Search results for: variation concentration liquid waste

Authors: Algia Hammami, Abdelfatteh Bouri

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In this work, our objective is to study the transmission of volatility between oil and stock markets in developed (USA, Germany, Italy, France and Japan) and emerging countries (Tunisia, Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, and Jordan) for the period 1998-2015. Our methodology consists of analyzing the monthly data by the GARCH-BEKK model to capture the effect in terms of volatility in the variation of the oil price on the different stock market. The empirical results in the emerging countries indicate that the relationships are unidirectional from the stock market to the oil market. For the developed countries, we find that the transmission of volatility is unidirectional from the oil market to stock market. For the USA and Italy, we find no transmission between the two markets. The transmission is bi-directional only in Thailand. Following our estimates, we also noticed that the emerging countries influence almost the same extent as the developed countries, while at the transmission of volatility there a bid difference. The GARCH-BEKK model is more effective than the others versions to minimize the risk of an oil-stock portfolio.

Keywords: GARCH, oil prices, stock market, volatility transmission

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Authors: P. Srinivas, P. V. N. Prasad

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Since torque ripple is the main cause of noise and vibrations, the performance of Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) can be improved by minimizing its torque ripple using a novel control technique called Direct Torque Control (DTC). In DTC technique, torque is controlled directly through control of magnitude of the flux and change in speed of the stator flux vector. The flux and torque are maintained within set hysteresis bands. The DTC of SRM is analysed by two methods. In one of the methods, the actual torque is computed by conducting Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on the design specifications of the motor. In the other method, the torque is computed by Simplified Torque Equation. The variation of peak current, average current, torque ripple and speed settling time with Simplified Torque Equation model is compared with FEA based model.

Keywords: direct toque control, simplified torque equation, finite element analysis, torque ripple

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Authors: A. Gulbiniene, V. Jankauskaite

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Textile laminates with breathable membranes are used extensively in protective footwear. Such polymeric membranes act as a barrier to liquid water and soil entry from the environment, but are sufficiently permeable to water vapour to allow significant amounts of sweat to evaporate and affect the comfort of the wearer. In this paper the influence of absorbed humidity amount on the electrical properties of textiles lining laminates with and without polymeric membrane is presented. It was shown that textile laminate structure and its layers have a great influence on the water vapour absorption. Laminates with polyurethane foam layers show lower ability to absorb water vapour. Semi-permeable membrane increases absorbed humidity amount. The increase of water vapour absorption ability decreases textile laminates' electrical resistance. However, the intensity of the decrease in electrical resistance depends on the textile laminate layers' nature. Laminates with polyamide layers show significantly lower electrical resistance values.

Keywords: electrical resistance, humid atmosphere, textiles laminate, water vapour absorption

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Authors: M. S. Turan, Dimple

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Due to implementation of IFRS by several developed and developing countries, India has no option other than to converge their accounting standards with IFRS. There are over 10,000 listed companies required to implement IFRS in India. IFRS based financial information presented by a company is different from the same information provided by Indian GAAPs. In this study, we have brought out and analyzed the effect of IFRS reporting on the financial statements of selected companies. The results reveal that convergence with IFRS brought prominent positive variations in the values of quick ratio, debt/equity ratio, proprietary ratio and net profit ratio, while negative variation is brought in the values of current ratio, debt to total assets ratio, operating profit ratio, return on capital employed and return on shareholders’ equity ratios. It also presents significant changes in the values of items of balance sheet, profit and loss account and cash flow statement.

Keywords: IFRS, reporting standards, convergence process, results

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Authors: Ramya Rathan, Miral N. F. Salama

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The variations in the arteries have been drawing attention of anatomists for a long time because of their clinical significance. The brachial artery is the principal artery of the arm which is the continuation of the axillary artery from the lower border of the Teres Major. It terminates into the radial and ulnar arteries below the elbow joint at the neck radius. The present study aims at exploring the clinical significance of the high termination of the brachial artery. During the routine cadaveric dissection of the arm, for the undergraduate students of medicine at our university, we observed a high bifurcation of the radial and the ulnar artery at the midshaft of the humerus. The median nerve was seen passing between these two junctions. Further, the course and the relations of this artery were studied. The accurate knowledge regarding these kinds of variation in the blood vessels is mandatory for planning of designing. General physicians, surgeons and radiologists should keep in mind the variations in the branching pattern of the arteries in their daily medical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to avoid complications in diagnostic and surgical procedures.

