Photo-based narratives as communication mediators between grandparents and their children and grandchildren living abroad

Media-sharing Web sites are facilitating modern versions of storytelling activities. This study investigates the use of photo-based narratives to support young parents who are geographically separated from their aging parents to share stories about their young children. The case analyses Malaysian young mothers living in the UK, communicating regularly with their families back home, sharing experiences living in another country, looking for parenting advice, and opening opportunities for sharing the life and development of their young children. Sixteen families participated in the study by providing access to their social networking and web spaces and participating in exercises for creating photo stories. We identified the characteristics of the mediating system serving to establish the contact between grandparents and grandchildren as well as the characteristics of the photo stories and the practices around sharing them.     

Metabolomic approach for understanding phenolic compounds and melanoidin roles on antioxidant activity of Indonesia robusta and arabica coffee extracts

Our experiments investigated roles of phenolic compounds and melanoidins on antioxidant activity of Indonesia robusta and arabica coffee extracts. The 2,2,-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and a ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method were used to determine the antioxidant activity. An increase in the roasting degree (green, light, medium, and dark) reduced phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of coffee extracts, but enhanced melanoidin content. Principle component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that phenolic compounds showed stronger effects on antioxidant activity of coffee extracts in comparison with melanoidins. This finding was supported by the results of metabolomic fingerprint by partial least square (PLS), which describes the correlation of functional groups of coffee extracts on antioxidant activity. Based on the PLS analysis, hydroxyl groups (O–H) were observed to show a positive correlation, but carbonyl (C=O) and amine (N–H) groups were attributed to a negative correlation on antioxidant activity of coffee extracts.     

Degradation of recalcitrant compounds from stabilized landfill leachate using a combination of ozone-GAC adsorption treatment

Laboratory experiments were undertaken to investigate the treatment performances of ozonation alone and/or its combination with granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption for raw leachate from the NENT landfill (in Hong Kong). To improve its removal of recalcitrant contaminants from the leachate, the surface of GAC was oxidized with ozone prior to treatment. With respect to ozone dose and pH, the removal of COD and/or NH(3)-N from ozonation alone and combined ozone-GAC adsorption were evaluated and compared to those of other physico-chemical treatments in some reported studies. The removal mechanism of recalcitrant compounds by ozone-GAC adsorption treatment was presented. Among the various treatments studied, the combination of ozone-GAC adsorption using ozone-modified GAC had the highest removal for COD (86%) and/or NH(3)-N (92%) compared to ozonation alone (COD: 35%; NH(3)-N: 50%) at the same initial COD and/or NH(3)-N concentrations of 8000 and 2620 mg/L, respectively. Although the integrated treatment was more effective than ozonation alone for treating stabilized leachate, the results suggested that it could not generate treated effluent that complied with the COD limit of lower than 200 mg/L and the NH(3)-N discharge standard of less than 5 mg/L. Therefore, further biological treatments to complement the degradation of the leachate are still required to meet the environmental legislation.     

Organotin polymers. IX. Copolymerization parameters of di-(tri-n-butyltin) itaconate with styrene and methyl methacrylate

Copolymerization reactions of di-(tri-n-butyltin) itaconate with styrene and methyl methacrylate were carried out in solution at 70°C using 1 mol% azobisisobutyronitrile as a free radical initiator. The copolymer compositions were determined by chemical analysis as well as from ¹H-NMR data. The monomer reactivity ratios for copolymerizations of di-(tri-n-butyltin) itaconate with styrene and methyl methacrylate have been found to be r₁ = 0.228, r₂ = 0.677, and r₁ = 0.220, r₂ = 1.635, respectively. The sequence distribution of the triad fractions were calculated from reactivity ratios and compared with those obtained from ¹H-NMR data.     

Decision support for integrated refinery supply chains: Part 1. Dynamic simulation

Supply chain studies are increasingly given top priority in enterprise-wide management. Present-day supply chains involve numerous, heterogeneous, geographically distributed entities with varying dynamics, uncertainties, and complexity. The performance of a supply chain relies on the quality of a multitude of design and operational decisions made by the various entities. In this two-part paper, we demonstrate that a dynamic model of an integrated supply chain can serve as a valuable quantitative tool that aids in such decision-making. In this Part 1, we present a dynamic model of an integrated refinery supply chain. The model explicitly considers the various supply chain activities such as crude oil supply and transportation, along with intra-refinery supply chain activities such as procurement planning, scheduling, and operations management. Discrete supply chain activities are integrated along with continuous production through bridging procurement, production, and demand management activities. Stochastic variations in transportation, yields, prices, and operational problems are considered in the proposed model. The economics of the refinery supply chain includes consideration of different crude slates, product prices, operation costs, transportation, etc. The proposed model has been implemented as a dynamic simulator, called Integrated Refinery In-Silico (IRIS). IRIS allows the user the flexibility to modify not only parameters, but also replace different policies and decision-making algorithms in a plug-and-play manner. It thus allows the user to simulate and analyze different policies, configurations, uncertainties, etc., through an easy-to-use graphical interface. The capabilities of IRIS for strategic and tactical decision support are illustrated using several case studies.     

