Search results for: seasonal availability

Authors: Ligang Wang, Theodoros Damartzis, Stefan Diethelm, Jan Van Herle, François Marechal

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Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of organic sludge from wastewater treatment as well as various urban and agricultural organic wastes is of great significance to achieve a sustainable society. Two upgrading approaches for cleaned biogas can be considered: (1) direct H₂ injection for catalytic CO₂ methanation and (2) CO₂ separation from biogas. The first approach usually employs electrolysis technologies to generate hydrogen and increases the biogas production rate; while the second one usually applies commercially-available highly-selective membrane technologies to efficiently extract CO₂ from the biogas with the latter being then sent afterward for compression and storage for further use. A straightforward way of utilizing the captured CO₂ is on-site catalytic CO₂ methanation. From the perspective of system complexity, the second approach may be questioned, since it introduces an additional expensive membrane component for producing the same amount of methane. However, given the circumstance that the sustainability of the produced biogas should be retained after biogas upgrading, renewable electricity should be supplied to drive the electrolyzer. Therefore, considering the intermittent nature and seasonal variation of renewable electricity supply, the second approach offers high operational flexibility. This indicates that these two approaches should be compared based on the availability and scale of the local renewable power supply and not only the technical systems themselves. Solid-oxide electrolysis generally offers high overall system efficiency, and more importantly, it can achieve simultaneous electrolysis of CO₂ and H₂O (namely, co-electrolysis), which may bring significant benefits for the case of CO₂ separation from the produced biogas. When taking co-electrolysis into account, two additional upgrading approaches can be proposed: (1) direct steam injection into the biogas with the mixture going through the SOE, and (2) CO₂ separation from biogas which can be used later for co-electrolysis. The case study of integrating SOE to a wastewater treatment plant is investigated with wind power as the renewable power. The dynamic production of biogas is provided on an hourly basis with the corresponding oxygen and heating requirements. All four approaches mentioned above are investigated and compared thermo-economically: (a) steam-electrolysis with grid power, as the base case for steam electrolysis, (b) CO₂ separation and co-electrolysis with grid power, as the base case for co-electrolysis, (c) steam-electrolysis and CO₂ separation (and storage) with wind power, and (d) co-electrolysis and CO₂ separation (and storage) with wind power. The influence of the scale of wind power supply is investigated by a sensitivity analysis. The results derived provide general understanding on the economic competitiveness of SOE for sustainable biogas upgrading, thus assisting the decision making for biogas production sites. The research leading to the presented work is funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 under grant agreements n° 699892 (ECo, topic H2020-JTI-FCH-2015-1) and SCCER BIOSWEET.

Keywords: biogas upgrading, solid-oxide electrolyzer, co-electrolysis, CO₂ utilization, energy storage

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Jiji Jose, R. Narayanacharyulu, Molly Mathew, Jisha Prems

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Introduction: Lercanidipine hydrochloride (LD), an effective calcium channel blocker, widely used for the treatment of chronic stable angina and hypertension seems to be potential transdermal therapeutic system candidate, mainly due to its low oral bio availability, short half life and high first-pass metabolism. Objective: To develop transdermal therapeutic systems for LD and to evaluate its in vivo performance in rabbits. Methodology: Transdermal patches of LD were formulated using the polymer blend of eudragit RL100 (ERL) and polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP) by casting method Propylene glycol (PG) and tween 80 were used as plasticizer and permeation enhancer respectively. The pharmaco kinetic parameters of LD after the administration of transdermal patches was compared with that of oral administration. The study was carried out in a two way crossover design in male New Zealand albino rabbits. Results: The formulation with ERL: PVP ratio 1:4 with 15% w/w PG as plasticizer and 4% w/w tween 80 as permeation enhancer showed the best drug release results. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as Cmax, tmax, mean residence time (MRT) and area under the curve (AUC 0-∞) were significantly different following transdermal administration compared to oral administration. The terminal half life of transdermally administered LD was found to similar that of oral administration. A sustained drug release over a period of 24 hrs was observed after transdermal administration. Conclusion: The fabricated transdermal delivery system have the potential to provide controlled and extended drug release, better bio availability and thus, this may improve the patient compliance.

Keywords: transdermal therapeutic system, lercanidipine hydrochloride, eudragit, skinpermeation

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Authors: Devika Nair, Sean Bellairs, Ken Evans

