Search results for: forest products pricing

Authors: Kittiphop Promdee, Somruedee Satitkune, Chakkrich Boonmee, Tharapong Vitidsant

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Conversion of tropical wood using the process of pyrolysis, which converts tropical wood into fuel products, i.e. bio-oil and charcoal. The results showed the high thermal in the reactor core was thermally controlled between 0-600°C within 60 minutes. The products yield calculation showed that the liquid yield obtained from tropical wood was at its highest at 39.42 %, at 600°C, indicating that the tropical wood had received good yields because of a low gas yield average and high solid and liquid yield average. This research is not only concerned with the controlled temperatures, but also with the controlled screw rotating and feeding rate of biomass.

Keywords: pyrolysis, tropical wood, bio-oil, charcoal, heating value, SEM

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Authors: Olumayede Emmanuel Gbenga, Adeniyi Azeez Adebayo

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Carbonyls are the first-generation products from tropospheric degradation reactions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This computational study examined the mechanism of removal of carbonyls from the atmosphere via hydroxyl radical. The kinetics of the reactions were computed from the activation energy (using enthalpy (ΔH**) and Gibbs free energy (ΔG**). The minimum energy path (MEP) analysis reveals that in all the molecules, the products have more stable energy than the reactants, which implies that the forward reaction is more thermodynamically favorable. The hydrogen abstraction of the aromatic aldehyde, especially without methyl substituents, is more kinetically favorable compared with the other aldehydes in the order of aromatic (without methyl or meta methyl) > alkene (short chain) > diene > long-chain aldehydes. The activation energy is much lower for the forward reaction than the backward, indicating that the forward reactions are more kinetically stable than their backward reaction. In terms of thermodynamic stability, the aromatic compounds are found to be less favorable in comparison to the aliphatic. The study concludes that the chemistry of the carbonyl bond of the aldehyde changed significantly from the reactants to the products.

Keywords: atmospheric carbonyls, oxidation, mechanism, kinetic, thermodynamic

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Authors: Subhankar Kumar Sarkar

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Scarab beetles composing the family Scarabaeidae is one of the largest families in the order Coleoptera. The family is comprised of 11 subfamilies. Of these, the subfamily Scarabaeinae includes 13 tribes globally. Indian species are however considered within 2 tribes Scarabaeini and Coprini. Scarab beetles under this subfamily also known as Coprophagus beetles play an indispensable role in forestry and agriculture. Both adults and larvae of these beetles do a remarkable job of carrying excrement into the soil thus enriching the soil to a great extent. Eastern and North Eastern states of India are heavily rich in diversity of organisms as this region exhibits the tropical rain forests of the eastern Himalayas, which exhibits one of the 18 biodiversity hotspots of the world and one of the three of India. Buxa Tiger Reserve located in Dooars between latitudes 26°30” to 26°55” North & longitudes 89°20” to 89°35” East is one such fine example of rain forests of the eastern Himalayas. Despite this, the subfamily is poorly known, particularly from this part of the globe and demands serious revisionary studies. It is with this background; the attempt is being made to assess the Scarabaeinae fauna of the forest. Both extensive and intensive surveys were conducted in different beats under different ranges of Buxa Tiger Reserve. For collection sweep nets, bush beating and collection in inverted umbrella, hand picking techniques were used. Several pit fall traps were laid in the collection localities of the Reserve to trap ground dwelling scarabs. Dung of various animals was also examined to make collections. In the evening hours UV light, trap was used to collect nocturnal beetles. The collected samples were studied under Stereozoom Binocular Microscopes Zeiss SV6, SV11 and Olympus SZ 30. The faunistic investigation of the forest revealed in the recognition of 19 species under 6 genera distributed over 2 tribes. Of these Heliocopris tyrannus Thomson, 1859 was recorded new from the Country, while Catharsius javanus Lansberge, 1886, Copris corpulentus Gillet, 1910, C. doriae Harold, 1877 and C. sarpedon Harold, 1868 from the state. 4 species are recorded as endemic to India. The forest is dominated by the members of the Genus Onthophagus, of which Onthophagus (Colobonthophagus) dama (Fabricius, 1798) is represented by highest number of individuals. Their seasonal distribution is most during Premonsoon followed by Monsoon and Postmonsoon. Zoogeographically all the recorded species are of oriental distribution.

Keywords: buxa tiger reserve, diversity, India, new records, scarabaeinae, scarabaeidae

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Authors: M. K. Hossain, J. Keidel, O. Hensel, M. Diakite

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Fat reduced dairy products are holding a potential market due to health reason. Due to less creamy, and pleasantness, reduced and/or low-fat dairy products are getting less consumer acceptance whereas the fat molecule provides smooth, creamy and a pleasant mouthfeel in dairy products especially yogurt & ice cream. This study was aimed to investigate whether the application of microparticulated whey proteins (MWPs) processed by extrusion cooking, the reduced fat yogurt can achieve similar or higher creaminess compared to whole milk (3.8% fat) and skimmed milk (0.5% fat) yogurt. Full cream and skimmed milk were used to prepare natural stirred yogurt, as well as the dry matter content, also adjusted up to 16% with skimmed milk powder. Whey protein concentrates (WPC80) were used to produce MWPs in particle size of d50 > 5 µm, d50 3<5 µm and d50 < 3 µm through the hot-extrusion process with a screw speed of 400, 600 and 1000 rpm respectively. Furthermore, the commercially available microparticulated whey protein called Simplesse® was also applied in order to compare with extruded MWPs. The rheological and sensory properties of yogurt were assessed, and data were analyzed statistically. The applications of extruded MWPs with 600 and 1000 rpm were achieved significantly (p < 0.05) higher creaminess and preference compared to the whole and skimmed milk yogurt whereas, 400 rpm got lower preference. On the other hand, Simplesse® obtained the lowest creaminess and preference compared to other yogurts, although the contribution of dry matter in yogurt was same as extruded MWPs. The creaminess and viscosities were strongly (r = 0.62) correlated, furthermore, the viscosity from sensory evaluation and the dynamic viscosity of yogurt was also significantly (r = 0.72) correlated which clarifies that the performance of sensory panelists as well as the quality of the products.

