Search results for: operating point

Authors: T. Lydon, A. McNabola, P. Coughlan

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Energy consumption in the water distribution network (WDN) is a well established problem equating to the industry contributing heavily to carbon emissions, with 0.9 kg CO2 emitted per m3 of water supplied. It is indicated that 85% of energy wasted in the WDN can be recovered by installing turbines. Existing potential in networks is present at small capacity sites (5-10 kW), numerous and dispersed across networks. However, traditional turbine technology cannot be scaled down to this size in an economically viable fashion, thus alternative approaches are needed. This research aims to enable energy recovery potential within the WDN by exploring the potential of pumps-as-turbines (PATs), to realise this potential. PATs are estimated to be ten times cheaper than traditional micro-hydro turbines, presenting potential to contribute to an economically viable solution. However, a number of technical constraints currently prohibit their widespread use, including the inability of a PAT to control pressure, difficulty in the selection of PATs due to lack of performance data and a lack of understanding on how PATs can cater for fluctuations as extreme as +/- 50% of the average daily flow, characteristic of the WDN. A PAT prototype is undergoing testing in order to identify the capabilities of the technology. Results of preliminary testing, which involved testing the efficiency and power potential of the PAT for varying flow and pressure conditions, in order to develop characteristic and efficiency curves for the PAT and a baseline understanding of the technologies capabilities, are presented here: •The limitations of existing selection methods which convert BEP from pump operation to BEP in turbine operation was highlighted by the failure of such methods to reflect the conditions of maximum efficiency of the PAT. A generalised selection method for the WDN may need to be informed by an understanding of impact of flow variations and pressure control on system power potential capital cost, maintenance costs, payback period. •A clear relationship between flow and efficiency rate of the PAT has been established. The rate of efficiency reductions for flows +/- 50% BEP is significant and more extreme for deviations in flow above the BEP than below, but not dissimilar to the reaction of efficiency of other turbines. •PAT alone is not sufficient to regulate pressure, yet the relationship of pressure across the PAT is foundational in exploring ways which PAT energy recovery systems can maintain required pressure level within the WDN. Efficiencies of systems of PAT energy recovery systems operating conditions of pressure regulation, which have been conceptualise in current literature, need to be established. Initial results guide the focus of forthcoming testing and exploration of PAT technology towards how PATs can form part of an efficiency energy recovery system.

Keywords: energy recovery, pump-as-turbine, water distribution network, water distribution network

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Authors: Hossein Motaghedi, Siavash Salamatpoor, Abbas Mokhtari

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Noor costal city which is located in Mazandaran province, Iran, regularly visited by many tourists. Accordingly, many tall building and heavy structures are going to be constructed over this coastal area. This region is overlaid by poorly graded clean sand and because of high water level, is susceptible to liquefaction. In this study, undrained triaxial tests under isotropic consolidation were conducted on the reconstituted samples of Noor sand, which underlies a densely populated, seismic region of southern bank of Caspian Sea. When the strain level is large enough, soil samples under shearing tend to be in a state of continuous deformation under constant shear and normal stresses. There exists a correlation between the void ratio and mean effective principal stress, which is referred to as the ultimate steady state line (USSL). Soil behavior can be achieved by expressing the state of effective confining stress and defining the location of this point relative to the steady state line. Therefore, one can say that sand behavior not only is dependent to relative density but also a description of stress state has to be defined. The current study tries to investigate behavior of this sand under different conditions such as confining effective stress and relative density using undrained monotonic triaxial compression tests. As expected, the analyzed results show that the sand behavior varies from dilative to contractive state while initial isotropic effective stress increases. Therefore, confining effective stress level will directly affect the overall behavior of sand. The observed behavior obtained from the conducted tests is then compared with some previously tested sands including Yamuna, Ganga, and Toyoura.

Keywords: noor sand, liquefaction, undrained test, steady state

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Authors: Selen Demirtas Zorbaz, Ozlem Ulas

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Examining the reasons of child behaviour problems has been one of the focus of psychology and related disciplines for so long. It can be said there is a lot of reasons of child behaviour problems and familial factors might be the leading ones. When taking into account the prevalence of the children having behaviour problems in Turkey, it can be said that it is important to carry out studies putting forward the reasons of behaviour problems. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to examine dissertations and thesis putting forward the relationship between problem behaviour of the children (12-year-old and younger) and teenagers (12-18 years old), and familial factors. For that purpose, 46 dissertations that were chosen according to the study criteria out of 141 dissertations scanned by using the keywords of ‘behaviour problems’ and ‘behaviour disorder’ at Higher Education Thesis Centre between the years of 1989 and 2016 have been taken into the scope of the study. ‘Thesis Examination Draft Form’ has been prepared for the purpose of being used for data collecting tool. For the analysis of the data, percentage, and frequency analysis methods have been used. When the results of these studies are evaluated on the whole, it is seen that all the dissertations and thesis done are descriptive study, and it was not encountered any studies designed as experimental. When looked at the distribution of dissertations by years, it is seen that the first thesis was done in 1989 and the most number of dissertations were done in the years of 2014 and 2016. When looked at the department in which the dissertations were done, it can be said that dissertations and thesis were done in many different fields of disciplines ranging from psychology and special education. In addition to this, when investigated the group taken into the scope of dissertations and thesis research, it is seen that the children mostly worked with are below the age of 12 and types of studies are master’s thesis. When the dissertations and thesis are examined by means of topics, it is seen that mostly-studied topics are demographic variables such as gender, whether the family is fragmented or not, education level of the family and the parents’ attitude. Obtained findings have been examined in the light of literature.

Keywords: family, child behaviour problem, dissertations, thesis

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Authors: Ranjith Ihalanayake, Lalith Seelanatha, John Breen