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Flow and erosion modeling provides an avenue for simulating the fine suspended sediment in surface water systems like streams and creeks. Fine suspended sediment is highly mobile, and many contaminants that may have been released by any sort of catchment disturbance attach themselves to these sediments. Therefore, a knowledge of fine suspended sediment transport is important in assessing contaminant transport. The CAESAR-Lisflood Landform Evolution Model, which includes a hydrologic model (TOPMODEL) and a hydraulic model (Lisflood), is being used to assess the sediment movement in tropical streams on account of a disturbance in the catchment of the creek and to determine the dynamics of sediment quantity in the creek through the years by simulating the model for future years. The accuracy of future simulations depends on the calibration and validation of the model to the past and present events. Calibration and validation of the model involve finding a combination of parameters of the model, which, when applied and simulated, gives model outputs similar to those observed for the real site scenario for corresponding input data. Calibrating the sediment output of the CAESAR-Lisflood model at the catchment level and using it for studying the equilibrium conditions of the landform is an area yet to be explored. Therefore, the aim of the study was to calibrate the CAESAR-Lisflood model and then validate it so that it could be run for future simulations to study how the landform evolves over time. To achieve this, the model was run for a rainfall event with a set of parameters, plus discharge and sediment data for the input point of the catchment, to analyze how similar the model output would behave when compared with the discharge and sediment data for the output point of the catchment. The model parameters were then adjusted until the model closely approximated the real site values of the catchment. It was then validated by running the model for a different set of events and checking that the model gave similar results to the real site values. The outcomes demonstrated that while the model can be calibrated to a greater extent for hydrology (discharge output) throughout the year, the sediment output calibration may be slightly improved by having the ability to change parameters to take into account the seasonal vegetation growth during the start and end of the wet season. This study is important to assess hydrology and sediment movement in seasonal biomes. The understanding of sediment-associated metal dispersion processes in rivers can be used in a practical way to help river basin managers more effectively control and remediate catchments affected by present and historical metal mining.

Keywords: erosion modelling, fine suspended sediments, hydrology, surface water systems

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Authors: Katarzyna Pawęska, Aleksandra Bawiec, Ewa Burszta-Adamiak, Wiesław Fiałkiewicz

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The water shortage becomes a serious problem not only in African and Middle Eastern countries, but also recently in the European Union. Scarcity of water means that not all agricultural, industrial and municipal needs will be met. When the annual availability of renewable freshwater per capita is less than 1,700 cubic meters, countries begin to experience periodic or regular water shortages. The phenomenon of water stress is the result of an imbalance between the constantly growing demand for water and its availability. The constant development of industry, population growth, and climate changes make the situation even worse. The search for alternative water sources and independent supplies is becoming a priority for many countries. Data enabling the assessment of country’s condition regarding water resources, water consumption, water price, wastewater volume, forecasted climate changes e.g. temperature, precipitation, are scattered and their interpretation by common entrepreneurs may be difficult. For this purpose, a digital tool has been developed to support decisions related to the implementation of water and wastewater re-use systems, as a result of an international research project “Framework for organizational decision-making process in water reuse for smart cities” (SMART-WaterDomain) funded under the EIG-CONCERT Japan call on Smart Water Management for Sustainable Society. The developed geo-visualization tool graphically presents, among others, data about the capacity of wastewater treatment plants and the volume of water demand in the private and public sectors for Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. It is expected that such a platform, extended with economical water management data and climate forecasts (temperature, precipitation), will allow in the future independent investigation and assessment of water use rate and wastewater production on the local and regional scale. The tool is a great opportunity for small business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers, local authorities, and common users to analyze the impact of climate change on the availability of water in the regions of their business activities. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the support of the Project Organisational Decision Making in Water Reuse for Smart Cities (SMART- WaterDomain), funded by The National Centre for Research and Development and supported by the EIG-Concert Japan.

Keywords: circular economy, digital tool, geo-visualization, wastewater re-use

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Authors: N. Veerappan

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Seasonal variations of sea grasses and physico-chemical parameters were studied from April 2011 to March 2012. Samples were collected in four different seasons, namely post monsoon (January-March), summer (April-June) premonsoon (July-September) and monsoon (October-December) from the Uppanar estuary. Three species of sea grass biomass were measured during the study period: Halophila ovalis (215.3 g/m2 - 38.5 g/m2), Halophila beccarii (75.2 g/m2 –30.1 g/m2) and Halodule pinifolia (65.4 g/m2 - 26.5 g/m2), respectively. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that NO2, NO3 PO4, and SiO4 influenced Halophila ovalis biomass distribution, whereas for Halophila beccarii and Halodule pinifolia, atmospheric temperature, water temperature, salinity, pH and DO proved important.

Keywords: sea grass, species biomass, Uppanar estuary, water quality

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Authors: Ming-Dong Wang, Abigail F. Ruby, Michelle E. Ross

