Search results for: permanent magnet generator

Authors: Theo Heyns Veldsman, Dieter Veldsman

Abstract:

Organisational Identity (OI) refers to who and what the organisation is, what it stands for and does, and what it aspires to become. OI explores the perspectives of how we see ourselves, are seen by others and aspire to be seen. It provides as rationale the ‘why’ for the organisation’s continued existence. The most widely accepted differentiating features of OI are encapsulated in the organisation’s core, distinctive, differentiating, and enduring attributes. OI finds its concrete expression in the organisation’s Purpose, Vision, Strategy, Core Ideology, and Legacy. In the emerging new order infused by hyper-turbulence and hyper-fluidity, the VICCAS world, OI provides a secure anchor and steady reference point for the organisation, particularly the growing widespread focus on Purpose, which is indicative of the organisation’s sense of social citizenship. However, the transforming world of work (TWOW) - particularly the potent mix of ongoing disruptive innovation, the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the gig economy with the totally unpredicted COVID19 pandemic - has resulted in the consequential adoption of different workplace strategies by organisations in terms of how, where, and when work takes place. Different employment relations (transient to permanent); work locations (on-site to remote); work time arrangements (full-time at work to flexible work schedules); and technology enablement (face-to-face to virtual) now form the basis of the employer/employee relationship. The different workplace strategies, fueled by the demands of TWOW, pose a substantive challenge to organisations of doing durable OI work, able to fulfill OI’s critical attributes of core, distinctive, differentiating, and enduring. OI work is contained in the ongoing, reciprocally interdependent stages of sense-breaking, sense-giving, internalisation, enactment, and affirmation. The objective of our paper is to explore how to do durable OI work relative to different workplace strategies in the TWOW. Using a conceptual-theoretical approach from a practice-based orientation, the paper addresses the following topics: distinguishes different workplace strategies based upon a time/place continuum; explicates stage-wise the differential organisational content and process consequences of these strategies for durable OI work; indicates the critical success factors of durable OI work under these differential conditions; recommends guidelines for OI work relative to TWOW; and points out ethical implications of all of the above.

Keywords: organisational identity, workplace strategies, new world of work, durable organisational identity work

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Nikolai N. Bogolubov, Andrey V. Soldatov

Abstract:

Terahertz radiation occupies a range of frequencies somewhere from 100 GHz to approximately 10 THz, just between microwaves and infrared waves. This range of frequencies holds promise for many useful applications in experimental applied physics and technology. At the same time, reliable, simple techniques for generation, amplification, and modulation of electromagnetic radiation in this range are far from been developed enough to meet the requirements of its practical usage, especially in comparison to the level of technological abilities already achieved for other domains of the electromagnetic spectrum. This situation of relative underdevelopment of this potentially very important range of electromagnetic spectrum is known under the name of the 'terahertz gap.' Among other things, technological progress in the terahertz area has been impeded by the lack of compact, low energy consumption, easily controlled and continuously radiating terahertz radiation sources. Therefore, development of new techniques serving this purpose as well as various devices based on them is of obvious necessity. No doubt, it would be highly advantageous to employ the simplest of suitable physical systems as major critical components in these techniques and devices. The purpose of the present research was to show by means of conventional methods of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and the theory of open quantum systems, that a thoroughly studied two-level quantum system, also known as an one-electron two-level 'atom', being driven by external classical monochromatic high-frequency (e.g. laser) field, can radiate continuously at much lower (e.g. terahertz) frequency in the fluorescent regime if the transition dipole moment operator of this 'atom' possesses permanent non-equal diagonal matrix elements. This assumption contradicts conventional assumption routinely made in quantum optics that only the non-diagonal matrix elements persist. The conventional assumption is pertinent to natural atoms and molecules and stems from the property of spatial inversion symmetry of their eigenstates. At the same time, such an assumption is justified no more in regard to artificially manufactured quantum systems of reduced dimensionality, such as, for example, quantum dots, which are often nicknamed 'artificial atoms' due to striking similarity of their optical properties to those ones of the real atoms. Possible ways to experimental observation and practical implementation of the predicted effect are discussed too.

Keywords: terahertz gap, two-level atom, resonant fluorescence, quantum dot, resonant fluorescence, two-level atom

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: S. V. Akulinichev, S. A. Chaushansky, V. I. Derzhiev

Abstract:

High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a method of contact radiotherapy, when a single sealed source with an activity of about 10 Ci is temporarily inserted in the tumor area. The isotopes Ir-192 and (much less) Co-60 are used as active material for such sources. The other type of brachytherapy, the low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy, implies the insertion of many permanent sources (up to 200) of lower activity. The pulse dose rate (PDR) brachytherapy can be considered as a modification of HDR brachytherapy, when the single source is repeatedly introduced in the tumor region in a pulse regime during several hours. The PDR source activity is of the order of one Ci and the isotope Ir-192 is currently used for these sources. The PDR brachytherapy is well recommended for the treatment of several tumors since, according to oncologists, it combines the medical benefits of both HDR and LDR types of brachytherapy. One of the main problems for the PDR brachytherapy progress is the shielding of the treatment area since the longer stay of patients in a shielded canyon is not enough comfortable for them. The use of Yb-169 as an active source material is the way to resolve the shielding problem for PDR, as well as for HRD brachytherapy. The isotope Yb-169 has the average photon emission energy of 93 KeV and the half-life of 32 days. Compared to iridium and cobalt, this isotope has a significantly lower emission energy and therefore requires a much lighter shielding. Moreover, the absorption cross section of different materials has a strong Z-dependence in that photon energy range. For example, the dose distributions of iridium and ytterbium have a quite similar behavior in the water or in the body. But the heavier material as lead absorbs the ytterbium radiation much stronger than the iridium or cobalt radiation. For example, only 2 mm of lead layer is enough to reduce the ytterbium radiation by a couple of orders of magnitude but is not enough to protect from iridium radiation. We have created an original facility to produce the start stable isotope Yb-168 using the laser technology AVLIS. This facility allows to raise the Yb-168 concentration up to 50 % and consumes much less of electrical power than the alternative electromagnetic enrichment facilities. We also developed, in cooperation with the Institute of high pressure physics of RAS, a new technology for manufacturing high-density ceramic cores of ytterbium oxide. Ceramics density reaches the limit of the theoretical values: 9.1 g/cm3 for the cubic phase of ytterbium oxide and 10 g/cm3 for the monoclinic phase. Source cores from this ceramics have high mechanical characteristics and a glassy surface. The use of ceramics allows to increase the source activity with fixed external dimensions of sources.

Keywords: brachytherapy, high, pulse dose rates, radionuclides for therapy, ytterbium sources

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Jacques M. Berner, Monja Gerber, Gillian L. Maggs-Kolling, Stuart J. Piketh

Abstract:

The enigmatic melon species, Acanthosicyos horridus Welw. ex Hook. f., locally known as !nara, is endemic to the hyper-arid Namib Desert, where it thrives in sandy dune areas and dry river banks. The Namib Desert is characterized by extreme weather conditions which include high temperatures, very low rainfall, and extremely dry air. Plant and animals that have made the Namib Dessert their home are dependent on non-rainfall water inputs, like fog, dew and water vapor, for survival. Fog is believed to be the most important non-rainfall water input for most of the coastal Namib Desert and is a life line to many Namib plants and animals. It is commonly assumed that the !nara plant is adapted and dependent upon coastal fog events. The !nara plant shares many comparable adaptive features with other organisms that are known to exploit fog as a source of moisture. These include groove-like structures on the stems and the cone-like structures of thorns. These structures are believed to be the driving forces behind directional water flow that allow plants to take advantage of fog events. The !nara-fog interaction was investigated in this study to determine the dependence of !nara on these fog events, as it would illustrate strategies to benefit from non-rainfall water inputs. The direct water uptake capacity of !nara shoots was investigated through absorption tests. Furthermore, the movement and behavior of fluorescent water droplets on a !nara stem were investigated through time-lapse macrophotography. The shoot water potential was measured to investigate the effect of fog on the water status of !nara stems. These tests were used to determine whether the morphology of !nara has evolved to exploit fog as a non-rainfall water input and whether the !nara plant has adapted physiologically in response to fog. Chlorophyll a fluorescence was used to compare the photochemical efficiency of !nara plants on days with fog events to that on non-foggy days. The results indicate that !nara plants do have the ability to take advantage of fog events as commonly believed. However, the !nara plant did not exhibit visible signs of drought stress and this, together with the strong shoot water potential, indicates that these plants are reliant on permanent underground water sources. Chlorophyll a fluorescence data indicated that temperature stress and wind were some of the main abiotic factors influencing the plants’ overall vitality.

