Search results for: urban water resilience

Authors: Yangyang Zhang

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In The Valley of the Moon, Jack London implicitly presents the connection between the city and the male, the country and the female, constructing a gender space where the city and the countryside are opposed. But meanwhile, London is constantly dismantling the gender space through the reversed travel map so as to highlight the fluidity and productivity of female space. Under such circumstance, the original gender space has to be reorganized. Through the construction of gendered urban and rural spaces, Jack London presents the national crisis in the process of urbanization of the American West in the late 19th century, while the female-led reversed travel map reproduces the original contribution of the American West to the construction of nationality. In the end, the reorganized neutral space “valley of the moon” reflects the “garden” motif in American national imagination and plays an important role in rebuilding national identity. This research studies the feminist geography and cartography in Jack London's novel The Valley of the Moon and analyzes the gender-politics attribution in the literary geography writing in London's novel on this basis. The research returns to the American historical context at the end of the 19th century, focusing on how London’s feminist geography embodies his sense of nationality and investigating how female-dominated literary cartography reconstructs American identity. This paper takes Literary Cartography, and feminist geography as the ideological guide combines with the discourse of gender politics. comprehensively uses various literary criticism methods such as deconstructionist literary criticism, and new historicism literary criticism, etc., Through the study of Jack London's work, the paper aims to analyse how London constructs a national image by literary geography.

Keywords: American identity, American west, feminist geography, garden motif, the valley of the moon

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Authors: Siavash Salamatpoor, Hossein Motaghedi, Jr., Mehrdad Nategh

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In this study, undrained triaxial tests under anisotropic consolidation were conducted on the reconstituted samples of Ramsar sand, which underlies a densely populated, seismic region of the southern coast of Caspian Sea in Mazandaran province, Iran. Ramsar costal city is regularly visited by many tourists. Accordingly, many tall building and heavy structures are going to be constructed over this coastal area. This region is overlaid by poorly graded clean sand and because of high water level, is susceptible to liquefaction. The specimens were consolidated anisotropically to simulate initial shear stress which is mobilized due to surface constructions. Different states of soil behavior were obtained by applying different levels of initial relative density, shear stress, and effective stress. It is shown that Ramsar clean sand can experience the whole possible states of liquefiable soils i.e. fully liquefaction, limited liquefaction, and dilation behaviors. It would be shown that by increasing the shear parameter in high confine pressure, the liquefaction susceptibility has increased while for low confine pressure it would be vice versa.

Keywords: anisotropic, triaxial test, shear parameter, static liquefaction

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Authors: Usama Bin Zubair, Syed Azhar Ali

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Introduction: Depression is emerging as a major public health problem in all parts of the world. Developing countries have a unique socioeconomic structure that affects the lives of its inhabitants in several ways. Going abroad for employment is one of the common social problems which have been faced by young males in developing countries. This included both highly qualified individuals as well as the labor class. Objective: To determine the difference in the presence of depressive symptoms among pregnant women with husbands living abroad and those with husbands living with them in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Methods: The sample population comprised of pregnant women reporting for an antenatal checkup at Amna hospital Rawalakot. Cases constituted the pregnant women with husbands living abroad while controls were the pregnant women with husbands living with them. Patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to record the presence and severity of depressive symptoms. Age, gestation, parity, rural or urban origin, education, level of family income, daily contact hours on the telephone or what’s app, previous pregnancy loss or complications, number of years abroad and visits to home per year were associated with the presence of depressive symptoms. Findings: The mean age of the study participants was 29.73 ±5.395 years. Sixty-six had significant depression in the case group, while 14 had in the control group (p-value<0.001). Education and rural background had a significant difference between the case and the control group. Less number of visits per year of the husband was strongly linked with the presence of depressive symptoms among the cases. Conclusion: Pregnant women with husbands abroad were found more prone to develop depressive symptoms as compared to those with husbands living with them. Special attention should be paid to the women whose husband had a lesser number of visits to the country.

Keywords: depression, pregnancy, lack of support, war zone

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Authors: B. Kenny

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There is currently no literature comparing undercasts in fracture care. This study is a randomised trial comparing the 4 commonly used undercasts in Australia. These are Webril, Sofban, Goretech and Delta-dry. The ideal undercast should be comfortable for the patient and not cause itchiness. It should be durable enough to withstand daily activities. The clinician/technician should find the undercast easy to apply and remove. It should provide adequate padding without compromising cast mouldability to obtain a good cast index and air index. 18 volunteering medical students were randomly allocated to receive 4 angular casts, one over each elbow and ankle(total of 72 casts). They were blinded to cast type. After an hour their casts were stressed by pouring 20ml Normal Saline onto the skin beneath. Each student filled a questionnaire about comfort, itchiness, weight and water resistance. Subsequently they ranked each cast 1 to 4 based on preference. Our preliminary results show Delta-dry is the most preferred undercast followed by Webril, Sofban and Goretech in that order. Underlay selection is important component of patient care with long immobilsation. Webril or Deltra-dry are by far the most preferred undercasts in our study.

