Search results for: natural degradation

Authors: Waleed Maqableh, Ahmad Al-Hamad, Manjit Sidhu

Abstract:

Augmented reality (AR) technology has the capability to provide many benefits in the field of education as a modern technology which aided learning and improved the learning experience. This paper evaluates AR based application with multiple markers interaction technique (touch-to-print) which is designed for analyzing the kinematics of 4BL mechanism in mechanical engineering. The application is termed as AR-4BL-MAST and it allows the users to touch the symbols on a paper in natural way of interaction. The evaluation of this application was performed with mechanical engineering students and human–computer interaction (HCI) experts to test its effectiveness as a tangible user interface application where the statistical results show its ability as an interaction technique, and it gives the users more freedom in interaction with the virtual mechanical objects.

Keywords: augmented reality, multimedia, user interface, engineering, education technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 560

Authors: Bagus Indrawan Hardi

Abstract:

Cellular Automata are widely used in land use modeling, it has been proven powerful to simulate land use change for small scale in many large cities in the world. In this paper, we try to implement CA for land use modeling in unique city in Indonesia, Karawang. Instead the complex numerical implementation, CA are simple, and it is accurate and also highly dependable on the on the rules (rule based). The most important to do in CA is how we form and calculate the neighborhood effect. The neighborhood effect represents the environment and relationship situation between the occupied cell and others. We adopted 196 cells of circular neighborhood with 8 cells of radius. For the results, CA works well in this study, we exhibit several analyzed and proceed of zoomed part in Karawang region. The rule set can handle the complexity in land use modeling. However, we cannot strictly believe of the result, many non-technical parameters, such as politics, natural disaster activities, etc. may change the results dramatically.

Keywords: cellular automata (CA), land use change, spatial dynamics, urban sprawl

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Gabriela Sardinha Pacheco

Abstract:

In a context of elderly population growth, the need to provide high quality infrastructure and services to these people becomes even more evident. The act of designing a space dedicated to elderly people goes beyond the concept of well-being and reaches to a point of evaluating and changing the way which society sees this part of the population as well as how it can build a relationship with energy efficiency. In this context, the care facilities for elderly have an extremely important role to provide this infrastructure to the population. A common issue is that, for many times, these facilities face financial issues, and the full operation of the establishment can be impacted. The intention of this work is to develop a project in which the energy efficiency measures can be lived daily and that the residents of the institution can participate actively, directly, or indirectly in the construction of this relationship. The use of energy efficiency strategies should become a natural process when thinking about buildings as it is an essential step to provide increased well-being, climate change mitigation, and cost reduction.

Keywords: energy efficiency, environmental comfort, long-term care facility, well-being

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: M. A. Boukli Hacene, N. E.Chabane Sari, A. Benzair

Abstract:

This article highlights a method for natural heating and cooling of systems in areas of moderate climate. Movement of air is generated inside a space by an underground piping system. In this paper, we discuss a feasibility study in Algeria of air-conditioning using a ground source heat pump (GSHP) with vertical mounting, coupled with a solar collector. This study consists of modeling ground temperature at different depths, for a clay soil in the city of Tlemcen. Our model is developed from the non-stationary heat equation for a homogeneous medium and takes into consideration the soil thermal diffusivity. It uses the daily ambient temperature during a typical year for the locality of Tlemcen. The study shows the feasibility of using a heating/cooling GSHP in the town of Tlemcen for the particular soil type; and indicates that the duration of air flow in the borehole has a major influence on the outgoing temperature drilling.

Keywords: green building, heat pump, insulation, climate change

Procedia PDF Downloads 207

Authors: Tomas Makaras, Julija Razumienė, Vidutė Gurevičienė, Gintarė Sauliutė, Milda Stankevičiūtė

Abstract:

Stress responses represent animal’s natural reactions to various challenging conditions and could be used as a welfare indicator. Regardless of the wide use of glucose measurements in stress evaluation, there are some inconsistencies in its acceptance as a stress marker, especially when it comes to comparison with non-invasive cortisol measurements in the fish challenging stress. To meet the challenge and to test the reliability and applicability of glucose measurement in practice, in this study, different environmental/anthropogenic exposure scenarios were simulated to provoke chemical-induced stress in fish (14-days exposure to landfill leachate) followed by a 14-days stress recovery period and under the cumulative effect of leachate fish subsequently exposed to pathogenic oomycetes (Saprolegnia parasitica) to represent a possible infection in fish. It is endemic to all freshwater habitats worldwide and is partly responsible for the decline of natural freshwater fish populations. Brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) and sea trout (Salmo trutta trutta) juveniles were chosen because of a large amount of literature on physiological stress responses in these species was known. Glucose content in fish by applying invasive and non-invasive glucose measurement procedures in different test mediums such as fish blood, gill tissues and fish-holding water were analysed. The results indicated that the quantity of glucose released in the holding water of stressed fish increased considerably (approx. 3.5- to 8-fold) and remained substantially higher (approx. 2- to 4-fold) throughout the stress recovery period than the control level suggesting that fish did not recover from chemical-induced stress. The circulating levels of glucose in blood and gills decreased over time in fish exposed to different stressors. However, the gill glucose level in fish showed a decrease similar to the control levels measured at the same time points, which was found to be insignificant. The data analysis showed that concentrations of β-D glucose measured in gills of fish treated with S. parasitica differed significantly from the control recovery, but did not differ from the leachate recovery group showing that S. parasitica presence in water had no additive effects. In contrast, a positive correlation between blood and gills glucose were determined. Parallel trends in blood and water glucose changes suggest that water glucose measurement has much potency in predicting stress. This study demonstrated that measuring β-D-glucose in fish-holding water is not stressful as it involves no handling and manipulation of an organism and has critical technical advantages concerning current (invasive) methods, mainly using blood samples or specific tissues. The quantification of glucose could be essential for studies examining the stress physiology/aquaculture studies interested in the assessment or long-term monitoring of fish health.

