Search results for: private cost

Authors: Gurjinder Singh Randhawa, Jonny Garg, Sukhraj Singh, Gurmeet Singh Cheema

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A major problem related to the use of rotavator is wear of rotavator blades due to abrasion by soil hard particles, as it seriously affects tillage quality and agricultural production economy. The objective of this study was to increase the wear resistance by covering the rotavator blades with two different hard facing electrodes. These blades are generally produced from low carbon or low alloy steel. During the field work i.e. preparing land for the cultivation these blades are subjected to severe wear conditions. Comparative wear tests on a regular rotavator blade and two kinds of hardfacing with electrodes were conducted in the field. These two different hardfacing electrodes, which are designated HARD ALLOY-400 and HARD ALLOY-650, were used for hardfacing. The wear rate in the field tests was found to be significantly different statistically. When the cost is taken into consideration; HARD ALLOY-650 and HARD ALLOY-400 have been found to be the best hardfacing electrodes.

Keywords: hardfacing, rotavator blades, hard alloy-400, abrasive wear

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Authors: Yuki Hara

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Healthy assets are recognized as important for all people in the world through experiencing COVID-19. Each part of life and work is important to be changed against the preceding wide-spreading of COVID-19. Furthermore, it is necessary to innovate the whole structure of a city upon the sum of the parts. This study aims at creating a comprehensive strategy from a small practice of making healthier lives with collaborating local actors for a city. This paper employs action research as the research framework. The core practice is the 'Ken’iku Festival' at Ken’iku Festival Committee. The field locates the urban-rural fringe in the northwest part of Fujisawa city, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. The data is collected through the author's practices for three years from the observations and interviews at meetings and discussions among stakeholders, texts in municipal reports, books, and movies, 3 questionnaires for customers and stakeholders at the Ken’iku Festival. These data are analysed by qualitative methods. The results show that couples in their 40s with children and couples or friends over the 70s are at the heart of promoting healthy lifestyles. In contrast, 40% of the visitors at the festival are the people who have no idea or no interest in healthier actions, which the committee has to suggest healthy activities through more pleasing services. The committee could organize staff and local actors as the core parties involved through gradually expanding its tasks relating to the local practices. This private sectoral activity from health promotion is covering a part of the whole-city planning of Fujisawa municipality by including many people over organisations into one community. This paper concludes from local practice networking through the festival that a comprehensive strategy for a healthy city is both a practical approach easily applied to each partner and one of the holistic services.

Keywords: communal practice network, healthy cities, health & development, health promotion, with and after COVID-19

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Authors: Jatinder Kumar

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Ultrasonic machining is one of the most widely used non-traditional machining processes for machining of materials that are relatively brittle, hard and fragile such as advanced ceramics, refractories, crystals, quartz etc. There is a considerable lack of research on its application to the cost-effective machining of tough materials such as titanium. In this investigation, the application of USM process for machining of titanium (ASTM Grade-I) has been explored. Experiments have been conducted to assess the effect of different parameters of USM process on machining rate and tool wear rate as response characteristics. The process parameters that were included in this study are: abrasive grit size, tool material and power rating of the ultrasonic machine. It has been concluded that titanium is fairly machinable with USM process. Significant improvement in the machining rate can be realized by manipulating the process parameters and obtaining the optimum combination of these parameters.

Keywords: abrasive grit size, tool material, titanium, ultrasonic machining

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Authors: Nadjib Drouiche, Abdenour Lami, Salaheddine Aoudj, Tarik Ouslimane

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Although solar cells manufacturing is a conservative industry, economics drivers continue to encourage innovation, feedstock savings and cost reduction. Kerf slurry waste is a complex product containing both valuable substances as well as contaminants. The valuable substances are: i) high purity silicon, ii) polyethylene glycol, and iii) silicon carbide. The contaminants mainly include metal fragments and organics. Therefore, recycling of the kerf slurry waste is an important subject not only from the treatment of waste but also from the recovery of valuable products. The present paper relates to processes for the recovery of valuable products from the kerf slurry waste in which they are contained, such products comprising nanoparticles, polyethylene glycol, high purity silicon, and silicon carbide.

Keywords: photovoltaic cell, Kerf slurry waste, recycling, silicon carbide

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Authors: Yasaman Samie

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The ever-increasing rate of textile and clothing (T&C) waste generation and the common ineffective waste management practices have been for long a challenge for civic waste management. This challenge stems from not only the complexity in the T&C material components but also the heterogeneous nature of the T&C waste management sector and the disconnection between the stakeholders. To date, there is little research that investigates the importance of a governmental structure and its role in T&C waste managerial practices and decision makings. This paper reflects on the impacts and involvement of governments, the Acts, and legislation on the effectiveness of T&C waste management practices, which are carried out by multiple players in a city context. In doing so, this study first develops a methodical framework for holistically analyzing a city’s T&C waste ecosystem. Central to this framework are six dimensions: social, environmental, economic, political, cultural, and educational, as well as the connection between these dimensions such as Socio-Political and Cultural-Political. Second, it delves into the political dimension and its interconnections with varying aspects of T&C waste. In this manner, this case-study takes metropolitan Melbourne as a case and draws on social theories of Actor-Network Theory and the principals of supply chain design and planning. Data collection was through two rounds of semi-structured interviews with 18 key players of T&C waste ecosystem (including charities, city councils, private sector providers and producers) mainly within metropolitan Melbourne and also other Australian and European cities. Research findings expand on the role of the politics of waste in facilitating a proactive approach to T&C waste management in the cities. That is achieved through a revised definition for T&C waste and its characteristics, discussing the varying perceptions of value in waste, prioritizing waste types in civic waste management practices and how all these aspects shall be reflected in the in-placed acts and legislations.

