Search results for: environmental effect

Authors: Mehmet Tahir Dursun, Hilmi Rafet Yüncü

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In social life growing fast, not only people, but also, companies and regions are located in a struggle to provide continuity of life cycles. This struggle brings together an important competitiveness when considering environmental conditions. By emphasizing this point, being able to competitiveness notion comes out as a determiner of the struggle to exist. With the development of technology in tourism industry so as in all branches, it is seen that the companies and regions in different districts are in competitiveness and competitiveness ability is affected in assessing of marketing shares. A condition of competitiveness is to provide sustainability of all structured forms. In addition, environment and sensitiveness of environment are notions affecting directly the competitiveness ability of tourism destinations. It is claimed that providing the sustainability of environment gives competitiveness to tourism destinations. In this study, competitiveness and performances of tourism in Mediterranean countries are going to be compared by examining a variety of indexes related to the sensitiveness of environment. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (T&TCI) (Environmental Sustainability and Natural Resources), Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Ecological Foot Print, Human Development Index (HDI), Climate Risk Index (CRI) will be used in this study. These Index data will be compared with international tourist arrivals, international tourism receives and expenses of per tourist of countries.

Keywords: ecological foot print, environmental performance index, human development index, sustainability, travel and tourism competitiveness index

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Authors: Parisa Toloue Hayat Azar

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Businesses have been playing an important role in the economic growth and social welfare of cities; however, they generally have negative reputations regarding their impact on environmental issues regarding sustainability. However, some believe that by incorporating strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, businesses will be able to solve problems in society, including environmental ones. Besides economic, social and environmental aspects, governance is another essential pillar for creating sustainable communities and cities. Governance plays a key role in the success of sustainable projects or creating long lasting legacies; an example of this can be creating circular supply chain with collaboration between different businesses, which in the end results in positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for everyone. Governance is a very important parameter in creating the legacy of low carbon and environmentally friendly city due to the fact that, besides building energy efficient buildings and infrastructure, citizens who are also part of the success of this system should know about how to behave and collaborate with others to make the system work. By deploying the philosophy of cultural historical activity theory, this paper explains how influential businesses have been and can be still used as a mediating tool for governance purposes, and succeed in creating shared value and lasting legacy within society.

Keywords: business, governance, CSR, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: G. Petruzzelli, F. Pedron, M. Grifoni, M. Barbafieri, I. Rosellini, B. Pezzarossa

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As a result of diverse industrial activities, pollution from numerous contaminant affects both groundwater and soils. Many contaminated sites have been discovered in industrialized countries and their remediation is a priority in environmental legislations. The aim of this paper is to provide the evolution of remediation from consolidated invasive technologies to environmental friendly green strategies. Many clean-up technologies have been used. Nowadays the technologies selection is no longer exclusively based on eliminating the source of pollution, but the aim of remediation includes also the recovery of soil quality. “Green remediation”, a strategy based on “soft technologies”, appears the key to tackle the issue of remediation of contaminated sites with the greatest attention to environmental quality, including the preservation of soil functionality.

Keywords: bioremediation, Green Remediation, phytoremediation, remediation technologies, soil

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Authors: L. Heidari, M. Jalili Ghazizade

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This paper aims to determine the best environmental and economic scenario for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management of the Maku city by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The functional elements of this study are collection, transportation, and disposal of MSW in Maku city. Waste composition and density, as two key parameters of MSW, have been determined by field sampling, and then, the other important specifications of MSW like chemical formula, thermal energy and water content were calculated. These data beside other information related to collection and disposal facilities are used as a reliable source of data to assess the environmental impacts of different waste management options, including landfills, composting, recycling and energy recovery. The environmental impact of MSW management options has been investigated in 15 different scenarios by Integrated Waste Management (IWM) software. The photochemical smog, greenhouse gases, acid gases, toxic emissions, and energy consumption of each scenario are measured. Then, the environmental indices of each scenario are specified by weighting these parameters. Economic costs of scenarios have been also compared with each other based on literature. As final result, since the organic materials make more than 80% of the waste, compost can be a suitable method. Although the major part of the remaining 20% of waste can be recycled, due to the high cost of necessary equipment, the landfill option has been suggested. Therefore, the scenario with 80% composting and 20% landfilling is selected as superior environmental and economic scenario. This study shows that, to select a scenario with practical applications, simultaneously environmental and economic aspects of different scenarios must be considered.

