Search results for: student industrial placement

Authors: Rangoli Goyal, Rama Bhargava

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The triple diffusive boundary layer flow of nanofluid under the action of constant magnetic field over a non-linear stretching sheet has been investigated numerically. The model includes the effect of Brownian motion, thermophoresis, and cross-diffusion; slip mechanisms which are primarily responsible for the enhancement of the convective features of nanofluid. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations (by using group theory transformations) and solved numerically by using variational finite element method. The effects of various controlling parameters, such as the magnetic influence number, thermophoresis parameter, Brownian motion parameter, modified Dufour parameter, and Dufour solutal Lewis number, on the fluid flow as well as on heat and mass transfer coefficients (both of solute and nanofluid) are presented graphically and discussed quantitatively. The present study has industrial applications in aerodynamic extrusion of plastic sheets, coating and suspensions, melt spinning, hot rolling, wire drawing, glass-fibre production, and manufacture of polymer and rubber sheets, where the quality of the desired product depends on the stretching rate as well as external field including magnetic effects.

Keywords: FEM, thermophoresis, diffusiophoresis, Brownian motion

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Authors: Naseer Ahmad

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This research investigates the intricate dynamics of language policy, ideology, and the choice of educational language as a medium of instruction in rural Pakistan. Focused on addressing the complexities of language practices in underexplored educational contexts, the study employed a case study approach, analyzing interviews with education authorities, teachers, and students, alongside classroom observations in English-medium and Urdu-medium rural schools. The research underscores the significance of understanding linguistic diversity within rural communities. The analysis of interviews and classroom observations revealed that language policies in rural schools are influenced by multiple factors, including historical legacies, societal language ideologies, and government directives. The dominance of Urdu and English as the preferred languages of instruction reflected a broader language hierarchy, where regional languages are often marginalized. This language ideology perpetuates a sense of linguistic inferiority among students who primarily speak regional languages. The impact of language choices on students' learning experiences and outcomes is a central focus of the research. It became evident that while policies advocate for specific language practices, the implementation often diverges due to multifarious socio-cultural, economic, and institutional factors. This disparity significantly impacts the effectiveness of educational processes, influencing pedagogical approaches, student engagement, academic outcomes, social mobility, and language choices. Based on the findings, the study concluded that due to policy and practice gap, rural people have complex perceptions and language choices. They perceived Urdu as a national, lingua franca, cultural, easy, or low-status language. They perceived English as an international, lingua franca, modern, difficult, or high-status language. They perceived other languages as mother tongue, local, religious, or irrelevant languages. This research provided insights that are crucial for theory, policy, and practice, addressing educational inequities and inclusive language policies. It set the stage for further research and advocacy efforts in the realm of language policies in diverse educational settings.

Keywords: language-in-education policy, language ideology, educational language choice, pakistan

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Authors: Yooseo Pang, Jongwoong Choi, Yong Cho, Yongchae Jeong

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Climate crisis, such as environmental problems related to energy supply, is getting emerged issues, so the use of renewable energy is essentially required to solve these problems, which are mainly managed by the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate change. The government of the Republic of Korea announced that the key long-term goal for a low-carbon strategy is “Carbon neutrality by 2050”. It is focused on the role of the internet data centers (IDC) in which large amounts of data, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data as an impact of the 4th industrial revolution, are managed. The demand for the cooling system market for IDC was about 9 billion US dollars in 2020, and 15.6% growth a year is expected in Korea. It is important to control the temperature in IDC with an efficient air conditioning system, so hydrothermal energy is one of the best options for saving energy in the cooling system. In order to save energy and optimize the operating conditions, it has been considered to apply ‘the dam deep water air conditioning system. Deep water at a specific level from the dam can supply constant water temperature year-round. It will be tested & analyzed the amount of energy saving with a pilot plant that has 100RT cooling capacity. Also, a target of this project is 1.2 PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) which is the key parameter to check the efficiency of the cooling system.

Keywords: hydrothermal energy, HVAC, internet data center, free-cooling

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Authors: Genevieve Lim, Arthur Shelley, Dongcheol Heo

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Abstract—Mobile technologies can enhance the learning process as it enables social engagement around concepts beyond the classroom and the curriculum. Early results in this ongoing research is showing that when learning interventions are designed specifically to generate new insights, mobile devices support regulated learning and encourage learners to collaborate, socialize and co-create new knowledge. As students navigate across the space and time boundaries, the fundamental social nature of learning transforms into mobile computer supported collaborative learning (mCSCL). The metacognitive interaction in mCSCL via mobile applications reflects the regulation of learning among the students. These metacognitive experiences whether self-, co- or shared-regulated are significant to the learning outcomes. Despite some insightful empirical studies, there has not yet been significant research that investigates the actual practice and processes of the new knowledge co-creation. This leads to question as to whether mobile learning provides a new channel to leverage learning? Alternatively, does mobile interaction create new types of learning experiences and how do these experiences co-create new knowledge. The purpose of this research is to explore these questions and seek evidence to support one or the other. This paper addresses these questions from the students’ perspective to understand how students interact when constructing knowledge in mCSCL and how students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies support the co-creation of new knowledge in mCSCL. A pilot study has been conducted among international undergraduates to understand students’ perspective of mobile learning and concurrently develops a definition in an appropriate context. Using classroom action research (CAR) with multiple case studies, this study is being carried out in a private university in Thailand to narrow the research gaps in mCSCL and SRL. The findings will allow teachers to see the importance of social interaction for meaningful student engagement and envisage learning outcomes from a knowledge management perspective and what role mobile devices can play in these. The findings will signify important indicators for academics to rethink what is to be learned and how it should be learned. Ultimately, the study will bring new light into the co-creation of new knowledge in a social interactive learning environment and challenges teachers to embrace the 21st century of learning with mobile technologies to deepen and extend learning opportunities.