Keywords: brachial artery, high termination, radial artery, ulnar artery

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Authors: Nisha Govender, Siju Senan, Zeti-Azura Hussein, Wickneswari Ratnam

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Jatropha curcas, a well-described bioenergy crop has been extensively accepted as future fuel need especially in tropical regions. Ideal planting material required for large-scale plantation is still lacking. Breeding programmes for improved J. curcas varieties are rendered difficult due to limitations in genetic diversity. Using a combined transcriptome and physiological data, we investigated the molecular and physiological differences in high and low yielding Jatropha curcas to address plausible heritable variations underpinning these differences, in regard to photosynthesis, a key metabolism affecting yield potentials. A total of 6 individual Jatropha plant from 4 accessions described as high and low yielding planting materials were selected from the Experimental Plot A, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi. The inflorescence and shoots were collected for transcriptome study. For the physiological study, each individual plant (n=10) from the high and low yielding populations were screened for agronomic traits, chlorophyll content and stomatal patterning. The J. curcas transcriptomes are available under BioProject PRJNA338924 and BioSample SAMN05827448-65, respectively Each transcriptome was subjected to functional annotation analysis of sequence datasets using the BLAST2Go suite; BLASTing, mapping, annotation, statistical analysis and visualization Large-scale phenotyping of the number of fruits per plant (NFPP) and fruits per inflorescence (FPI) classified the high yielding Jatropha accessions with average NFPP =60 and FPI > 10, whereas the low yielding accessions yielded an average NFPP=10 and FPI < 5. Next generation sequencing revealed genes with differential expressions in the high yielding Jatropha relative to the low yielding plants. Distinct differences were observed in transcript level associated to photosynthesis metabolism. DEGs collection in the low yielding population showed comparable CAM photosynthetic metabolism and photorespiration, evident as followings: phosphoenolpyruvate phosphate translocator chloroplastic like isoform with 2.5 fold change (FC) and malate dehydrogenase (2.03 FC). Green leaves have the most pronounced photosynthetic activity in a plant body due to significant accumulation of chloroplast. In most plants, the leaf is always the dominant photosynthesizing heart of the plant body. Large number of the DEGS in the high-yielding population were found attributable to chloroplast and chloroplast associated events; STAY-GREEN chloroplastic, Chlorophyllase-1-like (5.08 FC), beta-amylase (3.66 FC), chlorophyllase-chloroplastic-like (3.1 FC), thiamine thiazole chloroplastic like (2.8 FC), 1-4, alpha glucan branching enzyme chloroplastic amyliplastic (2.6FC), photosynthetic NDH subunit (2.1 FC) and protochlorophyllide chloroplastic (2 FC). The results were parallel to a significant increase in chlorophyll a content in the high yielding population. In addition to the chloroplast associated transcript abundance, the TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM) at 2.9 FC, which code for distant stomatal distribution and patterning in the high-yielding population may explain high concentration of CO2. The results were in agreement with the role of TMM. Clustered stomata causes back diffusion in the presence of gaps localized closely to one another. We conclude that high yielding Jatropha population corresponds to a collective function of C3 metabolism with a low degree of CAM photosynthetic fixation. From the physiological descriptions, high chlorophyll a content and even distribution of stomata in the leaf contribute to better photosynthetic efficiency in the high yielding Jatropha compared to the low yielding population.

Keywords: chlorophyll, gene expression, genetic variation, stomata

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Authors: Hyo-Su Lim, Ye-Eun Song, Eun-Bi Lee, Sang-Yoon Lee, Young-Il Seo, Jin-Pyo Kim, Nam-Kyu Park

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If we analogize any physical external force given to victims in many crimes including violence, it would be possible not only to presume mutual action between victims and suspects, but to make a deduction of more various facts in cases. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify criminal tools through secretion on clothes by using amino acid reagents such as Ninhydrin, DFO(1,8-dizafluoren-9-one), 1,2 – IND (1,2-indanedione) which are reacting to skin secretion. For more effective collecting condition, porcine skin which is physiologically similar to human was used. Although there were little differences of shape identification according to sensitivity, amino acid reagents were able to identify the fist, foot, and baseball bat. Furthermore, we conducted the experiments for developmental variations through change over time setting up 5-weeks period including first damage as variation factor, and developing materials in each action through certain reagents. Specimen level of development depending on change over time was identified. As a result, each of initial level of development was seen no changes.