Keywords: microparticulation, hot-extrusion, reduced-fat yogurt, whey protein concentrate

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Authors: Yasin Tadayonrad

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Most of the supply chain networks have many nodes starting from the suppliers’ side up to the customers’ side that each node sends/receives the raw materials/products from/to the other nodes. One of the major concerns in this kind of supply chain network is finding the best schedule for loading /unloading the shipments through the whole network by which all the constraints in the source and destination nodes are met and all the shipments are delivered on time. One of the main constraints in this problem is loading/unloading capacity in each source/ destination node at each time slot (e.g., per week/day/hour). Because of the different characteristics of different products/groups of products, the capacity of each node might differ based on each group of products. In most supply chain networks (especially in the Fast-moving consumer goods industry), there are different planners/planning teams working separately in different nodes to determine the loading/unloading timeslots in source/destination nodes to send/receive the shipments. In this paper, a mathematical problem has been proposed to find the best timeslots for loading/unloading the shipments minimizing the overall delays subject to respecting the capacity of loading/unloading of each node, the required delivery date of each shipment (considering the lead-times), and working-days of each node. This model was implemented on python and solved using Python-MIP on a sample data set. Finally, the idea of a heuristic algorithm has been proposed as a way of improving the solution method that helps to implement the model on larger data sets in real business cases, including more nodes and shipments.

Keywords: supply chain management, transportation, multiple-multiple network, timeslots management, mathematical modeling, mixed integer programming

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Authors: Yogendra K. Karna, Lauren T. Bennett

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Fire-tolerant eucalypt forests are one of the major forest ecosystems of south-eastern Australia and thought to be highly resistant to frequent high severity wildfires. However, the impact of different severity wildfires on the canopy structure of fire-tolerant forest type is under-studied, and there are significant knowledge gaps in relation to the assessment of tree and stand level canopy structural dynamics and recovery after fire. Assessment of canopy structure is a complex task involving accurate measurements of the horizontal and vertical arrangement of the canopy in space and time. This study examined the utility of multitemporal, small-footprint lidar data to describe the changes in the horizontal and vertical canopy structure of fire-tolerant eucalypt forests seven years after wildfire of different severities from the tree to stand level. Extensive ground measurements were carried out in four severity classes to describe and validate canopy cover and height metrics as they change after wildfire. Several metrics such as crown height and width, crown base height and clumpiness of crown were assessed at tree and stand level using several individual tree top detection and measurement algorithm. Persistent effects of high severity fire 8 years after both on tree crowns and stand canopy were observed. High severity fire increased the crown depth but decreased the crown projective cover leading to more open canopy.

Keywords: canopy gaps, canopy structure, crown architecture, crown projective cover, multi-temporal lidar, wildfire severity

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Authors: Boulis M. Ibrahim, Iordanis A. Kalaitzoglou

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A micro structural pricing model is proposed in which price components account for learning by incorporating changing expectations of the trading intensity and the risk level of incoming trades. An analysis of European carbon futures transactions finds expected trading intensity to increase the information component and decrease the liquidity component of price changes, but at different rates. Among the results, the expected persistence in trading intensity explains the majority of the auto correlations in the level and the conditional volatility of price changes, helps predict hourly patterns in the bid–ask spread and differentiates between the impact of buy versus sell and continuing versus reversing trades.

Keywords: CO2 emission allowances, market microstructure, duration, price discovery

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Authors: Ngoc Nguyen

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There is large plantation of Eucalyptus globulus established which has been grown to produce pulpwood. This resource is not suitable for the production of decorative products, principally due to low grades of wood and “dull” appearance but many trials have been already undertaken for the production of veneer and veneer-based engineered wood products, such as plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The manufacture of veneer-based products has been recently identified as an unprecedented opportunity to promote higher value utilisation of plantation resources. However, many uncertainties remain regarding the impacts of inferior wood quality of young plantation trees on product recovery and value, and with respect to optimal processing techniques. Moreover, the quality of veneer and veneer-based products is far from optimal as trees are young and have small diameters; and the veneers have the significant colour variation which affects to the added value of final products. Developing production methods which would enhance appearance of low-quality veneer would provide a great potential for the production of high-value wood products such as furniture, joinery, flooring and other appearance products. One of the methods of enhancing appearance of low quality veneer, developed in Italy, involves the production of multilaminar veneer, also named “reconstructed veneer”. An important stage of the multilaminar production is colouring the veneer which can be achieved by dyeing veneer with dyes of different colours depending on the type of appearance products, their design and market demand. Although veneer dyeing technology has been well advanced in Italy, it has been focused on poplar veneer from plantation which wood is characterized by low density, even colour, small amount of defects and high permeability. Conversely, the majority of plantation eucalypts have medium to high density, have a lot of defects, uneven colour and low permeability. Therefore, detailed study is required to develop dyeing methods suitable for colouring eucalypt veneers. Brown reactive dye is used for veneer colouring process. Veneers from sapwood and heartwood of two moisture content levels are used to conduct colouring experiments: green veneer and veneer dried to 12% MC. Prior to dyeing, all samples are treated. Both soaking (dipping) and vacuum pressure methods are used in the study to compare the results and select most efficient method for veneer dyeing. To date, the results of colour measurements by CIELAB colour system showed significant differences in the colour of the undyed veneers produced from heartwood part. The colour became moderately darker with increasing of Sodium chloride, compared to control samples according to the colour measurements. It is difficult to conclude a suitable dye solution used in the experiments at this stage as the variables such as dye concentration, dyeing temperature or dyeing time have not been done. The dye will be used with and without UV absorbent after all trials are completed using optimal parameters in colouring veneers.

