Search results for: cultural values

Authors: Jami Wang, Brian Kao, Davin Agustines

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COVID-19 highlighted the active discrimination against the Asian American population easily seen through media, social tension, and increased crimes against the specific population. It is well known that long-term racism can also have a large impact on both emotional and psychological well-being. However, the healthcare disparity during this time also revealed how the Asian American community lacked the research data, political support, and medical infrastructure for this particular population. During a time when Asian American fear for safety with decreasing mental health, telepsychiatry is particularly promising. COVID-19 demonstrated how well psychiatry could integrate with telemedicine, with psychiatry being the second most utilized telemedicine visits. However, the Asian American community did not utilize the telepsychiatry resources as much as other groups. Because of this, we wanted to understand why the patient population who was affected the most by COVID-19 mentally did not seek out care. To do this, we decided to study the top top telepsychiatry platforms. The current top telepsychiatry companies in the United States include Teladoc and BetterHelp. In the Teladoc mental health sector, they only had 4 available languages (English, Spanish, French, and Danis,) with none of them being an Asian language. In a similar manner, Teladoc’s top competitor in the telepsychiatry space, BetterHelp, only listed a total of 3 Asian languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, and Malaysian. However, this is still a short list considering they have over 20 languages available. The shortage of available physicians that speak multiple languages is concerning, as it could be difficult for the Asian American community to relate with. There are limited mental health resources that cater to their likely cultural needs, further exacerbating the structural racism and institutional barriers to appropriate care. It is important to note that these companies do provide interpreters to comply with the nondiscrimination and language assistance federal law. However, interactions with an interpreter are not only more time-consuming but also less personal than talking directly with a physician. Psychiatry is the field that emphasizes interpersonal relationships. The trust between a physician and the patient is critical in developing patient rapport to guide in better understanding the clinical picture and treating the patient appropriately. The language barrier creates an additional barrier between the physician and patient. Because Asian Americans are one of the largest growing patient population bases, these telehealth companies have much to gain by catering to the Asian American market. Without providing adequate access to bilingual and bicultural physicians, the current system will only further exacerbate the growing disparity. The healthcare community and telehealth companies need to recognize that the Asian American population is a severely underserved population in mental health and has much to gain from telepsychiatry. The lack of language is one of many reasons why there is a disparity for Asian Americans in the mental health space.

Keywords: telemedicine, psychiatry, Asian American, disparity

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Authors: Asif Mahmood, Yousef Alzeghayer

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The size effects of a precursor Y2BaCuO5 (Y211) powder on the microstructure and critical current density (Jc) of liquid infiltration growth (LIG)-processed YBa2Cu3O7-y (Y123) bulk superconductors were investigated in terms of milling time (t). YBCO bulk samples having high Jc values have been selected for the flywheel energy storage system. Y211 powders were attrition-milled for 0-10 h in 2 h increments at a fixed rotation speed of 400 RPM. Y211 pre-forms were made by pelletizing the milled Y211 powders followed by subsequent sintering, after which an LIG process with top seeding was applied to the Y211/Ba3Cu5O8 (Y035) pre-forms. Spherical pores were observed in all LIG-processed Y123 samples, and the pore density gradually decreased as t increased from 0 h to 8 h. In addition to the reduced pore density, the Y211 particle size in the final Y123 products also decreased with increasing t. As t increased further to 10 h, unexpected Y211 coarsening and large pore evolutions were observed. The magnetic susceptibility-temperature curves showed that the onset superconducting transition temperature (Tc, onset) of all samples was the same (91.5 K), but the transition width became greater as t increased. The Jc of the Y123 bulk superconductors fabricated in this study was observed to correlate well with t of the Y211 precursor powder. The maximum Jc of 1.0×105 A cm-2 (at 77 K, 0 T) was achieved at t = 8 h, which is attributed to the reduction in pore density and Y211 particle size. The prolonged milling time of t = 10 h decreased the Jc of the LIG-processed Y123 superconductor owing to the evolution of large pores and exaggerated Y211 growth. YBCO bulk samples having high Jc (samples prepared using 8 h milled powders) have been used for the energy storage system in flywheel energy storage system.

Keywords: critical current, bulk superconductor, liquid infiltration, bioinformatics

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Authors: Juliana A. Galhardi, Daniel M. Bonotto

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Coal is an important non-renewable energy source of and can be associated with radioactive elements. In Figueira city, Paraná state, Brazil, it was recorded high uranium activity near the coal mine that supplies a local thermoelectric power plant. In this context, the radon activity (Rn-222, produced by the Ra-226 decay in the U-238 natural series) was evaluated in groundwater, river water and effluents produced from the acid mine drainage in the coal reject dumps. The samples were collected in August 2013 and in February 2014 and analyzed at LABIDRO (Laboratory of Isotope and Hydrochemistry), UNESP, Rio Claro city, Brazil, using an alpha spectrometer (AlphaGuard) adjusted to evaluate the mean radon activity concentration in five cycles of 10 minutes. No radon activity concentration above 100 Bq.L-1, which was a previous critic value established by the World Health Organization. The average radon activity concentration in groundwater was higher than in surface water and in effluent samples, possibly due to the accumulation of uranium and radium in the aquifer layers that favors the radon trapping. The lower value in the river waters can indicate dilution and the intermediate value in the effluents may indicate radon absorption in the coal particles of the reject dumps. The results also indicate that the radon activities in the effluents increase with the sample acidification, possibly due to the higher radium leaching and the subsequent radon transport to the drainage flow. The water samples of Laranjinha River and Ribeirão das Pedras stream, which, respectively, supply Figueira city and receive the mining effluent, exhibited higher pH values upstream the mine, reflecting the acid mine drainage discharge. The radionuclides transport indicates the importance of monitoring their activity concentration in natural waters due to the risks that the radioactivity can represent to human health.

Keywords: radon, radium, acid mine drainage, coal

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Authors: Gila Kurtz, Dan Kohen Vacs

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Social robots (SR) is an emerging field striving to deploy computers capable of resembling human shapes and mimicking human movements, gestures, and behaviors. The evolving capability of SR to interact with human offers groundbreaking ways for learning and training opportunities. Studies show that SR can offer instructional experiences for fostering creativity, entertainment, enjoyment, and curiosity. These added values are essential for empowering instructional opportunities as gamified learning experiences. We present our project focused on deploying an activity to be experienced in an escape room aimed at team-based learning scaffolded by an SR, NAO. An escape room is a well-known approach for gamified activities focused on a simulated scenario experienced by team-based participants. Usually, the simulation takes place in a physical environment where participants must complete a series of challenges in a limited amount of time. During this experience, players learn something about the assigned topic of the room. In the current learning simulation, students must "save the nation" by locating sensitive information stolen and stored in a vault of four locks. Team members have to look for hints and solve riddles mediated by NAO. Each solution provides a unique code for opening one of the four locks. NAO is also used to provide ongoing feedback on the team's performance. We captured the proceeding of our activity and used it to conduct an evaluation study among ten experts in related areas. The experts were interviewed on their overall assessment of the learning activity and their perception of the added value related to the robot. The results were very encouraging on the feasibility that NAO can serve as a motivational tutor in adults' collaborative game-based learning. We believe that this study marks the first step toward a template for developing innovative team-based training using escape rooms supported by a humanoid robot.

