Search results for: environmental flow assessment

Authors: Ojas Chaudhari, Ali Nejad Ghafar, Giedrius Zirgulis, Marjan Mousavi, Tommy Ellison, Sandra Pousette, Patrick Fontana

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In Swedish tunnel construction, a critical issue that has been repeatedly acknowledged is corrosion and, consequently, failure of the rock bolts in rock support systems. The defective installation of rock bolts results in the formation of cavities in the cement mortar that is regularly used to fill the area under the dome plates. These voids allow for water-ingress to the rock bolt assembly, which results in corrosion of rock bolt components and eventually failure. In addition, the current installation technique consists of several manual steps with intense labor works that are usually done in uncomfortable and exhausting conditions, e.g., under the roof of the tunnels. Such intense tasks also lead to a considerable waste of materials and execution errors. Moreover, adequate quality control of the execution is hardly possible with the current technique. To overcome these issues, a non-shrinking/expansive cement-based mortar filled in the paper packaging has been developed in this study which properly fills the area under the dome plates without or with the least remaining cavities, ultimately that diminishes the potential of corrosion. This article summarizes the development process and the experimental evaluation of this technique for the installation of rock bolts. In the development process, the cementitious mortar was first developed using specific cement and shrinkage reducing/expansive additives. The mechanical and flow properties of the mortar were then evaluated using compressive strength, density, and slump flow measurement methods. In addition, isothermal calorimetry and shrinkage/expansion measurements were used to elucidate the hydration and durability attributes of the mortar. After obtaining the desired properties in both fresh and hardened conditions, the developed dry mortar was filled in specific permeable paper packaging and then submerged in water bath for specific intervals before the installation. The tests were enhanced progressively by optimizing different parameters such as shape and size of the packaging, characteristics of the paper used, immersion time in water and even some minor characteristics of the mortar. Finally, the developed prototype was tested in a lab-scale rock bolt assembly with various angles to analyze the efficiency of the method in real life scenario. The results showed that the new technique improves the performance of the rock bolts by reducing the material wastage, improving environmental performance, facilitating and accelerating the labor works, and finally enhancing the durability of the whole system. Accordingly, this approach provides an efficient alternative for the traditional way of tunnel bolt installation with considerable advantages for the Swedish tunneling industry.

Keywords: corrosion, durability, mortar, rock bolt

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Authors: Swapna N., Deepthy Ann Joy

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One of the major causes of communication disorders in pediatric population is Motor speech disorders. These disorders which affect the motor aspects of speech articulators can have an adverse effect on the communication abilities of children in their developmental period. The motor aspects are dependent on the sensory abilities of children with motor speech disorders. Hence, oral sensorimotor evaluation is an important component in the assessment of children with motor speech disorders. To our knowledge, the importance of oral motor examination has been well established, yet the sensory assessment of the oral structures has received less focus. One of the most common motor speech disorders seen in children is developmental dysarthria. The present study aimed to assess the orosensory aspects in children with developmental dysarthria (CDD). The control group consisted of 240 children in the age range of four and eight years which was divided into four subgroups (4-4.11, 5-5.11, 6-6.11 and 7-7.11 years). The experimental group consisted of 15 children who were diagnosed with developmental dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy who belonged in the age range of four and eight years. The oro-sensory aspects such as response to touch, temperature, taste, texture, and orofacial sensitivity were evaluated and profiled. For this purpose, the authors used the ‘Oral Sensorimotor Evaluation Protocol- Children’ which was developed by the authors. The oro-sensory section of the protocol was administered and the clinical profile of oro-sensory abilities of typically developing children and CDD was obtained for each of the sensory abilities. The oro-sensory abilities of speech articulators such as lips, tongue, palate, jaw, and cheeks were assessed in detail and scored. The results indicated that experimental group had poorer scores on oro-sensory aspects such as light static touch, kinetic touch, deep pressure, vibration and double simultaneous touch. However, it was also found that the experimental group performed similar to control group on few aspects like temperature, taste, texture and orofacial sensitivity. Apart from the oro-motor abilities which has received utmost interest, the variation in the oro-sensory abilities of experimental and control group is highlighted and discussed in the present study. This emphasizes the need for assessing the oro-sensory abilities in children with developmental dysarthria in addition to oro-motor abilities.

Keywords: cerebral palsy, developmental dysarthria, orosensory assessment, touch

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Authors: Shahul Hamid Khan, S. Santhosh, Abhinav Kumar Sharma

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Environmental performance along with social performance is becoming vital factors for industries to achieve global standards. With a good environmental policy global industries are differentiating them from their competitors. This paper concentrates on multi stage, multi product and multi period manufacturing network. Bi-objective mathematical models for total cost and total emission for the entire forward supply chain are considered. Here five different problems are considered by varying the number of suppliers, manufacturers, and environmental levels, for illustrating the taken mathematical model. GA, and Random search are used for finding the optimal solution. The input parameters of the optimal solution are used to find the tradeoff between the initial investment by the industry and the long term benefit of the environment.

