Search results for: sustainable product

Authors: Wassim Guermazi, Saoussan Boukhris, Neila Annabi Trabelsi, Tarek Rebai, Alya Sellami-Kamoun, Habib Ayadi

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This work investigates the protective effects of the microalga Halamphora sp. extract (H. Ext) as a natural product on lead-intoxicated liver and kidney human cells in vitro and in vivo on rats wistar. HepG2 cells line derived from human hepatocellular carcinoma and HEK293 cells line derived from human embryonic kidney were used for the in vitro study. The analysis of the fatty acids methyl esters of the extract was performed by a GC/MS. Four groups of rats, each of which was composed of six animals, were used for the in vivo experiment. The pretreatment of HepG2 and HEK293 cells line with the extract (100 µg mL-1) significantly (p < 0.05) protected against cytotoxicity induced by lead exposure. In vivo, the biochemical parameters in serum, namely malondialdehyde level (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities, were measured in supernatants of organ homogenates. H. Ext was found to be rich in fatty acids, essentially palmitic and palmitoleic accounting respectively 29.46% and 42.07% of total fatty acids. Both in vitro and in vivo, the co-treatment with H. Ext allowed the protection of the liver and kidney cells structure, as well as the significant preservation of normal antioxidant and biochemical parameters in rats. Halamphora extract rich in fatty acids has been proven to be effective in protection against Pb-induced toxicity.

Keywords: microalga extract, human cells line, fatty acid, lead exposure, oxidative stress, rats

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Authors: Pratap Sriram Sundar, Chandan Chowdhury, Sagar Kamarthi

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Nature has perfected her designs over 3.5 billion years of evolution. Research fields such as biomimicry, biomimetics, bionics, bio-inspired computing, and nature-inspired designs have explored nature-made artifacts and systems to understand nature’s mechanisms and intelligence. Learning from nature, the researchers have generated sustainable designs and innovation in a variety of fields such as energy, architecture, agriculture, transportation, communication, and medicine. Axiomatic design offers a method to judge if a design is good. This paper analyzes design aspects of one of the nature’s amazing object: chicken egg. The functional requirements (FRs) of components of the object are tabulated and mapped on to nature-chosen design parameters (DPs). The ‘independence axiom’ of the axiomatic design methodology is applied to analyze couplings and to evaluate if eggs’ design is good (i.e., uncoupled design) or bad (i.e., coupled design). The analysis revealed that eggs design is a good design, i.e., uncoupled design. This approach can be applied to any nature’s artifacts to judge whether their design is a good or a bad. This methodology is valuable for biomimicry studies. This approach can also be a very useful teaching design consideration of biology and bio-inspired innovation.

Keywords: uncoupled design, axiomatic design, nature design, design evaluation

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Authors: Azam Abkhiz, Abolghasem Nasir

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To achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the market, it is necessary to provide and improve customer satisfaction and Loyalty. To reach this objective, companies need to identify and analyze their customers. Thus, it is critical to measure the level of customer satisfaction and Loyalty very carefully. This study attempts to build a conceptual model to provide clear insights of customer loyalty. Using Bayesian networks (BNs), a model is proposed to evaluate customer loyalty and its consequences, such as repurchase and positive word-of-mouth. BN is a probabilistic approach that predicts the behavior of a system based on observed stochastic events. The most relevant determinants of customer loyalty are identified by the literature review. Perceived value, service quality, trust, corporate image, satisfaction, and switching costs are the most important variables that explain customer loyalty. The data are collected by use of a questionnaire-based survey from 1430 customers of a home appliances manufacturer in Iran. Four scenarios and sensitivity analyses are performed to run and analyze the impact of different determinants on customer loyalty. The proposed model allows businesses to not only set their targets but proactively manage their customer behaviors as well.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, Bayesian networks, home appliances industry

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Authors: Kim Quy Le, Duan Fei, Jia Wei Chew, Jun Zeng, Maria Fabiola Leyva

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In line with the sustainable development goal, molded fiber products play important roles in reducing plastic-based packaging. To fabricate molded fiber products, besides using conventional meshing tools, 3D printing is employed to manufacture the molded fiber screen. 3D printing technique allows printing molded fiber screens with complex geometry, flexible in pore size and shape. The 3D printed molded fiber screens are in the progress of investigation to improve the de-watering efficiency, fiber collection, mechanical strength, etc. In addition, the fiber distribution on the screen is also necessary to access the quality of the screen. Besides using experimental methods to capture the fiber distribution on screen, simulation also offers using tools to access the uniformity of fiber. In this study, the fiber was simulated using the multi-sphere model to simulate the fibers. The interaction of the fibers was able to mimic by employing the discrete element method. The fiber distribution was captured and compared to the experiment. The simulation results were able to reveal the fiber deposition layer upon layer and explain the formation of uneven thickness on the tilted area of molded fiber screen.