Keywords: brown trout, landfill leachate, sea trout, pathogenic oomycetes, β-D-glucose

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Prashant Malavadkar, Santosh Dhotre, Maruti Shikare

Abstract:

The n-point splitting operation on graphs is used to characterize 4-connected graphs with some more operations. Element splitting operation on binary matroids is a natural generalization of the notion of n-point splitting operation on graphs. The element splitting operation on a graphic (cographic) matroid may not yield a graphic (cographic) matroid. Characterization of graphic (cographic) matroids whose element splitting matroids are graphic (cographic) is known. The element splitting operation on a co-graphic matroid, in general may not yield a graphic matroid. In this paper, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the cographic matroid to yield a graphic matroid under the element splitting operation. In fact, we prove that the element splitting operation, by any pair of elements, on a cographic matroid yields a graphic matroid if and only if it has no minor isomorphic to M(K4); where K4 is the complete graph on 4 vertices.

Keywords: binary matroids, splitting, element splitting, forbidden minor

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: W. Riahi, M. L. Mansour

Abstract:

Using tools of data processing such as geographic information system (GIS) for the contribution of the space management becomes more and more frequent. It allows collecting and analyzing diverse natural information relative to the same territory. Space technologies play crucial role in agricultural phenomenon analysis. For this, satellite images treatment were used to classify vegetation density and particularly agricultural areas in Setif province by making recourse to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This step was completed by mapping agricultural activities of the province by using ArcGIS.10 software in order to display an overall view and to realize spatial analysis of various themes combined between them which are chosen according to their strategic importance in different thematic maps. The synthesis map elaborately showed that geographic information system can contribute significantly to agricultural management by describing potentialities and development opportunities of production systems and agricultural sectors.

Keywords: GIS, satellite image, agriculture, NDVI, thematic map

Procedia PDF Downloads 409

Authors: Seyed Saeid Tabaee, Mohammad Afshari, Bahador Ziaeemehr, Omid Bahar

Abstract:

Nowadays, using modern structural systems with specific capabilities, like Diagrid, is emerging around the world. In this paper, a new resisting system, a combination of both Diagrid axial behavior and proper seismic performance of regular moment frames in tall buildings, named 'Hybrid Diagrid' is presented. The scaled specimen of the suggested hybrid system was built and tested using IIEES shaking table. The natural frequency and structural response of the analytical model were updated with the real experimental results. In order to compare its performance with the traditional Diagrid and moment frame systems, time history analysis was carried out. Extensive analysis shows the efficient seismic responses and economical behavior of Hybrid Diagrid structure with respect to the other two systems.

Keywords: hybrid diagrid system, moment frame, shaking table, tall buildings, time history analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Sead A. Bakheet, Salah M. Elkoum, Asharaf A. Almaghribi

Abstract:

Disturbance defined as activity that malfunction, intrusion, or interruption. We have to look around for the source of the disturbance affecting the inputs and outputs of engineering projects, take the necessary actions to control them. In this paper we will present and discuss a production system consisting of three elements, inputs, the production process and outputs. The production process which we chose is the production of large diameter pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes (out puts), in reality, the outputs are the starting points of the operation (laying the concrete pipes for transporting drinkable water). The main objective also to address the controlling methods of the natural resources and raw materials (basic inputs), study the disturbances affecting them as well as the output quality. The importance of making the right decision, which effect the final product quality will be summarized. Finally, we will address the proposals regarding the managing of secure water supply to the customers.

Keywords: disturbances, management, inputs, outputs, decision

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Reza M. Rudd, Ali Saeedi, Colin Wood

Abstract:

In this article, the latest advancements made in the applications of polymers in the enhanced hydrocarbon recovery technologies are investigated. For this purpose, different classes of polymers are reviewed and the latest progresses made in making them suitable for application under harsh reservoir conditions are discussed. The main reservoir conditions whose effects are taken into account include the temperature, rock mineralogy and brine salinity and composition. For profile modification and blocking the thief zones, polymers are used in the form of nanocomposite hydrogels. Polymers are also used as thickeners during CO2 flooding. Also, they are used in enhanced gas recovery, to inhibit the mixing of injection gas with the in-situ natural gas. This review covers the main types of polymers, their functions and the challenges in their applications, some of which are mentioned above. Included in this review are also the latest progresses made in the development of new polymeric surfactants used for surfactant flooding.

