Search results for: charge storage capacity

Authors: Sunil Kayesth, Kamal Kumar Gupta

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The development of resistance among insects and pests, environmental contamination and adverse effects on non-target organisms is contributed by the indiscriminate use of chemical based insecticides. To overcome these environmental and other ecological issues that are need to replace these harmful toxic compounds. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of Catharanthus roseus, Ocimum sanctum and Lantana camara plants volatiles on survival and longevity of Dysdercus koenigii. The hexane extract and ethanol extracts of these three plants were used. The fifth instars were exposed to hexane extract with concentrations of 10%, 5%, 2.5% 1.25%, 0.1%, 0.5% 0.25%, 0.125% and 0.0625% while, adults were treated with10%, 5%, 2.5% and 1.25%. 1-ml of each of these concentrations was used to make a thin film in sterilized glass jars of 500 ml capacity. Fifteen- newly emerged fifth instar nymphs and adult bugs were treated separately with the extracts for 24- hour exposure to the plant volatiles. For ethanol extracts cottonseed were treated with ethanol extracts of 10%, 5%, 2.5% and 1.25% concentrations. The treated seeds were provided to the Dysdercus for a period of 24 hours and their feeding behaviour was observed. The effect of hexane and ethanol extract of these plants was observed and readings were recorded for 15 days. Survival and longevity of both fifth instars and adults were in correlation with the concentrations of the plant extracts. Among three plant extracts, Ocimum hexane extract was most toxic and Catharanthus was moderate while Lantana was least toxic. The ethanol extracts of Lantana was highly antifeedent while Ocimum was moderate and Catharanthus was least antifeedent. Both Catharanthus and Ocimum appeared to have potential molecules, which possessed insecticidal activity while Ocimum and Lantana showed antifeedent activities. These insecticidal and antifeedent properties may be used in IPM.

Keywords: Catharanthus roseus, Ocimum sanctum, Lantana camara, Dysdercus koenigii

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Authors: Y. Cochet, A. Achim, Tom Flatman, J-C. Domec, J. Ogée, L. Wingate, Ram Oren

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It is accepted that atmospheric CO2 concentration will increase in the future. For the past 30 years, researchers have used FACE (Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) facilities to study the development of terrestrial ecosystems under elevated CO2 (eCO2). Forest responses to eCO2 are likely to impact timber industries with potential feedbacks towards the atmosphere. The main objectives of this study were to examine whether eCO2 alone or in combination with N-fertilization alter wood properties and to identify changes in wood anatomy related to water transport. Wood disks were sampled at breast height from mature loblolly pine trees (Pinus taeda L.) harvested at the Duke FACE site (NC, USA). By measuring ring width and intra-ring changes in density (X-ray densitometry) and tracheid size (lumen and cell wall thickness) from pith to bark, the following hypotheses were tested: 1) eCO2 and N-fertilization interact positively to increase significantly above-ground primary productivity; 2) eCO2 and N-fertilization lead to a decrease in density; 3) eCO2 and N-fertilization increase lumen diameter and decrease cell wall thickness, thus affecting water transport capacity. Our results revealed a boost in earlywood tracheid production induced by eCO2 lasting a few years. The following decrease seemed to be buffered by N-fertilization. X-ray profiles did not show a marked decrease in wood density under eCO2 or N-fertilization, although there were changes in cell anatomical properties such as a reduction in cell-wall thickness and an increase in lumen diameter. If such effects of eCO2 are confirmed, forest management strategies for example N-fertilization should be redesigned.

Keywords: wood density, Duke FACE (free-air carbon dioxide enrichment), N fertilization, tree ring

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Authors: Selman Cagman

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A detailed analysis is made within an organized industrial zone (OIZ) that has 1165 production facilities such as manufacturing of furniture, fabricated metal products (machinery and equipment), food products, plastic and rubber products, machinery and equipment, non-metallic mineral products, electrical equipment, textile products, and manufacture of wood and cork products. In this OIZ, a field study is done by choosing some facilities that can represent the whole OIZ sectoral distribution. In this manner, there are 207 facilities included to the site visit, and there is a 17 questioned survey carried out with each of them to assess their inputs, outputs, and waste amounts during manufacturing processes. The survey result identify that MDF/Particleboard and chipboard particles, textile, food, foam rubber, sludge (treatment sludge, phosphate-paint sludge, etc.), plastic, paper and packaging, scrap metal (aluminum shavings, steel shavings, iron scrap, profile scrap, etc.), slag (coal slag), ceramic fracture, ash from the fluidized bed are the wastes come from these facilities. As a result, there are 5 industrial symbiosis projects established with this study. One of the projects is a 2.840 kW capacity Integrated Biomass Based Waste Incineration-Energy Production Facility running on 35.000 tons/year of MDF particles and chipboard waste. Another project is a biogas plant with 225 tons/year whey, 100 tons/year of sesame husk, 40 tons/year of burnt wafer dough, and 2.000 tons/year biscuit waste. These two plants investment costs and operational costs are given in detail. The payback time of the 2.840 kW plant is almost 4 years and the biogas plant is around 6 years.

Keywords: industrial symbiosis, energy, biogas, waste to incineration

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: F. Longo, G. Granello, G. Tecchio, F. Da Porto

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Unreinforced masonry (URM) infill walls are widely used throughout the world, also in seismic prone regions, as partitions in reinforced concrete building frames. Even if they do not represent structural elements, they can dramatically affect both strength and stiffness of RC structures by acting as a diagonal strut, modifying shear and displacements distribution along the building height, with uncertain consequences on structural safety. In the last decades, many refined models have been developed to describe infill walls effect on frame structural behaviour, but generally restricted to in-plane actions. Only very recently some new approaches were implemented to consider in-plane/out-of-plane interaction of URM infill walls in progressive collapse simulations. In the present work, a particularly promising macro-model was adopted for the progressive collapse analysis of infilled RC frames. The model allows to consider the bi-directional interaction in terms of displacement and strength capacity for URM infills, and to remove the infill contribution when the URM wall is supposed to fail during the analysis process. The model was calibrated on experimental data regarding two different URM panels thickness, modelling with particular care the post-critic softening branch. A frame specimen set representing the most common Italian structures was built considering two main normative approaches: a traditional design philosophy, corresponding to structures erected between 50’s-80’s basically designed to support vertical loads, and a seismic design philosophy, corresponding to current criteria that take into account horizontal actions. Non-Linear Static analyses were carried out on the specimen set and some preliminary evaluations were drawn in terms of different performance exhibited by the RC frame when the contemporary effect of the out-of-plane damage is considered for the URM infill.

