PPLICATION OF TRICKLING FILTER WITH HYBRID BIOFILM SUPPORT MEDIA IN THE TREATMENT OF PETROLEUM EFFLUENT

The use of biological trickling filter (TF) system in the treatment of petroleum effluent using Luffa cylindrica-polystyrene hybrid as biofilm support medium for microbiological growth was evaluated. The efficiency of the treatment process was measured in terms of turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD5). The TF was set up with Luffa cylindrica-polystyrene hybrid biofilm support. The pilot scale trickling system was performed at an ambient temperature and the effluent from the system was measured for turbidity, COD and BOD5. The result showed that the turbidity of the effluent was reduced to 94 % at a hydraulic retention time of 6 hrs. The COD was also reduced from 327-26 mg/l at 6 hrs. representing 92 % reduction in the COD value. The results obtained also showed that the TF achieved 78 % reduction in BOD5.Therefore, the biological trickling filter treatment process appears to be a promising wastewater treatment method for petroleum effluent with respect to the turbidity, COD and BOD5 remova

Towards unimolecular luminescent solar concentrators: bodipy-based dendritic energy-transfer cascade with panchromatic absorption and monochromatized emission

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Ein in ein Polymer eingebetteter, panchromatischer Bodipy-Absorber mit eingebautem Energiegradienten konzentriert einfallende Sonnenstrahlung an einem endständigen Chromophor und erzeugt so eine monochromatische Emission an den Seiten des Polymer-Wellenleiters (siehe Bild). Dieses besondere Design minimiert Selbstabsorptionsverluste der peripheren Antennen-Einheiten mit einem beeindruckenden S-Faktor von 10 000

Gamification techniques for raising cyber security awareness

Due to the prevalence of online services in modern society, such as internet banking and social media, it is important for users to have an understanding of basic security measures in order to keep themselves safe online. However, users often do not know how to make their online interactions secure, which demonstrates an educational need in this area. Gamification has grown in popularity in recent years and has been used to teach people about a range of subjects. This paper presents an exploratory study investigating the use of gamification techniques to educate average users about password security, with the aim of raising overall security awareness. To explore the impact of such techniques, a role-playing quiz application (RPG) was developed for the Android platform to educate users about password security. Results gained from the work highlightedthat users enjoyed learning via the use of the password application, and felt they benefitted from the inclusion of gamification techniques. Future work seeks to expand the prototype into a full solution, covering a range of security awareness issues

Thalassemia mutations in Gaziantep, Turkey

Ninety-eight postnatal and six prenatal cases of thalassemia were studied by the reverse dot-blot hybridization technique in the city of Gaziantep, Turkey. We found the following mutations: IVS 1.110 (G>A) in 29.1%, IVS 2.1 (G>A) in 12.3%, IVS 1.1 (G>A) in 7.7%, Codon 8 (-AA) in 5.6%, -30 (T>A) in 4.6%, IVS 1.6 (T>C) in 4.6%, Codon 39 (C>T) in 3.6%, Codon 44 (-C) in 3.1%, IVS 2.745 (C>G) in 1.5%, Codon 8/9 (+G) in 2.1%, Codon 36/37 (-T) in 2.1%, IVS 1.5 (G>C) in 2.1%, Codon 22 (7pb del) in 0.5%, Codon 5 (-CT) in 0.5% while 20.9% were undetermined. 54 of the thalassemia patients were homozygotes, 12 were compound heterozygous and 31 were heterozygotes. In one allele of 5 thalassemia patients, - thalassemia mutation (3.7 single gene deletions in 1 patient, anti-3.7 gene triplication in 4 patients) wasdetermined at the same time. Finally, this is the first comprehensive study in this region and percentage of and - globin genes mutation is 2.6 and 79.4%, respectively