Keywords: mobile computer supported collaborative learning, mobile instant messaging, mobile learning, new knowledge co-creation, self-regulated learning

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Authors: S. Assylbekova, D. Zolotareva, A. Dauletbakov, Ye. Belyankova, S. Bayazit, A. Basharimova, A. Zazybin, A. Isimberlenova, A. Kakimova, M. Aydemir, A. Kairullinova

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Transfer hydrogenation (TH) is a key process in organic chemistry, especially in pharmaceutical and agrochemical synthesis, offering a safer and more sustainable approach compared to traditional methods. This work is devoted to the synthesis and use of ruthenium catalysts containing phosphinite ligands in TH reactions. Ruthenium complexes are particularly noteworthy for their effectiveness in asymmetric TH. Their stability and adaptability to different reaction environments make them ideal for both laboratory-scale and industrial applications. Phosphinite ligands (P(OR)R'2) are used in the synthesis of complexes to improve their properties. These ligands are known for their ability to finely tune the electronic and steric properties of metal centers. The electron-donating nature of the phosphorus atom, combined with the variability in the R and R' groups, allows for significant customization of the catalyst's properties. The purpose and difference of the work is to study the incorporation of a hydrophilic ionic liquid into the composition of a phosphinite ligand, which will then be converted into a catalyst. The technique involves the synthesis of a phosphinite ligand with an ionic liquid at room temperature under an inert atmosphere and then a ruthenium complex. Next, the TH reactions of acetophenone and its derivatives are carried out using the resulting catalyst. The conversion of ketone to alcohol is analyzed using a gas chromatograph. This study contributes to the understanding of the influence of catalyst physico-chemical properties on transfer hydrogenation results.

Keywords: transfer hydrogenation, ruthenium, catalysts, phosphinite ligands

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Authors: Jin-Hee Kim

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The way that globalization distinguishes itself from the previous changes is scope and intensity of changes, which together affect many parts of a nation’s system. In this way, globalization has its relation with the concept of ‘internationalization’ in that a nation state formulates a set of strategies in many areas of its governance to actively react to it. In short, globalization is a ‘catalyst,’ and internationalization is a ‘response’. In this regard, the field of higher education is one of the representative cases that globalization has several consequences that change the terrain of national policy-making. Started and been dominated mainly by the Western world, it has now been expanded to the ‘late movers,’ such as Asia-Pacific countries. The case of internationalization of Korean higher education is, therefore, located in a unique place in this arena. Yet Korea still is one of the major countries of sending its students to the so-called, ‘first world.’ On the other hand, it has started its effort to recruit international students from the world to its higher education system. After new Millennium, particularly, internationalization of higher education has been launched in its full-scale and gradually been one of the important global policy agenda, striving in both ways by opening its turf to foreign educational service providers and recruiting prospective students from other countries. Particularly the latter, recruiting international students, has been highlighted under the government project named ‘Study Korea,’ launched in 2004. Not only global, but also local issues and motivations were based to launch this nationwide project. Bringing international students means various desirable economic outcomes such as reducing educational deficit as well as utilizing them in Korean industry after the completion of their study, to name a few. In addition, in a similar vein, Korea's higher education institutes have started to have a new comers of adult learners. When it comes to the questions regarding the quality and access of this new learning agency, the answer is quite tricky. This study will investigate the different dimension of education provision and learning process to empower diverse group regardless of nationality, race, class and gender in Korea. Listening to the voices of international students and adult learning as non-traditional participants in a changing Korean higher educational space not only benefit students themselves, but Korean stakeholders who should try to accommodate more comprehensive and fair educational provisions for more and more diversifying groups of learners.

Keywords: education equity, access, globalisation, international students, adult learning, learning support

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Authors: Endalamaw Ewnu Kassa, Ade Kurniawan, Ya-Fen Wu, Sajal Biring

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Perovskite-based gas sensors represent a highly promising materials within the realm of gas sensing technology, with a particular focus on detecting ammonia (NH3) due to its potential hazards. Our work conducted thorough comparison of various solvents, including dimethylformamide (DMF), DMF-dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylacetamide (DMAC), and DMAC-DMSO, for the preparation of our perovskite solution (MAPbI3). Significantly, we achieved an exceptional response at 10 ppm of ammonia gas by employing a binary solvent mixture of DMAC-DMSO. In contrast to prior reports that relied on single solvents for MAPbI3 precursor preparation, our approach using mixed solvents demonstrated a marked improvement in gas sensing performance. We attained enhanced surface coverage, a reduction in pinhole occurrences, and precise control over grain size in our perovskite films through the careful selection and mixtures of appropriate solvents. This study shows a promising potential of employing binary and multi-solvent mixture strategies as a means to propel advancements in gas sensor technology, opening up new opportunities for practical applications in environmental monitoring and industrial safety.

