Search results for: field change notice

Authors: Joanna Fidelus-Orzechowska, Dominika Wronska-Walach, Jaroslaw Cebulski

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Mountain areas are very often exposed to numerous transformations connected with the development of tourist infrastructure. In mountain areas in Poland ski tourism is very popular, so agricultural areas are often transformed into tourist areas. The construction of new ski runs can change the direction and rate of slope development. The main aim of this research was to determine geomorphological and hydrological changes within slopes caused by ski run constructions. The study was conducted in the Remiaszów catchment in the Inner Polish Carpathians (southern Poland). The mean elevation of the catchment is 859 m a.s.l. and the maximum is 946 m a.s.l. The surface area of the catchment is 1.16 km2, of which 16.8% is the area of the two studied ski runs. The studied ski runs were constructed in 2014 and 2015. In order to determine the relief transformations connected with new ski run construction high resolution LIDAR data was analyzed. The general relief changes in the studied catchment were determined on the basis of ALS (Airborne Laser Scanning ) data obtained before (2013) and after (2016) ski run construction. Based on the two sets of ALS data a digital elevation models of differences (DoDs) was created, which made it possible to determine the quantitative relief changes in the entire studied catchment. Additionally, cross and longitudinal profiles were calculated within slopes where new ski runs were built. Detailed data on relief changes within selected test surfaces was obtained based on TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning). Hydrological changes within the analyzed catchment were determined based on the convergence and divergence index. The study shows that the construction of the new ski runs caused significant geomorphological and hydrological changes in the entire studied catchment. However, the most important changes were identified within the ski slopes. After the construction of ski runs the entire catchment area lowered about 0.02 m. Hydrological changes in the studied catchment mainly led to the interruption of surface runoff pathways and changes in runoff direction and geometry.

Keywords: hydrological changes, mountain areas, relief transformations, ski run construction

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Authors: Aman Ullah Khan, Muhammad Younus, Aqil Ijaz, Muti-Ur-Rehman Khan, Sayyed Aun Muhammad, Asif Idrees, Sanan Raza, Amar Nasir

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Dengue fever and malaria are important vector-borne diseases of public health significance affecting millions of people around the globe. Dengue fever is caused by Dengue virus while malaria is caused by plasmodium protozoan. Generally, the consequences of Malaria are less severe compared to dengue fever. This study was designed to differentiate dengue fever and malaria on the basis of clinical and laboratory findings and to compare the changes in both diseases having different causative agents transmitted by the common vector. A total of 200 patients of dengue viral infection (120 males, 80 females) were included in this prospective descriptive study. The blood samples of the individuals were first screened for malaria by blood smear examination and then the negative samples were tested by anti-dengue IgM strip. The strip positive cases were further screened by IgM capture ELISA and their complete blood count including hemoglobin estimation (Hb), total and differential leukocyte counts (TLC and DLC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and platelet counts were performed. On the basis of the severity of signs and symptoms, dengue virus infected patients were subdivided into dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) comprising 70 and 100 confirmed patients, respectively. On the other hand, 30 patients were found infected with Malaria while overall 120 patients showed thrombocytopenia. The patients of DHF were found to have more leucopenia, raised hemoglobin level and thrombocytopenia < 50,000/µl compared to the patients belonging to DF and malaria. On the basis of the outcomes of the study, it was concluded that patients affected by DF were at a lower risk of undergoing haematological disturbance than suffering from DHF. While, the patients infected by Malaria were found to have no significant change in their blood components.

Keywords: dengue fever, blood, serum, malaria, ELISA

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Authors: Alae El Fahsi

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This study explores the ‘Tajawob’ app's role in urban development, demonstrating how mobile applications can empower citizens and facilitate urban planning. Tajawob serves as a digital platform for community feedback, engagement, and participatory governance, addressing urban challenges through innovative tech solutions. This research synthesizes data from a variety of sources, including user feedback, engagement metrics, and interviews with city officials, to assess the app’s impact on citizen participation in urban development in Morocco. By integrating advanced data analytics and user experience design, Tajawob has bridged the communication gap between citizens and government officials, fostering a more collaborative and transparent urban planning process. The findings reveal a significant increase in civic engagement, with users actively contributing to urban management decisions, thereby enhancing the responsiveness and inclusivity of urban governance. Challenges such as digital literacy, infrastructure limitations, and privacy concerns are also discussed, providing a comprehensive overview of the obstacles and opportunities presented by mobile app-based citizen engagement platforms. The study concludes with strategic recommendations for scaling the Tajawob model to other contexts, emphasizing the importance of adaptive technology solutions in meeting the evolving needs of urban populations. This research contributes to the burgeoning field of smart city innovations, offering key insights into the role of digital tools in facilitating more democratic and participatory urban environments.

Keywords: smart cities, digital governance, urban planning, strategic design

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Authors: Calvin Rong, Regina Agassian, Mindy Engle-Friedman

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Climate changes, including rising sea levels and increases in global temperature, can have major effects on resource availability, leading to increased competition for resources and rising food prices. The abstract nature and often delayed consequences of many ecological problems cause people focus on immediate, specific, and personal events and circumstances that compel immediate and emotional involvement. This finding may be explained by the challenges humans have in imagining themselves in the future, a shortcoming that interferes with decision-making involving far-off rewards, and leads people to indicate a lower concern toward the future than to present circumstances. The present study sought to assess whether priming people to think of themselves in the future might strengthen the connection to their future selves and stimulate environmentally-protective behavior. We hypothesize that priming participants to think about themselves in the future would increase concern for the future environment. 45 control participants were primed to think about themselves in the present, and 42 participants were primed to think about themselves in the futures. After priming, the participants rated their concern over access to clean water, food, and energy on a scale of 1 to 10. They also rated their predicted care levels for the environment at age points 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 on a scale of 1(not at all) to 10 (very much). Predicted care levels at age 90 for the experimental group was significantly higher than for the control group. Overall the experimental group rated their concern for resources higher than the control. In comparison to the control group (M=7.60, SD=2.104) participants in the experimental group had greater concern for clean water (M=8.56, SD=1.534). In comparison to the control group (M=7.49, SD=2.041) participants in the experimental group were more concerned about food resources (M=8.41, SD=1.830). In comparison to the control group (M=7.22, SD=1.999) participants in the experimental group were more concerned about energy resources (M=8.07, SD=1.967). This study assessed whether a priming strategy could be used to encourage pro-environmental practices that protect limited resources. Future-self priming helped participants see past short term issues and focus on concern for the future environment.