Keywords: 3D printing, multi-jet fusion, molded fiber screen, discrete element method

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Authors: Hanan M. Taleb

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Energy consumption associated with buildings has a significant impact on the environment. To that end, and as a transaction between the inside and outside and between the building and urban space, the building skin plays an especially important role. It provides protection from the elements; demarcates private property and creates privacy. More importantly, it controls the admission of solar radiation. Therefore, designing the building skin sustainably will help to achieve optimal performance in terms of both energy consumption and thermal comfort. Unfortunately, with accelerating construction expansion, many recent buildings do not pay attention to the importance of the envelope design. This piece of research will highlight the importance of this part of the creation of buildings by providing evidence of a significant reduction in energy consumption if the envelopes are redesigned. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to enhance the performance of the hospital envelope in order to achieve sustainable performance. A hospital building sited in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has been chosen to act as a case study. A detailed analysis of the annual energy performance of the case study will be performed with the use of a computerised simulation; this is in order to explore their energy performance shortcomings. The energy consumption of the base case will then be compared with that resulting from the new proposed building skin. The results will inform architects and designers of the savings potential from various strategies.

Keywords: ASHREA, building skin, building envelopes, hospitals, Abu Dhabi, UAE, IES software

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Authors: J. Gochermann

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Due to complex markets and products, and increasing need to innovate, cooperation between small and medium size enterprises arose during the last decades, which are not prior driven by process optimization or sales enhancement. Especially small and medium sized enterprises (SME) collaborate increasingly in innovation and knowledge networks to enhance their knowledge and innovation potential, and to find strategic partners for product and market development. These networks are characterized by dual objectives, the superordinate goal of the total network, and the specific objectives of the network members, which can cause target conflicts. Moreover, most SMEs do not have structured innovation processes and they are not accustomed to collaborate in complex innovation projects in an open network structure. On the other hand, SMEs have suitable characteristics for promising networking. They are flexible and spontaneous, they have flat hierarchies, and the acting people are not anonymous. These characteristics indeed distinguish them from bigger concerns. Investigation of German SME networks have been done to identify success factors for SME innovation networks. The fundamental network principles, donation-return and confidence, could be confirmed and identified as basic success factors. Further factors are voluntariness, adequate number of network members, quality of communication, neutrality and competence of the network management, as well as reliability and obligingness of the network services. Innovation and knowledge networks with an appreciable number of members from science and technology institutions need also active sense-making to bring different disciplines into successful collaboration. It has also been investigated, whether and how the involvement in an innovation network impacts the innovation structure and culture inside the member companies. The degree of reaction grows with time and intensity of commitment.

Keywords: innovation and knowledge networks, SME, success factors, innovation structure and culture

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Authors: Sami Meddeb, M. L Giorgi, J. L. Courouau

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This work presents the progress of studies aiming to guarantee the lifetime of 316L(N) steel in a sodium-cooled fast reactor by determining the elementary corrosion mechanism, which is akin to an accelerated dissolution by dissolved oxygen. The mechanism involving iron, the main element of steel, is particularly studied in detail, from the viewpoint of the data available in the literature, the modeling of the various mechanisms hypothesized. Experiments performed in the CORRONa facility at controlled temperature and dissolved oxygen content are used to test both literature data and hypotheses. Current tests, performed at various temperatures and oxygen content, focus on specifying the chemical reaction at play, determining its free enthalpy, as well as kinetics rate constants. Specific test configuration allows measuring the reaction kinetics and the chemical equilibrium state in the same test. In the current state of progress of these tests, the dissolution of iron accelerated by dissolved oxygen appears as directly related to a chemical complexation reaction of mixed iron-sodium oxide (Na-Fe-O), a compound that is soluble in the liquid sodium solution. Results obtained demonstrate the presence in the solution of this corrosion product, whose kinetics is the limiting step under the conditions of the test. This compound, the object of hypotheses dating back more than 50 years, is predominant in solution compared to atomic iron, presumably even for the low oxygen concentration, and cannot be neglected for the long-term corrosion modeling of any heat transfer system.

Keywords: corrosion, sodium fast reactors, iron, oxygen

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Authors: Pankhuri Bansal, Sanjeev Kumar

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We examined the exotic role of electrical poling of layered BCZT-NZFO bulk composite for sustainable advancement of magnetoelectric (ME) technology. Practically, it seems quite difficult to access the full potential of ME composites due to their weak ME coupling performances. Using a standard poling protocol, we successfully deployed the coupling performance of laminated ME composite, comprised of a ferroelectric (FE) layer of BCZT and a ferrite layer of NZFO. However, the ME coupling constant of laminated composite is optimized by lowering the volume fraction of the FE component to strengthen the mechanical strain in the piezoelectric layer while fixing the thickness of the magnetostrictive ferrite layer. Here, we employed systematic zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) electrical poling protocol on morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) based BCZT composition, well-appreciated for it’s remarkable electromechanical activity. We report a record augmentation in magnetoelectric coupling as a consequence of a prudent field-cooled poling mechanism. On the basis of our findings, we emphasize that the degree of magnetoelectricity may be significantly improved for the miniaturization of efficient devices via proper execution of the poling technique.

