Search results for: marine protected area

Authors: Sunday Moses Ojelabi

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Safety is the protection of the crew, passenger and equipment itself, as well as those living and working near bodies of water, from hazardous situations. To assure safety, watch keeping is paramount because neglecting your watchkeeping can lead to hazardous situations. Navigation is the assignment of a sailor to a specific route on a vessel to operate. Navigation is the process of planning, managing, and directing a vessel safely to the desired destination with the aid of intense and efficient watch keeping. Safety, i,e, all measures done to preserve the welfare of marine life, maritime infrastructure, facilities, ships, offshore installations, crew, and passengers, as well as the preservation of navigation and the ease of maritime trade, are referred to as safety measures;. When it comes to health, the absence of a proper first aid kit will affect injured sailors and passengers. Not using goggles while shipping, ear muffs, etc., in the course of maintenance can be hazardous. Watchkeeping: i.e the specific dutiies assigned to a personnel in a vessel to see to its continous smooth functionality. Your lookout or watch officer [officer on navigational duty] must be active at all times in the course of duty. Navigation refers to the technique of precisely determining a craft or vehicle's position and directing its motion along a particular course. The seafarers are not being put through regular seminars, training, and orientations. In parts of West Africa, sailors go to school without being able to secure jobs until their papers expire. For that, they won’t go for another Standard Trainning Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers to upgrade their certificate. In light of this, they are not familiar with the new vessels in the country, and for this, they can`t meet the safety, watch keeping, and navigation standards. Also, shipping companies and ship owners are being selfish by not putting the proper things needed onboard regarding safety, watchkeeping, and navigational equipment. The questions raised in these presentations are the breakdown of the safety activities, watch keeping effectiveness, and navigational accuracy. All safety and watch keeping regulations should be applied efficiently. The problem identified includes a lack of safety instruments onboard vessels in African waters. Also, inadequate proper watchkeeping due to the excess workload on the seafarers can lead to an improper lookout, which gives room to collision, hijacking, and piracy. The impact of this research is to inform African seafarers, shipping companies, and ship owners of the necessary information concerning the safety of their lives and that of their passengers, cargo, and equipment.

Keywords: standard of training, certification, watch keeping for seafarers, navigation, safety, watchkeeping

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Authors: Kapil Pandey, Vishnu Goyal

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Spatial and temporal data analysis is very well known in the field of satellite image processing. When spatial data are correlated with time, series analysis it gives the significant results in change detection studies. In this paper the GIS and Remote sensing techniques has been used to find the change detection using time series satellite imagery of Uttarakhand state during the years of 1990-2010. Natural vegetation, urban area, forest cover etc. were chosen as main landuse classes to study. Landuse/ landcover classes within several years were prepared using satellite images. Maximum likelihood supervised classification technique was adopted in this work and finally landuse change index has been generated and graphical models were used to present the changes.

Keywords: GIS, landuse/landcover, spatial and temporal data, remote sensing

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Authors: Ezzat Mohamed El-Amin

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Mapping the earthquake-size distribution in various tectonic regimes on a local to regional scale reveals statistically significant variations in the range of at least 0.4 to 2.0 for the b-value in the frequency-magnitude distribution. We map the earthquake frequency–magnitude distribution (b value) as a function of depth in the Reservoir Triggered Seismicity (RTS) region in Kalabsha region, in south Egypt. About 1680 well-located events recorded during 1981–2014 in the Kalabsha region are selected for the analysis. The earthquake data sets are separated in 5 km zones from 0 to 25 km depth. The result shows a systematic decrease in b value up to 12 km followed by an increase. The increase in b value is interpreted to be caused by the presence of fluids. We also investigate the spatial distribution of b value with depth. Significant variations in the b value are detected, with b ranging from b 0.7 to 1.19. Low b value areas at 5 km depth indicate localized high stresses which are favorable for future rupture.

Keywords: seismicity, frequency-magnitude, b-value, earthquake

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Authors: Han Joo Choe, Soon-Ho Kwon, Jung-Joong Lee

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Tin particles of various size and distribution were self-assembled by plasma treating tin film deposited on silicon oxide substrates. Plasma treatment was conducted using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source. A range of ICP power and topographic templated substrates were evaluated to observe changes in particle size and particle distribution. Scanning electron microscopy images of the particles were analyzed using computer software. The evolution of tin film dewetting into particles initiated from the hole nucleation in grain boundaries. Increasing ICP power during plasma treatment produced larger number of particles per area and smaller particle size and particle-size distribution. Topographic templates were also effective in positioning and controlling the size of the particles. By combining the effects of ICP power and topographic templates, particles of similar size and well-ordered distribution were obtained.

Keywords: dewetting, particles, plasma, tin

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Rewadee Anuwattana, Pattamaphorn Phuangngamphan, Narumon Soparatana, Supinya Sutthima, Worapong Pattayawan, Saroj Klangkongsub, Songkiat Roddang, Pluek Wongpanich

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The leachate wastewater is high contaminant water; hence it needs to be treated. The objective of this research was to determine the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentration, Phosphate (PO₄³⁻), Ammonia (NH₃) and color in leachate wastewater in the landfill area. The experiments were carried out in the optimum condition by pH, the Fenton reagent dosage (concentration of dosing Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂). The optimum pH is 3, the optimum [Fe²⁺]/[COD] and [H₂O₂]/[COD₀] = 0.03 and 0.03, respectively. The Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅)/Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) ratio can be adjusted to 1 for landfill leachate wastewater (BOD₅/COD = 0.11). From the results, the Fenton process shall be investigated further to achieve the removal of phosphates in addition to COD and color.

