530 research outputs found
Infrastructure bottlenecks, private provision, and industrial productivity : a study of Indonesian and Thai cities
No full textThis research project followed an earlier similar project on Nigeria, applying the same methods. A sample of manufacturers was surveyed to document their responses to infrastructure deficiencies in electricity, water, transport, telecommunications, and waste disposal. They found the manufacturers undertook significant expenditures to offset deficiencies in publicly provided infrastructure services, and that changing public policy toward privately supplied infrastructure and changing the pricing of public infrastructure could yield significant savings in social costs. Thailand and Indonesia have made significant strides in following the policies for private sector participation in infrastructure provision. Nigeria, where public infrastructure monopolies still dominate, lags behind, yet stands to benefit most from such policy reform. Government policy toward the industrial organization and pricing of infrastructure sectors can significantly help a developing economy realize the benefits of private sector participation in the provision of infrastructure services.Banks&Banking Reform,Decentralization,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Urban Services to the Poor,Urban Services to the Poor,Public Sector Economics&Finance
A pollen analytical study of faeces from wiegon, Anas penelope . A case study
No full textPollen analysis of faeces from bird (also mammals (King 1977)) gives important additional information about attractive and nutrient rich pla nt fodder hardly traceable using macro analysis or by field observation (e.g. Kaasa 1959, n.n 2009). Despite the Anas penelope case study is based on a minimum of samples, new nutrient rich taxa not recorded during field observation are found. References to broader studies are give
Produksi Bahan Bakar Cair Hasil Perengkahan Katalitik Limbah Plastik Polistirena (PS) dan Ko-reaktan Biodiesel Minyak Jelantah Menggunakan Katalis Al-MCM-41/Keramik
No full textBahan bakar cair telah berhasil didapatkan menggunakan metode perengkahan katalitik. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada limbah plastik polistirena (PS) menggunakan dan tanpa katalis Al-MCM-41/Keramik untuk menghasilkan fraksi hidrokarbon. Efek dari katalis, waktu perengkahan katalitik, dan penambahan ko-reaktan biodiesel minyak jelantah pada hasil dan fraksi hidrokarbon telah diteliti. Katalis yang digunakan dikarakterisasi menggunakan XRD, SEM, Adsorpsi-desorpsi N2, FTIR-Piridin, dan hasil perengkahan dianalisa menggunakan Kromatografi Gas-Spektroskopi Massa (KG-SM). Hasil analisa GC-MS menunjukkan bahwa komponen kimia hasil perengkahan PS, PS/Kat60, dan PS/Kat120 tersusun dari hidrokarbon aromatik. Komponen senyawa hidrokarbon aromatik maksimum mencapai 99,87% pada PS/Kat120. Komponen kimia untuk perengkahan katalitik PS/BMJ/Kat60 dan PS/BMJ/Kat120 terdapat senyawa metil ester. Senyawa metil ester PS/BMJ/Kat60 sebesar 47,42%, menurun pada PS/BMJ/Kat120 menjadi 39,31% serta terbentuk hidrokarbon alifatik sebesar 22,16%. Campuran bahan bakar cair jenis CPS/Kat memiliki efisiensi termal tertinggi sebesar 26,49%, dengan karakteristik nilai densitas 0,7405 g/cm3, viskositas 0,3436 cSt, titik nyala -49,4 oC, dan nilai kalor 9743,87 kkal/kg.
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Liquid fuel has been obtained successfully by cracking method. This research was carried out on polystyrene plastic waste (PS) with and without Al-MCM-41/Ceramics catalyst to produce hydrocarbon fractions. The effect of the catalyst, time of catalytic cracking, and waste cooking oil biodiesel on the results and properties of hydrocarbons have been investigated. The catalyst used were characterized by XRD, SEM, Adsorption-desorption N2, FTIR-Pyridine, and cracking result were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). The GC-MS analysis results showed that the chemical component of PS, PS/Kat60, and PS/Kat120 are composed aromatic hydrocarbons. The maximum component of aromatic hydrocarbon compunds reaches 99.87% in PS/Kat120. The pyrolysis of PS/BMJ/Kat60 and PS/BMJ/Kat120 produce a methyl ester compound. Methyl ester compound of PS/BMJ/Kat60 reached 47.42%, decreased in PS/BMJ/Kat120 to 39.31% and aliphatic hydrocarbons formed by 22.16%. The performance of a mixture of liquid fuel CPS/Kat has the highest thermal efficiency of 26.49%, with a density value of 0.7405 g/cm3, flash point -49.4oC, viscosity of 0.3436 cSt, and calorific value of 9743.87 kcal/kg
Electrochemistry as a Powerful Tool for Investigations of Antineoplastic Agents: A Comprehensive Review
No full textCancer is most frequently treated with antineoplastic agents (ANAs) that are hazardous to patients undergoing chemotherapy and the healthcare workers who handle ANAs in the course of their duties. All aspects related to hazardous oncological drugs illustrate that the monitoring of ANAs is essential to minimize the risks associated with these drugs. Among all analytical techniques used to test ANAs, electrochemistry holds an important position. This review, for the first time, comprehensively describes the progress done in electrochemistry of ANAs by means of a variety of bare or modified (bio)sensors over the last four decades (in the period of 1982–2021). Attention is paid not only to the development of electrochemical sensing protocols of ANAs in various biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical matrices but also to achievements of electrochemical techniques in the examination of the interactions of ANAs with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), carcinogenic cells, biomimetic membranes, peptides, and enzymes. Other aspects, including the enantiopurity studies, differentiation between single-stranded and double-stranded DNA without using any label or tag, studies on ANAs degradation, and their pharmacokinetics, by means of electrochemical techniques are also commented. Finally, concluding remarks that underline the existence of a significant niche for the basic electrochemical research that should be filled in the future are presented.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Micro and Nano Engineerin
