Search results for: pharmaceutical industry

Authors: K. Iskandar, N. H. Radzi, R. Aziz, M. S. Kamaruddin, M. N. Abdullah, S. A. Jumaat

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Nowadays many developing countries have been undergoing a restructuring process in the power electricity industry. This process has involved disaggregating former state-owned monopoly utilities both vertically and horizontally and introduced competition. The restructuring process has been implemented by the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) started from 13 December 1998, began operating as a wholesale market for supply of electricity to retailers and end-users in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. In this deregulated market, one of the important issues is the transmission pricing. Transmission pricing is a service that recovers existing and new cost of the transmission system. The regulation of the transmission pricing is important in determining whether the transmission service system is economically beneficial to both side of the users and utilities. Therefore, an efficient transmission pricing methodology plays an important role in the Australian NEM. In this paper, the transmission pricing methodologies that have been implemented by the Australian NEM which are the Cost Reflective Network Pricing (CRNP) and Modified Cost Reflective Network Pricing (MCRNP) methods are investigated for allocating the transmission service charges to the transmission users. A case study using 6-bus system is used in order to identify the best method that reflects a fair and equitable transmission service charge.

Keywords: cost-reflective network pricing method, modified cost-reflective network pricing method, restructuring process, transmission pricing

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Authors: Meziane Rachid, Boufala Seddik, Hamzi Amar, Amara Mohamed

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Today’s energy industry seeks maximum benefit with maximum reliability. In order to achieve this goal, design engineers depend on reliability optimization techniques. This work uses a harmony search algorithm (HS) meta-heuristic optimization method to solve the problem of wind-Solar-Gas power systems design optimization. We consider the case where redundant electrical components are chosen to achieve a desirable level of reliability. The electrical power components of the system are characterized by their cost, capacity and reliability. The reliability is considered in this work as the ability to satisfy the consumer demand which is represented as a piecewise cumulative load curve. This definition of the reliability index is widely used for power systems. The proposed meta-heuristic seeks for the optimal design of series-parallel power systems in which a multiple choice of wind generators, transformers and lines are allowed from a list of product available in the market. Our approach has the advantage to allow electrical power components with different parameters to be allocated in electrical power systems. To allow fast reliability estimation, a universal moment generating function (UMGF) method is applied. A computer program has been developed to implement the UMGF and the HS algorithm. An illustrative example is presented.

Keywords: reliability optimization, harmony search optimization (HSA), universal generating function (UMGF)

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Authors: Feiruz Ab'lah, Zarini Ismail, Mohamad Zaki Hassan, Siti Nadia Mohd Bakhori, Mohamad Azlan Suhot, Mohd Yusof Md. Daud, Shamsul Sarip

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The construction industry is one of the major sectors in Malaysia. Apart from providing facilities, services, and goods it also offers employment opportunities to local and foreign workers. In fact, the construction workers are exposed to a hazardous level of noises that generated from various sources including excavators, bulldozers, concrete mixer, and piling machines. Previous studies indicated that the piling and concrete work was recorded as the main source that contributed to the highest level of noise among the others. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain the noise exposure during piling process and to determine the awareness of workers against noise pollution at the construction site. Initially, the reading of noise was obtained at construction site by using a digital sound level meter (SLM), and noise exposure to the workers was mapped. Readings were taken from four different distances; 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters from the piling machine. Furthermore, a set of questionnaire was also distributed to assess the knowledge regarding noise pollution at the construction site. The result showed that the mean noise level at 5m distance was more than 90 dB which exceeded the recommended level. Although the level of awareness regarding the effect of noise pollution is satisfactory, majority of workers (90%) still did not wear ear protecting device during work period. Therefore, the safety module guidelines related to noise pollution controls should be implemented to provide a safe working environment and prevent initial occupational hearing loss.

Keywords: construction, noise awareness, noise pollution, piling machine

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Authors: M. Baldini, H. K. Jacobsen, M. Jaccard

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In light of the international efforts to comply with the Paris agreement and emission targets for future energy systems, Denmark and Canada are among the front-runner countries dealing with climate change. The experiences in the energy sector have seen both countries coping with trade-offs between investments in renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency, thus tackling the climate issue from the supply and demand side respectively. On the demand side, the industrial sector is going through a remarkable transformation, with implementation of energy efficiency measures, change of input fuel for end-use processes and forecasted electrification as main features under the spotlight. By looking at Canada and Denmark's experiences as pathfinders on the demand and supply approach to climate change, it is possible to obtain valuable experience that may be applied to other countries aiming at the same goal. This paper presents a comparative study on industrial energy efficiency between Canada and Denmark. The study focuses on technologies and system options, policy design and implementation and modelling methodologies when implementing industrial energy savings in optimization models in comparison to simulation models. The study identifies gaps and junctures in the approach towards climate change actions and, learning from each other, lessen the differences to further foster the adoption of energy efficiency measurements in the industrial sector, aiming at reducing energy consumption and, consequently, CO₂ emissions.

