Search results for: challenges of natural disasters

Authors: Tarali Kalita, Karabi Dutta

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The North Eastern Region of India, with diverse climatic conditions and a wide range of ecological habitats, makes an ideal natural abode for a good number of silk-producing insects. Cocoon is the economically important life stage from where silk of economic importance is obtained. In recent years, silk-based biomaterials have gained considerable attention, which is dependent on the structure and properties of the silkworm cocoons as well as silk yarn. The present investigation deals with the morphological study of cocoons, including cocoon color, cocoon size, shell weight and shell ratio of eleven different species of silk insects collected from different regions of North East India. The Scanning Electron Microscopic study and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to know the arrangement of silk threads in cocoons and the atomic elemental analysis, respectively. Further, collected cocoons were degummed and reeled/spun on a reeling machine or spinning wheel to know the filament length, linear density and tensile strength by using Universal Testing Machine. The study showed significant variation in terms of cocoon color, cocoon shape, cocoon weight and filament packaging. XPS analysis revealed the presence of elements (Mass %) C, N, O, Si and Ca in varying amounts. The wild cocoons showed the presence of Calcium oxalate crystals which makes the cocoons hard and needs further treatment to reel. In the present investigation, the highest percentage of strain (%) and toughness (g/den) were observed in Antheraea assamensis, which implies that the muga silk is a more compact packing of molecules. It is expected that this study will be the basis for further biomimetic studies to design and manufacture artificial fiber composites with novel morphologies and associated material properties.

Keywords: cocoon characterization, north-east India, prospects, silk characterization

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Authors: Thiago Spilborghs Bueno Meyer, Plinio Thomaz Aquino Junior

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Through speech, which privileges the functional and interactive nature of the text, it is possible to ascertain the spatiotemporal circumstances, the conditions of production and reception of the discourse, the explicit purposes such as informing, explaining, convincing, etc. These conditions allow bringing the interaction between humans closer to the human-robot interaction, making it natural and sensitive to information. However, it is not enough to understand what is said; it is necessary to recognize emotions for the desired interaction. The validity of the use of neural networks for feature selection and emotion recognition was verified. For this purpose, it is proposed the use of neural networks and comparison of models, such as recurrent neural networks and deep neural networks, in order to carry out the classification of emotions through speech signals to verify the quality of recognition. It is expected to enable the implementation of robots in a domestic environment, such as the HERA robot from the RoboFEI@Home team, which focuses on autonomous service robots for the domestic environment. Tests were performed using only the Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients, as well as tests with several characteristics of Delta-MFCC, spectral contrast, and the Mel spectrogram. To carry out the training, validation and testing of the neural networks, the eNTERFACE’05 database was used, which has 42 speakers from 14 different nationalities speaking the English language. The data from the chosen database are videos that, for use in neural networks, were converted into audios. It was found as a result, a classification of 51,969% of correct answers when using the deep neural network, when the use of the recurrent neural network was verified, with the classification with accuracy equal to 44.09%. The results are more accurate when only the Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients are used for the classification, using the classifier with the deep neural network, and in only one case, it is possible to observe a greater accuracy by the recurrent neural network, which occurs in the use of various features and setting 73 for batch size and 100 training epochs.

Keywords: emotion recognition, speech, deep learning, human-robot interaction, neural networks

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Authors: Manish Madappa, Madhavi Gayathri Raman

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The primary vehicle of human communication is language. A breakdown occurring in any aspect of communication may lead to frustration and isolation among the learners and the teachers. Over seven percent of the population in the world currently experience limitations and those children who exhibit a deviant/deficient language acquisition curve even when being in a language rich environment as their peers may be at risk of having a language disorder or language impairment. The difficulty may be in the word level [vocabulary/word knowledge] and/or the sentence level [syntax/morphology) Children with SLI appear to be developing normally in all aspects except for their receptive and/or expressive language skills. Thus, it is utmost importance to identify children with or at risk of SLI so that an early intervention can foster language and social growth, provide the best possible learning environment with special support for language to be explicitly taught and a step in providing continuous and ongoing support. The present study looks at Kannada English bilingual children and works towards identifying children at risk of “specific language impairment”. The study was conducted through an exploratory study which systematically enquired into the narratives of young Kannada-English bilinguals and to investigate the data for story structure in their narrative formulations. Oral narrative offers a rich source of data about a child’s language use in a relatively natural context. The fundamental objective is to ensure comparability and to be more universal and thus allows for the evaluation narrative text competence. The data was collected from 10 class three students at a primary school in Mysore, Karnataka and analyzed for macrostructure component reflecting the goal directed behavior of a protagonist who is motivated to carry out some kind of action with the intention of attaining a goal. The results show that the children exhibiting a deviation of -1.25 SD are at risk of SLI. Two learners were identified to be at risk of Specific Language Impairment with a standard deviation of more the 1.25 below the mean score.

Keywords: bilingual, oral narratives, SLI, macrostructure

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Authors: Brindusa Balanuca, Raluca Stan, Cristina Ott, Matei Raicopol

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The current study aims to develop anti corrosive coatings using vegetable oil (VO)-based polymers. Due to their chemical versatility, reduced costs and more important, higher hydrophobicity, VO’s are great candidates in the field of anti-corrosive materials. Lignin (Ln) derivatives were also used in this research study in order to achieve performant hydrophobic anti-corrosion layers. Methods Through a rational functionalization pathway, the selected VO (linseed oil) is converted to more reactive monomer – methacrylate linseed oil (noted MLO). The synthesized MLO cover the metals surface in a thin layer and through different polymerization techniques (using visible radiation or temperature, respectively) and well-established reaction conditions, is converted to a hydrophobic coating capable to protect the metals against corrosive factors. In order to increase the anti-corrosion protection, lignin (Ln) was selected to be used together with MLO macromonomer. Thus, super hydrophobic protective coatings will be formulated. Results The selected synthetic strategy to convert the VO in more reactive compounds – MLO – has led to a functionalization degree of greater than 80%. The obtained monomers were characterized through NMR and FT-IR by monitoring the characteristic signals after each synthesis step. Using H-NMR data, the functionalization degrees were established. VO-based and also VO-Ln anti corrosion formulations were both photochemical and thermal polymerized in specific reaction conditions (initiators, temperature range, reaction time) and were tested as anticorrosive coatings. Complete and advances characterization of the synthesized materials will be presented in terms of thermal, mechanical and morphological properties. The anticorrosive properties were also evaluated and will be presented. Conclusions Through the design strategy briefly presented, new composite materials for metal corrosion protection were successfully developed, using natural derivatives: vegetable oils and lignin, respectively.