Keywords: closed loop supply chain, genetic algorithm, random search, green supply chain

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Authors: Vivian Uchechi Okpala

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Background: Millions of workers die every year as a result of occupational hazards, accidents and injuries, which are as a result of non- compliance to the laws or legislations guiding the health, safety and welfare of workers in the industries. This and many more lead to the assessment of implementation of the health and safety contents of the Nigerian Factories Act (NFA) by small and medium scale industries in Anambra State. Objectives: The study is aimed at achieving the following specific objectives; to assess the extent of implementation of Part-II Health and Part -III Safety (General Provisions), implementation of Part II Health and Part -III Safety (General Provisions Nigerian Factories Acts based on the age of the industries, locations of the industries and level of education of the workers of the small and medium scale industries Methods: the research design that was used for this study was descriptive survey research design, Area of this study was Anambra state, The population for this study comprised 180 chairmen/presidents of union workers of manufacturing industries in Anambra State, The instrument used for this study was structured questionnaire titled ‘assessment of implementation of NFA health and safety contents by small and medium scale industries, results: From the analysis, the following findings were made: Results: The medium scale industries implemented the Part-II Health and Part III Safety (General provisions) better than the small scale industries in Anambra state, the age of the industries, location of the industries and the level of education of the workers in the industries significantly influenced the implementation of the Part III Safety (General Provisions) of NFA, the location of the industries significantly influenced the implementation of the Part II-Health (General Provisions) of NFA. Conclusion: there was generally a certain level of implementation of the factories Act, there is need for more improvement, strict inspection by the regulatory agencies. Implications of the study were highlighted and several suggestions for further studies were made. Based on the findings, several recommendations were made including that the Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the Ministry of Health should strengthen planned information, strict policies to sanction the offenders. Keywords: Occupational Health and Safety, Nigerian Factories Act

Keywords: occupational health and safety, Nigerian factories act, workers, welfare

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Authors: Thea Freese, Michael Gille, Andrew Hursthouse, John Struthers

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Ship operators on the North and Baltic Sea have been experiencing increased political interest in marine environmental protection and cleaner vessel operations. Stricter legislation on SO2 and NOx emissions, ballast water management and other measures of protection are currently being phased in or will come into force in the coming years. These measures benefit the health of the marine environment, while increasing company’s operational costs. In times of excess shipping capacity and linked consolidation in the industry non-compliance with environmental rules is one way companies might hope to stay competitive with both intra- and inter-modal trade. Around 5-15% of industry participants are believed to neglect laws on vessel-source pollution willingly or unwillingly. Exploratory in-depth interviews conducted with 12 experts from various stakeholder groups informed the researchers about variables influencing compliance levels, including awareness and apprehension, willingness to comply, ability to comply and effectiveness of controls. Semi-structured expert interviews were evaluated using qualitative content analysis. A model of determinants of compliance was developed and is presented here. While most vessel operators endeavour to achieve full compliance with environmental rules, a lack of availability of technical solutions, expediency of implementation and operation and economic feasibility might prove a hindrance. Ineffective control systems on the other hand foster willing non-compliance. With respect to motivations, lacking time, lacking financials and the absence of commercial advantages decrease compliance levels. These and other variables were inductively developed from qualitative data and integrated into a model on environmental compliance. The outcomes presented here form part of a wider research project on economic effects of maritime environmental legislation. Research on determinants of compliance might inform policy-makers about actual behavioural effects of shipping companies and might further the development of a comprehensive legal system for environmental protection.

Keywords: compliance, marine environmental protection, exploratory qualitative research study, clean vessel operations, North and Baltic Sea area

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Authors: Prosper Tafadzwa Denhere, Ephias Ruhode, Munyaradzi Zhou

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Health Information Systems (HISs) interoperability is emerging to be the future of modern healthcare systems Enterprise Architecture (EA), where healthcare entities are seamlessly interconnected to share healthcare data. The reality that the healthcare industry has been characterised by an influx of fragmented stand-alone e-Health systems, which present challenges of healthcare information sharing across platforms, desires much attention for systems integration efforts. The lack of an EA conceptual framework resultantly crates the need for investigating an ideal solution to the objective of Health Information Systems interoperability development assessment. The study takes a qualitative exploratory approach through a design science research context. The research aims to study the various themes withdrawn from the literature that can help in the assessment of interoperable HISs development through a literature study. Themes derived from the study include HIS needs, HIS readiness, HIS constraints, and HIS technology integration elements and standards tied to the EA development architectural layers of The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) as an EA development methodology. Eventually, the themes were conceptualised into a framework reviewed by two experts. The essence of the study was to provide a framework within which interoperable EA of HISs should be developed.

Keywords: enterprise architecture, eHealth, health information systems, interoperability

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Authors: Gokhan Sir, Muhammed Ergun, Onder Balioglu

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Nowadays, laundry dryers containing heaters and heat pumps are used to provide fast and efficient drying. In this system, as the drying capacity changes, the sensible and latent heat transfer rate in the evaporator changes. Therefore, the drying time measured for the unit capacity increases as the drying capacity decreases. The objective of this study is to investigate the evaporator efficiency according to load amount and textile type in hybrid heat pump dryers. Air side flow rate and system temperatures (air side and refrigeration side) were monitored instantly, and the specific moisture extraction rate (SMER), evaporator efficiency, and heat transfer mechanism between the textile and hybrid heat pump system were examined. Evaporator efficiency of heat pump dryers for cotton and synthetic based textile types in load amounts of 2, 5, 8 and 10 kg were investigated experimentally. As a result, the maximum evaporator efficiency (%72) was obtained in drying cotton and synthetic based textiles with a capacity of 5 kg; the minimum evaporator efficiency (%40) was obtained in drying cotton and synthetic based textiles with a capacity of 2 kg. The experimental study also reveals that capacity-dependent flow rate changes are the major factor for evaporator efficiency.

