Search results for: food systems
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 12239

Search results for: food systems

4319 The Governance of Net-Zero Emission Urban Bus Transitions in the United Kingdom: Insight from a Transition Visioning Stakeholder Workshop

Authors: Iraklis Argyriou

Abstract:

The transition to net-zero emission urban bus (ZEB) systems is receiving increased attention in research and policymaking throughout the globe. Most studies in this area tend to address techno-economic aspects and the perspectives of a narrow group of stakeholders, while they largely overlook analysis of current bus system dynamics. This offers limited insight into the types of ZEB governance challenges and opportunities that are encountered in real-world contexts, as well as into some of the immediate actions that need to be taken to set off the transition over the longer term. This research offers a multi-stakeholder perspective into both the technical and non-technical factors that influence ZEB transitions within a particular context, the UK. It does so by drawing from a recent transition visioning stakeholder workshop (June 2023) with key public, private and civic actors of the urban bus transportation system. Using NVivo software to qualitatively analyze the workshop discussions, the research examines the key technological and funding aspects, as well as the short-term actions (over the next five years), that need to be addressed for supporting the ZEB transition in UK cities. It finds that ZEB technology has reached a mature stage (i.e., high efficiency of batteries, motors and inverters), but important improvements can be pursued through greater control and integration of ZEB technological components and systems. In this regard, telemetry, predictive maintenance and adaptive control strategies pertinent to the performance and operation of ZEB vehicles have a key role to play in the techno-economic advancement of the transition. Yet, more pressing gaps were identified in the current ZEB funding regime. Whereas the UK central government supports greater ZEB adoption through a series of grants and subsidies, the scale of the funding and its fragmented nature do not match the needs for a UK-wide transition. Funding devolution arrangements (i.e., stable funding settlement deals between the central government and the devolved administrations/local authorities), as well as locally-driven schemes (i.e., congestion charging/workplace parking levy), could then enhance the financial prospects of the transition. As for short-term action, three areas were identified as critical: (1) the creation of whole value chains around the supply, use and recycling of ZEB components; (2) the ZEB retrofitting of existing fleets; and (3) integrated transportation that prioritizes buses as a first-choice, convenient and reliable mode while it simultaneously reduces car dependency in urban areas. Taken together, the findings point to the need for place-based transition approaches that create a viable techno-economic ecosystem for ZEB development but at the same time adopt a broader governance perspective beyond a ‘net-zero’ and ‘bus sectoral’ focus. As such, multi-actor collaborations and the coordination of wider resources and agency, both vertically across institutional scales and horizontally across transport, energy and urban planning, become fundamental features of comprehensive ZEB responses. The lessons from the UK case can inform a broader body of empirical contextual knowledge of ZEB transition governance within domestic political economies of public transportation.

Keywords: net-zero emission transition, stakeholders, transition governance, UK, urban bus transportation

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4318 Early Melt Season Variability of Fast Ice Degradation Due to Small Arctic Riverine Heat Fluxes

Authors: Grace E. Santella, Shawn G. Gallaher, Joseph P. Smith

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In order to determine the importance of small-system riverine heat flux on regional landfast sea ice breakup, our study explores the annual spring freshet of the Sagavanirktok River from 2014-2019. Seasonal heat cycling ultimately serves as the driving mechanism behind the freshet; however, as an emerging area of study, the extent to which inland thermodynamics influence coastal tundra geomorphology and connected landfast sea ice has not been extensively investigated in relation to small-scale Arctic river systems. The Sagavanirktok River is a small-to-midsized river system that flows south-to-north on the Alaskan North Slope from the Brooks mountain range to the Beaufort Sea at Prudhoe Bay. Seasonal warming in the spring rapidly melts snow and ice in a northwards progression from the Brooks Range and transitional tundra highlands towards the coast and when coupled with seasonal precipitation, results in a pulsed freshet that propagates through the Sagavanirktok River. The concentrated presence of newly exposed vegetation in the transitional tundra region due to spring melting results in higher absorption of solar radiation due to a lower albedo relative to snow-covered tundra and/or landfast sea ice. This results in spring flood runoff that advances over impermeable early-season permafrost soils with elevated temperatures relative to landfast sea ice and sub-ice flow. We examine the extent to which interannual temporal variability influences the onset and magnitude of river discharge by analyzing field measurements from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) river and meteorological observation sites. Rapid influx of heat to the Arctic Ocean via riverine systems results in a noticeable decay of landfast sea ice independent of ice breakup seaward of the shear zone. Utilizing MODIS imagery from NASA’s Terra satellite, interannual variability of river discharge is visualized, allowing for optical validation that the discharge flow is interacting with landfast sea ice. Thermal erosion experienced by sediment fast ice at the arrival of warm overflow preconditions the ice regime for rapid thawing. We investigate the extent to which interannual heat flux from the Sagavanirktok River’s freshet significantly influences the onset of local landfast sea ice breakup. The early-season warming of atmospheric temperatures is evidenced by the presence of storms which introduce liquid, rather than frozen, precipitation into the system. The resultant decreased albedo of the transitional tundra supports the positive relationship between early-season precipitation events, inland thermodynamic cycling, and degradation of landfast sea ice. Early removal of landfast sea ice increases coastal erosion in these regions and has implications for coastline geomorphology which stress industrial, ecological, and humanitarian infrastructure.

Keywords: Albedo, freshet, landfast sea ice, riverine heat flux, seasonal heat cycling

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4317 Use of Remote Sensing for Seasonal and Temporal Monitoring in Wetlands: A Case Study of Akyatan Lagoon

Authors: A. Cilek, S. Berberoglu, A. Akin Tanriover, C. Donmez

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Wetlands are the areas which have important effects and functions on protecting human life, adjust to nature, and biological variety, besides being potential exploitation sources. Observing the changes in these sensitive areas is important to study for data collecting and correct planning for the future. Remote sensing and Geographic Information System are being increasingly used for environmental studies such as biotope mapping and habitat monitoring. Akyatan Lagoon, one of the most important wetlands in Turkey, has been facing serious threats from agricultural applications in recent years. In this study, seasonal and temporal monitoring in wetlands system are determined by using remotely sensed data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) between 1985 and 2015. The research method is based on classifying and mapping biotopes in the study area. The natural biotope types were determined as coastal sand dunes, salt marshes, river beds, coastal woods, lakes, lagoons.