Real options approach for valuation of enterprise resource planning systems

Günümüzde tüm dünya genelindeki sağlık kurumları, hizmet kalitelerini iyileştirmeyi ve maliyetleri düşürmeyi amaçlayan bilişim teknolojileri yatırımlarının önemini kavramışlardır. Sağlık sektörünün sürekli yükselen standartları ve sigorta sistemlerinin artan gereksinimleri karar vericileri, hastanelerde Kurumsal Kaynak Planlama (KKP) sistemlerinin sağlık sektörünün gerek ve ihtiyaçlarına göre uyarlanmış ve geliştirilmiş hali olan Hastane Bilgi Sistemi (HBS) yatırım uygulamalarını dikkate almalarını zorunlu kılmaktadır. Bu tür yatırımların ekonomik değerlemesi karmaşık yapıları nedeniyle her zaman zor olmuştur. Bununla beraber bu yatırımların, bünyelerinde barındırdığı ve firmalara rekabet ortamında avantajlar sağlayan birçok faydası da mevcuttur. Geleneksel iskontolanmış nakit akışı yöntemleri, bu sistemlerin içinde varolan ve yatırım kararını haklı çıkartacak, yönetsel ve stratejik esnekliklerin değerini dikkate almamaktadır. Reel opsiyon yaklaşımı karar vericilere, geleneksel değerleme yöntemlerindeki bu yetersizliklerin üstesinden gelme olanağını sunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, reel opsiyonları temel alan bir yaklaşımla, birden fazla opsiyonun birarada yer aldığı bir KKP sistemi yatırımının değerlemesine imkan tanıyan bir model önerilmektedir. Binom ağacı modelini temel alarak geliştirilen değerleme modelinin yapısı KKP yatırım fırsatının bünyesindeki birleşik opsiyonları değerlemeye imkan tanıyacak şekilde genişletilmiş ve dolayısıyla karar vericilere yeni bir katma değer sunulmuştur. Geliştirilen modelin potansiyel uygulaması gerçek bir HBS yatırımı değerlemesiyle gösterilmektedir. Yapılan uygulama geleneksel değerleme yöntemlerince kabul edilir görülmeyen yatırımların bile, bünyelerinde barındırdıkları stratejik ve yönetsel unsurlar sayesinde ve gelecekte oluşması muhtemel koşullar dahilinde kabul edilebilir bir hal alabileceğini ortaya koymaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: KKP yatırımlarının değerlemesi, reel opsiyonlar, birleşik opsiyonlar, opsiyon değerleme modelleri.Nowadays in order to improve the quality of care delivery and reduce costs, healthcare organizations globally recognize the importance of investing in information technologies (IT). The key drivers of healthcare sector like continuous improvement of healthcare standards and insurance systems have introduced new requirements for hospitals, which in return provided a solid ground for decision-makers to consider implementing hospital information system investment. Hospital information systems (HIS) are the customized and improved versions of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, designed according to the needs and the requirements of healthcare sector. It has been always difficult to value such investments in monetary terms due to their complex nature. This type of investments also has many inherent benefits that can provide significant competitive advantages. These inherent benefits can only be viable for decision support if strategic and managerial flexibilities can be utilized. However, traditional capital budgeting techniques, such as net present value (NPV), do not enable decision-makers to consider these flexibilities. Due to its idle valuation approach, NPV only considers a static scenario that ignores the possible dynamic changes in the market affecting future cash flows and interest rates. NPV's passive commitment strategy also forces the decision-makers pre-committing today to a "go" or "no-go" decision considering information only available today. Thus, it is clear that the traditional NPV methods ignore the value of managerial and strategic flexibility inherent in the investments which undermines a company's strategic opportunities. Investment science experts agreed that it is a must to integrate financial and strategic issues and study them together for making an investment decision. Recognizing the shortcomings of traditional NPV methods, real options (RO) technique has been suggested as an alternative approach. RO whose methodology is based upon financial options theory enable the decisions makers to analyze the true value of a real life investment opportunity through better modeling of the uncertainty within the investment. RO method does not only value the managerial flexibility through the investment horizon, it also supports and expands the firm's strategic frame. It gives a road map to the managers to optimize the medium and long-term strategies according to the expectations. RO can be categorized to six main managerial options according to the flexibility they have: option to defer, option to stage, option to expand/contract, option to abandon, option to switch and growth option. In a real-life investment scenario it is usually viable to have more than one real option concurrently. The first applications of real options are about mining and operating natural resource investments. Besides, the new application areas for RO are growing rapidly. Regardless of an industry, it can be used in many cases like entering a new market, deciding the initial scale of an investment, scaling up or down in the future according to the needs, managing multi-staged complex projects, and freezing up or completely ending an investment. Developing with dynamic market conditions due to the continuous improvements, IT investments are also an appropriate application area for RO. This study introduces a RO based methodology that enables decision-makers to value an ERP system investment incorporating multiple options. The option valuation model developed in this study extends the binomial lattice framework to model an ERP investment opportunity with compound options. The potential application of the proposed model is presented to evaluate an HIS implementation project of a Turkish health care organization. For this purpose, considering the ever changing dynamics of the market affecting possible cash flows, a computer-based decision support framework is developed to provide a flexible and efficient solution to decision-makers. In this manner, for simulating various possible future market conditions, different scenarios are generated via triggering conditional changes in model variables and parameters. Results are interpreted with tables and graphs for submitting a thorough road map to decision-makers that can be utilized as a managerial asset for understanding the interactions between model parameters. Further investigations have shown that even an investment that is not approved to be undertaken with traditional valuation methods, can be valuable for a firm considering the strategic and managerial flexibilities inherent in the investment, with the effect of the possible market conditions in the future. Thus, it is also emphasized that real options approach generally presents a new point of view for valuing IT investment projects. Keywords: Evaluation of ERP investments, real options, compound options, option valuation models