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Methylphenidate is a first-line treatment drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common mental health disorder in children and adolescents. Over the last several decades, the rate of children and adolescents using ADHD medication has been increasing in many countries. A recent study found that the prevalence of ADHD medication use among children aged 3-18 years increased in 13 different world regions between 2001 and 2015, where the absolute increase ranged from 0.02 to 0.26% per year. The goal of this study was to examine the use of methylphenidate in Canadian children and its associated adverse reactions. Methylphenidate use information among young Canadians aged 0-14 years was extracted from IQVIA data on prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies between April 2014 and June 2020. The adverse reaction information associated with methylphenidate use was extracted from the Canada Vigilance database for the same time period. Methylphenidate use trends were analyzed based on sex, age group (0-4 years, 5-9 years, and 10-14 years), and geographical location (province). The common classes of adverse reactions associated with methylphenidate use were sorted, and the relative risks associated with methylphenidate use as compared with two second-line amphetamine medications for ADHD were estimated. This study revealed that among Canadians aged 0-14 years, every 100 people used about 25 prescriptions (or 23,000 mg) of methylphenidate per year during the study period, and the use increased with time. Boys used almost three times more methylphenidate than girls. The amount of drug used was inversely associated with age: Canadians aged 10-14 years used nearly three times as many drugs compared to those aged 5-9 years. Seasonal methylphenidate use patterns were apparent among young Canadians, but the seasonal trends differed among the three age groups. Methylphenidate use varied from region to region, and the highest methylphenidate use was observed in Quebec, where the use of methylphenidate was at least double that of any other province. During the study period, Health Canada received 304 adverse reaction reports associated with the use of methylphenidate for Canadians aged 0-14 years. The number of adverse reaction reports received for boys was 3.5 times higher than that for girls. The three most common adverse reaction classes were psychiatric disorders, nervous system disorders and injury, poisoning procedural complications. The number one commonly reported adverse reaction for boys was aggression (11.2%), while for girls, it was a tremor (9.6%). The safety profile in terms of adverse reaction classes associated with methylphenidate use was similar to that of the selected control products. Methylphenidate is a commonly used pharmaceutical product in young Canadians, particularly in the province of Quebec. Boys used approximately three times more of this product as compared to girls. Future investigation is needed to determine what factors are associated with the observed geographic variations in Canada.

Keywords: adverse reaction risk, methylphenidate, prescription trend, use variation

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Authors: Ayodele Adekunle Faiyetole, Olumide Olawale Jegede

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This paper presents the experimental design and needs justifications for a localized intelligent parking system (L-IPS), ideal for quasi-close communities with increasing vehicular volume that depends on limited or constant parking facilities. For a constant supply in parking facilities, the demand for an increasing vehicular volume could lead to poor time conservation or extended travel time, traffic congestion or impeded mobility, and safety issues. Increased negative environmental and economic externalities are other associated and consequent downsides of disparities in demand and supply. This L-IPS is designed using a microcontroller, ultrasonic sensors, LED indicators, such that the current status, in terms of parking spots availability, can be known from the main entrance to the community or a parking zone on a LCD screen. As an advanced traffic management system (ATMS), the L-IPS is designed to resolve aspects of infrastructure-to-driver (I2D) communication and parking detection issues. Thus, this L-IPS can act as a timesaver for users by helping them know the availability of parking spots. Providing on-time, informed routing, to a next preference or seamless moving to berth on the available spot on a proximate facility as the case may be. Its use could also increase safety and increase mobility, and fuel savings and costs, therefore, reducing negative environmental and economic externalities due to transportation systems.

Keywords: intelligent parking systems, localized intelligent parking system, intelligent transport systems, advanced traffic management systems, infrastructure-to-drivers communication

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Authors: Zulfajri Basri Hasanuddin

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There is an increasing demand for broadband services in Indonesia. Therefore, the answer is the use of Ka-Band which has some advantages such as wider bandwidth, the higher transmission speeds, and smaller size of antenna in the ground. However, rain attenuation is the primary factor in the degradation of signal at the Kaband. In this paper, the author will determine whether the Ka-band frequency can be implemented in Indonesia which has high intensity of rainfall.

Keywords: Ka-band, link budget, link availability, BER, Eb/No, C/N

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Authors: Siddhartha Khare, Nitish Kr Boro, Omm Animesh Mishra

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Recent food price hikes may signal the end of an era of predictable global grain crop plenty due to climate change, population expansion, and dietary changes. Food consumption will treble in 20 years, requiring enormous production expenditures. Climate and the atmosphere changed owing to rainfall and seasonal cycles in the past decade. India's tropical agricultural relies on evapotranspiration and monsoons. In places with limited resources, the global environmental change affects agricultural productivity and farmers' capacity to adjust to changing moisture patterns. Motivated by these difficulties, satellite remote sensing might be combined with near-surface imaging data (smartphones, UAVs, and PhenoCams) to enable phenological monitoring and fast evaluations of field-level consequences of extreme weather events on smallholder agriculture output. To accomplish this technique, we must digitally map all communities agricultural boundaries and crop kinds. With the improvement of satellite remote sensing technologies, a geo-referenced database may be created for rural Indian agriculture fields. Using AI, we can design digital agricultural solutions for individual farms. Main objective is to Geo-enable each farm along with their seasonal crop information by combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) with satellite and near-surface data and then prepare long term crop monitoring through in-depth field analysis and scanning of fields with satellite derived vegetation indices. We developed an AI based algorithm to understand the timelapse based growth of vegetation using PhenoCam or Smartphone based images. We developed an android platform where user can collect images of their fields based on the android application. These images will be sent to our local server, and then further AI based processing will be done at our server. We are creating digital boundaries of individual farms and connecting these farms with our smart phone application to collect information about farmers and their crops in each season. We are extracting satellite-based information for each farm from Google earth engine APIs and merging this data with our data of tested crops from our app according to their farm’s locations and create a database which will provide the data of quality of crops from their location.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, satellite remote sensing, crop monitoring, android and web application

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Authors: Kamel Cheriet

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In Algeria, Opuntia ficus Indica production is important. This seasonal fruit is a characteristic of arid and semi-arid regions. Taking into account its high content in antioxidants, it has an excellent nutritional value. The aim of this research is the prickly pear morphological and physicochemical characterization study which is widely present in the Arris (Batna, Algeria) area. The results of this experimental study are comparative to those of the same species from other world regions. The whole fruit weight is estimated to reach 63.38 g with a juice ratio of 71.42%, a pH of 5.54, moisture of 89.3% and a brix of 10.4°. The quantitative amount of the phenolic compounds of the fruit revealed contents of 20.65-45.70 mg / 100 g of MF for total polyphenols and 0.519 -0.591 mg / 100 g of MF for the flavonoids.