Keywords: anticorrosion protection, hydrophobe layers, lignin, methacrylates, vegetable oil

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Authors: Chandrabati Chakraborty

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The progressive emergence, in the course of the evolution of life, mind and personality, requires us to assume a creative Principle operating timeless Reality in the temporal. The difference between Western philosophy and that of India, concerns the origin and the purpose of the philosophical enquiry. While the former wonders at the external world, the latter is awareness of perennial suffering associated with human existence. The present world suffers from a basic form of rootlessness,reflecting many psychological, philosophical studies. Alienation,a major theme of human condition in the contemporary epoch has emerged as natural consequences of existential predicament. As Edmund Fuller also observes that individuals suffer not only from famine, ruin or even war but also from devastating inner problems, which are that of estrangement, hopelessness and utter despair. This existentialism is thus considered by Jean Wahl as the “Philosophies of existence”.The post world war scenario well analyses the chaos,annihilation,frustration and anguished estrangement. In such conditions when the West cries out , “What is there?I know first of all that I am.But who am I?.....I am sepeated.What I am seperated from I cannot name it. But I am seperated.”(Dostoevsky:The Confession), Vedantic philosophy looks upon the Pilgrim’s Progress of Humanity as being essentially one,operationg squarely within the bounds of reality, reflecting a basic human experience, outbraving indecorous dictims that have failed to give due honour to human beings,echoing for centuries the Sanskrit slokas with ultimate certitude: II Esa Atma samaha plusina samo masakena samo nagena sama ebhis tribhir lokaih.....sama nena sarvena II (The Atman (Divine Soul) is the same in the ant, the same in the gnat, the same in the elephant, the same in these three worlds....the same in the whole Universe). The present paper aims at a comparative study of cultural and philosophical expression taking into view extensive illustrations from Western Philosophers and The Vedantic,Upanishadic lores of Indian philosophy.

Keywords: existentialism, Vedanta, philosophy, absurdism

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Authors: Narash Narasimman, Calvin Leong Jia Jun, Raksha Karthik, Paul Englert

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Background: Project Grit, a 12-week youth resilience program implemented by Impart and Spartans Boxing Club, aimed to help at-risk adolescents develop resilience through psychoeducation and mental health techniques for dealing with everyday stressors and adversity. The programme consists of two parts-1.5 hours of group therapy followed by 1 hour of boxing. Due to the novelty of the study, 6 male participants, aged 13 to 18, were recruited to participate in the study. Aim: This case study aims to examine the effectiveness of Project Grit in building resilience among at-risk adolescents. Methods: A case study design was employed to capture the complexity and uniqueness of the intervention, without oversimplifying or generalizing it. A 15-year-old male participant with a history of behavioural challenges, delinquency and gang involvement was selected for the study. Teacher, parent and child versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered to the facilitators, parents and participants respectively before and after the programme. Relevant themes from the qualitative interviews will be discussed. Results: Scores from all raters revealed improvements in most domains of the SDQ. Total difficulties scores across all raters improved from “very high” to “close to average”. High interrater reliability was observed (κ= .81). The participant reported learning methods to effectively deal with his everyday concerns using healthy coping strategies, developing a supportive social network, and building on his self efficacy. Themes from the subject’s report concurred with the improvement in SDQ scores. Conclusions: The findings suggest that Project Grit is a promising intervention for promoting resilience among at-risk adolescents. The teleological behaviourism framework and the combination of sports engagement and future orientation may be particularly effective in fostering resilience among this population. Further studies need to be conducted with a larger sample size to further validate the effectiveness of Project Grit.

Keywords: resilience, project grit, adolescents, at-risk, boxing, future orientation

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Authors: R. Sekula

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Epoxy composites are broadly used as an electrical insulation for the high voltage applications since only such materials can fulfill particular mechanical, thermal, and dielectric requirements. However, properties of the final product are strongly dependent on proper manufacturing process with minimized material failures, as too large shrinkage, voids and cracks. Therefore, application of proper materials (epoxy, hardener, and filler) and process parameters (mold temperature, filling time, filling velocity, initial temperature of internal parts, gelation time), as well as design and geometric parameters are essential features for final quality of the produced components. In this paper, an approach for three-dimensional modeling of all molding stages, namely filling, curing and post-curing is presented. The reactive molding simulation tool is based on a commercial CFD package, and include dedicated models describing viscosity and reaction kinetics that have been successfully implemented to simulate the reactive nature of the system with exothermic effect. Also a dedicated simulation procedure for stress and shrinkage calculations, as well as simulation results are presented in the paper. Second part of the paper is dedicated to recent developments on formulations of functional composites for electrical insulation applications, focusing on thermally conductive materials. Concepts based on filler modifications for epoxy electrical composites have been presented, including the results of the obtained properties. Finally, having in mind tough environmental regulations, in addition to current process and design aspects, an approach for product re-design has been presented focusing on replacement of epoxy material with the thermoplastic one. Such “design-for-recycling” method is one of new directions associated with development of new material and processing concepts of electrical products and brings a lot of additional research challenges. For that, one of the successful products has been presented to illustrate the presented methodology.

Keywords: curing, epoxy insulation, numerical simulations, recycling

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Authors: Kinga Zebrowska, Maria Falis, Katarzyna Kosinska-Kaczynska, Bartosz Godek, Olga Plaza, Katarzyna Kwiatkowska

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Introduction: According to the ministerial decree of 16 August 2018, each woman in Poland during childbirth has the right to the pharmacological and non-pharmacological labour pain management (LPM). Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of Polish mothers about pharmacological and non-pharmacological LPM, to investigate which methods they chose and their satisfaction with chosen ones. Material And Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed among women who gave birth between 2015 and 2018. The self-composed questionnaire was distributed via the Internet in October 2018. Results: 13.727 women participated in the study. 75% have learned about LPM from the Internet. 68% of them did not gain any information on LPM from doctors during their prenatal appointments Safety of the newborn (46%), midwife’s advice (40%) and the chance of the immediate pain relief (39%) were the most important issues while choosing LPM. Respondents used a wide range of non-pharmacological methods, such as the assistance of partner during labour (81%), physical activity (58%), immersion in water (37%), relaxation techniques (15%) and others. 11% of mothers did not use any of the LPM methods. 52% of women declared that they wanted to use the pharmacological anaesthesia, while 49% had it performed (28% epidural, 16% inhaled anaesthesia, 5% parenteral opioids). Pharmacological methods were unavailable due to lack of anaesthesiologist in the maternity ward (41%) or inaccessibility of the chosen methods in the hospital (31%) and too advanced labour (43%). 48% of respondents did not decide to use pharmacological methods, because the pain was bearable (29%), anxiety of child’s health (17%), or belief that the pain is natural and it should not be avoided (16%). 83% of respondents believed that epidural analgesia has no influence on the time needed to gain a full cervix dilatation and 81% of them claimed that serious spinal cord injury is a common side effect of epidural. 51% believed that epidural increases the risk of caesarean section. Conclusions: The knowledge about the methods of LPM is not satisfactory. We should focus on well- maintained education guided by doctors, midwives, and media.

