Search results for: energy and water consumption

Authors: Monika Przeor

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The pace of life of modern society promotes the occurrence of affluence diseases. Functional food, which design and consumption by the consumer may be useful in the prevention of occurrence of different diseases, is becoming the alternative of food products available in the market. Design and determination of properties of flat bread of paratha type with the addition of an extract from the leaves of white mulberry became the overriding objective in the presented study. The centuries-old use of mulberry leaves in alternative medicine gave hope to obtain positive effects of the undertaken activity. In the designed product, stability, and content of polyphenols as well as their antioxidant properties were tested. Moreover, in the paper an aqueous extract of mulberry leaves obtained on semi-technical scale was described. It is rich in polyphenols, which results in its antioxidant activity. The addition of the extract significantly increased health-promoting qualities of paratha. The 3% extract addition to the dough turned out to be the most desired by the consumer group.

Keywords: mulberry leaves extract, flat bread, paratha, antioxidant activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Marilyn S. Painagan, Willie Jones B. Saliling

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This paper reports an optimized cropping calendar and land suitability for maize in North Cotabato derived from modeling crop productivity over time and space. Using Quantum GIS, eight representative soil types and 0.3o x 0.3o climate grids shapefiles were intersected to form thirty two pedoclimatic zones within the boundaries of the province. Surveys were done to ascertain crop performance and phenological properties on field. Based on these surveys, crop parameters were calibrated specific for a variety of maize. Soil properties and climatic data (daily precipitation, maximum and minimum temperatures) from pedoclimatic zones were loaded to the FAO Aquacrop Water Productivity Model along with the crop properties from field surveys to simulate yield from 1980 to 2010. The average yield per month was computed to come up with the month of planting having the highest and lowest probable yield in a year assuming that all lands were planted with maize. The yield attributes were visualized in the Quantum GIS environment. The study revealed that optimal cropping patterns varied across North Cotabato. Highest probable yield (8000 kg/ha) can be obtained when maize is planted on May and September (sandy clay-loam soils) in the northern part of the province while the lowest probable yield (1000 kg/ha) can be obtained when maize is planted on January, February and March (clay loam soils) at the northern part of the province. Yields are simulated on the basis of varieties currently planted by farmers of North Cotabato. The resulting maps suggest where and when maize is most suitable to achieve high yields. There is a need to ground truth and validate the cropping calendar on field.

Keywords: aquacrop, quantum GIS, maize, cropping calendar, water productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: O. Alelweet, S. Pavia

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In order to face current compelling environmental problems affecting the planet, the construction industry needs to adapt. It is widely acknowledged that there is a need for durable, high-performance, low-greenhouse gas emission binders that can be used as an alternative to Portland cement (PC) to lower the environmental impact of construction. Alkali activated materials (AAMs) are considered a more sustainable alternative to PC materials. The binders of AAMs result from the reaction of an alkali metal source and a silicate powder or precursor which can be a calcium silicate or an aluminosilicate-rich material. This paper evaluates the particle size, specific surface area, chemical and mineral composition and amorphousness of silicate materials (most industrial waste locally produced in Ireland and Saudi Arabia) to develop alkali-activated binders that can replace PC resources in specific applications. These include recycled ceramic brick, bauxite, illitic clay, fly ash and metallurgical slag. According to the results, the wastes are reactive and comply with building standards requirements. The study also evidenced that the reactivity of the Saudi bauxite (with significant kaolinite) can be enhanced on thermal activation; and high calcium in the slag will promote reaction; which should be possible with low alkalinity activators. The wastes evidenced variable water demands that will be taken into account for mixing with the activators. Finally, further research is proposed to further determine the reactive fraction of the clay-based precursors.

Keywords: alkali activated materials, alkali-activated binders, sustainable building materials, recycled ceramic brick, bauxite, red mud, clay, fly ash, metallurgical slags, particle size, chemical and mineral composition and amorphousness, water demand, particle density

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Cho Achidi

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Tomato is a crucial food crop significantly contributes to global food and nutrition security. However, postharvest losses severely limit its role. Therefore, it is necessary to develop sustainable strategies to minimize these losses and improve the shelf-life of tomato fruits. One of the major concerns is bacterial infections, particularly by faecal coliform bacteria, which can cause food poisoning and illnesses like diarrhoea and dysentery. This study seeks to identify the presence of coliform bacteria on tomato fruits in fields and markets in Muea, Buea Municipality. The study also evaluated different management strategies to reduce the bacterial incidence and load on tomato fruits. A total of 200 fruits were sampled for both the coliform survey and shelf-life analysis. Ten farmers and traders provided samples, including asymptomatic and symptomatic tomato fruits. The samples designated for shelf-life analysis were treated with Aquatab, warm water, lemon, and onion. The results indicated that out of the 80 symptomatic samples collected, 12.5% contained faecal and total coliform species. Among the ten farms sampled, 14% were infected with coliform bacteria, with the highest infestation rate of 60% recorded in field 4. Furthermore, 15% of the asymptomatic tomato fruits were found to be infected by coliform bacteria. Regarding the management strategies, Aquatabs exhibited the highest efficacy in reducing the incidence of coliform bacteria on tomato fruits, followed by onion and lemon extracts. Although hot water treatment effectively removed bacteria from the fruits, damaging the cell wall negatively affected their shelf-life. Overall, this study emphasizes the severity of coliform bacterial pathogens in the Muea area, particularly their occurrence on asymptomatic tomatoes, which poses a significant concern for plant quarantine services. It also demonstrates potential options for mitigating this bacterial challenge.