Keywords: infill Panels macromodels, in plane-out of plane interaction, RC frames, URM infills

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Authors: Mumtaz Khan, Adeel Shahid, Waqas Khan

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Heavy metals presence in water streams is a big danger for aquatic life and ultimately effects human health. Removal of copper (Cu) by ispaghula husk, maize fibre, and maize oil cake from synthetic solution in batch conditions was studied. Different experimental parameters such as contact time, initial solution pH, agitation rate, initial Cu concentration, biosorbent concentration, and biosorbent particle size has been studied to quantify the Cu biosorption. The rate of adsorption of metal ions was very fast at the beginning and became slow after reaching the saturation point, followed by a slower active metabolic uptake of metal ions into the cells. Up to a certain point, (pH=4, concentration of Cu = ~ 640 mg/l, agitation rate = ~ 400 rpm, biosorbent concentration = ~ 0.5g, 3g, 3g for ispaghula husk, maize fiber and maize oil cake, respectively) increasing the pH, concentration of Cu, agitation rate, and biosorbent concentration, increased the biosorption rate; however the sorption capacity increased by decreasing the particle size. At optimized experimental parameters, the maximum Cu biosorption by ispaghula husk, maize fibre and maize oil cake were 86.7%, 59.6% and 71.3%, respectively. Moreover, the results of the kinetics studies demonstrated that the biosorption of copper on ispaghula husk, maize fibre, and maize oil cake followed pseudo-second order kinetics. The results of adsorption were fitted to both the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The Langmuir model represented the sorption process better than Freundlich, and R² value ~ 0.978. Optimizations of physical and environmental parameters revealed, ispaghula husk as more potent copper biosorbent than maize fibre, and maize oil cake. The sorbent is cheap and available easily, so this study can be applied to remove Cu impurities on pilot and industrial scale after certain modifications.

Keywords: biosorption, copper, ispaghula husk, maize fibre, maize oil cake, purification

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Authors: Henry Schwartz, Bogdan Iancu, Magnus Gustafsson, Johan Lilius

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The shipping sector generates significant amounts of carbon emissions on annual basis. The excess amount of carbon dioxide is harmful for both the environment and the society, and partly for that reason, there is acute interest to decrease the volume of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions in shipping. The usage of the existing cargo carrying capacity can be maximized, and the share of time used in actual transportation operations could be increased if the whole transportation and logistics chain was optimized with the aid of information sharing done through a centralized marketplace and an information-sharing platform. The outcome of this change would be decreased carbon dioxide emission volumes produced per each metric ton of cargo transported by a vessel. Cargo coordination is a platform under development that matches the need for waterborne transportation services with the ships that operate at a given moment in time. In this research, the transition towards adopting cargo coordination is modelled with system dynamics. The model encompasses the complex supply-demand relationships of ship operators and cargo owners. The built scenarios predict the pace at which different stakeholders start using the digitalized platform and by doing so reduce the amount of annual CO2 emissions generated. To improve the reliability of the results, various sensitivity analyses considering the pace of transition as well as the overall impact on the environment (carbon dioxide emissions per amount of cargo transported) are conducted. The results of the study can be used to support investors and politicians in decision making towards more environmentally sustainable solutions. In addition, the model provides concepts and ideas for a wider discussion considering the paths towards carbon neutral transportation.

Keywords: carbon dioxide emissions, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, system dynamics

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Authors: Myisha Ahmad, G. M. Jahid Hasan

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Electricity is the pinnacle of human civilization. At present, the growing concerns over significant climate change have intensified the importance of the use of renewable energy technologies for electricity generation. The interest is primarily due to better energy security, smaller environmental impact and providing a sustainable alternative compared to the conventional energy sources. Solar power, wind, biomass, tidal power, and wave power are some of the most reliable sources of renewable energy. Ocean approximately holds 2×10³ TW of energy and has the largest renewable energy resource on the planet. Ocean energy has many forms namely, encompassing tides, ocean circulation, surface waves, salinity and thermal gradients. Ocean tide in particular, associates both potential and kinetic energy. The study is focused on the latter concept that deals with tidal current energy conversion technologies. Tidal streams or marine currents generate kinetic energy that can be extracted by marine current energy devices and converted into transmittable energy form. The principle of technology development is very comparable to that of wind turbines. Conversion of marine tidal resources into substantial electrical power offers immense opportunities to countries endowed with such resources and this work is aimed at addressing such prospects of Bangladesh. The study analyzed the extracted current velocities from numerical model works at several locations in the Bay of Bengal. Based on current magnitudes, directions and available technologies the most fitted locations were adopted and possible annual generation capacity was estimated. The paper also examines the future prospects of tidal current energy along the Bay of Bengal and establishes a constructive approach that could be adopted in future project developments.

Keywords: bay of Bengal, energy potential, renewable energy, tidal current

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Authors: Huseyin A. Yavasoglu, Yusuf Ziya Tengiz, Ali Göksenli

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In this study, an automatic feeding machine for different type and class of bovine animals is designed. Daily nutrition of a bovine consists of grass, corn, straw, silage, oat, wheat and different vitamins and minerals. The amount and mixture amount of each of the nutrition depends on different parameters of the bovine. These parameters are; age, sex, weight and maternity of the bovine, also outside temperature. The problem in a farm is to constitute the correct mixture and amount of nutrition for each animal. Faulty nutrition will cause an insufficient feeding of the animal concluding in an unhealthy bovine. To solve this problem, a new automatic feeding machine is designed. Travelling of the machine is performed by four tires, which is pulled by a tractor. The carrier consists of eight bins, which each of them carries a nutrition type. Capacity of each unit is 250 kg. At the bottom of each chamber is a sensor measuring the weight of the food inside. A funnel is at the bottom of each chamber by which open/close function is controlled by a valve. Each animal will carry a RFID tag including ID on its ear. A receiver on the feeding machine will read this ID and by given previous information by the operator (veterinarian), the system will detect the amount of each nutrition unit which will be given to the selected animal for feeding. In the system, each bin will open its exit gate by the help of the valve under the control of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). The amount of each nutrition type will be controlled by measuring the open/close time. The exit canals of the bins are collected in a reservoir. To achieve a homogenous nitration, the collected feed will be mixed by a worm gear. Further the mixture will be transported by a help of a funnel to the feeding unit of the animal. The feeding process can be performed in 100 seconds. After feeding of the animal, the tractor pulls the travelling machine to the next animal. By the help of this system animals can be feeded by right amount and mixture of nutrition