Keywords: evaporator, heat pump, hybrid, laundry dryer, textile

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Authors: Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Khalid Nawab, Shahid Ali, Mubashir Habib, Shakirullah Khan, Sajjad Ahmad, Javid Ullah, Ikramul Haq

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Professionally competent Agriculture Officers (AOs) can play an important role in the development of agriculture in the country. This study was conducted in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) (Pakistan) to assess professional competencies of Agriculture Officers (AOs) in January 2007. Data were collected from all (112) AOs through a mailed questionnaire. The study examines existing level of professional competencies of AOs and the required level of possessed competencies needed by them for their job performance in the areas of participatory extension methodologies. Both the possessed and required levels of competencies were scaled from 1-5 on Liker scale, 1 being very low and 5 being very high. . The study revealed a numerical difference between possessed and required levels regarding the professional competencies of the participatory extension methodology. It was also observed that higher levels of job experience increase the professional competencies in participatory extension methodology. It is recommended that periodic training and refresher courses are arranged for AOs so that their learning may become more practicable to diffuse agricultural innovations among members of participatory learning groups and convey modern technologies to the end users.

Keywords: professional competency, agriculture officers, assessment and participatory extension methodology, participatory extension

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Authors: M. Shaheed Hartley

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There has been increasing pressure on education researchers and practitioners at higher education institutions to focus on the development of South Africa’s rural and peri-urban communities and improving their quality of life. Many tertiary institutions are obliged to review their outreach interventions in schools. To ensure that the support provided to schools is still relevant, a systemic evaluation of science educator needs is central to this process. These prioritised needs will serve as guide not only for the outreach projects of tertiary institutions, but also to service providers in general so that the process of addressing educators needs become coordinated, organised and delivered in a systemic manner. This paper describes one area of a broader needs assessment exercise to collect data regarding the needs of educators in a district of 45 secondary schools in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This research focuses on the needs and challenges faced by science educators at these schools as articulated by the relevant stakeholders. The objectives of this investigation are two-fold: (1) to create a data base that will capture the needs and challenges identified by science educators of the selected secondary schools; and (2) to develop a needs profile for each of the participating secondary schools that will serve as a strategic asset to be shared with the various service providers as part of a community of practice whose core business is to support science educators and science education at large. The data was collected by a means of a needs assessment questionnaire (NAQ) which was developed in both actual and preferred versions. An open-ended questionnaire was also administered which allowed teachers to express their views. The categories of the questionnaire were predetermined by participating researchers, educators and education department officials. Group interviews were also held with the science teachers at each of the schools. An analysis of the data revealed important trends in terms of science educator needs and identified schools that can be clustered around priority needs, logistic reasoning and educator profiles. The needs database also provides opportunity for the community of practice to strategise and coordinate their interventions.

Keywords: needs assessment, science and mathematics education, evaluation, teaching and learning, South Africa

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Authors: Taha Almarayhe

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This study addresses the gap in understanding the effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on firm performance within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Using a sample of 340 publicly traded firms across ten MENA countries (2007–2017) and employing ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, the study evaluates how ESG ratings impact both accounting-based performance measures—such as return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS)—and market-based measures like Tobin’s Q and dividend yield. Results reveal that ESG ratings positively and significantly influence financial performance, particularly in countries with strong regulatory environments. This research contributes empirical insights to the literature on ESG’s financial impact, particularly by comparing cross-country data within the MENA region. It provides valuable guidance for investors and managers aiming to enhance financial outcomes through sustainable business practices.

Keywords: ESG ratings, financial performance, MENA countries, environmental disclosures

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Authors: Wid Kattan, Rahaf Albarraq

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Background: Tokophobia is a pathological fear of pregnancy that can lead to the avoidance of childbirth. It is classified as primary or secondary. This report describes a patient with tokophobia, as well as her presentation, risk factors, comorbidities, and treatment. Case Presentation: A 43-year-old Saudi woman experienced tokophobia upon becoming pregnant for the fifth time. She was assessed in two clinical interviews by a consultant psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health. In addition, she completed several questionnaires for assessment of different aspects of her mental health: overall depression, perinatal depression, generalized anxiety, maternal functioning, and fear of childbirth (FOC). Several risk factors and comorbidities that may have contributed to the development of tokophobia in this patient were discussed, including traumatic experiences in previous deliveries, the unplanned nature of the pregnancy, perinatal depression, and pronounced symptoms of anxiety. A collaborative decision to perform a C-section was made, in line with obstetric guidelines and good mental health practice. Full symptomatic recovery was achieved immediately after delivery. Conclusions: We hope to increase clinical awareness of the assessment and management of tokophobia, which is a relatively new concept and, as yet, understudied.

