Search results for: consumer response to environmental initiatives

Authors: Zahid O. Alibrahim, Craig D. Williams, Clive L. Roberts

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The study area (Ecton mining area) is located in the southern part of the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It is bounded by the River Manifold from the west. This area has been mined for a long period. As a result, huge amounts of potentially toxic metals were released into the surrounding area and are most likely to be a significant source of heavy metal contamination to the local soil, water and vegetation. In order to appraise the potential heavy metal pollution in this area, 37 topsoil samples (5-20 cm depth) were collected and analysed for their total content of Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni and V using ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) optical emission spectroscopy. Multivariate Geospatial analyses using the GIS technique were utilised to draw geochemical maps of the metals of interest over the study area. A few hotspot points, areas of elevated concentrations of metals, were specified, which are presumed to be the results of anthropogenic activities. In addition, the soil’s environmental quality was evaluated by calculating the Mullers’ Geoaccumulation index (I geo), which suggests that the degree of contamination of the investigated heavy metals has the following trend: Pb > Zn > Cu > Mn > Ni = Cr = V. Furthermore, the potential ecological risk, using the enrichment factor (EF), was also specified. On the basis of the calculated amount or the EF, the levels of pollution for the studied metals in the study area have the following order: Pb>Zn>Cu>Cr>V>Ni>Mn.

Keywords: enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, GIS, heavy metals, multivariate analysis

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Authors: Christopher Baiyegunhi, Oswald Gwavava

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The location/source of the Beattie magnetic anomaly (BMA) and interconnectivity of geologic structures at depth have been a topic of investigation for over 30 years. Up to now, no relationship between geological structures (interconnectivity of dolerite intrusions) at depth has been established. Therefore, the environmental impact of fracking the Karoo for shale gas could not be assessed despite the fact that dolerite dykes are groundwater localizers in the Karoo. In this paper, we shed more light to the unanswered questions concerning the possible location of the source of the BMA, the connectivity of geologic structures like dolerite dykes and sills at depth and this relationship needs to be established before the tectonic evolution of the Karoo basin can be fully understood and related to fracking of the Karoo for shale gas. The result of the magnetic investigation and modelling of four gravity profiles that crosses the BMA in the study area reveals that the anomaly, which is part of the Beattie magnetic anomaly tends to divide into two anomalies and continue to trend in an NE-SW direction, the dominant gravity signatures is of long wavelength that is due to a deep source/interface inland and shallows towards the coast, the average depth to the top of the shallow and deep magnetic sources was estimated to be approximately 0.6 km and 15 km, respectively. The BMA become stronger with depth which could be an indication that the source(s) is deep possibly a buried body in the basement. The bean-shaped anomaly also behaves in a similar manner like the BMA thus it could possibly share the same source(s) with the BMA.

Keywords: Beattie magnetic anomaly, magnetic sources, modelling, Karoo Basin

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Authors: Luis Marquez, Ge Zhu, Vikas Srivastava

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High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is one of the most commonly used thermoplastic polymer materials for water and gas pipelines. Slow crack growth failure is a well-known phenomenon in high-density polyethylene material and causes brittle failure well below the yield point with no obvious sign. The failure of transportation pipelines can cause catastrophic environmental and economic consequences. Using the non-destructive testing method to predict slow crack growth failure behavior is the primary preventative measurement employed by the pipeline industry but is often costly and time-consuming. Phenomenological slow crack growth models are useful to predict the slow crack growth behavior in the polymer material due to their ability to evaluate slow crack growth under different temperature and loading conditions. We developed a quantitative method to assess the slow crack growth behavior in the high-density polyethylene pipeline material under different thermal conditions based on existing physics-based phenomenological models. We are also working on developing an experimental protocol and quantitative model that can address slow crack growth behavior under different chemical exposure conditions to improve the safety, reliability, and resilience of HDPE-based pipeline infrastructure.

Keywords: mechanics of materials, physics-based modeling, civil engineering, fracture mechanics

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Authors: Khaled Suleiman Mohammed Al-Mashrafi

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A compositional plume is a fluid flow in a directional channel of finite width in another fluid of different material composition. The study of the dynamics of compositional plumes plays an essential role in many real-life applications like industrial applications (e.g., iron casting), environmental applications (e.g., salt fingers and sea ice), and geophysical applications (e.g., solidification at the inner core boundary (ICB) of the Earth, and mantle plumes). The dynamics of compositional plumes have been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The experimental works observed that the plume flow seems to be stable, although some experiments showed that it can be unstable. At the same time, the theoretical investigations showed that the plume flow is unstable. This is found to be true even if the plume is subject to rotation or/and in the presence of a magnetic field and even if another plume of different composition is also present. It is noticeable that all the theoretical studies on the dynamics of compositional plumes are conducted in unbounded domains. The present work is to investigate theoretically the influence of vertical walls (boundaries) on the dynamics of compositional plumes in the absence/presence of a rotation field. The mathematical model of the dynamics of compositional plumes used the equations of continuity, motion, heat, concentration of light material, and state. It is found that the presence of boundaries has a strong influence on the basic state solution as well as the stability of the plume, particularly when the plume is close to the boundary, but the compositional plume remains unstable.