Keywords: civic waste management, multi-stakeholder ecosystem, textile and clothing waste, waste and governments

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Authors: C. Benjbara, A. Habbani

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Wireless networks are getting more and more used in every new technology or feature, especially those without infrastructure (Ad hoc mode) which provide a low cost alternative to the infrastructure mode wireless networks and a great flexibility for application domains such as environmental monitoring, smart cities, precision agriculture, and so on. These application domains present a common characteristic which is the need of coexistence and intercommunication between modules belonging to different types of ad hoc networks like wireless sensor networks, mesh networks, mobile ad hoc networks, vehicular ad hoc networks, etc. This vision to bring to life such heterogeneous networks will make humanity duties easier but its development path is full of challenges. One of these challenges is the communication complexity between its components due to the lack of common or compatible protocols standard. This article proposes a new patented routing protocol based on the OLSR standard in order to resolve the heterogeneous ad hoc networks communication issue. This new protocol is applied on a specific network architecture composed of MANET, VANET, and FANET.

Keywords: Ad hoc, heterogeneous, ID-Node, OLSR

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Authors: Anucha Wittayakorn-Puripunpinyoo

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The research objectives were 1) to study the situation and its trend of agricultural product export of Thailand 2) to study the impact of agricultural product export on income of Thai economy 3) the impact of agricultural product export on employment of Thai economy and 4) to find out the recommendations of agricultural product export policy of Thailand. In this research, secondary data were collected as yearly time series data from 1990 to 2016 accounted for 27 years. Data were collected from the Bank of Thailand database. Primary data were collected from the steakholders of agricultural product export policy of Thailand. Data analysis was applied descriptive statistics such as arithmetic mean, standard deviation. The forecasting of agricultural product was applied Mote Carlo Simulation technique as well as time trend analysis. In addition, the impact of agricultural product export on income and employment by applying econometric model while the estimated parameters were utilized the ordinary least square technique. The research results revealed that 1) agricultural product export value of Thailand from 1990 to 2016 was 338,959.5 Million Thai baht with its growth rate of 4.984 percent yearly, in addition, the forecasting of agricultural product export value of Thailand has increased but its growth rate has been declined 2) the impact of agricultural product export has positive impact on income in Thai economy, increasing in agricultural product export of Thailand by 1 percent would lead income increased by 0.0051 percent 3) the impact of agricultural product export has positive impact on employment in Thai economy, increasing in agricultural product export of Thailand by 1 percent would lead income increased by 0.079 percent and 4) in the future, agricultural product export policy would focused on finished or semi-finished agricultural product instead of raw material by applying technology and innovation in to make value added of agricultural product export. The public agricultural product export policy would support exporters in private sector in order to encourage them as agricultural exporters in Thailand.

Keywords: agricultural product export, income, employment, Thai economy

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Authors: Norbert Magyar, Jozsef Kovacs, Peter Tanos, Balazs Trasy, Tamas Garamhegyi, Istvan Gabor Hatvani

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Water is one of the most important common resources, and as a result of urbanization, agriculture, and industry it is becoming more and more exposed to potential pollutants. The prevention of the deterioration of water quality is a crucial role for environmental scientist. To achieve this aim, the operation of monitoring networks is necessary. In general, these networks have to meet many important requirements, such as representativeness and cost efficiency. However, existing monitoring networks often include sampling sites which are unnecessary. With the elimination of these sites the monitoring network can be optimized, and it can operate more economically. The aim of this study is to illustrate the applicability of the CCDA (Combined Cluster and Discriminant Analysis) to the field of water quality monitoring and optimize the monitoring networks of a river (the Danube), a wetland-lake system (Kis-Balaton & Lake Balaton), and two surface-subsurface water systems on the watershed of Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő and on the Szigetköz area over a period of approximately two decades. CCDA combines two multivariate data analysis methods: hierarchical cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis. Its goal is to determine homogeneous groups of observations, in our case sampling sites, by comparing the goodness of preconceived classifications obtained from hierarchical cluster analysis with random classifications. The main idea behind CCDA is that if the ratio of correctly classified cases for a grouping is higher than at least 95% of the ratios for the random classifications, then at the level of significance (α=0.05) the given sampling sites don’t form a homogeneous group. Due to the fact that the sampling on the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő was conducted at the same time at all sampling sites, it was possible to visualize the differences between the sampling sites belonging to the same or different groups on scatterplots. Based on the results, the monitoring network of the Danube yields redundant information over certain sections, so that of 12 sampling sites, 3 could be eliminated without loss of information. In the case of the wetland (Kis-Balaton) one pair of sampling sites out of 12, and in the case of Lake Balaton, 5 out of 10 could be discarded. For the groundwater system of the catchment area of Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő all 50 monitoring wells are necessary, there is no redundant information in the system. The number of the sampling sites on the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő can decrease to approximately the half of the original number of the sites. Furthermore, neighbouring sampling sites were compared pairwise using CCDA and the results were plotted on diagrams or isoline maps showing the location of the greatest differences. These results can help researchers decide where to place new sampling sites. The application of CCDA proved to be a useful tool in the optimization of the monitoring networks regarding different types of water bodies. Based on the results obtained, the monitoring networks can be operated more economically.