Keywords: tomato, shelf-life analysis, food and nutrition security, coliform bbacteria

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: T. Poyai, P. Painmanakul, N. Chawaloesphonsiya, P. Dhanasin, C. Getwech, P. Wattana

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Drilling is a key activity in oil and gas exploration and production. Drilling always requires the use of drilling mud for lubricating the drill bit and controlling the subsurface pressure. As drilling proceeds, a considerable amount of cuttings or rock fragments is generated. In general, water or Water Based Mud (WBM) serves as drilling fluid for the top hole section. The cuttings generated from this section is non-hazardous and normally applied as fill materials. On the other hand, drilling the bottom hole to reservoir section uses Synthetic Based Mud (SBM) of which synthetic oils are composed. The bottom-hole cuttings, SBM cuttings, is regarded as a hazardous waste, in accordance with the government regulations, due to the presence of hydrocarbons. Currently, the SBM cuttings are disposed of as an alternative fuel and raw material in cement kiln. Instead of burning, this work aims to propose an alternative for drill cuttings management under two ultimate goals: (1) reduction of hazardous waste volume; and (2) making use of the cleaned cuttings. Soil washing was selected as the major treatment process. The physiochemical properties of drill cuttings were analyzed, such as size fraction, pH, moisture content, and hydrocarbons. The particle size of cuttings was analyzed via light scattering method. Oil present in cuttings was quantified in terms of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) through gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Other components were measured by the standard methods for soil analysis. Effects of different washing agents, liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio, washing time, mixing speed, rinse-to-solid (R/S) ratio, and rinsing time were also evaluated. It was found that drill cuttings held the electrical conductivity of 3.84 dS/m, pH of 9.1, and moisture content of 7.5%. The TPH in cuttings existed in the diesel range with the concentration ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 mg/kg dry cuttings. A majority of cuttings particles held a mean diameter of 50 µm, which represented silt fraction. The results also suggested that a green solvent was considered most promising for cuttings treatment regarding occupational health, safety, and environmental benefits. The optimal washing conditions were obtained at L/S of 5, washing time of 15 min, mixing speed of 60 rpm, R/S of 10, and rinsing time of 1 min. After washing process, three fractions including clean cuttings, spent solvent, and wastewater were considered and provided with recommendations. The residual TPH less than 5,000 mg/kg was detected in clean cuttings. The treated cuttings can be then used for various purposes. The spent solvent held the calorific value of higher than 3,000 cal/g, which can be used as an alternative fuel. Otherwise, the recovery of the used solvent can be conducted using distillation or chromatography techniques. Finally, the generated wastewater can be combined with the produced water and simultaneously managed by re-injection into the reservoir.

Keywords: drill cuttings, green solvent, soil washing, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Iyiola Olusola Oluwaleye, Ogbevire Umukoro

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In view of the prevailing pollution problems and its consequences on the environment, efforts are being made to lower the concentration of toxic components in combustion products and decreasing fossil fuel consumption by using renewable alternative fuels. In this work, the impact of ethanol-gasoline blend on the exhaust emission of a single cylinder non-mobile spark ignition engine was investigated. Gasoline was blended with 5 – 20% of ethanol sourced from the open market (bought off the shelf) in an interval of 5%. The results of the emission characteristics of the exhaust gas from the combustion of the ethanol-gasoline blends showed that increasing the percentage of ethanol in the blend decreased CO emission by between 2.12% and 52.29% and HC emissions by between12.14% and 53.24%, but increased CO2 and NOx emissions by between 25% to 56% and 59% to 60% respectively. E15 blend is preferred above other blends at no-load and across all the load variations. However its NOx emission was the highest when compared with other samples. This will negatively affect human health and the environment but this drawback can be remedied by adequate treatment with appropriate additives.

Keywords: blends, emission, ethanol, gasoline, spark ignition engine

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Authors: Swati Bishnoi, D. Haranath, Vinay Gupta

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In this work, we demonstrate that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs) could be improved significantly by using ZnO doped with Aluminum (Al) and Europium (Eu) as cathode buffer layer (CBL). The ZnO:Al,Eu nanoparticle layer has broadband absorption in the ultraviolet (300-400 nm) region. The Al doping contributes to the enhancement in the conductivity whereas Eu doping significantly improves emission in the visible region. Moreover, this emission overlaps with the absorption range of polymer poly [N -9′-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′- benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) significantly and results in an enhanced absorption by the active layer and hence high photocurrent. An increase in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.8% has been obtained for ZnO: Al,Eu CBL as compared to 5.9% for pristine ZnO, in the inverted device configuration ITO/CBL/active layer/MoOx/Al. The active layer comprises of a blend of PCDTBT donor and [6-6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) acceptor. In the reference device pristine ZnO has been used as CBL, whereas in the other one ZnO:Al,Eu has been used as CBL. The role of the luminescent CBL layer is to down-shift the UV light into visible range which overlaps with the absorption of PCDTBT polymer, resulting in an energy transfer from ZnO:Al,Eu to PCDTBT polymer and the absorption by active layer is enhanced as revealed by transient spectroscopy. This enhancement resulted in an increase in the short circuit current which contributes in an increased PCE in the device employing ZnO: Al,Eu CBL. Thus, the luminescent ZnO: Al, Eu nanoparticle CBL has great potential in organic solar cells.

Keywords: cathode buffer layer, energy transfer, organic solar cell, power conversion efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: R. Odoh, M. S. Dauda, E. A. Kamba, N. C. Igwemmar

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Honey and honey trade is an important economic activity for many tropical rural and urban areas worldwide. In West Africa and other part of the world, honey and honey products holds high socio–cultural, religious, medicinal and traditional values. Therefore, to maximize benefits or to enhance profit, a variety of components are added to the raw, fresh and unprocessed honey, introducing the possibility of heavy metals contaminants. Therefore the honey sold in various places, markets and shops in some states in Northern Nigeria (Benue, Nassarawa and Taraba) including Abuja FCT, in Nigeria was analyzed to determine the level of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn). All the honey samples contain heavy metals. The results ranged from 0.028–0.070, 0.023–0.058, 0.042–0.092, 4.231–8.589, 8.115–14.892, 0.078–0.922, 0.044–0.092, 0.041–0.087 and 18.234–28.654 μg/L for Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn respectively. The mean concentration (μg/L) of the heavy metals Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn of the regularly marketed honey is significantly higher than the mean concentration observed in raw, fresh and unprocessed honey. However, continued consumption of honey with high heavy metal content might lead to exposure to chronic heavy metal poisoning.

Keywords: honey, health, mineral profile adulteration, contamination

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Authors: Hossein Anaraki-Ardakani

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A green and efficient one-pot synthesis of benzylamino coumarin derivatives by a three-component condensation of 4-hydroxycoumarin, cyclic secondary amine, and aromatic aldehyde in the presence of ZrO2 nanoparticles (NPs) as a heterogeneous catalyst in water at room temperature has been reported.

