Search results for: growing grid

Authors: Adrien Marque, Daniel Delahaye, Pierre Maréchal, Isabelle Berry

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Wind direction and uncertainty are crucial in aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicle trajectories. By computing wind covariance matrices on each spatial grid point, these spatial grids can be defined as images with symmetric positive definite matrix elements. A data pre-processing step, a specific convolution, a specific max-pooling, and a specific flatten layers are implemented to process such images. Then, the neural network is applied to spatial grids, whose elements are wind covariance matrices, to solve classification problems related to the feasibility of unmanned aerial vehicles based on wind direction and wind uncertainty.

Keywords: wind direction, uncertainty level, unmanned aerial vehicle, convolution neural network, SPD matrices

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Authors: Tanmay Raj, Vedika Gupta

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For its groundbreaking and substantial power, cloud computing is today’s most popular breakthrough. It is a sort of Internet-based computing that allows users to request and receive numerous services in a cost-effective manner. Virtualization, grid computing, and utility computing are the most widely employed emerging technologies in cloud computing, making it the most powerful. However, cloud computing still has a number of key challenges, such as security, load balancing, and non-critical failure adaption, to name a few. The massive growth of cloud computing will put an undue strain on servers. As a result, network performance will deteriorate. A good load balancing adjustment can make cloud computing more productive and in- crease client fulfillment execution. Load balancing is an important part of cloud computing because it prevents certain nodes from being overwhelmed while others are idle or have little work to perform. Response time, cost, throughput, performance, and resource usage are all parameters that may be improved using load balancing.

Keywords: cloud computing, load balancing, computing, SIP server clusters

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Amna I. Shibeika, Batoul Y. Hittini, Tasneem B. Abd Bakri

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Regulation and integration of public policy, economy, insurance industry, education, and construction stakeholders are the main contributors to achieve sustainable development. Building environmental assessment methods were introduced in the field to address issues such as global warming and conservation of natural resources. In the UAE, Estidama framework with its associated Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) has been introduced in 2010 to address and spread sustainability practices within the country’s fast-growing built environment. Based on literature review of relevant studies investigating different project characteristics that influence sustainability outcomes, this paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the adoption of PBRS in UAE projects. The framework also draws on Diffusion of Innovations theory to address the questions of how the assessment method is chosen in the first place and what is the impact of PBRS on the multi-disciplinary design and construction processes. The study highlights the mandatory nature of the adoption of PBRS for government buildings as well as imbedding Estidama principles within Abu Dhabi building codes as key factors for raising awareness about sustainable practices. Moreover, several project-related elements are addressed to understand their relationship with the adoption process, including project team collaboration; communication and coordination; levels of commitment and engagement; and the involvement of key actors as sustainability champions. This conceptualization of the adoption of PBRS in UAE projects contributes to the growing literature on the adoption of energy assessment tools and addresses the UAE vision is to be at the forefront of innovative sustainable development by 2021.

Keywords: adoption, building assessment, design management, innovation, sustainability

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Authors: Ligang Wang, Theodoros Damartzis, Stefan Diethelm, Jan Van Herle, François Marechal

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Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of organic sludge from wastewater treatment as well as various urban and agricultural organic wastes is of great significance to achieve a sustainable society. Two upgrading approaches for cleaned biogas can be considered: (1) direct H₂ injection for catalytic CO₂ methanation and (2) CO₂ separation from biogas. The first approach usually employs electrolysis technologies to generate hydrogen and increases the biogas production rate; while the second one usually applies commercially-available highly-selective membrane technologies to efficiently extract CO₂ from the biogas with the latter being then sent afterward for compression and storage for further use. A straightforward way of utilizing the captured CO₂ is on-site catalytic CO₂ methanation. From the perspective of system complexity, the second approach may be questioned, since it introduces an additional expensive membrane component for producing the same amount of methane. However, given the circumstance that the sustainability of the produced biogas should be retained after biogas upgrading, renewable electricity should be supplied to drive the electrolyzer. Therefore, considering the intermittent nature and seasonal variation of renewable electricity supply, the second approach offers high operational flexibility. This indicates that these two approaches should be compared based on the availability and scale of the local renewable power supply and not only the technical systems themselves. Solid-oxide electrolysis generally offers high overall system efficiency, and more importantly, it can achieve simultaneous electrolysis of CO₂ and H₂O (namely, co-electrolysis), which may bring significant benefits for the case of CO₂ separation from the produced biogas. When taking co-electrolysis into account, two additional upgrading approaches can be proposed: (1) direct steam injection into the biogas with the mixture going through the SOE, and (2) CO₂ separation from biogas which can be used later for co-electrolysis. The case study of integrating SOE to a wastewater treatment plant is investigated with wind power as the renewable power. The dynamic production of biogas is provided on an hourly basis with the corresponding oxygen and heating requirements. All four approaches mentioned above are investigated and compared thermo-economically: (a) steam-electrolysis with grid power, as the base case for steam electrolysis, (b) CO₂ separation and co-electrolysis with grid power, as the base case for co-electrolysis, (c) steam-electrolysis and CO₂ separation (and storage) with wind power, and (d) co-electrolysis and CO₂ separation (and storage) with wind power. The influence of the scale of wind power supply is investigated by a sensitivity analysis. The results derived provide general understanding on the economic competitiveness of SOE for sustainable biogas upgrading, thus assisting the decision making for biogas production sites. The research leading to the presented work is funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 under grant agreements n° 699892 (ECo, topic H2020-JTI-FCH-2015-1) and SCCER BIOSWEET.

