Search results for: sustainable energy and climate action plan

Authors: Fatemeh Yazdandoust

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Sustainability is a growing concern in architecture and urban planning due to the environmental impact of the built environment. Ecological challenges persist despite the proliferation of sustainable design strategies, prompting a critical reevaluation of existing approaches. This study examines sustainable design practices, focusing on the origins and processes of production, environmental impact, and socioeconomic dimensions. It also discusses ‘cleantech’ initiatives, which often prioritize profitability over ecological stewardship. The study advocates for a paradigm shift in urban design towards greater adaptability, complexity, and inclusivity, embracing porosity, incompleteness, and seed planning. This holistic approach emphasizes citizen participation and bottom-up interventions, reimagining urban spaces as evolving ecosystems. The study calls for a reimagining of sustainability that transcends conventional green design concepts, promoting a more resilient and inclusive built environment through an open system approach grounded in adaptability, diversity, and equity principles.

Keywords: sustainability, clean-tech, open system design, sustainable design

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Authors: Fatemeh Zare, Kaveh Bazrafkan, Alireza Bolhari

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Quality of life is one of the most recent issues in today's architectural world. It has numerous criteria and has diverse aspects in different nation's cultures. Social sustainability, on the other hand, is frequently a positive attitude which is manifested by integration of human beings and equity of access to fundamental amenities; for instance, transportation, hygienic systems, equal education facilities, etc. This paper demonstrates that achieving desired quality of life is through assurance of sustainable society. Choosing a sustainable approach in every day's life becomes a practical manner and solution for human life. By assuming that an architect is someone who designs people's life by his/her projects, scrutinizing the relationship between quality of life and architectural buildings would reveal hidden criteria through Datascapes technique. This would be enriched when considering this relationship with everyone's basic needs in the society. One the most impressive needs are the particular demands of physically challenged people which are directly examined and discussed.

Keywords: sustainable design, social sustainability, disabled people, datascapes technique

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Authors: Anthony Nyamekeh-Armah Adjei, Toshiaki Aoki

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The unreliable and poor efficiency of electricity distribution leading to frequent power outages and high losses are the major challenge facing the power distribution sector in Ghana. Distribution system routes electricity from the power generating station at a higher voltage through the transmission grid and steps it down through the low voltage lines to end users. Approximately all electricity problems and disturbances that have increased the call for renewable and sustainable energy in recent years have their roots in the distribution system. Therefore, sustaining electricity distribution efficiency can potentially contribute to the reserve of natural energy resources use in power generation, reducing greenhouse gas emission (GHG), decreasing tariffs for consumers and effective human security. Human Security is a people-centered approach where individual human being is the principal object of concern, focuses on protecting the vital core of all human lives in ways for meeting basic needs that enhance the safety and protection of individuals and communities. The vulnerability is the diminished capacity of an individual or group to anticipate, resist and recover from the effect of natural, human-induced disaster. The research objectives are to explore the causes of frequent power outages to consumers, high losses in the distribution network and the effect of poor electricity distribution efficiency on the vulnerable (poor and ordinary) people that mostly depend on electricity for their daily activities or life to survive. The importance of the study is that in a developing country like Ghana where raising a capital for new infrastructure project is difficult, it would be beneficial to enhance the efficiency that will significantly minimize the high energy losses, reduce power outage, to ensure safe and reliable delivery of electric power to consumers to secure the security of people’s livelihood. The methodology used in this study is both interview and questionnaire survey to analyze the response from the respondents on causes of power outages and high losses facing the electricity company of Ghana (ECG) and its effect on the livelihood on the vulnerable people. Among the outcome of both administered questionnaire and the interview survey from the field were; poor maintenance of existing sub-stations, use of aging equipment, use of poor distribution infrastructure and poor metering and billing system. The main observation of this paper is that the poor network efficiency (high losses and power outages) affects the livelihood of the vulnerable people. Therefore, the paper recommends that policymakers should insist on all regulation guiding electricity distribution to improve system efficiency. In conclusion, there should be decentralization of off-grid solar PV technologies to provide a sustainable and cost-effective, which can increase daily productivity and improve the quality of life of the vulnerable people in the rural communities.

Keywords: electricity efficiency, high losses, human security, power outage

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Authors: Nour Wehbe

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The Lebanese electricity sector is at the heart of a deep crisis. Electricity in Lebanon is supplied by Électricité du Liban (EdL) which has to suffer from technical and financial deficiencies for decades and proved to be insufficient and deficient as the demand still exceeds the supply. As a result, backup generation is widespread throughout Lebanon. The sector costs massive government resources and, on top of it, consumers pay massive additional amounts for satisfying their electrical needs. While the developed countries have been investing in renewable energy for the past two decades, the Lebanese government realizes the importance of adopting such energy sourcing strategies for the upgrade of the electricity sector in the country. The diversification of the national electricity generation mix has increased considerably in Lebanon's energy planning agenda, especially that a detailed review of the energy potential in Lebanon has revealed a great potential of solar and wind energy resources, a considerable potential of biomass resource, and an important hydraulic potential in Lebanon. This paper presents a review of the energy status of Lebanon, and illustrates a detailed review of the EDL structure with the existing problems and recommended solutions. In addition, scenarios reflecting implementation of policy projects are presented, and conclusions are drawn on the usefulness of a proposed evaluation methodology and the effectiveness of the adopted new energy policy for the electrical sector in Lebanon.