Keywords: casts, fracture, treatment modality, patient compliance

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Authors: Fabienne Baraud, Lydia Leleyter, Sandra Poree, Melanie Lemoine, Fatiha Oudghiri

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Alternative solutions to immersion at sea are searched for the huge amounts of dredged sediments around the world that might contain various types of contaminants. Possible re-uses of such materials in civil engineering appear as sustainable solutions. The French SEDIBRIC project (valorisation de SEDIments en BRIQues et tuiles) aims to replace a part of natural clays with dredged sediments in the preparation of fired bricks. The potential environmental impact of this re-use is explored to complete the technical and economic feasibility of the study. As part of the project, we investigate the environmental availability of metallic elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mg, Mn, Pb, Ti, and Zn) initially present in the dredged sediments selected for the project. Leaching tests (with H₂O, HCl, or EDTA) are conducted in the sediments than in the final bricks in order to evaluate the possible influence of some steps of the bricks manufacturing (desalination pre-treatment, firing, etc.). The desalination pre-treatment using tap water has no or few impacts on the environmental availability of the studied elements. On the opposite, the firing process (900°C) affects the value of the total content of elements detected in the bricks but also the environmental availability for various elements. For instance, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn are stabilized in the bricks, whereas the availability of some other elements (i.e., Cr, Ni) increases, depending on the nature of the extracting solution.

Keywords: availability, bricks, dredged sediments, metals

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Authors: Adeline Meriaux, Claire Gaiani, Jennifer Burgain, Frantz Fournier, Lionel Muniglia, Jérémy Petit

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Spray-drying process is widely used for the production of dairy powders for food and pharmaceuticals industries. It involves the atomization of a liquid feed into fine droplets, which are subsequently dried through contact with a hot air flow. The resulting powders permit transportation cost reduction and shelf life increase but can also exhibit various interesting functionalities (flowability, solubility, protein modification or acid gelation), depending on operating conditions and milk composition. Indeed, particles porosity, surface composition, lactose crystallization, protein denaturation, protein association or crust formation may change. Links between spray-drying conditions and physicochemical and functional properties of powders were investigated by a design of experiment methodology and analyzed by principal component analysis. Quadratic models were developed, and multicriteria optimization was carried out by the use of genetic algorithm. At the time of abstract submission, verification spray-drying trials are ongoing. To perform experiments, milk from dairy farm was collected, skimmed, froze and spray-dried at different air pressure (between 1 and 3 bars) and outlet temperature (between 75 and 95 °C). Dry matter, minerals content and proteins content were determined by standard method. Solubility index, absorption index and hygroscopicity were determined by method found in literature. Particle size distribution were obtained by laser diffraction granulometry. Location of the powder color in the Cielab color space and water activity were characterized by a colorimeter and an aw-value meter, respectively. Flow properties were characterized with FT4 powder rheometer; in particular compressibility and shearing test were performed. Air pressure and outlet temperature are key factors that directly impact the drying kinetics and powder characteristics during spray-drying process. It was shown that the air pressure affects the particle size distribution by impacting the size of droplet exiting the nozzle. Moreover, small particles lead to more cohesive powder and less saturated color of powders. Higher outlet temperature results in lower moisture level particles which are less sticky and can explain a spray-drying yield increase and the higher cohesiveness; it also leads to particle with low water activity because of the intense evaporation rate. However, it induces a high hygroscopicity, thus, powders tend to get wet rapidly if they are not well stored. On the other hand, high temperature provokes a decrease of native serum proteins which is positively correlated to gelation properties (gel point and firmness). Partial denaturation of serum proteins can improve functional properties of powder. The control of air pressure and outlet temperature during the spray-drying process significantly affects the physicochemical and functional properties of powder. This study permitted to better understand the links between physicochemical and functional properties of powder, to identify correlations between air pressure and outlet temperature. Therefore, mathematical models have been developed and the use of genetic algorithm will allow the optimization of powder functionalities.

Keywords: dairy powders, spray-drying, powders functionalities, design of experiment

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Authors: Pei Luen Jiang

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Oysters (Ostreidae) and hard clams (Meretrix lusoria) are important shallow sea-cultured shellfish in Taiwan, and are mainly farmed in Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan. As these shellfish are fed primarily on natural plankton, the artificial feed is not required, leading to high economic value in aquatic farming. However, in recent years, though mariculture production areas have expanded steadily, large-scale deaths of farmed shellfish have also become increasingly common due to climate change and human factors. Through studies over the past few years, our research team has determined the impact of nitrogen deprivation on growth and morphological variations in algae and sea anemones (Actiniaria) and identified the target genes affected by adverse environmental factors. In mariculture, high-density farming is commonly adopted, which results in elevated concentrations of nitrogenous waste in the water. In addition, excessive carbon dioxide from the atmosphere also dissolves in seawater, causing a steady decrease in the pH of seawater, leading to acidification. This study to observe the impact of high concentrations of nitrogen sources and carbon dioxide on algae.

