Search results for: water based paints

Authors: P. K. Guha Thakurta, Shouvik Roy, Bhawana Raj

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A congestion control scheme in mobile networks is proposed in this paper through a verification based model. The model proposed in this work is represented through performance metric like buffer Occupancy, latency and packet loss rate. Based on pre-defined values, each of the metric is introduced in terms of three different states. A Markov chain based model for the proposed work is introduced to monitor the occurrence of the corresponding state transitions. Thus, the estimation of the network status is obtained in terms of performance metric. In addition, the improved performance of our proposed model over existing works is shown with experimental results.

Keywords: congestion, mobile networks, buffer, delay, call drop, markov chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 425

Authors: Bismina Akbar, Smitha M. V.

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Flooding is a global phenomenon that causes widespread devastation, economic damage, and loss of human lives. In the past twenty years, the number of reported flood events has increased significantly. Millions of people around the globe are at risk of flooding from coastal, dam breaks, groundwater, and urban surface water and wastewater sources. Climate change is one of the important causes for them since it affects, directly and indirectly, the river network. Although the contribution of climate change is undeniable, human contributions are there to increase the frequency of floods. There are different types of floods, such as Flash floods, Coastal floods, Urban floods, River (or fluvial) floods, and Ponding (or pluvial flooding). This study focuses on formulating mitigation strategies for urban flood risk reduction through analysis of different best practice case studies, including China, Japan, Indonesia, and Brazil. The mitigation measures suggest that apart from the structural and non-structural measures, environmental considerations like blue-green solutions are beneficial for flood risk reduction. And also, Risk-Informed Master plans are essential nowadays to take risk-based decision processes that enable more sustainability and resilience.

Keywords: hazard, mitigation, risk reduction, urban flood

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Amer Momani, Tarek Al-Hawari, Abdallah Alakayleh

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This study explains how to construct an actionable activity-based costing and management system to accurately track and account the total costs of architectural aluminum projects. Two ABC models were proposed to accomplish this purpose. First, the learning and development model was introduced to examine how to apply an ABC model in an architectural aluminum firm for the first time and to be familiar with ABC concepts. Second, an actual ABC model was built on the basis of the results of the previous model to accurately trace the actual costs incurred on each project in a year, and to be able to provide a quote with the best trade-off between competitiveness and profitability. The validity of the proposed model was verified on a local architectural aluminum company.

Keywords: activity-based costing, activity-based management, construction, architectural aluminum

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Diljan C. K.

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Every location on the planet has a history and culture that give it its own identity and character, making it distinct from others. urbanised world, it is fashionable to remould its original character and impression in a contemporary style. The new character and impression of places show a complete detachment from their roots. The heritage and cultural values of the place are replaced by new impressions, and as a result, they eventually lose their identity and character and never have sustenance. In this situation, form-based coding acts as a tool in the urban design process, helping to come up with solutions that strongly bind individuals to their neighbourhood and are closely related to culture through the physical spaces they are associated with. Form-based code was made by pioneers of new urbanism in 1987 in the United States of America. Since then, it has been used in various projects inside and outside the USA with varied scales, from the design of a single building to the design of a whole community. This research makes an effort to interpret the form-based code in historic corridors to establish the association of physical form and space with the public realm to uphold the context and culture. Many of the historic corridors are undergoing a tremendous transformation in their physical form, avoiding their culture and context. This will lead to it losing its identity in form and function. If the case of Valiyashala in Trivandrum is taken as the case, which is transforming its form and will lead to the loss of its identity, the form-based code will be a suitable tool to strengthen its historical value. The study concludes by analysing the existing code (KMBR) of Valiyashala and form-based code to find the requirements in form-based code for Valiyashala.

Keywords: form based code, urban conservation, heritage, historic corridor

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: S. V. Patil, P. S. Dounde, S. S. Patil

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Emulgels have emerged as one of the most interesting topical delivery system as it has dual release control system that is gel and emulsion. The major objective behind this formulation is delivery of hydrophobic drugs to systemic circulation via skin. In fact presence of a gelling agent in water phase converts a classical emulsion in to emulgel. The emulgel for dermatological use has several favorable properties such as being thixotropic, greaseless, easily spreadable, easily removable, emollient, non-staining, water-soluble, longer shelf life, bio-friendly, transparent and pleasing appearance. Various penetration enhancers can potentiate the effect. So this can be used as better topical drug delivery systems over present conventional systems available in market. Piroxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that has major problems when administered orally; it is an insoluble drug and has irritant effect on gastro intestinal tract lead to ulceration and bleeding. The aim of this study was to overcoming these problems through preparation of topical emulgel of this drug. Emulgel of Piroxicam was prepared using Carbopol 940 along with mentha oil and clove oil as permeation enhancer. The prepared emulgel were evaluated for their physical appearance, pH determination, viscosity, spreadability, in vitro drug release, ex vivo permeation studies. All the prepared formulations showed acceptable physical properties, homogeneity, consistency, spreadability, viscosity and pH value. The emulgel was found to be stable with respect to physical appearance, pH, rheological properties and drug content at all temperature and conditions for three month.