Keywords: combined cluster and discriminant analysis, cost efficiency, monitoring network optimization, water quality

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Authors: Habib Ur Rahman Habib

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Renewable energy resources are being realized as suitable options in hybrid energy planning for on-grid and micro grid. In this paper, operation, planning and optimal design of on-grid distributed energy resources based hybrid system are investigated. The aim is to minimize the cost of the overall energy system keeping in view the environmental emission and minimum penetration of conventional energy resources. Seven grid connected different case studies including diesel only, diesel-renewable based, and renewable based only are designed to perform economic analysis, operational planning and emission. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to investigate the impact of different parameters on the performance of energy resources.

Keywords: data management, renewable energy, distributed energy, smart grid, micro-grid, modeling, energy planning, design optimization

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Authors: Pietro P. Falciglia, Erica Gagliano, Vincenza Brancato, Alfio Catalfo, Guglielmo Finocchiaro, Guido De Guidi, Stefano Romano, Paolo Roccaro, Federico G. A. Vagliasindi

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Cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) is a major radionuclide in spent nuclear fuel processing, and it represents the most important cause of contamination related to nuclear accidents. Cesium-137 has long-term radiological effects representing a major concern for the human health. Several physico-chemical methods have been proposed for ¹³⁷Cs removal from impacted water: ion-exchange, adsorption, chemical precipitation, membrane process, coagulation, and electrochemical. However, these methods can be limited by ionic selectivity and efficiency, or they present very restricted full-scale application due to equipment and chemical high costs. On the other hand, adsorption is considered a more cost-effective solution, and activated carbons (ACs) are known as a low-cost and effective adsorbent for a wide range of pollutants among which radionuclides. However, adsorption of Cs onto ACs has been investigated in very few and not exhaustive studies. In addition, exhausted activated carbons are generally discarded in landfill, that is not an eco-friendly and economic solution. Consequently, the regeneration of exhausted ACs must be considered a preferable choice. Several alternatives, including conventional thermal-, solvent-, biological- and electrochemical-regeneration, are available but are affected by several economic or environmental concerns. Microwave (MW) irradiation has been widely used in industrial and environmental applications and it has attracted many attentions to regenerating activated carbons. The growing interest in MW irradiation is based on the passive ability of the irradiated medium to convert a low power irradiation energy into a rapid and large temperature increase if the media presents good dielectric features. ACs are excellent MW-absorbers, with a high mechanical strength and a good resistance towards heating process. This work investigates the feasibility of MW irradiation for the regeneration of Cs-exhausted ACs. Adsorption batch experiments were carried out using commercially available granular activated carbon (GAC), then Cs-saturated AC samples were treated using a controllable bench-scale 2.45-GHz MW oven and investigating different adsorption-regeneration cycles. The regeneration efficiency (RE), weight loss percentage, and textural properties of the AC samples during the adsorption-regeneration cycles were also assessed. Main results demonstrated a relatively low adsorption capacity for Cs, although the feasibility of ACs was strictly linked to their dielectric nature, which allows a very efficient thermal regeneration by MW irradiation. The weight loss percentage was found less than 2%, and an increase in RE after three cycles was also observed. Furthermore, MW regeneration preserved the pore structure of the regenerated ACs. For a deeper exploration of the full-scale applicability of MW regeneration, further investigations on more adsorption-regeneration cycles or using fixed-bed columns are required.

Keywords: adsorption mechanisms, cesium, granular activated carbons, microwave regeneration

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Authors: Muna Shalan

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Climate change is a systemic challenge for cities, with its impacts not happening in isolation but rather intertwined, thus increasing hazards and the vulnerability of the exposed population. The increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves, for example, is associated with multiple repercussions on the quality of life of city inhabitants, including health discomfort, a rise in mortality and morbidity, increasing energy demand for cooling, and shrinking of green areas due to drought. To address the multi-faceted impact of urbanisation-induced warming, municipalities and local governments are challenged with devising strategies and implementing effective response measures. Municipalities are recognising the importance of guiding urban concepts to drive climate action in the urban environment. An example is climate proofing, which refers to a process of mainstreaming climate change into development strategies and programs, i.e., urban planning is viewed through a climate change lens. There is a multitude of interconnected aspects that are critical to paving the path toward climate-proofing of urban areas and avoiding poor planning of layouts and spatial arrangements. Navigating these aspects through an analysis of the overarching practices governing municipal planning processes, which is the focus of this research, will highlight entry points to improve procedures, methods, and data availability for optimising planning processes and municipal actions. By employing a case study approach, the research investigates how municipalities in different contexts, namely in the city of Sahab in Jordan, Chililabombwe in Zambia, and the city of Dortmund in Germany, are integrating guiding urban concepts to shrink the deficit in adaptation and mitigation and achieve climate proofing goals in their respective local contexts. The analysis revealed municipal strategies and measures undertaken to optimize existing building and urban design regulations by introducing key performance indicators and improving in-house capacity. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that establishing or optimising interdepartmental communication frameworks or platforms is key to strengthening the steering structures governing local climate action. The most common challenge faced by municipalities is related to their role as a regulator and implementers, particularly in budget analysis and instruments for cost recovery of climate action measures. By leading organisational changes related to improving procedures and methods, municipalities can mitigate the various challenges that may emanate from uncoordinated planning and thus promote action against urbanisation-induced warming.