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In this study, we explored the current working capital management practices as applied in small businesses in Victoria, filling an existing theoretical and empirical gap in literature in general and in Australia in particular. Amidst the current global competitive and dynamic environment, the short term insolvency of small businesses is very critical for the long run survival. A firm’s short-term insolvency is dependent on the availability of sufficient working capital for feeding day to day operational activities. Therefore, given the reliance for short-term funding by small businesses, it has been recognized that the efficient management of working capital is crucial in respect of the prosperity and survival of such firms. Against this background, this research was an attempt to understand the current working capital management strategies and practices used by the small scale businesses. To this end, we conducted an internet survey among 220 small businesses operating in Victoria, Australia. The survey results suggest that the majority of respondents are owner-manager (73%) and male (68%). Respondents participated in this survey mostly have a degree (46%). About a half of respondents are more than 50 years old. Most of respondents (64%) have business management experience more than ten years. Similarly, majority of them (63%) had experience in the area of their current business. Types of business of the respondents are: Private limited company (41%), sole proprietorship (37%), and partnership (15%). In addition, majority of the firms are service companies (63%), followed by retailed companies (25%), and manufacturing (17%). Size of companies of this survey varies, 32% of them have annual sales $100,000 or under, while 22% of them have revenue more than $1,000,000 every year. In regards to the total assets, majority of respondents (43%) have total assets $100,000 or less while 20% of respondents have total assets more than $1,000,000. In regards to WCMPs, results indicate that almost 70% of respondents mentioned that they are responsible for managing their business working capital. The survey shows that majority of respondents (65.5%) use their business experience to identify the level of investment in working capital, compared to 22% of respondents who seek advice from professionals. The other 10% of respondents, however, follow industry practice to identify the level of working capital. The survey also shows that more than a half of respondents maintain good liquidity financial position for their business by having accounts payable less than accounts receivable. This study finds that majority of small business companies in western area of Victoria have a WCM policy but only about 8 % of them have a formal policy. Majority of the businesses (52.7%) have an informal policy while 39.5% have no policy. Of those who have a policy, 44% described their working capital management policies as a compromise policy while 35% described their policy as a conservative policy. Only 6% of respondents apply aggressive policy. Overall the results indicate that the small businesses pay less attention into the management of working capital of their business despite its significance in the successful operation of the business. This approach may be adopted during favourable economic times. However, during relatively turbulent economic conditions, such an approach could lead to greater financial difficulties i.e. short-term financial insolvency.

Keywords: small business, working capital management, Australia, sufficient, financial insolvency

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Authors: Cheng Fang Wang, Fu Li Gao, Jian Ying Zhou

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The '1+4' integration pilot area in the border area of Guangzhou-Foshan is an important platform for Guangzhou-Foshan strategic cooperation, as well as a typical semi-urbanized area with mixed urban and rural landscapes, of which the Baiyun-Nanhai pilot area is one of them. Baiyun district and Nanhai district are only separated by the Pearl River. In this paper, the three dimensions, which include production, living, and ecology, have been put forward, as well as cross-regional multi-agency negotiation mechanism has been discussed. Taking 'Baiyun-Nanhai' pilot area as a case study, POI (Point of Interest) data to analyze the distribution characteristics of 'production-living-ecological space' from the spatial dimension has been introduced in this paper, as well as the land-use change of 'production-living-ecological space' in western region of Baiyun district in 2007 and 2017 from the temporal dimension has been analyzed. Based on the above analysis, the integration development strategy and rethinking of cross-administrative region based on 'production-living-ecological integration' mechanism have been discussed later. It will explore the mechanism of industrial collaborative innovation, infrastructure co-construction, and ecological co-protection in semi-urban areas across borders. And it is expected to provide a reference for the integrated construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Keywords: semi-urbanization, production-living-ecological integration, multi-agency negotiation, Guangzhou-Foshan integration, synergetic development

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Authors: Wu Peng, Anders Liljerehn, Martin Magnevall

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In metal cutting, tool wear gradually changes the micro geometry of the cutting edge. Today there is a significant gap in understanding the impact these geometrical changes have on the cutting forces which governs tool deflection and heat generation in the cutting zone. Accurate models and understanding of the interaction between the work piece and cutting tool leads to improved accuracy in simulation of the cutting process. These simulations are useful in several application areas, e.g., optimization of insert geometry and machine tool monitoring. This study aims to develop an extended Kienzle force model to account for the effect of rake angle variations and tool flank wear have on the cutting forces. In this paper, the starting point sets from cutting force measurements using orthogonal turning tests of pre-machined flanches with well-defined width, using triangular coated inserts to assure orthogonal condition. The cutting forces have been measured by dynamometer with a set of three different rake angles, and wear progression have been monitored during machining by an optical measuring collaborative robot. The method utilizes the measured cutting forces with the inserts flank wear progression to extend the mechanistic cutting forces model with flank wear as an input parameter. The adapted cutting forces model is validated in a turning process with commercial cutting tools. This adapted cutting forces model shows the significant capability of prediction of cutting forces accounting for tools flank wear and different-rake-angle cutting tool inserts. The result of this study suggests that the nonlinear effect of tools flank wear and interaction between the work piece and the cutting tool can be considered by the developed cutting forces model.

Keywords: cutting force, kienzle model, predictive model, tool flank wear

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Authors: Carmela Perta

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Among the studies flourished in the field of historical sociolinguistics, mainly in the strand devoted to English history, during its Medieval and early modern phases, multilingual texts had been analysed using theories and models coming from contact linguistics, thus applying synchronic models and approaches to the past. This is true also in the case of contact phenomena which would transcend the writing level involving the language systems implicated in contact processes to the point of perceiving a new variety. This is the case for medieval administrative-commercial texts in which, according to some Scholars, the degree of fusion of Anglo-Norman, Latin and middle English is so high a mixed code emerges, and there are recurrent patterns of mixed forms. Interesting is a collection of multilingual business writings by John Balmayn, an Englishman overseeing a large shipment in Tuscany, namely the Cantelowe accounts. These documents display various analogies with multilingual texts written in England in the same period; in fact, the writer seems to make use of the above-mentioned patterns, with Middle English, Latin, Anglo-Norman, and the newly added Italian. Applying an atomistic yet dynamic approach to the study of contact phenomena, we will investigate these documents, trying to explore the nature of the switching forms they contain from an intra-writer variation perspective. After analysing the accounts and the type of multilingualism in them, we will take stock of the assumed mixed code nature, comparing the characteristics found in this genre with modern assumptions. The aim is to evaluate the possibility to consider the switching forms as core elements of a mixed code, used as professional variety among merchant communities, or whether such texts should be analysed from a switching perspective.

Keywords: historical sociolinguistics, historical code switching, letters, medieval england

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Authors: Naima Guenifi, Shiromani Balmukund Rahi, Amina Bechka

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Tunnel FET is one of the most suitable alternatives FET devices for conventional CMOS technology for low-power electronics and applications. Due to its lower subthreshold swing (SS) value, it is a strong follower of low power applications. It is a quantum FET device that follows the band to band (B2B) tunneling transport phenomena of charge carriers. Due to band to band tunneling, tunnel FET is suffering from a lower switching current than conventional metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). For improvement of device features and limitations, the newly invented negative capacitance concept of ferroelectric material is implemented in conventional Tunnel FET structure popularly known as NC TFET. The present research work has implemented the idea of high-k gate dielectric added with ferroelectric material on double gate Tunnel FET for implementation of negative capacitance. It has been observed that the idea of negative capacitance further improves device features like SS value. It helps to reduce power dissipation and switching energy. An extensive investigation for circularity uses for digital, analog/RF and linearity features of double gate NCTFET have been adopted here for research work. Several essential designs paraments for analog/RF and linearity parameters like transconductance(gm), transconductance generation factor (gm/IDS), its high-order derivatives (gm2, gm3), cut-off frequency (fT), gain-bandwidth product (GBW), transconductance generation factor (gm/IDS) has been investigated for low power RF applications. The VIP₂, VIP₃, IMD₃, IIP₃, distortion characteristics (HD2, HD3), 1-dB, the compression point, delay and power delay product performance have also been thoroughly studied.

