Search results for: rural water supply

Authors: Juliza Hidayati, Sawarni Hasibuan

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PT. XYZ is a manufacturing company that produces Crude Palm Oil (CPO). The fierce competition in the global markets not only between companies but also a competition between supply chains. This research aims to analyze the supply chain and value chain of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in the company. Data analysis method used is qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis describes supply chain and value chain, while the quantitative analysis is used to find out value added and the establishment of the value chain. Based on the analysis, the value chain of crude palm oil (CPO) in the company consists of four main actors that are suppliers of raw materials, processing, distributor, and customer. The value chain analysis consists of two actors; those are palm oil plantation and palm oil processing plant. The palm oil plantation activities include nurseries, planting, plant maintenance, harvesting, and shipping. The palm oil processing plant activities include reception, sterilizing, thressing, pressing, and oil classification. The value added of palm oil plantations was 72.42% and the palm oil processing plant was 10.13%.

Keywords: palm oil, value chain, value added, supply chain

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Authors: A. Pensiri, K. Nantaporn, P. Parichut

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Tourism is very important to the economy of many countries due to the large contribution in the areas of employment and income generation. However, the rapid growth of tourism can also be considered as one of the major uses of water user, and therefore also have a significant and detrimental impact on the environment. Guest behavior in water usage can be used to manage water in hotels for sustainable water resources management. This research presents a study of hotel guest water usage behavior at two hotels, namely Hotel A (located in Kathu district) and Hotel B (located in Muang district) in Phuket Province, Thailand, as case studies. Primary and secondary data were collected from the hotel manager through interview and questionnaires. The water flow rate was measured in-situ from each water supply device in the standard room type at each hotel, including hand washing faucets, bathroom faucets, shower and toilet flush. For the interview, the majority of respondents (n = 204 for Hotel A and n = 244 for Hotel B) were aged between 21 years and 30 years (53% for Hotel A and 65% for Hotel B) and the majority were foreign (78% in Hotel A, and 92% in Hotel B) from American, France and Austria for purposes of tourism (63% in Hotel A, and 55% in Hotel B). The data showed that water consumption ranged from 188 litres to 507 liters, and 383 litres to 415 litres per overnight guest in Hotel A and Hotel B (n = 244), respectively. These figures exceed the water efficiency benchmark set for Tropical regions by the International Tourism Partnership (ITP). It is recommended that guest water saving initiatives should be implemented at hotels. Moreover, the results showed that guests have high satisfaction for the hotels, the front office service reveal the top rates of average score of 4.35 in Hotel A and 4.20 in Hotel B, respectively, while the luxury decoration and room cleanliness exhibited the second satisfaction scored by the guests in Hotel A and B, respectively. On the basis of this information, the findings can be very useful to improve customer service satisfaction and pay attention to this particular aspect for better hotel management.

Keywords: hotel, tourism, Phuket, water usage

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Authors: A. Elsariti, T. Evans

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The propagation mechanisms in the trabecular bone are poorly understood and have been the subject of extended debate; also, steel wool has been evaluated as a potential bone mimic, Its advantages are ready availability, low cost and a wide range of sizes. In this study, both distilled and tap water were used to estimate the ultrasonic attenuation in coarse steel wool. It is clear from the results that the attenuation of coarse steel wool increased as the distance between the transducers decreased, and it is higher in tap water than distilled water. At 9cm distance between the transducers the attenuation was approximately 0.97 and 4.7 dB in distilled and tap water respectively. While it is 6.97 and 12.2 dB in distilled and tap water respectively at distance 4cm. This change in the attenuation between both distilled and tap water is probably due to gas bubbles in the tap water.

Keywords: bone mimic, porosity, tap water, distilled water, ultrasonic attenuation

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Authors: Moh’d Anwer Al-Shboul

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The year 2011 was a challenging year for Jordanian economy, which felt a variety of effects from the Arab Spring which took place in neighboring countries. Since February, 5th 2012, the Arab Gas Supply Pipeline, which carries natural gas from Egypt through the Sinai Peninsula and to Jordan and Israel, has been attacked more than 39 times. Jordan imported about 80 percent of its necessity of natural gas (about 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day) from Egypt to generate particularly electricity, with the reminder of being produced locally. Jordan has utilized multiple alternatives to address the interruption of available natural gas supply from Egypt. The Jordanian distributed power plants now rely on the use of heavy fuel oil and diesel for electricity generation, in this case, it costs Jordan about four times than natural gas. The substitution of Egyptian natural gas supplies by fuel oil and diesel, coupled with the 32 percent rise in global fuel prices, has increased Jordan’s energy import bill by over 50 percent in 2011, reaching more than 16 percent of the 2011 GDP. The increase in the cost of electricity generation pushed the Jordanian economy to borrow from multiple internal and external resource channels, thus increasing the public debt. The Jordanian government’s short-term solution to the reduced natural gas supply from Egypt was alternatively purchasing the necessary quantities from some Gulf countries such as Qatar and/or Saudi Arabia, which can be imported with two possible methods. The first method is to rent a ship equipped with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which is currently operating. The second method requires equipping the Aqaba port with an LNG terminal, which also currently is operating. In the long-term, a viable solution to depending on importing expensive and often unreliable natural gas supplies from surrounding countries is to depend more heavily on renewable supply energy, including solar, wind, and water energy.

