Search results for: water extract

Authors: Anusha Jain, Santosh Vishwanathan, Praveen K. Gupta, Shwetha S., Kavitha S. N.

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Agriculture has a major impact on the Indian economy, with the highest employment ratio than any sector of the country. Currently, most of the traditional agricultural practices and farming methods are manual, which results in farmers not realizing their maximum productivity often due to increasing in labour cost, inefficient use of water sources leading to wastage of water, inadequate soil moisture content, subsequently leading to food insecurity of the country. This research paper aims to solve this problem by developing a full-fledged web application-based platform that has the capacity to associate itself with a Microcontroller-based Automated Irrigation System which schedules the irrigation of crops based on real-time soil moisture content employing soil moisture sensors centric to the crop’s requirements using WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks) and M2M (Machine To Machine Communication) concepts, thus optimizing the use of the available limited water resource, thereby maximizing the crop yield. This robust automated irrigation system provides end-to-end automation of Irrigation of crops at any circumstances such as droughts, irregular rainfall patterns, extreme weather conditions, etc. This platform will also be capable of achieving a nationwide united farming community and ensuring the welfare of farmers. This platform is designed to equip farmers with prerequisite knowledge on tech and the latest farming practices in general. In order to achieve this, the MailChimp mailing service is used through which interested farmers/individuals' email id will be recorded and curated articles on innovations in the world of agriculture will be provided to the farmers via e-mail. In this proposed system, service is enabled on the platform where nearby crop vendors will be able to enter their pickup locations, accepted prices and other relevant information. This will enable farmers to choose their vendors wisely. Along with this, we have created a blogging service that will enable farmers and agricultural enthusiasts to share experiences, helpful knowledge, hardships, etc., with the entire farming community. These are some of the many features that the platform has to offer.

Keywords: WSN (wireless sensor networks), M2M (M/C to M/C communication), automation, irrigation system, sustainability, SAAS (software as a service), soil moisture sensor

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Authors: Jerico M. Consolacion, Maria Cynthia R. Oliveros

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The Philippine White Mallard duck was compared with Pekin duck for potential meat production. A total of 50 ducklings were randomly assigned to five (5) pens per treatment after one month of brooding. Each pen containing five (5) ducks was considered as a replicate. The ducks were raised until 12 weeks of age and slaughtered at the end of the growing period. Meat from both breeds was analyzed. The data were subjected to the Independent-Sample T-test at 5% level of confidence. Results showed that post-mortem pH (0, 20 minutes, 50 minutes, 1 hour and 20 minutes, 1 hour and 50 minutes, and 24 hours ) did not differ significantly (P>0.05) between breeds. However, Pekin ducks (89.84±0.71) had a significantly higher water-holding capacity than Philippine White Mallard ducks (87.93±0.63) (P<0.05). Also, meat color (CIE L, a, b) revealed that no significant differences among the lightness, redness, and yellowness of the skin (breast) in both breeds (P>0.05) except for the yellowness of the lean muscles of the Pekin duck breast. Pekin duck meat (1.15±0.04) had significantly higher crude fat content than Philippine White Mallard (0.47±0.58). The study clearly showed that breed is a factor and provided some pronounced effects among the parameters. However, these results are considered as preliminary information on the meat quality of Philippine White Mallard duck. Hence, further studies are needed to understand and fully utilize it for meat production and develop different meat products from this breed.

Keywords: crude fat, meat color, meat pH, water-holding capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Ching-Ting Hsu, Wei-Hua Ho, Yi-Chun Chang

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Video object tracking is one of the popular research topics in computer graphics area. The trajectory can be applied in security, traffic control, even the sports training. The trajectory for sports training can be utilized to analyze the athlete’s performance without traditional sensors. There are many relevant works which utilize mean shift algorithm with background subtraction. This kind of the schemes should select a kernel function which may affect the accuracy and performance. In this paper, we consider the motion information in the pre-coded bitstream. The proposed algorithm extracts the trajectory by composing the motion vectors from the pre-coded bitstream. We gather the motion vectors from the overlap area of the object and calculate mean of the overlapped motion vectors. We implement and simulate our proposed algorithm in H.264 video codec. The performance is better than relevant works and keeps the accuracy of the object trajectory. The experimental results show that the proposed trajectory extraction can extract trajectory form the pre-coded bitstream in high accuracy and achieve higher performance other relevant works.

Keywords: H.264, video bitstream, video object tracking, sports training

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Authors: Wasan Ismail Khalil, Hisham Khalid Ahmed, Zainab Ali

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Structural Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (SLWAC) has been developed in recent years because it reduces the dead load, cost, thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion of the structure. So SLWAC has the advantage of being a relatively green building material. Lightweight Aggregate (LWA) is either occurs as natural material such as pumice, scoria, etc. or as artificial material produced from different raw materials such as expanded shale, clay, slate, etc. The use of SLWAC in Iraq is limited due to the lack in natural LWA. The existence of Iraqi clay deposit with different types and characteristics leads to the idea of producing artificial expanded clay aggregate. The main aim in this work is to present of the properties of artificial LWA produced in the laboratory. Available local bentonite clay which occurs in the Western region of Iraq was used as raw material to produce the LWA. Sodium silicate as liquid industrial waste material from glass plant was mixed with bentonite clay in mix proportion 1:1 by weight. The manufacturing method of the lightweight aggregate including, preparation and mixing of clay and sodium silicate, burning of the mixture in the furnace at the temperature between 750-800˚C for two hours, and finally gradually cooling process. The produced LWA was then crushed to small pieces then screened on standard sieve series and prepared with grading which conforms to the specifications of LWA. The maximum aggregate size used in this investigation is 10 mm. The chemical composition and the physical properties of the produced LWA are investigated. The results indicate that the specific gravity of the produced LWA is 1.5 with the density of 543kg/m3 and water absorption of 20.7% which is in conformity with the international standard of LWA. Many trail mixes were carried out in order to produce LWAC containing the artificial LWA produced in this research. The selected mix proportion is 1:1.5:2 (cement: sand: aggregate) by weight with water to cement ratio of 0.45. The experimental results show that LWAC has oven dry density of 1720 kg/m3, water absorption of 8.5%, the thermal conductivity of 0.723 W/m.K and compressive strength of 23 N/mm2. The SLWAC produced in this research can be used in the construction of different thermal insulated buildings and masonry units. It can be concluded that the SLWA produced in this study contributes to sustainable development by, using industrial waste materials, conserving energy, enhancing the thermal and structural efficiency of concrete.

