1,030 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
Polymorphus trochus Van Cleave 1945
No full textPolymorphus trochus Van Cleave, 1945 Host: Anas platyrhynchos Locality: Gilan Province (Ranjandish 1971), Esfahan Province (Pestechian 1990)Published as part of Tavakol, Sareh, Amin, Omar M., Luus-Powell, Wilmien J. & Halajian, Ali, 2015, The acanthocephalan fauna of Iran, a check list, pp. 237-258 in Zootaxa 4033 (2) on page 247, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4033.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/23377
Polymorphus boschadis Railliet 1919
No full textPolymorphus boschadis (Schrank, 1788) Railliet, 1919 Host: Anas crecca Locality: Gilan Province (Ranjandish 1971)Published as part of Tavakol, Sareh, Amin, Omar M., Luus-Powell, Wilmien J. & Halajian, Ali, 2015, The acanthocephalan fauna of Iran, a check list, pp. 237-258 in Zootaxa 4033 (2) on page 247, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4033.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/23377
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
Corynosoma tunita Weiss 1914
No full textCorynosoma tunita Weiss, 1914 Host: Anas crecca Locality: Gilan Province (Ranjandish 1971)Published as part of Tavakol, Sareh, Amin, Omar M., Luus-Powell, Wilmien J. & Halajian, Ali, 2015, The acanthocephalan fauna of Iran, a check list, pp. 237-258 in Zootaxa 4033 (2) on page 247, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4033.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/23377
CT Stages of Breast Cancer in Newly Diagnosed Libyan Patients
No full textThe main objective of this study was to look into Libyan female breast cancer patients\u27 delayed diagnosis and how it affected their disease stage. The study relied on a multidetector CT scan to check for distant metastases because a PET scan was unavailable. According to the study highlighted in this thesis, 43.9% of patients received a diagnosis more than six months after their initial test, with a median diagnosis time for women with breast cancer being 4.9 months. According to the CT scan stages of breast cancer, the clinical stage distribution was 21% stage IV, 35.9% stage III, 34.4% stage II, and only 8.8% stage I. An important factor contributing to the delay in diagnosis was the recipient\u27s inappropriate reassurance that the lump was benign. The delay in diagnosis was associated with a significantly larger tumor size (p<0.0001), positive lymph nodes (p<0.0001), and a higher incidence of late clinical stage (p<0.0001). According to the results of this study, delay in diagnosis is a major concern in Libya and is related to multifaceted interactions between a set of variables which can result in advanced cancer stages and potentially high mortality rates. To encourage early detection, screening centers must be set up and breast cancer awareness campaigns must be elevated
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
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