Search results for: concentrated solar power (CSP) plant

Authors: Mahboubeh Davoudi Pahnekolayi

Abstract:

Begonia rex cv. DS-EYWA is a rare, unique cultivar of begonia rex with curly colorful leaves. Optimization of an in vitro efficient regeneration protocol by focusing on transverse Thin Cell Layer (tTCL) petiole explants for high-scale production of such a beautiful cultivar was considered as our main purpose in this experiment. Thus, various concentrations of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) including 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP), Thidiazuron (TDY), and –Naphthaleneacetic Acid (NAA), were selected in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) to establish and optimize the direct organogenesis efficiency of this cultivar. Cultivation of 1 mm tTCL petiole explants in noted treatments showed that 1.5 mgl-1 BAP + 0.5 mgl-1 NAA can induce the highest number of direct regenerated shoots and lower concentration of BAP (0.5 mgl-1) can be suggested for shoot elongation before rooting stage. Elongated shoots were successfully rooted in MS free basal medium and acclimatized in 1:1 peat moss: perlite sterilized pot mixture.

Keywords: begonia rare cultivar, direct organogenesis, explant type, regeneration, thin cell layering (TCL)

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Ploysai Ohama, Nattida Tumpat

Abstract:

Natural dye extracted from Caesalpinia sappan Linn. was applied to a cotton fabric and silk yarn by dyeing process. The dyestuff component of Caesalpinia sappan Linn. was extracted using water and ethanol. Analytical studies such as UV–VIS spectrophotometry and gravimetric analysis were performed on the extracts. Brazilein, the major dyestuff component of Caesalpinia sappan Linn. was confirmed in both aqueous and ethanolic extracts by UV–VIS spectrum. The color of each dyed material was investigated in terms of the CIELAB (L*, a* and b*) and K/S values. Cotton fabric dyed without mordant had a shade of reddish-brown, while those post-mordanted with aluminum potassium sulfate, ferrous sulfate and copper sulfate produced a variety of wine red to dark purple color shades. Cotton fabric and silk yarn dyeing was studied using aluminum potassium sulfate as a mordant. The observed color strength was enhanced with increase in mordant concentration.

Keywords: natural dyes, plant materials, dyeing, mordant

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: N. K. Bhute, B. B. Bhosle

Abstract:

Field experiment was conducted during kharif 2005, at the experimental farm of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani, Maharashtra. F1 and F2 hybrids of 23 Bt and 5 non-Bt hybrids were grown in a randomized block design with two replications. The results showed that among F1 hybrids, open boll damage due to bollworm complex was not noticed in 4233 Bt and 4247 Bt cotton hybrids which were found significantly superior over MECH 6301 Bt (3.2 %), 4255 Bt (3.28 %) and it was at par with rest of the hybrids. Among F2 hybrids minimum open boll damage (3.10 %) was noticed in Proagro 144 Bt, which was found significantly superior over rest of the hybrids except 4234 Bt (4.17 %) and 4254 Bt (4.98 %) which were at par with each other. In respect of seed cotton yield, among F1 hybrids maximum yield (15.51 q/ha) was recorded in 4233 Bt which was found significantly superior over rest of the hybrids except 4237 Bt (15.24 q/ha). Among F2 maximum yield (15.44 q/ha) was recorded in 4233 Bt which was found significantly superior over rest of the hybrids except 4258 Bt (15.41 q/ha), 4239 Bt (15.098 q/ha) which were at par with each other. Thus F2 Bt cotton express Bt protein in segregated pattern in which bollworm attack was more as compared to F1 which affects yield as well as quality of lint.

Keywords: Bt cotton, bollworms, F1 and F2 generations, unprotected condition

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: Osei Yaw Atakora

Abstract:

A brief study involving the use of natural plant product in trapping of Bactrocera dorsalis was conducted in selected mango orchards in two agro ecological zone of Ghana for the major mango season. The main objective of the study was to compare the attractiveness of different concentrations of aqueous leaf extract of Pimenta racemosa with a commercial methyl eugenol (Stop Mating Block). A total number of 174,388 organisms were captured with 171,412 identified as B. dorsalis and 2,976 identified as non-target (other insects and spiders). Significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed in the performance of the different treatments across the selected experimental farms. Stop Mating Block performed better than the different concentrations with a significant margin. The result suggests that Stop Mating Block performed better than the extract but it is economically preferable since most farmers in Ghana are small-holder farmers.

Keywords: bactrocera dorsalis, methyl eugenol, Pimenta racemosa, stop mating block

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Gustavo Funes, Eduardo Peters, Jose Delpiano

Abstract:

It is widely known that photovoltaic technology has been massively distributed over the last decade despite its low-efficiency ratio. Dust deposition reduces this efficiency even more, lowering the energy production and module lifespan. In this work, we developed an artificial vision algorithm based on CIELAB color space to identify dust over panels in an autonomous way. We performed several experiments photographing three different types of panels, 30W, 340W and 410W. Those panels were soiled artificially with uniform and non-uniform distributed dust. The algorithm proposed uses statistical tools to provide a simulation with a 100% soiled panel and then performs a comparison to get the percentage of dirt in the experimental data set. The simulation uses a seed that is obtained by taking a dust sample from the maximum amount of dust from the dataset. The final result is the dirt percentage and the possible distribution of dust over the panel. Dust deposition is a key factor for plant owners to determine cleaning cycles or identify nonuniform depositions that could lead to module failure and hot spots.

