Upgraded Tool Research Articles

From sleeping beauty to proven solution: The transformation of land readjustment into an informal settlement upgrading tool

Land readjustment (LR) has undergone a significant transformation, evolving from a private-owner-centric mechanism to a proven tool for upgrading low-income, informal settlements. This article traces the efforts by multilateral and bilateral organisations, along with think tanks, to promote LR as both a relevant and implementable tool in the Global South. It delineates three distinct phases in LR's evolution: its initial unsuccessful integration into the UN's Habitat I agenda in 1976, a subsequent phase of recalibration aimed at broadening its applications and outreach in the 2000s, and finally, its endorsement in 2018 as an effective tool for informal settlement upgrading. Focusing on the roles of policy mediators, including bilateral and multilateral organisations, the article sheds light on the practices, politics, and power dynamics at play in the movement and mutation of policy models. It also examines the conditions leading to success and instances where expected policy outcomes and their mobilisation failed to materialise.

Advancing students’ presentation skills using projects as assessment tasks

The century we are living in is a century of cutting-edge technologies. Currently, innovative technologies and modern upgraded tools or instruments are being widely used in every field. However, in the fast-paced era of progressive development, what may seem new and exciting today often becomes outdated tomorrow. This phenomenon is also evident in the realm of language teaching and learning. It is commonly known that recent developments in teaching and learning have introduced new and advanced approaches to higher education too. The rapid progress in technology and educational advancements has compelled educators to explore and adopt best practices in their teaching methods

Kinetics and structural design of ZSM-5@SiC foam catalytic packing in RD column for ethyl levulinate synthesis

Reactive distillation (RD) column is one of the important equipment to improve the reaction conversion limited by the chemical equilibrium, however, the application in industrial scale is still challenging due to the lack of efficient catalytic packing with corresponding kinetics and separation performances. This work developed the novel catalytic packing consists of the structured ZSM-5@SiC foam catalyst and corrugated sheet, which is used in RD for the synthesis of ethyl levulinate (EL). The results of X-ray CT characterization revealed that the structure of ZSM-5@SiC has significant effects on the kinetics and performances of RD column. The kinetic of structured ZSM-5@SiC foam catalyst was measured, and a novel kinetic model was developed regarding the “structure factor” of ZSM-5@SiC catalyst. Furthermore, the structural design of ZSM-5@SiC in RD column has been firstly performed based on the developed kinetics that was incorporated into Aspen Plus embedded FORTRAN. The results demonstrated excellent performance of the designed ZSM-5@SiC (EL yield 37.65 % with energy consumption 3695 kJ/kg) are achieved. Such findings in this work could serve as a tool for further upgrading of structured catalyst and application of RD column with ZSM-5@SiC foam catalytic packing.

Probability Distributions for Track Fitting and the Advanced Lucky Model

Probability distributions for the center of gravity are fundamental tools for track fitting. The center of gravity is a widespread algorithm for position reconstruction in tracker detectors for particle physics. Its standard use is always accompanied by an easy guess (Gaussian) for the probability distribution of the positioning errors. This incorrect assumption degrades the results of the fit. The explicit error forms evident Cauchy–Agnesi tails that render the use of variance minimizations problematic. Therefore, it is important to report probability distributions for some combinations of random variables essential for track fitting: x=ξ/(ξ+μ), y=(ξ−μ)/[2(ξ+μ)], w=ξ/μ, x=θ(x3−x1)(−x3)/(x3+x2)+θ(x1−x3)x1/(x1+x2) and x=(x1−x3)/(x1+x2+x3). The first two are partial forms of the two strip center of gravity. The fourth is the complete two strip center of gravity, and the fifth is a partial form of the three strip center of gravity. For the complexity of the forth equation, only approximate expressions of the probability are allowed. Analytical expressions are calculated assuming ξ, μ, x1, x2 and x3 independent Gaussian random variables. The analytical form of the probability for the two strip center of gravity allows one to construct an approximate proof for the lucky model of our previous paper. This proof also suggests how to complete the lucky model by its absence of a scaling constant, relevant to combine different detector types. This advanced lucky model (the super-lucky model) can be directly used in trackers composed of non-identical detectors. The construction of the super-lucky model is very simple. Simulations with this upgraded tool also show resolution improvements for a combination of two types of very different detectors, near to the resolutions of the schematic model.

