Search results for: slow releasing fertilizer

Authors: Rim Ben Amor, Myriam Abidi, Moncef Gueddari

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The purpose of the present study is to assess the level and the distribution of CaO, SO3, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn incore sediments of Ghannouch-Gabes coast, Gulf of Gabes, Tunisian Mediterranean coast. The XRD analyses indicate that the sediments of Ghannouch-Gabes coast are mainly composed of quartz, calcite, gypsum and fluorine reflecting the impact of the phosphate fertilizer industrial waste. The vertical distribution of surface sediments shows for all the elements analyzed, that the area located between the commercial and the fishing port of Gabes, is the most polluted zone, where the two harbors acted as barriers and limited the dispersion of phosphogypsum discharge. The abundance order of metals was found to be Zn > Cd > Cu >Pb and that the highest levels of heavy metals were found in the uppermost segment of the sediment core compared to lower depth subsurface due to a continuous input of PG release and showed that the area between the two harbor suffered from several types of pollutants compared to reference core C1, collected from non-industrialized area. The level of pollution was evaluated using contamination factor (Cf), pollution load index (PLI) and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo). The obtained results of Igeo allowed us to distinguish that the area between the commercial harbor of Ghannouch and the fishing harbor of Gabes is the most polluted where sediments are strongly contaminated for Pb, Cu and Cd. The pollution load index (PLI) of all sediments collected classified them as "polluted". According to contamination factor (Cf), the sediments can be considered as ‘considerable’ to ‘very high’ contaminated for Pb, ‘very high to moderate’ for Cd, ‘ moderate’ for Zn, between ‘moderate’ and ‘considerable’ for Cu. Statistical analyses show that heavy metals, fluoride, calcium and sulphate are resulting from the same anthropogenic origin. The metallic pollution status of sediments of Ghanouch -Gabes coast is worrying and requires a serious intervention.

Keywords: trace metals, phosphogypsum, core sediments, accumulation factor, contamination factor

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Authors: Ebrahim Izadi-Darbandi, Masoud Azad, Masumeh Dehghan

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In order to study the effects of nitrogen and phosphoruse management and wheat sowing method on wheat yield, two experiments was performed as factorial, based on completely randomized design with three replications at Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran in 2009. In the first experiment nitrogen application rates (100kg ha-1, 200 kg ha-1, 300 kg ha-1), phosphorus application rates (100 kg ha-1, 200 kg ha-1) and two levels of their application methods (Broadcast and Band) were studied. The second experiment treatments included of wheat sowing methods (single-row with 30 cm distance and twine row on 60 cm width ridges), as main plots and nitrogen and phosphorus application methods (Broadcast and Band) as sub plots (150 kg ha-1). Phosphorus and nitrogen sources for fertilization at both experiment were respectively super phosphate, applied before wheat sowing and incorporated with soil and urea, applied in two phases (50% pre plant) and (50%) near wheat shooting. Results from first experiment showed that the effect of fertilizers application methods were significant (p≤0.01) on wheat yield increasing. Band application of phosphorus and nitrogen were increased biomass and seed yield of wheat with nine and 15% respectively compared to their broadcast application. The interaction between the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus application rate with phosphorus and nitrogen application methods, showed that band application of fertilizers and the rate of application of 200kg/ha phosphorus and 300kg/ha nitrogen were the best methods in wheat yield improvement. The second experiment also showed that the effect of wheat sowing method and fertilizers application methods were significant (p≤0.01) on wheat seed and biomass yield improvement. Wheat twine row on 60 cm width ridges sowing method, increased its biomass and seed yield for 22% and 30% respectively compared to single-row with 30 cm. Wheat sowing method and fertilizers application methods interaction indicated that band application of fertilizers and wheat twine row on 60 cm width ridges sowing method was the best treatment on winter wheat yield improvement. In conclusion these results indicated that nitrogen and phosphorus management in wheat and modifying wheat sowing method have important role in increasing fertilizers use efficiency.

Keywords: band application, broadcast application, rate of fertilizer application, wheat seed yield, wheat biomass yield

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Authors: Disciglio G., Lops F., Carlucci A., Gatta G., Tarantino A., Frabboni L, Tarantino E.

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The Phelipanche ramosa is considered the most damaging obligate flowering parasitic weed on a wide species of cultivated plants. The semiarid regions of the world are considered the main center of this parasitic weed, where heavy infestation are due to the ability to produce high numbers of seeds (up to 200,000), that remain viable for extended period (more than 19 years). In this paper 13 treatments of parasitic weed control, as physical, chemical, biological and agronomic methods, including the use of the resistant plants, have been carried out. In 2014 a trial was performed on processing tomato (cv Docet), grown in pots filled with soil taken from a plot heavily infested by Phelipanche ramosa, at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia (southern Italy). Tomato seedlings were transplanted on August 8, 2014 on a clay soil (USDA) 100 kg ha-1 of N; 60 kg ha-1 of P2O5 and 20 kg ha-1 of S. Afterwards, top dressing was performed with 70 kg ha-1 of N. The randomized block design with 3 replicates was adopted. During the growing cycle of the tomato, at 70-75-81 and 88 days after transplantation the number of parasitic shoots emerged in each pot was detected. Also values of leaf chlorophyll Meter SPAD of tomato plants were measured. All data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the JMP software (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA), and for comparison of means was used Tukey's test. The results show lower values of the color index SPAD in tomato plants parasitized compared to those healthy. In addition, each treatment studied did not provide complete control against Phelipanche ramosa. However the virulence of the attacks was mitigated by some treatments: radicon product, compost activated with Fusarium, mineral fertilizer nitrogen, sulfur, enzone and resistant tomato genotype. It is assumed that these effects can be improved by combining some of these treatments each other, especially for a gradual and continuing reduction of the “seed bank” of the parasite in the soil.