Keywords: landfill leachate treatment, open dumpsite, Fenton process, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Mahmoud M. S. Albattah

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Urbanization results in the expansion of administrative boundaries, mainly at the periphery, ultimately leading to changes in landcover. Agricultural land, naturally vegetated land, and other land types are converted into residential areas with a high density of constructs, such as transportation systems and housing. In urban regions of rapid growth and change, urban planners need regular information on up to date ground change. Amman (the capital of Jordan) is growing at unprecedented rates, creating extensive urban landscapes. Planners interact with these changes without having a global view of their impact. The use of aerial photographs and satellite images data combined with topographic information and field survey could provide effective information to develop urban change and growth inventory which could be explored towards producing a very important signature for the built-up area changes.

Keywords: highway design, satellite technologies, remote sensing, GIS, image segmentation, classification

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Authors: Vesa Salminen, Esa Santakallio, Heikki Ruohomaa

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Introduction: The city of Riihimäki has decided robotics on well-being, service and industry as the main focus area on their ecosystem strategy. Robotics is going to be an important part of the everyday life of citizens and present in the working day of the average citizen and employee in the future. For that reason, also education system and education programs on all levels of education from diaper age to doctorate have been directed to fulfill this ecosystem strategy. Goal: The objective of this activity has been to develop education continuity from diaper age to doctorate. The main target of the development activity is to create a unique robotics study entity that enables ongoing robotics studies from preprimary education to university. The aim is also to attract students internationally and supply a skilled workforce to the private sector, capable of the challenges of the future. Methodology: Education instances (high school, second grade, Universities on all levels) in a large area of Tavastia Province have gradually directed their education programs to support this goal. On the other hand, applied research projects have been created to make proof of concept- phases on areal real environment field labs to test technology opportunities and digitalization to change business processes by applying robotic solutions. Customer-oriented applied research projects offer for students in robotics education learning environments to learn new knowledge and content. That is also a learning environment for education programs to adapt and co-evolution. New content and problem-based learning are used in future education modules. Major findings: Joint robotics education entity is being developed in cooperation with the city of Riihimäki (primary education), Syria Education (secondary education) and HAMK (bachelor and master education). The education modules have been developed to enable smooth transitioning from one institute to another. This article is introduced a case study of the change of education of wellbeing education because of digitalization and robotics. Riihimäki's Elderly citizen's service house, Riihikoti, has been working as a field lab for proof-of-concept phases on testing technology opportunities. According to successful case studies also education programs on various levels of education have been changing. Riihikoti has been developed as a physical learning environment for home care and robotics, investigating and developing a variety of digital devices and service opportunities and experimenting and learn the use of equipment. The environment enables the co-development of digital service capabilities in the authentic environment for all interested groups in transdisciplinary cooperation.

Keywords: ecosystem strategy, digitalization and robotics, education continuity, learning environment, transdisciplinary co-operation

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Authors: Muhammad Naeem, Syed M. Moeen-ud-Din Raheel, Muhammad Arshad, Muhammad Naeem Qaisar, Muhammad Khalid, Muhammad Zubair Ahmed, Muhammad Ashraf

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Iron, Copper, Cadmium, Zinc, Manganese, Chromium levels were estimated to study the risk of trace elements on human consumption. The area of collection was Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan and was evaluated by means of flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The standards find in favor of the six heavy metals were in accordance with the threshold edge concentrations on behalf of fish meat obligatory by European and other international normative. Regressions were achieved for both size (length and weight) and condition factor with concentrations of metal present in the fish body.

Keywords: Oreochromis mossambica, toxic analysis, body size, condition factor

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Authors: Von Anthony G. Torio

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Motivation and research are significant determinants of a student’s success in the school and in future careers. This study aimed to give a picture of the physics motivation of students in a tertiary level institution, as well as their research area and working preference, to create a picture of the nature of the representative youths of today. It was found that male students have higher motivation than female students in all components of motivation with intrinsic motivation leading the six components of motivation. In addition, male students (M = 4.27; SD = 0.74) were found to have significantly higher motivation as compared to female students (M = 3.77; SD = 0.89) with a computed t(64) value of 2.41 with p < 0.05 and Cohen’s d of 0.61. The students’ preference to work in groups of three rather than working individually suggests that students of the batch have small working groups that they depend on rather than working alone. The majority of the students also preferred conducting studies on the social sciences.