Keywords: tokophobia, fear of childbirth, mental health, anxiety, case report, depression, fear of delivery, psychiatry, cesarean section, perinatal depression

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Authors: Kherbache Radhwane

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We currently live in the world pressed by technological developments necessary for the construction, where the concept of sustainable development is truly rooted in recent years. Construction or demolitions of buildings necessarily generate environmental pollution, both inside and outside the site. Depending on the size and nature of work and the context surrounding these problems can be more or less important as is the case here in Algeria. They may affect the smooth running of the site. Moreover, there are regulations exist or are under development and should be taken into account by the various players in the act of building. This is, for example, the case of new obligations in terms of sorting and recycling of construction waste. Given this situation, it appears increasingly necessary to integrate the building sites in an effort to better respect the environment and its regulation. Several operations were performed according to this principle. The success of a project is that respects its environment through the involvement of each actor of the operation of the site with a low nuisance. As such, the client assisted by his driver and its operating contractor and the company plays a central role as an initiator of the process. It must ensure the establishment of appropriate means of organizational plans and contract.

Keywords: evolution, sustainable development, construction, demolition, building, nuisance, environmental, tailings, construction, regulations

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Authors: Jongsoo Jurng

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The drive to expand renewable energies is often in direct conflict with sustainable development goals. Thus, it is important that energy policies account for potential trade-offs. We assess the interlinkages between energy, food, water, and land, for two case studies, Suwon and Seoul. We apply a range of assessment methods and study their usefulness as tools to identify trade-offs and to compare the sustainability performance. We calculate cross-sectoral footprints, self-sufficiency ratios and perform a simplified Energy-Water-Food nexus analysis. We use the latter for assessing scenarios to increase energy and food self-sufficiency in Suwon, while we use ecosystem service (ESS) accounting for Seoul. For Suwon, we find that constraints on the energy, food and water sectors urgently call for integrated approaches to energy policy; for Seoul, the further expansion of renewables comes at the expense of cultural and supporting ESS, which could outweigh gains from increased energy exports. We recommend a general upgrade to indicators and visualization methods that look beyond averages and a fostering of infrastructure for data on sustainable development based on harmonized international protocols. We warn against rankings of countries or regions based on benchmarks that are neither theory-driven nor location-specific.

Keywords: ESS, renewable energy, energy-water-food nexus, assessment

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Authors: J. K. Adedeji, S. T. Ijatuyi

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The application of neural network using pattern recognition to study the fluid dynamics and predict the groundwater reservoirs properties has been used in this research. The essential of geophysical survey using the manual methods has failed in basement environment, hence the need for an intelligent computing such as predicted from neural network is inevitable. A non-linear neural network with an XOR (exclusive OR) output of 8-bits configuration has been used in this research to predict the nature of groundwater reservoirs and fluid dynamics of a typical basement crystalline rock. The control variables are the apparent resistivity of weathered layer (p₁), fractured layer (p₂), and the depth (h), while the dependent variable is the flow parameter (F=λ). The algorithm that was used in training the neural network is the back-propagation coded in C++ language with 300 epoch runs. The neural network was very intelligent to map out the flow channels and detect how they behave to form viable storage within the strata. The neural network model showed that an important variable g_r (gravitational resistance) can be deduced from the elevation and apparent resistivity p_a. The model results from SPSS showed that the coefficients, a, b and c are statistically significant with reduced standard error at 5%.

Keywords: gravitational resistance, neural network, non-linear, pattern recognition

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Authors: Bouthiba Amina

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The estimation of the statistics bound to the precipitation represents a vast domain, which puts numerous challenges to meteorologists and hydrologists. Sometimes, it is necessary, to approach in value the extreme events for sites where there is little, or no datum, as well as their periods of return. The search for a model of the frequency of the heights of daily rains dresses a big importance in operational hydrology: It establishes a basis for predicting the frequency and intensity of floods by estimating the amount of precipitation in past years. The most known and the most common approach is the statistical approach, It consists in looking for a law of probability that fits best the values observed by the random variable " daily maximal rain " after a comparison of various laws of probability and methods of estimation by means of tests of adequacy. Therefore, a frequent analysis of the annual series of daily maximal rains was realized on the data of 54 pluviometric stations of the pond of high and average. This choice was concerned with five laws usually applied to the study and the analysis of frequent maximal daily rains. The chosen period is from 1970 to 2013. It was of use to the forecast of quantiles. The used laws are the law generalized by extremes to three components, those of the extreme values to two components (Gumbel and log-normal) in two parameters, the law Pearson typifies III and Log-Pearson III in three parameters. In Algeria, Gumbel's law has been used for a long time to estimate the quantiles of maximum flows. However, and we will check and choose the most reliable law.

Keywords: return period, extreme flow, statistics laws, Gumbel, estimation

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Authors: Hala M. Abdel Mageed, Ahmed I. Omar, Shady H. E. Abdel Aleem