Keywords: biotope mapping, GIS, remote sensing, wetlands

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4316 Finding Related Scientific Documents Using Formal Concept Analysis

Authors: Nadeem Akhtar, Hira Javed

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An important aspect of research is literature survey. Availability of a large amount of literature across different domains triggers the need for optimized systems which provide relevant literature to researchers. We propose a search system based on keywords for text documents. This experimental approach provides a hierarchical structure to the document corpus. The documents are labelled with keywords using KEA (Keyword Extraction Algorithm) and are automatically organized in a lattice structure using Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). This groups the semantically related documents together. The hierarchical structure, based on keywords gives out only those documents which precisely contain them. This approach open doors for multi-domain research. The documents across multiple domains which are indexed by similar keywords are grouped together. A hierarchical relationship between keywords is obtained. To signify the effectiveness of the approach, we have carried out the experiment and evaluation on Semeval-2010 Dataset. Results depict that the presented method is considerably successful in indexing of scientific papers.

Keywords: formal concept analysis, keyword extraction algorithm, scientific documents, lattice

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4315 Bacteriocin-Antibiotic Synergetic Consortia: Augmenting Antimicrobial Activity and Expanding the Inhibition Spectrum of Vancomycin Resistant and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Authors: Asma Bashir, Neha Farid, Kashif Ali, Kiran Fatima

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Background: Bacteriocins are a subclass of antimicrobial peptides that are becoming extremely important in treatments. It is possible to utilise bacteriocins in place of or in addition to traditional antibiotics. It is possible to treat a variety of infections, including Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), using the targeted spectrum of activity of these microorganisms. Method: This study aimed to examine the efficiency of antibiotics and bacteriocin against VRSA and MRSA. The effects of bacteriocins, such as enterocin KAE01, enterocin KAE03, enterocin KAE05, and enterocin KAE06 isolated from Enterococcus faecium strains, alone and in combination with vancomycin and methicillin antibiotics were examined. The selection technique utilized the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against Gram-positive indicator strain ATCC 6538 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and indicator strain KSA 02 Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA). Results: We report the isolation and identification of enterocins KAE01, KAE03, KAE05, and KAE06 from food isolates of Enterococcus faecium (KAE01, KAE03, KAE05, and KAE06). After isolating the protein, it was partially purified with ammonium sulphate precipitation and purified with fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) procedures. Combinations of enterocin KAE01, 1 citric acid, 1 lactic acid, and microcin J25, 1 reuterin, 1 citric acid, and microcin J25, 1 reuterin, 1 lactic acid shown synergistic benefits (FIC index = 0.5) against Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA). In addition, a moderately synergistic (FIC index = 0.75) interaction was seen between pediocin PA-1, 1 citric acid, 1 lactic acid, and reuterin 1 citric acid, 1 lactic acid against L. ivanovii HPB28. In the presence of acids, nisin Z exhibited a modestly synergistic effect (FIC index = 0.625-0.75); however, it exhibited additive effects (FIC index = 1) when combined with reuterin or pediocin PA-1 against L. ivanovii HPB28. The efficacy of synergistic consortiums against Gram-positive bacteria was examined. Conclusion: Combining antimicrobials with various modes of action boosted efficacy and expanded the spectrum of inhibition, particularly against multidrug-resistant pathogens, according to our research.

Keywords: Enterococcus faecium, bacteriocin, antimicrobial resistance, antagonistic activity, vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

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4314 Exposing The Invisible

Authors: Kimberley Adamek

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According to the Council on Tall Buildings, there has been a rapid increase in the construction of tall or “megatall” buildings over the past two decades. Simultaneously, the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that there has been a steady increase in climate related natural disasters since the 1970s; the eastern expansion of the USA's infamous Tornado Alley being just one of many current issues. In the future, this could mean that tall buildings, which already guide high speed winds down to pedestrian levels would have to withstand stronger forces and protect pedestrians in more extreme ways. Although many projects are required to be verified within wind tunnels and a handful of cities such as San Francisco have included wind testing within building code standards, there are still many examples where wind is only considered for basic loading. This typically results in and an increase of structural expense and unwanted mitigation strategies that are proposed late within a project. When building cities, architects rarely consider how each building alters the invisible patterns of wind and how these alterations effect other areas in different ways later on. It is not until these forces move, overpower and even destroy cities that people take notice. For example, towers have caused winds to blow objects into people (Walkie-Talkie Tower, Leeds, England), cause building parts to vibrate and produce loud humming noises (Beetham Tower, Manchester), caused wind tunnels in streets as well as many other issues. Alternatively, there exist towers which have used their form to naturally draw in air and ventilate entire facilities in order to eliminate the needs for costly HVAC systems (The Met, Thailand) and used their form to increase wind speeds to generate electricity (Bahrain Tower, Dubai). Wind and weather exist and effect all parts of the world in ways such as: Science, health, war, infrastructure, catastrophes, tourism, shopping, media and materials. Working in partnership with a leading wind engineering company RWDI, a series of tests, images and animations documenting discovered interactions of different building forms with wind will be collected to emphasize the possibilities for wind use to architects. A site within San Francisco (due to its increasing tower development, consistently wind conditions and existing strict wind comfort criteria) will host a final design. Iterations of this design will be tested within the wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamic systems which will expose, utilize and manipulate wind flows to create new forms, technologies and experiences. Ultimately, this thesis aims to question the amount which the environment is allowed to permeate building enclosures, uncover new programmatic possibilities for wind in buildings, and push the boundaries of working with the wind to ensure the development and safety of future cities. This investigation will improve and expand upon the traditional understanding of wind in order to give architects, wind engineers as well as the general public the ability to broaden their scope in order to productively utilize this living phenomenon that everyone constantly feels but cannot see.

Keywords: wind engineering, climate, visualization, architectural aerodynamics

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4313 A Robust Optimization Method for Service Quality Improvement in Health Care Systems under Budget Uncertainty

Authors: H. Ashrafi, S. Ebrahimi, H. Kamalzadeh

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With the development of business competition, it is important for healthcare providers to improve their service qualities. In order to improve service quality of a clinic, four important dimensions are defined: tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, and reliability. Moreover, there are several service stages in hospitals such as financial screening and examination. One of the most challenging limitations for improving service quality is budget which impressively affects the service quality. In this paper, we present an approach to address budget uncertainty and provide guidelines for service resource allocation. In this paper, a service quality improvement approach is proposed which can be adopted to multistage service processes to improve service quality, while controlling the costs. A multi-objective function based on the importance of each area and dimension is defined to link operational variables to service quality dimensions. The results demonstrate that our approach is not ultra-conservative and it shows the actual condition very well. Moreover, it is shown that different strategies can affect the number of employees in different stages.