Keywords: 3-benzyl substituted coumarin derivative, ZrO2 nanoparticles (NPs), green synthesis, multicomponent reaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Getamesay Kassaye Dimru

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The cultivation of fruit tree in degraded areas has two-fold importance. Firstly, it improves food availability and income, and secondly, it promotes the conservation of soil and water improving, in turn, the productivity of the land. The main objectives of this study are to identify the determinant of farmer's fruit trees plantation decision and to major fruit production challenges and opportunities of the study area. The analysis was made using primary data collected from 60 sample household selected randomly from the study area in 2016. The primary data was supplemented by data collected from a key informant. In addition to the descriptive statistics and statistical tests (Chi-square test and t-test), a logit model was employed to identify the determinant of fruit tree plantation decision. Drought, pest incidence, land degradation, lack of input, lack of capital and irrigation schemes maintenance, lack of misuse of irrigation water and limited agricultural personnel are the major production constraints identified. The opportunities that need to further exploited are better access to irrigation, main road access, endowment of preferred guava variety, experience of farmers, and proximity of the study area to research center. The result of logit model shows that from different factors hypothesized to determine fruit tree plantation decision, age of the household head accesses to market and perception of farmers about fruits' disease and pest resistance are found to be significant. The result has revealed important implications for the promotion of fruit production for both land degradation control and rehabilitation and increasing the livelihood of farming households.

Keywords: degradation, fruit, irrigation, pest

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Authors: A. Feliczak Guzik, I. Nowak

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Zeolites, classified as microporous materials, are a large group of crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used in the chemical industry. These materials are characterized by large specific surface area, high adsorption capacity, hydrothermal and thermal stability. However, the micropores present in them impose strong mass transfer limitations, resulting in low catalytic performance. Consequently, mesoporous (hierarchical) zeolites have attracted considerable attention from researchers. These materials possess additional porosity in the mesopore size region (2-50 nm according to IUPAC). Mesoporous zeolites, based on commercial MFI-type zeolites modified with silver, were synthesized as follows: 0.5 g of zeolite was dispersed in a mixture containing CTABr (template), water, ethanol, and ammonia under ultrasound for 30 min at 65°C. The silicon source, which was tetraethyl orthosilicate, was then added and stirred for 4 h. After this time, silver(I) nitrate was added. In a further step, the whole mixture was filtered and washed with water: ethanol mixture. The template was removed by calcination at 550°C for 5h. All the materials obtained were characterized by the following techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, FTIR spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms revealed additional secondary porosity. Moreover, the structure of the commercial zeolite was preserved during most of the material syntheses. The aforementioned materials were used in the epoxidation reaction of cyclohexene using conventional heating and microwave radiation heating. The composition of the reaction mixture was analyzed every 1 h by gas chromatography. As a result, about 60% conversion of cyclohexene and high selectivity to the desired reaction products i.e., 1,2-epoxy cyclohexane and 1,2-cyclohexane diol, were obtained.

Keywords: catalytic application, characterization, epoxidation, hierarchical zeolites, synthesis

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Authors: Betelhem M. Negede, Maarten Voors, Hugo De Groote, Bart Minten

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Farmers in Ethiopia produce most of their own food during one agricultural season per year. Therefore, they need to use on-farm storage technologies to bridge the lean season and benefit from price arbitrage. Maize stored using traditional storage bags offer no protection from insects and molds, leading to high storage losses. In Ethiopia access to and use of modern storage technologies are still limited, restraining farmers to benefit from local maize price fluctuations. We used a randomized controlled trial among 871 maize farmers to evaluate the impacts of Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags, also known as hermetic bags, on storage losses, and especially on behavioral changes with respect to consumption, marketing, and income among maize farmers in Ethiopia. This study builds upon the limited previous experimental research that has tried to understand farmers’ grain storage and post-harvest losses and identify mechanisms behind the persistence of these challenges. Our main hypothesis is that access to PICS bags allows farmers to increase production, storage and maize income. Also delay the length of maize storage, reduce maize post-harvest losses and improve their food security. Our results show that even though farmers received only three PICS bags that represent 10percent of their total maize stored, they delay their length of maize storage for sales by two weeks. However, we find no treatment effect on maize income, suggesting that the arbitrage of two weeks is too small. Also, we do not find any reduction in storage losses due to farmers’ reaction by selling early and by using cheap and readily available but potentially harmful storage chemicals. Looking at the heterogeneity treatment effects between the treatment variable and highland and lowland villages, we find a decrease in the percentage of maize stored by 4 percent in the highland villages. This confirms that location specific factors, such as agro-ecology and proximity to markets are important factors that influence whether and how much of the harvest a farmer stores. These findings highlight the benefits of hermetic storage bags, by allowing farmers to make inter-temporal arbitrage and by reducing potential health risks from storage chemicals. The main policy recommendation that emanates from our study is that postharvest losses reduction throughout the whole value chain is an important pathway to food and income security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, future storage loss interventions with hermetic storage technologies should take into account the agro-ecology of the study area and quantify storage losses beyond farmers self-reported losses, such as the count and weigh method. Finally, studies on hermetic storage technologies indicate positive impacts on post-harvest losses and in improving food security, but the adoption and use of these technologies is currently still low in SSA. Therefore, future works on the scaling up of hermetic bags, should consider reasons why farmers only use PICS bags to store grains for consumption, which is usually related to a safety-first approach or due to lack of incentives (higher price from maize not treated with chemicals), and no grain quality check.