Keywords: sensors, binary solvents, ammonia, sensitivity, grain size, pinholes, surface coverage

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Authors: Mária Hudáková, Mária Lusková

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This report is focused on widening the theoretical knowledge as well as controlling practical application from the risk management point of view, regarding to dynamic business changes that have occurred in Slovakia which recently has been considered to be an environment full of risk and uncertainty. The idea of the report is the proposal of the controlling operation model in the course of risk management process in an enterprise operating in Slovakia, by which the controller is able to identify early risk factors in suggested major areas of the business management upon appropriate business information integration, consecutive control and prognoses and to prepare in time full-value documents in order to suggest measures for reduction thereof. Dealing with risk factors, that can quickly limit the growth potential of the enterprise, is an essential part of managerial activities on each level. This is the reason why mutual unofficial, ergo collegial cooperation of individual departments is necessary for controlling application from the business risk management point of view. An important part of the report is elaborated survey of the most important risk factors existing in major management areas of enterprises operating in Slovakia. The outcome of the performed survey is a catalogue of the most important enterprise risk factors. The catalogue serves for better understanding risk factors affecting the Slovak enterprises, their importance and evaluation.

Keywords: controlling, information, risks, risk factor, crisis

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Authors: Tony Ngoy Mbodi, Christophe Muanda

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

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

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Authors: S. A. N. Danushka, T. A. Weerasinghe

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The diverse necessities of instruction could be addressed effectively with the support of new dimensions of ICT integrated learning such as blended learning –which is a combination of face-to-face and online instruction which ensures greater flexibility in student learning and congruity of course delivery. As blended learning has been the ‘new normality' in education, many experimental and quasi-experimental research studies provide ample of evidence on its successful implementation in many fields of studies, but it is hard to justify whether blended learning could work similarly in the delivery of technology-teacher development programmes (TTDPs). The present study is bound with the particular research uncertainty, and having considered existing research approaches, the study methodology was set to decide the efficient instructional strategies for flipped classroom learning in TTDPs. In a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design with a mix-method research approach, the major study objective was tested with two heterogeneous samples (N=135) identified in a virtual learning environment in a Sri Lankan university. Non-randomized informal ‘before-and-after without control group’ design was employed, and two data collection methods, identical pre-test and post-test and Likert-scale questionnaires were used in the study. Selected two instructional strategies, self-directed learning (SDL) and self-regulated learning (SRL), were tested in an appropriate instructional framework with two heterogeneous samples (pre-service and in-service teachers). Data were statistically analyzed, and an efficient instructional strategy was decided via t-test, ANOVA, ANCOVA. The effectiveness of the two instructional strategy implementation models was decided via multiple linear regression analysis. ANOVA (p < 0.05) shows that age, prior-educational qualifications, gender, and work-experiences do not impact on learning achievements of the two diverse groups of learners through the instructional strategy is changed. ANCOVA (p < 0.05) analysis shows that SDL is efficient for two diverse groups of technology-teachers than SRL. Multiple linear regression (p < 0.05) analysis shows that the staged self-directed learning (SSDL) model and four-phased model of motivated self-regulated learning (COPES Model) are efficient in the delivery of course content in flipped classroom learning.

Keywords: COPES model, flipped classroom learning, self-directed learning, self-regulated learning, SSDL model

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Authors: Mariana Fernandes

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Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC) has adopted a policy of inclusion and equity and the promotion of health and academic well-being, reinforcing measures already implemented in previous years, but also with the inclusion of new inclusion and equity policies that allow access, throughout all students, to Higher Education (ES). The Inclusive School project, the Plan for Equality, the IPVC's own Regulations for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and the support guaranteed by the Health and Wellbeing Office, Academic Services, and teaching staff are some of the examples of the varied strategies that IPVC undertakes to guarantee effective conditions so that students with disabilities can enter ES and experience a positive academic experience. This study's main objective is to reflect and disseminate the inclusion practices that IPVC practices with regard to Students with SEN. To this, a consultation and documentary analysis of internal documentation was carried out, consultation of the IPVC Quality Management System (QMS) process and, also, using the report referring to the ENEE questionnaire implemented in the year 2023, this report which presents the opinion of IPVC students with SEN, whether with support throughout the ENEE application submission process, with response deadlines, with the Individual Support Plan, as well as with physical and technological accessibility and communication. The results obtained show IPVC's effective commitment to this topic, in addition to the entire circuit created to guarantee equitable access for these students from the moment they join IPVC, a circuit that involves various human resources and( s) its sensitivity to this topic, it also promoted, through the Health and Wellbeing Office, the restructuring of the IPVC ENEE Regulation itself based on the needs and challenges felt in monitoring these students, the innovation of the services themselves of health and consequent awareness of all surrounding resources and services (from the Management, to the teaching staff and academic services). Currently, there is already an Individual Pedagogical Support Plan (PIAP), frequent meetings with the Reception Group, Psychology consultations – both clinically and educationally – and a growing concern in listening to the student community to improve the process. Based on these results, it is concluded that IPVC is an institution sensitive to promoting a positive, equitable, and, above all, inclusive higher education path.