Keywords: analog/digital, ferroelectric, linearity, negative capacitance, Tunnel FET, transconductance

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Authors: Raquel Amanda Villamizar Gallardo, Oscar Orlando Ortíz Rodríguez

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Enteric viruses are cosmopolitan agents present in several environments including water. These viruses can cause different diseases including gastroenteritis, hepatitis, conjunctivitis, respiratory problems among others. Although in Colombia there are not regulations concerning to routine viral analysis of drinking water, an enhanced understanding of viral pollution and resistance to treatments is desired in order to assure pure water to the population. Viral detection is often complex due to the need of specialized and time-consuming procedures. In addition, viruses are highly diluted in water which is a drawback from the analytical point of view. To this end, a fast and selective detection method for detection enteric viruses (i.e. Hepatitis A and Rotavirus) were applied. Micro- magnetic particles were functionalized with monoclonal antibodies anti-Hepatitis and anti-Rotavirus and they were used to capture, concentrate and separate whole viral particles in raw water and drinking water samples from four treatment plants identified as CAR-01, MON-02, POR-03, TON-04 and located in the Northeastern Colombia. Viruses were molecularly by using RT-PCR One Step Superscript III. Each plant was analyzed at the entry and exit points, in order to determine the initial presence and eventual reduction of Hepatitis A and Rotavirus after disinfection. The results revealed the presence of both enteric viruses in a 100 % of raw water analyzed in all plants. This represents a potential health hazard, especially for those people whose use this water for agricultural purposes. However, in drinking water analysis, enteric viruses was only positive in CAR-01, where was found the presence of Rotavirus. As a conclusion, the results confirm Rotavirus as the best indicator to evaluate the efficacy of potable treatment plant in eliminating viruses. CAR potable water plant should improve their disinfection process in order to remove efficiently enteric viruses.

Keywords: drinking water, hepatitis A, rotavirus, virus removal

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: A. Elmethnani, A. Jroud

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This coastal crude oil refinery is situated north of a big city west of Tripoli; the city then could be highly prone to downwind refinery emissions where the NNE wind direction is prevailing through most seasons of the year. Furthermore, due to the absence of an air quality monitoring network and scarce emission data available for the neighboring community, nearby residents have serious worries about the impacts of the oil refining operations on local air quality. In responding to these concerns, a short term survey has performed for three consecutive days where a semi-continues mobile monitoring approach has developed effectively in this study; the monitoring station (Compact AQM 65 AeroQual) was mounted on a vehicle to move quickly between locations, measurements of 10 minutes averaging of 60 seconds then been taken at each fixed sampling point. The downwind ambient concentration of CO, H₂S, NOₓ, NO₂, SO₂, PM₁, PM₂.₅ PM₁₀, and TSP were measured at carefully chosen sampling locations, ranging from 200m nearby the fence-line passing through the city center up to 4.7 km east to attain best spatial coverage. Results showed worrying levels of PM₂.₅ PM₁₀, and TSP at one sampling location in the city center, southeast of the refinery site, with an average mean of 16.395μg/m³, 33.021μg/m³, and 42.426μg/m³ respectively, which could be attributed to road traffic. No significant concentrations have been detected for other pollutants of interest over the study area, as levels observed for CO, SO₂, H₂S, NOₓ, and NO₂ haven’t respectively exceeded 1.707 ppm, 0.021ppm, 0.134 ppm, 0.4582 ppm, and 0.0018 ppm, which was at the same sampling locations as well. Although it wasn’t possible to compare the results with the Libyan air quality standards due to the difference in the averaging time period, the technique was adequate for the baseline air quality screening procedure. Overall, findings primarily suggest modeling of dispersion of the refinery emissions to assess the likely impact and spatial-temporal distribution of air pollutants.

Keywords: air quality, mobil monitoring, oil refinery

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Authors: Rehema Kabare

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As urban development initiatives continue to emerge and are implemented amid rapid urbanization and climate change effects in the global south, the plight of women is only being noticed. The pandemic exposed the atrocities, violence and unsafety women and girls face daily both in their homes and in public urban spaces. This is a result of poorly implemented and managed urban structures, which women have been left out of during design and implementation for centuries. The UN Habitat’s HerCity toolkit provides a unique opportunity to change course for both governments and civil society actors where women and girls are onboarded onto urban development initiatives, with their designs and ideas being the focal point. This toolkit proves that when women and girls design, they design for everyone. The HerCity HerStreets, Public Space Improvement Initiative, resulted in a design that focused on two aspects: Streets are a shared resource, and Streets are public spaces. These two concepts illustrate that for streets to be experienced effectively as cultural spaces, they need to be user-friendly, safe and inclusive. This report demonstrates how the HerCity HerStreets as a pilot project can be a benchmark for designing urban spaces in African cities. The project focused on five dimensions to improve the air quality of the space, the space allocation to street vending and bodaboda (passenger motorcycle) stops parking and the green coverage. The process displays how digital tools such as Minecraft and Kobo Toolbox can be utilized to improve citizens’ participation in the development of public spaces, with a special focus on including vulnerable groups such as women, girls and youth.

Keywords: urban space, sustainable development, gender and the city, digital tools and urban development

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Authors: Suman

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In the continuous interaction between the past and the present that historiography is, each time when history gets re/written, a new representation emerges. This new representation is a reflection of the earlier archives and their interpretations, fragmented remembrances of the past, as well as the reactions to the present. Memory, or lack thereof, and stereotyping generally play a major role in this representation. William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2009) is one such written account that sets out to narrate the representations of religion and culture of India and contemporary reactions to it. Dalrymple’s nine saints belong to different castes, sects, religions, and regions. By dealing with their religions and expressions of those religions, and through the lived mysticism of these nine individuals, the book engages with some important issues like class, caste and gender in the contexts provided by historical as well as present India. The paper studies the development of religion and accompanied feeling of religiosity in modern as well as historical contexts through a study of these elements in the book. Since, the language used in creation of texts and the literary texts thus produced create a new reality that questions the stereotypes of the past, and in turn often end up creating new stereotypes or stereotypical representations at times, the paper seeks to actively engage with the text in order to identify and study such stereotypes, along with their changing representations. Through a detailed examination of the book, the paper seeks to unravel whether some socio-cultural stereotypes existed earlier, and whether there is development of new stereotypes from Dalrymple’s point of view as an outsider writing on issues that are deeply rooted in the cultural milieu of the country. For this analysis, the paper takes help from the psycho-literary theories of stereotyping and representation.