Supply chain risk identification using a HAZOP‐based approach

Risk management has become imperative for today's complex supply chains. Most approaches reported in the literature have been ad‐hoc and specific to certain risks; a general and comprehensive approach is lacking. To address this, we present a structured methodology for risk identification. Supply chain networks are in many ways similar to chemical plants, therefore well‐established methods and concepts from chemical process risk management can be adapted to supply chains. Drawing from this analogy, we propose to represent supply chain structure and operations using flow and work‐flow diagrams, equivalent to process flow diagrams (PFDs) and operating procedures. Following the HAZard and OPerability (HAZOP) analysis method common in process safety, risk identification can be performed by systematically generating deviations in different supply chain parameters and identifying their possible causes, consequences, safeguards, and mitigating actions. The application and benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated using a refinery supply chain case study. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

Selective microwave absorption in Nd3+ substituted barium ferrite composites

Microwave(MW) frequency based wireless communications and electronic devices became prospective due to several ramifications.To meet this need,a series of neodymium ions(Nd3+) substituted barium ferrite composites with composition(20)BaO:(80-x)Fe_2 O_3:(x)Nd_2 O_3(0≤x≤3 mol%) was prepared at1100℃using solid-state reaction method.We evaluated the effect of various Nd3+ions contents on the surface morphology,structure,and magnetic properties of the as-synthesized barium ferrite composites.Meanwhile,microwave reflection loss,complex permittivity and permeability were determined using the transmission/reflection line method in the X-band(8—12 GHz).SEM image of the composites shows that the surface morphology consists of rough and porous microstructures.XRD patterns of the un-doped composites reveal the existence of BaFe_(12)O_(19)(hexagonal) and Fe_(21.333)O_(32)(tetragonal) crystalline phases.Furthermore,a new hexagonal crystalline phase of Ba_6 Nd_2 Fe_4 O_(15) with the crystallite sizes between 15 and 67 nm is observed due to Nd3+ions substitution in the composite.The saturation magnetization of the composite containing 2 mol% of Nd3+does not exhibit any significant alteration compared to the one devoid of Nd3+.The complex relative permitivity and permeability of the achieved composites enriched in Ba_6 Nd_2 Fe_4 O_(15) and BaFe_2 O_4 phases disclose significant MW frequency dependence.The composites also display selective MW absorption in the X-band which could be useful for diverse applications.     

Droplet-based microreactor system for stepwise recovery of precious metal ions from real metal waste with calix[4]arene derivatives

ABSTRACT

Stepwise recovery of silver(I), palladium(II) and platinum(IV) with suitable calix[4]arene extractants was carried out by investigating the extraction and stripping process using a droplet-based microreactor system. The highest percentages of silver, palladium (100%) and platinum ion (37.2%) were extracted from a real waste only within 4.00s using a microreactor system compared with 24 and 72 h to reach extraction equilibrium in a batch method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies revealed a very good relation in peak shifts on the metal complexation with calix[4]arene derivatives after extraction and stripping. The droplet-based microreactor system emerges as an effective tool to be applied in metal recovery.     

Energy-Efficient Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks with Static Clustering and Dynamic Structure

Data gathering is an essential operation in wireless sensor networks. For periodic data gathering applications, each sensor node has data that must be sent to a distant base station in a round of communication. Due to the limited battery power of sensor nodes, each sensor node transmitting its sensed data to the base station directly significantly consumes its energy. This work presents a hierarchical ring-based data gathering (HRDG) scheme for dense wireless sensor networks. A hierarchical grid structure is constructed, and only some sensor nodes are elected as grid heads for gathering data, subsequently reducing the total energy consumption per round. Grid heads are then organized into hierarchical rings to decrease the transmission delay of a round. The proposed HRDG scheme focuses on reducing the energy × delay cost in a round of data gathering. Moreover, the energy × delay cost of HRDG is analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the proposed HRDG scheme outperforms other data gathering schemes in terms of the number of rounds, the energy × delay cost and coverage ratio.     

Modified Ponorogo bentonite for the removal of ampicillin from wastewater

The adsorption of ampicillin onto natural and organo-bentonite was studied. Organo-bentonite was obtained by modifying the natural bentonite obtained from Ponorogo, Indonesia, using CTAB surfactant by microwave heating. The temperature dependent form of the Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and Toth equations was employed to correlate equilibrium data. Based on the evaluation of the physical meaning of fitted isotherm parameters of each model, it is clear that Toth equation can represent the equilibrium data better than other models. The adsorption performance of natural and organo-bentonite for the removal of ampicillin from pharmaceutical company wastewater was also studied. In real wastewater, both adsorbents could not completely remove the ampicillin due to the sorption competition with other substances which also present in the wastewater.