Search results for: criteria pollutants

Authors: Kirsi Korkealehto

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The purpose of this research was to investigate how the peer evaluation concept was perceived by language teachers developing online language courses. The online language courses in question were developed in language teacher teams within a nationwide KiVAKO-project funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The participants of the project were 86 language teachers of 26 higher education institutions in Finland. The KiVAKO-project aims to strengthen the language capital at higher education institutions by building a nationwide online language course offering on a shared platform. All higher education students can study the courses regardless of their home institutions. The project covers the following languages: Chinese, Estonian, Finnish Sign Language, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish on the levels CEFR A1-C1. The courses were piloted in the autumn term of 2019, and an online peer evaluation session was organised for all project participating teachers in spring 2020. The peer evaluation utilised the quality criteria for online implementation, which was developed earlier within the eAMK-project. The eAMK-project was also funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture with the aim to improve higher education institution teachers’ digital and pedagogical competences. In the online peer evaluation session, the teachers were divided into Zoom breakout rooms, in each of which two pilot courses were presented by their teachers dialogically. The other language teachers provided feedback on the course on the basis of the quality criteria. Thereafter good practices and ideas were gathered to an online document. The breakout rooms were facilitated by one teacher who was instructed and provided a slide-set prior to the online session. After the online peer evaluation sessions, the language teachers were asked to respond to an online questionnaire for feedback. The questionnaire included three multiple-choice questions using the Likert-scale rating and two open-ended questions. The online questionnaire was answered after the sessions immediately, the questionnaire link and the QR-code to it was on the last slide of the session, and it was responded at the site. The data comprise online questionnaire responses of the peer evaluation session and the researcher’s observations during the sessions. The data were analysed with a qualitative content analysis method with the help of Atlas.ti programme, and the Likert scale answers provided results per se. The observations were used as complementary data to support the primary data. The findings indicate that the working in the breakout rooms was successful, and the workshops proceeded smoothly. The workshops were perceived as beneficial in terms of improving the piloted courses and developing the participants’ own work as teachers. Further, the language teachers stated that the collegial discussions and sharing the ideas were fruitful. The aspects to improve the workshops were to give more time for free discussions and the opportunity to familiarize oneself with the quality criteria and the presented language courses beforehand. The quality criteria were considered to provide a suitable frame for self- and peer evaluations.

Keywords: higher education, language learning, online learning, peer-evaluation

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Authors: S. Visetpotjanakit, N. Nakkaew

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Determination of ⁹⁰Sr in environmental samples has been widely developed with several radioanlytical methods and radiation measurement techniques since ⁹⁰Sr is one of the most hazardous radionuclides produced from nuclear reactors. Liquid extraction technique using di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) to separate and purify ⁹⁰Y and Cherenkov counting using liquid scintillation counter to determine ⁹⁰Y in secular equilibrium to ⁹⁰Sr was developed and performed at our institute, the Office of Atoms for Peace. The approach is inexpensive, non-laborious, and fast to analyse ⁹⁰Sr in environmental samples. To validate our analytical performance for the accurate and precise criteria, determination of ⁹⁰Sr using the IAEA-TEL-2016-04 ALMERA proficiency test samples were performed for statistical evaluation. The experiment used two spiked tap water samples and one naturally contaminated spruce needles sample from Austria collected shortly after the Chernobyl accident. Results showed that all three analyses were successfully passed in terms of both accuracy and precision criteria, obtaining “Accepted” statuses. The two water samples obtained the measured results of 15.54 Bq/kg and 19.76 Bq/kg, which had relative bias 5.68% and -3.63% for the Maximum Acceptable Relative Bias (MARB) 15% and 20%, respectively. And the spruce needles sample obtained the measured results of 21.04 Bq/kg, which had relative bias 23.78% for the MARB 30%. These results confirm our analytical performance of ⁹⁰Sr determination in water and spruce needles samples using the same developed method.

Keywords: ALMERA proficiency test, Cerenkov counting, determination of 90Sr, environmental samples

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Authors: Yuan-Jye Tseng, Shin-Han Lin

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In this research, a mathematical model for integrated evaluation of green design and green manufacturing processes is presented. To design a product, there can be alternative options to design the detailed components to fulfill the same product requirement. In the design alternative cases, the components of the product can be designed with different materials and detailed specifications. If several design alternative cases are proposed, the different materials and specifications can affect the manufacturing processes. In this paper, a new concept for integrating green design and green manufacturing processes is presented. A green design can be determined based the manufacturing processes of the designed product by evaluating the green criteria including energy usage and environmental impact, in addition to the traditional criteria of manufacturing cost. With this concept, a mathematical model is developed to find the green design and the associated green manufacturing processes. In the mathematical model, the cost items include material cost, manufacturing cost, and green related cost. The green related cost items include energy cost and environmental cost. The objective is to find the decisions of green design and green manufacturing processes to achieve the minimized total cost. In practical applications, the decision-making can be made to select a good green design case and its green manufacturing processes. In this presentation, an example product is illustrated. It shows that the model is practical and useful for integrated evaluation of green design and green manufacturing processes.