Keywords: allocation, budget uncertainty, healthcare resource, service quality assessment, robust optimization

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4312 The Necessity to Standardize Procedures of Providing Engineering Geological Data for Designing Road and Railway Tunneling Projects

Authors: Atefeh Saljooghi Khoshkar, Jafar Hassanpour

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One of the main problems of the design stage relating to many tunneling projects is the lack of an appropriate standard for the provision of engineering geological data in a predefined format. In particular, this is more reflected in highway and railroad tunnel projects in which there is a number of tunnels and different professional teams involved. In this regard, comprehensive software needs to be designed using the accepted methods in order to help engineering geologists to prepare standard reports, which contain sufficient input data for the design stage. Regarding this necessity, applied software has been designed using macro capabilities and Visual Basic programming language (VBA) through Microsoft Excel. In this software, all of the engineering geological input data, which are required for designing different parts of tunnels, such as discontinuities properties, rock mass strength parameters, rock mass classification systems, boreability classification, the penetration rate, and so forth, can be calculated and reported in a standard format.

Keywords: engineering geology, rock mass classification, rock mechanic, tunnel

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4311 Study of Oxidative Stability, Cold Flow Properties and Iodine Value of Macauba Biodiesel Blends

Authors: Acacia A. Salomão, Willian L. Gomes da Silva, Gustavo G. Shimamoto, Matthieu Tubino

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Biodiesel physical and chemical properties depend on the raw material composition used in its synthesis. Saturated fatty acid esters confer high oxidative stability, while unsaturated fatty acid esters improve the cold flow properties. In this study, an alternative vegetal source - the macauba kernel oil - was used in the biodiesel synthesis instead of conventional sources. Macauba can be collected from native palm trees and is found in several regions in Brazil. Its oil is a promising source when compared to several other oils commonly obtained from food products, such as soybean, corn or canola oil, due to its specific characteristics. However, the usage of biodiesel made from macauba oil alone is not recommended due to the difficulty of producing macauba in large quantities. For this reason, this project proposes the usage of blends of the macauba oil with conventional oils. These blends were prepared by mixing the macauba biodiesel with biodiesels obtained from soybean, corn, and from residual frying oil, in the following proportions: 20:80, 50:50 e 80:20 (w/w). Three parameters were evaluated, using the standard methods, in order to check the quality of the produced biofuel and its blends: oxidative stability, cold filter plugging point (CFPP), and iodine value. The induction period (IP) expresses the oxidative stability of the biodiesel, the CFPP expresses the lowest temperature in which the biodiesel flows through a filter without plugging the system and the iodine value is a measure of the number of double bonds in a sample. The biodiesels obtained from soybean, residual frying oil and corn presented iodine values higher than 110 g/100 g, low oxidative stability and low CFPP. The IP values obtained from these biodiesels were lower than 8 h, which is below the recommended standard value. On the other hand, the CFPP value was found within the allowed limit (5 ºC is the maximum). Regarding the macauba biodiesel, a low iodine value was observed (31.6 g/100 g), which indicates the presence of high content of saturated fatty acid esters. The presence of saturated fatty acid esters should imply in a high oxidative stability (which was found accordingly, with IP = 64 h), and high CFPP, but curiously the latter was not observed (-3 ºC). This behavior can be explained by looking at the size of the carbon chains, as 65% of this biodiesel is composed by short chain saturated fatty acid esters (less than 14 carbons). The high oxidative stability and the low CFPP of macauba biodiesel are what make this biofuel a promising source. The soybean, corn and residual frying oil biodiesels also have low CFPP, but low oxidative stability. Therefore the blends proposed in this work, if compared to the common biodiesels, maintain the flow properties but present enhanced oxidative stability.

Keywords: biodiesel, blends, macauba kernel oil, stability oxidative

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4310 Optimal Placement of Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) Using Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) for Complete Observability in Power System Network

Authors: Harshith Gowda K. S, Tejaskumar N, Shubhanga R. B, Gowtham N, Deekshith Gowda H. S

Abstract:

Phasor measurement units (PMU) are playing an important role in the current power system for state estimation. It is necessary to have complete observability of the power system while minimizing the cost. For this purpose, the optimal location of the phasor measurement units in the power system is essential. In a bus system, zero injection buses need to be evaluated to minimize the number of PMUs. In this paper, the optimization problem is formulated using mixed integer programming to obtain the optimal location of the PMUs with increased observability. The formulation consists of with and without zero injection bus as constraints. The formulated problem is simulated using a CPLEX solver in the GAMS software package. The proposed method is tested on IEEE 30, IEEE 39, IEEE 57, and IEEE 118 bus systems. The results obtained show that the number of PMUs required is minimal with increased observability.

Keywords: PMU, observability, mixed integer programming (MIP), zero injection buses (ZIB)

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4309 A 5G Architecture Based to Dynamic Vehicular Clustering Enhancing VoD Services Over Vehicular Ad hoc Networks

Authors: Lamaa Sellami, Bechir Alaya

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Nowadays, video-on-demand (VoD) applications are becoming one of the tendencies driving vehicular network users. In this paper, considering the unpredictable vehicle density, the unexpected acceleration or deceleration of the different cars included in the vehicular traffic load, and the limited radio range of the employed communication scheme, we introduce the “Dynamic Vehicular Clustering” (DVC) algorithm as a new scheme for video streaming systems over VANET. The proposed algorithm takes advantage of the concept of small cells and the introduction of wireless backhauls, inspired by the different features and the performance of the Long Term Evolution (LTE)- Advanced network. The proposed clustering algorithm considers multiple characteristics such as the vehicle’s position and acceleration to reduce latency and packet loss. Therefore, each cluster is counted as a small cell containing vehicular nodes and an access point that is elected regarding some particular specifications.