Keywords: EdL Electricite du Liban, portfolio optimization, electricity generation mix, mean-variance approach

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Authors: Jayant Balaji Athavale, Sean Clarke

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Background: According to the WHO, every year, more than 700,000 people die by suicide, which is one person around every 45 seconds. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds globally. The most common situations or life events that might cause suicidal thoughts are financial problems/unemployment, rejections, relationship breakups, sexual/substance abuse and mental illnesses. Mental/psychological weakness caused due to defects in one’s personality is one of the main reasons why people feel they cannot cope in such situations and contemplate suicide. A WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020 lists a 4-point strategy to enhance mental health by ‘implementing strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health.’ Methodology: With 40 years of spiritual research background, the team at the Maharshi University of Spirituality has studied the spiritual root causes that can significantly affect one’s mental health and the solutions to improve it. Results/Findings: According to spiritual science, the time and nature of death are mostly due to spiritual reasons. A person would mostly contemplate and attempt suicide when he is spiritually most vulnerable. Spiritual practice, as per universal principles, helps in protecting a person spiritually and prevents him from getting such thoughts of self-harm or acting upon them by controlling such impulses. The University has had much success in helping people to overcome the defects in their personalities, including those with suicidal thoughts, through spiritual practices such as chanting the Name of God and the Personality Defect Removal (PDR) process developed by the Author. Conclusion: If such techniques were taught in educational institutions, they could be simple yet effective self-help tools to prevent thoughts of suicide and enhance mental health and well-being.

Keywords: suicide, mental health, abuse, suicide prevention, personality defect removal

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Authors: Anusha Chanda, Reenu Singh

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Packaging is one of the major contributors to global waste. While efforts are being made to switch to more sustainable types of packaging, such as switching from single use plastics to paper, not all polluting materials, have been rethought in terms of recycling. Minimalism in packaging design can help reduce the amount of waste produced greatly. While online companies have shifted to using cardboard boxes for packages, a large amount of waste in still generated from other materials affiliated with cardboard packaging, such as tape, bubble wrap, plastic wrap, among others. Minimalism also works by reducing extra packaging and increasing the reusability of the material. This paper looks at research related to minimalism in packaging design, minimalism, and sustainability. A survey was conducted in order to find out the different ways in which minimalism can be implemented in packaging design. Information gathered from the research and responses from the survey was used to ideate product design alternatives for sustainable substitutes for bubble wrap in packaging. This would help greatly reduce the amount of packaging waste and improve environmental quality.

Keywords: environment, minimalism, packaging, product design, sustainable

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Authors: Mohd Ruzlin Mohd Mokhtar

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At present, most operators who are working on projects for utilities such as power, water, oil, gas, telecommunication and sewerage are using technologies e.g. Total station, Global Positioning System (GPS), Electromagnetic Locator (EML) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to perform underground utility mapping. With the increase in popularity of Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method among the local authorities and asset owners, most of newly installed underground utilities need to use the HDD method. HDD method is seen as simple and create not much disturbance to the public and traffic. Thus, it was the preferred utilities installation method in most of areas especially in urban areas. HDDs were installed much deeper than exiting utilities (some reports saying that HDD is averaging 5 meter in depth). However, this impacts the accuracy or ability of existing underground utility mapping technologies. In most of Malaysia underground soil condition, those technologies were limited to maximum of 3 meter depth. Thus, those utilities which were installed much deeper than 3 meter depth could not be detected by using existing detection tools. The accuracy and reliability of existing underground utility mapping technologies or work procedure were in doubt. Thus, a mitigation action plan is required. While installing new utility using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method, a more accurate underground utility mapping can be achieved by using Gyro OMU compared to existing practice using e.g. EML and GPR. Gyro OMU is a method to accurately identify the location of HDD thus this mapping can be used or referred to avoid those cost of breakdown due to future HDD works which can be caused by inaccurate underground utility mapping.

Keywords: Gyro Orientation Measurement Unit (Gyro OMU), Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electromagnetic Locator (EML)

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Authors: P. R. Dushantha Chaminda, Peng Kai

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In this review paper, we enclose the thought of wireless ad hoc networks and particularly mobile ad hoc network (MANET), their field of study, intention, concern, benefit and disadvantages, modifications, with relation of AODV routing protocol. Mobile computing is developing speedily with progression in wireless communications and wireless networking protocols. Making communication easy, we function most wireless network devices and sensor networks, movable, battery-powered, thus control on a highly constrained energy budget. However, progress in battery technology presents that only little improvements in battery volume can be expected in the near future. Moreover, recharging or substitution batteries is costly or unworkable, it is preferable to support energy waste level of devices low.

Keywords: wireless ad hoc network, energy efficient routing protocols, AODV, EOAODV, AODVEA, AODVM, AOMDV, FF-AOMDV, AOMR-LM

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Authors: Mitsuhiro Hirai, Satoshi Ajito, Nobutaka Shimizu, Noriyuki Igarashi, Hiroki Iwase, Shinichi Takata