Keywords: special educational needs, inclusion, equity, equality

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Authors: Abdulmohsen Alghadeer, Fahad Al Mahashir, Loai Al Owa, Najim Alshahrani

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Electrical continuity of steel structure members is an essential condition to ensure equipotential and ultimately to protect personnel and assets in industrial facilities. The steel structure is electrically connected to provide a low resistance path to earth through equipotential bonding to prevent sparks and fires in the event of fault currents and avoid malfunction of the plant with detrimental consequences to the local and global environment. The oil and gas industry is commonly establishing steel structure electrical continuity by bare surface connection of coated steel members. This paper presents information pertaining to a real case of exploring and applying different techniques to achieve the electrical continuity in erecting steel structures at a gas plant facility. A project was supplied with fully coated steel members even at the surface connection members that cause electrical discontinuity. This was observed while a considerable number of steel members had already been received at the job site and erected. This made the resolution of the case to use different techniques such as bolt tightening and torqueing, chemical paint stripping and single point jumpers. These techniques are studied with comparative analysis related to their applicability, workability, time and cost advantages and disadvantages.

Keywords: coated Steel, electrical continuity, equipotential bonding, galvanized steel, gas plant facility, lightning protection, steel structure

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Authors: Violina R. Angelova, Radka V. Ivanova, Givko M. Todorov, Krasimir I. Ivanov

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A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Salvia sclarea L. for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. The experiment was performed on an agricultural fields contaminated by the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The content of heavy metals in different parts of Salvia sclarea L. (roots, stems, leaves and inflorescences) was determined by ICP. The essential oil of the Salvia sclarea L. was obtained by steam distillation in laboratory conditions and was analyzed for heavy metals and its chemical composition was determined. Salvia sclarea L. is a plant which is tolerant to heavy metals and can be grown on contaminated soils. Based on the obtained results and using the most common criteria, Salvia sclarea L. can be classified as Pb hyperaccumulator and Cd and Zn accumulators, therefore, this plant has suitable potential for the phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soils. Favorable is also the fact that heavy metals do not influence the development of the Salvia sclarea L., as well as on the quality and quantity of the essential oil. For clary sage oil obtained from the processing of clary sage grown on highly contaminated soils, its key odour-determining ingredients meet the quality requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia and BS ISO 7609 regarding Bulgarian clary sage oil and/or have values that are close to the limits of these standards. The possibility of further industrial processing will make Salvia sclarea L. an economically interesting crop for farmers of phytoextraction technology.

Keywords: clary sage, heavy metals, phytoremediation, polluted soils

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Authors: M. Ezkurra, J. A. Esnaola, M. Martinez-Agirre, U. Etxeberria, U. Lertxundi, L. Colomo, M. Begiristain, I. Zurutuza

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Butterfly valves are widely used industrial piping components as on-off and flow controlling devices. The main challenge in the design process of this type of valves is the correct dimensioning to ensure proper mechanical performance as well as to minimise flow losses that affect the efficiency of the system. Butterfly valves are typically dimensioned in a closed position based on mechanical approaches considering uniform hydrostatic pressure, whereas the flow losses are analysed by means of CFD simulations. The main limitation of these approaches is that they do not consider either the influence of the dynamics of the manoeuvring stage or coupled phenomena. Recent works have included the influence of the flow on the mechanical behaviour for different opening angles by means of one-way FSI approach. However, these works consider steady-state flow for the selected angles, not capturing the effect of the transient flow evolution during the manoeuvring stage. Two-way FSI modelling approach could allow overcoming such limitations providing more accurate results. Nevertheless, the use of this technique is limited due to the increase in the computational cost. In the present work, the applicability of FSI one-way and two-way approaches is evaluated for the analysis of butterfly valves, showing that not considering fluid-structure coupling involves not capturing the most critical situation for the valve disc.

Keywords: butterfly valves, fluid-structure interaction, one-way approach, two-way approach

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Authors: N. Mahmoudnia, M. Khormali

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This experiment was conducted to determine the apparent protein digestibility of poultry byproduct meal (PBPM) from two industrial poultry slaughter-houses on Ross 308 male broiler chickens in independent comparisons. The experiment consisted of seven dietary treatments and three replicates per treatment with three broiler chickens per replicate in a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments consisted of a control corn- soybean diet, and levels 3, 6, and 9% PBPM produced by slaughter-house 1 and levels 3, 6, and 9% PBPM produced by slaughter house 2. Chromic oxide was added to the experimental diets as an indigestible marker. The apparent protein digestibility of each diet were determined with two methods of sample collection of ileum and excreta in 21-28 d of age. The results this experiment showed that use of PBPM had no significant effect on the performance of broiler chicks during period of experiments. The apparent protein digestibility of PBPM groups was significantly higher than control group by excreta sampling procedure (P<0.05). Using of PBPM 2 significantly (P<0.05) decreased the apparent protein digestibility values based on ileum sampling procedure vs control (85.21 vs. 90.14).Based results of this experiment,it is possible to use of PBPM 1 in broiler chicken.