True eddy accumulation trace gas flux measurements: proof of concept
No full textMicrometeorological methods to quantify fluxes of atmospheric constituents are key to understanding and managing the impact of land surface sources and sinks on air quality and atmospheric composition. Important greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Further important atmospheric constituents are aerosols, which impact air quality and cloud formation, and volatile organic compounds. Many atmospheric constituents therefore critically affect the health of ecosystems and humans, as well as climate. The micrometeorological eddy covariance (EC) method has evolved as the method of choice for CO2 and water vapor flux measurements using fast-response gas analyzers. While the EC method has also been used to measure other atmospheric constituents including methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone, the often relatively small fluxes of these constituents over ecosystems are much more challenging to measure using eddy covariance than CO2 and water vapor fluxes. For many further atmospheric constituents, eddy covariance is not an option due to the lack of sufficiently accurate and fast-response gas analyzers. Therefore, alternative flux measurement methods are required for the observation of atmospheric constituent fluxes for which no fast-response gas analyzers exist or which require more accurate measurements. True eddy accumulation (TEA) is a direct flux measurement technique capable of using slow-response gas analyzers. Unlike its more frequently used derivative, known as the relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) method, TEA does not require the use of proxies and is therefore superior to the indirect REA method. The true eddy accumulation method is by design ideally suited for measuring a wide range of trace gases and other conserved constituents transported with the air. This is because TEA obtains whole air samples and is, in combination with constituent-specific fast or slow analyzers, a universal method for conserved scalars. Despite the recognized value of the method, true eddy accumulation flux measurements remain very challenging to perform as they require fast and dynamic modulation of the air sampling mass flow rate proportional to the magnitude of the instantaneous vertical wind velocity. Appropriate techniques for dynamic mass flow control have long been unavailable, preventing the unlocking of the TEA method's potential for more than 40 years. Recently, a new dynamic and accurate mass flow controller which can resolve turbulence at a frequency of 10 Hz and higher has been developed by the first author. This study presents the proof of concept that practical true eddy accumulation trace gas flux measurements are possible today using dynamic mass flow control, advanced real-time processing of wind measurements, and fully automatic gas handling. We describe setup and methods of the TEA and EC reference flux measurements. The experiment was conducted over grassland and comprised 7 d of continuous flux measurements at 30 min flux integration intervals. The results show that fluxes obtained by TEA compared favorably to EC reference flux measurements, with coefficients of determination of up to 86 % and a slope of 0.98. We present a quantitative analysis of uncertainties of the mass flow control system, the gas analyzer, and gas handling system and their impact on trace gas flux uncertainty, the impact of different approaches to coordinate rotation, and uncertainties of vertical wind velocity measurements. Challenges of TEA are highlighted and solutions presented. The current results are put into the context of previous works. Finally, based on the current successful proof of concept, we suggest specific improvements towards long-term and reliable true eddy accumulation flux measurements
ANAS Quality Evaluation Management System
No full textAbstractThe conditions of road structures, play a considerable role in relation to the duration of its operational suitability. In this way maintenance money is smart money because maintaining roads is not optional. It protects not only the asset investment, but keeps travelling safe for road users.The use of technology to assess the fatigue properties and the integrity of the load-bearing capacity is of vital importance. The evaluation of these critical parameters is used as a basis for the development of a method to determine the remaining useful life, to estimate the scope and intervals of maintenance by specific management software, and finally to improve quality and the resulting long operational suitability. The subsequent lower number of necessary road works will generate financial savings and in general optimization of available resources. These objectives will be met by employing automated measuring systems to replace manual methods. An automated measurement system is less resource and time consuming and provides a greater quantity of useful data while considerably reducing traffic interference.The ANAS Quality Evaluation Management System (QEMS) is an innovative tool that enables the collection, the analysis and the evaluation of all the information related to road pavement, both for new construction projects and maintenance of existing roads. Beside this, the system issues on-time quality reports which include information about the progress and the quality of the activities, and information about the performances of the Key Suppliers (KS). Based on this, the QEMS aims to allow monitoring the specific quality performance of each and all activities carried by the KS. In addition, it can be used by each KS, who is allowed accessing solely its own results. This interactive tool is proposed as a support to enhance the quality of road construction by providing a synthetic and on-time analysis of performances to put in place fast and optimized solutions the first time.In the QEMS, each project is divided into several audit areas each characterized by a unique pavement structure. Then, in each Audit Area, the activities of each KS (e.g., laying, compaction), are audited acquiring selected information (laboratory test data, on site audit, management quality audit), defined as parameters, which represent the evaluation criteria to assess quality and whose results, converted in normalized scores, represent the Quality Indicators (QIs). Within the same audit area all the activities are organized into a hierarchical structure, called Activity Tree, where their quality depends on the quality and the weight factors of activities and parameters at lower levels.This paper describes the concepts behind the QEMS, which is the result of an ANAS significant Project. It includes the system configuration adapted to road work construction. However, the QEMS shows flexibility that enables its application to other civil engineering construction activities such as building, bridges and ports in general.Implementing the most cutting-edge technologies allows not just the construction of world-class roads, but also the optimization of the maintaining costs