Keywords: bovine, feeding, nutrition, transportation, automatic

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: M. Ekiert, T. Uhl, A. Mlyniec

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Tendons are the biological soft tissue structures composed of collagen, proteoglycan, glycoproteins, water and cells of extracellular matrix (ECM). Tendons, which primary function is to transfer force generated by the muscles to the bones causing joints movement, are exposed to many micro and macro damages. In fact, tendons and ligaments trauma are one of the most numerous injuries of human musculoskeletal system, causing for many people (particularly for athletes and physically active people), recurring disorders, chronic pain or even inability of movement. The number of tendons reconstruction and transplantation procedures is increasing every year. Therefore, studies on soft tissues storage conditions (influencing i.e. tissue aging) seem to be an extremely important issue. In this study, an atomic-scale investigation on the kinetics of decomposition of two selected tendon components – collagen type I (which forms a 60-85% of a tendon dry mass) and elastin protein (which combine with ECM creates elastic fibers of connective tissues) is presented. A molecular model of collagen and elastin was developed based on crystal structure of triple-helical collagen-like 1QSU peptide and P15502 human elastin protein, respectively. Each model employed 4 linear strands collagen/elastin strands per unit cell, distributed in 2x2 matrix arrangement, placed in simulation box filled with water molecules. A decomposition phenomena was simulated with molecular dynamics (MD) method using ReaxFF force field and periodic boundary conditions. A set of NVT-MD runs was performed for 1000K temperature range in order to obtained temperature-depended rate of production of decomposition by-products. Based on calculated reaction rates activation energies and pre-exponential factors, required to formulate Arrhenius equations describing kinetics of decomposition of tested soft tissue components, were calculated. Moreover, by adjusting a model developed for collagen, system scalability and correct implementation of the periodic boundary conditions were evaluated. An obtained results provide a deeper insight into decomposition of selected tendon components. A developed methodology may also be easily transferred to other connective tissue elements and therefore might be used for further studies on soft tissues aging.

Keywords: decomposition, molecular dynamics, soft tissue, tendons

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Authors: Shravani Itkelwar, Deepak Tewari, Bhaskar Natarajan

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The energy consumption data plays a vital role in energy efficiency policy design, implementation, and impact assessment. Any demand-side energy management intervention's success relies on the availability of accurate, comprehensive, granular, and up-to-date data on energy consumption. The Building sector, including residential and commercial, is one of the largest consumers of energy in India after the Industrial sector. With economic growth and increasing urbanization, the building sector is projected to grow at an unprecedented rate, resulting in a 5.6 times escalation in energy consumption till 2047 compared to 2017. Therefore, energy efficiency interventions will play a vital role in decoupling the floor area growth and associated energy demand, thereby increasing the need for robust data. In India, multiple institutions are involved in the collection and dissemination of data. This paper focuses on energy consumption data management in the building sector in India for both residential and commercial segments. It evaluates the robustness of data available through administrative and survey routes to estimate the key performance indicators and identify critical data gaps for making informed decisions. The paper explores several issues in the data, such as lack of comprehensiveness, non-availability of disaggregated data, the discrepancy in different data sources, inconsistent building categorization, and others. The identified data gaps are justified with appropriate examples. Moreover, the paper prioritizes required data in order of relevance to policymaking and groups it into "available," "easy to get," and "hard to get" categories. The paper concludes with recommendations to address the data gaps by leveraging digital initiatives, strengthening institutional capacity, institutionalizing exclusive building energy surveys, and standardization of building categorization, among others, to strengthen the management of building sector energy consumption data.

Keywords: energy data, energy policy, energy efficiency, buildings

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Authors: Saima Akbar, Tahseen Ullah Khan

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The analysis of the climate change impact on flood frequency represents an important issue for water resource management and flood risk mitigation. This research was conducted to address the effects of climate change on flood incidents of Pakistan and find out gaps in existing policies to reducing the environmental aspects on floods and effects of global warming. The main objective of this research was to critically analyses the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Federal Flood Commission (FFC) and Vision 2025, as an effective policy document which is not only hitting the target of a climate resilient Pakistan but provides room for efficient and flexible policy implementation. The methodology integrates projected changes in monsoon patterns (since last 20 years and overall change in rainfall pattern since 1901 to 2015 from Pakistan Metrological Department), glacier melting, decreasing dam capacity and lacks in existing policies by using SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) model in order to explore the relative impacts of global warming on the system performance. Results indicate the impacts of climate change are significant, but probably not large enough to justify a major effort for adapting the physical infrastructure to expected climatic conditions in Vision 2025 which is our shared destination to progress, ultimate aspiration to see Pakistan among the ten largest economies of the world by 2047– the centennial year of our independence. The conclusion of this research was to adapt sustainable measures to reduce flood impacts and make policies as neighboring countries are adapting for their sustainability.

Keywords: climatic factors, monsoon, Pakistan, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

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Insider fraud is a major financial crime threat whereby an employee defrauds (or attempts to defraud) their current, prospective, or past employer. ‘Employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including Board members and part-time staff. Insider fraud can take many forms, including an employee working alone or in collusion with others. Insider fraud has been on the rise since the Coronavirus pandemic and shows no signs of slowing. The objective of the research is to better understand how FinTechs are impacted by insider fraud and, therefore, how to stop it. This research will make an original contribution to the financial crime field, given the timing of this research being intertwined with the cost-of-living crisis in the UK and the global Coronavirus pandemic. This research focuses on insider fraud within FinTechs specifically, as they are arguably a modern phenomenon in the financial institutions space and have cutting-edge technology at their disposal. To achieve the research objective, the researcher held semi-structured interviews with over 20 individuals who deal with insider fraud perpetration in a practitioner, recruitment, or advisory capacity. The interviews were subsequently transcribed and analysed thematically. Main findings in the research suggest that FinTechs are arguably in the best position to combat insider fraud, given their focus on using recent technologies, as this can be used to combat the threat. However, insider fraud has been ignored owing to the denial of accepting the possibility that colleagues would defraud their employer, as well as the idea that external fraud is the most important threat. The research concludes that, whilst the technology is understandably prioritised by FinTechs for providing an agreeable customer experience, insider fraud needs to be given a platform upon which to be recognised as a significant threat to any company. Moreover, insider fraud needs to be given the same level of weighting and attention by Executive Committees and Boards as the customer experience.