Keywords: control methods, Phelipanche ramose, tomato crop

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Authors: Valentine C. Eze, Adam P. Harvey

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Contamination of groundwater and soil by heavy metals and metalloids through anthropogenic activities and natural occurrence poses serious environmental challenges globally. A possible solution to this problem is through phytoremediation of the contaminants using hyper-accumulating plants. Conventional phytoremediation treats the contaminated hyper-accumulator biomass as a waste stream which adds no value to the heavy metal(loid)s decontamination process. This study investigates strategies for remediation of soil contaminated with arsenic and the extractive chemical routes for recovery of arsenic and phosphorus from the hyper-accumulator biomass. Pteris cretica ferns species were investigated for their uptake of arsenic from soil containing 200 ± 3ppm of arsenic. The Pteris cretica ferns were shown to be capable of hyper-accumulation of arsenic, with maximum accumulations of about 4427 ± 79mg to 4875 ± 96mg of As per kg of the dry ferns. The arsenic in the Pteris cretica fronds was extracted into various solvents, with extraction efficiencies of 94.3 ± 2.1% for ethanol-water (1:1 v/v), 81.5 ± 3.2% for 1:1(v/v) methanol-water, and 70.8 ± 2.9% for water alone. The recovery efficiency of arsenic from the molybdic acid complex process 90.8 ± 5.3%. Phosphorus was also recovered from the molybdic acid complex process at 95.1 ± 4.6% efficiency. Quantitative precipitation of Mg₃(AsO₄)₂ and Mg₃(PO₄)₂ occurred in the treatment of the aqueous solutions of arsenic and phosphorus after stripping at pH of 8 – 10. The amounts of Mg₃(AsO₄)₂ and Mg₃(PO₄)₂ obtained were 96 ± 7.2% for arsenic and 94 ± 3.4% for phosphorus. The arsenic nanoparticles produced from the Mg₃(AsO₄)₂ recovered from the biomass have the average particles diameter of 45.5 ± 11.3nm. A two-stage reduction process – a first step pre-reduction of As(V) to As(III) with L-cysteine, followed by NaBH₄ reduction of the As(III) to As(0), was required to produced arsenic nanoparticles from the Mg₃(AsO₄)₂. The arsenic nanoparticles obtained are potentially valuable for medical applications, while the Mg₃(AsO₄)₂ could be used as an insecticide. The phosphorus contents of the Pteris cretica biomass was recovered as phosphomolybdic acid complex and converted to Mg₃(PO₄)₂, which could be useful in productions of fertilizer. Recovery of these valuable products from phytoremediation biomass would incentivize and drive commercial industries’ participation in remediation of contaminated lands.

Keywords: phytoremediation, Pteris cretica, hyper-accumulator, solvent extraction, molybdic acid process, arsenic nanoparticles

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Authors: M. Kouhirostamkolaei, M. Kouhirostami, M. Sam, J. Woo, A. T. Asutosh, J. Li, C. Kibert

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Construction is one of the most energy consumed activities in the urban environment that results in a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions around the world. Thus, the impact of the construction industry on global warming is undeniable. Thus, reducing building energy consumption and mitigating carbon production can slow the rate of global warming. The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of energy consumption and carbon dioxide production during the operation phase and the impact of using new shells on energy saving and carbon footprint. Therefore, a residential building with a re-enforced concrete structure is selected in Babolsar, Iran. DesignBuilder software has been used for one year of building operation to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide production and energy consumption in the operation phase of the building. The primary results show the building use 61750 kWh of energy each year. Computer simulation analyzes the effect of changing building shells -using XPS polystyrene and new electrochromic windows- as well as changing the type of lighting on energy consumption reduction and subsequent carbon dioxide production. The results show that the amount of energy and carbon production during building operation has been reduced by approximately 70% by applying the proposed changes. The changes reduce CO₂e to 11345 kg CO₂/yr. The result of this study helps designers and engineers to consider material selection’s process as one of the most important stages of design for improving energy performance of buildings.

Keywords: construction materials, green construction, energy simulation, carbon footprint, energy saving, concrete structure, designbuilder

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Authors: Barenten Suciu

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In this work, effects of the friction and truncation on the dynamics of a double-cone gravitational motor, self-propelled on a straight V-shaped horizontal rail, are evaluated. Such mechanism has a variable radius of contact, and, on one hand, it is similar to a pulley mechanism that changes the potential energy into the kinetic energy of rotation, but on the other hand, it is similar to a pendulum mechanism that converts the potential energy of the suspended body into the kinetic energy of translation along a circular path. Movies of the self- propelled double-cones, made of S45C carbon steel and wood, along rails made of aluminum alloy, were shot for various opening angles of the rails. Kinematical features of the double-cones were estimated through the slow-motion processing of the recorded movies. Then, a kinematical model is derived under assumption that the distance traveled by the contact points on the rectilinear rails is identical with the distance traveled by the contact points on the truncated conical surface. Additionally, a dynamic model, for this particular contact problem, was proposed and validated against the experimental results. Based on such model, the traction force and the traction torque acting on the double-cone are identified. One proved that the rolling traction force is always smaller than the sliding friction force; i.e., the double-cone is rolling without slipping. Results obtained in this work can be used to achieve the proper design of such gravitational motor.

Keywords: Truncated double-cone, friction, rolling and sliding, dynamic model, gravitational motor

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Authors: Cam Nguyen

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Rapid, accurate, and safe sensing and imaging of physical quantities or structures finds many applications and is of significant interest to society. Sensing and imaging using radio-frequency (RF) techniques, particularly, has gone through significant development and subsequently established itself as a unique territory in the sensing world. RF sensing and imaging has played a critical role in providing us many sensing and imaging abilities beyond our human capabilities, benefiting both civilian and military applications - for example, from sensing abnormal conditions underneath some structures’ surfaces to detection and classification of concealed items, hidden activities, and buried objects. We present the developments of several sensing and imaging systems implementing RF technologies like ultra-wide band (UWB), synthetic-pulse, and interferometry. These systems are fabricated completely using RF integrated circuits. The UWB impulse system operates over multiple pulse durations from 450 to 1170 ps with 5.5-GHz RF bandwidth. It performs well through tests of various samples, demonstrating its usefulness for subsurface sensing. The synthetic-pulse system operating from 0.6 to 5.6 GHz can assess accurately subsurface structures. The synthetic-pulse system operating from 29.72-37.7 GHz demonstrates abilities for various surface and near-surface sensing such as profile mapping, liquid-level monitoring, and anti-personnel mine locating. The interferometric system operating at 35.6 GHz demonstrates its multi-functional capability for measurement of displacements and slow velocities. These RF sensors are attractive and useful for various surface and subsurface sensing applications. This paper was made possible by NPRP grant # 6-241-2-102 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Keywords: RF sensors, radars, surface sensing, subsurface sensing