A Technical Tool for Urban Upgrading: An Application for Cultural Heritage Preservation and Planning for Affordable Housing

A technical tool to support projects for urban reforms and the implementation of current land policies is presented together with an example for its application in a project concerning the preservation of privately-owned residential buildings listed as “protected” cultural heritage (CH) constructions, urban planning and planning for affordable housing provision. The projects should be based on the voluntary participation of current property owners and an agreement signed between them and the private developer (team of professionals), so that the project will be self-financed through value capture measures to be decided by the state. The application presented here is based on the assumption that the state, by example, has set the rules for an increase in FAR in order to apply affordable housing policy and the preservation of listed CH residential private constructions. The state also provides the rules for identifying the target group of beneficiaries for affordable housing. Current property owners contribute the land, while the developer’s team undertakes all project costs. New property units are shared accordingly with the developer, the current owners and the beneficiaries for affordable housing. No additional public funds for the “affordable housing” units or for expropriation of the protected CH buildings is required.

Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural with Primary Alcohols over Skeletal CuZnAl Catalysts.

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) with alcohols has been increasingly employed as effective tool for biomass upgrading, however, relying predominantly on secondary alcohols. Herein, for the first time skeletal CuZnAl catalysts were employed for the activation of a primary alcohol, ethanol, for the hydrogenation 5-hydroxymethylfurfual (HMF) to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) under a mild condition. The catalysts were extensively characterized to reveal the structure characteristics and surface compositions. Over 90 % yield of BHMF were obtained over the optimal CuZnAl-0.5 catalyst at the reaction temperatures of 100-120 °C. Reaction kinetics indicated a competitive adsorption between HMF and ethanol on the catalyst surface, with the activation of ethanol being the rate-determining step (apparent activation energy Ea =70.9 kJ mol-1 ). Preliminary adsorption investigation using combined attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory calculation proposed a η2 -(O,O)-aldehyde, furoxy perpendicular configuration of HMF on catalyst surface. The catalyst was further applied to the CTH of various aldehydes to the corresponding alcohols with high yields, demonstrating the broad applicability of the current system.

HPC-REDItools: a novel HPC-aware tool for improved large scale RNA-editing analysis

BackgroundRNA editing is a widespread co-/post-transcriptional mechanism that alters primary RNA sequences through the modification of specific nucleotides and it can increase both the transcriptome and proteome diversity. The automatic detection of RNA-editing from RNA-seq data is computational intensive and limited to small data sets, thus preventing a reliable genome-wide characterisation of such process.ResultsIn this work we introduce HPC-REDItools, an upgraded tool for accurate RNA-editing events discovery from large dataset repositories. Availability: https://github.com/BioinfoUNIBA/REDItools2.ConclusionsHPC-REDItools is dramatically faster than the previous version, REDItools, enabling big-data analysis by means of a MPI-based implementation and scaling almost linearly with the number of available cores.

Photonic curing of solution-deposited ZrO2 dielectric on PEN: a path towards high-throughput processing of oxide electronics

High-throughput manufacturing of oxide electronics will enable new applications ranging from large-area displays to flexible medical devices and low-cost solar panels. However, high-quality oxide films from solution-based precursors typically require 20 min or more of thermal annealing at high temperature (>250 °C) for each layer, severely limiting both the throughput and substrate choice. Here, we report high-speed photonic curing of ZrO2 dielectric thin films on flexible plastic substrates. The curing and patterning processes can be achieved simultaneously by using shadow mask patterning or adjusting conditions to convert oxide only on top of underlying metal contacts, i.e. self-aligned patterning. Metal–insulator–metal capacitors using two layers of ZrO2 films photonically cured in just 100 s per layer show non-dispersive capacitance–frequency behaviour from 102 to 106 Hz, high areal capacitance of 200 nF/cm2 and low dissipation factor of 0.03 at 105 Hz, leakage current density of ~10−7 A/cm2 at an applied field of 2 MV/cm, and a breakdown field of nearly 8 MV/cm. Using an upgraded tool, similar dielectric properties are achieved in as short as 100 ms using a single pulse of light, revealing a pathway to oxide film processing beyond 30 m/min.