Keywords: stereotyping, representation, William Dalrymple, religion

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Authors: Sigal Barkai

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'Ironic Historiography' is a hybrid notion combining criticism of historical narratives concerning the Israeli state with ironic artistic expression. The paper will deal with questions of identities of native Israeli visual artists who chose to live out of the country, or to move back and forth to and from it. It will examine the ways these wanderings are reflected in their work. The paper discusses the work of 4 contemporary artists who produce artworks in diverse techniques and media, such as video, performance and installation art. Yael Bartana, Erez Israeli and Tamir Zadok are artists who constantly deal with Israeli nationality and history in their artwork, using ironic components. In comparison, the paper will review the works of Mika Rottenberg, who is now a New York based artist. She is concerned with global social issues and neglected specific national identity altogether. All of them use visual irony as a means of reflecting and criticizing society. The analysis was done in awareness of the life stories of the artists, in an attempt to trace the ways they establish their identities through their art. It was pre-supposed that these identities will be shaped in the in-between space of being an Israeli citizen and a citizen of the world. The study asks how ironic expression appears in their work, what kind of irony do they use and in what ways does it serves them. The methodology combined visual analysis, interviews with the artists, and analyzation of secondary discourses in the media. As theoretical background various fields of knowledge were used, such as literature and language studies, Sociology, and Visual Culture studies. The findings point out that visual and artistic irony has many different goals in the use of historiographic fiction. It can bind an artist to his homeland and native society, or it can help her to detach. It helps healing breaches in the in-between space, or it can be used as a means to completely detach from any identification with a native origin.

Keywords: visual art, irony, identities, Israel

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Authors: S. Moustafa El Shanawany, I. Labib Salem, F. Mohamed Magdy Badr El Dine, H. Tag El Deen Abd Allah

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Thermal injuries remain a global health problem and a common issue encountered in forensic pathology. They are a devastating cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adults especially in developing countries, causing permanent disfigurement, scarring and grievous hurt. Burns have always been a matter of legal concern in cases of suicidal burns, self-inflicted burns for false accusation and homicidal attempts. Assessment of burn injuries as well as rating permanent disabilities and disfigurement following thermal injuries for the benefit of compensation claims represents a challenging problem. This necessitates the development of reliable scoring systems to yield an expected likelihood of permanent disability or fatal outcome following burn injuries. The study was designed to identify the risk factors of mortality in acute burn patients and to evaluate the applicability of FLAMES (Fatality by Longevity, APACHE II score, Measured Extent of burn, and Sex) and BOBI (Belgian Outcome in Burn Injury) model scores in predicting the outcome. The study was conducted on 100 adult patients with acute burn injuries admitted to the Burn Unit of Alexandria Main University Hospital, Egypt from October 2014 to October 2015. Victims were examined after obtaining informed consent and the data were collected in specially designed sheets including demographic data, burn details and any associated inhalation injury. Each burn patient was assessed using both BOBI and FLAMES scoring systems. The results of the study show the mean age of patients was 35.54±12.32 years. Males outnumbered females (55% and 45%, respectively). Most patients were accidently burnt (95%), whereas suicidal burns accounted for the remaining 5%. Flame burn was recorded in 82% of cases. As well, 8% of patients sustained more than 60% of total burn surface area (TBSA) burns, 19% of patients needed mechanical ventilation, and 19% of burnt patients died either from wound sepsis, multi-organ failure or pulmonary embolism. The mean length of hospital stay was 24.91±25.08 days. The mean BOBI score was 1.07±1.27 and that of the FLAMES score was -4.76±2.92. The FLAMES score demonstrated an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.95 which was significantly higher than that of the BOBI score (0.883). A statistically significant association was revealed between both predictive models and the outcome. The study concluded that both scoring systems were beneficial in predicting mortality in acutely burnt patients. However, the FLAMES score could be applied with a higher level of accuracy.

Keywords: BOBI, burns, FLAMES, scoring systems, outcome

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Authors: David Edgar

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To understand how the brain’s subconscious and conscious functions, we must conquer the physics of Unity, which leads to duality’s algorithm. Where the subconscious (bottom-up) and conscious (top-down) processes function together to produce and consume intelligence, we use terms like ‘time is relative,’ but we really do understand the meaning. In the brain, there are different processes and, therefore, different observers. These different processes experience time at different rates. A sensory system such as the eyes cycles measurement around 33 milliseconds, the conscious process of the frontal lobe cycles at 300 milliseconds, and the subconscious process of the thalamus cycle at 5 milliseconds. Three different observers experience time differently. To bridge observers, the thalamus, which is the fastest of the processes, maintains a synchronous state and entangles the different components of the brain’s physical process. The entanglements form a synchronous cohesion between the brain components allowing them to share the same state and execute in the same measurement cycle. The thalamus uses the shared state to control the firing sequence of the brain’s linear subconscious process. Sharing state also allows the brain to cheat on the amount of sensory data that must be exchanged between components. Only unpredictable motion is transferred through the synchronous state because predictable motion already exists in the shared framework. The brain’s synchronous subconscious process is entirely based on energy conservation, where prediction regulates energy usage. So, the eyes every 33 milliseconds dump their sensory data into the thalamus every day. The thalamus is going to perform a motion measurement to identify the unpredictable motion in the sensory data. Here is the trick. The thalamus conducts its measurement based on the original observation time of the sensory system (33 ms), not its own process time (5 ms). This creates a data payload of synchronous motion that preserves the original sensory observation. Basically, a frozen moment in time (Flat 4D). The single moment in time can then be processed through the single state maintained by the synchronous process. Other processes, such as consciousness (300 ms), can interface with the synchronous state to generate awareness of that moment. Now, synchronous data traveling through a separate faster synchronous process creates a theoretical time tunnel where observation time is tunneled through the synchronous process and is reproduced on the other side in the original time-relativity. The synchronous process eliminates time dilation by simply removing itself from the equation so that its own process time does not alter the experience. To the original observer, the measurement appears to be instantaneous, but in the thalamus, a linear subconscious process generating sensory perception and thought production is being executed. It is all just occurring in the time available because other observation times are slower than thalamic measurement time. For life to exist in the physical universe requires a linear measurement process, it just hides by operating at a faster time relativity. What’s interesting is time dilation is not the problem; it’s the solution. Einstein said there was no universal time.