Keywords: childbirth, labour pain management, maternity experiences, obstetrics

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Authors: Dhananjay W. Bansod, Santosh Phad

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Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) are major contributing factors to the disease burden in the world as well as in India. With a growing proportion of older persons in India gives rise to several challenges. With the advancement of age, elderly is exposed to various kinds of health problems more specifically NCDs. Therefore, an effort has been made to examine the prevalence of NCDs among older persons and its treatment-seeking behaviour, also it is tried to explore the association between the NCDs and its effect on the overall wellbeing of older persons. Data used from “Building Knowledge Base of Population Ageing Survey” conducted in 2011 in seven states of India. Six chronic diseases used (non-communicable diseases) namely Arthritis, Hypertension, Cataract, Diabetes, Asthma and Heart diseases to understand the issues related to NCDs. Also seen the effect of NCDs on the wellbeing of the elderly, the subjective well-being consists of nine questions from which SUBI score generated for mental health status, which ranges from 9 to 27. This Index indicates that lower the score better is the mental health status. Further, this index modified and generated three categories of Better (9-15), Average (16-20) and Worse (21-27). The reliability analysis is carried out with the coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was 0.8884. The result shows that Orthopedic / musculoskeletal ailments involving arthritis, rheumatism and osteoarthritis are the most common type of ailment followed by hypertension. Two-thirds of the elderly reported suffering from at least one chronic ailment. Most chronic illness conditions received some form of treatment and mainly depend on public health facilities. Financial insecurity is the primary obstruction in seeking treatment for most of the chronic ailments which typically require a longer duration of medication and repeated medical consultations, both having significant economic implications. According to SUBI index, only 15 per cent of the elderly are in Better mental health status, and one-third of the elderly are with the worse score. Elderly with the ailments like Cataract, Asthma and Arthritis have worse mental health. It depicts that the burden of disease is more among the elderly and it is directly affecting the overall wellbeing of older persons.

Keywords: NCD, well-being, older person, India

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Authors: Fredrick Olatunji Ajegbomogun, Bello Modinat Morenikeji, Okorie Nancy Chituru

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Electronic information resources are highly relevant to students' academic and research needs but are grossly underutilized, despite the institutional commitment to making them available. The under-utilisation of these resources could be attributed to a low level of study behaviour coupled with a low level of computer self-efficacy. This study assessed computer self-efficacy, study behaviour, and the use of electronic information resources by students in selected polytechnics in Ogun State. A simple random sampling technique using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) Table was used to select 370 respondents for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on respondents. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and multiple regression analysis. Results reveal that the internet (= 1.94), YouTube (= 1.74), and search engines (= 1.72) were the common information resources available to the students, while the Internet (= 4.22) is the most utilized resource. Major reasons for using electronic information resources were to source materials and information (= 3.30), for research (= 3.25), and to augment class notes (= 2.90). The majority (91.0%) of the respondents have a high level of computer self-efficacy in the use of electronic information resources through selecting from screen menus (= 3.12), using data files ( = 3.10), and efficient use of computers (= 3.06). Good preparation for tests (= 3.27), examinations (= 3.26), and organization of tutorials (= 3.11) are the common study behaviours of the respondents. Overall, 93.8% have good study behaviour. Inadequate computer facilities to access information (= 3.23), and poor internet access (= 2.87) were the major challenges confronting students’ use of electronic information resources. According to the PPMC results, study behavior (r = 0.280) and computer self-efficacy (r = 0.304) have significant (p 0.05) relationships with the use of electronic information resources. Regression results reveal that self-efficacy (=0.214) and study behavior (=0.122) positively (p 0.05) influenced students' use of electronic information resources. The study concluded that students' use of electronic information resources depends on the purpose, their computer self-efficacy, and their study behaviour. Therefore, the study recommended that the management should encourage the students to improve their study habits and computer skills, as this will enhance their continuous and more effective utilization of electronic information resources.

Keywords: computer self-efficacy, study behaviour, electronic information resources, polytechnics, Nigeria

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Authors: Masoumeh Ghorbania, Falk Liebnerb, Hendrikus W.G. van Herwijnenc, Johannes Konnertha

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Phenol formaldehyde (PF) resins are widely used as wood adhesives for variety of industrial products such as plywood, laminated veneer lumber and others. Lignin as a main constituent of wood has become well-known as a potential substitute for phenol in PF adhesives because of their structural similarity. During the last decades numerous research approaches have been carried out to substitute phenol with pulping-derived lignin, whereby the lower reactivity of resins synthesized with shares of lignin seem to be one of the major challenges. This work reports about a systematic screening of different types of lignin (plant origin and pulping process) for their suitability to replace phenol in phenolic resins. Lignin from different plant sources (softwood, hardwood and grass) were used, as these should differ significantly in their reactivity towards formaldehyde of their reactive phenolic core units. Additionally a possible influence of the pulping process was addressed by using the different types of lignin from soda, kraft, and organosolv process and various lignosulfonates (sodium, ammonium, calcium, magnesium). To determine the influence of lignin on the adhesive performance beside others the rate of viscosity development, bond strength development of varying hot pressing time and other thermal properties were investigated. To evaluate the performance of the cured end product, a few selected properties were studied at the example of solid wood-adhesive bond joints, compact panels and plywood. As main results it was found that lignin significantly accelerates the viscosity development in adhesive synthesis. Bonding strength development during curing of adhesives decelerated for all lignin types, while this trend was least for pine kraft lignin and spruce sodium lignosulfonate. However, the overall performance of the products prepared with the latter adhesives was able to fulfill main standard requirements, even after exposing the products to harsh environmental conditions. Thus, a potential application can be considered for processes where reactivity is less critical but adhesive cost and product performance is essential.