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Sugars and polyols are known to be bioprotectants preventing such as protein denaturation and enzyme deactivation and widely used as a nontoxic additive in various industrial and medical products. The mechanism of their protective actions has been explained by specific bindings between biological components and additives, changes in solvent viscosities, and surface tension and free energy changes upon transfer of those components into additive solutions. On the other hand, some organisms having tolerances against extreme environment produce stress proteins and/or accumulate sugars in cells, which is called cryptobiosis. In particular, trehalose has been drawing attention relevant to cryptobiosis under external stress such as high or low temperature, drying, osmotic pressure, and so on. The function of cryptobiosis by trehalose has been explained relevant to the restriction of the intra-and/or-inter-molecular movement by vitrification or from the replacement of water molecule by trehalose. Previous results suggest that the structure and interaction between sugar and water are a key determinant for understanding cryptobiosis. Recently, we have shown direct evidence that the protein hydration (solvation) and structural stability against chemical and thermal denaturation significantly depend on sugar species and glycerol. Sugar and glycerol molecules tend to be preferentially or weakly excluded from the protein surface and preserved the native protein hydration shell. Due to the protective action of the protein hydration shell by those molecules, the protein structure is stabilized against chemical (guanidinium chloride) and thermal denaturation. The protective action depends on sugar species. To understand the above trend and difference in detail, it is essentially important to clarify the characteristics of solutions containing those additives. In this study, by using wide-angle X-ray scattering technique covering a wide spatial region (~3-120 Å), we have clarified structures of sugar solutions with the concentration from 5% w/w to 65% w/w. The sugars measured in the present study were monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, mannose) and disaccharides (sucrose, trehalose, maltose). Due to observed scattering data with a wide spatial resolution, we have succeeded in obtaining information on the internal structure of individual sugar molecules and on the correlation between them. Every sugar gradually shortened the average inter-molecular distance as the concentration increased. The inter-molecular interaction between sugar molecules was essentially showed an exclusive tendency for every sugar, which appeared as the presence of a repulsive correlation hole. This trend was more weakly seen for trehalose compared to other sugars. The intermolecular distance and spread of individual molecule clearly showed the dependence of sugar species. We will discuss the relation between the characteristic of sugar solution and its protective action of biological materials.

Keywords: hydration, protein, sugar, X-ray scattering

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Authors: Amidu Owolabi Ayeni

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Studies have shown that spatio-temporal distribution and variability of climatic variables, urban land use, and population have had substantial impact on water supply. It is based on these facts that the impacts of climate, urbanization, and population on water supply in Lagos State Nigeria remain the focus of this study. Population and water production data on Lagos State between 1963 and 2006 were collected, and used for time series and projection analyses. Multi-temporal land-sat images of 1975, 1995 and NigeriaSat-1 imagery of 2007 were used for land use change analysis. The population of Lagos State increased by about 557.1% between 1963 and 2006, correspondingly, safe water supply increased by 554%. Currently, 60% of domestic water use in urban areas of Lagos State is from groundwater while 75% of rural water is from unsafe surface water. Between 1975 and 2007, urban land use increased by about 235.9%. The 46years climatic records revealed that temperature and evaporation decreased slightly while rainfall and Relatively Humidity (RH) decreased consistently. Based on these trends, the Lagos State population and required water are expected to increase to about 19.8millions and 2418.9ML/D respectively by the year 2026. Rainfall is likely to decrease by -6.68mm while temperature will increase by 0.950C by 2026. Urban land use is expected to increase by 20% with expectation of serious congestion in the suburb areas. With these results, over 50% of the urban inhabitants will be highly water poor in future if the trends continue unabated.

Keywords: challenges, climate change, urbanization, water supply

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Authors: Shan Huang, Guanjun Huang, Yongjun Zeng, Haiyuan Wang

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The impacts of whole-growth warming on grain yield and quality in double rice cropping systems still remain largely unknown. In this study, a two-year field whole-growth warming experiment was conducted with two inbred indica rice cultivars (Zhongjiazao 17 and Xiangzaoxian 45) for early season and two hybrid indica rice cultivars (Wanxiangyouhuazhan and Tianyouhuazhan) for late season. The results showed that whole-growth warming did not affect early rice yield but significantly decreased late rice yield, which was caused by the decreased grain weight that may be related to the increased plant respiration and reduced translocation of dry matter accumulated during the pre-heading phase under warming. Whole-growth warming improved the milling quality of late rice but decreased that of early rice; however, the chalky rice rate and chalkiness degree were increased by 20.7% and 33.9% for early rice and 37.6 % and 51.6% for late rice under warming, respectively. We found that the crude protein content of milled rice was significantly increased by warming in both early and late rice, which would result in deterioration of eating quality. Besides, compared with the control treatment, the setback of late rice was significantly reduced by 17.8 % under warming, while that of early rice was not significantly affected by warming. These results suggest that the negative impacts of whole-growth warming on grain quality may be more severe in early rice than in late rice. Therefore, adaptation in both rice breeding and agronomic practices is needed to alleviate climate warming on the production of a double rice cropping system. Climate-smart agricultural practices ought to be implemented to mitigate the detrimental effects of warming on rice grain quality. For instance, fine-tuning the application rate and timing of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, along with the introduction of organic amendments and the cultivation of heat-tolerant rice varieties, can help reduce the negative impact of rising temperatures on rice quality. Furthermore, to comprehensively understand the influence of climate warming on rice grain quality, future research should encompass a wider range of rice cultivars and experimental sites.

Keywords: climate warming, double rice cropping, dry matter, grain quality, grain yield

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Authors: Aditi Chitharanjan Parmar, Marco Gottardo, Giulia Adele Tuci, Francesco Valentino