Keywords: IWM software, life cycle assessment, Maku, municipal solid waste management

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Authors: Abdulrahman A. Bahaddad, Mohammed Beshir

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The objective of this paper is to demonstrate and describe eight different types of power generation technologies and to understand the history and future trends of each technology. In addition, a comparative analysis between these technologies will be presented with respect to their cost analysis and associated performance.

Keywords: conventional power generation, economic analysis, environmental impact, renewable energy power generation

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Authors: Jamel Boukhatem, Mouldi Djelassi

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Contrary to the existing literature generally focusing on the role played by Sukuk in enhancing investors' and shareholders' wealth, this paper sheds some light on the Sukuk wealth effect across all economic agents: households, government, and investors by implementing a two-period life-cycle model with overlapping generations to show whether Sukuk is net wealth. The main findings are threefold: i) the effect of a change in Sukuk issuances on the consumers’ utility level will be different from one generation to another, ii) an increase in taxes due to the increase in Sukuk and rents is covered by transfers made by the members of generation 1 in the form of inheritance, and iii) the existence of a positive relationship between the asset prices representative of Sukuk and the real activity.

Keywords: Sukuk, households, investors, overlapping generations model, wealth, modeling

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Authors: Thaline Maira P. Cruz, Debora B. Moretti, Wiolene M. Nordi, José Eurico P. Cyrino, Raul Machado-Neto

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lyophilized bovine colostrum (LBC) used as partial source of dietary protein on the histological characteristics of the intestinal epithelium of juvenile dourado (Salminus brasiliensis). Juveniles were fed with diets containing 0, 10 or 20% of lyophilized bovine colostrum (LBC) inclusion for either 30 or 60 days. For the histological study, the intestine was divided into three segments, S1, S2 and posterior intestine. In the S1 segment, interaction between treatment and period was observed in the number of goblet cells containing sialomucin, effect of treatment in the total number of goblet cells and effect of period in the number of goblet cells containing sulphomucins (P<0.05). In the S2 segment, effect of period was observed in the number of goblet cells containing acid, neutral and total mucins, sialomucins and Vv (P<0.05). In the posterior intestine, effect of period was observed in the thickness of muscle layer and number of goblet cells containing sialomucins and sulphomucins (P<0.05). Considering the aspects studied, the presence of lyophilized bovine colostrum in the diet did not significantly influence the enteric histological characteristics of juvenile dourado during the period of the study.

Keywords: carnivorous fish, goblet cells, mucins, teleost

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Authors: Olumuyiwa I. Ojo, Kola Amao, Josiah A. Adeyemo, Fred A. O. Otieno

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A study was carried out to assess the environmental impact of Kampe (Omi) irrigation scheme with respect to public health hazards, the rising water table, salinity and alkalinity problems on the project site. A structured questionnaire was used as the main tool to gather information on the effect of the irrigation project on the various communities around the project site. The different sections of the questionnaire enabled the gathering of information ranging from general to more specific information. The results obtained from the study showed that the two effects are obvious: the 'positive effects' which include increasing the socioeconomic development of the entire communities, resulting in an increase in employment opportunities and better lifestyle and the 'negative effects' in which malaria (100% occurrence) and schistosomiasis (66.7%) were found to be active diseases caused by irrigation activities. Increase in height of water table and salinity is eminent in the irrigation site unless adequate drainage is provided. The collection and experimental analyses of representation soil and water samples from each scheme were used to assess the current status of each receptor. Results obtained indicate the absence of soil with sodium adsorption ration (SAR) values ranging from 3.0 to 3.89, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) ranged from 3.8% to 5.5% while pH values ranged from 6.60 to 7.00. Drainage facilities of the project site are inadequate, therefore making it difficult to leach the soil and flood history is occasional.