Keywords: biogas upgrading, solid-oxide electrolyzer, co-electrolysis, CO₂ utilization, energy storage

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Authors: Assel Jaxylykova, Alexnder Pak

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This study utilized a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) for unsupervised learning on the CONLL-2003 dataset for Named Entity Recognition (NER). The process involved encoding words into 300-dimensional vectors using FastText. These vectors were input into a SOM grid, where training adjusted node weights to minimize distances. The SOM provided a topological representation for identifying and clustering named entities, demonstrating its efficacy without labeled examples. Results showed an F1-measure of 0.86, highlighting SOM's viability. Although some methods achieve higher F1 measures, SOM eliminates the need for labeled data, offering a scalable and efficient alternative. The SOM's ability to uncover hidden patterns provides insights that could enhance existing supervised methods. Further investigation into potential limitations and optimization strategies is suggested to maximize benefits.

Keywords: named entity recognition, natural language processing, self-organizing map, CONLL-2003, semantics

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Authors: Irtaza M. Syed, Kaamran Raahemifar

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This paper presents a model predictive control (MPC) of a utility interactive (UI) single phase inverter (SPI) for a photovoltaic (PV) system at residential/distribution level. The proposed model uses single-phase phase locked loop (PLL) to synchronize SPI with the grid and performs MPC control in a dq reference frame. SPI model consists of boost converter (BC), maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control, and a full bridge (FB) voltage source inverter (VSI). No PI regulators to tune and carrier and modulating waves are required to produce switching sequence. Instead, the operational model of VSI is used to synthesize sinusoidal current and track the reference. Model is validated using a three kW PV system at the input of UI-SPI in Matlab/Simulink. Implementation and results demonstrate simplicity and accuracy, as well as reliability of the model.

Keywords: phase locked loop, voltage source inverter, single phase inverter, model predictive control, Matlab/Simulink

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Authors: J. Shiue, I. H. Chen, S. W. Y. Chiu, Y. L. Wang

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In this work, we present a nondestructive method to characterize bacteria in a TEM system. Unlike the conventional TEM specimen preparation method, which needs to thin the specimen in a destructive way, or spread the samples on a tiny millimeter sized carbon grid, our method is easy to operate without the need of sample pretreatment. With a specially designed transparent chip that allows the electron beam to pass through, and a custom made chip holder to fit into a standard TEM sample holder, the bacteria specimen can be easily prepared on the chip without any pretreatment, and then be observed under TEM. The centimeter-sized chip is covered with Au nanoparticles in the surface as the markers which allow the bacteria to be observed easily on the chip. We demonstrate the success of our method by using E. coli as an example, and show that high-resolution TEM images of E. coli can be obtained with the method presented. Some E. coli morphology characteristics imaged using this method are also presented.

Keywords: bacteria, chip, nanoparticles, TEM

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Authors: Wegene Demeke

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Background: The demand for healthcare services is growing in developing and developed countries. Information and communication technology is used to facilitate healthcare services. In the case of developing countries, implementing telemedicine is aimed at providing healthcare for people living in remote areas where health service is not accessible. The implementations of telemedicine in developing countries are unsuccessful. For example, the recent study indicates that 90% of telemedicine projects are abandoned or failed in developing countries. Several researchers reported the technological challenges as the main factor for the non-adoption of telemedicine. However, this research reports the health professionals’ perspectives arising from technical, social and organizational factors that are considered as key elements for the setting and running of telemedicine in Ethiopia. The importance and significance of telemedicine for healthcare is growing. For example, the use of telemedicine in the current pandemic situation becomes an essential strategic element in providing healthcare services in developed countries. Method: Qualitative and quantitative exploratory research methods used to collect data to find factors affecting the adoption of Information and communication technologies for telemedicine use. The survey was distributed using emails and Google forms. The email addresses were collected from personal contact and publicly available websites in Ethiopia. The thematic analysis used to build the barriers and facilitators factors for establishing telemedicine services. A survey questionnaire with open-and-close questions was used to collect data from 175 health professionals. Outcome: The result of this research will contribute to building the key barriers and facilitators factors of telemedicine from the health professional perspectives in developing countries. The thematic analysis provides barriers and facilitators factors arising from technical, organizational, and social sources.