Keywords: compositional plumes, stability, bounded domain, vertical boundaries

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Authors: Kuo-Wei Hsu, Yen-Ting, Wu

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Recently, green marketing issues have emerged as the developing direction for local governments and social enterprises. At the same time, many social enterprises have considered how to effectively create a low-carbon and sustainable environment. Local government has a role to play in promoting low-carbon life styles and creating a green sustainable environment within this green marketing trend. Therefore, urban commercial centers have implemented relevant plans such as: Green Store, Green Action Shops, Green Restaurants and Green Hotels. The purpose of these plans to select the commercial center organizations have potential energy saving demonstration and environmental greenification. These organizations are willing to provide assistance counseling and become a green demonstration district, thereby promoting the major shopping district to take the initiative to enhance its green competitiveness. Finally, they create a new landscape for the commercial center. Studies on green marketing in commercial centers are seen as less attractive and only a few studies for commercial centers have focused on green marketing strategies. There is no empirical evidence for how commercial center managers evaluate a commercial center green marketing strategy. This research investigated the major commercial centers in Taichung City and found green marketing helps to enhance the connection between the urban commercial center value and society value, shape corporate image with social responsibility and create brand value, and therefore impact the increase of economic value.

Keywords: economic value added, green marketing, sustainable environment, urban commercial center.

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Authors: Sabir Hussain, Mujtaba Hassan, Kashif Rasool, Asif Shahzad

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Fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) was collected in Islamabad from November 2022 to January 2023, at urban sites. The average mass concentrations of PM2.5 varied, ranging from 90.5 to 133 μg m−3 in urban areas. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) analysis revealed that Islamabad's PM2.5 comprised soot aggregates, ashes, minerals, bio-particles, and unidentified particles. Results from inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) indicated a gradual increase in total elemental concentrations in Islamabad PM2.5 in winter, with relatively high levels in December. Significantly different elemental compositions were observed in urban PM2.5. Enrichment factor (EF) analysis suggested that elements such as K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al, Fe, Ba, and Sr were of natural origin, while As, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Mn, Ni, and Se originated from anthropogenic sources. Plasmid DNA assays demonstrated varying levels of potential toxicity in Islamabad PM2.5 collected from urban sites, as well as across different seasons. Notably, the urban winter PM2.5 sample exhibited much stronger toxicity compared to other samples. The presence of heavy metals in Islamabad PM2.5, including Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Ni, may have synergistic effects on human health.

Keywords: islamabad particulate matter pm2.5, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy(sem-eds), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ftir), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy(icp-oes)

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Authors: Sajida Saqira, Anthony Chariton, Grant C. Hose

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The Anthropocene has seen dramatic environmental changes which are affecting every ecosystem on earth. Freshwater ecosystems are particularly vulnerable as they are at risk from the many activities that go on and contaminants that are released in catchments. They are thus subject to many stressors simultaneously. Freshwater ecosystems respond to stress at all levels of biological organization, from subcellular to community structure and ecosystem functioning. The aim of this study was to examine the resistance and resilience of freshwater ecosystems to multiple stressors. Here we explored the individual and combined effects of copper as a chemical stressor and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) as a biological stressor on the health, functioning, and recovery of outdoor experimental pond ecosystems in a long-term, controlled, factorial experiment. Primary productivity, decomposition, and water and sediment quality were analysed at regular intervals for one year to understand the health and functioning of the ecosystems. Changes to benthic biota were quantified using DNA-based and traditional microscopy-based counts of invertebrates. Carp were added to the ponds to copper contaminated sediments (with controls) to explore the combined effects of copper and carp and removed after six months to explore the resilience and recovery of the system. The outcomes of this study will advance our understanding of the impacts of multiple stressors on freshwater ecosystems, and the resilience of these systems to copper and C. carpio, which are both globally significant stressors in freshwater systems.

Keywords: carp, copper, ecosystem health, freshwater ecosystem, multiple stressors

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Authors: Angela Oktavia Suryani, Bernadeth Gloria, Edwin Sutamto, Jessica Kristianty, Ni Made Rai Sapitri, Patricia Catherine Agla, Sitti Arlinda Rochiadi

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It was found that some blogs or personal websites in Indonesia sell standardized intelligence tests (for example, Progressive Matrices (PM), Intelligence Structure Test (IST), and Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT)) and other psychological tests, together with the manual and the key answers for public. Individuals can buy and prepare themselves for selection or recruitment with the real test. This action drives people to lie to the institution (education or company) and also to themselves. It was also found that those tests are old. Some items are not relevant with the current context, for example a question about a diameter of a certain coin that does not exist anymore. These problems motivate us to develop a new intelligence battery test, namely of Multiple Aptitude Battery (MAB). The battery test was built by using Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities theory and intended to be used by high schools students, university students, and worker applicants. The battery tests consist of 9 subtests. In the current study we examine six subtests, namely Reading Comprehension, Verbal Analogies, Numerical Inductive Reasoning, Numerical Deductive Reasoning, Mechanical Ability, and Two Dimensional Spatial Reasoning for university students. The study included 1424 data from students recruited by convenience sampling from eight faculties at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia. Classical and modern test approaches (Item Response Theory) were carried out to identify the item difficulties of the items and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to examine their internal validities. The validity of each subtest was inspected by using convergent–discriminant method, whereas the reliability was examined by implementing Kuder–Richardson formula. The result showed that the majority of the subtests were difficult in medium level, and there was only one subtest categorized as easy, namely Verbal Analogies. The items were found homogenous and valid measuring their constructs; however at the level of subtests, the construct validity examined by convergent-discriminant method indicated that the subtests were not unidimensional. It means they were not only measuring their own constructs but also other construct. Three of the subtests were able to predict academic performance with small effect size, namely Reading Comprehension, Numerical Inductive Reasoning, and Two Dimensional Spatial Reasoning. GPAs in intermediate level (GPAs at third semester and above) were considered as a factor for predictive invalidity. The Kuder-Richardson formula showed that the reliability coefficients for both numerical reasoning subtests and spatial reasoning were superior, in the range 0.84 – 0.87, whereas the reliability coefficient for the other three subtests were relatively below standard for ability test, in the range of 0.65 – 0.71. It can be concluded that some of the subtests are ready to be used, whereas some others are still need some revisions. This study also demonstrated that the convergent-discrimination method is useful to identify the general intelligence of human.

