Search results for: waste utilization

Authors: Hamed Nafar, Sajad Rezaei, Hamid Behbahani

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Safety analysis of the roads through the accident rates which is one of the widely used tools has been resulted from the direct exposure method which is based on the ratio of the vehicle-kilometers traveled and vehicle-travel time. However, due to some fundamental flaws in its theories and difficulties in gaining access to the data required such as traffic volume, distance and duration of the trip, and various problems in determining the exposure in a specific time, place, and individual categories, there is a need for an algorithm for prioritizing the road safety so that with a new exposure method, the problems of the previous approaches would be resolved. In this way, an efficient application may lead to have more realistic comparisons and the new method would be applicable to a wider range of time, place, and individual categories. Therefore, an algorithm was introduced to prioritize the safety of roads using the quasi-induced exposure method and utilizing the analytical hierarchy process. For this research, 11 provinces of Iran were chosen as case study locations. A rural accidents database was created for these provinces, the validity of quasi-induced exposure method for Iran’s accidents database was explored, and the involvement ratio for different characteristics of the drivers and the vehicles was measured. Results showed that the quasi-induced exposure method was valid in determining the real exposure in the provinces under study. Results also showed a significant difference in the prioritization based on the new and traditional approaches. This difference mostly would stem from the perspective of the quasi-induced exposure method in determining the exposure, opinion of experts, and the quantity of accidents data. Overall, the results for this research showed that prioritization based on the new approach is more comprehensive and reliable compared to the prioritization in the traditional approach which is dependent on various parameters including the driver-vehicle characteristics.

Keywords: road safety, prioritizing, Quasi-induced exposure, Analytical Hierarchy Process

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Authors: Elina Brahma Hazarika, Jeuti Basumatary, Deepanka Saikia, Jaydeep Das, Micky Moni D'mary, Fungkha Basumatary

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This study includes development of two varieties of biscuits incorporated with: the seeds of Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), which post-consumption of it’s pulp, is discarded as a waste, and Cassava (Manihot esculenta) tubers.The jack fruit seeds and cassava were first ground into flour and its proximate and physiochemical properties were studied. The biscuits that were developed incorporating them had 50% wheat flour and 50% jackfruit seed flour and 50% cassava flours as the major composition, apart from the other general ingredients use in making biscuits. Various trials of compositions were made for baking to get the overall desirable acceptability in biscuits through sensory evaluation. Finally, the best composition of ingredients was selected to make the biscuits, and hence studies were done accordingly to compare it with the properties of their respective raw flours. The results showed that the proximate composition of the biscuits fared better than that of their respective flours: There was a decrease in the Moisture content of both Jackfruit Seed Biscuits and Cassava Biscuits to 4.5% and 6.7% than that of their respective raw flours (8 and 12%). Post-baking, there is increase in the percentages of ash, protein, and fibre contents in both Jackfruit Seed Biscuits and Cassava Biscuits; the values being 3% and 3.8%, 13.2% and 3.3%, and 3.2 and 4.1% respectively. Also the total carbohydrate content in Jackfruit Seed Biscuits and Cassava Biscuits were 66.7% and 71.7% respectively. Their sensory evaluation and texture study also yielded a clear review that they have an overall good acceptability.

Keywords: baking, proximate, sensory, texture

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Authors: Jared Cheves, Amanda DeChent, Joyce Pan

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Total knee replacements (TKAs) are one of the most common but painful surgical procedures performed in the United States. Currently, the gold standard for postoperative pain management is the utilization of opioids. However, in the wake of the opioid epidemic, the healthcare system is attempting to reduce opioid consumption by trialing innovative opioid sparing analgesic techniques such as continuous peripheral nerve blocks (CPNB) and continuous periarticular infiltration (CPAI). The alleviation of pain, particularly during the first 72 hours postoperatively, is of utmost importance due to its association with delayed recovery, impaired rehabilitation, immunosuppression, the development of chronic pain, the development of rebound pain, and decreased patient satisfaction. While both CPNB and CPAI are being used today, there is limited evidence comparing the two to the current standard of care or to each other. An extensive literature review was performed to explore the safety profiles and effectiveness of CPNB and CPAI in reducing reported pain scores and decreasing opioid consumption. The literature revealed the usage of CPNB contributed to lower pain scores and decreased opioid use when compared to opioid-only control groups. Additionally, CPAI did not improve pain scores or decrease opioid consumption when combined with a multimodal analgesic (MMA) regimen. When comparing CPNB and CPAI to each other, neither unanimously lowered pain scores to a greater degree, but the literature indicates that CPNB decreased opioid consumption more than CPAI. More research is needed to further cement the efficacy of CPNB and CPAI as standard components of MMA in TKA procedures. In addition, future research can also focus on novel catheter-free applications to reduce the complications of continuous catheter analgesics.

Keywords: total knee arthroplasty, continuous peripheral nerve blocks, continuous periarticular infiltration, opioid, multimodal analgesia

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Authors: Kefi Rahmadio, Filipus Armando Ginting, Richard Nainggolan