Keywords: industrial energy efficiency, comparative study, CO₂ reduction, energy system modelling

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Authors: Salami Ayobami Taofeek, Ajayi Adeola

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Rural tourism entrepreurship is a tourist industry which revolutionizes businesses and prompting economic development across the globe. It encompasses huge range activities, natural or man-made attractions, amenities and facilities, transportation, marketing and information systems. It is also an important export for 83% of the developing countries and the main export for one third of them. In 2000, developing countries recorded 142.6 million international arrivals an increase of 95% compared to the figures of 1990. However, only developing countries with effective natural and man-made tourism supporting and enhancing infrastructure have been able to develop their tourism sector and seize the attendance advantages. Rural areas of Nigeria possess some distinctive peculiarities which can be transformed into attractive tourist centers. In spite of all these, rural tourism areas are still faced with myriad problems which include poor finance inadequate awareness and education, lack of progress in developing the rural of progress in developing the rural tourism potentials inadequate legislation, insecurity, entrepreneurial inertness, over-dependent on oil among others. This paper focuses on the impact and challenges of rural tourism entrepreneurship as strategy for economic development in Nigeria. It reviews literature rural tourism, tourism entrepreneurship potentials and classifications of Nigerians tourism potential’s destinations. The paper concludes that Nigeria Government should encourage rural based tourism entrepreneurship development by addressing the challenges facing rural tourism entrepreneurship in the country.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, economic development, rural tourism, tourism destinations tourism potentials

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Authors: L. Edirisinghe, Zhihong Jin, A. W. Wijeratne, R. Mudunkotuwa

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The virtual container yard is an effective solution to the container inventory imbalance problem which is a global issue. It causes substantial cost to carriers, which inadvertently adds to the prices of consumer goods. The virtual container yard is rooted in the fundamentals of container interchange between carriers. If carriers opt to interchange their excess containers with those who are deficit, a substantial part of the empty reposition cost could be eliminated. Unlike in other types of ships, cargo cannot be directly loaded to a container ship. Slots and containers are supplementary components; thus, without containers, a carrier cannot ship cargo if the containers are not available and vice versa. Few decades ago, carriers recognized slot (the unit of space in a container ship) interchange as a viable solution for the imbalance of shipping space. Carriers interchange slots among them and it also increases the advantage of scale of economies in container shipping. Some of these service agreements between mega carriers have provisions to interchange containers too. However, the interchange mechanism is still not popular among carriers for containers. This is the paradox that prevails in the liner shipping industry. At present, carriers reposition their excess empty containers to areas where they are in demand. This research applied factor analysis statistical method. The paper reveals that five major components may influence the virtual container yard namely organisation, practice and culture, legal and environment, international nature, and marketing. There are 12 variables that may impact the virtual container yard, and these are explained in the paper.

Keywords: virtual container yard, shipping, imbalance, management, inventory

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Authors: Ezeabasili Chibuike Patrick

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The complex situation of construction industries in Nigeria and the risk of failures involved includes cost overrun, time overrun, Corruption, Government influence, Subcontractor challenges, Political influence and Instability, Cultural differences, Human resources deficiencies, cash flow Challenges, foreign exchange issues, inadequate design, Safety, low productivity, late payment, Quality control issues, project management issues, Environmental issues, Force majeure Competition amongst others has made the industry prone to risk and failures. Good project management remains effective in improving decision-making, which minimizes these risk events. This study was done to address these project risks and good decision-making to avert them. A mixed-method approach to research was used to do this study. Data collected by questionnaires and interviews on thirty-two (32) construction professionals was used in analyses to aid the knowledge and management of risks that were identified. The study revealed that there is no good risk management expertise in Nigeria. Also, that the economic/political situation and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has added to the risk and poor management strategies. The contingency theory and cost has therefore surfaced to be the most strategic management method used to reduce these risk issues and they seem to be very effective.

Keywords: strategies, risk management, contingency theory, Nigeria

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Authors: Nguyen Ngoc Que Tran

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between internal market orientation, external market orientation, employee commitment and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: This study collected data through a survey and utilized simple linear regression and multiple regression analysis to determine if there was any support for the research hypotheses as presented in the previous chapter. Findings: Using data from 256 employees of four leading joint stock banks in Vietnam, the empirical results indicates that employee commitment is positively related with external market orientation, job satisfaction is positively related to employee commitment, and employee commitment and job satisfaction are positively related to external market orientation. However, job satisfaction has no significant positive effect on external market orientation. Theoretical contribution: The primary contribution to marketing theory arising from this study is the integration of job satisfaction, employee commitment, and external market orientation in a single research model. Practical implications: The major contribution to practice is an external market oriented bank has to respond rapidly to the future needs and preferences of its customers. This could result in high levels of commitment to the service process and in doing so provide Vietnamese joint-stock commercial banks with a competitive advantage. The finding is important for the banking service sector in general and the Vietnamese banking industry in particular.