The role of personal experience and prior beliefs in shaping climate change perceptions: A narrative review

Global climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, and flooding. This is the primary way many individuals experience climate change, which has led researchers to investigate the influence of personal experience on climate change concern and action. However, existing evidence is still limited and in some cases contradictory. At the same time, behavioral decision research has highlighted the importance of pre-existing values and beliefs in shaping how individuals experience changes in environmental conditions. This is in line with theories of motivated reasoning, which suggest that people interpret and process information in a biased manner to maintain their prior beliefs. Yet, the evidence for directional motivated reasoning in the context of climate change beliefs has recently been questioned. In the current paper, we critically review the literature on the interrelationships between personal experience of local weather anomalies, extreme weather events and climate change beliefs. Overall, our review shows that there is some evidence that local warming can generate climate change concern, but the capacity for personal experience to promote action may rely upon the experience first being attributed to climate change. Rare extreme weather events will likely have limited impact on judgments and decisions unless they have occurred recently. However, even recent events may have limited impact among individuals who hold strong pre-existing beliefs rejecting the reality of climate change. We identify limitations of existing research and suggest directions for future work

Near-optimal modified base stock policies for the capacitated inventory problem with stochastic demand and fixed cost

In this study, we investigate a single-item, periodic-review inventory problem where the production capacity is limited and unmet demand is backordered. We assume that customer demand in each period is a stationary, discrete random variable. Linear holding and backorder cost are charged per unit at the end of a period. In addition to the variable cost charged per unit ordered, a positive fixed ordering cost is incurred with each order given. The optimization criterion is the minimization of the expected cost per period over a planning horizon. We investigate the infinite horizon problem by modeling the problem as a discrete-time Markov chain. We propose a heuristic for the problem based on a particular solution of this stationary model, and conduct a computational study on a set of instances, providing insight on the performance of the heuristic. © 2014 World Scientific Publishing Co

Psychological factors related to time to help-seeking for cancer symptoms: A meta-analysis across cancer sites.