Keywords: Acanthosicyos horridus, chlorophyll a fluorescence, fog, foliar absorption, !nara

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Xiaobo Rui, Zhoumo Zeng, Yibo Li

Abstract:

A novel tri-cantilever energy harvester with magnetic oscillator was presented, which could convert the ambient vibration into electrical energy to power the low-power devices such as wireless sensor networks. The most common way to harvest vibration energy is based on the use of linear resonant devices such as cantilever beam, since this structure creates the highest strain for a given force. The highest efficiency will be achieved when the resonance frequency of the harvester matches the vibration frequency. The limitation of the structure is the narrow effective bandwidth. To overcome this limitation, this article introduces a broadband tri-cantilever harvester with nonlinear stiffness. This energy harvester typically consists of three thin cantilever beams vertically arranged with Neodymium Magnets ( NdFeB)magnetics at its free end and a fixed base at the other end. The three cantilevers have different resonant frequencies by designed in different thicknesses. It is obviously that a similar advantage of multiple resonant frequencies as piezoelectric cantilevers array structure is built. To achieve broadband energy harvesting, magnetic interaction is used to introduce the nonlinear system stiffness to tune the resonant frequency to match the excitation. Since the three cantilever tips are all free and the magnetic force is distance dependent, the resonant frequencies will be complexly changed with the vertical vibration of the free end. Both model and experiment are built. The electromechanically coupled lumped-parameter model is presented. An electromechanical formulation and analytical expressions for the coupled nonlinear vibration response and voltage response are given. The entire structure is fabricated and mechanically attached to a electromagnetic shaker as a vibrating body via the fixed base, in order to couple the vibrations to the cantilever. The cantilevers are bonded with piezoelectric macro-fiber composite (MFC) materials (Model: M8514P2). The size of the cantilevers is 120*20mm2 and the thicknesses are separately 1mm, 0.8mm, 0.6mm. The prototype generator has a measured performance of 160.98 mW effective electrical power and 7.93 DC output voltage via the excitation level of 10m/s2. The 130% increase in the operating bandwidth is achieved. This device is promising to support low-power devices, peer-to-peer wireless nodes, and small-scale wireless sensor networks in ambient vibration environment.

Keywords: tri-cantilever, ambient vibration, energy harvesting, magnetic oscillator

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: V. Ziegler, F. Schneider, M. Pesch

Abstract:

With the EDM264, GRIMM offers a solution for mobile short- and long-term measurements in outdoor areas and at production sites. For research as well as permanent areal observations on a near reference quality base. The model EDM264 features a powerful and robust measuring cell based on optical particle counting (OPC) principle with all the advantages that users of GRIMM's portable aerosol spectrometers are used to. The system is embedded in a compact weather-protection housing with all-weather sampling, heated inlet system, data logger, and meteorological sensor. With TSP, PM10, PM4, PM2.5, PM1, and PMcoarse, the EDM264 provides all fine dust fractions real-time, valid for outdoor applications and calculated with the proven GRIMM enviro-algorithm, as well as six additional dust mass fractions pm10, pm2.5, pm1, inhalable, thoracic and respirable for IAQ and workplace measurements. This highly versatile instrument performs real-time monitoring of particle number, particle size and provides information on particle surface distribution as well as dust mass distribution. GRIMM's EDM264 has 31 equidistant size channels, which are PSL traceable. A high-end data logger enables data acquisition and wireless communication via LTE, WLAN, or wired via Ethernet. Backup copies of the measurement data are stored in the device directly. The rinsing air function, which protects the laser and detector in the optical cell, further increases the reliability and long term stability of the EDM264 under different environmental and climatic conditions. The entire sample volume flow of 1.2 L/min is analyzed by 100% in the optical cell, which assures excellent counting efficiency at low and high concentrations and complies with the ISO 21501-1standard for OPCs. With all these features, the EDM264 is a world-leading dust monitor for precise monitoring of particulate matter and particle number concentration. This highly reliable instrument is an indispensable tool for many users who need to measure aerosol levels and air quality outdoors, on construction sites, or at production facilities.

Keywords: aerosol research, aerial observation, fence line monitoring, wild fire detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Krisztina Bohacs, Klaudia Markus

Abstract:

To author’s best knowledge we are in absence of studies on cognitive program evaluation and we are certainly short of programs that prove to have high effect sizes with strong retention results. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive training program, namely BrainRx. This cognitive rehabilitation program target and remediate seven core cognitive skills and related systems of sub-skills through repeated engagement in game-like mental procedures delivered one-on-one by a clinician, supplemented by digital training. A larger sample of children with learning disability were given pretest and post-test cognitive assessments. The experimental group completed a twenty-week cognitive training program in a BrainRx center. A matched control group received another twenty-week intervention with Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment programs. A second matched control group did not receive training. As for pre- and post-test, we used a general intelligence test to assess IQ and a computer-based test battery for assessing cognition across the lifespan. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the experimental BrainRx treatment group had statistically significant higher outcomes in attention, working memory, processing speed, logic and reasoning, auditory processing, visual processing and long-term memory compared to the non-treatment control group with very large effect sizes. With the exception of logic and reasoning, the BrainRx treatment group realized significantly greater gains in six of the above given seven cognitive measures compared to the Feuerstein control group. Our one-year retention measures showed that all the cognitive training gains were above ninety percent with the greatest retention skills in visual processing, auditory processing, logic, and reasoning. The BrainRx program may be an effective tool to establish long-term cognitive changes in case of students with learning disabilities. Recommendations are made for treatment centers and special education institutions on the cognitive training of students with special needs. The importance of our study is that targeted, systematic, progressively loaded and intensive brain training approach may significantly change learning disabilities.

Keywords: cognitive rehabilitation training, cognitive skills, learning disability, permanent structural cognitive changes

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Pelin Atav, Gözen Güner Aktaş, Nur Ayalp

Abstract:

Today’s world has started to develop design process within an interdisciplinary working environment. There is an aim of creating the most permanent design for the future. While satisfying people’s needs, environment and people relationships should be considered. When this relationship was considered for the future, the sustainability term comes to mind. The term Sustainability has been adapted very well by designer and architects. It is also one of the main and significant parts of the design process. As the education process cultivates the future professionals, the awareness of those concepts in the education process has a vital importance. The question is stated as thus: Are the 3rd and 4th year design studio students, familiar and sensitive to the concept of sustainability in the TOBB ETU University Interior Design Studio. Design studios and the instructors should be taken into consideration while this sustainability term is taught. The term "Sustainability" can not be learned without making any application in the actual real world. While students make this study, They can have the chance to search the topic of sustainability step by step. Due to having various extent, sustainability term becomes quite a comprehensive issue. In order not to create negative consequences, designers and architects work by adapting this term. In terms of material, construction process, lighting, building service, furniture, systems that are used, energy consumption issues that are considered and creating positive drawbacks for the future are aimed. This research is aimed at how university education shapes designer’s works in terms of sustainability. By giving a project that is a main interest in the field of sustainability, students are expected to reach well-thought-of results and analysis. Project process were conducted with instructor and student studies together. According to critics from their instructors, students try to product well- designed results. TOBB University was choosen as a research area situated in Ankara in Turkey. Third and fourth class (interior designer/architect department) students who are from the Faculty of Fine Arts Design and Architecture are the subject group selected for this study. Aim of this study is demonstrating sustainability as a term having application in design studio. Thus, awareness of sustainability terms will be evaluated and its development process in the university education will be observed. Consequently, results that are expected is how sustainability term is conducted in project and for the sustainability term awareness in design studios and their projects have been sufficient or not.