Keywords: urbanisation-induced warming, response measures, municipal planning processes, key performance indicators, interdepartmental communication frameworks, cost recovery

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Authors: Michal Lysek, Mike Danilovic, Jasmine Lihua Liu

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HMS Industrial Networks AB has been recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the industrial communication industry worldwide. The creation of their Anybus innovation during the 1990s contributed considerably to the company’s success. From inception, HMS’ employees were innovating for the purpose of creating new business (the creation phase). After the Anybus innovation, they began the process of internationalization (the commercialization phase), which in turn led them to concentrate on cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational efficiency, and increasing growth (the growth phase). As a result of this transformation, performing new radical innovations have become more complicated. The purpose of our research was to explore the dynamics of innovation at HMS from the aspect of key actors, activities, and events, over the three phases, in order to understand what led to the creation of their Anybus innovation, and why it has become increasingly challenging for HMS to create new radical innovations for the future. Our research methodology was based on a longitudinal, retrospective study from the inception of HMS in 1988 to 2014, a single case study inspired by the grounded theory approach. We conducted 47 interviews and collected 1 024 historical documents for our research. Our analysis has revealed that HMS’ success in creating the Anybus, and developing a successful business around the innovation, was based on three main capabilities – cultivating customer relations on different managerial and organizational levels, inspiring business relations, and balancing complementary human assets for the purpose of business creation. The success of HMS has turned the management’s attention away from past activities of key actors, of their behavior, and how they influenced and stimulated the creation of radical innovations. Nowadays, they are rhetorically focusing on creativity and innovation. All the while, their real actions put emphasis on growth, cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational efficiency, and moneymaking. In the process of becoming an international company, HMS gradually refocused. In so doing they became profitable and successful, but they also forgot what made them innovative in the first place. Fortunately, HMS’ management has come to realize that this is the case and they are now in search of recapturing innovation once again. Our analysis indicates that HMS’ management is facing several barriers to innovation related path dependency and other lock-in phenomena. HMS’ management has been captured, trapped in their mindset and actions, by the success of the past. But now their future has to be secured, and they have come to realize that moneymaking is not everything. In recent years, HMS’ management have begun to search for innovation once more, in order to recapture their past capabilities for creating radical innovations. In order to unlock their managerial perceptions of customer needs and their counter-innovation driven activities and events, to utilize the full potential of their employees and capture the innovation opportunity for the future.

Keywords: barriers to innovation, dynamics of innovation, in search of excellence and innovation, radical innovation

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Authors: Jaydip De

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Urban parks are open places, green fields and riverside gardens usually maintained by public or private authorities, or eventually by both jointly; and utilized for a multidimensional purpose by the citizens. These parks are indeed the lung of urban centers. In urban socio-environmental setup, parks are the nucleus of social integration, community building, and physical development. In contemporary cities, these green places seem to perform as the panacea of congested, complex and stressful urban life. The alarmingly increasing urban population and the resultant congestion of high-rises are making life wearisome in neo-liberal cities. This has made the citizen always quest for open space and fresh air. In such a circumstance, the mere existence of parks is not capable of satisfying the growing aspirations. Therefore in this endeavour, a structured attempt is so made to empirically identify the utility, visitors’ satisfaction, and future needs through the cases of two urban parks of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India. This study is principally based upon primary information collected through visitors’ perception survey conducted at the Chinsurah ground and Chandernagore strand. The correlation between different utility categories is identified and analyzed systematically. At the same time, indices like Weighted Satisfaction Score (WSS), Facility wise Satisfaction Index (FSI), Urban Park Satisfaction Index (UPSI) and Urban Park Necessity Index (UPNI) are advocated to quantify the visitors’ satisfaction and future necessities. It is explored that the most important utilities are passive in nature. Simultaneously, satisfaction levels of visitors are average, and their requirements are centred on the daily needs of the next generation, i.e., the children. Further, considering the visitors’ opinion planning measures are promulgated for holistic development of urban parks to revitalize sustainability of citified life.

Keywords: citified life, future needs, visitors’ satisfaction, urban parks, utility

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Authors: Filipe Cardoso de Oliveira, Lino Marcos da Silva, Ademar Nogueira do Nascimento, Cristiano Hora de Oliveira Fontes

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This article presents a mathematical formulation for the production Break-Even Point problem in a non-homogeneous system. The optimization problem aims to obtain the composition of the best product mix in a non-homogeneous industrial plant, with the lowest cost until the breakeven point is reached. The problem constraints represent real limitations of a generic non-homogeneous industrial plant for n different products. The proposed model is able to solve the equilibrium point problem simultaneously for all products, unlike the existing approaches that propose a resolution in a sequential way, considering each product in isolation and providing a sub-optimal solution to the problem. The results indicate that the product mix found through the proposed model has economical advantages over the traditional approach used.