Keywords: employee commitment, job satisfaction and external market orientation, vietnam, bank

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Authors: K. Silakaew, P. Thongbai

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There is an increasing need for high–permittivity polymer–matrix composites (PMC) owing to the rapid development of the electronics industry. Unfortunately, the dielectric permittivity of PMC is still too low ( < 80). Moreover, the dielectric loss tangent is usually high (tan > 0.1) when the dielectric permittivity of PMC increased. In this research work, the dielectric properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)–based nanocomposites can be significantly improved by incorporating by silver–BaTiO3 (Ag–BT) ceramic hybrid nanoparticles. The Ag–BT/PVDF nanocomposites were fabricated using various volume fractions of Ag–BT hybrid nanoparticles (fAg–BT = 0–0.5). The Ag–BT/PVDF nanocomposites were characterized using several techniques. The main phase of Ag and BT can be detected by the XRD technique. The microstructure of the Ag–BT/PVDF nanocomposites was investigated to reveal the dispersion of Ag–BT hybrid nanoparticles because the dispersion state of a filler can have an effect on the dielectric properties of the nanocomposites. It was found that the filler hybrid nanoparticles were well dispersed in the PVDF matrix. The phase formation of PVDF phases was identified using the XRD and FTIR techniques. We found that the fillers can increase the polar phase of a PVDF polymer. The fabricated Ag–BT/PVDF nanocomposites are systematically characterized to explain the dielectric behavior in Ag–BT/PVDF nanocomposites. Interestingly, largely enhanced dielectric permittivity (>240) and suppressed loss tangent (tan<0.08) over a wide frequency range (102 – 105 Hz) are obtained. Notably, the dielectric permittivity is slightly dependent on temperature. The greatly enhanced dielectric permittivity was explained by the interfacial polarization between the Ag and PVDF interface, and due to a high permittivity of BT particles.

Keywords: BaTiO3, PVDF, polymer composite, dielectric properties

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Authors: Frederick Monyepao

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Crack cocaine first appeared on the scene in the form of cocaine freebasing in the late 1970s. Stockbrokers, investment bankers, rock stars, Hollywood elites, and a few pro athletes were regular users of the substance. As criminogenic factors associated with substance abuse began to surface, congress passed new legislation. The laws led to the increase of health coverage insurances and the expansion of hospitals. By the mid-1980s, crack use spread into America's inner cities among impoverished African Americans and Latinos. While substance abuse increased among minority communities, legislation pertaining to substance abuse evolved. The prison industry also expanded the number of cells available. A qualitative approach was taken, drawing from a range secondary sources for contextual analysis. This paper traces out the continued marginalisation and racist undertones towards minorities as perpetuated by certain drug policies. It was discovered that the new legislation on crack was instrumental in the largest incarcerations the United States ever faced. Drug offenders increased in prisons eightfold from 1986 to 2000. The paper concludes that American drug control policies are consistently irrational and ineffective when measured by levels of substance use and abuse. On the contrary, these policies have been successful as agents of social control in maintaining the stratification patterns of racial/ethnic minorities and women. To move beyond prohibition, radical law and policy reform may require a change in narratives on substance use.

Keywords: crack, drug policy, minorities, racism, substance abuse

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Authors: Şevket Evci, Mehmet Akif Karsli

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The aim of this study is to determine nutrient contents, in situ ruminal degradation kinetics and protein fractions of screenings bean (B), chick pea (ChP), red lentil (RL) and green lentil (GL) that is used as residue in grain legume packing industry. For this purpose, four samples of each legumes species-a total of 16 samples, collected from different parts of our country were utilized. Feedstuffs used in the experiment were incubated for 0, 2 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 hours in the rumen of 3 ruminally cannulated Akkaraman rams as duplicate. The nutrient contents, in situ ruminal dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) degradabilities and fractions, and escape protein contents were evaluated. The highest OM and CP contents were observed in RL (P<0.05). Chick pea had the highest ether extract (EE) content and EE values were 3.47, 6.72, 2.26, 8.66 % for RL, B, GL and ChP, respectively (P<0.05). Crude fiber (CF), ADF, and NDF contents were the highest in RL and the lowest in ChP. CF values were 24.03, 10.80, 4.09 and 3.57 % for RL, GL, B and ChP (P<0.05). Acid detergent insoluble nitrogen content of samples did not differ. Escape protein content was the highest in RL and the lowest in B (P<0.05). After 48 h incubation, the lowest OM and CP degradabilities were observed in RL. While the highest OM degradability was seen in ChP the highest CP degradability was observed in B (P<0.05). The lowest water soluble OM and CP contents were observed in RL whereas the highest potentially degradable OM and CP contents were seen in B and ChP (P<0.05). Both rate of OM and CP degradations (k-1) did not differ among samples (P>0.05). In conclusion, it was noted that feedstuffs (GL, ChP and B) used in the experiment except RL had a greater ruminal degradibilities of both OM and CP and moreover, had a higher escape protein contents, except B. It was thought that these feedstuffs can be substituted with some of common protein sources used in animal nutrition.

Keywords: in situ, nutrient contents, ruminant, subsieve

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Authors: Rishabh Pandey, Umang Kumar Yadav

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In today’s era of technological advancement, we come across incalculable innovations, almost every day. No doubt that the society has developed a lot in learning and technology, but we should also take into account the problems and inflictions that are occurring. Focusing on the petroleum sector a trending global concern is toward lowering fuel consumption and emissions. It is well known that gasoline is non-renewable source of energy and its burning produces harmful emissions which are adversely affecting the environment, such issues are motivating us to seek alternative solutions that would not require much modification in engine design and help us come out with an outcome. Keeping in mind the importance of environment and human race, we present a factious idea of use of oxyhydrogen gas or HHO gas in place of gasoline in the vehicles and petroleum industry. This technology is prospering, highly efficient, could be used economically and safe, and it will be responsible for changing the future of oil and gas sector in accordance with protection to the environment. In the coming future, we will check the compatibility of HHO generator with fuel engine for production of oxyhydrogen gas with use of water and effect of introducing HHO gas to the combustion on both thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption. We will also work on the comparison of HHO gas and commercially available gasoline fuel in support of their chemical structures; ignition rate; octane rating; knocking properties; storage; transportation and cost effectiveness and it is trusted that use of HHO gas will be ecofriendly as no harmful emissions are produced, rather the only emission is water. Additionally, this paper will include the use of HHO cell in fuel engines and challenges faced in installing it in the current period and provide effective solutions for the same.