Keywords: energy supply resources, Arab spring, liquefied natural gas, pipeline, Jordan

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Authors: Okorowo Cyril Agochi

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The main challenge of present world is to harness the energy source which is environment friendly and ecologically balanced. This need has forced to search for other alternate source of energy. But unfortunately the new alternative energy sources like the solar, hydro, wind etc. require huge economical value and technical power to operate, which seem to be very difficult for the developing countries like Nigeria. In the present moment biogas energy can be one and only reliable, easily available and economically feasible source of alternative and renewable source which can be managed by locally available sources and simple technology for secondary schools, tertiary institution and rural villages. This paper is aimed at boosting the energy generation for developing of rural Nigeria, through Biogas.

Keywords: bio-gas, energy, environment, nigeria, technology

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Authors: Amirhossein Mahlouji

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In current business market, the concept of integrating environmental sustainability into long-term as well as routine operations is becoming a prevailing trend. Therefore, several stimuli are helping organization to move toward environmental sustainability. The concept of green supply chain management can help provide a strategic framework to develop a customized sustainability roadmap for each organization. In this regard, this paper is mainly focused on presenting a strategic decision making framework that will assist top level decision-making issues. This decision-making tool is based on literature and practice in the area of environmentally conscious business practices. The goal of this paper will be on the components and parameters of green supply chain management and how they serve as a baseline for the decision framework. Later, the applicability of a multi-input multi-output decision model (MIMO), will be analyzed as the analytical network process, within the green supply chain.

Keywords: Multi-attribute, Green Supply Chain, Environmental, Sustainability

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Authors: Rita Yuniatun, Dewi Fadlilah Firdausi, Anida Hanifah, Putrisuvi Nurjannah Zalqis, Erza Nur Afrilia, Akrima Fajrin Nurimani, Andrew Luis Krishna

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Manganese (Mn) is one of the potential contaminants minerals geothermal water. Preliminary studies conducted in Ketenger village, the nearest village with Baturaden hot spring, showed that the concentration of Mn in water supply has exceeded the reference value. Mineral contamination problem in Ketenger village is not only Mn, but also other potential geothermal minerals, such as chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), sulfide (S2-), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and zinc (Zn). It becomes a concern because generally the residents still use ground water as the water source for their daily needs, including drinking and cooking. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the distribution of mineral contamination in drinking water and food and to estimate the health risks possibility from the exposure. Four minerals (Mn, Fe, S2-, and Cr6+) were analyzed in drinking water, carbohydrate sources, vegetables, fishes, and fruits. The test results indicate that Mn concentration in drinking water is 0.35 mg/L, has exceeded the maximum contaminant level (MCL) according to the US EPA (MCL = 0.005 mg/L), whereas other minerals still comply with the standards. In addition, we found that the average of Mn concentration in the carbohydrate sources is quite high (1.87 mg/Kg). Measurement results in Chronic Daily Intake (CDI) and the Risk Quotient (RQ) found that exposure to manganese and other geothermal minerals in drinking water and food are safe from the non-carcinogenic effects in each age group (RQ<1). So, geothermal mineral concentrations in drinking water and food has no effect on non-carcinogenic risk in Ketenger’s residents because of CDI is also influenced by other parameters such as the duration of exposure and the rate of consumption. However, it was found that intake of essential minerals (Mn and Fe) are deficient in every age group. So that, the addition of Mn and Fe intake is recommended.

Keywords: CDI, contaminant, geothermal minerals, manganese, RQ

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Authors: Adel A. Ghoneim

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Desalination using solar energy is an interesting option specifically at regions with abundant solar radiation since such areas normally have scarcity of clean water resources. Desalination is the procedure of eliminating dissolved minerals from seawater or brackish water to generate fresh water. In this work, a simulation program is developed to determine the performance of reverse osmosis (RO) water desalination plant powered by high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) panels in Kuwait climate conditions. The objective of such a photovoltaic thermal system is to accomplish a double output, i.e., co-generation of both electricity and fresh water that is applicable for rural regions with high solar irradiation. The suggested plan enables to design an RO plant that does not depend on costly batteries or additional land and significantly reduce the government costs to subsidize the water generation cost. Typical weather conditions for Kuwait is employed as input to the simulation program. The simulation program is utilized to optimize the system efficiency as well as the distillate water production. The areas and slopes of HCPV modules are varied to attain maximum yearly power production. Maximum yearly distillate production and HCPV energy generation are found to correspond to HCPV facing south with tilt of 27° (Kuwait latitude-3°). The power needed to produce 1 l of clean drinking water ranged from 2 to 8 kW h/m³, based on the salinity of the feed water and the system operating conditions. Moreover, adapting HCPV systems achieve an avoided greenhouse gases emission by about 1128 ton CO₂ annually. Present outcomes certainly illustrate environmental advantages of water desalination system powered by high concentrated photovoltaic systems in Kuwait climate conditions.