Keywords: functional composition, nutritionals properties, opuntia ficus indica, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Ramachandra C. G., Amarnath. M., Prashanth Pai M., Nagesh S. N.

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The machine's performance level drops down over a period of time due to the wear and tear of its components. The early detection of an emergent fault becomes very vital in order to obtain uninterrupted production in a plant. Maintenance is an activity that helps to keep the machine's performance at an anticipated level, thereby ensuring the availability of the machine to perform its intended function. At present, a number of modern maintenance techniques are available, such as preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, condition-based maintenance, total productive maintenance, etc. Condition-based maintenance or condition monitoring is one such modern maintenance technique in which the machine's condition or health is checked by the measurement of certain parameters such as sound level, temperature, velocity, displacement, vibration, etc. It can recognize most of the factors restraining the usefulness and efficacy of the total manufacturing unit. This research work is conducted on a Batch Mill in a tire production unit located in the Southern Karnataka region. The health of the mill is assessed using amplitude of vibration as a parameter of measurement. Most commonly, the vibration level is assessed using various points on the machine bearing. The normal or standard level is fixed using reference materials such as manuals or catalogs supplied by the manufacturers and also by referring vibration standards. The Rio-Vibro meter is placed in different locations on the batch-off mill to record the vibration data. The data collected are analyzed to identify the malfunctioning components in the batch off the mill, and corrective measures are suggested.

Keywords: availability, displacement, vibration, rio-vibro, condition monitoring

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Authors: Lidia Dzierzbicka-Glowacka, Anna Lemieszek, Mariusz Figiela

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In 2010-2011, the research on zooplankton was conducted in the southern part of the Baltic Sea to determine seasonal variability in changes occurring throughout the zooplankton in 2010 and 2011, both in the region of Gdańsk Deep, and in the western part of Gdańsk Bay. The research in the sea showed that the taxonomic composition of holoplankton in the southern part of the Baltic Sea was similar to that recorded in this region for many years. The maximum values of abundance and biomass of zooplankton both in the Deep and the Bay of Gdańsk were observed in the summer season. Copepoda dominated in the composition of zooplankton for almost the entire study period, while rotifers occurred in larger numbers only in the summer 2010 in the Gdańsk Deep as well as in May and July 2010 in the western part of Gdańsk Bay, and meroplankton – in April 2011.

Keywords: Baltic Sea, composition, Gdańsk Bay, zooplankton

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Authors: Elochukwu A. Nwankwo, Matthias U. Agboeze

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Many heritage sites abound in the shores of Nigeria with enormous tourism potentials. Heritage sites do not only depict the cultural and historical transmutation of people but also functions in the image design and promotion of a locality. This reveals the unique role of heritage sites to structural development of an area. Heritage sites have of recent been a victim of degradation and social abuse arising from seasonal ignorance; hence minimizing its potentials to the socio-economic development of an area. This paper is emphasizing on the adoption of community development approaches in heritage preservation in Igbo area. Its modalities, applications, challenges and prospect were discussed. Such understanding will serve as a catalyst in aiding general restoration and preservation of heritage sites in Nigeria and other African states.

Keywords: heritage resources, community development, preservation, sustainable development, approaches

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Authors: Saeed Ullah Jan

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This study has examined the e-readiness in libraries of public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Efforts were made to evaluate the availability of human resources, electronic infrastructure, and network services and programs in the public sector university libraries. The population of the study was the twenty-seven public sector university libraries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A quantitative approach was adopted, and a questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from the librarian/in charge of public sector university libraries. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 (SPSS). The mean score of the knowledge component interpreted magnitudes below three which indicates that the respondents are poorly or moderately satisfied regards knowledge of libraries. The satisfaction level of the respondents about the other components, such as electronic infrastructure, network services and programs, and enhancers of the networked world, was rated as average or below. The study suggested that major aspects of existing public-sector university libraries require significant transformation. For this purpose, the government should provide all the required resources and facilities to meet the population's informational and recreational demands. The Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure of public university libraries needs improvement in terms of the availability of computer equipment, databases, network servers, multimedia projectors, digital cameras, uninterruptible power supply, scanners, and backup devices such as hard discs and Digital Video Disc/Compact Disc.