Keywords: poultry by-product meal, apparent protein digestibility, independed comparison, broiler chicken

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Authors: Jennifer Gallup, Joel Bocanegra, Greg Callan, Abigail Vaughn

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Students with disabilities (SWD) engaged in a distance summer program delivered over multiple virtual mediums that used gaming principles to teach and practice self-regulated learning (SRL) through the process of exploring possible jobs. Gaming quests were developed to explore jobs and teach transition skills. Students completed specially designed quests that taught and reinforced SRL and problem-solving through individual, group, and teacher-led experiences. SRL skills learned were reinforced through guided job explorations over the context of MinecraftEDU, zoom with experts in the career, collaborations with a team over Marco Polo, and Zoom. The quests were developed and laid out on an accessible web page, with active learning opportunities and feedback conducted within multiple virtual mediums including MinecraftEDU. Gaming mediums actively engage players in role-playing, problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. Gaming has been used as a medium for education since the inception of formal education. Games, and specifically board games, are pre-historic, meaning we had board games before we had written language. Today, games are widely used in education, often as a reinforcer for behavior or for rewards for work completion. Games are not often used as a direct method of instruction and assessment; however, the inclusion of games as an assessment tool and as a form of instruction increases student engagement and participation. Games naturally include collaboration, problem-solving, and communication. Therefore, our summer program was developed using gaming principles and MinecraftEDU. This manuscript describes a virtual learning summer program called Virtual Academy New and Exciting Transitions (VAN) that was redesigned from a face-to-face setting to a completely online setting with a focus on SWD aged 14-21. The focus of VAN was to address transition planning needs such as problem-solving skills, self-regulation, interviewing, job exploration, and communication for transition-aged youth diagnosed with various disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder).

Keywords: autism, disabilities, transition, summer program, gaming, simulations

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Authors: S. Ngcinela, A. Mushunje, A. Taruvinga, C. S. Mutengwa, T. S. Masehela

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There is high demand and competing needs when it comes to land use practices. Several factors contribute to this trend, for example, the ever-increasing human population, the need to produce more food than before, and the expansion of industrial and agricultural areas. This paper, focused on the cultivation patterns, land use change over time, of maize and soybean (i.e. both genetically modified and non-genetically modified) in two South African provinces to establish their land cover changes over time. From a global context, genetically modified crops have been advocated by some to be saving land – due to more yield over small cultivation area(s); while other argue and even criticise their cultivation as they take up more land, replace other crops or are the expense of natural (pristine) vegetation. The study quantified and mapped land used for the cultivation of maize and soybean from 2006 to 2017 in Free State and North West provinces, using ArcGIS. The results show both provinces to have minimal expansion or change in cultivation area for both maize and soybean between 2006 and 2017. The results further indicate that both maize and soybean cultivation areas in these provinces, did not expand beyond the current agricultural areas (space), and did not encroach onto new land areas. This suggests that both maize and soybean, do not currently pose a threat to the surrounding landscape and are not in direct coemption with other neighboring land use practices.

Keywords: agriculture, crops, cultivation, genetically modified, land use, maize, soybean

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Authors: Ana Elvira Ojanguren Lopez, Javier Martin Arista

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The aims of this paper are to present the automatisation procedure adopted in the implementation of a parallel corpus of Old English, as well as, to assess the progress of automatisation with respect to tagging, annotation, and lemmatisation. The corpus consists of an aligned parallel text with word-for-word comparison Old English-English that provides the Old English segment with inflectional form tagging (gloss, lemma, category, and inflection) and lemma annotation (spelling, meaning, inflectional class, paradigm, word-formation and secondary sources). This parallel corpus is intended to fill a gap in the field of Old English, in which no parallel and/or lemmatised corpora are available, while the average amount of corpus annotation is low. With this background, this presentation has two main parts. The first part, which focuses on tagging and annotation, selects the layouts and fields of lexical databases that are relevant for these tasks. Most information used for the annotation of the corpus can be retrieved from the lexical and morphological database Nerthus and the database of secondary sources Freya. These are the sources of linguistic and metalinguistic information that will be used for the annotation of the lemmas of the corpus, including morphological and semantic aspects as well as the references to the secondary sources that deal with the lemmas in question. Although substantially adapted and re-interpreted, the lemmatised part of these databases draws on the standard dictionaries of Old English, including The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, and A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. The second part of this paper deals with lemmatisation. It presents the lemmatiser Norna, which has been implemented on Filemaker software. It is based on a concordance and an index to the Dictionary of Old English Corpus, which comprises around three thousand texts and three million words. In its present state, the lemmatiser Norna can assign lemma to around 80% of textual forms on an automatic basis, by searching the index and the concordance for prefixes, stems and inflectional endings. The conclusions of this presentation insist on the limits of the automatisation of dictionary-based annotation in a parallel corpus. While the tagging and annotation are largely automatic even at the present stage, the automatisation of alignment is pending for future research. Lemmatisation and morphological tagging are expected to be fully automatic in the near future, once the database of secondary sources Freya and the lemmatiser Norna have been completed.