Keywords: hit marks, amino acid reagents, porcine skin, criminal tool

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Authors: Asma Chbani, Douaa Salim, Josephine Al Alam, Pascale De Caro

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Penicillium digitatum, the causal agent of citrus green mold, is responsible for 90% of post-harvest losses. Chemical fungicides remain the most used products for protection against this pathogen but are also responsible for damage to human health and the environment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of Spinacia oleracea extract to serve as biological control agents, an alternative to harmful synthetic fungicides, against orange decay for storing fruit caused by P. digitatum. In this study, we studied the implication of a crude extract of a green plant, Spinacia oleracea, in the protection of oranges against P. digitatum. Thus, in vivo antifungal tests as well as adhesion test were done. For in vivo antifungal test, oranges were pulverized with the prepared crude extracts at different concentrations ranged from 25 g L⁻¹ to 200 g L⁻¹, contaminated by the fungus and then observed during 8 weeks for their macroscopic changes at 24°C. For adhesion test, the adhesion index is defined as the number of Penicillium digitatum spores fixed per orange cell. An index greater than 25 is the indicator of a strong adhesion, whereas for an index less than 10, the adhesion is low. Ten orange cells were examined in triplicate for each extract, and the averages of adherent cells were calculated. Obtained results showed an inhibitory activity of the Penicillium development with the aqueous extract of dry Spinacia oleracea with a concentration of 50 g L⁻¹ considered as the minimal protective concentration. The prepared extracts showed a greater inhibition of the development of P. digitatum up to 10 weeks, even greater than the fungicide control Nystatin. Adhesion test’s results showed that the adhesion of P. digitatum spores to the epidermal cells of oranges in the presence of the crude spinach leaves extract is weak; the mean of the obtained adhesion index was estimated to 2.7. However, a high adhesion was observed with water used a negative control. In conclusion, all these results confirm that the use of this green plant highly rich in chlorophyll having several phytotherapeutic activities, could be employed as a great treatment for protection of oranges against mold and also as an alternative for chemical fungicides.

Keywords: Penicillium digitatum, Spinacia oleracea, oranges, biological control, postharvest diseases

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Authors: Abdulmagid A. Khattabi

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The aim of this research is to study the manner of alumina (Al2O3) particles dispersion with (2-10) mm size in (Al-7%Si-0.45% Mg) base of alloy melt employing of classical casting method. The mechanism of particles diffusions by melt turning and stirring that makes vortexes help the particles entrance in the matrix of base alloy also has been studied. The samples of metallic composites (MMCs) with dispersed particles percentages (4% - 6% - 8% - 10% - 15% and 20%) are prepared. The effect of the particles dispersion on the mechanical properties of produced samples were carried out by tension & hardness tests. It is found that the ultimate tensile strength of the produced composites can be increased by increasing the percentages of alumina particles in the matrix of the base alloy. It becomes (232 Mpa) at (20%) of added particles. The results showed that the average hardness of prepared samples increasing with increases the alumina content. Microstructure study of prepared samples was carried out. The results showed particles location and distribution of it in the matrix of base alloy. The dissolution of Alumina particles into liquid base alloy was clear in some cases.

Keywords: base alloy, matrix, hardness, thermal properties, base metal MMCs

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Authors: M. Ipek, A. Cansev, A. Ipek, Y. Sahan

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Allium tuncelianum is a close relative of cultivated garlic (A. sativum L.) and naturally grows only in eastern part of Turkey. This species has mild garlic odor and therefore, it is locally consumed as garlic by collecting from its natural flora. This over collection threatens the species to extinction. Although it has morphological resemblance to cultivated garlic, the nutritional value of the species has not been characterized very well. Alliin and allicin are two predominant organosulfur compounds found in cultivated garlic. Allicin derived from alliin precursor gives garlic characteristic odor and most of the garlic health benefits are attributed to this compound. The aims of this work were to determine alliin and allicin contents of A. tuncelianum and to compare them with those of cultivated garlic, onion (A. cepa L.) and leek (A. porrum L.). Alliin and allicin were extracted from 400 mg lyophilized samples and 10 µl extracts were measured with high-performance liquid chromatography attached with diode array detector. The alliin contents of A. tuncelianum genotypes ranged from 2.5 to 7.0 mg/g and the allicin contents changed from 0.5 to 1.5 mg/g, whereas alliin and allicin contents of garlic genotypes ranged from 20.0 to 30.0 mg/g and 3.0 to 6.0 mg/g, respectively. On the other hand, we did not detect any measurable alliin and allicin in onion or leek tissues. In conclusion, alliin and allicin contents of A. tuncelianum were characterized first time in this study, which are about 20% of alliin and allicin contents of cultivated garlic.