Keywords: desalination, high concentrated photovoltaic systems, reverse osmosis, solar radiation

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Authors: S. M. Ashikur Elahee, Md. Zahidur Rahman, Md. Shofiqur Rahman

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This study evaluated the impact of different water interventions under WASH program on access of household's to safe drinking water. Following survey method, the study was carried out in two Upazila of South-west coastal region of Bangladesh namely Koyra from Khulna and Shymnagar from Satkhira district. Being an explanatory study, a total of 200 household's selected applying random sampling technique were interviewed using a structured interview schedule. The predicted probability suggests that around 62 percent household's are out of year-round access to safe drinking water whereby, only 25 percent household's have access at SPHERE standard (913 Liters/per person/per year). Besides, majority (78 percent) of the household's have not accessed at both indicators simultaneously. The distance from household residence to the water source varies from 0 to 25 kilometer with an average distance of 2.03 kilometers. The study also reveals that the increase in monthly income around BDT 1,000 leads to additional 11 liters (coefficient 0.01 at p < 0.1) consumption of safe drinking water for a person/year. As expected, lining up time has significant negative relationship with dependent variables i.e., for higher lining up time, the probability of getting access for both SPHERE standard and year round access variables becomes lower. According to ordinary least square (OLS) regression results, water consumption decreases at 93 liters for per person/year of a household if one member is added to that household. Regarding water consumption intensity, ordered logistic regression (OLR) model shows that one-minute increase of lining up time for water collection tends to reduce water consumption intensity. On the other hand, as per OLS regression results, for one-minute increase of lining up time, the water consumption decreases by around 8 liters. Considering access to Deep Tube Well (DTW) as a reference dummy, in OLR, the household under Pond Sand Filter (PSF), Shallow Tube Well (STW), Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Rainwater Harvester System (RWHS) are respectively 37 percent, 29 percent, 61 percent and 27 percent less likely to ensure year round access of water consumption. In line of health impact, different type of water born diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid are common among the coastal community caused by microbial impurities i.e., Bacteria, Protozoa. High turbidity and TDS in pond water caused by reduction of water depth, presence of suspended particle and inorganic salt stimulate the growth of bacteria, protozoa, and algae causes affecting health hazard. Meanwhile, excessive growth of Algae in pond water caused by excessive nitrate in drinking water adversely effects on child health. In lieu of ensuring access at SPHERE standard, we need to increase the number of water interventions at reasonable distance, preferably a half kilometer away from the dwelling place, ensuring community peoples involved with its installation process where collectively owned water intervention is found more effective than privately owned. In addition, a demand-responsive approach to supply of piped water should be adopted to allow consumer demand to guide investment in domestic water supply in future.

Keywords: access, impact, safe drinking water, Sphere standard, water interventions

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Authors: Ana Alvarenga De Castro

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Food sovereignty has been brought by the international peasants’ movement, La Via Campesina, as a precondition to food security, speaking about the right of each nation to keep its own supply of foods respecting cultural, sustainable practices and productive diversity. The political conceptualization nowadays goes beyond saying that this term is about achieving the rights of farmers to control the food systems according to local specificities, and about equality in the access to natural resources and quality food. The current feminization of agroecosystems and of food insecurity identified by researchers and recognized by international agencies like the UN and FAO has enhanced the feminist discourse into the food sovereignty movement, considering the historical inequalities that place women farmers in subaltern positions inside the families and rural communities. The current tendency in many rural areas of more women taking responsibility for food production and still facing the lack of access to natural resources meets particular aspects in Latin America due to the global economic logic which places the Global South in the position of raw material supplier for the industrialized North, combined with regional characteristics. In this context, Latin American countries play the role of commodities exporters in the international labor division, including among exported items grains, soybean paste, and ores, to the expense of local food chains which provide domestic quality food supply under more sustainable practices. The connections between gender inequalities and global territorial inequalities related to the access and control of food and natural resources are pointed out by feminist political ecology - FPE - authors, and are linked in this article to the potentialities and limitations of women farmers to reproduce diversified agroecosystems in the tropical environments. The work brings the importance of local practices held by women farmers which are crucial to maintaining sustainable agricultural systems and their results on seeds, soil, biodiversity and water conservation. This work presents an analysis of documents, releases, videos and other publicized experiences launched by some peasants’ organizations in Latin America which evidence the different technical and political answers that meet food sovereignty from peasants’ groups that are attributed to women farmers. They are associated with articles presenting the empirical analysis of women farmers' practices in Latin America. The combination drove to discuss the benefits of peasants' conceptions about food systems and their connections with local realities and the gender issues linked to the food sovereignty conceptualization. Conclusion meets that reality on the field cannot reach food sovereignty's ideal homogeneously and that agricultural sustainable practices are dependent on rights' achievement and social inequalities' eradication.

Keywords: food sovereignty, gender, diversified agricultural systems, access to natural resources

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Authors: Arijit Chakraborty, Anirban Roy

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The Indian peninsula is strategically located in the Asian subcontinent with the Himalayas to the North and Oceans surrounding the other three directions with annual monsoons which takes care of water supply to the rivers. The total river water discharge into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea is 628 km³/year and 274 km³/year, respectively. Thus huge volumes of fresh water meet saline water, and this mixing of two streams of dissimilar salinity gives rise to tremendous mixing energies which can be harvested for various purposes like energy generation using pressure retarded osmosis or reverse electrodialysis. The present paper concentrates on analyzing the energy of mixing for the rivers in Goa. Goa has 10 rivers of various sizes all which meet the Arabian Sea. In the present work, the 8 rivers and their salinity (NaCl concentrations) have been analyzed along with their seasonal fluctuations. Next, a Gibbs free energy formulation has been implemented to analyze the energy of mixing of the selected rivers. The highest and lowest energies according to the seasonal fluctuations have been evaluated, and this provides two important insights into (i) amount of energy that can be harvested and (ii) decision on the location of such systems.