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Authors: Feng Li, Qian Peng

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The mass start speed skating (MSSS) is a new event for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and will be an official race for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Considering that the event rankings were based on points gained on laps, it is worthwhile to investigate the pacing behavior on each lap that directly influences the ranking of the race. The aim of this study was to detect the pacing behavior and performance on MSSS regarding skaters’ level (SL), competition stage (semi-final/final) (CS) and gender (G). All the men's and women's races in the World Cup and World Championships were analyzed in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons. As a result, a total of 601 skaters from 36 games were observed. ANOVA for repeated measures was applied to compare the pacing behavior on each lap, and the three-way ANOVA for repeated measures was used to identify the influence of SL, CS, and G on pacing behavior and total time spent. In general, the results showed that the pacing behavior from fast to slow were cluster 1—laps 4, 8, 12, 15, 16, cluster 2—laps 5, 9, 13, 14, cluster 3—laps 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, and cluster 4—laps 1 and 2 (p=0.000). For CS, the total time spent in the final was less than the semi-final (p=0.000). For SL, top-level skaters spent less total time than the middle-level and low-level (p≤0.002), while there was no significant difference between the middle-level and low-level (p=0.214). For G, the men’s skaters spent less total time than women on all laps (p≤0.048). This study could help to coach staff better understand the pacing behavior regarding SL, CS, and G, further providing references concerning promoting the pacing strategy and decision making before and during the race.

Keywords: performance analysis, pacing strategy, winning strategy, winter Olympics

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Authors: Mohamed Trigui, Fatma Masmoudi, Imen Zouari

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Massive utilizations of chemical fertilizer and chemical pesticides in agriculture sector to improve the farming productivity have created increasing environmental damages. Then, agriculture must become sustainable, focusing on production systems that respect the environment and help to reduce climate change. Isolation and microbial identification of new bacterial strains from naturally saline habitats and compost extracts could be a prominent way in pest management and crop production under saline conditions. In this study, potential mechanisms involved in plant growth promotion and suppressive activity against fungal diseases of a compost extract produced from poultry manure/olive husk compost and halotolerant and halophilic bacterial strains under saline stress were investigated. On the basis of the antimicrobial tests, different strains isolated from Sfax solar saltern (Tunisia) and from compost extracts were selected and tested for their plant growth promoting traits, such as siderophores production, nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization and the production of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes (protease and lipase) under in-vitro conditions. Among 450 isolated bacterial strains, 16 isolates showed potent antifungal activity against the tested plant pathogenic fungi. Their identification based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed they belonged to different species. Some of these strains were also characterized for their plant growth promoting capacities. Obtained results showed the ability of four strains belonging to Bacillus genesis to ameliorate germination rate and root elongation compared to the untreated positive controls. Combinatorial capacity of halotolerant bacteria with antimicrobial activity and plant growth promoting traits could be promising sources of interesting bioactive substances under saline stress.

Keywords: abiotic stress, biofertilizer, biotic stress, compost extract, halobacteria, plant growth promoting (PGP), soil fertility

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Authors: Tej Varma Y, Debi D. Pant

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Photophysics and rotational dynamics of the fluorescent probe, 6-methoxyquinoline (6MQ) with cationic surfactant, alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (nTAB) micelle solutions have been investigated (n = 12, 14 and 16). Absorption and emission peaks of the dye have been observed to shift at concentrations around critical micellar concentration (cmc) of nTAB compared to that of bulk solutions suggesting probe is in a lower polar environment. The probe senses changes in polarity (ET (30)) brought about by variation of surfactant chain length concentration and is invariably solubilized in the aqueous interface or palisade layer. The order of change in polarity observed was DTAB > CTAB > TTAB. The binding constant study shows that the probe binds strongest with TTAB (is of the order TTAB > CTAB > DTAB) due to deeper penetration into the micelle. The anisotropy decay for the probe in all the nTAB micelles studied have been rationalized based on a two-step model consisting of fast-restricted rotation of the probe and slow lateral diffusion of the probe in the micelle that is coupled to the overall rotation of the micelle. Fluorescence lifetime measurements of probe in the cationic micelles demonstrate the close proximity of the 6MQ to the Br - counterions. The fluorescence lifetimes of TTAB and DTAB are much shorter than in CTAB. These results indicate that 6MQ resides to a substantial degree in the head group region of the micelles. All the changes observed in the steady state fluorescence, microenvironment, fluorescence lifetimes, fluorescence anisotropy, and other calculations are in agreement with each other suggesting binding of the cationic surfactant with the neutral dye molecule.

Keywords: photophysics, chain length, ntaB, micelles

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Authors: Yash Jain

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The US Center for Disease Control has recommended wearing masks to slow the spread of the virus. The research uses a video feed from a camera to conduct real-time classifications of whether or not a human is correctly wearing a mask, incorrectly wearing a mask, or not wearing a mask at all. Utilizing two distinct datasets from the open-source website Kaggle, a mask detection network had been trained. The first dataset that was used to train the model was titled 'Face Mask Detection' on Kaggle, where the dataset was retrieved from and the second dataset was titled 'Face Mask Dataset, which provided the data in a (YOLO Format)' so that the TinyYoloV3 model could be trained. Based on the data from Kaggle, two machine learning models were implemented and trained: a Tiny YoloV3 Real-time model and a two-stage neural network classifier. The two-stage neural network classifier had a first step of identifying distinct faces within the image, and the second step was a classifier to detect the state of the mask on the face and whether it was worn correctly, incorrectly, or no mask at all. The TinyYoloV3 was used for the live feed as well as for a comparison standpoint against the previous two-stage classifier and was trained using the darknet neural network framework. The two-stage classifier attained a mean average precision (MAP) of 80%, while the model trained using TinyYoloV3 real-time detection had a mean average precision (MAP) of 59%. Overall, both models were able to correctly classify stages/scenarios of no mask, mask, and incorrectly worn masks.