Keywords: neural synchronization, natural intelligence, 99.95% IoT data transmission savings, artificial subconscious intelligence (ASI)

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Authors: Nur Nadhirah Rusyda Rosnan, Nursuhaili Najwa Masrol, Nurul Fatiha MD Nor, Mohammad Zafrullah Mohammad Salim, Sim Choon Cheak

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Accurate inventories of oil palm planted areas are crucial for plantation management as this would impact the overall economy and production of oil. One of the technological advancements in the oil palm industry is semi-automated palm counting, which is replacing conventional manual palm counting via digitizing aerial imagery. Most of the semi-automated palm counting method that has been developed was limited to mature palms due to their ideal canopy size represented by satellite image. Therefore, immature palms were often left out since the size of the canopy is barely visible from satellite images. In this paper, an approach using a morphological filter and high-resolution satellite image is proposed to detect immature palm trees. This approach makes it possible to count the number of immature oil palm trees. The method begins with an erosion filter with an appropriate window size of 3m onto the high-resolution satellite image. The eroded image was further segmented using watershed segmentation to delineate immature palm tree regions. Then, local minimum detection was used because it is hypothesized that immature oil palm trees are located at the local minimum within an oil palm field setting in a grayscale image. The detection points generated from the local minimum are displaced to the center of the immature oil palm region and thinned. Only one detection point is left that represents a tree. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on three subsets with slopes ranging from 0 to 20° and different planting designs, i.e., straight and terrace. The proposed method was able to achieve up to more than 90% accuracy when compared with the ground truth, with an overall F-measure score of up to 0.91.

Keywords: immature palm count, oil palm, precision agriculture, remote sensing

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Authors: Lara Bruno, Ilaria Tipà, Franco Delogu

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Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is a demanding language task which includes the contemporary activation of different cognitive processes. This complex activity requires interpreters not only to be proficient in their working languages; but also to have a great ability in focusing attention and controlling anxiety during their performance. Effects of Qigong meditation techniques have a positive impact on several cognitive functions, including attention and anxiety control. This study aims at exploring the influence of Qigong meditation on the quality of simultaneous interpreting. 20 interpreting students, divided into two groups, were trained for 8 days in Qigong meditation practice. Before and after training, a brief simultaneous interpreting task was performed. Language combinations of group A and group B were respectively English-Italian and Chinese-Italian. Students’ performances were recorded and rated by independent evaluators. Assessments were based on 12 different parameters, divided into 4 macro-categories: content, form, delivery and anxiety control. To determine if there was any significant variation between the pre-training and post-training SI performance, ANOVA analyses were conducted on the ratings provided by the independent evaluators. Main results indicate a significant improvement of the interpreting performance after the meditation training intervention for both groups. However, group A registered a higher improvement compared to Group B. Nonetheless, positive effects of meditation have been found in all the observed macro-categories. Meditation was not only beneficial for speech delivery and anxiety control but also for cognitive and attention abilities. From a cognitive and pedagogical point of view, present results open new paths of research on the practice of meditation as a tool to improve SI performances.

Keywords: cognitive science, interpreting studies, Qigong meditation, simultaneous interpreting, training

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Authors: Constantine Uwaremwe, Wenjie Bao, Bachir Goudia Daoura, Sandhya Mishra, Xianxian Zhang, Lingjie Shen, Shangwen Xia, Xiaodong Yang

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Background: Plukenetia volubilis Linneo is an oleaginous plant belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Due to its seeds containing a high content of edible oil and rich in vitamins, P. volubilis is cultivated as an economical plant worldwide. However, the cultivation and growth of P. volubilis is challenged by phytopathogen invasion leading to production loss. Methods: In the current study, we tested the pathogenicity of fungal pathogens isolated from root rot infected P. volubilis plant tissues by inoculating them into healthy P. volubilis seedlings. Metagenomic sequencing was used to assess the shift in the fungal community of P. volubilis rhizosphere soil after root rot infection. Results: Four Fusarium isolates and two Rhizopus isolates were found to be root rot causative agents of P. volubilis as they induced typical root rot symptoms in healthy seedlings. The metagenomic sequencing data showed that root rot infection altered the rhizosphere fungal community. In root rot infected soil, the richness and diversity indices increased or decreased depending on pathogens. The four most abundant phyla across all samples were Ascomycota, Glomeromycota, Basidiomycota, and Mortierellomycota. In infected soil, the relative abundance of each phylum increased or decreased depending on the pathogen and functional taxonomic classification. Conclusions: Based on our results, we concluded that Fusarium and Rhizopus species cause root rot infection of P. volubilis. In root rot infected P. volubilis, the shift in the rhizosphere fungal community was pathogen-dependent. These findings may serve as a key point for a future study on the biocontrol of root rot of P. volubilis.

Keywords: fusarium spp., plukenetia volubilis l., rhizopus spp., rhizosphere fungal community, root rot

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Authors: Sina Moradi, Christopher W. K. Chow, John Van Leeuwen, David Cook, Mary Drikas, Patrick Hayde, Rose Amal

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Chloramine is commonly used as a disinfectant in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs), particularly in Australia and the USA. Maintaining a chloramine residual throughout the DWDS is important in ensuring microbiologically safe water is supplied at the customer’s tap. In order to simulate how chloramine behaves when it moves through the distribution system, a water quality network model (WQNM) can be applied. In this work, the WQNM was based on mono-chloramine decomposition reactions, which enabled prediction of mono-chloramine residual at different locations through a DWDS in Australia, using the Bentley commercial hydraulic package (Water GEMS). The accuracy of WQNM predictions is influenced by a number of water quality parameters. Optimization of these parameters in order to obtain the closest results in comparison with actual measured data in a real DWDS would result in both cost reduction as well as reduction in consumption of valuable resources such as energy and materials. In this work, the optimum operating conditions of water quality parameters (i.e. temperature, pH, and initial mono-chloramine concentration) to maximize the accuracy of mono-chloramine residual predictions for two water supply scenarios in an entire network were determined using response surface methodology (RSM). To obtain feasible and economical water quality parameters for highest model predictability, Design Expert 8.0 software (Stat-Ease, Inc.) was applied to conduct the optimization of three independent water quality parameters. High and low levels of the water quality parameters were considered, inevitably, as explicit constraints, in order to avoid extrapolation. The independent variables were pH, temperature and initial mono-chloramine concentration. The lower and upper limits of each variable for two water supply scenarios were defined and the experimental levels for each variable were selected based on the actual conditions in studied DWDS. It was found that at pH of 7.75, temperature of 34.16 ºC, and initial mono-chloramine concentration of 3.89 (mg/L) during peak water supply patterns, root mean square error (RMSE) of WQNM for the whole network would be minimized to 0.189, and the optimum conditions for averaged water supply occurred at pH of 7.71, temperature of 18.12 ºC, and initial mono-chloramine concentration of 4.60 (mg/L). The proposed methodology to predict mono-chloramine residual can have a great potential for water treatment plant operators in accurately estimating the mono-chloramine residual through a water distribution network. Additional studies from other water distribution systems are warranted to confirm the applicability of the proposed methodology for other water samples.