Keywords: emulgel, piroxicam, menthe oil, clove oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Abdulsalam I. Rafida, Abdulhmid M. Alkout, Abdultif M. Alroba

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This study investigates the heavy metal content in the saliva of persons with amalgam tooth fillings. For this purpose, samples of saliva have been collected based on two factors i.e. the number of amalgam fillings in the mouth (one, two or three fillings), and the time factor i.e. the time since the fillings have been in place (less than a year and more than a year). Samples of saliva have also been collected from persons with no amalgam tooth fillings for control. The samples that have been collected so far, have been examined for the basic heavy metal content featuring amalgam, which include mercury (Hg) and silver (Ag). However, all the above mentioned elements have been detected in the samples of saliva of the persons with amalgam tooth fillings, though with varying amounts depending on the number of fillings. Thus, for persons with only one filling the average quantities were found to be 0.00061 ppm and 0.033 ppm for Hg and Ag respectively. On the other hand for persons with two fillings the average quantities were found to be 0.0012 ppm and 0.029 ppm for each of the two elements respectively. However, in order to understand the chemical reactions associated with amalgam tooth fillings in the mouth, the material have been treated outside the mouth using some nutrient media. Those media included drinking water, fizzy drinks and hot tea. All three media have been found to contain the three elements after amalgam treatment. Yet, the fizzy drink medium was found to contain the highest levels of those elements.

Keywords: amalgam, mercury, silver, fizzy drinks, media

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Hatam H. Ali, Mohd Shahrizal Sunar, Hoshang Kolivand, Mohd Azhar Bin M. Arsad

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Rendering light shafts is one of the important topics in computer gaming and interactive applications. The methods and models that are used to generate light shafts play crucial role to make a scene more realistic in computer graphics. This article discusses the image-based shadows and geometric-based shadows that contribute in generating volumetric shadows and light shafts, depending on ray tracing, radiosity, and ray marching technique. The main aim of this study is to provide researchers with background on a progress of light scattering methods so as to make it available for them to determine the technique best suited to their goals. It is also hoped that our classification helps researchers find solutions to the shortcomings of each method.

Keywords: shaft of lights, realistic images, image-based, and geometric-based

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Shyam Sunder Gupta

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For creation of Universe, theory of Big Bang , from Singularity is most acceptable theory, but has limitations as it does not answer ; how Singularity gets created and what causes Big Bang ?Further , Universe is composed of 95% Dark Energy and Dark Matter and balance 5% is visible part of Universe , but no explanation . Recently, it has been reported that there could be very large number of Universes, but only , a stipulation. This research which is based on Bhagvat Puran, a Vedic Scripture answers all questions. There is a Unique Energy Field which is eternal and infinite. The carrier Particles of Unique Energy are Paramanus; God Particles. Paramanus are Fundamental Particles and combination of these particles create bigger particles from which Universe gets created. For creation to initiate, Unique Energy gets represented in three phases; Positive Male Energy, Neutral Energy(creates Eternal Time)and Negative Female Energy. Positive Male Energy further expands in three forms of Creative Energies (CE1,CE2andCE3)and 16 principles get created, namely, Energy of Activation , Energy of Action, Energy of Darkness, Pradhan ( Equilibrium state of three energies ) , Prakriti(Non-equilibrium state of three energies, creating modes of Activation, Action and Darkness),Mahat-tattva ( consists of three modes , dominant in Mode of Darkness), Time, Energy of Consciousness, Ego Energy(consists of three modes , very strongly dominated by Mode of Darkness),Energy of Intellect, Mind Energy , Sky( creates Space and Sound Energy),Air(creates gaseous substances), Fire( creates different forms of energies like thermal, light, electrical etc.), Water( creates liquid substances)and Earth(creates solid substances). CE1 Energy creates Infinite number of Singularities from seven principles, Pradhan , Mahat-tattva, Sky , Air, Fire, Water and Earth . CE1 Energy gets divided as CE2 and enters along with other 9 principles , in each of Singularity and Primary Big Bang takes and infinite number of Universes get created. Each Universe has seven coverings of 7 principles and each layer is 10 times thicker than previous layer. By Energy CE2 , space in Universe under the coverings is divided in two parts , upper part and lower part. Upper part is occupied by Dark Energy which is created from Mode of Darkness in Ego Energy which keeps getting converted in Dark Matter and forms Invisible part of Universe. In the lower part , process of evolution gets initiated and seeds of 24 elements , Consciousness , Ego, Intellect, Mind, 5 Fundamental Elements( space, Air, Fire, Water Earth, which create non-living matter ),5 senses which receive inputs( eyes, nose, ears, tongue , skin), 5 Working Senses (Smell, Taste, Sight, Touch and Hearing);5 elements of Action( Organs of procreation , excretion, locomotion , speech and acquisition ), get created . In EC2 Energy, Singularity gets created which gets exploded by force of Energy of Action ,and Secondary Big Bang takes place and Visible Universe gets created in the shape of Bud of Flower Lotus . Within the Visible part of Universe, a small part gets created , Phenomenal Universe. Diameter of Sun and planetary system ,at the time of formation ,is 6.4 billion km, which is close to reported value . There are 5 different orbits , with reference to our Solar System. Moon around earth takes one month,, earth around sun one year, sun around Milk way one cosmic year(322.58 million years), Milky way around Universe 4.32 billion years and universe around center of universe 311.04 trillion years. Universe creation is a cyclic process with cycle time of 622.08 trillion years.In summary, Universe consists of 4 parts; covering of 7 layers, Dark Energy and Dark Matter, Visible and Phenomenal universe.