Keywords: social robot, NAO, learning, team based activity, escape room

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Authors: Arvan Prakash Ankitha, Madasamy Arockiasamy

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The increasing demand for adopting pile foundations in bridgeshas pointed towardsthe need to constantly improve the existing analytical techniques for better understanding of the behavior of such foundation systems. This study presents a simplistic approach using the energy-based method to assess the displacement responses of piles subjected to general loading conditions: Axial Load, Lateral Load, and a Bending Moment. The governing differential equations and the boundary conditions for a bridge pile embedded in multi-layered soil strata subjected to the general loading conditions are obtained using the Hamilton’s principle employing variational principles and minimization of energies. The soil non-linearity has been incorporated through simple constitutive relationships that account for degradation of soil moduli with increasing strain values.A simple power law based on published literature is used where the soil is assumed to be nonlinear-elastic and perfectly plastic. A Tresca yield surface is assumed to develop the soil stiffness variation with different strain levels that defines the non-linearity of the soil strata. This numerical technique has been applied to a pile foundation in a two - layered soil strata for a pier supporting the bridge and solved using the software MATLAB R2019a. The analysis yields the bridge pile displacements at any depth along the length of the pile. The results of the analysis are in good agreement with the published field data and the three-dimensional finite element analysis results performed using the software ANSYS 2019R3. The methodology can be extended to study the response of the multi-strata soil supporting group piles underneath the bridge piers.

Keywords: pile foundations, deep foundations, multilayer soil strata, energy based method

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Authors: Alper Cumhur, Hasan Baylavlı, Eren Gödek

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Use of superplasticity chemical admixtures in concrete production is widespread all over the world and has become almost inevitable. Super-plasticizers (SPA), extend the setting time of concrete by adsorbing onto cement particles and provide concrete to preserve its fresh state workability properties. Hyper-plasticizers (HPA), as a special type of superplasticizer, provide the production of qualified concretes by increasing the workability properties of concrete, effectively. However, compatibility of cement with super and hyper-plasticizers is quite important for achieving efficient workability in order to produce qualified concretes. In 2011, the EN 197-1 standard is edited and cement classifications were updated. In this study, the compatibility of hyper-plasticizer and CEM I SR0 type sulphate resisting cement (SRC) that firstly classified in EN 197-1 is investigated. Within the scope of the experimental studies, a reference cement mortar was designed with a water/cement ratio of 0.50 confirming to EN 196-1. Fresh unit density of mortar was measured and spread diameters (at 0, 60, 120 min after mix preparation) and setting time of reference mortar were determined with flow table and Vicat tests, respectively. Three mortars are being re-prepared with using both super and hyper-plasticizer confirming to ASTM C494 by 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00% of cement weight. Fresh unit densities, spread diameters and setting times of super and hyper plasticizer added mortars (SPM, HPM) will be determined. Theoretical air-entrainment values of both SPMs and HPMs will be calculated by taking the differences between the densities of plasticizer added mortars and reference mortar. The flow table and Vicat tests are going to be repeated to these mortars and results will be compared. In conclusion, compatibility of SRC with SPA and HPA will be investigated. It is expected that optimum dosages of SPA and HPA will be determined for providing the required workability and setting conditions of SRC mortars, and the advantages/disadvantages of both SPA and HPA will be discussed.

Keywords: CEM I SR0, hyper-plasticizer, setting time, sulphate resisting cement, super-plasticizer, workability

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Authors: Yalisa Tonsorn

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The objectives of this study are 1) to study the readiness of Thai tour operators in order to prepare for being ASEAN members, 2) to study opportunity and obstacles of the management of Thai tour operators, and 3) to find approach for developing value chain in order to enhance the management efficiency of Thai tour operators in order to support free trade within the framework of ASEAN cooperation. The research methodology is mixed between qualitative method and quantitative method. In-depth interview was done with key informants, including management supervisors, medium managers, and officers of the travel agencies. The questionnaire was conducted with 300 sampling. According to the study, it was found that the approach for developing value chain to enhance the management efficiency of Thai travel agencies in order to support free trade within the framework of ASEAN cooperation, the tour operators must give priority to the customer and deliver the service exceeding the customer’s expectation. There are 2 groups of customers: 1) external customers referring to tourist, and 2) internal customers referring to staff who deliver the service to the customers, including supervisors, colleagues, or subordinates. There are 2 issues which need to be developed: 1) human resource development in order to cultivate the working concept by focusing on importance of customers, and excellent service providing, and 2) working system development by building value and innovation in operational process including services to the company in order to deliver the highest impressive service to both internal and external customers. Moreover, the tour operators could support the increased number of tourists significantly. This could enhance the capacity of the business and affect the increase of competition capability in the economic dimension of the country.

Keywords: AEC (ASEAN Economic Eommunity), core activities, support activities, values chain

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Authors: Sayed Mostafa, Siham Mostafa Mohamed Faheid, Ibrahim Rizk Sayed Ahmed, Yasser Fehry Mohamed Kishk, Gamal Hassan Ragab

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Gluten-free foods are still the only treatment for gluten-allergic patients. Consequently, this study is concerned with improving the quality attributes of gluten-free bread using different concentrations (0, 20, 40, 60 and 80ppm) of all maltogenic α-amylase (MA) and xylanase (XY) compared with wheat flour Balady bread and untreated gluten-free Balady bread (GFBB). Pasting properties, falling number, water activity, alkaline water retention capacity (AWRC) and sensory properties (fresh bread, after 24h, after 48h and after 72h) of gluten-free bread were evaluated. Additionally, the effect of merging different concentrations of maltogenic α-amylase and xylanase on stalling behavior (AWRC) and sensory properties of gluten-free Balady bread was investigated. The addition of MA led to a gradually decreased peak viscosity, breakdown, setback and pasting temperature of GFBB with the increasing level of MA. Maltogenic α-amylase and xylanase addition led to a reduction in the FN values compared to the untreated gluten-free sample, noting that the MA-treated samples showed a significant decrease compared to the XY-treated and untreated samples. Wheat flour Balady bread significantly showed a higher value of AWRC compared to untreated gluten-free Balady bread at different storage periods (zero time, after 24h, after 48h and after 72h). MA-treated samples showed higher water binding capacity and water activity (aw)in comparison with XY-treated samples, with significance during all storage periods. Concerning the overall acceptability during the third day, the highest score (4.6) was observed by the GFBB sample containing 40ppm MA, followed by 4.3, which was investigated by the GFBB sample containing 80ppm XY with no significance between them and with significance compared to the other samples.