Keywords: phenol formaldehyde resin, lignin phenol formaldehyde resin, ABES, DSC

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Authors: H. El-Messiry, M. El-Zainy, D. Ghazy

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Diabetes is a metabolic disease that results in a variety of oral health complications. Green tea is a natural antioxidant proved to have powerful effects against diabetes. The aim of this study was to compare between the effect of insulin and green tea on the Parotid gland of streptozotocin induced diabetic Albino rats by using light and transmission electron microscopy. Forty male Albino rats were divided into control group and diabetic groups. The diabetic group received a single injection of 40 mg/kg of streptozotocin intra-peritoneal under anesthesia and was further subdivided into three subgroups: The diabetic untreated subgroup which was untreated for two weeks, the insulin treated subgroup which has received insulin subcutaneously in a daily dose of 5 IU/kg body weight/day for two weeks and a green tea treated subgroup received a daily dose of 1 ml/ 100 gm body weight intragastrically for two weeks. Rats were terminated and parotid glands were dissected and processed for light and transmission electron microscopic examination. Histological examination of the diabetic untreated subgroup revealed acinar cells with pyknotic and hyperchromatic nuclei with cytoplasmic vacuolations. Ultrastructurally, acinar cells showed nuclear pleomorphism, dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum and swollen mitochondria with damaged cristae. Inflammatory cell infiltration was detected both histologically and ultrastructurally. Ducts showed signs of degeneration with loss of their normal outline and stagnated secretion within the lumen. However, insulin and green tea treated subgroups showed minimal degenerative damage and were almost similar to the control with minimal changes. Treatment of the parotid gland of the streptozotocin induced diabetic rats with GT was closely comparable to the traditional insulin therapy in reducing signs of histological and ultrastructural damage.

Keywords: diabetes, green tea, insulin, parotid

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Authors: Riddhi Chopra

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While China’s friendship with a number of countries has waxed and waned over the decades, Sino-Pak relationship is said to have withstood the vicissitudes of larger international politics as well as changes in regional and domestic currents. Pakistan, one of the first countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China, thus providing China with a corridor into the energy rich Muslim states which was reciprocated with a continual stream of no-strings-attached military hardware and defense-related assistance from Beijing. The joint enmity towards India also provided the initial thrust to a burgeoning Sino-Pak friendship. This paper intends to provide a profound analysis of the strategic relation between China-Pakistan and examine India as a determining factor. The Pakistan-China strategic relationship has been conventionally viewed by India as a zero sum game, wherein any gains accrued by Pakistan or China through their partnership is seen as a direct detriment to the evolution of India-Pakistan or India-China relation. The paper evaluates various factors which were crucial for the synthesis of such a strong relation and presents a comprehensive study of the various policies and programs that have been undertaken by the two countries to tie India to South Asia and reduce its sphere of influence. The geographic dynamics is said to breed a natural coalition, dominating the strategic ambitions of both Beijing and Islamabad hence directing their relationship. In addition to the obvious geopolitical factors, there are several dense collaborations between the two nations knitting a relatively close partnership. Moreover, an attempt has been made to assess the irritants in China-Pak relations and the initiatives taken by the two to further strengthen it. Current trends in diplomatic, economic and defense cooperation – along with the staunch affinity rooted in history and consistent geo-strategic interests – points to a strong and strengthening relationship, significant in directing India’s foreign and security policies. This paper seeks to analyze the changing power dynamics of the China-Pak nexus with external actors such as US and India with an ulterior motive of their own and predict the change in power dynamics between the four countries.

Keywords: China, Pakistan, India, strategy

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Authors: Hubert Feiglstorfer

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The technique of making terrazzo has been known since ancient times. During the Roman Empire, known as opus signinum, at the time of the Renaissance, known as composto terrazzo marmorino or at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the use of terrazzo experienced a common use in Europe. In Asia, especially in the Himalayas and the Tibetan highlands, a particular floor and roof manufacturing technique is commonly used for about 1500 years, known as arga. The research question in this contribution asks for technical and cultural-historical synergies of these floor-making techniques. The making process of an arga floor shows constructive parallels to the European terrazzo. Surface processing by grinding, burnishing and sealing, in particular, reveals technological similarities. The floor structure itself, on the other hand, shows differences, for example in the use of hydraulic aggregate in the terrazzo, while the arga floor is used without hydraulic material, but the result of both techniques is a tight, water-repellent and shiny surface. As part of this comparative study, the materials, processing techniques and quality features of the two techniques are compared and parallels and differences are analysed. In addition to text and archive research, the methods used are results of material analyses and ethnographic research such as participant observation. Major findings of the study are the investigation of the mineralogical composition of arga floors and its comparison with terrazzo floors. The study of the cultural-historical context in which both techniques are embedded will give insight into technical developments in Europe and Asia, parallels and differences. Synergies from this comparison let possible technological developments in the production, conservation and renovation of European terrazzo floors appear in a new light. By making arga floors without cement-based aggregates, the renovation of historical floors from purely natural products and without using energy by means of a burning process can be considered.

Keywords: European and Asian crafts, material culture, floor making technology, terrazzo, arga, Tibetan building traditions

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Authors: Vahid Ebrahimipour

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Word representation and context meaning of text-based documents play an essential role in knowledge modeling. Business procedures written in natural language are meant to store technical and engineering information, management decision and operation experience during the production system life cycle. Context meaning representation is highly dependent upon word sense, lexical relativity, and sematic features of the argument. This paper proposes a method for lexical semantic analysis and context meaning representation of maintenance activity in a mass production system. Our approach constructs a straightforward lexical semantic approach to analyze facilitates semantic and syntactic features of context structure of maintenance report to facilitate translation, interpretation, and conversion of human-readable interpretation into computer-readable representation and understandable with less heterogeneity and ambiguity. The methodology will enable users to obtain a representation format that maximizes shareability and accessibility for multi-purpose usage. It provides a contextualized structure to obtain a generic context model that can be utilized during the system life cycle. At first, it employs a co-occurrence-based clustering framework to recognize a group of highly frequent contextual features that correspond to a maintenance report text. Then the keywords are identified for syntactic and semantic extraction analysis. The analysis exercises causality-driven logic of keywords’ senses to divulge the structural and meaning dependency relationships between the words in a context. The output is a word contextualized representation of maintenance activity accommodating computer-based representation and inference using OWL/RDF.