Keywords: expanded clay, lightweight aggregate, structural lightweight aggregate concrete, sustainable

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Oladipo Oluwaseun Peter

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Daily consumption of crude oil is alarming as a result of increasing demand for energy. Waste generation tends to rise with the level of economic advancement of a nation. Hence, this project work researches how wastes which could pose toxic if left unattended to can be processed through biodigestion in order to generate biofuel which could serve as a good substitute for petroleum, a non renewable energy source, so as to reduce over-dependence on petroleum and to prevent environmental pollution. Anaerobic digestion was carried out on organic wastes comprising brewery spent grains, rice husks and poultry droppings in a plastic biodigester of 1000 liters volume using the poultry droppings as a natural inoculums source. The feed composition in ratio 5:3:2, spent grain, rice husks and poultry droppings were mixed with water in the ratio 1:6. Thus, 600 Kg of water was used to prepare the slurry with 100 Kg of feed materials. A plastic biodigester was successfully constructed, and the problem of corrosion and rusting were completely overcome as a result of the use of non-corroding materials of construction. A reasonable quantity of biogas, 33.63m3, was generated over a period of 60 days of biodigestion. The bioslurry was processed through two different process routes; evaporation and filteration. Evaporation process of analysis shows high values of 0.64%, 2.11% and 0.034% for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium respectively, while filteration process gives 00.61%, 1.93% and 0.026% for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium respectively.

Keywords: biodigestion, biofuel, digestion, slurry, biogas

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Javiera Poblete, Fernando Gajardo, Katherina Fernandez

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Graphene, and its derivatives such as graphene oxide (GO), are emerging nanoscopic materials, with interesting physical and chemical properties. From them, it is possible to develop three-dimensional macrostructures, such as aerogels, which are characterized by a low density, high porosity, and large surface area, having a promising structure for the development of materials. The use of GO as a precursor of these structures provides a wide variety of materials, which can be developed as a result of the functionalization of their oxygenated groups, with specific compounds such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). The synthesis of aerogels of GO-PEG for non-covalent interactions has not yet been widely reported, being of interest due to its feasible escalation and economic viability. Thus, this work aims to develop a non-covalently functionalized GO-PEG aerogels and characterize them physicochemically. In order to get this, the GO was synthesized from the modified hummers method and it was functionalized with the PEG by polymer-assisted GO gelation (crosslinker). The gelation was obtained for GO solutions (10 mg/mL) with the incorporation of PEG in different proportions by weight. The hydrogel resulting from the reaction was subsequently lyophilized, to obtain the respective aerogel. The material obtained was chemically characterized by analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and its morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images; as well as water absorption tests. The results obtained showed the formation of a non-covalent aerogel (FTIR), whose structure was highly porous (SEM) and with a water absorption values greater than 50% g/g. Thus, a methodology of synthesis for GO-PEG was developed and validated.

Keywords: aerogel, graphene oxide, polyethylene glycol, synthesis

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Authors: Hazal Yılmaz, Hale Karakaş

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In the scope of the study, it is aimed to investigate and review the performance of denim fabrics that are foam washed. Foam washing was compared as an alternative to stone washing in terms of sustainability and performance parameters. For this purpose, seven different denim fabrics, which are both stone washed and foam washed separately in 3 different washing durations (30-60-90 mins), were compared. In the study, the same fabrics were processed with both foam and stone separately. The washing process steps were reviewed, and their water consumption values were compared. After washing, a total of 42 fabric samples were obtained, and tensile strength, tear strength, abrasion, weight loss after abrasion, rubbing fastness, color fastness tests were carried out on the fabric samples. The obtained test results were reviewed and evaluated. As a result of tests, it has been observed that the performance of foam washed fabrics in terms of tensile, tear strength and rubbing fastness test results are better than stone washed fabrics, and it has been seen that foam washed fabrics' color fastness test results are as stone washed. As a result of all these tests, it can be seen that foam washing is an alternative to stone washing due to its performance parameters and its sustainability performance with less water usage.

Keywords: denim fabrics, denim washing, foam washing, performance properties, stone washing, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Majid Farsadrooh, Najmeh Sabbaghi, Seyed Mohammad Mostashari, Abolhasan Moradi

Abstract:

Phenolic compounds are chief environmental contaminants on account of their hazardous and toxic nature on human health. The preparation of sensitive and potent chemosensors to monitor emerging pollution in water and effluent samples has received great consideration. A novel and versatile nanocomposite sensor based on poly pyrogallol is presented for the first time in this study, and its electrochemical behavior for simultaneous detection of hydroquinone (HQ), catechol (CT), and resorcinol (RS) in the presence of nitrite is evaluated. The physicochemical characteristics of the fabricated nanocomposite were investigated by emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The electrochemical response of the proposed sensor to the detection of HQ, CT, RS, and nitrite is studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The kinetic characterization of the prepared sensor showed that both adsorption and diffusion processes can control reactions at the electrode. In the optimized conditions, the new chemosensor provides a wide linear range of 0.5-236.3, 0.8-236.3, 0.9-236.3, and 1.2-236.3 μM with a low limit of detection of 21.1, 51.4, 98.9, and 110.8 nM (S/N = 3) for HQ, CT and RS, and nitrite, respectively. Remarkably, the electrochemical sensor has outstanding selectivity, repeatability, and stability and is successfully employed for the detection of RS, CT, HQ, and nitrite in real water samples with the recovery of 96.2%–102.4%, 97.8%-102.6%, 98.0%–102.4% and 98.4%–103.2% for RS, CT, HQ, and nitrite, respectively. These outcomes illustrate that poly pyrogallol is a promising candidate for effective electrochemical detection of dihydroxybenzene isomers in the presence of nitrite.