Keywords: corpus linguistics, historical linguistics, old English, parallel corpus

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Authors: Iman Nazari, Behrouz Shaabani, Ali Ramouz

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Regarding to the dramatic rise of cancer prevalence of cancers in Iran and also base on the investigations around environmental factors which causes cancer, The air and water pollution is in high level in Iran’s capital city this issue motivated us to start an investigation on concentration of heavy metals and nitrate in Tehran’s Tap water, additionally we investigated the effects of this contaminations on public health, it is clear that heavy metals and also nitrate are causes cancers directly and indirectly, we divided the city to four districts: (1) North, (2) East, (3) West, (4) South and totally collected over 30 samples from noted districts, we obvious difference in concentrations, after a study we founded the reasons of this difference, the old distribution system, non-standard sewage disposal system, travel up from contaminated rains, releasing industrial wastes waters without any pretreatment, the most important one is the old distribution system, Tehran is an old city hence distribution system is old too we know that the old water pipes were built from alloys which containing several of this harmful heavy metals, releasing of this heavy metals from pipes to the tap water is one of the most Important reasons, as the result we presented the concentrations by districts and the alternatives to decreasing the level of this contaminations.

Keywords: water quality, heavy metals, drinking water, environmental toxinology

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Authors: Gizem Buldum, Alexander Bismarck, Athanasios Mantalaris

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Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on earth and it is currently being utilised in a multitude of industrial applications. Over the last 30 years, attention has been paid to the bacterial cellulose (BC), since BC exhibits unique physical, chemical and mechanical properties when compared to plant-based cellulose, including high purity and biocompatibility. Although Acetobacter xylinum is the most efficient producer of BC, it’s long doubling time results in insufficient yields of the cellulose production. This limits widespread and continued use of BC. In this study, E. coli BL21 (DE3) or E. coli HMS cells are selected as host organisms for the expression of bacterial cellulose synthase operon (bcs) of A.xylinum. The expression system is created based on pET-Duet1 and pCDF plasmid vectors, which carry bcs operon. The results showed that all bcs genes were successfully transferred and expressed in E.coli strains. The expressions of bcs proteins were shown by SDS and Native page analyses. The functionality of the bcs operon was proved by congo red binding assay. The effect of culturing temperature and the inducer concentration (IPTG) on cell growth and plasmid stability were monitored. The percentage of plasmid harboring cells induced with 0.025 mM IPTG was obtained as 85% at 22˚C in the end of 10-hr culturing period. It was confirmed that the high output cellulose production machinery of A.xylinum can be transferred into other organisms.

Keywords: bacterial cellulose, biopolymer, recombinant expression system, production

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Authors: Balamurali Gunji, B. B. V. L. Deepak, B. B. Biswal, Amrutha Rout, Golak Bihari Mohanta

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Robots play an important role in the operations like pick and place, assembly, spot welding and much more in manufacturing industries. Out of those, assembly is a very important process in manufacturing, where 20% of manufacturing cost is wholly occupied by the assembly process. To do the assembly task effectively, Assembly Sequences Planning (ASP) is required. ASP is one of the multi-objective non-deterministic optimization problems, achieving the optimal assembly sequence involves huge search space and highly complex in nature. Many researchers have followed different algorithms to solve ASP problem, which they have several limitations like the local optimal solution, huge search space, and execution time is more, complexity in applying the algorithm, etc. By keeping the above limitations in mind, in this paper, a new automated optimal robotic assembly sequence planning using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, automatic extraction of assembly predicates is done using Computer Aided Design (CAD) interface instead of extracting the assembly predicates manually. Due to this, the time of extraction of assembly predicates to obtain the feasible assembly sequence is reduced. The fitness evaluation of the obtained feasible sequence is carried out using ABC algorithm to generate the optimal assembly sequence. The proposed methodology is applied to different industrial products and compared the results with past literature.

Keywords: assembly sequence planning, CAD, artificial Bee colony algorithm, assembly predicates

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Authors: Hanish Mohammed, C. H. Muthukumar Muthuchamy

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The advancement in the science and technology has made it possible to convert electrical energy into any desired form. It has given electrical energy a place of pride in the modern world. The survival of industrial undertakings and our social structure depends primarily upon low cost and uninterrupted supply of electrical energy. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising and emerging technique for sustainable bioelectricity generation and wastewater treatment. MFCs are devices which are capable of converting organic matter to electricity/hydrogen with help of microorganisms. Different kinds of wastewater could be used in this technique, distillery effluent is one of the most troublesome and complex and strong organic effluent with high chemical oxygen demand of 1,53,846 mg/L. A single cell MFC unit was designed and fabricated for the distillery effluent treatment and to generate electricity. Due to the high COD value of the distillery effluent helped in the production of energy for 74 days. The highest voltage got from the fuel cell is 206 mV on the 30th day. A maximum power density obtained from the MFC was 9.8 mW, treatment efficiency was evaluated in terms of COD removal and other parameters. COD removal efficiencies were around 68.5 % and other parameters such as Total Hardness (81.5%), turbidity (70 %), chloride (66%), phosphate (79.5%), Nitrate (77%) and sulphate (71%). MFC using distillery effluent is a promising new unexplored substrate for the power generation and sustainable treatment technique through harnessing of bioelectricity.