Keywords: ICT-libraries, e-readiness-libraries, e-readiness-university libraries, e-readiness-Pakistan

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: A. D. Rao, Sachiko Mohanty

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The Internal Waves (IWs) are generated by the flow of barotropic tide over the rapidly varying and steep topographic features like continental shelf slope, subsurface ridges, and the seamounts, etc. The IWs of the tidal frequency are generally known as internal tides. These waves have a significant influence on the vertical density and hence causes mixing in the region. Such waves are also important in submarine acoustics, underwater navigation, offshore structures, ocean mixing and biogeochemical processes, etc. over the shelf-slope region. The seasonal variability of internal tides in the Bay of Bengal with special emphasis on its energetics is examined by using three-dimensional MITgcm model. The numerical simulations are performed for different periods covering August-September, 2013; November-December, 2013 and March-April, 2014 representing monsoon, post-monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons respectively during which high temporal resolution in-situ data sets are available. The model is initially validated through the spectral estimates of density and the baroclinic velocities. From the estimates, it is inferred that the internal tides associated with semi-diurnal frequency are more dominant in both observations and model simulations for November-December and March-April. However, in August, the estimate is found to be maximum near-inertial frequency at all the available depths. The observed vertical structure of the baroclinic velocities and its magnitude are found to be well captured by the model. EOF analysis is performed to decompose the zonal and meridional baroclinic tidal currents into different vertical modes. The analysis suggests that about 70-80% of the total variance comes from Mode-1 semi-diurnal internal tide in both observations as well as in the model simulations. The first three modes are sufficient to describe most of the variability for semidiurnal internal tides, as they represent 90-95% of the total variance for all the seasons. The phase speed, group speed, and wavelength are found to be maximum for post-monsoon season compared to other two seasons. The model simulation suggests that the internal tide is generated all along the shelf-slope regions and propagate away from the generation sites in all the months. The model simulated energy dissipation rate infers that its maximum occurs at the generation sites and hence the local mixing due to internal tide is maximum at these sites. The spatial distribution of available potential energy is found to be maximum in November (20kg/m²) in northern BoB and minimum in August (14kg/m²). The detailed energy budget calculation are made for all the seasons and results are analysed.

Keywords: available potential energy, baroclinic energy flux, internal tides, Bay of Bengal

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Authors: Abhiram Siva Prasad Pamula

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Access to clean drinking water becomes scarce due to the increase in extreme weather events because of the rise in the average global temperatures and climate change. By 2030, approximately 47% of the world’s population will face water shortages due to uncertainty in seasonal rainfall. Over 10000 varieties of synthetic dyes are commercially available in the market and used by textile and paper industries, negatively impacting human health when ingested. Besides humans, textile dyes have a negative impact on aquatic ecosystems by increasing biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand. This study assesses different treatment methods that remove dyes from textile wastewater while focusing on energy, economic, and engineering aspects of the treatment processes.

Keywords: textile wastewater, dye removal, treatment methods, hazardous pollutants

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Authors: Ntloana Hlabishi Peter

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The availability of public transportation modes and qualitative infrastructure is a burning issue that affects urban sustainability. Public transportation is indispensable in providing adequate transportation means to people at an affordable price, and it promotes public transport reliance. Burgersfort town has a critical condition on the urban public transportation infrastructure which affects the bus and taxi public transport modes and the existing infrastructure. The municipality is regarded as one of the mining towns in Limpopo Province considering the availability of mining activities and proposal on establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The study aim is to assess the efficacy of current public transportation infrastructure and to propose relevant recommendations that will unlock the possibility of future supportable public transportation systems. The Key Informant Interview (KII) was used to acquire data on the views from commuters and stakeholders involved. There KII incorporated three relevant questions in relation to services rendered in public transportation. Relevant literature relating to public transportation modes and infrastructure revealed the imperatives of public transportation infrastructure, and relevant legislation was reviewed concerning public transport infrastructure. The finding revealed poor conditions on the public transportation ranks and also inadequate parking space for public transportation modes. The study reveals that 100% of people interviewed were not satisfied with the condition of public transportation infrastructure and 100% are not satisfied with the services offered by public transportation sectors. The findings revealed that the municipality is the main player who can upgrade the existing conditions of public transportation. The study recommended that an intermodal transportation facility must be established to resolve the emerging challenges.

Keywords: public transportation, modes, infrastructure, urban sustainability

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Authors: Mohamed Saeed Ahmed Salman

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The aim of this Current Study is to reveals the impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Innovation in Mobile Jordanian Communication Companies, (Zain; Orange; Umniah and Xpress). The study depends on descriptive and analytical mothodize using the practical manner, study sample consists of Head of section and Experts from all Specializations in Mobile Jordanian Communication Companies amounted (120). A major study finding all Transformational Leadership Behaviors was median extent. The innovation adoption and innovation abilities availability was high extent. Besides there is a significant statistical impact of Transformational Leadership Behaviors, (Idealized Influence; Intellectual Stimulation; Individualized Consideration and Empowerment), on Organizational Innovation (innovation adoption & innovation abilities availability). It can be said that organizational creativity is the adoption of new ideas and behaviors that are applied in the organization, whether this is in creating new products or services, or new technology that is used at work. Transformational leadership is a process that occurs when one or more people engage with others in a way that enables leaders and followers to raise each other to higher levels of morals, motivations, and behaviors (desires, needs, ambitions, and followers' core values). An effective leader under transformational leadership is one who has a high ability to communicate, motivate, delegate, and listen to others, and is characterized by great flexibility in solving problems and dealing greatly with variables. The difference between creativity and innovation, in conclusion, innovation, invention, and creativity are three important elements for any institution or organization, and there is a fine line that separates them, which is that creativity works to generate new ideas, while invention makes them tangible, and innovation makes them valuable.