Keywords: climate change, future, priming, global warming

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Authors: Guo Rui, Cao Xinhu

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In recent decades, the world has endured severe challenges in light of climate change, epidemics, geopolitics, terrorism, economic uncertainties, as well as regional conflicts and rivalries. The appropriate use of critical infrastructures (Cis) is confronted. Ports, as typical Cis cover more than 80% of the global freight movement. Within this context, even the minimal disruption of port operations could cause malfunction of the holistic supply chain network and substantial economic losses. Hence, it is crucial to evaluate port performance from the perspective of resilience. Research on resilience and risk/safety management has been increasing, however, it needs more attention, as it could prevent potential socio-economic losses and inspire decision-makers to make resilience-based decisions to answer the challenges, such as COVID-19. To facilitate better moves from decision-makers, ports need to identify proper factors influencing port resilience. Inappropriately influenced factor selection could have a cascading effect on undesirable port performances. Thus, a systematic evaluation of factors is essential to stimulate the improvement process of port resilience investigation. This study zooms into container ports considering their critical role in international trade and global supply chains. 440 articles are selected after relevance ranking, and consequently, 62 articles are scrutinized after the title and abstract screening. Forty-one articles are included for bibliographic analysis in the end. It is found that there is no standardized index system to measure port resilience. And most studies evaluate port resilience merely in the recovery phase. Only two articles cover absorption, adaption and recovery state. However, no literature involves the prevention state. Hence, a uniform resilience index system is expected with a clear resilience definition. And port safety and security should also be considered while evaluating port resilience.

Keywords: port resilience, port safety and security, literature review, index system, port performance

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Authors: Mubarek Alpkiray, Tan Nguyen, Arild Saasen

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Geothermal drilling operations contain numerous challenges that are encountered to increase the well cost and nonproductive time. Fluid loss is one of the most undesirable troublesome that can cause well abandonment in geothermal drilling. Lost circulation can be seen due to natural fractures, high mud weight, and extremely high formation temperatures. This challenge may cause wellbore stability problems and lead to expensive drilling operations. Wellbore stability is the main domain that should be considered to mitigate or prevent fluid loss into the formation. This paper describes the causes of fluid loss in the Pamukoren geothermal field in Turkey. A geomechanics approach integration and assessment is applied to help the understanding of fluid loss problems. In geothermal drillings, geomechanics is primarily based on rock properties, in-situ stress characterization, the temperature of the rock, determination of stresses around the wellbore, and rock failure criteria. Since a high-temperature difference between the wellbore wall and drilling fluid is presented, temperature distribution through the wellbore is estimated and implemented to the wellbore stability approach. This study reviewed geothermal drilling data to analyze temperature estimation along the wellbore, the cause of fluid loss and stored electric capacity of the reservoir. Our observation demonstrates the geomechanical approach's significant role in understanding safe drilling operations on high-temperature wells. Fluid loss is encountered due to thermal stress effects around the borehole. This paper provides a wellbore stability analysis for a geothermal drilling operation to discuss the causes of lost circulation resulting in nonproductive time and cost.

Keywords: geothermal wells, drilling, wellbore stresses, drilling fluid loss, thermal stress

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Authors: K. N. Kiran, S. Anish

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It is well known that secondary flow loses account about one third of the total loss in any axial turbine. Modern gas turbine height is smaller and have longer chord length, which might lead to increase in secondary flow. In order to improve the efficiency of the turbine, it is important to understand the behavior of secondary flow and device mechanisms to curtail these losses. The objective of the present work is to understand the effect of a stream wise end-wall fence on the aerodynamics of a linear turbine cascade. The study is carried out computationally by using commercial software ANSYS CFX. The effect of end-wall on the flow field are calculated based on RANS simulation by using SST transition turbulence model. Durham cascade which is similar to high-pressure axial flow turbine for simulation is used. The aim of fencing in blade passage is to get the maximum benefit from flow deviation and destroying the passage vortex in terms of loss reduction. It is observed that, for the present analysis, fence in the blade passage helps reducing the strength of horseshoe vortex and is capable of restraining the flow along the blade passage. Fence in the blade passage helps in reducing the under turning by 7⁰ in comparison with base case. Fence on end-wall is effective in preventing the movement of pressure side leg of horseshoe vortex and helps in breaking the passage vortex. Computations are carried for different fence height whose curvature is different from the blade camber. The optimum fence geometry and location reduces the loss coefficient by 15.6% in comparison with base case.

Keywords: boundary layer fence, horseshoe vortex, linear cascade, passage vortex, secondary flow

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Authors: Dong Yinan, Zhou Zijie

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Urban fringe belt is an important part of urban morphology research. Different from the relatively fixed central district of city, the position of fringe belt is changing. In the process of urban expansion, the original fringe belt is likely to be merged by the new-built city, even become new city public center. During the change, we are facing the dialectic between restoring the organicity of old urban form and creating new urban image. There are lots of relevant research in urban scale, but when we focus on building scale, rare design method can be proposed, thus some new individual building cannot match the overall urban planning intent. The expansion project of the second middle school in Xuancheng is facing this situation. The existing campus is located in the south fringe belt of Xuancheng, Anhui province, China, adjacent to farmland and ponds. While based on the Xucheng urban planning, the farmland and ponds will be transformed into a big lake, around which new public center will be built; the expansion of the school becomes an important part of the boundary of the new public center. Therefore, the expansion project faces challenges from both urban and building scale. In urban scale, we analyze and summarize the fringe belt characters through the reading of existing and future urban organism, in order to determine the form of the expansion project. Meanwhile, in building scale, we study on different types of school buildings and select appropriate type which can satisfy to both urban form and school function. This research attempts to investigate design methods based on an under construction project in Xuancheng, a historic city in southeast China. It also aims to bridge the gap from urban design to individual building design through the typo-morphological research.

