Search results for: cost of farming

Authors: Priyanka Govender, S. Mtshali, Theresa Moonsamy, Zanele Mkwanazi, L. Mthembu

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Chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) can be used at wastewater works to improve the quality of the final effluent discharge, provided that the plant has spare anaerobic digestion capacity. CEPT can transfer part of the organic load to the digesters thereby effectively relieving the hydraulic loading on the plant and in this way can allow the plant to continue operating long after the hydraulic capacity of the plant has been exceeded. This can allow a plant to continue operating well beyond its original design capacity, requiring only fairly simple and inexpensive modifications to the primary settling tanks as well as additional chemical costs, thereby delaying or even avoiding the need for expensive capital upgrades. CEPT can also be effective at plants where high organic loadings prevent the wastewater discharge from meeting discharge standards, especially in the case of COD, phosphates and suspended solids. By increasing removals of these pollutants in the primary settling tanks, CEPT can enable the plant to conform to specifications without the need for costly upgrades. Laboratory trials were carried out recently at the Umbilo WWTW in Durban and these were followed by a baseline assessment of the current plant performance and a subsequent full scale trial on the Conventional plant i.e. West Plant. The operating conditions of the plant are described and the improvements obtained in COD, phosphate and suspended solids, are discussed. The PST and plant overall suspended solids removal efficiency increased by approximately 6% during the trial. Details regarding the effect that CEPT had on sludge production and the digesters are also provided. The cost implications of CEPT are discussed in terms of capital costs as well as operation and maintenance costs and the impact of Ferric chloride on the infrastructure was also studied and found to be minimal. It was concluded that CEPT improves the final quality of the discharge effluent, thereby improving the compliance of this effluent with the discharge license. It could also allow for a delay in upgrades to the plant, allowing the plant to operate above its design capacity. This will be elaborated further upon presentation.

Keywords: chemically enhanced, ferric, wastewater, primary

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Mohd Sabri Minhat, Nurul Adilla Mohd Subha

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The PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor (RTP), Malaysia reached its first criticality on June 28, 1982, with power capacity 1MW thermal. The Feedback Control Algorithm (FCA) which is conventional Proportional-Integral (PI) controller, was used for present power control method to control fission process in RTP. It is important to ensure the core power always stable and follows load tracking within acceptable steady-state error and minimum settling time to reach steady-state power. At this time, the system could be considered not well-posed with power tracking performance. However, there is still potential to improve current performance by developing next generation of a novel design nuclear core power control. In this paper, the dual-mode predictions which are proposed in modelling Optimal Model Predictive Control (OMPC), is presented in a state-space model to control the core power. The model for core power control was based on mathematical models of the reactor core, OMPC, and control rods selection algorithm. The mathematical models of the reactor core were based on neutronic models, thermal hydraulic models, and reactivity models. The dual-mode prediction in OMPC for transient and terminal modes was based on the implementation of a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) in designing the core power control. The combination of dual-mode prediction and Lyapunov which deal with summations in cost function over an infinite horizon is intended to eliminate some of the fundamental weaknesses related to MPC. This paper shows the behaviour of OMPC to deal with tracking, regulation problem, disturbance rejection and caters for parameter uncertainty. The comparison of both tracking and regulating performance is analysed between the conventional controller and OMPC by numerical simulations. In conclusion, the proposed OMPC has shown significant performance in load tracking and regulating core power for nuclear reactor with guarantee stabilising in the closed-loop.

Keywords: core power control, dual-mode prediction, load tracking, optimal model predictive control

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Navpreet Kaur, Himkusha Thakur, Nirmal Prabhakar

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Mehrnoosh Abouzari, Shahrokh Sahraei

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Today, with the increase in quantity and quality and variety of crimes, the discussion of crime prevention has faced a serious challenge that human resources alone and with traditional methods will not be effective. One of the developments in the modern world is the presence of artificial intelligence in various fields, including criminal law. In fact, the use of artificial intelligence in criminal investigations and fighting crime is a necessity in today's world. The use of artificial intelligence is far beyond and even separate from other technologies in the struggle against crime. Second, its application in criminal science is different from the discussion of prevention and it comes to the prediction of crime. Crime prevention in terms of the three factors of the offender, the offender and the victim, following a change in the conditions of the three factors, based on the perception of the criminal being wise, and therefore increasing the cost and risk of crime for him in order to desist from delinquency or to make the victim aware of self-care and possibility of exposing him to danger or making it difficult to commit crimes. While the presence of artificial intelligence in the field of combating crime and social damage and dangers, like an all-seeing eye, regardless of time and place, it sees the future and predicts the occurrence of a possible crime, thus prevent the occurrence of crimes. The purpose of this article is to collect and analyze the studies conducted on the use of artificial intelligence in predicting and preventing crime. How capable is this technology in predicting crime and preventing it? The results have shown that the artificial intelligence technologies in use are capable of predicting and preventing crime and can find patterns in the data set. find large ones in a much more efficient way than humans. In crime prediction and prevention, the term artificial intelligence can be used to refer to the increasing use of technologies that apply algorithms to large sets of data to assist or replace police. The use of artificial intelligence in our debate is in predicting and preventing crime, including predicting the time and place of future criminal activities, effective identification of patterns and accurate prediction of future behavior through data mining, machine learning and deep learning, and data analysis, and also the use of neural networks. Because the knowledge of criminologists can provide insight into risk factors for criminal behavior, among other issues, computer scientists can match this knowledge with the datasets that artificial intelligence uses to inform them.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, criminology, crime, prevention, prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Kyra Kannen, Sonja D. Roelen, Sebastian Schnieder, Jarek Krajewski, Steffen Holsteg, André Karger, Johanna Askeridis, Celina Slawik, Philip Mildner, Jens Piesk, Ruslan David, Holger Kürten, Benjamin Oster, Robert Malzan, Mike Ludemann

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Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly recognized for its potential in transforming mental disorder treatment, offering advantages such as cost-effectiveness, time efficiency, accessibility, reduced stigma, and scalability. While the application of VR in the context of anxiety disorders has been extensively evaluated and demonstrated to be effective, the utilization of VR as a therapeutic treatment for depression remains under-investigated. Our goal is to pioneer immersive VR therapy modules for treating major depression, alongside a web-based system for home use. We develop a modular digital therapy platform grounded in psychodynamic therapy interventions which addresses stress reduction, exploration of social situations and relationship support, social skill training, avoidance behavior analysis, and psychoeducation. In addition, an automated depression monitoring system, based on acoustic voice analysis, is implemented in the form of a speech-based diary to track the affective state of the user and depression severity. The use of immersive VR facilitates patient immersion into complex and realistic interpersonal interactions with high emotional engagement, which may contribute to positive treatment acceptance and satisfaction. In a proof-of-concept study, 45 depressed patients were assigned to VR or web-platform modules, evaluating user experience, usability and additional metrics including depression severity, mindfulness, interpersonal problems, and treatment satisfaction. The findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and user-friendliness of VR and web modules for depression therapy and contribute to the refinement of more tailored digital interventions to improve mental health.

