Search results for: plant protection

Authors: D. Ramajo, S. Corzo, M. Nigro

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A Multi-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) two-phase model was developed with the aim to simulate the in-core coolant circuit of a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) of a commercial nuclear power plant (NPP). Due to the fact that this PHWR is a Reactor Pressure Vessel type (RPV), three-dimensional (3D) detailed modelling of the large reservoirs of the RPV (the upper and lower plenums and the downcomer) were coupled with an in-house finite volume one-dimensional (1D) code in order to model the 451 coolant channels housing the nuclear fuel. Regarding the 1D code, suitable empirical correlations for taking into account the in-channel distributed (friction losses) and concentrated (spacer grids, inlet and outlet throttles) pressure losses were used. A local power distribution at each one of the coolant channels was also taken into account. The heat transfer between the coolant and the surrounding moderator was accurately calculated using a two-dimensional theoretical model. The implementation of subcooled boiling and condensation models in the 1D code along with the use of functions for representing the thermal and dynamic properties of the coolant and moderator (heavy water) allow to have estimations of the in-core steam generation under nominal flow conditions for a generic fission power distribution. The in-core mass flow distribution results for steady state nominal conditions are in agreement with the expected from design, thus getting a first assessment of the coupled 1/3D model. Results for nominal condition were compared with those obtained with a previous 1/3D single-phase model getting more realistic temperature patterns, also allowing visualize low values of void fraction inside the upper plenum. It must be mentioned that the current results were obtained by imposing prescribed fission power functions from literature. Therefore, results are showed with the aim of point out the potentiality of the developed model.

Keywords: PHWR, CFD, thermo-hydraulic, two-phase flow

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Authors: Mateusz Meserszmit, Mariusz Chrabąszcz, Adriana Trojanowska-Olichwer, Zygmunt Kącki

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Semi-natural meadows are valuable communities from the point of view of biodiversity, but their survival is strongly related to human activity. Unfortunately, the current status of preservation of extensively used meadows in Europe is frequently assessed as “unfavorable”. This is due to agricultural activity, in particular the lack of appropriate conservation procedures such as the cutting of meadows or livestock grazing. However, for more effective protective measures, the preservation of the biological diversity of meadows requires an interdisciplinary approach from both scientists and practitioners from many fields. Our research aimed to present the possibility of conservation of semi-natural meadows using cut biomass for the production of bioenergy – biogas, taking into consideration the botanical characteristics of the studied habitat and the chemical properties of biomass. A field study was conducted in Poland, within an area covered by the European Union's nature conservation programme. The samples were collected on four dates (May 24th, July 1st, July 23rd, and September 1st) from a study site established within a Molinion meadow. The biomass collected at the earliest date mostly consisted of plants with flowers in bud or fully open flowers. At the later harvest dates, most plants were at the fruiting or seed shed stage. An earlier stage of plant growth contributed to a lower biomass yield, which also resulted in a lower methane yield per hectare. The methane yield per hectare was at the end of May 482 m3 CH4 ha-1, at the beginning of July 867 m3 CH4 ha-1, at the end of July 759 m3 CH4 ha-1 and at the beginning of September 730 m3 CH4 ha-1. The biomass harvested in May demonstrated a significantly higher content of the elements: N, P, and K, but a lower Ca content compared to later harvested biomass, which may affect the biogas production process. The use of hay as a source of renewable energy can become an important element of conservation adapted for this type of habitat.

Keywords: nature conservation, biomass, bioenergy, grassland

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Moetazza M. Alshafei, Ahmed M. Mabrouk, Emtenan M. Hanafi, Manal M. Ramadan, Reda M. S. Korany, Seham S. Kassem, Dina Mostafa Mohammed

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Metabolic syndrome (MeS) is a major health problem with a high incidence of obese individuals worldwide. Increased related morbidity of diabetes, hypertension and fatty liver disease, and complicated cardiovascular disease are inevitable. Boswellia serrata gum (Bos) is a promising traditional medicinal plant; it has several pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antilipase activities. Probiotics (Bac) supplements have good benefits on health and MeS, whether it is supplemented in combination with prebiotics or alone. Microencapsulation helps to mask unpalatable taste and odor and deliver active ingredients to targeted organs. Methodology MeS rat model was produced by feeding rats with a high fat, high CHO diet (HFD). Bos was extracted, and both Bos and the probiotic were microencapsulated with a spray drier. Female rats were divided into 5 groups (N8). HFD control, control normal receiving basic diet, HFD treated, from the start of the experiment, either with encapsulated Bos, Bac and Bos or Bac only, all treatments were received for eight weeks (after approval from NRC animal ethical committee). Serum was collected to analyze lipid profile, blood sugar, liver and kidney functions, antioxidants, leptin, and progesterone. Rat's organs and body fat were weighed and collected for histopathology. Statistical analysis was done by use of one way Anova test in the SPSS program. Results showed control of elevated body weight, lipid profile, and glucose levels as well as decrease of body fat index and improvement of histopathology of liver and heart, especially in combination. Conclusion: We concluded that both microencapsulated Bos and probiotics have a controlling effect on MeS parameters.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome, Boswellia serata, probiotic, micro-encapsulation, histopathology, liver steatosis

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Authors: Kabrambam D. Singh, Dinabandhu Sahoo, Yallappa Rajashekar

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Evolution has caused many insects to develop resistance to several synthetic insecticides. This problem along with the persisting concern regarding the health and environmental safety issues of the existing synthetic insecticides has urged the scientific fraternity to look for a new plant-based natural insecticide with inherent eco-friendly nature. Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta (L.) Schott (Araceae family) is widely grown throughout the South- East Asian Countries for its edible corms and leaves. Various physico-chemical and spectroscopic techniques (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and Mass) were used for the isolation and characterization of isolated bioactive molecule named 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride (3, 4-dimethyl-2, 5-furandione). This compound was found to be highly toxic, even at low concentration, against several storage grain pests when used as biofumigant. Experimental studies on the mode of action of 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride revealed that the biofumigant act as inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase enzyme in cockroach and stored grain insects. The knockdown activity of bioactive compound is concurrent with in vivo inhibition of AChE; at KD99 dosage of bioactive molecule showed more than 90% inhibition of AChE activity in test insects. The molecule proved to affect the antioxidant enzyme system; superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) and also found to decrease reduced glutathione (GSH) level in the treated insects. The above results indicate involvement of inhibition of AChE activity and oxidative imbalance as the potential mode of action of 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride. In addition, the study reveals computational docking programs elaborate the possible interaction of 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride with enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) of Periplaneta americana. Finally, the results represent that toxicity of 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride might be associated with inhibition of AChE activity and oxidative imbalance.