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This paper describes in details a commercial green building that has been designed and constructed in Marsa Matrouh, Egypt. The balance between homebuilding and the sustainable environment has been taken into consideration in the design and construction of this building. The building consists of one floor with 3 m height and 2810 m² area while the envelope area is 1400 m². The building construction fulfills the natural ventilation requirements. The glass curtain walls are about 50% of the building and the windows area is 300 m². 6 mm greenish gray tinted temper glass as outer board lite, 6 mm safety glass as inner board lite and 16 mm thick dehydrated air spaces are used in the building. Visible light with 50% transmission, 0.26 solar factor, 0.67 shading coefficient and 1.3 W/m².K thermal insulation U-value are implemented to realize the performance requirements. Optimum electrical distribution for lighting system, air conditions and other electrical loads has been carried out. Power and quantity of each type of the lighting system lamps and the energy consumption of the lighting system are investigated. The design of the air conditions system is based on summer and winter outdoor conditions. Ventilated, air conditioned spaces and fresh air rates are determined. Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) is the air conditioning system used in this building. The VRF outdoor units are located on the roof of the building and connected to indoor units through refrigerant piping. Indoor units are distributed in all building zones through ducts and air outlets to ensure efficient air distribution. The green building energy consumption is evaluated monthly all over one year and compared with the consumed energy in the non-green conditions using the Hourly Analysis Program (HAP) model. The comparison results show that the total energy consumed per year in the green building is about 1,103,221 kWh while the non-green energy consumption is about 1,692,057 kWh. In other words, the green building total annual energy cost is reduced from 136,581 $ to 89,051 $. This means that, the energy saving and consequently the money-saving of this green construction is about 35%. In addition, 13 points are awarded by applying one of the most popular worldwide green energy certification programs (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “LEED”) as a rating system for the green construction. It is concluded that this green building ensures sustainability, saves energy and offers an optimum energy performance with minimum cost.

Keywords: energy consumption, energy saving, green building, leadership in energy and environmental design, sustainability

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Authors: P. V. Pramila , V. Mahesh

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Pulmonary Function Tests are important non-invasive diagnostic tests to assess respiratory impairments and provides quantifiable measures of lung function. Spirometry is the most frequently used measure of lung function and plays an essential role in the diagnosis and management of pulmonary diseases. However, the test requires considerable patient effort and cooperation, markedly related to the age of patients esulting in incomplete data sets. This paper presents, a nonlinear model built using Multivariate adaptive regression splines and Random forest regression model to predict the missing spirometric features. Random forest based feature selection is used to enhance both the generalization capability and the model interpretability. In the present study, flow-volume data are recorded for N= 198 subjects. The ranked order of feature importance index calculated by the random forests model shows that the spirometric features FVC, FEF 25, PEF,FEF 25-75, FEF50, and the demographic parameter height are the important descriptors. A comparison of performance assessment of both models prove that, the prediction ability of MARS with the `top two ranked features namely the FVC and FEF 25 is higher, yielding a model fit of R2= 0.96 and R2= 0.99 for normal and abnormal subjects. The Root Mean Square Error analysis of the RF model and the MARS model also shows that the latter is capable of predicting the missing values of FEV1 with a notably lower error value of 0.0191 (normal subjects) and 0.0106 (abnormal subjects). It is concluded that combining feature selection with a prediction model provides a minimum subset of predominant features to train the model, yielding better prediction performance. This analysis can assist clinicians with a intelligence support system in the medical diagnosis and improvement of clinical care.

Keywords: FEV, multivariate adaptive regression splines pulmonary function test, random forest

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Authors: Nadeen Felemban, Hamsa Banjer, Rabaah Jaafari

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One of the most common hazards in the pharmaceutical industry is the chemical hazard, which can cause harm or develop occupational health diseases/illnesses due to chronic exposures to hazardous substances. Therefore, a chemical agent management system is required, including hazard identification, risk assessment, controls for specific hazards and inspections, to keep your workplace healthy and safe. However, routine management monitoring is also required to verify the effectiveness of the control measures. Moreover, Betamethasone Valerate and Clobetasol Propionate are some of the APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) with highly hazardous classification-Occupational Hazard Category (OHC 4), which requires a full containment (ECA-D) during handling to avoid chemical exposure. According to Safety Data Sheet, those chemicals are reproductive toxicants (reprotoxicant H360D), which may affect female workers’ health and cause fatal damage to an unborn child, or impair fertility. In this study, qualitative (chemical Risk assessment-qCRA) was conducted to assess the chemical exposure during handling of Betamethasone Valerate and Clobetasol Propionate in pharmaceutical laboratories. The outcomes of qCRA identified that there is a risk of potential chemical exposure (risk rating 8 Amber risk). Therefore, immediate actions were taken to ensure interim controls (according to the Hierarchy of controls) are in place and in use to minimize the risk of chemical exposure. No open handlings should be done out of the Steroid Glove Box Isolator (SGB) with the required Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). The PPEs include coverall, nitrile hand gloves, safety shoes and powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR). Furthermore, a quantitative assessment (personal air sampling) was conducted to verify the effectiveness of the engineering controls (SGB Isolator) and to confirm if there is chemical exposure, as indicated earlier by qCRA. Three personal air samples were collected using an air sampling pump and filter (IOM2 filters, 25mm glass fiber media). The collected samples were analyzed by HPLC in the BV lab, and the measured concentrations were reported in (ug/m3) with reference to Occupation Exposure Limits, 8hr OELs (8hr TWA) for each analytic. The analytical results are needed in 8hr TWA (8hr Time-weighted Average) to be analyzed using Bayesian statistics (IHDataAnalyst). The results of the Bayesian Likelihood Graph indicate (category 0), which means Exposures are de "minimus," trivial, or non-existent Employees have little to no exposure. Also, these results indicate that the 3 samplings are representative samplings with very low variations (SD=0.0014). In conclusion, the engineering controls were effective in protecting the operators from such exposure. However, routine chemical monitoring is required every 3 years unless there is a change in the processor type of chemicals. Also, frequent management monitoring (daily, weekly, and monthly) is required to ensure the control measures are in place and in use. Furthermore, a Similar Exposure Group (SEG) was identified in this activity and included in the annual health surveillance for health monitoring.