Keywords: lexical semantic analysis, metadata modeling, contextual meaning extraction, ontology modeling, knowledge representation

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Authors: Sadeeq Launi

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NGOs, the world over, have been recognized as part of the institutions that complement government activities in providing services to the people, particularly in respect of human development. This study examined the role played by the NGOs in human development in Bauchi State, Nigeria, between 2004 and 2013. The emphasis was on reproductive health and access to education role of the selected NGOs. All the research questions, objectives and hypotheses were stated in line with these variables. The theoretical framework that guided the study was the participatory development approach. Being a survey research, data were generated from both primary and secondary sources with questionnaires and interviews as the instruments for generating the primary data. The population of the study was made up of the staff of the selected NGOs, beneficiaries, health staff and school teachers in Bauchi State. The sample drawn from these categories were 90, 107 and 148 units respectively. Stratified random and simple random sampling techniques were adopted for NGOs staff, and Health staff and school teachers data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and hypotheses were tested using Pearson Chi-square test through SPSS computer statistical package. The study revealed that despite the challenges facing NGOs operations in the study area, NGOs rendered services in the areas of health and education This research recommends among others that, both government and people should be more cooperative to NGOs to enable them provide more efficient and effective services. Governments at all levels should be more dedicated to increasing accessibility and affordability of basic education and reproductive health care facilities and services in Bauchi state through committing more resources to the Health and Education sectors, this would support and facilitate the complementary role of NGOs in providing teaching facilities, drugs, and other reproductive health services in the States. More enlightenment campaigns should be carried out by governments to sensitize the public, particularly women on the need to embrace immunization programmes for their children and antenatal care services being provided by both the government and NGOs.

Keywords: access to education, human development, NGOs, reproductive health

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Authors: Namrata Khatri

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The rapid growth of cities is transforming the urban environment and posing significant challenges for environmental quality. This study examines the urban environment of Belagavi in Karnataka, India, using geostatistical methods to assess the spatial pattern and land use distribution of the city and to evaluate the quality of the urban environment. The study is driven by the necessity to assess the environmental impact of urbanisation. Satellite data was utilised to derive information on land use and land cover. The investigation revealed that land use had changed significantly over time, with a drop in plant cover and an increase in built-up areas. High-resolution satellite data was also utilised to map the city's open areas and gardens. GIS-based research was used to assess public green space accessibility and to identify regions with inadequate waste management practises. The findings revealed that garbage collection and disposal techniques in specific areas of the city needed to be improved. Moreover, the study evaluated the city's thermal environment using Landsat 8 land surface temperature (LST) data. The investigation found that built-up regions had higher LST values than green areas, pointing to the city's urban heat island (UHI) impact. The study's conclusions have far-reaching ramifications for urban planners and politicians in Belgaum and other similar cities. The findings may be utilised to create sustainable urban planning strategies that address the environmental effect of urbanisation while also improving the quality of life for city dwellers. Satellite data and high-resolution satellite pictures were gathered for the study, and remote sensing and GIS tools were utilised to process and analyse the data. Ground truthing surveys were also carried out to confirm the accuracy of the remote sensing and GIS-based data. Overall, this study provides a complete assessment of Belgaum's environmental quality and emphasizes the potential of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) approaches in environmental assessment and management.

Keywords: environmental quality, UEQ, remote sensing, GIS

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Authors: Asis Kumar Khan, Rajeev Kumar Goel

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Recent infrastructure growth all around the world lead to increase in demand for concrete day by day. Cement being binding material for concrete the usage of cement also gone up significantly. Cement manufacturing utilizes abundant natural resources and causes environment pollution by releasing a huge quantity of CO₂ into the atmosphere. So, it is high time to look for alternates to reduce the cement consumption in concrete. Geopolymer concrete is one such material which utilizes the industrial waste such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag and low-cost alkaline liquids such as sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate to produce the concrete. On the other side, river sand is becoming very expensive due to its large-scale depletion at source and the high cost of transportation. In this view, river sand is replaced by crushed sand in this study. In this work, an attempt has been made to understand the durability parameters of geopolymer concrete by partially replacing fly ash with cement. Fly ash is replaced by cement at various levels e.g., from 0 to 50%. Concrete cubes of 100x100x100mm were used for investigating different durability parameters. The various parameters studied includes compressive strength, split tensile strength, drying shrinkage, sodium sulphate attack resistance, sulphuric acid attack resistance and chloride permeability. Highest compressive strength & highest split tensile strength is observed in 30% replacement level. Least drying is observed with 30% replacement level. Very good resistance for sulphuric acid & sodium sulphate is found with 30% replacement. However, it was not possible to find out the chloride permeability due to the high conductivity of geopolymer samples of all replacement levels.

Keywords: crushed sand, compressive strength, drying shrinkage, geopolymer concrete, split tensile strength, sodium sulphate attack resistance, sulphuric acid attack resistance

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Authors: Chew Zhao Hong

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Since the transition of power in 2018, the Malaysian political landscape has experienced substantial shifts and complexities. The decline of the longstanding ruling party, United Malays National Organization (UMNO), following the party rotation, has given rise to splinter parties such as the Indigenous Unity Party (Bersatu), along with the enduring presence of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in the northern region of the Malay Peninsula. However, the "Sheraton Move" in 2020 led to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government and the emergence of Perikatan Nasional, signifying the ascent of a third political force. The 2022 general elections marked Malaysia's entry into a hung parliament, culminating in an intricate negotiation that resulted in a coalition government formed by Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, and the Sarawak parties alliance (GPS), collectively governing the Malaysian federal administration. During the 2023 state elections, Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional formed an unprecedented alliance, yet the media framing benefited Perikatan Nasional, even securing substantial support from UMNO's traditional constituencies. In the era of converging new media, Malaysia’s democratization faces new challenges: first, political leaders leveraging media to cultivate unfiltered personas risk inducing populism; second, under the influence of agenda-setting and two-step flow theories, media contributes to polarization; lastly, Malaysia's multi-party system is no longer effectively moderate extreme ideologies into the political center. This study examines the role of media framing and its impact on the democratization process within Malaysia's consociational democracy under a multi-party system and analyzes media discourse before and after the 2023 Malaysian state elections to explore how different parties shape public opinion and political discourse, and how political messages may be amplified or distorted in the process.