Keywords: motivation, physics, research, physics motivation, physics education, Philippines

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Authors: Keerthana Gonella, Kamesh Apparaju

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Teams are all pervasive and team leadership is a much discussed topic in managing projects that characterize the modern work environment. Biotechnology industry in India is an area of research interest for scholars on leadership, especially, team leadership. The present paper examines the perception of team members on the effectiveness of their team leaders in the biotechnology industry in India. This is an empirical study in which the data was collected by administering the closed-ended questionnaire to the respondents from across India. The effectiveness of the team leader is dependent upon his goal orientation that creates a collaborative climate. Leaders with technical know-how inspire teamwork with trust. They build confidence, mitigate the differences and expand team capabilities through teamwork. Effective leaders also create team identity making the most of the differences with a vision.

Keywords: collaboration, perception, team, team capabilities, team leadership

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Authors: Maryam Kiani

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Non-precious electrocatalysts play a crucial role in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for regenerative fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. To enhance ORR activity, La (a less active element) is added to modify the activity of Ni. This addition increases the surface contents of Ni2+, N, and S species in LaNi/N-S-C, while still maintaining a substantial specific surface area and hierarchical porosity. Therefore, the additional La is essential for the successful ORR process.In addition, the presence of extra La in the LaNi/N-S-C electrocatalyst enhances the efficiency of charge transfer and improves the surface acid-base characteristics, facilitating the adsorption of oxygen molecules during the ORR process. As a result, this superior and desirable electrocatalyst exhibits significantly enhanced ORR bifunctional activity. In fact, its ORR activity is comparable to that of the 20 wt% Pt/C.

Keywords: fuel cells, batteries, dual-doped carbon black, ORR

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Authors: Sathapath Kilaso

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Thailand has a large range of geographic diversity. Thailand can be divided into 5 regions which are North Region, East Region, West Region, South Region and North-East Region which each region has a different geographic and climate. Especially in North Region, the geographic is mountain and intermontane plateau which will be a reason that the roads in the North Region have a lot of bends. So the driver in the North Region road will have to have a very high skill of driving. If the accident is occurred, the emergency rescue will have a hard time to reach the accident area and rescue the victim of the accident as the long distance and steep road. This article will apply the concept of the wireless sensor network with the micro-controller to alert the driver when the driver reaches the very dangerous bend.

Keywords: wireless sensor network, motion sensor, smart alert, dangerous bend

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Authors: Luciana S. Almeida

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Nanotechnology has revolutionized the world of science and technology bringing great expectations due to its great potential of application in the most varied industrial sectors. The same characteristics that make nanoparticles interesting from the point of view of the technological application, these may be undesirable when released into the environment. The small size of nanoparticles facilitates their diffusion and transport in the atmosphere, water, and soil and facilitates the entry and accumulation of nanoparticles in living cells. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the environmental regulatory process of nanomaterials in the Brazilian scenario. Three specific objectives were outlined. The first is to carry out a global scientometric study, in a research platform, with the purpose of identifying the main lines of study of nanomaterials in the environmental area. The second is to verify how environmental agencies in other countries have been working on this issue by means of a bibliographic review. And the third is to carry out an assessment of the Brazilian Nanotechnology Draft Law 6741/2013 with the state environmental agencies. This last one has the aim of identifying the knowledge of the subject by the environmental agencies and necessary resources available in the country for the implementation of the Policy. A questionnaire will be used as a tool for this evaluation to identify the operational elements and build indicators through the Environment of Evaluation Application, a computational application developed for the development of questionnaires. At the end will be verified the need to propose changes in the Draft Law of the National Nanotechnology Policy. Initial studies, in relation to the first specific objective, have already identified that Brazil stands out in the production of scientific publications in the area of nanotechnology, although the minority is in studies focused on environmental impact studies. Regarding the general panorama of other countries, some findings have also been raised. The United States has included the nanoform of the substances in an existing program in the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act). The European Union issued a draft of a document amending Regulation 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and Council to cover the nanoform of substances. Both programs are based on the study and identification of environmental risks associated with nanomaterials taking into consideration the product life cycle. In relation to Brazil, regarding the third specific objective, it is notable that the country does not have any regulations applicable to nanostructures, although there is a Draft Law in progress. In this document, it is possible to identify some requirements related to the environment, such as environmental inspection and licensing; industrial waste management; notification of accidents and application of sanctions. However, it is not known if these requirements are sufficient for the prevention of environmental impacts and if national environmental agencies will know how to apply them correctly. This study intends to serve as a basis for future actions regarding environmental management applied to the use of nanotechnology in Brazil.

Keywords: environment; management; nanotecnology; politics

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Authors: Peter Tabatt, Christian Siemers

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Using FPGA devices to improve the behavior of time-critical parts of embedded systems is a proven concept for years. With reconfigurable FPGA devices, the logical blocks can be partitioned and grouped into static and dynamic parts. The dynamic parts can be reloaded 'on demand' at runtime. This work uses cellular automata, which are constructed through compilation from (partially restricted) ANSI-C sources, to determine the suitability of various metrics for optimal partitioning. Significant metrics, in this case, are for example the area on the FPGA device for the partition, the pass count for loop constructs and communication characteristics to other partitions. With successful partitioning, it is possible to use smaller FPGA devices for the same requirements as with not reconfigurable FPGA devices or – vice versa – to use the same FPGAs for larger programs.