Keywords: virtual reality therapy, digital health, depression, psychotherapy

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Authors: Freddy Munzhelele

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Setting: the empirical research has shown that the life cycle theory has an impact on the firms’ financing decisions, particularly the dividend pay-outs. Accordingly, the life cycle theory posits that as a firm matures, it gets to a level and capacity where it distributes more cash as dividends. On the other hand, the young firms prioritise investment opportunities sets and their financing; thus, they pay little or no dividends. The research on firms’ financing decisions also demonstrated, among others, the adoption of trade-off and pecking order theories on the dynamics of firms capital structure. The trade-off theory talks to firms holding a favourable position regarding debt structures particularly as to the cost and benefits thereof; and pecking order is concerned with firms preferring a hierarchical order as to choosing financing sources. The case of life cycle hypothesis explaining the financial managers’ decisions as regards the firms’ capital structure dynamics appears to be an interesting link, yet this link has been neglected in corporate finance research. If this link is to be explored as an empirical research, the financial decision-making alternatives will be enhanced immensely, since no conclusive evidence has been found yet as to the dynamics of capital structure. Aim: the aim of this study is to examine the impact of life cycle theory on the capital structure dynamics trade-off and pecking order theories of firms listed in retail, industrial and mining sectors of the JSE. These sectors are among the key contributors to the GDP in the South African economy. Design and methodology: following the postpositivist research paradigm, the study is quantitative in nature and utilises secondary data obtainable from the financial statements of sampled firm for the period 2010 – 2022. The firms’ financial statements will be extracted from the IRESS database. Since the data will be in panel form, a combination of the static and dynamic panel data estimators will used to analyse data. The overall data analyses will be done using STATA program. Value add: this study directly investigates the link between the life cycle theory and the dynamics of capital structure decisions, particularly the trade-off and pecking order theories.

Keywords: life cycle theory, trade-off theory, pecking order theory, capital structure, JSE listed firms

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Authors: Sulaiman Al-Hinai, Setyawan Widyarto

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The aim of this study is to identify the critically dominating factors on the delays of road constructions in the GCC countries and their effects on project delivery in Arab countries. Towards the achieved of the objectives the study used the empirical literature from the all relevant online sources and database as many as possible. The findings of this study have summarized and short listed of the success factors in the two categories such as internal and external factors have caused to be influenced to delay of road constructions in the Arab regions. However, in the category of internal factors, there are 63 factors short listed from seven group of factors which has revealed to effects on the delay of road constructions especially, the consultant related factors, the contractor related factors, designed related factors, client related factors, labor related factors, material related issues, equipment related issues respectively. Moreover, for external related factors are also considered to summarized especially natural disaster (flood, hurricanes and cyclone etc.), conflict, war, global financial crisis, compensation delay to affected property owner, price fluctuated, unexpected ground conditions (soil and high-water level), changing of government regulations and laws, delays in obtaining permission from municipality, loss of time by traffic control and restrictions at job site, problem with inhabitant of community, delays in providing service from utilities (water and electricity’s) and accident during constructions accordingly. The present study also concluded the effects of above factors which has delay road constructions through increasing of cost and overrun it, taken overtime, creating of disputes, going for lawsuits, finally happening of abandon of projects. Thus, the present study has given the following recommendations to overcome of above problems by increasing of detailed site investigations, ensure careful monitoring and regular meetings, effective site management, collaborative working and effective coordination’s, proper and comprehensive planning and scheduling and ensure full and intensive commitment from all parties accordingly.

Keywords: Arab GCC countries, critical success factors, road constructions delay, project management

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Muluken Biadgelegn Wollele, Mebratu Assaye Mengistu

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Nanotechnology has created new opportunities for improving industrial efficiency and performance. One of the proposed approaches to improving the effectiveness of temperature exchangers is the use of nanofluids to improve heat transfer performance. The thermal conductivity of nanoparticles, as well as their size, diameter, and volume concentration, all played a role in influencing the rate of heat transfer. Nanofluids are commonly used in automobiles, energy storage, electronic component cooling, solar absorbers, and nuclear reactors. Convective heat transfer must be improved when designing thermal systems in order to reduce heat exchanger size, weight, and cost. Using roughened surfaces to promote heat transfer has been tried several times. Thus, both active and passive heat transfer methods show potential in terms of heat transfer improvement. There will be an added advantage of enhanced heat transfer due to the two methods adopted; however, pressure drop must be considered during flow. Thus, the current research aims to increase heat transfer by adding a twisted tap insert in a plain tube using a working fluid hybrid nanofluid (Al₂O₃-Cu) with a base fluid of water. A circular duct with inserts, a tube length of 3 meters, a hydraulic diameter of 0.01 meters, and tube walls with a constant heat flux of 20 kW/m² and a twist ratio of 125 was used to investigate Al₂O₃-Cu/H₂O hybrid nanofluid with inserts. The temperature distribution is better than with conventional tube designs due to stronger tangential contact and swirls in the twisted tape. The Nusselt number values of plain twisted tape tubes are 1.5–2.0 percent higher than those of plain tubes. When twisted tape is used instead of plain tube, performance evaluation criteria improve by 1.01 times. A heat exchanger that is useful for a number of heat exchanger applications can be built utilizing a mixed flow of analysis that incorporates passive and active methodologies.

Keywords: nanofluids, active method, passive method, Nusselt number, performance evaluation criteria

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Authors: Majid Bayatian, Mohammadreza Ashouri

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Releasing hazardous chemicals is one of the major problems for office buildings in the chemical industry and, therefore, environmental risks are inherent to these environments. The adverse health effects of the airborne concentration of benzene have been a matter of significant concern, especially in oil refineries. The chronic and acute adverse health effects caused by benzene exposure have attracted wide attention. Acute exposure to benzene through inhalation could cause headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and irritation of the skin. Chronic exposures have reported causing aplastic anemia and leukemia at the occupational settings. Association between chronic occupational exposure to benzene and the development of aplastic anemia and leukemia were documented by several epidemiological studies. Numerous research works have investigated benzene emissions and determined benzene concentration at different locations of the refinery plant and stated considerable health risks. The high cost of industrial control measures requires justification through lifetime health risk assessment of exposed workers and the public. In the present study, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model has been proposed to assess the exposure risk of office building around a refinery due to its release of benzene. For simulation, GAMBIT, FLUENT, and CFD Post software were used as pre-processor, processor, and post-processor, and the model was validated based on comparison with experimental results of benzene concentration and wind speed. Model validation results showed that the model is highly validated, and this model can be used for health risk assessment. The simulation and risk assessment results showed that benzene could be dispersion to an office building nearby, and the exposure risk has been unacceptable. According to the results of this study, a validated CFD model, could be very useful for decision-makers for control measures and possibly support them for emergency planning of probable accidents. Also, this model can be used to assess exposure to various types of accidents as well as other pollutants such as toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene in different atmospheric conditions.