Keywords: insider fraud, occupational fraud, COVID-19, COVID, Coronavirus, pandemic, internal fraud, financial crime, economic crime

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Authors: P. Afsharian, S. Mousazadeh, M. Shahhoseini, R. Aflatoonian

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Introduction: Matrix MetalloProteinases (MMPs) degrade extracellular matrix components to provide normal remodeling and contribute to pathological tissue destruction and cell migration in endometriosis. It is accepted that MMPs are resistant to suppression by progesterone in endometriotic tissues. The physiological effects of progesterone are mediated by its two progesterone receptor (PGR) isoforms, namely PGR-A and PGR-B. The capacity of progesterone affect to gene expression is dependent on the PGR-A/PGR-B ratio. The imbalance ratio in endometriotic tissue may be an important mechanism to be resulted in Progesterone resistance and modify progesterone action via differential regulation of specific progesterone response genes and improve endometriosis disease. Material and methods: RNA was extracted from twenty ectopic (endometriotic) and eutopic (endometrial) tissue samples of women undergoing laparoscopy for endometriosis and 20 healthy fertile women at Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran. Analysis of PGR-A, PGR-B, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression was performed using Real-time PCR in ectopic and eutopic tissues. Then, Statistical analysis was calculated according to the 2-ΔΔCT equation for all samples. Results: Quantitative RT–PCR analyses of PGR-A and PGR-B mRNA revealed that there were differences in both isoformes of PGRs mRNA expressions between ectopic and control eutopic tissues. We were able to demonstrate low expression levels of PGR-B isoforms in ectopic tissues. Although, PGR-A expression was significantly higher in the same ectopic samples compare to controls.This method permitted us to demonstrate significant overexpression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ectopic samples compared to control endometrial tissues, as well. Conclusions: Our data suggest that low expression levels of PGR-B and overexpression of PGR-A can alter PGR-A/PGR-B ratio in endometriotic ectopic tissues. Imbalance ratio of PGRs in endometriotic tissue may be able to consequence MMP-2 and MMP-9 overexpression which can be important in pathogenesis and treatment of disease.

Keywords: endometriosis, matrix metalloproteinases, progesterone receptor -A and -B, PGR-A/PGR-B ratio

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Authors: Meghan Biallas, Amanda Hoffman, Tamara Miller, Kimmy Schnibben, Janaina Siegler

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This paper assesses Walmart’s supply chain resiliency amidst continuous supply chain disruptions. It aims to evaluate how Walmart can use supply chain resiliency theory to retain its status as a global supply chain leader. The Bloomberg terminal was used to organize Walmart’s 754 Tier-1 suppliers by the size of their relationship to Walmart. Additional data from IBISWorld and Statista was also used in the analysis. This research focused on the top ten Tier-1 suppliers, with the greatest percentage of their revenue attributed to Walmart. This paper also applied the firm’s information to the Supply Chain Resilience Assessment and Management (SCRAM) framework for supply chain resiliency to evaluate the firm’s capabilities, vulnerabilities, and gaps. A rubric was created to quantify Walmart’s risks using four pillars: flexibility, velocity, visibility, and collaboration. Information and examples were reported from Walmart’s 10k filing. For each example, a rating of 1 indicated “high” resiliency, 0 indicated “medium” resiliency, and -1 indicated “low” resiliency. Findings from this study include the following: (1) Walmart has maintained its leadership through its ability to remain resilient with regard to visibility, efficiency, capacity, and collaboration. (2) Walmart is experiencing increases in supply chain costs due to internal factors affecting the company and external factors affecting its suppliers. (3) There are a number of emerging supply chain risks with Walmart’s suppliers, which could cause issues for Walmart to remain a supply chain leader in the future. Using the SCRAM framework, this paper assesses how Walmart measures up to the Supply Chain Resiliency Theory, identifying areas of strength as well as areas where Walmart can improve in order to remain a global supply chain leader.

Keywords: supply chain resiliency, zone of balanced resilience, supply chain resilience assessment and management, supply chain theory.

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Authors: Opeyemi Atiba-Oyewo, Maurice S. Onya, Christian Wolkersdorfer

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Nanostructure formation and characterization of eco-friendly banana peels nanosorbent are thoroughly described in this paper. The transformation of material during mechanical milling to enhance certain properties such as changes in microstructure and surface area to solve the current problems involving water pollution and water quality were studied. The mechanical milling was employed using planetary continuous milling machine and ethanol as process control agent, the sample were taken at time interval between 10 h to 30 h to examine the structural changes. The samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer Emmett and teller (BET). Results revealed that the three typical structures with different grain-size, lattice strain and shapes were observed, and the deformation mechanisms in these structures were found to be different, further particles fracturing results to surface area increment which was confirmed by Brunauer Emmett and teller (BET) analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows high densities of dislocations in large crystallites, implying that dislocation slip is the dominant deformation mechanism. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the morphological properties of the materials at different milling time, nanostructure of the particles and fibres were confirmed by Transmission electron microscopy and FT-IR identified the functional groups responsible for its capacity to coordinate and remove metal ions, such as the carboxylic and amine groups at absorption bands of 1730 and 889 cm-1, respectively. However, the choice of this sorbent material for the sorption of any contaminants will depend on the composition of the effluent to be treated.

Keywords: banana peels, eco-friendly, mechanical milling, nanosorbent, nanostructure water quality

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Authors: O. Eso, M. Mohammadi, J. Darkwa, J. Calautit

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Residential buildings are responsible for 22% of the global end-use energy demand and 17% of global CO₂ emissions. Tropical climates particularly present higher latent heat gains, leading to more cooling loads. However, the cooling processes are all based on conventional mechanical air conditioning systems which are energy and carbon intensive technologies. Passive cooling systems have in the past been considered as alternative technologies for minimizing energy consumption in buildings. Nevertheless, replacing mechanical cooling systems with passive ones will require a careful assessment of the passive cooling system heat transfer to determine if suitable to outperform their conventional counterparts. This is because internal heat gains, indoor-outdoor heat transfer, and heat transfer through envelope affects the performance of passive cooling systems. While many studies have investigated sensible heat transfer in passive cooling systems, not many studies have focused on their latent heat transfer capabilities. Furthermore, combining heat prevention, heat modulation and heat dissipation to passively cool indoor spaces in the tropical climates is critical to achieve thermal comfort. Since passive cooling systems use only one of these three approaches at a time, integrating more than one passive cooling system for effective indoor latent heat removal while still saving energy is studied. This study is a systematic review of recently published peer review journals on integrated passive cooling systems for tropical residential buildings. The missing links in the experimental and numerical studies with regards to latent heat reduction interventions are presented. Energy simulation studies of integrated passive cooling systems in tropical residential buildings are also discussed. The review has shown that comfortable indoor environment is attainable when two or more passive cooling systems are integrated in tropical residential buildings. Improvement occurs in the heat transfer rate and cooling performance of the passive cooling systems when thermal energy storage systems like phase change materials are included. Integrating passive cooling systems in tropical residential buildings can reduce energy consumption by 6-87% while achieving up to 17.55% reduction in indoor heat flux. The review has highlighted a lack of numerical studies regarding passive cooling system performance in tropical savannah climates. In addition, detailed studies are required to establish suitable latent heat transfer rate in passive cooling ventilation devices under this climate category. This should be considered in subsequent studies. The conclusions and outcomes of this study will help researchers understand the overall energy performance of integrated passive cooling systems in tropical climates and help them identify and design suitable climate specific options for residential buildings.