Keywords: reconfigurable FPGA, cellular automata, partitioning, metrics, parallel computing

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Authors: Prem Singh, Jagdeep Singh

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In an attempt to investigate the performance of single basin solar still for climate conditions of Ludhiana a single basin solar still was designed, fabricated and tested. The energy balance equations for various parts of the still are solved by Gauss-Seidel iteration method. Computer model was made and experimentally validated. The validated computer model was used to estimate the annual distillation yield and performance ratio of the still for Ludhiana. The Theoretical and experimental distillation yield were 4318.79 ml and 3850 ml, respectively for the typical day. The predicted distillation yield was 12.5% higher than the experimental yield. The annual distillation yield per square meter aperture area and annual performance ratio for single basin solar still is 1095 liters and 0.43 liters, respectively. The payback period for micro-stepped solar still is 2.5 years.

Keywords: solar distillation, solar still, single basin, still

Procedia PDF Downloads 495

Authors: B. M. Y. I. Basnayake, G. G. T. Nisansala, P. I. J. B. Wijewickrama, U. S. Weerathunga, K. W. M. Y. D. Gunasekara, N. K. Jayasekera, A. W. Kalupahana, R. S. Kalupahana, A. Silva- Fletcher, K. S. A. Kottawatta

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has attracted significant attention worldwide as an emerging threat to public health. Understanding the role of livestock and wildlife with the shared environment in the maintenance and transmission of AMR is of utmost importance due to its interactions with humans for combating the issue in one health approach. This study aims to investigate the extent of AMR distribution among wild animals, livestock, and environment cohabiting in a rural ecosystem in Sri Lanka: Hambegamuwa. One square km area at Hambegamuwa was mapped using GPS as the sampling area. The study was conducted for a period of five months from November 2020. Voided fecal samples were collected from 130 wild animals, 123 livestock: buffalo, cattle, chicken, and turkey, with 36 soil and 30 water samples associated with livestock and wildlife. From the samples, Escherichia coli (E. coli) was isolated, and their AMR profiles were investigated for 12 antimicrobials using the disk diffusion method following the CLSI standard. Seventy percent (91/130) of wild animals, 93% (115/123) of livestock, 89% (32/36) of soil, and 63% (19/30) of water samples were positive for E. coli. Maximum of two E. coli from each sample to a total of 467 were tested for the sensitivity of which 157, 208, 62, and 40 were from wild animals, livestock, soil, and water, respectively. The highest resistance in E. coli from livestock (13.9%) and wild animals (13.3%) was for ampicillin, followed by streptomycin. Apart from that, E. coli from livestock and wild animals revealed resistance mainly against tetracycline, cefotaxime, trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole, and nalidixic acid at levels less than 10%. Ten cefotaxime resistant E. coli were reported from wild animals, including four elephants, two land monitors, a pigeon, a spotted dove, and a monkey which was a significant finding. E. coli from soil samples reflected resistance primarily against ampicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline at levels less than in livestock/wildlife. Two water samples had cefotaxime resistant E. coli as the only resistant isolates out of 30 water samples tested. Of the total E. coli isolates, 6.4% (30/467) was multi-drug resistant (MDR) which included 18, 9, and 3 isolates from livestock, wild animals, and soil, respectively. Among 18 livestock MDRs, the highest (13/ 18) was from poultry. Nine wild animal MDRs were from spotted dove, pigeon, land monitor, and elephant. Based on CLSI standard criteria, 60 E. coli isolates, of which 40, 16, and 4 from livestock, wild animal, and environment, respectively, were screened for Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) producers. Despite being a rural ecosystem, AMR and MDR are prevalent even at low levels. E. coli from livestock, wild animals, and the environment reflected a similar spectrum of AMR where ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and cefotaxime being the predominant antimicrobials of resistance. Wild animals may have acquired AMR via direct contact with livestock or via the environment, as antimicrobials are rarely used in wild animals. A source attribution study including the effects of the natural environment to study AMR can be proposed as this less contaminated rural ecosystem alarms the presence of AMR.

Keywords: AMR, Escherichia coli, livestock, wildlife

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Tajudeen Yusuf

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Arabic language and its instruction occupy a prominent status in the contemporary world, especially in academic and research institutions. Arabic, like other international languages, consolidates understanding among people of different nations and societies. It is a promising medium of sharing thoughts and feelings. As a means of communication and interaction, the language has gained its outstanding status since ancient times, especially because of the relationship it maintains with Islam and its heritage. Adding to its importance is the rapid growth and advancement of Science and Technology in the contemporary Era which has eventually made communication between human societies all over the world inevitable. Despite, the Arabic language still experiences many challenges especially in some area such as irrelevant textbooks and other teaching materials, old versions of teaching methods and inadequate teachers who professionally trained. Eventually, these have resulted in difficulties in the teaching and learning of the language. Therefore, urgent and necessary measures to enhance the teaching and learning of Arabic language within and outside Arab countries are therefore needed to be taken.