Keywords: telemedicine, ICT, developing country, Ethiopia, health service

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Authors: Razika Ihaddadene, Nabila Ihaddadene

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This paper aims to highlight the importance of the application of the IEC 61724 standard in the study of the performance analysis of photovoltaic power plants on a monthly and annual scale. Likewise, the comparison of two photovoltaic power plants with two different climates was carried out in order to determine the effect of climatic parameters on the analysis of photovoltaic performances. All data from the Ain Skhouna and Adrar photovoltaic power plants for 2018 and the data from the Saida1 field for one month in 2019 were used. The results of the performance analysis according to the indicated standard show that the Saida PV power plant performs better than the Adrar PV power plant, which is due to the effect of increasing the ambient temperature. Increasing ambient temperature increases losses decreases system efficiency and performance ratio. It presents a key element in the proper functioning of PV plants.

Keywords: pv power plants, IEC 61724 norm, grid connected pv, algeria

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Authors: Saheed Ahmad Rufai

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The growing nature of insurgencies in their various forms in the Muslim world is now of great concern to both the leadership and the citizenry. The high sense of insecurity occasioned by the unpleasant experience has in fact attained an alarming rate in the estimation of both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Consequently, the situation began to attract contributions from scholars and researchers in security-related fields of humanities and social sciences. However, there is little evidence of contribution to the discourse and the scholarship involved by scholars in the field of education. The purpose of this proposed study is to contribute an education dimension to the growing scholarship on the subject. The study which is situated in the broad scholarship of curriculum making and grounded in both the philosophical and sociological foundations of the curriculum, employs a combination of curriculum criticism and creative synthesis, as methods, in reconstructing Muslim schools’ educational blueprint. The significance of the proposed study lies in its potential to contribute a useful addition to the scholarship of curriculum construction in the context of the Muslim world. The significance also lies in its potential to offer an ameliorative proposal over unnecessary insurgency or militancy thereby paving the way for the enthronement of a regime characterized by peaceful, harmonious and tranquil co-existence among people of diverse orientations and ideological persuasions in the Muslim world. The study is restricted to only the first two stages of curriculum making namely the formulation of philosophy which concerns the articulation of objectives, aims, purposes, goals, and principles, as well as the second stage which covers the translation of such principles to an anti-insurgency secondary school curriculum for the Muslim world.

Keywords: education for conflict resolution, anti-insurgency curriculum principles, peace education, anti-terrorist curriculum framework, curriculum for Muslim secondary schools

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Authors: Tayfun Salihoğlu

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Following the Law No: 6306 on Transformation of Disaster Risk Areas, urban transformation in Turkey found its legal basis. In the best practices all over the World, the urban transformation was shaped as part of comprehensive social programs through the discourses of renewing the economic, social and physical degraded parts of the city, producing spaces resistant to earthquakes and other possible disasters and creating a livable environment. In Turkish practice, a contradictory process is observed. In this study, it is aimed to develop a method for better understanding of the urban space in terms of disaster risks in order to constitute a basis for decisions in Kocaeli Urban Transformation Master Plan, which is being prepared by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. The spatial unit used in the study is the 50x50 meter grids. In order to reflect the multidimensionality of urban transformation, three basic components that have spatial data in Kocaeli were identified. These components were named as 'Problems in Built-up Areas', 'Disaster Risks arising from Geological Conditions of the Ground and Problems of Buildings', and 'Inadequacy of Urban Services'. Each component was weighted and scored for each grid. In order to delimitate urban transformation zones Optimized Outlier Analysis (Local Moran I) in the ArcGIS 10.6.1 was conducted to test the type of distribution (clustered or scattered) and its significance on the grids by assuming the weighted total score of the grid as Input Features. As a result of this analysis, it was found that the weighted total scores were not significantly clustering at all grids in urban space. The grids which the input feature is clustered significantly were exported as the new database to use in further mappings. Total Score Map reflects the significant clusters in terms of weighted total scores of 'Problems in Built-up Areas', 'Disaster Risks arising from Geological Conditions of the Ground and Problems of Buildings' and 'Inadequacy of Urban Services'. Resulting grids with the highest scores are the most likely candidates for urban transformation in this citywide study. To categorize urban space in terms of urban transformation, Grouping Analysis in ArcGIS 10.6.1 was conducted to data that includes each component scores in significantly clustered grids. Due to Pseudo Statistics and Box Plots, 6 groups with the highest F stats were extracted. As a result of the mapping of the groups, it can be said that 6 groups can be interpreted in a more meaningful manner in relation to the urban space. The method presented in this study can be magnified due to the availability of more spatial data. By integrating with other data to be obtained during the planning process, this method can contribute to the continuation of research and decision-making processes of urban transformation master plans on a more consistent basis.