Keywords: electrochemical sensor, poly pyrogallol, phenolic compounds, simultaneous determination

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Adriana Postal, Silvio C. Sampaio, Marcio A. Villas Boas, Josué P. Castro

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This study deals with the estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) in an agricultural context, focusing on efficient irrigation management to meet the growing interest in the sustainable management of water resources. Given the importance of water in agriculture and its scarcity in many regions, efficient use of this resource is essential to ensure food security and environmental sustainability. The methodology used involved the application of artificial intelligence techniques, specifically Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), to predict ET₀ in the state of Paraná, Brazil. The models were trained and validated with meteorological data from the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), together with data obtained from a producer's weather station in the western region of Paraná. Two optimizers (SGD and Adam) and different meteorological variables, such as temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed, were explored as inputs to the models. Nineteen configurations with different input variables were tested; amidst them, configuration 9, with 8 input variables, was identified as the most efficient of all. Configuration 10, with 4 input variables, was considered the most effective, considering the smallest number of variables. The main conclusions of this study show that MLP ANNs are capable of accurately estimating ET₀, providing a valuable tool for irrigation management in agriculture. Both configurations (9 and 10) showed promising performance in predicting ET₀. The validation of the models with cultivator data underlined the practical relevance of these tools and confirmed their generalization ability for different field conditions. The results of the statistical metrics, including Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Squared Error (MSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Coefficient of Determination (R²), showed excellent agreement between the model predictions and the observed data, with MAE as low as 0.01 mm/day and 0.03 mm/day, respectively. In addition, the models achieved an R² between 0.99 and 1, indicating a satisfactory fit to the real data. This agreement was also confirmed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which evaluates the agreement of the predictions with the statistical behavior of the real data and yields values between 0.02 and 0.04 for the producer data. In addition, the results of this study suggest that the developed technique can be applied to other locations by using specific data from these sites to further improve ET₀ predictions and thus contribute to sustainable irrigation management in different agricultural regions. The study has some limitations, such as the use of a single ANN architecture and two optimizers, the validation with data from only one producer, and the possible underestimation of the influence of seasonality and local climate variability. An irrigation management application using the most efficient models from this study is already under development. Future research can explore different ANN architectures and optimization techniques, validate models with data from multiple producers and regions, and investigate the model's response to different seasonal and climatic conditions.

Keywords: agricultural technology, neural networks in agriculture, water efficiency, water use optimization

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Authors: Maisarah Jaafar, Neil I. Ward

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Volcanic and geothermal activity can result in the release of arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), iron, selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U) into natural waters. Several studies have reported high levels of these elements in surface and groundwater in Argentina. The main focus has been on As associated with volcanic ash deposits. This study reports the trace element levels of groundwater from an agricultural region of south-eastern La Pampa and southern Buenos Aires provinces, Argentina which have reported high levels of human health problems (bone/teeth disorders, depression, arthritis, etc). Fifty-eight groundwater samples were collected from wells adjacent to Ruta 35 and an Agilent 7700x inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) were used for total elemental analysis. Physicochemical analysis confirmed pH range of 7.05-8.84 and variable conductivity (988-3880 µS/cm) with total dissolved solid content of 502-1989 mg/l. The majority water samples are in an oxidizing environment (Eh= 45-146 mV). Total As levels ranged from (µg/l): 13.08 – 319.4 for La Pampa (LP) and 39.6 – 189.4 for Buenos Aires (BA); all above the WHO Guideline for Drinking Water, 10 µg/l As. Interestingly, Mo (LP: 1.85 – 85.39 µg/l; BA: 4.61– 55.55 µg/l;), Se (LP: 1.2 – 16.59 µg/l; BA: 0.3– 6.94 µg/l;) and U (LP: 1.85 – 85.39 µg/l; BA: 4.61– 55.55 µg/l;) levels are lower than reported values for northern La Pampa. Inter-elemental correlation displayed positive statistically significant between As-Mo, A-Se, As-U while negative statistically significant between As-Mn and As-Fe. This confirms that the source of the trace element is similar to that reported for other region of Argentina, namely volcanic ash deposition.

Keywords: Argentina, groundwater, trace element, volcanic activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Valentina V. Goftman, Vladislav A. Pankratov, Alexey V. Markin, Tangi Aubert, Zeger Hens, Sarah De Saeger, Irina Yu. Goryacheva

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The most important requirements for biochemical applicability of quantum dots (QDs) are: 1) the surface cap should render intact or improved optical properties; 2) mono-dispersion and good stability in aqueous phase in a wide range of pH and ionic strength values; 3) presence of functional groups, available for bioconjugation; 4) minimal impact from the environment on the QDs’ properties and, vice versa, minimal influence of the QDs’ components on the environment; and 5) stability against chemical/biochemical/physical influence. The latter is especially important for in vitro and in vivo applications. For example, some physical intracellular delivery strategies (e.g., electroporation) imply a rapid high-voltage electric field impulse in order to temporarily generate hydrophilic pores in the cell plasma membrane, necessary for the passive transportation of QDs into the cell. In this regard, it is interesting to investigate how different capping layers, which can provide high stability and sufficient fluorescent properties of QDs in a water solution, behave under these abnormal conditions. In this contribution, hydrophobic core-shell CdSe/CdS/CdZnS/ZnS QDs (λem=600 nm), produced by means of the Successive Ion Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) technique, were transferred to a water solution using two of the most commonly used methods: (i) encapsulation in an amphiphilic brush polymer based on poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMAO) modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains and (ii) silica covering. Polymer encapsulation preserves the initial ligands on the QDs’ surface owing to the hydrophobic attraction between the hydrophobic groups of the amphiphilic molecules and the surface hydrophobic groups of the QDs. This covering process allows maintaining the initial fluorescent properties, but it leads to a considerable increase of the QDs’ size. However, covering with a silica shell, by means of the reverse microemulsion method, allows maintaining both size and fluorescent properties of the initial QDs. The obtained water solutions of polymer covered and silica-coated QDs in three different concentrations were exposed to a low-voltage electric field for a short time and the fluorescent properties were investigated. It is shown that the PMAO-PEG polymer acquires some additional charges in the presence of the electric field, which causes repulsion between the polymer and the QDs’ surface. This process destroys the homogeneity of the whole amphiphilic shell and it dramatically decreases the fluorescent properties (dropping to 10% from its initial value) because of the direct contact of the QDs with the strongly oxidative environment (water). In contrast, a silica shell possesses dielectric properties which allow retaining 90% of its initial fluorescence intensity, even after a longer electric impact. Thus, silica shells are clearly a preferable covering for bio-application of QDs, because – besides the high uniform morphology, controlled size and biocompatibility – it allows protecting QDs from oxidation, even under the influence of an electric field.