Keywords: algae, shellfish, nitrogen, acidification

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Authors: Girmaye Abebe, Brook Lemma

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Adsorption of phosphorus (P as PO43-) in filter cake was studied to assess the media's capability in removing phosphorous from wastewaters. The composition of the filter cake that was generated from alum manufacturing process as waste residue has high amount of silicate from the complete silicate analysis of the experiment. Series of batches adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate parameters that influence the adsorption capacity of PO43-. The factors studied include the effect of contact time, adsorbent dose, thermal pretreatment of the adsorbent, neutralization of the adsorbent, initial PO43- concentration, pH of the solution and effect of co-existing anions. Results showed that adsorption of PO43- is fairly rapid in first 5 min and after that it increases slowly to reach the equilibrium in about 1 h. The treatment efficiency of PO43- was increased with adsorbent extent. About 90% removal efficiency was increased within 1 h at an optimum adsorbent dose of 10 g/L for initial PO43- concentration of 10 mg/L. The amount of PO43- adsorbed increased with increasing initial PO43- concentration. Heat treatment and surface neutralization of the adsorbent did not improve the PO43- removal capacity and efficiency. The percentage of PO43- removal remains nearly constant within the pH range of 3-8. The adsorption data at ambient pH were well fitted to the Langmuir Isotherm and Dubinin–Radushkevick (D–R) isotherm model with a capacity of 25.84 and 157.55 mg/g of the adsorbent respectively. The adsorption kinetic was found to follow a pseudo-second-order rate equation with an average rate constant of 3.76 g.min−1.mg−1. The presence of bicarbonate or carbonate at higher concentrations (10–1000 mg/L) decreased the PO43- removal efficiency slightly while other anions (Cl-, SO42-, and NO3-) have no significant effect within the concentration range tested. The overall result shows that the filter cake is an efficient PO43- removing adsorbent against many parameters.

Keywords: wastewater, filter cake, adsorption capacity, phosphate (PO43-)

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Authors: Zhaojun Zheng, Yuanfa Liu, Jiaxin Li, Jinwei Li, Yong-jiang Xu, Chen Cao

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Black bean is an excellent protein source for preparing hydrolysates, which attract much attention due to their biological activity. The objective of this study was to characterize the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of black bean protein, hydrolyzed by ficin, bromelain or alcalase until 300 min of hydrolysis. Results showed that bromelain and alcalase hydrolysates possessed a higher degree of hydrolysis (DH) than that of ficin, thereby presenting different ultraviolet absorption, fluorescence intensity, and circular dichroism. Moreover, all hydrolysates possessed the capacity to scavenge DPPH radical with the lowest IC₅₀ of 21.11 µg/mL, as well as to chelate ferrous ion (Fe²⁺) with the IC₅₀ values ranging from 6.82 to 30.68 µg/mL. Intriguingly, the oxidation of linoleic acid, sunflower oil, and sunflower oil-in-water emulsion was remarkedly retarded by the three selected protein hydrolysates, especially by bromelain-treated protein hydrolysate, which might attribute to their high hydrophobicity and emulsifying properties. These findings can provide strong support for black bean protein hydrolysates to be employed in food products acting as natural antioxidant alternatives.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, black bean protein hydrolysate, emulsion physicochemical properties, sunflower oil

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Authors: Gyo Woo Lee, Man Young Kim

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A mathematical heat transfer model for the prediction of transient heating of the slab in a direct-fired walking beam type reheating furnace has been developed by considering the nongray thermal radiation with given furnace environments. The furnace is modeled as radiating nongray medium with carbon dioxide and water with five-zoned gas temperature and the furnace wall is considered as a constant temperature lower than furnace gas one. The slabs are moving with constant velocity depending on the residence time through the non-firing, charging, preheating, heating, and final soaking zones. Radiative heat flux obtained by considering the radiative heat exchange inside the furnace as well as convective one from the surrounding hot gases are introduced as boundary condition of the transient heat conduction within the slab. After validating thermal radiation model adopted in this work, thermal fields in both model and real reheating furnace are investigated in terms of radiative heat flux in the furnace and temperature inside the slab. The results show that the slab in the furnace can be more heated with higher slab emissivity and residence time.