Keywords: supply chain management, green supply chain, green design, green manufacturing, mathematical model

Procedia PDF Downloads 793

Authors: B. R. Raut

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The seismic performance of 20-storey benchmark building with semi-active dampers is investigated under various earthquake ground motions. The Semi-Active Variable Friction Dampers (SAVFD) and Magnetorheological Dampers (MR) are used in this study. A recently proposed predictive control algorithm is employed for SAVFD and a simple mechanical model based on a Bouc–Wen element with clipped optimal control algorithm is employed for MR damper. A parametric study is carried out to ascertain the optimum parameters of the semi-active controllers, which yields the minimum performance indices of controlled benchmark building. The effectiveness of dampers is studied in terms of the reduction in structural responses and performance criteria. To minimize the cost of the dampers, the optimal location of the damper, rather than providing the dampers at all floors, is also investigated. The semi-active dampers installed in benchmark building effectively reduces the earthquake-induced responses. Lesser number of dampers at appropriate locations also provides comparable response of benchmark building, thereby reducing cost of dampers significantly. The effectiveness of two semi-active devices in mitigating seismic responses is cross compared. Among two semi-active devices majority of the performance criteria of MR dampers are lower than SAVFD installed with benchmark building. Thus the performance of the MR dampers is far better than SAVFD in reducing displacement, drift, acceleration and base shear of mid to high-rise building against seismic forces.

Keywords: benchmark building, control strategy, input excitation, MR dampers, peak response, semi-active variable friction dampers

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Authors: Tomas Makaras, Gintaras Svecevičius

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Landfill waste is a common problem as it has an economic and environmental impact even if it is closed. Landfill waste contains a high density of various persistent compounds such as heavy metals, organic and inorganic materials. As persistent compounds are slowly-degradable or even non-degradable in the environment, they often produce sublethal or even lethal effects on aquatic organisms. The aims of the present study were to estimate sublethal effects of the Kairiai landfill (WGS: 55°55‘46.74“, 23°23‘28.4“) leachate on the locomotor activity of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles using the original system package developed in our laboratory for automated monitoring, recording and analysis of aquatic organisms’ activity, and to determine patterns of fish behavioral response to sublethal effects of leachate. Four different concentrations of leachate were chosen: 0.125; 0.25; 0.5 and 1.0 mL/L (0.0025; 0.005; 0.01 and 0.002 as part of 96-hour LC50, respectively). Locomotor activity was measured after 5, 10 and 30 minutes of exposure during 1-minute test-periods of each fish (7 fish per treatment). The threshold-effect-concentration amounted to 0.18 mL/L (0.0036 parts of 96-hour LC50). This concentration was found to be even 2.8-fold lower than the concentration generally assumed to be “safe” for fish. At higher concentrations, the landfill leachate solution elicited behavioral response of test fish to sublethal levels of pollutants. The ability of the rainbow trout to detect and avoid contaminants occurred after 5 minutes of exposure. The intensity of locomotor activity reached a peak within 10 minutes, evidently decreasing after 30 minutes. This could be explained by the physiological and biochemical adaptation of fish to altered environmental conditions. It has been established that the locomotor activity of juvenile trout depends on leachate concentration and exposure duration. Modeling of these parameters showed that the activity of juveniles increased at higher leachate concentrations, but slightly decreased with the increasing exposure duration. Experiment results confirm that the behavior of rainbow trout juveniles is a sensitive and rapid biomarker that can be used in combination with the system for fish behavior monitoring, registration and analysis to determine sublethal concentrations of pollutants in ambient water. Further research should be focused on software improvement aimed to include more parameters of aquatic organisms’ behavior and to investigate the most rapid and appropriate behavioral responses in different species. In practice, this study could be the basis for the development and creation of biological early-warning systems (BEWS).

Keywords: fish behavior biomarker, landfill leachate, locomotor activity, rainbow trout juveniles, sublethal effects

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Authors: Mehdi Rezai, Asghar Zamani

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Virtual teams are a reality in today’s fast-paced world. With the possibility of commonly using common resources, an increase of inter-organizational projects, cooperation, outsourcing, and the increase in the number of people who work remotely or flexitime, an extensive and active presence of high-performance teams is a must. Virtual teams are a challenge by themselves. Their members remove the barriers of cultures, time regions and organizations, and they often communicate through electronic devices over considerable distances. Firstly, we examine the management of virtual teams by considering different issues such as cultural and personal diversities, communications and arrangement issues. Then we will examine individuals, processes and the existing tools in a team. The main challenge is managing high-performance virtual teams. First of all, we must examine the concept of performance. Then, we must focus on teams and the best methods of managing them. Constant improvement of performance, together with precisely regulating every individual’s method of working, increases the levels of performance in the course of time. High-performance teams exploit every issue as an opportunity for achieving high performance. And we know that doing projects with high performance is among every organization or team’s objectives. Performance could be measured using many criteria, among which carrying out projects in time, the satisfaction of stakeholders, and not exceeding budgets could be named. Elements such as clear objectives, clearly-defined roles and responsibilities, effective communications, and commitment to collaboration are essential to a team’s effectiveness. Finally, we will examine roles, systems, processes and will carry out a cause-and-effect analysis of different criteria in improving a team’s performance.

Keywords: virtual teams, performance, management, process, improvement, effectiveness

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Authors: Dost Muhammad Halepoto, Laila AL-Ayadhi

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Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism can cause lifelong disability. Genetic and environmental factors are believed to contribute to the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but relatively few studies have considered potential environmental risks. Several industrial chemicals and other environmental exposures are recognized causes of neurodevelopmental disorders and subclinical brain dysfunction. The toxic effects of such chemicals in the developing human brain are not known. This review highlights the role of environmental risk factors including drugs, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, vaccines, and other suspected neurotoxicants including persistent organic pollutants for ASD. It also provides information about the environmental toxins to yield new insights into factors that affect autism risk as well as an opportunity to investigate the relation between autism and environmental exposure.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, environmental factors, neurodevelopmental disorder

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Authors: Nur Iffika Ruslan, Ahmad Rosly Abbas, Munirah Stapah@Salleh, Nurfaziera Rahim