Keywords: video-on-demand, vehicular ad-hoc network, mobility, vehicular traffic load, small cell, wireless backhaul, LTE-advanced, latency, packet loss

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4308 Double Burden of Hypertension-Hyperalbuminuria in the Pregnant Women: Cross-Sectional Study of Prevalence and Risk Factors in Foumban, West Region, Cameroon

Authors: Pierre Mintom, Ebai Patricia, Merlin Dasse, Marlyse Chantal Nyangon Ndongo, Aicha Aretouyap Kouotou, Felix Essiben, Christine Fernande Nyangono Biyegue

Abstract:

Background: The death of women during and after pregnancy remains a major concern in public health policy in Cameroon. Among the causes of this mortality is eclampsia which is a consequence of the Pre-eclampsia characterized by the double burden of pregnancy-induced hypertension and albuminuria in pregnant women. Objective: To determine the various factors associated with the pre-eclampsia in pregnant women of Foumban. Methodology: A cross-sectional and analytical study was carried out during the period from July to August 2020 and supplemented by another study carried out from August 05 to September 05, 2022, at the Foumban district hospital. A questionnaire was administered to pregnant women. It focused on socio-demographic parameters, the state nutritional, health status, and maternal parameters. Blood pressure was taken using an electronic blood pressure monitor, and urinary albumin was measuring using urine dipstick. Pre-eclampsia was defined by three types of double burden: double burden systolic hypertension–hyperalbuminuria (SHH), defined for SBP≥140 mmHg and hyperalbuminuria ≥1+ on urine dipstick, double burden diastolic hypertension–hyperalbuminuria (DHH), defined for PAD≥90 mmHg and hyperalbuminuria ≥1+ on the urine dipstick, and the double burden systolodiastolic arterial hypertension– hyperalbuminuria (SDHH), defined for SBP ≥ 140mmHg, PAD≥90 mmHg and hyperalbuminuria ≥1+ on urine dipstick. IBM SPSS Software was used for statistical analysis. Results: The results of this study show that the prevalence of pre-eclampsia was 17.3% for the double burden SHH, 19.9% for the double burden DHH and 14.1% for double burden SDHH. Associated factors with pre-eclampsia according to the three types of double burden were marital status (P<0.05), religion (P<0.05), history of hypertension before pregnancy (P<0.05). Associated factors for the double burden of DHH and SDHH were the nutritional status before the pregnancy (P<0.05) and the number of prenatal consultations (P<0.05). In terms of food groups, regular consumption of spices significantly increased the risk of pre-eclampsia by 5.318, 6.277 and 11.271 times respectively for the SHH, DHH and SDHH double burdens, while regular consumption of sweets regular consumption of sweets increased by 2.42 times and 2.053 times respectively the double DHH and SDHH burdens respectively. Conclusion: Our study made it possible to redefine pre-eclampsia by considering the subtypes of hypertension. Certain socio-demographic parameters and certain dietary habits influence the occurrence of pre-eclampsia characterized by the double burden Hypertension-hyperalbuminuria in pregnant women, which may later lead to the occurrence of eclampsia. Moreover, albuminemia could be a good predicitive factor of pre-eclampsia and could be explored.

Keywords: hypertension, hyperalbuminuria, pregnant women, foumban

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4307 Preserving the Cultural Values of the Mararoa River and Waipuna–Freshwater Springs, Southland New Zealand: An Integration of Traditional and Scientific Knowledge

Authors: Erine van Niekerk, Jason Holland

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In Māori culture water is considered to be the foundation of all life and has its own mana (spiritual power) and mauri (life force). Water classification for cultural values therefore includes categories like waitapu (sacred water), waimanawa-whenua (water from under the land), waipuna (freshwater springs), the relationship between water quantity and quality and the relationship between surface and groundwater. Particular rivers and lakes have special significance to iwi and hapu for their rohe (tribal areas). The Mararoa River, including its freshwater springs and wetlands, is an example of such an area. There is currently little information available about the sources, characteristics and behavior of these important water resources and this study on the water quality of the Mararoa River and adjacent freshwater springs will provide valuable information to be used in informed decisions about water management. The regional council of Southland, Environment Southland, is required to make changes under their water quality policy in order to comply with the requirements for the New National Standards for Freshwater to consult with Maori to determine strategies for decision making. This requires an approach that includes traditional knowledge combined with scientific knowledge in the decision-making process. This study provided the scientific data that can be used in future for decision making on fresh water springs combined with traditional values for this particular area. Several parameters have been tested in situ as well as in a laboratory. Parameters such as temperature, salinity, electrical conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, Total Suspended Solids, and Escherichia coli among others show that recorded values of all test parameters fall within recommended ANZECC guidelines and Environment Southland standards and do not raise any concerns for the water quality of the springs and the river at the moment. However, the destruction of natural areas, particularly due to changes in farming practices, and the changes to water quality by the introduction of Didymosphenia geminate (Didymo) means Māori have already lost many of their traditional mahinga kai (food sources). There is a major change from land use such as sheep farming to dairying in Southland which puts freshwater resources under pressure. It is, therefore, important to draw on traditional knowledge and spirituality alongside scientific knowledge to protect the waters of the Mararoa River and waipuna. This study hopes to contribute to scientific knowledge to preserve the cultural values of these significant waters.

Keywords: cultural values, freshwater springs, Maori, water quality

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4306 Examining the Role of Farmer-Centered Participatory Action Learning in Building Sustainable Communities in Rural Haiti

Authors: Charles St. Geste, Michael Neumann, Catherine Twohig

Abstract:

Our primary aim is to examine farmer-centered participatory action learning as a tool to improve agricultural production, build resilience to climate shocks and, more broadly, advance community-driven solutions for sustainable development in rural communities across Haiti. For over six years, sixty plus farmers from Deslandes, Haiti, organized in three traditional work groups called konbits, have designed and tested low-input agroecology techniques as part of the Konbit Vanyan Kapab Pwoje Agroekoloji. The project utilizes a participatory action learning approach, emphasizing social inclusion, building on local knowledge, experiential learning, active farmer participation in trial design and evaluation, and cross-community sharing. Mixed methods were used to evaluate changes in knowledge and adoption of agroecology techniques, confidence in advancing agroecology locally, and innovation among Konbit Vanyan Kapab farmers. While skill and knowledge in application of agroecology techniques varied among individual farmers, a majority of farmers successfully adopted techniques outside of the trial farms. The use of agroecology techniques on trial and individual farms has doubled crop production in many cases. Farm income has also increased, and farmers report less damage to crops and property caused by extreme weather events. Furthermore, participatory action strategies have led to greater local self-determination and greater capacity for sustainable community development. With increased self-confidence and the knowledge and skills acquired from participating in the project, farmers prioritized sharing their successful techniques with other farmers and have developed a farmer-to-farmer training program that incorporates participatory action learning. Using adult education methods, farmers, trained as agroecology educators, are currently providing training in sustainable farming practices to farmers from five villages in three departments across Haiti. Konbit Vanyan Kapab farmers have also begun testing production of value-added food products, including a dried soup mix and tea. Key factors for success include: opportunities for farmers to actively participate in all phases of the project, group diversity, resources for application of agroecology techniques, focus on group processes and overcoming local barriers to inclusive decision-making.