Keywords: urban transformation, GIS, disaster risk assessment, Kocaeli

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Authors: Julius Agaka Yusufu, Tsutomu Dei, Hanif Ibrahim Awal

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This study undertakes the development of an optimal PV-diesel hybrid power system tailored to the specific energy landscape of Vimtim Mubi, Nigeria, utilizing real-world wind speed, solar radiation, and diesel cost data. Employing HOMER simulation, the research meticulously assesses the technical and financial viability of this hybrid configuration. Additionally, a rigorous performance comparison is conducted between the PV-diesel system and the conventional grid-connected alternative, offering crucial insights into the potential advantages and economic feasibility of adopting hybrid renewable energy solutions in regions grappling with energy access and reliability challenges, with implications for sustainable electrification efforts in similar communities worldwide.

Keywords: Vimtim-Nigeria, Homer, renewable energy, PV-diesel hybrid system

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Authors: Harsha B. R., Anil Kumar K. S.

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Climate and soils are the two most dynamic entities among the factors affecting growth and grapes productivity. Studying of prevailing climate over the years in a region provides sufficient information related to management practices to be carried out in vineyards. Evaluating the suitability of vineyard soils under different climatic conditions serves as the yardstick to analyse the performance of grapevines. This study was formulated to study the climate and evaluate the site-suitability of soils in vineyards of southern Karnataka, which has registered its superiority in the quality production of wine. Ten soil profiles were excavated for suitability evaluation of soils, and six taluks were studied for climatic analysis. In almost all the regions studied, recharge starts at the end of the May or June months, peaking in either September or October months. Soil Starts drying from mid of December months in the taluks studied. Bangalore North (Rajanukunte) soils were highly suited for grapes cultivation with no or slight limitations. Bangalore North (GKVK Farm) was moderately suited with slight to moderate limitations of slope and available nitrogen content. Moderate suitability was observed in the rest of the profiles studied in Eastern dry zone soils with the slight to moderate limitations of either organic carbon or available nitrogen or both in the Eastern dry zone. Magadi (Southern dry zone) soils were moderately suitable with slight to moderate limitations of graveliness, available nitrogen, organic carbon, and exchangeable sodium percentage. Sustainable performance of vineyards in terms of yield can be achieved in these taluks by managing the constraints existing in soils.

Keywords: climatic analysis, dry zone, water recharge, growing period, suitability, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Asowata Osamede

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Solar radiation provides the largest renewable energy potential on earth and photovoltaics (PV) are considered a promising technological solution to support the global transformation to a low-carbon economy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of power conditioning devices with a focus on the Buck and Boost DC-DC converters (12 V, 24 V and 48 V) in a basic off grid PV system with a varying load profile. This would assist in harnessing more of the available solar energy. The practical setup consists of a PV panel that is set to an orientation angle of 0º N, with corresponding tilt angles. Preliminary results, which include data analysis showing the power loss in the system and efficiency, indicate that the 12V DC-DC converter coupled with the load profile had the highest efficiency for a latitude of 26º S throughout the year.

Keywords: poly-crystalline PV panels, DC-DC converters, tilt and orientation angles, direct solar radiation, load profile

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Authors: Murtala Gada Abubakar, Aliyu T. Umar

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A substantial part of Nigeria is part of semi-arid areas of the world, underlain by basement complex (hard) rocks which are very poor in both transmission and storage of appreciable quantity of water. Recently, a growing attention is being paid on the need to develop water resources in these areas largely due to concerns about increasing droughts and the need to maintain water security challenges. While there is ample body of knowledge that captures the hydrological behaviours of the sedimentary part, reported research which unambiguously illustrates water distribution in the basement complex of the Sokoto basin remains sparse. Considering the growing need to meet the water requirements of those living in this region necessitated the call for accurate water balance estimations that can inform a sustainable planning and development to address water security challenges for the area. To meet this task, a one-dimensional soil water balance model was developed and utilised to assess the state of water distribution within the Sokoto basin basement complex using measured meteorological variables and information about different landscapes within the complex. The model simulated the soil water storage and rates of input and output of water in response to climate and irrigation where applicable using data from 2001 to 2010 inclusive. The results revealed areas within the Sokoto basin basement complex that are rich and deficient in groundwater resource. The high potential areas identified includes the fadama, the fractured rocks and the cultivated lands, while the low potential areas are the sealed surfaces and non-fractured rocks. This study concludes that the modelling approach is a useful tool for assessing the hydrological behaviour and for better understanding the water resource availability within a basement complex.