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This research shows the formation of the West Buru Basin and the potential utilization of this West Buru Basin as a geothermal potential. The research area is West Buru Island which is part of the West Buru Basin. The island is located in Maluku Province, with its capital city named Namlea. The island is divided into 10 districts, namely District Kepalamadan, Airbuaya District, Wapelau District, Namlea District, Waeapo District, Batabual District, Namrole District, Waesama District, Leksula District, and Ambalau District. The formation in this basin is Permian-Quarter. They start from the Formation Ghegan, Dalan Formation, Mefa Formation, Kuma Formation, Waeken Formation, Wakatin Formation, Ftau Formation and Leko Formation. These formations are composing this West Buru Basin. Determination of prospect area in the geothermal area with preliminary investigation stage through observation of manifestation, topographic shape and structure are found around prospect area. This is done because there is no data of earth that support the determination of prospect area more accurately. In Waepo area, electric power generated based on field observation and structural analysis, geothermal area of ​Waeapo was approximately 6 km², with reference to the SNI 'Classification of Geothermal Potential' (No.03-5012-1999), an area of ​​1 km² is assumed to be 12.5 MWe. The speculative potential of this area is (Q) = 6 x 12.5 MWe = 75 MWe. In the Bata Bual area, the geothermal prospect projected 4 km², the speculative potential of the Bata Bual area is worth (Q) = 4 x 12.5 MWe = 50 MWe. In Kepala Madan area, based on the estimation of manifestation area, there is a wide area of ​​prospect in Kepala Madan area about 4 km². The geothermal energy potential of the speculative level in Kepala Madan district is (Q) = 4 x 12.5 MWe = 50 MWe. These three areas are the largest geothermal potential on the island of West Buru. From the above research, it can be concluded that there is potential in West Buru Island. Further exploration is needed to find greater potential. Therefore, researchers want to explain the geothermal potential contained in the West Buru Basin, within the scope of West Buru Island. This potential can be utilized for the community of West Buru Island.

Keywords: West Buru basin, West Buru island, potential, Waepo, Bata Bual, Kepala Madan

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Authors: Balram Panjwani, Bernd Wittgens, Jan Erik Olsen, Stein Tore Johansen

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The Norwegian ferroalloy industry is a world leader in sustainable production of ferrosilicon, silicon and manganese alloys with the lowest global specific energy consumption. One of the byproducts during the metal reduction process is energy rich off-gas and usually this energy is not harnessed. A novel concept for sustainable energy recovery from ferroalloy off-gas is discussed. The concept is founded on the idea of introducing a combustion chamber in the off-gas section in which energy rich off-gas mainly consisting of CO will be combusted. This will provide an additional degree of freedom for optimizing energy recovery. A well-controlled and high off-gas temperature will assure a significant increase in energy recovery and reduction of emissions to the atmosphere. Design and operation of the combustion chamber depend on many parameters, including the total power capacity of the combustion chamber, sufficient residence time for combusting the complex Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH), NOx, as well as converting other potential pollutants. The design criteria for the combustion chamber have been identified and discussed and sizing of the combustion chamber has been carried out considering these design criteria. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been utilized extensively for sizing the combustion chamber. The results from our CFD simulations of the flow in the combustion chamber and exploring different off-gas fuel composition are presented. In brief, the paper covers all aspect which impacts the sizing of the combustion chamber, including insulation thickness, choice of insulating material, heat transfer through extended surfaces, multi-staging and secondary air injection.

Keywords: CFD, combustion chamber, arc furnace, energy recovery

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Authors: J. E. Oti, J. M. Kinuthia, R. Robinson, P. Davies

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This work reports the potential of using Palm Kernel (PK) ash and shell as a partial substitute for Portland Cement (PC) and coarse aggregate in the development of mortar and concrete. PK ash and shell are agro-waste materials from palm oil mills, the disposal of PK ash and shell is an environmental problem of concern. The PK ash has pozzolanic properties that enables it as a partial replacement for cement and also plays an important role in the strength and durability of concrete, its use in concrete will alleviate the increasing challenges of scarcity and high cost of cement. In order to investigate the PC replacement potential of PK ash, three types of PK ash were produced at varying temperature (350-750 degrees) and they were used to replace up to 50% PC. The PK shell was used to replace up to 100% coarse aggregate in order to study its aggregate replacement potential. The testing programme included material characterisation, the determination of compressive strength, tensile splitting strength and chemical durability in aggressive sulfate-bearing exposure conditions. The 90 day compressive results showed a significant strength gain (up to 26.2 N/mm2). The Portland cement and conventional coarse aggregate has significantly higher influence in the strength gain compared to the equivalent PK ash and PK shell. The chemical durability results demonstrated that after a prolonged period of exposure, significant strength losses in all the concretes were observed. This phenomenon is explained, due to lower change in concrete morphology and inhibition of reaction species and the final disruption of the aggregate cement paste matrix.

Keywords: sustainability, concrete, mortar, palm kernel shell, compressive strength, consistency

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Authors: Ravi Patel, Krishna K. Krishnan

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In global supply chains, appropriate and sustainable suppliers play a vital role in supply chain development and feasibility. In a larger organization with huge number of suppliers, it is necessary to divide suppliers based on their past history of quality and delivery of each product category. Since performance of any organization widely depends on their suppliers, well evaluated selection criteria and decision-making models lead to improved supplier assessment and development. In this paper, SCOR® performance evaluation approach and ISO standards are used to determine selection criteria for better utilization of supplier assessment by using hybrid model of Analytic Hierchchy Problem (AHP) and Fuzzy Techniques for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS). AHP is used to determine the global weightage of criteria which helps TOPSIS to get supplier score by using triangular fuzzy set theory. Both qualitative and quantitative criteria are taken into consideration for the proposed model. In addition, a multi-product and multi-time period model is selected for order allocation. The optimization model integrates multi-objective integer linear programming (MOILP) for order allocation and a hybrid approach for supplier selection. The proposed MOILP model optimizes order allocation based on manufacturing process and product tolerances as per manufacturer’s requirement for quality product. The integrated model and solution approach are tested to find optimized solutions for different scenario. The detailed analysis shows the superiority of proposed model over other solutions which considered individual decision making models.