Evaluation of ash composition and deposition tendencies of biomasses and torrefied products from woody and shrubby feedstocks: SRC poplar clones and common broom

This work intended to compare ash composition and deposition tendencies biomasses and of torrefied products of SRC poplar clones and common broom. These biomasses were assessed in a previous study as these delivering torrefied products with better fuel quality. Ash analysis for quantification of inorganic major and minor ash elements of biomasses and torrefied products was performed with an inductively coupled plasma- optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The ash melting profiles were experimentally determined. These results allowed the calculation of empirical indexes for evaluation of slagging and fouling tendencies. Independence was established between torrefaction dynamics properties such as mass loss, fixed carbon, volatiles and ash inorganic components for biomasses and torrefied products and with physical–chemical deposition indexes. Results showed that biomasses and torrefied products of common broom and in a lesser extent of AF2 and AF8 poplar clones were prone to a silicate melt induced slagging pattern, whilst the other poplar clones’ feedstocks should exhibit an alkali induced slagging profile. Correlation analysis showed different patterns of interconnectedness of ash elements and physical properties for biomasses and torrefied products. For example, initial deformation, hemispheric and flow temperature and alkali indexes were shown with higher relevance for characterization of slag/foul tendencies in biomasses and ash fusibility index, although fundamental for both feedstocks, were more influenced by oxides in torrefied biomasses. In non-torrefied products the major interaction of temperature indexes was observed with alkali indexes. The two databases generated in this work on ash composition and properties of biomasses and torrefied products can contribute to planning of research actions on biomass torrefaction as a tool for upgrading of solid biofuel qualities.

Residual Stress Distribution Analysis in Advanced Materials by Neutron Diffraction: The Case of Spherical Storage Tank Butt Weld

The two-axis diffractometer SPN-100 at the Center of Accelerators and Nuclear Analytical Methods (CANAM) in Řež, is a neutron diffraction instrument dedicated to residual stress analyses in polycrystalline materials, it has recently been equipped with a new two-dimensional position sensitive detector (2D-PSD) and a six-axis robotic arm for sample positioning. Recent results of strain/stress distribution measurements with the upgraded tools are presented. The measured materials are made of C-Mn unalloyed steel used for spherical storage tank. Welding-induced residual stresses have direct influence on ductility and toughness of both weld metal and heat affected zone of the weld area, which affect the service life time of structures. Normal, transversal and longitudinal components of the stresses obtained in the vicinity of the butt weld from a spherical storage tank were measured by neutron diffraction at CANAM.

Dressing the Coronal Magnetic Extrapolations of Active Regions with a Parameterized Thermal Structure

Abstract The study of time-dependent solar active region (AR) morphology and its relation to eruptive events requires analysis of imaging data obtained in multiple wavelength domains with differing spatial and time resolution, ideally in combination with 3D physical models. To facilitate this goal, we have undertaken a major enhancement of our IDL-based simulation tool, GX_Simulator, previously developed for modeling microwave and X-ray emission from flaring loops, to allow it to simulate quiescent emission from solar ARs. The framework includes new tools for building the atmospheric model and enhanced routines for calculating emission that include new wavelengths. In this paper, we use our upgraded tool to model and analyze an AR and compare the synthetic emission maps with observations. We conclude that the modeled magneto-thermal structure is a reasonably good approximation of the real one.

