Search results for: consumption planning

Authors: Eleanor L. Kutschera

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This study explores the possible impact that QR codes play in helping individuals make more sustainable choices regarding apparel consumption. Data was collected via an online survey to ascertain individuals’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors with regard to QR codes and how this impacts their decisions to purchase apparel. Results from 250 participants provide both qualitative and quantitative data that provide valuable information regarding consumers’ use of QR codes and more sustainable purchases. Specifically, results indicate that QR codes are currently under-utilized in the apparel industry but have the potential to generate more environmentally conscious purchases. Also, results posit that while the cost of the item is the most influential factor in purchasing sustainable garments, other factors such as how, where, and what it is made of are in the middle, along with the company’s story/inspiration for creation have an impact. Moreover, participants posit the use of QR codes could make them more informed and empowered consumers, and they would be more likely to make purchases that are better for the environment. Participants’ qualitative responses provide useful incentives that could increase their future sustainable purchases. Finally, this study touches on the study’s limitations, implications, and future direction of research.

Keywords: digital ID, QR codes, environmental consciousness, sustainability, fashion industry, apparel consumption

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Isra Elfatih Salih Edrees, Mehmet Serdar Ufuk Türeli

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In this paper, an energy-aware method is presented, integrating energy-efficient relay-augmented techniques for correlated data routing with the goal of optimizing bottleneck throughput in wireless sensor networks. The system tackles the dual challenge of throughput optimization while considering sensor network energy consumption. A unique routing metric has been developed to enable throughput maximization while minimizing energy consumption by utilizing data correlation patterns. The paper introduces a game theoretic framework to address the NP-complete optimization problem inherent in throughput-maximizing correlation-aware routing with energy limitations. By creating an algorithm that blends energy-aware route selection strategies with the best reaction dynamics, this framework provides a local solution. The suggested technique considerably raises the bottleneck throughput for each source in the network while reducing energy consumption by choosing the best routes that strike a compromise between throughput enhancement and energy efficiency. Extensive numerical analyses verify the efficiency of the method. The outcomes demonstrate the significant decrease in energy consumption attained by the energy-efficient relay-augmented bottleneck throughput maximization technique, in addition to confirming the anticipated throughput benefits.

Keywords: correlated data aggregation, energy efficiency, game theory, relay-augmented routing, throughput maximization, wireless sensor networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Bayarjargal Enkhtaivan, Gao Wei, Zhang Yanping, He Guo Qiang

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In our study, traditional cleaning mirror technology with reduced consumption of water in solar thermal power plants is investigated. In developed countries, a significant increase of growth and innovation in solar thermal power sector is evident since over the last decade. These power plants required higher water consumption, however, there are some complications to construct and operate such power plants under severe drought-inflicted areas like deserts where high water-deficit can be seen but sufficient solar energy is available. Designing new experimental equipments is the most important advantage of this study. These equipments can estimate various types of measurements at the mean time. In this study, Glasses were placed for 10 and 20 days at certain positions to deposit dusts on glass surface by using a common method. Dust deposited on glass surface was washed by experimental equipment and measured dust deposition on each glass. After that, experimental results were analyzed and concluded.

Keywords: concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, high-pressure water, test equipment of clean mirror, cleaning technology of glass and mirror

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Arunai Nambi Raj N., Kaviarasu Karunakaran, Krishnamurthy K.

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The purpose of this study was to create American Association of Physicist in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 119 (TG 119) benchmark plans for flattening filter free beam (FFF) deliveries of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric arc therapy (VMAT) in the Eclipse treatment planning system. The planning data were compared with the flattening filter (FF) IMRT & VMAT plan data to verify the dosimetric commissioning accuracy of FFF deliveries. AAPM TG 119 proposed a set of test cases called multi-target, mock prostate, mock head and neck, and C-shape to ascertain the overall accuracy of IMRT planning, measurement, and analysis. We used these test cases to investigate the performance of the Eclipse Treatment planning system for the flattening filter free beam deliveries. For these test cases, we generated two sets of treatment plans, the first plan using 7–9 IMRT fields and a second plan utilizing two arc VMAT technique for both the beam deliveries (6 MV FF, 6MV FFF, 10 MV FF and 10 MV FFF). The planning objectives and dose were set as described in TG 119. The dose prescriptions for multi-target, mock prostate, mock head and neck, and C-shape were taken as 50, 75.6, 50 and 50 Gy, respectively. The point dose (mean dose to the contoured chamber volume) at the specified positions/locations was measured using compact (CC‑13) ion chamber. The composite planar dose and per-field gamma analysis were measured with IMatriXX Evaluation 2D array with OmniPro IMRT Software (version 1.7b). FFF beam deliveries of IMRT and VMAT plans were comparable to flattening filter beam deliveries. Our planning and quality assurance results matched with TG 119 data. AAPM TG 119 test cases are useful to generate FFF benchmark plans. From the obtained data in this study, we conclude that the commissioning of FFF IMRT and FFF VMAT delivery were found within the limits of TG-119 and the performance of the Eclipse treatment planning system for FFF plans were found satisfactorily.