Keywords: magnetoelectric, lead-free, ferroelctric, ferromagnetic, energy harvesting

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Authors: Saban Inam, Necdet Sahiner, Tayfun Cay

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Environmental factors such as rapid population growth, changing economic conditions, desertification and climate change increase demand for the acquisition and use of land. Demands on the land are increasing due to the lack of production of soils and scarcity. This causes disagreements on the land. Reducing the pressure on the land and protecting the natural resources, public investments should be directed economically and rationally. This will make it possible to achieve equivalent living conditions between the rural area and the urban area. Initiating the development from the rural area and the cadastre needs to be redefined to allow the management of the land. The planned, regular, effective agriculture and rural development policies that Turkey will implement in the process of European Union membership will also significantly shape Turkey's position in the European Union. For this reason, Turkey enjoys the most appropriate use of natural resources, which is one of the main objectives of the European Union's recent rural development policy. This study deals with the urgent need to provide cadastral data infrastructure that will form the basis for land management which is supposed to support economic and societal sustainable development in rural and urban areas.

Keywords: rural development, cadastre, land management, agricultural reform implementation project, land parcel identification system

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Authors: Omar Alzeley, Sergey Utev

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Minimizing a constrained multivariate function is the fundamental of Machine learning, and these algorithms are at the core of data mining and data visualization techniques. The decision function that maps input points to output points is based on the result of optimization. This optimization is the central of learning theory. One approach to complex systems where the dynamics of the system is inferred by a statistical analysis of the fluctuations in time of some associated observable is time series analysis. The purpose of this paper is a mathematical transition from the autoregressive model of classical time series to the matrix formalization of quantum theory. Firstly, we have proposed a quantum time series model (QTS). Although Hamiltonian technique becomes an established tool to detect a deterministic chaos, other approaches emerge. The quantum probabilistic technique is used to motivate the construction of our QTS model. The QTS model resembles the quantum dynamic model which was applied to financial data. Secondly, various statistical methods, including machine learning algorithms such as the Kalman filter algorithm, are applied to estimate and analyses the unknown parameters of the model. Finally, simulation techniques such as Markov chain Monte Carlo have been used to support our investigations. The proposed model has been examined by using real and simulated data. We establish the relation between quantum statistical machine and quantum time series via random matrix theory. It is interesting to note that the primary focus of the application of QTS in the field of quantum chaos was to find a model that explain chaotic behaviour. Maybe this model will reveal another insight into quantum chaos.

Keywords: machine learning, simulation techniques, quantum probability, tensor product, time series

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Authors: E. C. Mattos, V. S. M. G. Daros, R. Dal Col, A. L. Nascimento

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The aim of this study is to present the results of a retrospective survey on the foreign matter found in foods analyzed at the Adolfo Lutz Institute, from July 2001 to July 2015. All the analyses were conducted according to the official methods described on Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC) for the micro analytical procedures and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the macro analytical procedures. The results showed flours, cereals and derivatives such as baking and pasta products were the types of food where foreign matters were found more frequently followed by condiments and teas. Fragments of stored grains insects, its larvae, nets, excrement, dead mites and rodent excrement were the most foreign matter found in food. Besides, foreign matters that can cause a physical risk to the consumer’s health such as metal, stones, glass, wood were found but rarely. Miscellaneous (shell, sand, dirt and seeds) were also reported. There are a lot of extraneous materials that are considered unavoidable since are something inherent to the product itself, such as insect fragments in grains. In contrast, there are avoidable extraneous materials that are less tolerated because it is preventable with the Good Manufacturing Practice. The conclusion of this work is that although most extraneous materials found in food are considered unavoidable it is necessary to keep the Good Manufacturing Practice throughout the food processing as well as maintaining a constant surveillance of the production process in order to avoid accidents that may lead to occurrence of these extraneous materials in food.

Keywords: extraneous materials, food contamination, foreign matter, surveillance

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Authors: Siti Indati Mustapa, Hussain Ali Bekhet

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Global CO2 emission and increasing fuel consumption to meet energy demand requirement has become a threat in recent decades. Effort to reduce the CO2 emission is now a matter of priority in most countries of the world including Malaysia. Transportation has been identified as the most intensive sector of carbon-based fuels and achievement of the voluntary target to meet 40% carbon intensity reduction set at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) means that the emission from the transport sector must be reduced accordingly. This posed a great challenge to Malaysia and effort has to be made to embrace suitable and appropriate energy policy for sustainable energy and emission reduction of this sector. The focus of this paper is to analyse the trends of Malaysia’s energy consumption and emission of four different transport sub-sectors (road, rail, aviation and maritime). Underlying factors influencing the growth of energy consumption and emission trends are discussed. Besides, technology status towards energy efficiency in transportation sub-sectors is presented. By reviewing the existing policies and trends of energy used, the paper highlights prospective policy options towards achieving emission reduction in the transportation sector.