Keywords: Eucalyptus globulus, veneer colouring/dyeing, multilaminar veneer, reactive dye

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Authors: R. T. Aggangan

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Woodfuels continue to be a major component of the energy supply mix of the Philippines due to increasing demand for energy that are not adequately met by decreasing supply and increasing prices of fuel oil such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene. The Development Academy of the Philippines projects the demand of woodfuels in 2016 as 28.3 million metric tons in the household sector and about 105.4 million metric tons combined supply potentials of both forest and non-forest lands. However, the Revised Master Plan for Forestry Development projects a demand of about 50 million cu meters of fuelwood in 2016 but the capability to supply from local sources is only about 28 million cu meters indicating a 44 % deficiency. Household demand constitutes 82% while industries demand is 18%. Domestic household demand for energy is for cooking needs while the industrial demand is for steam power generation, curing barns of tobacco: brick, ceramics and pot making; bakery; lime production; and small scale food processing. Factors that favour increased use of wood-based energy include the relatively low prices (increasing oil-based fuel prices), availability of efficient wood-based energy utilization technology, increasing supply, and increasing population that cannot afford conventional fuels. Moreover, innovations in combustion technology and cogeneration of heat and power from biomass for modern applications favour biomass energy development. This paper recommends policies and strategic directions for the development of the woodfuel industry with the twin goals of sustainably supplying the energy requirements of households and industry.

Keywords: biomass energy development, fuelwood, households and industry, innovations in combustion technology, supply and demand

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Authors: Kobi Kutsher

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On February 12th 2013, monitoring stations of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) detected a seismic event with explosion-like underground characteristics in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The location was found to be in the vicinity of the two previous announced nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.The nuclear test was also announced by the government of the DPRK.After an underground nuclear explosion, radioactive fission products (mostly noble gases) can seep through layers of rock and sediment until they escape into the atmosphere. The fission products are dispersed in the atmosphere and may be detected thousands of kilometers downwind from the test site. Indeed, more than 7 weeks after the explosion, unusual detections of noble gases was reported at the radionuclide station in Takasaki, Japan. The radionuclide station is a part of the International Monitoring System, operated to verify the CTBT. This study provides an estimation of the possible source region and the total radioactivity of the release using Atmospheric Transport Modeling.

Keywords: atmospheric transport modeling, CTBTO, nuclear tests, radioactive fission products

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Authors: Kaewmart Pongakkasira

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This study examines whether construction of LEGO reflects affective states and creativity as the clue to develop effective learning resources for classrooms. For this purpose, participants are instructed to complete a hands-on activity by using LEGO. Prior to the experiment, participants’ affective states and creativity are measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Alternate Uses Task (AUT), respectively. Then, subjects are asked to freely combine LEGO as unusual as possible versus constraint LEGO combination and named the LEGO products. Creativity of the LEGO products is scored for originality and abstractness of titles. It is hypothesized that individuals’ mood and creativity may affect product creativity. If so, there might be correlation among the three parameters.

Keywords: affective states, creativity, hands-on activity, LEGO

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Authors: Fatima Ezzahra Ouboutaib, Abdellatif Aitheda, Soumiya Mekkaoui

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Marketing research is starting to focus on authenticity to position an offer, especially local products. However, its use remains more problematic with the internet for cooperatives. This paper investigates how digitalization impacts the satisfaction of the quest for authenticity. On the theoretical level, it explains authenticity in online and offline contexts in the postmodernism era. Then, an exploratory qualitative study tries to understand the contribution of digitization to the satisfaction of the search for authenticity. Therefore, cooperatives selling terroir products on the Internet are advised to keep also direct contact which tends to show a traditional manner of production to enhance customers’ perception of terroir product authenticity.

Keywords: authenticity, terroir product, online authenticity, postmodernism

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Authors: Guan-Ying Chen, Han-Tsung Liou, Shou-Ren Hu

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To address traffic congestion problems and encourage the use of public transportation systems in the Taipei metropolitan area, the Taipei City Government and the New Taipei City Government implemented a monthly ticket policy on April 16, 2018. This policy offers unlimited rides on the Taipei MRT, Taipei City Bus, New Taipei City Bus, Danhai Light Rail, and Public Bike (YouBike) on a monthly basis. Additionally, both city governments replaced the smart card discount policy with a new frequent flyer discount program (referred to as the loyal customer program) on February 1, 2020, introducing a differential pricing policy. Specifically, the more frequently the Taipei MRT system is used, the greater the discounts users receive. To analyze the impact of the Taipei public transport monthly ticket policy and the frequent user discount program on the passenger volume of the Taipei MRT system and the transferring behaviors of MRT users, this study conducts a trip-chain analysis using transaction data from Taipei MRT smart cards between September 2017 and December 2020. To achieve these objectives, the study employs four indicators: 1) number of passengers, 2) average number of rides, 3) average trip distance, and 4) instances of multiple consecutive rides. The study applies the t-test and Mann-Kendall trend test to investigate whether the proposed indicators have changed over time due to the implementation of the discount policy. Furthermore, the study examines the travel behaviors of passengers who use monthly tickets. The empirical results of the study indicate that the implementation of the Taipei public transport monthly ticket policy has led to an increase in the average number of passengers and a reduction in the average trip distance. Moreover, there has been a significant increase in instances of multiple consecutive rides, attributable to the unlimited rides offered by the monthly tickets. The impact of the frequent user discount program on changes in MRT passengers is not as pronounced as that of the Taipei public transportation monthly ticket policy. This is partly due to the fact that the frequent user discount program is only applicable to the Taipei MRT system, and the passenger volume was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this research can serve as a reference for Taipei MRT Corporation in formulating its fare strategy and can also provide guidance for the Taipei and New Taipei City Governments in evaluating differential pricing policies for public transportation systems.