Keywords: 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride, Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta (L.) Schott, Biofumigant, acetylcholinesterase, antioxidant enzyme, molecular docking

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Authors: Nazaitul Idya Hamzah, Muhammad Syafiq Mazli, Maszatul Akmar Mustafa

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The peak demand forecast is crucial to identify the future generation plant up needed in the long-term capacity planning analysis for Peninsular Malaysia as well as for the transmission and distribution network planning activities. Currently, peak demand forecast (in Mega Watt) is derived from the generation forecast by using load factor assumption. However, a forecast using this method has underperformed due to the structural changes in the economy, emerging trends and weather uncertainty. The dynamic changes of these drivers will result in many possible outcomes of peak demand for Peninsular Malaysia. This paper will look into the independent model of peak demand forecasting. The model begins with the selection of driver variables to capture long-term growth. This selection and construction of variables, which include econometric, emerging trend and energy variables, will have an impact on the peak forecast. The actual framework begins with the development of system energy and load shape forecast by using the system’s hourly data. The shape forecast represents the system shape assuming all embedded technology and use patterns to continue in the future. This is necessary to identify the movements in the peak hour or changes in the system load factor. The next step would be developing the peak forecast, which involves an iterative process to explore model structures and variables. The final step is combining the system energy, shape, and peak forecasts into the hourly system forecast then modifying it with the forecast adjustments. Forecast adjustments are among other sales forecasts for electric vehicles, solar and other adjustments. The framework will result in an hourly forecast that captures growth, peak usage and new technologies. The advantage of this approach as compared to the current methodology is that the peaks capture new technology impacts that change the load shape.

Keywords: hourly load profile, load forecasting, long term peak demand forecasting, peak demand

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Authors: Ankit Kamboj, Shikha Talwar, Nilesh Powar

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To successfully deliver our products in the market, the employees need to be in a safe environment, especially in an industrial and manufacturing environment. The consequences of delinquency in wearing safety glasses while working in industrial plants could be high risk to employees, hence the need to develop a real-time automatic detection system which detects the persons (violators) not wearing safety glasses. In this study a convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm called faster region based CNN (Faster RCNN) with rotated bounding box has been used for detecting safety glasses on persons; the algorithm has an advantage of detecting safety glasses with different orientation angles on the persons. The proposed method of rotational bounding boxes with a convolutional neural network first detects a person from the images, and then the method detects whether the person is wearing safety glasses or not. The video data is captured at the entrance of restricted zones of the industrial environment (manufacturing plant), which is further converted into images at 2 frames per second. In the first step, the CNN with pre-trained weights on COCO dataset is used for person detection where the detections are cropped as images. Then the safety goggles are labelled on the cropped images using the image labelling tool called roLabelImg, which is used to annotate the ground truth values of rotated objects more accurately, and the annotations obtained are further modified to depict four coordinates of the rectangular bounding box. Next, the faster RCNN with rotated bounding box is used to detect safety goggles, which is then compared with traditional bounding box faster RCNN in terms of detection accuracy (average precision), which shows the effectiveness of the proposed method for detection of rotatory objects. The deep learning benchmarking is done on a Dell workstation with a 16GB Nvidia GPU.

Keywords: CNN, deep learning, faster RCNN, roLabelImg rotated bounding box, safety goggle detection

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Authors: Khalil Boukfoussa

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It is important to provide students with food that contains complete nutrients to provide them with mental and physical energy during the school day. Especially since the time students spend in school is equivalent to 50% of their time during the day, which increases the importance of proper nutrition in schools and makes it an ideal way to inculcate the foundations of a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits. Proper nutrition is one of the most important things that affect the health and process of growth and development in children, in addition to being a key factor in supporting the ability to focus, supporting mental abilities and developing the student’s academic achievement. In addition to the importance of a healthy diet for the development and growth of the child's body, proper nutrition can significantly contribute to protecting the body from catching viruses and helping it to pass the winter safely. Effective food control systems in different countries are essential to protect the health and safety of domestic consumers. These systems are also crucial in enabling countries to ensure the safety and quality of food entering international trade and to ensure that imported food conforms to national requirements. The current global food trade environment places significant obligations on both importing and exporting countries to strengthen their food control systems and to apply and implement risk-based food control strategiesConsumers are becoming more interested in the way food is produced, processed and marketed, and are increasingly demanding that governments assume greater responsibility for consumer protection and food safety. In many countries, food control is weak because of the abundance of legislation, the multiplicity of jurisdictions and weaknesses in control, monitoring and enforcement. The following guidelines seek to advise national authorities on strategies to strengthen food control systems to protect public health, prevent fraud and fraud, avoid food contamination and help facilitate trade. These Guidelines will assist authorities in selecting the most appropriate food control system options in terms of legislation, infrastructure and enforcement mechanisms. The document clarifies the broad principles that govern food control systems and provides examples of the infrastructure and methods by which national systems can operate

Keywords: food, nutrision, school, safty

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Authors: Ikram Mohamed Eltayeb, Ustina Saeed Barsoumbolice

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Cinnamomum zeylanicum belong to the family Lauraceae and Artemisia absinthium belong to the family Asteraceae. Both were traditionally used as antiemetic, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic. In Sudan, the mixtures of the two plants were traditionally used for the treatment of diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia. It is mainly classified into two major groups, type-1 and type-2. Type-2 is a combination of resistance to insulin action and an inadequate compensatory insulin secretory response. The treatment of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with synthetic drugs have many side effects so many researches were conducted to overcome or reduce this side effects by using alternative medicine. The objective of this study is to investigate and compare the anti-diabetic activity of C. zeylanicum and A. absinthium and their combination with difference ratio. C. zeylanicum and A. absinthium were extracted by 96% ethanol using Soxhlet apparatus. Thirty-two rats were divided into eight groups; each group contains four rats. 1st group was administered with distilled water at dose of 10ml/kg, 2nd group had received glucose only at dose of 2g/kg intraperitoneal, the standard group (3rd group) had received Glibenclamide orally at dose of 0.45mg/kg, 4th group received 100 mg C. zeylanicum + 300 mg A. absinthium with a ratio of (25:75), 5th group received 300 mg C. zeylanicum + 100 mg A. absinthium with a ratio of (75:25), 6th group received 200 mg C. zeylanicum + 200 mg A. absinthiumwith a ratio of (50:50), 7th group received 400 mg of A. absinthium, 8th group received 400 mg of C. zeylanicum. Then the blood samples were taken Retro-orbitally at 0, 1, 2 and 4 hours and the glucose level was measured. Each plant alone and their combination with different ratios shows antidiabetic effect. The significant activity was shown by A. absinthium extract (400 mg/kg), combination of ratio of (75:25) A. absinthium: C. zeylanicum(400mg/kg) and then C. zeylanicum(400mg/kg) with p-value 0.001, 0.022, 0.030 respectively, the activity was found to be increased with time. The other combinations showed less activity with p-value > 0.05. The result concludes that the good antidiabetic activity was performed by A. absinthium alone and its activity decreased by increase combination ratio with C. zeylanicum. Which maybe explains by the antagonistic effect between the compounds of C. zeylanicum and A. absinthium.