Keywords: multi-party system, democratization, elections, political polarization, Malaysia, media framing

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Authors: Jean-Jacques Randrianarimanana, Nassim Sebaibi, Mohamed Boutouil

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In order to solve problems associated with stormwater runoff in urban areas and their effects on natural and artificial water bodies, the integration of new technical solutions to the rainwater drainage becomes even more essential. Permeable pavement systems are one of the most widely used techniques. This paper presents a laboratory analysis of stormwater runoff hydraulic and pollutant removal performance of permeable pavement system using pervious pavements based on seashell products. The laboratory prototype is a square column of 25 cm of side and consists of the surface in pervious concrete, a bedding of 3 cm in height, a geotextile and a subbase layer of 50 cm in height. A series of constant simulated rain events using semi-synthetic runoff which varied in intensity and duration were carried out. The initial vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity of the entire pervious pavement system was 0.25 cm/s (148 L/m²/min). The hydraulic functioning was influenced by both the inlet flow rate value and the test duration. The total water losses including evaporation ranged between 9% to 20% for all hydraulic experiments. The temporal and vertical variability of the pollutant removal efficiency (PRE) of the system were studied for total suspended solids (TSS). The results showed that the PRE along the vertical profile was influenced by the size of the suspended solids, and the pervious paver has the highest capacity to trap pollutant than the other porous layers of the permeable pavement system after the geotextile. The TSS removal efficiency was about 80% for the entire system. The first-flush effect of TSS was observed, but it appeared only at the beginning (2 to 6 min) of the experiments. It has been shown that the PPS can capture first-flush. The project in which this study is integrated aims to contribute to both the valorization of shellfish waste and the sustainable management of rainwater.

Keywords: hydraulic, pervious concrete, pollutant removal efficiency, seashell by-products, stormwater runoff

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Authors: Marius Gavrilescu, Sabina-Adriana Floria, Florin Leon, Silvia Curteanu, Costel Anton

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Natural sciences provide a wide range of experimental data whose related problems require study and modeling beyond the capabilities of conventional methodologies. Such problems have solution spaces whose complexity and high dimensionality require correspondingly complex regression methods for proper characterization. In this context, we propose an optimization method which consists in a hybrid dual optimizer setup: a global optimizer based on a modified variant of the popular Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA), and a local optimizer based on a gradient descent approach. The ICA is modified such that intermediate solution populations are more quickly and efficiently pruned of low-fitness individuals by appropriately altering the assimilation, revolution and competition phases, which, combined with an initialization strategy based on low-discrepancy sampling, allows for a more effective exploration of the corresponding solution space. Subsequently, gradient-based optimization is used locally to seek the optimal solution in the neighborhoods of the solutions found through the modified ICA. We use this combined approach to find the optimal configuration and weights of a fully-connected neural network, resulting in regression models used to characterize the process of obtained bricks using silicon-based materials. Installations in the raw ceramics industry, i.e., bricks, are characterized by significant energy consumption and large quantities of emissions. Thus, the purpose of our approach is to determine by simulation the working conditions, including the manufacturing mix recipe with the addition of different materials, to minimize the emissions represented by CO and CH4. Our approach determines regression models which perform significantly better than those found using the traditional ICA for the aforementioned problem, resulting in better convergence and a substantially lower error.

Keywords: optimization, biologically inspired algorithm, regression models, bricks, emissions

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Authors: Jemal Ebrahim Dessie, Lukács Zsolt

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High-strength aluminum alloys have drawn a lot of attention because of the expanding demand for lightweight vehicle design in the automotive sector. Due to poor formability at room temperature, warm and hot forming have been advised. However, warm and hot forming methods need more steps in the production process and an advanced tooling system. In contrast, since ordinary tools can be used, forming sheets at room temperature in the W temper condition is advantageous. However, springback of supersaturated sheets and their thinning are critical challenges and must be resolved during the use of this technique. In this study, AA6082-T6 aluminum alloy was solution heat treated at different oven temperatures and times using a specially designed and developed furnace in order to optimize the W-temper heat treatment temperature. A U-shaped bending test was carried out at different time periods between W-temper heat treatment and forming operation. Finite element analysis (FEA) of U-bending was conducted using AutoForm aiming to validate the experimental result. The uniaxial tensile and unload test was performed in order to determine the kinematic hardening behavior of the material and has been optimized in the Finite element code using systematic process improvement (SPI). In the simulation, the effect of friction coefficient & blank holder force was considered. Springback parameters were evaluated by the geometry adopted from the NUMISHEET ’93 benchmark problem. It is noted that the change of shape was higher at the more extended time periods between W-temper heat treatment and forming operation. Die radius was the most influential parameter at the flange springback. However, the change of shape shows an overall increasing tendency on the sidewall as the increase of radius of the punch than the radius of the die. The springback angles on the flange and sidewall seem to be highly influenced by the coefficient of friction than blank holding force, and the effect becomes increases as increasing the blank holding force.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, FEA, springback, SPI, U-bending, W-temper

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Authors: Hacer Sule Gonul, Vedat Uyak

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Intensive use of pesticides in agricultural activity causes mixing of these compounds into water sources with surface flow. Especially after the 1970s, a number of limitations imposed on the use of chlorinated pesticides that have a carcinogenic risk potential and regulatory limit have been established. These chlorinated pesticides discharge to water resources, transport in the water and land environment and accumulation in the human body through the food chain raises serious health concerns. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted considerable attention from on all because of their excellent mechanical, electrical, and environmental characteristics. Due to CNT particles' high degree of hydrophobic surfaces, these nanoparticles play critical role in the removal of water contaminants of natural organic matters, pesticides and phenolic compounds in water sources. Health concerns associated with chlorinated pesticides requires the removal of such contaminants from aquatic environment. Although the use of aldrin and atrazine was restricted in our country, repatriation of illegal entry and widespread use of such chemicals in agricultural areas cause increases for the concentration of these chemicals in the water supply. In this study, the compounds of chlorinated pesticides such as aldrin and atrazine compounds would be tried to eliminate from drinking water with carbon nanotube adsorption method. Within this study, 2 different types of CNT would be used including single-wall (SWCNT) and multi-wall (MWCNT) carbon nanotubes. Adsorption isotherms within the scope of work, the parameters affecting the adsorption of chlorinated pesticides in water are considered as pH, contact time, CNT type, CNT dose and initial concentration of pesticides. As a result, under conditions of neutral pH conditions with MWCNT respectively for atrazine and aldrin obtained adsorption capacity of determined as 2.24 µg/mg ve 3.84 µg/mg. On the other hand, the determined adsorption capacity rates for SWCNT for aldrin and atrazine has identified as 3.91 µg/mg ve 3.92 µg/mg. After all, each type of pesticide that provides superior performance in relieving SWCNT particles has emerged.