Keywords: agroecology, participatory action learning, rural Haiti, sustainable community development

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4305 An Approach to the Assembly Line Balancing Problem with Uncertain Operation Time

Authors: Zhongmin Wang, Lin Wei, Hengshan Zhang, Tianhua Chen, Yimin Zhou

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The assembly line balancing problems are signficant in mass production systems. In order to deal with the uncertainties that practically exist but barely mentioned in the literature, this paper develops a mathematic model with an optimisation algorithm to solve the assembly line balancing problem with uncertainty operation time. The developed model is able to work with a variable number of workstations under the uncertain environment, aiming to obtain the minimal number of workstation and minimal idle time for each workstation. In particular, the proposed approach first introduces the concept of protection time that closely works with the uncertain operation time. Four dominance rules and the mechanism of determining up and low bounds are subsequently put forward, which serve as the basis for the proposed branch and bound algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed work verified on a benchmark data set is able to solve the uncertainties efficiently.

Keywords: assembly lines, SALBP-UOT, uncertain operation time, branch and bound algorithm.

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4304 An Anthropological Insight into Farming Practices and Cultural Life of Farmers in Sarawan Village, District Faridkot, Punjab

Authors: Amandeep Kaur

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Farming is one of the most influential traditions which started around 10000 BC and has revolutionized human civilization. It is believed that farming originated at a separate location. Thus it has a great impact on local culture, which in turn gave rise to diversified farming practices. Farming activities are influenced by the culture of a particular region or community as local people have their own knowledge and belief system about soil and crops. With the inception of the Green Revolution, 'a high tech machinery model' in Punjab, various traditional farming methods and techniques changed. The present research concentrates on the local knowledge of farmers and local farming systems from an anthropological perspective. In view of the prevailing agrarian crisis in Punjab, this research is focused on farmer’s experiences and their perception regarding farming practices. Thus an attempt has to be made to focus on the local knowledge, perception, and experience of farmers for eco-friendly and sustainable agricultural development. Farmers voices are used to understand the relationship between farming practices and socio-cultural life of farmers in Faridkot district, Punjab. The research aims to comprehend the nature of changes taking place in the socio-cultural life of people with the development of capitalism and agricultural modernization. The study is based on qualitative methods of ethnography in Sarawan village of Faridkot District. Inferences drawn from in-depth case studies collected from 60 agricultural households lead to the concept of the process of diffusion, innovation, and adoption of farming technology, a variety of crops and the dissemination of agricultural skills regarding various cultural farming practices. The data is based on random sampling; the respondents were both males and females above the age of 18 years to attain a holistic understanding across the generations. A Quasi-participant observation related to lifestyle, the standard of living, and various farming practices performed by them were done. Narratives derived from the fieldwork depicts that farmers usually oppose the restrictions imposed by the government on certain farming practices, especially ban on stubble burning. This paper presents the narratives of farmers regarding the dissemination of awareness about the use of new varieties of seeds, technology, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. The study reveals that farming systems have developed in ways reflecting the activities and choices of farmers influenced by environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political situations. Modern farming practices have forced small farmers into debt as farmers feel pride in buying new machinery. It has also led to the loss of work culture and excessive use of drugs among youngsters. Even laborers did not want to work on the land with cultivating farmers primarily for social and political reasons. Due to lack of proper marketing of crops, there is a continuum of the wheat-rice cycle instead of crop diversification in Punjab. Change in the farming system also affects the social structure of society. Agricultural modernization has commercialized the socio-cultural relations in Punjab and is slowly urbanizing the rural landscape revolutionizing the traditional social relations to capitalistic relations.

Keywords: agricultural modernization, capitalism, farming practices, narratives

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4303 End-to-End Control and Management of Multi-AS Virtual Service Networks Using SDN and Autonomic Computing Architecture

Authors: Yong Xue, Daniel A. Menascé

Abstract:

Automated and end-to-end network resource management and provisioning for virtual service networks in a multiple autonomous systems (a.k.a multi-AS) environment is a challenging and open problem. This paper proposes a novel, scalable and interoperable high-level architecture that incorporates a number of emerging enabling technologies including Software Defined Network (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and Autonomic Computing. The proposed architecture can be used to not only automate network resource management and provisioning for virtual service networks across multiple autonomous substrate networks, but also provide an adaptive capability for achieving optimal network resource management and maintaining network-level end-to-end network performance as well. The paper argues that this SDN and autonomic computing based architecture lays a solid foundation that can facilitate the development of the future Internet based on the pluralistic paradigm.

Keywords: virtual network, software defined network, virtual service network, adaptive resource management, SOA, multi-AS, inter-domain

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4302 Wind Resource Classification and Feasibility of Distributed Generation for Rural Community Utilization in North Central Nigeria

Authors: O. D. Ohijeagbon, Oluseyi O. Ajayi, M. Ogbonnaya, Ahmeh Attabo

Abstract:

This study analyzed the electricity generation potential from wind at seven sites spread across seven states of the North-Central region of Nigeria. Twenty-one years (1987 to 2007) wind speed data at a height of 10m were assessed from the Nigeria Meteorological Department, Oshodi. The data were subjected to different statistical tests and also compared with the two-parameter Weibull probability density function. The outcome shows that the monthly average wind speeds ranged between 2.2 m/s in November for Bida and 10.1 m/s in December for Jos. The yearly average ranged between 2.1m/s in 1987 for Bida and 11.8 m/s in 2002 for Jos. Also, the power density for each site was determined to range between 29.66 W/m2 for Bida and 864.96 W/m2 for Jos, Two parameters (k and c) of the Weibull distribution were found to range between 2.3 in Lokoja and 6.5 in Jos for k, while c ranged between 2.9 in Bida and 9.9m/s in Jos. These outcomes points to the fact that wind speeds at Jos, Minna, Ilorin, Makurdi and Abuja are compatible with the cut-in speeds of modern wind turbines and hence, may be economically feasible for wind-to-electricity at and above the height of 10 m. The study further assessed the potential and economic viability of standalone wind generation systems for off-grid rural communities located in each of the studied sites. A specific electric load profile was developed to suite hypothetic communities, each consisting of 200 homes, a school and a community health center. Assessment of the design that will optimally meet the daily load demand with a loss of load probability (LOLP) of 0.01 was performed, considering 2 stand-alone applications of wind and diesel. The diesel standalone system (DSS) was taken as the basis of comparison since the experimental locations have no connection to a distribution network. The HOMER® software optimizing tool was utilized to determine the optimal combination of system components that will yield the lowest life cycle cost. Sequel to the analysis for rural community utilization, a Distributed Generation (DG) analysis that considered the possibility of generating wind power in the MW range in order to take advantage of Nigeria’s tariff regime for embedded generation was carried out for each site. The DG design incorporated each community of 200 homes, freely catered for and offset from the excess electrical energy generated above the minimum requirement for sales to a nearby distribution grid. Wind DG systems were found suitable and viable in producing environmentally friendly energy in terms of life cycle cost and levelised value of producing energy at Jos ($0.14/kWh), Minna ($0.12/kWh), Ilorin ($0.09/kWh), Makurdi ($0.09/kWh), and Abuja ($0.04/kWh) at a particluar turbine hub height. These outputs reveal the value retrievable from the project after breakeven point as a function of energy consumed Based on the results, the study demonstrated that including renewable energy in the rural development plan will enhance fast upgrade of the rural communities.