Keywords: arbitrage, PICS hermetic bags, post-harvest storage loss, RCT

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Rully D. Purwati, Tantri D.A. Anggraeni, Bambang Heliyanto, M. Machfud, Joko Hartono

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The availability of fuel in the world will be reduced in next few years, it is necessary to find alternative energy sources. Jatropha curcas L. is one of oil crops producing non-edible oil which is potential for bio-diesel. Jatropha cultivation and development program in Indonesia is facing several problems especially low seed yield resulting in inefficient crop cultivation cost. To cope with the problem, development of high yielding varieties is necessary. Development of new varieties to improve seed yield was conducted by hybridization and selection and resulted in fourteen potential genotypes. The yield potential of the fourteen genotypes were evaluated and compared with two check varieties. The objective of the evaluation was to find Jatropha hybrids with some characters i.e. their productivity was higher than check varieties, oil content > 40% and harvesting age ≤ 110 days. Hybridization and individual plant selection were carried out from 2010 to 2014. Evaluation of high yield was conducted in Asembagus experimental station, Situbondo, East Java in three years (2015-2017). The experimental designed was Randomized Complete Block Design with three replication, and plot size 10 m x 8 m. The characters observed were number of capsules per plant, dry seed yield (kg/ha) and seed oil content (%). The results of this experiment indicated that all the hybrids evaluated have higher productivity than check variety IP-3A. There were two superior hybrids i.e. HS-49xSP-65/32 and HS-49xSP-19/28 with highest seed yield per hectare and number of capsules per plant for three years.

Keywords: Jatropha, bio energy, hybrid, high seed yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Mbadugha Esther Ifeoma

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Soybeans, like other legumes are rich in nutrients. However, the nutrient profile of soybeans differs in some important ways from most other legumes. Among other nutrients, soy is high in protein, carbohydrates, and fibers, is rich in vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids and is low in saturated fatty acids. Because of its high nutritional value, it has been rated to be equivalent to meats, eggs and milk. Soy has many health benefits including prevention of coronary heart disease, prevention of cancer growth, improvement of cognitive function, promotion of bone health, prevention of obesity, prevention of type II diabetes and promotion of growth of normal floras in the colon. Soybean consumption is also associated with some side effects which include allergy, flatulence and abdominal discomfort. Nurses/health care providers should therefore, educate clients on the precautionary measures to be taken in preparing soy food products in order to reduce to the barest minimum the side effects, while encouraging them to include soy as part of their daily meals for optimal health and vitality.

Keywords: health benefit, health education, nutritional benefit, soybeans

Procedia PDF Downloads 496

Authors: Michael Sinclair, Andrea Ghermandi, Sheela A. Moses, Joseph Sabu

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Passively crowdsourced data, such as geotagged photographs from social media, represent an opportunistic source of location-based and time-specific behavioral data for ecosystem services analysis. Such data have innovative applications for environmental management and protection, which are replicable at wide spatial scales and in the context of both developed and developing countries. Here we test one such innovation, based on the analysis of the metadata of online geotagged photographs, to investigate the provision of recreational services by the entire network of wetland ecosystems in the state of Kerala, India. We estimate visitation to individual wetlands state-wide and extend, for the first time to a developing region, the emerging application of cultural ecosystem services modelling using data from social media. The impacts of restoration of wetland areal extension and water quality improvement are explored as a means to inform more sustainable management strategies. Findings show that improving water quality to a level suitable for the preservation of wildlife and fisheries could increase annual visits by 350,000, an increase of 13% in wetland visits state-wide, while restoring previously encroached wetland area could result in a 7% increase in annual visits, corresponding to 49,000 visitors, in the Ashtamudi and Vembanad lakes alone, two large coastal Ramsar wetlands in Kerala. We discuss how passive crowdsourcing of social media data has the potential to improve current ecosystem service analyses and environmental management practices also in the context of developing countries.

Keywords: coastal wetlands, cultural ecosystem services, India, passive crowdsourcing, social media, wetland restoration

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: J. Urban, Á. S. Botella, L. E. Robaina, A. Bárta, P. Souček, P. Císař, Š. Papáček, L. M. Domínguez

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Skin coloration in fish is of great physiological, behavioral and ecological importance and can be considered as an index of animal welfare in aquaculture as well as an important quality factor in the retail value. Currently, in order to compare color in animals fed on different diets, biochemical analysis, and colorimetry of fished, mildly anesthetized or dead body, are very accurate and meaningful measurements. The noninvasive method using digital images of the fish body was developed as a standalone application. This application deals with the computation burden and memory consumption of large input files, optimizing piece wise processing and analysis with the memory/computation time ratio. For the comparison of color distributions of various experiments and different color spaces (RGB, CIE L*a*b*) the comparable semi-equidistant binning of multi channels representation is introduced. It is derived from the knowledge of quantization levels and Freedman-Diaconis rule. The color calibrations and camera responsivity function were necessary part of the measurement process.

Keywords: color distribution, fish skin color, piecewise transformation, object to background segmentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: N.Quaranta, M. Caligaris, R. Varoli, A. Cristobal, M. Unsen, H. López

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Corncobs are agricultural wastes and they can be used as fuel or as raw material in different industrial processes like cement manufacture, contaminant adsorption, chemical compound synthesis, etc. The aim of this work is to characterize this waste and analyze the feasibility of its use as a pore-forming material in the manufacture of lightweight ceramics for the civil construction industry. The characterization of raw materials is carried out by using various techniques: electron diffraction analysis X-ray, differential and gravimetric thermal analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, ecotoxicity evaluation, among others. The ground corncobs, particle size less than 2 mm, are mixed with clay up to 30% in volume and shaped by uniaxial pressure of 25 MPa, with 6% humidity, in moulds of 70mm x 40mm x 18mm. Then the green bodies are heat treated at 950°C for two hours following the treatment curves used in ceramic industry. The ceramic probes are characterized by several techniques: density, porosity and water absorption, permanent volumetric variation, loss on ignition, microscopies analysis, and mechanical properties. DTA-TGA analysis of corncobs shows in the range 20°-250°C a small loss in TGA curve and exothermic peaks at 250°-500°C. FTIR spectrum of the corncobs sample shows the characteristic pattern of this kind of organic matter with stretching vibration bands of adsorbed water, methyl groups, C–O and C–C bonds, and the complex form of the cellulose and hemicellulose glycosidic bonds. The obtained ceramic bodies present external good characteristics without loose edges and adequate properties for the market requirements. The porosity values of the sintered pieces are higher than those of the reference sample without waste addition. The results generally indicate that it is possible to use corncobs as porosity former in ceramic bodies without modifying the usual sintering temperatures employed in the industry.