Keywords: chloramine decay, modelling, response surface methodology, water quality parameters

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Authors: Teresita Castillo, Concepción Campo, Carlos Carrillo

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Attention, comprehension and solution of poverty can be worked considering a socioeconomic approach; but it also can be attended from a multidimensional perspective that allows considering other dimensions including psychological variables manifested in behaviors, thoughts and feelings concerning this phenomenon. Considering the importance of research regarding psychology and poverty, this paper presents results about psychosocial impacts of poverty on young people related to mental health issues and its relation to fatalism. These results are part of a bigger transcultural study done in collaboration with the Federal University of Ceará, in Brazil. Participants were 101 young men and women, between 12 and 29 years old, living in two emarginated suburbs in Mérida, Mexico, located in the southeastern zone of the country. Participants responded the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ- 20), with 20 items dichotomous presence/absence that assess anxious and depressive issues and the Fatalism Scale, with 30 items Likert five-point spread over five factors. Results show that one third of participants mentioned to get easily frightened, feeling nervous, tense or worried as well as unhappy, difficulty on making decisions, and troubles in thinking clearly. About 20% mentioned to have headaches, to sleep badly, to cry more than usual and to feel tired all the time. Regarding Fatalism, results show there is a greater internal allocation and lower external attribution in young participants, but they have some symptoms regarding poor mental health. Discussion is in terms of possible explanations about the results and emphasizes the importance of holistic approaches for a better understanding of the psychosocial impacts of poverty on young people and strengthening the resilience to increase positive mental health in emarginated contexts, where Community Psychology could have an important duty in community health promotion.

Keywords: fatalism, mental health, poverty, youth

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Authors: Fatima-Zohra Ghedir

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Social media platforms have been actively working on solutions and combined their efforts with media, policy makers, educators and researchers to protect citizens and prevent interferences in information, political discourses and elections. Facebook, for instance, deleted fake accounts, implemented fake accounts and fake content detection algorithms, partnered with news agencies to manually fact check content and changed its newsfeeds display. Twitter and Instagram regularly communicate on their efforts and notify their users of improvements and safety guidelines. More funds have been allocated to media literacy programs to empower citizens in prevision of the coming elections. This paper investigates the efficiency of these initiatives and analyzes the metrics to measure their success or failure. The objective is also to determine the segments of population more prone to fall in disinformation traps during the elections despite the measures taken over the last four years. This study will also examine the groups who were positively impacted by these measures. This paper relies on both desk and field methodologies. For this study, a survey was administered to French students aged between 17 and 29 years old. Semi-guided interviews were conducted on a similar audience. The analysis of the survey and of the interviews show that respondents were exposed to the initiatives described above and are aware of the existence of disinformation issues. However, they do not understand what disinformation really entails or means. For instance, for most of them, disinformation is synonymous of the opposite point of view without taking into account the truthfulness of the content. Besides, they still consume and believe the information shared by their friends and family, with little questioning about the ways their closed ones get informed.

Keywords: democratic elections, disinformation, foreign interference, social media, success metrics

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Authors: Amandeep Singh Oberoi, John Andrews, Alan L. Chaffee, Lachlan Ciddor

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Electrochemical storage of hydrogen in activated carbon electrodes as part of a reversible fuel cell offers a potentially attractive option for storing surplus electrical energy from inherently variable solar and wind energy resources. Such a system – which we have called a proton flow battery – promises to have roundtrip energy efficiency comparable to lithium ion batteries, while having higher gravimetric and volumetric energy densities. Activated carbons with high internal surface area, high pore volume, light weight and easy availability have attracted considerable research interest as a solid-state hydrogen storage medium. This paper compares the physical characteristics and hydrogen storage capacities of four activated carbon electrodes made by different methods from brown coal. The fabrication methods for these samples are explained. Their proton conductivity was measured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and their hydrogen storage capacity by galvanostatic charging and discharging in a three-electrode electrolytic cell with 1 mol sulphuric acid as electrolyte. The highest hydrogen storage capacity obtained was 1.29 wt%, which compares favourably with metal hydrides used in commercially available solid-state hydrogen storages. The hydrogen storage capacity of the samples increased monotonically with increasing BET surface area (calculated from CO2 adsorption method). The results point the way towards selecting high-performing electrodes for proton flow batteries that the competitiveness of this energy storage technology.

Keywords: activated carbon, electrochemical hydrogen storage, proton flow battery, proton conductivity

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Authors: Hossein Havaeji, Tony Wong, Thien-My Dao

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1. Research Problems and Research Objectives: Blockchain Technology-enabled Supply Chain System (BT-enabled SCS) is the system using BT to drive SCS transparency, security, durability, and process integrity as SCS data is not always visible, available, or trusted. The costs of operating BT in the SCS are a common problem in several organizations. The costs must be estimated as they can impact existing cost control strategies. To account for system and deployment costs, it is necessary to overcome the following hurdle. The problem is that the costs of developing and running a BT in SCS are not yet clear in most cases. Many industries aiming to use BT have special attention to the importance of BT installation cost which has a direct impact on the total costs of SCS. Predicting BT installation cost in SCS may help managers decide whether BT is to be an economic advantage. The purpose of the research is to identify some main BT installation cost components in SCS needed for deeper cost analysis. We then identify and categorize the main groups of cost components in more detail to utilize them in the prediction process. The second objective is to determine the suitable Supervised Learning technique in order to predict the costs of developing and running BT in SCS in a particular case study. The last aim is to investigate how the running BT cost can be involved in the total cost of SCS. 2. Work Performed: Applied successfully in various fields, Supervised Learning is a method to set the data frame, treat the data, and train/practice the method sort. It is a learning model directed to make predictions of an outcome measurement based on a set of unforeseen input data. The following steps must be conducted to search for the objectives of our subject. The first step is to make a literature review to identify the different cost components of BT installation in SCS. Based on the literature review, we should choose some Supervised Learning methods which are suitable for BT installation cost prediction in SCS. According to the literature review, some Supervised Learning algorithms which provide us with a powerful tool to classify BT installation components and predict BT installation cost are the Support Vector Regression (SVR) algorithm, Back Propagation (BP) neural network, and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Choosing a case study to feed data into the models comes into the third step. Finally, we will propose the best predictive performance to find the minimum BT installation costs in SCS. 3. Expected Results and Conclusion: This study tends to propose a cost prediction of BT installation in SCS with the help of Supervised Learning algorithms. At first attempt, we will select a case study in the field of BT-enabled SCS, and then use some Supervised Learning algorithms to predict BT installation cost in SCS. We continue to find the best predictive performance for developing and running BT in SCS. Finally, the paper will be presented at the conference.