Keywords: CO2 emissions, transportation sector, fuel consumption, energy policy, Malaysia

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Authors: Muhammad Rizwan Tabassum, Ao Xia, Jerry D. Murphy

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The purpose of this work is to provide a comprehensive overview of seaweed as the alternative feedstock for biofuel production and key conversion technologies. Resource depletion and climate change are the driving forces to hunt for renewable sources of energy. Macroalgae can be preferred over land based crops for biofuel production because they are not in competition with food crops for arable land, high growth rates and low lignin contents which require less energy-intensive pre-treatments. However, some disadvantages, such as high moisture content, seasonal variation in chemical composition and process inhibition limit its economic feasibility. Seaweed can be converted into gaseous and liquid fuel by different conversion technologies, but biogas via anaerobic digestion from seaweed is attracting increased attention due to its dual benefit of an economic source of bio-fuel and environment-friendly technology. Biodiesel and bioethanol conversion technologies from seaweed are still under development. A selection of high yielding seaweed species, optimal harvesting season and process optimization make them economically feasible for the alternative source of renewable and sustainable feedstock for biofuel in future.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biofuel, bio-methane, conversion technologies, seaweed

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Authors: Elisha Kyirem

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Undoubtedly, climate change is a major global challenge that could threaten the very foundation upon which life on earth is anchored, with its impacts on human mobility attracting the attention of policy makers and researchers. There is an increasing body of literature and case studies suggesting that migration could be a way through which the vulnerable move away from areas exposed to climate extreme events to improve their lives and that of their families. This presents migration as a way through which people voluntarily move to seek opportunities that could help reduce their exposure and avoid danger from climate events. Thus, migration is seen as a proactive adaptation strategy aimed at building resilience and improving livelihoods to enable people to adapt to future changing events. However, there has not been any mathematical equation linking migration and climate change adaptation. Drawing from literature in development studies, this paper develops an equation that seeks to link the relationship between migration and climate change adaptation. The mathematical equation establishes the linkages between migration, resilience, poverty reduction and vulnerability, and these the paper maintains, are the key variables for conceptualizing the migration-climate change adaptation nexus. The paper then tests the validity of the equation using the sustainable livelihood framework and publicly available data on migration and tourism in Ghana.

Keywords: migration, adaptation, climate change, adaptation, poverty reduction

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Authors: Kulkarni Rohini D.

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While emerging as plausible sources of energy generation, new technologies, including photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, home battery energy storage systems, and electric vehicles (EVs), are exacerbating the operations of power distribution networks for distribution network operators (DNOs). Renewable energy production fluctuates, stemming in over- and under-generation energy, further complicating the issue of storing excess power and using it when necessary. Though renewable sources are non-exhausting and reoccurring, power storage of generated energy is almost as paramount as to its production process. Hence, to ensure smooth and efficient power storage at different levels, Grid balancing technologies are consequently the next theme to address in the sustainable space and growth sector. But, since hydrogen batteries were used in the earlier days to achieve this balance in power grids, new, recent advancements are more efficient and capable per unit of storage space while also being distinctive in terms of their underlying operating principles. The underlying technologies of "Flow batteries," "Gravity Solutions," and "Graphene Batteries" already have entered the market and are leading the race for efficient storage device solutions that will improve and stabilize Grid networks, followed by Grid balancing technologies.

Keywords: flow batteries, grid balancing, hydrogen batteries, power storage, solar

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Authors: Isa Muhammad Zumo

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The African Great Green Wall (GGW) is a significant initiative in northern Nigeria because it promotes land restoration and conservation utilizing both commercial and species of forest trees while also helping to mitigate desertification and hazards from the sand dunes and shifting Sahara deserts. Conflicts and weather, however, pose a significant danger to the achievement of these goals. The scientific method for monitoring the vegetation dynamics since inception has not received the required attention, despite the African Development Bank (ADB)'s help in funding the project and its integration into the state's development plans for GGW initiatives. This study will monitor the changes in the vegetation cover of the great green wall within Yobe State Nigeria from 2014 to 2023. The vegetation dynamics will be monitored using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 6 years at 2 years intervals. The result will show the fluctuations in the vegetation cover density within the period of study. This will guide the design and implementation of policies of the GGW in achieving its objectives. The result can also contribute to the realization of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.