Keywords: branch and bound, break-even point, non-homogeneous production system, integer linear programming, management accounting

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Authors: Norshazmira Mat Azmi, Sayidal El Fatimah Masnan, Shatirah Akib

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More than 70% of the Earth is covered by oceans, which are considered to possess boundless renewable energy, such as tidal energy, tidal current energy, wave energy, thermal energy, and chemical energy. The hybrid system help in improving the economic and environmental sustainability of renewable energy systems to fulfill the energy demand. The concept of hybridizing renewable energy is to meet the desired system requirements, with the lowest value of the energy cost. This paper propose a hybrid power generation system suitable for remote area application and highlight the impact of surface waves on turbine design and performance, and the importance of understanding the site-specific wave conditions.

Keywords: marine current energy, tidal turbines, wave turbine, renewable energy, surface waves, hydraulic flume experiments, instantaneous wave phase

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Authors: Loes Nijskens

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The city of The Hague is coping with several social issues: high unemployment rates, segregation and environmental pollution. The amount of social enterprises in The Hague that want to tackle these issues is increasing, but no clear image exists of the stimulants and obstacles social entrepreneurs encounter. In this qualitative study 20 starting and established social entrepreneurs, investors and stimulators of social entrepreneurship have been interviewed. The findings indicate that the majority of entrepreneurs situated in The Hague focuses on creating jobs (the so called social nurturers) and diminishing food waste. Moreover, the study found smaller groups of social connectors, (who focus on stimulating the social cohesion in the city) and social traders (who create a market for products from developing countries). For the social nurturers, working together with local government to find people with a distance to the labour market is a challenge. The entrepreneurs are missing a governance approach within the local government, wherein space is provided to develop suitable legislation and projects in cooperation with several stakeholders in order to diminish social problems. All entrepreneurs in the sample face(d) the challenge of having a clear purpose of their business in the beginning. Starting social entrepreneurs tend to be idealistic without having defined a business model. Without a defined business model it is difficult to find proper funding for their business. The more advanced enterprises cope with the challenge of measuring social impact. The larger they grow, the more they have to ‘defend’ themselves towards the local government and their customers, of mainly being social. Hence, the more experienced social nurturers still find it difficult to work together with the local government. They tend to settle their business in other municipalities, where they find more effective public-private partnerships. Al this said, the eco-system for social enterprises in The Hague is on the rise. To stimulate the amount and growth of social enterprises the cooperation between entrepreneurs and local government, the developing of social business models and measuring of impact needs more attention.

Keywords: obstacles, social enterprises, stimulants, the Hague

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Authors: Arshleen Kaur, Sarang Barbarwar, Madhusudan Hamirwasia

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Sustainable architecture is going to be the soul of construction in the near future, with building material as a vital link connecting sustainability to construction. The priority in Architecture has shifted from having a lesser negative footprint to having a positive footprint on Earth. The design has to be eco-centric as well as anthro-centric so as to attain its true purpose. Brick holds the same importance like a cell holds in one’s body. The study focuses on this basic building block with an experimental material and technique known as Module Assembled Specially to Conserve (MASC). The study explores the usage and construction of these modules in the construction of buildings. It also shows the impact assessment of the modules on the environment and its significance in reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry. The aspects like cost-effectiveness, ease of working and reusability of MASC have been studied as well.

Keywords: anthro-centric, carbon footprint, eco-centric, sustainable

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Authors: Jojo Y. C. Mo

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Memories are good. They remind us of people, places and experiences that we cherish. But memories cannot be changed and there may well be memories that we do not want to remember. This is particularly true in relation to information which causes us embarrassment and humiliation or simply because it is private – we all want to erase or delete such information. This desire to delete is recently recognised by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the 2014 case of Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González in which the court ordered Google to remove links to some information about the complainant which he wished to be removed. This so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ received serious attention and significantly, the European Council and the European Parliament enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to provide a more structured and normative framework for implementation of right to be forgotten across the EU. This development in data protection laws will, undoubtedly, have significant impact on companies and co-operations not just within the EU but outside as well. Hong Kong, being one of the world’s leading financial and commercial center as well as one of the first jurisdictions in Asia to implement a comprehensive piece of data protection legislation, is therefore a jurisdiction that is worth looking into. This article/project aims to investigate the following: a) whether there is a right to be forgotten under the existing Hong Kong data protection legislation b) if not, whether such a provision is necessary and why. This article utilises a comparative methodology based on a study of primary and secondary resources, including scholarly articles, government and law commission reports and working papers and relevant international treaties, constitutional documents, case law and legislation. The author will primarily engage literature and case-law review as well as comparative and doctrinal analyses. The completion of this article will provide privacy researchers with more concrete principles and data to conduct further research on privacy and data protection in Hong Kong and internationally and will provide a basis for policy makers in assessing the rationale and need for a right to be forgotten in Hong Kong.

Keywords: privacy, right to be forgotten, data protection, Hong Kong

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Authors: Guohua Cao, Xu Dong

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X-ray Fluorescence Molecular Imaging (XFMI) holds great promise as a low-cost molecular imaging modality for biomedical applications with high chemical sensitivity. However, for in vivo biomedical applications, a key technical bottleneck is the relatively low chemical sensitivity of XFMI, especially at a reasonably low radiation dose. In laboratory x-ray source based XFMI, one of the main factors that limits the chemical sensitivity of XFMI is the scattered x-rays. We will present our latest findings on improving the chemical sensitivity of XFMI using excitation beam spectrum optimization. XFMI imaging experiments on two mouse-sized phantoms were conducted at three different excitation beam spectra. Our results show that the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of iodine can be readily increased by five times via excitation spectrum optimization. Findings from this investigation could find use for in vivo pre-clinical small-animal XFMI in the future.

