An Inclusive Teaching Program From the Socio-Intercultural Entrepreneurship Approach

This chapter aims to elaborate a critical assessment of socio-intercultural entrepreneurship. The study is supported on the assumption that culture and social entrepreneurship are limited and that a framework analysis that helps to improve the understanding of the socio-economic realities is necessary. The research methodology employed were the exploratory and analytical instruments based on literature review and the transference of findings to a specific case on a postgraduate program in economy and international business at the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mexico. It's concluded that socio-intercultural entrepreneurship presents a methodological frame that allows entrepreneurs to have a major perception of global and local realities.

Direct Carbonization of Tobacco Straw Cores to Prepare Porous Carbon for Supercapacitor Applications

A large amount of tobacco straw residues is produced around the world every year. These tobacco straw residues are usually incinerated or landfilled directly, which cause environmental pollution and waste of resources. Therefore, it is necessary to find a green way to recycle these tobacco straw residues. Converting tobacco straw residues into biomass carbon materials for supercapacitor electrode materials is an appropriate way. In this study, tobacco straw core carbon (TSC) was obtained from tobacco straw core waste, which was carbonized directly in the tube furnace without N2. The tobacco straw core carbon had a higher specific surface area because of the self-activation of the H2O and CO2 in the carbonization. A variety of analytical instruments were used to characterize the prepared porous carbon. Herein, this work can provide new ideas for energy materials, and solve the problem of the disposal of tobacco straw residues. What’s more, it also can provide a sustainable development opportunity for tobacco farmers to alleviate poverty, dig potential and transform.

Critical Assessment of Socio-Intercultural Entrepreneurship

This chapter aims to elaborate a critical assessment of socio-intercultural entrepreneurship based on the analysis of a case on a postgraduate program in economics and international business. The study is supported on the assumption that culture is a platform for the socio-cultural entrepreneurial. The research methodology employed is the exploratory and analytical instruments based on the literature review and the transference of findings to a specific case on a postgraduate program in economics and international business at Mexico´s Autonomous Indigenous University.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Sample Preparation and Analysis in Beverages: A Review

The monitoring of food contaminants is of interests to both food regulatory bodies and the consumers. This literature review covers polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with regard to their background, sources of exposures, and occurrence in food and environment as well as health hazards. Furthermore, analytical methods focusing on the analysis of PAHs in tea, coffee, milk, and alcoholic samples for the last 16 years are presented. Numerous experimental methods have been developed aiming to obtain better limits of detections (LODs) and percent recoveries as well as to reduce solvent consumption and laborious work. These include information such as the selected PAHs analyzed, food matrix of PAHs, methods of extraction, cleanup procedure, LOD, limits of quantitation (LOQ), and percent recovery. For the analysis of tea, coffee, milk, and alcoholic samples, a majority of the research papers focused on the 16 US Environmental Protection Agency PAHs, while PAH4, PAH8, and methylated PAHs were also of interests. Extraction methods range from the classic Soxhlet extraction and liquid–liquid extraction to newer methods such as QuEChERS, dispersive solid-phase microextraction, and magnetic solid-phase extraction. The cleanup methods involved mainly the use of column chromatography and SPE filled with either silica or Florisil adsorbents. Gas chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry or fluorescence detectors are the main analytical instruments used. A majority of the selected combined methods used are able to achieve LODs and percent recoveries in the ranges of 0.01–5 ug/kg and 70–110%, respectively, for the analysis of tea, coffee, milk, and alcoholic samples.

Plant Leaf Classification and Comparative Analysis of Combined Feature Set Using Machine Learning Techniques

The main purpose of this research work is to apply machine learning and image processing techniques for plant classification efficiently. In the plant classification system, the conventional method is time-consuming and needs to apply expensive analytical instruments. The automated plant classification system helps to predict plant classes easily. The most challenging part of the automated plant classification research is to extract unique features of leaves. This paper proposes a plant classification model using an optimal feature set with combined features. The proposed model is used to extract features from leaf images and applied to image classification algorithms. After the evaluation process, it is found that GIST, Local Binary Pattern and Pyramid Histogram Oriented Gradient have better results than others in this particular application. Combined these three features extraction techniques and selected the optimal feature set through Neighbourhood Component Analysis. The optimal feature set helps classify plants with maximum accuracy in minimal time. Here performed an extensive experimental comparison of the proposed optimal feature set and other feature extraction methods using different classifiers and tested on different data sets (Swedish Leaves, Flavia, D-Leaf). The results confirm that this optimal feature set with NCA using ANN classifier leads to better classification achieved 98.99% accuracy in 353.39 seconds.

Facile synthesis of hierarchical ZnO structure for photocatalytic degradation of dimethyl phthalate

A facile co-precipitation method was employed to fabricate hierarchical ZnO structure and characterized by various analytical instruments. The images of ZnO from field-emission scanning electron microscopy exhibited spheroidal morphology which composed of numerous layers of nanosheets and formed a hierarchical structure. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrum validated the presence of Zn and O atoms and its purity. X-ray diffraction pattern of ZnO revealed the establishment of hexagonal wurtzite structure. Optical property analysis disclosed that the as-fabricated ZnO had strong absorbance of wavelength from 350-410 nm with an absorption band edge of 367 nm. In this paper, the photocatalytic activity of hierarchical ZnO structure was confirmed by degradation of endocrine disrupting chemical, namely dimethyl phthalate under UV lamp irradiation. The photodegradation of dimethyl phthalate in aqueous solution over as-fabricated ZnO reached 55.9% after 60 min irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation of DMP obeyed the pseudo first-order kinetic reaction with a rate constant of 0.0166 min−1.