Keywords: frequent user discount program, mass rapid transit, monthly ticket, smart card

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Authors: Samir Karimov, Elshad Abdullayev, Muslum Gurbanov

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As one of the γ-radiolysis products of hexachlorocyclohexane and hexachlorobenzene, the study of 1.4 g/L concentrated 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB) in methanol solution has been irradiated at 0-209.3 kGy dose of γ-radiation and the results have been studied via GC-MS. At maximum radiation dose of 209.3 kGy 91.38% of TCB has converted into different organic compounds, such as 1,4-, 1,3- and 1,2- dichlorobenzenes (DCB), chlorobenzene, toluene, benzene and other chlorinated and non-chlorinated compounds. The variation of compounds formed by γ-radiolysis depends on the nature of solvent and radiation dose. One of the frequently identified radiolysis products of TCB in different organic solvents - 1,4-DCB studied quantitatively with external standard. The concentration of DCB increases by increasing absorbed radiation dose to approximately 131.8 kGy, then at higher doses with its conversion into chlorobenzene, it decreases.

Keywords: γ-radiolysis, chlorinated pesticides, radiation dose, dechlorination

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Authors: Selena Gutiérrez, Araceli Martínez

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One of the most important challenges worldwide, scientific and technological, is to have a sustainable energy source; friendly to the environment and widely available. Currently, the 85% of the energy used comes from the fossil sources. Another important environmental problem is that several rubber products (tires, gloves, hoses, among others) are discarded practically without any treatment. In nature, the degradation of such products will take at least 500 years. In 2009, the worldwide rubber production was about 23.6 million tons. In order to solve this problems, our research focus in an alternative synthesis of biofuels in a two-step approach: The metathesis degradation of industrial rubber (models of rubber waste), and the oligomers transesterification. Thus, cis-1,4-polybutadiene (Mn= 9.1x105, Mw/Mn= 2.2) and styrene-butadiene block copolymers with 30% (Mn= 1.61x105; Mw/Mn= 1.3) and 21% wt styrene (Mn= 1.92x105; Mw/Mn= 1.4) were degraded via metathesis with soybean oil as chain transfer agent (CTA) and green solvent; using [(PCy3)2Cl2Ru=CHPh] and [(1,3-diphenyl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene)(PCy3)Ru=CHPh] catalysts. Afterwards, the products were transesterified by basic homogeneous catalysis. Before transesterification, the polystyrene microblocks (Mn= 16,761; Mw/Mn= 1.2) were isolated. Finally, the biofuels obtained (BO) were purified, characterized and showed similar properties to standards biodiesel (SB) (Norms: EN 14214-03 and ASTM D6751-02), i.e. (SB / BO): molecular weight [Daltons] (570 / 543-596), density [g/cm3] (0.86-0.90 / 0.88), kinematic viscosity [mm2/s] (1.90-6.0 / 3.5-4.5), iodine (97 / 97-98) and cetane number (Min.47 / 56-58).

Keywords: biofuels, industrial rubber, metathesis, vegetable oils

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Authors: V. R. Venugopal

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Human being evolved 200,000 years ago in an area which is now the Sahara desert and lived all along in the northern part of Africa. It was around 10,000 to15,00 years that he moved out of Africa. Various ancient civilizations – mainly the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indus valley and the Chinese yellow river valley civilizations - developed and perished till the beginning of the Christian era. Strangely the regions where all these civilizations flourished are no deserts. After the ancient civilizations the two major religions of the world the Christianity and Islam evolved. These too evolved in the regions of Jerusalem and Mecca which are now in the deserts of the present Israel and Saudi Arabia. Human activity since ancient age right from his origin was in areas which are now deserts. This is only because wherever Man lived in large numbers he has turned them into deserts. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the ancient days alone. Over the last 500 years the forest cover on the earth is reduced by 80 percent. Even more currently Just over the last forty decades human population has doubled but the number of bugs, beetles, worms and butterflies (micro fauna) have declined by 45%. Deforestation and defaunation are the first signs of desertification and Desertification is a process parallel to the extinction of life. There is every possibility that soon most of the earth will be in deserts. This writer has been involved in the process of forestation and increase of fauna as a profession since twenty years and this is a report of his efforts made in the process, the results obtained and concept generated to revert the ongoing desertification of this earth. This paper highlights how desertification can be reverted by applying these basic principles. 1) Man is not owner of this earth and has no right destroy vegetation and micro fauna. 2) Land owner shall not have the freedom to do anything that he wishes with the land. 3) The land that is under agriculture shall be reduced at least by a half. 4) Irrigation and modern technology shall be used for the forest growth also. 5) Farms shall have substantial permanent vegetation and the practice of all in all out shall stop.