Keywords: Gibbs energy, mixing energy, salinity gradient energy, thermodynamics

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Authors: Benga Ebouele, Thomas Tengen

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Due to long lead time, work in process (WIP) inventory can manifest within the supply chain of most manufacturing system. It implies that there are lesser finished good on hand and more in the process because the work remains in the factory too long and cannot be sold to either customers The supply chain of most manufacturing system is then considered as inefficient as it take so much time to produce the finished good. Time consumed in each operation of the supply chain has an associated energy costs. Such phenomena can be harmful for a hybrid inventory system because a lot of space to store these semi-finished goods may be needed and one is not sure about the final energy cost of producing, holding and delivering the good to customers. The principle that reduces waste of energy within the supply chain of most manufacturing firms should therefore be available to all inventory managers in pursuit of profitability. Decision making by inventory managers in this condition is a modeling process, whereby a dynamical approach is used to depict, examine, specify and even operationalize the relationship between energy consumption and hybrid inventory level. The relationship between energy consumption and inventory level is established, which indicates a poor level of control and hence a potential for energy savings.

Keywords: dynamic modelling, energy used, hybrid inventory, supply chain

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Authors: Zahra Mila Elmi, Mahsa Khanekheshi

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Almost half of the population and potential manpower in the country and rural areas are women. Manpower especially educated people, plays an important role in the production and economic growth. Also, the potential of rural areas to create employment should not be overlooked. In this research, the effects of socio-economic and demographic factors on women's economic participation in rural areas of Iran's provinces will be studied. Therefore, this study was performed by using the results of the rural households income and expenditure surveys -has been taken in 2016- in the framework of pseudo panel data. This study used the logit model and the maximum likelihood method to study the rural women's participation, with 28,265 observations. Results show the inverted U-shaped relationship between age and the probability of female participation; In other words, young women are more likely to participate in labor markets more than the other groups. Divorced and single woman has more chance of participation in comparison with who was being married. With increasing the divorce rate and singleness in Iran, economic policymakers must provide appropriate solutions for this challenge in the coming years. On the base of the results, being a student and the presence of an infant under the age of 6 in the household has a negative effect on the possibility of women's participation in the labor market. The women's education level has a U-shaped relationship with their participation rate. Illiteracy and high education have a strong positive effect on the economic participation of rural women. This shows the dual labor market for women in Iran. Illiterate women are attracted to service jobs, and educated woman are more attracted to education and health jobs. Increasing household income has a small but positive and significant effect on the probability of rural female participation. In the overlook, due to the frequency of the women population in the age group of 25 to 35 years, and more willingness of women in the age 35 to 44 years to participate in the labor market, and studying ofa significant portion of the rural women, the increase of rural female participation is expected in the years ahead. Thus, it is expected policy maker to create new job opportunities for the employment of educated women and take the necessary plan to improve the current situation for women.

Keywords: female participation rate, rural area, provincial data, pseudo-panel data method

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Authors: Jin Liang, Q. Li, Yue Qi, Liying Wang, Wenhua Yu, Xun Liu

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Fertility is very important for women. The gender role of women gives them the fertility ability. Giving birth to a boy or a girl might have effect on the mother’s life in the past in China. However, with the shifting of traditional attitudes and views, the women's social status and living situation have been transformed. Although the pregnancy and childbirth can still bring them a major impact on their lives, the form and content of the impact have changed. So we investigated the rural women of Hebei province after birth to reflect their living situation changes before and after birth and the differences of their living situation from women in the past by using a self-made rural women life situation change questionnaire, the index of well-being, and the index of general effect questionnaire. It has shown that women’s living situation after babybirth in Hebei province is well in general, and their mind and body, as well as their interpersonal relationships and social status, were all enhanced. The women’s living situation after babybirth was positively related to and could anticipate subjective happiness, and specifically, the rural women’s mind and body, their interpersonal relationship and social status in rural women life situation change questionnaire are the main predicted factors to subjective happiness. Furthermore, the women’s self-identification on female roles was influenced by the children’s gender. Specifically, women with only one daughter had highest self-identification on female roles, consisting with their families' concept about children’s gender, which indicated family values have a great effect on women’s self-identification on female roles in rural. Moreover, the women’s living situation and subjective happiness are both impacted by home incomes.

Keywords: rural women, parturition, well-being, life quality

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Authors: Md. Imran H. Khan, T. Farrell, M. A. Karim

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Highly porous and hygroscopic characteristics of pear make it complex to understand the cellular level water distribution. In pear tissue, water is mainly distributed in three different spaces namely, intercellular water, intracellular water, and cell wall water. Understanding of these three types of water in pear tissue is crucial for predicting actual heat and mass transfer during drying. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the proportion of intercellular water, intracellular water, and cell wall water inside the pear tissue. During this study, Green Anjou Pear was taken for the investigation. The experiment was performed using 1H-NMR- T2 relaxometry. Various types of water component were calculated by using multi-component fits of the T2 relaxation curves. The experimental result showed that in pear tissue 78-82% water exist in intracellular space; 12-16% water in intercellular space and only 2-4% water exist in the cell wall space. The investigated results quantify different types of water in plant-based food tissue. The highest proportion of water exists in intracellular spaces. It was also investigated that the physical properties of pear and the proportion of the different types of water has a strong relationship. Cell wall water depends on the proportion of solid in the sample tissue whereas free water depends on the porosity of the material.