Keywords: datasets, classifier, mask-detection, real-time, TinyYoloV3, two-stage neural network classifier

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Authors: Jason R. King, Hugh H. T. Liu

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This research presents simulation and experimental work in the visual servoing of a quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to stabilize overtop of a moving target. Most previous work in the field assumes static or slow-moving, unpredictable targets. In this experiment, the target is assumed to be a friendly ground robot moving freely on a horizontal plane, which shares information with the UAV. This information includes velocity and acceleration information of the ground target to aid the quadrotor in its tracking task. The quadrotor is assumed to have a downward-facing camera which is fixed to the frame of the quadrotor. Only onboard sensing for the quadrotor is utilized for the experiment, with a VICON motion capture system in place used only to measure ground truth and evaluate the performance of the controller. The experimental platform consists of an ArDrone 2.0 and a Create Roomba, communicating using Robot Operating System (ROS). The addition of the target’s information is demonstrated to help the quadrotor in its tracking task using simulations of the dynamic model of a quadrotor in Matlab Simulink. A nested PID control loop is utilized for inner-loop control the quadrotor, similar to previous works at the Flight Systems and Controls Laboratory (FSC) at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). Experiments are performed with ground truth provided by an indoor motion capture system, and the results are analyzed. It is demonstrated that a velocity controller which incorporates the additional information is able to perform better than the controllers which do not have access to the target’s information.

Keywords: quadrotor, target tracking, unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, UAS, visual servoing

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Authors: Kldiashvili Ekaterina, Burduli Archil, Ghortlishvili Gocha

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Introduction – Medical information system (MIS) is at the heart of information technology (IT) implementation policies in healthcare systems around the world. Different architecture and application models of MIS are developed. Despite of obvious advantages and benefits, application of MIS in everyday practice is slow. Objective - On the background of analysis of the existing models of MIS in Georgia has been created a multi-user web-based approach. This presentation will present the architecture of the system and its application for image based second opinion consultations. Methods – The MIS has been created with .Net technology and SQL database architecture. It realizes local (intranet) and remote (internet) access to the system and management of databases. The MIS is fully operational approach, which is successfully used for medical data registration and management as well as for creation, editing and maintenance of the electronic medical records (EMR). Five hundred Georgian language electronic medical records from the cervical screening activity illustrated by images were selected for second opinion consultations. Results – The primary goal of the MIS is patient management. However, the system can be successfully applied for image based second opinion consultations. Discussion – The ideal of healthcare in the information age must be to create a situation where healthcare professionals spend more time creating knowledge from medical information and less time managing medical information. The application of easily available and adaptable technology and improvement of the infrastructure conditions is the basis for eHealth applications. Conclusion - The MIS is perspective and actual technology solution. It can be successfully and effectively used for image based second opinion consultations.

Keywords: digital images, medical information system, second opinion consultations, electronic medical record

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Authors: Eli Maria Forti-Pazzianotto, Carolina Moraes Da Costa, Daniela Faleiros Berteli Merino, Maura Rigoldi Simões Da Rocha, Irineu Rasera-Junior

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There is no conclusive evidence to support the use of one type or brand of incentive espirometry over others. The decision as to which equipment is best, have being based on empirical assessment of patient acceptance, ease of use, and cost. The aim was to evaluate the effects of use of two methodologies of breathing exercises, performed by flow-oriented incentive spirometry, in the reversal of diaphragmatic dysfunction in postoperative bariatric surgery. 38 morbid obese women were selected. Respiratory muscle strength was evaluated through the nasal inspiratory pressure (NIP), and the respiratory muscles endurance, through incremental test by measurement of sustained maximal inspiratory pressure (SMIP). They were randomized in 2 groups: 1- Respiron® Classic (RC) the inspirations were slow, deep and sustained for as long as possible (5 sec). 2- Respiron® Athletic1 (RA1) - the inspirations were explosive, quick and intense, raising balls by the explosive way. 6 sets of 15 repetitions with intervals of 30 to 60 seconds were performed in groups. At the end of the intervention program (second PO), the volunteers were reevaluated. The groups were homogeneous with regard to initial assessment. However on reevaluating there was a significant decline of the variable PIN (p= < 0.0001) and SMIP (p=0.0004) in RC. In the RA1 group there was a maintenance of SMIP (p=0.5076) after surgery. The use of the Respiron Athletic 1, as well as the methodology of application used, can contribute positively to preserve the inspiratory muscle endurance and improve the diaphragmatic dysfunction in postoperative period.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, incentive spirometry, respiratory muscle, physiotherapy

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Authors: Shrutisingh Tomar, Madhu Sharan

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It has been an undisputed fact that the culture of a nation has always been reflected in its practice, visual content and in forms of its oral traditions. Regional and communal costumes in India since ancient times have worked as a strong repository for its people to comprehend not only the locality but also the community of the wearer. Such a strong visual language apparently was ordained to communicate basic details about the person such as age, marital status, and socio-cultural status. Most of the fragments of this visual vocabulary have been intensively investigated, recorded, diversified and revived, while a limited range of these has died a slow death. Some of the rare existent kinds of such threads have survived as a mainstream article of clothing: simpler, apparent and a product for daily life yet unique in their own kind. The paper intends to consider and elaborate the investigated repository pertinent to the Pacchedi weaving tradition of Gujarat. The research involved field surveys across seven districts of the two states of India namely Gujarat and Rajasthan. Ethnographic interviews, observations, recording of oral histories and archival research was conducted through multi-timed and multi-cited studies between from the year 2012 to 2015. The results include varied forms of Pacchedi based on the sartorial expressions in the male costume. The characteristic features of these textiles were accorded by the sumptuous use of brocaded cross borders and weft heavy ends along with the details on the languishing fabrication procedure.

Keywords: handloom weaving, material culture, sartorial expressions and vernacular textile craft

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Authors: Mohamed Moheyeldin Mahmoud

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Various Islamic, Coptic and Jewish archeological places are located in many Egyptian neighborhoods such as Alsayeda zainab, Aldarb Alahmar, Algammaleya and many other in which they are daily exposed to a great traffic intensity causing vibrations. Vibrations could be stated as one of the most important challenges that face the archeological buildings and threaten their survival. The impact of vibrations varies according to the nature of the soil, nature and building conditions, how far the source of vibration is and the period of exposure. Traffic vibrations could be also stated as one of the most common types of vibrations having the greatest impact on buildings and archaeological installations. These vibrations result from the way that the vehicles act with different types of roads which vary according to the shape, nature, and type of obstacles. Other elements concerning the vehicle itself such as speed, weight, and load have a direct impact on the vibrations resulting from the vehicle movement that couldn't be neglected. The research aims to determine some of the requirements that must be observed when designing the public means of transport operating in the archaeological areas, in order to preserve the archaeological nature of the place. The research concludes that light weight slow motion vehicles should be used (25-50 km/h at maximum) having a multi-leaf steel spring suspension system instead of having an air-bag one should be used in order to reduce generated vibrations that could destroy the archeological buildings. Isolation layers could be used in the engine chamber in order to reduce the resulting noise causing vibrations. Electrically operated engines that use solar photovoltaic cells as a source of electricity could be used instead of gas ones in order to reduce the resulting engine noise.