Keywords: big bang, creation, dark energy, dark matter, singularity, universe

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Jie-Ying Wu, Kuo-Hao Weng, Jin-Cheng Fu

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This study proposes changes to land use for the purposes of water retention and runoff reduction, with the aim of reducing the frequency of flooding. This study uses the Zhuoshui River in Taiwan as a case study, designing different land use planning strategies, and setting up various detention spaces. The HEC-HMS model developed by the Hydrology Research Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is used to calculate the decrease in runoff using various planning strategies, during five precipitation events of increasing return periods. This study finds that a maximum decrease in runoff of 14 million square meters can result by changing the form of land cover and storm detention in non-urban agricultural and river zones. This is due to the fact that non-urban land accounts for 96% of the area under study. Greatest efficacy was demonstrated in a two-year return period, with results ranging from 16% to 52%. The efficacy of a 100-year return period rated from 3% to 8%. Urban area detentions consist of agricultural paddy fields, storm water ponds and rainwater retention systems in building basements. Although urban areas can provide one million cubic meters of runoff storage, this result is insignificant due to the fact that urban area constitutes only 4% of the study area. By changing land cover, a 2-year return period has a 9% efficacy, and a 100-year return period has a 2% efficacy.

Keywords: flood detention space, land-use, spatial planning, Zhuoshuei River, Taiwan

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Soma Sarkar

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A number of authors have recently argued that there are strong links between ecosystem services and sustainable development, particularly development efforts that aim to reduce rural poverty. We see two distinct routes by which the science of ecosystem services can contribute to both nature conservation and sustainable development. First, a thorough accounting of ecosystem services and a better understanding of how and at what rates ecosystems produce these services can be used to motivate payment for nature conservation. At least part of the generated funds can be used to compensate people who suffer lost economic opportunities to protect these services. For example, if rural poor are asked to take actions that reduce farm productivity to protect and regulate water supply, those farmers could be compensated for the reduced productivity they experience. When the benefits of natural ecosystems are explicitly quantified, those benefits are more valued both by the people who directly interact with the ecosystems and the governmental and other agencies that would have to pay for substitute sources of these services if these ecosystems should become impaired. Appreciating the value of ecosystem services can motivate increased conservation investment to prevent having to pay for substitutes later. This approach could be characterized as a ‘‘government investment’’ approach because the payments will generally come from beneficiaries outside of the local area, and a governmental or other agency is typically responsible for collecting and redistributing the funds. Second, a focus on the conservation of ecosystem services could improve the success of projects that attempt to both conserve nature and improve the welfare of the rural poor by fostering markets for the goods and services that local people produce or extract from ecosystems. These projects could be characterized as more ‘‘community based’’ because the goal is to foster the more organic, or grassroots, development of cottage industries, such as ecotourism, or the production of non-timber forest products, that are enhanced by better protection of local ecosystems. Using this framework, we discuss the factors that may have contributed to failure or success for several projects in the district of Purulia, one of the most backward districts of India and inhabited by indigenous group of people. A large majority of people in this district are dependent on environment based incomes for their sustenance. The erosion of natural resource base owing to poor governance in the district has led to the reductions in the household incomes of these people. The scale of our analysis is local or project level. The plight of poor has little to do with the production functions of ecosystem services. But for rural poor, at the local level, the status of ecosystem services can make a big difference in their daily lives.

Keywords: ecosystem services, governance, rural poor, community based natural resource management

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Monia Hassan Abdulrahman

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Resource-based view is built on many theories in addition to diverse perspectives, we extend this view placing emphasis on human resources addressing the tools required to sustain competitive advantage. Highlighting on several theories and judgments, assumptions were established to clearly reach if resource possession alone suffices for the sustainability of competitive advantage, or necessary accommodation are required for better performance. New practices were indicated in terms of resources used in firms, these practices were implemented on the human resources in particular, and results were developed in compliance to the mentioned assumptions. Such results drew attention to the significance of practices that provide enhancement of human resources that have a core responsibility of maintaining resource-based view for an organization to lead the way to gaining competitive advantage.

Keywords: competitive advantage, resource based value, human resources, strategic management

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Sadegh Sadeghi, Negar Shabani

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From a thermal point of view, zeotropic mixtures are likely to be more efficient than azeotropic fluids in low-temperature thermodynamic cycles due to their suitable boiling characteristics. In this study, performance of a low-temperature Kalina cycle with R717/water working fluid used in different existing power plants is mathematically investigated. To analyze the behavior of the cycle, mass conservation, energy conservation, and exergy balance equations are presented. With regard to the similarity in molar mass of R717 (17.03 gr/mol) and water (18.01 gr/mol), there is no need to alter the size of Kalina system components such as turbine and pump. To optimize the cycle energy and exergy efficiencies simultaneously, a constrained multi-objective optimization is carried out applying an Artificial Bee Colony algorithm. The main motivation behind using this algorithm lies on its robustness, reliability, remarkable precision and high–speed convergence rate in dealing with complicated constrained multi-objective problems. Convergence rates of the algorithm for calculating the optimal energy and exergy efficiencies are presented. Subsequently, due to the importance of exergy concept in Kalina cycles, exergy destructions occurring in the components are computed. Finally, the impacts of pressure, temperature, mass fraction and mass flow rate on the energy and exergy efficiencies are elaborately studied.

Keywords: artificial bee colony algorithm, binary zeotropic mixture, constrained multi-objective optimization, energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, Kalina cycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Eun-Jun Yoon

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Deniable authentication protocol is a new security authentication mechanism which can enable a receiver to identify the true source of a given message, but not to prove the identity of the sender to a third party. In 2013, Kar proposed a secure ID-based deniable authentication protocol whose security is based on computational infeasibility of solving Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Problem (ECDHP). Kar claimed that the proposed protocol achieves properties of deniable authentication, mutual authentication, and message confidentiality. However, this paper points out that Kar's protocol still suffers from sender spoofing attack and message modification attack unlike its claims.