Keywords: intracellular water, intercellular water, cell wall water, physical property, pear

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Authors: Kamalendu Pal

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Supply chains are the spinal cord of trade and commerce. Their logistics use different transport corridors on regular basis for operational purpose. The international supply chain transport corridors include different infrastructure elements (e.g. weighbridge, package handling equipment, border clearance authorities, and so on) in supply chains. This paper presents the use of multi-agent systems (MAS) to model and simulate some aspects of transportation corridors, and in particular the area of weighbridge resource optimization for operational profit generation purpose. An underlying multi-agent model provides a means of modeling the relationships among stakeholders in order to enable coordination in a transport corridor environment. Simulations of the costs of container unloading, reloading, and waiting time for queuing up tracks have been carried out using data sets. Results of the simulation provide the potential guidance in making decisions about optimal service resource allocation in a trade corridor.

Keywords: multi-agent systems, simulation, supply chain, transport corridor, weighbridge

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Authors: Xiangrong Liu, Chuanhui Xiong

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With the concern of large pollution emissions from coal-fired power plants and new commitment to green energy, global solar power industry was emerging recently. Due to the advanced technology, the price of solar photovoltaic(PV) module was reduced at a fast rate, which arose an interesting but challenge question to solar supply chain. This research is modeling the inventory strategies for a PV supply chain with a PV manufacturer, an assembler and an end customer. Through characterizing the manufacturer's and PV assembler's optimal decision in decentralized and centralized situation, this study shed light on how to improve supply chain performance through parameters setting in the contract design. The results suggest the assembler to lower the optimal stock level gradually each period before price reduction and set up a newsvendor base-stock policy in all periods after price reduction. As to the PV module manufacturer, a non-stationary produce-up-to policy is optimal.

Keywords: photovoltaic, supply chain, inventory policy, base-stock policy

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Authors: Saranchuluun Otgon, Sugarmaa Myagmarjav, Khorolsuren Lkhagvasuren, Fabio Casati

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Background: Flourishing is a eudaimonic dimension of psychological well-being that has been associated with positive social and health-related outcomes. Determining the factors associated with health and well-being is important to the development of evidence-based intervention programs, policies, and action plans targeting the older adult population, especially in low- and middle-income countries, such as Mongolia, where evidence-based research on aging, health, and well-being is still scarce. This study makes important contributions to the study of well-being in later age and also to policy activities for the older population in Mongolia. Methods: We employed multiple regression models to predict the factors of flourishing using data from 304 older adults living in urban and rural Mongolia. Data is collected by the standardized and validated questionnaire adopted by Ed Diener. Results: The median score of the flourishing of urban and rural older adults in Mongolia was significantly different, 53 and 50, respectively. The sex (β = 2.52,p = 0.034), level of education(β = 0.94, p = 0.026), receive help for the activity of daily living (β = 2.16, p = 0.022) determine the flourishing of older adults living in a rural area, while self-reported health (β = 0.94, p = 0.026), the number of social activities, friends network determine to flourish of older adults living urban area. Conclusion: Older adults who live in urban areas have more psychological resources and strengths than those in rural areas. Determinants of flourishing are different in different settings. For instance, individual and family factors determine flourishing in rural areas, and social ties determine flourishing in urban areas.

Keywords: flourishing, predictors, older adults, Mongolia, psychological well-being

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Authors: Luis F. Garcia, Julian E. Jaramillo, Jorge L. Chacón

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Colombia is a country where the benefits of wind power industry are barely used because of the geography in some areas does not allow the implementation of onshore horizontal axis wind turbines. Furthermore, exist rural areas without access to the electrical grid. Therefore, there is currently a deficit of energy supply in some towns. This research took place in one of those areas (i.e. Chicamocha Canyon-Santander) where the answer to the energy supply problems could be the use of vertical axis wind turbines, which can be used for turbulent flows. Hence, one task of this research is the analysis of the wind resources in the Chicamocha Canyon in order to implement the wind energy. The wind turbines must be designed in such a way that the blades take good advantage of the wind resources in the area of interest. Consequently, in the current research the analysis of two different airfoils (i.e. NACA0018 and DU 06-W-200) through a 2D CFD simulation is carried out by means of a free-software (OpenFOAM). Predicted results using the “Spalart-Allmaras” turbulence model are similar to the wind tunnel data published in the literature. Moreover, global parameters such as dimensionless lift and drag coefficients were calculated. Finally, this research encourages VAWT studies under wind turbulent flows in order to achieve the best use of natural resources in Colombia.

Keywords: airfoil, wind turbine, turbulence modelling, Chicamocha, CFD

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Authors: Chitrangi Gupta, Arvind Bhardwaj

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This study seeks to investigate and quantify the influence of various dimensions of supply chain management (namely, supplier relationships, compatibility, specifications and standards, delivery processes, and after-sales service) on distinct dimensions of healthcare service quality (specifically, responsiveness, trustworthiness, and security) within the operational framework of XYZ Superspeciality Hospital, situated in Delhi. The name of the Hospital is not being mentioned here because of the privacy policy of the hospital. The primary objective of this research is to elucidate the impact of supply chain management practices on the overall quality of healthcare services offered within hospital settings. Employing a quantitative research design, this study utilizes a hypothesis-testing approach to systematically discern the relationship between supply chain management dimensions and the quality of health services. The findings of this study underscore the significant influence exerted by supply chain management dimensions, specifically supplier relationships, specifications and standards, delivery processes, and after-sales service, on the enhancement of healthcare service quality. Moreover, the study's results reveal that demographic factors such as gender, qualifications, age, and experience do not yield discernible disparities in the relationship between supply chain management and healthcare service quality.