Keywords: celiac disease, gluten-free products, anti-stalling agents, maltogenic α-amylase, xylanase

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Authors: Leonard Chimaobi Agim, Charles Arinzechukwu Igwe, Emmanuel Uzoma Onweremadu, Gabreil Osuji

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Soil erosion has been linked to stream sedimentation, ecosystem degradation, and loss of soil nutrients. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of some organic amendment on sediment yield, splash loss, and runoff of soils of selected parent materials in southeastern Nigeria. A total of 20 locations, five from each of four parent materials namely: Asu River Group (ARG), Bende Ameki Group (BAG), Coastal Plain Sand (CPS) and Falsebedded Sandstone (FBS) were used for the study. Collected soil samples were analyzed with standard methods for the initial soil properties. Rainfall simulation at an intensity of 190 mm hr-1was conducted for 30 minutes on the soil samples at both the initial stage and after amendment to obtain erosion parameters. The influence of parent material on sediment yield, splash loss and runoff based on rainfall simulation was tested for using one way analyses of variance, while the influence of organic material and their combinations were a factorially fitted in a randomized complete block design. The organic amendments include; goat dropping (GD), poultry dropping (PD), municipal solid waste (MSW) and their combinations (COA) applied at four rates of 0, 10, 20 and 30 t ha-1 respectively. Data were analyzed using analyses of variance suitable for a factorial experiment. Significant means were separated using LSD at 5 % probability levels. Result showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) lower values of sediment yield, splash loss and runoff following amendment. For instance, organic amendment reduced sediment yield under wet and dry runs by 12.91 % and 26.16% in Ishiagu, 40.76% and 45.67%, in Bende, 16.17% and 50% in Obinze and 22.80% and 42.35% in Umulolo respectively. Goat dropping and combination of amendment gave the best results in reducing sediment yield.

Keywords: organic amendment, parent material, rainfall simulation, soil erosion

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Authors: Shannon Richards-Green, Suzanne Gough, Sharon Mickan

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Background: Healthcare leaders work in highly complex and rapidly changing environments. Consequently, they need both flexibility and the capacity to hold multiple perspectives simultaneously. My research explored how healthcare leaders understand and make sense (meaning) of their leadership experiences and how this understanding was manifested in their leadership behaviours. Methods: This grounded theory study was conducted via 2 x 1-hour interviews with healthcare leaders within acute care hospitals. A total of 33 hours of interviews were conducted with 17 participants. Participants were recruited using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded to explore emergent patterns and relationships within the data, utilising constant comparative analysis. Adult developmental stage was defined through a subject-object interview with each participant, in alignment with the tenets of constructive development theory. Findings: Participants from acute care hospitals within Australia have participated in the study, with the majority representing the executive leadership level. Broad categories emerging from the data include; Broadening perspectives and abilities as a leader, Dealing with and experiencing conflict within the workplace, Experiencing rewarding times as a leader, and Leading in alignment with a strong personal values system. Discussion: Successfully dealing with complex challenges requires an ability to engage with nuanced perspectives and responses, an integral part of adult developmental growth. In dealing with conflict, for example, leaders at various levels of adult development approached the situation quite differently. Understanding how healthcare leaders make sense of their experiences can assist in providing insights into the value of supporting adult developmental growth in healthcare leadership.

Keywords: leadership, adult development, complexity, growth

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Authors: Hepinda Fajari Nuharini, Sugiarti A. Musabiq

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Background: Various and continuous pressures that exceed individual resources can cause first-year undergraduate college students to experience psychological distress. Psychological distress can occur when individuals use rumination as cognitive coping strategies. Rumination is one of the cognitive coping strategies that can be used by individuals to respond to psychological distress that causes individuals to think about the causes and consequences of events that have occurred. Rumination had two subtypes, such as brooding and reflective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was determining the role of brooding and reflective as subtypes of rumination toward psychological distress in University of Indonesia first-year undergraduate students. Methods: Participants of this study were 403 University of Indonesia first-year undergraduate students aged between 18 and 21 years old. Psychological distress measured using self reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20) and brooding and reflective as subtypes of rumination measured using Ruminative Response Scale - Short Version (RRS - Short Version). Results: Binary logistic regression analyses showed that 22.8% of the variation in psychological distress could be explained by the brooding and reflective as subtypes of rumination, while 77.2% of the variation in psychological distress could be explained by other factors (Nagelkerke R² = 0,228). The results of the binary logistic regression analysis also showed rumination subtype brooding is a significant predictor of psychological distress (b = 0,306; p < 0.05), whereas rumination subtype reflective is not a significant predictor of psychological distress (b = 0,073; p > 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed a positive relationship between brooding and psychological distress indicates that a higher level of brooding will predict higher psychological distress. Meanwhile, a negative relationship between reflective and psychological distress indicates a higher level of reflective will predict lower psychological distress in University of Indonesia first-year undergraduate students. Added Values: The psychological distress among first-year undergraduate students would then have an impact on student academic performance. Therefore, the results of this study can be used as a reference for making preventive action to reduce the percentage and impact of psychological distress among first-year undergraduate students.

Keywords: brooding as subtypes of rumination, first-year undergraduate students, psychological distress, reflective as subtypes of rumination

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Authors: Badli Shah Mohd Yusoff, Khairur Rijal Jamaludin, Rozetta Dollah

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The emerging of reverse logistics and product recovery management is an important concept in reconciling economic and environmental objectives through recapturing values of the end of life product returns. End of life products contains valuable modules, parts, residues and materials that can create value if recovered efficiently. The main objective of this study is to explore and develop a model to recover as much of the economic value as reasonably possible to find the optimality of return acquisition and sorting to meet demand and maximize profits over time. In this study, the benefits that can be obtained for remanufacturer is to develop demand forecasting of used products in the future with uncertainty of returns and quality of products. Formulated based on a generic disassembly tree, the proposed model focused on three reverse logistics activity, namely refurbish, remanufacture and disposal incorporating all plausible means quality levels of the returns. While stricter sorting policy, constitute to the decrease amount of products to be refurbished or remanufactured and increases the level of discarded products. Numerical experiments carried out to investigate the characteristics and behaviour of the proposed model with mathematical programming model using Lingo 16.0 for medium-term planning of return acquisition, disassembly (refurbish or remanufacture) and disposal activities. Moreover, the model seeks an analysis a number of decisions relating to trade off management system to maximize revenue from the collection of use products reverse logistics services through refurbish and remanufacture recovery options. The results showed that full utilization in the sorting process leads the system to obtain less quantity from acquisition with minimal overall cost. Further, sensitivity analysis provides a range of possible scenarios to consider in optimizing the overall cost of refurbished and remanufactured products.