Deep Seismic Sounding Experiments in the Koyna RTS Region: An Overview of the Results

ABSTRACT The Koyna earthquake (M 6.3) of reservoir triggered seismicity (RTS) nature took place five decades back on December 10, 1967 in the Deccan Trap covered region of western India. This prompted a large number of both Indian and international geo-scientists to undertake various studies, particularly passive seismological studies with full vigour. In addition to these, active seismic studies, then known as deep seismic sounding (DSS), were carried out across and near the Koyna epicentral region to delineate the crustal velocity structure and geotectonic features of the region. Data acquisition along two DSS profiles was undertaken during 1975-78. The results of such rarely undertaken studies were widely utilised by the global earth scientists. Here we relook at the results published since 1981, and try to assess the global impact of DSS study on the research output during the last four decades. After giving a brief summary on the data acquisition, processing and results, we provide relevant information such as the Trap thickness, basement configuration, regional crustal and subcrustal velocity structures, and deep seated features like faults with a view to relate with earthquake activities. Some concluding observations have also been made discussing the accuracy and likely validity of the DSS results, obtained using the then acquired data and processing methods, and unlikely reprocessing of the data using upgraded tools. New active experiments in the Koyna region are being suggested, particularly to decide about the proper locations of the deep geophysical boreholes down to the hypocenters on the ‘mapped’ faults.

TRIPOLI-4 Simulation of Core Physics Parameters for Two 3600-MW(thermal) Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

To support the development of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs) of Generation IV nuclear energy systems and to study the use of the TRIPOLI-4® Monte Carlo code and the JEFF-3.1.1 nuclear data library on the core neutronics of large fast neutron reactors, in this work two recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) computational benchmarks of two 3600-MW(thermal) SFRs were analyzed with the continuous-energy TRIPOLI-4 code. Both a mixed oxide [(U,Pu)O2] core and a carbide [(U,Pu)C] core were investigated. Under two different fast neutron spectra, the reactor physics parameters—Keff, βeff (effective delayed neutron fraction), sodium void worth, Doppler constant, control rod worth, and core power distribution—were calculated for the beginning of equilibrium cycle condition. Both the pin-by-pin heterogeneous and fuel assembly–level homogeneous calculation models were applied in the whole-core simulation in order to evaluate their impact on the calculation results of SFR reactor physics parameters. The ENDF/B-VII.0 data library from the evaluation was also used with TRIPOLI-4 to study its impact on the SFR core reactivity and the boron carbide control rod worth. Using the mesh tally option, the energy deposition tally, and the upgraded display tool of TRIPOLI-4, radial power distribution and core power maps of the two cores were calculated and compared.

Integrating an EMR-based Transition Planning Tool for CYSHCN at a Children's Hospital: A Quality Improvement Project to Increase Provider Use and Satisfaction

An electronic medical record (EMR)-based transition planning tool (TPT) designed to facilitate transition from pediatric to adult-based health care for youth (16-25 years) with special health care needs was introduced at a large children's hospital. Activities to increase provider use were implemented in five plan-do-study-act cycles. Overall, 22 of 25 (88%) consenting providers in four pediatric subspecialty services used the TPT during 303 patient encounters, with nurses and case-managers the top users and physicians the least likely users. Use was highest with intensive technical assistance and following the introduction of an upgraded tool. Provider satisfaction with the TPT and self-reported transition planning activities notably increased across the PDSA cycles.

250. Electronic Medical Record-Based Transition Planning Tool for Children & Youth With Special Health Care Needs: A Continuous Quality Improvement Project to Increase Provider Satisfaction and Preference