Keywords: design education, design process, interior design studios, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Raj Chavan

Abstract:

The City of Jal serves a population of approximately 3,500 people, including 2,100 permanent inhabitants and 1,400 oil and gas sector workers and RV park occupants. Over the past three years, Jal's population has increased by about 70 percent, mostly due to the oil and gas industry. The City anticipates that the population will exceed 4,200 by 2020, necessitating the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) because the old plant (aerated lagoon system) cannot accommodate such rapid population expansion without major renovations or replacement. Adhering to discharge permit restrictions has been challenging due to aging infrastructure and equipment replacement needs, as well as increasing nutrient loading to the wastewater collecting system from the additional oil and gas residents' recreational vehicles. The WWTP has not been able to maintain permit discharge standards for total nitrogen of less than 20 mg N/L and other characteristics in recent years. Based on discussions with the state's environmental department, it is likely that the future permit renewal would impose stricter conditions. Given its location in the dry, western part of the country, the City must rely on its meager groundwater supplies and scant annual precipitation. The city's groundwater supplies will be depleted sooner than predicted due to rising demand from the growing population for drinking, leisure, and other industrial uses (fracking). The sole type of reuse the city was engaging in (recreational reuse for a golf course) had to be put on hold because of an effluent water compliance issue. As of right now, all treated effluent is evaporated. The city's long-term goal is to become a zero-waste community that sends all of its treated wastewater effluent either to the golf course, Jal Lake, or the oil and gas industry for reuse. Hydraulic fracturing uses a lot of water, but if the oil and gas industry can use recycled water, it can reduce its impact on freshwater supplies. The City's goal of 100% reuse has been delayed by the difficulties of meeting the constraints of the regular discharge permit due to the large rise in influent loads and the aging infrastructure. The City of Jal plans to build a new WWTP that can keep up with the city's rapid population increase due to the oil and gas industry. Several treatment methods were considered in light of the City's needs and its long-term goals, but MBR was ultimately chosen recommended since it meets all of the permit's requirements while also providing 100 percent beneficial reuse. This talk will lay out the plan for the city to reach its goal of 100 percent reuse, as well as the various avenues for funding the small community that have been considered.

Keywords: membrane bioreactor, nitrogent, reuse, small community

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Sangeet Anand

Abstract:

Body art and tattooing have long been practiced as a form of self-expression for centuries, and this study studies and analyzes the pertinence of tattoo culture in our everyday lives and ancient past. Individuals of different cultures represent ideas, practices, and elements of their cultures through symbolic representation. These symbols come in all shapes and sizes and can be as simple as the makeup you put on every day to something more permanent such as a tattoo. In the long run, these individuals who choose to display art on their bodies are seeking to express their individuality. In addition, these visuals are ultimately a reflection of our own appropriate cultures deem as beautiful, important, and powerful to the human eye. They make us known to the world and give us a plausible identity in an ever-changing world. We have lived through and seen a rise in hippie culture today. This type of bodily decoration displayed by this fad has made it seem as though body art is a visual language that is relatively new. But quite to the contrary, it is not. Through cultural symbolic exploration, we can answer key questions to ideas that have been raised for centuries. Through careful, in-depth interviews, this study takes a broad subject matter-art, and symbolism-and culminates it into a deeper philosophical connection between the world and its past. The basic methodologies used in this sociocultural study include interview questionnaires and textual analysis, which encompass a subject and interviewer as well as source material. The major findings of this study contain a distinct connection between cultural heritage and the day-to-day likings of an individual. The participant that was studied during this project demonstrated a clear passion for hobbies that were practiced even by her ancestors. We can conclude, through these findings, that there is a deeper cultural connection between modern day humans, the first humans, and the surrounding environments. Our symbols today are a direct reflection of the elements of nature that our human ancestors were exposed to, and, through cultural acceptance, we can adorn ourselves with these representations to help others identify our pasts. Body art embraces the different aspects of different cultures and holds significance, tells stories, and persists, even as the human population rapidly integrates. With this pattern, our human descendents will continue to represent their cultures and identities in the future. Body art is an integral element in understanding how and why people identify with certain aspects of life over others and broaden the scope for conducting more analysis cross-culturally.

Keywords: natural, symbolism, tattoo, terrestrial

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Asli Tiktas, Huseyin Gunerhan, Arif Hepbasli

Abstract:

Solar energy, with its abundant and clean features, is one of the prominent renewable energy sources in multigeneration energy systems where various outputs, especially power generation, are produced together. In the literature, concentrated solar energy systems, which are an expensive technology, are mostly used in solar power plants where medium-high capacity production outputs are achieved. In addition, although different methods have been developed and proposed for solar energy-supported integrated power generation systems by different investigators, absorption technology, which is one of the key points of the present study, has been used extensively in cooling systems in these studies. Unlike these common uses mentioned in the literature, this study designs a system in which a flat plate solar collector (FPSC), Rankine cycle, absorption heat transformer (AHT), and cooling systems (ACS) are integrated. The system proposed within the scope of this study aims to produce medium-high-capacity electricity, heating, and cooling outputs using a technique different from the literature, with lower production costs than existing systems. With the proposed integrated system design, the average production costs based on electricity, heating, and cooling load production for similar scale systems are 5-10% of the average production costs of 0.685 USD/kWh, 0.247 USD/kWh, and 0.342 USD/kWh. In the proposed integrated system design, this will be achieved by increasing the outlet temperature of the AHT and FPSC system first, expanding the high-temperature steam coming out of the absorber of the AHT system in the turbine up to the condenser temperature of the ACS system, and next directly integrating it into the evaporator of this system and then completing the AHT cycle. Through this proposed system, heating and cooling will be carried out by completing the AHT and ACS cycles, respectively, while power generation will be provided because of the expansion of the turbine. Using only a single generator in the production of these three outputs together, the costs of additional boilers and the need for a heat source are also saved. In order to demonstrate that the system proposed in this study offers a more optimum solution, the techno-economic parameters obtained based on energy, exergy, economic, and environmental analysis were compared with the parameters of similar scale systems in the literature. The design parameters of the proposed system were determined through a parametric optimization study to exceed the maximum efficiency and effectiveness and reduce the production cost rate values of the compared systems.

Keywords: solar energy, absorption technology, Rankine cycle, multigeneration energy system

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Chikang Wang, Jhongjheng Jian, Poming Huang

Abstract:

Among a wide variety of pharmaceutical compounds, tetracycline antibiotics are one of the largest groups of pharmaceutical compounds extensively used in human and veterinary medicine to treat and prevent bacterial infections. Because it is water soluble, biologically active, stable and bio-refractory, release to the environment threatens aquatic life and increases the risk posed by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In practice, due to its antibacterial nature, tetracycline cannot be effectively destructed by traditional biological methods. Hence, in this study, two advanced oxidation processes such as ozonation and sono-Fenton processes were conducted individually to degrade the tetracycline for investigating their feasibility on tetracycline degradation. Effect of operational variables on tetracycline degradation, release of nitrogen and change of toxicity were also proposed. Initial tetracycline concentration was 50 mg/L. To evaluate the efficiency of tetracycline degradation by ozonation, the ozone gas was produced by an ozone generator (Model LAB2B, Ozonia) and introduced into the reactor with different flows (25 - 500 mL/min) at varying pH levels (pH 3 - pH 11) and reaction temperatures (15 - 55°C). In sono-Fenton system, an ultrasonic transducer (Microson VCX 750, USA) operated at 20 kHz combined with H₂O₂ (2 mM) and Fe²⁺ (0.2 mM) were carried out at different pH levels (pH 3 - pH 11), aeration gas and flows (air and oxygen; 0.2 - 1.0 L/min), tetracycline concentrations (10 - 200 mg/L), reaction temperatures (15 - 55°C) and ultrasonic powers (25 - 200 Watts), respectively. Sole ultrasound was ineffective on tetracycline degradation, where the degradation efficiencies were lower than 10% with 60 min reaction. Contribution of Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂ on the degradation of tetracycline was significant, where the maximum tetracycline degradation efficiency in sono-Fenton process was as high as 91.3% followed by 45.8% mineralization. Effect of initial pH level on tetracycline degradation was insignificant from pH 3 to pH 6 but significantly decreased as the pH was greater than pH 7. Increase of the ultrasonic power was slightly increased the degradation efficiency of tetracycline, which indicated that the hydroxyl radicals dominated the oxidation of tetracycline. Effects of aeration of air or oxygen with different flows and reaction temperatures were insignificant. Ozonation showed better efficiencies in tetracycline degradation, where the optimum reaction condition was found at pH 3, 100 mL O₃/min and 25°C with 94% degradation and 60% mineralization. The toxicity of tetracycline was significantly decreased due to the mineralization of tetracycline. In addition, less than 10% of nitrogen content was released to solution phase as NH₃-N, and the most degraded tetracycline cannot be full mineralized to CO₂. The results shown in this study indicated that both the sono-Fenton process and ozonation can effectively degrade the tetracycline and reduce its toxicity at profitable condition. The costs of two systems needed to be further investigated to understand the feasibility in tetracycline degradation.