Keywords: design methods, urban fringe belt, typo-morphological research, middle school

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Authors: Abdullah Kaya, Muammer Koc

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A levelized cost analysis of solar energy powered seawater desalination in The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is conducted to show that clean and renewable desalination is economically viable. The Emirate heavily relies on seawater desalination for its freshwater needs due to limited freshwater resources available. This trend is expected to increase further due to growing population and economic activity, rapid decline in limited freshwater reserves, and aggravating effects of climate change. Seawater desalination in Abu Dhabi is currently done through thermal desalination technologies such as multi-stage flash (MSF) and multi-effect distillation (MED) which are coupled with thermal power plants known as co-generation. Our analysis indicates that these thermal desalination methods are inefficient regarding energy consumption and harmful to the environment due to CO₂ emissions and other dangerous byproducts. Therefore, utilization of clean and renewable desalination options has become a must for The Emirate for the transition to a sustainable future. The rapid decline in the cost of solar PV system for energy production and RO technology for desalination makes the combination of these two an ideal option for a future of sustainable desalination in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. A Levelized cost analysis for water produced by solar PV + RO system indicates that Abu Dhabi is well positioned to utilize this technological combination for cheap and clean desalination for the coming years. It has been shown that cap-ex cost of solar PV powered RO system has potential to go as low as to 101 million US $ (1111 $/m³) at best case considering the recent technological developments. The levelized cost of water (LCW) values fluctuate between 0.34 $/m³ for the baseline case and 0.27 $/m³ for the best case. Even the highly conservative case yields LCW cheaper than 100% from all thermal desalination methods currently employed in the Emirate. Exponential cost decreases in both solar PV and RO sectors along with increasing economic scale globally signal the fact that a cheap and clean desalination can be achieved by the combination of these technologies.

Keywords: solar PV, RO desalination, sustainable desalination, levelized cost of analysis, Emirate of Abu Dhabi

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Authors: Uditi Dhakad, Baldev Ram, Chaman K. Jadon, R. K. Yadav, D. L. Yadav, Pratap Singh, Shalini Meena

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A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2021 at Agricultural Research Station, Kota, to evaluate the effect of different post-emergence herbicides applied to soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] on soil enzymes activity viz. dehydrogenase, phosphatase, and urease. The soil of the experimental site was clay loam (vertisols) in texture and slightly alkaline in reaction with 7.7 pH. The soil was low in organic carbon (0.49%), medium in available nitrogen (210 kg/ha), phosphorus (23.5 P2O5 kg/ha), and high in potassium (400 K2O kg/ha) status. The results elucidated that no significant adverse effect on soil dehydrogenase, urease, and phosphatase activity was determined with the application of post-emergence herbicides over the untreated control. Two hands weeding at 20 and 40 DAS registered maximum dehydrogenase enzyme activity (0.329 μgTPF/g soil/d) closely followed by herbicides mixtures and sole herbicide while pre-emergence application of pendimethalin + imazethapyr 960 g a.i./ha and pendimethalin 1.0 kg a.i./ha significantly reduced dehydrogenase enzyme activity compared to control. Urease enzyme activity was not much affected under different weed control treatments and weedy checks. The treatments were found statistically non-significant, and values ranged between 1.16-1.25 μgNH4N/g soil/d. Phosphatase enzyme activity was also not influenced significantly due to various weed control treatments. Though maximum phosphatase enzyme activity (30.17 μgpnp/g soil/hr) was observed under two-hand weeding, followed by fomesafen + fluazifop-p-butyl 220 g a.i./ha. Herbicidal weed control measures did not influence the total bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes population.

Keywords: dehydrogenase, phosphatase, post-emergence, soil enzymes, urease.

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Authors: A. B. M. Rezaul Islam, Ernur Karadogan

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Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are known for their shape memory effect and pseudoelasticity behavior. Their thermomechanical behaviors are modeled by numerous researchers using microscopic thermodynamic and macroscopic phenomenological point of view. Tanaka, Liang-Rogers and Ivshin-Pence models are some of the most popular SMA macroscopic phenomenological constitutive models. They describe SMA behavior in terms of stress, strain and temperature. These models involve material parameters and they have associated uncertainty present in them. At different operating temperatures, the uncertainty propagates to the output when the material is subjected to loading followed by unloading. The propagation of uncertainty while utilizing these models in real-life application can result in performance discrepancies or failure at extreme conditions. To resolve this, we used probabilistic approach to perform the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of Tanaka, Liang-Rogers, and Ivshin-Pence models. Sobol and extended Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Testing (eFAST) methods have been used to perform the sensitivity analysis for simulated isothermal loading/unloading at various operating temperatures. As per the results, it is evident that the models vary due to the change in operating temperature and loading condition. The average and stress-dependent sensitivity indices present the most significant parameters at several temperatures. This work highlights the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis results and shows comparison of them at different temperatures and loading conditions for all these models. The analysis presented will aid in designing engineering applications by eliminating the probability of model failure due to the uncertainty in the input parameters. Thus, it is recommended to have a proper understanding of sensitive parameters and the uncertainty propagation at several operating temperatures and loading conditions as per Tanaka, Liang-Rogers, and Ivshin-Pence model.