Keywords: ceramic industry, biomass, recycling, hemicellulose glycosidic bonds

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Authors: Z. Jamalzadeh, A. Niaei, H. Erfannia, S. G. Hosseini, A. S. Razmgir

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Due to developing the industries, the emission of pollutants such as NOx, SOx, and CO2 are rapidly increased. Generally, NOx is attributed to the mono nitrogen oxides of NO and NO2 that is one of the most important atmospheric contaminants. Hence, controlling the emission of nitrogen oxides is urgent environmentally. Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx is one of the most common techniques for NOx removal in which Zeolites have wide application due to their high performance. In zeolitic processes, the catalytic reaction occurs mostly in the pores. Therefore, investigation the adsorption phenomena of the molecules in order to gain an insight and understand the catalytic cycle is of important. Hence, in current study, molecular simulations is applied for studying the adsorption phenomena in nanocatalysts applied for SCR of NOx process. The effect of cation addition to the support in the catalysts’ behavior through adsorption step was explored by Mont Carlo (MC). Simulation time of 1 Ns accompanying 1 fs time step, COMPASS27 Force Field and the cut off radios of 12.5 Ȧ was applied for performed runs. It was observed that the adsorption capacity increases in the presence of cations. The sorption isotherms demonstrated the behavior of type I isotherm categories and sorption capacity diminished with increase in temperature whereas an increase was observed at high pressures. Besides, NO sorption showed higher sorption capacity than NH3 in H–ZSM5. In this respect, the Energy distributions signified that the molecules could adsorb in just one sorption site at the catalyst and the sorption energy of NO was stronger than the NH3 in H-ZSM5. Furthermore, the isosteric heat of sorption data showed nearly same values for the molecules; however, it indicated stronger interactions of NO molecules with H-ZSM5 Zeolite compared to the isosteric heat of NH3 which was low in value.

Keywords: Monte Carlo simulation, adsorption, NOx, ZSM5

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Authors: A. A. Purohit, A. Basu, K. A. Chavan, M. D. Kudale

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Many estuarine harbours in the world are facing the problem of siltation in docks, channel entrances, etc. The harbours in India are not an exception and require maintenance dredging to achieve navigable depths for keeping them operable. Hence, dredging is inevitable and is a costly affair. The heavy siltation in docks in well mixed tide dominated estuaries is mainly due to settlement of cohesive sediments in suspension. As such there is a need to have a permanent solution for minimising the siltation in such docks to alter the hydrodynamic flow field responsible for siltation by constructing structures outside the dock. One of such docks on the west coast of India, wherein siltation of about 2.5-3 m/annum prevails, was considered to understand the hydrodynamic flow field responsible for siltation. The dock is situated in such a region where macro type of semi-diurnal tide (range of about 5m) prevails. In order to change the flow field responsible for siltation inside the dock, suitability of Current Deflecting Wall (CDW) outside the dock was studied, which will minimise the sediment exchange rate and siltation in the dock. The well calibrated physical tidal model was used to understand the flow field during various phases of tide for the existing dock in Mumbai harbour. At the harbour entrance where the tidal flux exchanges in/out of the dock, measurements on water level and current were made to estimate the sediment transport capacity. The distorted scaled model (1:400 (H) & 1:80 (V)) of Mumbai area was used to study the tidal flow phenomenon, wherein tides are generated by automatic tide generator. Hydraulic model studies carried out under the existing condition (without CDW) reveal that, during initial hours of flood tide, flow hugs the docks breakwater and part of flow which enters the dock forms number of eddies of varying sizes inside the basin, while remaining part of flow bypasses the entrance of dock. During ebb, flow direction reverses, and part of the flow re-enters the dock from outside and creates eddies at its entrance. These eddies do not allow water/sediment-mass to come out and result in settlement of sediments in dock both due to eddies and more retention of sediment. At latter hours, current strength outside the dock entrance reduces and allows the water-mass of dock to come out. In order to improve flow field inside the dockyard, two CDWs of length 300 m and 40 m were proposed outside the dock breakwater and inline to Pier-wall at dock entrance. Model studies reveal that, during flood, major flow gets deflected away from the entrance and no eddies are formed inside the dock, while during ebb flow does not re-enter the dock, and sediment flux immediately starts emptying it during initial hours of ebb. This reduces not only the entry of sediment in dock by about 40% but also the deposition by about 42% due to less retention. Thus, CDW is a promising solution to significantly reduce siltation in dock.

Keywords: current deflecting wall, eddies, hydraulic model, macro tide, siltation

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Authors: Abdulkadir Cuneyt Aydin, Mahyar Maali, Mahmut Kılıç, Merve Sağıroğlu

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The moment-rotation curves of semi-rigid connections are the visual expressions of the actual behaviour discovered in beam-to-column connections experiments. This research was to determine the behaviour of the connection using full-scale experiments under statically loaded. The stiffeners which are typically attached to beams web or flanges to control local buckling and to increase shear capacity in a beam web are almost always used in modern designs. They must also provide sufficient moment of inertia to control out of plane deformations. This study was undertaken to analyse the influence of stiffeners in the angles and beams on the behaviour of the beam-to-column joints. In addition, the aim was to provide necessary data to improve the Eurocode 3. The main parameters observed are the evolution of the resistance, the stiffness, the rotation capacity, the ductility of a joint and the Energy Dissipation. Experimental tests show that the plastic flexural resistance and the energy dissipation increased when thickness of stiffener beam, thickness of stiffener angles were increased in the test specimens. And also, while stiffness of joints, the bending moment capacity and the maximum bending moment increased with the increasing thickness of stiffener beam, these values decreased with the increasing thickness of stiffener angles. So, it is observed that the beam stiffener of angles are important in improving resistance moment of beam-to-column semi-rigid joints.