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Increased concerns and awareness of environmental hazards by fossil fuels burning for energy have become the major factor driving the transition toward green energy. It is expected that an additional of 2,000 MW of renewable energy is to be recorded from the renewable sources by 2025 following the implementation of Large Scale Solar projects in Peninsular Malaysia, including Large Scale Floating Solar projects. Floating Solar has better advantages over its landed counterparts such as the requirement for land acquisition is relatively insignificant. As part of the site selection process established by TNB Research Sdn. Bhd., a set of mandatory and rejection criteria has been developed in order to identify only sites that are feasible for the future development of Large Scale Floating Solar power plant. There are a total of 85 lakes and reservoirs identified within Peninsular Malaysia. Only lakes and reservoirs with a minimum surface area of 120 acres will be considered as potential sites for the development of Large Scale Floating Solar power plant. The result indicates a total of 10 potential Large Scale Floating Solar sites identified which are located in Selangor, Johor, Perak, Pulau Pinang, Perlis and Pahang. This paper will elaborate on the various mandatory and rejection criteria, as well as on the various site selection process required to identify potential (suitable) Large Scale Floating Solar sites in Peninsular Malaysia.

Keywords: Large Scale Floating Solar, Peninsular Malaysia, Potential Sites, Renewable Energy

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Authors: H. Aguedal, H. Hentit, A. Aziz, D. R. Merouani, A. Iddou

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The major environmental risk of soil pollution is the contamination of groundwater by infiltration of organic and inorganic pollutants that can cause a serious pollution. To protect the groundwater, in this study, we proceeded to test the reliability of a bio solid as barrier to prevent the migration of a very dangerous pollutant ‘Cadmium’ through the different soil layers. The follow-up the influence of several parameters, such as: turbidity, pluviometry, initial concentration of cadmium and the nature of soil, allow us to find the most effective manner to integrate this barrier in the soil. From the results obtained, we noted the effective intervention of the barrier. Indeed, the recorded passing quantities are lowest for the highest rainfall; we noted that the barrier has a better affinity towards higher concentrations; the most retained amounts of cadmium has been in the top layer of the two types of soil, while the lowest amounts of cadmium are recorded in the inner layers of soils.

Keywords: adsorption of cadmium, barrier, groundwater pollution, protection

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Authors: Saiful Islam, Deuk Jong Bae

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The purpose of this study is to examine citizen satisfaction and competitiveness of a Public Private Partnership project. The study focuses on PPP in the transport sector and investigates the New Bundang Subway Line (NBL) in South Korea as the object of a case study. Most PPP studies are dominated by the study of public and private sector interests, which are classified in to three major areas comprising of policy, finance, and management. This study will explore the user perspective by assessing customer satisfaction upon NBL cost and service quality, also the competitiveness of NBL compared to other alternative transport modes which serve the Jeongja – Gangnam trip or vice versa. The regular Bundang Subway Line, New Bundang Subway Line, bus and private vehicle are selected as the alternative transport modes. The study analysed customer satisfaction of NBL and citizen’s preference of alternative transport modes based on a survey in Bundang district, South Korea. Respondents were residents and employees who live or work in Bundang city, and were divided into the following areas Pangyo, Jeongjae – Sunae, Migeun – Ori – Jukjeon, and Imae – Yatap – Songnam. The survey was conducted in January 2015 for two weeks, and 753 responses were gathered. By applying the Hedonic Utility approach, the factors which affect the frequency of using NBL were found to be overall customer satisfaction, convenience of access, and the socio economic demographic of the individual. In addition, by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, criteria factors influencing the decision to select alternative transport modes were identified. Those factors, along with the author judgement of alternative transport modes, and their associated criteria and sub-criteria produced a priority list of user preferences regarding their alternative transport mode options. The study found that overall the regular Bundang Subway Line (BL), which was built and operated under a conventional procurement method was selected as the most preferable transport mode due to its cost competitiveness. However, on the sub-criteria level analysis, the NBL has competitiveness on service quality, particularly on journey time. By conducting a sensitivity analysis, the NBL can become the first choice of transport by increasing the NBL’s degree of weight associated with cost by 0,05. This means the NBL would need to reduce either it’s fare cost or transfer fee, or combine those two cost components to reduce the total of the current cost by 25%. In addition, the competitiveness of NBL also could be obtained by increasing NBL convenience through escalating access convenience such as constructing an additional station or providing more access modes. Although these convenience improvements would require a few extra minutes of journey time, the user found this to be acceptable. The findings and policy suggestions can contribute to the next phase of NBL development, showing that consideration should be given to the citizen’s voice. The case study results also contribute to the literature of PPP projects specifically from a user side perspective.

Keywords: public private partnership, customer satisfaction, public transport, new Bundang subway line

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Authors: Ashti Morovati, Hushyar Azari, Bahram Pourghassem Gargari