Keywords: AHP, fuzzy set theory, multi-criteria decision making, multi-objective integer linear programming, TOPSIS

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Authors: Puja Sharma, S. R. Dhiman, Bhararti Kashyap, Y. C. Gupta, Shabnam Pangtu

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The experiments were carried out for mass multiplication and domestication of an endangered native tree spp, an orchid and an ornamental shrub having high medicinal value. Floriculture industry is novelty driven, hence the potential of these native ornamentals was assessed for their utilization as a novelty in the industry. For the mass propagation of endangered tree Oroxylum indicum, seed propagation and vegetative propagation techniques were successfully utilized. Highest seed germination was recorded in a medium containing cocopeat and perlite (1:1 v/v). Semi hard wood cuttings treated with IBA 2000 ppm planted in cocopeat+ sand+ perlite medium and maintained at 80% RH has resulted in about 90% rooting. The low growing tree was successfully domestication and has potential to be utilized in landscape industry. In the present study, cutting propagation and division of clump were used as methods for multiplication of Aerides multiflora, a native orchid spp. Soft wood cuttings treated with IBA 500 ppm planted in cocopeat medium was found to be the most suitable vegetative method resulting in 90 % rooting. It was domesticated as pot plant and for making hanging baskets. Propagation through seeds and cuttings was carried out for Pyracantha crenulata, a native ornamental shrub which is a cardiovascular medicine. For vegetative propagation, treatment of basal end of semi- hardwood cuttings of Pyracantha with IBA 3000 ppm (quick dip) and planting in cocopeat under mist chamber maintained at a relative humidity of 70-80% resulted in about 90% rooting out of all applied treatments in the study. For seed propagation, treatment of seeds in boiling water for 20 minutes and planting in cocopeat resulted in 82.55 % germination. The shrub was domesticated for its use as pot plant, protective hedge and for making bonsai.

Keywords: native, endangered, multiplication, domestication, oroxylum, aerides, pyracantha

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Authors: Massimo Miccoli, Luca Marangoni, Alberto Aniello Scaringi, Alessandro Marceddu, Alessandro Amicone

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The susceptibility of deep neural networks (DNNs) to adversarial manipulations is a recognized challenge within the computer vision domain. Adversarial examples, crafted by adding subtle yet malicious alterations to benign images, exploit this vulnerability. Various defense strategies have been proposed to safeguard DNNs against such attacks, stemming from diverse research hypotheses. Building upon prior work, our approach involves the utilization of autoencoder models. Autoencoders, a type of neural network, are trained to learn representations of training data and reconstruct inputs from these representations, typically minimizing reconstruction errors like mean squared error (MSE). Our autoencoder was trained on a dataset of benign examples; learning features specific to them. Consequently, when presented with significantly perturbed adversarial examples, the autoencoder exhibited high reconstruction errors. The architecture of the autoencoder was tailored to the dimensions of the images under evaluation. We considered various image sizes, constructing models differently for 256x256 and 512x512 images. Moreover, the choice of the computer vision model is crucial, as most adversarial attacks are designed with specific AI structures in mind. To mitigate this, we proposed a method to replace image-specific dimensions with a structure independent of both dimensions and neural network models, thereby enhancing robustness. Our multi-modal autoencoder reconstructs the spectral representation of images across the red-green-blue (RGB) color channels. To validate our approach, we conducted experiments using diverse datasets and subjected them to adversarial attacks using models such as ResNet50 and ViT_L_16 from the torch vision library. The autoencoder extracted features used in a classification model, resulting in an MSE (RGB) of 0.014, a classification accuracy of 97.33%, and a precision of 99%.

Keywords: adversarial attacks, malicious images detector, binary classifier, multimodal transformer autoencoder

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Authors: Gul Jan

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It is the first quantitative ethno-botanical analysis and conservation issues of medicinal flora of Alpine and Sub-alpine, Hindikush region of Pakistan. The objective of the study aims to report, compare the uses and highlight the ethno-Botanical significance of medicinal plants for treatment of various diseases. A total of 250 (242 males and 8 females) local informants including 10 Local Traditional Healers were interviewed. Information was collected through semi-structured interviews, analyzed and compared by quantitative ethno-botanical indices such as Jaccard index (JI), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), use value (UV) and Relative frequency of citation (RFC).Thorough survey indicated that 57 medicinal plants belongs to 43 families were investigated to treat various illnesses. The highest ICF is recorded for digestive system (0.69%), Circolatory system (0.61%), urinary tract system, (0.53%) and respiratory system (0.52%). Used value indicated that, Achillea mellefolium (UV = 0.68), Aconitum violaceum (UV = 0.69), Valeriana jatamansi (UV = 0.63), Berberis lyceum (UV = 0.65) and are exceedingly medicinal plant species used in the region. In comparison, highest similarity index is recorded in these studies with JI 17.72 followed by 16.41. According to DMR output, Pinus williciana ranked first due to multipurpose uses among all species and was found most threatened with higher market value. Unwise used of natural assets pooled with unsuitable harvesting practices have exaggerated pressure on plant species of the research region. The main issues causative to natural variety loss found were over grazing of animals, forest violation, wild animal hunting, fodder, plant collection as medicine, fuel wood, forest fire, and invasive species negatively affect the natural resources. For viable utilization, in situ and ex situ conservation, skillful collecting, and reforestation project may be the resolution. Further wide field management research is required.

Keywords: quantitative analysis, conservations issues, medicinal flora, alpine and sub-alpine, Hindukush region

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Authors: Nagwa Mourad Abdelazeem, Marwa El-hussieny

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Multicomponent reactions (MCRs), one-pot reactions form products from more than two different starting compounds. (MCRs) are ideal reaction systems leading to high structural diversity and molecular complexity through a single transformation. (MCRs) have a lot of advantage such as higher yield, less waste generation, use of readily available starting materials and high atom. (MCRs) provide a rapid process for efficient synthesis of key structures in discovery of drug on the other hand silica sulfuric acid (SSA) has been used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for many organic transformations. (SSA) is low cost, ease of preparation, catalyst recycling, and ease of handling, so in this article we used 2-(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-indole, N-substituted anilines and aldehyde in the presence of silica sulfuric acid (SSA) as a catalyst in water as solvent at room temperature to prepare 3,3'-(phenylmethylene)bis(2-(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-indole) and N-methyl-4-(phenyl(2-(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-indol-3-yl)methyl)aniline derivatives Via one-pot reaction. Compound 2-(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-indole belongs to the ubiquitous class of indoles which enjoy broad synthetic, biological and industrial applications ]. Cancer is considered the first or second most common reason of death all through the world. So the synthesized compounds will be tested as anticancer. We expected the synthesized compounds will give good results comparison to the reference drug.