Keywords: constitutive models, FAST sensitivity analysis, sensitivity analysis, sobol, shape memory alloy, uncertainty analysis

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Authors: Y. Melis, E. Apicella, E. Dozio, L. Mendolicchio

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Introduction: Feeding and Eating Disorders (FED) represent the psychiatric pathology with the highest mortality rate and one of the major disorders with the highest psychiatric and clinical comorbidity. The vagus nerve represents one of the main components of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and is involved in important neurophysiological functions. In FED, there is a spectrum of symptoms which with TaVNS (Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation) therapy, is possible to have a therapeutic efficacy. Materials and Methods: Sample subjects are composed of 15 female subjects aged > 18 ± 51. Admitted to a psychiatry community having been diagnosed according to DSM-5: anorexia nervosa (AN) (N= 9), bulimia nervosa (BN) (N= 5), binge eating disorder (BED) (N= 1). The protocol included 9 weeks of Ta-VNS stimulation at a frequency of 1.5-3.5 mA for 4 hours per day. The variables detected are the following: Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-HDRS-17), Body Mass Index (BMI), Beck Anxiety Index (BAI). Results: Data analysis showed statistically significant differences between recording times (p > 0.05) in HAM-D (t0 = 18.28 ± 5.31; t4 = 9.14 ± 7.15), in BAI (t0 = 24.7 ± 10.99; t4 = 13.8 ± 7.0). The reported values show how during (T0-T4) the treatment there is a decay of the degree in the depressive state, in the state of anxiety, and an improvement in the value of BMI. In particular, the BMI in the AN-BN sub-sample had a minimum gain of 5% and a maximum of 11%. The analysis of HRV did not show a clear change among subjects, thus confirming the discordance of the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system in FED. Conclusions: Although the sample does not possess a relevant value to determine long-term efficacy of Ta-VNS or on a larger population, this study reports how the application of neuro-stimulation in FED may become a further approach therapeutic. Indeed, substantial improvements are highlighted in the results and confirmed hypotheses proposed by the study.

Keywords: feeding and eating disorders, neurostimulation, anxiety disorders, depression

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Authors: Amr A. El Hanafy, Muhammad I. Qureshi, Jamal Sabir, Mohamed Mutawakil, Mohamed M. Ahmed, Hassan El Ashmaoui, Hassan Ramadan, Mohamed Abou-Alsoud, Mahmoud Abdel Sadek

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β-Lactoglobulin (β-LG) is the dominant non-casein whey protein found in bovine milk and of most ruminants. The amino acid sequence of β-LG along with its 3-dimensional structure illustrates linkage with the lipocalin superfamily. Preliminary studies in goats indicated that milk yield can be influenced by polymorphism in genes coding for whey proteins. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the incidence of functional polymorphisms in the exonic and intronic portions of β-LG gene in native Saudi goat breeds (Ardi, Habsi, and Harri). Blood samples were collected from 300 animals (100 for each breed) and genomic DNA was extracted using QIAamp DNA extraction Kit. A fragment of the β-LG gene from exon 7 to 3’ flanking region was amplified with pairs of specific primers. Subsequent digestion with Sac II restriction endonuclease revealed two alleles (A and B) and three different banding patterns or genotypes i.e. AA, AB and BB. The statistical analysis showed that β-LG AA genotype had higher milk yield than β-LG AB and β-LG BB genotypes. Nucleotide sequencing of the selected β-LG fragments was done and submitted to GenBank NCBI (Accession No. KJ544248, KJ588275, KJ588276, KJ783455, KJ783456 and KJ874959). Two already established SNPs in exon 7 (+4601 and +4603) and one fresh SNP in the 3’ UTR region were detected in the β-LG fragments with designated AA genotype. The polymorphisms in exon 7 did not produce any amino acid change. Phylogenetic analysis on the basis of nucleotide sequences of native Saudi goats indicated evolutional similarity with the GenBank reference sequences of goat, Bubalus bubalis and Bos taurus.

Keywords: β-Lactoglobulin, Saudi goats, PCR-RFLP, functional polymorphism, nucleotide sequencing, phylogenetic analysis

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Authors: S. Altmeyer, B. Hof, F. Marques, J. M. Lopez

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We present numerical simulations concerning the reversal of spiraling vortices in short highly counter-rotating cylinders. Increasing the differential cylinder rotation results in global flow-inversion is which develops various different and complex flow dynamics of several quasi-periodic solutions that differ in their number of vortex cells in the bulk. The dynamics change from being dominated of the inner cylinder boundary layer with ’passive’ only responding outer one to be dominated by the outer cylinder boundary layer with only responding inner one. Solutions exist on either two or three tori invariant manifolds whereby they appear as symmetric or asymmetric states. We find for either moderate and high inner cylinder rotation speed the quasiperiodic flow to consist of only two vortex cells but differ as the vortices has opposite spiraling direction. These both flows live on 2-tori but differ in number of symmetries. While for the quasi-periodic flow (q^a_2) at lower rotation speed a pair of symmetrically related 2-tori T2 exists the quasi-periodic flow (q^s_2) at higher rotation speeds is symmetric living on a single 2-torus T2. In addition these both flows differ due to their dominant azimuthal m modes. The first is dominated by m=1 whereas for the latter m=3 contribution is largest. The 2-tori states are separated by a further quasi-periodic flow (q^a_3) living on pair of symmetrically related 3-tori T3. This flow offers a ’periodical’ competition between a two and three vortex cell states in the bulk. This flow is also an m=1 solution as for the quasiperiodic flows living on the pair of symmetrically-related 2-tori states. Moreover we find hysteresis resulting in coexisting regions of different quasiperiodic flows q^s_2 and q^a_3 with increasing and decreasing the differential rotation.