Keywords: core acquisition, end of life, reverse logistics, quality uncertainty

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Authors: Claudio L. M. Souza, Milton Erthal, Aldo Shimoya, Elias R. Goncalves, Igor C. Rangel, Allysson R. T. Tavares, Elias G. Figueira

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The process of choosing a region for the implementation of wind farms involves factors such as the wind regime, economic viability, land value, topography, and accessibility. This work presents results obtained by multi-criteria decision analysis, and it establishes a hierarchy, regarding the installation of wind farms, among geopolicy regions in the state of ‘Rio de Janeiro’, Brazil: ‘Regiao Norte-RN’, ‘Regiao dos Lagos-RL’ and ‘Regiao Serrana-RS’. The wind regime map indicates only these three possible regions with an average annual wind speed of above of 6.0 m/s. The method applied was the Analytical Hierarchy Process-AHP, designed to prioritize and rank the three regions based on four criteria as follows: 1) potential of the site and average wind speeds of above 6.0 ms-¹, 2) average land value, 3) distribution and interconnection to electric network with the highest number of electricity stations, and 4) accessibility with proximity and quality of highways and flat topography. The values of energy generation were calculated for wind turbines 50, 75, and 100 meters high, considering the production of site (GWh/Km²) and annual production (GWh). The weight of each criterion was attributed by six engineers and by analysis of Road Map, the Map of the Electric System, the Map of Wind Regime and the Annual Land Value Report. The results indicated that in 'RS', the demand was estimated at 2,000 GWh, so a wind farm can operate efficiently in 50 m turbines. This region is mainly mountainous with difficult access and lower land value. With respect to ‘RL’, the wind turbines have to be installed at a height of 75 m high to reach a demand of 6,300 GWh. This region is very flat, with easy access, and low land value. Finally, the ‘NR’ was evaluated as very flat and with expensive lands. In this case, wind turbines with 100 m can reach an annual production of 19,000 GWh. In this Region, the coast area was classified as of greater logistic, productivity and economic potential.

Keywords: AHP, renewable energy, wind energy

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Authors: Ermias A. Tegegn, Million Meshesha

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a major cause of death for most African countries. Ethiopia is one of the seriously affected countries in sub Saharan Africa. Previously in Ethiopia, having HIV/AIDS was almost equivalent to a death sentence. With the introduction of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), HIV/AIDS has become chronic, but manageable disease. The study focused on a data mining technique to predict future living status of HIV/AIDS patients at the time of drug regimen change when the patients become toxic to the currently taking ART drug combination. The data is taken from University of Gondar Hospital ART program database. Hybrid methodology is followed to explore the application of data mining on ART program dataset. Data cleaning, handling missing values and data transformation were used for preprocessing the data. WEKA 3.7.9 data mining tools, classification algorithms, and expertise are utilized as means to address the research problem. By using four different classification algorithms, (i.e., J48 Classifier, PART rule induction, Naïve Bayes and Neural network) and by adjusting their parameters thirty-two models were built on the pre-processed University of Gondar ART program dataset. The performances of the models were evaluated using the standard metrics of accuracy, precision, recall, and F-measure. The most effective model to predict the status of HIV patients with drug regimen substitution is pruned J48 decision tree with a classification accuracy of 98.01%. This study extracts interesting attributes such as Ever taking Cotrim, Ever taking TbRx, CD4 count, Age, Weight, and Gender so as to predict the status of drug regimen substitution. The outcome of this study can be used as an assistant tool for the clinician to help them make more appropriate drug regimen substitution. Future research directions are forwarded to come up with an applicable system in the area of the study.

Keywords: HIV drug regimen, data mining, hybrid methodology, predictive model

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Authors: Mohd Amran, Chan Yi Jing, Chong Chien Hwa

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Production of biogas from POME requires anaerobic digestion (AD), thus, anaerobic digester performance in biogas plants is crucial. As POME from different sources have varying characteristics due to different process flows in mills, there is no ideal treatment parameters for POME. Hence, different treatment plants alter different parameters in anaerobic digestion to achieve desired biogas production levels and to meet POME waste discharge limits. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of mesophilic anaerobic digestion in four different biogas plants in Malaysia. Aspects of POME pre-treatment efficiency, analysis of treated POME and AD’s bottom sludge characteristics, including several parameters like chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total solid (TS) removal in the effluent, pH and temperature changes, total biogas produced, the composition of biogas including methane (CH₄), carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and oxygen (O₂) were investigated. The effect of organic loading rate (OLR) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on anaerobic digester performance is also evaluated. In pre-treatment, it is observed that BGP B has the lowest average outlet temperature of 40.41°C. All BGP shows a high-temperature fluctuation (36 to 49 0C) and good pH readings (minimum 6.7), leaving the pre-treatment facility before entering the AD.COD removal of POME is considered good, with an average of 78% and maximum removal of 85%. BGP C has the lowest average COD and TS content in treated POME, 13,313 mg/L, and 12,048 mg/L, respectively. However, it is observed that the treated POME leaving all ADs, still contains high-quality organic substances (COD between 12,000 to 19,000 mg/L) that might be able to digest further to produce more biogas. The biogas produced in all four BGPs varies due to different COD loads. BGP B has the highest amount of biogas produced, 378,874.7 Nm³/month, while BGP D has the lowest biogas production of 272,378.5 Nm³/month. Furthermore, the composition of biogas produced in all plants is well within literature values (CH4 between 55 to 65% and CO₂ between 32 to 36%).

Keywords: palm oil mill effluent, in-ground lagoon anaerobic digester, anaerobic digestion, biogas

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Authors: Chong Jiang, Liang Zhao, Hua Jian, Xiaoguang Wang

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The belief that there is a strong relationship between reading narrative and morality has generally become the basic assumption of scholars, philosophers, critics, and cultural critics. The virtuality constructed by literary novels inspires readers to regard the narrative as a thinking experiment, creating the distance between readers and events so that they can freely and morally experience the positions of different roles. Therefore, the virtual narrative combined with literary characteristics is always considered as a "moral laboratory." Well-established findings revealed that people show less lying and deceptive behaviors in the morning than in the afternoon, called the morning morality effect. As a limited self-regulation resource, morality will be constantly depleted with the change of time rhythm under the influence of the morning morality effect. It can also be compensated and restored in various ways, such as eating, sleeping, etc. As a common form of entertainment in modern society, literary novel reading gives people more virtual experience and emotional catharsis, just as a relaxing afternoon tea that helps people break away from fast-paced work, restore physical strength, and relieve stress in a short period of leisure. In this paper, inspired by the compensation control theory, we wonder whether reading literary novels in the digital environment could replenish a kind of spiritual energy for self-regulation to compensate for people's moral loss in the afternoon. Based on this assumption, we leverage the social annotation text content generated by readers in digital reading to represent the readers' reading attention. We then recognized the semantics and calculated the readers' moral motivation expressed in the annotations and investigated the fine-grained dynamics of the moral motivation changing in each time slot within 24 hours of a day. Comprehensively comparing the division of different time intervals, sufficient experiments showed that the moral motivation reflected in the annotations in the afternoon is significantly higher than that in the morning. The results robustly verified the hypothesis that reading compensates for moral motivation, which we called the moral afternoon tea effect. Moreover, we quantitatively identified that such moral compensation can last until 14:00 in the afternoon and 21:00 in the evening. In addition, it is interesting to find that the division of time intervals of different units impacts the identification of moral rhythms. Dividing the time intervals by four-hour time slot brings more insights of moral rhythms compared with that of three-hour and six-hour time slot.