Yugoslav culture after Yugoslavia

In the states which formed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, ethnic/national cultures are developing independently, alongside a parallel shared post-Yugoslav culture. This culture is not a continuation of the official cultural collaboration between the Yugoslav nations which took place when Yugoslavia existed, rather it is a new phenomenon. It is appearing in opposition to nationalism, against the closing off of culture into narrow ethno-national frames and is based on the genuine existence of a cultural unity older than the common state which was created from the common Yugoslav state itself. It seeks creative responses to the problems caused by the wars and collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. It also looks for the appropriate analytical instruments. The author uses the Biblioteka XX vek (The 20th Century Library) as an example – the book series which he founded and publishes in the field of humanities and social sciences. The alternative post-Yugoslav culture is characterised by the high quality of what it offers. However, its protagonists are simultaneously criticised by the nationalist circles in power in the states formed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, who consider the post-Yugoslav cultural unity an alleged national betrayal.

Elaboration of composite based on the incorporation of marble particles into polymeric framework for the removal of Co(II) and Eu(III)

The incorporation of marble particles into the framework of composite material through the polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide acid (AM) using induced gamma irradiation was performed. The novel poly[AA-AM]-marble composite was characterized by multiple analytical instruments such as: energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, differential thermal analysis-thermogravimetric analysis (DTA-TGA), Fourier transformer infrared (FTIR), surface area measurements using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Radioisotopes of fission (152+154Eu) and activation products (60Co) are the major environmental threats. Sorption of stable isotopes of cobalt and europium onto the synthesized composite material as the sorbent is applied. Sorption kinetics of Eu3+ and Co2+ were computed. The obtained results were analyzed by pseudo-first- and second-order, intraparticle diffusion, and Elovich kinetic models. It is deduced that the pseudo-second-order was more fitted and a chemisorption mechanism was suggested. The sorption capacity for Eu3+ and Co2+ on the prepared composite material was measured at the contact time (2 h) and pH = 4 (for Eu3+), pH = 6 (for Co2+) and it was found to be 91.2 and 13.1 mg/g, respectively. A promising result for the decontamination of both Eu and Co ions was obtained in various aquatic ecosystem applications such as: river water, tap water and groundwater.

Methods to evaluate the scavenging activity of antioxidants toward reactive oxygen and nitrogen species

This project was aimed to identify the quenching chemistry of biologically important reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS, including radicals), to show antioxidant action against reactive species through H‐atom and electron transfer reactions, and to evaluate the ROS/RNS scavenging activity of antioxidants with existing analytical methods while emphasizing the underlying chemical principles and advantages/disadvantages of these methods. In this report, we focused on the applications and impact of existing assays on potentiating future research and innovations to evolve better methods enabling a more comprehensive study of different aspects of antioxidants and to provide a vocabulary of terms related to antioxidants and scavengers for ROS/RNS. The main methods comprise the scavenging activity measurement of the hydroxyl radical (•OH), dioxide(•1–) (O2 •–: commonly known as the superoxide radical), dihydrogen dioxide (H2O2: commonly known as hydrogen peroxide), hydroxidochlorine (HOCl: commonly known as hypochlorous acid), dioxidooxidonitrate(1–) (ONOO−: commonly known as the peroxynitrite anion), and the peroxyl radical (ROO•). In spite of the diversity of methods, there is currently a great need to evaluate the scavenging activity of antioxidant compounds in vivo and in vitro. In addition, there are unsatisfactory methods frequently used, such as non-selective UV measurement of H2O2 scavenging, producing negative errors due to incomplete reaction of peroxide with flavonoids in the absence of transition metal ion catalysts. We also discussed the basic mechanisms of spectroscopic and electrochemical nanosensors for measuring ROS/RNS scavenging activity of antioxidants, together with leading trends and challenges and a wide range of applications. This project aids in the identification of reactive species and quantification of scavenging extents of antioxidants through various assays, makes the results comparable and more understandable, and brings a more rational basis to the evaluation of these assays and provides a critical evaluation of existing ROS/RNS scavenging assays to analytical, food chemical, and biomedical/clinical communities by emphasizing the need for developing more refined, rapid, simple, and low‐cost assays and thus opening the market for a wide range of analytical instruments, including reagent kits and sensors.

Antimicrobial Activity and Characterization of Pomegranate Peel-Based Carbon Dots

This investigation reports the use of agrowaste pomegranate peels as an economical source for the production of fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots) and their potential application as an antimicrobial agent. The carbon dots were prepared through low-temperature carbonization at 200°C for 120 min. The obtained C-dots were found to be small in size and exhibited blue luminescence at 350 nm. Further, the synthesized C-dots were characterized with the help of analytical instruments such as DLS, UV-visible, FT-IR, TEM, and fluorescence spectrophotometer. Antimicrobial activity of the C-dot PP was estimated by the agar diffusion method and MIC. S. aureus and K. pneumoniae are showing susceptibility towards C-dot PP when compared to the standard and showing a moderate activity against P. aeruginosa and resistance towards E. coli. The obtained C dot PPs were found to be around 5-9 nm in size confirmed from DLS analysis and supported by TEM. The synthesized C-dots were investigated to understand their microbial efficiency against pathogens and found to have antimicrobial efficiency. These results suggest that pomegranate peels are a potential source of carbon dots with antimicrobial efficiency.