Keywords: degradation, detoxification, mineralization, ozonation, sono-Fenton process, tetracycline

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Vishwanath Mali, Hemant Warhatkar, Raju Pawade

Abstract:

Drilling of bone has been always challenging for surgeons due to the adverse effect it may impart to bone tissues. Force has to be applied manually by the surgeon while performing conventional bone drilling which may lead to permanent death of bone tissues and nerves. During bone drilling the temperature of the bone tissues increases to higher values above 47 ⁰C that causes thermal osteonecrosis resulting into screw loosening and subsequent implant failures. An attempt has been made here to study the input drilling parameters and surgical drill bit geometry affecting bone health during bone drilling. A One Factor At a Time (OFAT) method is used to plan the experiments. Input drilling parameters studied include spindle speed and feed rate. The drill bit geometry parameter studied include point angle and helix angle. The output variables are drilling thrust force and bone temperature. The experiments were conducted on goat femur bone at room temperature 30 ⁰C. For measurement of thrust forces KISTLER cutting force dynamometer Type 9257BA was used. For continuous data acquisition of temperature NI LabVIEW software was used. Fixture was made on RPT machine for holding the bone specimen while performing drilling operation. Bone specimen were preserved in deep freezer (LABTOP make) under -40 ⁰C. In case of drilling parameters, it is observed that at constant feed rate when spindle speed increases, thrust force as well as temperature decreases and at constant spindle speed when feed rate increases thrust force as well as temperature increases. The effect of drill bit geometry shows that at constant helix angle when point angle increases thrust force as well as temperature increases and at constant point angle when helix angle increase thrust force as well as temperature decreases. Hence it is concluded that as the thrust force increases temperature increases. In case of drilling parameter, the lowest thrust force and temperature i.e. 35.55 N and 36.04 ⁰C respectively were recorded at spindle speed 2000 rpm and feed rate 0.04 mm/rev. In case of drill bit geometry parameter, the lowest thrust force and temperature i.e. 40.81 N and 34 ⁰C respectively were recorded at point angle 70⁰ and helix angle 25⁰ Hence to avoid thermal necrosis of bone it is recommended to use higher spindle speed, lower feed rate, low point angle and high helix angle. The hard nature of cortical bone contributes to a greater rise in temperature whereas a considerable drop in temperature is observed during cancellous bone drilling.

Keywords: bone drilling, helix angle, point angle, thrust force, temperature, thermal necrosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Charles Akinola Imolehin

Abstract:

According to the news on world population record, over 6.6 billion people on earth, and almost a quarter million added each day, the scale of human activity and environmental impact is unprecedented. Soaring human population growth over the past century has created a visible challenge to earth’s life support systems. Critical natural resources such as clean ground water, fertile topsoil, and biodiversity are diminishing at an exponential rate, orders of magnitude above that at which they can be regenerated. In addition, the world faces an onslaught of other environmental threats including degenerated global climate change, global warming, intensified acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion and health threatening pollution. Overpopulation and the use of deleterious technologies combine to increase the scale of human activities to a level that underlies these entire problems. These intensifying trends cannot continue indefinitely, hopefully, through increased understanding and valuation of ecosystems and their services, earth’s basic life-support system will be protected for the future. To say the fact, human civilization is now the dominant cause of change in the global environment. Now that human relationship to the earth has change so utterly, there is need to see to that change and understand its implication. These are two aspects to the challenges which all should believe. The first is to realize that human activity has power to harm the earth and can indeed have global and even permanent effects. Second is to realize that the only way to understand human new role as a co-architect of nature is to see human activities as part of a complex system that does operate according to the same simple rules of cause and effect commonly used to. So, understanding the physical/biological dimension of earth system is an important precondition for making sensible policy to protect our environment. Because believing in Sustainable Development is a matter of reconciling respect for the environment, social equity, and economic profitability. Also, there is strong believe that environmental protection is naturally about reducing air and water pollution, but it also includes the improvement of the environmental performance of existing process. That is why is important to always have it at the heart of business policy that the environmental problem is not our effect on the environment so much as the relationship of production activities on the environment. There should be this positive thinking in all operation to always be environmentally friendly especially in projection and considering Sustainable ALL awareness in all sites of operation.

Keywords: earth's ocean, marine animals life under treat, flooding, ctritical natiural resouces polluted

Procedia PDF Downloads 11

Authors: Nicolaas Unland, John Webb

Abstract:

The acidification and mobilisation of metals during the oxidation of acid sulfate soils exposed during lake bed drying is an increasingly common phenomenon under climate scenarios with reduced rainfall. In order to assess the risk of generating high concentrations of acidity and dissolved metals, chromium suite analysis are fundamental, but sometimes limited in characterising the potential risks they pose. This study combines such fundamental test work, along with incubation tests and 1D modelling to investigate the risks associated with the drying of Third Reedy Lake in South East Australia. Core samples were collected from a variable depth of 0.5 m below the lake bed, at 19 locations across the lake’s footprint, using a boat platform. Samples were subjected to a chromium suite of analysis, including titratable actual acidity, chromium reducible sulfur and acid neutralising capacity. Concentrations of reduced sulfur up to 0.08 %S and net acidities up to 0.15 %S indicate that acid sulfate soils have formed on the lake bed during permanent inundation over the last century. A further sub-set of samples were prepared in 7 columns and subject to accelerated heating, drying and wetting over a period of 64 days in laboratory. Results from the incubation trial indicate that while pyrite oxidation proceeded, minimal change to soil pH or the acidity of leachate occurred, suggesting that the internal buffering capacity of lake bed sediments was sufficient to neutralise a large proportion of the acidity produced. A 1D mass balance model was developed to assess potential changes in lake water quality during drying based on the results of chromium suite and incubation tests. Results from the above test work and modelling suggest that acid sulfate soils pose a moderate to low risk to the Third Reedy Lake system. Further, the risks can be effectively managed during the initial stages of lake drying via flushing with available mildly alkaline water. The study finds that while test work such as chromium suite analysis are fundamental in characterizing acid sulfate soil environments, they can the overestimate risks associated with the soils. Subsequent incubation test work may more accurately characterise such soils and lead to better-informed management strategies.