Keywords: monitoring, green wall, Landsat 8, Nigeria

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Authors: Mabrook Saleh Amera, Prabhakarn Arunachalama, Maged N. Shaddadb, Abdulhadi Al-Qadia

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Global energy crises and water pollution have negatively impacted sustainable development in recent years. It is most promising to use Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) as an electrode for photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation of water and pollution degradation. However, BiVO4 anodes suffer from poor charge separation and slow water oxidation. In this paper, a Zr:BiVO4/NiFeOOH heterojunction was successfully prepared by electrodeposition and photoelectrochemical transformation process. The method resulted in a notable 5-fold improvement in photocurrent features (1.27 mAcm−2 at 1.23 VRHE) and a lower onset potential of 0.6 VRHE. Photoanodes with high photocatalytic features and high photocorrosion resistance may be attributed their high conformity and amorphous nature of the coating. In this study, PEC was compared to electrocatalysis (EC), and the effect of bias potential on PEC degradation was discussed for tetracycline (TCH), riboflavin, and streptomycin. In PEC, TCH was degraded in the most efficient way (96 %) by Zr:BiVO4/NiFeOOH, three times larger than Zr:BiVO4 and EC (55 %). Thus, this study offers a potential solution for oxidizing PEC water and treating water pollution.

Keywords: photoelectrochemical, water splitting, pharmaceutical pollutants degradation, photoanodes, cocatalyst

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Authors: Aliasghar Mehdizadeh Dastjerdi, Francisco Camara Pereira

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The increasing complexity and demand of transport services strains transportation systems especially in urban areas with limited possibilities for building new infrastructure. The solution to this challenge requires changes of travel behavior. One of the proposed means to induce such change is multimodal travel apps. This paper describes a study of the intention to use a real-time multi-modal travel app aimed at motivating travel behavior change in the Greater Copenhagen Region (Denmark) toward promoting sustainable transport options. The proposed app is a multi-faceted smartphone app including both travel information and persuasive strategies such as health and environmental feedback, tailoring travel options, self-monitoring, tunneling users toward green behavior, social networking, nudging and gamification elements. The prospective for mobility management travel apps to stimulate sustainable mobility rests not only on the original and proper employment of the behavior change strategies, but also on explicitly anchoring it on established theoretical constructs from behavioral theories. The theoretical foundation is important because it positively and significantly influences the effectiveness of the system. However, there is a gap in current knowledge regarding the study of mobility-management travel app with support in behavioral theories, which should be explored further. This study addresses this gap by a social cognitive theory‐based examination. However, compare to conventional method in technology adoption research, this study adopts a reverse approach in which the associations between theoretical constructs are explored by Max-Min Hill-Climbing (MMHC) algorithm as a hybrid causal discovery method. A technology-use preference survey was designed to collect data. The survey elicited different groups of variables including (1) three groups of user’s motives for using the app including gain motives (e.g., saving travel time and cost), hedonic motives (e.g., enjoyment) and normative motives (e.g., less travel-related CO2 production), (2) technology-related self-concepts (i.e. technophile attitude) and (3) use Intention of the travel app. The questionnaire items led to the formulation of causal relationships discovery to learn the causal structure of the data. Causal relationships discovery from observational data is a critical challenge and it has applications in different research fields. The estimated causal structure shows that the two constructs of gain motives and technophilia have a causal effect on adoption intention. Likewise, there is a causal relationship from technophilia to both gain and hedonic motives. In line with the findings of the prior studies, it highlights the importance of functional value of the travel app as well as technology self-concept as two important variables for adoption intention. Furthermore, the results indicate the effect of technophile attitude on developing gain and hedonic motives. The causal structure shows hierarchical associations between the three groups of user’s motive. They can be explained by “frustration-regression” principle according to Alderfer's ERG (Existence, Relatedness and Growth) theory of needs meaning that a higher level need remains unfulfilled, a person may regress to lower level needs that appear easier to satisfy. To conclude, this study shows the capability of causal discovery methods to learn the causal structure of theoretical model, and accordingly interpret established associations.

Keywords: travel app, behavior change, persuasive technology, travel information, causality

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Authors: Sayed Mostafa, Mohamed Shebl

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The problem of bread stalling is still one of the most troubling problems for those interested in manufacturing bakery products, as increasing the freshness period of bread is considered one of the most important factors that help encourage this industry due to its important role in reducing expected losses. Therefore, this study aims to improve the quality of pan bread and increase its freshness period by enzymatic treatments, including maltogenic α-amylase (MAA), amyloglucosidase (AGS), glucoseoxidase (GOX) and phospholipase (PhL). Rheological and pasting behavior of wheat flour were estimated in addition to the physical, texture, and sensory parameters of the final product. The addition of MAA resulted in a decrease in peak viscosity, breakdown, setback, and pasting temperature. The addition of MAA also led to a reduction in falling number values. Enzymatic treatments (MAA and PhL) exhibited higher alkaline water retention capacity of pan bread compared to untreated pan bread (control) throughout different storage periods. Furthermore, other enzymes displayed varying effects on bread quality; for instance, AGS enhanced the crust color, while a high concentration of GOX improved the specific volume of the bread. Conclusion: The research findings demonstrate that the enzymatic treatments can significantly improve its quality attributes, such as specific volume, increase the alkaline water retention capacity with lower hardness value, which reflects bread freshness during storage periods, and improve sensory characteristics.