Keywords: dust detection, photovoltaic, artificial vision, soiling

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Rukaiya Suleiman Umar, Annah Kwadu Medugu

Abstract:

Moringa oleifera is mainly used as herbal medicine in most homes in Northern Nigeria. The plant is easy to grow and thrives very well regardless the type of soil. Use of moringa leaves in food production can yield attractive varieties on menu. This paper evaluates the acceptability of dishes produced with fresh moringa leaves with a view to promoting it in popular restaurants. A three course menu consisting of cream of moringa soup as the starter, mixed meat moringa sauce with semovita as the main dish and moringa roll as sweet was produced and served to a 60-member taste panel made of three groups of 20 each. Respondents were asked to rate the organoleptic qualities of the samples on a 10-point bipolar scale ranging from 1 (Dislike extremely) – 10 (Like extremely). Data collected were treated to one sample t-test and One Way ANOVA. Results show that the panelists extremely like the moringa products. It is recommended that Moringa oleifera should be incorporated into meals which is more readily acceptable than medicine.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera, food production, menu planning, healthy living

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Monireh Movahedi

Abstract:

Considering undesirable effects of chemical insecticides on environment and human health, most studies focused on insecticidal effects of plant materials. Here, the insecticidal effects of methanol, ethylacetat and n-Hexan extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis L. on larval stage of the cotton bollworm were studied. From each extract, six concentrations, including 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 mg/ml were prepared and added on larval artificial diet. Moreover, solution of distilled water and tween 2% considered as check treatment. All experiments were done in laboratory temperature of 25±3 ºC, RH =50±10% and natural photoperiod during growing season. Each treatment had four replications and each replication carried out on 10 first instar larva with <24h age. Larval mortality was recorded 3 and 7 days after treat. Based on results, LC50 of methanol, ethylacetat and n-Hexan extracts of R. officinalis were 2.78, 15.87 and 15.70 ml/mg, respectively. On the other hand, antifeedant effect of methanol, ethylacetat and n-Hexan for R. officinalis estimated as 43.13%, 55.11% and 9.19%, respectively. All the obtained results revealed that methanol and ethylacetat extracts of R. officinalis are effective extracts for controlling the cotton bollworm population.

Keywords: Helocoverpa armigera, Rosemarinus officinalis, extract, methanol, ethylacetat, n-Hexan

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Pius Babuna

Abstract:

Sustainable water use is important for the existence of the human race. Water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) measures the sustainability of water use; however, the calculation and optimization of WRCC remain challenging. This study used a mathematical model (the Logistics Growth of Water Resources -LGWR) and a linear objective function to model water sustainability. We tested the validity of the models using data from Ghana. Total freshwater resources, water withdrawal, and population data were used in MATLAB. The results show that the WRCC remains sustainable until the year 2132 ±18, when half of the total annual water resources will be used. The optimized water treatment cost suggests that Ghana currently wastes GHȼ 1115.782± 50 cedis (~$182.21± 50) per water treatment plant per month or ~ 0.67 million gallons of water in an avoidable loss. Adopting an optimized water treatment scheme and a watershed management approach will help sustain the WRCC.

Keywords: water resources carrying capacity, smart water management, optimization, sustainable water use, water withdrawal

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: M. Elanchezhian, C. Gunasekaran, A. Agnes Deepa, M. Salahudeen

Abstract:

In recent years climate change is one of the most emerging threats facing by biodiversity both the animals and plants species. Elevated carbon dioxide and ozone concentrations, extreme temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, insects-plant interaction are the main criteria that affect biodiversity. In the present study, which emphasis the climate change and its effects on terrestrial insect diversity in Mukuruthi National Park a protected areas of Western Ghats in India. Sampling was done seasonally at the three areas using pitfall traps, over the period of January to December 2013. The statistical findings were done by Shannon wiener diversity index (H). A significant seasonal variation pattern was detected for total insect’s diversity at the different study areas. Totally nine orders of insects were recorded. Diversity and abundance of terrestrial insects shows much difference between the Natural, Shoal forest and the Grasslands.

Keywords: biodiversity, climate change, mukuruthi national park, terrestrial invertebrates

Procedia PDF Downloads 516

Authors: Ghadeer Jalloul, Nour Hijazi, Cassia Boyadjian, Hussein Awala, Mohammad N. Ahmad, ‎Ahmad Albadarin

Abstract:

In this study, we applied Fe-sensitized TiO₂ supported over embryonic Beta zeolite (BEA) zeolite ‎for the photocatalytic degradation of Tetracycline (TC) antibiotic under visible light. Four different ‎samples having 20, 40, 60, and 100% w/w as a ratio of TiO₂/BEA were prepared. The ‎immobilization of solgel TiO₂ (33 m²/g) over BEA (390 m²/g) increased its surface area to (227 ‎m²/g) and enhanced its adsorption capacity from 8% to 19%. To expand the activity of TiO₂ ‎photocatalyst towards the visible light region (λ>380 nm), we explored two different metal ‎sensitization techniques with Iron ions (Fe³⁺). In the ion-exchange method, the substitutional cations ‎in the zeolite in TiO₂/BEA were exchanged with (Fe³⁺) in an aqueous solution of FeCl₃. In the ‎doping technique, solgel TiO₂ was doped with (Fe³⁺) from FeCl₃ precursor during its synthesis and ‎before its immobilization over BEA. (Fe-TiO₂/BEA) catalysts were characterized using SEM, XRD, ‎BET, UV-VIS DRS, and FTIR. After testing the performance of the various ion-exchanged catalysts ‎under blue and white lights, only (Fe-TiO₂/BEA 60%) showed better activity as compared to pure ‎TiO₂ under white light with 100 ppm initial catalyst concentration and 20 ppm TC concentration. As ‎compared to ion-exchanged (Fe-TiO₂/BEA), doped (Fe-TiO₂/BEA) resulted in higher photocatalytic ‎efficiencies under blue and white lights. The 3%-Fe-doped TiO₂/BEA removed 92% of TC ‎compared to 54% by TiO₂ under white light. The catalysts were also tested under real solar ‎irradiations. This improvement in the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ was due to its higher ‎adsorption capacity due to BEA support combined with the presence of Iron ions that enhance the ‎visible light absorption and minimize the recombination effect by the charge carriers. ‎

