Biosorption of Lithium using Microbes

Lithium (Li) is a very valuable metal that is used across several industries including ceramics, glass, batteries, pharmaceuticals, and polymers. However, in recent years, the global demand for Li and its market price have increased considerably, due to its application as a critical component in the production of rechargeable Li-ion batteries and energy storage systems that are used in electric vehicles and a variety of electronic devices. Although Li occurs as a mineral in hard rocks and salt brines, substantial amounts are found in our environment as part of industrial wastes and oil-field wastewaters. Despite its importance, Li is also harmful and poses a risk to the environment. Besides, the conventional (chemical and physical) methods that are used today for its removal, such as solvent extraction and acid leaching, require high energy consumption and produce toxic by-products, posing additional environmental and economic challenges. Alternatively, the use of bacteria for Li extraction has been proposed as a viable, non-toxic, and cost- effective alternative. In this study, the potential of using Gram-negative Escherichia coli, and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus as biosorbents for Li was explored. Results indicate that all three bacterial species tested were capable of absorbing Li to varying degrees from aqueous solutions. However, E. coli had the highest and most consistent absorption capacity and was selected for further investigation. Amounts of total dissolved solids (TDS) and Li, analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), methods were obtained in this study. In a kinetic study of Li biosorption, most Li-binding occurred within the first 24 h and slowed down until maximum biosorption was attained following 72 h, our experimental endpoint. The biosorption capacity for E. coli ranged from 60% to 43% depending on initial Li concentrations in solution. Also, the optimal pH for E. coli biosorption was found to be between pH 6-6.5. Recovered/eluted absorbed Li was measured following a 12 h mild-acid solution (distilled H2O adjusted to pH 4 with HNO3) wash of the Li-bound biomass membranes

SemanticLock: An authentication method for mobile devices using semantically-linked images

We introduce SemanticLock, a single factor graphical authentication solution for mobile devices. SemanticLock uses a set of graphical images as password tokens that construct a semantically memorable story representing the user`s password. A familiar and quick action of dragging or dropping the images into their respective positions either in a \textit{continous flow} or in \textit{discrete} movements on the the touchscreen is what is required to use our solution. The authentication strength of the SemanticLock is based on the large number of possible semantic constructs derived from the positioning of the image tokens and the type of images selected. Semantic Lock has a high resistance to smudge attacks and it equally exhibits a higher level of memorability due to its graphical paradigm. In a three weeks user study with 21 participants comparing SemanticLock against other authentication systems, we discovered that SemanticLock outperformed the PIN and matched the PATTERN both on speed, memorability, user acceptance and usability. Furthermore, qualitative test also show that SemanticLock was rated more superior in like-ability. SemanticLock was also evaluated while participants walked unencumbered and walked encumbered carrying "everyday" items to analyze the effects of such activities on its usage

Biomove: Biometric user identification from human kinesiological movements for virtual reality systems

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Virtual reality (VR) has advanced rapidly and is used for many entertainment and business purposes. The need for secure, transparent and non-intrusive identification mechanisms is important to facilitate users’ safe participation and secure experience. People are kinesiologically unique, having individual behavioral and movement characteristics, which can be leveraged and used in security sensitive VR applications to compensate for users’ inability to detect potential observational attackers in the physical world. Additionally, such method of identification using a user’s kinesiological data is valuable in common scenarios where multiple users simultaneously participate in a VR environment. In this paper, we present a user study (n = 15) where our participants performed a series of controlled tasks that require physical movements (such as grabbing, rotating and dropping) that could be decomposed into unique kinesiological patterns while we monitored and captured their hand, head and eye gaze data within the VR environment. We present an analysis of the data and show that these data can be used as a biometric discriminant of high confidence using machine learning classification methods such as kNN or SVM, thereby adding a layer of security in terms of identification or dynamically adapting the VR environment to the users’ preferences. We also performed a whitebox penetration testing with 12 attackers, some of whom were physically similar to the participants. We could obtain an average identification confidence value of 0.98 from the actual participants’ test data after the initial study and also a trained model classification accuracy of 98.6%. Penetration testing indicated all attackers resulted in confidence values of less than 50% (\u3c50%), although physically similar attackers had higher confidence values. These findings can help the design and development of secure VR systems

Biomove: Biometric user identification from human kinesiological movements for virtual reality systems