Keywords: blockchain technology, blockchain technology-enabled supply chain system, installation cost, supervised learning

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Authors: Haiping Zhu

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The purpose of this work-in-progress paper is to explore how the Chinese philosophic-religious tradition of Taoism impacts on the consumption behaviour of contemporary Chinese consumers. Although much cultural research has been conducted on Chinese consumption behaviours, most studies have approached the subject from Western perspectives. Examination of the limited literature indicates a gap in the knowledge of the relationship of traditional Chinese Taoism philosophy and Chinese consumption behaviour. To bridge this gap, this study examines Chinese consumption behaviour at a Taoist-related Chinese religious festival - the DuanWu festival - in order to seek some understanding of how the Taoism philosophic-religious tradition influences Chinese consumption behaviour from the point of view of the individuals involved. It focuses attention on their expression of Taoism cultural values, purchasing experience and subsequent consumption behaviours. This study undertook multiple methods for Taoist case study data collection: accompanied shopping with Taoists before DuanWu Festival; participant observations during DuanWu Festival; and in-depth interviews in order to explore Taoists consumption behaviours at the end of the Festival. Specifically, the finding from the Taoist case study corroborates and details the influence of the Taoism doctrine: man–nature orientation, Fenshui, ecological effect, and ecological knowledge, on their attitudes toward green purchasing behaviour. Findings from this Taoist case study - one of a series of three Chinese philosophic religious tradition case studies - contribute to the deeper understanding of contemporary Chinese consumers from a non-Western viewpoint and offer initial insights for global marketers to differentiate consumer needs and develop effective marketing strategies.

Keywords: consumer behaviour, culture values, green purchase behaviour, Taoism

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Authors: Natsuki Kishizawa, Keiko Nakano, Hussam Organji, Amer Shaiban, Mohammad Albeirutty

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One of the most important tasks in operating desalination plants using a reverse osmosis (RO) method is preventing RO membrane fouling caused by foulants found in seawater. Optimal design of the pre-treatment process of RO process for plants enables the reduction of foulants. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the fouling risk in pre-treated water, which is fed to RO, is required for optimal design. Some measurement methods for water quality such as silt density index (SDI) and total organic carbon (TOC) have been conservatively applied for evaluations. However, these methods have not been effective in some situations for evaluating the fouling risk of RO feed water. Furthermore, stable management of plants will be possible by alerts and appropriate control of the pre-treatment process by using the method if it can be applied to the inline monitoring system for the fouling risk of RO feed water. The purpose of this study is to develop a method to evaluate the fouling risk of RO feed water. We applied a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to measure the amount of foulants found in seawater using a sensor whose surface is coated with polyamide thin film, which is the main material of a RO membrane. The increase of the weight of the sensor after a certain length of time in which the sample water passes indicates the fouling risk of the sample directly. We classified the values as “FP: Fouling Potential”. The characteristics of the method are to measure the very small amount of substances in seawater in a short time: < 2h, and from a small volume of the sample water: < 50mL. Using some RO cell filtration units, a higher correlation between the pressure increase given by RO fouling and the FP from the method than SDI and TOC was confirmed in the laboratory-scale test. Then, to establish the correlation in the actual bench-scale RO membrane module, and to confirm the feasibility of the monitoring system as a control tool for the pre-treatment process, we have started a long-term test at an experimental desalination site by the Red Sea in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Implementing inline equipment for the method made it possible to measure FP intermittently (4 times per day) and automatically. Moreover, for two 3-month long operations, the RO operation pressure among feed water samples of different qualities was compared. The pressure increase through a RO membrane module was observed at a high FP RO unit in which feed water was treated by a cartridge filter only. On the other hand, the pressure increase was not observed at a low FP RO unit in which feed water was treated by an ultra-filter during the operation. Therefore, the correlation in an actual scale RO membrane was established in two runs of two types of feed water. The result suggested that the FP method enables the evaluation of the fouling risk of RO feed water.

Keywords: fouling, monitoring, QCM, water quality

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Authors: Maria Amaia Iza Padilla, Ibai Ostolozaga

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The objective of this paper is to analyze how transportation costs between regions within a country can affect not only domestic trade but also the allocation of resources in a given region, aggregate productivity, and relative domestic prices (tradable versus non-tradable). On the one hand, there is a vast literature that analyzes the transportation costs faced by countries when trading with the rest of the world. However, this paper focuses on the effect of transportation costs on domestic trade. Countries differ in their domestic road infrastructure and transport quality. There is also some literature that focuses on the effect of road infrastructure on the price difference between regions but not on relative prices at the aggregate level. On the other hand, this work is also related to the literature on resource misallocation. Finally, the paper is also related to the literature analyzing the effect of trade on the development of the manufacturing sector. Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey database, it is observed cross-country differences in the proportion of firms that consider transportation as an obstacle. From the International Comparison Program, we obtain a significant negative correlation between GDP per worker and relative prices (manufacturing sector prices relative to the service sector). Furthermore, there is a significant negative correlation between a country’s transportation quality and the relative price of manufactured goods with respect to the price of services in that country. This is consistent with the empirical evidence of a negative correlation between transportation quality and GDP per worker, on the one hand, and the negative correlation between GDP per worker and domestic relative prices, on the other. It is also shown that in a country, the share of manufacturing firms whose main market is at the local (regional) level is negatively related to the quality of the transportation infrastructure within the country. Similarly, this index is positively related to the share of manufacturing firms whose main market is national or international. The data also shows that those countries with a higher proportion of manufacturing firms operating locally have higher relative prices. With this information in hand, the paper attempts to quantify the effects of the allocation of resources between and within sectors. The higher the trade barriers caused by transportation costs, the less efficient allocation, which causes lower aggregate productivity. Second, it is built a two-sector model where regions within a country trade with each other. On the one hand, it is found that with respect to the manufacturing sector, those countries with less trade between their regions will be characterized by a smaller variety of goods, less productive manufacturing firms on average, and higher relative prices for manufactured goods relative to service sector prices. Thus, the decline in the relative price of manufactured goods in more advanced countries could also be explained by the degree of trade between regions. This trade allows for efficient intra-industry allocation (traders are more productive, and resources are allocated more efficiently)).