Keywords: deniable authentication, elliptic curve cryptography, Diffie-Hellman problem, cryptanalysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Dharmit Viroja, Prerakkumar Shah, Rajanikant Gajera, Ruchit Shah

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With present scenario of aging oil and gas fields with high water cuts, volatile oil prices and increasing greenhouse gas emission, the need for alleviating such issues has necessitated for oil and gas industry to make the maximum out of available assets, infrastructure and reserves in mother Earth. Study undertaken emphasizes on utilizing Geothermal Energy under specific reservoir conditions for Enhanced oil Recovery (EOR) to boost up production. Allied benefits of this process include mitigation of electricity problem in remote fields and controlled CO-emission. Utilization of this energy for EOR and increasing economic life of field could surely be rewarding. A new way to value oil lands would be considered if geothermal co-production is integrated in the field development program. Temperature profile of co-produced fluid across its journey is a pivotal issue which has been studied. Geo pressured reservoirs resulting from trapped brine under an impermeable bed is also a frontier for exploitation. Hot geothermal fluid is a by-product of large number of oil and gas wells, historically this hot water has been seen as an inconvenience; however, it can be looked at as a useful resource. The production of hot fluids from abandoned and co-production of hot fluids from producing wells has potential to prolong life of oil and gas fields. The study encompasses various factors which are required for use of this technology and application of this process across various phases of oil and gas value chain. Interdisciplinary approach in oil and gas value chain has shown potential for economic production of estimated oil and gas reserves.

Keywords: enhanced oil recovery, geo-pressured reservoirs, geothermal energy, oil and gas value chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Nihad Chakri, Btissam El Amrani, Faouzi Berrada, Fouad Amraoui

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In Morocco, water scarcity requires the exploitation of non-conventional resources. Rural areas are under-equipped with sanitation infrastructure, unlike urban areas. Decentralized and low-cost solutions could improve the quality of life of the population and the environment. In this context, the Faculty of Sciences Ain Chock "FSAC" has undertaken an integrated project to treat part of its wastewater using a decentralized compact system. The project will propose alternative solutions that are inexpensive and adapted to the context of peri-urban and rural areas in order to treat the wastewater generated and use it for irrigation, watering, and cleaning. For this purpose, several tests were carried out in the laboratory in order to develop a liquid waste treatment system optimized for local conditions. Based on the results obtained at the laboratory scale of the different proposed scenarios, we designed and implemented a prototype of a mini wastewater treatment plant for the Faculty. In this article, we will outline the steps of dimensioning, construction, and monitoring of the mini-station in our Faculty.

Keywords: wastewater, purification, optimization, vertical filter, MBBR process, sizing, decentralized pilot, reuse, irrigation, sustainable development

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Fatemeh Yazdanmehr, Iulian Nistor

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The scope of the current study is the evaluation of the electric field effect on electrostatic desalting mathematical modeling with laboratory data. This research study was focused on developing a model for an existing operation desalting unit of one of the Iranian heavy oil field with a 75 MBPD production capacity. The high temperature of inlet oil to dehydration unit reduces the oil recovery, so the mathematical modeling of desalter operation parameters is very significant. The existing production unit operating data has been used for the accuracy of the mathematical desalting plant model. The inlet oil temperature to desalter was decreased from 110 to 80°C, and the desalted electrical field was increased from 0.75 to 2.5 Kv/cm. The model result shows that the desalter parameter changes meet the water-oil specification and also the oil production and consequently annual income is increased. In addition to that, changing desalter operation conditions reduces environmental footprint because of flare gas reduction. Following to specify the accuracy of selected electrostatic desalter electrical field, laboratory data has been used. Experimental data are used to ensure the effect of electrical field change on desalter. Therefore, the lab test is done on a crude oil sample. The results include the dehydration efficiency in the presence of a demulsifier and under electrical field (0.75 Kv) conditions at various temperatures. Comparing lab experimental and electrostatic desalter mathematical model results shows 1-3 percent acceptable error which confirms the validity of desalter specification and operation conditions changes.

Keywords: desalter, electrical field, demulsification, mathematical modeling, water-oil separation

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Lee Myung-Won, Kwak Keun-Chang

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This paper is concerned with knowledge representation and extraction of fuzzy if-then rules using Interval Type-2 Context-based Fuzzy C-Means clustering (IT2-CFCM) with the aid of fuzzy granulation. This proposed clustering algorithm is based on information granulation in the form of IT2 based Fuzzy C-Means (IT2-FCM) clustering and estimates the cluster centers by preserving the homogeneity between the clustered patterns from the IT2 contexts produced in the output space. Furthermore, we can obtain the automatic knowledge representation in the design of Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFN), Linguistic Model (LM), and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Networks (ANFN) from the numerical input-output data pairs. We shall focus on a design of ANFN in this paper. The experimental results on an estimation problem of energy performance reveal that the proposed method showed a good knowledge representation and performance in comparison with the previous works.