Keywords: leadership, organizational, transformational, creativity

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Authors: E. Grochowska-Niedworok, K. Brukało, M. Hadasik, M. Kardas

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Consumption of vegetables by school children and adolescents is essential for their normal growth, development and health, but a significant minority of the world's population consumes the right amount of these products. The aim of the study was to evaluate the preferences and frequency of consumption of vegetables by school children and adolescents. It has been assumed that effectively implemented nutrition education programs should have an impact on increasing the frequency of vegetable consumption among the recipients. The study covered 514 students of five schools in the Opole Voivodeship aged 9 years to 22 years. The research tool was an author's questionnaire, which consisted of closed questions on the frequency of vegetable consumption and the use of 10 ways to treat them. Preferences and frequencies are shown in percentages, while correlations were estimated on the basis of Cramer`s V and gamma coefficients. In each of the examined age groups, the relationship between sex and vegetable consumption (the Cramer`s V coefficient value was 0.06 to 0.38) was determined and the various methods of culinary processing were used (V Craméra was 0.08 to 0.34). For both sexes, the relationship between age and frequency of vegetable consumption was shown (gamma values ranged from ~ 0.00 to 0.39) and different cooking methods (gamma values were 0.01 to 0.22). The most important determinant of nutritional choices is the taste and availability of products. The fact that they have a positive effect on their health is only in third position. As has been shown, obesity prevention programs can not only address nutrition education but also teach about new flavors and increase the availability of healthy foods. In addition, the frequency of vegetable consumption can be a good indicator reflecting the healthy behaviors of children and adolescents.

Keywords: children and adolescents, frequency, welfare rate, vegetables

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Authors: Amirmohsen Behjat, Aleck Ostry, Christina Miewald, Bernie Pauly

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Farmers’ Markets have become one of the important healthy food suppliers in both rural communities and urban settings. Farmers’ markets are evolving and their number has rapidly increased in the past decade. Despite this drastic increase, the distribution of the farmers’ markets is not even across different areas. The main goal of this study is to explore the socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic variables which affect the establishment of farmers’ market in rural communities in British Columbia (BC). Thus, the data on available farmers’ markets in rural areas were collected from BC Association of Farmers’ Markets and spatially joined to BC map at Dissemination Area (DA) level using ArcGIS software to link the farmers’ market to the respective communities that they serve. Then, in order to investigate this issue and understand which rural communities farmer’ markets tend to operate, a binary logistic regression analysis was performed with the availability of farmer’ markets at DA-level as dependent variable and Deprivation Index (DI), Metro Influence Zone (MIZ) and population as independent variables. The results indicated that DI and MIZ variables are not statistically significant whereas the population is the only which had a significant contribution in predicting the availability of farmers’ markets in rural BC. Moreover, this study found that farmers’ markets usually do not operate in rural food deserts where other healthy food providers such as supermarkets and grocery stores are non-existent. In conclusion, the presence of farmers markets is not associated with socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of rural communities in BC, but farmers’ markets tend to operate in more populated rural communities in BC.

Keywords: farmers’ markets, socioeconomic and demographic variables, metro influence zone, logistic regression, ArcGIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Ilim Moses Msughter

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The study was carried out to examine the availability of Ante-natal care services and the socio-cultural factors affecting the utilization of these services in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State. Four specific objectives were outlined as thus to examine the availability of antenatal care services in Dutsin-Ma local government area, to identify the socio-cultural factors affecting the utilisation of ante-natal care services, to ascertain the challenges affecting utilisation of ante-natal care services and suggest strategies to improve efficiency in ante-natal service delivery and utilisation of same services. Data were collected from 110 respondents using a questionnaire and through the use of the interview. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed that ante-natal care services are available in the study area, but access to such services is hindered by several factors, which include religious and traditional beliefs, cost of services and poor attitudes of health care workers which has an adverse effect on people’s desire to visit ante-natal centres. The study recommended that Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) need to be trained on how to handle pregnancy-related complications. It is also recommended that essential ante-natal drugs and services should be subsidised or made free by the government, and this must be closely monitored to ensure efficiency. Finally, human relation training should be organised for nurses and midwives to improve their attitudes towards patients during ante-natal visits.