Keywords: transition, bifurcation, torus, symmetries

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Authors: Mohammad Ghiasvand, Babak Khorsandi, Morteza Kolahdoozan

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Under the influence of waves, oil in the sea is subject to vertical scattering in the water column. Scientists' knowledge of how oil is dispersed in the water column is one of the lowest levels of knowledge among other processes affecting oil in the marine environment, which highlights the need for research and study in this field. Therefore, this study investigates the distribution of oil in the water column in a turbulent environment with zero velocity characteristics. Lack of laboratory results to analyze the distribution of petroleum pollutants in deep water for information Phenomenon physics on the one hand and using them to calibrate numerical models on the other hand led to the development of laboratory models in research. According to the aim of the present study, which is to investigate the distribution of oil in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence caused by the oscillating Grid, after reaching the ideal conditions, the crude oil flow was poured onto the water surface and oil was distributed in deep water due to turbulence was investigated. In this study, all experimental processes have been implemented and used for the first time in Iran, and the study of oil diffusion in the water column was considered one of the key aspects of pollutant diffusion in the oscillating Grid environment. Finally, the required oscillation velocities were taken at depths of 10, 15, 20, and 25 cm from the water surface and used in the analysis of oil diffusion due to turbulence parameters. The results showed that with the characteristics of the present system in two static modes and network motion with a frequency of 0.8 Hz, the results of oil diffusion in the four mentioned depths at a frequency of 0.8 Hz compared to the static mode from top to bottom at 26.18, 57 31.5, 37.5 and 50% more. Also, after 2.5 minutes of the oil spill at a frequency of 0.8 Hz, oil distribution at the mentioned depths increased by 49, 61.5, 85, and 146.1%, respectively, compared to the base (static) state.

Keywords: homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, oil distribution, oscillating grid, oil spill

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Authors: Vedansh More, Lalatendu Bal, Ronak Panchal, Atharva Kulkarni

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The project aims at developing a cost-effective test bench capable of testing and validating the complete powertrain package of an electric vehicle. Emrax 228 high voltage synchronous motor was selected as the prime mover for study. A tandem type dynamometer comprising of two loading methods; inertial, using standard inertia rollers and absorptive, using a separately excited DC generator with resistive coils was developed. The absorptive loading of the prime mover was achieved by implementing a converter circuit through which duty of the input field voltage level was controlled. This control was efficacious in changing the magnetic flux and hence the generated voltage which was ultimately dropped across resistive coils assembled in a load bank with all parallel configuration. The prime mover and loading elements were connected via a chain drive with a 2:1 reduction ratio which allows flexibility in placement of components and a relaxed rating of the DC generator. The development will aid in determination of essential characteristics like torque-RPM, power-RPM, torque factor, RPM factor, heat loads of devices and battery pack state of charge efficiency but also provides a significant financial advantage over existing versions of dynamometers with its cost-effective solution.

Keywords: absorptive load, chain drive, chordal action, DC generator, dynamometer, electric vehicle, inertia rollers, load bank, powertrain, pulse width modulation, reduction ratio, road load, testbench

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Authors: Chanda Burrage

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The past half-century has revealed massive structural, geographic, and technological changes in livestock production. The move, for instance, toward expanding export markets, massive feedlots for the fattening of cattle and improved veterinary standards is a global trend in food animal agribusiness and is apparent in both developed and developing regions. In the Horn of Africa, various breeds of cattle that previously were not considered in economic terms are now treated as commodities and branded for numerous export markets. Formerly a culturally significant exchange good within the subsistence pastoral livelihoods, cattle are now identified as a key economic resource and fully connected to global markets. This study incorporates an ethnographic-commodity chain approach to examine critical issues surrounding regional trade, harmonization of standards, import & export legislation, the role of the private sector, and infrastructure development relative to the Boran cattle breed and Borana pastoralists. The specific sites assessed include the cattle production region of Moyale in southern Ethiopia, feedlots and export abattoirs in Adama, Ethiopia, and quarantines and ports in Djibouti and Somaliland. The goal is to evaluate innovation and modernization outcomes and narratives around Boran cattle production and development and the associate livelihood changes for cattle producers in southern Ethiopia and how the smallholder pastoralists are coping with the multitude of global changes. Inevitably, the inherent pressures related to such changes alter, and may even promote the reconfiguration of identity, while inadvertently contribute to the capacity of smallholder cattle producers to act independently and make their own free choices in sustainability. It is through these processes that local Borana groups may appropriate, bypass, or put to new use available and innovative material resources.

Keywords: globalization, global change, commodification, pastoralism, vulnerability, adaptive capacity

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Authors: Rajiv Ratan Singh, Sachin Kumar Tripathi, Pradeep Kumar Yadav

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The timely evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of people who have been exposed to toxic chemicals is a crucial component of emergency poison management in the medical field. The various substances that can poison include chemicals, medications, and naturally occurring poisons. The toxicology of the particular drug involved, as well as the symptoms and indicators of poisoning, must be thoroughly understood to handle poisoning emergencies effectively. One of the most important aspects of emergency poison management in medicine is the prompt examination, diagnosis, and treatment of persons who have been exposed to dangerous substances. To properly manage poisoning crises, one must have a good understanding of the toxicology of the particular medication concerned, as well as the signs and indicators of poisoning. Emergency management of poisoning includes not only prompt medical attention but also patient education, follow-up care, and monitoring for any long-term consequences. To achieve the greatest results for patients, the management of poisoning is a complicated and dynamic process that calls for collaboration between medical professionals, first responders, and toxicologists. All poisoned patients who present to the emergency room are assessed and diagnosed based on a collection of symptoms and a biochemical diagnosis, and they are then provided targeted, specialized treatment for the toxin identified. This article focuses on the loxodromic strategy as the primary method of treatment for poisoned patients. The authors of this article conclude that mortality and morbidity can be reduced if patients visit the emergency room promptly and receive targeted treatment.