Keywords: aldehydes, aza-friedel-crafts reaction, indole, multicomponent reaction

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Authors: B. Adebayo, A. A. Adebayo

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Adequate power generation and supply are enormous challenges confronting Nigeria state today. This is a powerful mechanism that drives industrial development and socio-economy of any nation. The present level of power generation and supply have become national embarrassment to both government and the citizens of Nigeria, where over 60% of the population have no access to electricity. This paper is set to review the abundant clean energy alternative sources available in abundance that are capable of boosting power generation. The clean energy sources waiting to be exploited include: nuclear, solar and wind energy. The environmental benefits of these sources of power generation are identified. Nuclear energy is a powerful clean energy source. However, Africa accounted for 20% of known recoverable reserve and uranium produces heat of 500,000 MJ/kg. Moreover, Nigeria receives average daily solar radiation of over 5.249 kWh/m2/day. Researchers have shown that wind speed and power flux densities varied from 1.5 – 4.1 m/s and 5.7 – 22.5 W/m2 respectively. It is a fact that the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high, leading to winding up of the multi-national companies and then led to increase unemployment level. More importantly, readily available vast quantity of energy will reduce cost of running industries. Hence, more industries will come on board, goods, services, and more job creation will be achieved. This clean source of power generation is devoid of production of green house gases, elimination of environmental pollution, and reduced waste disposal. Then Nigerians will live in harmony with the environment.

Keywords: power, generation, energy, mix, clean, industrial

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Authors: Jaroslav Frantík, Jan Najser

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This article deals with increasing the energy efficiency of a plant in terms of optimizing the process. The European Union is striving to achieve the climate-energy package in the area increasing of energy efficiency. The goal of energy efficiency is to reduce primary energy consumption by 20% within the EU until 2020. The objective of saving energy consumption in the Czech Republic was set at 47.84 PJ (13.29 TWh). For reducing electricity consumption, it is possible to choose: a) mandatory increasing of energy efficiency, b) alternative scheme, c) combination of both actions. The Czech Republic has chosen for reducing electricity consumption using-alternative scheme. The presentation is focused on the proposal of a technological unit dealing with the gasification process of processing of biomass with an increase of power in the output. The synthesis gas after gasification of biomass is used as fuel in a cogeneration process of reciprocating internal combustion engine with the classic production of heat and electricity. Subsequently, there is an explanation of the ORC system dealing with the conversion of waste heat to electricity with the using closed cycle of the steam process with organic medium. The arising electricity is distributed to the power grid as a further energy source, or it is used for needs of the partial coverage of the technological unit. Furthermore, there is a presented schematic description of the technology with the identification of energy flows starting from the biomass treatment by drying, through its conversion to gaseous fuel, producing of electricity and utilize of thermal energy with minimizing losses. It has been found that using of ORC system increased the efficiency of the produced electricity by 7.5%.

Keywords: biomass, efficiency, gasification, ORC system

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Authors: Aya Belal, Ahmed Maher Eltair, Maggie Ahmed Mashaly

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Geopolymer concrete is gaining recognition as a sustainable alternative to conventional Portland Cement concrete due to its environmentally friendly nature, which is a key goal for Smart City initiatives. It has demonstrated its potential as a reliable material for the design of structural elements. However, the production of Geopolymer concrete is hindered by batch-to-batch variations, which presents a significant challenge to the widespread adoption of Geopolymer concrete. To date, Machine learning has had a profound impact on various fields by enabling models to learn from large datasets and predict outputs accurately. This paper proposes an integration between the current drift to Artificial Intelligence and the composition of Geopolymer mixtures to predict their mechanical properties. This study employs Python software to develop machine learning model in specific Decision Trees. The research uses the percentage oxides and the chemical composition of the Alkali Solution along with the curing conditions as the input independent parameters, irrespective of the waste products used in the mixture yielding the compressive strength of the mix as the output parameter. The results showed 90 % agreement of the predicted values to the actual values having the ratio of the Sodium Silicate to the Sodium Hydroxide solution being the dominant parameter in the mixture.

Keywords: decision trees, geopolymer concrete, machine learning, smart cities, sustainability

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Authors: Saeed Karimi, Ali Behbahaninia

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In this study, the design and optimization of combined cooling, heating, and power system (CCHP) for a sustainable building are dealt with. Sustainable buildings are environmentally responsible and help us to save energy also reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation. CCHP systems are widely used to save energy sources. In these systems, electricity, cooling, and heating are generating using just one primary energy source. The selection of the size of components based on the maximum demand of users will lead to an increase in the total cost of energy and equipment for the building complex. For this purpose, a system was designed in which the prime mover (gas turbine), heat recovery boiler, and absorption chiller are lower than the needed maximum. The difference in months with peak consumption is supplied with the help of electrical absorption chiller and auxiliary boiler (and the national electricity network). In this study, the optimum capacities of each of the equipment are determined based on Thermo economic method, in a way that the annual capital cost and energy consumption will be the lowest. The design was done for a gas turbine prime mover, and finally, the optimum designs were investigated using exergy analysis and were compared with a traditional energy supply system.