Keywords: basement complex, hydrological processes, Sokoto Basin, water security

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Authors: Lana Dalawr Jalal

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This paper addresses the problem of offline path planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in complex three-dimensional environment with obstacles, which is modelled by 3D Cartesian grid system. Path planning for UAVs require the computational intelligence methods to move aerial vehicles along the flight path effectively to target while avoiding obstacles. In this paper Modified Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO) algorithm is applied to generate the optimal collision free 3D flight path for UAV. The simulations results clearly demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in guiding UAV to the final destination by providing optimal feasible path quickly and effectively.

Keywords: obstacle avoidance, particle swarm optimization, three-dimensional path planning unmanned aerial vehicles

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Authors: Behzad Shahizare, N. Nik-Ghazali, Kannan M. Munisamy, Seyedsaeed Tabatabaeikia

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The main objective of this study is to clarify the effect of the adjustable outlet guide vane (OGV) on the axial fan. Three-dimensional Numerical study was performed to analyze the effect of adjustable guide vane for improving the airflow rate in axial fans. Grid independence test was done between five different meshes in order to choose the reliable mesh. In flow analyses, Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations was solved using three types of turbulence models named k-ɛ, k-ω and k-ω SST. The aerodynamic performances of the fan and guide vane were evaluated. Numerical method was validated by comparing with experimental test according to AMECA 210 standard. Results showed that, by using the adjustable guide vane the airflow rate is increased around 3% to 6 %. The maximum enhancement of the airflow rate was achieved when pressure was 374pa.

Keywords: axial fan, adjustable guide vane, CFD, turbo machinery

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Authors: M. Jathaveda, Joben Leons, G. Vidya

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Reentry from orbit is a critical phase in the entry trajectory. For a non-propulsive ballistic entry, static and dynamic stability play an important role in the trajectory, especially for the safe deployment of parachutes, typically at subsonic Mach numbers. Static stability of flight vehicles are being estimated through CFD techniques routinely. Advances in CFD software as well as computational facilities have enabled the estimation of the dynamic stability derivatives also through CFD techniques. Longitudinal static and dynamic stability of a typical reentry body for subsonic Mach number of 0.6 is predicted using commercial software CFD++ and presented here. Steady state simulations are carried out for α = 2° on an unstructured grid using SST k-ω model. Transient simulation using forced oscillation method is used to compute pitch damping derivatives.

Keywords: stability, typical reentry body, subsonic, static and dynamic

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Authors: A. A. James, A. O. Adesanya, M. R. Odekunle, D. G. Yakubu

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This paper examines the development of one step, five hybrid point method for the solution of first order initial value problems. We adopted the method of collocation and interpolation of power series approximate solution to generate a continuous linear multistep method. The continuous linear multistep method was evaluated at selected grid points to give the discrete linear multistep method. The method was implemented using a constant order predictor of order seven over an overlapping interval. The basic properties of the derived corrector was investigated and found to be zero stable, consistent and convergent. The region of absolute stability was also investigated. The method was tested on some numerical experiments and found to compete favorably with the existing methods.

Keywords: interpolation, approximate solution, collocation, differential system, half step, converges, block method, efficiency

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Authors: Arpita Banerjee

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We now live in a world where half of the human population is city dwellers. The migration of people from rural to urban areas is rising continuously. But, the promise of a greater wage and better quality of life cannot keep up with the pace of migration. The rate of urbanization is much higher in developing countries. The UN predicts that 95 percent of this urban expansion will take place in the developing world in the next few decades. The population in the urban settlements of the developing nations is soaring, and megacities like Mumbai, Dhaka, Jakarta, Karachi, Manila, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, and Kinshasa are crammed with people, a majority of whom are migrants. Rural-urban migration has taken a new shape with the rising number of smaller cities. Apart from the increase in non-agricultural economic activities, growing demand for resources and energy, an increase in wastes and pollution, and a greater ecological footprint, there is another significant characteristic of the current wave of urbanization. This paper analyses that important marker of urbanization. It is the invisibility of production sites. The growing urban space ensures that the producers, the production sites, or the process stay beyond urban visibility. In cities and towns, living is majorly about earning money in either the informal service and small scale manufacturing sectors (a major part of which is food preparation), or the formal service sector. In the cases of both the informal service and small scale manufacturing or the formal service sector, commodity creation cannot be seen. The urban space happens to be the marketplace, where nature and its services, along with the non-urban labour, cannot be seen unless it is sold in the market. Hence, the consumers are now increasingly becoming disengaged from the producers. This paper compares the rate of increase in the size of and employment in the informal sector and/or that of the formal sector of some selected urban areas of India. Also, a comparison over the years of the aforementioned characteristics is presented in this paper, in order to find out how the anonymity of the producers to the urban consumers have grown as urbanization has risen. This paper also analyses the change in the transport cost of goods into the cities and towns of India and supports that claim made here that the invisibility of production is a crucial marker of modern-day urban-centric economic development. Such urbanization has an important ecological impact. The invisibility of the production site saves the urban consumer society from dealing with the ethical and ecological aspects of the production process. Once the real sector production is driven out of the cities and towns, the invisible ethical and ecological impacts of the growing urban consumption frees the consumers from associating themselves with any responsibility towards those impacts.