Keywords: energy savings, latent heat, passive cooling systems, residential buildings, tropical residential buildings

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Authors: I Putu Deny Arthawan Sugih Prabowo, Eko Nugroho, Rudy Hartanto

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Known, Green IT is a concept about how to use the technology (IT) wisely, efficiently, and environmentally. However, it exists as the consequence of the rapid-growth of the technology (especially IT) currently. Not only for the environments, the usage of Green IT applications, e.g. Cloud Computing (Cloud Storage) and E-Money (E-Cash), also gives its benefits for the organizational business strategy (especially the organizational product/service strategy) in order to gain the organizational competitive advantage (to be the market leader). This paper takes the case at E-Money as a Value-Added Services (VAS) of a telecommunication firm (company) in Indonesia which it also competes with the competitors’ similar product (service). Although it has been a popular telecommunication firm’s product/service, but its strategic values for the organization (firm) is still unknown, and therefore, the aim of this paper is for analyzing its strategic values for gaining the organizational competitive advantage. However, in this paper, its strategic value analysis is viewed by how to assess (consider) its strategic benefits and also manage the challenges or risks of its implementation at the organization as an organizational product/service. Then the paper uses a research model for investigating the influences of both perceived risks and the organizational cultures to the usage of Green IT Application at the organization and also both the usage of Green IT Application at the organization and the threats-challenges of the organizational products/services to the competitive advantage of the organizational products/services. However, the paper uses the quantitative research method (collecting the information from the field respondents by using the research questionnaires) and then, the primary data is analyzed by both descriptive and inferential statistics. Also in this paper, SmartPLS is used for analyzing the primary data by the quantitative research method. Besides using the quantitative research method, the paper also uses the qualitative research method, such as interviewing the field respondent and/or directly field observation, for deeply confirming the quantitative research method’s analysis results at the certain domain, e.g. both organizational cultures and internal processes that support the usage of Green IT applications for the organizational product/service (E-Money in this paper case). However, the paper is still at an infant stage of in-progress research. Then the paper’s results may be used as a reference for the organization (firm or company) in developing the organizational business strategies, especially about the organizational product/service that relates to Green IT applications. Besides it, the paper may also be the future study, e.g. the influence of knowledge transfer about E-Money and/or other Green IT application-based products/services to the organizational service performance that relates to the product (service) in order to gain the competitive advantage.

Keywords: Green IT, competitive advantage, strategic value, organization (firm or company), organizational product (service)

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Authors: Monika Sogani, Zainab Syed, Adrian C. Fisher

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Pollution of estrogenic compounds has caught the attention of researchers as the slight increase of estrogens in the water bodies has a significant impact on the aquatic system. They belong to a class of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and are able to mimic hormones or interfere with the action of endogenous hormones. The microbial electrochemical remediation system (MERS) is employed here for exploiting an electrophototrophic bacterium for evaluating the capacity of biodegradation of ethinylestradiol hormone (EE2) under anaerobic conditions with power generation. MERS using electro-phototrophic bacterium offers a tailored solution of wastewater treatment in a developing country like India which has a huge solar potential. It is a clean energy generating technology as they require only sunlight, water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide to operate. Its main feature that makes it superior over other technologies is that the main fuel for this MERS is sunlight which is indefinitely present. When grown in light with organic compounds, these photosynthetic bacteria generate ATP by cyclic photophosphorylation and use carbon compounds to make cell biomass (photoheterotrophic growth). These cells showed EE2 degradation and were able to generate hydrogen as part of the process of nitrogen fixation. The two designs of MERS were studied, and a maximum of 88.45% decrease in EE2 was seen in a total period of 14 days in the better design. This research provides a better insight into microbial electricity generation and self-sustaining wastewater treatment facilities. Such new models of waste treatment aiming waste to energy generation needs to be followed and implemented for building a resource efficient and sustainable economy.

Keywords: endocrine disrupting compounds, ethinylestradiol, microbial electrochemical remediation systems, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Leonardo Parra, Daniel Martínez, Jorge Pizarro, Fernando Ortega, Manuel Chacón-Fuentes, Andrés Quiroz

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Control of Dalaca pallens or blackworms, one of the most important hypogeous pest in grassland in southern Chile, is based on the use of broad-spectrum insecticides such as organophosphates and pyrethroids. However, the rapid development of insecticide resistance in field populations of this insect and public concern over the environmental impact of these insecticides has resulted in the search for other control methods. Specifically, the use of endophyte fungi for controlling pest has emerged as an interesting and promising strategy. Endophytes from ryegrass (Lolium perenne), establish a biotrophic relationship with the host, defined as mutualistic symbiosis. The plant-fungi association produces alkaloids where peramine is the main toxic substance against Listronotus bonariensis, the most important epigean pest of ryegrass. Nevertheless, the effect of peramina on others pest insects, such as D. pallens, to our knowledge has not been studied, and also its possible metabolization in the body of the larvae. Therefore, we addressed the following research question: Do larvae of D. pallens store peramine after consumption of ryegrass endophyte infected (E+)? For this, specimens of blackworms were fed with ryegrass plant of seven experimental lines and one commercial cultivar endophyte free (E-) sown at the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias Carillanca (Vilcún, Chile). Once the feeding period was over, ten larvae of each treatment were examined. Individuals were dissected, and their gut was removed to exclude any influence of remaining material. The rest of the larva's body was dried at 60°C by 24-48 h and ground into a fine powder using a mortar. 25 mg of dry powder was transferred to a microcentrifuge tube and extracted in 1 mL of a mixture of methanol:water:formic acid. Then, the samples were centrifuged at 16,000 rpm for 3 min, and the supernatant was colected and injected in the liquid chromatography of high resolution (HPLC). The results confirmed the presence of peramine in the larva's body of D. pallens. The insects that fed the experimental lines LQE-2 and LQE-6 were those where peramine was present in high proportion (0.205 and 0.199 ppm, respectively); while LQE-7 and LQE-3 obtained the lowest concentrations of the alkaloid (0.047 and 0.053 ppm, respectively). Peramine was not detected in the insects when the control cultivar Jumbo (E-) was tested. These results evidenced the storage and metabolism of peramine during consumption of the larvae. However, the effect of this alkaloid present in 'future ryegrass cultivars' (LQE-2 and LQE-6) on the performance and survival of blackworms must be studied and confirmed experimentally.