Keywords: Arabic, language, challenges, modern era

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Authors: Juraj Camaj, Martin Kendra, Jaroslav Masek

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The paper is focused to the evaluation railway tracks in the Slovakia by using Multi-Criteria method. Evaluation of railway tracks has important impacts for the assessment of investment in technical equipment. Evaluation of railway tracks also has an important impact for the allocation of marshalling yards. Marshalling yards are in transport model as centers for the operation assigned catchment area. This model is one of the effective ways to meet the development strategy of the European Community's railways. By applying this model in practice, a transport company can guarantee a higher quality of service and then expect an increase in performance. The model is also applicable to other rail networks. This model supplements a theoretical problem of train formation problem of new ways of looking at evaluation of factors affecting the organization of wagon flows.

Keywords: railway track, multi-criteria methods, evaluation, transportation model

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Authors: Zabihullah Mahdi, Khwaja Naweed Seddiqi

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Afghanistan is located in a tectonically complex and dynamic area, surrounded by rocks that originated on the mother continent of Gondwanaland. The northern Afghanistan basin, which runs along the country's northern border, has the potential for petroleum generation and accumulation. The Amu Darya basin has the largest petroleum potential in the region. Sedimentation occurred in the Amu Darya basin from the Jurassic to the Eocene epochs. Kashkari oil field is located in northern Afghanistan's Amu Darya basin. The field structure consists of a narrow northeast-southwest (NE-SW) anticline with two structural highs, the northwest limb being mild and the southeast limb being steep. The first oil production well in the Kashkari oil field was drilled in 1976, and a total of ten wells were drilled in the area between 1976 and 1979. The amount of original oil in place (OOIP) in the Kashkari oil field, based on the results of surveys and calculations conducted by research institutions, is estimated to be around 140 MMbbls. The objective of this study is to increase recoverable oil reserves in the Kashkari oil field through the implementation of low-salinity water flooding (LSWF) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. The LSWF involved conducting a core flooding laboratory test consisting of four sequential steps with varying salinities. The test commenced with the use of formation water (FW) as the initial salinity, which was subsequently reduced to a salinity level of 0.1%. Afterwards, the numerical simulation model of core scale oil recovery by LSWF was designed by Computer Modelling Group’s General Equation Modeler (CMG-GEM) software to evaluate the applicability of the technology to the field scale. Next, the Kahskari oil field simulation model was designed, and the LSWF method was applied to it. To obtain reasonable results, laboratory settings (temperature, pressure, rock, and oil characteristics) are designed as far as possible based on the condition of the Kashkari oil field, and several injection and production patterns are investigated. The relative permeability of oil and water in this study was obtained using Corey’s equation. In the Kashkari oilfield simulation model, three models: 1. Base model (with no water injection), 2. FW injection model, and 3. The LSW injection model were considered for the evaluation of the LSWF effect on oil recovery. Based on the results of the LSWF laboratory experiment and computer simulation analysis, the oil recovery increased rapidly after the FW was injected into the core. Subsequently, by injecting 1% salinity water, a gradual increase of 4% oil can be observed. About 6.4% of the field, is produced by the application of the LSWF technique. The results of LSWF (salinity 0.1%) on the Kashkari oil field suggest that this technology can be a successful method for developing Kashkari oil production.

Keywords: low salinity water flooding, immiscible displacement, kashkari oil field, twophase flow, numerical reservoir simulation model

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Authors: Boudjedra Abderrahim, Toumi Salah, Boutalbi Mostefa, Frihi Mohammed

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Nowadays, using the advancement of technology in semiconductor device fabrication, many transistors can be integrated to a single chip (VLSI). Although the growth chip density potentially eases systems-on-chip (SoCs) integrating thousands of processing element (PE) such as memory, processor, interfaces cores, system complexity, high-performance interconnect and scalable on-chip communication architecture become most challenges for many digital and embedded system designers. Networks-on-chip (NoCs) becomes a new paradigm that makes possible integrating heterogeneous devices and allows many communication constraints and performances. In this paper, we are interested for good performance and low area for implementation and a behavioral modeling of network on chip mesh topology design using VHDL hardware description language with performance evaluation and FPGA implementation results.

Keywords: design, implementation, communication system, network on chip, VHDL

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Authors: K. Domagala, D. Kata, T. Graule

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Diseases caused by contaminated drinking water are the worldwide problem, which leads to the death and severe illnesses for hundreds of millions million people each year. There is an urgent need for efficient water treatment techniques for virus pathogens removal. The aim of the research was to develop safe and economic solution, which help with the water treatment. In this study, the synthesis of copper-based multi-walled carbon nanotube composites is described. Proposed solution utilize combination of a low-cost material with a high active surface area and copper antiviral properties. Removal of viruses from water was possible by adsorption based on electrostatic interactions of negatively charged virus with a positively charged filter material.

Keywords: multi walled carbon nanotubes, water purification, virus removal, water treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Fahad Alamoudi, Yaser Miaji

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The growing popularity of swimming pools and other activities in the water for sport, fitness, therapy or just enjoyable relaxation have led to the increased use of swimming pools and the establishment of a variety of specific-use pools such as spa pools, water slides, and more recently, hydrotherapy and wave pools. In this research, a few simple equipment is used for test, detect and alert for detection of water cleanness and pollution. YSI Photometer Systems, TDSTestr High model, Rio 12HF and Electrode A1. The researchers used electrolysis as a method of separating bonded elements and compounds by passing an electric current through them. The results which use 41 experiments show the higher the salt concentration, the more efficient the electrode and the smaller the gap between the plates, the lower the electrode voltage. Furthermore, it is proved that the larger the surface area, the lower the cell voltage and the higher current used the more chlorine produced.