Keywords: desertification, extinction, micro fauna, reverting

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Authors: Daniela Manila Bianchi, Samantha Lupi, Elisa Barcucci, Sandra Fragassi, Clara Tramuta, Lucia Decastelli

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Introduction: The undeclared allergens detection in food products plays a fundamental role in the safety of the allergic consumer. The protection of allergic consumers is guaranteed, in Europe, by Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament, which governs the consumer's right to information and identifies 14 food allergens to be mandatorily indicated on food labels: among these, an egg is included. An egg can be present as an ingredient or as contamination in raw and cooked products. The main allergen egg proteins are ovomucoid, ovalbumin, lysozyme, and ovotransferrin. This study presents the results of a survey conducted in Northern Italy aimed at detecting the presence of undeclared egg proteins in food matrices in the latest ten years (2011-2021). Method: In the period January 2011 - October 2021, a total of 1205 different types of food matrices (ready-to-eat, meats, and meat products, bakery and pastry products, baby foods, food supplements, pasta, fish and fish products, preparations for soups and broths) were delivered to Food Control Laboratory of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Piemonte Liguria and Valle d’Aosta to be analyzed as official samples in the frame of Regional Monitoring Plan of Food Safety or in the contest of food poisoning. The laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited, and since 2019, it has represented the National Reference Centre for the detection in foods of substances causing food allergies or intolerances (CreNaRiA). All samples were stored in the laboratory according to food business operator instructions and analyzed within the expiry date for the detection of undeclared egg proteins. Analyses were performed with RIDASCREEN®FAST Ei/Egg (R-Biopharm ® Italia srl) kit: the method was internally validated and accredited with a Limit of Detection (LOD) equal to 2 ppm (mg/Kg). It is a sandwich enzyme immunoassay for the quantitative analysis of whole egg powder in foods. Results: The results obtained through this study showed that egg proteins were found in 2% (n. 28) of food matrices, including meats and meat products (n. 16), fish and fish products (n. 4), bakery and pastry products (n. 4), pasta (n. 2), preparations for soups and broths (n.1) and ready-to-eat (n. 1). In particular, in 2011 egg proteins were detected in 5% of samples, in 2012 in 4%, in 2013, 2016 and 2018 in 2%, in 2014, 2015 and 2019 in 3%. No egg protein traces were detected in 2017, 2020, and 2021. Discussion: Food allergies occur in the Western World in 2% of adults and up to 8% of children. Allergy to eggs is one of the most common food allergies in the pediatrics context. The percentage of positivity obtained from this study is, however, low. The trend over the ten years has been slightly variable, with comparable data.

Keywords: allergens, food, egg proteins, immunoassay

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Authors: Feng Yue, Fei Dai

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With the rapid development of urbanization process in China, its environmental protection pressure is severely tested. So, analyzing and optimizing the landscape pattern is an important measure to ease the pressure on the ecological environment. This paper takes Wuhan Urban Development Zone as the research object, and studies its landscape pattern evolution and quantitative optimization strategy. First, remote sensing image data from 1990 to 2015 were interpreted by using Erdas software. Next, the landscape pattern index of landscape level, class level, and patch level was studied based on Fragstats. Then five indicators of ecological environment based on National Environmental Protection Standard of China were selected to evaluate the impact of landscape pattern evolution on the ecological environment. Besides, the cost distance analysis of ArcGIS was applied to simulate wildlife migration thus indirectly measuring the improvement of ecological environment quality. The result shows that the area of land for construction increased 491%. But the bare land, sparse grassland, forest, farmland, water decreased 82%, 47%, 36%, 25% and 11% respectively. They were mainly converted into construction land. On landscape level, the change of landscape index all showed a downward trend. Number of patches (NP), Landscape shape index (LSI), Connection index (CONNECT), Shannon's diversity index (SHDI), Aggregation index (AI) separately decreased by 2778, 25.7, 0.042, 0.6, 29.2%, all of which indicated that the NP, the degree of aggregation and the landscape connectivity declined. On class level, the construction land and forest, CPLAND, TCA, AI and LSI ascended, but the Distribution Statistics Core Area (CORE_AM) decreased. As for farmland, water, sparse grassland, bare land, CPLAND, TCA and DIVISION, the Patch Density (PD) and LSI descended, yet the patch fragmentation and CORE_AM increased. On patch level, patch area, Patch perimeter, Shape index of water, farmland and bare land continued to decline. The three indexes of forest patches increased overall, sparse grassland decreased as a whole, and construction land increased. It is obvious that the urbanization greatly influenced the landscape evolution. Ecological diversity and landscape heterogeneity of ecological patches clearly dropped. The Habitat Quality Index continuously declined by 14%. Therefore, optimization strategy based on greenway network planning is raised for discussion. This paper contributes to the study of landscape pattern evolution in planning and design and to the research on spatial layout of urbanization.

Keywords: landscape pattern, optimization strategy, ArcGIS, Erdas, landscape metrics, landscape architecture

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Authors: Elisabetta Cianfanelli, Margherita Tufarelli, Paolo Pupparo

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

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

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Authors: Farid Khosravikia, Patricia Clayton