Keywords: flattening filter free beams, intensity modulated radiation therapy, task group 119, volumetric modulated arc therapy

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Authors: Maria Arechavaleta, Mark Halpin

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In the United States, costs of solar energy systems have declined to the point that they are viable options for most consumers. However, there are no consistent procedures for specifying sufficient systems. The factors that must be considered are energy consumption, potential solar energy production, and cost. The traditional method of specifying solar energy systems is based on assumed daily levels of available solar energy and average amounts of daily energy consumption. The mismatches between energy production and consumption are usually mitigated using battery energy storage systems, and energy use is curtailed when necessary. The main consumer decision question that drives the total system cost is how much unserved (or curtailed) energy is acceptable? Of course additional solar conversion equipment can be installed to provide greater peak energy production and extra energy storage capability can be added to mitigate longer lasting low solar energy production periods. Each option increases total cost and provides a benefit which is difficult to quantify accurately. An approach to quantify the cost-benefit of adding additional resources, either production or storage or both, based on the statistical concepts of loss-of-energy probability and expected unserved energy, is presented in this paper. Relatively simple calculations, based on site-specific energy availability and consumption data, can be used to show the value of each additional increment of production or storage. With this incremental benefit-cost information, consumers can select the best overall performance combination for their application at a cost they are comfortable paying. The approach is based on a statistical analysis of energy consumption and production characteristics over time. The characteristics are in the forms of curves with each point on the curve representing an energy consumption or production value over a period of time; a one-minute period is used for the work in this paper. These curves are measured at the consumer location under the conditions that exist at the site and the duration of the measurements is a minimum of one week. While greater accuracy could be obtained with longer recording periods, the examples in this paper are based on a single week for demonstration purposes. The weekly consumption and production curves are overlaid on each other and the mismatches are used to size the battery energy storage system. Loss-of-energy probability and expected unserved energy indices are calculated in addition to the total system cost. These indices allow the consumer to recognize and quantify the benefit (probably a reduction in energy consumption curtailment) available for a given increase in cost. Consumers can then make informed decisions that are accurate for their location and conditions and which are consistent with their available funds.

Keywords: battery energy storage systems, loss of load probability, residential renewable energy, solar energy systems

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Authors: Asma Shaheen Hashmi, Omer Riaz, Khalid Mahmood, Fahad Ullah, Tanveer Ahmad

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The urban landscapes are being change with the population growth and advancements in new technologies. The urban sprawl pattern and utilizes are related to the local socioeconomic and physical condition. Urban policy decisions are executed mostly through spatial planning. A decision support system (DSS) is very powerful tool which provides flexible knowledge base method for urban planning. An application was developed using geographical information system (GIS) for urban planning. A scenario based DSS was developed to integrate the hierarchical muti-criteria data of different aspects of urban landscape. These were physical environment, the dumping site, spatial distribution of road network, gas and water supply lines, and urban watershed management, selection criteria for new residential, recreational, commercial and industrial sites. The model provided a framework to incorporate the sustainable future development. The data can be entered dynamically by planners according to the appropriate criteria for the management of urban landscapes.

Keywords: urban, GIS, spatial, criteria

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Authors: Navarro C., Jahier B., Gard C.