Keywords: bolted angles connection, semi-rigid joints, ductility of a joint, angles and beams stiffeners

Procedia PDF Downloads 464

Authors: Muhammad Shahzad Iqbal, Zobia Sarwar, Salah-ud-Din

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Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) belongs to the genus Tospoviruses (family Bunyaviridae). It is one of the most devastating pathogens of tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) and heavily damages the crop yield each year around the globe. In this study, we retrieved 329 mature miRNA sequences from two microRNA databases (miRBase and miRSoldb) and checked the putative target sites in the downloaded-genome sequence of TSWV. A consensus of three miRNA target prediction tools (RNA22, miRanda and psRNATarget) was used to screen the false-positive microRNAs targeting sites in the TSWV genome. These tools calculated different target sites by calculating minimum free energy (mfe), site-complementarity, minimum folding energy and other microRNA-mRNA binding factors. R language was used to plot the predicted target-site data. All the genes having possible target sites for different miRNAs were screened by building a consensus table. Out of these 329 mature miRNAs predicted by three algorithms, only eight miRNAs met all the criteria/threshold specifications. MC-Fold and MC-Sym were used to predict three-dimensional structures of miRNAs and further analyzed in USCF chimera to visualize the structural and conformational changes before and after microRNA-mRNA interactions. The results of the current study show that the predicted eight miRNAs could further be evaluated by in vitro experiments to develop TSWV-resistant transgenic tomato plants in the future.

Keywords: tomato spotted wild virus (TSWV), Solanum lycopersicum, plant virus, miRNAs, microRNA target prediction, mRNA

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Authors: Raphaelle Guillou, Matthieu Le Saux, Jean-Christophe Brachet, Thomas Guilbert, Elodie Rouesne, Denis Menut, Caroline Toffolon-Masclet, Dominique Thiaudiere

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In some hypothetical accidental situations, such as during a Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA) in pressurized water reactors, fuel cladding tubes made of zirconium alloys can be exposed for a few minutes to steam at High Temperature (HT up to 1200°C) before being cooled and then quenched in water. Under LOCA-like conditions, the cladding undergoes a number of metallurgical changes (phase transformations, oxygen diffusion and growth of an oxide layer...) and is consequently submitted to internal stresses whose state evolves during the transient. These stresses can have an effect on the oxide structure and the oxidation kinetics of the material. They evolve during cooling, owing to differences between the thermal expansion coefficients of the various phases and phase transformations of the metal and the oxide. These stresses may result in the failure of the cladding during quenching, once the material is embrittled by oxidation. In order to progress in the evaluation of these internal stresses, X-ray diffraction experiments were performed in-situ under synchrotron radiation during HT oxidation and subsequent cooling on Zircaloy-4 sheet samples. First, structural evolutions, such as phase transformations, have been studied as a function of temperature for both the oxide layer and the metallic substrate. Then, internal stresses generated within the material oxidized at temperatures between 700 and 900°C have been evaluated thanks to the 2θ diffraction peak position shift measured during the in-situ experiments. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis was performed on the samples after cooling in order to characterize their crystallographic texture. Furthermore, macroscopic strains induced by oxidation in the conditions investigated during the in-situ X-ray diffraction experiments were measured in-situ in a dilatometer.

Keywords: APRP, stains measurements, synchrotron diffraction, zirconium allows

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Authors: Roshanak Afrakhteh, Abdolrasoul Salman Mahini, Mahdi Motagh, Hamidreza Kamyab

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Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) are distinctive urban areas characterized by densely populated central cores surrounded by less densely populated peripheral lands. These areas experience elevated temperatures, primarily due to impermeable surfaces and specific land use patterns. The consequences of these temperature variations are far-reaching, impacting the environment and society negatively, leading to increased energy consumption, air pollution, and public health concerns. This paper emphasizes the need for simplified approaches to comprehend UHI temperature dynamics and explains how urban development patterns contribute to land surface temperature variation. To illustrate this relationship, the study focuses on the Guilan Plain, utilizing techniques like principal component analysis and generalized additive models. The research centered on mapping land use and land surface temperature in the low-lying area of Guilan province. Satellite data from Landsat sensors for three different time periods (2002, 2012, and 2021) were employed. Using eCognition software, a spatial unit known as a "city block" was utilized through object-based analysis. The study also applied the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) method to estimate land surface radiance. Predictive variables for urban land surface temperature within residential city blocks were identified categorized as intrinsic (related to the block's structure) and neighboring (related to adjacent blocks) variables. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to select significant variables, and a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) approach, implemented using R's mgcv package, modeled the relationship between urban land surface temperature and predictor variables.Notable findings included variations in urban temperature across different years attributed to environmental and climatic factors. Block size, shared boundary, mother polygon area, and perimeter-to-area ratio were identified as main variables for the generalized additive regression model. This model showed non-linear relationships, with block size, shared boundary, and mother polygon area positively correlated with temperature, while the perimeter-to-area ratio displayed a negative trend. The discussion highlights the challenges of predicting urban surface temperature and the significance of block size in determining urban temperature patterns. It also underscores the importance of spatial configuration and unit structure in shaping urban temperature patterns. In conclusion, this study contributes to the growing body of research on the connection between land use patterns and urban surface temperature. Block size, along with block dispersion and aggregation, emerged as key factors influencing urban surface temperature in residential areas. The proposed methodology enhances our understanding of parameter significance in shaping urban temperature patterns across various regions, particularly in Iran.

Keywords: urban heat island, land surface temperature, LST modeling, GAM, Gilan province

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Authors: Lia Mania, Ketevan Nanobashvili