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Objectives and goals: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), as a major health burden for societies, is increasing. This clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of CuEO supplementation on anthropometric indices, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose level, insulin resistance and serum lipid level in patients suffering from MetS. Methods: This was a randomized, triple‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trial in which 56 patients with MetS aged 18–60 years who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were randomly allocated to an intervention or a control group. Inclusion criteria for the study were comprised of diagnosis of MetS according to the new International Federation of Diabetes. The exclusion criteria were defined as: taking herbal supplements, use of drugs having evident interaction with cumin such as anti‐depressant drugs, vitamin D, omega 3, selenium, zinc, smoking, pregnancy, or breastfeeding, suffering from cancer, having any history of gastrointestinal and hepatic, cardiovascular, thyroid and kidney disorders, and menopause. 75 mg CuEO or placebo soft gels were administered three times daily to the participants for eight weeks. The soft gel consumption was checked by asking the participants to bring the medication containers in the follow‐up visits at the 4th and the 8th weeks of the study. Data pertaining to blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference and BMI, as well as food consumption were collected at the beginning and end of the study. Fasting blood samples ( glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol) were obtained and biochemical measurements were assessed at the beginning and end of the study. Results: At eight weeks, a total of 44 patients completed this study. Except for diastolic blood pressure (DBP), the other assessed variables were not significantly different between the two groups. In intra group analysis, placebo and CuEO groups both had insignificant decrements in DBP (mean difference [MD] with 95% CI: −3.31 [−7.11, 0.47] and −1.77 [−5.95, 2.40] mmHg, respectively). However, DBP was significantly lower in CuEO compared with the placebo group at the end of study (81.41 ± 5.88 vs. 84.09 ± 5.54 mmHg, MD with 95% CI: −3.98 [−7.60, −0.35] mmHg, p < .05). Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that CuEO does not have any effect on MetS components, except for DBP in patients with MetS.

Keywords: blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, waist circumference

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Mehrdad Abkenari, Naghmeh Pournayeb, Mohsen Ramezan Shirazi

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Nano-science has been widely used in different engineering sciences. Generally, materials’ application can be determined through their chemical and physical properties. Nano-science has introduced as a new way in production systems that not only turns the materials into very small particles but also, gives them new and considerable properties. Like other fields of study, civil engineering has not been ignorant of benefits and characteristics of new nanotechnology and has used it in the construction industry and environmental engineering. Therefore, considering such chemical properties as elemental analysis and molecular or atomic structure, the present article is aimed at studying the effects of Nano-materials on different branches of civil engineering. Finally, by identifying new Nano-materials, this study attempts to introduce advantages of using these materials for increasing the strength of materials during construction as well as finding new approaches to prevent or reduce the entrance of chemical pollutants during or after construction to the environment.

Keywords: civil, nano-science, construction, environment

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Authors: Luca Collini, Michele Antolotti, Diego Schiavi

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At present, complex geometries within production time shrinkage, rapidly increasing demand, and high-quality standard requirement make the non-destructive (ND) control of additively manufactured components indispensable means. On the other hand, a technology gap and the lack of standards regulating the methods and the acceptance criteria indicate the NDT of these components a stimulating field to be still fully explored. Up to date, penetrant testing, acoustic wave, tomography, radiography, and semi-automated ultrasound methods have been tested on metal powder based products so far. External defects, distortion, surface porosity, roughness, texture, internal porosity, and inclusions are the typical defects in the focus of testing. Detection of density and layers compactness are also been tried on stainless steels by the ultrasonic scattering method. In this work, the authors want to present and discuss the radiographic and the ultrasound ND testing on additively manufactured Ti₆Al₄V and inconel parts obtained by the selective laser melting (SLM) technology. In order to test the possibilities given by the radiographic method, both X-Rays and γ-Rays are tried on a set of specifically designed specimens realized by the SLM. The specimens contain a family of defectology, which represent the most commonly found, as cracks and lack of fusion. The tests are also applied to real parts of various complexity and thickness. A set of practical indications and of acceptance criteria is finally drawn.

Keywords: non-destructive testing, selective laser melting, radiography, UT method

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Authors: Wann-Ming Wey

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In recent years, the problems of global climate change and natural disasters have induced the concerns and attentions of environmental sustainability issues for the public. Aside from the environmental planning efforts done for human environment, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has been widely used as one of the future solutions for the sustainable city development. In order to be more consistent with the urban sustainable development, the development of the built environment planning based on the concept of Green TOD which combines both TOD and Green Urbanism is adapted here. The connotation of the urban development under the green TOD including the design toward environment protect, the maximum enhancement resources and the efficiency of energy use, use technology to construct green buildings and protected areas, natural ecosystems and communities linked, etc. Green TOD is not only to provide the solution to urban traffic problems, but to direct more sustainable and greener consideration for future urban development planning and design. In this study, we use both the TOD and Green Urbanism concepts to proceed to the study of the built environment planning and design. Fuzzy Delphi Technique (FDT) is utilized to screen suitable criteria of the green TOD. Furthermore, Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) were then developed to evaluate the criteria and prioritize the alternatives. The study results can be regarded as the future guidelines of the built environment planning and designing under green TOD development in Taiwan.

Keywords: green TOD, built environment, fuzzy delphi technique, quality function deployment, fuzzy analytic network process

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Authors: Bouchra Wassate, Younes Karhat, Khadija El Falaki

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Leachate is a source of surface water and groundwater contamination if it has not been pretreated. Indeed, due to its complex structure and its pollution load make its treatment extremely difficult to achieve the standard limits required. The objective of this work is to show the interest of advanced oxidation processes on leachate treatment of urban waste containing high concentrations of organic pollutants. The efficiency of Fenton (Fe2+ +H2O2 + H+) reagent for young leachate recovered from collection trucks household waste in the city of Casablanca, Morocco, was evaluated with the objectives of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and discoloration reductions. The optimization of certain physicochemical parameters (initial pH value, reaction time, and [Fe2+], [H2O2]/ [Fe2+] ratio) has yielded good results in terms of reduction of COD and discoloration of the leachate.