Keywords: intelligence, psychometric examination, multiple aptitude battery, university students

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Authors: D. Garg, S. Luthra, A. Haleem

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Due to growing concern about environmental and social consequences throughout the world, a need has been felt to incorporate sustainability concepts in conventional manufacturing. This paper is an attempt to identify and evaluate drivers in implementing sustainable manufacturing in Indian context. Nine possible drivers for successful implementation of sustainable manufacturing have been identified from extensive review. Further, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach has been utilized to evaluate and categorize these identified drivers for implementing sustainable manufacturing in to the cause and effect groups. Five drivers (Societal Pressure and Public Concerns; Regulations and Government Policies; Top Management Involvement, Commitment and Support; Effective Strategies and Activities towards Socially Responsible Manufacturing and Market Trends) have been categorized into the cause group and four drivers (Holistic View in Manufacturing Systems; Supplier Participation; Building Sustainable culture in Organization; and Corporate Image and Benefits) have been categorized into the effect group. “Societal Pressure and Public Concerns” has been found the most critical driver and “Corporate Image and Benefits” as least critical or the most easily influenced driver to implementing sustainable manufacturing in Indian context. This paper may surely help practitioners in better understanding of these drivers and their priorities towards effective implementation of sustainable manufacturing.

Keywords: drivers, decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), India, sustainable manufacturing

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Authors: Nagaletchumi Balasubramaniam, A. Mohd Isa

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Engineers have a leading role in planning, designing, building and ensuring a sustainable future. Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) acknowledges this role by assigning sustainable development as one of the expected traits that a UNITEN student should have upon graduation, formalized as the Programme Outcomes 7 (PO7): Students graduating from the Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics (BEEE) program will have the ability to demonstrate knowledge of the impact of professional engineering solutions in environmental contexts and the need for sustainable development. This paper explores how PO7 is integrated within the BEEE (Hons) program in UNITEN under the framework of Outcome Base Education (OBE). Five technical core courses were specifically assigned by UNITEN to reflect attainment of PO7. Under UNITEN’s definition, the attainment criterion of a PO is set as 70/40. This means that 70% of the students taking the course achieve at least 40% of the full marks. The paper first gives an overview of the overall OBE system as applied in UNITEN, particularly describing the key and supporting courses approach adopted for each PO. Then, the paper reviews the mechanism in which PO7 is taught and assessed in the five assigned courses. Data on PO7 attainment from four of the five courses are collected and analyzed for two student cohorts to investigate the interrelationship between the courses assigned to PO7. It was found that the five courses have different mechanisms for assessing PO7, and that generally PO7 is attained for the assigned courses. This reflects positively on the UNITEN method for integrating sustainable development within the engineering undergraduate programme.

Keywords: direct assessment, engineering education, outcome base education, programme outcome, sustainable development

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Authors: S. M. T. Mustafa, D. Raes, M. Huysmans

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Proper utilization of water resource is very important in agro-based Bangladesh. Irrigation schedule based on local environmental conditions, soil type and water availability will allow a sustainable use of water resources in agriculture. In this study, the FAO crop water model (AquaCrop) was used to simulate the different water and fertilizer management strategies in different location of Bangladesh to obtain a management guideline for the farmer. Model was calibrated and validated for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The statistical indices between the observed and simulated grain yields obtained were very good with R2, RMSE, and EF values of 0.92, 0.33, and 0.83, respectively for model calibration and 0.92, 0.68 and 0.77, respectively for model validations. Stem elongation (jointing) to booting and flowering stage were identified as most water sensitive for wheat. Deficit irrigation on water sensitive stage could increase the grain yield for increasing soil fertility levels both for loamy and sandy type soils. Deficit irrigation strategies provides higher water productivity than full irrigation strategies and increase the yield stability (reduce the standard deviation). The practical deficit irrigation schedule for wheat for four different stations and two different soils were designed. Farmer can produce more crops by using deficit irrigation schedule under water stress condition. Practical application and validation of proposed strategies will make them more credible.

Keywords: crop-water model, deficit irrigation, irrigation scheduling, wheat

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Authors: Sandeep Mohan Ahuja, Gulshan Kumar Jawa

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Cyclone separators are crucial components in various industries tasked with efficiently separating particulate matter from gas streams. Achieving optimal performance hinges on a deep understanding of flow dynamics and particle behaviour within these separators. In this investigation, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are conducted utilizing the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) to dissect the intricate flow patterns, particle trajectories, and separation efficiency within cyclone separators. The study delves into the influence of pivotal parameters like inlet velocity, particle size distribution, and cyclone geometry on separation efficiency. Through numerical simulations, a comprehensive comprehension of fluid-particle interaction phenomena within cyclone separators is attained, allowing for the assessment of solid collection efficiency across diverse operational conditions and geometrical setups. The insights gleaned from this study promise to advance our understanding of the complex interplay between fluid and particle within cyclone separators, thereby enabling optimization across a wide array of industrial applications. By harnessing the power of CFD simulations and the DPM, this research endeavours to furnish valuable insights for designing, operating, and evaluating the performance of cyclone separators, ultimately fostering greater efficiency and environmental sustainability within industrial processes.