Keywords: fuel, gas, generator, water

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Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim Girei

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Adamawa state is one the major producers of both crop and animals in Nigeria. Agricultural production serves as the major means livelihood of the people in the state. However, the agricultural activities of the farmers in the state are at subsistence level. However integration of these small scale farmers in local, national and international market is paramount importance. The paper was designed to categorize farmers based on market participation among the cattle farmers in Adamawa state, Nigeria. The multistage sampling procedure was employed. To achieve this procedure, structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 respondents. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics. The result revealed that the majority of market participants were net sellers (78.51 %) (Sales greater than purchase), net buyers were (purchase greater than sales) 12.95 % and only 9% were autarkic (sales equal purchase). The study recommends that Government should provide more effective security services in cattle farming communities, which is very important as the market participants in the study area were net sellers (producers), it will help in addressing the problem of cattle rustling and promote more investment in cattle industry. There is a need to establish a standard cattle market, veterinary services and grazing reserves in the area so that to facilitate the cattle production and marketing system in the area and to meet up with the challenging of livestock development as a result of rapid human population growth in developing countries like Nigeria.

Keywords: categories, cattle, farmers, market, participation

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Authors: Ashfaq Khan, Aftab Khan, Mushtaq Khan, Sarem Sattar, Mohammad A Sheikh, Lin Li

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Chip removal processes are one of key processes of the manufacturing industry where chip removal is conducted by tool inserts of exceptionally hard materials. Tungsten carbide has been extensively used as tool insert for machining processes involving chip removal processes. These hard materials are generally fabricated by single step sintering process as further modification after fabrication in these materials cannot be done easily. Advances in tool surface modification have revealed that advantages such as improved tribological properties and extended tool life can be harnessed from the same tool by texturing the tool rake surface. Moreover, it has been observed that the shape and location of the texture also influences the behavior. Although texturing offers plentiful advantages the challenge lies in the generation of textures on the tool surface. Extremely hard material such as diamond is required to process tungsten carbide. Laser is unique processing tool that does not have a physical contact with the material and thus does not wear. In this research the potential of utilizing laser for texturing of tungsten carbide to develop custom features would be studied. A parametric study of texturing of Tungsten Carbide with a femtosecond laser would be conducted to investigate the process parameters and establish the feasible processing window. The effect of fluence, scan speed and number of repetition would be viewed in detail. Moreover, the mechanism for the generation of features would also be reviewed.

Keywords: laser, texturing, femtosecond, tungsten carbide

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Authors: Martin Cai, Khadijah B. Hashim, Leng Leo, Edmund F. Tian

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Analysis of traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM) supplements has always been a laborious task, particularly in the case of multi‐ingredient formulations. Traditionally, herbal extracts are analysed using one or few markers compounds. In the recent years, however, pharmaceutical companies are introducing health supplements of TCM active ingredients to cater to the needs of consumers in the fast-paced society in this age. As such, new problems arise in the aspects of composition identification as well as quality analysis. In most cases of products or supplements formulated with multiple TCM herbs, the chemical composition, and nature of each raw material differs greatly from the others in the formulation. This results in a requirement for individual analytical processes in order to identify the marker compounds in the various botanicals. Thin-layer Chromatography (TLC) is a simple, cost effective, yet well-regarded method for the analysis of natural products, both as a Pharmacopeia-approved method for identification and authentication of herbs, and a great analytical tool for the discovery of chemical compositions in herbal extracts. Recent technical advances introduced High-Performance TLC (HPTLC) where, with the help of automated equipment and improvements on the chromatographic materials, both the quality and reproducibility are greatly improved, allowing for highly standardised analysis with greater details. Here we report an industrial consultancy project with ONI Global Pte Ltd for the analysis of LAC Liver Protector, a TCM formulation aimed at improving liver health. The aim of this study was to identify 4 key components of the supplement using HPTLC, following protocols derived from Chinese Pharmacopeia standards. By comparing the TLC profiles of the supplement to the extracts of the herbs reported in the label, this project proposes a simple and cost-effective analysis of the presence of the 4 marker compounds in the multi‐ingredient formulation by using 4 different HPTLC methods. With the increasing trend of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) bringing natural products and health supplements into the market, it is crucial that the qualities of both raw materials and end products be well-assured for the protection of consumers. With the technology of HPTLC, science can be incorporated to help SMEs with their quality control, thereby ensuring product quality.

Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine supplement, high performance thin layer chromatography, active ingredients, product quality

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Authors: Indarti, Li-Hsun Peng

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Batik is one of the most prominent expressions of cultural identity in Indonesia. On October 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as “a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity”. The center of batik Indonesia is in middle of Java where there is center of Javanese royalty in the 17th century (known as classic batik). The development of batik spread to wide range of area in Indonesia, including in Sidoarjo city, East Java - Indonesia. Sidoarjo batik actually has long been around long time and is known as batik using bright colors, very different from classic batik. The aims of this study is to determine the kinds of ornament of Sidoarjo batik currently as one of the locally-based creative industry and to figure out how the attempt to sustainability of Sidoarjo batik from owner and government. The research is conducted in Jetis Village in Sidoarjo city known as village of batik. There is some batik business and batik maker in there. The research method used in-depth interview to search information about ornament of Sidoarjo batik and to analyze the attempt of business owner and government to sustainability of Sidoarjo Batik. In-depth interviews to batik business owners are used to determine the kinds of ornament of Sidoarjo Batik currently and how their attempt to maintain the existence of Sidoarjo Batik. In-depth interviews are also conducted to government to figure out how the support the sustainability of Sidoarjo batik. The result or research will introduce local products of Sidoarjo community to global market and increase knowledge about traditional textile design in one part of the world.

Keywords: Sidoarjo Batik, Traditional Textile, Ornament, Creative Design.

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Authors: Vrajesh Chokshi

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In last three decades, the global economy is substantially changed. Today, we are living in highly inter-connected world. The global markets are more open and consumers are well informed about products and services. The information technology revolution has broken all barriers in global business. The E-commerce has given opportunities of global trades to corporate. The IT is extensively used in almost all industries. After liberalization in 1992, the Indian economy is also significantly changed. The IT (information technology) and ITES (IT enable services) are extensively used in supply chain management. In India, previously car rental service business was dominated by local organization and operated through local contact. This industry is very lucrative and to catch this opportunity, many new corporate have ventured into e-commerce car rental service business in India. As the market is very competitive, branding is also very important part of marketing strategy. Now, the E-commerce portals those are in car rental business in India have realized the importance of the same and have started usage of all types of communication channel to promote their brand in different Indian markets. At consumer side, the awareness is also being considerably increased due to marketing communication campaign run by these companies. This paper aims to understand effectiveness of branding strategies in car rental business in India and also tries to identify unique promotional strategies to consolidate brand image of this business in different Indian markets.

Keywords: branding strategies, car rental business, CRM (customer relationship management), ITES (information technology enabled services)

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Authors: Jaffry Zakaria, Nor Azlina Hasbullah

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The research on water quality based on 'Water Quality Index' (WQI) has been on the run along Kampar River in Perak State of Malaysia. This study was conducted to achieve several key objective that determe the value of the parameters that were studied based on Water Quality Index (WQI). The parameters include Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Suspended Solids. In this study, three sampling stations were selected. Through observations from the researchers, several pollutions were found occurring along the research area such as the disposal of waste water directly without treatment from villagers, widespread dumping of solid waste and the development of the surrounding areas that contributed to the pollution of Sungai Kampar in Perak, Malaysia. Sungai Kampar is commonly used for water recreational activities as well as for bathing purposes. Results showed that Sungai Kampar is classified under category III. According to Interim National Water Quality Standard for Malaysia (INWQS), rivers in the third grade are clean but not suitable for river recreational activities. Therefore, there is a requirement to investigate and analysis the water quality of all white water rivers in Malaysia focusing on the area of water activities. The combination of technology and risk management based on risk assessments can help the recreational industry to survive in future.

Keywords: risk assessments, White Water River, water quality index (WQI), Interim National Water Quality Standard for Malaysia (INWQS)

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Authors: Woosik Jang, Seung Heon Han, Seung Won Baek

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Natural gas (NG) is an energy resource in a few countries, and most NG producers do business in politically unstable countries. In addition, as 90% of the LNG market is controlled by a small number of international oil companies (IOCs) and national oil companies (NOCs), entry of latecomers into the market is extremely limited. To meet these challenges, project viability needs to be assessed based on limited information from a project screening perspective. However, the early stages of the project have the following difficulties: (1) What are the factors to consider? (2) How many professionals do you need to decide? (3) How to make the best decision with limited information? To address this problem, this study proposes a model for evaluating LNG project viability based on the Dempster-Shafer theory (DST). A total of 11 indicators for analyzing the gas field, reflecting the characteristics of the LNG industry, and 23 indicators for analyzing the market environment, were identified. The proposed model also evaluates the LNG project based on the survey and provides uncertainty of the results based on DST as well as quantified results. Thus, the proposed model is expected to be able to support the decision-making process of the gas field project using quantitative results as a systematic framework, and it was developed as a stand-alone system to improve its usefulness in practice. Consequently, the amount of information and the mathematical approach are expected to improve the quality and opportunity of decision making for LNG projects for enterprises.

Keywords: project screen, energy enterprise, decision support system, Dempster-Shafer theory

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Authors: Laura Ramona Nae

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The issue of risks faced by companies providing tourist and hotel services in the HoReCa field, related to the goods belonging to consumer tourists left in hotel storage, has acquired a new dimension in the context of the economic and geo-political influences that have recently intervened at the global level. Thus, hoteliers and not only had to create contractual mechanisms regarding the risks and to protect the businesses in this field of activity. This situation has led to a reassessment of the importance of insurance, in particular with regard to hotel liability insurance-premises liability, safety, and security of goods. Interpretation of clauses in contracts concluded between hoteliers and tourists consuming hotel services and products, all the more so in the current pandemic context of Covid 19, stressed the increase in the number of disputes generated by them. This article presents a general picture of the significance of the risks related to the activity carried out in the hospitality industry, tourism, respectively within the HoReCa field. The study mainly marks the specificities of the hotel deposit contract, as well as the related insurance specific to the field, as a way to cover these risks. The article also refers to alternative methods of out-of-court settlement of disputes (ADR) in the HoReCa domain, generally used in both Romania and the European Union.