Keywords: irrigation, impact, soil analysis, Nigeria

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Authors: A. Al-Rifaie, Z. W. Guan, S. W. Jones

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This paper presents a method for modelling and analysing end plate beam-to-column connections to obtain the quasi-static behaviour using non-linear dynamic explicit integration. In addition to its importance to study the static behaviour of a structural member, quasi-static behaviour is largely needed to be compared with the dynamic behaviour of such members in order to investigate the dynamic effect by proposing dynamic increase factors (DIFs). The beam-to-column bolted connections contain various contact surfaces at which the implicit procedure may have difficulties converging, resulting in a large number of iterations. Contrary, explicit procedure could deal effectively with complex contacts without converging problems. Hence, finite element modelling using ABAQUS/explicit is used in this study to address the dynamic effect may be produced using explicit procedure. Also, the effect of loading rate and mass scaling are discussed to investigate their effect on the time of analysis. The results show that the explicit procedure is valuable to model the end plate beam-to-column connections in terms of failure mode, load-displacement relationships. Also, it is concluded that loading rate and mass scaling should be carefully selected to avoid the dynamic effect in the solution.

Keywords: quasi-static, end plate, finite elements, connections

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Authors: Yuri Teraoka, Cheerawit Rattanapan, Aroonsri Mongkolchati

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This cross sectional analytic study was carried out to determine factors related to protective behavior on indoor pollution among pregnant women in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. A total of 319 pregnant women were enrolled at three antenatal care clinics in community hospital. Data were collected using simple random sampling from April 2015 to May 2015 using a structured self-administration questionnaire by well-trained research assistants. The result showed that around 73% pregnant women showed low level of low protective behavior on indoor pollution. Chi-square and multiple logistic regression were used to examine the factors and protective behavior on indoor pollution. After adjusting for confounding factors, this study found that tobacco smoking before pregnancy (AOR=2.15, 95% CI: 0.78-5.95) and low environmental health hazard (AOR=1.94, 95% CI: 1.09-3.49) were significant factors related to protective behavior on indoor pollution among pregnant women (p-value < 0.05). In conclusion, this study suggested that environmental health education campaign and environmental implementation program among pregnant woman are needed.

Keywords: Thailand, environmental health, protective behavior, pregnant women

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Authors: Tahmineh Hasanzadeh, Afshin Farahbakhsh

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There is some report about the hypoglycemic effect of Juglans rejia L. leaf in alloxan induced diabetic rats and hypoglycemic effect of its fruit peel administered intraperitoneally.In Iranian traditional medicine, septum of walnut shell (SWS) was recommended to reduce blood glucose. For this purpose, 41 male bulb/C mice 25-30 gm were divided into five groups. All the animals received IP injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (220 mg/kg). Two weeks later, the diabetic animals were received daily oral treatment of normal saline and aqueous extract of SWS (200, 400, 600 and 800 mg/kg) respectively for four weeks. Blood samples were taken from retro orbital sinus before the start of the experiment and repeated each two weeks. At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed and the pancreatic tissues were fixed, prepared and stained by Hematoxylin-Eosin for light microscope studies. The results showed that in each group, the SWS extract reduced blood glucose in a long time (p < 0.05). metabolic extract in STZ- induced diabetic rats, which was accompanied by the hypoglycemic effect of leaf extract. However, this effect should be determined with scientific researches. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the aqueous extract of SWS on blood glucose and histopathological structure of pancreas.

Keywords: septum of walnut, blood glucose, pancreas, diabetes, walnut leaf, walnut peel, insulin

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Authors: S. Wisutmethangoon, S. Pannaray, T. Plookphol, J. Wannasin

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2024 Aluminium alloy was squeezed cast by the Gas Induced Semi Solid (GISS) process. Effect of artificial aging on microstructure and mechanical properties of this alloy was studied in the present work. The solutionized specimens were aged hardened at temperatures of 175°C, 200°C, and 225°C under various time durations. The highest hardness of about 77.7 HRE was attained from specimen aged at the temperature of 175 °C for 36 h. Upon investigation the microstructure by using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), the phase was mainly attributed to the strengthening effect in the aged alloy. The apparent activation energy for precipitation hardening of the alloy was calculated as 133,805 J/mol.