Keywords: IT2-FCM, IT2-CFCM, context-based fuzzy clustering, adaptive neuro-fuzzy network, knowledge representation

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Authors: Fariha Qureshi, Mohammad Tahir

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Epidemiological evidences indicated that arsenic contamination in drinking water increased the incidence of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and premature babies in pregnant women. This study was designed to investigate the protective role of vitamin C&E against sodium arsenate induced fetal toxicity in albino mice. Twenty-four pregnant albino mice of BALB/c strain were randomly divided into 4 groups having 6 animals in each. Group A1 served as control and was injected with 0.1ml/kg/day distilled water I/P for 18 days. Groups A2,A3 & A4 received single I/P injection of sodium arsenate 35mg/kg on 8th gestational day, whereas groups A3 and A4 were also given Vitamin C and E by I/P injection, 9 mg/kg/day and 15 mg/kg/day respectively, starting from 8th GD and continued for the rest of the pregnancy period. The early implantation sites, fetal resorptions, weight of live fetuses and crown rump length were recorded. Gross morphological examination was carried out for malformations. Fetal kidneys were extracted for histological and micrometric analysis. Group A2 exhibited an increased incidence of abortion, fetal resorptions, significant decrease in number of litter and fetal weight; the difference of means was statistically significant among the groups (p<0.000). In group A2 fetal kidneys presented glomerulonephritis with acute tubular necrotic changes and interstitial fibrosis. Groups A3&A4 showed statistically significant improvement in these parameters. The results revealed the antioxidant potential of Vitamin C and E in protecting against arsenic induced fetal toxicity in mice.

Keywords: fetal toxicity, fetal resorptions, interstitial fibrosis, tocopherol

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Josiane N. Muller, Allan K. R. Galardo, Tatiane A. Barbosa, Evan P. Ferro, Wellington M. Dos Santos, Ana Paula S. A. Correa, Edinaldo C. Rego, Jose B. P. Lima

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The susceptibility status of an insect population to any larvicide depends on several factors such includes genetic constitution, environmental conditions and others. The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of three important viral diseases, Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya. The frequent outbreaks of those diseases in different parts of Brazil demonstrate the importance of testing the susceptibility of vectors in different environments. Since the control of this mosquito leads to the control of disease, alternatives for vector control that value the different Brazilian environmental conditions are needed for effective actions. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new commercial formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis israelenses (DengueTech: Brazilian innovative technology) in the Brazilian Legal Amazon considering the climate conditions. Semi-field tests were conducted in the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research of the State of Amapa in two different environments, one in a shaded area and the other exposed to sunlight. The mosquito larvae were exposed to larvicide concentration and a control; each group was tested in three containers of 40 liters each. To assess persistence 50 third instar larvae of Aedes aegypti laboratory lineages (Rockefeller) and 50 larvae of Aedes aegypti collected in the municipality of Macapa, Brazil’s Amapa state, were added weekly and after 24 hours the mortality was assessed. In total 16 tests were performed, where 12 were done with replacement of water (1/5 of the volume, three times per week). The effectiveness of the product was determined through mortality of ≥ 80%, as recommend by the World Health Organization. The results demonstrated that high-water temperatures (26-35 °C) on the containers influenced the residual time of the product, where the maximum effect achieved was 21 days in the shaded area; and no effectiveness of 60 days was found in any of the tests, as expected according to the larvicide company. The test with and without water replacement did not present significant differences in the mortality rate. Considering the different environments and climate, these results stimulate the need to test larvicide and its effectiveness in specific environmental settings in order to identify the parameters required for better results. Thus, we see the importance of semi-field researches considering the local climate conditions for a successful control of Aedes aegypti.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, bioassay, larvicida, vector control

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Authors: Neetu Tyagi, Sumit Sharma

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The study illustrates the results of an integrated study done on Tangni landslide located on NH-58 at Chamoli, Uttarakhand. Geological, geo-morphological and geotechnical investigations were carried out to understand the mechanism of landslide and to plan further investigation and monitoring. At any rate, the movements were favored by continuous rainfall water infiltration from the zones where the phyllites/slates and Dolomites outcrop. The site investigations were carried out including the monitoring of landslide movements and of the water level fluctuations due to rainfall give us a better understanding of landslide dynamics that have been causing in time soil instability at Tangni landslide site. The Early Warning System (EWS) installed different types of sensors and all sensors were directly connected to data logger and raw data transfer to the Defence Terrain Research Laboratory (DTRL) server room with the help of File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The slip surfaces were found at depths ranging from 8 to 10 m from Geophysical survey and hence sensors were installed to the depth of 15m at various locations of landslide. Rainfall is the main triggering factor of landslide. In this study, the developed model of unsaturated soil slope stability is carried out. The analysis of sensors data available for one year, indicated the sliding surface of landslide at depth between 6 to 12m with total displacement up to 6cm per year recorded at the body of landslide. The aim of this study is to set the threshold and generate early warning. Local peoples already alert towards landslide, if they have any types of warning system.

Keywords: early warning system, file transfer protocol, geo-morphological, geotechnical, landslide

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Neveen AlQasas, Daniel Johnson

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Membranes for water treatment are an established technology that attracts great attention due to its simplicity and cost effectiveness. However, membranes in operation suffer from the adverse effect of membrane fouling. Bio-fouling is a phenomenon that occurs at the water-membrane interface, and is a dynamic process that is initiated by the adsorption of dissolved organic material, including biomacromolecules, on the membrane surface. After initiation, attachment of microorganisms occurs, followed by biofilm growth. The biofilm blocks the pores of the membrane and consequently results in reducing the water flux. Moreover, the presence of a fouling layer can have a substantial impact on the membrane separation properties. Understanding the mechanism of the initiation phase of biofouling is a key point in eliminating the biofouling on membrane surfaces. The adhesion and attachment of different fouling materials is affected by the surface properties of the membrane materials. Therefore, surface properties of different polymeric materials had been studied in terms of their surface energies and Hansen solubility parameters (HSP). The difference between the combined HSP parameters (HSP distance) allows prediction of the affinity of two materials to each other. The possibilities of measuring the HSP of different polymer films via surface measurements, such as contact angle has been thoroughly investigated. Knowing the HSP of a membrane material and the HSP of a specific foulant, facilitate the estimation of the HSP distance between the two, and therefore the strength of attachment to the surface. Contact angle measurements using fourteen different solvents on five different polymeric films were carried out using the sessile drop method. Solvents were ranked as good or bad solvents using different ranking method and ranking was used to calculate the HSP of each polymeric film. Results clearly indicate the absence of a direct relation between contact angle values of each film and the HSP distance between each polymer film and the solvents used. Therefore, estimating HSP via contact angle alone is not sufficient. However, it was found if the surface tensions and viscosities of the used solvents are taken in to the account in the analysis of the contact angle values, a prediction of the HSP from contact angle measurements is possible. This was carried out via training of a neural network model. The trained neural network model has three inputs, contact angle value, surface tension and viscosity of solvent used. The model is able to predict the HSP distance between the used solvent and the tested polymer (material). The HSP distance prediction is further used to estimate the total and individual HSP parameters of each tested material. The results showed an accuracy of about 90% for all the five studied films