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The generation of urban organic waste is a significant environmental problem due to the potential release of leachate and/or methane into the environment. This contributes to climate change, discharging a valuable resource that could be used in various ways. This research addresses this issue by proposing a two-step approach by linking biowaste management to aquaculture industry via single cell proteins (SCP) production. A mixture of food waste and municipal sewage sludge (FW-MSS) was firstly subjected to a mesophilic (37°C) anaerobic fermentation to produce a liquid stream rich in short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are important building blocks for the following microbial biomass growth. In the frame of stable fermentation activity (after 1 week of operation), the average value of SCFAs was 21.3  0.4 g COD/L, with a CODSCFA/CODSOL ratio of 0.77 COD/COD. This indicated the successful strategy to accumulate SCFAs from the biowaste mixture by applying short hydraulic retention time (HRT; 4 days) and medium organic loading rate (OLR; 7 – 12 g VS/L d) in the lab-scale (V = 4 L) continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The SCFA-rich effluent was then utilized as feedstock for the growth of a mixed microbial consortium able to store polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), a class of biopolymers completely biodegradable in nature and produced as intracellular carbon/energy source. Given the demonstrated properties of the intracellular PHA as antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effect on various fish species, the PHA-producing culture was intended to be utilized as SCP in aquaculture. The growth of PHA-storing biomass was obtained in a 2-L sequencing batch reactor (SBR), fully aerobic and set at 25°C; to stimulate a certain storage response (PHA production) in the cells, the feast-famine conditions were adopted, consisting in an alternation of cycles during which the biomass was exposed to an initial abundance of substrate (feast phase) followed by a starvation period (famine phase). To avoid the proliferation of other bacteria not able to store PHA, the SBR was maintained at low HRT (2 days). Along the stable growth of the mixed microbial consortium (the growth yield was estimated to be 0.47 COD/COD), the feast-famine strategy enhanced the PHA production capacity, leading to a final PHA content in the biomass equal to 16.5 wt%, which is suitable for the use as SCP. In fact, by incorporating the waste-derived PHA-rich biomass into fish feed at 20 wt%, the final feed could contain a PHA content around 3.0 wt%, within the recommended range (0.2–5.0 wt%) for promoting fish health. Proximate analysis of the PHA-rich biomass revealed a good crude proteins level (around 51 wt%) and the presence of all the essential amino acids (EAA), together accounting for 31% of the SCP total amino acid composition. This suggested that the waste-derived SCP was a source of good quality proteins with a good nutritional value. This approach offers a sustainable solution for urban waste management, potentially establishing a sustainable waste-to-value conversion route by connecting waste management to the growing aquaculture and fish feed production sectors.

Keywords: feed supplement, nutritional value, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), single cell protein (SCP), urban organic waste.

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Authors: Yasser Rammah, Wolf-Christian Mueller

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Nonlinear triad interactions in incompressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (3D-MHD) turbulence are studied by analyzing data from high-resolution direct numerical simulations of decaying isotropic (5123 grid points) and forced anisotropic (10242 x256 grid points) turbulence. An accurate numerical approach toward analyzing nonlinear turbulent energy transfer function and triad interactions is presented. It involves the direct numerical examination of every wavenumber triad that is associated with the nonlinear terms in the differential equations of MHD in the inertial range of turbulence. The technique allows us to compute the spectral energy transfer and energy fluxes, as well as the spectral locality property of energy transfer function. To this end, the geometrical shape of each underlying wavenumber triad that contributes to the statistical transfer density function is examined to infer the locality of the energy transfer. Results show that the total energy transfer is local via nonlocal triad interactions in decaying macroscopically isotropic MHD turbulence. In anisotropic MHD, turbulence subject to a strong mean magnetic field the nonlinear transfer is generally weaker and exhibits a moderate increase of nonlocality in both perpendicular and parallel directions compared to the isotropic case. These results support the recent mathematical findings, which also claim the locality of nonlinear energy transfer in MHD turbulence.

Keywords: magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, transfer density function, locality function, direct numerical simulation (DNS)

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Authors: Zhuofan Cheng, Qiongda Hu, Mohammed El-Hajjar, Basel Halak

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Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems can allow significantly higher data rates compared to single-antenna-aided systems. They are expected to be a prominent part of the 5G communication standard. However, these decoders suffer from high power consumption. This work presents a design technique in order to improve the energy efficiency of MIMO systems; this facilitates their use in the next generation of battery-operated communication devices such as mobile phones and tablets. The proposed optimization approach consists of the use of low complexity lattice reduction algorithm in combination with an adaptive VLSI implementation. The proposed design has been realized and verified in 65nm technology. The results show that the proposed design is significantly more energy-efficient than conventional K-best MIMO systems.

Keywords: energy, lattice reduction, MIMO, VLSI

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Authors: Majid Samiee Zenoozian

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This paper studies the susceptibility of local settlements in the gulf of Oman mangrove forest zone to flooding and progressesconsiderate of acuities and reactions to historical and present coastal flooding.it is indirect thaterosionsproduced in coastal zones by the change of mangrove undergrowthsubsequent from the enduring influence of persons since the late 19th century. Confronted with the increasing impact of climate change on climate ambitiousalarms such as flooding and biodiversity damage, handling the relationship between mangroves and their atmosphere has become authoritative for their defense. Coastal flood dangers are increasing quickly. We offer high resolution approximations of the financial value of mangroves forests for flood risk discount. We progress a probabilistic, process-based estimate of the properties of mangroves on avoidanceharms to people and property. More significantly, it also establishes how the incessantsqualor of this significant ecosystem has the potential to unfavorably influence the future cyclone persuadeddangers in the area.

Keywords: mangrove forest, coastal, flood, erosion

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Authors: Olasunkanmi Olapeju