Keywords: 2024 aluminium alloy, gas induced semi solid, T6 heat treatment, aged hardening, transmission electron microscopy

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Authors: Ashit Syngle, Nidhi Garg, Pawan Krishan

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Background: Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) are depleted and contribute to increased cardiovascular (CV) risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Statins exert a protective effect in CAD partly by promoting EPC mobilization. This vasculoprotective effect of statin has not yet been investigated in RA. We aimed to investigate the effect of rosuvastatin on EPCs in RA. Methods: 50 RA patients were randomized to receive 6 months of treatment with rosuvastatin (10 mg/day, n=25) and placebo (n=25) as an adjunct to existing stable antirheumatic drugs. EPCs (CD34+/CD133+) were quantified by Flow Cytometry. Inflammatory measures included DAS28, CRP and ESR were measured at baseline and after treatment. Lipids and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1) were estimated at baseline and after treatment. Results: At baseline, inflammatory measures and pro-inflammatory cytokines were elevated and EPCs depleted among both groups. At baseline, EPCs inversely correlated with DAS28 and TNF-α in both groups. EPCs increased significantly (p < 0.01) after treatment with rosuvastatin but did not show significant change with placebo. Rosuvastatin exerted positive effect on lipid spectrum: lowering total cholesterol, LDL, non HDL and elevation of HDL as compared with placebo. At 6 months, DAS28, ESR, CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 improved significantly in rosuvastatin group. Significant negative correlation was observed between EPCs and DAS28, CRP, TNF-α, and IL-6 after treatment with rosuvastatin. Conclusion: First study to show that rosuvastatin improves inflammation and EPC biology in RA possibly through its anti-inflammatory and lipid lowering effect. This beneficial effect of rosuvastatin may provide a novel strategy to prevent cardiovascular events in RA.

Keywords: RA, Endothelial Progenitor Cells, rosuvastatin, cytokines

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Authors: Ali Mohammed Yimer, Ayalew Assen, Youssef Belmabkhout

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Environmental remediation is a pressing global concern, necessitating innovative strategies to address the challenges posed by industrial waste and pollution. This study aims to advance environmental remediation by developing cutting-edge functional porous materials from phosphorite residue tailings. Phosphorite mining activities generate vast amounts of waste, which pose significant environmental risks due to their contaminants. The proposed approach involved transforming these phosphorite residue tailings into valuable porous materials through a series of physico-chemical processes including milling, acid-base leaching, designing or templating as well as formation processes. The key components of the tailings were extracted and processed to produce porous arrays with high surface area and porosity. These materials were engineered to possess specific properties suitable for environmental remediation applications, such as enhanced adsorption capacity and selectivity for target contaminants. The synthesized porous materials were thoroughly characterized using advanced analytical techniques (XRD, SEM-EDX, N2 sorption, TGA, FTIR) to assess their structural, morphological, and chemical properties. The performance of the materials in removing various pollutants, including heavy metals and organic compounds, were evaluated through batch adsorption experiments. Additionally, the potential for material regeneration and reusability was investigated to enhance the sustainability of the proposed remediation approach. The outdoors of this research holds significant promise for addressing the environmental challenges associated with phosphorite residue tailings. By valorizing these waste materials into porous materials with exceptional remediation capabilities, this study contributes to the development of sustainable and cost-effective solutions for environmental cleanup. Furthermore, the utilization of phosphorite residue tailings in this manner offers a potential avenue for the remediation of other contaminated sites, thereby fostering a circular economy approach to waste management.

Keywords: functional porous materials, phosphorite residue tailings, adsorption, environmental remediation, sustainable solutions

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Authors: Muhammad Bahrul Ilmi

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of Islamic financing and work relation founding simultaneously and partially towards non-performing financing in Islamic banks. This research was regression quantitative field research, and had been done in Muammalat Indonesia Bank and Islamic Danamon Bank in 3 months. The populations of this research were 15 account officers of Muammalat Indonesia Bank and Islamic Danamon Bank in Surakarta, Indonesia. The techniques of collecting data used in this research were documentation, questionnaire, literary study and interview. Regression analysis result shows that Islamic financing and work relation founding simultaneously has positive and significant effect towards non performing financing of two Islamic Banks. It is obtained with probability value 0.003 which is less than 0.05 and F value 9.584. The analysis result of Islamic financing regression towards non performing financing shows the significant effect. It is supported by double linear regression analysis with probability value 0.001 which is less than 0.05. The regression analysis of work relation founding effect towards non-performing financing shows insignificant effect. This is shown in the double linear regression analysis with probability value 0.161 which is bigger than 0.05.