Keywords: cyclone separator, computational fluid dynamics, enhancing efficiency, discrete phase model

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Authors: Mohamed Habila, Ahmed Mohamed El-Toni, Mohamed Sheikh Moshab, Abdulrhman Al-Awadi, Zeid AL Othman

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Water pollution with dyes is a critical environmental issue because off the huge amount of dyes disbarred annually, which cause severe damage for the ecosystem and human life. The main raison for this severs pollution is the rapid industrial development which led to more production of harmful pollutants. on the other hand, the core shell based magnetic materials have showed amazing character for controlling the material synthesis with the targeted structure to enhance the adsorptive removal of pollutants. Herein, the Fe3O4core-meso SiO2/TiO2 double shell have been prepared for methylene blue dye adsorption. the preparation procedure is controlled to prepare the magnetic core with further coating layers from silica and titania. The prepared Fe3O4core-meso SiO2/TiO2 double shell showed adsorption capacity for methylene blue removal about 50 mg/g at pH 6 after 80 min contact time form 50 ppm methylene blue solution. The adsorption process of methylene blue onto Fe3O4core-meso SiO2/TiO2 double shell was well fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and freundlish isotherm, indicating a quick and multilayer adsorption mechanism.

Keywords: magnetic core, silica shell, titania shell, water treatment, methylene blue, solvo-thermal process, adsorption

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Authors: Farnaz Yusuf, Naseem A. Gaur

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The increase in environmental concerns, rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves and intense interest in achieving energy security has led to a global research effort towards developing renewable sources of fuels. Second generation biofuels have attracted more attention recently as the use of lignocellulosic biomass can reduce fossil fuel dependence and is environment-friendly. Xylose is the main pentose and second most abundant sugar after glucose in lignocelluloses. Saccharomyces cerevisiae does not readily uptake and use pentose sugars. For an economically feasible biofuel production, both hexose and pentose sugars must be fermented to ethanol. Therefore, it is important to develop S. cerevisiae host platforms with more efficient xylose utilization. This work aims to construct a xylose fermenting yeast strains with engineered oxido-reductative pathway for xylose metabolism. Engineered strain was further improved by adaptive evolutionary engineering approach. The engineered strain is able to grow on xylose as sole carbon source with the maximum ethanol yield of 0.39g/g xylose and productivity of 0.139g/l/h at 96 hours. The further improvement in strain development involves over expression of pentose phosphate pathway and protein engineering of xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase to change their cofactor specificity in order to reduce xylitol accumulation.

Keywords: biofuel, lignocellulosic biomass, saccharomyces cerevisiae, xylose

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Authors: Rachid El Aidani, Phuong Nguyen-Tri, Toan Vu-Khanh

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The filter media in synthetic fibre is the most geotextile materials used in aerosol and drainage filtration, particularly for buildings soil reinforcement in civil engineering due to its appropriated properties and its low cost. However, the current understanding of the durability and stability of this material in real service conditions, especially under severe long-term conditions are completely limited. This study has examined the effects of the chemical aging of a filter media in polyester non-woven under different temperatures (50, 70 and 80˚C) and pH (2. 7 and 12). The effect of aging conditions on mechanical properties, morphology, permeability, thermal stability and molar weigh changes is investigated. The results showed a significant reduction of mechanical properties in term of tensile strength, puncture force and tearing forces of the filter media after chemical aging due to the chemical degradation. The molar mass and mechanical properties changes in different temperature and pH showed a complex dependence of material properties on environmental conditions. The SEM and AFM characterizations showed a significant impact of the thermal aging on the morphological properties of the fibers. Based on the obtained results, the lifetime of the material in different temperatures was determined by the use of the Arrhenius model. These results provide useful information to better understand phenomena occurring during chemical aging of the filter media and may help to predict the service lifetime of this material in real used conditions.

Keywords: nonwoven membrane, chemical aging, mechanical properties, lifetime, filter media

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Authors: Azeez Balogun

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Inexperienced building score practices are continually evolving and vary across areas. Yet, a few middle ideas stay steady, such as website selection, design, energy efficiency, water and material conservation, indoor environmental great, operational optimization, and waste discount. The essence of green building lies inside the optimization of 1 or more of those standards. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of 7 extensively recognized sustainable score structures—BREEAM, CASBEE, green GLOBES, inexperienced superstar, HK-BEAM, IGBC green homes, and LEED—based totally on the perceptions and opinions of stakeholders in Nigeria certified in green constructing rating systems. The purpose is to pick out and adopt an appropriate green building rating device for Nigeria. Numerous components of those systems had been tested to determine the high-quality health of the Nigerian built environment. The findings imply that LEED, the important machine within the USA and Canada, is the most suitable for Nigeria due to its sturdy basis, extensive funding, and confirmed blessings. LEED obtained the highest rating of eighty out of one hundred points on this assessment.