Keywords: wind speed, wind power, distributed generation, cost per kilowatt-hour, clean energy, North-Central Nigeria

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4301 Numerical Study on the Urea Melting and Induced Natural Convection in a Urea Sender Module

Authors: Doo Ki Lee, Man Young Kim

Abstract:

The Urea-Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system is considered to be the most promising technology to fulfill the stringent emission regulation. In the Urea-SCR system, the urea solutions are used as the reducing agent, which is a eutectic composition (32.5wt% of urea). The advantage of this eutectic compositions is that it has a low freezing point approximately at -11 ℃, however, the problem of freezing occurs at low-temperature levels below that freezing point. To prevent freezing of urea solutions, we need heating systems that can melt by heating the frozen urea solutions in urea storage tank at low-temperature environment. In this study, therefore, a numerical investigation of three-dimensional unsteady heating problems analyzed to find the melting characteristics of the urea solutions on melting process. In this work, it can be found that the urea melting initiated by heat conduction from the heater is enhanced by the natural convection inside the melted liquid urea solutions due to the temperature difference. Also, liquid urea solutions are initially concentrated on the upper parts of the urea sender module.

Keywords: urea solution, melting, heat conduction, natural convection, liquid fraction, phase change

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4300 Integrated Social Support through Social Networks to Enhance the Quality of Life of Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Authors: B. Thanasansomboon, S. Choemprayong, N. Parinyanitikul, U. Tanlamai

Abstract:

Being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, the patients as well as their caretakers are affected physically and mentally. Although the medical systems in Thailand have been attempting to improve the quality and effectiveness of the treatment of the disease in terms of physical illness, the success of the treatment also depends on the quality of mental health. Metastatic breast cancer patients have found that social support is a key factor that helps them through this difficult time. It is recognized that social support in different dimensions, including emotional support, social network support, informational support, instrumental support and appraisal support, are contributing factors that positively affect the quality of life of patients in general, and it is undeniable that social support in various forms is important in promoting the quality of life of metastatic breast patients. However, previous studies have not been dedicated to investigating their quality of life concerning affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to develop integrated social support through social networks to improve the quality of life of metastatic breast cancer patients in Thailand.

Keywords: social support, metastatic breath cancer, quality of life, social network

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4299 Enframing the Smart City: Utilizing Heidegger's 'The Question Concerning Technology' as a Framework to Interpret Smart Urbanism

Authors: Will Brown

Abstract:

Martin Heidegger is considered to be one of the leading philosophical lights of the 20th century with his lecture/essay 'The Question Concerning Technology' proving to be an invaluable text in the study of technology and the understanding of how technology influences the world it is set upon. However, this text has not as of yet been applied to the rapid rise and proliferation of ‘smart’ cities. This article is premised upon the application of the aforementioned text and the smart city in order to provide a fresh, if not critical analysis and interpretation of this phenomena. The first section below provides a brief literature review of smart urbanism in order to lay the groundwork necessary to apply Heidegger’s work to the smart city, from which a framework is developed to interpret the infusion of digital sensing technologies and the urban milieu. This framework is comprised of four concepts put forward in Heidegger’s text: circumscribing, bringing-forth, challenging, and standing-reserve. A concluding chapter is based upon the notion of enframement, arguing that once the rubric of data collection is placed within the urban system, future systems will require the capability to harvest data, resulting in an ever-renewing smart city.

Keywords: air quality sensing, big data, Martin Heidegger, smart city

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4298 Influence of the Mixer on the Rheological Properties of the Fresh Concrete

Authors: Alexander Nitsche, Piotr-Robert Lazik, Harald Garrecht

Abstract:

The viscosity of the concrete has a great influence on the properties of the fresh concrete. Fresh concretes with low viscosity have a good flowability, whereas high viscosity has a lower flowability. Clearly, viscosity is directly linked to other parameters such as consistency, compaction, and workability of the concrete. The above parameters also depend very much on the energy induced during the mixing process and, of course, on the installation of the mixer itself. The University of Stuttgart has decided to investigate the influence of different mixing systems on the viscosity of various types of concrete, such as road concrete, self-compacting concrete, and lightweight concrete, using a rheometer and other testing methods. Each type is tested with three different mixers, and the rheological properties, namely consistency, and viscosity are determined. The aim of the study is to show that different types of concrete mixed with different types of mixers reach completely different yield points. Therefore, a 3 step procedure will be introduced. At first, various types of concrete mixtures and their differences are introduced. Then, the chosen suspension mixer and conventional mixers, which are going to be used in this paper, will be discussed. Lastly, the influence of the mixing system on the rheological properties of each of the select mix designs, as well as on fresh concrete, in general, will be presented.

Keywords: rheological properties, flowability, suspension mixer, viscosity

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4297 Influence of Sewage Sludge on Agricultural Land Quality and Crop

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

Abstract:

Since the accumulation of large quantities of sewage sludge is producing serious environmental problems, numerous environmental specialists are looking for solutions to solve this problem. The sewage sludge obtained by treatment of municipal wastewater may be used as fertiliser on agricultural soils because such sludge contains large amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter. In many countries, sewage sludge is used instead of chemical fertilizers in agriculture, this being the most feasible method to reduce the increasingly larger quantities of sludge. The use of sewage sludge on agricultural soils is allowed only with a strict monitoring of their physical and chemical parameters, because heavy metals exist in varying amounts in sewage sludge. Exceeding maximum permitted quantities of harmful substances may lead to pollution of agricultural soil and may cause their removal aside because the plants may take up the heavy metals existing in soil and these metals will most probably be found in humans and animals through food. The sewage sludge analyzed for the present paper was extracted from the Wastewater Treatment Station (WWTP) Galati, Romania. The physico-chemical parameters determined were: pH (upH), total organic carbon (TOC) (mg L⁻¹), N-total (mg L⁻¹), P-total (mg L⁻¹), N-NH₄ (mg L⁻¹), N-NO₂ (mg L⁻¹), N-NO₃ (mg L⁻¹), Fe-total (mg L⁻¹), Cr-total (mg L⁻¹), Cu (mg L⁻¹), Zn (mg L⁻¹), Cd (mg L⁻¹), Pb (mg L⁻¹), Ni (mg L⁻¹). The determination methods were electrometrical (pH, C, TSD) - with a portable HI 9828 HANNA electrodes committed multiparameter and spectrophotometric - with a Spectroquant NOVA 60 - Merck spectrophotometer and with specific Merck parameter kits. The tests made pointed out the fact that the sludge analysed is low heavy metal falling within the legal limits, the quantities of metals measured being much lower than the maximum allowed. The results of the tests made to determine the content of nutrients in the sewage sludge have shown that the existing nutrients may be used to increase the fertility of agricultural soils. Other tests were carried out on lands where sewage sludge was applied in order to establish the maximum quantity of sludge that may be used so as not to constitute a source of pollution. The tests were made on three plots: a first batch with no mud and no chemical fertilizers applied, a second batch on which only sewage sludge was applied, and a third batch on which small amounts of chemical fertilizers were applied in addition to sewage sludge. The results showed that the production increases when the soil is treated with sludge and small amounts of chemical fertilizers. Based on the results of the present research, a fertilization plan has been suggested. This plan should be reconsidered each year based on the crops planned, the yields proposed, the agrochemical indications, the sludge analysis, etc.

Keywords: agricultural use, crops, physico–chemical parameters, sewage sludge

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4296 Incidence of Breast Cancer and Enterococcus Infection: A Retrospective Analysis

Authors: Matthew Cardeiro, Amalia D. Ardeljan, Lexi Frankel, Dianela Prado Escobar, Catalina Molnar, Omar M. Rashid

Abstract:

Introduction: Enterococci comprise the natural flora of nearly all animals and are ubiquitous in food manufacturing and probiotics. However, its role in the microbiome remains controversial. The gut microbiome has shown to play an important role in immunology and cancer. Further, recent data has suggested a relationship between gut microbiota and breast cancer. These studies have shown that the gut microbiome of patients with breast cancer differs from that of healthy patients. Research regarding enterococcus infection and its sequala is limited, and further research is needed in order to understand the relationship between infection and cancer. Enterococcus may prevent the development of breast cancer (BC) through complex immunologic and microbiotic adaptations following an enterococcus infection. This study investigated the effect of enterococcus infection and the incidence of BC. Methods: A retrospective study (January 2010- December 2019) was provided by a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant national database and conducted using a Humans Health Insurance Database. International Classification of Disease (ICD) 9th and 10th codes, Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), and National Drug Codes were used to identify BC diagnosis and enterococcus infection. Patients were matched for age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), antibiotic treatment, and region of residence. Chi-squared, logistic regression, and odds ratio were implemented to assess the significance and estimate relative risk. Results: 671 out of 28,518 (2.35%) patients with a prior enterococcus infection and 1,459 out of 28,518 (5.12%) patients without enterococcus infection subsequently developed BC, and the difference was statistically significant (p<2.2x10⁻¹⁶). Logistic regression also indicated enterococcus infection was associated with a decreased incidence of BC (RR=0.60, 95% CI [0.57, 0.63]). Treatment for enterococcus infection was analyzed and controlled for in both enterococcus infected and noninfected populations. 398 out of 11,523 (3.34%) patients with a prior enterococcus infection and treated with antibiotics were compared to 624 out of 11,523 (5.41%) patients with no history of enterococcus infection (control) and received antibiotic treatment. Both populations subsequently developed BC. Results remained statistically significant (p<2.2x10-16) with a relative risk of 0.57 (95% CI [0.54, 0.60]). Conclusion & Discussion: This study shows a statistically significant correlation between enterococcus infection and a decrease incidence of breast cancer. Further exploration is needed to identify and understand not only the role of enterococcus in the microbiome but also the protective mechanism(s) and impact enterococcus infection may have on breast cancer development. Ultimately, further research is needed in order to understand the complex and intricate relationship between the microbiome, immunology, bacterial infections, and carcinogenesis.

Keywords: breast cancer, enterococcus, immunology, infection, microbiome

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4295 Cloud Points to Create an Innovative and Custom Ankle Foot Orthosis in CAD Environment

Authors: Y. Benabid, K. Benfriha, V. Rieuf, J. F. Omhover

Abstract:

This paper describes an approach to create custom concepts for innovative products; this approach describes relations between innovation tools and Computer Aided Design environment (use creativity session and design tools). A model for the design process is proposed and explored in order to describe the power tool used to create and ameliorate an innovative product all based upon a range of data (cloud points) in this study. Comparison between traditional method and innovative method we help to generate and put forward a new model of the design process in order to create a custom Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) in a CAD environment in order to ameliorate and controlling the motion. The custom concept needs big development in different environments; the relation between these environments is described. The results can help the surgeons in the upstream treatment phases. CAD models can be applied and accepted by professionals in the design and manufacture systems. This development is based on the anatomy of the population of North Africa.

Keywords: ankle foot orthosis, CAD, reverse engineering, sketch

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4294 Influence of the Refractory Period on Neural Networks Based on the Recognition of Neural Signatures

Authors: José Luis Carrillo-Medina, Roberto Latorre

Abstract:

Experimental evidence has revealed that different living neural systems can sign their output signals with some specific neural signature. Although experimental and modeling results suggest that neural signatures can have an important role in the activity of neural networks in order to identify the source of the information or to contextualize a message, the functional meaning of these neural fingerprints is still unclear. The existence of cellular mechanisms to identify the origin of individual neural signals can be a powerful information processing strategy for the nervous system. We have recently built different models to study the ability of a neural network to process information based on the emission and recognition of specific neural fingerprints. In this paper we further analyze the features that can influence on the information processing ability of this kind of networks. In particular, we focus on the role that the duration of a refractory period in each neuron after emitting a signed message can play in the network collective dynamics.