Keywords: Syariah financing, work relation founding, non-performing financing (NPF), Islamic Bank

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Authors: Sobhy Fathy A. Hashesh

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This study aimed at investigating the effect of Andalus Knowledge Phases and Times (ANPT) model of learning and the effect of 'Intel Education Contribution in ANPT' on the development of students’ academic performance and emotional quotient. The society of the study composed of Andalus Private Schools, elementary school students (N=700), while the sample of the study composed of four randomly assigned groups (N=80) with one experimental group and one control group to study "ANPT" effect and the "Intel Contribution in ANPT" effect respectively. The study followed the quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting and analyzing data to answer the study questions. Results of the study revealed that there were significant statistical differences between students’ academic performances and emotional quotients for the favor of the experimental groups. The study recommended applying this model on different educational variables and on other age groups to generate more data leading to more educational results for the favor of students’ learning outcomes.

Keywords: Al Andalus, emotional quotient, students, academic performance development

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Authors: Pamela Del Rosario, Elisabetta Palumbo, Marzia Traverso

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The building sector plays an important role in addressing pressing environmental issues such as climate change and resource scarcity. The energy performance of buildings is considerably affected by the external envelope. In fact, a considerable proportion of the building energy demand is due to energy losses through the windows. Nevertheless, according to literature, to pay attention only to the contribution of windows to the building energy performance, i.e., their influence on energy use during building operation, could result in a partial evaluation. Hence, it is important to consider not only the building energy performance but also the environmental performance of windows, and this not only during the operational stage but along its complete life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006+A1:2018 is one of the most adopted and robust methods to evaluate the environmental performance of products throughout their complete life cycle. This life-cycle based approach avoids the shift of environmental impacts of a life cycle stage to another, allowing to allocate them to the stage in which they originated and to adopt measures that optimize the environmental performance of the product. Moreover, the LCA method is widely implemented in the construction sector to assess whole buildings as well as construction products and materials. LCA is regulated by the European Standards EN 15978:2011, at the building level, and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, at the level of construction products and materials. In this work, the environmental performance of wooden windows was assessed by implementing the LCA method and adopting primary data. More specifically, the emphasis is given to embedded and operational impacts. Furthermore, correlations are made between these environmental impacts and aspects such as type of wood and window transmittance. In the particular case of the operational impacts, special attention is set on the definition of suitable maintenance scenarios that consider the potential climate influence on the environmental impacts. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and expert consultation was carried out. The study underlined the variability of the embedded environmental impacts of wooden windows by considering different wood types and transmittance values. The results also highlighted the need to define appropriate maintenance scenarios for precise assessment results. It was found that both the service life and the window maintenance requirements in terms of treatment and its frequency are highly dependent not only on the wood type and its treatment during the manufacturing process but also on the weather conditions of the place where the window is installed. In particular, it became evident that maintenance-related environmental impacts were the highest for climate regions with the lowest temperatures and the greatest amount of precipitation.

Keywords: embedded impacts, environmental performance, life cycle assessment, LCA, maintenance stage, operational impacts, wooden windows

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Authors: Mehdi Fuladipanah, Mehdi Jorabloo

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Water flow management is one of the most important parts of river engineering. Non-uniformity distribution of rainfall and various flow demand with unreasonable flow management will be caused destroyed of river ecosystem. Then, it is very serious to determine ecosystem flow requirement. In this paper, flow duration curve indices method which has hydrological based was used to evaluate environmental flow in Gharasou River, Ardabil, Iran. Using flow duration curve, Q90 and Q95 for different return periods were calculated. Their magnitude were determined as 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, and 30 day. According the second method, hydraulic alteration indices often had low and medium range. In order to maintain river at an acceptable ecological condition, minimum daily discharge of index Q95 is 0.7 m3.s-1.

Keywords: ardabil, environmental flow, flow duration curve, Gharasou river

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Authors: Wahyu Widodo, Imbang Dwi Rahayu, Adi Sutanto

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The purpose of this research was to analyze the effect of the fermented organic feed to dry matter, ash, organic matter, protein, fat and crude fiber contents of kampong chicken meat. The research had conducted at January until June, 2016. One hundreds chickens were used in this research. Experimental method and completely randomized design were used to support this research. We had 4 treatment namely P0: organic feed without fermentation, P1: Organic feed with fermented rice bran, P2: Organic feed with fermented corn, P3: Organic feed with fermented rice bran and corn with 5 replication. The conclusion was the treatment had not a significant effect in the dry matter, ash, organic matter and protein contents of chicken meat. On the other hand, it had a significant effect in the fat and crude fiber contents of chicken meat.