Keywords: Tetracycline, photocatalytic degradation, immobilized TiO₂, zeolite, iron-doped TiO₂, ion-exchange

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Álvaro Ramírez Vidal, Martín Muñoz Morales, Francisco Jesús Fernández Morales, Luis Rodríguez Romero, José Villaseñor Camacho, Javier Llanos López

Abstract:

In recent times, environmental problems have led to the extensive use of biological systems to solve them. Among the different types of biological systems, the use of plants such as aquatic macrophytes in constructed wetlands and terrestrial plant species for treating polluted soils and sludge has gained importance. Though the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment is a well-researched domain, the slowness of pollutant degradation and high biomass production pose some challenges. Plants used in CW participate in different mechanisms for the capture and degradation of pollutants that also can retain some pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) that are very persistent in the environment. Thus, these systems present advantages in line with the guidelines published for the transition towards friendly and ecological procedures as they are environmentally friendly systems, consume low energy, or capture atmospheric CO₂. However, the use of CW presents some drawbacks, as the slowness of pollutant degradation or the production of important amounts of plant biomass, which need to be harvested and managed periodically. Taking this opportunity in mind, it is important to highlight that this residual biomass (of lignocellulosic nature) could be used as the feedstock for the generation of carbonaceous materials using thermochemical transformations such as slow pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization to produce high-value biomass-derived carbons through sustainable processes as adsorbents, catalysts…, thereby improving the circular carbon economy. Thus, this work carried out the analysis of some PPCPs commonly found in urban wastewater, as salicylic acid or ibuprofen, to evaluate the remediation carried out for the Phragmites Australis. Then, after the harvesting, this biomass can be used to synthesize electrodes through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and produce high-value biomass-derived carbons with electrocatalytic activity to remove heavy metals and persistent pollutants, promoting circular economy concepts. To do this, it was chosen biomass derived from the natural environment in high environmental risk as the Daimiel Wetlands National Park in the center of Spain, and the rest of the biomass developed in a CW specifically designed to remove pollutants. The research emphasizes the impact of the composition of the biomass waste and the synthetic parameters applied during HTC on the electrocatalytic activity. Additionally, this parameter can be related to the physicochemical properties, as porosity, surface functionalization, conductivity, and mass transfer of the electrodes lytic inks. Data revealed that carbon materials synthesized have good surface properties (good conductivities and high specific surface area) that enhance the electro-oxidants generated and promote the removal of PPCPs and the chemical oxygen demand of polluted waters.

Keywords: constructed wetlands, carbon materials, heavy metals, pharmaceutical and personal care products, hydrothermal carbonization

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Bill Wason

Abstract:

143 Crude Palm Oil Coop mills on Sumatra Island are participating in a program to transfer land from defaulted estates to small farmers while improving the sustainability of palm production to allow for biofuel & food production. GCarbon will be working with farmers to transfer technology, fertilizer, and trees to double the yield from the current baseline of 3.5 tons to at least 7 tons of oil per ha (25 tons of fruit bunches). This will be measured via evaluation of yield comparisons between participant and non-participant farms. We will also capture methane from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)throughbelt press filtering. Residues will be weighed and a formula used to estimate methane emission reductions based on methodologies developed by other researchers. GCarbon will also cover mill ponds with a non-permeable membrane and collect methane for energy or steam production. A system for accelerating methane production involving ozone and electro-flocculation will be tested to intensifymethane generation and reduce the time for wastewater treatment. A meta-analysis of research on sweet potatoes and sorghum as rotation crops will look at work in the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil where5 ha. oftest plots of industrial sweet potato have achieved yields of 60 tons and 40 tons per ha. from 2 harvests in one year (100 MT/ha./year). Field trials will be duplicated in Bom Jesus Das Selvas, Maranhaothat will test varieties of sweet potatoes to measure yields and evaluate disease risks in a very different soil and climate of NE Brazil. Hog methane will also be captured. GCarbon Brazil, Coop Sisal, and an Australian research partner will plant several varieties of agave and use agronomic procedures to get yields of 880 MT per ha. over 5 years. They will also plant new varieties expected to get 3500 MT of biomass after 5 years (176-700 MT per ha. per year). The goal is to show that the agave can adapt to Brazil’s climate without disease problems. The study will include a field visit to growing sites in Australia where agave is being grown commercially for biofuels production. Researchers will measure the biomass per hectare at various stages in the growing cycle, sugar content at harvest, and other metrics to confirm the yield of sugar per ha. is up to 10 times greater than sugar cane. The study will look at sequestration rates from measuring soil carbon and root accumulation in various plots in Australia to confirm carbon sequestered from 5 years of production. The agave developer estimates that 60-80 MT of sequestration per ha. per year occurs from agave. The three study efforts in 3 different countries will define a feedstock pathway for jet fuel that involves very high yield crops that can produce 2 to 10 times more biomass than current assumptions. This cost-effective and less land intensive strategy will meet global jet fuel demand and produce huge quantities of food for net zero aviation and feeding 9-10 billion people by 2050

Keywords: zero emission SAF, methane capture, food-fuel integrated refining, new crops for SAF

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Ayon Mukherjee

Abstract:

Covariate-adjusted response-adaptive (CARA) designs use the available responses to skew the treatment allocation in a clinical trial in towards treatment found at an interim stage to be best for a given patient's covariate profile. Extensive research has been done on various aspects of CARA designs with the patient responses assumed to follow a parametric model. However, ranges of application for such designs are limited in real-life clinical trials where the responses infrequently fit a certain parametric form. On the other hand, robust estimates for the covariate-adjusted treatment effects are obtained from the parametric assumption. To balance these two requirements, designs are developed which are free from distributional assumptions about the survival responses, relying only on the assumption of proportional hazards for the two treatment arms. The proposed designs are developed by deriving two types of optimum allocation designs, and also by using a distribution function to link the past allocation, covariate and response histories to the present allocation. The optimal designs are based on biased coin procedures, with a bias towards the better treatment arm. These are the doubly-adaptive biased coin design (DBCD) and the efficient randomized adaptive design (ERADE). The treatment allocation proportions for these designs converge to the expected target values, which are functions of the Cox regression coefficients that are estimated sequentially. These expected target values are derived based on constrained optimization problems and are updated as information accrues with sequential arrival of patients. The design based on the link function is derived using the distribution function of a probit model whose parameters are adjusted based on the covariate profile of the incoming patient. To apply such designs, the treatment allocation probabilities are sequentially modified based on the treatment allocation history, response history, previous patients’ covariates and also the covariates of the incoming patient. Given these information, an expression is obtained for the conditional probability of a patient allocation to a treatment arm. Based on simulation studies, it is found that the ERADE is preferable to the DBCD when the main aim is to minimize the variance of the observed allocation proportion and to maximize the power of the Wald test for a treatment difference. However, the former procedure being discrete tends to be slower in converging towards the expected target allocation proportion. The link function based design achieves the highest skewness of patient allocation to the best treatment arm and thus ethically is the best design. Other comparative merits of the proposed designs have been highlighted and their preferred areas of application are discussed. It is concluded that the proposed CARA designs can be considered as suitable alternatives to the traditional balanced randomization designs in survival trials in terms of the power of the Wald test, provided that response data are available during the recruitment phase of the trial to enable adaptations to the designs. Moreover, the proposed designs enable more patients to get treated with the better treatment during the trial thus making the designs more ethically attractive to the patients. An existing clinical trial has been redesigned using these methods.

Keywords: censored response, Cox regression, efficiency, ethics, optimal allocation, power, variability

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: John Okanda Okwaro

Abstract:

Carbon (IV) oxide (CO₂) is emitted majorly from fossil fuel combustion and industrial production. The sources of interest of carbon (IV) oxide in the study area are mining activities, transport systems, and industrial processes. This study is aimed at building models that will help in monitoring the emissions within the study area. Three scenarios were discussed, namely: pessimistic scenario, business-as-usual scenario, and optimistic scenario. The result showed that there was a reduction in carbon dioxide concentration by approximately 50.5 ppm between March 2020 and January 2021 inclusive. This is majorly due to reduced human activities that led to decreased consumption of energy. Also, the CO₂ concentration trend follows the business-as-usual scenario (BAU) path. From the models, the pessimistic, business-as-usual, and optimistic scenarios give CO₂ concentration of about 545.9 ppm, 408.1 ppm, and 360.1 ppm, respectively, on December 31st, 2021. This research helps paint the picture to the policymakers of the relationship between energy sources and CO₂ emissions. Since the reduction in CO₂ emission was due to decreased use of fossil fuel as there was a decrease in economic activities, then if Kenya relies more on green energy than fossil fuel in the post-COVID-19 period, there will be more CO₂ emission reduction. That is, the CO₂ concentration trend is likely to follow the optimistic scenario path, hence a reduction in CO₂ concentration of about 48 ppm by the end of the year 2021. This research recommends investment in solar energy by energy-intensive companies, mine machinery and equipment maintenance, investment in electric vehicles, and doubling tree planting efforts to achieve the 10% cover.

Keywords: forecasting, greenhouse gas, green energy, hierarchical data format

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Tarcisio F. Leao, Bruno Utiyama, Jeison Fonseca, Eduardo Bock, Aron Andrade

Abstract:

This work presents a blood flow estimator based in Look-Up-Table (LUT) for control of Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). This device has been used as bridge to transplantation or as destination therapy to treat patients with heart failure (HF). Destination Therapy application requires a high performance LVAD; thus, a stable control is important to keep adequate interaction between heart and device. LVAD control provides an adequate cardiac output while sustaining an appropriate flow and pressure blood perfusion, also described as physiologic control. Because thrombus formation and system reliability reduction, sensors are not desirable to measure these variables (flow and pressure blood). To achieve this, control systems have been researched to estimate blood flow. LVAD used in the study is composed by blood centrifugal pump, control, and power supply. This technique used pump and actuator (motor) parameters of LVAD, such as speed and electric current. Estimator relates electromechanical torque (motor or actuator) and hydraulic power (blood pump) via LUT. An in vitro Mock Loop was used to evaluate deviations between blood flow estimated and actual. A solution with glycerin (50%) and water was used to simulate the blood viscosity with hematocrit 45%. Tests were carried out with variation hematocrit: 25%, 45% and 58% of hematocrit, or 40%, 50% and 60% of glycerin in water solution, respectively. Test with bovine blood was carried out (42% hematocrit). Mock Loop is composed: reservoir, tubes, pressure and flow sensors, and fluid (or blood), beyond LVAD. Estimator based in LUT is patented, number BR1020160068363, in Brazil. Mean deviation is 0.23 ± 0.07 L/min for mean flow estimated. Larger mean deviation was 0.5 L/min considering hematocrit variation. This estimator achieved deviation adequate for physiologic control implementation. Future works will evaluate flow estimation performance in control system of LVAD.