Keywords: molecular imaging, X-ray fluorescence, chemical sensitivity, X-ray scattering

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Authors: A. R. Momeninezhad

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Erosion of Slurry Pumps in Related Industries, is one of the major costs in their production process. Many factories in extractive industries try to find ways to diminish this cost. In this paper, we consider the flow pattern modifications by geometric variations made of numerical simulation of flow inside pump casing, which is one of the most important parts analyzed for erosion. The mentioned pump is a cyclone centrifugal slurry pump, which is operating in Sarcheshmeh Copper Industries in Kerman-Iran, named and tagged as HM600 cyclone pump. Simulation shows many improvements in local wear information and situations for better and more qualified design of casing shape and impeller position, before and after geometric corrections. By theory of liquid-solid two-phase flow, the local wear defeats are analyzed and omitted.

Keywords: flow pattern, slurry pump, simulation, wear

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Authors: Ogunlana Olarewaju Fatai, Kelani Fatai Adeshina

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The interplay of corruption and institutional quality determines how effective and efficient an economy progresses. An efficient institutional quality is a key requirement for economic stability. Institutional quality in most cases has been used interchangeably with Governance and these have given room for proxies that legitimized Governance as measures for institutional quality. A poorly-tailored institutional quality has a penalizing effect on corruption and economic growth, while defective institutional quality breeds corruption. Corruption is a hydra-headed phenomenon as it manifests in different forms. The most celebrated definition of corruption is given as “the use or abuse of public office for private benefits or gains”. It also denotes an arrangement between two mutual parties in the determination and allocation of state resources for pecuniary benefits to circumvent state efficiency. This study employed Barro (1990) type augmented model to analyze the nexus among corruption, institutional quality and economic growth in Nigeria using annual time series data, which spanned the period 1996-2019. Within the analytical framework of Johansen Cointegration technique, Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) and Granger Causality tests, findings revealed a long-run relationship between economic growth, corruption and selected measures of institutional quality. The long run results suggested that all the measures of institutional quality except voice & accountability and regulatory quality are positively disposed to economic growth. Moreover, the short-run estimation indicated a reconciliation of the divergent views on corruption which pointed at “sand the wheel” and “grease the wheel” of growth. In addition, regulatory quality and the rule of law indicated a negative influence on economic growth in Nigeria. Government effectiveness and voice & accountability, however, indicated a positive influence on economic growth. The Granger causality test results suggested a one-way causality between GDP and Corruption and also between corruption and institutional quality. Policy implications from this study pointed at checking corruption and streamlining institutional quality framework for better and sustained economic development.

Keywords: institutional quality, corruption, economic growth, public policy

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Authors: Hsin Hua He

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The purpose of this study is to strengthen the social cohesion of the local community by injecting the cultural and creative concept into the industrial heritage transformation. The paradigms of industrial heritage research tend to explore from the perspective of space analysis, which concerned less about the cultural regeneration and the development of local culture. The paradigms of cultural quarter research use to from the perspective of creative economy and urban planning, concerned less about the social impacts and the interaction between residents and industrial sites. This research combines these two research areas of industrial heritage and cultural quarter, and focus on the social and cultural aspects. The transformation from the industrial heritage into a cultural park not only enhances the cultural capital and the quality of residents’ lives, but also preserves the unique local values. Internally it shapes the local identity, while externally establishes the image of the city. This paper uses Westergasfabriek Cultural Park in Amsterdam as the case study, through literature analysis, field work, and depth interview to explore how the cultural regeneration transforms industrial heritage. In terms of the planners’ and residents’ point of view adopt the theory of community participation, social capital, and sense of place to analyze the social impact of the industrial heritage transformation. The research finding is through cultural regeneration policies like holding cultural activities, building up public space, social network and public-private partnership, and adopting adaptive reuse to fulfil the people’s need and desire and reach the social cohesion. Finally, the study will examine the transformation of Taiwan's industrial heritage into cultural and creative quarters. The results are expected to use the operating experience of the Amsterdam cases and provide directions for Taiwan’s industrial heritage management to meet the cultural, social, economic symbiosis.

Keywords: cultural regeneration, community participation, social capital, sense of place, industrial heritage transformation

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Authors: Merrylord Harb-Azar

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Traditionally, PTSD treatment has involved trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy (TF CBT) to consolidate traumatic memories. A piloted integrated treatment of TF CBT and eye movement desensitisation reprocessing therapy (EMDR) of eight phases will fasten the rate memory is being consolidated and enhance cognitive functioning in patients with PTSD. Patients spend a considerable amount of time in treatment managing their traumas experienced firsthand, or from aversive details ranging from war, assaults, accidents, abuse, hostage related, riots, or natural disasters. The time spent in treatment or as inpatient affects overall quality of life, relationships, cognitive functioning, and overall sense of identity. EMDR is being offered twice a week in conjunction with the standard prolonged exposure as an inpatient in a private hospital. Prolonged exposure for up to 5 hours per day elicits the affect response required for EMDR sessions in the afternoon to unlock unprocessed memories and facilitate consolidation in the amygdala and hippocampus. Results are indicating faster consolidation of memories, reduction in symptoms in a shorter period of time, reduction in admission time, which is enhancing the quality of life and relationships, and improved cognition. The impact of events scale (IES) results demonstrate a significant reduction in symptoms, trauma symptoms inventory (TSI), and posttraumatic stressor disorder check list (PCL) that demonstrates large effect sizes to date. An integrated treatment approach for PTSD achieves a faster resolution of memories, improves cognition, and reduces the amount of time spent in therapy.