Keywords: digital reading, social annotation, moral motivation, morning morality effect, control compensation

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Authors: Neelam Kadyan, Pratima Ranga, Yogender

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Indigenous people are the One who are affected by the climate change the most, although there have contributed little to its causes. This is largely a result of their historic dependence on local biological diversity, ecosystem services and cultural landscapes as a source of their sustenance and well-being. Comprising only four percent of the world’s population they utilize 22 percent of the world’s land surface. Despite their high exposure-sensitivity indigenous peoples and local communities are actively responding to changing climatic conditions and have demonstrated their resourcefulness and resilience in the face of climate change. Traditional Indigenous territories encompass up to 22 percent of the world’s land surface and they coincide with areas that hold 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity. Also, the greatest diversity of indigenous groups coincides with the world’s largest tropical forest wilderness areas in the Americas (including Amazon), Africa, and Asia, and 11 percent of world forest lands are legally owned by Indigenous Peoples and communities. This convergence of biodiversity-significant areas and indigenous territories presents an enormous opportunity to expand efforts to conserve biodiversity beyond parks, which tend to benefit from most of the funding for biodiversity conservation. Tapping on Ancestral Knowledge Indigenous Peoples are carriers of ancestral knowledge and wisdom about this biodiversity. Their effective participation in biodiversity conservation programs as experts in protecting and managing biodiversity and natural resources would result in more comprehensive and cost effective conservation and management of biodiversity worldwide. Addressing the Climate Change Agenda Indigenous Peoples has played a key role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The territories of indigenous groups who have been given the rights to their lands have been better conserved than the adjacent lands (i.e., Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, etc.). Preserving large extensions of forests would not only support the climate change objectives, but it would respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and conserve biodiversity as well. A climate change agenda fully involving Indigenous Peoples has many more benefits than if only government and/or the private sector are involved. Indigenous peoples are some of the most vulnerable groups to the negative effects of climate change. Also, they are a source of knowledge to the many solutions that will be needed to avoid or ameliorate those effects. For example, ancestral territories often provide excellent examples of a landscape design that can resist the negatives effects of climate change. Over the millennia, Indigenous Peoples have developed adaptation models to climate change. They have also developed genetic varieties of medicinal and useful plants and animal breeds with a wider natural range of resistance to climatic and ecological variability.

Keywords: ancestral knowledge, cost effective conservation, management, indigenous peoples, climate change

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Authors: M. Hirani, M. Devine, O. Obisesan, C. Bryant

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Introduction: The use of four or more implants to support a fixed prosthesis in the edentulous mandible is well documented, with high levels of clinical outcomes recorded. Despite this, the use of three implant-supported fixed prostheses offers the potential to deliver a more cost-effective method of oral rehabilitation in the lower arch, an important consideration given that edentulism is most prevalent in low-income subpopulations. The purpose of this study aimed to evaluate the implant and prosthetic survival rate, changes in marginal bone level, and patient satisfaction associated with a three-implant-supported fixed prosthesis for rehabilitation of the edentulous mandible over a follow-up period of at least one year. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed to evaluate studies that met the selection criteria. The information extracted included the study design and population, participant demographics, observation period, loading protocol, and the number of implants placed together with the required outcome measures. Mean values and standard deviations (SD) were calculated using SPSS® (IBM Corporation, New York, USA), and the level of statistical significance across all comparative studies described was set at P < 0.05. Results: The eligible studies included a total of 1968 implants that were placed in 652 patients. The subjects ranged in age from 33-89 years, with a mean of 63.2 years. The mean cumulative implant and prosthetic survival rates were 95.5% and 96.2%, respectively, over a mean follow-up period of 3.25 years. The mean marginal bone loss recorded was 1.04 mm, and high patient satisfaction rates were reported across the studies. Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that a three implant-supported fixed prosthesis for the edentulous mandible is a successful treatment strategy presenting high implant and prosthetic survival rates over the short-to-medium term. Further well-designed controlled clinical trials are required to evaluate longer-term outcomes, with supplemental data correlating implant dimensions and prosthetic design.

Keywords: implants, mandible, fixed, prosthesis

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Authors: Wisdom Robert Duruji, Oluwasegun Christopher Akinleye

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This study reports on the impact of different ripening accelerators on the microbial load and proximate composition of plantain (Musa paradisiaca) and Banana (Musa sapientum) during the ripening process, and the nutrition implication for food security. The study comprised of four treatments, namely: Calcium carbide, Irvingia gabonensis fruits, Newbouldia laevis leaves and a control, where no ripening accelerator was applied to the fingers of plantain and banana. The unripe and ripened plantain and banana were subjected to microbial analysis by isolating and enumerating their micro flora using pour plate method; and also, their proximate composition was determined using standard methods. The result indicated that the bacteria count of plantain increased from 3.25 ± 0.33 for unripe to 5.31 ± 0.30 log cfu/g for (treated) ripened, and that of banana increased from 3.69 ± 0.11 for unripe to 5.26 ± 0.21 log cfu/g for ripened. Also, the fungal count of plantain increased from 3.20 ± 0.16 for unripe to 4.88 ± 0.22 log sfu/g for ripened; and that of banana increased from 3.61 ± 0.19 for unripe to 5.43 ± 0.26 for ripened. Ripened plantain fingers without any ripening accelerator (control) had significantly (p < 0.05) higher values of crude protein 3.56 ± 0.06%, crude fat 0.42 ± 0.04%, total ash 2.74 ± 0.15 and carbohydrate 31.10 ± 0.20; but with significantly lower value of moisture 62.14 ± 0.07% when compared with treated plantain. The proximate composition trend of treated and banana fingers control is similar to that of treated and plantain control, except that higher moisture content of 75.11 ± 0.07% and lesser protein, crude fat, total ash and carbohydrate were obtained from treated and ripened banana control when the treatments were compared with that of plantain. The study concluded that plantain is more nutritious (mealy) than a banana; also, the ripening accelerators increased the microbial load and reduced the nutritional status of plantain and banana.