Keywords: antidiabetic, Artemisia absinthium , cinnamomum zeylanicum, combination

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Authors: Esther Gumboh

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While the definition of rape has evolved over the years and now differs from one jurisdiction to another, at the heart of the offence remains the absence of consent on the part of the victim. In simple terms, rape consists in non-consensual sexual intercourse. Therefore, the core issue is whether the accused acted with the consent of the victim. Once it is established that the act was consensual, a conviction of rape cannot be secured. Traditionally, rape within marriage was impossible because it was understood that a woman gave irrevocable consent to sex with her husband throughout the duration of the marriage. This position has since changed in most jurisdictions. Indeed, Malawian law now recognises the offence of marital rape. This is a victory for women’s rights and gender equality. Curiously, however, the definition of marital rape endorsed differs from the standard understanding of rape as non-consensual sex. Instead, the law has introduced the concept of unreasonableness of the refusal to engage in sex as a defence to an accused. This is an alarming position that undermines the protection sought to be derived from the criminalisation of rape within marriage. Moreover, in the Malawian context where rape remains an offence only men can commit against women, the current legal framework for marital rape perpetuates the societal misnomer that a married woman gives a once-off consent to sexual intercourse by virtue of marriage. This takes us back to the old common law position which many countries have moved away from. The present definition of marital rape under Malawian law also sits at odd with the nature of rape that is applicable to all other instances of non-consensual sexual intercourse. Consequently, the law fails to protect married women from unwanted sexual relations at the hands of their husbands. This paper critically examines the criminalisation of marital rape in Malawi. It commences with a historical account of the conceptualisation of rape and then looks at judgments that rejected the validity of marital rape. The discussion then moves to the debates that preceded the criminalisation of marital rape in Malawi and how the Law Commission reasoned to finally make a recommendation in its favour. Against this background, the paper analyses the legal framework for marital rape and what this means for the elements of the offence and defences that may be raised by an accused. In the final analysis, this contribution recommends that there is need to amend the definition of marital rape. Better still, the law should simply state that the fact of marriage is not a defence to a charge of rape, or, in other words, that there is no marital rape exemption. This would automatically mean that husbands are subjected to the same criminal law principles as their unmarried counterparts when it comes to non-consensual sexual intercourse with their wives.

Keywords: criminal law, gender, Malawi, marital rape, rape, sexual intercourse

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Authors: Hannah S. Elizabeth, D. Gnanasekaran, M. R. Manju Gowda, Antony George

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Phytoremediation a new technology of remediating the contaminated soil, water and air using plants and serves as a green technology with environmental friendly approach. The main aim of this technique is cleansing and detoxifying of organic compounds, organo-phosphorous pesticides, heavy metals like arsenic, iron, cadmium, gold, radioactive elements which cause teratogenic and life threatening diseases to mankind and animal kingdom when consume the food crops, vegetables, fruits, cerals, and millets obtained from the contaminated soil. Also, directly they may damage the genetic materials thereby alters the biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites and other phytoconstituents which may have different pharmacological activities which lead to lost their efficacy and potency as well. It would reflect in mutagenicity, drug resistance and affect other antagonistic properties of normal metabolism. Is the technology for real clean-up of contaminated soils and the contaminants which are potentially toxic. It reduces the risks produced by a contaminated soil by decreasing contaminants using plants as a source. The advantages are cost-effectiveness and less ecosystem disruption. Plants may also help to stabilize contaminants by accumulating and precipitating toxic trace elements in the roots. Organic pollutants can potentially be chemically degraded and ultimately mineralized into harmless biological compounds. Hence, the use of plants to revitalize contaminated sites is gaining more attention and preferred for its cost-effective when compared to other chemical methods. The introduction of harmful substances into the environment has been shown to have many adverse effects on human health, agricultural productivity, and natural ecosystems. Because the costs of growing a crop are minimal compared to those of soil removal and replacement, the use of plants to remediate hazardous soils is seen as having great promise.

Keywords: cost effective, eco-friendly, phytoremediation, secondary metabolites

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Authors: Laura Masilionyte, Danute Jablonskyte-Rasce, Kestutis Venslauskas, Zita Kriauciuniene

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Alternative farming systems are used to cultivate high-quality food products and sustain the viability and fertility of the soil. Plant nutrition in all ecosystems depends not only on fertilization intensity or soil richness in organic matter but also on soil physical parameters –bulk density, structure, pores with the optimum moisture and air ratio available to plants. The field experiments of alternative (sustainable and organic) farming systems were conducted at Joniskelis Experimental Station of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2006–2016. The soil of the experimental site was Endocalcari-Endohypogleyic Cambisol (CMg-n-w-can). In alternative farming systems, farmyard manure, straw and catch crops for green manure were used for fertilization both in the soil with low and moderate humus contents. It had a more significant effect in the 0–20 cm depth layer on soil moisture than on other physical soil properties. In the agricultural systems, where catch crops were grown, soil physical characteristics did not differ significantly before their biomass incorporation, except for the moisture content, which was lower in rainy periods and higher in drier periods than in the soil of farming systems without catch crops. Soil bulk density and porosity in the topsoil layer were more dependent on soil humus content than on agricultural measures used: in the soil with moderate humus content, compared with the soil with low humus content, bulk density was by 1.4% lower, and porosity by 1.8% higher. The research findings allow to make improvements in alternative farming systems by choosing appropriate combinations of organic fertilizers and catch crops that have a sustainable effect on soil and maintain the sustainability of soil productivity parameters. Rational fertilization systems, securing the stability of soil productivity parameters and crop rotation productivity will promote the development of organic agriculture.

Keywords: agro-measures, soil physical parameters, organic farming, sustainable farming

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Authors: Xiaoqing Liu, Kurt Friese, Karsten Rinke

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Lacustrine sediment archives rich paleoenvironmental information in lake and surrounding environment. Additionally, modern sediment is used as an effective medium for the monitoring of lake. Organic carbon in sediment is a heterogeneous mixture with varying turnover times and qualities which result from the different biogeochemical processes in the deposition of organic material. Therefore, the isolation of different carbon pools is important for the research of lacustrine condition in the lake. However, the numeric available fractionation procedures can hardly yield homogeneous carbon pools on terms of stability and age. In this work, a multi-step fractionation protocol that treated sediment with hot water, HCl, H2O2 and Na2S2O8 in sequence was adopted, the treated sediment from each step were analyzed for the isotopic and structural compositions with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer coupled with element analyzer (IRMS-EA) and Solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), respectively. The sequential extractions with hot-water, HCl, and H2O2 yielded a more homogeneous and C3 plant-originating OC fraction, which was characterized with an atomic C/N ratio shift from 12.0 to 20.8, and 13C and 15N isotopic signatures were 0.9‰ and 1.9‰ more depleted than the original bulk sediment, respectively. Additionally, the H2O2- resistant residue was dominated with stable components, such as the lignins, waxes, cutans, tannins, steroids and aliphatic proteins and complex carbohydrates. 6M HCl in the acid hydrolysis step was much more effective than 1M HCl to isolate a sedimentary OC fraction with higher degree of homogeneity. Owing to the extremely high removal rate of organic matter, the step of a Na2S2O8 oxidation is only suggested if the isolation of the most refractory OC pool is mandatory. We conclude that this multi-step chemical fractionation procedure is effective to isolate more homogeneous OC pools in terms of stability and functional structure, and it can be used as a promising method for OC pools fractionation of sediment or soil in future lake research.