Keywords: EMDR enhances cognitive functioning, faster consolidation of trauma memory, integrated treatment of TF CBT and EMDR, reduction in inpatient admission time

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Authors: Kashif Laeeq, Zubair A. Shaikh

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The paradigm of education is drastically changing from conventional to e-learning model. Due to ease of learning with various other benefits, several educational institutions are adopting the e-learning models. Some institutions are still willing to transform their educational system on to e-learning, but due to limited resources, they are still compromising on the old traditional system. The cloud computing could be one of the best solutions to overcome this problem by providing hardware, software, and infrastructure resources with cost efficient manner. The adoption of cloud computing in education will bring revolution in this paradigm. This paper introduces various positive features of e-learning and presents a way how cloud computing technology can be provisioned e-learning model. This paper also investigates the numerous challenges and opportunities that would be observed in cloud computing adoption in e-learning domain. The concept and knowledge present in this paper may create a new direction of research in the domain of cloud-based e-learning.

Keywords: cloud-based e-learning, e-learning, cloud computing application, smart learning

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Authors: Bumjo Kim, Hyun Jin Kim, Joon Ha Kim

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The separate sewer system is that collects the wastewater as a sewer pipe and rainfall as a stormwater pipe separately, and then sewage is treated in the wastewater treatment plant, the stormwater is discharged to rivers or lakes through stormwater drainage pipes. Unfortunately, even for separate sewer systems, it is not possible to prevent Rainfall Driven Inflow/Infiltration(RDII) completely to the sewer pipe. Even if the sewerage line is renovated, there is an ineluctable RDII due to the combined sewer system in the house or the difficulty of sewage maintenance in private areas. The basic statistical analysis was performed using environmental data including rainfall, sewage, water qualities and groundwater level in the strict of Gwangju in ​South Korea. During rainfall in the target area, RDII showed an increased rate of 13.4 ~ 53.0% compared to that of a clear day and showed a rapid hydrograph response of 0.3 ~ 3.0 hr. As a result of water quality analysis, BOD5 concentration decreased by 17.3 % and salinity concentration decreased by 8.8 % at the representative spot in the project area compared to the sunny day during rainfall. In contrast to the seasonal fluctuation range of 0.38 m ~ 0.55 m in groundwater in Gwangju area and 0.58 m ~ 0.78 m in monthly fluctuation range, while the difference between groundwater level and the depth of sewer pipe laying was 2.70 m on average, which is larger than the range of fluctuation. Comprehensively, it can be concluded that the increasing of flowrate at sewer line is due to not infiltration water caused by groundwater level rise, construction failure, cracking due to joint failure or conduit deterioration, rainfall was directly inflowed into the sewer line rapidly. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the 'Climate Technology Development and Application' research project (#K07731) through a grant provided by GIST in 2017.

Keywords: ground water, rainfall, rainfall driven inflow/infiltration, separate sewer system

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Authors: Omar Shakra

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This paper contains a huge number of benefits that we can use it in several places and times in fire safety protection in the Middle East especially in Egypt . People here in Egypt did not consider the safety and fire protection as important as it is. But on the other hand, its very important for them to contain the fire systems and safety in every facility, the companies , hospitals , police stations , and even the super markets must use the fire system. It makes the facility safe to the visitors while they are using it.From my point of view as the owner Fire Safety Company called Deluge Egypt , i can say that not all of the companies use the fire system protection according to the high cost they prefer to build their company without the protection, and this is make the building totally unsafe to be used from the visitors or client.So, i am looking for new methods and technology to invest in Egypt, and this is through attending this Conference and let the audiences know more about the services i provide and [to let them know about the importance of the Fire Safety in Egypt. The Objectives of my research 1- The system that i used in my Company. 2- The benefits of the Fire System Protection. 3-The importance of the Fire System and safety. 4-The use of the new Technologies. 5-The hardships that i found while having new deals with new clients.

Keywords: fire, system, protection, fire hydrants, security, alarms

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Ana Flavia Belchior De Andrade