Keywords: electric field, polymer coating, quantum dots, silica covering, stability

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Authors: Getalem E. Haylia

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The Ribb dam is one of the irrigation projects in the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia, to irrigate the Fogera plain. Reservoir sedimentation is a major problem because it reduces the useful reservoir capacity by the accumulation of sediments coming from the watersheds. Estimates of sediment yield are needed for studies of reservoir sedimentation and planning of soil and water conservation measures. The objective of this study was to simulate the Ribb dam catchment sediment yield using SWAT model and to estimate Ribb reservoir effective life according to trap efficiency methods. The Ribb dam catchment is found in North Western part of Ethiopia highlands, and it belongs to the upper Blue Nile and Lake Tana basins. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was selected to simulate flow and sediment yield in the Ribb dam catchment. The model sensitivity, calibration, and validation analysis at Ambo Bahir site were performed with Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2). The flow data at this site was obtained by transforming the Lower Ribb gauge station (2002-2013) flow data using Area Ratio Method. The sediment load was derived based on the sediment concentration yield curve of Ambo site. Stream flow results showed that the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) was 0.81 and the coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.86 in calibration period (2004-2010) and, 0.74 and 0.77 in validation period (2011-2013), respectively. Using the same periods, the NS and R² for the sediment load calibration were 0.85 and 0.79 and, for the validation, it became 0.83 and 0.78, respectively. The simulated average daily flow rate and sediment yield generated from Ribb dam watershed were 3.38 m³/s and 1772.96 tons/km²/yr, respectively. The effective life of Ribb reservoir was estimated using the developed empirical methods of the Brune (1953), Churchill (1948) and Brown (1958) methods and found to be 30, 38 and 29 years respectively. To conclude, massive sediment comes from the steep slope agricultural areas, and approximately 98-100% of this incoming annual sediment loads have been trapped by the Ribb reservoir. In Ribb catchment, as well as reservoir systematic and thorough consideration of technical, social, environmental, and catchment managements and practices should be made to lengthen the useful life of Ribb reservoir.

Keywords: catchment, reservoir effective life, reservoir sedimentation, Ribb, sediment yield, SWAT model

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Mohammad B. HabibiNajafi, Saeideh Sadat Fatemizadeh, Maryam Tavakoli

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In recent years, the consumption of functional foods, including foods containing probiotic bacteria, has come to notice. Milk proteins have been identified as a source of angiotensin-I-converting enzyme )ACE( inhibitory peptides and are currently the best-known class of bioactive peptides. In this study, the effects of adding prebiotic ingredients (inulin and wheat fiber) and fat percentage (0%, 2% and 3.5%) in yogurt containing probiotic Lactobacillus casei on physicochemical properties, degree of proteolysis, antioxidant and ACE-inhibitory activity within 21 days of storage at 5 ± 1 °C were evaluated. The results of statistical analysis showed that the application of prebiotic compounds led to a significant increase in water holding capacity, proteolysis and ACE-inhibitory of samples. The degree of proteolysis in yogurt increases as storage time elapses (P < 0.05) but when proteolysis exceeds a certain threshold, this trend begins to decline. Also, during storage time, water holding capacity reduced initially but increased thereafter. Moreover, based on our findings, the survival of Lactobacillus casei in samples treated with inulin and wheat fiber increased significantly in comparison to the control sample (P < 0.05) whereas the effect of fat percentage on the survival of probiotic bacteria was not significant (P = 0.095). Furthermore, the effect of prebiotic ingredients and the presence of probiotic cultures on the antioxidant activity of samples was significant (P < 0.05).

Keywords: probiotic yogurt, proteolysis, ACE-inhibitory, antioxidant activity

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Authors: Zeenath Solih

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The aim of the study is to analyze the factors that influence the decision to pursue a hospitality and tourism program for students of Maldives when pursuing higher education options. This research would further explore the implications and relationship between the universities and students. Quantitative research method will be used to demonstrate the hypothesis and achieve the objectives of this research, a questionnaire consisting of 30 closed questions will be used which will be analyzed based on SPSS18 software to handle and extract the data.10 public school and 3 private schools with secondary education and 3 universities with higher education facilities and a total of 500 students participated in the survey. The findings include selection criteria for decision making for higher studies being the university’s reputation, excellence and quality of educational program, the preference of pursuing further studies from a public over private universities and the academic, cultural and socio demographic factors that influence the students choice of program and university. Finally the study will provide valuable insight to how universities need to market their programs to attract the right students.

Keywords: choice criteria, higher education, hospitality and tourism studies, information sources

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Authors: Rama Shanker, Anil Kumar Sachan

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Basic ingredients of concrete are cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water. To produce a concrete of certain specific properties, optimum proportion of these ingredients are mixed. The important factors which govern the mix design are grade of concrete, type of cement and size, shape and grading of aggregates. Concrete mix design method is based on experimentally evolved empirical relationship between the factors in the choice of mix design. Basic draw backs of this method are that it does not produce desired strength, calculations are cumbersome and a number of tables are to be referred for arriving at trial mix proportion moreover, the variation in attainment of desired strength is uncertain below the target strength and may even fail. To solve this problem, a lot of cubes of standard grades were prepared and attained 28 days strength determined for different combination of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water. An artificial neural network (ANN) was prepared using these data. The input of ANN were grade of concrete, type of cement, size, shape and grading of aggregates and output were proportions of various ingredients. With the help of these inputs and outputs, ANN was trained using feed forward back proportion model. Finally trained ANN was validated, it was seen that it gave the result with/ error of maximum 4 to 5%. Hence, specific type of concrete can be prepared from given material properties and proportions of these materials can be quickly evaluated using the proposed ANN.