Keywords: microbial fuel cell (MFC), bioelectricity, distillery effluent, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Tunde Szecsi, Janka Szilagyi

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Students majoring in education are underrepresented in undergraduate scholarship. To enable and encourage teacher candidates to engage in scholarly activities, it is essential to infuse skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, oral and written communication, collaboration and the utilization of information literacy, into courses in teacher preparation programs. In this empirical study, we examined two teacher education programs – one in New York State and one in Florida – in terms of the approaches of the course-based infusion of skills for undergraduate research, and the effectiveness of this infusion. First, course-related documents such as syllabi, assignment descriptions, and course activities were reviewed and analyzed. The goal of the document analysis was to identify and describe the targeted skills, and the pedagogical approaches and strategies for promoting research skills in teacher candidates. Next, a selection of teacher candidates’ scholarly products from the institution in Florida was used as a data set to examine teacher candidates’ skill development in the context of the identified assignments. This dataset was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively to describe the changes that occurred in teacher candidates’ critical thinking, communication, and information literacy skills, and to uncover patterns in the skill development at the two institutions. Descriptive statistics were calculated to explore the changes in these skills of teacher candidates over a period of three years. The findings based on data from the teacher education program in Florida indicated a steady gain in written communication and critical thinking and a modest increase in informational literacy. At the institution in New York, candidates’ submission and success rates on the edTPA, a New York State Teacher Certification exam, was used as a measure of scholarly skills. Overall, although different approaches were used for infusing the development of scholarly skills in the courses, the results suggest that a holistic and well-orchestrated infusion of the skills into most courses in the teacher education program might result in steadily developing scholarly skills. These results offered essential implications for teacher education programs in terms of further improvements in teacher candidates’ skills for engaging in undergraduate research and scholarship. In this presentation, our purpose is to showcase two approaches developed by two teacher education programs to demonstrate how diverse approaches toward the promotion of undergraduate scholarship activities are responsive to the context of the teacher preparation programs.

Keywords: critical thinking, pedagogical strategies, teacher education, undergraduate student research

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Authors: Jae-Ho Kim, Ryosuke Yokochi, Miho Fuzihashi, Susumu Yonezawa

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The use of silver nanoparticles in conductive inks and their printing by injecting technology has been known for years. However, the very high cost of silver limits wide industrial applications. Since copper is much cheaper but possesses a very high conductivity (only 6% less than that of Ag), Cu nanoparticles can be considered as a replacement for silver nanoparticles. However, a major problem in utilizing their copper nanoparticles is their inherent tendency to oxidize in ambient conditions. In conductive printing applications, the presence of copper oxide on the surface of nanoparticles has two negative consequences: it increases the required sintering temperature and reduces the electrical conductivity. Only a limited number of reports have attempted to address the oxidation problem, which in general is based on minimizing the exposure of the copper nanoparticles to oxygen by a protective layer composed of a second material at the surface of the particles. To form the protective layer on the surface, carbon-based materials, surfactants, metals, and so on. In this study, we tried to modify the oxide on Cu particles using fluorine gas. And the creation effects of oxyfluorides or fluorides on the oxidation resistance of Cu particles were investigated. Compared with untreated sample (a), the fluorinated samples can restrain the weight increase even at 200℃ from the TG-DTA results. It might be considered that the substantial oxyfluorides on the surface play a role in protecting metal oxidation.

Keywords: copper metal, electrical conductivity, oxidation resistance, surface fluorination

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Authors: Noor Ul Afsar, Wengen Ji, Bin Wu, Muhammad A. Shehzad, Liang Ge, Tongwen Xu

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The synthesis of monovalent cation perm-selective membranes (MCPMs) to efficiently discriminate amongst cations from seawater is of great importance for several industrial applications. However, a technical approach is highly desired to construct MCPMs to obtain a high ionic flux and sustain perm-selectivity simultaneously. In the present work, the thickness of the quaternized poly (2, 6-dimethyl-1, 4-phenylene oxide) (QPPO) layer on the surface of the SPPO-PVA (SPVA) composite membrane was adjusted using a facile procedure to achieve high permselectivity without scarifying the ionic flux. The thickness of the selective layer was precisely controlled using various concentrations of the QPPO solution. By the introduction of the cationic layer on the SPVA membrane, the monovalent cation can be separated from the divalent cation by their difference in charge density. The influence of the selective barrier (thickness) endows MCPMs with high perm-selectivity up to 12.7 for 0.1 mol L⁻¹ Li⁺/Mg²⁺ system, which is very satisfactory for polymeric membranes. The fabricated membranes have low electrical resistance and high limiting current density (iₗᵢₘ). Keeping in view the ED results, the prepared membranes with selective surface layers could be a viable candidate for Li⁺ selective separation from divalent cation Mg²⁺.

Keywords: monovalent cation perm-selective membranes, cation fractionation, perm-selectivity, ionic flux, electrodialysis

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Authors: Michal Natan, Ori Gutman, Shlomo Margel, Ehud Banin

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Biofilm formation is a serious problem in medical and industrial settings due to the increased resistance of these communities to killing compared to free-living bacteria. This has prompted the search for agents that can inhibit both bacterial growth and biofilm formation. In this study, N-halamine rechargeable nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by co-polymerization of the monomer methacryl amide and the cross-linker monomer N,N-methylene bisacryl amide, and were subsequently loaded with Cl+, using bleach. The chlorinated NPs exhibited remarkable stability to organic reagents. The antibacterial mechanism of the P(MAA-MBAA)-Cl NPs involved generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) only upon exposure to organic media, but not upon incubation in water, suggesting a specific activation. Moreover, a unique interaction of the P(MAA-MBAA)-Cl NPs with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria but not with human cells was discovered, whereby these microorganisms were all specifically targeted and marked for destruction. Finally, in collaboration with Netafim Ltd. irrigation drippers containing the P(MAA-MBAA)-Cl were incubated in the field and were shown to prevent fouling on them for 5 months as opposed to the control drippers that exhibited substantial fouling. Further, the NPs offer recharging to the surface, thus providing long-lasting protection that does not exist in the products available today. Taken together, the results demonstrate the great potential of implementing the charged NPs in devices and surfaces to prevent bacterial growth.

