Towards the development and design of in-situ faecal matter sensing platforms for aquatic environments.

Standard methods for the assessment of faecal contamination of water rely on laboratory-based techniques, which are time-consuming,labour-intensive and unable to be employed for continuous monitoring. Currently, 18 hours are required after sampling for the analysis to be performed. Our focus is to develop a remotesensing platform able to continuously monitor and provide near real-time measurements of Escherichia Coli(E.Coli)in environmental waters. The detection and quantification of E.Coli is studied using the activity of β-D-glucuronidase(GUD) marker enzyme

MAPPING THE RESEARCH TRENDS OF TELEWORKING

Teleworking is a form of organising and performing work, by which the employee works in another place than the work place organised by the employer and uses information and communication technology. The purpose of this paper is mapping the research trends of teleworking. For this, we conducted a bibliometric analysis on teleworking literature. Through this research we aimed to answer the following questions: How many scientific papers on teleworking have been published in journals? How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the interest of researchers on teleworking? What are the most productive journals, countries and authors on the subject of teleworking? What are the most cited papers on teleworking? What are the most frequent keywords in published documents on teleworking? The data used for this study were extracted from the Web of Science database, and the results were produced by the bibliometrix R package

The consumer influence decisions by the graphic and senzitive elements of the online fashion ads campaigns

This study focuses on analyzing the quality and relevance of the online advertising information of a top group of fashion brands that activates in the bridal sector and market their luxury products in: Spain, Italy, France, and UK. The following issues have been analyzed: the quality of the advertising campaign and the typology of the models. Based on the results obtained, it was noted, according to each country, the existence of conceptual, visual and stylistic elements common to each brand that were considered and manipulated in a different degree of complexity. Some brands have managed to impose a well-defined stylistic and efficient identity, others less

Comparison of fluorogenic substrates for the detection of faecal indicator bacteria in water samples using a continuous fluorometric assay.

At present standard methods employed for the microbiological monitoring of bathing waters require at least 18 hours to perform and are based on culturing techniques. This is a huge drawback when immediate action is required. Real-time and on-line monitoring are key factors for consideration in current method development for continuous indicator organism detection in order to meet early warning requirements and water safety plans. Methods utilising β-D-Glucuronidase (GUD) activity as an indicator of Escherichia Coli presence use labelled glucuronides to produce optical signals. Fluorometric assays for the measurement of Escherichia Coli GUD activity are traditionally performed using the fluorogenic substrate 4-methyl-umbelliferone-β-D-glucuronide (4-MUG) which upon hydrolysis releases the fluorophore 4-methyl-umbelliferone (4-MU). The major drawback of 4-MU is its high pKa (7.8), which causes only partial dissociation at pHs around the optimum pH for GUD activity (6.5-7.0). To overcome this issue researchers have employed discontinuous enzyme assays which require the addition of alkali. In this context we explore the spectrophotometric properties of three fluorogenic substrates and their respective aglycons (Fig.1 ) for the continuous measurement of GUD activity and we apply the developed method for the rapid detection of Escherichia Coli in environmental water samples

Colour based sorting station with Matlab simulation

The paper presents the design process and manufacturing elements of a colour-based sorting station. The system is comprised of a gravitational storage, which also contains the colour sensor. Parts are extracted using a linear pneumatic motor and are fed onto an electrically driven conveyor belt. Extraction of the parts is done at 4 points, using two pneumatic motors and a geared DC motor, while the 4th position is at the end of the belt. The mechanical parts of the system are manufactured using 3D printer technology, allowing for easy modification and adaption to the geometry of different parts. The paper shows all of the stages needed to design, optimize, test and implement the proposed solution. System optimization was performed using a graphical Matlab interface which also allows for sorting algorithm optimization