Keywords: photometer, electrode, electrolysis, swimming pool chlorination

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Authors: C. M. Kalleshwaraswamy, G. S. Sathisha, A. S. Vidyashree, H. B. Pavithra

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Isoptera are an interesting group of social insects with different castes and division of labour. They are primarily wood-feeders, but also feed on a variety of other organic substrates, such as living trees, leaf litter, soil, lichens and animal faeces. The number of species and their biomass are especially large in tropics. In natural ecosystems, they perform a beneficial role in nutrient cycles by accelerating decomposition. The magnitude and dimension of ecological role played by termites is a function of their diversity, population density, and biomass. Termite assemblage composition has a strong response to habitat disturbance and may be indicative of quantitative changes in the decomposition process. Many previous studies in Western Ghat region of India suggest increased anthropogenic activities that adversely affect the soil macrofauna and diversity. Shivamogga district provides a good opportunity to study the effect of topography, cropping pattern, human disturbance on the termite fauna, thereby acquiring accurate baseline information for conservation decision making. The district has 3 distinct agro-ecological areas such as maidan area, semi-malnad and Western Ghat region. Thus, the district provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of varied climate and anthropogenic disturbance on the termite diversity. The standard protocol of belt transects method developed by Eggleton et al. (1997) was used for sampling termites. Sampling was done at monthly interval from September-2014 to August-2015 in Western Ghats, semi-malnad and maidan habitats. The transect was 100m long and 2m wide and divided into 20 contiguous sections, each 5 x 2m in each habitat. Within each section, all the probable microhabitats of termites were searched, which include dead logs, fallen tree, branch, sticks, leaf litter, vegetation etc.,. All the castes collected were labelled, preserved in 80% alcohol, counted and identified to species level. The number of encounters of a species in the transect was used as an indicator of relative abundance of species. The species diversity, species richness, density were compared in three different habitats such as Western Ghats, semi-malnad and maidan region. The study indicated differences in the species composition in the three different habitats. A total of 15 species were recorded which belonging to four sub family and five genera in three habitats. Eleven species viz., Odontotermes obesus, O. feae, O. anamallensis, O. bellahunisensis, O. adampurensis, O. boveni, Microcerotermes fletcheri, M. pakistanicus, Nasutitermes anamalaiensis, N. indicola, N. krishna were recorded in Western Ghat region. Similarly, 11 species viz., Odontotermes obesus, O. feae, O. anamallensis, O. bellahunisensis, O. hornii, O. bhagwathi, Microtermes obesi, Microcerotermes fletcheri, M. pakistanicus, Nasutitermes indicola and Pericapritermes sp. were recorded in semi-malnad habitat. However, only four species viz., O. obesus, O. feae, Microtemes obesi and Pericapritermes sp. species were recorded in maidan area. Shannon’s wiener diversity index (H) showed that Western Ghats had more species dominance (1.56) followed by semi- malnad (1.36) and lowest in maidan (0.89) habitats. Highest value of simpson’s index (D) was observed in Western Ghats habitat (0.70) with more diverse species followed by semi-malnad (0.58) and lowest in maidan (0.53). Similarly, evenness was highest (0.65) in Western Ghats followed by maidan (0.64) and least in semi-malnad habitat (0.54). Menhinick’s index (Dmn) value was ranging from 0.03 to 0.06 in different habitats in the study area. Highest index was observed in Western Ghats (0.06) followed by semi-malnad (0.05) and lowest in maidan (0.03). The study conclusively demonstrated that Western Ghat had highest species diversity compared to semi-malnad and maidan habitat indicating these two habitats are continuously subjected to anthropogenic disturbances. Efforts are needed to conserve the uncommon species which otherwise may become extinct due to human activities.

Keywords: anthropogenic disturbance, isoptera, termite species diversity, Western ghats

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Authors: Siti Noor Syahirah Mohd Sabri