Keywords: health risk assessment, office building, Benzene, numerical simulation, CFD

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: U. Gunal, H. I. Turgut, H. Gurler, S. Kaya

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There are many ever-increasing and newly emerging problems with rapid population growth in the world. With the increase in people's quality of life in our daily life, acoustic comfort has become an important feature in the textile industry. In order to meet all these expectations in people's comfort areas and survive in challenging competitive conditions in the market without compromising the customer product quality expectations of textile manufacturers, it has become a necessity to bring functionality to the products. It is inevitable to research and develop materials and processes that will bring these functionalities to textile products. The noise we encounter almost everywhere in our daily life, in the street, at home and work, is one of the problems which textile industry is working on. It brings with it many health problems, both mentally and physically. Therefore, noise control studies become more of an issue. Besides, materials used in noise control are not sufficient to reduce the effect of the noise level. The fabrics used in acoustic studies in the textile industry do not show sufficient performance according to their weight and high cost. Thus, acoustic textile products can not be used in daily life. In the thesis study, the attributions used in the noise control and building acoustics studies in the literature were analyzed, and the product with the highest damping value that a textile material will have was designed, manufactured, and tested. Optimum values were obtained by using different material samples that may affect the performance of the acoustic material. Acoustic measurement methods should be applied to verify the acoustic performances shown by the parameters and the designed three-dimensional structure at different values. In the measurements made in the study, the device designed for determining the acoustic performance of the material for both the impedance tube according to the relevant standards and the different noise types in the study was used. In addition, sound records of noise types encountered in daily life are taken and applied to the acoustic absorbent fabric with the aid of the device, and the feasibility of the results and the commercial ability of the product are examined. MATLAB numerical computing programming language and libraries were used in the frequency and sound power analyses made in the study.

Keywords: acoustic, egg crate, fabric, textile

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Christoph Ostermair

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We deal with the effect of correlation between prospects on human decision making under uncertainty as proposed by the comparatively new and promising model of “salience theory of choice under risk”. In this regard, we show that the theory entails the prediction that the inconsistency of choices, known as the Allais paradox, should not be an issue in the context of “real-life decision making”, which typically corresponds to situations of subjective uncertainty. The Allais paradox, probably the best-known anomaly regarding expected utility theory, would then essentially have no practical relevance. If, however, empiricism contradicts this prediction, salience theory might suffer a serious setback. Explanations of the model for variable human choice behavior are mostly the result of a particular mechanism that does not come to play under perfect correlation. Hence, if it turns out that correlation between prospects – as typically found in real-world applications – does not influence human decision making in the expected way, this might to a large extent cost the theory its explanatory power. The empirical literature regarding the Allais paradox under subjective uncertainty is so far rather moderate. Beyond that, the results are hard to maintain as an argument, as the presentation formats commonly employed, supposably have generated so-called event-splitting effects, thereby distorting subjects’ choice behavior. In our own incentivized experimental study, we control for such effects by means of two different choice settings. We find significant event-splitting effects in both settings, thereby supporting the suspicion that the so far existing empirical results related to Allais paradoxes under subjective uncertainty may not be able to answer the question at hand. Nevertheless, we find that the basic tendency behind the Allais paradox, which is a particular switch of the preference relation due to a modified common consequence, shared by two prospects, is still existent both under an event-splitting and a coalesced presentation format. Yet, the modal choice pattern is in line with the prediction of salience theory. As a consequence, the effect of correlation, as proposed by the model, might - if anything - only weaken the systematic choice pattern behind the Allais paradox.

Keywords: Allais paradox, common consequence effect, models of decision making under risk and uncertainty, salience theory

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Authors: Ismail S. Bostanci, Ebru Akkaya

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Microalgae-derived biodiesel, fertilizer or industrial chemicals' production with wastewater has great potential. Especially water from a municipal wastewater treatment plant is a very important nutrient source for biofuel production. Microalgae biomass production in open ponds system is lower cost culture systems. There are many hurdles for commercial algal biomass production in large scale. One of the important technical bottlenecks for microalgae production in open system is culture contamination. The algae culture contaminants can generally be described as invading organisms which could cause pond crash. These invading organisms can be competitors, parasites, and predators. Contamination is unavoidable in open systems. Potential contaminant organisms are already inoculated if wastewater is utilized for algal biomass cultivation. Especially, it is important to control contaminants to retain in acceptable level in order to reach true potential of algal biofuel production. There are several contamination management methods in algae industry, ranging from mechanical, chemical, biological and growth condition change applications. However, none of them are accepted as a suitable contamination control method. This experiment describes an innovative contamination control method, 'Recirculated Sedimentation Method', to manage contamination to avoid pond cash. The method can be used for the production of algal biofuel, fertilizer etc. and algal wastewater treatment. To evaluate the performance of the method on algal culture, an experiment was conducted for 90 days at a lab-scale raceway (60 L) reactor with the use of non-sterilized and non-filtered wastewater (secondary effluent and centrate of anaerobic digestion). The application of the method provided the following; removing contaminants (predators and diatoms) and other debris from reactor without discharging the culture (with microscopic evidence), increasing raceway tank’s suspended solids holding capacity (770 mg L-1), increasing ammonium removal rate (29.83 mg L-1 d-1), decreasing algal and microbial biofilm formation on inner walls of reactor, washing out generated nitrifier from reactor to prevent ammonium consumption.