Keywords: 13C-CPMAS-NMR, 13C signature, lake sediment, OC fractionation

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Authors: Zhongzhong Zeng, Zichen Liang

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In recent years, Beijing courtyards have been facing the problem of renewal and renovation, and the residents are faced with the problems of small house areas, large household sizes, old and dangerous houses, etc. Among the many renovation methods, the authors note two more common practices of using the front porch to expand the floor area and adding a loft. Residents and architects, however, did not give the ventilation performance of the significant interior consideration before beginning the remodeling. The aim of this article is to explore the good or negative impacts of both front porch and loft structures on the manner of interior ventilation in the courtyard. Ventilation, in turn, is crucial to the indoor environmental quality of a home. The major method utilized in this study is the comparative analysis method, in which the authors create four alternative house models with or without a front porch and an attic as two variables and examine internal ventilation using the CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) technique. The authors compare the indoor ventilation of four different architectural models with or without front porches and lofts as two variables. The results obtained from the analysis of the sectional airflow and the plane 1.5m height cloud are the existence of the loft, to a certain extent, disrupts the airflow organization of the building and makes the rear wall high windows of the building less effective. Occupying the front porch to become the area of the house has no significant effect on ventilation, but try not to occupy the front porch and add the loft at the same time in the building renovation. The findings of this study led to the following recommendations: strive to preserve the courtyard building's original architectural design and make adjustments to only the inappropriate elements or constructions. The ventilation in the loft portion is inadequate, and the inhabitants typically use the loft as a living area. This may lead to the building relying more on air conditioning in the summer, which would raise energy demand. The front porch serves as a transition place as well as a source of shade, weather protection, and inside ventilation. In conclusion, the examination of interior environments in upcoming studies should concentrate on cross-disciplinary, multi-angle, and multi-level research topics.

Keywords: Beijing courtyard renewal, CFD, indoor environment, ventilation analysis

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Authors: Bhawna Shivan

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Indian monuments have been spoken of as for variety, extent, completeness and beauty unsurpassed perhaps unequaled in world. India’s monumental heritage is a part and parcel of India today. The underlying issue with the monumental heritage in contemporary times is that these monuments suffered many times with various degrees of threats/ pressures which hampered their beauty. In the current situation, the urbanization policies for sustainable development and tourism management pay no attention to the basic point of conservation and protection of these cultural heritages rather they focus more on profit earned from these sites. Many times rich heritage is found balancing between conflicting pressures of conservation of heritage elements with sustainability and local economic development. There is a need of a new attitude to India’s independent and democratic ideology. The paper will enquire about the historical perspective by analyzing and understanding the importance of Mughal Architecture while focusing on Humayun Tomb while assessing the value and sentiment people attach to these monuments. It will also put the focus on the future of these monuments in the era of globalization and urbanization. The role of public and private authorities for conservation and sustainable development of these monuments. As well as assessing other facilities like toilets, parking, eatery joint, Museum with Display of structural representation and display of books, and a mobile shop. The research will be helpful in assessing the importance of heritage buildings whether they are a tool of enhancing ‘Tourism Industry’ for Central and State Government or really there is still some future of these monuments. Can we still consider these heritage sites as the integral part of our society in this urbanized world? The study will also analyze the attitude of the central and state government towards a building when it declared as a ‘World Heritage Site’. The study will also examine how the Youth and other aged generations append their sentimental values towards them, say (what is their purpose of coming to a heritage site, what makes them coming here, how they view this particular monument) Apart from this, probing the factors such as rapid growth of cities and its population, increasing value of urban land and effect of globalization on urban growth pattern that are capable of producing a variety of threats and pressures on any monument for instance Humayun Tomb.

Keywords: globalization, monuments, tourism, urban heritage

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Authors: Husham Bayazed

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Purpose of presentation: Pregnancy represents the most important period for the conservation of the species. The immune system is one of the most important systems protecting the mother against the environment and preventing damage to the fetus. This presentation aims to review and discuss the role of the immune system during pregnancy, the evolutionary inflammatory process through pregnancy, infectious and environmental exposure influences on the mother and the fetus, and the impacts of sexual dimorphism of the placenta on offspring susceptibility to different disorders. Recent Findings: In 1960, Peter Medawar (Nobel Prize Winner) proposed that the fetus, a semi-allograft, is similar to a tissue graft that escapes rejection through a mechanism involving systemic immune suppression (Graft –Host response). However, recent researchers and studies have documented that implantation means inflammation, and the inflammatory process is considered a breach of tolerance in pregnancy with immune induction, which is necessary for the protection of the mother and the fetus against infections and environmental triggers. This inflammatory process should be maintained during different pregnancy phases till parturition, and any block at any phase will be associated with pregnancy complications, including pregnancy failure or loss, miscarriage, and preterm birth subsequently. Maternal immune activation following any trigger can have a positive effect on the fetus. The old concept of the placenta being asexual is inaccurate, and being with sexual dimorphism with clear differences in susceptibility to different factors that stimulate maternal immunity. Summary: The presence of different immune cells ((i.e., T cells, B cells, NK cells, etc.) at the implantation site is considered proof of a strong maternal immune response to the fetus. Therefore, human pregnancy is considered a unique immunological paradigm requiring maternal immune modulation rather than suppression. So Medawar's postulation of maternal systemic immunosuppression is wrong. Maternal immune system activation triggered by infections, stress, diet, and pollution can have a positive effect on the fetus, with the development of fetal-trained immunity necessary for survival. The sexual dimorphism of the placenta seems to have an impact on the differences in sex susceptible to the environment maternal risk stimuli. This link to why the incidence of autism is increasing more among boys than girls.