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Virtual reality (VR) has advanced rapidly and is used for many entertainment and business purposes. The need for secure, transparent and non-intrusive identification mechanisms is important to facilitate users’ safe participation and secure experience. People are kinesiologically unique, having individual behavioral and movement characteristics, which can be leveraged and used in security sensitive VR applications to compensate for users’ inability to detect potential observational attackers in the physical world. Additionally, such method of identification using a user’s kinesiological data is valuable in common scenarios where multiple users simultaneously participate in a VR environment. In this paper, we present a user study (n = 15) where our participants performed a series of controlled tasks that require physical movements (such as grabbing, rotating and dropping) that could be decomposed into unique kinesiological patterns while we monitored and captured their hand, head and eye gaze data within the VR environment. We present an analysis of the data and show that these data can be used as a biometric discriminant of high confidence using machine learning classification methods such as kNN or SVM, thereby adding a layer of security in terms of identification or dynamically adapting the VR environment to the users’ preferences. We also performed a whitebox penetration testing with 12 attackers, some of whom were physically similar to the participants. We could obtain an average identification confidence value of 0.98 from the actual participants’ test data after the initial study and also a trained model classification accuracy of 98.6%. Penetration testing indicated all attackers resulted in confidence values of less than 50% (\u3c50%), although physically similar attackers had higher confidence values. These findings can help the design and development of secure VR systems

Cadena de producción sustentable de bioqueroseno en la América Latina y el Caribe vinculada a los territorios rurales

La presente publicación constituye una contribución para visualizar un modelo conceptual por medio del cual, los segmentos de población urgidos de acceso a oportunidades de desarrollo, sustentabilidad e inclusión social en los territorios rurales de América Latina y el Caribe, se beneficiarían con una o varias soluciones de innovación en la cadena de valor de bioqueroseno. Para arribar a este modelo se inicia con un detalle de los aspectos generales y de los escenarios actuales del bioqueroseno para la aviación comercial, seguido de un análisis conceptual de competitividad, sustentabilidad y vinculación de la cadena de valor de bioqueroseno en los territorios rurales. Finaliza con una sección de conclusiones desde el enfoque de las oportunidades y desafíos para los eslabones de dicha cadena de valor. Se espera que el escenario sea propicio para el lanzamiento de una iniciativa en procura de la consolidación de una plataforma intensiva de conocimiento para la innovación agrícola y la sustentabilidad en la cadena de valor de biodiesel y biokeroseno, ante la comunidad de los principales actores del desarrollo tecnológico, promoción, utilización y mercado de los biocombustibles en América Latina y el Caribe, por cuanto el evento regional de biocombustibles congrega representantes de entidades que realizan investigación de tecnologías avanzadas además de entidades que apoyan el desarrollo agrícola rural, empresas de negocios y autoridades de los sectores energético, agrícola, industrial, ambiental, comercial y educativo de la Región y de Organismos Internacionales de Cooperación Técnica

Evidence-based practice in neonatal health: knowledge among primary health care staff in northern Viet Nam

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An estimated four million deaths occur each year among children in the neonatal period. Current evidence-based interventions could prevent a large proportion of these deaths. However, health care workers involved in neonatal care need to have knowledge regarding such practices before being able to put them into action.</p> <p>The aim of this survey was to assess the knowledge of primary health care practitioners regarding basic, evidence-based procedures in neonatal care in a Vietnamese province. A further aim was to investigate whether differences in level of knowledge were linked to certain characteristics of community health centres, such as access to national guidelines in reproductive health care, number of assisted deliveries and geographical location.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This cross-sectional survey was completed within a baseline study preparing for an intervention study on knowledge translation (Implementing knowledge into practice for improved neonatal survival: a community-based trial in Quang Ninh province, Viet Nam, the NeoKIP project, ISRCTN44599712). Sixteen multiple-choice questions from five basic areas of evidence-based practice in neonatal care were distributed to 155 community health centres in 12 districts in a Vietnamese province, reaching 412 primary health care workers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All health care workers approached for the survey responded. Overall, they achieved 60% of the maximum score of the questionnaire. Staff level of knowledge on evidence-based practice was linked to the geographical location of the CHC, but not to access to the national guidelines or the number of deliveries at the community level. Two separated geographical areas were identified with differences in staff level of knowledge and concurrent differences in neonatal survival, antenatal care and postnatal home visits.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have identified a complex pattern of associations between knowledge, geography, demographic factors and neonatal outcomes. Primary health care staff knowledge regarding neonatal health is scarce. This is a factor that is possible to influence and should be considered in future efforts for improving the neonatal health situation in Viet Nam.</p

Cadena de producción sustentable de bioqueroseno vinculada a los territorios rurales en la América Latina y el Caribe