Keywords: antidotes, blood poisoning, emergency medicine, gastric lavage, medico-legal aspects, patient care

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Authors: Deepak Bhardwaj, Narendra Tuteja

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Global climate change is impacting large agrarian societies, especially those in countries located near the equator. Agriculture, and consequently, plant-based food, is the hardest hit in tropical and sub-tropical countries such as India due to an increased incidence of drought as well as an increase in soil salinity. One method that holds promise is AMF-rich biofertilizers which assist in activating proteins which in turn help alleviate abiotic stress in plants. In the present study, we identified two important species of (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus) AMF belonging to Glomus and Gigaspora from the rhizosphere of the important medicinal plant Justicia adathoda. These two species have been found to be responsible for the abundance of Justicia adathoda in the semi-arid areas of the Jammu valley located in northern India, namely, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. We isolated the species of Glomus and Gigaspora from the rhizosphere of Justicia adathoda and used them as biofertilizers for the tomato plant. Significant improvements in the growth parameters were observed in the tomato plants inoculated with Glomus sp. and Gigaspora sp. in comparison with the tomato plants that were grown without AMF treatments. Tomato plants grown along with Glomus sp. and Gigaspora sp. have been observed to withstand 200 mM of salinity and 25% PEG stress. AMF also resulted in an increased concentration of proline and antioxidant enzymes in tomato plants. We also examined the expression levels of salinity and drought stress-inducible genes such as pea DNA helicase 45 (PDH 45) and genes of G-protein subunits of the tomato plants inoculated with and without AMF under stress and normal conditions. All the stress-inducible genes showed a significant increase in their gene expression under stress and AMF inoculation, while their levels were found to be normal under AMF inoculation without stress. We propose a model of abiotic stress alleviation in tomato plants with the help of external factors such as AMF and internally with the help of proteins like PDH 45 and G-proteins.

Keywords: AMF, abiotic stress, g-proteins, PDH-45

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Authors: Zahra Karimian, Effat Merghati Khoei, Raziyeh Maasoumi

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Background: Women's sexual well-being is center of focus in the field of sexology. Study of sexual behavior and investigating its predictors is important in women's health promotion. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the components of sexual behaviors and their possible associations with the women's demographic. Methods: A National Sexual Behavior Assessment Questionnaire was administered to 500 women ages 15 to 45 who referred to the public health centers seeking for health care services. The associations with demographic were examined. Results: From all participant, 31.8% of women obtain high score in the sexual capacity 21.2% in sexual motivation and 0.2% in sexual function. In sexual script component, 86.2% of women were holding traditional beliefs toward sexual behaviors; the majority (91.5%) of women believed in mutual and relational sexuality, 83.4% believed in androcentricity (male-dominated sexuality). Pearson correlation test showed significant positive correlations between sexual capacity, motivation, function and sexual script (p < 0.05). Regression model showed that sexual capacity is associated with women's education, age of her spouse. Sexual function and sexual motivation were significantly associated with the age of subjects' spouses. Conclusion: In this study, lower score was found in sexual performance while women were scored higher in the sexual capacity and motivation. We argue that these lower score in sexual performance more likely is due to the level of participants' religiosity and formation of their sexuality through an androcentric culture. Women's level of education and the spouse age appear to be predicting factors in the scores the subjects gained. We suggest that gender-specific and culturally sensitive sexuality education should be focus of women's health programs in Iran.

Keywords: sexual behaviors, women, health, Iran

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Authors: Sylvain Amailland, Jean-Hugh Thomas, Charles Pézerat, Romuald Boucheron, Jean-Claude Pascal

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The noise requirements for naval and research vessels have seen an increasing demand for quieter ships in order to fulfil current regulations and to reduce the effects on marine life. Hence, new methods dedicated to the characterization of propeller noise, which is the main source of noise in the far-field, are needed. The study of cavitating propellers in closed-section is interesting for analyzing hydrodynamic performance but could involve significant difficulties for hydroacoustic study, especially due to reverberation and boundary layer noise in the tunnel. The aim of this paper is to present a numerical methodology for the identification of hydroacoustic sources on marine propellers using hydrophone arrays in a large hydrodynamic tunnel. The main difficulties are linked to the reverberation of the tunnel and the boundary layer noise that strongly reduce the signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper it is proposed to estimate the reflection coefficients using an inverse method and some reference transfer functions measured in the tunnel. This approach allows to reduce the uncertainties of the propagation model used in the inverse problem. In order to reduce the boundary layer noise, a cleaning algorithm taking advantage of the low rank and sparse structure of the cross-spectrum matrices of the acoustic and the boundary layer noise is presented. This approach allows to recover the acoustic signal even well under the boundary layer noise. The improvement brought by this method is visible on acoustic maps resulting from beamforming and DAMAS algorithms.

Keywords: acoustic imaging, boundary layer noise denoising, inverse problems, model adaptation

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Authors: Nnadi Ezekiel Ejiofor

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The construction industry plays a decisive role in the healthy development of any nation. Not only large but even small construction projects contribute to a country’s economic growth. There is a need for good management to ensure successful delivery and sustainability because of the plethora of risks that have resulted in low-profit margins for contractors, cost and schedule overruns, poor quality delivery, and abandoned projects. This research reviewed Capitalization on Sustainable Risk Management. Questionnaires and oral interviews conducted were utilized as means of data collection. One hundred and ninety-eight (198) large construction firms in Nigeria form the population of this study. 15 (fifteen) companies that emanated from merger and acquisition were used for the study. The instruments used for data collection were a researcher-developed structured questionnaire based on a five-point rating scale, interviews, focus group discussion, and secondary sources (bill of quantities and stock and exchange commission). The instrument was validated by two experts in the field. The reliability of the instrument was established by applying the split-half method. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to test the data, and a degree of agreement was obtained. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analyzed using analysis of variance, t-test, and SPSS. The identified impacts of capitalization were an increase in turnover (24.5%), improvement in the image (24.5%), risk reduction (20%), business expansion (17.3%), and geographical spread (13.6%). The study strongly advocates the inclusion of risk management evaluation as part of the construction procurement process.

Keywords: capitalization, project delivery, risks, risk management, sustainability

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Authors: Sudhir Kumar Singh, Debashish Chakravarty

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Slope stability analysis is an important aspect in the field of geotechnical engineering. It is also important from safety, and economic point of view as any slope failure leads to loss of valuable lives and damage to property worth millions. This paper aims at mitigating the risk of slope failure by studying the effect of different joint sets on the stability of mine pit slopes under the influence of various external factors, namely degree of saturation, rainfall intensity, and seismic coefficients. Supervised machine learning approach has been utilized for making accurate and reliable predictions regarding the stability of slopes based on the value of Factor of Safety. Numerous cases have been studied for analyzing the stability of slopes using the popular Finite Element Method, and the data thus obtained has been used as training data for the supervised machine learning models. The input data has been trained on different supervised machine learning models, namely Random Forest, Decision Tree, Support vector Machine, and XGBoost. Distinct test data that is not present in training data has been used for measuring the performance and accuracy of different models. Although all models have performed well on the test dataset but Random Forest stands out from others due to its high accuracy of greater than 95%, thus helping us by providing a valuable tool at our disposition which is neither computationally expensive nor time consuming and in good accordance with the numerical analysis result.