Keywords: contamination control, microalgae culture contamination, pond crash, predator control

Procedia PDF Downloads 207

Authors: Mohd Sabere Sulaiman, Masyitah Abd Aziz, Norsiah Hassan, Jamilah Halina Abdul Halim, Mohd Saipul Asrafi Haron

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The use of clay roof tiles was spread out through Asia and Europe, including Malaysia, since the early 17th Century. Most of the common type of clay roof tiles are used in a flat and rectangular shape, measurement, styles, and characteristics through each tradition and interest, including responsive to the climate. Various types of heritage clay roof tiles were used in Malaysia’s Government Buildings dated 1865, 1919, 1936, and so forth, which mostly were imported from India, France, and Italy. Until now, these heritage clay roof tiles are still found throughout Malaysia, including the ‘Interlocking’ clay roof tile type. This study is to investigate and overview the existence of heritage clay roof tiles used in Malaysia; the ‘interlocking’ type with ‘lip’ and ‘hooks’, through literature reviews as desktop study besides carried out a preliminary observation on various sites and interviews. From the literatures, the last production and used of the local heritage clay roof tiles in Malaysia dated in mid 1900s in Batu Arang, Selangor. The brick factory was abandoned since early 2000s. Although the modern ‘Interlocking’ type were produced to duplicate its form, pattern, and size of the original one, they still facing the problem to blend and merged, which end up dismantling the original version, or replacing one to one condition and even replaced overall with the modern materials. This is quite contradicting with the basic principles of building conservation and had become a challenge. Initial findings from the preliminary observation on site in various state in Malaysia shows some evidence that the heritage clay roof tiles are still intact and been used. Some of them might change to modern roof materials such as metal deck, probably due to easy maintenance and cheaper. Also, some are still struggling to maintain and retain its looks and authenticity of the roof while facing the increasing of material cost. Those improper alteration and changes made is due to lack of knowledge among the owner and end user. Various aspect needs to be considered in order to sustain its usage and its original looks by looking at the proper maintenance aspects of the heritage clay roof tiles to prolong the building life for future generation preferences.

Keywords: challenges, clay, interlocking, maintenance

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Authors: Menna Brown, Tania Domun

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Digital health interventions are effective across a wide array of health conditions spanning physical health, lifestyle behaviour change, and mental health and wellbeing; furthermore, they are rapidly increasing in volume within both the academic literature and society as commercial apps continue to proliferate the digital health market. However, adherence and engagement to digital health interventions remains problematic. Technology-based personalised and tailored reminder strategies can support engagement to digital health interventions. Interventions which support individuals’ mental health and wellbeing are of critical importance in the wake if the COVID-19 pandemic. Student and young person’s mental health has been negatively affected and digital resources continue to offer cost effective means to address wellbeing at a population level. Develop a databank of digital co-produced tailored messages to support engagement to a range of digital health interventions including those focused on mental health and wellbeing, and lifestyle behaviour change. Qualitative research design. Participants discussed their views of health and wellbeing, engagement and adherence to digital health interventions focused around a 12-week wellbeing intervention via a series of focus group discussions. They worked together to co-create content following a participatory design approach. Three focus group discussions were facilitated with (n=15) undergraduate students at one Welsh university to provide an empirically derived, co-produced, databank of (n=145) tailored messages. Messages were explored and categorised thematically, and the following ten themes emerged: Autonomy, Recognition, Guidance, Community, Acceptance, Responsibility, Encouragement, Compassion, Impact and Ease. The findings provide empirically derived, co-produced tailored messages. These have been made available for use, via ‘ACTivate your wellbeing’ a digital, automated, 12-week health and wellbeing intervention programme, based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The purpose of which is to support future research to evaluate the impact of thematically categorised tailored messages on engagement and adherence to digital health interventions.

Keywords: digital health, engagement, wellbeing, participatory design, positive psychology, co-production

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Authors: Mary Konadu

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The rectal route for drug administration is becoming attractive to drug formulators because it can avoid hepatic first-pass effects, decrease gastrointestinal side effects and avoid undesirable effects of meals on drug absorption. Suppositories have been recognized as an alternative to the oral route in situations such as when the patient is comatose, unable to swallow, or when the drug produces nausea or vomiting. Effective drug delivery with appropriate pharmaceutical excipient is key in the production of clinically useful preparations. The high cost of available excipients coupled with other disadvantages have led to the exploration of potential excipients from natural sources. Allanblackia floribunda butter, a naturally occurring lipid, is used for medicinal, culinary, and cosmetic purposes. Different extraction methods (solvent (hexane) extraction, traditional/hot water extraction, and cold/screw press extraction) were employed to extract the oil. The different extracts of A. floribunda oil were analyzed for their physicochemical properties and mineral content. The oil was used as a base to formulate Paracetamol and Diclofenac suppositories. Quality control test were carried out on the formulated suppositories. The %age oil yield for hexane extract, hot water extract, and cold press extract were 50.40 ±0.00, 37.36±0.00, and 20.48±0.00, respectively. The acid value, saponification value, iodine value and free fatty acid were 1.159 ± 0.065, 208.51 ± 8.450, 49.877 ± 0.690 and 0.583 ± 0.032 respectively for hexane extract; 3.480 ± 0.055, 204.672±2.863, 49.04 ± 0.76 and 1.747 ± 0.028 respectively for hot water/traditional extract; 4.43 ± 0.055, 192.05±1.56, 49.96 ± 0.29 and 2.23 ± 0.03 respectively for cold press extract. Calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, and iron were minerals found to be present in the A. floribunda butter extracts. The uniformity of weight, hardness, disintegration time, and uniformity of content were found to be within the acceptable range. The melting point ranges for all the suppositories were found to be satisfactory. The cumulative drug release (%) of the suppositories at 45 minutes was 90.19±0.00 (Hot water extract), 93.75±0.00 (Cold Pres Extract), and 98.16±0.00 (Hexane Extract) for Paracetamol suppositories. Diclofenac sodium suppositories had a cumulative %age release of 81.60±0.00 (Hot water Extract), 95.33±0.00 (Cold Press Extract), and 99.20±0.00 (Hexane Extract). The physicochemical parameters obtained from this study shows that Allanblackia floribunda seed oil is edible and can be used as a suppository base. The suppository formulation was successful, and the quality control tests conformed to Pharmacopoeia standard.