Keywords: occupational health and safety, risk assessment, chemical exposure, hierarchy of control, reproductive

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Authors: Fadi Al-Badour, Nesar Merah, Abdelrahman Shuaib, Abdelaziz Bazoune

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In the current work, a Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) model is developed to simulate the friction stir welding (FSW) process of dissimilar Aluminum alloys (Al 6061-T6 with Al 5083-O). The model predicts volumetric defects, material flow, developed temperatures, and stresses in addition to tool reaction loads. Simulation of welding phase is performed by employing a control volume approach, whereas the welding speed is defined as inflow and outflow over Eulerian domain boundaries. Only material softening due to inelastic heat generation is considered and material behavior is assumed to obey Johnson-Cook’s Model. The model was validated using published experimentally measured temperatures, at similar welding conditions, and by qualitative comparison of dissimilar weld microstructure. The FE results showed that most of developed temperatures were below melting and that the bulk of the deformed material in solid state. The temperature gradient on AL6061-T6 side was found to be less than that of Al 5083-O. Changing the position Al 6061-T6 from retreating (Ret.) side to advancing (Adv.) side led to a decrease in maximum process temperature and strain rate. This could be due to the higher resistance of Al 6061-T6 to flow as compared to Al 5083-O.

Keywords: friction stir welding, dissimilar metals, finite element modeling, coupled Eulerian Lagrangian Analysis

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Authors: S. Girish, N. Ajay

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Permeation properties have been widely used to quantify durability characteristics of concrete for assessing long term performance and sustainability. The processes of deterioration in concrete are mediated largely by water. There is a strong interest in finding a better way of assessing the material properties of concrete in terms of durability. Water sorptivity is a useful single material property which can be one of the measures of durability useful in service life planning and prediction, especially in severe environmental conditions. This paper presents the results of the comparative study of sorptivity of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) with conventionally vibrated concrete. SCC is a new, special type of concrete mixture, characterized by high resistance to segregation that can flow through intricate geometrical configuration in the presence of reinforcement, under its own mass, without vibration and compaction. SCC mixes were developed for the paste contents of 0.38, 0.41 and 0.43 with fly ash as the filler for different cement contents ranging from 300 to 450 kg/m3. The study shows better performance by SCC in terms of capillary absorption. The sorptivity value decreased as the volume of paste increased. The use of higher paste content in SCC can make the concrete robust with better densification of the micro-structure, improving the durability and making the concrete more sustainable with improved long term performance. The sorptivity based on secondary absorption can be effectively used as a durability index to predict the time duration required for the ingress of water to penetrate the concrete, which has practical significance.

Keywords: self-compacting concrete, service life prediction, sorptivity, volume of paste

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Authors: Aime P. Lampad-Dela Pena, Rhodora V. Azanza, Cesar L. Villanoy, Ephrime B. Metillo, Aletta T. Yniguez

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Phytoplankton community changes in relation to environmental parameters were compared between and within, the three interconnected basins. Phytoplankton samples were collected from thirteen stations of Baler Bay and Casiguran Sound, Aurora last May 2013 by filtering 10 L buckets of surface water and 5 L Niskin samples at 20 meters and at 30 to 40 meters depths through a 20um sieve. Duplicate samples per station were preserved, counted, and identified up to genus level, in order to determine the horizontal and vertical spatial variation of different phytoplankton functional groups during the summer ebb and flood flow. Baler Bay, Outer and Inner Casiguran Sound had a total of 89 genera from four phytoplankton groups: Diatom (62), Dinoflagellate (25), Silicoflagellate (1) and Cyanobacteria (1). Non-toxic diatom Chaetoceros spp. bloom (averaged 2.0 x 105 to 2.73 x 106 cells L⁻¹) co-existed with Bacteriastrum spp. at surface waters in Inner and Outer Casiguran. Pseudonitzschia spp. (1.73 x 106 cells L⁻¹) bloomed at bottom waters of the innermost embayment near Casiguran mangrove estuary. Cyanobacteria Trichodesmium spp. significantly increased during ebb tide at the mid-water layers (20 meters depth) in the three basins (ranged from 6, 900 to 15, 125 filaments L⁻¹), forming another bloom. Gonyaulax spp. - dominated dinoflagellate did not significantly change with depth across the three basins. Overall, diatoms and dinoflagellates community assemblages significantly changed between sites (p < 0.001) while diatoms and cyanobacteria varied within Casiguran outer and inner sites (p < 0.001) only. Tidal fluctuations significantly affected dinoflagellates and diatom groups (p < 0.001) in inner and baler sites. Chlorophyll significantly varied between (KW, p < 0.001) and within each basins (KW, p < 0.05), no tidal influence, with the highest value at inner Casiguran and at deeper waters indicating deep chlorophyll maxima. Aurora’s distinct shelf morphology favoring counterclockwise circulation pattern, advective transport, and continuous stratification of the water column could basically affect the phytoplankton assemblages and water quality of Baler Bay and Casiguran inner and outer basins. Observed spatial phytoplankton community changes with multi-species diatom and cyanobacteria bloom at different water layers of the three inter-connected embayments would be vital for any environmental management initiatives in Aurora.