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Background: The coronavirus disease COVID-19 has become the cause of a global health crisis during the current pandemic. This study aims to fill the paucity of epidemiological studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the oral health of pediatric populations. Methods: It was conducted an observational, cross-sectional study in Georgia, in Tbilisi (capital of Georgia), among 7 to 12-year-old PCR or rapid test-confirmed post-Covid populations in all districts of Tbilisi (10 districts in total). 332 beneficiaries who were infected with Covid within one year were included in the study. The population was selected in schools of Tbilisi according to the principle of cluster selection. A simple random selection took place in the selected clusters. According to this principle, an equal number of beneficiaries were selected in all districts of Tbilisi. By July 1, 2022, according to National Center for Disease Control and Public Health data (NCDC.Ge), the number of test-confirmed cases in the population aged 0-18 in Tbilisi was 115137 children (17.7% of all confirmed cases). The number of patients to be examined was determined by the sample size. Oral screening, microbiological examination of saliva, and administration of oral health questionnaires to guardians were performed. Statistical processing of data was done with SPSS-23. Risk factors were estimated by odds ratio and logistic regression with 95% confidence interval. Results: Statistically reliable differences between the averages of oral health indicators in asymptomatic and symptomatic covid-infected groups are: for caries intensity (DMF+def) t=4.468 and p=0.000, for modified gingival index (MGI) t=3.048, p=0.002, for simplified oral hygiene index (S-OHI) t=4.853; p=0.000. Symptomatic covid-infection has a reliable effect on the oral microbiome (Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermalis); (n=332; 77.3% vs n=332; 58.0%; OR=2.46, 95%CI: 1.318-4.617). According to the logistic regression, it was found that the severity of the covid infection has a significant effect on the frequency of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavity B=0.903 AOR=2.467 (CL 1.318-4.617). Symptomatic covid-infection affects oral health indicators, regardless of the presence of other risk factors, such as parental employment status, tooth brushing behaviors, carbohydrate meal, fruit consumption. (p<0.05). Conclusion: Risk factors (parental employment status, tooth brushing behaviors, carbohydrate consumption) were associated with poorer oral health status in a post-Covid population of 7- to 12-year-old children. However, such a risk factor as symptomatic ongoing covid-infection affected the oral microbiome in terms of the abundant growth of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermalis) and further worsened oral health indicators. Thus, a close association was established between symptomatic covid-infection and microbiome changes in the post-covid period; also - between the variables of oral health indicators and the symptomatic course of covid-infection.

Keywords: oral microbiome, COVID-19, population based research, oral health indicators

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Authors: S. Jalilzadeh, S. M. Mohseni Bonab

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Solar and battery energy storage systems are very useful for consumers who live in deprived areas and do not have access to electricity distribution networks. Nowadays one of the problems that photo voltaic systems (PV) have changing of output power in temperature and irradiance variations, which directly affects the load that is connected to photo voltaic systems. In this paper, with considering the fact that the solar array varies with change in temperature and solar power radiation, a voltage stabilizer system of a load connected to photo voltaic array is designed to stabilize the load voltage and to transfer surplus power of the battery. Also, in proposed hybrid system, the needed load power amount is supplemented considering the voltage stabilization in standalone operation for supplying unbalanced AC load. Electrical energy storage system for voltage control and improvement of the performance of PV by a DC/DC converter is connected to the DC bus. The load is also feed by an AC/DC converter. In this paper, when the voltage increases in its reference limit, the battery gets charged by the photo voltaic array and when it decreases in its defined limit, the power gets injected to the DC bus by this battery. The constant of DC bus Voltage is the cause for the reduced harmonics generated by the inverter. In addition, a series of filters are provided in the inverter output in to reduced harmonics. The inverter control circuit is designed that the voltage and frequency of the load remain almost constant at different load conditions. This paper has focused on controlling strategies of converters to improve their performance.

Keywords: photovoltaic array (PV), DC/DC Boost converter, battery converter, inverters control

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Authors: Q. Ahmed, Y. Ren, R. Emery, J. Newman, M. Agarwal

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Celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) is grown in Australia for domestic consumption and export markets. Quarantine treatment enables export of celery to the world that enforces quarantine against springtails. In the field, celery bunches become host to the Australian native springtail (Hypogastrura vernalis) (Collembola: Hypogastruridae). Springtails live inside the celery bunch and do not cause damage to the product. Springtails are, however, considered a quarantine pest and have had a significant impact on celery exports. In this experiment, cold treatments were conducted on fresh celery to investigate their effect on springtail mortality. Four low-temperature treatments were used (3, 5, 10, and 15 ºC) over four treatment periods (3, 5, 7, and 14 days). Springtail mortality was not affected by the 3, 5, 10 and 15 ºC treatments for the treatment periods of 3, 5, 7, and 14 days. Low-temperature damage was observed most noticeably on celery in the 3 and 5 ºC treatments.

Keywords: springtails, fresh celery, cold treatment, quarantine treatment

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Authors: Ombir Singh

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In spite of the religious and cultural pre-dominance of the river Ganga in the Indian ethos, fragmentation and degradation of the river continued down the ages. Recognizing the national concern on environmental degradation of the river and its basin, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Government of India has initiated a number of pilot schemes for the rejuvenation of river Ganga under the ‘Namami Gange’ Programme. Considering the diversity, complexity, and intricacies of forest ecosystems and pivotal multiple functions performed by them and their inter-connectedness with highly dynamic river ecosystems, forestry interventions all along the river Ganga from its origin at Gaumukh, Uttarakhand to its mouth at Ganga Sagar, West Bengal has been planned by the ministry. For that Forest Research Institute (FRI) in collaboration with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Forestry Interventions for Ganga. The Institute has adopted an extensive consultative process at the national and state levels involving various stakeholders relevant in the context of river Ganga and employed a science-based methodology including use of remote sensing and GIS technologies for geo-spatial analysis, modeling and prioritization of sites for proposed forestation and conservation interventions. Four sets of field data formats were designed to obtain the field based information for forestry interventions, mainly plantations and conservation measures along the river course. In response, five stakeholder State Forest Departments had submitted more than 8,000 data sheets to the Institute. In order to analyze a voluminous field data received from five participating states, the Institute also developed a software to collate, analyze and generation of reports on proposed sites in Ganga basin. FRI has developed potential plantation and treatment models for the proposed forestry and other conservation measures in major three types of landscape components visualized in the Ganga riverscape. These are: (i) Natural, (ii) Agriculture, and (iii) Urban Landscapes. Suggested plantation models broadly varied for the Uttarakhand Himalayas and the Ganga Plains in five participating states. Besides extensive plantations in three type of landscapes within the riverscape, various conservation measures such as soil and water conservation, riparian wildlife management, wetland management, bioremediation and bio-filtration and supporting activities such as policy and law intervention, concurrent research, monitoring and evaluation, and mass awareness campaigns have been envisioned in the DPR. The DPR also incorporates the details of the implementation mechanism, budget provisioned for different components of the project besides allocation of budget state-wise to five implementing agencies, national partner organizations and the Nodal Ministry.