Keywords: EOR, EGR, polymer flooding, profile modification, mobility control, nanocomposite hydrogels, CO2 flooding, polymeric surfactants

Procedia PDF Downloads 545

Authors: Fei Ye, Åsa Barrefelt, Manuchehr Abedi-Valugerdi, Khalid M. Abu-Salah, Salman A. Alrokayan, Mamoun Muhammed, Moustapha Hassan

Abstract:

With appropriate encapsulation in functional nanoparticles drugs are more stable in physiological environment and the kinetics of the drug can be more carefully controlled and monitored. Furthermore, targeted drug delivery can be developed to improve chemotherapy in cancer treatment, not only by enhancing intracellular uptake by target cells but also by reducing the adverse effects in non-target organs. Inorganic imaging agents, delivered together with anti-cancer drugs, enhance the local imaging contrast and provide precise diagnosis as well as evaluation of therapy efficacy. We have developed biodegradable polymeric vesicles as a nanocarrier system for multimodal bio-imaging and anticancer drug delivery. The poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) PLGA) vesicles were fabricated by encapsulating inorganic imaging agents of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION), manganese-doped zinc sulfide (MN:ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) and the anticancer drug busulfan into PLGA nanoparticles via an emulsion-evaporation method. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of PLGA-SPION-Mn:ZnS phantoms exhibited enhanced negative contrast with r2 relaxivity of approximately 523 s-1 mM-1 Fe. Murine macrophage (J774A) cellular uptake of PLGA vesicles started fluorescence imaging at 2 h and reached maximum intensity at 24 h incubation. The drug delivery ability PLGA vesicles was demonstrated in vitro by release of busulfan. PLGA vesicles degradation was studied in vitro, showing that approximately 32% was degraded into lactic and glycolic acid over a period of 5 weeks. The biodistribution of PLGA vesicles was investigated in vivo by MRI in a rat model. Change of contrast in the liver could be visualized by MRI after 7 min and maximal signal loss detected after 4 h post-injection of PLGA vesicles. Histological studies showed that the presence of PLGA vesicles in organs was shifted from the lungs to the liver and spleen over time.

Keywords: biodegradable polymers, multifunctional nanoparticles, quantum dots, anticancer drugs

Procedia PDF Downloads 458

Authors: Karolina Wieczorek, Sophie Wiliams

Abstract:

Introduction: Patient data is often collected in Electronic Health Record Systems (EHR) for purposes such as providing care as well as reporting data. This information can be re-used to validate data models in clinical trials or in epidemiological studies. Manual validation of automated tools is vital to pick up errors in processing and to provide confidence in the output. Mentioning a disease in a discharge letter does not necessarily mean that a patient suffers from this disease. Many of them discuss a diagnostic process, different tests, or discuss whether a patient has a certain disease. The COVID-19 dataset in this study used natural language processing (NLP), an automated algorithm which extracts information related to COVID-19 symptoms, complications, and medications prescribed within the hospital. Free-text patient clinical patient notes are rich sources of information which contain patient data not captured in a structured form, hence the use of named entity recognition (NER) to capture additional information. Methods: Patient data (discharge summary letters) were exported and screened by an algorithm to pick up relevant terms related to COVID-19. Manual validation of automated tools is vital to pick up errors in processing and to provide confidence in the output. A list of 124 Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) Clinical Terms has been provided in Excel with corresponding IDs. Two independent medical student researchers were provided with a dictionary of SNOMED list of terms to refer to when screening the notes. They worked on two separate datasets called "A” and "B”, respectively. Notes were screened to check if the correct term had been picked-up by the algorithm to ensure that negated terms were not picked up. Results: Its implementation in the hospital began on March 31, 2020, and the first EHR-derived extract was generated for use in an audit study on June 04, 2020. The dataset has contributed to large, priority clinical trials (including International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) by bulk upload to REDcap research databases) and local research and audit studies. Successful sharing of EHR-extracted datasets requires communicating the provenance and quality, including completeness and accuracy of this data. The results of the validation of the algorithm were the following: precision (0.907), recall (0.416), and F-score test (0.570). Percentage enhancement with NLP extracted terms compared to regular data extraction alone was low (0.3%) for relatively well-documented data such as previous medical history but higher (16.6%, 29.53%, 30.3%, 45.1%) for complications, presenting illness, chronic procedures, acute procedures respectively. Conclusions: This automated NLP algorithm is shown to be useful in facilitating patient data analysis and has the potential to be used in more large-scale clinical trials to assess potential study exclusion criteria for participants in the development of vaccines.