Keywords: food nutrition, calcium carbide, rvingia gabonensis, newbouldia laevis, plantain, banana

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Sherif Sabri, Suzy Fawzi, Sanaa Abdelshafy, Ayman Nagah

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Introduction: Static derangements in lactate homeostasis during ICU stay have become established as a clinically useful marker of increased risk of hospital and ICU mortality. Lactate indices or kinetic alteration of the anaerobic metabolism make it a potential parameter to evaluate disease severity and intervention adequacy. This is an inexpensive and simple clinical parameter that can be obtained by a minimally invasive means. Aim of work: Comparing the predictive value of dynamic indices of hyperlactatemia in the first twenty four hours of intensive care unit (ICU) admission with other static values are more commonly used. Patients and Methods: This study included 40 critically ill patients above 18 years old of both sexes with Hyperlactamia (≥ 2 m mol/L). Patients were divided into septic group (n=20) and low oxygen transport group (n=20), which include all causes of low-O2. Six lactate indices specifically relating to the first 24 hours of ICU admission were considered, three static indices and three dynamic indices. Results: There were no statistically significant differences among the two groups regarding age, most of the laboratory results including ABG and the need for mechanical ventilation. Admission lactate was significantly higher in low-oxygen transport group than the septic group [37.5±11.4 versus 30.6±7.8 P-value 0.034]. Maximum lactate was significantly higher in low-oxygen transport group than the septic group P-value (0.044). On the other hand absolute lactate (mg) was higher in septic group P-value (< 0.001). Percentage change of lactate was higher in the septic group (47.8±11.3) than the low-oxygen transport group (26.1±12.6) with highly significant P-value (< 0.001). Lastly, time weighted lactate was higher in the low-oxygen transport group (1.72±0.81) than the septic group (1.05±0.8) with significant P-value (0.012). There were statistically significant differences regarding lactate indices in survivors and non survivors, whether in septic or low-oxygen transport group. Conclusion: In critically ill patients, time weighted lactate and percent in lactate change in the first 24 hours can be an independent predictive factor in ICU mortality. Also, a rising compared to a falling blood lactate concentration over the first 24 hours can be associated with significant increase in the risk of mortality.

Keywords: critically ill patients, lactate indices, mortality in intensive care, anaerobic metabolism

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Authors: Desta Kebede Ayana, Lies Sercu, Demelash Mengistu

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The study is set in Ethiopia, a sub-Saharan multilingual, multiethnic African country, which has seen a significant increase in the number of universities in recent years. The aim of this growth is to provide access to education for all cultural and linguistic groups across the country. However, there are challenges in promoting intercultural competence among students in this diverse context. The aim of the study is to investigate the interculturalization of Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions as perceived by university lecturers and administrators. In particular, the study aims to determine the level of support for this educational innovation and gather suggestions for its implementation and institutionalization. The researchers employed semi-structured interviews with administrators and lecturers from two large Ethiopian universities to gather data. Thematic analysis was utilized for coding and analyzing the interview data, with the assistance of the NVIVO software. The findings obtained from the grounded analysis of the interview data reveal that while there are opportunities for interculturalization in the curriculum and campus life, support for educational innovation remains low. Administrators and lecturers also emphasize the government's responsibility to prioritize interculturalization over other educational innovation goals. The study contributes to the existing literature by examining an under-researched population in an under-researched context. Additionally, the study explores whether Western perspectives of intercultural competence align with the African context, adding to the theoretical understanding of intercultural education. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with administrators and lecturers from two large Ethiopian universities. The interviews allowed for an in-depth exploration of the participants' views on interculturalization in higher education. Thematic analysis was applied to the interview data, allowing for the identification and organization of recurring themes and patterns. The analysis was conducted using the NVIVO software, which aided in coding and analyzing the data. The study addresses the extent to which administrators and lecturers support the interculturalization of Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions. It also explores their suggestions for implementing and institutionalizing intercultural education, as well as their perspectives on the current level of institutionalization. The study highlights the challenges in interculturalizing Ethiopian universities and emphasizes the need for greater support and prioritization of intercultural education. It also underscores the importance of considering the African context when conceptualizing intercultural competence. This research contributes to the understanding of intercultural education in diverse contexts and provides valuable insights for policymakers and educational institutions aiming to promote intercultural competence in higher education settings.

Keywords: administrators, educational change, Ethiopia, intercultural competence, lecturers

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Authors: Md. Asif Ullah, M. A. R. Sarkar

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This paper illustrates 2-D and 3-D simulations of sub-channels of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) having hexagonal array of fuel rods. At a steady state, the temperature of outer surface of the cladding of fuel rod is kept about 1200°C. The temperature of this isothermal surface is taken as boundary condition for simulation. Water with temperature of 290°C is given as a coolant inlet to the primary water circuit which is pressurized upto 157 bar. Turbulent flow of pressurized water is used for heat removal. In 2-D model, temperature, velocity, pressure and Nusselt number distributions are simulated in a vertical sectional plane through the sub-channels of a hexagonal fuel rod assembly. Temperature, Nusselt number and Y-component of convective heat flux along a line in this plane near the end of fuel rods are plotted for different Reynold’s number. A comparison between X-component and Y-component of convective heat flux in this vertical plane is analyzed. Hexagonal fuel rod assembly has three types of sub-channels according to geometrical shape whose boundary conditions are different too. In 3-D model, temperature, velocity, pressure, Nusselt number, total heat flux magnitude distributions for all the three sub-channels are studied for a suitable Reynold’s number. A horizontal sectional plane is taken from each of the three sub-channels to study temperature, velocity, pressure, Nusselt number and convective heat flux distribution in it. Greater values of temperature, Nusselt number and Y-component of convective heat flux are found for greater Reynold’s number. X-component of convective heat flux is found to be non-zero near the bottom of fuel rod and zero near the end of fuel rod. This indicates that the convective heat transfer occurs totally along the direction of flow near the outlet. As, length to radius ratio of sub-channels is very high, simulation for a short length of the sub-channels are done for graphical interface advantage. For the simulations, Turbulent Flow (K-Є ) module and Heat Transfer in Fluids (ht) module of COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS 5.0 are used.

Keywords: sub-channels, Reynold’s number, Nusselt number, convective heat transfer

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Authors: Juan-Pedro Rica-Peromingo

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Nowadays, corpus linguistics has become a key research methodology for Translation Studies, which broadens the scope of cross-linguistic studies. In the case of the study presented here, the approach used focuses on learners with little or no experience to study, at an early stage, general mistakes and errors, the correct or incorrect use of translation strategies, and to improve the translational competence of the students. Led by Sylviane Granger and Marie-Aude Lefer of the Centre for English Corpus Linguistics of the University of Louvain, the MUST corpus (MUltilingual Student Translation Corpus) is an international project which brings together partners from Europe and worldwide universities and connects Learner Corpus Research (LCR) and Translation Studies (TS). It aims to build a corpus of translations carried out by students including both direct (L2 > L1) an indirect (L1 > L2) translations, from a great variety of text types, genres, and registers in a wide variety of languages: audiovisual translations (including dubbing, subtitling for hearing population and for deaf population), scientific, humanistic, literary, economic and legal translation texts. This paper focuses on the work carried out by the Spanish team from the Complutense University (UCMA), which is part of the MUST project, and it describes the specific features of the corpus built by its members. All the texts used by UCMA are either direct or indirect translations between English and Spanish. Students’ profiles comprise translation trainees, foreign language students with a major in English, engineers studying EFL and MA students, all of them with different English levels (from B1 to C1); for some of the students, this would be their first experience with translation. The MUST corpus is searchable via Hypal4MUST, a web-based interface developed by Adam Obrusnik from Masaryk University (Czech Republic), which includes a translation-oriented annotation system (TAS). A distinctive feature of the interface is that it allows source texts and target texts to be aligned, so we can be able to observe and compare in detail both language structures and study translation strategies used by students. The initial data obtained point out the kind of difficulties encountered by the students and reveal the most frequent strategies implemented by the learners according to their level of English, their translation experience and the text genres. We have also found common errors in the graduate and postgraduate university students’ translations: transfer errors, lexical errors, grammatical errors, text-specific translation errors, and cultural-related errors have been identified. Analyzing all these parameters will provide more material to bring better solutions to improve the quality of teaching and the translations produced by the students.