Keywords: blood pump, flow estimator, left ventricular assist device, look-up-table

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Amina Lyria Deghal Cheridi, Abla Chaker, Ahcene Loubar

Abstract:

Relap5 system code is one among powerful tools, which is used in the area of design and safety evaluation. This work aims to simulate the behavior of a radiant steam boiler at the steady-state conditions using Relap5 code system. To perform this study, a detailed Relap5 model is built including all the parts of the steam boiler. The control and regulation systems are also considered. To reproduce the most important parameters and phenomena with an acceptable accuracy and fidelity, a strong qualification work is undertaken concerning the facility nodalization. It consists of making a comparison between the code results and the plant available data in steady-state operation mode. Therefore, the model qualification results at the steady-state are in good agreement with the steam boiler experimental data. The steam boiler Relap5 model has proved satisfactory; and the model was capable of predicting the main thermal-hydraulic steady-state conditions of the steam boiler.

Keywords: industrial steam boiler, model qualification, natural circulation, relap5/mod3.2, steady state simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: H. A. Mansour

Abstract:

The objective of this research work is studying the water use prediction, prediction technology for water use by action agencies, and others involved in conservation, planning, and environmental assessment of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) simulation model. Models the important physical, processes governing erosion in Egypt (climate, infiltration, runoff, ET, detachment by raindrops, detachment by flowing water, deposition, etc.). Simulation of the non-uniform slope, soils, cropping/management., and Egyptian databases for climate, soils, and crops. The study included important parameters in Egyptian conditions as follows: Water Balance & Percolation, Soil Component (Tillage impacts), Plant Growth & Residue Decomposition, Overland Flow Hydraulics. It could be concluded that we can adapt the WEPP simulation model to determining the previous important parameters under Egyptian conditions.

Keywords: WEPP, adaptation, soil properties, tillage impacts, water balance, soil percolation

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Kamran Reza-Yazdi, Mohammad Fallah, Mahdi Khodaparast, Farshad Kateb, Morteza Hosseini-Ghaffari

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to determine effect of dietary essential oil (EO) compounds, which contained cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, peppermint, coriander, cumin, lemongrass, and an organic carrier on feed intake, milk composition, and rumen fermentation of dairy cows during heat exposure. Thirty-two Holstein cows (days in milk= 60 ± 5) were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a Control and EO fed. The experiment lasted 28 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily while and milk production was measured weekly. Our result showed that DMI and milk yield was decreased (P < 0.01) in control cows relative to EO cows. Furthermore, supplementation with EO was associated with a decrease in the molar proportion of propionate (P < 0.05) and increase (P < 0.05) in acetate to propionate ratio. In conclusion, EO supplementations in diets can be useful nutritional modification to alleviate for the decrease DMI and milk production during heat exposure in lactating dairy cows.

Keywords: dairy cow, feed additive, plant extract, eugenol

Procedia PDF Downloads 793

Authors: Metodi Mladenov

Abstract:

Heavy metals contamination of soils is a big problem mainly as a result of industrial production. From this point of view, this is of interests the processes for decontamination of soils for crop of production with low content of heavy metals and suitable for consumption from the animals and the peoples. In the current article, there are presented data for established changes in chemical composition and ecological state on soils contaminated from non-ferrous metallurgy manufacturing, for seven years time period. There was done investigation on alteration of pH, conductivity and contain of the next elements: As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, Co, Mn and Al. Also, there was done visual observations under the processes of recovery of root-inhabitable soil layer and reforestation. Obtained data show friendly changes for the investigated indicators pH and conductivity and decreasing of content of some form analyzed elements. Visual observations show augmentation of plant cover areas and change in species structure with increase of number of shrubby and wood specimens.

Keywords: conductivity, contamination of soils, chemical composition, inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry, heavy metals, visual observation

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Redhouane Benfares, Kamel Boudjemaa, Affaf Kord, Sonia Messis, Linda Farai, Belkacem Guenachi, Kherarba Maha, Jaroslava ŠVarc-Gajić

Abstract:

In recent years valorization of biowaste has attracted a lot of attention worldwide owing to its high nutritional value and low price. In this work, biowaste of animal (sardines) and plant (tomato) biowaste was used to formulate a new feed for red tilapia that showed to be competitive in its price, and zootechnical performance in comparison to commercially available tilapia feeds. Mathematical modelling was used to formulate optimal feed composition with favorable chemical composition and the lowest price. Formulated feed had high protein content (40.76%) and an energy value of 279.6 Kcal/100 g. Optimised feed was manufactured and compared to commercially available reference feed with respect to feeding intake, feed efficiency, the specific growth rate of fingerlings of Tilapia sp, and, most important, zootechnical parameters. With a fish survival rate of 100% calculated feed conversion index for the formulated feed was 2.7.

Keywords: conversion index, fish waste, formulated feed, tomato waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Bingxi Huang, Yiqing Li, Marek Morzynski, Bernd R. Noack

Abstract:

We propose a Kriging-based global optimization method for active flow control with multiple actuation parameters. This method is designed to converge quickly and avoid getting trapped into local minima. We follow the model-free explorative gradient method (EGM) to alternate between explorative and exploitive steps. This facilitates a convergence similar to a gradient-based method and the parallel exploration of potentially better minima. In contrast to EGM, both kinds of steps are performed with Kriging surrogate model from the available data. The explorative step maximizes the expected improvement, i.e., favors regions of large uncertainty. The exploitive step identifies the best location of the cost function from the Kriging surrogate model for a subsequent weight-biased linear-gradient descent search method. To verify the effectiveness and robustness of the improved Kriging-based optimization method, we have examined several comparative test problems of varying dimensions with limited evaluation budgets. The results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms some model-free optimization algorithms like genetic algorithm and differential evolution algorithm with a quicker convergence for a given budget. We have also performed direct numerical simulations of the fluidic pinball (N. Deng et al. 2020 J. Fluid Mech.) on three circular cylinders in equilateral-triangular arrangement immersed in an incoming flow at Re=100. The optimal cylinder rotations lead to 44.0% net drag power saving with 85.8% drag reduction and 41.8% actuation power. The optimal results for active flow control based on this configuration have achieved boat-tailing mechanism by employing Coanda forcing and wake stabilization by delaying separation and minimizing the wake region.