Keywords: automated, algorithm, NLP, COVID-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: Soniya Takshak, R. K. Sharma

Abstract:

Let q and n be positive integers, then Fᵩ denotes the finite field of q elements, and Fqn denotes the extension of Fᵩ of degree n. Also, Fᵩ* represents the multiplicative group of non-zero elements of Fᵩ, and the generators of Fᵩ* are called primitive elements. A normal element α of a finite field Fᵩⁿ is such that {α, αᵠ, . . . , αᵠⁿ⁻¹} forms a basis for Fᵩⁿ over Fᵩ. Primitive normal elements have several applications in coding theory and cryptography. So, establishing the existence of primitive normal elements under certain conditions is both theoretically important and a natural issue. In this article, we provide a sufficient condition for the existence of a primitive normal element α in Fᵩⁿ of a prescribed primitive norm and non-zero trace over Fᵩ such that f(α) is also primitive, where f(x) ∈ Fᵩⁿ(x) is a rational function of degree sum m. Particularly, we investigated the rational functions of degree sum 4 over Fᵩⁿ, where q = 11ᵏ and demonstrated that there are only 3 exceptional pairs (q, n), n ≥ 7 for which such kind of primitive normal elements may not exist. In general, we show that such elements always exist except for finitely many choices of (q, n). To arrive to our conclusion, we used additive and multiplicative character sums.

Keywords: finite field, primitive element, normal element, norm, trace, character

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Yıldırım I. Tosun, Halim Cevizci, Hakan Ceylan

Abstract:

By GEO5 FEM program with four rockfill slope modeling and stability analysis was performed for S1, S2, S3 and S4 slopes where landslides of the shalefills were limited. Effective angle of internal friction (φ'°) 17°-22.5°, the effective cohesion (c') from 0.5 to 1.8 kPa, saturated unit weight 1.78-2.43 g/cm3, natural unit weight 1.9-2.35 g/cm3, dry unit weight 1.97-2.40 g/cm3, the permeability coefficient of 1x10-4 - 6.5x10-4 cm/s. In cross-sections of the slope, GEO 5 FEM program possible critical surface tension was examined. Rockfill dump design was made to prevent sliding slopes. Bulk material designated geotechnical properties using also GEO5 programs FEM and stability program via a safety factor determined and calculated according to the values S3 and S4 No. slopes are stable S1 and S2 No. slopes were close to stable state that has been found to be risk. GEO5 programs with limestone rock fill dump through FEM program was found to exhibit stability.

Keywords: slope stability, stability analysis, rockfills, sock stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 467

Authors: Jasna Hrncic

Abstract:

Poor family relations predict depression, but also to other mental health issues. Mediating effect of self-efficacy and differentiation of self and moderating effect of decreased accessibility and/or success of other adaptive and defensive mechanisms for overcoming social disadvantages could explain depression as a specific outcome of dysfunctional family relations. The present study analyzes the mediation effect of self-efficacy and differentiation of self from poor family functioning to depressive symptoms and the moderation effect of deprivation of liberty on the listed mediation effect. Deprivation of liberty has, as a general consequence, a decreased accessibility and/or success of many adaptive and defensive mechanisms. It is hypothesized that: 1) self-efficacy and differentiation of self will mediate between family functioning and depressiveness in the total sample, and 2) deprivation of liberty will moderate the stated relations. Cross-sectional study was conducted among 323 male juveniles in Serbia divided in three groups: 98 adolescents deprived of their liberty due to antisocial behavior (incarcerated antisocial group - IAG), 121 adolescents with antisocial behavior in their natural setting (antisocial control group - CAG) and 105 adolescents in general population (general control group - CGG). The CAG was included along with GCG to control the possible influence that comorbidity of antisocial behavior and depressiveness could have on results. Instruments for family relations assessment were: for a whole family of origin the emotional exchange scale and individuation scale from GRADIR by Knezevic, and for a relationship with mother PCS-YSR and CRPBI by barber, and intimacy, rejection, sacrifice, punishment, demands, control and internal control by Opacic and Kos. Differentiation of self (DOS) is measured by emotional self scale (Opacic), self-efficacy (SE) by general incompetence scale by Bezinovic, and depression by BDI (Back), CES-D (Radloff) and D6R (Momirovic). Two-path structural equation modeling based on most commonly reported fit indices, showed that the mediation model had unfavorable fit to our data for total sample [(χ2 (1, N = 324) = 13.73); RMSEA= .20 (90% CI= [.12, .30]); CFI= .98; NFI= .97; AIC=31.73]. Path model provided an adequate fit to the data only for AIG - and not to the data from ACG and GCG. SE and DOS mediated the relationship between PFF and depressiveness. Test of the indirect effects revealed that 23.85% of PFF influences on depressiveness is mediated by these two mediators (the quotient of mediated effect = .24). Test of specific indirect effects showed that SE mediates 22.17%, while DOS mediates 1.67% of PFF influence on depressiveness. Lack of expected mediation effect could be explained by missing other potential mediators (i.e., relationship with that father, social skills, self-esteem) and lower variability of both predictor and criterion variable due to their low levels on the whole sample and on control subsamples. Results suggested that inaccessibility and/or successfulness of other adaptive and defensive mechanisms for overcoming social disadvantages has a strong impact on the mediation effect of self/efficacy and differentiation of self from poor family functioning to depressive symptoms. Further researches could include other potential mediators and a sample of clinically depressed people.