Keywords: sustainable building, CCHP, energy optimization, gas turbine, exergy, thermo-economic

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Authors: Nazanin Gerami, Shirin Adlparvar

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In the present time in the laboratory, one can create an ionized gas, that is to say, plasma from room temperature up to ten times more than the temperature of the sun center (150,000,000). All these temperature spectrums of plasma have applications in different disciplines, including dentistry, medicine, science, surface treatment, nuclear waste disinfection, nuclear fusion technology, etc. However, for the sick of simplicity, all these plasma temperature spectrums are classified as cold or low-pressure non-thermal plasma and warm or high-pressure equilibrium plasma. The cold plasma, as we are interested in this paper, exists at lower ion and neutral temperatures with respect to electron temperature, but in the equilibrium plasma, the temperatures of ion and electron are fairly equal. The cold plasma is a partially ionized gas comprising ions, electrons, ultraviolet photons and reactive neutrals such as radicals, excited and ground-state molecules. Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas are widely used in diverse fields of dental medicine, such as the titanium surface of dental implants, which helps in reducing contact angle and supporting the spread of osteoblastic cells and is known to aid in osteoblastic proliferation and osseointegration, thus increasing the success rates of implants. This article focuses on the anticipated uses of a newly designed water-cooled adjustable cathode cold atmospheric pressure plasma Jet (CAPPJ) for titanium surface treatment in dental implant placement.

Keywords: CAPPJ, surface modification, osseointegration, plasma medicine, dentistry

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Authors: Arunkumar Thirugnanasambantham, Velraj Ramalingam

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An experimental attempt has been made to study the effect of system integration by two different concentrator assisted desalting systems. The compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) and compound conical concentrator (CCC) are used in this research work. Two solar desalination systems, the single slope solar still (SSSS) and pyramid solar still (PSS), have been integrated with a CCC and compound parabolic concentrator-concentric circular tubular solar still (CPC-CCTSS). To study the effect of system integration, a thick cloth prevents the entry of sunlight into the solar still top. Additionally, the concentrator assisted desalting systems are equipped with phase change material (PCM) for enhancement. In CCC-SSSS, PCM has been filled inside copper balls and placed on the SSSS basin. The PCM is loaded in the specially designed circular trough of the tubular solar still. Here, the used concentrators and distillers are not the same. Two methodologies are followed here to produce the fresh water even while the distillers are blocked from the sunlight. They are (1) thermosyphon effect in CCC-SSSS and (2) waste heat recovery from CPC-CCTSS. The results showed that the productivity of CCC-SSSS, CCC-SSSS with PCM and CCC-SSSS (PCM) top cover shaded were found as 2680 ml / m² / day, 3240 ml / m² / day, and 1646 ml / m² / day. Similarly, the productivity of the CPC-CCTSS-PSS, CPC-CCTSS (PCM)-PSS and CPC-CCTSS (PCM)-PSS top cover shaded were found as 7160 ml / m² / day, 7346 ml / m² / day, and ml / m² / day. The productivity of the CCC-SSSS and CPC-CCTSS-PSS is examined, and conclusions are drawn such as the solar radiation blocked distillers productivity did not drop to zero.

Keywords: compound conical concentrator, compound parabolic concentrator, desalination, system integration

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Authors: Hadi Gholizadeh, Ali Tajdin

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To have effective production planning, it is necessary to control the quality of processes. This paper aims at improving the performance of the disposable essentials process using statistical quality control and goal programming in a vague environment. That is expressed uncertainty because there is always a measurement error in the real world. Therefore, in this study, the conditions are examined in a vague environment that is a distance-based environment. The disposable essentials process in Kach Company was studied. Statistical control tools were used to characterize the existing process for four factor responses including the average of disposable glasses’ weights, heights, crater diameters, and volumes. Goal programming was then utilized to find the combination of optimal factors setting in a vague environment which is measured to apply uncertainty of the initial information when some of the parameters of the models are vague; also, the fuzzy regression model is used to predict the responses of the four described factors. Optimization results show that the process capability index values for disposable glasses’ average of weights, heights, crater diameters and volumes were improved. Such increasing the quality of the products and reducing the waste, which will reduce the cost of the finished product, and ultimately will bring customer satisfaction, and this satisfaction, will mean increased sales.

Keywords: goal programming, quality control, vague environment, disposable glasses’ optimization, fuzzy regression

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Authors: M. Shivakumar, S. R. Somashekhar, C. V. Raju

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Secondary salinization of agricultural lands in any command areas of the world is the major issue in the recent past. Currently, it is estimated that the 954 mh of saline and alkaline soil is present in the world. Thousands of hectares of land, getting added every year. Argentina, Bangladesh and Australia are most affected countries. In India, out of 142.80 million hectare (mh) cropped area, 56 mh is irrigated area. Of which, more than 9 mh (about 16.%) of land is found to be alkaline/saline. Due to continuous utilization of same land for same agricultural activities, excessive usage of fertilizers and water, most of the soils have become alkaline, saline or water logged. These lands are low productive and at times totally unfit for agricultural activities. These soils may or may not posses good physical condition, but plants may suffer from its inability to absorb water from salty solution. Plants suffer from dehydration and loose water to the soil, shrink, resulting death of plant. This process is called plasmolysis. It is the fact that soil is an independent, organic body of nature that acquires properties in accordance with forces which act upon it. Aquaculture is one of the solutions to utilize such problematic soils for food production. When the impoundments are constructed in an area 10-15% of the affected areas, the excess water along with the salts gets into impoundments and management of salt is easier in water than in the soil. Due to high organic input in aquaculture such as feed, manure and continuous deposition of fecal matter, pH of the soil gets reduced and over the period of time such soils can be put back into the original activity. Under National Agricultural Development Program (NADP), the project was implemented in 258 villages of Mandya District, Karnataka State, India and found that these lands can be effectively utilized for fish culture and increase the proteinacious food production by many folds while conserving the soils. The findings of the research can be adopted and up scaled in any country.