Keywords: corn, fermented organic feed, nutritive contents, rice bran

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Authors: Ahmed Shaban Abdel Hay Gabr

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Water hyacinth (W-H) has an adverse effect on Nile river in Egypt, it absorbs high quantities of water, it needs to serve these quantities especially at this time, so by burning W-H, it can be used in concrete mix to reduce the permeability of concrete and increase both the compressive and splitting strength. The effect of W-H on non-structural concrete properties was studied, but there is a lack of studies about the behavior of structural concrete containing W-H. Therefore, in the present study, the behavior of 15 RC beams with 100 x 150 mm cross section, 1250 mm span, different reinforcement ratios and different W-H ratios were studied by testing the beams under two-point bending test. The test results showed that Water Hyacinth is compatible with RC which yields promising results.

Keywords: beams, reinforcement ratio, reinforced concrete, water hyacinth

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Authors: Ruixin Zhang, Joel Carboni, Songchenchen Gong

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Since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) officially became the 17 development goals set by the United Nations in 2015, it has become an inevitable trend in project management development globally. Since Sustainability and glob-alization are the main focus and trends in the 21st century, project management contains system-based optimization, and or-ganizational humanities, environmental protection, and economic development. As a populous country globally, with the advanced development of economy and technology, China becomes one of the biggest markets in the wine industry. However, the develop-ment of society also brings specific environmental issues. Climate changes have already brought severe impacts on the Chinese wine market, including consumer behavior, wine production activities, and organizational humanities. Therefore, the implementation of sustainable project management in Chinese wine market is essential. Surveys based analysis is the primary method to interpret how the climate variation effect the Chinese wine market and the importance of sustainable project management implementation for green market growth in China. This paper proposes the CWW Conceptual model that can be used in the wine industry, the new 7 Drivers Model, and SPM Framework to interpret the main drivers that impact project management implementation in the wine industry and to offer the directions to wine companies in China which would help them to achieve the green growth.

Keywords: project management, sustainability, green growth, climate changes, Chinese wine market

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Authors: M. Torres, A. Moulay, M. Zhuldybina, M. Rozel, N. D. Trinh, C. Bois

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Printed electronics are a fast-growing market as their applications cover a large range of industrial needs, their production cost is low, and the additive printing techniques consume less materials than subtractive manufacturing methods used in traditional electronics. With the growing demand for printed electronics, there are concerns about their harmful and irreversible contribution to the environment. Indeed, it is estimated that 80% of the environmental load of a product is determined by the choices made at the conception stage. Therefore, examination through a life cycle approach at the developing stage of a novel product is the best way to identify potential environmental issues and make proactive decisions. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a comprehensive scientific method to assess the environmental impacts of a product in its different stages of life: extraction of raw materials, manufacture and distribution, use, and end-of-life. Impacts and major hotspots are identified and evaluated through a broad range of environmental impact categories of the ReCiPe (H) middle point method. At the conception stage, the LCA is a tool that provides an environmental point of view on the choice of materials and processes and weights-in on the balance between performance materials and eco-friendly materials. Using the life cycle approach, the current work aims to provide a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment of a roll-to-roll hybrid printed smart label designed for the food cold chain. Furthermore, this presentation will present the environmental impact of metallic conductive inks, a comparison with promising conductive polymers, evaluation of energy vs. performance of industrial printing processes, a full assessment of the impact from the smart label applied on a cellulosic-based substrate during the recycling process and the possible recovery of precious metals and rare earth elements.

Keywords: Eco-design, label, life cycle assessment, printed electronics

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Authors: Katsumi Hirata

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Certain systems can function well only if they recognize the sound environment as humans do. In this research, we focus on sound classification by adopting a convolutional neural network and aim to develop a method that automatically classifies various environmental sounds. Although the neural network is a powerful technique, the performance depends on the type of input data. Therefore, we propose an approach via a slice bispectrogram, which is a third-order spectrogram and is a slice version of the amplitude for the short-time bispectrum. This paper explains the slice bispectrogram and discusses the effectiveness of the derived method by evaluating the experimental results using the ESC‑50 sound dataset. As a result, the proposed scheme gives high accuracy and stability. Furthermore, some relationship between the accuracy and non-Gaussianity of sound signals was confirmed.