Keywords: consumer tourist, disputes and ADR methods, deposit contract, hotel warehouse and hotelier insurance, hotel services and tourist products, HoReCa

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Authors: Jonggeon Lee, Sungho Tae, Sungjoon Suk, Keunhyeok Yang, George Ford, Michael E. Smith, Omidreza Shoghli

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In recent years, research to reduce carbon emissions through quantitative assessment of building life cycle carbon emissions has been performed as it relates to the construction industry. However, most research efforts related to building carbon emissions assessment have been focused on evaluation during the operational phase of a building’s life span. Few comprehensive studies of the carbon emissions during a building’s construction phase have been performed. The purpose of this study is to propose an assessment method that quantitatively evaluates the carbon emissions of buildings during the construction phase. The study analysed the amount of carbon emissions produced by 17 construction trades, and selected four construction trades that result in high levels of carbon emissions: reinforced concrete work; sheathing work; foundation work; and form work. Building materials, and construction and transport equipment used for the selected construction trades were identified, and carbon emissions produced by the identified materials and equipment were calculated for these four construction trades. The energy consumption of construction and transport equipment was calculated by analysing fuel efficiency and equipment productivity rates. The combination of the expected levels of carbon emissions associated with the utilization of building materials and construction equipment provides means for estimating the quantity of carbon emissions related to the construction phase of a building’s life cycle. The proposed carbon emissions assessment method was validated by case studies.

Keywords: building construction phase, carbon emissions assessment, building life cycle

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Authors: Armanul Hoque Shaon, Md Baizid Mahmud, Askander Nobi, Md. Raju Ahmed, Md. Jiabul Hoque

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In the Internet of Things (IoT), devices are linked to the internet through a wireless network, allowing them to collect and transmit data without the need for a human operator. Agriculture relies heavily on wireless sensors, which are a vital component of the Internet of Things (IoT). This kind of wireless sensor network monitors physical or environmental variables like temperatures, sound, vibration, pressure, or motion without relying on a central location or sink and collaboratively passes its data across the network to be analyzed. As the primary source of plant nutrients, the soil is critical to the agricultural industry's continued growth. We're excited about the prospect of developing an Internet of Things (IoT) solution. To arrange the network, the sink node collects groundwater levels and sends them to the Gateway, which centralizes the data and forwards it to the sensor nodes. The sink node gathers soil moisture data, transmits the mean to the Gateways, and then forwards it to the website for dissemination. The web server is in charge of storing and presenting the moisture in the soil data to the web application's users. Soil characteristics may be collected using a networked method that we developed to improve rice production. Paddy land is running out as the population of our nation grows. The success of this project will be dependent on the appropriate use of the existing land base.

Keywords: IoT based agriculture monitoring, intelligent irrigation, communicating network, rice production

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Authors: Umedov Mekhroz, Griaznova Svetlana

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In connection with the growth of oncological diseases, the design of centers for diagnostics and the production of radiopharmaceuticals is the most relevant area of healthcare facilities. The design of new nuclear medicine centers should be carried out from the standpoint of solving the following tasks: the availability of medical care, functionality, environmental friendliness, sustainable development, improving the safety of drugs, the use of which requires special care, reducing the rate of environmental pollution, ensuring comfortable conditions for the internal microclimate, adaptability. The purpose of this article is to substantiate architectural and planning solutions, formulate recommendations and principles for the design of nuclear medicine centers and determine the connections between the production and medical functions of a building. The advantages of combining the production of radiopharmaceuticals and the department of medical care: less radiation activity is accumulated, the cost of the final product is lower, and there is no need to hire a transport company with a special license for transportation. A medical imaging department is a structural unit of a medical institution in which diagnostic procedures are carried out in order to gain an idea of the internal structure of various organs of the body for clinical analysis. Depending on the needs of a particular institution, the department may include various rooms that provide medical imaging using radiography, ultrasound diagnostics, and the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance. The production of radiopharmaceuticals is an object intended for the production of a pharmaceutical substance containing a radionuclide and intended for introduction into the human body or laboratory animal for the purpose of diagnosis, evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment, or for biomedical research. The research methodology includes the following subjects: study and generalization of international experience in scientific research, literature, standards, teaching aids, and design materials on the topic of research; An integrated approach to the study of existing international experience of PET / CT scan centers and the production of radiopharmaceuticals; Elaboration of graphical analysis and diagrams based on the system analysis of the processed information; Identification of methods and principles of functional zoning of nuclear medicine centers. The result of the research is the identification of the design principles of nuclear medicine centers with the functions of the production of radiopharmaceuticals and the department of medical imaging. This research will be applied to the design and construction of healthcare facilities in the field of nuclear medicine.