Purpose: Evidence-based methods to promote transition from pediatric to adult-based care for youth with special health care needs are needed. While the use of electronic medical record (EMR) based planning tools to facilitate transition by pediatric providers is promising, evidence that providers will use these tools is lacking. A health care transition (HCT) transition planning tool (TPT), designed to identify and help rectify gaps in knowledge/ skills needed by patients tomanage their disease in preparation for HCT from pediatric to adult care, was built into the EMR at a large children’s hospital. Use during the first 21 months (March 2012November 2013) was lower than expected as providers found the TPT 1.0 difficult to locate in the EMR and cumbersome to use. A streamlined, user-friendly upgrade from TPT 1.0 (TPT version 2.0) was introduced in December 2013. This quality improvement project will evaluate provider satisfaction with and preference for the improved TPT. Methods: Health care providers (physicians, nurses, social workers, and care navigators) working with 16-25 year-olds in four sub-specialty services (Cardiology, Hematology, Physiatry, and Retrovirology) consented to participate in a continuous quality improvement project to evaluate the implementation of an EMR-based TPT. Clinics volunteered because they serve youth who experience increased morbidity and mortality associated with inadequate transition from pediatric to adult health care. Providers were trained to use TPT 1.0 and received ongoing technical assistance. Using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methods, feedback from providers prompted the development of TPT 2.0, which included the addition of a transition button on the EMR navigation pane, a flow sheet reporting the patient’s transition planning progress, and a simplified user interface with fewer clicks needed to access the tool. Providers (n1⁄417) completed a self-administered survey in November 2013 before TPT 2.0 was introduced and a second survey (n1⁄416) 7 months later (July 2014). Both surveys assessed TPT use, including barriers, and satisfaction with the TPT. In addition, the second survey asked providers to indicate which version (TPT 1.0 or TPT 2.0) they preferred. Results: Improved satisfaction was reported in ease of use (80% versus 67% for TPT 2.0 and 1.0, respectively) and accessibility of the tool (80% versus 58%), the summary page to help follow patients through the transition process (87% versus 73%), and the time it takes to utilize the tool in clinic (67% versus 42%). Despite taking less time to use, 63% (10/15) said they did not use TPT 2.0 as often as they wanted, citing time constraints in busy clinics as the primary reason. One clinic increased efficiency by assigning social workers to use the tool after clinic sessions. 100% of study providers stated they preferred using TPT 2.0 over TPT 1.0. Conclusions: In a group of providers motivated by the high morbidity and mortality associated with poor health care transition, there was increased satisfaction and preference for TPT 2.0, facilitated by incorporating their recommendations to improve the tool. Provider satisfaction and preference for this upgraded tool is expected to facilitate health care transition planning. Sources of Support: Funded by HRSA and Texas Department of State Health Services.

Research article Evaluation of Genotype MTBDRplus Assay for identifying Multidrug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Nepal

Background and Objectives: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains are serious threats to the control of tuberculosis and comprise an increasing public health problem. Rapid detection of such strains is quite critical in timely management of such issues. The study was performed with an objective to compare Genotype MTBDRplus reverse hybridization probe assay (Hain Lifescince, GmBH, Nehern, Germany) with culture based proportion method for rapidly identifying MDR-TB strains from suspected multi drug resistant cases, referred to GENETUP Kathmandu, Nepal. Methodology: A commercially available new Genotype MTBDRplus assay was evaluated for its ability to detect mutations in Mycobacterial isolates conferring resistance to rifampicin (RMP) and isoniazid (INH). A total of 64 MDR isolates (i.e., at least resistant to RMP and INH), 5 fully susceptible strains and 1 RMP sensitive strains by conventional proportion method were analyzed using Genotype MTBDRplus assay. MTBDRplus assay is designed to detect the mutations in the hot spot region of rpoB gene, katG and regulatory region of inhA gene. Results: The MTBDRplus assay detected 59 of 61 RMP resistant strains (96.72%) with mutations on 81-bp hot spot region of rpoB gene and 60 of 63 INH resistant strains (95.23%) with mutation in codon 315 katG and regulatory region of inhA. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of RMP resistance were 96.72% and 100% respectively. While, value of the same two variables for INH resistance were 95.23% and 100%, respectively. Conclusions: The new Genotype MTBDRplus assay represents a rapid, reliable, upgraded tool with high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of INH and RMP resistance strains that can readily be included in a routine laboratory work for the early diagnosis and control of MDR-TB. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jmcjms.v1i1.7884 Janaki Medical College Journal of Medical Sciences (2013) Vol. 1 (1):30-37

Planning Tool for Clustering and Optimised Grid Connection of Offshore Wind Farms

A planning tool for clustering and optimised grid connection of offshore wind farms is presented and described in some detail. This tool is suitable for high level, strategic planning of clustering and grid connection of future offshore wind farms that are planned in the proximity of each other. This tool is an upgraded version of a previously developed tool for offshore grid expansion planning. The use of the upgraded tool is demonstrated with an example that considers the Kriegers Flak area, with results indicating benefits of interconnecting wind farms across country borders and using a hybrid AC and DC transmission system to shore.