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The oil and gas industry is committed to net zero carbon emissions because the consequences of climate change could be catastrophic unless responded to very soon. One way of reducing CO₂ emissions is to inject it into a depleted reservoir buried underground. This greenhouse gas reduction technique significantly reduces CO₂ released into the atmosphere. In general, depleted oil and gas reservoirs provide readily available sites for the storage of CO₂ in offshore areas. This is mainly due to the hydrocarbons have been optimally produced and the existence of voids for effective CO₂ storage. Hence, make it a good candidate for a CO₂ well injector location. Geological storage sites are often evaluated in terms of capacity, injectivity and containment. Leakage through the cap rock or existing well is the main concern in the depleted fields. In order to develop these fields as CO₂ storage sites, the long-term integrity of wells drilled in these oil & gas fields must be ascertained to ensure good CO₂ containment. Well, integrity is often defined as the ability to contain fluids without significant leakage through the project lifecycle. Most plugged and abandoned (P & A) wells in Peninsular Malaysia have drilled 20 – 30 years ago and were not designed to withstand downhole conditions having >50%vol CO₂ and CO₂/H₂O mixture. In addition, Corrosive-Resistant Alloy (CRA) tubular and CO₂-resistant cement was not used during good construction. The reservoir pressure and temperature conditions may have further degraded the material strength and elevated the corrosion rate. Understanding all the uncertainties that may have affected cement-casing bonds, such as the quality of cement behind the casing, subsidence effect, corrosion rate, etc., is the first step toward well integrity evaluation. Secondly, proper quantification of all the uncertainties involved needs to be done to ensure long-term underground storage objectives of CO₂ are achieved. This paper will discuss challenges associated with estimating the performance of well barrier elements in existing P&A wells. Risk ranking of the existing P&A wells is to be carried out in order to ensure the integrity of the storage site is maintained for long-term CO₂ storage. High-risk existing P&A wells are to be re-entered to restore good integrity and to reduce future leakage that may happen. In addition, the requirement to design a fit-for-purpose monitoring and mitigation technology package for potential CO₂ leakage/seepage in the marine environment will be discussed accordingly. The holistic approach will ensure that the integrity is maintained, and CO₂ is contained underground for years to come.

Keywords: CCUS, well integrity, co₂ storage, offshore

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Authors: Edina Koch, Péter Hudacsek

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In railways transition zone is present at the boundaries of zones with different stiffness. When a train rides from an embankment onto a stiff structure, such as a bridge, tunnel or culvert, an abrupt change in the support stiffness occurs possibly inducing differential settlements. This in long term can yield to the degradation of the tracks and foundations in the transition zones. A number of techniques have been proposed or implemented to provide gradual stiffness transition at the problem zones, such as methods to ensure gradually changing pad stiffness, application of long sleepers or installation of auxiliary rails in the transition zone. Aim of the research presented in this paper is to analyze the 3D and the dynamic effects induced by the passing train over an area where significant difference in the support stiffness exists. The effects were analyzed for different arrangements associated with certain differential settlement mitigation strategies of the transition zones.

Keywords: culvert, dynamic load, HS small model, railway transition zone

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Authors: Yassine Jamoussi, Ameni Youssfi, Henda Ben Ghezala

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With the growing interest in social networking, the interaction of social actors evolved to a source of knowledge in which it becomes possible to perform context aware-reasoning. The information extraction from social networking especially Twitter and Facebook is one of the problems in this area. To extract text from social networking, we need several lexical features and large scale word clustering. We attempt to expand existing tokenizer and to develop our own tagger in order to support the incorrect words currently in existence in Facebook and Twitter. Our goal in this work is to benefit from the lexical features developed for Twitter and online conversational text in previous works, and to develop an extraction model for constructing a huge knowledge based on actions

Keywords: social networking, information extraction, part-of-speech tagging, natural language processing

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Authors: Evans V. Mauda, Stefan H. Foord, Thinandavha C. Munyai

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The greatest threat to biodiversity is a loss of habitat through landscape fragmentation and attrition. Land use changes are therefore among the most immediate drivers of species diversity. Urbanization and agriculture are the main drivers of habitat loss and transformation in the Savanna biomes of South Africa. Agricultural expansion and the intensification in particular, take place at the expense of biodiversity and will probably be the primary driver of biodiversity loss in this century. Arthropods show measurable behavioural responses to changing land mosaics at the smallest scale and heterogeneous environments are therefore predicted to support more complex and diverse biological assemblages. Ants are premier soil turners, channelers of energy and dominate insect fauna, while spiders are a mega-diverse group that can regulate other invertebrate populations. This study aims to quantify the response of these two taxa in a rural-urban mosaic of a rapidly developing communal area. The study took place in and around two villages in the north-eastern corner of South Africa. Two replicates for each of the dominant land use categories, viz. urban settlements, dryland cultivation and cattle rangelands, were set out in each of the villages and sampled during the dry and wet seasons for a total of 2 villages × 3 land use categories × 2 seasons = 24 assemblages. Local scale variables measured included vertical and horizontal habitat structure as well as structural and chemical composition of the soil. Ant richness was not affected by land use but local scale variables such as vertical vegetation structure (+) and leaf litter cover (+), although vegetation complexity at lower levels was negatively associated with ant richness. However, ant richness was largely shaped by regional and temporal processes invoking the importance of dispersal and historical processes. Spider species richness was mostly affected by land use and local conditions highlighting their landscape elements. Spider richness did not vary much between villages and across seasons and seems to be less dependent on context or history. There was a considerable amount of variation in spider richness that was not explained and this could be related to factors which were not measured in this study such as temperature and competition. For both ant and spider assemblages the constrained ordination explained 18 % of variation in these taxa. Three environmental variables (leaf litter cover, active carbon and rock cover) were important in explaining ant assemblage structure, while two (sand and leaf litter cover) were important for spider assemblage structure. This study highlights the importance of disturbance (land use activities) and leaf litter with the associated effects on ant and spider assemblages across the study area.