Keywords: anti-stalling agents, enzymatic treatments, maltogenic α-amylase, amyloglucosidase, glucoseoxidase, phospholipase, pasting behavior, wheat flour

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Authors: Padmini Raman

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The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is facing enormous technological and institutional changes and challenges including the information technology and appropriate application of sustainable practices. The engineer and architect must be able to handle with a rapid pace of technological change. BIM is a unique process of producing and managing a building by exploring a digital module before the actual project is constructed and later during its construction, facility operation and maintenance. BIM has been Adopted by construction contractors and architects in the western country mostly in US and UK to improve the planning and management of construction projects. In India, BIM is a basic stage of adoption only, several issues about data acquisition and management comes during the design formation and planning of a construction project due to the complexity, ambiguity, and fragmented nature of the Indian construction industry. This paper tells about the view a strategy for India’s AEC firms to successfully implement BIM in their current working processes. By surveying and collecting data about problems faced by these architectural firms, it will be analysed how to avoid those situations from rising and, thus, introducing BIM Capabilities in such firms in the most effective way. while this application is widely accepted throughout the industry in many countries for managing project information for cost control and facilities management.

Keywords: AEC industry, building information module, Indian industry, new technology, BIM implementation in India

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Authors: Karine Pimenta Teixeira, Jessica Flores, Isadora PerdigãO Rocha, Leticia De Sá Carneiro, Mahsa Kamali, Ali Ghahremaninezhad

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The advent of nanotechnology has enabled innovative solutions towards improving the behavior of infrastructure materials. Nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionize the construction industry by improving the performance and durability of construction materials, as well as imparting new functionalities to these materials. Due to variability in the environmental temperature during mixing and curing of cementitious materials in practice, it is important to understand how curing temperature influences the behavior of cementitious materials. In addition, high temperature curing is relevant in applications such as oil well cement and precast industry. Knowledge of the influence of temperature on the performance of cementitious materials modified with nanoparticles is important in the nanoengineering of cementitious materials in applications such as oil well cement and precast industry. This presentation aims to investigate the influence of temperature on the hydration, mechanical properties and durability of cementitious materials modified with TiO2 nanoparticles. It was found that temperature improved the early hydration. The cement pastes cured at high temperatures showed an increase in the compressive strength at early age but the strength gain decreased at late ages. The electrical resistivity of the cement pastes cured at high temperatures was shown to decrease more noticeably at late ages compared to that of the room temperature cured cement paste. SEM examination indicated that hydration product was more uniformly distributed in the microstructure of the cement paste cured at room temperature compared to the cement pastes cured at high temperature.

Keywords: cement paste, nanoparticles, temperature, hydration

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Authors: Abhipsa Mohanty, Harit Jha

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The world's energy demands are continuing to rise, resulting in a worldwide energy crisis and environmental pollution. Because of finite, declining supply and environmental damage, reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable. As a result, experts are concentrating on alternative, renewable, and carbon-free energy sources. Energy sources that are both environmentally and economically sustainable are required. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have recently received a lot of attention due to their low operating temperatures and ability to use a variety of biodegradable substrates as fuel. There are single-chamber MFCs as well as traditional MFCs with anode and cathode compartments. Bioelectricity is produced when microorganisms actively catabolize substrate. MFCs can be used as a power source in small devices like biosensors. Understanding of its components, microbiological processes, limiting variables, and construction designs in MFC systems must be simplified, and large-scale systems must be developed for them to be cost-effective as well as increase electricity production. The purpose of this research was to review current microbiology knowledge in the field of electricity. The manufacturing process, the materials, and procedures utilized to construct the technology, as well as the applications of MFC technology, are all covered.

Keywords: bio-electricity, exoelectrogenic bacteria, microbial fuel cells, soil microorganisms

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Authors: Karmela Palma Samson

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In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the implementation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks in private organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing global environmental concerns have further highlighted the importance of ESG practices in businesses. To be effective, the development and sustainability of ESG implementation require specific organizational functions. One such function is Organization Development (OD). This study aims to identify the roles of OD in the development, monitoring, and evaluation of ESG in private organizations. The role of OD in sustaining ESG implementation in private organizations was analyzed in this study. Qualitative research was conducted, which included interviews with OD practitioners to understand their role and challenges in maintaining ESG programs and initiatives. The study found that OD practitioners have low participation in managing ESG programs, initiatives, and indicators. However, the study also revealed that the OD function is crucial for the development, monitoring, and evaluation of ESG implementation in private organizations. In essence, the study highlights the importance of the OD function in ensuring the success of ESG implementation in private organizations. With their expertise in organizational development, OD practitioners can contribute significantly to the development, implementation, and evaluation of ESG initiatives. Therefore, private organizations should involve their OD departments in ESG implementation to ensure that they are sustainable, effective, and aligned with their organizational goals.