Keywords: direct numerical simulations, flow control, kriging, stochastic optimization, wake stabilization

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Santhosh Ravichandran, F. J. Rodríguez-Varela

Abstract:

In this study, a biocarbon (BC) was made from sewage sludge from the water treatment plant (PTAR) in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The sludge was carbonized in water and then chemically activated by pyrolysis. The biocarbon was evaluated physicochemically using XRD, SEM-EDS, and FESEM. A broad (002) peak attributable to graphitic structures indicates that the material is amorphous. The resultant biocarbon has a high specific surface area (412 m2 g-1), a large pore volume (0.39 cm3 g-1), interconnected hierarchical porosity, and outstanding electrochemical performance. It is appropriate for high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials due to its high specific capacitance of 358 F g-1, great rate capability, and outstanding cycling stability (around 87% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles, even at a high current density of 19 A g-1). In an aqueous solution, the constructed BC/BC symmetric supercapacitor exhibits increased super capacitor behavior with a high energy density of 29.5 Whkg-1. The concept provides an efficient method for producing high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors from conventional water treatment biomass wastes.

Keywords: supercapacitors, carbon, material science, batteries

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Shahram Naghizadeh Raeisi, Ali Alghooneh

Abstract:

The application of whey protein in drink industry to enhance the nutritional value of the products is important. Furthermore, the gelification of protein during thermal treatment and shelf life makes some limitations in its application. So, the main goal of this research is manufacturing of high concentrate whey protein orange drink with appropriate shelf life. In this way, whey protein was 5 to 30% hydrolyzed ( in 5 percent intervals at six stages), then thermal stability of samples with 10% concentration of protein was tested in acidic condition (T= 90 °C, pH=4.2, 5 minutes ) and neutral condition (T=120° C, pH:6.7, 20 minutes.) Furthermore, to study the shelf life of heat treated samples in 4 months at 4 and 24 °C, the time sweep rheological test were done. At neutral conditions, 5 to 20% hydrolyzed sample showed gelling during thermal treatment, whereas at acidic condition, was happened only in 5 to 10 percent hydrolyzed samples. This phenomenon could be related to the difference in hydrodynamic radius and zeta potential of samples with different level of hydrolyzation at acidic and neutral conditions. To study the gelification of heat resistant protein solutions during shelf life, for 4 months with 7 days intervals, the time sweep analysis were performed. Cross over was observed for all heat resistant neutral samples at both storage temperature, while in heat resistant acidic samples with degree of hydrolysis, 25 and 30 percentage at 4 and 20 °C, it was not seen. It could be concluded that the former sample was stable during heat treatment and 4 months storage, which made them a good choice for manufacturing high protein drinks. The Scheffe polynomial model and numerical optimization were employed for modeling and high protein orange drink formula optimization. Scheffe model significantly predicted the overal acceptance index (Pvalue<0.05) of sensorial analysis. The coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.94, the adjusted coefficient of determination (R2Adj) of 0.90, insignificance of the lack-of-fit test and F value of 64.21 showed the accuracy of the model. Moreover, the coefficient of variable (C.V) was 6.8% which suggested the replicability of the experimental data. The desirability function had been achieved to be 0.89, which indicates the high accuracy of optimization. The optimum formulation was found as following: Modified whey protein solution (65.30%), natural orange juice (33.50%), stevia sweetener (0.05%), orange peel oil (0.15%) and citric acid (1 %), respectively. Its worth mentioning that this study made an appropriate model for application of whey protein in drink industry without bitter flavor and gelification during heat treatment and shelf life.

Keywords: croos over, orange beverage, protein modification, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Faiza Chaib, Yasmina-Nadia Bendahmane, Fatima Zohra Ghanemi

Abstract:

In order to know the traditional use of aromatic and medicinal plants in natural cosmetics, we carried out an ethnobotanical study using an online quiz among the Algerian population residing mainly in western Algeria (Oran, Tlemcen, and Mostaganem). Our study identified 37 plant species used as cosmetic plants, divided into 9 botanical families. The families mainly used and the richest in species are the lamiaceae, the apiecea, and the rutaceae. Our study states that the 5 species with the highest frequency of use and highest citation value are lemon, chamomile, turmeric, garlic, and lavender. Lemon takes first place in the order of frequency. The plants listed have been listed in tables grouping the identification of plants by their scientific and vernacular names, frequency of use, parts used, parts of the body concerned, desired action, as well as the main traditional recipes. This study allowed us to highlight the importance of aromatic plants and to appreciate their traditional practices in natural cosmetics.