Keywords: saline and alkaline soils, Aquaculture, Problematic soils, Reclamation

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Authors: Ben Salah Nahla

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The problem of water in Tunisia affects the quality and quantity. Tunisia is in a situation of water shortage. It was estimated that 4.6 Mm3/an. Moreover, the quality of water in Tunisia is also mediocre. In fact, 50% of the water has a high salinity (> 1.5g/l). There are several parameters which affect water quality such as sodium, fluoride. An excess of this parameter may induce some human health. Furthermore, the mining basin area has a problem of industrial waste. This problem may affect the water quality of the groundwater. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to assess the water quality in Basin Mining and the impact of fluorine. For this research, some water samples were done in the field and specific water analysis was implemented in the laboratory. Sampling is carried out on eight drilling in the area of the mining region. In the following, we will look at water view composition, physical and chemical quality. A physical-chemical analysis of water from a survey of the Mining area of Tunisia was performed and showed an excess for the following items: fluorine, sodium, sulfate. So many chemicals may be present in water. However, only a small number of them immediately concern in terms of health in all circumstances. Fluorine (F) is one particular chemical that is considered both necessary for the human body, but an excess of the rate of this chemical causes serious diseases. Sodium fluoride and sodium silicofluoride are more soluble and may spread in animals and plants where their toxicity largest organizations. The more complex particles such as cryolite and fluorite, almost insoluble, are more stable and less toxic. Thereafter, we will study the problem of excess fluorine in the water. The latter intended for human consumption must always comply with the limits for microbiological quality parameters and physical-chemical parameters defined by European standards (1.5 mg/l) and Tunisian (2 mg/l).

Keywords: water, minier basin, fluorine, silicofluoride

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Authors: Aniekan James Akpan, Inemesit Akpan Umoren, Uduak Iwok

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From prehistoric and primitive cultures, education was seen as a process of culture transmission by way of guiding children into becoming good members of their local communities. Even in modern cultures, education is seen as a systematic discipline aimed at cultivating genuine values to improve oneself and society. Without education, the chances of realizing the desired vision are marred as it is believed that nations that invest much in education are able to reap the desired benefits technologically, economically, socially, politically, and otherwise. In this sense, the moulding of character is considered the primary purpose of education, and until the audience of mass media through its various vehicles is seen as tools for improving the overall development of society. It is believed that a media-friendly person is likely to perform better than someone who is less friendly. This work, therefore, examines the role media play in educational development. As highlighted by the study, a summary of the functions of media shows that they widen horizon by acting as a liberating force, breaking distance, bonds, and transforming a traditional society into a modern one. With the use of technological development theory, agenda-setting theory as well as uses and gratification theory and multiple intelligence theory, the work identifies different ways in which mass media help in educational development and draws attention to the audience’s perception of media functions in terms of educational development. With a survey method and a population of 6,903,321 people, the work sampled 220 respondents using purposive technique drawn from rural communities in the South-South region of Nigeria. The work concludes that mass media are potent vehicles for teaching and learning and therefore recommends that government should provide basic infrastructures to the rural communities to aid full utilization of media potentials in educational development and equally urge media owners and practitioners to as a matter of urgency increase coverage time on issues bordering on education as it is done for political and other issues.

Keywords: educational, development, media usage, perception

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Authors: Donatella Cimini, Sergio D’ambrosio, Saba Sadiq, Chiara Schiraldi

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Chondroitin sulfate (CS), as well as modified CS, and unsulfated chondroitin, are largely applied in research today. CS is a linear glycosaminoglycan normally present in cartilage-rich tissues and bones in the form of proteoglycans decorated with sulfate groups in different positions. CS is used as an effective non-pharmacological alternative for the treatment of osteoarthritis, and other potential applications in the biomedical field are being investigated. Some bacteria, such as E. coli K4, produce a polysaccharide that is a precursor of CS (unsulfated chondroitin). This work focused on the construction of integrative E. coli K4 recombinant strains overexpressing genes (kfoA, kfoF, pgm and galU in different combinations) involved in the biosynthesis of the nucleotide sugars necessary for polysaccharide synthesis. Strain growth and polymer production were evaluated using renewable waste materials as substrates in shake flasks and small-scale batch fermentation processes. Results demonstrated the potential to replace pure sugars with cheaper medium components to establish environmentally sustainable and cost-effective production routes for potential industrial development. In fact, although excellent fermentation results have been described so far by employing strains that naturally produce chondroitin-like polysaccharides on semi-defined media, there is still the need to reduce manufacturing costs by providing a cost-effective biotechnological alternative to currently used animal-based extraction procedures.

Keywords: E. coli K4, chondroitin, microbial cell factories, glycosaminoglycans, renewable resources

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Authors: F. Javier Benitez, Francisco J. Real, Juan Luis Acero, Francisco Casas

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Three emerging contaminants (amitriptyline hydrochloride, methyl salicylate and 2-phenoxyethanol) frequently found in waste-waters were selected to be individually degraded in ultra-pure water by the combined advanced oxidation process constituted by UV radiation and chlorine. The influence of pH, initial chlorine concentration and nature of the contaminants was firstly explored. The trend for the reactivity of the selected compounds was deduced: amitriptyline hydrochloride > methyl salicylate > 2-phenoxyethanol. A later kinetic study was carried out and focused on the specific evaluation of the first-order rate constants and the determination of the partial contribution to the global reaction of the direct photochemical pathway and the radical pathway. A comparison between the rate constant values among photochemical experiments without and with the presence of Cl₂ reveals a clear increase in the oxidation efficiency of the combined process with respect to the photochemical reaction alone. In a second stage, the simultaneous oxidation of mixtures of the selected contaminants in several types of water (ultrapure water, surface water from a reservoir, and two secondary effluents) was also performed by the same combination UV/Cl₂ under more realistic operating conditions. The efficiency of this combined system UV/Cl₂ was compared to other oxidants such as the UV/S₂O₈^2- and UV/H₂O₂ AOPs. Results confirmed that the UV/Cl₂ system provides higher elimination efficiencies among the AOPs tested.