Keywords: allanblackia foribunda, paracetamol, diclofenac, suppositories

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Authors: Sophio Kobauri, Tengiz Kantaria, Temur Kantaria, David Tugushi, Nina Kulikova, Ramaz Katsarava

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Nanosized environmentally responsive materials are of special interest for various applications, including targeted drug to a considerable potential for treatment of many human diseases. The important technological advantages of nanoparticles (NPs) usage as drug carriers (nanocontainers) are their high stability, high carrier capacity, feasibility of encapsulation of both hydrophilic or hydrophobic substances, as well as a high variety of possible administration routes, including oral application and inhalation. NPs can also be designed to allow controlled (sustained) drug release from the matrix. These properties of NPs enable improvement of drug bioavailability and might allow drug dosage decrease. The targeted and controlled administration of drugs using NPs might also help to overcome drug resistance, which is one of the major obstacles in the control of epidemics. Various degradable and non-degradable polymers of both natural and synthetic origin have been used for NPs construction. One of the most promising for the design of NPs are amino acid-based biodegradable polymers (AABBPs) which can clear from the body after the fulfillment of their function. The AABBPs are composed of naturally occurring and non-toxic building blocks such as α-amino acids, fatty diols and dicarboxylic acids. The particles designed from these polymers are expected to have an improved bioavailability along with a high biocompatibility. The present work deals with a systematic study of the preparation of NPs by cost-effective polymer deposition/solvent displacement method using AABBPs. The influence of the nature and concentration of surfactants, concentration of organic phase (polymer solution), and the ratio organic phase/inorganic (water) phase, as well as of some other factors on the size of the fabricated NPs have been studied. It was established that depending on the used conditions the NPs size could be tuned within 40-330 nm. As the next step of this research an evaluation of biocompatibility and bioavailability of the synthesized NPs has been performed, using two stable human cell culture lines – HeLa and A549. This part of study is still in progress now.

Keywords: amino acids, biodegradable polymers, nanoparticles (NPs), non-toxic building blocks

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Authors: Claudia Aguilar, Amen Farooq

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Among other cities in the United States, the city of Atlanta is experiencing levels of growth that surpass anything we have witnessed in the last century. With the surge of population influx, the available housing is practically bursting at the seams. Supply is low, and demand is high. In effect, the average one-bedroom apartment runs for 1,800 dollars per month. The city is desperately seeking new opportunities to provide affordable housing at an expeditious rate. This has been made evident by the recent updates to the city’s zoning. With the recent influx in the housing market, young professionals, in particular millennials, are desperately looking for alternatives to stay within the city. To remedy Atlanta’s affordable housing crisis, the city of Atlanta is planning to introduce 40 thousand of new affordable housing units by 2026. To achieve the urgent need for more affordable housing, the architectural response needs to adapt to overcome this goal. A method that has proven successful in modern housing is to practice modular means of development. A method that has been constrained to the dimensions of the max load for an eighteen-wheeler. This approach has diluted the architect’s ability to produce site-specific, informed design and rather contributes to the “cookie cutter” stigma that the method has been labeled with. This thesis explores the design methodology for modular housing by revisiting its constructability and adaptability. This research focuses on a modular housing type that could break away from the constraints of transport and deliver adaptive reconfigurable assemblies. The adaptive assemblies represent an integrated design strategy for assembling the future of affordable dwelling units. The goal is to take advantage of a component-based system and explore a scalable solution to modular housing. This proposal aims specifically to design a kit of parts that are made to be easily transported and assembled but also gives the ability to customize the use of components to benefit all unique conditions. The benefits of this concept could include decreased construction time, cost, on-site labor, and disruption while providing quality housing with affordable and flexible options.

Keywords: adaptive assemblies, modular architecture, adaptability, constructibility, kit of parts

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Authors: Ahmed G. Mahgoub, Dahlia H. Hafez, Mostafa A. Abu Kiefa

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The Cone Penetration Test (CPT) is a common in-situ test which generally investigates a much greater volume of soil more quickly than possible from sampling and laboratory tests. Therefore, it has the potential to realize both cost savings and assessment of soil properties rapidly and continuously. The principle objective of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the soil angle of internal friction (Φ) and the soil modulus of elasticity (E) from CPT results considering the uncertainties and non-linearities of the soil. In addition, ANNs are used to study the influence of different parameters and recommend which parameters should be included as input parameters to improve the prediction. Neural networks discover relationships in the input data sets through the iterative presentation of the data and intrinsic mapping characteristics of neural topologies. General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) is one of the powerful neural network architectures which is utilized in this study. A large amount of field and experimental data including CPT results, plate load tests, direct shear box, grain size distribution and calculated data of overburden pressure was obtained from a large project in the United Arab Emirates. This data was used for the training and the validation of the neural network. A comparison was made between the obtained results from the ANN's approach, and some common traditional correlations that predict Φ and E from CPT results with respect to the actual results of the collected data. The results show that the ANN is a very powerful tool. Very good agreement was obtained between estimated results from ANN and actual measured results with comparison to other correlations available in the literature. The study recommends some easily available parameters that should be included in the estimation of the soil properties to improve the prediction models. It is shown that the use of friction ration in the estimation of Φ and the use of fines content in the estimation of E considerable improve the prediction models.

Keywords: angle of internal friction, cone penetrating test, general regression neural network, soil modulus of elasticity

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Authors: Jiri Beranovsky, Jaroslav Knapek, Tomas Kralik, Kamila Vavrova

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The paper deals with the results of research focused on the complex aspects of the use of intentionally grown biomass on agricultural land for the production of solid biofuels as an alternative for individual household heating. . The study primarily deals with the analysis of CO2 emissions of the logistics cycle of biomass for the production of energy pellets. Growing, harvesting, transport and storage are evaluated in the pellet production cycle. The aim is also to take into account the consumption profile during the year in terms of heating of common family houses, which are typical end-market segment for these fuels. It is assumed that in family houses, bio-pellets are able to substitute typical fossil fuels, such as brown coal and old wood burning heating devices and also electric boilers. One of the competing technology with the pellets are heat pumps. The results show the CO2 emissions related with considered fuels and technologies for their utilization. Comparative analysis is aimed biopellets from intentionally grown biomass, brown coal, natural gas and electricity used in electric boilers and heat pumps. Analysis combines CO2 emissions related with individual fuels utilization with costs of these fuels utilization. Cost of biopellets from intentionally grown biomass is derived from the economic models of individual energy crop plantations. At the same time, the restrictions imposed by EU legislation on Ecodesign's fuel and combustion equipment requirements and NOx emissions are discussed. Preliminary results of analyzes show that to achieve the competitiveness of pellets produced from specifically grown biomass, it would be necessary to either significantly ecological tax on coal (from about 0.3 to 3-3.5 EUR/GJ), or to multiply the agricultural subsidy per area. In addition to the Czech Republic, the results are also relevant for other countries, such as Bulgaria and Poland, which also have a high proportion of solid fuels for household heating.