Keywords: architectural planning solutions, functional zoning, nuclear medicine, PET/CT scan, production of radiopharmaceuticals, radiotherapy

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Authors: Abimbola Motunrayo Folami, Ibironke Titilayo Enitan, Feroz Mohomed Swalaha

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Water is a vital resource that is important in ensuring the growth and development of any country. To sustain the basic human needs and the demands for agriculture, industry, conservational and ecosystem, enough quality and quantity water is needed. Contamination of water resources is now a global and public health concern. Hence, this study assessed the water quality of Ndawuse River by measuring the physicochemical parameters and heavy metals concentrations of the river using standard methods. In total, 16 surface water samples were obtained from five locations along the river, from upstream to downstream as well as samples from the dumpsite. The results obtained were compared with the standard limits set by both the World Health Organization and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for domestic purposes. The results of the measured parameters indicated that biological oxygen demand (85.88 mg/L), turbidity (44.51 NTU), Iron (0.014 - 3.511 mg /L) and chromium (0.078 - 0.14 mg /L) were all above the standard limits. The results further showed that the quality of surface water is being significantly affected by human activities around the Ndawuse River which could pose an adverse health risk to several communities that rely on this river as their primary source of water. Therefore, there is a need for strict enforcement of environmental laws to protect the aquatic ecosystem and to avoid long term cumulative exposure risk that heavy metals may pose on human health.

Keywords: Abuja, contaminants, heavy metals, Ndawuse River, Nigeria, surface water

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Inês N. Peça , A. Bicho, Rui Gardner, M. Margarida Cardoso

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Inorganic/organic nanocomplexes offer tremendous scope for future biomedical applications, including imaging, disease diagnosis and drug delivery. The combination of Fe3O4 with biocompatible polymers to produce smart drug delivery systems for use in pharmaceutical formulation present a powerful tool to target anti-cancer drugs to specific tumor sites through the application of an external magnetic field. In the present study, we focused on the evaluation of the effect of the magnetic field application time on the rate of drug release from iron oxide polymeric nanoparticles. Doxorubicin, an anticancer drug, was selected as the model drug loaded into the nanoparticles. Nanoparticles composed of poly(d-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA), a biocompatible polymer already approved by FDA, containing iron oxide nanoparticles (MNP) for magnetic targeting and doxorubicin (DOX) were synthesized by the o/w solvent extraction/evaporation method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), by dynamic light scattering (DLS), by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. The produced particles yielded smooth surfaces and spherical shapes exhibiting a size between 400 and 600 nm. The effect of the magnetic doxorubicin loaded PLGA nanoparticles produced on cell viability was investigated in mammalian CHO cell cultures. The results showed that unloaded magnetic PLGA nanoparticles were nontoxic while the magnetic particles without polymeric coating show a high level of toxicity. Concerning the therapeutic activity doxorubicin loaded magnetic particles cause a remarkable enhancement of the cell inhibition rates compared to their non-magnetic counterpart. In vitro drug release studies performed under a non-permanent magnetic field show that the application time and the on/off cycle duration have a great influence with respect to the final amount and to the rate of drug release. In order to determine the mechanism of drug release, the data obtained from the release curves were fitted to the semi-empirical equation of the the Korsmeyer-Peppas model that may be used to describe the Fickian and non-Fickian release behaviour. Doxorubicin release mechanism has shown to be governed mainly by Fickian diffusion. The results obtained show that the rate of drug release from the produced magnetic nanoparticles can be modulated through the magnetic field time application.

Keywords: drug delivery, magnetic nanoparticles, PLGA nanoparticles, controlled release rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Angel Champion

Abstract:

Chemotherapy and radiation use an acidified approach to induce apoptosis, which only kills mature cancer cells while resulting in gene and cell damage with significant levels of toxicity in tumor-affected tissues and organs. The acid approach, where the cells exterminated are not differentiated, induces the disappearance of white blood cells from the blood. This increases susceptibility to infection in severe forms of cancer spread. However, chemotherapy and radiation cannot kill cancer stem cells that metastasize, being the leading cause of 98% of cancer fatalities. With over 12 million new cancer cases symptomatic each year, including common malignancies such as Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), this study aims to assess the bioactive constituents and phytochemical composition of Taraxacum Officinale (Dandelion). This analysis enables pharmaceutical quality and potency to be applied to studies on cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis. A phytochemical screening is carried out to identify the antioxidant components of Dandelion root, stem, and flower extract. The constituents tested for are phlorotannins, carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, sterols, triterpenes, and anthraquinone glycosides. To conserve the existing phenolic compounds, a portion of the constituent tests will be examined with an acid, alcohol, or aqueous solvent. As a result, the qualitative and quantitative variations within the Dandelion extract that measure uniform effective potency are vital to the conformity for producing medicinal products. These medicines will be constructed with a consistent, uniform composition that physicians can use to control and effectively eradicate malignant diseases safely. Taraxacum Officinale's phytochemical composition comprises a highly-graded potency due to present bioactive contents that will essentially drive out malignant disease within the human body. Its high potency rate is powerful enough to eliminate both mature cancer cells and cancer stem cells without the cell and gene damage induced by chemotherapy and radiation. Correspondingly, the high margins of cancer mortality on a global scale are mitigated. This remarkable contribution to modern therapeutics will essentially optimize the margins of natural products and their derivatives, which account for 50% of pharmaceuticals in modern therapeutics, while preventing the adverse effects of radiation and chemotherapy drugs.