Keywords: COD removal, color removal, Fenton process, oxidation process, leachate

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Authors: Tizi Hayet, Berrama Tarek, Bounif Nadia

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Phenol and its derivatives are organic compounds utilized in the chemical industry. They are introduced into the environment by accidental spills and the illegal release of industrial and municipal wastewater. Phenols are organic intermediaries that are considered potential pollutants. Adsorption is one of the purification and separation techniques used in this area. Algeria annually produces 131000 tons of fig; therefore, a large amount of fig leaves is generated, and the conversion of this waste into adsorbent allows the valorization of agricultural residue. The main purpose of this present work is to describe an application of a statistical method for modeling and to optimize the conditions of the phenol adsorption from agricultural by-products, locally available (fig leaves). The best experimental performance of phenol elimination on the adsorbent was obtained with: Adsorbent concentration (X₂) = 200 mg L⁻¹; Initial concentration (X₃) = 150 mg L⁻¹; Speed agitation (X₁) = 300 rpm.

Keywords: low-cost adsorbents, adsorption, fig leaves, phenol, factorial design

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Authors: Ashish Trivedi, Amol Singh

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In the recent years, the magnitude and frequency of disasters have increased at an alarming rate. Every year, more than 400 natural disasters affect global population. A large-scale disaster leads to destruction or damage to houses, thereby rendering a notable number of residents homeless. Since humanitarian response and recovery process takes considerable time, temporary establishments are arranged in order to provide shelter to affected population. These shelter areas are vital for an effective humanitarian relief; therefore, they must be strategically planned. Choosing the locations of temporary shelter areas for accommodating homeless people is critical to the quality of humanitarian assistance provided after a large-scale emergency. There has been extensive research on the facility location problem both in theory and in application. In order to deliver sufficient relief aid within a relatively short timeframe, humanitarian relief organisations pre-position warehouses at strategic locations. However, such approaches have received limited attention from the perspective of providing shelters to disaster-affected people. In present research work, this aspect of humanitarian logistics is considered. The present work proposes a hybrid decision support model to determine relative preference of potential shelter locations by assessing them based on key subjective criteria. Initially, the factors that are kept in mind while locating potential areas for establishing temporary shelters are identified by reviewing extant literature and through consultation from a panel of disaster management experts. In order to determine relative importance of individual criteria by taking into account subjectivity of judgements, a hybrid approach of fuzzy sets and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was adopted. Further, Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was applied on an illustrative data set to evaluate potential locations for establishing temporary shelter areas for homeless people in a disaster scenario. The contribution of this work is to propose a range of possible shelter locations for a humanitarian relief organization, using a robust multi criteria decision support framework.

Keywords: AHP, disaster preparedness, fuzzy set theory, humanitarian logistics, TOPSIS, temporary shelters

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Authors: Trevor R. Higgins

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The aim of this study was to compare muscle activation of the latissimus dorsi between pin-loaded machine (Lat Pull Down), resistance band (Lat Pull Down) and body-weight (Chin Up) exercises. A convenient sample of male college students with >2 years resistance training experience volunteered for the study. A paired t-test with repeated measures designs was carried out on results from EMG analysis. EMG analysis was conducted with Trigno wireless sensors (Delsys) placed laterally on the latissimus dorsi (left and right) of each participant. By conventional criteria the two-tailed P value suggested that differences between pin-loaded and body-weight was not significantly different (p = 0.93) and differences between pin-loaded and resistance band was not significantly different (p = 0.17) in muscle activity. In relation to conventional criteria the two-tailed P value suggested differences between body-weight and resistance band was not quite significantly different (p = 0.06) in muscle activity. However, effect size trends indicated that both body-weight and pin-loaded exercises where more effective in stimulating muscle electrical activity than a resistance band with male college athletes with >2 years resistance training experience. Although, resistance bands have increased in popularity in health and fitness centres, that for well-trained participants, they may not be effective in stimulating muscles of the latissimus dorsi. Therefore, when considering equipment and exercise selection for experienced resistance training participants pin-loaded machines and body-weight should be prescribed.

Keywords: pin-loaded, resistance bands, body weight, EMG analysis

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Authors: Neha Gupta

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Landslide vulnerability is considered as the crucial parameter for the assessment of landslide risk. The term vulnerability defined as the damage or degree of elements at risk of different dimensions, i.e., physical, social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Himalaya region is very prone to multi-hazard such as floods, forest fires, earthquakes, and landslides. With the increases in fatalities rates, loss of infrastructure, and economy due to landslide in the Himalaya region, leads to the assessment of vulnerability. In this study, a methodology to measure the combination of vulnerability dimension, i.e., social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and environmental vulnerability in one framework. A combined result of these vulnerabilities has rarely been carried out. But no such approach was applied in the Indian Scenario. The methodology was applied in an area of east Sikkim Himalaya, India. The physical vulnerability comprises of building footprint layer extracted from remote sensing data and Google Earth imaginary. The social vulnerability was assessed by using population density based on land use. The land use map was derived from a high-resolution satellite image, and for environment vulnerability assessment NDVI, forest, agriculture land, distance from the river were assessed from remote sensing and DEM. The classes of social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and environment vulnerability were normalized at the scale of 0 (no loss) to 1 (loss) to get the homogenous dataset. Then the Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) was used to assign individual weights to each dimension and then integrate it into one frame. The final vulnerability was further classified into four classes from very low to very high.

Keywords: landslide, multi-criteria analysis, MCA, physical vulnerability, social vulnerability

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Authors: Tizi Hayet, Berrama Tarek, Bounif Nadia

Abstract:

Phenol and its derivatives are organic compounds utilized in the chemical industry. They are introduced into the environment by accidental spills and illegal release of industrial and municipal wastewater. Phenols are organic intermediaries that considered as potential pollutants. Adsorption is one of the purification and separation techniques used in this area. Algeria produces annually 131000 tones of fig; therefore, a large amount of fig leaves is generated, and the conversion of this waste into adsorbent allows the valorization of agricultural residue. The main purpose of this present work is to describe an application of the statistical method for modeling and optimization of the conditions of the phenol (Ph) adsorption from agricultural by-product locally available (fig leaves). The best experimental performance of Ph elimination on the adsorbent was obtained with: Adsorbent concentration (X2) = 0.2 g L-1; Initial concentration (X3) = 150 mg L-1; Speed agitation (X1) = 300 rpm.