Keywords: aromatic plants, ethnobotanical survey, traditional use, natural cosmetics, questionnaire, western Algeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: R. O. Babatunde, O. M. Igbalajobi, F. Matambalya

Abstract:

Moderate economic growth in developing and emerging countries has led to improvement in the food consumption and nutrition situation in the last two decades. Nevertheless, about 870 million people, with a quarter of them from Sub-Saharan Africa, are still suffering from hunger worldwide. As part of measures to reduce the widespread poverty and hunger, cash transfer programmes are now being implemented in many countries of the world. While nationwide cash transfer schemes are few in Sub-Saharan Africa generally, the available ones are more concentrated in East and Southern Africa. Much of the available literature on social protection had focused on the poverty impact of cash transfer schemes at the household level, with the larger proportion originating from Latin America. On the contrary, much less empirical studies have been conducted on the poverty impact of cash transfer in Sub-Saharan Africa, let alone on the food security and nutrition impact. To fill this gap in knowledge, this paper examines the impact of cash transfer on food security in Nigeria. As a case study, the paper analysed the Ekiti State Cash Transfer Scheme (ECTS). ECTS is an unconditional transfer scheme which was established in 2011 to directly provide cash transfer to elderly persons aged 65 years and above in Ekiti State of Nigeria. Using survey data collected in 2013, we analysed the impact of the scheme on food availability and dietary diversity of the beneficiary households. Descriptive and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) techniques were used to estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) and Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) among the beneficiary and control groups. Thereafter, a model to test for the impact of participation in the cash transfer scheme on calorie availability and dietary diversity was estimated. The results indicate that while households in the sample are clearly vulnerable, there were statistically significant differences between the beneficiary and control groups. For instance, monthly expenditure, calorie availability and dietary diversity were significantly larger among the beneficiary and consequently, the prevalence and depth of hunger were lower in the group. Econometric results indicate that the cash transfer has a positive and significant effect on food availability and dietary diversity in the households. Expanding the coverage of the present scheme to cover all eligible households in the country and incorporating cash transfer into a comprehensive hunger reduction policy will make it to have a greater impact at improving food security among the most vulnerable households in the country.

Keywords: calorie availability, cash transfers, dietary diversity, propensity score matching

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Umara Nissar Rafiqi, Irum Gul, Nazima Nasrullah, Monica Saifi, Malik Z. Abdin

Abstract:

Background: Stevia rebaudiana, a member of Asteraceae family is an important medicinal plant and produces a commercially used non-caloric natural sweetener, which is also an alternate herbal cure for diabetes. Steviol glycosides are the main sweetening compounds present in these plants. Secondary metabolites are crucial to the adaption of plants to the environment and its overcoming stress conditions. In agricultural procedures, the abiotic stresses like salinity, high metal toxicity and drought, in particular, are responsible for the majority of the reduction that differentiates yield potential from harvestable yield. Salt stress and heavy metal toxicity lead to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). To avoid oxidative damage due to ROS and osmotic stress, plants have a system of anti-oxidant enzymes along with several stress induced enzymes. This helps in scavenging the ROS and relieve the osmotic stress in different cell compartments. However, whether stress induced toxicity modulates the activity of these enzymes in Stevia rebaudiana is poorly understood. Aim: The present study focussed on the effect of salinity, heavy metal toxicity (lead and mercury) on physiological traits and transcriptional profiling of Stevia rebaudiana. Method: Stevia rebaudiana plants were collected from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (CIMAP), Patnagar, India and maintained under controlled conditions in a greenhouse at Hamdard University, Delhi, India. The plants were subjected to different concentrations of salt (0, 25, 50 and 75 mM respectively) and heavy metals, lead and mercury (0, 100, 200 and 300 µM respectively). The physiological traits such as shoot length, root numbers, leaf growth were evaluated. The samples were collected at different developmental stages and analysed for transcription profiling by RT-PCR. Transcriptional studies in stevia rebaudiana involves important antioxidant enzymes: catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP) and stress induced aquaporin (AQU), auxin repressed protein (ARP-1), Ndhc gene. The data was analysed using GraphPad Prism and expressed as mean ± SD. Result: Low salinity and lower metal toxicity did not affect the fresh weight of the plant. However, this was substantially decreased by 55% at high salinity and heavy metal treatment. With increasing salinity and heavy metal toxicity, the values of all studied physiological traits were significantly decreased. Chlorosis in treated plants was also observed which could be due to changes in Fe:Zn ratio. At low concentrations (upto 25 mM) of NaCl and heavy metals, we did not observe any significant difference in the gene expressions of treated plants compared to control plants. Interestingly, at high salt concentration and high metal toxicity, a significant increase in the expression profile of stress induced genes was observed in treated plants compared to control (p < 0.005). Conclusion: Stevia rebaudiana is tolerant to lower salt and heavy metal concentration. This study also suggests that with the increase in concentrations of salt and heavy metals, harvest yield of S. rebaudiana was hampered.

Keywords: Stevia rebaudiana, natural sweetener, salinity, heavy metal toxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Hülya Torun, Ondřej Novák, Jaromír Mikulík, Miroslav Strnad, Faik A. Ayaz

Abstract:

World climate is changing. Millions of people in the world still face chronic undernourishment for conducting a healthy life and the world’s population is growing steadily. To meet this growing demand, agriculture and food systems must adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and become more resilient, productive and sustainable. From this perspective, to determine tolerant cultivars for undesirable environmental conditions will be necessary food production for sustainable development. Among abiotic stresses, soil salinity is one of the most detrimental global fact restricting plant sources. Development of salt-tolerant lines is required in order to increase the crop productivity and quality in salt-treated lands. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the morphological and physiological responses of barley cultivars accessions to salinity stress by NaCl. For this purpose, it was aimed to determine the crosstalk between some endogenous phytohormones and exogenous salicylic acid (SA) in two different vegetative parts (leaves and roots) of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.; Poaceae; 2n=14; Ince-04) which is detected salt-tolerant. The effects of SA on growth parameters, leaf relative water content (RWC), endogenous phytohormones; including indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), cytokinins (CKs), abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene were investigated in barley cultivars under salinity stress. SA was applied to 17-day-old seedlings of barley in two different ways including before (pre-treated for 24 h) and simultaneously with NaCl stress treatment. NaCl (0, 150, 300 mM) exposure in the hydrophonic system was associated with a rapid decrease in growth parameters and RWC, which is an indicator of plant water status, resulted in a strong up-regulation of ABA as a stress indicator. Roots were more dramatically affected than leaves. Water conservation in 150 mM NaCl treated-barley plants did not change, but decreased in 300 mM NaCl treated plants. Pre- and simultaneously treatment of SA did not significantly alter growth parameters and RWC. ABA, JA and ethylene are known to be related with stress. In the present work, ethylene also increased, similarly to ABA, but not with the same intensity. While ABA and ethylene increased by the increment of salt concentrations, JA levels rapidly decreased especially in roots. Both pre- and simultaneously SA applications alleviated salt-induced decreases in 300 mM NaCl resulted in the increment of ABA levels. CKs and IAA are related to cell growth and development. At high salinity (300 mM NaCl), CKs (cZ+cZR) contents increased in both vegetative organs while IAA levels stayed at the same level with control groups. However, IAA increased and cZ+cZR rapidly decreased in leaves of barley plants with SA treatments before salt applications (in pre- SA treated groups). Simultaneously application of SA decreased CKs levels in both leaves and roots of the cultivar. Due to increasing concentrations of NaCl in association with decreasing ABA, JA and ethylene content and increments in CKs and IAA were recorded with SA treatments. As results of the study, in view of all the phytohormones that we tested, exogenous SA induced greater tolerance to salinity particularly when applied before salinity stress.

Keywords: Barley, Hordeum vulgare, phytohormones, salicylic acid, salinity

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Eliska Oberhofnerova, Milos Panek, Stepan Hysek, Martin Lexa

Abstract:

Nowadays the use of wood, both indoors and outdoors, is constantly increasing. However wood is a natural organic material and in the exterior is subjected to a degradation process caused by abiotic factors (solar radiation, rain, moisture, wind, dust etc.). This process affects only surface layers of wood but neglecting some of the basic rules of wood protection leads to increased possibility of biological agents attack and thereby influences a function of the wood element. The process of wood degradation can be decreased by proper surface treatment, especially in the case of less naturally durable wood species, as spruce. Modern coating systems are subjected to many requirements such as colour stability, hydrophobicity, low volatile organic compound (VOC) content, long service life or easy maintenance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the colour stability of spruce wood (Picea abies), as the basic parameter indicating the coating durability, treated with two layers of transparent natural oil wood stain and exposed to outdoor conditions. The test specimens were exposed for 2 years to natural weathering and 2000 hours to artificial weathering in UV-chamber. The colour parameters were measured before and during exposure to weathering by the spectrophotometer according to CIELab colour space. The comparison between untreated and treated wood and both testing procedures was carried out. The results showed a significant effect of coating on the colour stability of wood, as expected. Nevertheless, increasing colour changes of wood observed during the exposure to weathering differed according to applied testing procedure - natural and artificial.

Keywords: colour stability, natural and artificial weathering, spruce wood, transparent coating

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Hairin Taha, Aditya Arya, M. A. Hapipah, A. M. Mustafa

Abstract:

Plants have been an important source of medicine since ancient times. Pseuduvaria monticola is a rare montane forest species from the Annonaceae family. Traditionally, the plant was used to cure symptoms of fever, inflammation, stomach-ache and also to reduce the elevated levels of blood glucose. Scientifically, we have evaluated the antidiabetic potential of the Pseuduvaria monticola bark methanolic extract on certain in vitro cell based assays, followed by in vivo study. Results from in vitro models displayed PMm upregulated glucose uptake and insulin secretion in mouse pancreatic β-cells. In vivo study demonstrated the PMm down-regulated hyperglycaemia, oxidative stress and elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in type 2 diabetic rat models. Altogether, the study revealed that Pseuduvaria monticola might be used as a potential candidate for the management of type 2 diabetes and its related complications.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes, Pseuduvaria monticola, insulin secretion, glucose uptake

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: Aylin Mohammadalipour Tofighi

Abstract:

Marine-based geoengineering methods, proposed to mitigate climate change, operate primarily through two mechanisms: reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and diminishing solar absorption by the oceans. While these approaches promise beneficial outcomes, they are fraught with environmental, legal, ethical, and political challenges, necessitating robust international governance. This paper underscores the critical role of international cooperation within the governance framework, offering a focused analysis of existing international environmental mechanisms applicable to marine-based geoengineering governance. It evaluates the efficacy and limitations of current international legal structures, including treaties and organizations, in managing marine-based geoengineering, noting significant gaps such as the absence of specific regulations, dedicated international entities, and explicit governance mechanisms such as monitoring. To rectify these problems, the paper advocates for concrete steps to bolster international cooperation. These include the formulation of dedicated marine-based geoengineering guidelines within international agreements, the establishment of specialized supervisory entities, and the promotion of transparent, global consensus-building. These recommendations aim to foster governance that is environmentally sustainable, ethically sound, and politically feasible, thereby enhancing knowledge exchange, spurring innovation, and advancing the development of marine-based geoengineering approaches. This study emphasizes the importance of collaborative approaches in managing the complexities of marine-based geoengineering, contributing significantly to the discourse on international environmental governance in the face of rapid climate and technological changes.

Keywords: climate change, environmental law, international cooperation, international governance, international law, marine-based geoengineering, marine law, regulatory frameworks

Procedia PDF Downloads 74