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Diarrhoea is a common disorder in both cats and dogs. Recent guidelines highlight the importance of gut microbiota and the use of strategies such as prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, and fecal transplants for modulating the microbiota. The objective of this study was to evaluate the palatability of a flavoured oral paste containing prebiotics (brewer’s yeast products, fructo-oligosaccharide), probiotics (Enterococcus faecium), and postbiotics (lactic ferment products), in dogs and cats. Material and methods: Healthy adult animals (cats and dogs) from various breeds received the tested product (Ultradiar® Biotic, MP Labo, France) at the recommended dosage over a small quantity of kibbles: animals less than 2 kg bodyweight received 2 ml per day, animals between2 and 6 kg received 4 ml per day, animals between 6 and 12 kg received 5 ml per day, animals between 12 and 30 kg received 8 ml per day, and animals weighing more than 30 kg received 10 ml per day. For each animal, the investigator noted the intake (immediate in less than 2 seconds, delayed after 2 seconds, no intake), the consumption of the product (no consumption, partial consumption ≤ 5%, < 50%, 50% ≤ x < 95%, ≥ 95%, total consumption). Acceptability was defined as the percentage of dogs having consumed more than 95% of the product. Results: Thirty-seven dogs were included: 19 small size, 11 medium size, and 7 large size dogs. Thirty-six dogs (97%) took the product, with 65% showing immediate intake. Only one small-sized dog did not take the product. Among the 36 dogs who took the product, 19 (53%) had a complete consumption, 13 (36%) consumed more than 95% of the product, 3 dogs consumed more than 50% (and less than 95%), and one dog consumed less than 50%. The acceptability rate was 86%. Thirty-seven cats were included. Twenty-eight cats (76%) took the product, with 8% showing immediate intake. Among those 28 cats, 7 (25%) consumed more than 95% of the product, 13 (47%) consumed more than 50% (and less than 95%), 6 consumed less than 50% and 2 cats consumed less than 5%. Conclusion: The flavoured oral paste, Ultradiar® Biotic, was well-accepted by both dogs and cats, with higher acceptability observed in dogs compared to cats. These results suggest that the product is palatable and can be usefully administered to support gastrointestinal health in companion animals. Further studies should explore the clinical benefits of this formulation in managing gastrointestinal disorders.

Keywords: cat, dog, palatability, prebiotic, probiotic

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Authors: Vincenzo Capalbo, Gianpaolo Ghiani, Emanuele Manni

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Global e-commerce sales have reached unprecedented levels in the past few years. As this trend is only predicted to go up as we continue into the ’20s, new challenges will be faced by companies when planning and controlling e-commerce logistics. In this paper, we survey the related literature on Optimization and Machine Learning as well as on combined methodologies. We also identify the distinctive features of next-generation planning algorithms - namely scalability, model-and-run features and learning capabilities - that will be fundamental to cope with the scale and complexity of logistics in the next decade.

Keywords: e-commerce, hardware acceleration, logistics, machine learning, mixed integer programming, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: B. Petrović, L. Rutonjski, M. Baucal, M. Teodorović, O. Čudić, B. Basarić

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Radiotherapy treatment planning computers use CT data of the patient. For the computation of a treatment plan, treatment planning system must have an information on electron densities of tissues scanned by CT. This information is given by the conversion curve CT (CT number) to ED (electron density), or simply calibration curve. Every treatment planning system (TPS) has built in default CT to ED conversion curves, for the CTs of different manufacturers. However, it is always recommended to verify the CT to ED conversion curve before actual clinical use. Objective of this study was to check how the default curve already provided matches the curve actually measured on a specific CT, and how much it influences the calculation of a treatment planning computer. The examined CT scanners were from the same manufacturer, but four different scanners from three generations. The measurements of all calibration curves were done with the dedicated phantom CIRS 062M Electron Density Phantom. The phantom was scanned, and according to real HU values read at the CT console computer, CT to ED conversion curves were generated for different materials, for same tube voltage 140 kV. Another phantom, CIRS Thorax 002 LFC which represents an average human torso in proportion, density and two-dimensional structure, was used for verification. The treatment planning was done on CT slices of scanned CIRS LFC 002 phantom, for selected cases. Interest points were set in the lungs, and in the spinal cord, and doses recorded in TPS. The overall calculated treatment times for four scanners and default scanner did not differ more than 0.8%. Overall interest point dose in bone differed max 0.6% while for single fields was maximum 2.7% (lateral field). Overall interest point dose in lungs differed max 1.1% while for single fields was maximum 2.6% (lateral field). It is known that user should verify the CT to ED conversion curve, but often, developing countries are facing lack of QA equipment, and often use default data provided. We have concluded that the CT to ED curves obtained differ in certain points of a curve, generally in the region of higher densities. This influences the treatment planning result which is not significant, but definitely does make difference in the calculated dose.

Keywords: Computation of treatment plan, conversion curve, radiotherapy, electron density

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Authors: Yuichi Miyamoto

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In regards to the energy sector in the modern period, two points were raised. First is a vast and growing energy demand, and second is an environmental impact associated with it. The enormous consumption of fossil fuel to the mobile unit is leading to its rapid depletion. Nuclear power is not the only problem. A modal shift that utilizes personal transporters and independent power, in order to realize a sustainable society, is very effective. The paper proposes that the world will continue to work on this. Energy of the future society, innovation in battery technology and the use of natural energy is a big key. And it is also necessary in order to save on energy consumption.