Keywords: reheating furnace, steel slab, radiative heat transfer, WSGGM, emissivity, residence time

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Authors: A. Yakub AbdurRaheem

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Urban violence in the form of ethnic and religious conflicts have been on the increase in many African cities in the recent years of which most of them are the result of intense and bitter competition for political power, the control of limited economic, social and environmental resources. In Nigeria, the emergence of the Boko Haram insurgency in most parts of the northeastern parts have ignited violence, bloodshed, refugee exodus and internal migration. Not only do the persistent attacks of the sect create widespread insecurity and fear, but it has also stifled normal processes of trade and investments most especially real property investment which is acclaimed to accelerate the economic cycle, thus the need to evolve strategies for an improved property market in such areas. This paper, therefore, examines the impact of this social crisis on effective and efficient utilization of real properties as a resource towards the development of the economy, using a descriptive analysis approach where particular emphasis was based on trends in residential housing values; volume of estimated property transactions and real estate investment decisions by affected individuals. Findings indicate that social crisis in the affected areas have been a clog on the wheels of property development and investment as properties worth hundreds of millions have been destroyed thereby having great impact on property values. Based on these findings, recommendations were made to include the need to strategically continue investing in property during such times, the need for Nigerian government to establish an active conflict monitoring and management unit for the prompt response, encourage community and neighborhood policing to ameliorate security challenges in Nigeria.

Keywords: social crisis, economy, resources, property market

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Authors: I. Sterbova, E. Oberhofnerova, M. Panek, M. Pavelek

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With growing popularity, wood of European larch (Larix decidua, Mill.) is being more often applied into the exterior, usually as facade elements, also without surface treatment. The aim of this work was to compare two laboratory tests of artificial accelerated weathering of wood with two ways of natural weathering in the exterior. To assess changes in selected surface characteristics of larch wood, accelerated weathering methods in the Xenotest and UV chamber were used, both in combination with temperature cycling, for 6 weeks. They were compared with natural weathering results at exposition under 45° and 90° in the exterior for 12 months. The changes of colour, gloss, contact angle of water and also changes in visual characteristics were evaluated. The results of wood surfaces changes after 6 weeks of accelerated weathering in Xenotest are closer to 12 months of natural weathering in the exterior at an angle of 90° compared to the UV chamber testing. The results, especially the colour changes, of the samples exposed at an angle of 45° in the exterior were significantly different. Testing in Xenotest more closely simulates the weathering of façade elements in the exterior compared to the UV chamber testing.

Keywords: larch wood, wooden facade, wood accelerated weathering, weathering methods

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Authors: Illyas Md Isa, Mohamad Idris Saidin, Mustaffa Ahmad, Norhayati Hashim

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A highly selective and sensitive carbon paste electrode modified with multiwall carbon nanotubes and 2,6–diacetylpyridine-di-(1R)–(-)–fenchone diazine tetracarbonylmolybdenum(0) complex was used for determination of trace amounts of Cu(II) using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The influences of experimental variables on the proposed electrode such as pH, supporting electrolyte, preconcentration potential and time, and square wave parameters were investigated. Under optimal conditions, the proposed electrode showed a linear relationship with concentration in the range of 1.0 × 10–10 to 1.0 × 10– 6 M Cu(II) with a limit of detection 8.0 × 10–11 M. The relative standard deviation (n = 5) for a solution containing 1.0 × 10– 6 M of Cu(II) was 0.036. The presence of various cations (in 10 and 100-folds concentration) did not interfere. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the charge transfer at the electrode-solution interface was favourable. The proposed electrode was applied for the determination of Cu(II) in several water samples. Results agreed very well with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The modified electrode was then proposed as an alternative for determination of Cu(II).

Keywords: chemically modified electrode, Cu(II), square wave anodic stripping voltammetry, tetracarbonylmolybdenum(0)

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Authors: S. N. S. Thein, H. L. Yang, Z. B. Liu

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There are many modes of transport. Among them, maritime transport is a major transportation mode of international trade. In the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma), water transportation served as one of the most important modes of transport for country's exports and imports. Getting the accurate information and data-gathering activity are the most important aspects for any study field. Therefore, in this research, a historical review of the development of ports in Myanmar and how they have changed had been carried out. All the relevant literature and documents have also been reviewed, studied, and organized. The sources of collected data are from reports, journals, internet, as well as from the publications of authorized organizations and international associations. To get better understanding about real situation of maritime transport and logistics in Myanmar; current condition of existing ports, expansion and on-going projects, and future port development plans are described successively. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to build up a comprehensive picture of maritime transport and logistics, in addition to border trade within ASEAN and Myanmar. It will help for academic researchers, decision makers, and stakeholders for national planning as well as for the local and foreign investors to recognize current situation of maritime transport and logistics in Myanmar.