Keywords: CO2 emissions, heating costs, energy crop, pellets, brown coal, heat pumps, economical evaluation

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Authors: Arief, Noovirman Jamarun, Benni Satria

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Background: The main problem in the development of livestock in Indonesia is feed both in terms of quality and quantity. On the other hand, conventional feed ingredients are expensive and difficult to obtain. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternative feed ingredients that have good quality, potential, and low cost. Feed ingredients that meet the above requirements are by-products of the palm oil industry, namely palm kernel cake (PKC). This study aims to obtain the best PKC composition for Etawa goat concentrate ration. Material and Methode : This research consists of 2 stages. Stage I is invitro study using Tilley and Terry method. The study used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 4 treatments of rations and 4 replications. The treatment is the composition of the use of palm kernel cake (PKC) in the ration, namely, A). 10%, B). 20%, C). 30%, D). 40%. Other feed ingredients are corn, rice bran, tofu waste and minerals. The measured variables are the characteristics of the rumen fluid (pH, VFA and NH3). Stage II was done using the best ration of stage I (Ration C), followed by testing the use of Tithonia (Thitonia difersifolia) and agricultural waste of sweet potato leaves as a source of forage for livestock by in-vitro. The study used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 treatments and 5 replications. The treatments were: Treatment A) Best Concentrate Ration Stage I + Titonia (Thitonia difersifolia), Treatment B) Best Concentrate Ration Stage I + Tithonia (Thitonia difersifolia) and Sweet potato Leaves, Treatment C) Best Concentrate Ration Stage I + Sweet potato leaves. The data obtained were analyzed using variance analysis while the differences between treatments were tested using the Duncant Multiple Range Test (DMRT) according to Steel and Torrie. Results of Stage II showed that the use of PKC in rations as concentrate feed combined with forage originating from Tithonia (Thitonia difersifolia) and sweet potato leaves produced pH, VFA and NH3-N which were still in normal conditions. The best treatment was obtained from diet B (P <0.05) with 6.9 pH, 116.29 mM VFA and 15mM NH3-N. Conclussion From the results of the study it can be concluded that PKC can be used as feed ingredients for dairy goat concentrate with a combination of forage from Tithonia (Tithonia difersifolia) and sweet potato leaves.

Keywords: palm oil by-product, palm kernel cake, concentrate, rumen fluid, Etawa goat

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Authors: Asim Laeeq Khan, Mazhar Amjad Gilani, Tayub Raza

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The use of fossil fuels for energy generation leads to the emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 into the atmosphere. To date, several techniques have been proposed for the efficient removal of CO2 from flue gas mixtures. Membrane technology is a promising choice due to its several inherent advantages such as low capital cost, high energy efficiency, and low ecological footprint. One of the goals in the development of membranes is to achieve high permeability and selectivity. Mixed matrix membranes comprising of inorganic fillers embedded in polymer matrix are a class of membranes that have showed improved separation properties. One of the biggest challenges in the commercialization if mixed matrix membranes are the removal of non-selective voids existing at the polymer-filler interface. In this work, mixed matrix membranes were prepared using polysulfone as polymer matrix and ordered mesoporous MCM-41 as filler materials. A new approach to removing the interfacial voids was developed by introducing room temperature ionic (RTIL) at the polymer-filler interface. The results showed that the imidazolium based RTIL not only provided wettability characteristics but also helped in further improving the separation properties. The removal of interfacial voids and good contact between polymer and filler was verified by SEM measurement. The synthesized membranes were tested in a custom built gas permeation set-up for the measurement of gas permeability and ideal gas selectivity. The results showed that the mixed matrix membranes showed significantly higher CO2 permeability in comparison to the pristine membrane. In order to have further insight into the role of fillers, diffusion and solubility measurements were carried out. The results showed that the presence of highly porous fillers resulted in increasing the diffusion coefficient while the solubility showed a slight drop. The RTIL filled membranes showed higher CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivity than unfilled membranes while the permeability dropped slightly. The increase in selectivity was due to the highly selective RTIL used in this work. The study revealed that RTIL filled mixed matrix membranes are an interesting candidate for gas separation membranes.

Keywords: ionic liquids, CO2 separation, membranes, mixed matrix membranes

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Authors: Ola Jon Mork, Lars Andre Giske, Emil Bjørlykhaug

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Stabilization of critical processes in order to have the right quality of the products, more efficient production and smoother flow is a key issue in lean production. This paper presents how simulation of key welding processes can stabilize complicated welding processes in small scale production, and how simulation can impact the entire production concept seen from the perspective of lean production. First, a field study was made to learn the production processes in the factory, and subsequently the field study was transformed into a value stream map to get insight into each operation, the quality issues, operation times, lead times and flow of materials. Valuable practical knowledge of how the welding operations were done by operators, appropriate tools and jigs, and type of robots that could be used, was collected. All available information was then implemented into a simulation environment for further elaboration and development. Three researchers, the management of the company and skilled operators at the work floor where working on the project over a period of eight months, and a detailed description of the process was made by the researchers. The simulation showed that simulation could solve a number of technical challenges, the robot program can be tuned in off line mode, and the design and testing of the robot cell could be made in the simulator. Further on the design of the product could be optimized for robot welding and the jigs could be designed and tested in simulation environment. This means that a key issue of lean production can be solved; the welding operation will work with almost 100% performance when it is put into real production. Stabilizing of one key process is critical to gain control of the entire value chain, then a Takt Time can be established and the focus can be directed towards the next process in the production which should be stabilized. Results show that industrial parameters like welding time, welding cost and welding quality can be defined on the simulation stage. Further on, this gives valuable information for calculation of the factories business performance, like manufacturing volume and manufacturing efficiency. Industrial impact from simulation is more efficient implementation of lean manufacturing, since the welding process can be stabilized. More research should be done to gain more knowledge about simulation as a tool for implementation of lean, especially where there complex processes.

Keywords: simulation, lean, stabilization, welding process

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Authors: Sankhanil Das, Arunava Dasgupta, Keya Mitra

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This paper investigates the relationship between natural ecological systems and modern urban morphology. Over years, ecological conditions represented by natural resources such as natural landforms, systems of water, urban geography and land covers have been a significant driving factor of how settlements have formed, expanded and functioned. These have played a pivotal role in formation of the community character and the cultural identity of the urban spaces, and have steered cultural behavior within these settings. Such cultural behaviors have been instrumental in transforming mere spaces to places with meaning and symbolism. The natural process of city formation is principally founded upon the idea of balance and harmony, mostly in a subconscious manner. Reimaging such processes of natural evolution, this paper systematically builds a development model that generates a balance between environment and development, with specific focus on the Urban-Rural fringe areas in the Temple Town of Puri, in Eastern India. Puri represents a unique cross section of ecological landscape, cultural practices and religious symbolism with a very rich history and a vibrant heritage. While the city centre gets more and more crowded by tourists and pilgrims to accommodate related businesses, the original residents of Puri relocate to move towards the urban peripheral areas for better living conditions, gradually converting agricultural lands into non agricultural uses. This rapid spread into the rural hinterland is devoid of any connection with the rich cultural identity of Puri. These past four decades of ‘development’ has been at the cost of 810 Hectares of ecological Lake systems in the region. Invaluable ecological resources at urban rural edges are often viewed as hindrances to development and conceptualized as taking away from the image of the city. This paper attempts to understand the language of development over years on existing natural resources through topo-analysis and proposes a sustainable approach of development using different planning tools, with ecological resources as the pivotal factor of development.