Keywords: antisocial behavior, mediating effect, moderating effect, natural setting, incarceration

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: Te-Jen Chang, I-Hui Pan, Kuang-Hsiung Tan, Shan-Jen Cheng, Chien-Wu Lan, Chih-Chan Hu

Abstract:

With the event of multimedia age in order to protect data not to be tampered, damaged, and faked, information hiding technologies are proposed. Information hiding means important secret information is hidden into cover multimedia and then camouflaged media is produced. This camouflaged media has the characteristic of natural protection. Under the undoubted situation, important secret information is transmitted out.Reversible information hiding technologies for high capacity is proposed in this paper. The gray images are as cover media in this technology. We compress gray images and compare with the original image to produce the estimated differences. By using the estimated differences, expression information hiding is used, and higher information capacity can be achieved. According to experimental results, the proposed technology can be approved. For these experiments, the whole capacity of information payload and image quality can be satisfied.

Keywords: cover media, camouflaged media, reversible information hiding, gray image

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Ofonime U. M. John, Justina I. R. Udotong, Victor O. Nwaugo, Ime R. Udotong

Abstract:

Oily wastes from oil and gas exploration and production (O&G E&P) activities were remediated for twelve weeks using Soil-Poultry dropping amendment. Culture-dependent microbiological, chemical and enzymatic techniques were employed to assess the efficacy of remediation process. Microbiological activities of the remediated wastes showed increased hydrocarbonoclastic microbial populations with increased remediation time; 2.7±0.1 x 105cfu/g to 8.3 ± 0.04 x106cfu/g for hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria, 1.7 ± 0.2 x103cfu/g to 6.0 ± 0.01 x 104cfu/g for hydrocarbon utilizing fungi and 2.2 ± 0.1 x 102cfu/g to 6.7 ± 0.1 x 103cfu/g for hydrocarbon utilizing actinomycetes. Bacteria associated with the remediated wastes after the remediation period included the genera Bacillus, Psuedomonas, Beijerinckia, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes and Serratia. Fungal isolates included species of Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium, while the Actinomycetes included species of Rhodococcus, Nocardia and Streptomyces. Slight fluctuations in pH values between 6.5± 0.2 and 7.1 ± 0.08 were recorded throughout the process, while total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content decreased from 89, 900 ± 0.03mg/kg to 425 ± 0.1 mg/kg after twelve weeks of remediation. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels decreased with increased remediation time; naphthalene, flourene, pheneanthrene, anthracene, pyrene, chrysene and benzo(b)flouranthene showed decreased values < 0.01 after twelve weeks of remediation. Enzyme activities revealed increased dehydrogenase and urease activities with increased remediation time and decreased phenol oxidase activity with increased remediation period. There was a positive linear correlation between densities of hydrocarbonoclastic microbes and dehydrogenase activity. On the contrary, phenol oxidase and urease activities showed negative correlation with microbial population. Results of this study confirmed that remediation of oily wastes using soil-poultry dropping amendment can result in eco-friendly O&G E&P wastes. It also indicates that urease and phenol oxidase activities can be reliable indices/tools to monitor PAH levels and rates of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation.

Keywords: dehydrogenase activity, oily wastes, remediation, soil-poultry dropping amendment

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: David Hasurungan

Abstract:

This paper objective is to assess the power distribution reliability improvement by retrofitting obsolete vacuum contactor. The case study in Badak Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant is presented in this paper. To support plant operational, Badak LNG is equipped with 4.16 kV switchgear for supplying the storage and loading facilities, utilities facilities, and train facilities. However, there is a problem in two switch gears of sixteen switch gears. The problem is the obsolescence issue in its vacuum contactor. Not only that, but the same switchgear also has suffered from electrical fault due to contact fingering misalignment. In order to improve the reliability in switchgear, the vacuum contactor retrofit project is done. The retrofit will introduce new vacuum contactor design. The comparison between existing design and the new design is presented in this paper. Meanwhile, The reliability assessment and calculation are performed using software Reliasoft 7.