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The main objective of this study is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of various machine learning techniques in forecasting ground-motion intensity measures given source characteristics, source-to-site distance, and local site condition. Intensity measures such as peak ground acceleration and velocity (PGA and PGV, respectively) as well as 5% damped elastic pseudospectral accelerations at different periods (PSA), are indicators of the strength of shaking at the ground surface. Estimating these variables for future earthquake events is a key step in seismic hazard assessment and potentially subsequent risk assessment of different types of structures. Typically, linear regression-based models, with pre-defined equations and coefficients, are used in ground motion prediction. However, due to the restrictions of the linear regression methods, such models may not capture more complex nonlinear behaviors that exist in the data. Thus, this study comparatively investigates potential benefits from employing other machine learning techniques as a statistical method in ground motion prediction such as Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machine. The algorithms are adjusted to quantify event-to-event and site-to-site variability of the ground motions by implementing them as random effects in the proposed models to reduce the aleatory uncertainty. All the algorithms are trained using a selected database of 4,528 ground-motions, including 376 seismic events with magnitude 3 to 5.8, recorded over the hypocentral distance range of 4 to 500 km in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas since 2005. The main reason of the considered database stems from the recent increase in the seismicity rate of these states attributed to petroleum production and wastewater disposal activities, which necessities further investigation in the ground motion models developed for these states. Accuracy of the models in predicting intensity measures, generalization capability of the models for future data, as well as usability of the models are discussed in the evaluation process. The results indicate the algorithms satisfy some physically sound characteristics such as magnitude scaling distance dependency without requiring pre-defined equations or coefficients. Moreover, it is shown that, when sufficient data is available, all the alternative algorithms tend to provide more accurate estimates compared to the conventional linear regression-based method, and particularly, Random Forest outperforms the other algorithms. However, the conventional method is a better tool when limited data is available.

Keywords: artificial neural network, ground-motion models, machine learning, random forest, support vector machine

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Authors: Julide Hizal Yucesoy, Batuhan Yardimci, Aysem Arda, Resat Apak

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Humic substances produce reactive oxygene species such as hydroxyl, phenoxy and superoxide radicals by oxidizing in a wide pH and reduction potential range. Hydroxyl radicals, produced by reducing agents such as antioxidants and/or peroxides, attack on salicylate probe, and form 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate species. These species are quantitatively determined by using HPLC Method. Humic substances undergo photodegradation by UV radiation. As a result of their antioxidant properties, they produce hydroxyl radicals. In the presence of salicylate probe, these hydroxyl radicals react with salicylate molecules to form hydroxylated products (dihidroxybenzoate isomers). In this study, humic acid was photodegraded in a photoreactor at 254 nm (400W), formed hydroxyl radicals were caught by salicylate probe. The total concentration of hydroxylated salicylate species was measured by using spectrophotometric CUPRAC Method. And also, using results of time dependent experiments, kinetic of photohydroxylation was determined at different pHs. This method has been applied for the first time to measure the concentration of hydroxylated products. It allows to achieve the results easier than HPLC Method.

Keywords: CUPRAC method, humic acid, photohydroxylation, salicylate probe

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Authors: Tauqir A. Moughal, Fusheng Yu, Abeer Mazher

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Land-cover and land-use change information are important because of their practical uses in various applications, including deforestation, damage assessment, disasters monitoring, urban expansion, planning, and land management. Therefore, developing change detection methods for remote sensing images is an important ongoing research agenda. However, detection of change through optical remote sensing images is not a trivial task due to many factors including the vagueness between the boundaries of changed and unchanged regions and spatial dependence of the pixels to its neighborhood. In this paper, we propose a binary change detection technique for bi-temporal optical remote sensing images. As in most of the optical remote sensing images, the transition between the two clusters (change and no change) is overlapping and the existing methods are incapable of providing the accurate cluster boundaries. In this regard, a methodology has been proposed which uses the fuzzy c-means clustering to tackle the problem of vagueness in the changed and unchanged class by formulating the soft boundaries between them. Furthermore, in order to exploit the neighborhood information of the pixels, the input patterns are generated corresponding to each pixel from bi-temporal images using 3×3, 5×5 and 7×7 window. The between images and within image spatial dependence of the pixels to its neighborhood is quantified by using Pearson product moment correlation and Moran’s I statistics, respectively. The proposed technique consists of two phases. At first, between images and within image spatial correlation is calculated to utilize the information that the pixels at different locations may not be independent. Second, fuzzy c-means technique is used to produce two clusters from input feature by not only taking care of vagueness between the changed and unchanged class but also by exploiting the spatial correlation of the pixels. To show the effectiveness of the proposed technique, experiments are conducted on multispectral and bi-temporal remote sensing images. A subset (2100×1212 pixels) of a pan-sharpened, bi-temporal Landsat 5 thematic mapper optical image of Los Angeles, California, is used in this study which shows a long period of the forest fire continued from July until October 2009. Early forest fire and later forest fire optical remote sensing images were acquired on July 5, 2009 and October 25, 2009, respectively. The proposed technique is used to detect the fire (which causes change on earth’s surface) and compared with the existing K-means clustering technique. Experimental results showed that proposed technique performs better than the already existing technique. The proposed technique can be easily extendable for optical hyperspectral images and is suitable for many practical applications.

Keywords: burned area, change detection, correlation, fuzzy clustering, optical remote sensing

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Authors: Savvas Varitis, Panagiotis Kavouras, George Vourlias, Eleni Pavlidou, Theodoros Karakostas, Philomela Komninou

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A chromium-loaded ash originating from incineration of tannery sludge under anoxic conditions was mixed with low grade soda-lime glass powder coming from commercial glass bottles. The relative weight proportions of ash over glass powder tested were 30/70, 40/60 and 50/50. The solid mixtures, formed in green state compacts, were sintered at the temperature range of 800oC up to 1200oC. The resulting products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXS) and micro-indentation. The above methods were employed to characterize the various phases, microstructure and hardness of the produced materials. Thermal treatment at 800oC and 1000oC produced opaque ceramic products composed of a variety of chromium-containing and chromium-free crystalline phases. Thermal treatment at 1200oC gave rise to composite products, where only chromium-containing crystalline phases were detected. Hardness results suggest that specific products are serious candidates for structural applications. Acknowledgement: This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) – Research Funding Program: THALES “WasteVal”: Reinforcement of the interdisciplinary and/or inter-institutional research and innovation.