Keywords: livability, sustainable development, urbanization, urban-rural edge

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Authors: Mannika Garg, N. Srinivas Murthy, Sunish Nair

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TeamIndus is only Indian team participated in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP). GLXP is an incentive prize space competition which is organized by the XPrize Foundation and sponsored by Google. The main objective of the mission is to soft land a rover on the moon surface, travel minimum displacement of 500 meters and transmit HD and NRT videos and images to the Earth. Team Indus is designing a Lunar Lander which carries Rover with it and deliver onto the surface of the moon with a soft landing. For lander to survive throughout the mission, energy is required to operate all attitude control sensors, actuators, heaters and other necessary components. Photovoltaic solar array systems are the most common and primary source of power generation for any spacecraft. The scope of this paper is to provide a system-level approach for designing the solar array systems of the lander to generate required power to accomplish the mission. For this mission, the direction of design effort is to higher efficiency, high reliability and high specific power. Towards this approach, highly efficient multi-junction cells have been considered. The design is influenced by other constraints also like; mission profile, chosen spacecraft attitude, overall lander configuration, cost effectiveness and sizing requirements. This paper also addresses the various solar array design challenges such as operating temperature, shadowing, radiation environment and mission life and strategy of supporting required power levels (peak and average). The challenge to generate sufficient power at the time of surface touchdown, due to low sun elevation (El) and azimuth (Az) angle which depends on Lunar landing site, has also been showcased in this paper. To achieve this goal, energy balance analysis has been carried out to study the impact of the above-mentioned factors and to meet the requirements and has been discussed in this paper.

Keywords: energy balance analysis, multi junction solar cells, photovoltaic, reliability, spacecraft attitude

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Authors: Urrutia Fernando, López Jessica, Sánchez Carlos, San Antonio Thalía

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Ecuador, as a signatory country of the convention of the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) has, in the recent years, strengthened the structures and legal framework required to protect this minority comprised of 13.2% of its total population. However, the reality is that this group has disproportionately low earnings and low educational attainment in comparison with the general population. The main struggles, to promote job placement of wheelchairs users, are environmental discrimination caused by accessibility in structures and transportation, this mainly due to the cost, for private and public entities, of performing the reasonable accommodation they require. It is widely known that product development and production is needed to support effective implementation of the CRPD and that walking and standing are the major life activities, in this context the objective of this investigation is to promote job placement of wheelchair user in the province of Tungurahua by means of the design, production and marketing of a customized stand up wheelchair. Exploratory interviews and measurements were performed in a representative sample of working age wheelchairs users that develop their disability after achieving their physical maturity and that are capable of performing professional activities with their upper limbs, this in order to detect the user’s preference and determine the local economic and anthropometric parameters to be included in the wheelchair design. The findings reveal factors that uniquely impact quality of life and development for people with a mobility disability within the context of the province, first that transportation is a big issue since public buses does not have accessibility for wheelchair users and the absence of curb cuts and the presence of trash bins over the sidewalks among other hinders an economic independent mobility, second that the proposal based in the idea of modifying the wheelchairs to make it able to overcome certain obstacles helps people in wheelchair to improve their independent living and by reducing the costs of modification for the employer could improve their chances of finding work.

Keywords: anthropometrics, job placement, stand up wheelchair, user centered design

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Authors: Aschalew C. Workneh, K. S. Hari Prasad, C. S. P. Ojha

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The crop water stress index (CWSI) is a cost-effective, non-destructive, and simple technique for tracking the start of crop water stress. This study investigated the feasibility of CWSI derived from canopy temperature to detect the water status of wheat crops. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have become increasingly popular in recent years for determining CWSI. In this study, the performance of two AI techniques, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and self-organizing maps (SOM), are compared while determining the CWSI of paddy crops. Field experiments were conducted for varying irrigation water applications during two seasons in 2022 and 2023 at the irrigation field laboratory at the Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. The ANFIS and SOM-simulated CWSI values were compared with the experimentally calculated CWSI (EP-CWSI). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the upper and lower CWSI baselines. The upper CWSI baseline was found to be a function of crop height and wind speed, while the lower CWSI baseline was a function of crop height, air vapor pressure deficit, and wind speed. The performance of ANFIS and SOM were compared based on mean absolute error (MAE), mean bias error (MBE), root mean squared error (RMSE), index of agreement (d), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), and coefficient of correlation (R²). Both models successfully estimated the CWSI of the paddy crop with higher correlation coefficients and lower statistical errors. However, the ANFIS (R²=0.81, NSE=0.73, d=0.94, RMSE=0.04, MAE= 0.00-1.76 and MBE=-2.13-1.32) outperformed the SOM model (R²=0.77, NSE=0.68, d=0.90, RMSE=0.05, MAE= 0.00-2.13 and MBE=-2.29-1.45). Overall, the results suggest that ANFIS is a reliable tool for accurately determining CWSI in wheat crops compared to SOM.

Keywords: adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, canopy temperature, crop water stress index, self-organizing map, wheat

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Authors: Tânia F. C. V. Silva, Eloísa S. S. Vieira, João Pinto da Costa, Rui A. R. Boaventura, Vitor J. P. Vilar

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Sanitary landfill leachates are characterized as a complex mixture of diverse organic and inorganic contaminants, which are usually removed by combining different treatment processes. Due to its simplicity, reliability, high cost-effectiveness and high nitrogen content (mostly under the ammonium form) inherent in this type of effluent, the activated sludge biological process is almost always applied in leachate treatment plants (LTPs). The purpose of this work is to assess the effect of the main nitrification and denitrification variables on the nitrogen's biological removal, from mature leachates. The leachate samples were collected after an aerated lagoon, at a LTP nearby Porto, presenting a high amount of dissolved organic carbon (1.0-1.3 g DOC/L) and ammonium nitrogen (1.1-1.7 g NH4+-N/L). The experiments were carried out in a 1-L lab-scale batch reactor, equipped with a pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) control system, in order to determine the reaction kinetic constants at unchanging conditions. The nitrification reaction rate was evaluated while varying the (i) operating temperature (15, 20, 25 and 30ºC), (ii) DO concentration interval (0.5-1.0, 1.0-2.0 and 2.0-4.0 mg/L) and (iii) solution pH (not controlled, 7.5-8.5 and 6.5-7.5). At the beginning of most assays, it was verified that the ammonium stripping occurred simultaneously to the nitrification, reaching up to 37% removal of total dissolved nitrogen. The denitrification kinetic constants and the methanol consumptions were calculated for different values of (i) volatile suspended solids (VSS) content (25, 50 and 100 mL of centrifuged sludge in 1 L solution), (ii) pH interval (6.5-7.0, 7.5-8.0 and 8.5-9.0) and (iii) temperature (15, 20, 25 and 30ºC), using effluent previously nitrified. The maximum nitrification rate obtained was 38±2 mg NH4+-N/h/g VSS (25ºC, 0.5-1.0 mg O2/L, pH not controlled), consuming 4.4±0.3 mg CaCO3/mg NH4+-N. The highest denitrification rate achieved was 19±1 mg (NO2--N+NO3--N)/h/g VSS (30ºC, 50 mL of sludge and pH between 7.5 and 8.0), with a C/N consumption ratio of 1.1±0.1 mg CH3OH/mg (NO2--N+NO3--N) and an overall alkalinity production of 3.7±0.3 mg CaCO3/mg (NO2--N+NO3--N). The denitrification process showed to be sensitive to all studied parameters, while the nitrification reaction did not suffered significant change when DO content was changed.