Keywords: acid sulfate soil, incubation, management, model, risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Sandra K. Enriquez, Claudia Camargo, Jesús E. Olguín, Juan A. López, German Galindo

Abstract:

Currently companies have increased the number of disorders of cumulative trauma (CTDs), these are increasing significantly due to the Highly Repetitive Movements (HRM) performed in workstations, which causes economic losses to businesses, due to temporary and permanent disabilities of workers. This analysis focuses on the prevention of disorders caused by: repeatability, duration and effort; And focuses on reducing cumulative trauma disorders such as occupational diseases using sensory thermography as a noninvasive method, the above is to evaluate the injuries could have workers to perform repetitive motions. Objectives: The aim is to define rest periods or job rotation before they generate a CTD, this sensory thermography by analyzing changes in temperature patterns on wrists and elbows when the worker is performing HRM over a period of time 2 hours and 30 minutes. Information on non-work variables such as wrist and elbow injuries, weight, gender, age, among others, and work variables such as temperature workspace, repetitiveness and duration also met. Methodology: The analysis to 4 industrial designers, 2 men and 2 women to be specific was conducted in a business in normal health for a period of 12 days, using the following time ranges: the first day for every 90 minutes continuous work were asked to rest 5 minutes, the second day for every 90 minutes of continuous work were asked to rest 10 minutes, the same to work 60 and 30 minutes straight. Each worker was tested with 6 different ranges at least twice. This analysis was performed in a controlled room temperature between 20 and 25 ° C, and a time to stabilize the temperature of the wrists and elbows than 20 minutes at the beginning and end of the analysis. Results: The range time of 90 minutes working continuous and a rest of 5 minutes of activity is where the maximum temperature (Tmax) was registered in the wrists and elbows in the office, we found the Tmax was 35.79 ° C with a difference of 2.79 ° C between the initial and final temperature of the left elbow presented at the individual 4 during the 86 minutes, in of range in 90 minutes continuously working and rested for 5 minutes of your activity. Conclusions: It is possible with this alternative technology is sensory thermography predict ranges of rotation or rest for the prevention of CTD to perform HRM work activities, obtaining with this reduce occupational disease, quotas by health agencies and increasing the quality of life of workers, taking this technology a cost-benefit acceptable in the future.

Keywords: sensory thermography, temperature, cumulative trauma disorder (CTD), highly repetitive movement (HRM)

Procedia PDF Downloads 424

Authors: Armana Huq, Wahidur Rahman, Sanwar Kader

Abstract:

Inland waterways in Bangladesh play an important role in providing comfortable and low-cost transportation. However, a maritime accident takes away many lives and creates unwanted hazards every year. This article deals with a comprehensive review of inland waterway accidents in Bangladesh. Additionally, it includes a comparative study between international and local inland research studies based on maritime accidents. Articles from inland waterway areas are analyzed in-depth to make a comprehensive overview of the nature of the academic work, accident and risk management process and different statistical analyses. It is found that empirical analysis based on the available statistical data dominates the research domain. For this study, major maritime accident-related works in the last four decades in Bangladesh (1981-2020) are being analyzed for preparing a bibliometric analysis. A study of maritime accidents of passenger's vessels during (1995-2005) indicates that the predominant causes of accidents in the inland waterways of Bangladesh are collision and adverse weather (77%), out of which collision due to human error alone stands (56%) of all accidents. Another study refers that the major causes of waterway accidents are the collision (60.3%) during 2005-2015. About 92% of this collision occurs due to direct contact with another vessel during this period. Rest 8% of the collision occurs by contact with permanent obstruction on waterway roots. The overall analysis of another study from the last 25 years (1995-2019) shows that one of the main types of accidents is collisions, with about 50.3% of accidents being caused by collisions. The other accident types are cyclone or storm (17%), overload (11.3%), physical failure (10.3%), excessive waves (5.1%), and others (6%). Very few notable works are available in testing or comparing the methods, proposing new methods for risk management, modeling, uncertainty treatment. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of marine accident-related research domain regarding inland waterway of Bangladesh and attempts to introduce new ideas and methods to abridge the gap between international and national inland maritime-related work domain which can be a catalyst for a safer and sustainable water transportation system in Bangladesh. Another fundamental objective of this paper is to navigate various national maritime authorities and international organizations to implement risk management processes for shipping accident prevention in waterway areas.

Keywords: inland waterways, safety, bibliometric analysis, risk management, accidents

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Damian Czubak

Abstract:

The Białowieża Forest is a very valuable natural area, included in the World Natural Heritage at UNESCO, where, due to infestation by the bark beetle (Ips typographus), norway spruce (Picea abies) have deteriorated. This catastrophic scenario led to an increase in fire danger. This was due to the occurrence of large amounts of dead wood and grass cover, as light penetrated to the bottom of the stands. These factors in a dry state are materials that favour the possibility of fire and the rapid spread of fire. One of the objectives of the study was to monitor the quantitative and qualitative changes of combustible material on the permanent decay plots of spruce stands from 2012-2022. In addition, the size of the area with highly flammable vegetation was monitored and a classification of the stands of the Białowieża Forest by flammability classes was made. The key factor that determines the potential fire hazard of a forest is combustible material. Primarily its type, quantity, moisture content, size and spatial structure. Based on the inventory data on the areas of forest districts in the Białowieża Forest, the average fire load and its changes over the years were calculated. The analysis was carried out taking into account the changes in the health status of the stands and sanitary operations. The quantitative and qualitative assessment of fallen timber and fire load of ground cover used the results of the 2019 and 2021 inventories. Approximately 9,000 circular plots were used for the study. An assessment was made of the amount of potential fuel, understood as ground cover vegetation and dead wood debris. In addition, monitoring of areas with vegetation that poses a high fire risk was conducted using data from 2019 and 2021. All sub-areas were inventoried where vegetation posing a specific fire hazard represented at least 10% of the area with species characteristic of that cover. In addition to the size of the area with fire-prone vegetation, a very important element is the size of the fire load on the indicated plots. On representative plots, the biomass of the land cover was measured on an area of 10 m2 and then the amount of biomass of each component was determined. The resulting element of variability of ground covers in stands was their flammability classification. The classification developed made it possible to track changes in the flammability classes of stands over the period covered by the measurements.

Keywords: classification, combustible material, flammable vegetation, Norway spruce

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: Gergely G. Karacsony

Abstract:

Fundamental rights are the result of thousand years’ progress of legislation, adjudication and legal practice. They serve as the framework of peaceful cohabitation of people, protecting the individual from any abuse by the government or violation by other people. Artificial intelligence, however, is the development of the very recent past, being one of the most important prospects to the future. Artificial intelligence is now capable of communicating and performing actions the same way as humans; such acts are sometimes impossible to tell from actions performed by flesh-and-blood people. In a world, where human-robot interactions are more and more common, a new framework of peaceful cohabitation is to be found. Artificial intelligence, being able to take part in almost any kind of interaction where personal presence is not necessary without being recognized as a non-human actor, is now able to break the law, violate people’s rights, and disturb social peace in many other ways. Therefore, a code of peaceful coexistence is to be found or created. We should consider the issue, whether human rights can serve as the code of ethical and rightful conduct in the new era of artificial intelligence and human coexistence. In this paper, we will examine the applicability of fundamental rights to human-robot interactions as well as to the actions of artificial intelligence performed without human interaction whatsoever. Robot ethics has been a topic of discussion and debate of philosophy, ethics, computing, legal sciences and science fiction writing long before the first functional artificial intelligence has been introduced. Legal science and legislation have approached artificial intelligence from different angles, regulating different areas (e.g. data protection, telecommunications, copyright issues), but they are only chipping away at the mountain of legal issues concerning robotics. For a widely acceptable and permanent solution, a more general set of rules would be preferred to the detailed regulation of specific issues. We argue that human rights as recognized worldwide are able to be adapted to serve as a guideline and a common basis of coexistence of robots and humans. This solution has many virtues: people don’t need to adjust to a completely unknown set of standards, the system has proved itself to withstand the trials of time, legislation is easier, and the actions of non-human entities are more easily adjudicated within their own framework. In this paper we will examine the system of fundamental rights (as defined in the most widely accepted source, the 1966 UN Convention on Human Rights), and try to adapt each individual right to the actions of artificial intelligence actors; in each case we will examine the possible effects on the legal system and the society of such an approach, finally we also examine its effect on the IT industry.