Keywords: surface characterization, hansen solubility parameter estimation, contact angle measurements, artificial neural network model, surface measurements

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Authors: Tinomuvonga Manenji Zhou, Eubert Mahofa, Tatenda Crispen Madzokere

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The nanostructured formulation can increase fertilizer efficacy and uptake ratio of the soil nutrients in agriculture production and save fertilizer resources. Controlled release modes have properties of both release rate and release pattern of nutrients, for fertilizers that are soluble in water might be correctly controlled. Nanoparticles can reduce the rate at which fertilizer nutrients are in the soil by leaching. A slow release NPK-hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer was synthesized using exfoliated bentonite as filler material. A simple, scalable method was used to synthesize the nitrogen-phosphorus hydroxyapatite nano fertilizer, where calcium hydroxide, phosphoric acid, and urea were used as precursor material, followed by the incorporation of potassium through a liquid grinding method. The product obtained was an NPK-hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer. A quantitative analysis was done to determine the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the hybrid fertilizer. AAS was used to determine the percentage of potassium in the fertilizer. An accelerated water test was conducted to compare the nutrient release behavior of nutrients between the synthesized NPK-hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer and commercial NPK fertilizer. The rate of release of Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium was significantly lower in the synthesized NPK hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer than in the convectional NPK fertilizer. The synthesized fertilizer was characterized using XRD. NPK hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer encapsulated in exfoliated bentonite thus prepared can be used as an environmentally friendly fertilizer formulation which could be extended to solve one of the major problems faced in the global fertilization of low nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium use efficiency in agriculture.

Keywords: NPK hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer, bentonite, encapsulation, low release

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: C. Benhamideche

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Fluoroaluminate glasses have been reported as the earliest heavy metal fluoride glasses. By comparison with flurozirconate glasses, they offer a set of similar optical features, but also some differences in their elastic and chemical properties. In practice they have been less developed because their stability against devitrification is smaller than that of the most stable fluoroziconates. The purpose of this study was to investigate glass formation in systems AlF3-YF3-PbF2-MgF2-MF2 (M= Li, Na, K). Synthesis was implemented at room atmosphere using the ammonium fluoride processing. After fining, the liquid was into a preheated brass mold, then annealed below the glass transition temperature for several hours. The samples were polished for optical measurements. Glass formation has been investigated in a systematic way, using pseudo ternary systems in order to allow parameters to vary at the same time. We have chosen the most stable glass compositions for the determination of the physical properties. These properties including characteristic temperatures, density and proprieties elastic. Glass stability increases in multicomponent glasses. Bulk samples have been prepared for physical characterization. These glasses have a potential interest for passive optical fibers because they are less sensitive to water attack than ZBLAN glass, mechanically stronger. It is expected they could have a larger damage threshold for laser power transmission.

Keywords: fluoride glass, aluminium fluoride, thermal properties, density, proprieties elastic

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Authors: Mohamed Y. M. Mohsen

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The viability of utilising mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) ((U₀.₉, rgPu₀.₁) O₂) as an accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) has been thoroughly investigated. MOX fuel provides the best example of a nuclear waste recycling process. The MCNPX 2.7 code was used to determine the main neutronic features, especially the radial power distribution, to identify the hot channel on which the thermal-hydraulic (TH) study was performed. Based on the computational fluid dynamics technique, the simulation of the rod-centered thermal-hydraulic subchannel model was implemented using COMSOL Multiphysics. TH analysis was utilised to determine the axially and radially distributed temperatures of the fuel and cladding materials, as well as the departure from the nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR) along the coolant channel. COMSOL Multiphysics can simulate reality by coupling multiphysics, such as coupling between heat transfer and solid mechanics. The main solid structure parameters, such as the von Mises stress, volumetric strain, and displacement, were simulated using this coupling. When the neutronic, TH, and solid structure performances of UO₂ and ((U₀.₉, rgPu₀.₁) O₂) were compared, the results showed considerable improvement and an increase in safety margins with the use of ((U₀.₉, rgPu₀.₁) O₂).