Keywords: ESG, organization development, private sector, sustainability

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Authors: Shrutisingh Tomar, Madhu Sharan

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It has been an undisputed fact that the culture of a nation has always been reflected in its practice, visual content and in forms of its oral traditions. Regional and communal costumes in India since ancient times have worked as a strong repository for its people to comprehend not only the locality but also the community of the wearer. Such a strong visual language apparently was ordained to communicate basic details about the person such as age, marital status, and socio-cultural status. Most of the fragments of this visual vocabulary have been intensively investigated, recorded, diversified and revived, while a limited range of these has died a slow death. Some of the rare existent kinds of such threads have survived as a mainstream article of clothing: simpler, apparent and a product for daily life yet unique in their own kind. The paper intends to consider and elaborate the investigated repository pertinent to the Pacchedi weaving tradition of Gujarat. The research involved field surveys across seven districts of the two states of India namely Gujarat and Rajasthan. Ethnographic interviews, observations, recording of oral histories and archival research was conducted through multi-timed and multi-cited studies between from the year 2012 to 2015. The results include varied forms of Pacchedi based on the sartorial expressions in the male costume. The characteristic features of these textiles were accorded by the sumptuous use of brocaded cross borders and weft heavy ends along with the details on the languishing fabrication procedure.

Keywords: handloom weaving, material culture, sartorial expressions and vernacular textile craft

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Authors: A. S. Akinbani

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Overdependence on petroleum is causing set back in Nigeria economy. Field survey was carried out to assess the profitability and production of selected arable crops in six selected towns and villages of Ondo southwestern. Data were collected from 240 arable crop farmers with the aid of both primary and secondary data. Data were collected with the use of oral interview and structured questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Forty farmers were randomly selected to give a total number of 240 respondents. 84 farmers interviewed had no formal education, 72 had primary education, 50 farmers attained secondary education while 38 attained beyond secondary education. The majority of the farmers hold less than 10 acres of land. The data collected from the field showed that 192 farmers practiced mixed cropping which includes mixtures of yam, cowpea, cocoyam, vegetable, cassava and maize while only 48 farmers practiced monocropping. Among the sampled farmers, 93% agreed that arable production is profitable while 7% disagreed. The findings show that managerial practices that conserve the soil fertility and reduce labor cost such as planting of leguminous crops and herbicide application instead of using hand held hoe for weeding should be encouraged. All the respondents agreed that yam, cowpea, cocoyam, sweet potato, rice, maize and vegetable production will solve the problem of hunger and increase standard of living compared with petroleum product that Nigeria relied on as means of livelihood.

Keywords: farmers, arable crop, cocoyam, respondents, maize

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Authors: Jimoh Yusuf Amuda

Abstract:

Human security is a great panacea for sustainable development of world societies. Today the whole globe cum human species is living in nightmares of insecurity. This is due to acts of terrorism by various terrorists’ organization worldwide. The situation is on the increase daily. The number of lives and properties lost to religious insurgency cannot be quantifiably analyzed. It is on this note that this paper examine the book haram menace in northern Nigerian vis-à-vis it’s threat to the existence of human lives. The methodology applied for this research is the multi-disciplinary approach, the use journal articles, news papers, magazines, oral interview. Field trips to areas of terrorist attack and the use of text books. The following recommendations were made base on the findings. First of all the Nigerian government should declare total war on the book haram terrorist, then secondly the source of armament coming to this terrorist should be blocked, thirdly the European world should also place an arms embargo on terrorist source arms demands, also security agencies-police, the military, immigration, customs, state security service should work hand-in-hand, in a security tight measures to reduce the penetration of insurgent into the society.

Keywords: human, insecurity, security, terrorism

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Authors: N. Jirukkakul, J. Sodtipinta

Abstract:

Tomatoes are widely consumed as fresh and processed products through the manufacturing industry. Therefore, tomato pomace is generated as a by-product accounting for about 5-13% of the whole tomato. Antioxidants still remain in tomato pomace and extraction of tomato oil may useful in edible film production. The edible film solution was prepared by mixing gelatin (2, 4 and 6%) with the distilled water and heating at 40oC for 30 min. Effect of tomato pomace oil was evaluated at 0, 0.5 and 1%. Film solution was poured in plate and dried overnight at 40oC before determining the physical properties, which are tensile strength, moisture content, color, solubility, and swelling power. The results showed that an increase gelatin concentration caused increasing of tensile strength, moisture content, solubility and swelling power. The edible film with tomato pomace oil extract appeared as the rough film with oil droplet dispersion. The addition of tomato pomace oil extract caused an increase in lightness, redness and yellowness, while tensile strength, moisture content, and solubility were decreased. Film with tomato pomace oil extract at 0.5 and 1% exhibited antioxidant properties but those properties were not significantly different (p<0.05) between film incorporated with tomato pomace oil extract 0.5 and 1%. The suitable condition for film production in this study, 4% of gelatin and 0.5% of tomato pomace oil extract, was selected for protecting oxidation of palm oil. At 15 days of the storage period, the palm oil which covered by gelatin film with tomato pomace oil extract had 22.45 milliequivalents/kg of peroxide value (PV), while, the palm oil which covered by polypropylene film and control had 24.79 and 26.67 milliequivalents/kg, respectively. Therefore, incorporation of tomato pomace oil extract in gelatin film was able to protect the oxidation of food products with high fat content.