Keywords: emerging contaminants, UV/chlorine advanced oxidation process, amitriptyline, methyl salicylate, 2-phenoxyethanol, chlorination, photolysis

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Authors: Rene Davids

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Urban undergrounds spaces such as parking garages or metro stations are perceived as interludes before reaching desired destinations, as commodities devoid of aesthetic value. Within the encoded space of the city, commercial underground spaces are the closest expression to pure to structures of consumption and commodity. Even in the house, the cellar is associated with castoffs and waste or, as scholar Mircea Eliade has pointed out at best, with a place to store abandoned household and childhood objects, which lie forgotten and on rediscovery evoke a nostalgic and uncanny sense of the past. Despite a growing body of evidence presented by an increasing number of buildings situated entirely below or semi underground that feature exemplary spatial and sensuous qualities, critics and scholars see them largely as efforts to produce efforts in producing low consumption non-renewable energy. Buildings that also free space above ground. This critical approach neglects to mention and highlight other project drivers such as the notion that the ground and sky can be considered a building’s fundamental context, that underground spaces are conducive to the exploration of pure space, namely an architecture that doesn’t have to deal with facades and or external volumes and that digging into geology can inspire the textural and spatial richness. This paper will argue that while the assessment about the reduced energy consumption of underground construction is important, it does not do justice to the qualities underground buildings can contribute to a city’s expanded urban and or landscape experiences.

Keywords: low non-renewable energy consumption, pure space, underground buildings, urban and landscape experience

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Authors: Shem Ikoojo Ayegba, Ye Qi

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Public-private partnerships (PPPs) can potentially be a transformative mechanism for advancing affordable housing in Nigeria., considering the current housing deficit between 17 – 24 million. Nevertheless, their effectiveness is marred by persistent unethical practices such as corruption and the utilization of subpar materials. Through a comprehensive mixed-methods approach, this study delves into the ethical quandaries within Nigerian housing construction and their cascading effects on the success of PPPs. Semi-structured interviews encompassing seasoned construction professionals and an in-depth content analysis of ongoing housing policies and projects in Nigeria reveal a culture of corruption across the value chain. This malaise is exacerbated by glaring deficiencies in oversight and a lack of transparent practices. A robust statistical survey involving diverse professionals, including engineers, architects, and project managers, echoes these findings, emphasizing that a frail institutional framework facilitates the persistence of substandard material use, professional negligence, and rampant bribery. Such compromised construction standards place residents in potential jeopardy and impede the achievement of broader sustainability objectives. This study propounds a suite of policy interventions to pave the way for thriving affordable housing PPPs: initiating transparent bidding processes, establishing non-negotiable quality benchmarks for construction materials, and incorporating independent third-party audits throughout the building phase. Furthermore, cultivating a culture of professional integrity through targeted ethics training for all construction personnel is imperative. This research furnishes pragmatic strategies that can radically enhance the potency of housing PPPs, thereby ensuring safe, durable, and affordable housing solutions for Nigeria's underserved populace.

Keywords: public-private partnerships, affordable housing, unethical practicies, housing policies, construction ethics

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Authors: F. Berahmandpour, K. Bagheri

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Introduction: Spirulina is nutritious blue - green algae which are used as supplement or a preservative in many foods. The studies about the algae argue that the Spirulina can improve immune system, increase fat utilization, reduce oxidative stress and promote endurance at high-intensity exercise. The purpose of study is to assess the effects of Spirulina supplement on healthy weight control. Method: the study is a cross-sectional study which had 30 participants. The participants were men and women who referred to the nutrition and diet therapy clinic (in west of Tehran / Iran) for control weight. The sampling was a purposeful sampling. The participants were divided into three groups, and they were surveyed for 4 weeks. In the first group, 10 participants were used Spirulia supplement (dose: 500mg of Spiruvit Supplement as tablet / 3 times per day) without any special diet. The second group was 10 participants who received Spirulia supplement (dose 500mg of Spiruvit Supplement as tablet / 3 times per day) with a weight loss exercise program and without any special diet. The third group was 10 participants who used Spirulia supplement (dose 500mg of Spiruvit Supplement as tablet / 3 times per day) with an optimum weight loss diet. Results and Discussion: The results show that there were not any significant loss weights in first group. In while, the participants of second group argued that the Spirulina supplement had positive effects on their mud and physical body; however the clinical results showed that the loss weight had fixed tilt in this group. The significant results of study were related to the third group, because the participations could continuous loss weight during 4 weeks. However, the optimum weight loss diets were effective effects on weight loss in this group, but the researchers found that Spirulina supplement could improve loss weight with set of hormonal system (especially in women with menopause). Conclusion: The study is concluded that the Spirulina as a supplement (Spiruvit Supplement) can be an effective effect on healthy weight control, if it is used with a nutritious healthy weight loss diet. In fact, the effect of Spirulina can be related to powerful antioxidant effects and improvable hormonal system in the body.