Keywords: reliability, obsolescence, retrofit, vacuum contactor

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: E. A. Krasikov

Abstract:

As a main barrier against radioactivity outlet reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is a key component in terms of NPP safety. Therefore, present-day demands in RPV reliability enhance have to be met by all possible actions for RPV in-service embrittlement mitigation. Annealing treatment is known to be the effective measure to restore the RPV metal properties deteriorated by neutron irradiation. There are two approaches to annealing. The first one is so-called ‘dry’ high temperature (~475°C) annealing. It allows obtaining practically complete recovery, but requires the removal of the reactor core and internals. External heat source (furnace) is required to carry out RPV heat treatment. The alternative approach is to anneal RPV at a maximum coolant temperature which can be obtained using the reactor core or primary circuit pumps while operating within the RPV design limits. This low temperature «wet» annealing, although it cannot be expected to produce complete recovery, is more attractive from the practical point of view especially in cases when the removal of the internals is impossible. The first RPV «wet» annealing was done using nuclear heat (US Army SM-1A reactor). The second one was done by means of primary pumps heat (Belgian BR-3 reactor). As a rule, there is no recovery effect up to annealing and irradiation temperature difference of 70°C. It is known, however, that along with radiation embrittlement neutron irradiation may mitigate the radiation damage in metals. Therefore, we have tried to test the possibility to use the effect of radiation-induced ductilization in ‘wet’ annealing technology by means of nuclear heat utilization as heat and neutron irradiation sources at once. In support of the above-mentioned conception the 3-year duration reactor experiment on 15Cr3NiMoV type steel with preliminary irradiation at operating PWR at 270°C and following extra irradiation (87 h at 330°C) at IR-8 test reactor was fulfilled. In fact, embrittlement was partly suppressed up to value equivalent to 1,5 fold neutron fluence decrease. The degree of recovery in case of radiation enhanced annealing is equal to 27% whereas furnace annealing results in zero effect under existing conditions. Mechanism of the radiation-induced damage mitigation is proposed. It is hoped that «wet » annealing technology will help provide a better management of the RPV degradation as a factor affecting the lifetime of nuclear power plants which, together with associated management methods, will help facilitate safe and economic long-term operation of PWRs.

Keywords: controlling, embrittlement, radiation, steel, wet annealing

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Nassima Behidj-Benyounes, Thoraya Dahmene, Nadjiba Chebout

Abstract:

This work examines the study of the antimicrobrial effect of alkaloids extracted from the seeds of Peganum harmala L (Zygophyllaceae). This natural substance is extracted by using different solvents (aqueous, ethanolic, and hexane). The evaluation of the antimicrobial activity has only dealt with alkaloids. The antimicrobial effect of alkaloids is evaluated on several microorganisms. It has been tested on eight bacterial strains. The extract has been studied by using two yeasts. Finally, three molds have been studied. It should be noted that these agents are characterized by a high frequency of contamination and pathogenicity. Through this study, we note that Staphylococcus aureus, Saccharomyces cerievisae and E. coli are very sensitive in respect of the ethanol extract. Pseudomonas aerogenosa and Penicillium sp. are resistant to this extract. The other microorganisms are moderately sensitive. The study of the antimicrobial activity of different extracts of the Harmel has shown an optimal activity with the ethanol extract.

Keywords: Peganum harmala L., seeds, alkaloids, bacteria, fungi, yeast, antimicrobial activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: N. Bouhamou, F. Mostefa, A. Mebrouki, N. Belas

Abstract:

Every year, millions of cube meters are dredged from dams and restraints as an entertaining and prevention procedure all over the world. These dredged sediments are considered as natural waste leading to an environmental, ecological and even an economical problem in their processing and deposing. Nevertheless, in the context of the sustainable development policy, a way of management is opened aiming to the valorization of sediments as a building material and particularly as a new binder that can be industrially exploited and that improve the physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics of the concrete. This study is a part of the research works realized in the civil engineering department at the university of Mostaganem (Algeria), on the impact of the dredged mud of Fergoug dam on the behaviour of self-consolidating concrete in fresh and hardened state, such as the mechanical performance of SCC and its impact on the differed deformations (shrinkage). The work aims to valorize this mud in SCC and to show eventual interactions between constituents. The results obtained presents a good perspectives in order to perform SCC based in calcined mud.

Keywords: sediment, calcination, reuse, self-consolidating concrete, fresh state, hard state, shrinkage

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Gadisa Demie, Mesele Negash, Zerihun Asrat, Lojka Bohdan

Abstract:

Deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics have led to significant carbon (C) emissions. Agroforestry (AF) is a suitable land-use option for tackling such declines in ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation. However, it is unclear how biomass models, AF practices, and socio-ecological factors determine these roles, which hinders the implementation of climate change mitigation initiatives. This study aimed to estimate the ecosystem C stocks of the studied AF practices in relation to socio-ecological variables in central Ethiopia. Out of 243 AF farms inventoried, 108 were chosen at random from three AF practices to estimate their biomass and soil organic carbon. A total of 432 soil samples were collected from 0–30 and 30–60 cm soil depths; 216 samples were taken for each soil organic carbon fraction (%C) and bulk density computation. The study found that the currently developed allometric equations were the most accurate to estimate biomass C for trees growing in the landscape when compared to previous models. The study found higher overall biomass C in woodlots (165.62 Mg ha-¹) than in homegardens (134.07 Mg ha-¹) and parklands (19.98 Mg ha-¹). Conversely, overall, SOC was higher for homegardens (143.88 Mg ha-¹), but lower for parklands (53.42 Mg ha-¹). The ecosystem C stock was comparable between homegardens (277.95 Mg ha-¹) and woodlots (275.44 Mg ha-¹). The study found that elevation, wealthy levels, AF farm age, and size have a positive and significant (P < 0.05) effect on overall biomass and ecosystem C stocks but non-significant with slope (P > 0.05). Similarly, SOC increased with increasing elevation, AF farm age, and wealthy status but decreased with slope and non-significant with AF farm size. The study also showed that species diversity had a positive (P <0.05) effect on overall biomass C stocks in homegardens. The overall study highlights that AF practices have a great potential to lock up more carbon in biomass and soils; however, these potentials were determined by socioecological variables. Thus, these factors should be considered in management strategies that preserve trees in agricultural landscapes in order to mitigate climate change and support the livelihoods of farmers.