Keywords: allicin, alliin, Allium tuncelianum, garlic

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Authors: Navpreet Kaur, Himkusha Thakur, Nirmal Prabhakar

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One of the most publicized and controversial issue in crop production is the use of agrichemicals- also known as pesticides. This is evident in many reports that Organophosphate (OP) insecticides, among the broad range of pesticides are mainly involved in acute and chronic poisoning cases. Therefore, detection of OPs is very necessary for health protection, food and environmental safety. In our study, a nanocomposite of poly (3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been deposited electrochemically onto the surface of fluorine doped tin oxide sheets (FTO) for the analysis of malathion OP. The -COOH functionalization of MWCNTs has been done for the covalent binding with amino groups of AChE enzyme. The use of PEDOT-MWCNT films exhibited an excellent conductivity, enables fast transfer kinetics and provided a favourable biocompatible microenvironment for AChE, for the significant malathion OP detection. The prepared PEDOT-MWCNT/FTO and AChE/PEDOT-MWCNT/FTO nano-biosensors were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and electrochemical studies. Electrochemical studies were done using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) or Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). Various optimization studies were done for different parameters including pH (7.5), AChE concentration (50 mU), substrate concentration (0.3 mM) and inhibition time (10 min). The detection limit for malathion OP was calculated to be 1 fM within the linear range 1 fM to 1 µM. The activity of inhibited AChE enzyme was restored to 98% of its original value by 2-pyridine aldoxime methiodide (2-PAM) (5 mM) treatment for 11 min. The oxime 2-PAM is able to remove malathion from the active site of AChE by means of trans-esterification reaction. The storage stability and reusability of the prepared nano-biosensor is observed to be 30 days and seven times, respectively. The application of the developed nano-biosensor has also been evaluated for spiked lettuce sample. Recoveries of malathion from the spiked lettuce sample ranged between 96-98%. The low detection limit obtained by the developed nano-biosensor made them reliable, sensitive and a low cost process.

Keywords: PEDOT-MWCNT, malathion, organophosphates, acetylcholinesterase, nano-biosensor, oxime (2-PAM)

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Authors: Omar Farahat Hassanein, A. Samer Ezeldin

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The construction industry is a very dynamic field. Every day new technologies and methods are developing to fasten the process and increase its efficiency. Hence, if a project uses fewer resources, it will be more efficient. This paper examines the recycling of concrete construction and demolition (C&D) waste to reuse it as aggregates in on-site applications for construction projects in Egypt and possibly in the Middle East. The study focuses on a stationary plant setting. The machinery set-up used in the plant is analyzed technically and financially. The findings are gathered and grouped to obtain a comprehensive cost-benefit financial model to demonstrate the feasibility of establishing and operating a concrete recycling plant. Furthermore, a detailed business plan including the time and hierarchy is proposed.

Keywords: construction wastes, recycling, sustainability, financial model, concrete recycling, concrete life cycle

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Authors: A. Kasmi, N. E. Abriak, M. Benzerzour, I. Shahrour

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Large volumes of river sediments are dredged each year in Europe in order to maintain harbour activities and prevent floods. The management of this sediment has become increasingly complex. Several European projects were implemented to find environmentally sound solutions for these materials. The main objective of this study is to show the ability of river sediment to be used in road. Since sediments contain a high amount of water, then a dehydrating treatment by addition of the flocculation aid has been used. Firstly, a lot of physical characteristics are measured and discussed for a better identification of the raw sediment and this dehydrated sediment by addition the flocculation aid. The identified parameters are, for example, the initial water content, the density, the organic matter content, the grain size distribution, the liquid limit and plastic limit and geotechnical parameters. The environmental impacts of the used material were evaluated. The results obtained show that there is a slight change on the physical-chemical and geotechnical characteristics of sediment after dehydration by the addition of polymer. However, these sediments cannot be used in road construction.

Keywords: rive sediment, dehydration, flocculation aid or polymer, characteristics, treatments, valorisation, road construction

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Authors: Wan Shan Chiang, Charn Ting Wang, Wei-Chih Kan, Hui-Chen Huang

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Dialysis patients have risk in Zoster virus because of low immune. Valacyclovir (product name: Valtex) 500mg/tab, an anti-zoster virus medicine, is digested in kidney and it has side-effect of nervous system in patients with malfunction kidneys. Although the clinical basis of the proposed administration, we found that patients still have side effects. So we want to explore the appropriate dose of peritoneal dialysis patients. We read small samples of case reports and analyze 8 cases in our hospital, some patients’ Kt/v, match the standard of dialysis, and still go to the toilet, they still have side effect seriously with 500mg portion. The solution to this includes stopping medicine, reduction of medicine, increase of liquid change and timely hemodialysis and all of them speed up the recovery. The safety of medication needs extra attention of medical care employee. If they can tell the doctor if the patient has urine or not in his or her Kt/v, the doctor can prescribe the medicine accordingly. About the limitation, due to the lack of cases and related pharmacokinetics numbers. Therefore, for peritoneal patients, we think 500mg/48hoursis the saves. We also want to remind pharmaceuticals to revise the portion taken by patients, so that the doctor may judge the use.