Keywords: natural energy, modal shift, personal transportation, battery

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Authors: Fariborz Ahmadi, Hamid Salehi, Khosrow Karimi

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A sensor network is set of sensor nodes that cooperate together to perform a predefined tasks. The important problem in this network is power consumption. So, in this paper one algorithm based on the eurygaster life is introduced to minimize power consumption by the nodes of these networks. In this method the search space of problem is divided into several partitions and each partition is investigated separately. The evaluation results show that our approach is more efficient in comparison to other evolutionary algorithm like genetic algorithm.

Keywords: evolutionary computation, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, sensor network optimization

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Authors: Dimitra Alexiou

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During the last 10 years, in spite of the economic crisis, the number of tourists arriving in Greece has increased, particularly during the tourist season from April to October. In this paper, the number of annual tourist arrivals is studied to explore their preferences with regard to the month of travel, the selected destinations, as well the amount of money spent. The collected data are processed with statistical methods, yielding numerical and graphical results. From the computation of statistical parameters and the forecasting with exponential smoothing, useful conclusions are arrived at that can be used by the Greek tourism authorities, as well as by tourist organizations, for planning purposes for the coming years. The results of this paper and the computed forecast can also be used for decision making by private tourist enterprises that are investing in Greece. With regard to the statistical methods, the method of Simple Exponential Smoothing of time series of data is employed. The search for a best forecast for 2017 and 2018 provides the value of the smoothing coefficient. For all statistical computations and graphics Microsoft Excel is used.

Keywords: tourism, statistical methods, exponential smoothing, land spatial planning, economy

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Sahil Patel

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Increasing urbanization leads to a concrete forest. The effects of new development practices occur in the natural hydrologic cycle. Here the concerns have been raised about the groundwater recharge in sufficient quantity. With further development, porous surfaces reduce rapidly. A city like Ahmedabad, with a non-perennial river, is 100% dependent on groundwater. The Ahmedabad city receives its domestic use water from the Narmada river, located about 200 km away. The expenses to bring water is much higher. Ahmedabad city receives annually 800 mm rainfall, and mostly this water increases the local level waterlogging problems; after that, water goes to the Sabarmati river and merges into the sea. The existing developed area of Ahmedabad city is very dense, and does not offer many chances to change the built form and increase porous surfaces to absorb storm-water. Therefore, there is a need to plan upcoming areas with more effective solutions to manage storm-water. This paper is focusing on the management of stormwater for new development by retaining natural hydrology. The Low Impact Development (LID) concept is used to manage storm-water efficiently. Ahmedabad city has a tool called the “Town Planning Scheme,” which helps the local body drive new development by land pooling mechanism. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the selected area (proposed Town Planning Scheme area by the local authority) in Ahmedabad. Here the development control regulations for individual developers and some physical elements for public places are presented to manage storm-water. There is a different solution for the Town Planning scheme than that of the conventional way. A local authority can use it for any area, but it can be site-specific. In the end, there are benefits to locals with some financial analysis and comparisons.

Keywords: water management, green field development, low impact development, town planning scheme

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Farah Mahmoud Attallah

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The nonprofit sector has been heavily rising with the rise of sustainable development in developed and developing countries. Most economies are putting high pressure on this sector, believing that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are one of the main rescues during crises worldwide. Talking about the Egyptian NGOs, the number of those organizations has reached an average of 50,278 organizations which is the highest number Egypt has faced through the past decade. However, with the rising number of those NGOs comes their incapability of sustaining their performance and fundraising. Additionally, donors who are considered the key partners for those organizations have become knowledgeable about this sector which made them more demanding, putting high pressure on those organizations to believe that there must be a valuable return for the economy in order to donate. This research study aims to study the impact of a sustainable strategic planning model on raising loyal donors; the proposed model of this research presents several independent variables determining their impact on donors' intention to become loyal.

Keywords: nonprofit sector, non-governmental organizations, strategic planning, sustainable business model, CRM, RM

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Authors: Sunglim Lee, Susumu Fujii, Koji Okamura