Keywords: bacteria, biofilm, fouling, nanoparticles

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Authors: Hanyu Wei

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The last two decades have witnessed a significant number of regeneration practices in historical Chinese cities with the context of rapid urbanisation and economic development. As a response to the possible loss of place identity in the redevelopment process, city makers recognise the potentials of places with cultural significance for maintaining the original landscape. In Chongqing, the prosperities of human settlement history together with the anti-war and post-industrial culture bring this riverside city with its unique urban landscape. Great amounts of historical sites are identified and subjected to conservation planning approaches for urban revitalisation while also maintaining the historic urban landscape. This paper reviews three practices of cultural-led regeneration projects (Hongyadong, Ciqikou, Danzishi) in Chongqing, detailing the urban design and planning principals for the case sites. The paper also presents the conflicting opinions from groups with different interests. By carrying a systematical sustainability evaluation assessment on those projects, the paper critically analyzes the influence of these projects on the broad socio-economic aspects. Although these regeneration cases are thought to achieve the general success in abstaining economic benefits, they are criticised for the over-tourism issues and damages on the authenticity, which further fails to achieve sustainable development.

Keywords: Chongqing, historic urban landscape, sustainable development, urban regeneration

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Authors: Abhinav Sirvaiya, Karan Gupta, Pankaj Garg

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The demand of energy is increasing at every part of the world. Thus, use of fossil fuel is efficient which results in large liberation of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. Tons of this CO2 raises the risk of dangerous climate changes. To minimize the risk carbon capture and storage (CCS) has to be used so that the emitted carbon dioxide do not reach the atmosphere. CCS is being considered as one of the options that could have a major role to play in India.With the growing awareness towards the global warming, carbon capture and sequestration has a great importance. New technologies and theories are in use to capture CO2. This paper contains the methodology and technologies that is in use to capture carbon dioxide in India. The present scenario of CCS is also being discussed. CCS is playing a major role in enhancing recovery of oil (ERO). Both the purpose 1) minimizing percentage of carbon dioxide in atmosphere and 2) enhancing recovery of oil are fulfilled from the CCS. The CO2 is usually captured from coal based power plant and from some industrial sources and then stored in the geological formations like oil and gas reservoir and deep aquifers or in oceans. India has large reservoirs of coal which are being used for storing CO2, as coal is a good absorbent of CO2. New technologies and studies are going on for injection purposes. Government has initiated new plans for CCS as CCS is technically feasible and economically attractive. A discussion is done on new schemes that should bring up CCS plans and approaches. Stakeholders are welcomed for suitability of CCS. There is still a need to potentially capture the CO2 and avail its storage in developing country like India.

Keywords: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), carbon dioxide (CO2), enhance oil recovery, geological formations, stakeholders

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Authors: Raj C. Aparna

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In India, the mandatory clause on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Companies Act, 2013 has led to varying responses from the companies. From excessive spending to resistance, the private and the public stakeholders have been considering the law from different perspectives. This paper tends to study the characteristics of CSR spending in India with emphasis on the locations to which the funds are routed. This study examines the effects of CSR fund flow on regional development by considering the growth in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), agriculture, education and healthcare using panel data for the 29 States in the country. The results confirm that the CSR funds have been instrumental in improving the quality of teaching and healthcare in the areas around the industrial hubs. However, the study shows that the corporates mostly invest in regions which are easily accessible to them, by their physical presence, irrespective of whether the area is developed or not. Such a skewness is visible in the extensive spending in and around the metropolitan cities, the established centers, in the country to which large chunks of CSR funds are channeled. The results show that there is a variation from what the government had proposed while initiating the CSR law to promote social inclusion and equality in the rural and isolated areas in the country. The implication is that even though societal improvement is the aim of CSR, ease of access to the needy is an essential factor in corporate choices. As poverty and lack of facilities are found in the innermost parts, it is vital to have government policies for their aid as corporate help.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, geographic spread, panel data analysis, strategic implementation

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Authors: M. Dezvarei, S. Morovati

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In recent years, increasing usage of electrical energy provides a widespread field for investigating new methods to produce clean electricity with high reliability and cost management. Fuel cells are new clean generations to make electricity and thermal energy together with high performance and no environmental pollution. According to the expansion of fuel cell usage in different industrial networks, the identification and optimization of its parameters is really significant. This paper presents optimization of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) parameters based on modified particle swarm optimization with real valued mutation (RVM) and clonal algorithms. Mathematical equations of this type of fuel cell are presented as the main model structure in the optimization process. Optimized parameters based on clonal and RVM algorithms are compared with the desired values in the presence and absence of measurement noise. This paper shows that these methods can improve the performance of traditional optimization methods. Simulation results are employed to analyze and compare the performance of these methodologies in order to optimize the proton exchange membrane fuel cell parameters.

Keywords: clonal algorithm, proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), particle swarm optimization (PSO), real-valued mutation (RVM)

Procedia PDF Downloads 351