Accurate and rapid species typing from cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis lesions of the New World

The heat-shock protein 70 gene (hsp70) has been exploited for Leishmania species identification in the Old and New World, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Three new Leishmania-specific hsp70 PCRs were recently described, and we applied 2 of these on 89 clinical samples from a total of 73 Peruvian patients with either cutaneous or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. The new PCRs on average showed a 2- to 3-fold improved sensitivity in the tested sample types (lesion biopsies, aspirates, and scrapings), for both genus detection and species typing, and were most successful in biopsies. Leishmania braziliensis, L. peruviana, and L. guyanensis were encountered. About one third of the L. braziliensis parasites contained 2 hsp70 alleles. This study is a paradigm for the implementation of a globally applicable upgraded tool for the identification of Leishmania directly on human specimens from cutaneous and mucocutaneous lesions in the New World.

A high-throughput-sequence analysis infrastructure technology investigation framework for the evaluation of next-generation sequencing software

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) is an emerging technology that promises to deliver unparalleled information on genomic variations. As technology evolves and matures, and as a deeper understanding of this technology is gained, new and upgraded tools for analyzing HTS will become available and will need to be evaluated and validated. To facilitate this cumbersome task, we have developed an HTS validation framework into which both in-house-generated synthetic datasets and well-characterized experimental datasets have been incorporated for controlled testing and evaluation of these analysis tools. Currently, the framework can be used to assess algorithms for short-read mapping, variant calling and RNA-Seq-derived gene expression measurements. The framework is deployed in the Amazon EC2 cloud so that it is available to the broader research community. Using our framework, researchers can further validate interfaced applications with preferred parameters, upload their own datasets for processing, and interface new applications with the framework for validation and comparison. We report the performance of several alignment, variant calling and RNA-Seq analytic tools that have been tested with our framework. We also provide feedback on the challenges and benefits of Amazon EC2 deployment.

New Assembly, Reannotation and Analysis of the Entamoeba histolytica Genome Reveal New Genomic Features and Protein Content Information

BackgroundIn order to maintain genome information accurately and relevantly, original genome annotations need to be updated and evaluated regularly. Manual reannotation of genomes is important as it can significantly reduce the propagation of errors and consequently diminishes the time spent on mistaken research. For this reason, after five years from the initial submission of the Entamoeba histolytica draft genome publication, we have re-examined the original 23 Mb assembly and the annotation of the predicted genes.Principal FindingsThe evaluation of the genomic sequence led to the identification of more than one hundred artifactual tandem duplications that were eliminated by re-assembling the genome. The reannotation was done using a combination of manual and automated genome analysis. The new 20 Mb assembly contains 1,496 scaffolds and 8,201 predicted genes, of which 60% are identical to the initial annotation and the remaining 40% underwent structural changes. Functional classification of 60% of the genes was modified based on recent sequence comparisons and new experimental data. We have assigned putative function to 3,788 proteins (46% of the predicted proteome) based on the annotation of predicted gene families, and have identified 58 protein families of five or more members that share no homology with known proteins and thus could be entamoeba specific. Genome analysis also revealed new features such as the presence of segmental duplications of up to 16 kb flanked by inverted repeats, and the tight association of some gene families with transposable elements.SignificanceThis new genome annotation and analysis represents a more refined and accurate blueprint of the pathogen genome, and provides an upgraded tool as reference for the study of many important aspects of E. histolytica biology, such as genome evolution and pathogenesis.