Keywords: archeological, design, isolation layers, suspension, vibrations

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Authors: Deependra Prasad Sarraf, Gajendra Prasad Rauniar, Robin Maskey, Rajiv Maharjan, Ashish Shrestha, Ramayan Prasad Kushwaha

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Objectives: To assess the perception of faculties towards online teaching-learning activities conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify barriers and facilitators to conducting online teaching-learning activities in our context. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among faculties at B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences using a 26-item semi-structured questionnaire. A Google Form was prepared, and its link was sent to the faculties via email. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and findings were presented as tables and graphs. Results: Out of 158 faculties, the majority were male (66.46%), medical faculties (85.44%), and assistant professors (46.84%). Only 16 (10.13%) faculties had received formal training regarding preparing and/or delivering online teaching learning activities. Out of 158, 133 (84.18%) faculties faced technical and internet issues. The most common advantage and disadvantage of online teaching learning activities perceived by the faculties were ‘not limited to time or place’ (94.30%) and ‘lack of interaction with the students’ (82.28%), respectively. Majority (94.3%) of them had a positive perception towards online teaching-learning activities conducted during COVID-19 pandemic. Slow internet connection (91.77%) and frequent electricity interruption (82.91%) were the most common perceived barriers to online teaching-learning. Conclusions: Most of the faculties had a positive perception towards online teaching-learning activities. Academic leaders and stakeholders should provide uninterrupted internet and electricity connectivity, training on online teaching-learning platform, and timely technical support.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, faculties, medical education, perception

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Authors: Kunthida Kulprateepunya, Napat Boontiam, Bunthita Phuasa, Chatsuda Kankayant, Bantoeng Polsawat, Sumran Poontong

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Frailty is the thin line between good health and illness. The syndrome is more common in the elderly who transition from strong to weak. (Vulnerability). Fragility can prevent and promote healthy recovery before it goes into disability. This research and development aim to analyze the situation analysis of frailty of the elderly, develop a program, and evaluate the effect of a health promotion program to prevent and solve the problem of frailty among the elderly. The research consisted of 3 phases: 1) analysis of the frailty situation, 2) development of a model, 3) evaluation of the effectiveness of the model. Samples were 328, 122 elderlies using the multi-stage random sampling method. The research instrument was a frailty questionnaire use of the five symptoms, the main characteristics were muscle weakness, slow walking, low physical activity. Fatigue and unintentional weight loss, criteria frailty use more than or equal to three or more symptoms are frailty. Data were analyzed by descriptive and t-test dependent test statistics. The findings showed three parts. First, frailty in the elderly was 23.05 percentage and 56.70% pre-frailty. Second, it was development of a health promotion program to prevent and solve the problem of frailty the elderly with a combination of Nine-Square Exercise, Elastic Band Exercise, Elastic Coconut Shell. Third, evaluation of the effectiveness of the model by comparison of the elderly's get up and go test, the average time before using the program was 14.42 and after using the program was 8.57. It was statistically significant at the .05 level. In conclusion, the findings can used to develop guidelines to promote the health of the frailty elderly.

Keywords: elderly, fragile, nine-square exercise, elastic coconut shell

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Authors: Zhao Luqian, Wang Yafei

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Participation in music activities is beneficial for enhancing wellbeing, especially for aged people (Creech, 2013). Looking at percussion group in particular, it can facilitate a sense of belonging, relaxation, energy, and productivity, learning, enhanced mood, humanising, seems of accomplishment, escape from trauma, and emotional expression (Newman, 2015). In health literatures, group drumming is effective in reducing stress and improving multiple domains of social-motional behaviors (Ho et al., 2011; Maschi et al., 2010) because it offers a creative and mutual learning space that allows patients to establish a positive peer interaction (Mungas et al., 2014; Perkins, 2016). However, very few studies have investigated the effect of group drumming from the aspect of patients’ needs. Therefore, this study focuses on the discussion of patients' specific needs within mental health and explores how group percussion may meet their needs. Seligman’s (2011) five core elements of mental health were applied as patients’ needs in this study: (1) Positive emotions; (2) Engagement; (3) Relationships; (4) Meaning and (5) Accomplishment. 12 participants aged 57- 80 years were interviewed individually. The researcher also had observation in four drumming groups simultaneously. The results reveal that group drumming could improve participants’ mental wellbeing. First, it created a therapeutic health care environment extending beyond the elimination of boredom, and patients could focus on positive emotions during the session of group drumming. Secondly, it was effective in satisfying patients’ level of engagement. Thirdly, this study found that joining a percussion group would require patients to work on skills such as turn-taking and sharing. This equal relationship is helpful for releasing patients’ negative mood and thus forming tighter relationships between and among them. Fourthly, group drumming was found to meet patients’ meaning needs through offering them a place of belonging and a place for sharing. Its leaner-oriented approach engaged patients by a sense of belonging, accepting, connecting, and ownership. Finally, group drumming could meet patients’ needs for accomplishment through the learning process. The inclusive learning process, which indicates there is no right or wrong throughout the process, allowed patients to make their own decisions. In conclusion, it is difficult for patients to achieve positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meanings, and accomplishments in a hospital setting. Drumming can be practiced for enhancement in terms of reducing patients’ negative emotions and improving their experiences in a hospital through enriched social interaction and sense of accomplishment. Also, it can help patients to enhance social skills in a controlled environment.