Keywords: finite element method, geotechnical engineering, machine learning, slope stability

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Authors: Aline Valverde Arroteia, Tatiana Gondim do Amaral, Silvio Burrattino Melhado

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During the last twenty years, the construction field in Brazil has evolved significantly in response to its market growing and competitiveness. However, this evolving path has faced many obstacles such as cultural barriers and the lack of efforts to achieve quality at the construction site. At the same time, the greatest amount of information generated on the designing or construction phases is lost due to the lack of an effective coordination of these activities. Face this problem, the aim of this research was to implement a French method named PEO which means preparation for building construction (in Portuguese) seeking to understand the design management process and its interface with the building construction phase. The research method applied was qualitative, and it was carried out through two case studies in the city of Goiania, in Goias, Brazil. The research was divided into two stages called pilot study at Company A and implementation of PEO at Company B. After the implementation; the results demonstrated the PEO method's effectiveness and feasibility while a booster on the quality improvement of design management. The analysis showed that the method has a purpose to improve the design and allow the reduction of failures, errors and rework commonly found in the production of buildings. Therefore, it can be concluded that the PEO is feasible to be applied to real estate and building companies. But, companies need to believe in the contribution they can make to the discovery of design failures in conjunction with other stakeholders forming a construction team. The result of PEO can be maximized when adopting the principles of simultaneous engineering and insertion of new computer technologies, which use a three-dimensional model of the building with BIM process.

Keywords: communication, design and construction interface management, preparation for building construction (PEO), proactive coordination (CPA)

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Authors: H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, M. Faghri

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In this paper, we report the development of a portable and inexpensive infrared lightbox for improving the detection limits of paper-based phosphate devices. Commercial paper-based devices utilize the molybdenum blue protocol to detect phosphate in the environment. Although these devices are easy to use and have a long shelf life, their main deficiency is their low sensitivity based on the qualitative results obtained via a color chart. To improve the results, we constructed a compact infrared lightbox that communicates wirelessly with a smartphone. The system measures the absorbance of radiation for the molybdenum blue reaction in the infrared region of the spectrum. It consists of a lightbox illuminated by four infrared light-emitting diodes, an infrared digital camera, a Raspberry Pi microcontroller, a mini-router, and an iPhone to control the microcontroller. An iPhone application was also developed to analyze images captured by the infrared camera in order to quantify phosphate concentrations. Additionally, the app connects to an online data center to present a highly scalable worldwide system for tracking and analyzing field measurements. In this study, the detection limits for two popular commercial devices were improved by a factor of 4 for the Quantofix devices (from 1.3 ppm using visible light to 300 ppb using infrared illumination) and a factor of 6 for the Indigo units (from 9.2 ppm to 1.4 ppm) with repeatability of less than or equal to 1.2% relative standard deviation (RSD). The system also provides more granular concentration information compared to the discrete color chart used by commercial devices and it can be easily adapted for use in other applications.

Keywords: infrared lightbox, paper-based device, phosphate detection, smartphone colorimetric analyzer

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Authors: Takeshi Takemoto, Naoya Suzuki, Naohisa Takagaki, Satoru Komori, Masako Terui, George Truscott

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Drag coefficient is an important parameter in order to correctly estimate the air-sea momentum flux. However, The parameterization of the drag coefficient hasn’t been established due to the variation in the field data. Instead, a number of drag coefficient model formulae have been proposed, even though almost all these models haven’t discussed the extreme wind speed range. With regards to such models, it is unclear how the drag coefficient changes in the extreme wind speed range as the wind speed increased. In this study, we investigated the effect of the drag coefficient models concerning the air-sea momentum flux in the extreme wind range on a global scale, comparing two different drag coefficient models. Interestingly, one model didn’t discuss the extreme wind speed range while the other model considered it. We found that the difference of the models in the annual global air-sea momentum flux was small because the occurrence frequency of strong wind was approximately 1% with a wind speed of 20m/s or more. However, we also discovered that the difference of the models was shown in the middle latitude where the annual mean air-sea momentum flux was large and the occurrence frequency of strong wind was high. In addition, the estimated data showed that the difference of the models in the drag coefficient was large in the extreme wind speed range and that the largest difference became 23% with a wind speed of 35m/s or more. These results clearly show that the difference of the two models concerning the drag coefficient has a significant impact on the estimation of a regional air-sea momentum flux in an extreme wind speed range such as that seen in a tropical cyclone environment. Furthermore, we estimated each air-sea momentum flux using several kinds of drag coefficient models. We will also provide data from an observation tower and result from CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) concerning the influence of wind flow at and around the place.

Keywords: air-sea interaction, drag coefficient, air-sea momentum flux, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

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Authors: Shahnaz Haque, Anand Shukla, Sunita Singh, Anil Kem

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Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease affecting millions worldwide. Metformin is the most commonly prescribed first line oral hypoglycemic drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus, but due to progressive worsening of blood glucose control during the natural history of type 2 diabetes, combination therapy usually becomes necessary. Objective: This study was designed to assess the treatment satisfaction between Sitagliptin versus Pioglitazone added to Metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: We conducted a prospective, open label, randomized, parallel group study in SIMS, Hapur, U.P. Eligible patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were randomized into two groups having 25 patients in each group using tab Sitagliptin 100mg, tab Pioglitazone 30mg added to ongoing tab Metformin (500mg) therapy for 16 weeks. The follow-up visits were on weeks 4,12 and 16. Result: 16 weeks later, addition of Sitagliptin 100mg compared to that of Pioglitazone 30 mg to ongoing Metformin therapy provided similar glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) lowering efficacy in patients with T2DM with inadequate glycemic control on metformin monotherapy. Change in HbA1c in group1 was -0.656±0.21%(p<0.0001) whereas in group2 was -0.748±0.35%(p<0.0001). Hence decrease in HbA1c from baseline was more in group2. Both treatments were well tolerated with negligible risk of hypoglycaemia. Weight loss was observed with Sitagliptin in contrast to weight gain seen in Pioglitazone. Conclusion: In this study, Sitagliptin 100 mg along with metformin therapy in comparison to pioglitazone 30 mg plus metformin therapy was both effective, well-tolerated and improved glycemic control in both the groups. Addition of pioglitazone had cause oedema and weight gain to the patients whereas sitagliptin caused weight loss in its patients.