Keywords: structure, built surroundings, inexperienced building score gadget, Nigeria Inexperienced Constructing Council, sustainability

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Authors: Harriet Bothwell, Lowri Evans, Kevin Jones

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Background: The University of Bristol provides all medical students the opportunity to undertake student selected components (SSCs) at multiple stages of the undergraduate programme. SSCs enable students to explore areas of interest that are not necessarily covered by the curriculum. Students are required to produce a written report and most use SSCs as an opportunity to undertake an audit or small research project. In 2013 Swindon Academy, based at the Great Western Hospital, offered eight students the opportunity of a global health SSC which included a two week trip to rural hospital in Uganda. This SSC has since expanded and in 2017 a total of 20 students had the opportunity to undertake small research projects at two hospitals in rural Uganda. 'Tomorrows Doctors' highlights the importance of understanding healthcare from a 'global perspective' and student feedback from previous SSCs suggests that self-assessed knowledge of global health increases as a result of this SSC. Through the most recent version of this SSC students had the opportunity to undertake projects in a wide range of specialties including paediatrics, palliative care, surgery and medical education. Methods: An anonymous online questionnaire was made available to students following the SSC. There was a response rate of 80% representing 16 out of the 20 students. This questionnaire surveyed students’ satisfaction and experience of the SSC including the level of academic, project and spiritual support provided as well as perceived challenges in completing the project and barriers to healthcare delivery in the low resource setting. This survey had multiple open questions allowing the collection of qualitative data. Further qualitative data was collected from the students’ project report. The suggested format included a reflection and all students completed these. All qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results: All respondents rated the overall experience of the SSC as 'good' or 'excellent'. Preliminary data suggest that students’ confidence in their knowledge of global health, diagnosis of tropical diseases and management of tropical diseases improved after completing this SSC. Thematic analysis of students' reflection is ongoing but suggests that students gain far more than improved knowledge of tropical diseases. Students reflect positively on having the opportunity to research in a low resource setting and feel that by completing these projects they will be 'useful' to the hospital. Several students reflect the stark contrast to healthcare delivery in the UK and recognise the 'privilege' of having a healthcare system that is free at the point of access. Some students noted the different approaches that clinicians in Uganda had to train in 'taking ownership' of their own learning. Conclusions: Students completing this SSC report increased knowledge of global health and tropical medicine. However, their reflections reveal much broader learning outcomes and demonstrate considerable insight in multiple topics including conducting research in the low resource setting, training and healthcare inequality.

Keywords: global health, medical education, student feedback, undergraduate

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Authors: S. Girish, N. Ajay

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Permeation properties have been widely used to quantify durability characteristics of concrete for assessing long term performance and sustainability. The processes of deterioration in concrete are mediated largely by water. There is a strong interest in finding a better way of assessing the material properties of concrete in terms of durability. Water sorptivity is a useful single material property which can be one of the measures of durability useful in service life planning and prediction, especially in severe environmental conditions. This paper presents the results of the comparative study of sorptivity of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) with conventionally vibrated concrete. SCC is a new, special type of concrete mixture, characterized by high resistance to segregation that can flow through intricate geometrical configuration in the presence of reinforcement, under its own mass, without vibration and compaction. SCC mixes were developed for the paste contents of 0.38, 0.41 and 0.43 with fly ash as the filler for different cement contents ranging from 300 to 450 kg/m3. The study shows better performance by SCC in terms of capillary absorption. The sorptivity value decreased as the volume of paste increased. The use of higher paste content in SCC can make the concrete robust with better densification of the micro-structure, improving the durability and making the concrete more sustainable with improved long term performance. The sorptivity based on secondary absorption can be effectively used as a durability index to predict the time duration required for the ingress of water to penetrate the concrete, which has practical significance.

Keywords: self-compacting concrete, service life prediction, sorptivity, volume of paste

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Authors: Anil Ranjitbhai Patel, Clement John Shaji, Peter Liggesmeyer

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Safety and security of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is a growing concern, first, due to the increased number of safety-critical functions taken over by automotive embedded systems; second, due to the increased exposure of the software-intensive systems to potential attackers; third, due to dynamic interaction in an uncertain and unknown environment at runtime which results in changed functional and non-functional properties of the system. Frequently occurring environmental uncertainties, random component failures, and compromise security of the AVs might result in hazardous events, sometimes even in an accident, if left undetected. Beyond these technical issues, we argue that the safety and security of AVs against accidental and deliberate faults are poorly understood and rarely implemented. One possible way to overcome this is through a well-known diversity approach. As an effective approach to increase safety and security, diversity has been widely used in the aviation, railway, and aerospace industries. Thus, the paper proposes fault-tolerance by diversity model takes into consideration the mitigation of accidental and deliberate faults by application of structure and variant redundancy. The model can be used to design the AVs with various types of diversity in hardware and software-based multi-version system. The paper evaluates the presented approach by employing an example from adaptive cruise control, followed by discussing the case study with initial findings.

Keywords: autonomous vehicles, diversity, fault-tolerance, adaptive cruise control, safety, security