Keywords: human rights, robot ethics, artificial intelligence and law, human-robot interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Mohamed Ahmed M. Azab

Abstract:

The shortage of fresh water is a major problem in several areas of the world such as arid regions and coastal zones in several countries of Arabian Gulf. Fortunately, arid regions are exposed to high levels of solar irradiation most the year, which makes the utilization of solar energy a promising solution to such problem with zero harmful emission (Green System). The main objective of this work is to conduct a feasibility study of utilizing small autonomous water desalination units powered by photovoltaic modules as a green renewable energy resource to be employed in different isolated zones as a source of drinking water for some scattered societies where the installation of huge desalination stations are discarded owing to the unavailability of electric grid. Yanbu City is chosen as a case study where the Renewable Energy Center exists and equipped with all sensors to assess the availability of solar energy all over the year. The study included two types of available water: the first type is brackish well water and the second type is seawater of coastal regions. In the case of well water, two versions of desalination units are involved in the study: the first version is based on day operation only. While the second version takes into consideration night operation also, which requires energy storage system as batteries to provide the necessary electric power at night. According to the feasibility study results, it is found that utilization of small autonomous desalinations unit is applicable and economically accepted in the case of brackish well water. While in the case of seawater the capital costs are extremely high and the cost of desalinated water will not be economically feasible unless governmental subsidies are provided. In addition, the study indicated that, for the same water production, the utilization of energy storage version (day-night) adds additional capital cost for batteries, and extra running cost for their replacement, which makes the unit price not only incompetent with day-only unit but also with conventional units powered by diesel generator (fossil fuel) owing to the low prices of fuel in the kingdom. However, the cost analysis shows that the price of the produced water per cubic meter of day-night unit is similar to that produced from the day-only unit provided that the day-night unit operates theoretically for a longer period of 50%.

Keywords: solar energy, water desalination, reverse osmosis, arid regions

Procedia PDF Downloads 441

Authors: E. Saeedian, M. Shakerian, A. Zarif Sanayei, Z. Rakeb, F. N. Alizadeh, S. Sarshough, S. Sina

Abstract:

Radiological protection for plants and animals is an area of regulatory importance. Acute doses of 0.1 Gy/d (10 rad/d) or below are highly unlikely to produce permanent, measurable negative effects on populations or communities of plants or animals. The advancement of radio diagnostics for domestic animals, particularly dogs and cats, has gained popularity in veterinary medicine. As pets are considered to be members of the family worldwide, they are entitled to the same care and protection. It is important to have a system of radiological protection for nonhuman organisms that complies with the focus on human health as outlined in ICRP publication 19. The present study attempts to assess surface-skin entrance doses in small pets undergoing abdominal radio diagnostic procedures utilizing a direct measurements technique with a thermoluminescent dosimeter. These measurements allow the determination of the entrance skin dose (ESD) by calculating the amount of radiation absorbed by the skin during exposure. A group of Thirty TLD-100 dosimeters produced by Harshaw Company, each with repeatability greater than 95% and calibration using ¹³⁷Cs gamma source, were utilized to measure doses to ten small pets, including cats and dogs in the radiological department in a veterinary clinic in Shiraz, Iran. Radiological procedures were performed using a portable imaging unit (Philips Super M100, Philips Medical System, Germany) to acquire images of the abdomen; ten exams of abdomen images of different pets were monitored, measuring the thicknesses of the two projections (lateral and ventrodorsal) and the distance of the X-ray source from the surface of each pet during the exams. A group of two dosimeters was used for each pet which has been stacked on their skin on the abdomen region. The outcome of this study involved medical procedures with the same kVp, mAs, and nearly identical positions for different diagnostic X-ray procedures executed over a period of two months. The result showed the mean ESD value was 260.34±50.06 µGy due to the approximate size of pets. Based on the results, the ESD value is associated with animal size, and larger animals have higher values. If a procedure doesn't require repetition, the dose can be optimized. For smaller animals, the main challenge in veterinary radiology is the dose increase caused by repetitions, which is most noticeable in the ventrodorsal position due to the difficulty in immobilizing the animal. Animals are an area of regulatory importance. Acute doses of 0.1 Gy/d (10 rad/d) or below are highly unlikely to produce permanent, measurable negative effects on populations or communities of plants or animals. The advancement of radio diagnostics for domestic animals, particularly dogs and cats, has gained popularity in veterinary medicine. As pets are considered to be members of the family worldwide, they are entitled to the same care and protection. It is important to have a system of radiological protection for nonhuman organisms that complies with the focus on human health as outlined in ICRP publication 19. The present study attempts to assess surface-skin entrance doses in small pets undergoing abdominal radio diagnostic procedures utilizing direct measurements.

Keywords: direct dose measuring, dosimetry, radiation protection, veterinary medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: T. Schmitt, J. Rosin, C. Butenweg

Abstract:

Seismic design of buried pipeline systems for energy and water supply is not only important for plant and operational safety, but in particular for the maintenance of supply infrastructure after an earthquake. Past earthquakes have shown the vulnerability of pipeline systems. After the Kobe earthquake in Japan in 1995 for instance, in some regions the water supply was interrupted for almost two months. The present paper shows special issues of the seismic wave impacts on buried pipelines, describes calculation methods, proposes approaches and gives calculation examples. Buried pipelines are exposed to different effects of seismic impacts. This paper regards the effects of transient displacement differences and resulting tensions within the pipeline due to the wave propagation of the earthquake. Other effects are permanent displacements due to fault rupture displacements at the surface, soil liquefaction, landslides and seismic soil compaction. The presented model can also be used to calculate fault rupture induced displacements. Based on a three-dimensional Finite Element Model parameter studies are performed to show the influence of several parameters such as incoming wave angle, wave velocity, soil depth and selected displacement time histories. In the computer model, the interaction between the pipeline and the surrounding soil is modeled with non-linear soil springs. A propagating wave is simulated affecting the pipeline punctually independently in time and space. The resulting stresses mainly are caused by displacement differences of neighboring pipeline segments and by soil-structure interaction. The calculation examples focus on pipeline bends as the most critical parts. Special attention is given to the calculation of long-distance heat pipeline systems. Here, in regular distances expansion bends are arranged to ensure movements of the pipeline due to high temperature. Such expansion bends are usually designed with small bending radii, which in the event of an earthquake lead to high bending stresses at the cross-section of the pipeline. Therefore, Karman's elasticity factors, as well as the stress intensity factors for curved pipe sections, must be taken into account. The seismic verification of the pipeline for wave propagation in the soil can be achieved by observing normative strain criteria. Finally, an interpretation of the results and recommendations are given taking into account the most critical parameters.

Keywords: buried pipeline, earthquake, seismic impact, transient displacement

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Aleksandr Kavetskiy, Galina Yakubova, Nikolay Sargsyan, Stephen A. Prior, H. Allen Torbert

Abstract:

Determining soil elemental content and distribution (mapping) within a field are key features of modern agricultural practice. While traditional chemical analysis is a time consuming and labor-intensive multi-step process (e.g., sample collections, transport to laboratory, physical preparations, and chemical analysis), neutron-gamma soil analysis can be performed in-situ. This analysis is based on the registration of gamma rays issued from nuclei upon interaction with neutrons. Soil elements such as Si, C, Fe, O, Al, K, and H (moisture) can be assessed with this method. Data received from analysis can be directly used for creating soil elemental distribution maps (based on ArcGIS software) suitable for agricultural purposes. The neutron-gamma analysis system developed for field application consisted of an MP320 Neutron Generator (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.), 3 sodium iodide gamma detectors (SCIONIX, Inc.) with a total volume of 7 liters, 'split electronics' (XIA, LLC), a power system, and an operational computer. Paired with GPS, this system can be used in the scanning mode to acquire gamma spectra while traversing a field. Using acquired spectra, soil elemental content can be calculated. These data can be combined with geographical coordinates in a geographical information system (i.e., ArcGIS) to produce elemental distribution maps suitable for agricultural purposes. Special software has been developed that will acquire gamma spectra, process and sort data, calculate soil elemental content, and combine these data with measured geographic coordinates to create soil elemental distribution maps. For example, 5.5 hours was needed to acquire necessary data for creating a carbon distribution map of an 8.5 ha field. This paper will briefly describe the physics behind the neutron gamma analysis method, physical construction the measurement system, and main characteristics and modes of work when conducting field surveys. Soil elemental distribution maps resulting from field surveys will be presented. and discussed. Comparison of these maps with maps created on the bases of chemical analysis and soil moisture measurements determined by soil electrical conductivity was similar. The maps created by neutron-gamma analysis were reproducible, as well. Based on these facts, it can be asserted that neutron stimulated soil gamma spectroscopy paired with GPS system is fully applicable for soil elemental agricultural field mapping.