Keywords: aggregate proportions, artificial neural network, concrete grade, concrete mix design

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Authors: S. A. Nirmal, G. S. Asane, S. C. Pal, S. C. Mandal

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Objective: Ficus religiosa Linn (Moraceae) is being used in traditional medicine to improve immunity hence present work was undertaken to validate this use scientifically. Material and Methods: Dried, powdered bark of F. religiosa was extracted successively using petroleum ether and 70% ethanol in soxhlet extractor. The extracts obtained were screened for immunomodulatory activity by delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH), neutrophil adhesion test and cyclophosphamide-induced neutropenia in Swiss albino mice at the dose of 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p. 70% ethanol extract showed significant immunostimulant activity hence subjected to column chromatography to produce tyrosine rich fraction (TRF). TRF obtained was screened for immunomodulatory activity by above methods at the dose of 10 mg/kg, i.p. Results: TRF showed potentiation of DTH response in terms of significant increase in the mean difference in foot-pad thickness and it significantly increased neutrophil adhesion to nylon fibers by 48.20%. Percentage reduction in total leukocyte count and neutrophil by TRF was found to be 43.85% and 18.72%, respectively. Conclusion: Immunostimulant activity of TRF was more pronounced and thus it has great potential as a source for natural health products.

Keywords: Ficus religiosa, immunomodulatory, cyclophosphamide, neutropenia

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Authors: Yawen Dai, Ping Cheng, Jian Ru Gong

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Photoelctrochemical (PEC) water splitting using semiconductors (SCs) provides a convenient way to convert sustainable but intermittent solar energy into clean hydrogen energy, and it has been regarded as one of most promising technology to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution in modern society. However, the record energy conversion efficiency of a PEC cell (~3%) is still far lower than the commercialization requirement (~10%). The sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) half reaction on photoanodes is a significant limiting factor of the PEC device efficiency, and electrocatalysts (ECs) are always deposited on SCs to accelerate the hole injection for OER. However, an active EC cannot guarantee enhanced PEC performance, since the newly emerged SC-EC interface complicates the interfacial charge behavior. Herein, α-Fe2O3 photoanodes coated with Co3O4 and CoO ECs are taken as the model system to glean fundamental understanding on the EC-dependent interfacial charge behavior. Intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to investigate the competition between interfacial charge transfer and recombination, which was found to be dominated by the charge storage capacities of ECs. The combined results indicate that both ECs can store holes and increase the hole density on photoanode surface. It is like a double-edged sword that benefit the multi-hole participated OER, as well as aggravate the SC-EC interfacial charge recombination due to the Coulomb attraction, thus leading to a nonmonotonic PEC performance variation trend with the increasing surface hole density. Co3O4 has low hole storage capacity which brings limited interfacial charge recombination, and thus the increased surface holes can be efficiently utilized for OER to generate enhanced photocurrent. In contrast, CoO has overlarge hole storage capacity that causes severe interfacial charge recombination, which hinders hole transfer to electrolyte for OER. Therefore, the PEC performance of α-Fe2O3 is improved by Co3O4 but decreased by CoO despite the similar electrocatalytic activity of the two ECs. First-principle calculation was conducted to further reveal how the charge storage capacity depends on the EC’s intrinsic property, demonstrating that the larger hole storage capacity of CoO than that of Co3O4 is determined by their Co valence states and original Fermi levels. This study raises up a new strategy to manipulate interfacial charge behavior and the resultant PEC performance by the charge storage capacity of ECs, providing insightful guidance for the interface design in PEC devices.

Keywords: charge storage capacity, electrocatalyst, interfacial charge behavior, photoelectrochemistry, water-splitting

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Sri Rejeki, Tamrin Tamrin, RH. F. Faradilla, Muhammad N. Ibrahim, Mariana M., Irnawati Irnawati

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Cocoa bean shells, despite their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, are still considered as an underutilized agricultural waste. The functional properties and their lignocelluloses content make cocoa bean shells a potential material for paper-based food packaging. In our previous research, we have successfully produced papers from cocoa bean shells that had antioxidant and antibacterial activities. However, the hydrophilic nature of the lignocelluloses of cocoa bean shells hinders the application of the paper to be used as a food packaging. In this research, we aimed to study the effects of beeswax coating on the wettability and mechanical properties of the paper. The coating was done by dipping the papers in beeswax solution several times and in three different beeswax concentrations. The number of dipping and beeswax concentration significantly (p<0.05) affected the water contact angle of the papers. Results show that the water contact angle increases dramatically due to the coating treatment. The control paper or uncoated paper had a contact angle of 40.50o, while the contact angle of the best-coated paper (D3B3: 3x dipping, 3g/10mL beeswax) reached 96.93o. Both tensile strength and percent elongation were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by the coating treatment. This showed that beeswax was a potential organic material to improve the hydrophobicity of paper from cocoa bean shells without any undesirable effects on the mechanical properties of the paper.

Keywords: cocoa bean shell, paper, beeswax, coating, contact angle

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Authors: Ehsan Abshirini

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Rivers as one of the most important topographic factors have played a strategic role not only on the appearance of cities but they also affect the structure and morphology of cities. In this paper author intends to find out how a city in its physical network interacts with a river flowing inside. The pilot study is Angers, a city in western France, in which it is influenced by the Maine River. To this purpose space syntax method integrating with GIS is used to extract the properties of physical form of cities in terms of global and local integration value, accessibility and choice value. Simulating the state of absence of river in this city and comparing the result to the current state of city according to the effect of river on the morphology of areas located in different banks of river is also part of interest in this paper. The results show that although a river is not comparable to the city based on size and the area occupied by, it has a significant effect on the form of the city in both global and local properties. In addition, this study endorses that tracking the effect of river-cities and their interaction to rivers in a hybrid of space syntax and GIS may lead researchers to improve their interpretation of physical form of these types of cities.

Keywords: river-cities, Physical form, space syntax properties, GIS, topographic factor

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Authors: Kaoutar Ben Azzou, Hanaa Talei

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Human resources is an important department in each organization as it manages the life cycle of employees from recruitment training to retirement or termination of contracts. The recruitment process starts with a job opening, followed by a selection of the best-fit candidates from all applicants. Matching the best profile for a job position requires a manual way of looking at many CVs, which requires hours of work that can sometimes lead to choosing not the best profile. The work presented in this paper aims at reducing the workload of HR personnel by automating the preliminary stages of the candidate screening process, thereby fostering a more streamlined recruitment workflow. This tool introduces an automated system designed to help with the recruitment process by scanning candidates' CVs, extracting pertinent features, and employing machine learning algorithms to decide the most fitting job profile for each candidate. Our work employs natural language processing (NLP) techniques to identify and extract key features from unstructured text extracted from a CV, such as education, work experience, and skills. Subsequently, the system utilizes these features to match candidates with job profiles, leveraging the power of classification algorithms.