Keywords: pregnancy, maternal immunity, implantation and inflammation, placenta sexual dimorphism

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Authors: Snezana Rajkovic, Miroslava Markovic, Ljubinko Rakonjac, Aleksandar Lucic, Radoslav Rajkovic

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Woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann) is a widely distributed pest of apple trees, especially where its parasites have been killed by insecticides. It can also be found on pear, hawthorn, mountain ash, and elm trees. Relatively small to medium-sized aphids, characterized by a reddish-brown body, a blood-red stain when crushed and a fluffy, flocculent wax covering. Specialized dermal glands produce the characteristic fluffy or powdery wax, which gives E. lanigerum its characteristic 'woolly' appearance. Also, woolly apple aphid is a problemm in nursery production of spure.The experiments were carried out in the nursery “Nevade” in Gornji Milanovac, "Srbijasume" on the spruce seedlings, aged 2 years. In this study, organic insecticide King Bo, aqueous solution (a. i. oxymatrine 0.2% + psoralen 0.4%), manufacturer Beijing Kingbo Biotech Co. Ltd., Beijing, China. extracted from plants and used as pesticides in nursery production were investigated. King Bo, bioinsecticide is manufactured from refined natural herbal extract several wild medicinal plants, such as Sophora flavescens Ait, Veratrum nigrum L, A. Carmichael, etc. Oxymatrine 2.4 SL is a stomach poison that has antifeeding and repellent action. This substance stimulates development and growth in a host plant and also controls the appearance of downy mildew.The trials were set according to instructions of methods-monitoring of changes in the number of larvae and adults compared to before treatment. The treatment plan was made according to fully randomized block design. The experiment was conducted in four repetitions. The basic plot had the area of 25 m2. Phytotoxicity was estimated by PP methods 1/135 (2), the intensity of infection according to Towsend-Heuberger, the efficiency by Abbott, the analysis of variance with Ducan test and PP/181 (2).

Keywords: bioinsecticide, efficacy, nurssery production, woolly apple aphid

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Authors: Mirjana Dokmanovic

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The paper will introduce main findings of the research of the responses of the Central European and South Eastern European (CEE/SEE) countries to the global economic and financial crisis in 2008 from human rights and gender perspectives. The research methodology included desk research and qualitative analysis of the available data, studies, statistics, and reports produced by the governments, the UN agencies, international financial institutions (IFIs) and international network of civil society organizations. The main conclusion of the study is that the governments in the region missed to assess the impacts of their anti-crisis policies both ex ante and ex post from the standpoint of human rights and gender equality. Majority of the countries have focused their efforts solely on prompting up the banking and financial sectors, and construction business sectors. The tremendous debt which the states have accumulated for the rescue of banks and industries lead to further cuts in social expenses and reduction of public services. Decreasing state support to health care and social protection and declining family incomes made social services unaffordable for many families. Thus, the economic and financial crisis stirred up the care crisis that was absorbed by women’s intensifying unpaid work within a family and household to manage household survival strategy. On the other hand, increased burden of the care work weakened the position of women in the labour market and their opportunities to find a job. The study indicates that the artificial separation of the real economy and the sphere of social reproduction still persist. This has created additional burden of unpaid work of women within a family. The aim of this paper is to introduce the lessons learnt for future: (a) human rights may not be derogated in the times of crisis; (b) the obligation of states to mitigate negative impacts of economic policies to population, particularly to vulnerable groups, must be prioritized; (c) IFIs and business sector must be liable as duty bearers with respect to human rights commitments.

Keywords: CEE/SEE region, global financial and economic crisis, international financial institutions, human rights commitments, principle of non-derogability of human rights

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Authors: V. E. Messerle, A. B. Ustimenko, O. A. Lavrichshev

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A large amount of manure and its irrational use negatively affect the environment. As compared with biomass fermentation, plasma processing of manure enhances makes it possible to intensify the process of obtaining fuel gas, which consists mainly of synthesis gas (CO + H₂), and increase plant productivity by 150–200 times. This is achieved due to the high temperature in the plasma reactor and a multiple reduction in waste processing time. This paper examines the plasma processing of biomass using the example of dried mixed animal manure (dung with a moisture content of 30%). Characteristic composition of dung, wt.%: Н₂О – 30, С – 29.07, Н – 4.06, О – 32.08, S – 0.26, N – 1.22, P₂O₅ – 0.61, K₂O – 1.47, СаО – 0.86, MgO – 0.37. The thermodynamic code TERRA was used to numerically analyze dung plasma gasification and pyrolysis. Plasma gasification and pyrolysis of dung were analyzed in the temperature range 300–3,000 K and pressure 0.1 MPa for the following thermodynamic systems: 100% dung + 25% air (plasma gasification) and 100% dung + 25% nitrogen (plasma pyrolysis). Calculations were conducted to determine the composition of the gas phase, the degree of carbon gasification, and the specific energy consumption of the processes. At an optimum temperature of 1,500 K, which provides both complete gasification of dung carbon and the maximum yield of combustible components (99.4 vol.% during dung gasification and 99.5 vol.% during pyrolysis), and decomposition of toxic compounds of furan, dioxin, and benz(a)pyrene, the following composition of combustible gas was obtained, vol.%: СО – 29.6, Н₂ – 35.6, СО₂ – 5.7, N₂ – 10.6, H₂O – 17.9 (gasification) and СО – 30.2, Н₂ – 38.3, СО₂ – 4.1, N₂ – 13.3, H₂O – 13.6 (pyrolysis). The specific energy consumption of gasification and pyrolysis of dung at 1,500 K is 1.28 and 1.33 kWh/kg, respectively. An installation with a DC plasma torch with a rated power of 100 kW and a plasma reactor with a dung capacity of 50 kg/h was used for dung processing experiments. The dung was gasified in an air (or nitrogen during pyrolysis) plasma jet, which provided a mass-average temperature in the reactor volume of at least 1,600 K. The organic part of the dung was gasified, and the inorganic part of the waste was melted. For pyrolysis and gasification of dung, the specific energy consumption was 1.5 kWh/kg and 1.4 kWh/kg, respectively. The maximum temperature in the reactor reached 1,887 K. At the outlet of the reactor, a gas of the following composition was obtained, vol.%: СO – 25.9, H₂ – 32.9, СO₂ – 3.5, N₂ – 37.3 (pyrolysis in nitrogen plasma); СO – 32.6, H₂ – 24.1, СO₂ – 5.7, N₂ – 35.8 (air plasma gasification). The specific heat of combustion of the combustible gas formed during pyrolysis and plasma-air gasification of agricultural waste is 10,500 and 10,340 kJ/kg, respectively. Comparison of the integral indicators of dung plasma processing showed satisfactory agreement between the calculation and experiment.

Keywords: agricultural waste, experiment, plasma gasification, thermodynamic calculation

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Authors: Sherif Fayez Lewis Ghaly

Abstract:

up to datefacupupdated planning has the mission of designing merchandise, plant life, procedures, enterprise, regions, and the development of a up to date. The requirements for up-to-date planning and the constructing of a updated have changed in recent years. everyday restructuring is turning inupupdated greater essential up-to-date hold the competitiveness of a manufacturing facilityupdated. restrictions in new regions, shorter existence cycles of product and manufacturing generation up-to-date a VUCA global (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity) up-to-date greater frequent restructuring measures inside a manufacturing facilityupdated. A virtual up-to-date model is the making plans basis for rebuilding measures and up-to-date an fundamental up-to-date. short-time period rescheduling can now not be handled through on-web site inspections and manual measurements. The tight time schedules require 3177227fc5dac36e3e5ae6cd5820dcaa making plans fashions. updated the high variation fee of facup-to-dateries defined above, a method for rescheduling facupdatedries on the idea of a modern-day digital up to datery dual is conceived and designed for sensible software in updated restructuring projects. the point of interest is on rebuild approaches. The purpose is up-to-date preserve the planning basis (virtual up-to-date model) for conversions within a up to datefacupupdated updated. This calls for the application of a methodology that reduces the deficits of present techniques. The goal is up-to-date how a digital up to datery version may be up to date up to date during ongoing up to date operation. a method up-to-date on phoup to dategrammetry technology is presented. the focus is on developing a easy and fee-powerful up to date tune the numerous adjustments that arise in a manufacturing unit constructing in the course of operation. The method is preceded with the aid of a hardware and software assessment up-to-date become aware of the most cost effective and quickest version.