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A large chunk of global population are not yet connected to water borne faecal management systems that rely on flush mechanisms and sewers networks that are linked with a central treatment plant. Only about 10% of sub-Saharan African countries are connected to central sewage systems. In Nigeria, majority of the population do not only depend on on-plot sanitation systems, a huge chunk do not also have access to safe and improved toilets. Apart from the organizational challenges and technical capacity, the other major factors that account for why faecal waste management is yet unimproved in developing countries are faulty planning frameworks that fail to maintain balance between urbanization dynamics and infrastructures, and misconceptions about what modern sanitation is all about. In most cases, the quest to implement developmental patterns that integrate modern sewers based sanitation systems have huge financial and political costs. Faecal waste management in poor countries largely lacks the needed political attention and budgetary prioritization. Yet, the on-plot sanitation systems being mainly relied upon the need to be managed in a manner that is sustainable and healthy, pending when development would embrace a more sustainable off-site central sewage system. This study is aimed at investigating existing strategies for managing on-plot sanitation systems’ faecal waste in Ogun state, Nigeria, with the aim of recommending sustainable sanitation management systems. The study adopted the convergent parallel variant of the mixed-mode technique, which involves the adoption of both quantitative and qualitative method of data collection. Adopting a four-level multi-stage approach, which is inclusive of all political divisions in the study area, a total of 330 questionnaires were respectively administered in the study area. Moreover, the qualitative data adopted the purposive approach in scoping down to 33 key informants. SPSS software (Version 22.0) was employed for descriptively analysis. The study shows that about 52% of households adopt the non-recovery management (NRM) means of burying their latrines with sand sludge shrinkage with chemicals such as carbides. The dominance of the non-recovery management means seriously constrains the quest for faecal resource recovery. Essentially, the management techniques adopted by households depend largely on the technology of their sanitary containments, emptying means available, the ability of households to pay for the cost of emptying, and the social acceptability of the reusability of faecal waste, which determines faecal resource recoverability. The study suggests that there is a need for municipal authorities in the study area to urgently intervene in the sanitation sector and consider it a key element of the planning process. There is a need for a comprehensive plan that would ensure a seamless transition to the adoption of a modern sanitation management system.

Keywords: faecal, management, planning, waste, sanitation, sustainability

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Authors: Mahmoudi Noureddine, Kaou Abdellah

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Energy absorption is a major requirement for automotive structures. Although crashworthy structures of composite based glass fiber have exhibited energy absorption greater than similar at other composites structures, the crush process in many cases is accompanied by fracture, rather than by plastic deformation. The crash experiments show that the tubes are crushed in progressive manner start from one end of the tubes and delamination takes place between the layers. To better understand details of the crash process, ABAQUS finite element code is used.

Keywords: Energy absorption, crash, PEHD

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Authors: Hyeon-Seung Kim, Sang-Mi Park, Sun-Ju Han, Leen-Seok Kang

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As BIM (Building Information Modeling) application continually expands, the visual simulation techniques used for facility design and construction process information are becoming increasingly advanced and diverse. For building structures, BIM application is design - oriented to utilize 3D objects for conflict management, whereas for civil engineering structures, the usability of nD object - oriented construction stage simulation is important in construction management. Simulations of 5D and 6D objects, for which cost and resources are linked along with process simulation in 4D objects, are commonly used, but they do not provide a decision - making function for process management problems that occur on site because they mostly focus on the visual representation of current status for process information. In this study, an nD CAD system is constructed that facilitates an optimized schedule simulation that minimizes process conflict, a construction duration reduction simulation according to execution progress status, optimized process plan simulation according to project cost change by year, and optimized resource simulation for field resource mobilization capability. Through this system, the usability of conventional simple simulation objects is expanded to the usability of active simulation objects with which decision - making is possible. Furthermore, to close the gap between field process situations and planned 4D process objects, a technique is developed to facilitate a comparative simulation through the coordinated synchronization of an actual video object acquired by an on - site web camera and VR concept 4D object. This synchronization and simulation technique can also be applied to smartphone video objects captured in the field in order to increase the usability of the 4D object. Because yearly project costs change frequently for civil engineering construction, an annual process plan should be recomposed appropriately according to project cost decreases/increases compared with the plan. In the 5D CAD system provided in this study, an active 5D object utilization concept is introduced to perform a simulation in an optimized process planning state by finding a process optimized for the changed project cost without changing the construction duration through a technique such as genetic algorithm. Furthermore, in resource management, an active 6D object utilization function is introduced that can analyze and simulate an optimized process plan within a possible scope of moving resources by considering those resources that can be moved under a given field condition, instead of using a simple resource change simulation by schedule. The introduction of an active BIM function is expected to increase the field utilization of conventional nD objects.

Keywords: 4D, 5D, 6D, active BIM

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Authors: Rigers Dodaj

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Nowadays, the environment is a critical goal for civil engineers, human activity, construction projects, economic growth, and whole national development. Regarding the development of Albania's economy, people's living standards are increasing, and the requirements for the living environment are also increasing. Under these circumstances, environmental protection and sustainability this is the critical issue. The rising industrialization, urbanization, and energy demand affect the environment by emission of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), a significant parameter known to impact air pollution directly. Consequently, many governments and international organizations conducted policies and regulations to address environmental degradation in the pursuit of economic development, for instance in Albania, the CO2 emission calculated in metric tons per capita has increased by 23% in the last 20 years. This paper analyzes the importance of civil engineering and economic growth in the sustainability of the environment focusing on CO2 emission. The analyzed data are time series 2001 - 2020 (with annual frequency), based on official publications of the World Bank. The statistical approach with vector error correction model and time series forecasting model are used to perform the parameter’s estimations and long-run equilibrium. The research in this paper adds a new perspective to the evaluation of a sustainable environment in the context of carbon emission reduction. Also, it provides reference and technical support for the government toward green and sustainable environmental policies. In the context of low-carbon development, effectively improving carbon emission efficiency is an inevitable requirement for achieving sustainable economic and environmental protection. Also, the study reveals that civil engineering development projects impact greatly the environment in the long run, especially in areas of flooding, noise pollution, water pollution, erosion, ecological disorder, natural hazards, etc. The potential for reducing industrial carbon emissions in recent years indicates that reduction is becoming more difficult, it needs another economic growth policy and more civil engineering development, by improving the level of industrialization and promoting technological innovation in industrial low-carbonization.