Keywords: automated recruitment, candidate screening, machine learning, human resources management

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Authors: Min-Ha Hong, Kee-Won Kim, Seung-Hoon Kim

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The character in the story-based content, such as novels and movies, is one of the core elements to understand the story. In particular, the character’s tendency is an important factor to analyze the story-based content, because it has a significant influence on the storyline. If readers have the knowledge of the tendency of characters before reading a novel, it will be helpful to understand the structure of conflict, episode and relationship between characters in the novel. It may therefore help readers to select novel that the reader wants to read. In this paper, we propose a method of extracting the tendency of the characters from a novel written in Korean. In advance, we build the dictionary with pairs of the emotional words in Korean and English since the emotion words in the novel’s sentences express character’s feelings. We rate the degree of polarity (positive or negative) of words in our emotional words dictionary based on SenticNet. Then we extract characters and emotion words from sentences in a novel. Since the polarity of a word grows strong or weak due to sentence features such as quotations and modifiers, our proposed method consider them to calculate the polarity of characters. The information of the extracted character’s polarity can be used in the book search service or book recommendation service.

Keywords: character tendency, data mining, emotion word, Korean novel

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Authors: Salem Alsanusi, Loubna Bentaher

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Response Surface Methods (RSM) provide statistically validated predictive models that can then be manipulated for finding optimal process configurations. Variation transmitted to responses from poorly controlled process factors can be accounted for by the mathematical technique of propagation of error (POE), which facilitates ‘finding the flats’ on the surfaces generated by RSM. The dual response approach to RSM captures the standard deviation of the output as well as the average. It accounts for unknown sources of variation. Dual response plus propagation of error (POE) provides a more useful model of overall response variation. In our case, we implemented this technique in predicting compressive strength of concrete of 28 days in age. Since 28 days is quite time consuming, while it is important to ensure the quality control process. This paper investigates the potential of using design of experiments (DOE-RSM) to predict the compressive strength of concrete at 28th day. Data used for this study was carried out from experiment schemes at university of Benghazi, civil engineering department. A total of 114 sets of data were implemented. ACI mix design method was utilized for the mix design. No admixtures were used, only the main concrete mix constituents such as cement, coarse-aggregate, fine aggregate and water were utilized in all mixes. Different mix proportions of the ingredients and different water cement ratio were used. The proposed mathematical models are capable of predicting the required concrete compressive strength of concrete from early ages.

Keywords: mix proportioning, response surface methodology, compressive strength, optimal design

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Authors: Freddy Houndekindo

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A study was carried out to evaluate the flood risk in the district of Malanville located along the Niger River. The knowledge produce by this study is useful in the implementation of adaptation and/or mitigation measures to alleviate the impact of the flooding on the populations, the economy and the environment. Over the course of the study, the lack of data in the area of interest has been one of the main challenges encountered. Therefore, in the analysis of the flood hazard different sources of remotely sensed data were used. Moreover, the flood hazard was analysed by applying a 1D hydraulic model: HEC-RAS. After setting up the model for the study area, the different flood scenarios considered were simulated and mapped using ArcGIS and the HEC-GEORAS extension. The result of the simulation gave information about the inundated areas and the water depths at each location. From the analysis of the flood hazard, it was found that between 47% and 50% of the total area of the district of Malanville would be flooded in the different flood scenarios considered, and the water depth varies between 1 and 7 m. The townships of Malanville most at risk of flooding are Momkassa and Galiel, located in a high-risk and very high-risk zone, respectively. Furthermore, the assessment of the flood risk showed that the most vulnerable sector to the inundations is the agricultural sector. Indeed, the cultivated floodplains were the most affected areas by the floodwater in every flood scenarios. Knowing that a high proportion of the population of the district relies on their farmlands in these floodplains for their livelihood, the floods pose a challenge not only to the food security in the area but also to its development.

Keywords: flood risk management, Niger, remote sensing, vulnerability

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Authors: Wenqian Bai

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Background: In response to the post-pandemic directives of Xi Jinping concerning the new era of ecological civilization, China has embarked on ecological restoration projects across its territorial spaces. This initiative faces challenges such as complex evaluation metrics and subpar informatization standards. Methodology: This research focuses on Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province, to assess its resource and environmental carrying capacities and the appropriateness of land use for development from ecological, agricultural, and urban perspectives. The study incorporates a range of spatial data to evaluate factors like ecosystem services (including water conservation, soil retention, and biodiversity), ecological vulnerability (addressing issues like soil erosion and desertification), and resilience. Utilizing the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model along with the ‘Three Zones and Three Lines’ strategy, the research maps out ecological corridors and significant ecological networks. These frameworks support the ecological restoration and environmental enhancement of the area. Results: The study identifies critical ecological zones in Mianzhu City's northwestern region, highlighting areas essential for protection and particularly crucial for water conservation. The southeastern region is categorized as a generally protected ecological zone with respective ratings for water conservation functionality and ecosystem resilience. The research also explores the spatial challenges of three ecological functions and underscores the substantial impact of human activities, such as mining and agricultural expansion, on the ecological baseline. The proposed spatial arrangement for ecological restoration, termed ‘One Mountain, One Belt, Four Rivers, Five Zones, and Multiple Corridors’, strategically divides the city into eight major restoration zones, each with specific tasks and projects. Conclusion: With its significant ‘mountain-plain’ geography, Mianzhu City acts as a crucial ecological buffer for the Yangtze River's upper reaches. Future development should focus on enhancing ecological corridors in agriculture and urban areas, controlling soil erosion, and converting farmlands back to forests and grasslands to foster ecosystem rehabilitation.