Keywords: chromium-rich tannery residues, glass-ceramic materials, mechanical properties, microstructure

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Authors: Brindha Senthil Kumar, Payel Chakraborty, Senthil Kumar Nachimuthu, Arindam Maitra, Prem Nath

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Gastric cancer is predominantly caused by demographic and diet factors as compared to other cancer types. The aim of the study is to predict Early Gastric Cancer (ECG) from diet and lifestyle factors using supervised machine learning algorithms. For this study, 160 healthy individual and 80 cases were selected who had been followed for 3 years (2016-2019), at Civil Hospital, Aizawl, Mizoram. A dataset containing 11 features that are core risk factors for the gastric cancer were extracted. Supervised machine algorithms: Logistic Regression, Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multilayer perceptron, and Random Forest were used to analyze the dataset using Python Jupyter Notebook Version 3. The obtained classified results had been evaluated using metrics parameters: minimum_false_positives, brier_score, accuracy, precision, recall, F1_score, and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve. Data analysis results showed Naive Bayes - 88, 0.11; Random Forest - 83, 0.16; SVM - 77, 0.22; Logistic Regression - 75, 0.25 and Multilayer perceptron - 72, 0.27 with respect to accuracy and brier_score in percent. Naive Bayes algorithm out performs with very low false positive rates as well as brier_score and good accuracy. Naive Bayes algorithm classification results in predicting ECG showed very satisfactory results using only diet cum lifestyle factors which will be very helpful for the physicians to educate the patients and public, thereby mortality of gastric cancer can be reduced/avoided with this knowledge mining work.

Keywords: Early Gastric cancer, Machine Learning, Diet, Lifestyle Characteristics

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Authors: Benchalak Muangmeesri

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The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to test the best control performance of a ceramics. Hydraulic press machine (HPM) is the most common shaping of advanced ceramic with products, dimensions, and ceramic products mainly from synthetic powders. A microcontroller can be achieved to control process and has set high standards in the shaping of raw materials in powder form. HPM was proposed to develop a position control system that linked to the embedded controller PIC16F877 via Proportional and Derivative (PD) controller. The model is performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK and the best control performance of an HPM. Finally, PD controller results, showing the best performance as it had the smallest overshoot and highest quality using a microcontroller control.

Keywords: ceramics, hydraulic press, microcontroller, PD controller

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Authors: Amandeep Sharma, Digvaijay Verma, Ruplal Choudhary

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Food processing is an activity across the globe that help in better handling of agricultural produce, including dairy, meat, and fish. The operations carried out in the food industry includes raw material quality authenticity; sorting and grading; processing into various products using thermal treatments – heating, freezing, and chilling; packaging; and storage at the appropriate temperature to maximize the shelf life of the products. All this is done to safeguard the food products and to ensure the distribution up to the consumer. The approaches to develop predictive models based on mathematical or statistical tools or empirical models’ development has been reported for various milk processing activities, including plant maintenance and wastage. Recently AI is the key factor for the fourth industrial revolution. AI plays a vital role in the food industry, not only in quality and food security but also in different areas such as manufacturing, packaging, and cleaning. A new conceptual model was developed, which shows that smaller sample size as only spectra would be required to predict the other values hence leads to saving on raw materials and chemicals otherwise used for experimentation during the research and new product development activity. It would be a futuristic approach if these tools can be further clubbed with the mobile phones through some software development for their real time application in the field for quality check and traceability of the product.

Keywords: predictive modlleing, ann, ai, food

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Authors: J. Dharmaraj, C. Gunasekaran

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Invertebrates are the reliable ecological indicators of disturbance of the forest ecosystems and they respond to environment changes more quickly than other fauna. Among these the terrestrial invertebrates are vital to functioning ecosystems, contributing to processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and soil fertility. The natural ecosystems of the forests have been subject to various types of disturbances, which lead to decline of flora and fauna. The comparative diversity of micro-arthropods in natural forest, wattle plantation and eucalyptus plantations were studied in Nilgiris. The study area was divided in to five major sites (Emerald (Site-I), Thalaikundha (Site-II), Kodapmund (Site-III), Aravankad (Site-IV), Kattabettu (Site-V). The research was conducted during period from March 2014 to August 2014. The leaf and soil samples were collected and isolated by using Berlese funnel extraction methods. Specimens were isolated and identified according to their morphology (Balogh 1972). In the present study results clearly showed the variation in soil pH, NPK (Major Nutrients) and organic carbon among the study sites. The chemical components of the leaf litters of the plantation decreased the diversity of micro-arthropods and decomposition rate leads to low amount of carbon and other nutrients present in the soil. Moreover eucalyptus and wattle plantations decreases the availability of the ground water source to other plantations and micro-arthropods and hences affects the soil fertility. Hence, the present study suggests to minimize the growth of wattle and eucalyptus tree plantations in the natural areas which may help to reduce the decline of forests.