Keywords: agricultural landscape, biomass, climate change, soil organic carbon

Procedia PDF Downloads 34

Authors: Augustar Omoze Ehighalua, Itotenaan Henry Ogiri

Abstract:

As a mono-product economy, Nigeria relies largely on oil revenues for its foreign exchange earnings and the exploration activities of firms operating in the Niger Delta region have left in its wake tales of environmental degradation, poverty and misery. This, no doubt, have created corporate social responsibility issues in the region. The focus of this research is the critical evaluation of the ethical response to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice by firms operating in Nigeria Delta Swamplands. While CSR is becoming more popular in developed society with effective practice guidelines and reporting benchmark, there is a relatively low level of awareness and selective applicability of existing international guidelines to effectively support CSR practice in Nigeria. This study, haven identified the lack of CSR institutional framework attempts to develop an ethically-driven CSR transparency benchmark laced within a regulatory framework based on international best practices. The research adopts a qualitative methodology and makes use of primary data collected through semi-structured interviews conducted across the six core states of the Niger Delta Region. More importantly, the study adopts an inductive, interpretivist philosophical paradigm that reveal deep phenomenological insights into what local communities, civil society and government officials consider as good ethical benchmark for responsible CSR practice by organizations. The institutional theory provides for the main theoretical foundation, complemented by the stakeholder and legitimacy theories. The Nvivo software was used to analyze the data collected. This study shows that ethical responsibility is lacking in CSR practice by firms in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Furthermore, findings of the study indicate key issues of environmental, health and safety, human rights, and labour as fundamental in developing an effective CSR practice guideline for Nigeria. The study has implications for public policy formulation as well as managerial perspective.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, CSR, ethics, firms, Niger-Delta Swampland, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: D. H. Tejavathi

Abstract:

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products. Wild populations of many medicinal plants are facing threat of extinction because of their narrow distribution, endemicity, and degradation of specific habitats. Micropropagation is an established in vitro technique by which large number of clones can be obtained from a small bit of explants in a short span of time within a limited space. Mycorrhization can minimize the transient transplantation shock, experienced by the micropropagated plants when they are transferred from lab to land. AM fungal association improves the physiological status of the host plants through better uptake of water and nutrients, particularly phosphorus. Consequently, the growth performance and biosynthesis of active principles are significantly enhanced in AM fungal treated plants. Bacopa monnieri, Andrographis paniculata, Agave vera-curz, Drymaria cordata and Majorana hortensis, important medicinal plants used in various indigenous systems of medicines, are selected for the present study. They form the main constituents of many herbal formulations. Standard in vitro techniques were followed to obtain the micropropagated plants. Shoot tips and nodal segments were used as explants. Explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog, and Phillips and Collins media supplemented with various combinations of growth regulators. Multiple shoots were obtained on a media containing both auxins and cytokinins at various concentrations and combinations. Multiple shoots were then transferred to rooting media containing auxins for root induction. Thus, obtained in vitro regenerated plants were subjected to brief acclimatization before transferring them to land. One-month-old in vitro plants were treated with AM fungi, and the symbiotic effect on the overall growth parameters was analyzed. It was found that micropropagation coupled with mycorrhization has significant effect on the enhancement of biomass and biosynthesis of active principles in these selected medicinal plants. In vitro techniques coupled with mycorrhization have opened a possibility of obtaining better clones in respect of enhancement of biomass and biosynthesis of active principles. Beneficial effects of AM fungal association with medicinal plants are discussed.

Keywords: cultivation, medicinal plants, micropropagation, mycorrhization

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Zhan Chen, Yaping Huang, Xiao Shen, Yichun Li

Abstract:

New urbanization is a strategic fulcrum of China's future development, regional urbanization is a hot research field, different from the contiguous urbanization patterns of the eastern coastal plains and the node type urbanization patterns of the southwest mountainous areas, central inland areas has the realistic conditions of complex terrain conditions and kinds of phases, the dominant power of urbanization development, organizational power, coordination of the urbanization development and the natural environment, will be the core issue in the process of urbanization. This article starts from the characteristics of the typical urbanization development in such areas of Hubei Province, analyzing the current outstanding and typical problems in the process of urbanization in Hubei Province, and propose targeted to promote the basic ideas and implementation paths of the development of new urbanization, in order to provide experience and learn from similar cities of the development of urbanization.