Keywords: antioxidant, gelatin films, physical properties, tomato oil extract

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Authors: H. Nejadriahi

Abstract:

A growing demand for sustainability makes sustainability as one of the significant debates of nowadays. Energy saving is one of the main criteria to be considered in the context of sustainability. Reducing energy use in buildings is one of the most important ways to reduce humans’ overall environmental impact. Taking this into consideration, study of different design strategies, which can assist in reducing energy use and subsequently improving the sustainability level of today's buildings would be an essential task. The sustainability level of a building is highly affected by the sustainability performance of its components. One of the main building components, which can have a great impact on energy saving and sustainability level of the building, is its facade. The aim of this study is to investigate on the role of facade in sustainability enhancement of the contemporary buildings of Iran. In this study, the concept of sustainability in architecture, the building facades, and their relationship to sustainability are explained briefly. Following that, a number of contemporary Iranian buildings are discussed and analyzed in terms of different design strategies used in their facades in accordance to the sustainability concepts. The methods used in this study are descriptive and analytic. The results of this paper would assist in generating a wider vision and a source of inspiration for the current designers to design and create environmental and sustainable buildings for the future.

Keywords: building facade, contemporary buildings, Iran, sustainability

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Authors: A. Al-Wandi, A. Al-Ali, R. Dali, Y. Al-Karaghouli

Abstract:

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become an alarming health problem across the globe. The risk of developing those diseases begins in childhood and develops gradually under the influence of risk factors including obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cigarette smoking and decreased physical activity. Therefore, this study aims to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the risk factors of lifestyle induced chronic diseases (non-communicable diseases) among secondary school students in Sharjah city. Methods: Five hundred and ninety-one school children, from grades 10 to 12, formed the study sample, using the multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Four governmental schools were chosen, for each gender. Data was collected through a pretested, close-ended questionnaire consisting of five sections; demographics, physical activity, diet, smoking and sleeping patterns. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were used to analyze data through SPSS 23. Results: The data showed 64.6% of students had low knowledge of risk factors of non-communicable diseases. Concerning physical activity, 58.2 % were physically inactive and females being less active than males. More than 2/3 of students didn’t fulfill the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables (75.9%). 8% reported to be smokers with cigarettes being the most encountered tobacco product. Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated a low level of knowledge and practices yet, positive attitudes towards risk factors of chronic diseases. We recommend implementation of thorough awareness campaigns through public health education about the risk factors of non-communicable diseases.

Keywords: non-communicable diseases, physical activity, diet, knowledge, attitudes, practices, smoking

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Authors: Kornelius Ronald Demu, Dewi Retno Sari Saputro, Purnami Widyaningsih

Abstract:

Human Development Index (HDI) is a standard measurement for a country's human development. Several factors may have influenced it, such as life expectancy, gross domestic product (GDP) based on the province's annual expenditure, the number of poor people, and the percentage of an illiterate people. The scatter plot between HDI and the influenced factors show that the plot does not follow a specific pattern or form. Therefore, the HDI's data in Indonesia can be applied with a nonparametric regression model. The estimation of the regression curve in the nonparametric regression model is flexible because it follows the shape of the data pattern. One of the nonparametric regression's method is a truncated spline. Truncated spline regression is one of the nonparametric approach, which is a modification of the segmented polynomial functions. The estimator of a truncated spline regression model was affected by the selection of the optimal knots point. Knot points is a focus point of spline truncated functions. The optimal knots point was determined by the minimum value of generalized cross validation (GCV). In this article were applied the data of Human Development Index with a truncated spline nonparametric regression model. The results of this research were obtained the best-truncated spline regression model to the HDI's data in Indonesia with the combination of optimal knots point 5-5-5-4. Life expectancy and the percentage of an illiterate people were the significant factors depend to the HDI in Indonesia. The coefficient of determination is 94.54%. This means the regression model is good enough to applied on the data of HDI in Indonesia.

Keywords: generalized cross validation (GCV), Human Development Index (HDI), knots point, nonparametric regression, truncated spline

Procedia PDF Downloads 348