Keywords: micro-arthropods, assemblage, berlese funnel, morphology, NPK, nilgiris

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Authors: P. N. Okeke, J. N. Chikwendu

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The study evaluated the effects of varying fermentation periods on the nutrients and anti-nutrients composition of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) and acha (Digitaria exilis) flour blends and sensory properties of their products. The African yam bean seeds and acha grains were fermented for 24 hrs, 48 and 72 hrs, dried (sun drying) and milled into fine flour. The fermented flours were used in a ratio of 70:30 (Protein basis) to formulate composite flour for meat pie and biscuits production. Both the fermented and unfermented flours and products were analyzed for chemical composition using the standard method. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 15 to determine the mean and standard deviation. The 24, 48, and 72 hrs fermentation periods increased protein (22.81, 26.15 and 24.00% respectively). The carbohydrate, ash and moisture contents of the flours were also increased as a result of fermentation (68.01-76.83, 2.26-4.88, and 8.36-13.00% respectively). The 48 hrs fermented flour blends had the highest increase in ash relative to the control (4.88%). Fermentation increased zinc, iron, magnesium and phosphorus content of the flours. Treatment drastically reduced the anti-nutrient (oxalate, saponin, tannin, phytate, and hemagglutinin) levels of the flours. Both meat pie and biscuits had increased protein relative to the control (27.36-34.28% and 23.66-25.09%). However, the protein content of the meat pie increased more than that of the biscuits. Zinc, Iron, Magnesium and phosphorus levels increased in both meat pie and biscuits. Organoleptic attributes of the products (meat pie and biscuits) were slightly lower than the control except those of the 72 hrs fermented flours.

Keywords: fermentation, African yam bean, acha, biscuits, meat-pie

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Authors: Marina Chavleishvili

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Introduction: Today, the study of monopolies, including natural monopolies, is topical. In real life, pure monopolies are natural monopolies. Natural monopolies are used widely and are regulated by the state. In particular, the prices and rates are regulated. The paper considers the problems associated with the operation of natural monopolies in Georgia, in particular, their microeconomic analysis, pricing mechanisms, and legal mechanisms of their operation. The analysis was carried out on the example of the power industry. The rates of natural monopolies in Georgia are controlled by the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulation Commission. The paper analyzes the positive role and importance of the regulatory body and the issues of improving the legislative base that will support the efficient operation of the branch. Methodology: In order to highlight natural monopolies market tendencies, the domestic and international markets are studied. An analysis of monopolies is carried out based on the endogenous and exogenous factors that determine the condition of companies, as well as the strategies chosen by firms to increase the market share. According to the productivity-based competitiveness assessment scheme, the segmentation opportunities, business environment, resources, and geographical location of monopolist companies are revealed. Main Findings: As a result of the analysis, certain assessments and conclusions were made. Natural monopolies are quite a complex and versatile economic element, and it is important to specify and duly control their frame conditions. It is important to determine the pricing policy of natural monopolies. The rates should be transparent, should show the level of life in the country, and should correspond to the incomes. The analysis confirmed the significance of the role of the Antimonopoly Service in the efficient management of natural monopolies. The law should adapt to reality and should be applied only to regulate the market. The present-day differential electricity tariffs varying depending on the consumed electrical power need revision. The effects of the electricity price discrimination are important, segmentation in different seasons in particular. Consumers use more electricity in winter than in summer, which is associated with extra capacities and maintenance costs. If the price of electricity in winter is higher than in summer, the electricity consumption will decrease in winter. The consumers will start to consume the electricity more economically, what will allow reducing extra capacities. Conclusion: Thus, the practical realization of the views given in the paper will contribute to the efficient operation of natural monopolies. Consequently, their activity will be oriented not on the reduction but on the increase of increments of the consumers or producers. Overall, the optimal management of the given fields will allow for improving the well-being throughout the country. In the article, conclusions are made, and the recommendations are developed to deliver effective policies and regulations toward the natural monopolies in Georgia.

Keywords: monopolies, natural monopolies, regulation, antimonopoly service

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Authors: Domenico Panno, Antonino D’amico, Hamed Jafargholi

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This paper presents an experimental analysis of the performance of a system for freezing fish products equipped with a modulating vapour injection scroll compressor operating with R448A refrigerant. Freezing is a critical process for the preservation of seafood products, as it influences quality, food safety, and environmental sustainability. The use of a modulating scroll compressor with vapour injection, associated with the R448A refrigerant, is proposed as a solution to optimize the performance of the system, reducing energy consumption and mitigating the environmental impact. The stream injection modulating scroll compressor represents an advanced technology that allows you to adjust the compressor capacity based on the actual cooling needs of the system. Vapour injection allows the optimization of the refrigeration cycle, reducing the evaporation temperature and improving the overall efficiency of the system. The use of R448A refrigerant, with a low Global Warming Potential (GWP), is part of an environmental sustainability perspective, helping to reduce the climate impact of the system. The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance of the system through a series of experiments conducted on a pilot plant for the freezing of fish products. Several operational variables were monitored and recorded, including evaporation temperature, condensation temperature, energy consumption, and freezing time of seafood products. The results of the experimental analysis highlighted the benefits deriving from the use of the modulating vapour injection scroll compressor with the R448A refrigerant. In particular, a significant reduction in energy consumption was recorded compared to conventional systems. The modulating capacity of the compressor made it possible to adapt the cold production to variations in the thermal load, ensuring optimal operation of the system and reducing energy waste. Furthermore, the use of an electronic expansion valve highlighted greater precision in the control of the evaporation temperature, with minimal deviation from the desired set point. This helped ensure better quality of the final product, reducing the risk of damage due to temperature changes and ensuring uniform freezing of the fish products. The freezing time of seafood has been significantly reduced thanks to the configuration of the entire system, allowing for faster production and greater production capacity of the plant. In conclusion, the use of a modulating vapour injection scroll compressor operating with R448A has proven effective in improving the performance of a system for freezing fish products. This technology offers an optimal balance between energy efficiency, temperature control, and environmental sustainability, making it an advantageous choice for food industries.

Keywords: scroll compressor, vapor injection, refrigeration system, EER

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