Keywords: low-cost adsorbents, fig leaves, full factorial design, phenol, biosorption

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Authors: Carl van Walraven, Meltem Tuna

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Background: Network meta-analysis (NMA) quantifies the relative efficacy of 3 or more interventions from studies containing a subgroup of interventions. This study applied the analytical approach of NMA to quantify the relative accuracy of prediction models with distinct inclusion criteria that are evaluated on a common population (‘concurrent external validation’). Methods: We simulated binary events in 5000 patients using a known risk function. We biased the risk function and modified its precision by pre-specified amounts to create 15 prediction models with varying accuracy and distinct patient applicability. Prediction model accuracy was measured using the Scaled Brier Score (SBS). Overall prediction model accuracy was measured using fixed-effects methods that accounted for model applicability patterns. Prediction model accuracy was summarized as the Network Relative Model Accuracy (NeRMA) Score which ranges from -∞ through 0 (accuracy of random guessing) to 1 (accuracy of most accurate model in concurrent external validation). Results: The unbiased prediction model had the highest SBS. The NeRMA score correctly ranked all simulated prediction models by the extent of bias from the known risk function. A SAS macro and R-function was created to implement the NeRMA Score. Conclusions: The NeRMA Score makes it possible to quantify the accuracy of binomial prediction models having distinct inclusion criteria in a concurrent external validation.

Keywords: prediction model accuracy, scaled brier score, fixed effects methods, concurrent external validation

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Authors: Olga Blagova, Yuliya Osipova, Evgeniya Kogan, Alexander Nedostup

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Purpose: to quantify the value of various clinical, laboratory and instrumental signs in the diagnosis of myocarditis in comparison with morphological studies of the myocardium. Methods: in 100 patients (65 men, 44.7±12.5 years) with «idiopathic» arrhythmias (n = 20) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM, n = 80) were performed 71 endomyocardial biopsy (EMB), 13 intraoperative biopsy, 5 study of explanted hearts, 11 autopsy with virus investigation (real-time PCR) of the blood and myocardium. Anti-heart antibodies (AHA) were also measured as well as cardiac CT (n = 45), MRI (n = 25), coronary angiography (n = 47). The comparison group included of 50 patients (25 men, 53.7±11.7 years) with non-inflammatory heart diseases who underwent open heart surgery. Results. Active/borderline myocarditis was diagnosed in 76.0% of the study group and in 21.6% of patients of the comparison group (p < 0.001). The myocardial viral genome was observed more frequently in patients of comparison group than in study group (group (65.0% and 40.2%; p < 0.01. Evaluated the diagnostic value of noninvasive markers of myocarditis. The panel of anti-heart antibodies had the greatest importance to identify myocarditis: sensitivity was 81.5%, positive and negative predictive value was 75.0 and 60.5%. It is defined diagnostic value of non-invasive markers of myocarditis and diagnostic algorithm providing an individual assessment of the likelihood of myocarditis is developed. Conclusion. The greatest significance in the diagnosis of latent myocarditis in patients with 'idiopathic' arrhythmias and DCM have AHA. The use of complex of noninvasive criteria allows estimate the probability of myocarditis and determine the indications for EMB.

Keywords: myocarditis, "idiopathic" arrhythmias, dilated cardiomyopathy, endomyocardial biopsy, viral genome, anti-heart antibodies

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Authors: A. Erragh, K. Amanzoui, M. Elharit, H. Salem, M. Ababneh, K. Elfakhr, S. Kalouch, A. Chlilek

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Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is the most common form of acute polyradiculoneuritis (PRNA). It is a medical emergency in pediatrics that requires rapid diagnosis and immediate assessment of the severity criteria for the implementation of appropriate treatment. Retrospective, descriptive study in 24 patients under the age of 18 who presented with GBS between September 2017 and July 2021 and were hospitalized in the multipurpose pediatric intensive care unit of the Abderrahim EL Harouchi children's hospital in Casablanca. The average age was 7.91 years, with extremes ranging from 18 months and 14 years and a male predominance of 75%. After a prodromal event, most often infectious (80%) and a free interval of 12 days on average, 2 types of motor disorders begin either hypo or arereflectic flaccid paralysis of the lower limbs (45.8%) or flaccid quadriplegia hypo or arereflectic (54.2%). During GBS, the most formidable complication is respiratory distress, which can occur at any time. In our study, respiratory impairment was observed in 70.8% of cases. In addition, other signs of severity, such as swallowing disorders (75%) and dysautonomic disorders (8.33%), were also observed, which justified care in the intensive care unit for all of our patients. The use of invasive ventilation was necessary in 76.5% of cases, and specific treatments based on immunoglobulins were administered in all our patients. Despite everything, the death rate remains high (25%) and is mainly due to complications related to hospitalization. Guillain Barré syndrome is, therefore, a pediatric emergency that requires rapid diagnosis and immediate assessment of severity criteria for the implementation of appropriate treatment.