Keywords: environmental sound, bispectrum, spectrogram, slice bispectrogram, convolutional neural network

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Authors: M. Harir, A. Bendiabdellah, A. Chaouch, N. Benouzza

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This paper deals with the modelling and simulation of the squirrel cage induction motor by taking into account all space harmonic components, as well as the introduction of the bars skew, in the calculation of the linear evolution of the magnetomotive force (MMF) between the slots extremities. The model used is based on multiple coupled circuits and the modified winding function approach (MWFA). The effect of skewing is included in the calculation of motors inductances with an axial asymmetry in the rotor. The simulation results in both time and spectral domains show the effectiveness and merits of the model and the error that may be caused if the skew of the bars is neglected.

Keywords: modeling, MWFA, skew effect, squirrel cage induction motor, spectral domain

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Authors: Wasfi Al Salamat, Shaker Al-Kharouf

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This study aims to examine the determinants of financial stability for 13 commercial banks listed on the Amman stock exchange (ASE) over the period (2007-2016) after controlling for the independent variables: return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), earnings per share (EPS), growth in gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate and debt ratio to measure the financial stability by three main variables: capital adequacy, non-performing loans and the number of returned checks. The balanced panel data statistical approach has been used for data analysis. Results are estimated by using multiple regression models. The empirical results suggested that there is statistically significant negative effect of inflation rate and debt ratio on the capital adequacy while there is statistically significant positive effect of growth in gross domestic product on capital adequacy. In contrast, there is statistically significant negative effect of return on equity and growth in gross domestic product on the non-performing loans while there is statistically significant positive effect of inflation rate on non-performing loans. Finally, there is statistically significant negative effect of growth in gross domestic product on the number of returned checks while there is statistically significant positive effect of inflation rate on the number of returned checks.

Keywords: capital adequacy, financial stability, non-performing loans, number of returned checks, ASE

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Authors: Ting Shen

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Whether resource matters to school has been a topic of intense debate since 1960s. Educational researchers and policy makers have been particularly interested in knowing the return or payoff of Per-Pupil Expenditure (PPE) on improving students’ achievement. However, the evidence on the effect of PPE has been mixed and the size of the effect is also unknown. With regard to the methods, it is well-known that meta-analysis study is superior to individual study and it is also preferred to vote counting method in terms of scientifically weighting the evidence by the sample size. This meta-analysis study aims to provide a synthesized evidence on the correlation between PPE and student academic achievement using recent study data from 1990s to 2010s. Meta-analytical approach of fixed- and random-effects models will be utilized in addition to a meta regression with predictors of year, location, region and school type. A preliminary result indicates that by and large there is no statistically significant relationship between per pupil expenditure and student achievement, but location seems to have a mediating effect.

Keywords: per pupil expenditure, student academic achievement, multilevel model, meta-analysis

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Authors: Y. N. Fung, R. Liu, T. M. Choi

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The life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely applied in the study of the sustainable fashion industry. Through the LCA, the social, environmental, and economic performances of the fashion industry can be assessed, which helps sustainable product developers (designers, retailers, and manufacturers) to address problems in product development. In prior studies, environmental impact, economic performance, and social responsibility are commonly considered separately. Inter-relations between dimensions of sustainability and LCA are rarely reported. The development process of sustainable sportswear products is complicated. Changes in the product components (e.g., materials, manufacturing methods, and product design) of sportswear will correspondingly influence supply chain activities and meanwhile affect environmental, economic, and social performances. In this study, the interrelations between different LCAs and how the interrelated LCAs can help product developers to strike a balance among environmental, economic, and social performances are explored. Based on the findings, a three-dimensional assessment framework on the sustainability life cycle is introduced. To examine the applicability of the developed framework, proof-of-concept sportswear legging products were developed. The developed sportswear legging products were assessed in terms of the interrelated dimensions of environmental, economic, and social performances. The results demonstrate the effects of shifting in desig¬n details and product functions on the environmental, social, and economic performances of sportswear products. The outcome of this study provides insights on the approach to balance sustainability and the development of cost-effective and sustainable sportswear products for sportswear developers.