Keywords: utilisation, religion, traditional birth attendant, ante-natal

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Authors: İsmail İnce, Mustafa Fener

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Natural stones used as building materials are exposed to various direct or indirect atmospheric effects depending on the climatic and seasonal conditions. Stones deteriorate partially or fully as a result of these effects. Freezing and thawing (F-T) process is the most important interaction. Nevşehir is located in the Central Anatolia region in Turkey and it has a typical continental climate with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. Effects of freeze-thaw processes were widely observed on the building stones used in the region. Pyroclastic rocks, which are named as Nevşehir stone in the region, have been used in most of these buildings. The purpose of this study is to investigate the variations in engineering and textural properties of Nevşehir stone during different F-T cycles.

Keywords: Nevşehir stone, freeze-thaw, engineering properties, textural properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 979

Authors: Grace Modupe Adebo, Ayodeji Oluwamuyiwa Adedapo

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Women are key actors in ensuring food security in terms of food availability, food access, and food utilization in the developing economy, however, they suffer mostly during violent conflicts due to their feminist nature of rearing and caring for their children and relatives. The study was embarked upon to access the effects of violent conflicts posed by Boko Haram insurgency on women and food security in the Northeast of Nigeria. The study made use of secondary data. A time series data collected over a 22 years period were used. The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics and t-test analysis. The findings of the study established a significant difference in food production (availability) before and after the Boko Haram insurgency at the 1% level of significance. The high level of Internally Displaced Person (IDP) with a high proportion of women depicts a very low level of food accessibility as the men and women has fled and uninhabited their place of abode for over a period of four to five years, thus diminishing their economic power, and the means of acquiring food which invariably endanger food stability and utilization. The study confirmed the abduction and changing roles of women as cooks, porters, spies, partners, and sex slaves to Boko Haram troop members, thus affecting their livelihoods and food security. The study recommends hands-on interventions by the governmental, non-governmental and international agencies to terminate the activities of Boko Haram in the area and restore the food production for enhanced food security.

Keywords: Boko Haram insurgency, food accessibility, food production, food utilization, women’s livelihoods

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: А. А. Yessekeyeva, А. S. Moldagaliyeva, G. K. Shulanbekova

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The purpose of this article is to describe challenges associated with enhancement of government control over agro industrial sector in order to maintain food security. The need for government control over agricultural industry stems from the fact that the State is accountable to its citizens for establishing their standard living conditions, food and other agricultural product supplies. Agro industrial sector is in a special position within the market place preventing its full and equal participation in an interdisciplinary competition. Low-profit agricultural industry that is dependent on the natural and strongly marked seasonal and cyclical production factors is more underdeveloped in terms of technology and relatively static industry as compared to the manufacturing industry. Therefore, agricultural industry development directly affects food security of the country.

Keywords: food security, agro-industry, Kazakhstan, food security

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Adel A. El-Zoghabi, Moustafa F. Ashry

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The popularity of the Internet and the availability of powerful computers and high-speed networks as low-cost commodity components are changing the way we use computers today. These technical opportunities have led to the possibility of using geographically distributed and multi-owner resources to solve large-scale problems in science, engineering, and commerce. Recent research on these topics has led to the emergence of a new paradigm known as Grid computing. To achieve the promising potentials of tremendous distributed resources, effective and efficient load balancing algorithms are fundamentally important. Unfortunately, load balancing algorithms in traditional parallel and distributed systems, which usually run on homogeneous and dedicated resources, cannot work well in the new circumstances. In this paper, the concept of a fast fractal transform in heterogeneous grid computing based on R-tree and the domain-range entropy is proposed to improve fault tolerance and load balancing algorithm by improve connectivity, communication delay, network bandwidth, resource availability, and resource unpredictability. A novel two-dimension figure of merit is suggested to describe the network effects on load balance and fault tolerance estimation. Fault tolerance is enhanced by adaptively decrease replication time and message cost while load balance is enhanced by adaptively decrease mean job response time. Experimental results show that the proposed method yields superior performance over other methods.

Keywords: Grid computing, load balancing, fault tolerance, R-tree, heterogeneous systems

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Authors: Sakura Yoshii, Masakazu Abe, Akihiro Iijima

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Nitrogen saturation has become one of the serious issues in the field of forest environment. The watershed protection forests located in the downwind hinterland of Tokyo Metropolitan Area are believed to be facing nitrogen saturation. In this study, we carefully focus on the balance of nitrogen between load and runoff. Annual nitrogen load via atmospheric deposition was estimated to 461.1 t-N/year in the upper reaches of the Kanna River. Annual nitrogen runoff to the forested headwater stream of the Kanna River was determined to 184.9 t-N/year, corresponding to 40.1% of the total nitrogen load. Clear seasonal change in NO3-N concentration was still observed. Therefore, watershed protection forest of the Kanna River is most likely to be in Stage-1 on the status of nitrogen saturation.

Keywords: atmospheric deposition, nitrogen accumulation, denitrification, forest ecosystems

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Kamalpreet Kaur, Renu Dhir

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Climate prediction is an essential component of climate research, which helps evaluate possible effects on economies, communities, and ecosystems. Climate prediction involves short-term weather prediction, seasonal prediction, and long-term climate change prediction. Climate prediction can use the information gathered from satellites, ground-based stations, and ocean buoys, among other sources. The paper's four architectures, such as ResNet50, VGG19, Inception-v3, and Xception, have been combined using an ensemble approach for overall performance and robustness. An ensemble of different models makes a prediction, and the majority vote determines the final prediction. The various architectures such as ResNet50, VGG19, Inception-v3, and Xception efficiently classify the dataset RSI-CB256, which contains satellite images into cloudy and non-cloudy. The generated ensembled S-E model (Sar-ensembled model) provides an accuracy of 99.25%.