Keywords: group drumming, hospital, mental health, music psychology

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Authors: Troy A. Tyre

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Organizational behavior and organizational change are elements of the ever-changing global business environment. Leadership and organizational behavior are 21st century disciplines. Network marketing organizations need to understand the ever-changing nature of global business and be ready and willing to adapt to the environment. Network marketing organizations have a challenge keeping up with a rapid escalation in global growth. Network marketing growth has been steady and global. Network marketing organizations have been slow to develop a 21st century global strategy to manage the rapid escalation of growth degrading organizational behavior, job satisfaction, increasing attrition, and degrading customer service. Development of an organizational behavior and leadership theory for the 21st century to help network marketing develops a global business strategy to manage the rapid escalation in growth that affects organizational behavior. Managing growth means organizational leadership must develop and adapt to the organizational environment. Growth comes with an open mind and one’s departure from the comfort zone. Leadership growth operates in the tacit dimension. Systems thinking and adaptation of mental models can help shift organizational behavior. Shifting the organizational behavior requires organizational learning. Organizational learning occurs through single-loop, double-loop, and triple-loop learning. Triple-loop learning is the most difficult, but the most rewarding. Tools such as theory U can aid in developing a landscape for organizational behavioral development. Additionally, awareness to espoused and portrayed actions is imperatives. Theories of motivation, cross-cultural diversity, and communications are instrumental in founding an organizational behavior suited for the 21st century.

Keywords: global, leadership, network marketing, organizational behavior

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Authors: Mohamed I. D. Helal, Mohamed M. El-Mogy, Hassan A. Khater, Muhammad A. Fathy, Fatma E. Ibrahim, Yuncong C. Li, Zhaohui Tong, Karima F. Abdelgawad

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Minimizing the consumption of agrochemicals, particularly nitrogen, is the ultimate goal for achieving sustainable agricultural production with low cost and high economic and environmental returns. The use of biopolymers instead of petroleum-based synthetic polymers for CRFs can significantly improve the sustainability of crop production since biopolymers are biodegradable and not harmful to soil quality. Lignin is one of the most abundant biopolymers that naturally exist. In this study, controlled-release fertilizers were developed using a biobased nanocomposite of lignin and bentonite clay mineral as a coating material for urea to increase nitrogen use efficiency. Five types of controlled-release urea (CRU) were prepared using two ratios of modified bentonite as well as techniques. The efficiency of the five controlled-release nano-urea (CRU) fertilizers in improving the growth of tomato plants was studied under field conditions. The CRU was applied to the tomato plants at three N levels representing 100, 50, and 25% of the recommended dose of conventional urea. The results showed that all CRU treatments at the three N levels significantly enhanced plant growth parameters, including plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight, and dry weight, compared to the control. Additionally, most CRU fertilizers increased total yield and fruit characteristics (weight, length, and diameter) compared to the control. Additionally, marketable yield was improved by CRU fertilizers. Fruit firmness and acidity of CRU treatments at 25 and 50% N levels were much higher than both the 100% CRU treatment and the control. The vitamin C values of all CRU treatments were lower than the control. Nitrogen uptake efficiencies (NUpE) of CRU treatments were 47–88%, which is significantly higher than that of the control (33%). In conclusion, all CRU treatments at an N level of 25% of the recommended dose showed better plant growth, yield, and fruit quality of tomatoes than the conventional fertilizer.

Keywords: nitrogen use efficiency, quality, urea, nano particles, ecofriendly

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Authors: Ayeshmanthe Rathnayake, Ashutosh Hardikar

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Introduction: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in Australia, with more than 13000 cases per year. Until now, there has been a major deficiency of national comprehensive thoracic surgery data. The thoracic workload for surgeons as well as caseload per unit, is highly variable, with some centres performing less than 15 cases per annum, thus raising concerns about optimal care at low-volume sites. This is an attempt to review the outcomes of lung cancer surgery in Tasmania. Method: The objective of this study is to determine the surgical outcomes of lung cancer surgery at Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) with the primary outcome of surgical mortality. Four hundred fifty-one cases were analysed retrospectively from 2010 to May 2022. Results: A total of 451 patients underwent thoracic surgery with a primary diagnosis of lung cancer. The primary outcome of 30-day mortality was <0.5%. The mean age was 65.3 years, with male predominance and a 4.2% prevalence of Indigenous Australians. The mean LOS was 7.5 days. The surgical approach was either VATS (50.3%) or Thoracotomy (49.7%), with a trend towards the former in recent years with an increase in the proportion of VATS from 18.2% to 51% (p<0.05) in complex resections since 2019. A corresponding reduction in conversion rate to open was observed (18% vs. 5.5%), and there were no deaths within this subgroup. Lung resections were divided into lobectomy (55.4%), wedge resection (36.8%), segmentectomy (2.9%) and pneumonectomy (4.9%). The RHH demonstrates good surgical outcomes for lung cancer and provides a sustainable service for Tasmania. Conclusion: This retrospective study reports the surgical outcomes of lung cancer surgery at the Royal Hobart Hospital, thereby providing insight into the surgical management of lung cancer in the state thus far. The state has been slow to catch up on the minimally invasive program, but the overall results have been comparable to most peers.

Keywords: lung cancer, thoracic surgery, lung resection, surgical outcomes

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Authors: Catalina Iticescu, Lucian P. Georgescu, Mihaela Timofti, Gabriel Murariu, Catalina Topa

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In the field of environmental protection in the EU and also in Romania, strict and clear rules are imposed that are respected. Among those, mandatory municipal wastewater treatment is included. Our study involved Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant (MWWTP) of Galati. MWWTP began its activity by the end of 2011 and technology is one of the most modern used in the EU. Moreover, to our knowledge, it is the first technology of this kind used in the region. Until commissioning, municipal wastewater was discharged directly into the Danube without any treatment. Besides the benefits of depollution, a new problem has arisen: the accumulation of increasingly large sewage sludge. Therefore, it is extremely important to find economically feasible and environmentally friendly solutions. One of the most feasible methods of disposing of sewage sludge is their use on agricultural land. Sewage sludge can be used in agriculture if monitored in terms of physicochemical properties (pH, nutrients, heavy metals, etc.), in order not to contribute to pollution in soils and not to affect chemical and biological balances, which are relatively fragile. In this paper, 16 physico-chemical parameters were monitored. Experimental testings were realised on waste water samples, sewage sludge results and treated water samples. Testing was conducted with electrochemichal methods (pH, conductivity, TDS); parameters N-total (mg/L), P-total (mg/L), N-NH4 (mg/L), N-NO2 (mg/L), N-NO3 (mg/L), Fe-total (mg/L), Cr-total (mg/L), Cu (mg/L), Zn (mg/L), Cd (mg/L), Pb (mg/L), Ni (mg/L) were determined by spectrophotometric methods using a spectrophotometer NOVA 60 and specific kits. Analyzing the results, we concluded that Sewage sludges, although containing heavy metals, are in small quantities and will not affect the land on which they will be deposited. Also, the amount of nutrients contained are appreciable. These features indicate that the sludge can be safely used in agriculture, with the advantage that they represent a cheap fertilizer. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation – UEFISCDI, PNCDI III project, 79BG/2017, Efficiency of the technological process for obtaining of sewage sludge usable in agriculture, Efficient.