Keywords: ecological impact of urbanization, informal sector, invisibility of production, urbanization

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Authors: Richa Sharma, Uma Nahar, Sadhna Sharma, Indu Verma

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Counteracting the deadly pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) effectively is still a global challenge. Scrutinizing alternative weapons like antimicrobial peptides to strengthen existing tuberculosis artillery is urgently required. Considering the antimycobacterial potential of Human Beta Defensin 1 (HBD-1) along with isoniazid, the present study was designed to explore the ability of HBD-1 to act against active and dormant M. tb. HBD-1 was screened in silico using antimicrobial peptide prediction servers to identify its short antimicrobial motif. The activity of both HBD-1 and its selected motif (Pep B) was determined at different concentrations against actively growing M. tb in vitro and ex vivo in monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs). Log phase M. tb was grown along with HBD-1 and Pep B for 7 days. M. tb infected MDMs were treated with HBD-1 and Pep B for 72 hours. Thereafter, colony forming unit (CFU) enumeration was performed to determine activity of both peptides against actively growing in vitro and intracellular M. tb. The dormant M. tb models were prepared by following two approaches and treated with different concentrations of HBD-1 and Pep B. Firstly, 20-22 days old M. tbH37Rv was grown in potassium deficient Sauton media for 35 days. The presence of dormant bacilli was confirmed by Nile red staining. Dormant bacilli were further treated with rifampicin, isoniazid, HBD-1 and its motif for 7 days. The effect of both peptides on latent bacilli was assessed by colony forming units (CFU) and most probable number (MPN) enumeration. Secondly, human PBMC granuloma model was prepared by infecting PBMCs seeded on collagen matrix with M. tb(MOI 0.1) for 10 days. Histopathology was done to confirm granuloma formation. The granuloma thus formed was incubated for 72 hours with rifampicin, HBD-1 and Pep B individually. Difference in bacillary load was determined by CFU enumeration. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of HBD-1 and Pep B restricting growth of mycobacteria in vitro were 2μg/ml and 20μg/ml respectively. The intracellular mycobacterial load was reduced significantly by HBD-1 and Pep B at 1μg/ml and 5μg/ml respectively. Nile red positive bacterial population, high MPN/ low CFU count and tolerance to isoniazid, confirmed the formation of potassium deficienybaseddormancy model. HBD-1 (8μg/ml) showed 96% and 99% killing and Pep B (40μg/ml) lowered dormant bacillary load by 68.89% and 92.49% based on CFU and MPN enumeration respectively. Further, H&E stained aggregates of macrophages and lymphocytes, acid fast bacilli surrounded by cellular aggregates and rifampicin resistance, indicated the formation of human granuloma dormancy model. HBD-1 (8μg/ml) led to 81.3% reduction in CFU whereas its motif Pep B (40μg/ml) showed only 54.66% decrease in bacterial load inside granuloma. Thus, the present study indicated that HBD-1 and its motif are effective antimicrobial players against both actively growing and dormant M. tb. They should be further explored to tap their potential to design a powerful weapon for combating tuberculosis.

Keywords: antimicrobial peptides, dormant, human beta defensin 1, tuberculosis

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Authors: Danute Jablonskyte-Rasce, Laura Masilionyte

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The field experiments of different farming systems were conducted at Joniškėlis Experimental Station of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2006–2016. The soil of the experimental site was Endocalcari-Endohypogleyic Cambisol (CMg-n-w-can). The research was designed to identify the effects of dry matter and nitrogen accumulated in the above-ground biomass of various catch crops grown after winter wheat on soil mineral nitrogen variation during the autumn and spring period in the presence of intensive leaching complex. Research was done in the soil differing in humus status in the organic and sustainable cropping systems by growing various plant mixtures as catch crops: narrow-leafed lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.) and oil radish (Raphanus sativus var. Oleifera L.), white mustard (Sinapis alba L.) and buckwheat (Fagopyrum exculentum Moench.) and white mustard as a sole crop. All crop and soil management practices have shown optimal efficiency in late autumn – stubble breaking, catch crops and straw used during the post-harvest period of the main crops, reduced Nmin migration into deeper (40–80 cm) soil layer. The greatest Nmin reduction in the 0–40 cm soil layer during the period from late autumn to early spring was identified in the sustainable cropping system having applied N30 for the promotion of straw mineralization and with no catch crops cultivation. The sustainable cropping system, having applied N30 for straw mineralization and growing white mustard in combination with buckwheat as catch crops, Nmin difference in the spring compared with its status in the autumn in the soil low and moderate in humus was lower by 70.1% and 34.2%, respectively.