Keywords: climate, satellite images, prediction, classification

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Authors: Wilaiwan Sornpoon, Sébastien Bonnet, Savitri Garivait

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Continuous measurements of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted from soils are required to understand diurnal and seasonal variations in soil emissions and related mechanism. This understanding plays an important role in appropriate quantification and assessment of the overall change in soil carbon flow and budget. This study proposes to monitor GHGs emissions from soil under sugarcane cultivation in Thailand. The measurements were conducted over 379 days. The results showed that the total net amount of GHGs emitted from sugarcane plantation soil amounts to 36 Mg CO2eq ha-1. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) were found to be the main contributors to the emissions. For methane (CH4), the net emission was found to be almost zero. The measurement results also confirmed that soil moisture content and GHGs emissions are positively correlated.

Keywords: soil, GHG emission, sugarcane, agriculture, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 432

Authors: Udaykumar R., M. S. Ganachari

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In order to engage community pharmacies in Tuberculosis care, a survey has been conducted in Belgaum city, Karnataka state, India. After the survey divided into two groups one is control group and another one is intervention group. One is dispensing of anti-tuberculosis drugs, and another one is non-availability of anti-tuberculosis drugs. Those community pharmacists who are voluntarily interesting for becoming DOTS (Directly observed treatment short course) provider and RNTCP (Revised national tuberculosis control programme) objectives. Structured training is conducted for community pharmacist who are dispensing anti-tuberculosis drugs. The training module includes record maintaining, reporting to the RNTCP, Medication adherence etc. In case of non-availability of anti-tuberculosis drugs, the district RNTCP has been given training for community pharmacist by providing free of drugs to the community pharmacies. So, community pharmacies can dispense anti-tuberculosis drugs to the patients. The target of this study is Private community pharmacies. A simple random sampling method is used and 550 private community pharmacy shops has been involved in Belgaum city of Karnataka state, India. Significance of the Study: This study mainly focused on training of DOTS (Directly observed treatment short course) to the private community pharmacist. Indian Govt. Considers Private Providers as Assets for TB Control and Care to Achieve National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination 2017-2025. The Govt. has not fully tapped the Potential of Private Pharmacies to Fight TB. Providing DOTS as per patient’s convenience through community DOT Providers with periodic monitoring may reduce the treatment Default. We explore RNTCP objectives interventions that can have directly managed by private community pharmacy shop. Objectives: Survey of anti-tuberculosis drugs in Community pharmacy shop in Belgaum city. Interested community pharmacist who are willing to become DOTS (Directly observed treatment short course) Provider. Major Findings:Most of the community pharmacist are dispensing anti-tuberculosis drugs without having knowledge of DOTS therapy and RNTCP objectives. No community pharmacist is aware of RNTCP and Tuberculosis burden in India. Most of the Pharmacist agreed to come for RNTCP Training module for the community pharmacist. Some of the community pharmacist not dispensing anti-tuberculosis drugs and they agreed to become official DOTS provider. Concluding Statement: Awareness of role of community pharmacist on tuberculosis control and care has been neglected. More than 50% of tuberculosis patients seeking treatments from privatesector. In this study finds the major gap between government and private sector on tuberculosis treatment.

Keywords: community pharmacist, directly observed treatment short course(DOTS), revised national tuberculosis control programme (RNTCP), private pharmacies, anti-tuberculosis drugs

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Shazia Farooq Mirza

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The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges faced by visually impaired children and their parents in doing homework assignments using Braille. This study had a quantitative approach and it was descriptive in nature. It took place in 6 public and special private schools of Lahore.177 visually impaired children of grades 4-10 and 153 parents of the visually impaired children were the volunteer participants of this study which were selected through a convenient sampling method. A survey method was adopted for the data collection. And for this purpose 2 self-developed validated questionnaires were used as instruments. The instruments were constructed by exploring the factors and sub-factors from the literature review. Thirty students with visual impairment and 30 parents of the students with visual impairment filled the questionnaires as a pilot study, and it ensured the reliability of the instruments. Data were analyzed using a statistical package of social sciences and it was completely interpreted. Findings revealed that the common challenges faced by the students with visual impairment were Physical Stress, Readiness, Braille Knowledge, Braille Skill and Communications. And the major challenges faced by the parents of the students with visual impairment were the Availability of the helping material, the Availability of the reading material, Braille Knowledge, Braille skills, School and family interactions, Behavior management and the Environment and equipment. Conclusions were drawn on the basis of the major findings. Future suggestions are given in light of the conclusions. This study will be beneficial for the children with visual impairment, the parents of the children with visual impairment, the special education teachers and for the policymakers of the special schools.

Keywords: challenges, visually impaired children, homework, parents, braille

Procedia PDF Downloads 122