Keywords: sitagliptin, pioglitazone, metformin, type 2 diabetes mellitus

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Authors: Minho Kwak, Suhwan Yun, Choonsoo Park

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Nose shape optimizations of high-speed train are performed for the improvement of aerodynamic characteristics. Based on the commercial train, KTX-Sancheon, multi-objective optimizations are conducted for the improvement of the side wind stability and the micro-pressure wave following the optimization for the reduction of aerodynamic drag. 3D nose shapes are modelled by the Vehicle Modeling Function. Aerodynamic drag and side wind stability are calculated by three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes solver, and micro pressure wave is done by axi-symmetric compressible Navier-Stokes solver. The Maxi-min Latin Hypercube Sampling method is used to extract sampling points to construct the approximation model. The kriging model is constructed for the approximation model and the NSGA-II algorithm was used as the multi-objective optimization algorithm. Nose length, nose tip height, and lower surface curvature are design variables. Because nose length is a dominant variable for aerodynamic characteristics of train nose, two optimization processes are progressed respectively with and without the design variable, nose length. Each pareto set was obtained and each optimized nose shape is selected respectively considering Honam high-speed rail line infrastructure in South Korea. Through the optimization process with the nose length, when compared to KTX Sancheon, aerodynamic drag was reduced by 9.0%, side wind stability was improved by 4.5%, micro-pressure wave was reduced by 5.4% whereas aerodynamic drag by 7.3%, side wind stability by 3.9%, micro-pressure wave by 3.9%, without the nose length. As a result of comparison between two optimized shapes, similar shapes are extracted other than the effect of nose length.

Keywords: aerodynamic characteristics, design variable, multi-objective optimization, train nose shape

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Authors: Christine Fräulin, Daniela Schurr, Hamed Shahidi Rad, Gerrit Waters, Günter Rinke, Roland Dittmeyer, Michael Nilles

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The reaction mechanisms of many liquid-phase reactions in organic chemistry have not yet been sufficiently clarified. Process conditions of several hundred degrees celsius and pressures to ten megapascals complicate the sampling and the determination of kinetic data. Space resolved in-situ measurements promises new insights. A non-invasive in-situ measurement technique has the advantages that no sample preparation is necessary, there is no change in sample mixture before analysis and the sampling do no lead to interventions in the flow. Thus, the goal of our research was the development of a contact-free spatially resolved measurement technique for kinetic studies of liquid phase reaction under process conditions. Therefore we used laser Raman spectroscopy combined with an optical transparent microchannel reactor. To show the performance of the system we choose the oxidation of cyclohexane as sample reaction. Cyclohexane oxidation is an economically important process. The products are intermediates for caprolactam and adipic acid, which are starting materials for polyamide 6 and 6.6 production. To maintain high selectivities of 70 to 90 %, the reaction is performed in industry at a low conversion of about six percent. As Raman spectroscopy is usually very selective but not very sensitive the detection of the small product concentration in cyclohexane oxidation is quite challenging. To meet these requirements, an optical experimental setup was optimized to determine the concentrations by laser Raman spectroscopy with respect to good detection sensitivity. With this measurement technique space resolved kinetic studies of uncatalysed and homogeneous catalyzed cyclohexane oxidation were carried out to obtain details about the reaction mechanism.

Keywords: in-situ laser raman spectroscopy, space resolved kinetic measurements, homogeneous catalysis, chemistry

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Authors: Ruchi Jain, Chinnakonda S. Gopinath

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The CO oxidation is a primary reaction in heterogeneous catalysis due to its potential to overcome the air pollution caused by various reasons. Indeed, in the study of sustainable catalysis, the role played by water is very important. The present work is focused on studying the effect of moisture on the sustainability of Co3O4 NR catalyst for CO oxidation reaction at ambient temperature. The catalytic activity, electronic structure and the mechanistic aspects of spinel Co3O4 nanorod surfaces have been explored in dry and wet atmosphere by near-ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopic techniques (NAP-PES) with conventional x-ray (Al kα) and ultraviolet sources (He-I).Comparative NAPPES studies have been employed to understand the elucidation of the catalytic reaction pathway and the evolution of various surface species. The presence of water with CO+O2 plummet the catalytic activity due to the change in electronic nature from predominantly oxidic (without water in the feed) to few intermediates covered Co3O4 surface. However, ≥ 375 K Co3O4 surface recovers and regain oxidation activity, at least partially, even in the presence of water. Above mentioned observations are fully supported by the changes observed in the work function of Co3O4 in the presence of wet (H2O+CO+O2) compared to dry (CO+O2) conditions. Various type of surface species, such as CO(ads), carbonate, formate, are found to be on the catalyst surface depending on the reaction conditions. Under dry condition, CO couples with labile O atoms to form CO2, however under wet conditions it also interacts with surface OH groups results in the formation carbonate and formate intermediate. The carbonate acts at reaction inhibitor at room temperature, however proves as active intermediate at temperature 375 K or above. On the other hand, formate has proved to be reaction spectator due to its high stability. The intrinsic role of these species to suppress the oxidation has been demonstrated through a possible reaction mechanism under different reaction conditions.

Keywords: heterogeneous catalysis, surface chemistry, photoelectron spectroscopy, ambient oxidation

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