Keywords: neural signature, neural fingerprint, processing based on signal identification, self-organizing neural network

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4293 Investigate and Solving Analytic of Nonlinear Differential at Vibrations (Earthquake)and Beam-Column, by New Approach “AGM”

Authors: Mohammadreza Akbari, Pooya Soleimani Besheli, Reza Khalili, Sara Akbari

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In this study, we investigate building structures nonlinear behavior also solving analytic of nonlinear differential at vibrations. As we know most of engineering systems behavior in practical are non- linear process (especial at structural) and analytical solving (no numerical) these problems are complex, difficult and sometimes impossible (of course at form of analytical solving). In this symposium, we are going to exposure one method in engineering, that can solve sets of nonlinear differential equations with high accuracy and simple solution and so this issue will emerge after comparing the achieved solutions by Numerical Method (Runge-Kutte 4th) and exact solutions. Finally, we can proof AGM method could be created huge evolution for researcher and student (engineering and basic science) in whole over the world, because of AGM coding system, so by using this software, we can analytical solve all complicated linear and nonlinear differential equations, with help of that there is no difficulty for solving nonlinear differential equations.

Keywords: new method AGM, vibrations, beam-column, angular frequency, energy dissipated, critical load

Procedia PDF Downloads 371
4292 The Influence of Hydrolyzed Cartilage Collagen on General Mobility and Wellbeing of an Active Population

Authors: Sara De Pelsmaeker, Catarina Ferreira da Silva, Janne Prawit

Abstract:

Recent studies show that enzymatically hydrolysed collagen is absorbed and distributed to joint tissues, where it has analgesic and active anti-inflammatory properties. Reviews of the associated relevant literature also support this theory. However, these studies are all using hydrolyzed collagen from animal hide or skin. This study looks into the effect of daily supplementation of hydrolyzed cartilage collagen (HCC), which has a different composition. A consumer study was set up using a double-blind placebo-controlled design with a control group using twice a day 0.5gr of maltodextrin and an experimental group using twice 0.5g of HCC, over a trial period of 12 weeks. A follow-up phase of 4 weeks without supplementation was taken into the experiment to investigate the ‘wash-out’ phase. As this consumer study was conducted during the lockdown periods, a specific app was designed to follow up with the participants. The app had the advantage that in this way, the motivation of the participants was enhanced and the drop-out range of participants was lower than normally seen in consumer studies. Participants were recruited via various sports and health clubs across the UK as we targeted a general population of people that considered themselves in good health. Exclusion criteria were ‘not experiencing any medical conditions’ and ‘not taking any prescribed medication’. A minimum requirement was that they regularly engaged in some level of physical activity. The participants had to log the type of activity that they conducted and the duration of the activity. Weekly, participants were providing feedback on their joint health and subjective pain using the validated pain measuring instrument Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The weekly repoAbstract Public Health and Wellbeing Conferencerting section in the app was designed with simplicity and based on the accuracy demonstrated in previous similar studies to track subjective pain measures of participants. At the beginning of the trial, each participant indicated their baseline on joint pain. The results of this consumer study indicated that HCC significantly improved joint health and subjective pain scores compared to the placebo group. No significant differences were found between different demographic groups (age or gender). The level of activity, going from high intensive training to regular walking, did not significantly influence the effect of the HCC. The results of the wash-out phase indicated that when the participants stopped the HCC supplementation, their subjective pain scores increased again to the baseline. In conclusion, the results gave a positive indication that the daily supplementation of HCC can contribute to the overall mobility and wellbeing of a general active population

Keywords: VAS-score, food supplement, mobility, joint health

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4291 Optimized Control of Roll Stability of Missile using Genetic Algorithm

Authors: Pham Van Hung, Nguyen Trong Hieu, Le Quoc Dinh, Nguyen Kiem Chien, Le Dinh Hieu

Abstract:

The article focuses on the study of automatic flight control on missiles during operation. The quality standards and characteristics of missile operations are very strict, requiring high stability and accurate response to commands within a relatively wide range of work. The study analyzes the linear transfer function model of the Missile Roll channel to facilitate the development of control systems. A two-loop control structure for the Missile Roll channel is proposed, with the inner loop controlling the Missile Roll rate and the outer loop controlling the Missile Roll angle. To determine the optimal control parameters, a genetic algorithm is applied. The study uses MATLAB simulation software to implement the genetic algorithm and evaluate the quality of the closed-loop system. The results show that the system achieves better quality than the original structure and is simple, reliable, and ready for implementation in practical experiments.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, roll chanel, two-loop control structure, missile

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4290 Green Organic Chemistry, a New Paradigm in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Authors: Pesaru Vigneshwar Reddy, Parvathaneni Pavan

Abstract:

Green organic chemistry which is the latest and one of the most researched topics now-a- days has been in demand since 1990’s. Majority of the research in green organic chemistry chemicals are some of the important starting materials for greater number of major chemical industries. The production of organic chemicals has raw materials (or) reagents for other application is major sector of manufacturing polymers, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, paints, artificial fibers, food additives etc. organic synthesis on a large scale compound to the labratory scale, involves the use of energy, basic chemical ingredients from the petro chemical sectors, catalyst and after the end of the reaction, seperation, purification, storage, packing distribution etc. During these processes there are many problems of health and safety for workers in addition to the environmental problems caused there by use and deposition as waste. Green chemistry with its 12 principles would like to see changes in conventional way that were used for decades to make synthetic organic chemical and the use of less toxic starting materials. Green chemistry would like to increase the efficiency of synthetic methods, to use less toxic solvents, reduce the stage of synthetic routes and minimize waste as far as practically possible. In this way, organic synthesis will be part of the effort for sustainable development Green chemistry is also interested for research and alternatives innovations on many practical aspects of organic synthesis in the university and research labaratory of institutions. By changing the methodologies of organic synthesis, health and safety will be advanced in the small scale laboratory level but also will be extended to the industrial large scale production a process through new techniques. The three key developments in green chemistry include the use of super critical carbondioxide as green solvent, aqueous hydrogen peroxide as an oxidising agent and use of hydrogen in asymmetric synthesis. It also focuses on replacing traditional methods of heating with that of modern methods of heating like microwaves traditions, so that carbon foot print should reduces as far as possible. Another beneficiary of this green chemistry is that it will reduce environmental pollution through the use of less toxic reagents, minimizing of waste and more bio-degradable biproducts. In this present paper some of the basic principles, approaches, and early achievements of green chemistry has a branch of chemistry that studies the laws of passing of chemical reactions is also considered, with the summarization of green chemistry principles. A discussion about E-factor, old and new synthesis of ibuprofen, microwave techniques, and some of the recent advancements also considered.

Keywords: energy, e-factor, carbon foot print, micro-wave, sono-chemistry, advancement

Procedia PDF Downloads 272