Experimental transmission of Sarcocystis sp. (Protozoa: Sarcocystidae) between the shoveler (Anas clypeata) duck and the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis)
No full textMuscle containing macroscopic cysts of Sarcocystis sp. from naturally infected wild shoveler (Anas clypeata) ducks was fed to two captive striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis). The skunks passed sporocysts in their feces beginning 19 and 22 days post-infection, and continued to pass small numbers of sporocysts sporadically to 63 and 51 days post-infection, respectively. Sporocysts from the skunks were administered orally to four laboratory-reared shovelers. No cysts were found in ducks examined 56 and 84 days post-infection. One duck examined at 85 days post-infection had many microscopic cysts in its skeletal muscle. The remaining duck had numerous small macroscopic cysts in muscle at 154 days post-infection. A skunk fed muscle from this duck began to pass sporocysts on day 18 post-infection. All cysts in muscle (natural and experimental infection) had irregular cauliflower-like projections of the primary cyst wall.LR: 20061115; PUBM: Print; JID: 0244160; ppublishSource type: Electronic(1
The Narrative of Criminal Behaviour in Indonesian Literature by Female Author: Psychosocial Criminology Perspective
No full textCriminology studies, currently, are the most discussed subject from interdisciplinary perspectives. Hence, in this research, Indonesian literature written by the female author is studied using a psychosocial criminology perspective. One of the female authors in Indonesia who brings up criminology in her literary work is Dewi Lestari. She is an Indonesian novelist. The research problems are 1) How criminology depicted in Indonesian literature written by the female author is, and 2) Types of criminology depicted in Indonesian literature written by a female author. The method used in this research is qualitative interpretative. The collecting data technique in the literature study. The result shows that criminology in Indonesian literature is depicted explicitly. Whereas, types of criminology in Indonesian literature written by the female author are corruption, sex crimes, and transnational crimes related to endangered animal trade
Bacteriocin production of Lactobacillus sp. from intestines of ducks (Anas domesticus L.) incubated at room temperature and antibacterial effectivity against pathogen
No full textBacteriocin is a peptide that is easily degraded by proteolytic enzymes in the digestive systems of animals,including humans. It has antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria. Lactobacillus sp. is one type of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that occupies the intestines of ducks (Anas domesticus L.). The purpose of this research was to determine the optimum time of the highest protein production by Lactobacillus sp. and to determine inhibitory activity of bacteriocin
against pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus). Using the Bradford method, the results showed that the optimum time of highest bacteriocin production was after 36 hours of incubation, with a protein content of 0.93 mg/ml. The bacteriocin inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli showed that a protein concentration of 30% gave a maximum inhibition index of 1.1 mm, while for Staphylococcus aureus, a concentration of 70% gave a maximum inhibition
index of 0.3 mm. Further research is required to determine the stationary state of bacteriocin production in this
circumstance
Replication of low pathogenic avian influenza virus in naturally infected Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) causes no morphologic lesions
No full textAlthough the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is considered an important maintenance host for low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses, viral cell tropism and pathology in naturally infected birds are largely unknown. In August 2006, we collected 19 free-living hatch-year Mallards that were positive for LPAI virus by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) in combined oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs. We investigated virus infection and associated lesions in the digestive and respiratory tracts by RRT-PCR, virus culture, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and histology. By RRT-PCR, 15 birds were positive in cloacal bursa, colon/cloaca, or both, and three were positive in lungs. Virus was isolated from eight birds and typed as H2N3 (three birds), H3N3 (two birds), H3N8 (one bird), H4N6 (one bird), and H?N3 (one bird). By IHC, birds were positive in the cloacal bursa (eight birds), colon (three), cecum (two), or ileum (one). Cell types infected were superficial epithelial cells of the bursa and epithelial cells of the intestinal villi and, less commonly, mucosal glands. By histology, there was no evidence of lesions associated with LPAI virus infection. These results show that epithelia of the cloacal bursa and of the lower intestine are important sites of natural LPAI virus infection in free-living hatch-year Mallards. The lack of lesions associated with this infection suggests that there is a strong selection by LPAI virus to cause minimal virulence in this maintenance host species
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