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Smart grid is a new approach for electric power grid that uses information and communications technology to control the electric power grid. Smart grid provides real-time control of the electric power grid, controlling the direction of power flow or time of the flow. Control devices are installed on the power lines of the electric power grid to implement smart grid. The number of the control devices should be determined, in relation with the area one control device covers and the cost associated with the control devices. One approach to determine the number of the control devices is to use the data on the surplus power generated by home solar generators. In current implementations, the surplus power is sent all the way to the power plant, which may cause power loss. To reduce the power loss, the surplus power may be sent to a control device and sent to where the power is needed from the control device. Under assumption that the control devices are installed on a lattice of equal size squares, our goal is to figure out the optimal spacing between the control devices, where the power sharing area (the area covered by one control device) is kept small to avoid power loss, and at the same time the power sharing area is big enough to have no surplus power wasted. To achieve this goal, a simulation using landscape ecology method is conducted on a sample area. First an aerial photograph of the land of interest is turned into a mosaic map where each area is colored according to the ratio of the amount of power production to the amount of power consumption in the area. The amount of power consumption is estimated according to the characteristics of the buildings in the area. The power production is calculated by the sum of the area of the roofs shown in the aerial photograph and assuming that solar panels are installed on all the roofs. The mosaic map is colored in three colors, each color representing producer, consumer, and neither. We started with a mosaic map with 100 m grid size, and the grid size is grown until there is no red grid. One control device is installed on each grid, so that the grid is the area which the control device covers. As the result of this simulation we got 350 m as the optimal spacing between the control devices that makes effective use of the surplus power for the sample area.

Keywords: landscape ecology, IT, smart grid, aerial photograph, simulation

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Authors: Norhan El Dallal

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The MENA region is a challenging, rapid urbanizing region, with a special profile; culturally, socially, economically and environmentally. Despite the diversity between different countries of the MENA region they all share similar urban challenges where extensive interventions are crucial. A climate sensitive region as the MENA region requires special attention for development, adaptation and mitigation. Integrating climatic and environmental parameters into the planning process to create a responsive urban form is the aim of this research in which “Parametric Urbanism” as a trend serves as a tool to reach a more sustainable urban morphology. An attempt to parameterize the relation between the climate and the urban form in a detailed manner is the main objective of the thesis. The aim is relating the different passive approaches suitable for the MENA region with the design guidelines of each and every part of the planning phase. Various conceptual scenarios for the network pattern and block subdivision generation based on computational models are the next steps after the parameterization. These theoretical models could be applied on different climatic zones of the dense communities of the MENA region to achieve an energy efficient neighborhood or city with respect to the urban form, morphology, and urban planning pattern. A final criticism of the theoretical model is to be conducted showing the feasibility of the proposed solutions economically. Finally some push and pull policies are to be proposed to help integrate these solutions into the planning process.

Keywords: parametric urbanism, climate responsive, urban form, urban and regional studies

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Authors: Kaddi Mohammed, Benahmed Khelifa D. Benatiallah

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A sensor network consists of a large number of sensors deployed in areas to monitor and communicate with each other through a wireless medium. The collected routing data in the network consumes most of the energy of the sensor nodes. For this purpose, multiple routing approaches have been proposed to conserve energy resource at the sensors and to overcome the challenges of its limitation. In this work, we propose a new low energy consumption routing protocol for wireless sensor networks based on a meta-heuristic methods. Our protocol is to operate more fairly energy when routing captured data to the base station.

Keywords: WSN, routing, energy, heuristic

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Authors: Mahmoud Mourad, Ahmad Hamza H. Ali, S.Ookawara, Ali Kamel Abdel-Rahman, Nady M. Abdelkariem

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The energy consumption of a house can be affected simultaneously by many building design factors related to its main architectural features, building elements and materials. This study focuses on the impact of passive design factors on the annual energy consumption of a suggested prototype house for single-family detached houses of 240 m2 in two floors, each floor of 120 m2 in new Egyptian cities located in (Alexandria - Cairo - Siwa - Assuit – Aswan) which resemble five different climatic zones (Northern coast – Northern upper Egypt - dessert region- Southern upper Egypt – South Egypt) respectively. This study present the effect of the passive design factors affecting the building energy consumption as building orientation, building material (walls, roof and slabs), building type (residential, educational, commercial), building occupancy (type of occupant, no. of occupant, age), building landscape and site selection, building envelope and fenestration (glazing material, shading), and building plan form. This information can be used to estimate the approximate saving in energy consumption, which would result on a change in the design datum for the future houses development, and to identify the major design problems for energy efficiency. To achieve the above objective, this paper presents a study for the factors affecting on the building energy consumption in the hot arid area in new Egyptian cities in five different climatic zones , followed by defining the energy needs for different utilization in this suggested prototype house. Consequently, a detailed analysis of the available Renewable Energy utilizations technologies used in the suggested home, and a calculation of the energy as a function of yearly distribution that required for this home will presented. The results obtained from building annual energy analyses show that architecture passive design factors saves about 35% of the annual energy consumption. It shows also passive cooling techniques saves about 45%, and renewable energy systems saves about 40% of the annual energy needs for this proposed home depending on the cities location on the climatic zones.