Keywords: CO₂ emission, civil engineering, economic growth, environmental sustainability

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Authors: Shukran M. Dadayev

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To author's best knowledge, in this paper, the Basic Properties and Research methods of a Fundamental Particle is studied for the first time. That's to say, Fundamental Particle has not been discovered in the Nature yet. Because Fundamental Particle consists of specific Physical, Geometrical and Internal bases. Geometrical and Internal characteristics that are considered significant for the elementary and fundamental particles aren’t basic properties, characteristics or criteria of a Fundamental Particle. Of course, completely new Physical and Visual experimental methods of Quantum mechanics and Behavioral-Physical investigations of Particles are needed to study and discover the Fundamental Particle. These are new Physical, Visual and Behavioral-Physical experimental methods for describing and discovering the Fundamental Particle in the Nature and Microworld. Fundamental Particle consists of the same Energy-Mass-Motion system and a symmetry of Energy-Mass-Motion. Fundamental Particle supplies each of the elementary particles with the same Energy-Mass-Motion system at the same time and regulates each of the particles. Fundamental Particle gives Energy, Mass and Motion to each particles at the same time, each of the Particles consists of acquired Energy-Mass-Motion system and symmetry. Energy, Mass, Motion given by the Fundamental Particle to the particles are Symmetrical Equivalent and they remain in their primary shapes in all cases. Fundamental Particle gives Energy-Mass-Motion system and symmetry consisting of different measures and functions to each of the particles. The Motion given by the Fundamental Particle to the particles is Gravitation, Gravitational Interaction not only gives Motion, but also cause Motion by attracting. All Substances, Fields and Cosmic objects consist of Energy-Mass-Motion. The Field also includes specific Mass. They are always Energetic, Massive and Active. Fundamental Particle establishes the bases of the Nature. Supplement and Regulating of all the particles existing in the Nature belongs to Fundamental Particle.

Keywords: basic properties of a fundamental particle, behavioral-physical and visual methods, energy-mass-motion system and symmetrical equivalence, fundamental particle

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Authors: Pauline Nyssen, Ange Mouithys-Mickalad, Maryse Hoebeke

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Inflammation is a complex physiological phenomenon involving chemical and enzymatic mechanisms. Polymorphonuclear neutrophil leukocytes (PMNs) play an important role by producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and releasing myeloperoxidase (MPO), a pro-oxidant enzyme. Released both in the phagolysosome and the extracellular medium, MPO produces during its peroxidase and halogenation cycles oxidant species, including hypochlorous acid, involved in the destruction of pathogen agents, like bacteria or viruses. Inflammatory pathologies, like rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis induce an excessive stimulation of the PMNs and, therefore, an uncontrolled release of ROS and MPO in the extracellular medium, causing severe damages to the surrounding tissues and biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, and DNA. The treatment of chronic inflammatory pathologies remains a challenge. For many years, MPO has been used as a target for the development of effective treatments. Numerous studies have been focused on the design of new drugs presenting more efficient MPO inhibitory properties. However, some designed inhibitors can be toxic. An alternative consists of assessing the potential inhibitory action of clinically-known molecules, having antioxidant activity. Propofol, 2,6-diisopropyl phenol, which is used as an intravenous anesthetic agent, meets these requirements. Besides its anesthetic action employed to induce a sedative state during surgery or in intensive care units, propofol and its injectable form Diprivan indeed present antioxidant properties and act as ROS and free radical scavengers. A study has also evidenced the ability of propofol to inhibit the formation of the neutrophil extracellular traps fibers, which are important to trap pathogen microorganisms during the inflammation process. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential inhibitory action mechanism of propofol and Diprivan on MPO activity. To go into the anti-inflammatory action of propofol in-depth, two of its oxidative derivatives, 2,6-diisopropyl-1,4-p-benzoquinone (PPFQ) and 3,5,3’,5’-tetra isopropyl-(4,4’)-diphenoquinone (PPFDQ), were studied regarding their inhibitory action. Specific immunological extraction followed by enzyme detection (SIEFED) and molecular modeling have evidenced the low anti-catalytic action of propofol. Stopped-flow absorption spectroscopy and direct MPO activity analysis have proved that propofol acts as a reversible MPO inhibitor by interacting as a reductive substrate in the peroxidase cycle and promoting the accumulation of redox compound II. Overall, Diprivan exhibited a weaker inhibitory action than the active molecule propofol. In contrast, PPFQ seemed to bind and obstruct the enzyme active site, preventing the trigger of the MPO oxidant cycles. PPFQ induced a better chlorination cycle inhibition at basic and neutral pH in comparison to propofol. PPFDQ did not show any MPO inhibition activity. The three interest molecules have also demonstrated their inhibition ability on an important step of the inflammation pathway, the PMNs superoxide anions production, thanks to EPR spectroscopy and chemiluminescence. In conclusion, propofol presents an interesting immunomodulatory activity by acting as a reductive substrate in the peroxidase cycle of MPO, slowing down its activity, whereas PPFQ acts more as an anti-catalytic substrate. Although PPFDQ has no impact on MPO, it can act on the inflammation process by inhibiting the superoxide anions production by PMNs.