Keywords: guillain barre syndrome, emergency, children, medical

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Authors: Oscar Nieto-Garzón, Angélica Lozano

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In urban areas, on-road freight transportation creates several social and environmental externalities. Then, it is crucial that freight transport considers not only economic aspects, like retailer distribution cost reduction and service improvement, but also environmental effects such as global CO2 and local emissions (e.g. Particulate Matter, NOX, CO) and noise. Inadequate infrastructure development, high rate of urbanization, the increase of motorization, and the lack of transportation planning are characteristics that urban areas from developing countries share. The Metropolitan Area of Mexico City (MAMC), the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), and Bogota are three of the largest urban areas in Latin America where air pollution is often a problem associated with emissions from mobile sources. The effect of the lockdown due to COVID-19 was analyzedfor these urban areas, comparing the same period (January to August) of years 2016 – 2019 with 2020. A strong reduction in the concentration of primary criteria pollutants emitted by road traffic were observed at the beginning of 2020 and after the lockdown measures.Daily mean concentration of NOx decreased 40% in the MAMC, 34% in the MASP, and 62% in Bogota. Daily mean ozone levels increased after the lockdown measures in the three urban areas, 25% in MAMC, 30% in the MASP and 60% in Bogota. These changes in emission patterns from mobile sources drastically changed the ambient atmospheric concentrations of CO and NOX. The CO/NOX ratioat the morning hours is often used as an indicator of mobile sources emissions. In 2020, traffic from cars and light vehicles was significantly reduced due to the first lockdown, but buses and trucks had not restrictions. In theory, it implies a decrease in CO and NOX from cars or light vehicles, maintaining the levels of NOX by trucks(or lower levels due to the congestion reduction). At rush hours, traffic was reduced between 50% and 75%, so trucks could get higher speeds, which would reduce their emissions. By means an emission model, it was found that an increase in the average speed (75%) would reduce the emissions (CO, NOX, and PM) from diesel trucks by up to 30%. It was expected that the value of CO/NOXratio could change due to thelockdownrestrictions. However, although there was asignificant reduction of traffic, CO/NOX kept its trend, decreasing to 8-9 in 2020. Hence, traffic restrictions had no impact on the CO/NOX ratio, although they did reduce vehicle emissions of CO and NOX. Therefore, these emissions may not adequately represent the change in the vehicle emission patterns, or this ratio may not be a good indicator of emissions generated by vehicles. From the comparison of the theoretical data and those observed during the lockdown, results that the real NOX reduction was lower than the theoretical reduction. The reasons could be that there are other sources of NOX emissions, so there would be an over-representation of NOX emissions generated by diesel vehicles, or there is an underestimation of CO emissions. Further analysis needs to consider this ratioto evaluate the emission inventories and then to extend these results forthe determination of emission control policies to non-mobile sources.

Keywords: COVID-19, emissions, freight transport, latin American metropolis

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Authors: Houneïda Benbouzid, Houria Berrebbah, Mohammed-Réda Djebar

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The toxicological impacts of the increasing number of synthetic compounds present in the aquatic environment are assessed predominantly in laboratory studies where test organisms are exposed to a range of concentrations of single compounds. The bio-indicator Paramecium sp., characterized by a short life cycle, rapid multiplication and normal behavior that may be affected by the presence of pollutants. We therefore investigated the inhibitory effect of a newly synthesized acaricide: the chlorfenapyr tested at concentrations of 250, 300, and 350 µM on a pure culture of Paramecium sp. during 6 day. Paramecia treated with different concentrations of Chlorfenapyr illustrate strong inhibition of cell growth from the second day of treatment. Low levels of glutathione, increased glutathione S-transferase and the decrease in respiratory metabolism, recorded in the presence of different concentrations of Chlorfenapyr, involve the activation of detoxification system.

Keywords: Paramecium sp., chlorfenapyr, oxidative enzymes, detoxification

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Ammar Aljabri, Alhussain Halawani, Alaa Ashqar, Omar Alageely

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Objective: mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) or concussion is a common yet undermanaged and underreported condition. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to determine the efficacy of VRT as a treatment option for mTBI. Method: This review and meta-analysis was performed following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and included RCTs and pre-VRT/post-VRT retrospective chart reviews. Records meeting the inclusion criteria were extracted from the following databases: Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Results: Eight articles met the inclusion criteria, and six RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. VRT demonstrated significant improvement in decreasing perceived dizziness at the end of the intervention program, as shown by DHI scores (SMD= -0.33, 95% CI -0.62 to -0.03, p=0.03, I2= 0%). However, no significant reduction in DHI was evident after two months of follow-up (SMD= 0.15, 95% CI -0.23 to 0.52, p=0.44, I2=0%). Quantitative analysis also depicts significant reduction in both VOMS (SMD=-0.40, 95% CI -0.60 to -0.20, p<0.0001, I2=0%) and PCSS (SMD= -0.39, 95% CI -0.71 to -0.07, p=0.02, I2=0%) following the intervention. Lastly, there was no significant difference between intervention groups on BESS scores (SMD= -31, 95% CI -0.71 to 0.10, p=0.14, I2=0%) and return to sport/function (95% CI 0.32 to 30.80, p=0.32, I2=82%). Conclusions: Current evidence on the efficacy of VRT for mTBI is limited. This review and analysis provide evidence that supports the role of VRT in improving perceived symptoms following concussion. There is still a need for high-quality trials evaluating the benefit of VRT using a standardized approach.