Keywords: architecture passive design factors, energy efficient homes, Egypt new cites, renewable energy technologies

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Authors: Thomas Elliot, Javier Babi Almenar, Benedetto Rugani

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The integration of urban metabolism (UM) with spatially explicit ecosystem service (ES) stocks has the potential to advance sustainable urban development. It will correct the lack of spatially specificity of current urban metabolism models. Furthermore, it will include into UM not only the physical properties of material and energy stocks and flows, but also the implications to the natural capital that provides and maintains human well-being. This paper presents the first stages of a modelling framework by which urban planners can assess spatially the trade-offs of ES flows resulting from urban interventions of different character and scale. This framework allows for a multi-region assessment which takes into account sustainability burdens consequent to an urban planning event occurring elsewhere in the environment. The urban boundary is defined as the Functional Urban Audit (FUA) method to account for trans-administrative ES flows. ES are mapped using CORINE land use within the FUA. These stocks and flows are incorporated into a UM assessment method to demonstrate the transfer and flux of ES arising from different urban planning implementations.

Keywords: ecological economics, ecosystem services, spatial planning, urban metabolism

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Authors: Alicja Kot-Niewiadomska

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Securing sustainable access to raw materials is vital for the growth of the European economy and for the goals laid down in Strategy Europe 2020. One of the most important sources of mineral raw materials are primary deposits. The efficient management of them, including extraction, will ensure competitiveness of the European economy. A critical element of this approach is mineral deposits safeguarding and the most important tool - spatial planning. The safeguarding of deposits should be understood as safeguarding of land access, and safeguarding of area against development, which may (potential) prevent the use of the deposit and the necessary mining activities. Many European Union countries successfully integrated their mineral policy and spatial policy, which has ensured the proper place of mineral deposits in their spatial planning systems. These, in turn, are widely recognized as the most important mineral deposit safeguarding tool, the essence of which is to ensure long-term access to its resources. The examples of Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, discussed in the paper, are often mentioned as examples of good practices in this area. Although none of these countries managed to avoid cases of social and environmental conflicts related to mining activities, the solutions they implement certainly deserve special attention. And for many countries, including Poland, they can be a potential source of solutions aimed at improving the protection of mineral deposits.

Keywords: mineral deposits, land use planning, mineral deposit safeguarding, European practices

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Authors: A. Alharbi, R. Boukhanouf, T. Habeebullah, H. Ibrahim

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This paper presents a detailed description of evaporative cooling systems used for space cooling in Mina Valley, Saudi Arabia. The thermal performance and environmental impact of the evaporative coolers were evaluated. It was found that the evaporative cooling systems used for space cooling in pilgrims’ accommodations and in the train stations could reduce energy consumption by as much as 75% and cut carbon dioxide emission by 78% compared to traditional vapour compression systems.

Keywords: evaporative cooling, vapor compression, electricity consumption, CO2 emission

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Authors: Rei-Heng Cheng, Wen-Pinn Fang

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A wireless sensor network (WSN) is composed by a large number of sensors and one or a few base stations, where the sensor is responsible for detecting specific event information, which is sent back to the base station(s). However, how to save electricity consumption to extend the network lifetime is a problem that cannot be ignored in the wireless sensor networks. Since the sensor network is used to monitor a region or specific events, how the information can be reliably sent back to the base station is surly important. Network coding technique is often used to enhance the reliability of the network transmission. When a node needs to send out M data packets, it encodes these data with redundant data and sends out totally M + R packets. If the receiver can get any M packets out from these M + R packets, it can decode and get the original M data packets. To transmit redundant packets will certainly result in the excess energy consumption. This paper will explore relationship between the quality of wireless transmission and the number of redundant packets. Hopefully, each sensor can overhear the nearby transmissions, learn the wireless transmission quality around it, and dynamically determine the number of redundant packets used in network coding.

Keywords: energy consumption, network coding, transmission reliability, wireless sensor networks

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Authors: Mouhoubi Nedjima, Sassi Boudemagh Souad

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In this paper, we will try to demonstrate the importance of the project approach in the urban to deal with uncertainty, the importance of the involvement of all stakeholders in the urban project process and that the absence of an actor can lead to project failure but also the importance of the urban project management. These points are handled through the following questions: Does the urban adhere to the theory of complexity? Does the project approach bring hope and solution to make urban planning "sustainable"? How converging visions of actors for the same project? Is the management of urban project the solution to support the urban project approach?