Keywords: herpes zoster, Valacyclovir, peritoneal dialysis, health education

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Authors: Yao-Hong Tsai

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This paper presents a weighted approach to unconstrained iris recognition. Nowadays, commercial systems are usually characterized by strong acquisition constraints based on the subject’s cooperation. However, it is not always achievable for real scenarios in our daily life. Researchers have been focused on reducing these constraints and maintaining the performance of the system by new techniques at the same time. With large variation in the environment, there are two main improvements to develop the proposed iris recognition system. For solving extremely uneven lighting condition, statistic based illumination normalization is first used on eye region to increase the accuracy of iris feature. The detection of the iris image is based on Adaboost algorithm. Secondly, the weighted approach is designed by Gaussian functions according to the distance to the center of the iris. Furthermore, local binary pattern (LBP) histogram is then applied to texture classification with the weight. Experiment showed that the proposed system provided users a more flexible and feasible way to interact with the verification system through iris recognition.

Keywords: authentication, iris recognition, adaboost, local binary pattern

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Authors: Ignatio Madanhire, Charles Mbohwa

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This research examines the effect of a human resource strategy and the overall equipment effectiveness as well as assessing how the combination of the two can increase a firm’s productivity. The human resource aspect is looked at in detail to assess motivation of operators through training to reduce wastage on the manufacturing shop floor. The waste was attributed to operators, maintenance personal, idle machines, idle manpower and break downs. This work seeks to investigate the concept of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in addressing these short comings in the manufacturing case study. The impact of TPM to increase production while, as well as increasing employee morale and job satisfaction is assessed. This can be resource material for practitioners who seek to improve overall equipment efficiency (OEE) to achieve higher level productivity and competitiveness.

Keywords: maintenance, TPM, efficiency, productivity, strategy

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Authors: I. Yalcin Enis, J. Vojtech, T. Gok Sadikoglu

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In this study, polycaprolactone (PCL) was dissolved in chloroform: ethanol solvent system at a concentration of 18 w/v %. 1, 2, 4, and 6 droplets of formic acid were added to the prepared 10ml PCL-chloroform:ethanol solutions separately. Fibrous webs were produced by electrospinning technique. Morphology of the webs was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) whereas fiber diameters were measured by Image J Software System. The effect of formic acid addition to the mostly used chloroform solvent on fiber morphology was examined.

Keywords: chloroform, electrospinning, formic acid polycaprolactone, fiber

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Authors: Sara Bouzekri, Said Madani

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In many Mediterranean cities such as Algiers, the human activity, the strong mobility the urban sprawl, the air pollution, the problems of waste management, the wasting of the resources and the degradation of the environment weaken in an unquestionable way the farming. The question of sustainable action vis-a-vis these threats arises then in order to maintain a level of desired local development. The methodology is based on a multi-criteria method based on the AFOM diagnosis, which classifies agricultural strength indicators and those of threat, according to an analytical approach. In a sustainable development perspective, it will be appropriate to link the threat factors of the case study with the factors of climate change to see their impact on the future of agriculture. This will be accompanied by a SWOT analysis, which crosses the most significant criteria to arrive at the necessary recommendations based on future projects for urban agriculture.

Keywords: Algiers, environment, urban agriculture, threat factors

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Authors: Z. Neffah, L. Merabti, N. Hatraf

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Absorption refrigeration technology has been used for cooling purposes over a hundred years. Today, the technology developments have made of the absorption refrigeration an economic and effective alternative to the vapour compression cooling cycle. A parametric study was conducted over the entire admissible ranges of the generator and absorber temperatures. On the other hand, simultaneously raising absorber temperatures was seen to result in deterioration of coefficient of performance. The influence of generator, absorber temperatures, as well as solution concentration on the different performance indicators was also calculated and examined.

Keywords: absorption system, Aqueous solution, chiller, water-lithium bromide

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Authors: Ahmed Metawea, Rodrigo Soto, Majeida Kharejesh, Gavin Walker, Ahmad B. Albadarin

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In this study, towards a green approach, we have investigated the effect of operating conditions of solvent assessed twin-screw extruder (TSE) for the production of 4, 4-bipyridine (1-dimensional coordinated polymer (1D)) based coordinated polymer using cobalt nitrate as a metal precursor with molar ratio 1:1. Different operating parameters such as solvent percentage, screw speed and feeding rate are considered. The resultant product is characterized using offline characterization methods, namely Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM) in order to investigate the product purity and surface morphology. A lower feeding rate increased the product’s quality as more resident time was provided for the reaction to take place. The most important influencing factor was the amount of liquid added. The addition of water helped in facilitating the reaction inside the TSE by increasing the surface area of the reaction for particles