Keywords: conservation, Ganga, river, water, forestry interventions

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Authors: Lalit Ahuja, Nancy Das, Yashas Shetty

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LED lighting has been increasingly adopted for vehicles in both domestic and foreign automotive markets. Although this miniaturized technology gives the best light output, low energy consumption, and cost-efficient solutions for driving, the same is the need of the hour. In this paper, we present a methodology for driving the highest class two-wheeler headlamp with regulator and rectifier (RR) output. Unlike usual LED headlamps, which are driven by a battery, regulator, and rectifier (RR) driven, a low-cost and highly efficient LED Driver Module (LDM) is proposed. The positive half of magneto output is regulated and used to charge batteries used for various peripherals. While conventionally, the negative half was used for operating bulb-based exterior lamps. But with advancements in LED-based headlamps, which are driven by a battery, this negative half pulse remained unused in most of the vehicles. Our system uses negative half-wave rectified DC output from RR to provide constant light output at all RPMs of the vehicle. With the negative rectified DC output of RR, we have the advantage of pulsating DC input which periodically goes to zero, thus helping us to generate a constant DC output equivalent to the required LED load, and with a change in RPM, additional active thermal bypass circuit help us to maintain the efficiency and thermal rise. The methodology uses the negative half wave output of the RR along with a linear constant current driver with significantly higher efficiency. Although RR output has varied frequency and duty cycles at different engine RPMs, the driver is designed such that it provides constant current to LEDs with minimal ripple. In LED Headlamps, a DC-DC switching regulator is usually used, which is usually bulky. But with linear regulators, we’re eliminating bulky components and improving the form factor. Hence, this is both cost-efficient and compact. Presently, output ripple-free amplitude drivers with fewer components and less complexity are limited to lower-power LED Lamps. The focus of current high-efficiency research is often on high LED power applications. This paper presents a method of driving LED load at both High Beam and Low Beam using the negative half wave rectified pulsating DC from RR with minimum components, maintaining high efficiency within the thermal limitations. Linear regulators are significantly inefficient, with efficiencies typically about 40% and reaching as low as 14%. This leads to poor thermal performance. Although they don’t require complex and bulky circuitry, powering high-power devices is difficult to realise with the same. But with the input being negative half wave rectified pulsating DC, this efficiency can be improved as this helps us to generate constant DC output equivalent to LED load minimising the voltage drop on the linear regulator. Hence, losses are significantly reduced, and efficiency as high as 75% is achieved. With a change in RPM, DC voltage increases, which can be managed by active thermal bypass circuitry, thus resulting in better thermal performance. Hence, the use of bulky and expensive heat sinks can be avoided. Hence, the methodology to utilize the unused negative pulsating DC output of RR to optimize the utilization of RR output power and provide a cost-efficient solution as compared to costly DC-DC drivers.

Keywords: class D LED headlamp, regulator and rectifier, pulsating DC, low cost and highly efficient, LED driver module

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Authors: Y. Abdul Aziz, E. L. K. Osafo, S. O. Apori, A. Osman

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A sixteen week trial was conducted at the Research Farm (Technology Village) of the Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. This study sought to investigate the effects of Probiotic (RE3) on growth performance, diarrhea incidence and blood parameters of N’dama calves. Sixteen N’dama calves aged 3 months of an average initial weight of 44.2 kg were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments according to their body weight, age, and sex. Treatment 1 (T1) serve as a control animal (No RE3 supplementation). Treatment 2 (T2) receives 0.03 ml RE3 per kg body weight. Treatment 3 (T3) receives 0.06 ml RE3 per kg body weight, and Treatment 4 (T4) also receives 0.09 ml RE3 per kg body weight in a Completely Randomize Design (CRD). There were 4 replicates per treatment. The calves were allowed access to feed and water ad libitum. The body weight of the calves was recorded at the start of the experiment and thereafter regularly at two weeks interval. Weighing was done early morning before the calves are allowed to access feed and water and were also observed in their pens for occurrence of diarrhea and faecal scores recorded. Blood samples were obtained from each calf at the end of the study through jugular vein puncture. Supplementation of RE3 to calves had showed a beneficial effect by reducing the incidence of diarrhea. The highest faecal score was recorded in T1 and the least faecal score was recorded in T3. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in the faecal score between the treatment group and the control after two weeks of the experiment. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the average daily gain of the animals. Hematological and biochemical indices of calves were all within the normal range except in treatments (1, 3 and 4) which recorded high White Blood Cell (WBC) count with no significant difference (P > 0.05).

Keywords: probiotics (RE3), diarrhea incidence, blood parameters, N’dama calves

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Authors: Marjan Mahdavi-Roshan, Arsalan Salari, Mahbobeh Gholipour

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Hypertension is one of the important reasons of morbidity and mortality in countries, including Iran. It has been shown that hypertension is a consequence of the interaction of genetics and environment. Nutrients have important roles in the controlling of blood pressure. We assessed dietary habit and anthropometric status in patients with hypertension in the north of Iran, and that have special dietary habit and according to their culture. This study was conducted on 127 patients with newly recognized hypertension and the 120 normotensive participants. Anthropometric status was measured and demographic characteristics, and medical condition were collected by valid questionnaires and dietary habit assessment was assessed with 3-day food recall (two weekdays and one weekend). The mean age of participants was 58 ± 6.7 years. The mean level of energy intake, saturated fat, vitamin D, potassium, zinc, dietary fiber, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, copper and magnesium was significantly lower in the hypertensive group compared to the control (p < 0.05). After adjusting for energy intake, positive association was observe between hypertension and some dietary nutrients including; Cholesterol [OR: 1.1, P: 0.001, B: 0.06], fiber [OR: 1.6, P: 0.001, B: 1.8], vitamin D [OR: 2.6, P: 0.006, B: 0.9] and zinc [OR: 1.4, P: 0.006, B: 0.3] intake. Logistic regression analysis showed that there was not significant association between hypertension, weight and waist circumference. In our study, the mean intake of some nutrients was lower in the hypertensive individuals compared to the normotensive individual. Health training about suitable dietary habits and easier access to vitamin D supplementation in patients with hypertension are cost-effective tools to improve outcomes in Iran.

Keywords: hypertension, north of Iran, dietary intake, weight

Procedia PDF Downloads 185