Keywords: ASEAN, border trade, logistics, maritime transport, ports of Myanmar

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Authors: Samir Hmaimou, Marouane Ait Lahcen, Mohamed Adardour, Mohamed Maatallah, Abdesselam Baouid

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The stereoisomers (E)-2,2-dimethyl-4-(4-subsitutedstyryl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-[1,5]-benzodiazepine 3(a-d) were synthesized via the condensation reaction of 2,2,3 4-trimethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-1,5-benzodiazepine (BZD) 1 with the benzaldehyde derivatives 2(a-d) in polar protic solvent as ethanol. The chemical structure of the prepared products was confirmed by NMR (¹H and ¹³C), HRMS, and X-ray analysis of the crystal structure 3d. The condensation reaction was examined using DFT calculations at the theoretical level of B3LYP/6-311G(d,p). Frontier molecular orbital analysis shows that the most favorable interaction is between the HOMO of BZD 1 and the LUMO of 2(a-d). On the other hand, the calculation of the global reactivity indices (softness, hardness, and chemical potential) confirmed that benzodiazepine BDZ 1 act as a nucleophile, whereas the aldehyde derivatives 2(a-d) play the role of electrophile. Furthermore, we identified each reagent's reactive sites by the measurement of the reactivity indices to explain the experimentally observed regioselectivity, using Fukui local reactivity descriptors. A one-step mechanism reaction and order 2 water elimination were investigated. We also looked at how the electron-withdrawing groups (EWG) of various aldehydes affected the reaction's mechanism and the stability of products 3(a-d).

Keywords: benzodiazepine, DFT calculations, crystal structure, regioselective, condensation Reaction

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Authors: Lessly Borja, Anthony Gualli, Kelly Baño, Fabricio Santacruz

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In this article, a prototype of underwater communication using a long-range laser (50mW) has been carried out in two aquatic scenarios (fish tank and swimming pool) with the aim of recreating Aqua-Fi technology (the future of underwater communications) using a Bluetooth connection to the transmitter to send data in ASCII code by means of light. Initially, the transmitter and receiver circuits were programmed in Arduino so that the data would travel by light pulses in the aforementioned code. To obtain the results of the underwater communication, two scenarios were chosen (fish tank and swimming pool), where the power value of the received signal was calculated from its peak-to-peak voltage using the Oscilloscope equipment (ESPOCH). Finally, it was concluded that the maximum communication range of this prototype is 12m underwater, and it was observed that the power decreases as the distance increases. However, this prototype still needs to improve communication so that the information is not distorted or lost when there is movement and dispersion of the water. It is hoped that it will form the basis for future research.

Keywords: prototype, underwater, communication, power, voltage, distance

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Authors: Samiul Islam Hazarika, Domngam Boje, Ananta Kumar Atta

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It is well familiar that solvents play a significant role in modern chemistry. Solvents can change the reactivity and physicochemical properties of molecules in a solution. Keeping this in mind, we have designed and synthesized a mono-triazolyl-linked pyrenyl-appended xylofuranose derivative for the detection of metal ions with changing solvent systems. The incorporation of a sugar backbone in the sensor increases the water solubility and biocompatibility. The experimental study revealed that the xylofuranose-based fluorescence probe did not exhibit any specific selectivity towards metal ions in acetonitrile (CH₃CN) solvent. Whereas, we revealed that triazole-linked pyrenyl-appended xylofuranose-based fluorescent sensor would exhibit high selectivity and sensitivity towards Au³⁺ ions in CH₃CN-H₂O (1/1, v/v) system. This observation might be explained by the viscosity and polarity differences of CH₃CN and CH₃CN-H₂O solvent systems. The formation of the sensor-Au³⁺ complex was also established by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) data of the complex.

Keywords: triazole, furanose, fluorometric, solvent dependent

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Authors: Olakunle Moses Makanjuola, Adebola Ajayi

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Noodles are made from unleavened dough, rolled flat and cut into shapes. The instant noodle market is growing fast in Asian countries and is gaining popularity in the western market. This project reports on the proximate functional and sensory evaluation of different brands of instant noodles in Nigeria. The comparisons were based on proximate functional and sensory evaluation of the product. The result obtained from the proximate analysis showed that sample QHR has the highest moisture content, sample BMG has the highest protein content, sample CPO has the highest fat content, sample. The obtained result from the functional properties showed that sample BMG (Dangote noodles) had the highest volume increase after cooking due to its high swelling capacity, high water absorption capacity and high hydration capacity. Sample sensory analysis of the noodles showed that all the samples are of significant difference (at P < 0.05) in terms of colour, texture, and aroma but there is no significant difference in terms of taste and overall acceptability. Sample QHR (Indomie noodles) is the most preferred by the panelists.

Keywords: proximate, functional, sensory evaluation, noodles

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Authors: Javier Menéndez, Jorge Loredo

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Large scale energy storage systems (LSESS) such as pumped-storage hydro-power (PSH) are required in the current energy transition towards a low carbon economy by using green energies that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Coal mines are currently being closed in the European Union and their underground facilities may be used to build PSH plants. However, the development of this projects requires the excavation of a network of tunnels and a large cavern that would be used as a powerhouse to install the Francis turbine and motor-generator. The technical feasibility to excavate the powerhouse cavern has been analyzed in the North of Spain. Three-dimensional numerical models have been conducted to analyze the stability considering shale and sandstone rock mass. Total displacements and thickness of plastic zones were examined considering different support systems. Systematic grouted rock bolts and fibre reinforced shotcrete were applied at the cavern walls and roof. The results obtained show that the construction of the powerhouse is feasible applying proper support systems.