Keywords: ecological restoration, resource and environmental carrying capacity, land development suitability, ecosystem services, ecological vulnerability, ecological networks

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Authors: Wei Ting Han, Shiann-Far Kung

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In the early time, most of the arable land is dry farming and using rainfall as water sources for irrigation in Tainan county. After the Chia-nan Irrigation System (CIS) was completed in 1930, Chia-nan Plain was more efficient allocation of limited water sources or irrigation, because of the benefit from irrigation systems, drainage systems, and land improvement projects. The problem of long-term drought, flood and salt damage in the past were also improved by CIS. The canal greatly improved the paddy field area and agricultural output, Tainan county has become one of the important agricultural producing areas in Taiwan. With the development of water conservancy facilities, affected by national policies and other factors, many agricultural communities and settlements are formed indirectly, also promoted the change of settlement patterns and internal structures. With the development of historical geographic information system (HGIS), Academia Sinica developed the WebGIS theme with the century old maps of Taiwan which is the most complete historical map of database in Taiwan. It can be used to overlay historical figures of different periods, present the timeline of the settlement change, also grasp the changes in the natural environment or social sciences and humanities, and the changes in the settlements presented by the visualized areas. This study will explore the historical development and spatial characteristics of the settlements in various areas of Tainan County. Using of large-scale areas to explore the settlement changes and spatial patterns of the entire county, through the dynamic time and space evolution from Japanese rule to the present day. Then, digitizing the settlement of different periods to perform overlay analysis by using Taiwan historical topographic maps in 1904, 1921, 1956 and 1989. Moreover, using document analysis to analyze the temporal and spatial changes of regional environment and settlement structure. In addition, the comparison analysis method is used to classify the spatial characteristics and differences between the settlements. Exploring the influence of external environments in different time and space backgrounds, such as government policies, major construction, and industrial development. This paper helps to understand the evolution of the settlement space and the internal structural changes in Tainan County.

Keywords: historical geographic information system, overlay analysis, settlement change, Tainan County

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Authors: Adesoji Tunbosun Jaiyeola, Josiah Adeyemo

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Sediment yield can be considered to be the total sediment load that leaves a drainage basin. The knowledge of the quantity of sediments present in a river at a particular time can lead to better flood capacity in reservoirs and consequently help to control over-bane flooding. Furthermore, as sediment accumulates in the reservoir, it gradually loses its ability to store water for the purposes for which it was built. The development of hydrological models to forecast the quantity of sediment present in a reservoir helps planners and managers of water resources systems, to understand the system better in terms of its problems and alternative ways to address them. The application of artificial intelligence models and technique to such real-life situations have proven to be an effective approach of solving complex problems. This paper makes an extensive review of literature relevant to the theories and applications of evolutionary algorithms, and most especially genetic programming. The successful applications of genetic programming as a soft computing technique were reviewed in sediment modelling and other branches of knowledge. Some fundamental issues such as benchmark, generalization ability, bloat and over-fitting and other open issues relating to the working principles of GP, which needs to be addressed by the GP community were also highlighted. This review aim to give GP theoreticians, researchers and the general community of GP enough research direction, valuable guide and also keep all stakeholders abreast of the issues which need attention during the next decade for the advancement of GP.

Keywords: benchmark, bloat, generalization, genetic programming, over-fitting, sediment yield

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Authors: Julie Anne Braun, Leonardo D. da Fonseca, Gerson C. Parreira, Ricardo J. E. Andrade

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Polyurethanes (PU) are multifunctional polymers used across various industries. In construction, thermosetting polyurethanes are applied as coatings for flooring, paints, and waterproofing. They are widely specified in Brazil for waterproofing concrete structures like roof slabs and parking decks. Applied to concrete, they form a fully adhered membrane, providing a protective barrier with low water absorption, high chemical resistance, impermeability to liquids, and low vapor permeability. Their mechanical properties, including tensile strength (1 to 35 MPa) and Shore A hardness (83 to 88), depend on resin molecular weight and functionality, often using Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate. PU production, reliant on fossil-derived isocyanates and polyols, contributes significantly to carbon emissions. Sustainable alternatives, such as biopolyurethanes from renewable sources, are needed. Castor oil is a viable option for synthesizing sustainable polyurethanes. As a bio-based feedstock, castor oil is extensively cultivated in Brazil, making it a feasible option for the national market and ranking third internationally. This study aims to develop and characterize castor oil-based biopolyurethane for high-performance waterproofing and coating applications. A comparative analysis between castor oil-based PU and polyether polyol-based PU was conducted. Mechanical tests (tensile strength, Shore A hardness, abrasion resistance) and surface properties (contact angle, water absorption) were evaluated. Thermal, chemical, and morphological properties were assessed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrated that both polyurethanes exhibited high mechanical strength. Specifically, the tensile strength for castor oil-based PU was 19.18 MPa, compared to 12.94 MPa for polyether polyol-based PU. Similarly, the elongation values were 146.90% for castor oil-based PU and 135.50% for polyether polyol-based PU. Both materials exhibited satisfactory performance in terms of abrasion resistance, with mass loss of 0.067% for castor oil PU and 0.043% for polyether polyol PU and Shore A hardness values of 89 and 86, respectively, indicating high surface hardness. The results of the water absorption and contact angle tests confirmed the hydrophilic nature of polyether polyol PU, with a contact angle of 58.73° and water absorption of 2.53%. Conversely, the castor oil-based PU exhibited hydrophobic properties, with a contact angle of 81.05° and water absorption of 0.45%. The results of the FTIR analysis indicated the absence of a peak around 2275 cm-1, which suggests that all of the NCO groups were consumed in the stoichiometric reaction. This conclusion is supported by the high mechanical test results. The TGA results indicated that polyether polyol PU demonstrated superior thermal stability, exhibiting a mass loss of 13% at the initial transition (around 310°C), in comparison to castor oil-based PU, which experienced a higher initial mass loss of 25% at 335°C. In summary, castor oil-based PU demonstrated mechanical properties comparable to polyether polyol PU, making it suitable for applications such as trafficable coatings. However, its higher hydrophobicity makes it more promising for watertightness. Increasing environmental concerns necessitate reducing reliance on non-renewable resources and mitigating the environmental impacts of polyurethane production. Castor oil is a viable option for sustainable polyurethanes, aligning with emission reduction goals and responsible use of natural resources.