Keywords: varied terrain, inland area, path explore, Hubei Province

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Luís Felipe da Cunha Mendonça

Abstract:

Normally, rural roads do not have any type of coating, and when they have any coating, they have a high maintenance cost due to the characteristics of natural materials. The Steel Aggregate has specific technical characteristics, which considerably reduce the maintenance costs of rural roads with the execution of the Primary Coating. For use as a primary coating, it must be mixed with clay due to the physical-chemical properties of the material. The application is mainly in the Primary Coating of rural roads due to the cementitious property in the presence of water, offering greater resistance to wear caused by traffic and consequently a longer useful life of the coating. The Steel Aggregate executed on rural roads has reduced particulate emissions and offers normal traffic in any weather condition, as well as creating sustainability. Contribute to the quality of life of communities through improvements in the conditions of rural and urban unpaved roads. Leading to substantial savings in maintenance. Because the durability, if applied correctly, is about 3 years, but if annual monitoring is carried out, it can be extended for more than 5 years.

Keywords: steel slag, co-product, primary coating, steel aggregate

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Nilam S. Octaviani, Semin

Abstract:

The diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses compressed air to combust. The diesel engines are widely used in the world because it has the most excellent combustion efficiency than other types of internal combustion engine.  However, the exhaust emissions of it produce pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment. Therefore, natural gas used as an alternative fuel using on compression ignition engine to respond those environment issues. This paper aims to discuss the comparison of the technical characteristics and exhaust gases emission from conventional diesel engine and dual fuel diesel engine. According to the study, the dual fuel engine applications have a lower compression pressure and has longer ignition delay compared with normal diesel mode. The engine power is decreased at dual fuel mode. However, the exhaust gases emission on dual fuel engine significantly reduce the nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and particular metter (PM) emissions.

Keywords: diesel engine, dual fuel diesel engine, emission reduction, technical characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Syukri Himran, Rustan Taraka, Anto Duma

Abstract:

The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of latent and sensible thermal energy storage within a paraffin wax media by an array of cylindrical tubes arranged both in in-line and staggered layouts. An analytical and experimental study was carried out in a horizontal shell-and-tube type system during the melting process. Pertamina paraffin-wax was used as a phase change material (PCM), where as the tubes are embedded in the PCM. From analytical study we can obtain the useful information in designing a thermal energy storage such as : the motion of interface, amount of material melted at any time in the process, and the heat storage characteristic during melting. The use of staggered tubes is proposed as superior to in-line layout for thermal storage. The experimental study was used to verify the validity of the analytical predictions. From the comparisons, the analytical and experimental data are in a good agreement.

Keywords: latent, sensible, paraffin-wax, thermal energy storage, conduction, natural convection

Procedia PDF Downloads 549

Authors: Azita Behbahaninia

Abstract:

Soil and surface and ground waters pollution to arsenic (As) due to its high potential for food cycle entrance, has high risk for human safety. Also, this pollution can cause quality and quantity decreasing of agricultural products or some lesions in farm animals that due to low knowledge, its reason is unknown, but can relate to As pollution. This study was conducted to investigate level of soil and water pollution by As in Hashtrood city. Based on the region’s information, the surface and ground waters, soil, river sediments, and rock were sampled and analyzed for physico-chemical and As in lab. There are significant differences for mean contents between As in the samples and crust. The maximum levels of As were observed in fly ash sample. Consequently, As pollution was related to geogenic and volcanic eruptions in this region. These mechanisms are diagnosed as As pollution in the region: As release for the rock units, As sorption by oxide minerals in aerobic and acidic to neutral conditions, desorption from oxide surfaces with pH increasing, increasing of As concentration in solution, and consequently pollution.

Keywords: arsenic, flyash, groundwater, soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Irum Matloob, Shoab Ahmad Khan, Fahim Arif

Abstract:

As Indo-Pak has been the victim of heart diseases since many decades. Many surveys showed that percentage of cardiac patients is increasing in Pakistan day by day, and special attention is needed to pay on this issue. The framework is proposed for performing detailed analysis of ECG survey data which is conducted for measuring prevalence of heart diseases statistics in Pakistan. The ECG survey data is evaluated or filtered by using automated Minnesota codes and only those ECGs are used for further analysis which is fulfilling the standardized conditions mentioned in the Minnesota codes. Then feature selection is performed by applying proposed algorithm based on discernibility matrix, for selecting relevant features from the database. Clustering is performed for exposing natural clusters from the ECG survey data by applying spectral clustering algorithm using fuzzy c means algorithm. The hidden patterns and interesting relationships which have been exposed after this analysis are useful for further detailed analysis and for many other multiple purposes.

Keywords: arrhythmias, centroids, ECG, clustering, discernibility matrix

Procedia PDF Downloads 454