Keywords: pesticide, drinking water, carbon nanotube, adsorption

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Authors: Yanghui Xu, Qin Ou, Xintu Wang, Feng Hou, Peng Li, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Gang Liu

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The level and removal of microplastics (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been well evaluated by the particle number, while the mass concentration of MPs and especially nanoplastics (NPs) remains unclear. In this study, microfiltration, ultrafiltration and hydrogen peroxide digestion were used to extract MPs and NPs with different size ranges (0.01−1, 1−50, and 50−1000 μm) across the whole treatment schemes in two WWTPs. By identifying specific pyrolysis products, pyrolysis gas chromatography−mass spectrometry were used to quantify their mass concentrations of selected six types of polymers (i.e., polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyamide (PA)). The mass concentrations of total MPs and NPs decreased from 26.23 and 11.28 μg/L in the influent to 1.75 and 0.71 μg/L in the effluent, with removal rates of 93.3 and 93.7% in plants A and B, respectively. Among them, PP, PET and PE were the dominant polymer types in wastewater, while PMMA, PS and PA only accounted for a small part. The mass concentrations of NPs (0.01−1 μm) were much lower than those of MPs (>1 μm), accounting for 12.0−17.9 and 5.6− 19.5% of the total MPs and NPs, respectively. Notably, the removal efficiency differed with the polymer type and size range. The low-density MPs (e.g., PP and PE) had lower removal efficiency than high-density PET in both plants. Since particles with smaller size could pass the tertiary sand filter or membrane filter more easily, the removal efficiency of NPs was lower than that of MPs with larger particle size. Based on annual wastewater effluent discharge, it is estimated that about 0.321 and 0.052 tons of MPs and NPs were released into the river each year. Overall, this study investigated the mass concentration of MPs and NPs with a wide size range of 0.01−1000 μm in wastewater, which provided valuable information regarding the pollution level and distribution characteristics of MPs, especially NPs, in WWTPs. However, there are limitations and uncertainties in the current study, especially regarding the sample collection and MP/NP detection. The used plastic items (e.g., sampling buckets, ultrafiltration membranes, centrifugal tubes, and pipette tips) may introduce potential contamination. Additionally, the proposed method caused loss of MPs, especially NPs, which can lead to underestimation of MPs/NPs. Further studies are recommended to address these challenges about MPs/NPs in wastewater.

Keywords: microplastics, nanoplastics, mass concentration, WWTPs, Py-GC/MS

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Authors: Hatice Torcu Koc, Zeliha Erdogan

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This study presented the investigation of the population structure of Upeneus moluccensis in order to provide further knowledge and to compare the data with the studies before and thus help in the management of the population in the İskenderun Bay. For this purpose, a total of 370 golden-banded goatfish were caught by a commercial vessel monthly at a depth of 50-60 m. from İskenderun Bay in the years 2016-2018. Von Bertalanffy growth equation,length-weight relationships, sex ratio, age, condition, and gonado and hepato-somatic index values of U.peneus moluccensis specimens were determined. For this, the lengths and weights were measured using a dial caliper of 0.05 mm and a sensitive balance. Total lengths were 7.2–17.5 cm in females and 7.0–17.9 cm in males, while total weight ranges for females and males were 3.91-64.26 g and 3.69-60.95 g., respectively. Length-weight relationship for all individuals was calculated as W=0.004*L³ ³⁸, R²=0.85. Growth parameter was determined as L∞= 20.75 cm, k=0.33, t₀= - 0.56. The age readings were done by using the Bhattacharya method. The population was composed of 3 ages (1-3). The sex ratio was found as 1:1.42, corresponding to 41.4% males and 58.6% females, in favor of females (p<0.05). Values of the average condition and hepatosomatic index were found to be shown a similar pattern for males (1.088, 1.104) and females (1.124, 1.177), respectively. According to GSI values, the spawning period started in March and increased to April, May, and September. It was estimated that total (Z) mortality, natural (M) mortality, and fishing (F) mortality rates were estimated as Z=0.94 year-¹, M=0.033 year-¹, and F=0.63 year-¹, respectively. As the exploitation rate was estimated to be E=0.67, it can be shown that the golden-banded goatfish stock was influenced by overfishing. The findings of this study are very important to point out the population of U. moluccensis, which penetrated into the eastern Mediterranean Sea of Türkiye due to global heating and the construction of the Suez Canal and to be basic data for the next fisheries investigations.

Keywords: biology, U. moluccensis, invasive, lessepsian, İskenderun Bay

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Authors: Talaat Ahmed, Amna Babssail

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Mangroves are evergreen trees and grow along the coastal areas of Qatar. The largest and oldest area of mangroves can be found around Al-Thakhira and Al-Khor. Other mangrove areas originate from fairly recent plantings by the government, although unfortunately the picturesque mangrove lake in Al-Wakra has now been uprooted. Avicinnia marina is the predominant mangrove species found in the region. Mangroves protect and stabilize low lying coastal land, and provide protection and food sources for estuarine and coastal fishery food chains. They also serve as feeding, breeding and nursery grounds for a variety of fish, crustaceans, reptiles, birds and other wildlife. A total of 21 individuals of A. marina, representing seven diverse Natural and artificial populations, were sampled throughout its range in Qatar. Leaves from 2-3 randomly selected trees at each location were collected. The locations are as follows: Al-Rawis, Ras-Madpak, Fuwairt, Summaseima, Al-khour, AL-Mafjar and Zekreet. Total genomic DNA was extracted using commercial DNeasy Plant System (Qiagen, Inc., Valencia, CA) kit to be used for genetic diversity analysis. Total of 12 (Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat) ISSR primers were used to amplify DNA fragments using genomic DNA. The 12 ISSR primers amplified polymorphic bands among mangrove samples in different areas as well as within each area indicating the existing of variation within each area and among the different areas of mangrove in Qatar. The results could characterize Avicinnia marina populations exist in different areas of Qatar and establish DNA fingerprint documentations for mangrove population to be used in further studies. Moreover, existing of genetic variation within and among Avicinnia marina populations is a strong indication for the ability of such populations to adapt different environmental conditions in Qatar. This study could be a warning to save mangrove in Qatar and save the environment as well.