Keywords: strategic planning, project, urban project stakeholders, management

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Authors: Amira Khelil, Habib Affes

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Organization resource planning implementation success is important. Today`s competitors in business, in enterprise resource planning and in managing are becoming one of the main tools of achieving competitiveness in business. Resource technologies are considered as an infrastructure to create and maintain business to improve front and back-office efficiency and effectiveness. This study is significant to bring new ideas in determining the key antecedents which are technological resource planning implementation based on knowledge capacity perspectives and help to understand the key success factor in the Tunisian banks. Based on a survey of 150 front office Tunisian agents working in Tunisian banks with mixed capital, using Groupware system, only 51 respondents had given feedback to this survey. By using Warp PLS 3.0, through several tests the relationship between knowledge capability and Groupware implementation success having beta coefficient 0.37 and P-Value <0.01. This result highlights that knowledge capability of bank agent can influence the success of the Groupware implementation.

Keywords: groupware implementation, knowledge capacity, partial least squares method, Tunisian banks

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Authors: A. Buruzs, M. F. Hatwágner, L. T. Kóczy

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The aim of the present paper is to develop an integrated method that may provide assistance to decision makers during system planning, design, operation and evaluation. In order to support the realization of Circular Economy (CE), it is essential to evaluate local needs and conditions which help to select the most appropriate system components and resource needs. Each of these activities requires careful planning, however, the model of CE offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework. The aim of this research was to develop and to introduce a practical methodology for evaluation of local and regional opportunities to promote CE.

Keywords: circular economy, factors, fuzzy cognitive map, model reduction, sustainability

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Authors: Warsi A. Ibrahim, Qureshi A. Ambrina, Younus M. Anjum

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Introduction: Oral lesions related to commercially available Smokeless Tobacco (ST), such as, Pan, Gutka, Mahwa, Naswar is considered a serious challenge for dental health care providers in Pakistan. Majority of labored Pakistani population consume ST, where public transporters and drivers are no exception. It was necessary to identify individuals of this particular population group and screen their oral health and early signs of pre-cancerous lesions so that appropriate preventive measures could be taken to reduce the burden on health providers. Aim of Study: To estimate Prevalence of ST consumption and perception of use, and to evaluate Oral Health status among public drivers of Karachi. Material & methods: A cross-sectional study survey was conducted over duration of 2 months, through convenient sampling. Sample size (n=615) of public drivers (age > 18 years) all over Karachi was gathered. A structured proforma was used to record socio-demographics, addiction profile, perception of use and oral health status (oral lesions, oral sub-mucosal fibrosis and dental caries) of study participants. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 using descriptive statistics only. Results: Prevalence of ST consumption among the study participants was figured to 92.5%. Out of these almost 70% suffered from one or the other form of oral lesion(s). Four major types of ST consumption were observed out of which 60 % of oral lesion were related to Gutka chewers showing early signs of oral cancer. In addition, occurrence of Oral sub-mucosal fibrosis (OSF) was found to be significantly high around 54.8%. Overall dental caries status was also high, showing on an average 5 teeth of an individual were decayed, missing or filled deviating from WHO normal criteria (mean < 3). It was thus proven from the study that public drivers relied on oral tobacco consumption because it helps them ‘Improve consciousness’ (p-value: < 0.01; using chi-square test). Multivariate analysis showed that there were higher prevalence of smokeless tobacco among highway drivers versus local drivers (A.O.R: 2.82 [0.83-9.61], p-value: < 0.01) Conclusion: Smokeless tobacco (ST) consumption has a direct effect on oral health. However, the type of ST, the duration of consumption are factors which are directly related to the severity. Moreover, Gutka may be considered as having most lethal effects on oral health which may lead to oral cancer and affect individual’s quality of life. Specific preventive programs must be undertaken to reduce the consumption of Gutka among public transporters and drivers.

Keywords: smokeless tobacco, oral lesions, drivers, public transporters

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Authors: Oscar Javier Herrera Ochoa, Ivan Dario Romero Fonseca

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This paper presents a design of a model for planning the distribution logistics operation. The significance of this work relies on the applicability of this fact to the analysis of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of dry freight in Bogotá. Two stages constitute this implementation: the first one is the place where optimal planning is achieved through a hybrid model developed with mixed integer programming, which considers the transhipment operation based on a combined load allocation model as a classic transshipment model; the second one is the specific routing of that operation through the heuristics of Clark and Wright. As a result, an integral model is obtained to carry out the step by step planning of the distribution of dry freight for SMEs in Bogotá. In this manner, optimum assignments are established by utilizing transshipment centers with that purpose of determining the specific routing based on the shortest distance traveled.