Keywords: blackworms, HPLC, alkaloid, pest

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Authors: Antonio Monteiro, Jorge Azevedo, Severiano Silva, Alfredo Teixeira

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The objective of this study was to compare the carcass and in vivo real-time ultrasound measurements (RTU) and their capacity to predict the composition of Serrana goats up to 40% of maturity. Twenty one females (11.1 ± 3.97 kg) and Twenty one males (15.6 ± 5.38 kg) were utilized to made in vivo measurements with a 5 MHz probe (ALOKA 500V scanner) at the 9th-10th, 10th-11th thoracic vertebrae (uT910 and uT1011, respectively), at the 1st- 2nd, 3rd-4th, and 4th-5th lumbar vertebrae (uL12, ul34 and uL45, respectively) and also at the 3rd-4th sternebrae (EEST). It was recorded the images of RTU measurements of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle (LTL) depth (EM), width (LM), perimeter (PM), area (AM) and subcutaneous fat thickness (SFD) above the LTL, as well as the depth of tissues of the sternum (EEST) between the 3rd-4th sternebrae. All RTU images were analyzed using the ImageJ software. After slaughter, the carcasses were stored at 4 ºC for 24 h. After this period the carcasses were divided and the left half was entirely dissected into muscle, dissected fat (subcutaneous fat plus intermuscular fat) and bone. Prior to the dissection measurements equivalent to those obtained in vivo with RTU were recorded. Using the Statistica 5, correlation and regression analyses were performed. The prediction of carcass composition was achieved by stepwise regression procedure, with live weight and RTU measurements with and without transformation of variables to the same dimension. The RTU and carcass measurements, except for SFD measurements, showed high correlation (r > 0.60, P < 0.001). The RTU measurements and the live weight, showed ability to predict carcass composition on muscle (R2 = 0.99, P < 0.001), subcutaneous fat (R2 = 0.41, P < 0.001), intermuscular fat (R2 = 0.84, P < 0.001), dissected fat (R2 = 0.71, P < 0.001) and bone (R2 = 0.94, P < 0.001). The transformation of variables allowed a slight increase of precision, but with the increase in the number of variables, with the exception of subcutaneous fat prediction. In vivo measurements by RTU can be applied to predict kid goat carcass composition, from 5 measurements of RTU and the live weight.

Keywords: carcass, goats, real time, ultrasound

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Authors: Lennon Furtado, Sandro Oliveira

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The importance of an effective measurement program lies in the ability to control and predict what can be measured. Thus, the measurement program has the capacity to provide bases in decision-making to support the interests of an organization. Therefore, it is only possible to apply for an effective measurement program with a team of software engineers well trained in the measurement area. However, the literature indicates that are few computer science courses that have in their program the teaching of the software measurement process. And even these, generally present only basic theoretical concepts of said process and little or no measurement in practice, which results in the student's lack of motivation to learn the measurement process. In this context, according to some experts in software process improvements, one of the most used approaches to maintaining the motivation and commitment to software process improvements program is the use of the gamification. Therefore, this paper aims to present a proposal of teaching the measurement process by gamification. Which seeks to improve student motivation and performance in the assimilation of tasks related to software measurement, by incorporating elements of games into the practice of measurement process, making it more attractive for learning. And as a way of validating the proposal will be made a comparison between two distinct groups of 20 students of Software Quality class, a control group, and an experiment group. The control group will be the students that will not make use of the gamification proposal to learn software measurement process, while the experiment group, will be the students that will make use of the gamification proposal to learn software measurement process. Thus, this paper will analyze the objective and subjective results of each group. And as objective result will be analyzed the student grade reached at the end of the course, and as subjective results will be analyzed a post-course questionnaire with the opinion of each student about the teaching method. Finally, this paper aims to prove or refute the following hypothesis: If the gamification proposal to teach software measurement process does appropriate motivate the student, in order to attribute the necessary competence to the practical application of the measurement process.

Keywords: education, gamification, software measurement process, software engineering

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Authors: Mahshid Hodjat, Maryam Baeeri, Mohammad Amin Rezvanfar, Mohammad Abdollahi

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Ethephon is one of the most widely used plant growth regulator in agriculture that its application has been increased in recent years. The toxicity of organophosphate compounds is mostly attributed to their potent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and their involvement in neurodegenerative disease. Although there are few reports on butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory role of ethephon, still there is no evidence on neurotoxicity and genotoxicity of this compound. The aim of the current study is to assess the potential genotoxic effect of ethephon using two genotoxic endpoints; γH2AX expression and comet assay on embryonic murine fibroblast. γH2AX serves as an early and sensitive biomarker for evaluating the genotoxic effects of chemicals. Oxidative stress biomarkers, including intracellular reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity were also examined. The results showed a significant increase in cell proliferation 24h post-treatment with 10, 40,160µg/ml ethephon. The γH2AX expression and γH2AX foci count per cell were increased at low concentration of ethephon that was concomitant with increased DNA damage break at 40 and 160 µg/ml as illustrated by increased comet tail moment. A significant increase in lipid peroxidation and ROS formation were observed at 160 µg/ml and higher doses. The results showed that low-dose of ethephon promoted cell proliferation while induce DNA damage, raising the possibility of ethephon mutagenicity. Ethephon-induced genotoxic effect of low dose might not related to oxidative damage. However, ethephon was found to increase oxidative stress at higher doses, lead to cellular cytotoxicity. Taken together, all data indicated that ethylene, deserves more attention as a plant regulator with potential genotoxicity for which appropriate control is needed to reduce its usage.