Keywords: concussion, traumatic brain injury, vestibular rehabilitation, neurorehabilitation

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Authors: Othoman Elsayah, Naren Gupta, Binsheng Zhang

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The construction sector constitutes one of the most important sectors in the economy of any country. Contractor selection is a critical decision that is undertaken by client organizations and is central to the success of any construction project. Contractor selection (CS) is a process which involves investigating, screening and determining whether candidate contractors have the technical and financial capability to be accepted to formally tender for construction work. The process should be conducted prior to the award of contract, characterized by many factors such as: contactor’s skills, experience on similar projects, track- record in the industry, and financial stability. However, this paper evaluates the current state of knowledge in relation to contractor selection process and demonstrates the findings from the analysis of the data collected from the Delphi questionnaire survey. The survey was conducted with a group of 12 experts working in the Libyan construction industry (LCI). The paper starts by briefly explaining the general outline of the questionnaire including the survey participation rate, the different fields the experts came from, and the business titles of the participants. Then, the paper describes the tests used to determine when the experts had reached consensus. The paper is based on research which aims to develop rank contractor selection criteria with specific application to make construction projects in the Libyan context. The findings of this study will be utilized to establish the scope of work that will be used as part of a PhD research.

Keywords: contractor selection, Libyan construction industry, decision experts, Delphi technique

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Çağrı Bekir Baysal, Göktuğ Burak Çalık

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Armored vehicles may have different traction layouts as a result of terrain capabilities and mobility needs. Two main categories of layouts can be separated as wheeled and tracked. Tracked vehicles have superior off-road capabilities but what they gain on terrain performance they lose on mobility front. Wheeled vehicles on the other hand do not have as good terrain capabilities as tracked vehicles but they have superior mobility capabilities such as top speed, range and agility with respect to tracked vehicles. Conventional armored vehicles employ a diesel ICE as main power source. In these vehicles ICE is mechanically connected to the powertrain. This determines the ICE rpm as a result of speed and torque requested by the driver. ICE efficiency changes drastically with torque and speed required and conventional vehicles suffer in terms of fuel consumption because of this. Hybrid electric vehicles employ at least one electric motor in order to improve fuel efficiency. There are different types of hybrid vehicles but main types are Series Hybrid, Parallel Hybrid and Series-Parallel Hybrid. These vehicles introduce an electric motor for traction and also can have a generator electric motor for range extending purposes. Having an electric motor as the traction power source brings the flexibility of either using the ICE as an alternative traction source while it is in efficient range or completely separating the ICE from traction and using it solely considering efficiency. Hybrid configurations have additional advantages for armored vehicles in addition to fuel efficiency. Heat signature, silent operation and prolonged stationary missions can be possible with the help of the high-power battery pack that will be present in the vehicle for hybrid drivetrain. Because of the reasons explained, hybrid armored vehicles are becoming a target area for military and also for vehicle suppliers. In order to have a better idea and starting point when starting a hybrid armored vehicle design, hybrid drivetrain configuration has to be selected after performing a trade-off study. This study has to include vehicle mobility simulations, integration level, vehicle level and performance level criteria. In this study different hybrid traction configurations possible for an 8x8 vehicle is compared using above mentioned criteria set. In order to compare hybrid traction configurations ease of application, cost, weight advantage, reliability, maintainability, redundancy and performance criteria have been used. Performance criteria points have been defined with the help of vehicle simulations and tests. Results of these simulations and tests also help determining required tractive power for an armored vehicle including conditions like trench and obstacle crossing, gradient climb. With the method explained in this study, each configuration is assigned a point for each criterion. This way, correct configuration can be selected objectively for every application. Also, key aspects of armored vehicles, mine protection and ballistic protection will be considered for hybrid configurations. Results are expected to vary for different types of vehicles but it is observed that having longitudinal differential locking capability improves mobility and having high motor count increases complexity in general.

Keywords: armored vehicles, electric drivetrain, electric mobility, hybrid vehicles

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Authors: F. Asadi, M. M. Zerafat, S. Sabbaghi

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Among water pollutants, volatile organic compounds can cause severe long lasting effects not only on biotic organism but also on human health. As a result, this material group has attracted more attention in recent years. Adsorption is one of the common processes for remediation of aromatic compounds. In this study, porous clay hetrostructers (PCHs) are synthesized through gallery template approach and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and dodecylamine used as template and co-template, respectively. Porous clay is characterized by XRD and FTIR. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of various adsorption parameters like adsorbent dosage, pH, initial concentration and contact time. It was found that by increasing adsorbent dosage from 0.5gr/lit to 4gr/lit, toluene removal is increased from 34% to 88.1%. Increasing contact time and decreasing the pH of aqueous solution increases toluene removal efficiency.

Keywords: adsorption, clay, nano-porous, toluene

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Authors: Vildan Kistik, Tuncay Can

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From a business perspective, cost and profit are two key factors for businesses. The intent of most businesses is to minimize the cost to maximize or equalize the profit, so as to provide the greatest benefit to itself. However, the physical system is very complicated because of technological constructions, rapid increase of competitive environments and similar factors. In such a system it is not easy to maximize profits or to minimize costs. Businesses must decide on the competence and competence of the personnel to be recruited, taking into consideration many criteria in selecting personnel. There are many criteria to determine the competence and competence of a staff member. Factors such as the level of education, experience, psychological and sociological position, and human relationships that exist in the field are just some of the important factors in selecting a staff for a firm. Personnel selection is a very important and costly process in terms of businesses in today's competitive market. Although there are many mathematical methods developed for the selection of personnel, unfortunately the use of these mathematical methods is rarely encountered in real life. In this study, unlike other methods, an exponential programming model was established based on the possibilities of failing in case the selected personnel was started to work. With the necessary transformations, the problem has been transformed into unconstrained Geometrical Programming problem and personnel selection problem is approached with geometric programming technique. Personnel selection scenarios for a classroom were established with the help of normal distribution and optimum solutions were obtained. In the most appropriate solutions, the personnel selection process for the classroom has been achieved with minimum cost.

Keywords: geometric programming, personnel selection, non-linear programming, operations research

Procedia PDF Downloads 258