Keywords: DNA fingerprint, Avicinnia marina, genetic analysis, Qatar

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: Niharul Alam

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The development of energy efficient, economic and eco-friendly synthetic protocols for metal nanoparticles (NPs) with tailor-made structural properties and biocompatibility is a highly cherished goal for researchers working in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this context, green chemistry is highly relevant and the 12 principles of Green Chemistry can be explored to develop such synthetic protocols which are practically implementable. One of the most promising green chemical synthetic methods which can serve the purpose is biogenic synthetic protocol, which utilizes non-toxic multifunctional reactants derived from natural, biological sources ranging from unicellular organisms to higher plants that are often characterized as “medicinal plants”. Over the past few years, a plethora of medicinal plants have been explored as the source of this kind of multifunctional green chemical agents. In this presentation, we focus on the syntheses of stable monometallic Au and Ag NPs and also bimetallic Au/Ag alloy NPs with highly efficient catalytic property using aqueous extract of leaves of Indian Curry leaf plat (Murraya koenigii Spreng.; Fam. Rutaceae) as green multifunctional agents which is extensively used in Indian traditional medicine and cuisine. We have also studied the interaction between the synthesized metal NPs and surface-adsorbed fluorescent moieties, quercetin and quercetin glycoside which are its chemical constituents. This helped us to understand the surface property of the metal NPs synthesized by this plant based biogenic route and to predict a plausible mechanistic pathway which may help in fine-tuning green chemical methods for the controlled synthesis of various metal NPs in future. We observed that simple experimental parameters e.g. pH and temperature of the reaction medium, concentration of multifunctional agent and precursor metal ions play important role in the biogenic synthesis of Au NPs with finely tuned structures.

Keywords: green multifunctional agent, metal nanoparticles, biogenic synthesis

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Authors: Wicleffe Musingarimi

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Currently, the rising energy demand as a result of an increase in the world’s population and the sustainable use of abundant natural resources are key issues facing many developed and developing countries including South Africa. Most of the energy to meet this growing demand comes from fossil fuel. Use of fossil fuels has led to environmental problems such air pollution, climate change, and acid rain. In addition, fossil fuels are facing continual depletion, which has led to the rise in oil prices, leading to the global economies melt down. Hence development of alternative clean and renewable energy source is a global priority. Renewable biomass from forest products, agricultural crops, and residues, as well as animal and municipal waste are promising alternatives. South Africa is one of the leading wine producers in the world; leading to a lot of winery waste (ww) being produced which can be used in anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce biogas. Biogas was produced from batch anaerobic digestion of zebra manure (zm) and batch anaerobic co-digestion of winery waste (ww) and zebra manure through water displacement. The batch digester with slurry of winery waste and zebra manure in the weight ratio of 1:2 was operated in a 1L container at 37°C for 30days. Co-digestion of winery waste and zebra manure produced higher amount of biogas as compared to zebra manure alone and winery waste alone. No biogas was produced by batch anaerobic digestion of winery waste alone. Chemical analysis of C/N ratio and total solids (TS) of zebra manure was 21.89 and 25.2 respectively. These values of C/N ratio and TS were quite high compared to values of other studied manures. Zebra manure also revealed unusually high concentration of Fe reaching 3600pm compared to other studies of manure. PCR with communal DNA of the digestate gave a positive hit for the presence of archaea species using standard archea primers; suggesting the presence of methanogens. Methanogens are key microbes in the production of biogas. Therefore, this study demonstrated the potential of zebra manure as an inoculum in the production of biogas.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas, co-digestion, methanogens

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Constantinos Adamides, Petros Petrikkos

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In the era of growing hybrid threats, small states find themselves in need to re-evaluate existing foreign and defense policies. The pressure to establishing or maintain a status of a reliable partner in the community in which they belong to, vis-à-vis their multilateral relations with other organisations and entities, small states may need to shift their policies in the field to accommodate security needs that are not only pertinent to their security, but also to that of the organisations (bloc) in which they interact. Unlike potential shortcomings in a small state’s mainstream security and defence framework where the threat would be limited to the state itself, in more contemporary times with dominating hybrid threats, the small states’ security shortcomings may also become a security problem for the bloc in which these states belong to. An indicative example is small states like Cyprus and Malta, which belong and 'interact' in the European Union. As a result, the nature of hybrid threats can be utilised to hurt bigger states in a bloc by exploiting the small states’ vulnerabilities and security gaps. Inevitably, both the defensive and foreign policy collaborations of small states with bigger states have been and are constantly re-evaluated to tackle and prevent such problems. In essence, the goal of this ‘re-evaluation’ aims to achieve a twofold goal: The first is the small states’ quest to appear as a reliable partner within the bloc, while the second is to avoid being the weakest security link in the bloc’s defence against hybrid threats. Indeed, the hybrid arena is a security area where they can excel in the bloc, despite the potential and expected conventional military deficiencies. This new environment prompts us to think security from the perspective of small states differently and in relation to their role as members or big organisations. The paper focuses on the case of Cyprus following its accession to the European Union and examines how a country that has had a very focused security orientation –not least due to its ongoing security problems– altered its foreign and defence policies within the European Union to ensure compliance with the rest of the bloc, while at the same time maximizing its role as a security player. Specifically, it examines the methods through which the country shifted its policies as well as the challenges and opportunities that emerged from these security shifts.

Keywords: Cyprus, defence, foreign policy, hybrid threats, ontological security, small states

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: H. Dakhlaoui, D. Ruelland, Y. Tramblay, Z. Bargaoui

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To evaluate the impact of climate change on water resources at the catchment scale, not only future projections of climate are necessary but also robust rainfall-runoff models that are able to be fairly reliable under changing climate conditions. This study aims at assessing the robustness of three conceptual rainfall-runoff models (GR4j, HBV and IHACRES) on five basins in Northern Tunisia under long-term climate variability. Their robustness was evaluated according to a differential split sample test based on a climate classification of the observation period regarding simultaneously precipitation and temperature conditions. The studied catchments are situated in a region where climate change is likely to have significant impacts on runoff and they already suffer from scarcity of water resources. They cover the main hydrographical basins of Northern Tunisia (High Medjerda, Zouaraâ, Ichkeul and Cap bon), which produce the majority of surface water resources in Tunisia. The streamflow regime of the basins can be considered as natural since these basins are located upstream from storage-dams and in areas where withdrawals are negligible. A 30-year common period (1970‒2000) was considered to capture a large spread of hydro-climatic conditions. The calibration was based on the Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) criterion, while the evaluation of model transferability is performed according to the Nash-Suttfliff efficiency criterion and volume error. The three hydrological models were shown to have similar behaviour under climate variability. Models prove a better ability to simulate the runoff pattern when transferred toward wetter periods compared to the case when transferred to drier periods. The limits of transferability are beyond -20% of precipitation and +1.5 °C of temperature in comparison with the calibration period. The deterioration of model robustness could in part be explained by the climate dependency of some parameters.

Keywords: rainfall-runoff modelling, hydro-climate variability, model robustness, uncertainty, Tunisia

Procedia PDF Downloads 285