Keywords: ethephon, DNA damage, γH2AX, oxidative stress

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Authors: Vasiliki Kolake, Christos Kavalaris, Sofia Megoudi, Maria Maxouri, Panagiotis A. Karas, Aris Kyparissis, Efi Levizou

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Conservation agriculture (CA), is a production system approach that can tackle the challenges of climate change mainly through facilitating carbon storage into the soil and increasing crop resilience. This is extremely important for the vulnerable Mediterranean agroecosystems, which already face adverse environmental conditions. The agronomic practices used in CA, i.e. permanent soil cover and no-tillage, result in reduced soil erosion and increased soil organic matter, preservation of water and improvement of quality and fertility of the soil in the long-term. Thus the functional characteristics and processes of the soil are considerably affected by the implementation of CA. The aim of the present work was to assess the effects of CA on soil nitrification potential and mycorrhizal colonization about the above-ground production in a wheat field. Two adjacent but independent field sites of 1.5ha each were used (Thessaly plain, Central Greece), comprising the no-till and conventional tillage treatments. The no-tillage site was covered by residues of the previous crop (cotton). Potential nitrification and the nitrate and ammonium content of the soil were measured at two different soil depths (3 and 15cm) at 20-days intervals throughout the growth period. Additionally, the leaf area index (LAI) was monitored at the same time-course. The mycorrhizal colonization was measured at the commencement and end of the experiment. At the final harvest, total yield and plant biomass were also recorded. The results indicate that wheat yield was considerably favored by CA practices, exhibiting a 42% increase compared to the conventional tillage treatment. The superior performance of the CA crop was also depicted in the above-ground plant biomass, where a 26% increase was recorded. LAI, which is considered a reliable growth index, did not show statistically significant differences between treatments throughout the growth period. On the contrary, significant differences were recorded in endomycorrhizal colonization one day before the final harvest, with CA plants exhibiting 20% colonization, while the conventional tillage plants hardly reached 1%. The on-going analyses of potential nitrification measurements, as well as nitrate and ammonium determination, will shed light on the effects of CA on key processes in the soil. These results will integrate the assessment of CA impact on certain below and above-ground processes during wheat cultivation under the Mediterranean climate.

Keywords: conservation agriculture, LAI, mycorrhizal colonization, potential nitrification, wheat, yield

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Authors: Mohamed Ayeldeen, Abdelazim Negm

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Nowadays, strength characteristics of soils have more importance due to increasing building loads. In some projects, geotechnical properties of the soils are be improved using man-made materials varying from cement-based to chemical-based. These materials have proven successful in improving the engineering properties of the soil such as shear strength, compressibility, permeability, bearing capacity etc.. However, the use of these artificial injection formulas often modifies the pH level of soil, contaminates soil and groundwater. This is attributed to their toxic and hazardous characteristics. Recently, an environmentally friendly soil treatment method or Biological Treatment Method (BTM) was to bond particles of loose sandy soils. This research paper presents the preliminary results of using biopolymers for strengthening cohesionless soil. Xanthan gum was identified for further study over a range of concentrations varying from 0.25% to 2.00%. Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris, used as a food additive and it is a nontoxic material. A series of direct shear, unconfined compressive strength, and permeability tests were carried out to investigate the behavior of sandy soil treated with Xanthan gum with different concentration ratios and at different curing times. Laser microscopy imaging was also conducted to study the microstructure of the treated sand. Experimental results demonstrated the compatibility of Xanthan gum to improve the geotechnical properties of sandy soil. Depending on the biopolymer concentration, it was observed that the biopolymers effectively increased the cohesion intercept and stiffness of the treated sand and reduced the permeability of sand. The microscopy imaging indicates that the cross-links of the biopolymers through and over the soil particles increase with the increase of the biopolymer concentration.

Keywords: biopolymer, direct shear, permeability, sand, shear strength, Xanthan gum

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Authors: S. Beekrum, B. Odhav, R. Lalloo, E. A. Amonsou

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Marine microalgae are rich sources of novel and biologically active metabolites; therefore they may be used in the food industry as natural food ingredients and functional foods. They have several biological applications related to health benefits, among others. The aim of the study focused on the screening of phytochemicals from Amphora sp. biomass extracts, and to examine the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. Amphora sp. biomass was obtained from CSIR (South Africa) and methanol, hexane and water extracts were prepared. The in vitro antimicrobial effect of extracts were tested against some pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans), using the disc diffusion assay. Qualitative analyses of phytochemicals were conducted by chemical tests. The present investigation revealed that all extracts showed relatively strong antibacterial activity against most of the tested bacteria. The highest phenolic content was found in the methanolic extract. Results of the DPPH assay showed that the biomass contained strong antioxidant capacity, 79% in the methanolic extract and 85% in the hexane extract. Extracts have displayed effectively reducing power and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity. Results of this study have highlighted potential antioxidant activity in the methanol and hexane extracts. The results of the phytochemical screening showed the presence of terpenoids and sterols with potential applications as food flavorants and functional foods, respectively. The use of Amphora sp. as a natural antioxidant source and a potential source of antibacterial compounds and phytochemicals in the food industry appears promising and should be investigated further.

Keywords: antioxidants, antimicrobial, microalgae, phytochemicals, cymbella

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Authors: Abdullah Ijaz Hussain

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The purpose of this study was to explore the cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenol-rich extracts from cucurbitaceae family members, including Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, and C. maxima, on rat models. The initial crude extracts from these cucurbits were further separated into hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and aqueous ethanol fractions, labeled as HEF, CHF, EAF, BUF, and AEF, respectively. Of these, AEF yielded the highest amount, followed by BUF, HEF, EAF, and CHF in descending order. Notably, EAF contained the greatest concentration of total phenolics, flavonoids, and flavonols. In terms of antioxidant activity, EAF demonstrated the most potent DPPH radical scavenging capability, succeeded by CHF, BUF, AEF, and HEF. EAF also exhibited the strongest reducing potential among the fractions. RP-HPLC analysis identified various phenolic acids and flavonoids across the cucurbita fractions, including ferulic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumeric acid, gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, catechin, rutin, quercetin, myricetin, and kaempferol. Doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight of cucurbita fractions were administered orally to male WKY rats daily for 21 days. The rats' body weight, heart rate, and blood pressure were monitored bi-weekly. Oxidative status assessments were conducted using plasma samples to measure levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide (NO), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). At the study's conclusion, surgical assessments, including blood pressure, pulse wave velocity (PWV), and echocardiograms (ECG) were performed. The findings indicated that EAF from cucurbita significantly enhanced antihypertensive and antioxidant activities in the SHR rat group.