Keywords: ArcGIS mapping, neutron gamma analysis, soil elemental content, soil gamma spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Jerzy Bański

Abstract:

Central and Eastern European agriculture is characterized by large spatial variations in the structure of agricultural land and the structure of crops on arable land. In general, field crops predominate among the land used for agriculture. In the southern part of the study area, permanent crops have a relatively large share, which is due to favorable climatic conditions. Clear differences between the north and south of the region concern the structure of crop cultivation. In the north, the cultivation of cereals, mainly wheat, definitely prevails. In the south of the region, on the other hand, the structure of crops is more diverse, as more industrial crops are grown in addition to cereals. The primary cognitive objective of the study is to diagnose and identify the directions of changes in the structure of agricultural land use in the CEE region. Particular attention was paid to the spatial differentiation of this structure and its importance in its formation of various conditions. The analysis included the basic elements of the structure of agricultural land use and the structure of crops on arable land. The decrease in the area of arable land is characteristic of the entire region and is the result of the territorial growth of cities, the development of communications infrastructure (rail and road), and the increase in the rationality of crop production involving, among other things, the exclusion from the cultivation of land with the lowest agro-ecological values and their afforestation. It can be summarized that the directions of changes in the basic categories of agricultural land are related to agro-ecological conditions, which indicates an increase in the rationality of crop production. In countries with lower-quality of agricultural production space, the share of grassland generally increased, while in countries with favorable conditions -mainly soil- the share of arable land increased. As for the structure of field crops, the direction of its changes seems to be mainly due to economic and social reasons. Ownership changes shaping an unfavorable agrarian structure (fragmentation and fragmentation of arable fields) and the process of aging of the rural population resulted in the abandonment of resource- and labor-intensive crops. As a result, the importance of growing fruits and vegetables, and potatoes has declined. The structure of vegetable crops has been greatly influenced by the accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union. This is primarily the increase in the importance of oil crops (rapeseed and sunflower) related to biofuel production. In the case of cereal crops, the main direction of change was the increase in the share of wheat at the expense of other cereal species.

Keywords: agriculture, land use, Central and Eastern Europe, crops, arable land

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Arzu Karahan, Loriano Ballarin, Baruch Rinkevich

Abstract:

Marine invertebrates, the highly diverse phyla of multicellular organisms, represent phenomena that are either not found or highly restricted in the vertebrates. These include phenomena like budding, fission, a fusion of ramets, and high regeneration power, such as the ability to create whole new organisms from either tiny parental fragment, many of which are controlled by totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent stem cells. Thus, there is very much that can be learned from these organisms on the practical and evolutionary levels, further resembling Darwin's words, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. The ‘stem cell’ notion highlights a cell that has the ability to continuously divide and differentiate into various progenitors and daughter cells. In vertebrates, adult stem cells are rare cells defined as lineage-restricted (multipotent at best) with tissue or organ-specific activities that are located in defined niches and further regulate the machinery of homeostasis, repair, and regeneration. They are usually categorized by their morphology, tissue of origin, plasticity, and potency. The above description not always holds when comparing the vertebrates with marine invertebrates’ stem cells that display wider ranges of plasticity and diversity at the taxonomic and the cellular levels. While marine/aquatic invertebrates stem cells (MISC) have recently raised more scientific interest, the know-how is still behind the attraction they deserve. MISC, not only are highly potent but, in many cases, are abundant (e.g., 1/3 of the entire animal cells), do not locate in permanent niches, participates in delayed-aging and whole-body regeneration phenomena, the knowledge of which can be clinically relevant. Moreover, they have massive hidden potential for the discovery of new bioactive molecules that can be used for human health (antitumor, antimicrobial) and biotechnology. The MARISTEM COST action (Stem Cells of Marine/Aquatic Invertebrates: From Basic Research to Innovative Applications) aims to connect the European fragmented MISC community. Under this scientific umbrella, the action conceptualizes the idea for adult stem cells that do not share many properties with the vertebrates’ stem cells, organizes meetings, summer schools, and workshops, stimulating young researchers, supplying technical and adviser support via short-term scientific studies, making new bridges between the MISC community and biomedical disciplines.

Keywords: aquatic/marine invertebrates, adult stem cell, regeneration, cell cultures, bioactive molecules

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Edward Shizha

Abstract:

Citizenship is not only political, but it is also a socio-cultural expectation that naturalized immigrants desire for. However, the outcomes of citizenship desirability are determined by forces outside the individual’s control based on legislation and laws that are designed at the macro and exosystemic levels by politicians and policy makers. These laws are then applied to determine the status (permanency or temporariness) of citizenship for immigrants and refugees, but the same laws do not apply to non-immigrant citizens who attain it by birth. While theoretically, citizenship has generally been considered an irrevocable legal status and the highest and most secure legal status one can hold in a state, it is not inviolate for immigrants. While Article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness provides grounds for revocation of citizenship obtained by immigrants and refugees in host countries, nation-states have their own laws tied to the convention that provide grounds for revocation. Ever since the 9/11 attacks in the USA, there has been a rise in conditional citizenship and the state’s withdrawal of citizenship through revocation laws that denaturalize citizens who end up not merely losing their citizenship but also the right to reside in the country of immigration. Because immigrants can be perceived as a security threat, the securitization of citizenship and the legislative changes have been adopted to specifically allow greater discretionary power in stripping people of their citizenship.The paper ‘Do We Really Belong Here?’ Transnationalism and the Temporality of Naturalized Citizenship examines literature on the temporality of naturalized citizenship and questions whether citizenship, for newcomers (immigrants and refugees), is a protected human right or a privilege. The paper argues that citizenship in a host country is a well sought-after status by newcomers. The question is whether their citizenship, if granted, has a permanent or temporary status and whether it is treated in the same way as that of non-immigrant citizens. The paper further argues that, despite citizenship having generally been considered an irrevocable status in most Western countries, in practice, if not in law, for immigrants and refugees, citizenship comes with strings attached because of policies and laws that control naturalized citizenship. These laws can be used to denationalize naturalized citizens through revocations for those stigmatized as ‘undesirables’ who are threatened with deportation. Whereas non-immigrant citizens (those who attain it by birth) have absolute right to their citizenship, this is seldom the case for immigrants.This paper takes a multidisciplinary approach using Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the macrosystem and exo-system, to examine and review literature on the temporality of naturalized citizenship and questions whether citizenship is a protected right or a privilege for immigrants. The paper challenges the human rights violation of citizenship revocation and argues for equality of treatment for all citizens despite how they acquired their citizenship. The fragility of naturalized citizenship undermines the basic rights and securities that citizenship status can provide to the person as an inclusive practice in a diverse society.