Keywords: closed mines, mine water, numerical model, pumped-storage, renewable energies

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Authors: Bouzidi Yassine

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This experimental work was aimed to characterize the porosity of the concrete cover zone using the capillary absorption test, and establish the links between open porosity characterized by the initial absorption, the compressive strength and carbonation depth. Eight formulations of workability similar made from ordinary Portland cement (CEM I 42.5) and a compound cement (CEM II/B 42.5) four of each type are studied. The results allow us to highlight the effect of the cement type. Indeed, concretes-based cement CEM II/B 42.5 carbonatent approximately faster than concretes-based cement CEM I 42.5. This effect is attributed in part to the lower content of portlandite Ca(OH)2 of concretes-based cement CEM II/B 42.5, but also the impact of the cement type on the open porosity of the cover concrete. The open porosity of concretes-based cement CEM I 42.5 is lower than that of concretes-based cement CEM II/B 42.5. The carbonation depth is a decreasing function of the compressive strength at 28 days and increases with the initial absorption. Through the results obtained, correlations between the quantity of water absorbed in 1 h, the carbonation depth at 180 days and the compressive strength at 28 days were performed in an acceptable manner.

Keywords: initial absorption, cover concrete, compressive strength, carbonation depth

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Authors: Jennifer Chen, Pei Y. Hsu, Yu W. Chen

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Groundwater resources play a vital role in regional water supply because over 1/3 of total demand is satisfied by groundwater resources. Because over-pumpage might cause environmental impact such as land subsidence, a sustainable management of groundwater resource is required. In this study, a blueprint of smart management for groundwater resource is proposed and planned. The framework of the smart management can be divided into two major parts, hardware and software parts. First, an internet of groundwater (IoG) which is inspired by the internet of thing (IoT) is proposed to observe the migration of groundwater usage and the associated response, groundwater levels. Second, algorithms based on data mining and signal analysis are proposed to achieve the goal of providing highly efficient management of groundwater. The entire blueprint is a 4-year plan and this year is the first year. We have finished the installation of 50 flow meters and 17 observation wells. An underground hydrological model is proposed to determine the associated drawdown caused by the measured pumpages. Besides, an alternative to the flow meter is also proposed to decrease the installation cost of IoG. An accelerometer and 3G remote transmission are proposed to detect the on and off of groundwater pumpage.

Keywords: groundwater management, internet of groundwater, underground hydrological model, alternative of flow meter

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Authors: Muhamad Azani Yahya, Umi Nadiah Nor Ali, Mohammed Alias Yusof, Norazman Mohamad Nor, Vikneswaran Munikanan

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In construction, concrete is one of the materials that can commonly be used as for structural elements. Concrete consists of cement, sand, aggregate and water. Concrete can be added with admixture in the wet condition to suit the design purpose such as to prolong the setting time to improve workability. For strength improvement, concrete is being added with other hybrid materials to increase strength; this is because the tensile strength of concrete is very low in comparison to the compressive strength. This paper shows the usage of a waterproofing agent in concrete to enhance the tensile strength. High tensile concrete is expensive because the concrete mix needs fiber and also high cement content to be incorporated in the mix. High tensile concrete being used for structures that are being imposed by high impact dynamic load such as blast loading that hit the structure. High tensile concrete can be defined as a concrete mix design that achieved 30%-40% tensile strength compared to its compression strength. This research evaluates the usage of a waterproofing agent in a concrete mix as an element of reinforcement to enhance the tensile strength. According to the compression and tensile test, it shows that the concrete mix with a waterproofing agent enhanced the mechanical properties of the concrete. It is also show that the composite concrete with waterproofing is a high tensile concrete; this is because of the tensile is between 30% and 40% of the compression strength. This mix is economical because it can produce high tensile concrete with low cost.

Keywords: high tensile concrete, waterproofing agent, concrete, rheology

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Authors: H. Ahmed, A. Schlenkhoff

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Recently, permeable breakwaters have been suggested to overcome the disadvantages of fully protection breakwaters. These protection structures have minor impacts on the coastal environment and neighboring beaches where they provide a more economical protection from waves and currents. For regular waves, a numerical model is used (FLOW-3D, VOF) to investigate the hydraulic performance of a permeable breakwater. The model of permeable breakwater consists of a pair of identical vertical slotted walls with an impermeable upper and lower part, where the draft is a decimal multiple of the total depth. The middle part is permeable with a porosity of 50%. The second barrier is located at distant of 0.5 and 1.5 of the water depth from the first one. The numerical model is validated by comparisons with previous laboratory data and semi-analytical results of the same model. A good agreement between the numerical results and both laboratory data and semi-analytical results has been shown and the results indicate the applicability of the numerical model to reproduce most of the important features of the interaction. Through the numerical investigation, the friction factor of the model is carefully discussed.