Keywords: mixed-oxide, MCNPX, neutronic analysis, COMSOL-multiphysics, thermal-hydraulic, solid structure

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Authors: Protima Chakraborty

Abstract:

The sustainability of conventional agriculture in Bangladesh is under threat from the continuous degradation of land and water resources, and from declining yields due to indiscriminate use of agrochemicals. NASL (Northern Agro Services Limited) is pursuing efforts to promote ecological agriculture with emphasis on better use of organic fertilizer resources and the reduction of external inputs. This paper examines the sustainability of two production systems in terms of their environmental soundness, economic viability and social acceptability based on empirical data collected through making demonstration land cultivation, a household survey, soil sample analysis, observations and discussions with key informants. Twelve indicators were selected to evaluate sustainability. Significant differences were found between the two systems in crop diversification, soil fertility management, pests and diseases management, and use of agrochemicals & Organic Compost. However, significant variations were found in other indicators such as land-use pattern, crop yield and stability, risk and uncertainties, and food security. Although crop yield and financial return were found to be slightly higher in the ecological system, the economic return and value addition per unit of land show the positive difference of using compost rather than chemical fertilizer. The findings suggest that ecological agriculture has a tendency towards becoming ecologically, economically and socially more sound than conventional agriculture, as it requires considerably fewer agro-chemicals, adds more organic matter to the soil, provides balanced food, and requires higher local inputs without markedly compromising output and financial benefits. Broad-policy measures, including the creation of mass awareness of adverse health effects of agrochemical-based products, are outlined for the promotion of ecological agriculture.

Keywords: Bangladesh, compost, conventional agriculture, organic fertilizer, environmental sustainability, economic viability, social acceptability

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Authors: Kyong-Ku Yun, Dae-Ae Kim, Kyeo-Re Lee, Kyong Namkung, Seung-Yeon Han

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Micro silica is collected as a by-product of the silicon and ferrosilicon alloy production in electric arc furnace using highly pure quartz, wood chips, coke and the like. It consists of about 85% of silicon which has spherical particles with an average particle size of 150 μm. The bulk density of micro silica varies from 150 to 700kg/m^3 and the fineness ranges from 150,000 to 300,000cm^2/g. An amorphous structure with a high silicon oxide content of micro silica induces an active reaction with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) generated by the cement hydrate of a large surface area (about 20 m^² / g), and they are also known to form calcium, silicate, hydrate conjugate (C-S-H). Micro silica tends to act as a filler because of the fine particles and the spherical shape. These particles do not get covered by water and they fit well in the space between the relatively rough cement grains which does not freely fluidize concrete. On the contrary, water demand increases since micro silica particles have a tendency to absorb water because of the large surface area. The overall effect of micro silica depends on the amount of micro silica added with other parameters in the water-(cement + micro silica) ratio, and the availability of superplasticizer. In this research, it was studied on cellular sprayed concrete. This method involves a direct re-production of ready mixed concrete into a high performance at a job site. It could reduce the cost of construction by an adding a cellular and a micro silica into a ready mixed concrete truck in a field. Also, micro silica which is difficult with mixing due to high fineness in the field can be added and dispersed in concrete by increasing the fluidity of ready mixed concrete through the surface activity of cellular. Increased air content is converged to a certain level of air content by spraying and it also produces high-performance concrete by remixing of powders in the process of spraying. As it does not use a field mixing equipment the cost of construction decrease and it can be constructed after installing special spray machine in a commercial pump car. Therefore, use of special equipment is minimized, providing economic feasibility through the utilization of existing equipment. This study was carried out to evaluate a highly reliable method of confirming dispersion through a high performance cellular sprayed concrete. A mixture of 25mm coarse aggregate and river sand was applied to the concrete. In addition, by applying silica fume and foam, silica fume dispersion is confirmed in accordance with foam mixing, and the mean and standard deviation is obtained. Then variation coefficient is calculated to finally evaluate the dispersion. Comparison and analysis of before and after spraying were conducted on the experiment variables of 21L, 35L foam for each 7%, 14% silica fume respectively. Taking foam and silica fume as variables, the experiment proceed. Casting a specimen for each variable, a five-day sample is taken from each specimen for EDS test. In this study, it was examined by an experiment materials, plan and mix design, test methods, and equipment, for the evaluation of dispersion in accordance with micro silica and foam.

Keywords: micro silica, distribution, ready mixed concrete, foam

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Authors: Srikanth Korla, Mahesh Sharnangat

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Composite materials are being widely used in Aerospace, Naval, Defence and other branches of engineering applications. Studies on natural fibers is another emerging research area as they are available in abundance, and also due to their eco-friendly in nature. India being one of the major producer of coir, there is always a scope to study the possibilities of exploring coir as reinforment, and with different combinations of other elements of the composite. In present investigation effort is made to utilize properties possessed by natural fiber and make them enable with polymer/epoxy resin. In natural fiber coconut coir is used as reinforcement fiber in epoxy resin with varying weight percentages of fiber and filler material. Titanium dioxide powder (TiO2) is used as filler material with varying weight percentage including 0%, 2% and 4% are considered for experimentation. Environmental effects on the performance of the composite plate are also studied and presented in this project work; Moisture absorption test for composite specimens is conducted using different solvents including Kerosene, Mineral Water and Saline Water, and its absorption capacity is evaluated. Analysis is carried out in different combinations of Coir as fiber and TiO2 as filler material, and the best suitable composite material considering the strength and environmental effects is identified in this work. Therefore, the significant combination of the composite material is with following composition: 2% TiO2 powder 15% of coir fibre and 83% epoxy, under unique mechanical and environmental conditions considered in the work.