Keywords: Diprivan, inhibitor, myeloperoxidase, propofol, spectroscopy

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Authors: Savannah Rugg, Carlo Moreno, Pushpa Soti, Alexis Racelis

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Situated in deep South Texas, the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is considered one the most productive agricultural regions in the southern US. With the highest concentration of organic farms in the state (Hidalgo county), the LRGV has a strong potential to be leaders in sustainable agriculture. Finding management practices that comply with organic certification and increase the health of the agroecosytem and the farmers working the land is increasingly pertinent. Cover cropping, or the intentional planting of non-cash crop vegetation, can serve multiple functions in an agroecosystem by decreasing environmental pollutants that originate from the agroecosystem, reducing inputs needed for crop production, and potentially decreasing on-farm costs for farmers—overall increasing the sustainability of the farm. Use of cover crops on otherwise fallow lands have shown to enhance ecosystem services such as: attracting native beneficial insects (pollinators), increase nutrient availability in topsoil, prevent nutrient leaching, increase soil organic matter, and reduces soil erosion. In this study, four cover crops (Lablab, Sudan Grass, Sunn Hemp, and Pearl Millet) were analyzed in the subtropical region of south Texas to see how their multiple functions enhance ecosystem services. The four cover crops were assessed to see their potential to harbor native insects, their potential to increase soil nitrogen, to increase soil organic matter, and to suppress weeds. The preliminary results suggest that these subtropical varieties of cover crops have potential to enhance ecosystem services on agricultural land in the RGV by increasing soil organic matter (in all varieties), increasing nitrogen in topsoil (Lablab, Sunn Hemp), and reducing weeds (Sudan Grass).

Keywords: cover crops, ecosystem services, subtropical agriculture, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Rafayel K. Kostanyan

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The opportunities of use of metallic magnesium as a generator of hydrogen gas, as well as thermal and electric energy is presented in the paper. Various schemes of magnesium application are discussed and power characteristics of corresponding devices are presented. Economic estimation of hydrogen price obtained by different methods is made, including the use of magnesium as a source of hydrogen for transportation in comparison with gasoline. Details and prospects of our new inexpensive technology of magnesium production from magnesium hydroxide and magnesium bearing rocks (which are available worldwide and in Armenia) are analyzed. It is estimated the threshold cost of Mg production at which application of this metal in power engineering is economically justified.

Keywords: energy, electrodialysis, magnesium, new technology

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Authors: Jasmine Adela Mutang, Rosnah Ismail, Chua Bee Seok, Ferlis Bahari, Lailawati Madlan, Walton Wider, Rickless Das

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Waste projection is increasing and most landfills in Malaysia are running out of space. Due to that, waste management is now becoming a major challenge. The most sustainable solution is by practicing sustainable practices such as recycling. Since 1993 the government has launched several recycling campaigns and implemented the National Recycling Policy. However, public participation is still very low. Only 10.5% of solid waste was recycled up to now which is far below than of in developed countries. Nevertheless the government is optimistic that the target of 22% recycling by 2020 will be achieved if there is a positive flow pattern in sustainable practices in particular recycling behavior among Malaysian. Understanding public motivations towards recycling domestic waste are important to improve current recycling rate. Thus this study attempts to identify what are the possible motivations and hindrances for the public to recycle. Open-ended questions format were administered to 484 people in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Two specific questions we asked to explore their general determinants and barriers in practicing recycling: “What motivates you to recycle?” and “What are the barriers you encountered in doing recycling activities?” Thematic analysis was conducted on the open-ended questions in which themes were created with the raw comments. It was found that the underlying recycling motivations are awareness’ towards the environment, benefits to the society and individual, and social influence. Non participations are influence by attitudes, commitment, facilities, knowledge, inconvenience, and enforcement.

Keywords: recycling motivation, recycling barrier, sustainable, household waste

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Authors: Madikeri Rohit

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As energy efficiency is the key concern in many aircraft manufacturing companies regenerative braking is a technique using which energy lost due to friction while braking can be regained. In the operation of an aircraft, significant energy is lost during deceleration or braking which occurs during its landing phase. This problem can be overcome using Regenerative Breaking System (RBS) in landing gear. The major problem faced is regarding the batteries and the overall efficiency gained in competence with the added weight. As the amount of energy required to store is huge we need batteries with high capacity for storage. Another obstacle by using high capacity batteries is the added weight which undermines the efficiency obtained using RBS. An approach to this problem is to either use the obtained energy immediately without storage or to store in other forms such as mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic. Problem faced with mechanical systems is the weight of the flywheel needed to obtain required efficiency. Pneumatic and hydraulic systems are a better option at present. Using hydraulic systems for storing energy is efficient as it integrates into the overall hydraulic system present in the aircraft. Another obstacle is faced with the redundancy of this system. Conventional braking must be used along with RBS in order to provide redundancy. Major benefits obtained using RBS is with the help of the energy obtained during landing which can be used of engine less taxing. This reduces fuel consumption as well as noise and air pollution. Another added benefit of using RBS is to provide electrical supply to lighting systems, cabin pressurization system and can be used for emergency power supply in case of electric failure. This paper discusses about using RBS in landing gear, problems, prospects and new techniques being pursued to improve RBS.

Keywords: regenerative braking, types of energy conversion, landing gear, energy storage

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Authors: Carlos H. Ferreira, Joana R. Pereira

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In recent decades, calls for sustainable architecture based on environmental policies have been frequent. Despite a vast number of documents, technical procedures, and publications involving these themes, conceptions, and even architectural practice are often distanced from critical and methodological reflection on the relationship between environment and architecture. Among the various issues that we could consider in this relationship, we highlight in this article the relevance of water in the environment and in the architectural design. From documentary references and works carried out, we seek contributions to a better systematization and framing of water in architectural thinking. We distinguish, on the one hand, more conceptual issues that involve the environmental relationship of water, involving its cycle, relevance in the landscape, and infrastructural commitments. On the other hand, we highlight a more operative component, focusing on the place of water in the design process, from its perception in space-shape dimensions to more specific technical requirements that involve the interdisciplinary boundaries of architecture. In both approaches to water in architectural design, we seek to contribute to greater sensitivity and efficiency in the art of designing a more sustainable future.