Keywords: building information modeling, digital factory model, factory planning, maintenance digital factory model, photogrammetry, restructuring

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Authors: Lakshmi Chebolu

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'War’, the word itself, is so vibrant and handcuffs the entire society. Since the beginning of manhood, the world has been evident in constant struggles. However, along with the growth of communities, relations, on the one hand, and disputes, on the other hand, infinitely increased. When states cannot or will not settle their disputes or differences by means of peaceful agreements, weapons are suddenly made to speak. It does not mean states can engage in war whenever they desire. At an international level, there has been a vast development of the law of war in the 20th century. War, it may be internal or international, in all situations, belligerent actors should follow the principles of warfare. With the advent of technology, the shape of war has changed, and it violates fundamental principles without observing basic norms. Conversely, states' attitudes towards international relationships are also undermined to some extent as state parties are not prioritized the communal interest rather than political or individual interest. In spite of the persistent development of communities, still many people are innocent victims of modern wars. It costs a toll on many lives, liberties, and properties and remains a major obstacle to nations' development. Recent incidents in Afghan are a live example to World Nations. We know that the principles of international law cannot be implemented very strictly on perpetrators due to the lacuna in the international legal system. However, the rules of war are universal in nature. The Geneva Convention, 1949 which are the core element of IHL, has been ratified by all 196 States. In fact, very few international treaties received this much of big support from nations. State’s approach towards Modern International Law, places a heavy burden on States practice towards in implementation of law. Although United Nations Security Council possesses certain powers under ‘Pacific Settlement of Disputes’, (Chapter VI) of the United Nations Charter to prevent disputes in a peaceful manner, conversely, this practice has been overlooked for many years due to political interests, favor, etc. Despite international consensus on the prohibition of war and protection of fundamental freedoms and human dignity, still, often, law has been misused by states’. The recent tendencies trigger questions about states’ willingness towards the implementation of the law. In view of the existing practices of nations, this paper aims to elevate the legal obligations of the international community to save the succeeding generations from the scourge of modern war practices.

Keywords: modern wars, weapons, prohibition and suspension of war activities, states’ obligations

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Pelin Yilmaz, Gizemnur Yildiz Uysal, Elcin Demirhan, Belma Ozbek

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The edible fig plant, Ficus carica Linn, belongs to the Moraceae family, and the leaves are mainly considered agricultural waste after harvesting. It has been demonstrated in the literature that fig leaves contain appealing properties such as high vitamins, fiber, amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic or flavonoid content. The extraction of these valuable products has gained importance. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) is a method using microwave energy to heat the solvents, thereby transferring the bioactive compounds from the sample to the solvent. The main advantage of the MAE is the rapid extraction of bioactive compounds. In the present study, the MAE was applied to extract the bioactive compounds from Ficus carica L. leaves, and the effect of microwave power (180-900 W), extraction time (60-180 s), and solvent to sample amount (mL/g) (10-30) on the antioxidant property of the leaves. Then, the volatile organic component profile was determined at the specified extraction point. Additionally, antimicrobial studies were carried out to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of the microwave-extracted leaves. As a result, according to the data obtained from the experimental studies, the highest antimicrobial properties were obtained under the process parameters such as 540 W, 180 s, and 20 mL/g concentration. The volatile organic compound profile showed that isobergapten, which belongs to the furanocoumarins family exhibiting anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity besides promoting bone health, was the main compound. Acknowledgments: This work has been supported by Yildiz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under project number FBA-2021-4409. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Tubitak 1515 - Frontier R&D Laboratory Support Programme.

Keywords: Ficus carica Linn leaves, volatile organic component, GC-MS, microwave extraction, isobergapten, antimicrobial

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Badriya Almutairi, Ashraf El-Hamalawi

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Wind energy technologies are considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources due to the growing concerns over climate change and energy security. Kuwait is amongst the countries that began realising the consequences of climate change and the long-term economic and energy security situation, considering options when oil runs out. Added to this are the fluctuating oil prices, rapid increase in population, high electricity consumption and protection of the environment It began to make efforts in the direction of greener solutions for energy needs by looking for alternative forms of energy and assessing potential renewable energy resources, including wind and solar. The aim of this paper is to examine wind energy as an alternative renewable energy source in Kuwait, due to its availability and low cost, reducing the dependency on fossil fuels compared to other forms of renewable energy. This paper will present a life cycle assessment of onshore wind turbine systems in Kuwait, comprising 4 stages; goal and scope of the analysis, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation of the results. It will also provide an assessment of potential renewable energy resources and technologies applied for power generation and the environmental benefits for Kuwait. An optimum location for a site (Shagaya) will be recommended for reasons such as high wind speeds, land availability and distance to the next grid connection, and be the focus of this study. The potential environmental impacts and resources used throughout the wind turbine system’s life-cycle are then analysed using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results show the total carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission for a turbine with steel pile foundations is greater than emissions from a turbine with concrete foundations by 18 %. The analysis also shows the average CO₂ emissions from electricity generated using crude oil is 645gCO₂/kWh and the carbon footprint per functional unit for a wind turbine ranges between 6.6 g/kWh to 10 g/kWh, an increase of 98%, thus providing cost and environmental benefits by creating a wind farm in Kuwait. Using a cost-benefit analysis, it was also found that the electricity produced from wind energy in Kuwait would cost 17.6fils/kWh (0.05834 $/kWh), which is less than the cost of electricity currently being produced using conventional methods at 22 fils/kW (0.07$/kWh), i.e., a reduction of 20%.