Keywords: supply chain management, healthcare, hospital operations, service delivery

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Authors: Ali Ait Boughrous, Said Benyoussef, Hossain El Ouarghi, Moulay Abdelazize Aboulhassan, Samah Aitbnichou, Said Benguamra

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The Rhiss-Nekor aquifer represents a primary water source for the central Rif region. Many operating structures were built for irrigation and drinking water supply. Because of the vulnerability of this aquifer, a thorough knowledge of the environment is needed to evaluate and protect resources. This work aims at the quality assessment of the water table of the plain Ghiss-Nekor and determination of pollution sources in order to establish a map of the web. The plain-Rhiss Nekor, with an area of 100 km2, is located on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. It has a particular geological structure resulting from the opening of a graben at the end of the Tertiary, which is filled by the accumulation of hundreds of meters of sediment, generating considerable heterogeneity in deposits. This heterogeneity gives various hydrodynamic properties within the aquifer of the plain. The analysis of the water quality of twenty water points, well distributed over the plain, showed high natural salinity linked to the geological nature of the area. This salinity increases in the littoral area by the seawater intrusion phenomenon. This is accentuated by overexploitation of the ground water due to the growing demand. Some wells, located inland, are characterized by organic pollution caused by wastewater seepage from septic tanks and lost wells widespread in the region.

Keywords: anthropogenic factors, groundwater quality, marine intrusion, Rhiss-Nekor aquifer

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Authors: Nana Bolashvili, Vakhtang Geladze, Tamazi Karalashvili, Nino Machavariani, George Geladze, Davit Kartvelishvili, Ana Karalashvili

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Fresh water is the major natural resource of Georgia. The average perennial sum of the rivers' runoff in Georgia is 52,77 km³, out of which 9,30 km³ inflows from abroad. The major volume of transit river runoff is ascribed to the Chorokhi river. Average perennial runoff in Western Georgia is 41,52 km³, in Eastern Georgia 11,25 km³. The indices of Eastern and Western Georgia were calculated with 50% and 90% river runoff respectively, while the same index calculation for other countries is based on a 50% river runoff. Out of total volume of resources, 133,2 m³/sec (4,21 km³) has been geologically prospected by the State Commission on Reserves and Acknowledged as reserves available for exploitation, 48% (2,02 km³) of which is in Western Georgia and 2,19 km³ in Eastern Georgia. Considering acknowledged water reserves of all categories per capita water resources accounts to 2,2 m³/day, whereas high industrial category -0. 88 m³ /day fresh drinking water. According to accepted norms, the possibility of using underground water reserves is 2,5 times higher than the long-term requirements of the country. The volume of abundant fresh-water reserves in Georgia is about 150 m³/sec (4,74 km³). Water in Georgia is consumed mostly in agriculture for irrigation purposes. It makes 66,4% around Georgia, in Eastern Georgia 72,4% and 38% in Western Georgia. According to the long-term forecast provision of population and the territory with water resources in Eastern Georgia will be quite normal. A bit different is the situation in the lower reaches of the Khrami and Iori rivers which could be easily overcome by corresponding financing. The present day irrigation system in Georgia does not meet the modern technical requirements. The overall efficiency of their majority varies between 0,4-0,6. Similar is the situation in the fresh water and public service water consumption. Organization of the mentioned systems, installation of water meters, introduction of new methods of irrigation without water loss will substantially increase efficiency of water use. Besides new irrigation norms developed from agro-climatic, geographical and hydrological angle will significantly reduce water waste. Taking all this into account we assume that for irrigation agricultural lands in Georgia is necessary 6,0 km³ water, 5,5 km³ of which goes to Eastern Georgia on irrigation arable areas. To increase water supply in Eastern Georgian territory and its population is possible by means of new water reservoirs as the runoff of every river considerably exceeds the consumption volume. In conclusion, we should say that fresh water resources by which Georgia is that rich could be significant source for barter exchange and investment attraction. Certain volume of fresh water can be exported from Western Georgia quite trouble free, without bringing any damage to population and hydroecosystems. The precise volume of exported water per region/time and method/place of water consumption should be defined after the estimation of different hydroecosystems and detailed analyses of water balance of the corresponding territories.