Keywords: misallocation, relative prices, TFP, transportation cost

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Authors: Gabrielle Veloso, Melanie Porter, Kelsie Boulton, Adam Guastella

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The aim of the current systematic review was to examine child and parent factors and their associations with parent sensitivity towards children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Eight bibliographic databases were used to identify peer-reviewed journal articles examining these associations via quantitative analyses, with parent sensitivity measured via validated and reliable observation coding systems. Thirty-one studies were finalized as having met full criteria for inclusion. The review found agreement across studies that parent sensitivity was positively associated with the child’s initiations and responsiveness toward their parent, with more frequent parent-directed behaviors providing greater opportunity for parents to act and react in sensitive manner. There was also substantial evidence that parent sensitivity predicted later growth in child language ability and child social skills. Other factors such as child attachment, parent insightfulness toward their child, and parent resolution of the diagnosis were also identified across a number of studies as being positively associated with parent sensitivity, however, interpretations of these findings were limited by the absence of covariates identified in the literature as explaining much of the variance in parent sensitivity. With respect to non-significant associations, the literature reliably found that parents showed sensitivity toward their child with ASD, regardless of child age, ASD symptomology, concurrent child social skills, and concurrent child cognitive abilities. The robust associations found in this review and their potential explanations can serve as a jump off point in identifying an understanding protective and risk factors for families of children with ASD. With regard to future directions in research, assessment of the studies’ methodological quality identified points for improvement with respect to the measurement of parent sensitivity, as well as the consideration of several important methodological confounds that may be controlled for in statistical analyses.

Keywords: ASD, autism, parenting, parent sensitivity

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Authors: Nathan Reeves

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Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate if there was an impact on student learning when peer role play was substituted for a professional actor in the role of simulated patient in a simulation-based scenario. Method: Third-year exercise science students enrolled in a field project course in 2015 (n=24), and 2016 (n=20) participated in a simulation-based case scenario designed to develop their client-centred exercise prescription skills. During the simulation, students were provided with feedback from the simulated patients. In 2015, three professional actors played the part of the simulated patient, and in 2016 one of the simulated patients was a student from another exercise science cohort (peer role play). The student learning experience, consistency in case fidelity and feedback provided by the simulated patients was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale survey and collecting phenomenological data. Results: Improvements to student pre and post confidence remained constant between the 2015 and 2016 cohorts (1.04 and 0.85). The perceived usefulness and enjoyability also remained high across the two cohorts (4.96 and 4.71). The feedback provided by all three simulated patients in 2016 was seen to strongly support student learning experience (4.82), and was of a consistent level (4.47). Significance of the findings to allied health: Simulation-based education is rapidly expanding in the curricula across the allied health professions. The simulated patient methodology continues to receive support as a pedagogy to develop a range of clinical skills including communication, engagement and client-centeredness. Upskilling students to peer role play can be a reasonable alternative to engaging paid actors.

Keywords: exercise science, simulation-based learning, simulated patient, peer role play

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Authors: Tew Leh Ghee

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The study's goal is to determine how celebrity endorsement affects Malaysian consumers' attitudes and intentions to buy skincare products. Since customers now largely rely on celebrity endorsement to influence purchasing decisions in almost every business, celebrity endorsement is not, in reality, a new phenomenon. Even though the market for skincare products has a vast potential to be exploited, corporations have yet to seize this niche via celebrity endorsement. Basically, there hasn't been much study done to recognize the significance of celebrity endorsement in this industry. This research combined descriptive and quantitative methods with a self-administered survey as the primary data-gathering tool. All of the characteristics under study were measured using a 5-point Likert scale, and the questionnaire was written in English. A convenience sample method was used to choose respondents, and 360 sets of valid questionnaires were gathered for the study's statistical analysis. Preliminary statistical analyses were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The backdrop of the respondents' demographics was examined using descriptive analysis. All concept assessments' validity and reliability were examined using exploratory factor analysis, item-total statistics, and reliability statistics. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used, respectively, to assess relationships and impacts between the variables under study. The research showed that, apart from competence, celebrity endorsements of skincare products in Malaysia had a favorable impact on attitudes and purchase intentions as evaluated by attractiveness and dependability. The research indicated that the most significant element influencing attitude and buy intention was the credibility of a celebrity endorsement. The study offered implications in order to provide potential improvements of celebrity endorsement in skincare goods in Malaysia. The study's last portion includes its limits and ideas for the future.

Keywords: trustworthiness, influential, phenomenon, celebrity emdorsement

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Authors: Ashish Agarwal, Vaibhav Singh

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Harmful emissions from oil and gas processing facilities have long remained a matter of concern for governments and environmentalists throughout the world. This paper analyses Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) gas processing plant in Hazira, Gujarat, India. It is the largest gas-processing complex in the country designed to process 41MMSCMD sour natural gas & associated sour condensate. The complex, sprawling over an area of approximate 705 hectares is the mother plant for almost all industries at Hazira and enroute Hazira Bijapur Jagdishpur pipeline. Various sources of pollution from each unit starting from Gas Terminal to Dew Point Depression unit and Caustic Wash unit along the processing chain were examined with the help of different emission data obtained from ONGC. Pollution discharged to the environment was classified into Water, Air, Hazardous Waste and Solid (Non-Hazardous) Waste so as to analyze each one of them efficiently. To protect air environment, Sulphur recovery unit along with automatic ambient air quality monitoring stations, automatic stack monitoring stations among numerous practices were adopted. To protect water environment different effluent treatment plants were used with due emphasis on aquaculture of the nearby area. Hazira plant has obtained the authorization for handling and disposal of five types of hazardous waste. Most of the hazardous waste were sold to authorized recyclers and the rest was given to Gujarat Pollution Control Board authorized vendors. Non-Hazardous waste was also handled with an overall objective of zero negative impact on the environment. The effect of methods adopted is evident from emission data of the plant which was found to be well under Gujarat Pollution Control Board limits.

Keywords: sulphur recovery unit, effluent treatment plant, hazardous waste, sour gas

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