Keywords: CO₂ emissions, Kuwait, life cycle assessment, renewable energy, wind energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Luz del Carmen Rubí Félix Peña, Jose Adan Felix-Ortiz, Ely Sara Lopez-Alvarez, Wenceslao Valenzuela-Quiñonez

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On a global scale, Mexico is the sixth largest producer of farmed white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). The activity suffered significant economic losses due to acute hepatopancreatic necrosis (AHPND) caused by a strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. For control, the first option is the application of antibiotics in food, causing changes in the environment and bacterial communities, which has produced greater virulence and resistance of pathogenic bacteria. An alternative treatment is silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) generated by green synthesis, which have shown an antibacterial capacity by destroying the cell membrane or denaturing the cell. However, the doses at which these are effective are still unknown. The aim is to calculate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using the Gompertz, Richard, and Logistic model of biosynthesized AgNPs against a strain of V. parahaemolyticus. Through the testing of different formulations of AgNPs synthesized from Euphorbia prostrate (Ep) extracts against V. parahaemolyticus causing AHPND in white shrimp. Aqueous and ethanol extracts were obtained, and the concentration of phenols and flavonoids was quantified. In the antibiograms, AgNPs were formulated in ethanol extracts of Ep (20 and 30%). The inhibition halo at well dilution test were 18±1.7 and 17.67±2.1 mm against V. parahaemolyticus. A broth microdilution was performed with the inhibitory agents (aqueous and ethanolic extracts and AgNPs) and 20 μL of the inoculum of V. parahaemolyticus. The MIC for AgNPs was 6.2-9.3 μg/mL and for ethanol extract of 49-73 mg/mL. The Akaike index (AIC) was used to choose the Gompertz model for ethanol extracts of Ep as the best data descriptor (AIC=204.8, 10%; 45.5, 20%, and 204.8, 30%). The Richards model was at AgNPs ethanol extract with AIC=-9.3 (10%), -17.5 (20 and 30%). The MIC calculated for EP extracts with the modified Gompertz model were 20 mg/mL (10% and 20% extract) and 40 mg/mL at 30%, while Richard was winner for AgNPs-synthesized it was 5 μg/mL (10% and 20%) and 8 μg/mL (30%). The solver tool Excel was used for the calculations of the models and inhibition curves against V.parahaemolyticus.

Keywords: green synthesis, euphorbia prostata, phenols, flavonoids, bactericide

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Shahindokht Bassiri-Jahromi, Mohammad Reza Pourshafie, Farzad Katiraee, Mannan Hajimahmoodi, Ehsan Mostafavi, Malihe Talebi

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Objective: Resistance of Candida species to antifungal agents has potentially serious implications for management of infections. Candida species are now fourth common organisms isolated from hospitalized patients. It is important to increase effective therapy. In the past decade, numerous reports of treatment failures were reported. Prevention and control of these infections will require new antimicrobial agents. Plant-derived antifungal have always been a source of novel therapeutics. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal effect of methanolic extract of pomegranate peel and pulp against Candida species. Material and Methods: Eight cultivars of Punica granatum L. were collected from Saveh Agricultural Investigation Center in Iran. Both pomegranate pulp and peel were dried and powdered separately. The dried powders were extracted by using a soxhlet extractor. The antifungal effect of methanolic extract of pomegranate peel and pulp were determined in vitro by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against five standard species of (ATCC 10231), C. parapsilosis (ATCC 22019), C. tropicalis (ATCC 750), C. glabrata (PTCC 5297), and C. kroseii (PTCC 5295). Results: Maximum inhibitions of antifungal effect were attributed to peel extract pomegranate cultivar and Candida species. The most potential antifungal inhibition among 8 different cultivars observed by sour malas, sour white peel, and sour summer extracts respectively, against five Candida strains. The antifungal activity of pulp extracts against Candida species was approximately negative. Conclusion: The use of Punica granatum peel extract has been shown to possess antifungal activities. The phytochemistry and pharmacological actions of Punica granatum peel components suggest a wide range of clinical applications for the treatment and prevention of candidiasis.

Keywords: antifungal activity, Candida species, Punica granatum L., pharmacognosy

Procedia PDF Downloads 482

Authors: Aaron Huber, Manoj Karwa

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Floods, heat waves, drought, wildfires, tornadoes and other environmental disasters are a snapshot of looming national problems that can create increasing demands on the national grid. With nearly 500,000 school buses on the road and the environmental protection agency (EPA) providing nearly $1B for electric school buses, there is a solution for this national issue. Bidirectional batteries in electric school buses enable a future proof solution to sustain the power grid during adverse environmental conditions and other periods of high demand. School buses have larger batteries than standard electric vehicles. When they are not transporting students, these buses can spend peak solar hours parked and plugged into bi-directional direct current fast chargers (DCFC). A partnership with Highland Electric, Proterra and Rhombus enabled over 7 MWh of energy servicing Massachusetts and Vermont grids. The buses were part of a vehicle to grid (V2G) program with National Grid and Green Mountain Power that can charge an average American home for one month with a single bus. V2G infrastructure enables school systems to future proof their charging strategies, strengthen their local grids and can create additional revenue streams with their EV fleets. A bidirectional ecosystem with Highland, Proterra and Rhombus can enable grid resiliency or the ability to withstand power outages caused by excessive demands, natural disasters or rogue nation's attacks with no loss of service. A fleet of school buses is a standalone resilient asset that can be accessed across a city to keep its citizens safe without having any toxic fumes. Nearly 95% of all school buses across USA are powered by diesel internal combustion engines. Diesel exhaust has been classified as a human carcinogen, and it can lead to and exacerbate respiratory conditions. Bidirectional school buses and chargers enable energy justice by providing backup power in case of emergencies or high demand for marginalized communities and aim to make energy more accessible, affordable, clean, and democratically managed.

Keywords: V2G, vehicle to grid, electric buses, eBuses, DC fast chargers, DCFC

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: S. Tandon, A. Oussoren

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Clothing is a need for all humans. Besides serving the commonly understood function of protection, it also is a means of self-expression and adornment. However, most clothing for people with disabilities is developed to respond to their functional needs merely. Such clothing aggravates feelings of inadequacy and lowers their self-esteem. Investigations into apparel-related barriers faced by women with disabilities and their expectations and desires about clothing pointed to a huge void in terms of well-designed inclusive clothing. The incredible stories and experiences shared by the participants in this research highlighted the fact that people with disabilities wanted to feel, dress, and look at how they wanted to look by wearing what they wanted to wear. Clothing should be about self-expression – reflecting their moods, taste, and style and not limited to fulfilling merely their functional needs. Inclusive Design for Regaining Lost Identity was undertaken to design and develop accessible clothing that is inclusive and fashionable to foster psycho-social well-being and to enhance the self-esteem of women with disabilities. The research explored inclusive design solutions for the saree – a traditional Indian garment for women. The saree is an elaborate garment that requires precise draping, which makes the saree complicated to wear and inconvenient to carry, particularly for women with physical disabilities. For many women in India, the saree remains the customary dress, especially for work and occasions, yet minimal advancement has been made to enhance its accessibility and ease of use. The project followed a qualitative research approach whilst incorporating a combination of methods, which consisted of a questionnaire, an interview, and co-creation workshops. The research adhered to the principles of applied research such that the designed products aim to solve a problem that is functional and purposeful. In order to reduce the complications and to simplify the wrapping of the garment fabric around the body, different combinations of pre-stitching of the layers of the saree were created to investigate the outcomes. The technology of 3D drawing and printing was employed to develop feasible fasteners keeping in mind the participants’ movement limitations and to enhance their agency with these newly designed fasteners. The underlying principle of the project is that every individual should be able to access life the way they wish to and should not have to compromise their desires due to their disability.