Keywords: sustainable development, sports fashion, life cycle assessment, indicators for sustainability, sustainability impacts

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Authors: Sasan Aryaee, Mahdi Ravanshadnia

Abstract:

Naturally, any activity is associated with risk, and humans have understood this concept from very long times ago and seek to identify its factors and sources. On the one hand, proper risk management can cause problems such as delays and unforeseen costs in the development projects, temporary or permanent loss of services, getting lost or information theft, complexity and limitations in processes, unreliable information caused by rework, holes in the systems and many such problems. In the present study, a model has been presented to rank the environmental risks of oil and gas projects. The statistical population of the study consists of all executives active in the oil and gas fields, that the statistical sample is selected randomly. In the framework of the proposed method, environmental risks of oil and gas projects were first extracted, then a questionnaire based on these indicators was designed based on Likert scale and distributed among the statistical sample. After assessing the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, environmental risks of oil and gas projects were ranked using the VIKOR method of multiple-criteria decision-making. The results showed that the best options for HSE planning of oil and gas projects that caused the reduction of risks and personal injury and casualties and less than other options is costly for the project and it will add less time to the duration of implementing the project is the entering of dye to the environment when painting the generator pond and the presence of the rigger near the crane.

Keywords: ranking, multi-criteria decision making, oil and gas projects, HSEmanagement, environmental risks

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Simin Zarea Karizi, Somaye Fatahi, Amirhossein Hosseni

Abstract:

Background: There are conflicting findings regarding the effect of vitamin D supplementation on obesity-related factors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on changes in anthropometric indicators of adiposity and fat distribution in children and adolescents. Methods: Original databases were searched using standard keywords to identify all controlled trials investigating the effects of vitamin D supplementation on obesity-related factors in children and adolescents. Pooled weighted mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were achieved by random-effects model analysis. Results: Fourteen treatment arms were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The quantitative meta-analysis revealed no significant effect of vitamin D supplement on BMI (-0.01 kg/m2; 95% CI: -0.09, 0.12; p= 0.74; I2=0.0%), BMI z score (0.02; 95% CI: -0.04, 0.07; p= 0.53; I2=0.0%) and fat mass (0.07%; 95% CI: -0.09 to 0.24; p= 0.38; I2=31.2%). However, the quantitative meta-analysis displayed a significant effect of vitamin D supplementation on WC compared with the control group (WMD=-1.17 cm, 95% CI: -2.05, -0.29, p=0.009; I2=32.0 %). It seems that this effect was greater in healthy children with duration>12 weeks, dose<=400 IU and baseline less than 50 nmol/l vitamin D than others. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may be a protective factor of abdominal obesity and should be evaluated on an individual basis in clinical practice.

Keywords: weight loss, vitamin D, anthropometry, children, adolescent

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: Mohamad Javad Shakouri, Behshad Riahipour

Abstract:

Today, the use of medicinal herbs in architecture and green space has a significant effect on the process of calming human and increases the reliability coefficient of design and design flexibility. The current research was conducted with the aim to design green roof and investigate the effect of medicinal herbs such as cress, leek, fenugreek, beet, sweet fennel, green basil, purple basil, and purslane on reducing the number of environmental pollutants (copper, zinc, and cadmium). Finally, the weight of the dry plant and the concentration of elements zinc, lead, and cadmium in the herbs was measured. According to the results, the maximum dry weight (88.10 and 73.79 g) was obtained in beet and purslane respectively and the minimum dry weight (24.12 and 25.21) was obtained in purple basil, and green basil respectively. The maximum amount of element zinc (235 and 213 mg/kg) and the maximum amount of lead (143 mg/kg) were seen in sweet fennel and purple basil. In addition, the maximum amount of cadmium (13 mg/kg) was seen in sweet fennel and purple basil and the minimum amount of lead and cadmium (78 and 7 mg/kg) was seen in green basil, and the minimum amount of zinc (110 mg/kg) was seen in leek. On the other hand, the absorption amount of element lead in the herbs beet and purslane was the same and both absorbed 123 mg/kg lead. Environmentally, if green roofs are implemented extensively and in wide dimensions in urban spaces, they will purify and reduce pollution significantly by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.

Keywords: medicinal herbs, green space, green roof, heavy metals, lead, green basil

Procedia PDF Downloads 163