Keywords: aurora fronting Philippines Rise, intermonsoon, multi-species diatom bloom, spatial variability

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Authors: Tony Ngoy Mbodi, Christophe Muanda

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Textile industry is considered as one of the most polluting sectors in terms of effluent volume of discharge and wastewater composition, such as dye, which represents an environmental hazard when discharged without any proper treatment. A study was conducted to investigate the capability of the use of recycled alum sludge (RAS) as an alternative treatment for the reduction of colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS) and pH adjustment from dye based synthetic textile industry wastewater. The coagulation/flocculation process was studied for coagulants of Alum:RAS ratio of, 1:1, 2:1, 1:2 and 0:1. Experiments on treating the synthetic wastewater using membrane filtration and adsorption with corn cobs were also conducted. Results from the coagulation experiment were compared to those from adsorption with corn cobs and membrane filtration experiments conducted on the same synthetic wastewater. The results of the RAS experiments were also evaluated against standard guidelines for industrial effluents treated for discharge purposes in order to establish its level of compliance. Based on current results, it can be concluded that reusing the alum sludge as a low-cost material pretreatment method into the coagulation/flocculation process can offer some advantages such as high removal efficiency for disperse dye and economic savings on overall treatment of the industry wastewater.

Keywords: alum, coagulation/flocculation, dye, recycled alum sludge, textile wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: D. Tassalit, N. Chekir, O. Benhabiles, N. A. Laoufi, F. Bentahar

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In the setting of the waters purification, some molecules appear recalcitrant to the traditional treatments. The exploitation of the properties of some catalysts permits to amplify the oxidization performances with ultraviolet radiance and to remove this pollution by a non biological way. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of a photocatalysis oxidation system for organic pollutants treatment using a new reactor design and ZnO/TiO2 as a catalyst under UV light. Oxidative degradation of tylosin by hydroxyl radicals (OH°) was studied in aqueous medium using suspended forms of ZnO and TiO2. The results improve that the treatment was affected by many factors such as flow-rate of solution, initial pollutant concentration and catalyst concentration. The rate equation for the tylosin degradation followed first order kinetics and the rate-constants were determined. The reaction rate fitted well with Langmuir–Hinshelwood model and the removed ratio of tylosin was 97 % in less than 60 minutes. To determine the optimum catalyst loading, a series of experiments were carried out by varying the amount of catalyst from 0.05 to 0.5 g/L. The results demonstrate that the rate of photodegradation is optimum with catalyst loading of 0.1 g/L, reaction flow rate of 3.79 mL/s and solution natural pH. The rate was found to increase with the decrease in tylosin concentration from 30 to 5 mg/L. Therefore, this simple photoreactor design for the removal of organic pollutants has the potential to be used in wastewater treatment.

Keywords: advanced oxidation, photocatalysis, TiO2, ZnO, UV light, pharmaceuticals pollutants, Spiramycin, tylosin, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Abdurraouf O. Gaja, Salah Y. A. Al-Dahash, Guru Solmon Raju, Chikara Kubota

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Corpus luteum cross sectional (by ultrasonography) and plasma progesterone (by DELFIA) were estimated in early pregnant and non pregnant cows on days 14th and 20th to 23rd post insemination. On day 14th, corpus luteum sectional area was 348.43 mm2 in pregnant and 387.84mm2 in non pregnant cows. Within days 20th to 23rd, corpus luteum sectional area ranged between 342.06 and 367.90 mm2 in pregnant and between 193.85 and 270.69 mm2 in non pregnant cows. Plasma progesterone level was 2.43 ng/ml in pregnant and 2.46 ng/ml in non pregnant cows on day 14th, while during days 20th to 23rd the level ranged between 2.47 and 2,84 ng/ml in pregnant and between 0.53 and 1.17 ng/ml in non pregnant cows. Results of both luteal tissue areas as well as plasma progesterone levels were highly significantly deferent (P<0.01) between pregnant and non pregnant cows during days 20th to 23rd, but there were no significant differences on day 14th. The correlation between CL cross-sectional area and plasma progesterone level was 0.4 in pregnant cows and 0.99 in non pregnant cow. It is clear, from this study, that ultrasonic assessment of corpora lutea is a viable alternative to determine plasma progesterone levels for early pregnancy diagnosis in cows.

Keywords: progesterone, ultrasonography, corpus luteum, pregnancy diagnosis, cow

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Authors: Allaeddine Athmani, Abdelhacine Gouasmia, Tiago Ferreira, Romeu Vicente

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The seismic risk mitigation from the perspective of the old buildings stock is truly essential in Algerian urban areas, particularly those located in seismic prone regions, such as Annaba city, and which the old buildings present high levels of degradation associated with no seismic strengthening and/or rehabilitation concerns. In this sense, the present paper approaches the issue of the seismic vulnerability assessment of old masonry building stocks through the adaptation of a simplified methodology developed for a European context area similar to that of Annaba city, Algeria. Therefore, this method is used for the first level of seismic vulnerability assessment of the masonry buildings stock of the old city center of Annaba. This methodology is based on a vulnerability index that is suitable for the evaluation of damage and for the creation of large-scale loss scenarios. Over 380 buildings were evaluated in accordance with the referred methodology and the results obtained were then integrated into a Geographical Information System (GIS) tool. Such results can be used by the Annaba city council for supporting management decisions, based on a global view of the site under analysis, which led to more accurate and faster decisions for the risk mitigation strategies and rehabilitation plans.