Keywords: polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, antihypertensive activity, oxidative stress, lcms

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Authors: Mao-Sheng Su, Santhanamoorthi Nachimuthu, Jyh-Chiang Jiang

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Climate change is widely recognized as a global crisis, with anthropogenic CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes being major contributors. To address this challenge, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology has emerged as a key strategy for selectively capturing CO₂ from flue gas streams. Among the various solid adsorbents, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are notable for their extensive surface area and controllable pore chemistry. The porous MOF structure is comprised of metal ions or clusters coordinated to organic linker compounds. In particular, the pore parameters of MOFs are readily tunable, making them promising materials for CO₂ capture applications. Among these, amine-functionalized MOFs have demonstrated exceptional CO₂ capture abilities because their high uptake capacity and selectivity. In this study, we have investigated the CO₂ capture abilities and adsorption mechanisms of the diamine-appended framework N-Ethylethylenediamine-Mg₂(4,4’-dioxidobiphenyl-3,3’-dicarboxylate) (e-2-Mg₂(dobpdc)) using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Previous studies have suggested that CO₂ can be captured via both outer- and inner-amine binding sites. Our findings reveal that CO₂ adsorption at the outer amine site is kinetically more favorable compared to the inner amine site, with a lower energy barrier of 1.34 eV for CO₂ physisorption to chemisorption compared to the inner amine, which has an activation barrier of 1.60 eV. Furthermore, we find that CO₂ adsorption is significantly enhanced in an alkaline environment, as deprotonation of the diamine molecule reduces the energy barrier to 0.24 eV. This theoretical study provides detailed insights into CO₂ adsorption in diamine-appended e-2-Mg₂(dobpdc) MOF, offering a deeper understanding of CO₂ capture mechanisms and valuable information for the advancement of effective CO₂ sequestration technologies.

Keywords: DFT, MOFs, CO₂ capture, catalyst

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Authors: Jun Hee Lee, Young Kyu Kim, Seong Jae Hong, Chamroeun Chhorn, Seung Woo Lee

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Roller-compacted concrete pavement (RCCP), an environmental friendly pavement of which load carry capacity benefitted from both hydration and aggregate interlock from roller compacting, demonstrated a superb structural performance for a relatively small amount of water and cement content. Even though an excellent structural performance can be secured, it is required to investigate roller-compacted concrete (RCC) under environmental loading and its long-term durability under critical conditions. In order to secure long-term durability, an appropriate internal air-void structure is required for this concrete. In this study, a method for improving the long-term durability of RCCP is suggested by analyzing the internal air-void structure and corresponding durability of RCC. The method of improving the long-term durability involves measurements of air content, air voids, and air-spacing factors in RCC that experiences changes in terms of type of air-entraining agent and its usage amount. This test is conducted according to the testing criteria in ASTM C 457, 672, and KS F 2456. It was found that the freezing-thawing and scaling resistances of RCC without any chemical admixture was quite low. Interestingly, an improvement of freezing-thawing and scaling resistances was observed for RCC with appropriate the air entraining (AE) agent content; Relative dynamic elastic modulus was found to be more than 80% for those mixtures. In RCC with AE agent mixtures, large amount of air was distributed within a range of 2% to 3%, and an air void spacing factor ranging between 200 and 300 μm (close to 250 μm, recommended by PCA) was secured. The long-term durability of RCC has a direct relationship with air-void spacing factor, and thus it can only be secured by ensuring the air void spacing factor through the inclusion of the AE in the mixture.

Keywords: durability, RCCP, air spacing factor, surface scaling resistance test, freezing and thawing resistance test

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Authors: Md. Royhanur Islam, Thomas Cansse, Md. Sahidul Islam, Atiqur Rahman Sunny

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The geographical location of Bangladesh makes it one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Climate-induced phenomena mainly affect the south-central region of Bangladesh (Laxmipur district) where they have begun to occur more frequently. The aim of the study was to identify the hydro-climatic factors that lead to weather-related disasters in the coastal areas and analyse the consequences of these factors on coastal livelihoods, with possible adaptation options using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools. The present study showed several disasters such as land erosion, depressions and cyclones, coastal flooding, storm surge, and precipitation. The frequency of these disasters is of a noticeable rate. Surveys have also discovered that land erosion is ongoing. Tidal water is being introduced directly into the mainland, and as a result of the salt intrusion, production capacity is declining. The coastal belt is an important area for fishing activities, but due to changed fishing times and a lack of Alternative Income Generating Activities (AIGAs), people have been forced to search for alternative livelihood options by taking both short-term and long-term adaptation options. Therefore, in order to increase awareness and minimize the losses, vulnerable communities must be fully incorporated into disaster response strategies. The government as well as national and international donor organizations should come forward and resolve the present situation of these vulnerable groups since otherwise, they will have to endure endless and miserable suffering due to the effects of climate change ahead in their lives.

Keywords: adaptation, community, fishery development, livelihood

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Authors: Aminu Ololade Matilda

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Child abuse is a significant issue worldwide, affecting the socio-development and mental and physical health of young individuals. It is the maltreatment of a child by an adult or a child. This paper focuses on child abuse in Communities in Lagos State. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent of child abuse and its impact on the mood, social activities, self-worth, concentration, and academic performance of children in Communities in Lagos State. The primary research instrument used in this study was the interview (Forensic), which consisted of two sections. The first section gathered data on the details of the child and the forms and impacts of abuse experienced, while the second section focused on parental style. The study found that children who experienced various forms of abuse, such as emotional, neglect, physical, or sexual abuse, were hesitant to report it out of fear of threats or even death from the abuser. These abused children displayed withdrawn behaviour, depression, and low self-worth and underperformed academically compared to their peers who did not experience abuse. The findings align with socio-learning and intergenerational transmission of violence theories, which suggest that parents and caregivers who engage in child abuse often do so because they themselves experienced or witnessed abuse as children, thereby normalizing violence. The study highlights the prevalent issue of child abuse in Lagos State and emphasizes the need for advocacy programs and capacity building to raise awareness about child abuse and prevention. The distribution of the Child’s Rights Act in various sectors is also recommended to underscore the importance of protecting the rights of children. Additionally, the inclusion of courses on child abuse in the school curriculum is proposed to ensure children are educated on recognizing and reporting abuse.

Keywords: abuse, child, awareness, effects, emotional, neglect, physical, psychological, sexual, recognize, reporting, right

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