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Forensic laboratories all over the world face a great challenge to overcame waiting time and backlog in many different areas. Many aspects contribute to this situation, such as an increase in drug complexity, increment in the number of exams requested and cuts in funding limiting laboratories hiring capacity. Altogether, those facts pose an essential challenge for forensic chemistry laboratories to keep both quality and time of response within an acceptable period. In this paper we will analyze how the backlog affects test results and, in the end, the whole judicial system. In this study data from marijuana samples seized by the Federal District Civil Police in Brazil between the years 2013 and 2017 were tabulated and the results analyzed and discussed. In the last five years, the number of petitioned exams increased from 822 in February 2013 to 1358 in March 2018, representing an increase of 32% in 5 years, a rise of more than 6% per year. Meanwhile, our data shows that the number of performed exams did not grow at the same rate. Product numbers are stationed as using the actual technology scenario and analyses routine the laboratory is running in full capacity. Marijuana detection is the most prevalence exam required, representing almost 70% of all exams. In this study, data from 7,110 (seven thousand one hundred and ten) marijuana samples were analyzed. Regarding waiting time, most of the exams were performed not later than 60 days after receipt (77%). Although some samples waited up to 30 months before being examined (0,65%). When marijuana´s exam is delayed we notice the enlargement of inconclusive results using thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Our data shows that if a marijuana sample is stored for more than 18 months, inconclusive results rise from 2% to 7% and when if storage exceeds 30 months, inconclusive rates increase to 13%. This is probably because Cannabis plants and preparations undergo oxidation under storage resulting in a decrease in the content of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol ( Δ9-THC). An inconclusive result triggers other procedures that require at least two more working hours of our analysts (e.g., GC/MS analysis) and the report would be delayed at least one day. Those new procedures increase considerably the running cost of a forensic drug laboratory especially when the backlog is significant as inconclusive results tend to increase with waiting time. Financial aspects are not the only ones to be observed regarding backlog cases; there are also social issues as legal procedures can be delayed and prosecution of serious crimes can be unsuccessful. Delays may slow investigations and endanger public safety by giving criminals more time on the street to re-offend. This situation also implies a considerable cost to society as at some point, if the exam takes a long time to be performed, an inconclusive can turn into a negative result and a criminal can be absolved by flawed expert evidence.

Keywords: backlog, forensic laboratory, quality management, accreditation

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Salwa Karboune, Amanda Waglay

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Recent studies indicate that health-promoting functional ingredients and nutraceuticals can help support and improve the overall public health, which is timely given the aging of the population and the increasing cost of health care. The development of novel ‘natural’ functional ingredients is increasingly challenging. Biocatalysis offers powerful approaches to achieve this goal. Our recent research has been focusing on the development of innovative biocatalytic approaches towards the isolation of protein isolates from potato by-products and the generation of peptides. Potato is a vegetable whose high-quality proteins are underestimated. In addition to their high proportion in the essential amino acids, potato proteins possess angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitory potency, an ability to reduce plasma triglycerides associated with a reduced risk of atherosclerosis, and stimulate the release of the appetite regulating hormone CCK. Potato proteins have long been considered not economically feasible due to the low protein content (27% dry matter) found in tuber (Solanum tuberosum). However, potatoes rank the second largest protein supplying crop grown per hectare following wheat. Potato proteins include patatin (40-45 kDa), protease inhibitors (5-25 kDa), and various high MW proteins. Non-destructive techniques for the extraction of proteins from potato pulp and for the generation of peptides are needed in order to minimize functional losses and enhance quality. A promising approach for isolating the potato proteins was developed, which involves the use of multi-enzymatic systems containing selected glycosyl hydrolase enzymes that synergistically work to open the plant cell wall network. This enzymatic approach is advantageous due to: (1) the use of milder reaction conditions, (2) the high selectivity and specificity of enzymes, (3) the low cost and (4) the ability to market natural ingredients. Another major benefit to this enzymatic approach is the elimination of a costly purification step; indeed, these multi-enzymatic systems have the ability to isolate proteins, while fractionating them due to their specificity and selectivity with minimal proteolytic activities. The isolated proteins were used for the enzymatic generation of active peptides. In addition, they were applied into a reduced gluten cookie formulation as consumers are putting a high demand for easy ready to eat snack foods, with high nutritional quality and limited to no gluten incorporation. The addition of potato protein significantly improved the textural hardness of reduced gluten cookies, more comparable to wheat flour alone. The presentation will focus on our recent ‘proof-of principle’ results illustrating the feasibility and the efficiency of new biocatalytic processes for the production of innovative functional food ingredients, from potato by-products, whose potential health benefits are increasingly being recognized.

Keywords: biocatalytic approaches, functional ingredients, potato proteins, peptides

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: Lidija R. Jevrić, Sanja O. Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Strahinja Z. Kovačević

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This study considers the selection of the most suitable in silico molecular descriptors that could be used for s-triazine pesticides characterization. Suitable descriptors among topological, geometrical and physicochemical are used for quantitative structure-retention relationships (QSRR) model establishment. Established models were obtained using linear regression (LR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. In this paper, MLR models were established avoiding multicollinearity among the selected molecular descriptors. Statistical quality of established models was evaluated by standard and cross-validation statistical parameters. For detection of similarity or dissimilarity among investigated s-triazine pesticides and their classification, principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used and gave similar grouping. This study is financially supported by COST action TD1305.

Keywords: chemometrics, classification analysis, molecular descriptors, pesticides, regression analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 398

Authors: K. Brince Paul, Nagendra Pratap Singh, Shiv Govind Singh, Siva Rama Krishna Vanjari

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In this paper, we report optimized procedure for synthesizing highly oriented, horizontally aligned, Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires targeted towards developing highly sensitive piezoelectric transduction elements. The synthesis was carried out using Electrospinning technique, a facile, robust, low cost technique for producing nanowires. The as-synthesized ZnO nanowires were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Field Emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).The Piezoelectric behavior of these nanowires was characterized using Peizoelectric Force microscopy (PFM). A very high d33 coefficient of 23.1 pm/V obtained through the PFM measurements is an indicative of its potential application towards developing miniaturized piezoelectric transduction elements for nanoscale devices.

Keywords: electrospinning, piezoelectric, technique, zinc oxide

Procedia PDF Downloads 409