Keywords: citizenship, citizenship revocation, dual citizenship, human rights, naturalization, naturalized citizenship

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Mine Tanaç Zeren

Abstract:

The traditional architectural style or the vernacular architecture can be considered modern and permanent in terms of reflecting the community’s lifestyle, reasonable interpretation of the material and the structure, and the building and the environment relationship’s integrity. When vernacular architecture is examined, it is seen that sustainable building design approaches are achieved at the very beginning by adapting to climate conditions. The aim of the sustainable design approach is to maintain to adapt to the characteristics of the topography of the land and to the climatic conditions, minimizing the energy use by the building material and structural elements. Traditional Turkish House, as one of the representatives of the traditional and vernacular architecture in Anatolia, has a sustainable building design approach as well, which can be read both from the space organization, the section, the volume, and the building components and building details. The only effective factor that human beings cannot change and have to adapt their constructions and settlements to is climate. The vernacular settlements of vernacular architecture in Anatolia, “Traditional Turkish Houses,” are generally formed as concentric settlements in desert conditions and climates or separate and dependently formations according to the wind and the sun in moist areas. They obtain the sustainable building design criteria. This paper aims to put forward the sustainable building design approaches of vernacular architecture in Anatolia. There are four main different climatic conditions depending on the regional differentiations in Anatolia. Taking these different climatic and topographic conditions into account, it has been seen that the vernacular housing features shape and differentiate from each other due to the changing conditions. What is differentiating is the space organization, design of the shelter of the building, material, and structural system used. In this paper, the sustainable building design approaches of Anatolian vernacular architecture will be examined within these four different vernacular settlements located in Aegean Region, Marmara Region, Black Sea Region, and Eastern Region. These differentiated features and how these features differentiate in order to maintain the sustainability criteria will be the main discussion part of the paper. The methodology of this paper will briefly define these differentiations and the sustainable design criteria. The sustainable design approaches and these differentiated items will be read through the design criteria of the shelter of the building and the material selection criteria according to climatic conditions. The methods of preventing energy loss will be examined. At the end of this research, it is going to be seen that the houses located in different parts of Anatolia, depending on climate and topographic conditions to be able to adapt to the environment and maintain sustainability, differ from each other in terms of space organization, structural system, and material use, design of the shelter of the building

Keywords: sustainability of vernacular architecture, sustainable design criteria of traditional Turkish houses, Turkish houses, vernacular architecture

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Arjun Prakash, Vinutha H., Karthik N.

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common entrapment neuropathy with an estimated prevalence of 0.6 - 5.8% in the general adult population. It is caused by compression of the Median Nerve (MN) at the wrist as it passes through a narrow osteofibrous canal. Presently, the diagnosis is established by the clinical symptoms and physical examination and Nerve conduction study (NCS) is used to assess its severity. However, it is considered to be painful, time consuming and expensive, with a false-negative rate between 16 - 34%. Ultrasonography (USG) is now increasingly used as a diagnostic tool in CTS due to its non-invasive nature, increased accessibility and relatively low cost. Elastography is a newer modality in USG which helps to assess stiffness of tissues. However, there is limited available literature about its applications in peripheral nerves. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to measure the Cross-Sectional Area (CSA) and elasticity of MN at the carpal tunnel using Grey scale Ultrasonography (USG), Strain Elastography (SE) and Shear Wave Elastography (SWE). We also made an attempt to independently evaluate the role of Gray scale USG, SE and SWE in grading the severity of CTS, keeping NCS as the gold standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After approval from the Institutional Ethics Review Board, we conducted a comparative cross sectional study for a period of 18 months. The participants were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of 54 patients with clinically diagnosed CTS who underwent NCS, and Group B consisted of 50 controls without any clinical symptoms of CTS. All Ultrasound examinations were performed on SAMSUNG RS 80 EVO Ultrasound machine with 2 - 9 Mega Hertz linear probe. In both groups, CSA of the MN was measured on Grey scale USG, and its elasticity was measured at the carpal tunnel (in terms of Strain ratio and Shear Modulus). The variables were compared between both groups by using ‘Independent t test’, and subgroup analyses were performed using one-way analysis of variance. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of each variable. RESULTS: The mean CSA of the MN was 13.60 + 3.201 mm2 and 9.17 + 1.665 mm2 in Group A and Group B, respectively (p < 0.001). The mean SWE was 30.65 + 12.996 kPa and 17.33 + 2.919 kPa in Group A and Group B, respectively (p < 0.001), and the mean Strain ratio was 7.545 + 2.017 and 5.802 + 1.153 in Group A and Group B respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The combined use of Gray scale USG, SE and SWE is extremely useful in grading the severity of CTS and can be used as a painless and cost-effective alternative to NCS. Early diagnosis and grading of CTS and effective treatment is essential to avoid permanent nerve damage and functional disability.

Keywords: carpal tunnel, ultrasound, elastography, nerve conduction study

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: L. Sánchez-Abella, I. Loinaz, H-J. Grande, D. Dupin

Abstract:

Aseptic loosening remains as the principal cause of revision in total hip arthroplasty (THA). For long-term implantations, submicron particles are generated in vivo due to the inherent wear of the prosthesis. When this occurs, macrophages undergo phagocytosis and secretion of bone resorptive cytokines inducing osteolysis, hence loosening of the implanted prosthesis. Therefore, new technologies are required to reduce the wear of the bearing materials and hence increase the life-span of the prosthesis. Our strategy focuses on surface modification of the bearing materials with a hydrophilic coating based on cross-linked water-soluble (meth)acrylic monomers to improve their tribological behavior. These coatings are biocompatible, with high swelling capacity and antifouling properties, mimicking the properties of natural cartilage, i.e. wear resistance with a permanent hydrated layer that prevents prosthesis damage. Cartilage mimicking based coatings may be also used to protect medical device surfaces from damage and scratches that will compromise their integrity and hence their safety. However, there are only a few reports on the mechanical and tribological characteristics of this type of coatings. Clear beneficial advantages of this coating have been demonstrated in different conditions and different materials, such as Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), Polyethylene (XLPE), Carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFR-PEEK), cobalt-chromium (CoCr), Stainless steel, Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) and Alumina. Using routine tribological experiments, the wear for UHMWPE substrate was decreased by 75% against alumina, ZTA and stainless steel. For PEEK-CFR substrate coated, the amount of material lost against ZTA and CrCo was at least 40% lower. Experiments on hip simulator allowed coated ZTA femoral heads and coated UHMWPE cups to be validated with a decrease of 80% of loss material. Further experiments on hip simulator adding abrasive particles (1 micron sized alumina particles) during 3 million cycles, on a total of 6 million, demonstrated a decreased of around 55% of wear compared to uncoated UHMWPE and uncoated XLPE. In conclusion, CIDETEC‘s hydrogel coating technology is versatile and can be adapted to protect a large range of surfaces, even in abrasive conditions.

Keywords: cartilage, hydrogel, hydrophilic coating, joint

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Vasiliki Kolake, Christos Kavalaris, Sofia Megoudi, Maria Maxouri, Panagiotis A. Karas, Aris Kyparissis, Efi Levizou

Abstract:

Conservation agriculture (CA), is a production system approach that can tackle the challenges of climate change mainly through facilitating carbon storage into the soil and increasing crop resilience. This is extremely important for the vulnerable Mediterranean agroecosystems, which already face adverse environmental conditions. The agronomic practices used in CA, i.e. permanent soil cover and no-tillage, result in reduced soil erosion and increased soil organic matter, preservation of water and improvement of quality and fertility of the soil in the long-term. Thus the functional characteristics and processes of the soil are considerably affected by the implementation of CA. The aim of the present work was to assess the effects of CA on soil nitrification potential and mycorrhizal colonization about the above-ground production in a wheat field. Two adjacent but independent field sites of 1.5ha each were used (Thessaly plain, Central Greece), comprising the no-till and conventional tillage treatments. The no-tillage site was covered by residues of the previous crop (cotton). Potential nitrification and the nitrate and ammonium content of the soil were measured at two different soil depths (3 and 15cm) at 20-days intervals throughout the growth period. Additionally, the leaf area index (LAI) was monitored at the same time-course. The mycorrhizal colonization was measured at the commencement and end of the experiment. At the final harvest, total yield and plant biomass were also recorded. The results indicate that wheat yield was considerably favored by CA practices, exhibiting a 42% increase compared to the conventional tillage treatment. The superior performance of the CA crop was also depicted in the above-ground plant biomass, where a 26% increase was recorded. LAI, which is considered a reliable growth index, did not show statistically significant differences between treatments throughout the growth period. On the contrary, significant differences were recorded in endomycorrhizal colonization one day before the final harvest, with CA plants exhibiting 20% colonization, while the conventional tillage plants hardly reached 1%. The on-going analyses of potential nitrification measurements, as well as nitrate and ammonium determination, will shed light on the effects of CA on key processes in the soil. These results will integrate the assessment of CA impact on certain below and above-ground processes during wheat cultivation under the Mediterranean climate.

Keywords: conservation agriculture, LAI, mycorrhizal colonization, potential nitrification, wheat, yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 121