often based on a recommended value for specific pressure loss (R = ∆P/L) in the main lines. This will result in a feasible network design, but probably not be optimal in most cases. The paper develops a novel optimization model to facilitate the design by considering the initial investment in the pipes and the heat distribution costs. The model will generate all possible network scenarios consisting of different series of diameters for each pipe in the flow direction of the network. Then, the annuity on the initial investment, the heat distribution cost, and the total annual cost will be calculated for each network scenario, taking into account the uncertainties of the material prices and the yearly operating time levels. The model is applied to a sample DH network and the results indicate that the model works quite well, clearly identifying the optimal network design and demonstrating that the heat distribution cost is more important than the initial investment in DH network design.
Optimizing the Structure of Distribution Smart Grids with Renewable Generation against Abnormal Conditions: A Complex Networks Approach with Evolutionary Algorithms
Authors: Cuadra Lucas , Pino Miguel , Nieto-Borge José , Salcedo-Sanz Sancho
Published: July 2017

In this work, we describe an approach that allows for optimizing the structure of a smart grid (SG) with renewable energy (RE) generation against abnormal conditions (imbalances between generation and consumption, overloads or failures arising from the inherent SG complexity) by combining the complex network (CN) and evolutionary algorithm (EA) concepts. We propose a novel objective function (to be minimized) that combines cost elements, related to the number of electric cables, and several metrics that quantify properties that are beneficial for SGs (energy exchange at the local scale and high robustness and resilience). The optimized SG structure is obtained by applying an EA in which the chromosome that encodes each potential network (or individual) is the upper triangular matrix of its adjacency matrix. This allows for fully tailoring the crossover and mutation operators. We also propose a domain-specific initial population that includes both small-world and random networks, helping the EA converge quickly. The experimental work points out that the proposed method works well and generates the optimum, synthetic, small-world structure that leads to beneficial properties such as improving both the local energy exchange and the robustness. The optimum structure fulfills a balance between moderate cost and robustness against abnormal conditions. Our approach should be considered as an analysis, planning and decision-making tool to gain insight into smart grid structures so that the low level detailed design is carried out by using electrical engineering techniques.
European Policies to Promote Children’s Rights and Combat Child Poverty
Authors: Sandbæk Mona
Published: July 2017

The upbringing of children relies heavily on shared responsibilities between parents and society. The Council of Europe Recommendation (2006) 19 on Policy to Support Positive Parenting and the European Commission Recommendation (2013) Investing in Children: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage, both aim at supporting parents to care and provide for their children in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. By means of a document analysis this article examines what kind of parental practices and provision to parents the recommendations suggest to safeguard children’s rights in the family. Three findings are highlighted: first, both recommendations reflect a commitment to respecting children’s rights while at the same time acknowledging parents as children’s primary caregivers. Second, both recognize parents’ rights to work, while also recognizing the necessity of adequate income support if work is not available or income too low. Third, adequate resources are defined as a combination of universal policies and services, which guarantee a minimum level for all, and targeted measures reaching out to the most disadvantaged. The recommendations’ emphasis on children and parents as partners and on the families’ economic situations are valuable for future development of family and child policy and support programs.
Thermographic Evaluation of the Hands of Pig Slaughterhouse Workers Exposed to Cold Temperatures
Authors: Tirloni Adriana , Reis Diogo , Ramos Eliane , Moro Antônio
Published: July 2017

Brazil was rated the fourth leading producer and exporter of pork meat in the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the temperature of the hands of pig slaughterhouse workers and its relation to the thermal sensation of the hands and the use of a cutting tool. The study included 106 workers in a pig slaughterhouse. An infrared camera FlirThermaCAM E320 (Flir Systems, Wilsonville, OR, USA) was used to collect the images of the dorsal and palmar surfaces of both hands. A numerical scale was used to obtain the thermal sensation. Chi-square test, Pearson correlation and Student’s t test or Wilcoxon were used (p ≤ 0.05). The majority of workers felt cold in the hands (66%) and workers who used the knife felt the coldest. There was an association between the thermal sensation and the use of knife (p = 0.001). Workers who used the tool showed correlation between the thermal sensation and the temperatures of the left fingers, with a difference between the temperatures of the right and left hands of those who used the knife (p ≤ 0.05). The hands (left) that manipulated the products presented the lowest temperatures. Findings indicate that employers of pig slaughterhouses should provide gloves with adequate thermal insulation to preserve the health of workers’ hands.
Effects of Land Use/Cover Changes and Urban Forest Configuration on Urban Heat Islands in a Loess Hilly Region: Case Study Based on Yan’an City, China
Authors: Zhang Xinping , Wang Dexiang , Hao Hongke , Zhang Fangfang , Hu Youning
Published: July 2017

In this study Yan’an City, a typical hilly valley city, was considered as the study area in order to explain the relationships between the surface urban heat island (SUHI) and land use/land cover (LULC) types, the landscape pattern metrics of LULC types and land surface temperature (LST) and remote sensing indexes were retrieved from Landsat data during 1990–2015, and to find factors contributed to the green space cool island intensity (GSCI) through field measurements of 34 green spaces. The results showed that during 1990–2015, because of local anthropogenic activities, SUHI was mainly located in lower vegetation cover areas. There was a significant suburban-urban gradient in the average LST, as well as its heterogeneity and fluctuations. Six landscape metrics comprising the fractal dimension index, percentage of landscape, aggregation index, division index, Shannon’s diversity index, and expansion intensity of the classified LST spatiotemporal changes were paralleled to LULC changes, especially for construction land, during the past 25 years. In the urban area, an index-based built-up index was the key positive factor for explaining LST increases, whereas the normalized difference vegetation index and modified normalized difference water index were crucial factors for explaining LST decreases during the study periods. In terms of the heat mitigation performance of green spaces, mixed forest was better than pure forest, and the urban forest configuration had positive effects on GSCI. The results of this study provide insights into the importance of species choice and the spatial design of green spaces for cooling the environment.
Chronic Respiratory Diseases in the Regions of Northern Russia: Epidemiological Distinctions in the Results of a National Population Study
Authors: Gambaryan Marine H. , Shalnova Svetlana A. , Deev Alexander D. , Drapkina Oxana M.
Published: July 2017

The aim of the study is to investigate the epidemiological situation regarding chronic respiratory diseases in populations that inhabit different climatic–geographical regions of Russia, and to develop targeted programs for prevention of these diseases. Methods: (1) a comparative analysis of the standardized mortality data in Russia and other selected regions of the Russian North using the European standard for respiratory diseases, in a population aged 25–64; and (2) data from a randomized cross-sectional epidemiological study, with subjects from three different climatic-geographical regions of Russia. Results: (1) the respiratory disease-related mortality rates in the majority of Russian Northern regions were much higher compared to the national average. Although death rates from chronic lower respiratory diseases were higher among the Northern regions and in the whole of Russia relative to the countries of European Union (EU), the cause of death in the populations of the Northern regions tend to be lower respiratory infections and pneumonia; and (2) despite the absence of any significant differences in the prevalence of smoking, the prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases (COPD) is significantly higher in Far North Yakutsk compared to the other two regions in this study—Chelyabinsk and Vologda. The status of hyperborean had the highest chance of a significant contribution to COPD and cardiorespiratory pathology among all other risk factors. The results revealed a need for effective targeted strategies for primary and secondary prevention of chronic respiratory diseases for the populations of the Northern regions of Russia. Conclusions: The revealed regional distinctions regarding the prevalence of, and mortality from, chronic respiratory diseases should be taken into consideration when designing integrated programs for chronic non-communicable disease prevention in these regions.