Keywords: transshipment model, mixed integer programming, saving algorithm, dry freight transportation

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Authors: Adekunle Adesina, Dorcas Adesina

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This Research investigated the influence of alcohol consumption on attention in Wister albino rats. It was designed to test whether or not alcohol consumption affected visual and auditory attention. The sample of this study comprise of 3males albino rats and 3 females albino rats which were randomly assigned to 3 (male/female each) groups, 1, 2 and 3. The first group which was experimental Group 1 received 4ml of alcohol ingestion with cannula twice daily (morning and evening). The second group which was experimental group 2 received 2ml of alcohol ingestion with cannula twice daily (morning and evening). Third group which was the control group only received water (placebo), all these happened within a period of 2 days. Three hypotheses were advanced and testedf in the study. Hypothesis 1 stated that there will be no significant difference between the response speed of albino rats that consume alcohol and those that consume water on visual attention using 5-CSRTT. This was confirmed (DF (2, 9) = 0.72, P <.05). Hypothesis 2 stated that albino rats who consumed alcohol will perform better than those who consume water on auditory accuracy using 5-CSRTT. This was also tested but not confirmed (DF (2, 9) = 2.10, P< .05). The third hypothesis which stated that female albino rats who consumed alcohol would not perform better than male albino rats who consumed alcohol on auditory accuracy using 5-CSRTT was tested and not confirmed. (DF (4) = 0.17, P < .05). Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and T-test for independent measures. It was therefore recommended that government policies and programs should be directed at reducing to the barest minimum the rate of alcohol consumption especially among males as it is detrimental to the human auditory attentional organ.

Keywords: alcohol, attention, influence, rats, Wistar

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Authors: Xuran Zhang, Huiru Chen

Abstract:

In recent years, China has made great efforts to cultivate and develop the housing rental market, especially the rental-type public housing, which has been paid attention to by all sectors of the society. This paper takes Hangzhou rental-type public housing as the research object, and divides it into three development stages according to the different supply modes of rental-type public housing. Through data collection and field research, the paper summarizes the spatial characteristics of rental-type public housing from the five perspectives of spatial planning, spatial layout, spatial integration, spatial organization and spatial configuration. On this basis, the paper proposes the optimization of the spatial layout. The study concludes that the spatial layout of rental-type public housing should be coordinated with the development of urban planning. When planning and constructing, it is necessary to select more mixed construction modes, to be properly centralized, and to improve the surrounding transportation service facilities.  It is hoped that the recommendations in this paper will provide a reference for the further development of rental-type public housing in Hangzhou.

Keywords: Hangzhou, rental-type public housing, spatial distribution, spatial optimization

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Authors: N. Perko, N. Kavran, M. Bukljas, I. Berbic

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This paper is a result of implemented research on proposed introduced methodology for nautical ports capacity planning by introducing a multi-criteria approach of defined criteria and impacts at the Adriatic Sea. The purpose was analysing the determinants -characteristics of infrastructure and services of nautical ports capacity allocated, especially nowadays due to COVID-19 pandemic, as crucial for the successful operation of nautical ports. Giving the importance of the defined priorities for short-term and long-term planning is essential not only in terms of the development of nautical tourism but also in terms of developing the maritime system, but unfortunately, this is not always carried out. Evaluation of the use of resources should follow from a detailed analysis of all aspects of resources bearing in mind that nautical tourism used resources in a sustainable manner and generate effects in the tourism and maritime sectors. Consequently, the identified multiplier effect of nautical tourism, which should be defined and quantified in detail, should be one of the major competitive products on the Croatian Adriatic and the Mediterranean. Research of nautical tourism is necessary to quantify the effects and required planning system development. In the future, the greatest threat to the long-term sustainable development of nautical tourism can be its further uncontrolled or unlimited and undirected development, especially under pressure markedly higher demand than supply for new moorings in the Mediterranean. Results of this implemented research are applicable to nautical ports management and decision-makers of maritime transport system development. This paper will present implemented research and obtained result-developed methodology for nautical port capacity planning -port capacity planning multi-criteria decision-making. A proposed methodological approach of multi-criteria capacity planning includes four criteria (spatial - transport, cost - infrastructure, ecological and organizational criteria, and additional services). The importance of the criteria and sub-criteria is evaluated and carried out as the basis for sensitivity analysis of the importance of the criteria and sub-criteria. Based on the analysis of the identified and quantified importance of certain criteria and sub-criteria, as well as sensitivity analysis and analysis of changes of the quantified importance, scientific and applicable results will be presented. These obtained results have practical applicability by management of nautical ports in the planning of increasing capacity and further development and for the adaptation of existing nautical ports. Obtained research is applicable and replicable in other seas, and results are especially important and useful in this COVID-19 pandemic challenging maritime development framework.

Keywords: Adriatic Sea, capacity, infrastructures, maritime system, methodology, nautical ports, nautical tourism, service

Procedia PDF Downloads 190