Keywords: corpus studies, students’ corpus, the MUST corpus, translation studies

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Adelson G. Guillarte, M. D., Noel J. Belonguel, Jarungchai Anton S. Vatanagul

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Patients with malignant middle cerebral infarction (MCA) (with massive brain swelling and herniation) were reported to have a mortality rate of 80% even with the appropriate conservative medical therapy. European Trials (DECIMAL, DESTINY I, and II, HAMLET) showed significant improvement in mortality and functional outcome with hemicraniectomy. No known published local studies in the region, thus a local study is vital. This is a single center, retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, chart review study which includes ≥18 year-old patients with malignant MCA infarction, who underwent hemicraniectomy, and those who were given conservative medical therapy alone, from January 2008 to December 2012 at Perpetual Succour Hospital. Excluded were patients whose charts are with insufficient data, prior MCA stroke, with concomitant intracerebral hemorrhage and with other serious medical conditions or terminal illnesses. Minimum of 32 populations were needed. Data were presented in mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage distribution. Man n Whitney U test and Chi Square test were used. P-values lesser than 0.05 alpha were considered statistically significant. A total of 672 stroke patients were admitted. 34 patients pass the inclusion criteria. 9 underwent hemicraniectomy and 25 were treated by conservative medical therapy alone. Although not statistically significant (64% vs 33%, p=0.112) there were more patients noted improved in the conservative treatment group. Meanwhile, the Hemicraniectomy group have increased percentage of mortality (67%) (p=0.112). There was a decreasing trend in the average NIHSS score in both groups from admission to post-op 7 days (p=0.198, p=0.78). A bigger multicenter prospective study is recommended to control inherent biases and limitations of a retrospective and smaller study.

Keywords: cerebral infarct, hemicraniectomy, ischemic stroke, malignant middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarct

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Authors: Sonia Barbouchi, Meriem Samcha

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Scale deposition during water injection into aquifer of oil reservoirs is a serious problem experienced in the oil production industry. One of the primary causes of scale formation and injection well plugging is mixing two waters which are incompatible. Considered individually, the waters may be quite stable at system conditions and present no scale problems. However, once they are mixed, reactions between ions dissolved in the individual waters may form insoluble products. The purpose of this study is to identify the causes of well plugging in a southern Tunisian oilfield, where fresh water has been injected into the producing wells to counteract the salinity of the formation waters and inhibit the deposition of halite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) mineralogical analysis has been carried out on scale samples collected from the blocked well. Two samples collected from both formation water and injected water were analysed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, ion chromatography and other standard laboratory techniques. The results of complete waters analysis were the typical input parameters, to determine scaling tendency. Saturation indices values related to CaCO3, CaSO4, BaSO4 and SrSO4 scales were calculated for the water mixtures at different share, under various conditions of temperature, using a computerized scale prediction model. The compatibility study results showed that mixing the two waters tends to increase the probability of barite deposition. XRD analysis confirmed the compatibility study results, since it proved that the analysed deposits consisted predominantly of barite with minor galena. At the studied temperatures conditions, the tendency for barite scale is significantly increasing with the increase of fresh water share in the mixture. The future scale inhibition and removal strategies to be implemented in the concerned oilfield are being derived in a large part from the results of the present study.

Keywords: compatibility study, produced water, scaling, water injection

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Elisabetta Cianfanelli, Margherita Tufarelli, Paolo Pupparo

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The dialectical mediation between desires and objects or between mass production and consumption continues to evolve over time. This relationship is influenced both by variable geometries of contexts that are distant from the mere design of product form and by aspects rooted in the very definition of industrial design. In particular, the overcoming of macro-areas of innovation in the technological, social, cultural, formal, and morphological spheres, supported by recent theories in critical and speculative design, seems to be moving further and further away from the design of the formal dimension of advanced products. The articulated fabric of theories and practices that feed the definition of “hyperobjects”, and no longer objects describes a common tension in all areas of design and production of industrial products. The latter are increasingly detached from the design of the form and meaning of the same in mass productions, thus losing the quality of products capable of social transformation. For years we have been living in a transformative moment as regards the design process in the definition of the industrial product. We are faced with a dichotomy in which there is, on the one hand, a reactionary aversion to the new techniques of industrial production and, on the other hand, a sterile adoption of the techniques of mass production that we can now consider traditional. This ambiguity becomes even more evident when we talk about industrial products, and we realize that we are moving further and further away from the concepts of "form" as a synthesis of a design thought aimed at the aesthetic-emotional component as well as the functional one. The design of forms and their contents, as statutes of social acts, allows us to investigate the tension on mass production that crosses seasons, trends, technicalities, and sterile determinisms. The design culture has always determined the formal qualities of objects as a sum of aesthetic characteristics functional and structural relationships that define a product as a coherent unit. The contribution proposes a reflection and a series of practical experiences of research on the form of advanced products. This form is understood as a kaleidoscope of relationships through the search for an identity, the desire for democratization, and between these two, the exploration of the aesthetic factor. The study of form also corresponds to the study of production processes, technological innovations, the definition of standards, distribution, advertising, the vicissitudes of taste and lifestyles. Specifically, we will investigate how the genesis of new forms for new meanings introduces a change in the relative innovative production techniques. It becomes, therefore, fundamental to investigate, through the reflections and the case studies exposed inside the contribution, also the new techniques of production and elaboration of the forms of the products, as new immanent and determining element inside the planning process.