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Authors: Shelley Jones

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Assumptions abound that education for girls will, as a matter of course, lead to their economic empowerment as women; yet. little is known about the ways in which schooling for girls, who traditionally/historically would not have had opportunities for post-primary, or perhaps even primary education – such as the participants in this study based in rural Uganda - in reality, impacts their economic situations. There is a need forlongitudinal studies in which women share experiences, understandings, and reflections of their lives that can inform our knowledge of this. In response, this paper reports on stage four of a longitudinal case study (2004-2018) focused on education and empowerment for girls and women in rural Uganda, in which 13 of the 15 participants from the original study participated. This paper understands empowerment as not simply increased opportunities (e.g., employment) but also real gains in power, freedoms that enable agentive action, and authentic and viable choices/alternatives that offer ‘exit options’ from unsatisfactory situations. As with the other stages, this study used a critical, postmodernist, global feminist ethnographic methodology, multimodal and qualitative data collection. Participants participated in interviews, focus group discussions, and a two-day workshop, which explored their understandings of how/if they understood post-primary education to have contributed to their economic empowerment. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used for data analysis to capture major themes. Findings indicate that although all participants believe that post-primary education provided them with economic opportunities they would not have had otherwise, the parameters of their economic empowerment were severely constrained by historic and extant sociocultural, economic, political, and institutional structures that continue to disempower girls and women, as well as additional financial responsibilities that they assumed to support others. Even though the participants had post-primary education, and they were able to obtain employment or operate their own businesses that they would not likely have been able to do without post-primary education, the majority of the participants’ incomes were not sufficient to elevate them financially above the extreme poverty level, especially as many were single mothers and the sole income earners in their households. Furthermore, most deemed their working conditions unsatisfactory and their positions precarious; they also experienced sexual harassment and abuse in the labour force. Additionally, employment for the participants resulted in a double work burden: long days at work, surrounded by many hours of domestic work at home (which, even if they had spousal partners, still fell almost exclusively to women). In conclusion, although the participants seem to have experienced some increase in economic empowerment, largely due to skills, knowledge, and qualifications gained at the post-primary level, numerous barriers prevented them from maximizing their capabilities and making significant gains in empowerment. There is need, in addition to providing education (primary, secondary, and tertiary) to girls, to address systemic gender inequalities that mitigate against women’s empowerment, as well as opportunities and freedom for women to come together and demand fair pay, reasonable working conditions, and benefits, freedom from gender-based harassment and assault in the workplace, as well as advocate for equal distribution of domestic work as a cultural change.

Keywords: girls' post-primary education, women's empowerment, uganda, employment

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Authors: Mohammed Al-Bloushi, Sanghyun Jeong, Torove Leiknes

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Biofouling in the open recirculating cooling water systems may cause biological corrosion, which can reduce the performance, increase the energy consummation and lower heat exchange efficiencies of the cooling tower. Seawater cooling towers are prone to biofouling due to the presences of organic and inorganic compounds in the seawater. The availability of organic and inorganic nutrients, along with sunlight and continuous aeration of the cooling tower contributes to an environment that is ideal for microbial growth. Various microorganisms (algae, fungi, and bacteria) can grow in a cooling tower system under certain environmental conditions. The most commonly being used method to control the biofouling in the cooling tower is the addition of biocides such as chlorination. In this study, algae containing diatom and green algae were added to the cooling tower basin, and its viability was monitored in the recirculating cooling seawater loop as well as in the cooling tower basin. Continuous addition of biocides was employed in pilot-scale seawater cooling towers, and it was operated continuously for 2 months. Three different types of oxidizing biocides, namely chlorine, chlorine dioxide and ozone, were tested. The results showed that all biocides were effective in keeping the biological growth to the minimum regardless of algal addition. Amongst the biocides, ozone could reduce 99% of total live cells of bacteria and algae, followed by chlorine dioxide at 97%, while the conventional chlorine showed only 89% reduction in the bioactivities.

Keywords: algae, biocide, biofouling, seawater cooling tower

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Authors: Thian Khoon Tan, Poi Sim Khiew, Wee Siong Chiu, Chin Hua Chia

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This study investigates the efficacy of magnetically enhanced zinc oxide (MZnO) nanoparticles as a photocatalyst in the photodegradation of synthetic dyes, especially azo dyes. This magnetised zinc oxide has been simply fabricated by mechanical mixing through low-temperature calcination. This MZnO has been analysed through several analytical measurements, including FESEM, XRD, BET, EDX, and TEM, as well as VSM analysis which reflects successful fabrication. A high volume of azo dyes was found in industries effluent wastewater. They contribute to serious environmental stability and are very harmful to human health due to their high stability and carcinogenic properties. Therefore, five azo dyes, Reactive Red 120 (RR120), Disperse Blue 15 (DB15), Acid Brown 14 (AB14), Orange G (OG), and Acid Orange 7 (AO7), have been randomly selected to study their photodegradation property with reference to few characteristics, such as number of azo functional groups, benzene groups, molecular mass, and absorbance. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency was analysed by using a UV-vis spectrophotometer, where the reaction rate constant was obtained. It was found that azo dyes were significantly degraded through the first-order rate constant, which shows a higher kinetic constant as the number of azo functional groups and benzene group increases. However, the kinetic constant is inversely proportional to the molecular weight of these azo dyes.

Keywords: nanoparticles, photocatalyst, magnetically enhanced, wastewater, synthetic dyes, azo dyes