The time patients wait before seeking help for cancer symptoms is among the most important factors contributing to diagnostic delays in cancer. We reviewed the association between time to help-seeking and three psychological factors: symptom knowledge, symptom interpretation, and beliefs about cancer (Prospero review protocol CRD42018088944). Forty-seven studies published between 1990 and 2019 met the inclusion criteria, providing data on 44,961 participants from 22 countries concerning seven cancer sites. A series of random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions were conducted. Better symptom knowledge was related to lower odds of a long help-seeking interval in both studies with healthy populations (OR = .73, 95% CI [.63, .84], k = 19) and with patients (OR = .40, 95% CI [.23, .69], k = 12), and so was interpreting experienced symptoms as cancer-related (OR = .52, 95% CI [.36, .75], k = 13 studies with patients). More positive beliefs about cancer (i.e., that cancer is treatable) were associated with lower odds of a long help-seeking interval in both studies with healthy populations (OR = .70, 95% CI [.52, .92], k = 11) and with patients (OR = .51, 95% CI [.32, .82], k = 7). Symptom knowledge, interpretation, and beliefs about cancer are likely to be universal predictors of help-seeking. Theoretical models of patient help-seeking and interventions aiming to reduce delays should incorporate these factors

Immunohistochemical neuroinflammatory markers in the hippocampus of PTZ-kindled rats under conditions of rapamycin and axitinib treatment

The aim of the study is to determine the level of HIF-1α, TNF-α, and NF-kB in the hippocampus of kindled rats treated with rapamycin and axitinib. Materials and methods. Kindling was produced in 29 rats by administration of three-week pentylenetetrazole (PTZ, 35.0 mg/kg, i.p.). Treatment with rapamycin (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) and axitinib (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) was performed for ten days in fully kindled rats. The avidin-biotin-peroxidase method was used for hippocampal slice staining. For negative control, staining was performed using only secondary antibodies. Results. The HIF-1α expression increased in kindled rats raised by 1.77 times compared to the control (p<0.001). Axitinib treatment resulted in of HIF-1α level of 16.7 % (p<0.05) compared with kindled animals, while combined treatment with rapamycin and axitinib reduced HIF-1α by 33.8 % (p<0.01). In kindled rats, TNF-α expression was 3.74 times greater than in control (p<0.001). Rapamycin treatment reduced TNF-α by 31.0 % (p<0.01). Axitinib treatment caused a reduction of TNF-α by 21.1 % (p<0.05). Combined treatment with rapamycin and axitinib reduced TNF-α by 48.0 % (p<0.001) but still exceeded the TNF-α in control by 1.95 times (p<0.01). NF-kB level in kindled rats exceeded the control by three times (p0.05), while axitinib – by 26.5 % (p<0.05) compared with kindled rats. Combined treatment with rapamycin and axitinib resulted in NF-kB reduction by 56.7 % compared with kindled rats (p<0.001). Conclusions. PTZ-kindling resulted in an increase in the immunoreactivity of HIF-1α, TNF-α, and NF-kB in the hippocampus. Combined treatment with rapamycin and axitinib engendered prevention of generalized seizures and normalized the level of HIF-1α and NF-kB with a significant reduction of TNF-α. Effects of treatment favours of synergy action of rapamycin and axitini

Enrollee Characteristics in an Intensive Tobacco Dependence Treatment Program: The Relationship of Race and Sex to Demographic Factors and Tobacco Use Patterns

Intensive tobacco treatment programs offer many advantages relative to other treatment options, particularly for more complex patients, e.g., highly nicotine dependent, or those with medical and psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Efforts to better understand those who choose to enroll in these programs, particularly regarding the characteristics they possess known to mediate outcomes, are important considerations in tailoring available services. In this study, we examined how participants differed on key descriptive and tobacco use variables within race (i.e., African-American, Caucasian) and sex subgroups. Baseline characteristics from a large group of consecutive program enrollees were examined across targeted subgroups. Strong racial effects and some sex effects were noted for marital status, education, employment and health insurance status, alcohol consumption, presence of medical and psychiatric disorders, as well as participant tobacco use patterns and tobacco use rates of family, friends and coworkers. The differences in participant tobacco use measures across race and sex factors remained significant after adjusting for the confounding effects of all other covariates. These findings have implications for characterizing key patient subgroups who present at tobacco treatment clinics. Such information may contribute to options for tailoring treatment regimens