Keywords: municipal wastewater, physico-chemical properties, sewage sludge, technology

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Authors: Alexander N. Savostyanov, Tatiana A. Dolgorukova, Elena A. Esipenko, Mikhail S. Zaleshin, Margherita Malanchini, Anna V. Budakova, Alexander E. Saprygin, Tatiana A. Golovko, Yulia V. Kovas

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EEG correlates of mathematical and trait anxiety level were studied in 52 healthy Russian-speakers during execution of error-recognition tasks with lexical, arithmetic and algebraic conditions. Event-related spectral perturbations were used as a measure of brain activity. The ERSP plots revealed alpha/beta desynchronizations within a 500-3000 ms interval after task onset and slow-wave synchronization within an interval of 150-350 ms. Amplitudes of these intervals reflected the accuracy of error recognition, and were differently associated with the three conditions. The correlates of anxiety were found in theta (4-8 Hz) and beta2 (16-20 Hz) frequency bands. In theta band the effects of mathematical anxiety were stronger expressed in lexical, than in arithmetic and algebraic condition. The mathematical anxiety effects in theta band were associated with differences between anterior and posterior cortical areas, whereas the effects of trait anxiety were associated with inter-hemispherical differences. In beta1 and beta2 bands effects of trait and mathematical anxiety were directed oppositely. The trait anxiety was associated with increase of amplitude of desynchronization, whereas the mathematical anxiety was associated with decrease of this amplitude. The effect of mathematical anxiety in beta2 band was insignificant for lexical condition but was the strongest in algebraic condition. EEG correlates of anxiety in theta band could be interpreted as indexes of task emotionality, whereas the reaction in beta2 band is related to tension of intellectual resources.

Keywords: EEG, brain activity, lexical and numerical error-recognition tasks, mathematical and trait anxiety

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Authors: Farbod Behnaminia, Saeed Samet

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The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed many lives until a vaccine was available, which caused the so-called “new normal.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 is an infectious disease. It can cause significant illness or death in anyone. Governments and health officials tried to impose rules and regulations to avoid and slow down transmission. Therefore, software engineers worldwide developed applications to trace and track patients’ movements and notify others, mainly using Bluetooth. In this way, everyone could be informed whether they come in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 and takes proper safety precautions. Because most of the applications use technologies that can potentially reveal the user’s identity and location, researchers have debated privacy preservation and how to improve user privacy during such pandemics. Thanks to Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), there have been some proposed methods to develop privacy-preserving Patient Tracking Systems in the last two years. As an instance of the DLT, Blockchain is like a decentralized peer-to-peer database that maintains a record of transactions. Transactions are immutable, transparent, and anonymous in this system. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the literature by looking for papers in the relevant field and dividing them into pre- and post-pandemic systems. Additionally, we discussed the many uses of blockchain technology in pandemic control. We found that two major obstacles facing blockchain implementation across many healthcare systems are scalability and privacy. The Polkadot platform is presented, along with a review of its efficacy in tackling current concerns. A more scalable healthcare system is achievable in the near future using Polkadot as well as a much more privacy-preserving environment.

Keywords: blockchain, electronic record management, EHR, privacy-preserving, patient tracking, COVID-19, trust and confidence, Polkadot

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Authors: Prangya Ranjan Rout, Puspendu Bhunia, Rajesh Roshan Dash

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In a developing country like India, providing reliable and affordable wastewater treatment facilities in rural areas is a huge challenge. With the aim of enhancing the nutrient removal from rural domestic wastewater while reducing the cost of treatment process, a novel, integrated treatment system consisting of a multistage bio-filter with drop aeration and a post positioned attached growth carbonaceous denitrifying-bioreactor was designed and developed in this work. The bio-filter was packed with ‘dolochar’, a sponge iron industry waste, as an adsorbent mainly for phosphate removal through physiochemical approach. The Denitrifying bio-reactor was packed with many waste organic solid substances (WOSS) as carbon sources and substrates for biomass attachment, mainly to remove nitrate in biological denitrification process. The performance of the modular system, treating real domestic wastewater was monitored for a period of about 60 days and the average removal efficiencies during the period were as follows: phosphate, 97.37%; nitrate, 85.91%, ammonia, 87.85%, with mean final effluent concentration of 0.73, 9.86, and 9.46 mg/L, respectively. The multistage bio-filter played an important role in ammonium oxidation and phosphate adsorption. The multilevel drop aeration with increasing oxygenation, and the special media used, consisting of certain oxides were likely beneficial for nitrification and phosphorus removal, respectively, whereas the nitrate was effectively reduced by biological denitrification in the carbonaceous bioreactor. This treatment system would allow multipurpose reuse of the final effluent. Moreover, the saturated dolochar can be used as nutrient suppliers in agricultural practices and the partially degraded carbonaceous substances can be subjected to composting, and subsequently used as an organic fertilizer. Thus, the system displays immense potential for treating domestic wastewater significantly decreasing the concentrations of nutrients and more importantly, facilitating the conversion of the waste materials into usable ones.

Keywords: nutrient removal, denitrifying bioreactor, multi-stage bio-filter, dolochar, waste organic solid substances

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Authors: Sanaz Mosadeghsedghi, Mathew Hudder, Mohammad Ali Baghbanzadeh, Charbel Atallah, Seyedeh Laleh Dashtban Kenari, Konstantin Volchek

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Lithium has recently been extensively used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. The conventional evaporative approach to recover and concentrate lithium is extremely slow and may take 10-24 months to concentrate lithium from dilute sources, such as geothermal brines. To response to the increasing industrial lithium demand, alternative extraction and concentration technologies should be developed to recover lithium from brines with low concentrations. In this study, a combination of electrocoagulation (EC) and electrodialysis (ED) was evaluated for the recovery of lithium from geothermal brines. The brine samples in this study, collected in Western Canada, had lithium concentrations of 50-75 mg/L on a background of much higher (over 10,000 times) concentrations of sodium. This very high sodium-to-lithium ratio poses challenges to the conventional direct-lithium extraction processes which employ lithium-selective adsorbents. EC was used to co-precipitate lithium using a sacrificial aluminium electrode. The precipitate was then dissolved, and the leachate was treated using ED to separate and concentrate lithium from other ions. The focus of this paper is on the study of ED, including a two-step ED process that included a mono-valent selective stage to separate lithium from multi-valent cations followed by a bipolar ED stage to convert lithium chloride (LiCl) to LiOH product. Eventually, the ED cell was reconfigured using mono-valent cation exchange with the bipolar membranes to combine the two ED steps in one. Using this process at optimum conditions, over 95% of the co-existing cations were removed and the purity of lithium increased to over 90% in the final product.