Keywords: soil nitrogen, catch crops, ecological and sustainable farming systems, Cambisol

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Authors: Boudjenah-Haroun Saliha, Isselnane Souad, Nouani Abdelwahab, Baaissa Babelhadj, Mati Abderrahmane

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Algeria is experiencing significant development of the dairy sector, where consumption of milk and milk products increased by 2.7 million tons in 2008 to 4,400,000 tons in 2013, and cheese production has reached 1640 tons in the year 2014 with average consumption of 0.7 kg/person/year. Although rennet is still the most used coagulating enzyme in cheese, its production has been growing worldwide shortage. This shortage is primarily due to a growing increase in the production and consumption of cheese, and the inability to increase in parallel the production of rennet. This shortage has caused very large fluctuations in its price). To overcome these obstacles, much research has been undertaken to find effective and competitive substitutes used industrially. For this, the selection of a local production of rennet substitute is desirable. It would allow a permanent supply with limited dependence on imports and price fluctuations. Investigations conducted by our research team showed that extracts coagulants from the stomachs of older camels are characterized by a coagulating power than those from younger camels. The objective of this work is to study the possibility of substituting commercial rennet coagulant by gastric enzymes from adult camels for coagulation bovine milk. Excerpts from the raw camel coagulants obtained are characterized through their teneures proteins and clotting and proteolytic activities. Milk clotting conditions by the action of these extracts were optimized. Milk clotting time all treated with enzyme preparations and under different conditions was calculated. Bovine rennet has been used for comparison. The results show that crude extracts from gastric adult camel can be good substituting bovine rennet.

Keywords: Algeria, camel, cheese, coagulation, gastric extracts, milk

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Authors: Abdollah Kavousi Fard

Abstract:

This paper addresses the optimal scheduling of hybrid reconfigurable microgrids considering hybrid electric vehicle charging demands. A stochastic framework based on unscented transform to model the high uncertainties of renewable energy sources including wind turbine and photovoltaic panels, as well as the hybrid electric vehicles’ charging demand. In order to get to the optimal scheduling, the network reconfiguration is employed as an effective tool for changing the power supply path and avoiding possible congestions. The simulation results are analyzed and discussed in three different scenarios including coordinated, uncoordinated and smart charging demand of hybrid electric vehicles. A typical grid-connected microgrid is employed to show the satisfying performance of the proposed method.

Keywords: microgrid, renewable energy sources, reconfiguration, optimization

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Authors: A. Benatiallah, A. Hadjadj, D. Benatiallah, F. Abaidi, A. Harrouz

Abstract:

Photovoltaic system is established as a reliable and economical source of electricity in rural and Sahara areas, especially in developing countries where the population is dispersed, has low consumption of energy and the grid power is not extended to these areas due to viability and financial problems. The production of energy by the photovoltaic system is very fluctuates and depend of meteorological conditions. Wind is a very important and often neglected parameter in the behavior of the solar module. The electric performances of a solar module to the silicon are very appreciable to the blows; in the present work we have studies the behavior of multi-crystal solar module according to the density of dust, and the principals electric feature of the solar module. An evaluation permits to affirm that a solar module under the effect of sand will collect a lower flux to the normal conditions.

Keywords: photovoltaic, multi-crystal module, experimental, effect of dust, performances

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Authors: Henry Prihanto Nugroho

Abstract:

This paper suggests education tourism as an option into developing more sustainable mass tourism. Identifying the potential of education tourism and developing a sustainable packages will have an impact on social economic development in the area. Indonesia especially Yogyakarta can increase their tourism earnings by tapping into this growing market phenomenon. Educational tourism, a growing part in the world tourism market, has attracted great attention because of its direct impact on the community and as an alternative strategy for poverty alleviation. Tourism is considered as one of the main industries and sectors highly contributing to economic development in Indonesia especially in Yogyakarta, this region can be an ideal case for studying the issue of educational tourism in Universitas Gadjah Mada. This paper tries to introduce the educational tourism as an important alternative source of the economy accelerator in the context of Yogyakarta Indonesia. This paper also aims to discuss the education tourism potential at the University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta Indonesia then to create and established an Education Tourism package at Gadjah Mada University. Education Tourism is a means to empower academics, local community, local businesses, and to improve the economic welfare. Methods: Focus group discussions, direct observation, survey and best practice method. Conclusion: There is a positive relationship between attitude, environmental impact, economic impact, and socio-cultural impacts and practice in the field when the potential is seized. The findings incorporate insights into the socio-cultural and economic potential of education tourism and practices related to community development at the University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta Indonesia by creating an Education Tourism Packages that will suit the needs of the tourist. Educational tourism can create sustainable development for local communities, academic society, universities, and stakeholders.