Keywords: MOFS, multivariate analysis, process optimization, chemometric

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Authors: Francesca Gullo, Paola Palmero, Massimo Messori

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Transparent wood is considered a promising structural material for the development of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient engineered components. To obtain transparent wood from natural wood materials two approaches can be used: i) bottom-up and ii) top-down. Through the second method, the color of natural wood samples is lightened through a chemical bleaching process that acts on chromophore groups of lignin, such as the benzene ring, quinonoid, vinyl, phenolics, and carbonyl groups. These chromophoric units form complex conjugate systems responsible for the brown color of wood. There are two strategies to remove color and increase the whiteness of wood: i) lignin removal and ii) lignin bleaching. In the lignin removal strategy, strong chemicals containing chlorine (chlorine, hypochlorite, and chlorine dioxide) and oxidizers (oxygen, ozone, and peroxide) are used to completely destroy and dissolve the lignin. In lignin bleaching methods, a moderate reductive (hydrosulfite) or oxidative (hydrogen peroxide) is commonly used to alter or remove the groups and chromophore systems of lignin, selectively discoloring the lignin while keeping the macrostructure intact. It is, therefore, essential to manipulate nanostructured wood by precisely controlling the nanopores in the cell walls by monitoring both chemical treatments and process conditions, for instance, the treatment time, the concentration of chemical solutions, the pH value, and the temperature. The elimination of wood light scattering is the second step in the fabrication of transparent wood materials, which can be achieved through two-step approaches: i) the polymer impregnation method and ii) the densification method. For the polymer impregnation method, the wood scaffold is treated with polymers having a corresponding refractive index (e.g., PMMA and epoxy resins) under vacuum to obtain the transparent composite material, which can finally be pressed to align the cellulose fibers and reduce interfacial defects in order to have a finished product with high transmittance (>90%) and excellent light-guiding. However, both the solution-based bleaching and the impregnation processes used to produce transparent wood generally consume large amounts of energy and chemicals, including some toxic or pollutant agents, and are difficult to scale up industrially. Here, we report a method to produce optically transparent wood by modifying the lignin structure with a chemical reaction at room temperature using small amounts of hydrogen peroxide in an alkaline environment. This method preserves the lignin, which results only deconjugated and acts as a binder, providing both a strong wood scaffold and suitable porosity for infiltration of biobased polymers while reducing chemical consumption, the toxicity of the reagents used, polluting waste, petroleum by-products, energy and processing time. The resulting transparent wood demonstrates high transmittance and low thermal conductivity. Through the combination of process efficiency and scalability, the obtained materials are promising candidates for application in the field of construction for modern energy-efficient buildings.

Keywords: bleached wood, energy-efficient components, hydrogen peroxide, transparent wood, wood composites

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Authors: Chander Shekhar, Jeetendra Yadav, Shaziya Allarakha

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Hypertension has been described as an 'iceberg disease' as those who suffered are ignored and hence usually seek healthcare services at a very late stage. It is estimated that more than 2 million Indians are suffering from hypertensive heart disease that contributed to above 0.13 million deaths in 2016. The paper study aims to know the prevalence of Hypertension in India and its variation by socioeconomic backgrounds and to find out risk factors discriminating hypertension with special emphasis on consumption of tobacco and alcohol among men aged 15-54 years in India. The paper uses NFHS (2015-16) data. The paper used binary logistic regression and discriminant analysis to find significant predictors and discriminants of interest. The prevalence of hypertension was 16.5% in the study population. The results suggest that consumption of alcohol and tobacco are significant discriminant characteristics in carrying hypertension irrespective of what socioeconomic background characteristic he possesses.

Keywords: hypertention, alcohol, tobacco, discriminant

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Authors: Dara Singh, Keikhosrow Firouzbakhsh, Mohammad Taghi Ahmadian

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In this study, a validated 3D finite volume model of human eye is developed to study the fluid flow and heat transfer in the human eye at steady state conditions. For this purpose, discretized bio-heat transfer equation coupled with Boussinesq equation is analyzed with different anatomical, environmental, and physiological conditions. It is demonstrated that the fluid circulation is formed as a result of thermal gradients in various regions of eye. It is also shown that posterior region of the human eye is less affected by the ambient conditions compared to the anterior segment which is sensitive to the ambient conditions and also to the way the gravitational field is defined compared to the geometry of the eye making the circulations and the thermal field complicated in transient states. The effect of variation in material and boundary conditions guides us to the conclusion that thermal field of a healthy and non-healthy eye can be distinguished via computer simulations.