Keywords: mature sanitary landfill leachate, nitrogen removal, nitrification and denitrification parameters, lab-scale activated sludge biological reactor

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Authors: B. Schofield, F. Gul, S. McClean, R. Hoskins, R. Terry, U. Rolfe, A. Gibson, S. Voss, J. Benger

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Aim: The aim of this study is to determine whether and how health promotion activities are undertaken by paramedics and emergency department nurses and investigate ways of overcoming potential barriers. Background: Paramedics and emergency department nurses are uniquely placed to reach millions of people and could use these contacts as positive opportunities to help people improve their health by identifying people with risk factors and provide information, brief interventions, and signposting to locally provided services. These interventions can be carried out when the opportunity arises, typically take no more than a few minutes, have a low financial cost and can be a highly efficient method of health promotion. Methodology: Three NHS Emergency Departments and four Ambulance Trusts in England were recruited to the study. A link to an online survey was distributed to paramedics and emergency department nurses at participating sites. Staff were invited to participate in virtual semi-structured interviews. Patients seen, treated, and discharged at the participating sites were invited to virtual semistructured interviews. Findings: A total of 331 survey responses were received, 21 virtual semi-structured staff interviews and 11 patient interviews were completed. Staff reported lack of time to prioritise, lack of knowledge, resources, and confidence as barriers. Receptiveness of patients guided their decision to undertake health promotion activities. They reported a desire to learn how to undertake health promotion conversations. Emergency department nurses felt more supported than paramedics by their organisations to undertake health promotion activities. Patients were not aware of health promotion activities and reported fear and lack of privacy as barriers. Conclusions: These results will guide the development of an intervention to support the provision of health promotion by staff in urgent and emergency care settings. The components of the intervention will be mapped to a framework which will consider the needs of staff working within these settings, patients they treat, and organisational issues and practices related to the implementation of such an intervention.

Keywords: emergency service, hospital, nursing, allied health personnel, emergency medical services, health promotion

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Authors: Silvia A. Magalhaes, Vasco P. De Freitas, Jose L. Alexandre

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Most of the European literature concerning energy efficiency and thermal comfort of dwellings assumes permanent heating and focuses on energy-saving measures. European National regulations are designed for those permanent comfort conditions. On the other hand, very few studies focus on the effect of the improvement measures in comfort reduction, for free-floating conditions or intermittent heating, in fuel poverty vulnerable countries. In Portugal, only 21% of the household energy consumptions (and 10% of the cost) are spent in space heating, while, on average European bills, this value rises to 67%. The mild climate, but mainly fuel poverty and cultural background, justifies these low heating practices. This study proposes a “passive discomfort” index definition, considering free-floating temperatures or with intermittent heating profiles (more realistic conditions), putting the focus on comfort rather than energy consumption (which is low for these countries). The aim is to compare both energy (regarding the legal framework of national regulation) and comfort (considering realistic conditions of use) to identify some correlation. It was developed an experimental campaign of indoor thermal conditions in a 19th building located in Porto with several apartments. One dwelling was chosen as a case study to carry out a sensitivity analysis. The results are discussed comparing both theoretical energy consumption (energy rates from national regulation) and discomfort (new index defined), for different insulation thicknesses, orientations, and intermittent heating profiles. The results show that the different passive options (walls insulation and glazing options) have a small impact on winter discomfort, which is always high for low heating profiles. Moreover, it was shown that the insulation thickness on walls has no influence, and the minimum insulation thickness considered is enough to achieve the same impact on discomfort reduction. Plus, for these low heating profiles, other conditions are critical, as the orientation. Finally, there isn’t an unequivocal relation between the energy label and the discomfort index. These and other results are surprising when compared with the most usual approaches, which assume permanent heating.

Keywords: dwellings in historical buildings, low-heating countries, mild climates, thermal comfort

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Authors: Anamika Sahu

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The Himalayas, like many mountainous regions, is susceptible to multiple hazards. In recent times, the frequency of such disasters is continuously increasing due to extreme weather phenomena. These natural hazards are responsible for irreparable human and economic loss. The Indian Himalayas has repeatedly been ruptured by great earthquakes in the past and has the potential for a future large seismic event as it falls under the seismic gap. Damages caused by earthquakes are different in different localities. It is well known that, during earthquakes, damage to the structure is associated with the subsurface conditions and the quality of construction materials. So, for sustainable mountain development, prior estimation of site characterization will be valuable for designing and constructing the space area and for efficient mitigation of the seismic risk. Both geotechnical and geophysical investigation of the subsurface is required to describe the subsurface complexity. In mountainous regions, geophysical methods are gaining popularity as areas can be studied without disturbing the ground surface, and also these methods are time and cost-effective. The MASW method is used to calculate the Vs30. Vs30 is the average shear wave velocity for the top 30m of soil. Shear wave velocity is considered the best stiffness indicator, and the average of shear wave velocity up to 30 m is used in National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) provisions (BSSC,1994) and Uniform Building Code (UBC), 1997 classification. Parameters obtained through geotechnical investigation have been integrated with findings obtained through the subsurface geophysical survey. Joint interpretation has been used to establish inter-relationships among mineral constituents, various textural parameters, and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) with shear wave velocity. It is found that results obtained through the MASW method fitted well with the laboratory test. In both conditions, mineral constituents and textural parameters (grain size, grain shape, grain orientation, and degree of interlocking) control the petrophysical and mechanical properties of rocks and the behavior of shear wave velocity.

Keywords: MASW, mechanical, petrophysical, site characterization

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