Keywords: antioxidant, apoptosis, metastasize, phytochemical, proliferation, potency

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Okanta Andrew, Richmond Kweku Frempong

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As mobile networks are upgraded with technologies like WAP, GPRS and UMTS to deliver next-generation multimedia services, so are the banks and other financial institutions also getting ready to unleash the financial products on the mobile platform to meet growing demand for mobile based application services. Hence, the onset of Unstructured Supplementary Services (USSD) Banking which would make banking services available at anywhere, anytime through a string of interactive SMS sessions between a mobile device and an application server of a service provider. The aim of this studies was to find out whether the public will accept the sim banking service when it is implemented. Our target group includes: Working class. E. g. Businessmen/women, office workers, fishermen, market women, teachers etc. Nonworking class. E. g. Students (Tertiary, Senior High School), housewives. etc. The survey was in the form of a questionnaire and a verbal interview (video) which was to investigate their idea about the current banking system and the yet to be introduced sim banking concept. Meanwhile, some challenges accompanied the progression of data gathering because some populace showed reluctance in freeing their information. One other suggestion was that government should put measures against foremost challenges obstructing sim banking in Ghana counter to computers hackers. Government and individual have a key role to undertake to give suitable support to facelift the sim banking industry in the country. It was also suggested that Government put strong regulations on the use of sim banking products and services to streamline all the activities and also create awareness of the need for sim banking and emphasize its relevance in the aspect of national GDP.

Keywords: banking, mobile banking, SIM banking, mobile banking in Ghana

Procedia PDF Downloads 480

Authors: K. K. Lee, H. W. Han, H. L. Kang, T. A. Kim, S. H. Han

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For the robust optimization of the manufacturing product design, there are design objectives that must be achieved, such as a minimization of the mean and standard deviation in objective functions within the required sensitivity constraints. The authors utilized the sensitivity of objective functions and constraints with respect to the effective design variables to reduce the computational burden associated with the evaluation of the probabilities. The individual mean and sensitivity values could be estimated easily by using the 9 level orthogonal array based response surface models optimized by the stepwise regression. The present study evaluates a proposed procedure from the robust optimization of rubber domes that are commonly used for keyboard switching, by using the 9 level orthogonal array and stepwise regression along with a desirability function. In addition, a new robust optimization process, i.e., the I2GEO (Identify, Integrate, Generate, Explore and Optimize), was proposed on the basis of the robust optimization in rubber domes. The optimized results from the response surface models and the estimated results by using the finite element analysis were consistent within a small margin of error. The standard deviation of objective function is decreasing 54.17% with suggested sensitivity based robust optimization. (Business for Cooperative R&D between Industry, Academy, and Research Institute funded Korea Small and Medium Business Administration in 2017, S2455569)

Keywords: objective function, orthogonal array, response surface model, robust optimization, stepwise regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Balram Panjwani, Bernd Wittgens, Jan Erik Olsen, Stein Tore Johansen

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The Norwegian ferroalloy industry is a world leader in sustainable production of ferrosilicon, silicon and manganese alloys with the lowest global specific energy consumption. One of the byproducts during the metal reduction process is energy rich off-gas and usually this energy is not harnessed. A novel concept for sustainable energy recovery from ferroalloy off-gas is discussed. The concept is founded on the idea of introducing a combustion chamber in the off-gas section in which energy rich off-gas mainly consisting of CO will be combusted. This will provide an additional degree of freedom for optimizing energy recovery. A well-controlled and high off-gas temperature will assure a significant increase in energy recovery and reduction of emissions to the atmosphere. Design and operation of the combustion chamber depend on many parameters, including the total power capacity of the combustion chamber, sufficient residence time for combusting the complex Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH), NOx, as well as converting other potential pollutants. The design criteria for the combustion chamber have been identified and discussed and sizing of the combustion chamber has been carried out considering these design criteria. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been utilized extensively for sizing the combustion chamber. The results from our CFD simulations of the flow in the combustion chamber and exploring different off-gas fuel composition are presented. In brief, the paper covers all aspect which impacts the sizing of the combustion chamber, including insulation thickness, choice of insulating material, heat transfer through extended surfaces, multi-staging and secondary air injection.

Keywords: CFD, combustion chamber, arc furnace, energy recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Yanto Santosa, Catharina Yudea

Abstract:

The rapid growth of oil palm industry in Indonesia raised many negative accusations from various parties, who said that oil palm plantation is damaging the environment and biodiversity, including birds. Since research on oil palm plantation impacts on bird diversity is still limited, this study needs to be developed in order to gain further learning and understanding. Data on bird diversity were collected in March 2018 in KJNP Estate, Riau Province using strip transect method on five different land cover types (young, intermediate, and old growth of oil palm plantation, high conservation value area, and crops field or the baseline). The observations were conducted simultaneously, with three repetitions. The result shows that the baseline has 19 species of birds and land cover after the oil palm plantation has 39 species. HCV (high conservation value) area has the highest increase in diversity value. Oil palm plantation has changed the composition of bird species. The highest similarity index is shown by young growth oil palm land cover with total score 0.65, meanwhile the lowest similarity index with total score 0.43 is shown by HCV area. Overall, the existence of oil palm plantation made a positive impact by increasing bird species diversity, with total 23 species gained and 3 species lost.

Keywords: bird diversity, crops field, impact of oil palm plantation, KJNP estate

Procedia PDF Downloads 120