Keywords: bio-heat, boussinesq, conduction, convection, eye

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Authors: Tanwi Priya, Brijesh Kumar Mishra

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Occurrence of aromatic fractions of Natural Organic Matter (NOM) led to formation of carcinogenic disinfection by products such as trihalomethanes in chlorinated water. In the present study, the efficiency of aluminium based electrocoagulation on the removal of prominent aromatic groups such as phenol, hydrophobic auxochromes, and carboxyl groups from NOM enriched synthetic water has been evaluated using various spectral indices. The effect of electrocoagulation on turbidity has also been discussed. The variation in coagulation performance as a function of pH has been studied. Our result suggests that electrocoagulation can be considered as appropriate remediation approach to reduce trihalomethanes formation in water. It has effectively reduced hydrophobic fractions from NOM enriched low turbid water. The charge neutralization and enmeshment of dispersed colloidal particles inside metallic hydroxides is the possible mechanistic approach in electrocoagulation.

Keywords: aromatic fractions, electrocoagulation, natural organic matter, spectral indices

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Authors: Mehmet Durnali

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The main purpose of this study is to find out, analyze and discuss basic principles of education and training in the constitutions, including the latest amendment, of France, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, the United States of America, and Turkey. This research specifically aims at establishing a framework in order to compare educational values such as right of education, responsibilities of states and those of people, and other issues pertaining to education in the Constitution of Turkey to others. Additionally, it emphasizes the meaning of education in constitution, the reasons for references to education in constitutions and why it is important for people, states or nations and state organs. Qualitative analysis technique is performed to accomplish the aim of this study. Maximum variation sampling is used. The main data source of the analysis is official organic laws of those countries. The data is examined by using descriptive and content analysis method.

Keywords: education in the constitution, education law, legal principles of education, right to education

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Authors: Shuang Chen, Zongqian Shi, Jiajia Sun, Mingjia Li

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Microfluidics is a technology that small amounts of fluids are manipulated using channels with dimensions of tens to hundreds of micrometers. At present, this significant technology is required for several applications in some fields, including disease diagnostics, genetic engineering, and environmental monitoring, etc. Among these fields, manipulation of microparticles and cells in microfluidic device, especially separation, have aroused general concern. In magnetic field, the separation methods include positive and negative magnetophoresis. By comparison, negative magnetophoresis is a label-free technology. It has many advantages, e.g., easy operation, low cost, and simple design. Before the separation of particles or cells, focusing them into a single tight stream is usually a necessary upstream operation. In this work, the focusing of diamagnetic particles in ferrofluid microflows with a single set of overhead permanent magnets is investigated numerically. The geometric model of the simulation is based on the configuration of previous experiments. The straight microchannel is 24mm long and has a rectangular cross-section of 100μm in width and 50μm in depth. The spherical diamagnetic particles of 10μm in diameter are suspended into ferrofluid. The initial concentration of the ferrofluid c₀ is 0.096%, and the flow rate of the ferrofluid is 1.8mL/h. The magnetic field is induced by five identical rectangular neodymium−iron− boron permanent magnets (1/8 × 1/8 × 1/8 in.), and it is calculated by equivalent charge source (ECS) method. The flow of the ferrofluid is governed by the Navier–Stokes equations. The trajectories of particles are solved by the discrete phase model (DPM) in the ANSYS FLUENT program. The positions of diamagnetic particles are recorded by transient simulation. Compared with the results of the mentioned experiments, our simulation shows consistent results that diamagnetic particles are gradually focused in ferrofluid under magnetic field. Besides, the diamagnetic particle focusing is studied by varying the flow rate of the ferrofluid. It is in agreement with the experiment that the diamagnetic particle focusing is better with the increase of the flow rate. Furthermore, it is investigated that the diamagnetic particle focusing is affected by other factors, e.g., the width and depth of the microchannel, the concentration of the ferrofluid and the diameter of diamagnetic particles.

Keywords: diamagnetic particle, focusing, microfluidics, permanent magnet

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Authors: Isaura Bonneux

Abstract:

District heating and cooling (DHC) is increasingly recognized as a viable path towards sustainable heating and cooling. While some countries like Sweden and Denmark have a longstanding tradition of DHC, Belgium is lacking behind. The Northern part of Belgium, Flanders, had only a total of 95 heating networks in July 2023. Nevertheless, it is increasingly exploring its possibilities to enhance the scope of DHC. DHC is a complex energy system, requiring a lot of collaboration between various stakeholders on various levels. Therefore, it is of interest to look closer at policy-related documents at the Flemish (regional) level, as these policies set the scene for DHC development in the Flemish region. This kind of analysis has not been undertaken so far. This paper has the following research question: “Who talks about DHC, and in which way and context is DHC discussed in Flemish policy-related documents?” To answer this question, the Overton policy database was used to search and retrieve relevant policy-related documents. Overton retrieves data from governments, think thanks, NGOs, and IGOs. In total, out of the 244 original results, 117 documents between 2009 and 2023 were analyzed. Every selected document included theme keywords, policymaking department(s), date, and document type. These elements were used for quantitative data description and visualization. Further, qualitative content analysis revealed patterns and main themes regarding DHC in Flanders. Four main conclusions can be drawn: First, it is obvious from the timeframe that DHC is a new topic in Flanders with still limited attention; 2014, 2016 and 2017 were the years with the most documents, yet this number is still only 12 documents. In addition, many documents talked about DHC but not much in depth and painted it as a future scenario with a lot of uncertainty around it. The largest part of the issuing government departments had a link to either energy or climate (e.g. Flemish Environmental Agency) or policy (e.g. Socio-Economic Council of Flanders) Second, DHC is mentioned most within an ‘Environment and Sustainability’ context, followed by ‘General Policy and Regulation’. This is intuitive, as DHC is perceived as a sustainable heating and cooling technique and this analysis compromises policy-related documents. Third, Flanders seems mostly interested in using waste or residual heat as a heating source for DHC. The harbors and waste incineration plants are identified as potential and promising supply sources. This approach tries to conciliate environmental and economic incentives. Last, local councils get assigned a central role and the initiative is mostly taken by them. The policy documents and policy advices demonstrate that Flanders opts for a bottom-up organization. As DHC is very dependent on local conditions, this seems a logic step. Nevertheless, this can impede smaller councils to create DHC networks and slow down systematic and fast implementation of DHC throughout Flanders.

Keywords: district heating and cooling, flanders, overton database, policy analysis

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Authors: Natália C. C. Lobato, Ângela M. Ferreira, Marcelo B. Mansur

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In solvent extraction operations, large sedimentation areas in the mixer-settler are required when the disengagement of the aqueous and the organic phases is slow and/or difficult. The use of a magnetic organic liquid (also known as ferrofluid), consisting of magnetite nanoparticles coated by oleic acid dispersed in the organic diluent, has proven successful to speed up phase disengagement. The method, however, has never been used industrially; therefore, the aim of this study is to raise its main limitations. Tests were carried out using a ferrofluid containing 30 g/l of magnetite dissolved in commercial aliphatic kerosene Exxsol D80. The efficiency of cobalt extraction ([Co] = 1 g/l) with 10% v/v Cyanex 272 (bis-2,4,4-trimethylpentyl phosphinic acid) at changing pH of the aqueous phase (2 to 7) was found unaffected in the conditions studied. However, the chemical resistance of the ferrofluid in contact with deionized water at changing acidity (from 10-7 to 2 mol/l) revealed that the nanoparticles are not resistant when contacted to aqueous solutions with a pH ≤ 2. Such result represents a serious limitation to the applicability of the method mainly to hydrometallurgical systems because solvent extraction operations are normally done in acid conditions, therefore more effective strategies to coat the particles are required.

Keywords: magnetic solvent extraction, oleic acid, magnetite nanoparticles, cyanex 272

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: Sabina Hublova, Kristyna Hrabova, Petr Cikrle

Abstract:

Sustainable development and preservation of existing buildings are becoming increasingly important worldwide. In order to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions in the air and to reduce the amount of waste from building structures, we can predict an increasing demand for maintenance of some existing buildings in the future. The use of modern diagnostic methods, which allow detailed determination of the properties of structures, the identification of critical points, could be the great importance for the better assessment of existing structures. Non-destructive methods could be one of the options. From these methods, ultrasonic appears to be a highly perspective method, thanks to which we are able to identify critical points of an element or a structure. The experiment will focus on the use of electroacoustic methods for defectoscopy in reinforced concrete columns.

Keywords: sustainability, defectoscopy, ultrasonic method, non-destructive methods, electroacoustic methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Tomoaki Hashimoto

Abstract:

Recently, optimal control problems subject to probabilistic constraints have attracted much attention in many research field. Although probabilistic constraints are generally intractable in optimization problems, several methods haven been proposed to deal with probabilistic constraints. In most methods, probabilistic constraints are transformed to deterministic constraints that are tractable in optimization problems. This paper examines a method for transforming probabilistic constraints into deterministic constraints for a class of probabilistic constrained optimal control problems.

Keywords: optimal control, stochastic systems, discrete-time systems, probabilistic constraints

Procedia PDF Downloads 264