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Authors: Lijuan Li

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Nitric oxide (NO) has become a fascinating entity in biological chemistry over the past few years. It is a gaseous lipophilic radical molecule that plays important roles in several physiological and pathophysiological processes in mammals, including activating the immune response, serving as a neurotransmitter, regulating the cardiovascular system, and acting as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor. NO functions in eukaryotes both as a signal molecule at nanomolar concentrations and as a cytotoxic agent at micromolar concentrations. The latter arises from the ability of NO to react readily with a variety of cellular targets leading to thiol S-nitrosation, amino acid N-nitrosation, and nitrosative DNA damage. Nitric oxide can readily bind to metals to give metal-nitrosyl (M-NO) complexes. Some of these species are known to play roles in biological NO storage and transport. These complexes have different biological, photochemical, or spectroscopic properties due to distinctive structural features. These recent discoveries have spawned a great interest in the development of transition metal complexes containing NO, particularly its iron complexes that are central to the role of nitric oxide in the body. Spectroscopic evidence would appear to implicate species of “Fe(NO)2+” type in a variety of processes ranging from polymerization, carcinogenesis, to nitric oxide stores. Our research focuses on isolation and structural studies of non-heme iron nitrosyls that mimic biologically active compounds and can potentially be used for anticancer drug therapy. We have shown that reactions between Fe(NO)2(CO)2 and a series of imidazoles generated new non-heme iron nitrosyls of the form Fe(NO)2(L)2 [L = imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole, benzimidazole, 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole, and L-histidine] and a tetrameric cluster of [Fe(NO)2(L)]4 (L=Im, 4-MeIm, BzIm, and Me2BzIm), resulted from the interactions of Fe(NO)2 with a series of substituted imidazoles was prepared. Recently, a series of sulfur bridged iron di nitrosyl complexes with the general formula of [Fe(µ-RS)(NO)2]2 (R = n-Pr, t-Bu, 6-methyl-2-pyridyl, and 4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidyl), were synthesized by the reaction of Fe(NO)2(CO)2 with thiols or thiolates. Their structures and properties were studied by IR, UV-vis, 1H-NMR, EPR, electrochemistry, X-ray diffraction analysis and DFT calculations. IR spectra of these complexes display one weak and two strong NO stretching frequencies (νNO) in solution, but only two strong νNO in solid. DFT calculations suggest that two spatial isomers of these complexes bear 3 Kcal energy difference in solution. The paramagnetic complexes [Fe2(µ-RS)2(NO)4]-, have also been investigated by EPR spectroscopy. Interestingly, the EPR spectra of complexes exhibit an isotropic signal of g = 1.998 - 2.004 without hyperfine splitting. The observations are consistent with the results of calculations, which reveal that the unpaired electron dominantly delocalize over the two sulfur and two iron atoms. The difference of the g values between the reduced form of iron-sulfur clusters and the typical monomeric di nitrosyl iron complexes is explained, for the first time, by of the difference in unpaired electron distributions between the two types of complexes, which provides the theoretical basis for the use of g value as a spectroscopic tool to differentiate these biologically active complexes.

Keywords: di nitrosyl iron complex, metal nitrosyl, non-heme iron, nitric oxide

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Authors: Roxana D. Maiorescu-Murphy

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In the US, corporations have recently embraced political stances in an attempt to respond to the external pressure exerted by activist groups. To date, research in this area remains in its infancy, and few studies have been conducted on the way stakeholder groups respond to corporate political advocacy in general and in the immediacy of such a corporate announcement in particular. The current study aims to fill in this research void. In addition, the study contributes to an emerging trajectory in the field of crisis management by focusing on the delineation between crises (unexpected events related to products and services) and scandals (crises that spur moral outrage). The present study looked at online reactions in the aftermath of Elon Musk’s endorsement of the Republican party on Twitter. Two data sets were collected from Twitter following two political endorsements made by Elon Musk on May 18, 2022, and June 15, 2022, respectively. The total sample of analysis stemming from the data two sets consisted of N=1,374 user comments written as a response to Musk’s initial tweets. Given the paucity of studies in the preceding research areas, the analysis employed a case study methodology, used in circumstances in which the phenomena to be studied had not been researched before. According to the case study methodology, which answers the questions of how and why a phenomenon occurs, this study responded to the research questions of how online users perceived Tesla and why they did so. The data were analyzed in NVivo by the use of the grounded theory methodology, which implied multiple exposures to the text and the undertaking of an inductive-deductive approach. Through multiple exposures to the data, the researcher ascertained the common themes and subthemes in the online discussion. Each theme and subtheme were later defined and labeled. Additional exposures to the text ensured that these were exhaustive. The results revealed that the CEO’s political endorsements triggered moral outrage, leading to Tesla’s facing a scandal as opposed to a crisis. The moral outrage revolved around the stakeholders’ predominant rejection of a perceived intrusion of an influential figure on a domain reserved for voters. As expected, Musk’s political endorsements led to polarizing opinions, and those who opposed his views engaged in online activism aimed to boycott the Tesla brand. These findings reveal that the moral outrage that characterizes a scandal requires communication practices that differ from those that practitioners currently borrow from the field of crisis management. Specifically, because scandals flourish in online settings, practitioners should regularly monitor stakeholder perceptions and address them in real-time. While promptness is essential when managing crises, it becomes crucial to respond immediately as a scandal is flourishing online. Finally, attempts should be made to distance a brand, its products, and its CEO from the latter’s political views.

Keywords: crisis management, communication management, Tesla, corporate political activism, Elon Musk

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Authors: H. Sakamoto, J. Tochimoto, S. Kurosawa, M. Suzuki, S. Oguri

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Salt stress adversely affects plant growth at various stages of development including seed germination, seedling establishment, vegetative growth and finally reproduction. Because of their immobile nature, plants have evolved mechanisms to sense and respond to salt stress. Seed dormancy is an adaptive trait that enables seed germination to coincide with favorable environmental conditions. We identified a novel locus of Arabidopsis, designated SHG1 (salt hypersensitive germination 1), whose disruption leads to reduced germination rate under moderate salt stress conditions. SHG1 encodes a transmembrane protein with an ankyrin repeat motif that has been implicated in diverse cellular processes such as signal transduction. The SGH1-disrupted Arabidopsis mutant died at the cotyledon stage when sown on salt-containing medium, although wild type plants could form true leaves under the same conditions. On the other hand, this mutant showed similar phenotypes to wild type plants when sown on medium without salt and transferred to salt-containing medium at the vegetative stage. These results suggested that SHG1 played indispensable role in the seed germination and seedling establishment under moderate salt stress conditions. SHG1 may be involved in the release of seed dormancy.