Keywords: sustainability, environment, water, resilience design

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Authors: Marion Francisco

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The study sought to investigate the psychological capital and work engagement of employees as predictors of employee performance in the technology industry in Makati City. It made used of a descriptive correlational method of research and utilized standardized tests, such as Psychological Capital Scale, Utrech Work Engagement Scale, and Employee Performance Scale. A convenience sampling technique was used to gather data samples from 100 populations with the help of Roscoe concept approach. The study revealed that both psychological capital and work engagement have a significant relationship with employee performance. Psychological capital and work engagement can predict employee performance of the respondents. With the results given, the study suggests: (1) to focus on maintaining a high level of psychological capital and work engagement, on achieving a very high level of psychological capital and work engagement, and on improving the low level of psychological capital or work engagement mostly during this COVID-19 pandemic using the proposed employee performance management plan and (2) to create a proposed employee performance management plan as necessary to tailor fit on employees needs to enhance their performance that will help meet company and client’s needs.

Keywords: employee performance, performance management, psychological capital, technology industry, work engagement

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Authors: Supranee Wattanasin

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This research study was a qualitative documentary research by using an in-depth interview with many experts in the field who has both knowledge and experience to provide information to create a strategic plan to enhance the students’ ethics. The findings revealed that there were five areas that require an attention. The five areas included honesty, accurate fact, human right, speed, and responsibility. The development of the strategic plan to enhance the ethics for students who major in communication arts can be concluded as follows. First, the government, private, and religion sectors need to come up together and set up the activities to promote the ethical standard in schools, universities, and organizations. Second, it is important to cultivate the knowledge that ethics is important of the professional jobs, especially in the mass communication and media. Third, the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy should be brought to explain to students in order for them to have some immunity to the negative attitude such as drinking alcohol, gambling, cut classes, and cheating at exams. Fourth, experts in the field of ethics should be found to provide more knowledge to students and allow students to participate in activities that will increase their experience and knowledge of the real world problem.

Keywords: communication arts, ethics, mass communication, media, strategy

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Authors: Morteza Ghorbani, Reza Ghorbani

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Cavitation phenomenon has attracted much attention in the mechanical and biomedical technologies. Despite the simplicity and mostly low cost of the devices generating cavitation bubbles, the physics behind the generation and collapse of these bubbles particularly in micro/nano scale has still not well understood. In the chemical industry, micro/nano bubble generation is expected to be applicable to the development of porous materials such as microcellular plastic foams. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the presence of micro/nano bubbles on a surface reduced the adsorption of proteins. Thus, the micro/nano bubbles could act as antifouling agents. Micro and nano bubbles were also employed in water purification, froth floatation, even in sonofusion, which was not completely validated. Small bubbles could also be generated using micro scale hydrodynamic cavitation. In this study, compared to the studies available in the literature, we are proposing a novel approach in micro scale utilizing the energy produced during the interaction of the spray affected by the hydrodynamic cavitating flow and a thin aluminum plate. With a decrease in the size, cavitation effects become significant. It is clearly shown that with the aid of hydrodynamic cavitation generated inside the micro/mini-channels in addition to the optimization of the distance between the tip of the microchannel configuration and the solid surface, surface temperatures can be increased up to 50C under the conditions of this study. The temperature rise on the surfaces near the collapsing small bubbles was exploited for energy harvesting in small scale, in such a way that miniature, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly energy-harvesting devices can be developed. Such devices will not require any external power and moving parts in contrast to common energy-harvesting devices, such as those involving piezoelectric materials and micro engine. Energy harvesting from thermal energy has been widely exploited to achieve energy savings and clean technologies. We are proposing a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution for the growing individual energy needs thanks to the energy application of cavitating flows. The necessary power for consumer devices, such as cell phones and laptops, can be provided using this approach. Thus, this approach has the potential for solving personal energy needs in an inexpensive and environmentally friendly manner and can trigger a shift of paradigm in energy harvesting.

Keywords: cavitation, energy, harvesting, micro scale

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Authors: S. da Costa, D. Páez, E. Martínez, A. Torres, M. Beramendi, D. Hermosilla, M. Muratori

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This study examined the association between creative performance, organizational climate and leadership, affectivity, shared flow, and group decision making. The sample consisted of 315 cadets of a military academic unit of South America. Satisfaction with the decision-making process during a creative task was associated with the usefulness and effectiveness of the ideas generated by the teams with a weighted average correlation of r = .18. Organizational emotional climate, positive and innovation leadership were associated with this group decision-making process r = .25, with shared flow, r = .29 and with positive affect felt during the performance of the creative task, r = .12. In a sequential mediational analysis positive organizational leadership styles were significantly associated with decision-making process and trough cohesion with utility and efficacy of the solution of a creative task. Satisfactory decision-making was related to shared flow during the creative task at collective or group level, and positive affect with flow at individual level.This study examined the association between creative performance, organizational climate and leadership, affectivity, shared flow, and group decision making. The sample consisted of 315 cadets of a military academic unit of South America. Satisfaction with the decision-making process during a creative task was associated with the usefulness and effectiveness of the ideas generated by the teams with a weighted average correlation of r = .18. Organizational emotional climate, positive and innovation leadership were associated with this group decision-making process r = .25, with shared flow, r = .29 and with positive affect felt during the performance of the creative task, r = .12. In a sequential mediational analysis positive organizational leadership styles were significantly associated with decision-making process and trough cohesion with utility and efficacy of the solution of a creative task. Satisfactory decision-making was related to shared flow during the creative task at collective or group level, and positive affect with flow at individual level.

Keywords: creativity, innovation, military, organization, teams

Procedia PDF Downloads 118