Keywords: diet, healthy weight control, spirulina, spiruvit supplement

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Authors: Abdulrahman M. Alajlan, Saichao Dang, Qiaoqiang Gan

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Photovoltaic (PV) cells, while pivotal for solar energy harnessing, confront a challenge due to the presence of persistent residual heat. This thermal energy poses significant obstacles to the performance and longevity of PV cells. Mitigating this thermal issue is imperative, particularly in tropical regions where solar abundance coexists with elevated ambient temperatures. In response, a sustainable and economically viable solution has been devised, incorporating water-passive cooling within a Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric (PV-TEG) hybrid system to address PV cell overheating. The implemented system has significantly reduced the operating temperatures of PV cells, achieving a notable reduction of up to 15 °C below the temperature observed in standalone PV systems. In addition, a thermoelectric generator (TEG) integrated into the system significantly enhances power generation, particularly during nighttime operation. The developed hybrid system demonstrates its capability to generate power at a density of 0.5 Wm⁻² during nighttime, which is sufficient to concurrently power multiple light-emitting diodes, demonstrating practical applications for nighttime power generation. Key findings from this research include a consistent temperature reduction exceeding 10 °C for PV cells, translating to a 5% average enhancement in PV output power compared to standalone PV systems. Experimental demonstrations underscore nighttime power generation of 0.5 Wm⁻², with the potential to achieve 0.8 Wm⁻² through simple geometric optimizations. The optimal cooling of PV cells is determined by the volume of water in the heat storage unit, exhibiting an inverse relationship with the optimal performance for nighttime power generation. Furthermore, the TEG output effectively powers a lighting system with up to 5 LEDs during the night. This research not only proposes a practical solution for maximizing solar radiation utilization but also charts a course for future advancements in energy harvesting technologies.

Keywords: photovoltaic-thermoelectric systems, nighttime power generation, PV thermal management, PV cooling

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Authors: Kulwinder Singh Mann, Manmohan Singh Heer, Asha Rani

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The safe storage of radioactive materials has become an important issue. Nuclear engineering necessitates the safe handling of radioactive materials emitting high energy gamma-rays. Hazards involved in handling radioactive materials insist suitable shielded enclosures. With overgrowing use of nuclear energy for meeting the increasing demand of power, there is a need to investigate the shielding behavior of cost effective shielded enclosure (CESE) made from clay-bricks (CB) and fire-bricks (FB). In comparison to the lead-bricks (conventional-shielding), the CESE are the preferred choice in nuclear waste management. The objective behind the present investigation is to evaluate the double layered transmission exposure buildup factors (DLEBF) for gamma-rays for CESE in energy range 0.5-3MeV. For necessary computations of shielding parameters, using existing huge data regarding gamma-rays interaction parameters of all periodic table elements, two computer programs (GRIC-toolkit and BUF-toolkit) have been designed. It has been found that two-layered slabs show effective shielding for gamma-rays in orientation CB followed by FB than the reverse. It has been concluded that the arrangement, FB followed by CB reduces the leakage of scattered gamma-rays from the radioactive source.

Keywords: buildup factor, clay bricks, fire bricks, nuclear wastage management, radiation protective double layered slabs

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Authors: Nayab Kanwal, Noor Us Saher

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The management and utilization of food resources is becoming a big issue due to rapid urbanization, wastage and non-sustainable use of food, especially in developing countries. Therefore, the use of seafood as alternative sources is strongly promoted worldwide. Marine pollution strongly affects marine organisms, which ultimately decreases their export quality. The monitoring of contamination in marine organisms is a good indicator of the environmental quality as well as seafood quality. Monitoring the accumulation of chemical elements within various tissues of organisms has become a useful tool to survey current or chronic levels of heavy metal exposure within an environment. In this perspective, this study was carried out to compare the previous and current levels (Year 2012 and 2014) of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu and Zn) in crabs marketed in Karachi and to estimate the toxicological risk associated with their intake. The accumulation of metals in marine organisms, both essential (Cu and Zn) and toxic (Pb, Cd and Cr), natural and anthropogenic, is an actual food safety issue. Significant (p>0.05) variations in metal concentrations were found in all crab species between the two years, with most of the metals showing high accumulation in 2012. For toxicological risk assessment, EWI (Estimated weekly intake), Target Hazard quotient (THQ) and cancer risk (CR) were also assessed and high EWI, Non- cancer risk (THQ < 1) showed that there is no serious threat associated with the consumption of shellfish species on Karachi coast. The Cancer risk showed the highest risk from Cd and Pb pollution if consumed in excess. We summarize key environmental health research on health effects associated with exposure to contaminated seafood. It could be concluded that considering the Pakistan coast, these edible species may be sensitive and vulnerable to the adverse effects of environmental contaminants; more attention should be paid to the Pb and Cd metal bioaccumulation and to toxicological risks to seafood and consumers.

Keywords: cancer risk, edible crabs, heavy metals pollution, risk assessment

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Authors: Mehrdad Abkenari, Orod Zarrinkafsh, Mohsen Ramezan Shirazi

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Construction projects initiate in complicated dynamic environments and, due to the close relationships between project parameters and the unknown outer environment, they are faced with several uncertainties and risks. Success in time, cost and quality in large scale construction projects is uncertain in consequence of technological constraints, large number of stakeholders, too much time required, great capital requirements and poor definition of the extent and scope of the project. Projects that are faced with such environments and uncertainties can be well managed through utilization of the concept of risk management in project’s life cycle. Although the concept of risk is dependent on the opinion and idea of management, it suggests the risks of not achieving the project objectives as well. Furthermore, project’s risk analysis discusses the risks of development of inappropriate reactions. Since evaluation and prioritization of construction projects has been a difficult task, the network structure is considered to be an appropriate approach to analyze complex systems; therefore, we have used this structure for analyzing and modeling the issue. On the other hand, we face inadequacy of data in deterministic circumstances, and additionally the expert’s opinions are usually mathematically vague and are introduced in the form of linguistic variables instead of numerical expression. Owing to the fact that fuzzy logic is used for expressing the vagueness and uncertainty, formulation of expert’s opinion in the form of fuzzy numbers can be an appropriate approach. In other words, the evaluation and prioritization of construction projects on the basis of risk factors in real world is a complicated issue with lots of ambiguous qualitative characteristics. In this study, evaluated and prioritization the risk parameters and factors with fuzzy logy method by combination of three method DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation), ANP (Analytic Network Process) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order-Preference by Similarity Ideal Solution) on Construction Management.

Keywords: fuzzy logy, risk, prioritization, assessment

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