Keywords: coastal structures, permeable breakwater, slotted wall, numerical model, energy dissipation coefficient

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Authors: Xing Lyu

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Multimodal metaphor promotes the further development and refinement of multimodal discourse study. Cultural aspects matter a lot not only in creating but also in comprehending multimodal metaphor. By analyzing the target domain and the source domain in 10 public service advertisements of China and Germany about environmental protection, this paper compares the source when the target is alike in each multimodal metaphor in order to seek similarities and differences across cultures. The findings are as follows: first, the multimodal metaphors center around three major topics: the earth crisis, consequences of environmental damage, and appeal for environmental protection; second, the multimodal metaphors mainly grounded in three universal conceptual metaphors which focused on high level is up; earth is mother and all lives are precious. However, there are five Chinese culture-specific multimodal metaphors which are not discovered in Germany ads: east is high leve; a purposeful life is a journey; a nation is a person; good is clean, and water is mother. Since metaphors are excellent instruments on studying ideology, this study can be helpful on intercultural/cross-cultural communication.

Keywords: multimodal metaphor, cultural aspects, public service advertising, cross-cultural communication

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Authors: Ghanem Al-Ghamdi

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African Horse Sickness causes significant challenges to horse practitioners and owners in Africa and possibly in certain locations in the Arab Pensila. The aim of this work was to observe a hot spot of epidemic in Al-Baha, Southwestern of Saudi Arabia that could be AHS. A five year-old horse farm that had eight horses with no history of clinical problems was visited in late October 2014. In August 2014, horses showed clinical signs of severe pain, congestion of mucus membranes, foam oozing of the nose, recumbency, difficult breath and ultimately death. The course of the disease averaged 2 days. The farm had no previous history of this episode. Other animals including camel, sheep reside the same farm sharing feeding and water sources however no obvious similar clinical problems were noticed among the two species. Five horses showed the clinical disease and all horses were lost. Veterinary help was not available for diagnosis or treatment. A follow up visit to the farm after one year indicated that the three remaining horses were healthy but were relocated to a different facility out the Al-Baha Region. The most likely cause of such clinical problem is African Horse Sickness, however clinical exam and sampling of other horses in the region is absolute must as well as examining arthropods.

Keywords: African horse sickness, horses, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Hesham Moustafa, Ahmed M. Youssef

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The demand for green packagingin the food field has been gained increasing attention in recent decades because of its degradability and safely. Thus, this study revealed that the by-product bagasse papers (BPs) derived from sugarcane waste can be decorated with a thin layer of polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites using the spreading approach.Three variable concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (i.e. 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 wt.%) were used to fabricate PS nanocomposites. The morphology of coated BP-PS biofilms was examined by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transferred Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, other measurements such as mechanical, thermal stability, flammability, wettability by the contact angle, water vapor, and gas barrier properties were carried out on the fabricated BP-PS biofilms. Most outcomes showed that the major properties were enhanced when the PS nanocomposites were implemented. The use of 1.5 wt.% TiO2 in PS nanocomposite for coated BP-PS biofilm increased the tensile stress by ~ 217 % compared to uncoated BP film. Furthermore, the rate of burning for BP-PS-1.5% film was reduced to ~ 33 mm/min because of the crystallinity of PS and the barrier effect provided by TiO₂ NPs. These coated sheets provide a promising candidate for use in advanced packaging applications.

Keywords: bagasse paper, polystyrene nanocomposites, TiO2 nanoparticles, active packaging, mechanical properties, flammability

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Abderrazak Bannari

Abstract:

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from mine wastes and contaminations of soils and water with metals are considered as a major environmental problem in mining areas. It is produced by interactions of water, air, and sulphidic mine wastes. This environment problem results from a series of chemical and biochemical oxidation reactions of sulfide minerals e.g. pyrite and pyrrhotite. These reactions lead to acidity as well as the dissolution of toxic and heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, etc.) from tailings waste rock piles, and open pits. Soil and aquatic ecosystems could be contaminated and, consequently, human health and wildlife will be affected. Furthermore, secondary minerals, typically formed during weathering of mine waste storage areas when the concentration of soluble constituents exceeds the corresponding solubility product, are also important. The most common secondary mineral compositions are hydrous iron oxide (goethite, etc.) and hydrated iron sulfate (jarosite, etc.). The objectives of this study focus on the detection and mapping of MIOP in the soil using Hyperion EO-1 (Earth Observing - 1) hyperspectral data and constrained linear spectral mixture analysis (CLSMA) algorithm. The abandoned Kettara mine, located approximately 35 km northwest of Marrakech city (Morocco) was chosen as study area. During 44 years (from 1938 to 1981) this mine was exploited for iron oxide and iron sulphide minerals. Previous studies have shown that Kettara surrounding soils are contaminated by heavy metals (Fe, Cu, etc.) as well as by secondary minerals. To achieve our objectives, several soil samples representing different MIOP classes have been resampled and located using accurate GPS ( ≤ ± 30 cm). Then, endmembers spectra were acquired over each sample using an Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) covering the spectral domain from 350 to 2500 nm. Considering each soil sample separately, the average of forty spectra was resampled and convolved using Gaussian response profiles to match the bandwidths and the band centers of the Hyperion sensor. Moreover, the MIOP content in each sample was estimated by geochemical analyses in the laboratory, and a ground truth map was generated using simple Kriging in GIS environment for validation purposes. The acquired and used Hyperion data were corrected for a spatial shift between the VNIR and SWIR detectors, striping, dead column, noise, and gain and offset errors. Then, atmospherically corrected using the MODTRAN 4.2 radiative transfer code, and transformed to surface reflectance, corrected for sensor smile (1-3 nm shift in VNIR and SWIR), and post-processed to remove residual errors. Finally, geometric distortions and relief displacement effects were corrected using a digital elevation model. The MIOP fraction map was extracted using CLSMA considering the entire spectral range (427-2355 nm), and validated by reference to the ground truth map generated by Kriging. The obtained results show the promising potential of the proposed methodology for the detection and mapping of mine iron oxide pollution in the soil.

Keywords: hyperion eo-1, hyperspectral, mine iron oxide pollution, environmental impact, unmixing

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Authors: Mohammad Shamim Hasan Mandal, Phu Minh, Do Tan Khang, Phung Thi Tuyen, Tran Dang Xuan

Abstract:

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the major crops of Vietnam which has more than thousands of varieties. Many of the local varieties have greater potentiality but they are in danger of extinct. Rice plant contains many secondary metabolites that are allelopathic to other plants. Seven rice varieties were cultivated in the field condition at Hiroshima University, Japan; stems and leaves from each variety were collected later, they were extracted with methanol, hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water. Total phenolic content and total flavonoid contents were high in ethyl acetate extracts. DPPH antioxidant assay results showed that the ethyl acetate extracts had the higher IC50 value. Therefore, the ethyl acetate extracts were selected for laboratory experimentation through petri dish assay. Results showed that the two-local variety Re nuoc and Nan chon completely inhibited the germination of radish seedlings. Further laboratory bioassay and field experimentation will be conducted to validate the laboratory bioassay findings.

Keywords: allelopathy, bioassay, Oryza sativa, Raphanus sativus

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: S. Rashidi, L. C. Abdullah, R. Walvekar, K. Mohammad, F-R. Ahmadun, M. Y. Faizah

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In this research, stability and rheology behavior of Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanofluids by using Xanthan Gum as a dispersant were measured. This paper addresses the effects of Xanthan Gum (XG) concentration and nanoparticle loading on stability and viscosity of nanofluids. The stability of nanofluids is measured by Zeta Sizer Nano-ZS (Malvern Instruments, ZEN 3600). The zeta potential of the stable samples was analyzed. The rheological behavior of carbon nanotube CNT nanofluids was analyzed using rheometer (Model AR G2, TA Instrument). Both stability and viscosity of the nanofluids increased with increasing CNT and XG concentration. The experimental results indicated that the zeta potential of nanofluid samples is stable. The results demonstrated that the zeta potential was affected by the CNT concentration and is augmented in parallel with increasing CNT concentration. The rheology results showed that the viscosity of CNT/XG nanofluid was increased. The escalated viscosity of CNT/XG nanofluid is owing to the higher van der Waals interaction between the CNT nanoparticles. On the other hand, the viscosity of the CNT/XG nanofluid decreases with increasing temperature. In summary, this research provides useful insight into the behavior of CNT nanofluids.

Keywords: nanofluid, carbon nanotube, stability, rheology

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Authors: Sanoj Sahu, Ramakar Jha

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Odisha (India) is in need of reliable, cost-effective power generation. A prolonged electricity crisis and increasing power demand have left over thousands of citizens without access to electricity, and much of the population suffers from sporadic outages. The purpose of this project is to build a methodology to evaluate small hydropower potential, which can be used to alleviate the Odisha’s energy problem among rural communities. This project has three major tasks: the design of a simple SHEP for a single location along a river in the Odisha; the development of water flow prediction equations through a linear regression analysis; and the design of an ArcGIS toolset to estimate the flow duration curves (FDCs) at locations where data do not exist. An explanation of the inputs to the tool, as well has how it produces a suitable output for SHEP evaluation will be presented. The paper also gives an explanation of hydroelectric power generation in the Odisha, SHEPs, and the technical and practical aspects of hydroelectric power. Till now, based on topographical and rainfall analysis we have located hundreds of sites. Further work on more number of site location and accuracy of location is to be done.

Keywords: small hydropower, ArcGIS, rainfall analysis, Odisha’s energy problem

Procedia PDF Downloads 447