Keywords: composite materials, moisture test, filler material, natural fibre composites

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Authors: Małgorzata Golonka, Jadwiga Laska

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Self-healing polymers are one of the most investigated groups of smart materials. As materials engineering has recently focused on the design, production and research of modern materials and future technologies, researchers are looking for innovations in structural, construction and coating materials. Based on available scientific articles, it can be concluded that most of the research focuses on the self-healing of cement, concrete, asphalt and anticorrosion resin coatings. In our study, a method of obtaining and testing the properties of several types of microcapsules for use in self-healing polymer materials was developed. A method to obtain microcapsules exhibiting various mechanical properties, especially compressive strength was developed. The effect was achieved by using various polymer materials to build the shell: urea-formaldehyde resin (UFR), melamine-formaldehyde resin (MFR), melamine-urea-formaldehyde resin (MUFR). Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was used as the core material due to the possibility of its polymerization according to the ring-opening olefin metathesis (ROMP) mechanism in the presence of a solid Grubbs catalyst showing relatively high chemical and thermal stability. The ROMP of dicyclopentadiene leads to a polymer with high impact strength, high thermal resistance, good adhesion to other materials and good chemical and environmental resistance, so it is potentially a very promising candidate for the self-healing of materials. The capsules were obtained by condensation polymerization of formaldehyde with urea, melamine or copolymerization with urea and melamine in situ in water dispersion, with different molar ratios of formaldehyde, urea and melamine. The fineness of the organic phase dispersed in water, and consequently the size of the microcapsules, was regulated by the stirring speed. In all cases, to establish such synthesis conditions as to obtain capsules with appropriate mechanical strength. The microcapsules were characterized by determining the diameters and their distribution and measuring the shell thickness using digital optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, as well as confirming the presence of the active substance in the core by FTIR and SEM. Compression tests were performed to determine mechanical strength of the microcapsules. The highest repeatability of microcapsule properties was obtained for UFR resin, while the MFR resin had the best mechanical properties. The encapsulation efficiency of MFR was much lower compared to UFR, though. Therefore, capsules with a MUFR shell may be the optimal solution. The chemical reaction between the active substance present in the capsule core and the catalyst placed outside the capsules was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The obtained autonomous repair systems (microcapsules + catalyst) were introduced into polyethylene in the extrusion process and tested for the self-repair of the material.

Keywords: autonomic self-healing system, dicyclopentadiene, melamine-urea-formaldehyde resin, microcapsules, thermoplastic materials

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Authors: Qiuhu Shao

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Community home-based care service system, which is based on the family pension, supported by community pension and supplied by institutions pension, is an effective pension system to solve the current situation of China's accelerated aging. However, due to the fundamental realities of our country, the government is not able to bear the unilateral supply of the old-age service of the community. Therefore, based on the theory of welfare pluralism, the participation of social organizations in the home-based care service center has become an important part of the diversified supply of the old-age service for the elderly. Meanwhile, the home-based care service industry is still in the early stage, the management is relatively rough, which resulted in a large number of social resources waste. Thus, scientific, objective and long-term implementation is needed for social organizations to participate in home-based care services to guide its performance management. In order to realize the design of the performance management system, the author has done a research work that clarifies the research status of social organization's participation in home-based care service. Relevant theories such as welfare pluralism, community care theory, and performance management theory have been used to demonstrate the feasibility of data envelopment analysis method in social organization performance research. This paper analyzes the characteristics of the operation mode of the home-based care service center, and hackles the national as well as local documents, standards and norms related to the development of the home-based care industry, particularly studies those documents in Nanjing. Based on this, the paper designed a set of performance management PDCA system for home-based care service center in Nanjing and clarified each step of the system in detail. Subsequently, the research methods of performance evaluation and performance management and feedback, which are two core steps of performance management have been compared and screened in order to establish the overall framework of the performance management system of the home-based care service center. Through a large number of research, the paper summarized and analyzed the characteristics of the home-based care service center. Based on the research results, combined with the practice of the industry development in Nanjing, the paper puts forward a targeted performance evaluation index system of home-based care service center in Nanjing. Finally, the paper evaluated and sub-filed the performance of 186 home-based care service centers in Nanjing and then designed the performance optimization direction and performance improvement path based on the results. This study constructs the index system of performance evaluation of home-based care service and makes the index detailed to the implementation level, and constructs the evaluation index system which can be applied directly. Meanwhile, the quantitative evaluation of social organizations participating in the home-based care service changed the subjective impression in the previous practice of evaluation.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, home-based care, performance management, social organization

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Authors: Alexander Cho, Harsho Sanyal, Joseph Cataldo

Abstract:

A quantitative analysis of the different variables on both the South and North green roofs of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was taken to find mathematical relationships between net radiation and evapotranspiration (ET), average outside temperature, and the lysimeter weight. Groups of datasets were analyzed, and the relationships were plotted on linear and semi-log graphs to find consistent relationships. Antecedent conditions for each rainstorm were also recorded and plotted against the volumetric water difference within the lysimeter. The first relation was the inverse parabolic relationship between the lysimeter weight and the net radiation and ET. The peaks and valleys of the lysimeter weight corresponded to valleys and peaks in the net radiation and ET respectively, with the 8/22/15 and 1/22/16 datasets showing this trend. The U-shaped and inverse U-shaped plots of the two variables coincided, indicating an inverse relationship between the two variables. Cross variable relationships were examined through graphs with lysimeter weight as the dependent variable on the y-axis. 10 out of 16 of the plots of lysimeter weight vs. outside temperature plots had R² values > 0.9. Antecedent conditions were also recorded for rainstorms, categorized by the amount of precipitation accumulating during the storm. Plotted against the change in the volumetric water weight difference within the lysimeter, a logarithmic regression was found with large R² values. The datasets were compared using the Mann Whitney U-test to see if the datasets were statistically different, using a significance level of 5%; all datasets compared showed a U test statistic value, proving the null hypothesis of the datasets being different from being true.

Keywords: green roof, green infrastructure, Javits Center, evapotranspiration, net radiation, lysimeter

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