Keywords: accessibility, co-creation, design ethics, inclusive

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: T. Jayanthi, K. Velusamy, H. Seetha, S. A. V. Satya Murty

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Verification and Validation of Simulated Process Model is the most important phase of the simulator life cycle. Evaluation of simulated process models based on Verification and Validation techniques checks the closeness of each component model (in a simulated network) with the real system/process with respect to dynamic behaviour under steady state and transient conditions. The process of Verification and validation helps in qualifying the process simulator for the intended purpose whether it is for providing comprehensive training or design verification. In general, model verification is carried out by comparison of simulated component characteristics with the original requirement to ensure that each step in the model development process completely incorporates all the design requirements. Validation testing is performed by comparing the simulated process parameters to the actual plant process parameters either in standalone mode or integrated mode. A Full Scope Replica Operator Training Simulator for PFBR - Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor has been developed at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, INDIA named KALBR-SIM (Kalpakkam Breeder Reactor Simulator) wherein the main participants are engineers/experts belonging to Modeling Team, Process Design and Instrumentation and Control design team. This paper discusses the Verification and Validation process in general, the evaluation procedure adopted for PFBR operator training Simulator, the methodology followed for verifying the models, the reference documents and standards used etc. It details out the importance of internal validation by design experts, subsequent validation by external agency consisting of experts from various fields, model improvement by tuning based on expert’s comments, final qualification of the simulator for the intended purpose and the difficulties faced while co-coordinating various activities.

Keywords: Verification and Validation (V&V), Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), Kalpakkam Breeder Reactor Simulator (KALBR-SIM), steady state, transient state

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Dejenie Birile Gemeda, Wilhelm Stork

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The power system is one of the most important systems in modern society. The existing power system is approaching the critical operating limits as views of several power system operators. With the increase of load demand, high capacity and long transmission networks are widely used to meet the requirement. With the integration of renewable energies such as wind and solar, the uncertainty, intermittence bring bigger challenges to the operation of power systems. These dynamic uncertainties in the power system lead to power disturbances. The disturbances in a heavily stressed power system cause distance relays to mal-operation or false alarms during post fault power oscillations. This unintended operation of these relays may propagate and trigger cascaded trappings leading to total power system blackout. This is due to relays inability to take an appropriate tripping decision based on ensuing power swing. According to the N-1 criterion, electric power systems are generally designed to withstand a single failure without causing the violation of any operating limit. As a result, some overloaded components such as overhead transmission lines can still work for several hours under overload conditions. However, when a large power swing happens in the power system, the settings of the distance relay of zone 3 may trip the transmission line with a short time delay, and they will be acting so quickly that the system operator has no time to respond and stop the cascading. Misfiring of relays in absence of fault due to power swing may have a significant loss in economic performance, thus a loss in revenue for power companies. This research paper proposes a method to distinguish stable power swing from unstable using dynamic line rating (DLR) in response to power swing or disturbances. As opposed to static line rating (SLR), dynamic line rating support effective mitigation actions against propagating cascading outages in a power grid. Effective utilization of existing transmission lines capacity using machine learning DLR predictions will improve the operating point of distance relay protection, thus reducing unintended power outages due to power swing.

Keywords: blackout, cascading outages, dynamic line rating, power swing, overhead transmission lines

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Lucia Steenkamp, Chris V. D. Westhuyzen, Kgama Mathiba

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Ambergris, and more specifically its oxidation product (–)-ambrafuran, is a scarce, valuable, and sought-after perfumery ingredient. The material is used as a fixative agent to stabilise perfumes in formulations by reducing the evaporation rate of volatile substances. Ambergris is a metabolic product of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephatus L.), resulting from intestinal irritation. Chemically, (–)-ambrafuran is produced from the natural product sclareol in eight synthetic steps – in the process using harsh and often toxic chemicals to do so. An overall yield of no more than 76% can be achieved in some routes, but generally, this is lower. A new 'green' route has been developed in our laboratory in which sclareol, extracted from the Clary sage plant, is converted to (–)-ambrafuran in two steps with an overall yield in excess of 80%. The first step uses a microorganism, Hyphozyma roseoniger, to bioconvert sclareol to an intermediate diol using substrate concentrations up to 50g/L. The yield varies between 90 and 67% depending on the substrate concentration used. The purity of the diol product is 95%, and the diol is used without further purification in the next step. The intermediate diol is then cyclodehydrated to the final product (–)-ambrafuran using a zeolite, which is not harmful to the environment and is readily recycled. The yield of the product is 96%, and following a single recrystallization, the purity of the product is > 99.5%. A preliminary LC-MS study of the bioconversion identified several intermediates produced in the fermentation broth under oxygen-restricted conditions. Initially, a short-lived ketone is produced in equilibrium with a more stable pyranol, a key intermediate in the process. The latter is oxidised under Norrish type I cleavage conditions to yield an acetate, which is hydrolysed either chemically or under lipase action to afford the primary fermentation product, an intermediate diol. All the intermediates identified point to the likely CYP450 action as the key enzyme(s) in the mechanism. This invention is an exceptional example of how the power of biocatalysis, combined with a mild, benign chemical step, can be deployed to replace a total chemical synthesis of a specific chiral antipode of a commercially relevant material.

Keywords: ambrafuran, biocatalysis, fragrance, microorganism

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Anjali Sidhu, Anju Bala, Amit Kumar

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Metal nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize the agriculture owing to sizzling interdisciplinary nano-technological application domain. Numerous patents and products incorporating engineered nanoparticles (NPs) entered into agro-applications with the collective goal to promote proficiency as well as sustainability with lower input and generating meager waste than conventional products and approaches. Loose smut of wheat caused by Ustilago segetum tritici is an internally seed-borne pathogen. It is dormant in the seed unless the seed germinates and its symptoms are expressed at the reproductive stage of the plant only. Various seed treatment agents are recommended for this disease but due to the inappropriate methods of seed treatments used by farmers, each and every seed may not get treated, and the infected seeds escape the fungicidal action. The antimicrobial potential and small size of nanoparticles made them the material of choice as they could enter each seed and restrict the pathogen inside the seed due to the availability of more number of nanoparticles per unit volume of the nanoformulations. Nanoparticles of diverse nature known for their in vitro antimicrobial activity viz. ZnO, MgO, CuS and AgNPs were synthesized, surface modified and characterized by traditional methods. They were applied on infected wheat seeds which were then grown in pot conditions, and their mycelium was tracked in the shoot and leaf region of the seedlings by microscopic staining techniques. Mixed responses of inhibition of this internal mycelium were observed. The time and method of application concluded to be critical for application, which was optimised in the present work. The results implicated that there should be field trails to get final fate of these pot trails up to commercial level. The success of their field trials could be interpreted as a revolution to replace high dose organic fungicides of high residue behaviour.

Keywords: metal nanoparticles, nanopriming, seed borne pathogen, Ustilago segetum tritici

Procedia PDF Downloads 142