182 páginasLa presente publicación constituye una contribución para visualizar un modelo conceptual por el cual los segmentos de población urgidos de acceso a oportunidades de desarrollo, sustentabilidad e inclusión social en los territorios rurales de ALC. Se aborda en detalle los aspectos generales y los escenarios actuales del bioqueroseno para la aviación comercial, seguido de un análisis conceptual de competitividad, sustentabilidad y vinculación de la cadena de valor de bioqueroseno en los territorios rurales. Finalmente se presentan las oportunidades y desafíos para los eslabones de dicha cadena de valor

Patient involvement in improving the evidence base on mental health inpatient care: the PERCEIVE programme

BackgroundDespite the movement towards care in the community, 40% of the NHS budget on mental health care is still attributed to inpatient services. However, long before the Francis Report highlighted grave shortcomings in inpatient care, there were reports by service user groups on the poor quality of these services in mental health. The programme provides a particular focus on the inclusion of the patient’s perspective in the development and evaluation of evidence.ObjectivesTo understand how changes to inpatient care affect the perceptions of the ward by service users and staff by using stakeholder participatory methods.DesignThe programme consisted of four work packages (WPs). (1) Lasting Improvements for Acute Inpatient SEttings (LIAISE): using participatory methods we developed two new scales [Views On Therapeutic Environment (VOTE) for staff and Views On Inpatient CarE (VOICE) for service users]. (2) Client Services Receipt Inventory – Inpatient (CITRINE): working with nurses and service users we developed a health economic measure of the amount of contact service users have with staff. The self-report measure records interactions with staff as well as the number of therapeutic activities attended. (3) Delivering Opportunities for Recovery (DOORWAYS): a stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial to test if training ward nurses to deliver therapeutic group activities would improve the perception of the ward by service users and staff. A total of 16 wards were progressively randomised and we compared the VOICE, VOTE and CITRINE measures before and after the intervention. A total of 1108 service users and 539 staff participated in this trial. (4) Bringing Emergency TreatmenT to Early Resolution (BETTER PATHWAYS) was an observational study comparing two service systems. The first was a ‘triage’ system in which service users were admitted to the triage ward and then either transferred to their locality wards or discharged back into the community within 7 days. The second system was routine care. We collected data from 454 service users and 284 nurses on their perceptions of the wards.Main outcome measuresThe main outcomes for the DOORWAYS and BETTER project were service user and staff perceptions of the ward (VOICE and VOTE, respectively) and the health economic measure was CITRINE. All were developed in WPs 1 and 2.ResultsWe developed reliable and valid measures of (1) the perceptions of inpatient care from the perspectives of service users and nurses (VOICE and VOTE) and (2) costs of interactions that were valued by service users (CITRINE). In the DOORWAYS project, after adjusting for legal status, we found weak evidence for benefit (standardised effect of –0.18, 95% CI 0.38 improvement to 0.01 deterioration; p = 0.062). There was only a significant benefit for involuntary patients following the staff training (N582, standardised effect of –0.35, 95% CI –0.57 to –0.12; p = 0.002; interaction p-value 0.006). VOTE scores did not change over time (standardised effect size of 0.04, 95% CI –0.09 to 0.18; p = 0.54). We found no evidence of an improvement in cost-effectiveness (estimated effect of £33, 95% CI –£91 to £146; p = 0.602), but resource allocation did change towards patient-perceived meaningful contacts by an average of £12 (95% CI –£76 to £98; p = 0·774). There were no significant differences between the triage and routine models of admission in terms of better perceptions by service users (estimated effect 0.77-point improvement in VOICE score on the triage ward; p = 0.68) or nurses (estimated effect of 1.68-point deterioration in VOTE on the triage ward; p = 0.38) or in terms of the cost of the length of care provided (£391 higher on triage; p = 0.77).Strengths and limitationsWe have developed measures using methods involving both service users and staff from mental health services. The measures were developed specifically for acute inpatient services and, therefore, cannot be assumed to be useful for other services. For instance, extensions of the measures are under construction for use in mother and baby units. The strength of the BETTER PATHWAYS and DOORWAYS projects is the large-scale data collection. However, we were testing specific services based in inner city areas and stretching to inner urban areas. It may be that different effects would be found in more rural communities or in different types of inpatient care.Future workOur database will be used to develop an understanding of the mediating and moderating factors for improving care quality.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN06545047.FundingThis project was funded by the NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research programme and will be published in full in Programme Grants for Applied Research; Vol. 6, No. 7. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information