Keywords: polyurethane, castor oil, sustainable, waterproofing, construction industry

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Authors: Alia Alghosoun, Nabil El Moçayd, Mohammed Seaid

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Modeling dam-break flows over non-flat beds requires an accurate representation of the topography which is the main source of uncertainty in the model. Therefore, developing robust and accurate techniques for reconstructing topography in this class of problems would reduce the uncertainty in the flow system. In many hydraulic applications, experimental techniques have been widely used to measure the bed topography. In practice, experimental work in hydraulics may be very demanding in both time and cost. Meanwhile, computational hydraulics have served as an alternative for laboratory and field experiments. Unlike the forward problem, the inverse problem is used to identify the bed parameters from the given experimental data. In this case, the shallow water equations used for modeling the hydraulics need to be rearranged in a way that the model parameters can be evaluated from measured data. However, this approach is not always possible and it suffers from stability restrictions. In the present work, we propose an adaptive optimal control technique to numerically identify the underlying bed topography from a given set of free-surface observation data. In this approach, a minimization function is defined to iteratively determine the model parameters. The proposed technique can be interpreted as a fractional-stage scheme. In the first stage, the forward problem is solved to determine the measurable parameters from known data. In the second stage, the adaptive control Ensemble Kalman Filter is implemented to combine the optimality of observation data in order to obtain the accurate estimation of the topography. The main features of this method are on one hand, the ability to solve for different complex geometries with no need for any rearrangements in the original model to rewrite it in an explicit form. On the other hand, its achievement of strong stability for simulations of flows in different regimes containing shocks or discontinuities over any geometry. Numerical results are presented for a dam-break flow problem over non-flat bed using different solvers for the shallow water equations. The robustness of the proposed method is investigated using different numbers of loops, sensitivity parameters, initial samples and location of observations. The obtained results demonstrate high reliability and accuracy of the proposed techniques.

Keywords: erodible beds, finite element method, finite volume method, nonlinear elasticity, shallow water equations, stresses in soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Olga S. Volodko, Lidiya A. Kompaniets, Ludmila V. Gavrilova

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The method of empirical orthogonal functions is the method of data analysis with a complex spatial-temporal structure. This method allows us to decompose the data into a finite number of modes determined by empirically finding the eigenfunctions of data correlation matrix. The modes have different scales and can be associated with various physical processes. The empirical orthogonal function method has been widely used for the analysis of hydrophysical characteristics, for example, the analysis of sea surface temperatures in the Western North Atlantic, ocean surface currents in the North Carolina, the study of tropical wave disturbances etc. The method used in this study has been applied to the analysis of temperature and velocity measurements in saline Lake Shira (Southern Siberia, Russia). Shira is a shallow lake with the maximum depth of 25 m. The lake Shira can be considered as a closed water site because of it has one small river providing inflow and but it has no outflows. The main factor that causes the motion of fluid is variable wind flows. In summer the lake is strongly stratified by temperature and saline. Long-term measurements of the temperatures and currents were conducted at several points during summer 2014-2015. The temperature has been measured with an accuracy of 0.1 ºC. The data were analyzed using the empirical orthogonal function method in the real version. The first empirical eigenmode accounts for 70-80 % of the energy and can be interpreted as temperature distribution with a thermocline. A thermocline is a thermal layer where the temperature decreases rapidly from the mixed upper layer of the lake to much colder deep water. The higher order modes can be interpreted as oscillations induced by internal waves. The currents measurements were recorded using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers 600 kHz and 1200 kHz. The data were analyzed using the empirical orthogonal function method in the complex version. The first empirical eigenmode accounts for about 40 % of the energy and corresponds to the Ekman spiral occurring in the case of a stationary homogeneous fluid. Other modes describe the effects associated with the stratification of fluids. The second and next empirical eigenmodes were associated with dynamical modes. These modes were obtained for a simplified model of inhomogeneous three-level fluid at a water site with a flat bottom.

Keywords: Ekman spiral, empirical orthogonal functions, data analysis, stratified fluid, thermocline

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Authors: Saeed Rezaeian, M. Rezaee Boroon

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Nitrogen accumulates in soils during the process of fertilizer addition to promote the plant growth. When the organic matter decomposes, the form of available nitrogen produced is in the form of nitrate, which is highly mobile. The most significant health effect of nitrate ingestion is methemoglobinemia in infants under six months of age (blue baby syndrome). The mobile nutrients, like nitrate nitrogen, are not stored in the soil as the available forms for the long periods and in large amounts. It depends on the needs for the crops such as vegetables. On the other hand, the vegetables will compete actively for nitrate nitrogen as a mobile nutrient and water. The mobile nutrients must be shared. The fewer the plants, the larger this share is for each plant. Also, this nitrate nitrogen is poisonous for the people who use these vegetables. Nitrate is converted to nitrite by the existing bacteria in the stomach and the Gastro-Intestinal (GI) tract. When nitrite is entered into the blood cells, it converts the hemoglobin to methemoglobin, which causes the anoxemia and cyanosis. The increasing use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, especially the fertilizers with nitrates compounds, which have been common for the increased production of agricultural crops, has caused the nitrate pollution in the (soil, water, and environment). They have caused a lot of damage to humans and animals. In this research, the nitrate accumulation in different kind of vegetables such as; green pepper, tomatoes, egg plants, watermelon, cucumber, and red pepper were observed in the suburbs of Mashhad, Neisabour, and Sabzevar cities. In some of these cities, the information forms of agronomical practices collected were such as; different vegetable crops fertilizer recommendations, varieties, pesticides, irrigation schedules, etc., which were filled out by some of our colleagues in the research areas mentioned above. Analysis of the samples was sent to the soil and water laboratory in our department in Mashhad. The final results from the chemical analysis of samples showed that the mean levels of nitrates from the samples of the fruit crops in the mentioned cities above were all lower than the critical levels. These fruit crop samples were in the order of: 35.91, 8.47, 24.81, 6.03, 46.43, 2.06 mg/kg dry matter, for the following crops such as; tomato, cucumber, eggplant, watermelon, green pepper, and red pepper. Even though, this study was conducted with limited samples and by considering the mean levels, the use of these crops from the nutritional point of view will not cause the poisoning of humans.

Keywords: environmental pollution, human health, nitrate accumulations, nitrate fertilizers

Procedia PDF Downloads 234