Keywords: education tourism, Gadjah Mada, sustainable, tourism

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Authors: Shayli Varasteh Moradi, Wayne A. Johnston, Dejan Gagoski, Kirill Alexandrov

Abstract:

The demand for a rapid and more efficient technique to identify protein-protein interaction particularly in the areas of therapeutics and diagnostics development is growing. The method described here is a rapid in vitro protein-protein interaction analysis approach based on AlphaLISA technology combined with Leishmania tarentolae cell-free protein production (LTE) system. Cell-free protein synthesis allows the rapid production of recombinant proteins in a multiplexed format. Among available in vitro expression systems, LTE offers several advantages over other eukaryotic cell-free systems. It is based on a fast growing fermentable organism that is inexpensive in cultivation and lysate production. High integrity of proteins produced in this system and the ability to co-express multiple proteins makes it a desirable method for screening protein interactions. Following the translation of protein pairs in LTE system, the physical interaction between proteins of interests is analysed by AlphaLISA assay. The assay is performed using unpurified in vitro translation reaction and therefore can be readily multiplexed. This approach can be used in various research applications such as epitope mapping, antigen-antibody analysis and protein interaction network mapping. The intra-viral protein interaction network of Zika virus was studied using the developed technique. The viral proteins were co-expressed pair-wise in LTE and all possible interactions among viral proteins were tested using AlphaLISA. The assay resulted to the identification of 54 intra-viral protein-protein interactions from which 19 binary interactions were found to be novel. The presented technique provides a powerful tool for rapid analysis of protein-protein interaction with high sensitivity and throughput.

Keywords: AlphaLISA technology, cell-free protein expression, epitope mapping, Leishmania tarentolae, protein-protein interaction

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Authors: Ehsanolah Assareh, Mojtaba Biglari, Mojtaba Nedaei

Abstract:

Sanar village in north of Iran is a remote region with difficult access to electricity, grid and water supply. Thus the aim of this research is to evaluate the potential of wind as a power source either for electricity generation or for water pumping. In this study the statistical analysis has been performed by Weibull distribution function. The results show that the Weibull distribution has fitted the wind data very well. Also it has been demonstrated that wind speed at 40 m height is ranged from 1.75 m/s in Dec to 3.28 m/s in Aug with average value of 2.69 m/s. In this research, different wind speed characteristics such as turbulence intensity, wind direction, monthly air temperature, humidity wind power density and other related parameters have been investigated. Finally it was concluded that the wind energy in the Sanar village may be explored by employing modern wind turbines that require very lower start-up speeds.

Keywords: wind energy, wind turbine, weibull, Sanar village, Iran

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Authors: Kumator Taku, Bilkisu Amartey

Abstract:

This research used Grid indentation technique to investigate the effect of the addition of Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) on the nanomechanical properties of the main phases of the hydrated cement paste. Portland cement was partially replaced with 15% CSA at a water-binder ratio of 0.5 and cubes casted and cured for 28 days after which they were polished to reduce surface roughness to the barest minimum. The result of nanoindentation shows that addition of 15% CSA to cement paste transforms portlandite to C-S-H by the pozzolanic reaction. More so, there is reduced porosity and a reduction in the volume of CH by the addition of the CSA. Even though the addition of 15% CSA does not drastically change the average values of the hardness and elastic modulus of the two phases of the C-S-H, it greatly modifies their relative proportions, leading to the production of more HD C-S-H. Overall, incorporating 15%CSA to cement mortar improves the Nanomechanical properties of the four main phases of the hydrated cement paste.

Keywords: Coconut Shell Ash, Elastic Modulus, Hardness, Nanoindentation, Porosity

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Authors: Mahdi Zolfaghari, Seyed Hossein Hosseinian, Hossein Askarian Abyaneh, Mehrdad Abedi

Abstract:

This paper presents a virtual active power filter (VAPF) using vehicle to grid (V2G) technology to maintain power quality requirements. The optimal discrete operation of the power converter of electric vehicle (EV) is based on recognizing desired switching states using the model predictive control (MPC) algorithm. A fast dynamic response, lower total harmonic distortion (THD) and good reference tracking performance are realized through the presented control strategy. The simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink validate the effectiveness of the scheme in improving power quality as well as good dynamic response in power transferring capability.

Keywords: electric vehicle, model predictive control, power quality, V2G technology, virtual active power filter

Procedia PDF Downloads 427