Keywords: electrochemical separation, electrocoagulation, electrodialysis, lithium extraction

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Authors: M. Sagarika, M. Chandra Sekhar

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Agricultural residues are producing in large quantities in India and account for abundant but underutilized source of renewable biomass in agriculture. In India, the amount of crop residues available is estimated to be approximately 686 million tons. Anaerobic digestion is a promising option to utilize the surplus agricultural residues and can produce biogas and digestate. Biogas is mainly methane (CH4), which can be utilized as an energy source in replacement for fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, in other hand, digestate contains high amounts of nutrients, can be employed as fertilizer. Solid state anaerobic digestion (total solids ≥ 15%) is suitable for agricultural residues, as it reduces the problems like stratification and floating issues that occur in liquid anaerobic digestion (total solids < 15%). The major concern in solid-state anaerobic digestion is the low mass transfer of feedstock and inoculum that resulting in low performance. To resolve this low mass transfer issue, effective mixing of feedstock and inoculum is required. Mechanical mixing using stirrer at the time of digestion process can be done, but it is difficult to operate the stirring of feedstock with high solids percentage and high viscosity. Complete premixing of feedstock and inoculum is an alternative method, which is usual in lab scale studies but may not be affordable due to high energy demand in large-scale digesters. Developing partial premixing methods may reduce this problem. Current study is to improve the performance of solid-state anaerobic digestion of corn stover at feedstock to inoculum ratios 3 and 5, by applying partial premixing methods and to compare the complete premixing method with two partial premixing methods which are two alternative layers of feedstock and inoculum and three alternative layers of feedstock and inoculum where higher inoculum ratios in the top layers. From experimental studies it is observed that, partial premixing method with three alternative layers of feedstock and inoculum yielded good methane.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, premixing methods, methane yield, corn stover, volatile solids

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Authors: Ghazi R. Reda Mahmoud Reda

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Among the metal that forms hydride´s, Mg and Ti are known as the most lightweight materials; however, they are covered with a passive layer of oxides and hydroxides and require activation treatment under high temperature ( > 300 C ) and hydrogen pressure ( > 3 MPa) before being used for storage and transport applications. It is well known that small graphite addition to Ti or Mg, lead to a dramatic change in the kinetics of mechanically induced hydrogen sorption ( uptake) and significantly stimulate the Ti-Hydrogen interaction. Many explanations were given by different authors to explain the effect of graphite addition on the performance of Ti as material for hydrogen storage. Not only graphite but also the addition of a polycyclic aromatic compound will also improve the hydrogen absorption kinetics. It will be shown that the function of carbon addition is two-fold. First carbon acts as a vacuum cleaner, which scavenges out all the interstitial oxygen that can poison or slow down hydrogen absorption. It is also important to note that oxygen favors the chemisorption of hydrogen, which is not desirable for hydrogen storage. Second, during scavenging of the interstitial oxygen, the carbon reacts with oxygen in the nano and microchannel through a highly exothermic reaction to produce carbon dioxide and monoxide which provide the necessary heat for activation and thus in the presence of carbon lower heat of activation for hydrogen absorption which is observed experimentally. Furthermore, the product of the reaction of hydrogen with the carbon oxide will produce water which due to ball milling hydrolyze to produce the linear H5O2 + this will reconstruct the primary structure of the nanocarbon to form secondary structure, where the primary structure (a sheet of carbon) are connected through hydrogen bonding. It is the space between these sheets where physisorption or defect mediated sorption occurs.

Keywords: metal forming hydrides, polar molecule impurities, titanium, phase diagram, hydrogen absorption

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Authors: Oustani Mabrouka, Halilat Med Tahar

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The physico-chemical properties of poultry droppings indicate that this waste can be an excellent way to enrich the soil with low fertility that is the case in arid soils (low organic matter content), but its concentrations in some microbial and chemical components make them potentially dangerous and toxic contaminants if they are used directly in fresh state. On other hand, the accumulation of plant residues in the crop areas can become a source of plant disease and affects the quality of the environment. The biotechnological processes that we have identified appear to alleviate these problems. It leads to the stabilization and processing of wastes into a product of good hygienic quality and high fertilizer value by the composting test. In this context, a trial was conducted in composting operations in the region of Ouargla located in southern Algeria. Composing test was conducted in a completely randomized design experiment. Three mixtures were prepared, in pits of 1 m3 volume for each mixture. Each pit is composed by mixture of poultry droppings and crushed plant residues in amount of 40 and 60% respectively: C1: Droppings + Straw (P.D +S) , C2: Poultry Droppings + Olive Wastes (P.D+O.W) , C3: Poultry Droppings + Date palm residues (P.D+D.P). Before and after the composting process, physico-chemical parameters (temperature, moisture, pH, electrical conductivity, total carbon and total nitrogen) were studied. The stability of the biological system was noticed after 90 days. The results of physico-chemical and microbiological compost obtained from three mixtures: C1: (P.D +S) , C2: (P.D+O.W) and C3: (P.D +D.P) shows at the end of composting process, three composts characterized by the final products were characterized by their high agronomic and environmental interest with a good physico chemical characteristics in particularly a low C/N ratio with 15.15, 10.01 and 15.36 % for (P.D + S), (P.D. + O.W) and (P.D. +D.P), respectively, reflecting a stabilization and maturity of the composts. On the other hand, a significant increase of temperature was recorded at the first days of composting for all treatments, which is correlated with a strong reduction of the pathogenic micro flora contained in poultry dropings.

Keywords: Arid environment, Composting, Date palm residues, Olive wastes, pH, Pathogenic microorganisms, Poultry Droppings, Straw

Procedia PDF Downloads 223