Keywords: GIS, management, rivers, water resources

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Authors: Norhan Anwar Elshikh

Abstract:

The study aimed to identify the extent of rural women’s awareness of gender issues and discrimination against women. The study also investigated the relationship between the extent of that awareness and the social and economic characteristics of the surveyed women. The study aimed to find both the related factors and the affecting factors of the surveyed women's awareness of gender issues and the discrimination against them. The study then proposed some recommendations that can raise rural women's ability to understand gender issues and discrimination against women. To achieve the study goals, a field study was conducted in the Al-Buhaira governorate. Abu Homs township was chosen as one of the traditional rural areas closest in its characteristics to most rural areas in Egypt, and the Abu Homs township consists of one town and seven rural local units. The local unit of Baraka Ghattas was chosen, as it is considered on average level in human development. Baraka Ghattas local unit includes five villages. Alherfah village and Barakat Ghatas village were chosen to conduct the study as they represent the high and the low levels of human development, respectively. The study included households of women who were in their fertile period in the sample’s villages. The volume of the sample was divided among the two villages according to the number of families in each village, so that each village is represented in the sample space by the same percentage of its presence in the original community. The size of the sample was determined, which is 385 women, According to the Crijsey and Morgen equation. To execute the study, a questionnaire was designed and collected through personal interviews. The results showed that the independent variables most influencing the dependent variable are, from high to low, the economic level of the respondent's family, the number of children of the respondent, the level of formal education of the husband, then leadership ability and the level of ambition, respectively. These variables are responsible for explaining 52% of the change in the extent of rural women's awareness of gender issues and discrimination against women. The study was concluded by providing suggestions and recommendations to improve rural women's awareness of gender issues and discrimination against women.

Keywords: gender, rural women, discrimination, discrimination against women

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Authors: Shubhangi R. Deshmukh, Anupam B. Soni

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Clean water and electricity are vital services needed in all communities. Bio-degradation of wastewater contaminants and desalination technologies are the best possible alternatives for the global shortage of fresh water supply. Osmotic microbial fuel cell (OMFC) is a versatile technology that uses microorganism (used for biodegradation of organic waste) and membrane technology (used for water purification) for wastewater treatment and energy generation simultaneously. This technology is the combination of microbial fuel cell (MFC) and forward osmosis (FO) processes. OMFC can give more electricity and clean water than the MFC which has a regular proton exchange membrane. FO gives many improvements such as high contamination removal, lower operating energy, raising high proton flux than other pressure-driven membrane technology. Lower concentration polarization lowers the membrane fouling by giving osmotic water recovery without extra cost. In this review paper, we have discussed the principle, mechanism, limitation, and application of OMFC technology reported to date. Also, we have interpreted the experimental data from various literature on the water recovery and electricity generation assessed by a different component of OMFC. The area of producing electricity using OMFC has further scope for research and seems like a promising route to wastewater treatment.

Keywords: forward osmosis, microbial fuel cell, osmotic microbial fuel cell, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Trang Pham

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Approximately 70% of the Vietnamese population lives in rural areas where the main livelihood is farming. For many years, the Vietnamese Government has been working towards improving farmers’ quality of life. In 2008, the Government issued the decree 115/2008/ND-CP to subsidize farmers’ water fees. The subsidy covers operation and management costs of major water infrastructure. Water users have only to pay for the operation and management of minor or tertiary canal systems. But the “subsidized water fee” has become contentious; there are two opposing schools of thought. One view is that the subsidy lessens the burden on farmers in terms of reducing their production costs, at the same time generating a sufficient budget for Irrigation Management Companies (IMCs) and Water User Association (WUAs). The alternate point of view is that the subsidy negatively effects irrigation performance, especially in tertiary canals. The aim of this study was to gain clear awareness of the perceptions of farmers, WUA members, and IMC staffs in regard to irrigation performance and management since the introduction of subsidies and local water fees. In order to find out how the government intervention has affected local farming communities, a series of questionnaires and interviews were administered in 2013. Four case studies were chosen which represent four different agricultural areas and four different irrigation systems in Vietnam. Interviews were conducted with IMC staffs and WUA members and questionnaires were used to gather information from farmers. The study compares the difference in operation and management costs across the four case studies both before and after the implementation of the decree. The results disclose factors behind the subsidized water fee that either allow or hinder improved irrigation performance and better irrigation management.

Keywords: water fee, irrigation performance, local farming, tertiary canal systems

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Authors: Suarez-Puello Alejandro, Baquero-Ruiz Andrés F, Suarez-Puello Rodrigo

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This paper discusses the results of a foresight exercise which analyzes Bogota’s fruit, vegetable and tuber supply chain strategy- described at the Food Supply and Security Master Plan (FSSMP)-to provide the inhabitants of Bogotá, Colombia, with basic food products at a fair price. The methodology consisted of using quantitative and qualitative foresight tools such as system dynamics and variable selection methods to better represent interactions among stakeholders and obtain more integral results that could shed light on this complex situation. At first, the Master Plan is an input to establish the objectives and scope of the exercise. Then, stakeholders and their relationships are identified. Later, system dynamics is used to model product, information and money flow along the fruit, vegetable and tuber supply chain. Two scenarios are presented, discussing actions by the public sector and the reactions that could be expected from the whole food supply system. Finally, these impacts are compared to the Food Supply and Security Master Plan’s objectives suggesting recommendations that could improve its execution. This foresight exercise performed at a governmental level is intended to promote the widen the use of foresight as an anticipatory, decision-making tool that offers solutions to complex problems.