Keywords: industrial design, product advanced design, mass productions, new meanings

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Authors: Karima Adilla

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Aceh province, into which Islam convinced to have entered Indonesia in the 12th Century before spreading throughout the archipelago and the rest of Southeast Asia, has several early Islamic mosques that still exist until today. However, due to some circumstances, the restoration and rehabilitation towards those mosques have been made in some periods, while the background was diverse. Concerning this, the research will examine the physical changing aspects of 3 prominent historical mosques in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh; those are, Indrapuri Mosque, Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, and Baiturrahim Mosque built coincided with the beginning of Islam’s development in Aceh and regarded as eventful mosques. The existence of Indrapuri Mosque built on the remains of the Lamuri Kingdom’s temple is a historical trace that there was Hindu-Buddhist civilization in Aceh before Islam entered and became the majority religion about 98% from Aceh total population. Also, there was the Dutch who colonialized Aceh behind the existence of two famous mosques in Aceh, namely Baiturrahman Grand Mosque and Baiturrahim Mosque, as the colonizer also assisted to rebuild those 2 sacred Mosques to quell the anger of the Acehnese people because their mosque was burnt by the Dutch. Interestingly, despite underwent a long history successively since the rise of Islam after the Hindu-Buddhist kingdom had collapsed, colonialization, conflict, in Aceh, and even experienced the earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2004, those mosques still exist. Therefore, those mosques have been considered as historical silent witnesses. However, it was not merely those reasons that led the mosques underwent several physical changes, otherwise economic, political, social, cultural and religious factors were also highly influential. Instead of directly illustrating the physical changing of those three mosques, this research intends to identify under what condition the physical appearance continuously changing during the sultanate era, the colonial period until post-independent in terms of the architectural style, detail elements, design philosophy, and how the remnants buildings act as medium to bridge the history. A framework will use qualitative research methods by collecting actual data of the mosque's physical change figures through field studies, investigations, library studies and interviews. This research aims to define every trace of historical issues embedded in the physical changing of those mosques as they are intertwined in collecting historical proof. Thus, the result will reveal the characteristic interrelation between history, the mosque architectural style in a certain period, the physical changes background and its impact. Eventually, this research will also explicate a clear inference of each mosque’s role in representing history in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh specifically, as well as Aceh generally through architectural design concepts.

Keywords: Aceh ancient mosques, Aceh history, Islamic architecture, physical changing

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Authors: Mahsa Tavakoli, Seyed Mohammad Hojjati, Yahya Kooch

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In this study, the effect of coal mining activities on lead and cadmium concentrations and distribution in soil was investigated in Hyrcanian forest, North Iran. 16 plots (20×20 m²) were established by systematic-randomly (60×60 m²) in an area of 4 ha (200×200 m²-mine entrance placed at center). An area adjacent to the mine was not affected by the mining activity; considered as the controlled area. In order to investigate soil lead and cadmium concentration, one sample was taken from the 0-10 cm in each plot. To study the spatial pattern of soil properties and lead and cadmium concentrations in the mining area, an area of 80×80m² (the mine as the center) was considered and 80 soil samples were systematic-randomly taken (10 m intervals). Geostatistical analysis was performed via Kriging method and GS⁺ software (version 5.1). In order to estimate the impact of coal mining activities on soil quality, pollution index was measured. Lead and cadmium concentrations were significantly higher in mine area (Pb: 10.97±0.30, Cd: 184.47±6.26 mg.kg^-1) in comparison to control area (Pb: 9.42±0.17, Cd: 131.71±15.77 mg.kg^-1). The mean values of the PI index indicate that Pb (1.16) and Cd (1.77) presented slightly polluted. Results of the NIPI index showed that Pb (1.44) and Cd (2.52) presented slight pollution and moderate pollution respectively. Results of variography and kriging method showed that it is possible to prepare interpolation maps of lead and cadmium around the mining areas in Hyrcanian forest. According to results of pollution and risk assessments, forest soil was contaminated by heavy metals (lead and cadmium); therefore, using reclamation and remediation techniques in these areas is necessary.

Keywords: traditional coal mining, heavy metals, pollution indicators, geostatistics, Caspian forest

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Authors: Anita Singh, Richa Naula, Manoj Raghav

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India is a leading producer and consumer of fenugreek for its culinary uses and medicinal application. In India, most of the people are of vegetarian class. In such a situation, a leafy vegetable, such as fenugreek is of chief concern due to its high nutritional property, medicinal values and industrial uses. One of the most important factors restricting their large scale production and development of superior varieties is that very scanty knowledge about their genetic diversity, inter and intraspecific variability and genetic relationship among the species. Improvement of the crop depends upon the magnitude of genetic variability for economic characters. Therefore, the present research work was carried out to analyse the variability parameters for growth and yield character in twenty-eight fenugreek genotypes along with two standard checks Pant Ragini and Pusa Early Bunching. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replication during rabi season 2015-2016 at Pantnagar Centre for Plant Genetic Resources, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among all the genotypes for all traits. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient variation were observed for characters, namely the number of primary branches per plant, number of leaves at 30, 45 and 60 DAS, green leaf yield per plant, green leaf yield q/ha . The genetic advance recorded highest in green leaf yield q/ha (33.93) followed by green leaf yield per plant (21.20g). Highest percent of heritability were shown by 1000 seed weight (99.12%) followed by the number of primary branches per plant (97.18%). Green leaf yield q/ha showed high heritability and high genetic advance. These superior genotypes can be further used in crop improvement programs of fenugreek.

Keywords: genetic advance, genotypic coefficient variation, heritability, phenotypic coefficient variation

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Authors: Suresh Vanguri, Suresh Palla, K. V. Kalyani, S. K. Chaturvedi, B. N. Mohapatra

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Enhancing the fly ash utilization in the manufacture of cement is identified as one of the key areas to mitigate the Green House Gas emissions from the cement industry. Though increasing the fly ash content in cement has economic and environmental benefits, it results in a decrease in the compressive strength values, particularly at early ages. Quality of clinker and fly ash were identified as predominant factors that govern the extent of absorption of fly ash in the manufacturing of cement. This paper presents systematic investigations on the effect of clinker and fly ash quality on the properties of resultant cement. Since mechanical activation alters the physicochemical properties such as particle size distribution, surface area, phase morphology, understanding the variation of these properties with activation is required for its applications. The effect of mechanical activation on fly ash surface area, specific gravity, flow properties, lime reactivity, comparative compressive strength (CCS), reactive silica and mineralogical properties were also studied. The fineness of fly ash was determined by Blaine’s method, specific gravity, lime reactivity, CCS were determined as per the method IS 1727-1967. The phase composition of fly ash was studied using the X-ray Diffraction technique. The changes in the microstructure and morphology with activation were examined using the scanning electron microscope. The studies presented in this paper also include evaluation of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), prepared using high volume fly ash. Studies are being carried out using clinker from cement plants located in different regions/clusters in India. Blends of PPC containing higher contents of activated fly ash have been prepared and investigated for their chemical and physical properties, as per Indian Standard procedures. Changes in the microstructure of fly ash with activation and mechanical properties of resultant cement containing high volumes of fly ash indicated the significance of optimization of the quality of clinker and fly ash fineness for better techno-economical benefits.

Keywords: flow properties, fly ash enhancement, lime reactivity, microstructure, mineralogy

Procedia PDF Downloads 457