Keywords: Damage scenarios, masonry buildings, old city center, seismic vulnerability, vulnerability index

Procedia PDF Downloads 451

Authors: Hassan M. Albishri, Fatimah Al-Shehri, Deia Abd El-Hady

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Among the analytical techniques, reverse phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is currently used in pharmaceutical industry. Ecofriendly analytical chemistry offers the advantages of decreasing the environmental impact with the advantage of increasing operator safety which constituted a topic of industrial interest. Recently, ionic liquids have been successfully used to reduce or eliminate the conventional organic toxic solvents. In the current work, a simple and ecofriendly ionic liquid modified RPLC (IL-RPLC) method has been firstly developed and compared with RPLC under acidic and neutral mobile phase conditions for simultaneous determination of atorvastatin-calcium, rosuvastatin and simvastatin. Several chromatographic effective parameters have been changed in a systematic way. Adequate results have been achieved by mixing ILs with ethanol as a mobile phase under neutral conditions at 1 mL/min flow rate on C18 column. The developed IL-RPLC method has been validated for the quantitative determination of drugs in pharmaceutical formulations. The method showed excellent linearity for analytes in a wide range of concentrations with acceptable precise and accurate data. The current IL-RPLC technique could have vast applications particularly under neutral conditions for simple and greener (bio)analytical applications of pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: ionic liquid, RPLC, anti-hyperlipidemic drugs, ecofriendly

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Gladys Gakenia Njoroge

Abstract:

Mathematics is a compulsory subject in both primary and secondary schools in Kenya. However, learners’ poor performance in the subject in Kenya national examinations year in year out remains a serious concern for teachers of Mathematics, parents, curriculum developers, and the general public. This is particularly worrying because of the importance attached to the subject in national development hence the need to find out what could be affecting learning of Mathematics in Kenyan schools. The research on which this paper is based sought to examine the factors that influence performance in Mathematics in Kenyan schools; identify the characteristics of Mathematics learning disabilities; determine how the learners with such learning disabilities can be assessed and identified and interventions for these difficulties implemented. A case study was undertaken on class six learners in a primary school in Nairobi County. The tools used for the research were: classroom observations and an Individualized Education Program (IEP) developed by the teachers with the help of the researcher. This paper therefore highlights the findings from the research, discusses the implications of the findings and suggests the way forward as far as teaching, learning and assessment of Mathematics in Kenyan schools is concerned. Perhaps with the application of the right interventions, poor performance in Mathematics in the national examinations in Kenya will be a thing of the past.

Keywords: demystifying mathematics, individualized education program, learning difficulties, assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Kalyan Kumar Moulick

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In this paper the author studied the possibilities of using Rice Husk Ash (RHA) available in India; to produce concrete. The effect of RHA on concrete discussed. Traditional uses of Rice Husk in India pointed out and the advantages of using RHA in making concrete highlighted. Suggestion provided regarding prospective application of RHA concrete in India which in turn will definitely reduce the cost of concrete and environmental friendly due to utilization of waste and replacement of Cement.

Keywords: cement replacement, concrete, environmental friendly, rice husk ash

Procedia PDF Downloads 516

Authors: Lina Najafian, Hamidreza Vakilifard

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The present study focused on the relationship between the quality of accruals and non-systematic risk. The independent study variables included the ability of accruals, the information content of accruals, and amount of discretionary accruals considered as accruals quality measures. The dependent variable was non-systematic risk based on the Fama and French Three Factor model (FFTFM) and the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The control variables were firm size, financial leverage, stock return, cash flow fluctuations, and book-to-market ratio. The data collection method was based on library research and document mining including financial statements. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The study results showed that there is a significant direct relationship between financial leverage and discretionary accruals and non-systematic risk based on FFTFM and CAPM. There is also a significant direct relationship between the ability of accruals, information content of accruals, firm size, and stock return and non-systematic based on both models. It was also found that there is no relationship between book-to-market ratio and cash flow fluctuations and non-systematic risk.

Keywords: accruals quality, non-systematic risk, CAPM, FFTFM

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Amanda C. Evans

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Enabling technologies such as continuous processing (CP) approaches can provide the tools needed to control and manipulate reactivities and transform chemical reactions into micro-controlled in-flow processes. Traditional synthetic approaches can be radically transformed by the application of CP, facilitating the pairing of chemical methodologies with technologies from other disciplines. CP supports sustainable processes that controllably generate reaction specificity utilizing supramolecular interactions. Continuous photochemical processing is an emerging field of investigation. The use of light to drive chemical reactivity is not novel, but the controlled use of specific and tunable wavelengths of light to selectively generate molecular structure under continuous processing conditions is an innovative approach towards chemical synthesis. This investigation focuses on the use of circularly polarized (cp) light as a sustainable catalyst for the CP generation of asymmetric molecules. Chiral photolysis has already been achieved under batch, solid-phase conditions: using synchrotron-sourced cp light, asymmetric photolytic selectivities of up to 4.2% enantiomeric excess (e.e.) have been reported. In order to determine the optimal wavelengths to use for irradiation with cp light for any given molecular building block, CD and anisotropy spectra for each building block of interest have been generated in two different solvents (water, hexafluoroisopropanol) across a range of wavelengths (130-400 nm). These spectra are being used to support a series of CP experiments using cp light to generate enantioselectivity.

Keywords: anisotropy, asymmetry, flow chemistry, active pharmaceutical ingredients

Procedia PDF Downloads 157