Keywords: decision making, foresight, public policies, supply chain, system dynamics

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Authors: Luis Felipe Pinzon Uribe, Hernando Sotelo Rojas

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The water is an essential factor for the development and the conservation of biological diversity in Colombia; its abundant natural wealth has its origin in their water sources. These during the past few years have been altered by anthropogenic activities, in particular pollutants such as heavy metals, given its ability to infiltrate the sediments reducing its natural capacity of absorption and clean of the ecosystem. The pollutant loads by bio-accumulation remain in the ecosystem for many years; the Bogota River, located in the Cundinamarca Department, is an example of this process. Since that form in the Villapinzón municipality up to its mouth in the Magdalena River, in the Girardot municipality, along with its route it receives large amount of polluted waters from different sources. The study focused on five points of the high basin of the river; this allowed the analysis of the impact that generates the economic development of the neighboring municipalities and where the poor conditions of the ecosystem, along with low levels of oxygen generates the high values of BOD, dissolved QOD, SS TSS and DS. They have been decisive factors in the decline of the species of its own and a decrease in the supply of the eco-services.

Keywords: anthropic activities, wastes water, water quality, heavy metals

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Authors: Wondmnew Derebe Yohannis

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Farming irrigation plays a crucial role in rural development strategies, impacting both annual household income and livelihood. This research aims to evaluate the factors influencing irrigation participation and assess the impact of small-scale irrigation on rural households' annual income. The study collected data from 287 farmers in the Dahana district of northern Ethiopia. The research investigates the driving forces behind farmers' decisions to adopt small-scale irrigation and its effect on annual income gain. The findings reveal that several factors positively influence the probability of adoption, including access to credit, cultivated land size, livestock holding, extension contact, and the education level of the household head. Conversely, the distance to local markets and water schemes negatively affects the likelihood of adoption. To understand the differences in annual income between farm households that adopted irrigation and those that did not, a simultaneous equations model with endogenous switching regression is estimated. This accounts for the heterogeneity in the adoption decision and unobservable characteristics of farmers and their farms. The analysis compares the expected income gain under actual and counterfactual scenarios, considering whether the farm household adopted irrigation or not. The study reveals that the group of farm households that adopted irrigation has distinct characteristics compared to those that did not adopt it. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the adoption of irrigation practices leads to an increase in annual income. Interestingly, the impact of small-scale irrigation on annual income is greater for the farm households that actually adopted irrigation compared to those in the counterfactual scenario where they did not adopt. Based on the findings, the researcher concludes that small-scale irrigation is a practical solution for meeting household financial needs in the study area. It is recommended that investments in small-scale irrigation continue to further improve the livelihoods of rural farming communities by enhancing annual income gains.

Keywords: small-scale irrigation, income, rural farm households, endogenous switching regression, user, non-user

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Authors: Ramin Rostamkhani, Thurasamy Ramayah

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One of the most important topics of today’s industrial organizations is the challenging issue of supply chain management. In this field, scientists and researchers have published numerous practical articles and models, especially in the last decade. In this research, to our best knowledge, the discussion of data modeling of supply chain management components using well-known statistical distribution functions has been considered. The world of science owns mathematics, and showing the behavior of supply chain data based on the characteristics of statistical distribution functions is innovative research that has not been published anywhere until the moment of doing this research. In an analytical process, describing different aspects of functions including probability density, cumulative distribution, reliability, and failure function can reach the suitable statistical distribution function for each of the components of the supply chain management. It can be applied to predict the behavior data of the relevant component in the future. Providing a model to adapt the best statistical distribution function in the supply chain management components will be a big revolution in the field of the behavior of the supply chain management elements in today's industrial organizations. Demonstrating the final results of the proposed model by introducing the process capability indices before and after implementing it alongside verifying the approach through the relevant assessment as an acceptable verification is a final step. The introduced approach can save the required time and cost to achieve the organizational goals. Moreover, it can increase added value in the organization.

Keywords: analyzing, process capability indices, statistical distribution functions, supply chain management components

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Authors: Georgios Psakis, Imren Rahbay, David Spiteri, Jeanice Mallia, Martin Polidano, Vasilis P. Valdramidis

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Absence of surface water and progressive groundwater quality deterioration have exacerbated scarcity rapidly, making the Mediterranean island of Malta one of the most water-stressed countries in Europe. Water scarcity challenges have been addressed by reverse osmosis desalination of seawater, 60% of which is blended with groundwater to form the current potable tap-water supply. Chlorination has been the adopted method of water disinfection prior to distribution. However, with the Malteseconsumer chlorine sensory-threshold being as low as 0.34 ppm, presence of chorine residuals and chlorination by-products in the distributed tap-water impacts negatively on its organoleptic attributes, deterring the public from consuming it. As part of the PURILMA initiative, and with the aim of minimizing the impact of chlorine residual on the quality of the distributed water, UV-C, and hydrosonication, have been identified as cost- and energy-effective decontamination alternatives, paving the way for more sustainable water management. Bench-scale assessment of the decontamination efficiency of UV-C (254 nm), revealed 4.7-Log10 inactivation for both Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis at 36 mJ/cm2. At >200 mJ/cm2fluence rates, there was a systematic 2-Log10 difference in the reductions exhibited by E. coli and E. faecalis to suggest that UV-C disinfection was more effective against E. coli. Hybrid treatment schemes involving hydrosonication(at 9.5 and 12.5 dm3/min flow rates with 1-5 MPa maximum pressure) and UV-C showed at least 1.1-fold greater bactericidal activity relative to the individualized UV-C treatments. The observed inactivation appeared to have stemmed from additive effects of the combined treatments, with hydrosonication-generated reactive oxygen species enhancing the biocidal activity of UV-C.

Keywords: disinfection, groundwater, hydrosonication, UV-C

Procedia PDF Downloads 166