Keywords: ants, assemblages, biosphere, diversity, land use, spiders, urbanization

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Authors: Katherine Anson

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This paper takes a closer look at the use of day-to-day informal working practices in Latin American spatial, cultural activism against gentrification. Through a discursive analysis of the Ecuadorian communally made film documentary San Roque: A House for All (2015), and the study of the political conflict around the gentrification of the place, the essay illustrates how the purposeful showcase of indigenous uses of space claims ownership over the city’s downtown area. This argument concludes that by making visible everyday indigenous ways of production in relation to space, the video contests the neoliberalist aim to proletarianize the urban poor, and therefore, to transform them into a landless group. This approach demonstrates that through representations of their own cultural working practices grassroots organizations consciously deconstruct/contest the capitalist urbanization of space.

Keywords: cultural activism, gentrification, indigenous working traditions, neoliberalism, urban displacement, everyday forms of resistance

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Authors: Byron Baron

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Malta is a Mediterranean archipelago presenting a combination of environmental conditions which are less suitable for agriculture. This has resulted in a heavy dependence on agricultural chemicals, as well as over-extraction of groundwater, compounded by concomitant destruction of natural habitat surrounding the land areas used for agriculture. Such prolonged intensive land use has resulted in even greater degradation of Maltese soils. This study was thus designed with the goal of assessing the viability of implementing a sustainable agricultural system based on permaculture practices compared to the traditional local practices applied for intensive farming. The permaculture model was implemented over a period of two years for a number of locally-grown staple crops. The tangible targets included improved soil health, reduced water consumption, increased reliance on renewable energy, increased wild plant and insect diversity, and sustained crop yield. To achieve this in the permaculture test area, numerous practices were introduced. In line with permaculture principles land, tillage was reduced, only natural fertilisers were used, no herbicides or pesticides were used, irrigation was linked to a desalination system with sensors for monitoring soil parameters, mulching was practiced, and a photovoltaic system was installed. Furthermore, areas for wild plants were increased and controlled only by trimming, not mowing. A variety of environmental parameters were measured at regular intervals as well as crop yield (in kilos of produce) in order to quantify if any improvements in crop output and environmental conditions were obtained. The results obtained show a very slight improvement in overall soil health due to the brevity of the test period. Water consumption was reduced by over 50% with no apparent losses or ill effects on the crops. Renewable energy was sufficient to provide all electric power on-site, so apart from the initial investment costs, there were no limitations. Moreover, surrounding the commercial crops with borders of wild plants whilst only taking up less than 15% of the total land area assisted pollination, increased animal visitors, and did not give rise to any pest infestations. The conclusion from this study was that whilst results are promising, more detailed and long-term studies are required to understand the full extent of the implications brought about by such a transition, which hints towards the untapped potential of investing in the available resources on the island with the goal of improving the balance between economic prosperity and ecological sustainability.

Keywords: agronomic measures, ecological amplification, sustainability, permaculture

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Authors: Maha J. Balgoon, Gehan A. Raouf, Safaa Y. Qusti, Soad S. Ali

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The main cause of Alzheimer disease (AD) was believed to be mainly due to the accumulation of free radicals owing to oxidative stress (OS) in brain tissue. The mechanism of the neurotoxicity of Aluminum chloride (AlCl3) induced AD in hippocampus Albino wister rat brain tissue, the curative & the protective effects of Lipidium sativum group (LS) water extract were assessed after 8 weeks by attenuated total reflection spectroscopy ATR-IR and histologically by light microscope. ATR-IR results revealed that the membrane phospholipid undergo free radical attacks, mediated by AlCl3, primary affects the polyunsaturated fatty acids indicated by the increased of the olefinic -C=CH sub-band area around 3012 cm-1 from the curve fitting analysis. The narrowing in the half band width(HBW) of the sνCH2 sub-band around 2852 cm-1 due to Al intoxication indicates the presence of trans form fatty acids rather than gauch rotomer. The degradation of hydrocarbon chain to shorter chain length, increasing in membrane fluidity, disorder and decreasing in lipid polarity in AlCl3 group were indicated by the detected changes in certain calculated area ratios compared to the control. Administration of LS was greatly improved these parameters compared to the AlCl3 group. Al influences the Aβ aggregation and plaque formation, which in turn interferes to and disrupts the membrane structure. The results also showed a marked increase in the β-parallel and antiparallel structure, that characterize the Aβ formation in Al-induced AD hippocampal brain tissue, indicated by the detected increase in both amide I sub-bands around 1674, 1692 cm-1. This drastic increase in Aβ formation was greatly reduced in the curative and protective groups compared to the AlCl3 group and approaches nearly the control values. These results were supported too by the light microscope. AlCl3 group showed significant marked degenerative changes in hippocampal neurons. Most cells appeared small, shrieked and deformed. Interestingly, the administration of LS in curative and protective groups markedly decreases the amount of degenerated cells compared to the non-treated group. Also the intensity of congo red stained cells was decreased. Hippocampal neurons looked more/or less similar to those of control. This study showed a promising therapeutic effect of Lipidium sativum group (LS) on AD rat model that seriously overcome the signs of oxidative stress on membrane lipid and restore the protein misfolding.

Keywords: aluminum chloride, alzheimer disease, ATR-IR, Lipidium sativum

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