Keywords: germination, ankyrin repeat, arabidopsis, salt tolerance

Procedia PDF Downloads 403

Authors: Hassan M. Albishri, Fatimah Al-Shehri, Deia Abd El-Hady

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Among the analytical techniques, reverse phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is currently used in pharmaceutical industry. Ecofriendly analytical chemistry offers the advantages of decreasing the environmental impact with the advantage of increasing operator safety which constituted a topic of industrial interest. Recently, ionic liquids have been successfully used to reduce or eliminate the conventional organic toxic solvents. In the current work, a simple and ecofriendly ionic liquid modified RPLC (IL-RPLC) method has been firstly developed and compared with RPLC under acidic and neutral mobile phase conditions for simultaneous determination of atorvastatin-calcium, rosuvastatin and simvastatin. Several chromatographic effective parameters have been changed in a systematic way. Adequate results have been achieved by mixing ILs with ethanol as a mobile phase under neutral conditions at 1 mL/min flow rate on C18 column. The developed IL-RPLC method has been validated for the quantitative determination of drugs in pharmaceutical formulations. The method showed excellent linearity for analytes in a wide range of concentrations with acceptable precise and accurate data. The current IL-RPLC technique could have vast applications particularly under neutral conditions for simple and greener (bio)analytical applications of pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: ionic liquid, RPLC, anti-hyperlipidemic drugs, ecofriendly

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Authors: Sanjeet Kumar Singh, Shanatanu Bhattacharaya

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Design of high- efficiency low, frequency (<1000Hz) soundproof window or wall absorber which is transparent to airflow is presented. Due to the massive rise in human population and modernization, environmental noise has significantly risen globally. Prolonged noise exposure can cause severe physiological and psychological symptoms like nausea, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia. There has been continuous growth in building construction and infrastructure like offices, bus stops, and airports due to urban population. Generally, a ventilated window is used for getting fresh air into the room, but at the same time, unwanted noise comes along. Researchers used traditional approaches like noise barrier mats in front of the window or designed the entire window using sound-absorbing materials. However, this solution is not aesthetically pleasing, and at the same time, it's heavy and not adequate for low-frequency noise shielding. To address this challenge, we design a transparent hexagonal panel based on Sierpiński fractal triangle, which is aesthetically pleasing, demonstrates normal incident sound absorption coefficient more than 0.96 around 700 Hz and transmission loss around 23 dB while maintaining e air circulation through triangular cutout. Next, we present a concept of fabrication of large acoustic panel for large-scale applications, which lead to suppressing the urban noise pollution.

Keywords: acoustic metamaterials, noise, functional materials, ventilated

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Authors: Jamal Al-Zain, O. El Hajjaji, T. El Bardouni

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A (Th-U) O2 fuel pin benchmark made up of 25 w/o U and 75 w/o Th was used. In order to analyze the depletion and inventory of the fuel for the pressurized water reactor pin-cell model. The new version VIII.0 of the ENDF/B nuclear data library was used to create a data set in ACE format at various temperatures and process the data using the MAKXSF6.2 and NJOY2016 programs to process the data at the various temperatures in order to conduct this study and analyze cross-section data. The infinite multiplication factor, the concentrations and activities of the main fission products, the actinide radionuclides accumulated in the pin cell, and the total radioactivity were all estimated and compared in this study using the Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 (MCNP6.2) and DRAGON5 programs. Additionally, the behavior of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) thorium pin cell that is dependent on burn-up (BU) was validated and compared with the reference data obtained using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT-MOCUP), Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL-MOCUP), and CASMO-4 codes. The results of this study indicate that all of the codes examined have good agreements.

Keywords: PWR thorium pin cell, ENDF/B-VIII.0, MAKXSF6.2, NJOY2016, MCNP6.2, DRAGON5, fuel burn-up.

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Authors: Muhammad Irfan Aziz, Thomas Owens, Uzair Khaleeq uz Zaman

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The instantaneous and spatial localization for visually impaired people in dynamically changing environments with unexpected hazards and obstacles, is the most demanding and challenging issue faced by the navigation systems today. Since Bluetooth cannot utilize techniques like Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Time of Arrival (TOA), it uses received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to measure Receive Signal Strength (RSS). The measurements using RSSI can be improved significantly by improving the existing methodologies related to RSSI. Therefore, the current paper focuses on proposing an improved method using trilateration for localization of Bluetooth devices for visually impaired people. To validate the method, class 2 Bluetooth devices were used along with the development of a software. Experiments were then conducted to obtain surface plots that showed the signal interferences and other environmental effects. Finally, the results obtained show the surface plots for all Bluetooth modules used along with the strong and weak points depicted as per the color codes in red, yellow and blue. It was concluded that the suggested improved method of measuring RSS using trilateration helped to not only measure signal strength affectively but also highlighted how the signal strength can be influenced by atmospheric conditions such as noise, reflections, etc.

Keywords: Bluetooth, indoor/outdoor localization, received signal strength indicator, visually impaired

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Authors: Shormin Choudhury, Nazrul Islam, Atiqur Rahman Shaon

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High tunnels can provide several benefits to horticultural crops, including environmental stress protection such as hail, frost, excessive rainfall, and high wind. In hot and sunny areas, high tunnel is one of the cooling ways for modifying the microclimate and maximizing crop development. Present study was carried out to assess the effect of different type of high tunnels on banana growth, yield, and fruit quality characteristics. Net houses, poly net houses, UV poly shed houses, and open field (control) conditions are among the experimental treatments. The results revealed that the plants produced in the poly net house condition had maximum pseudo stem height (171.00cm), stem girth (68.66 cm), chlorophyll content (57.63), number of fruits (140), number of hands (9.66), individual fruit weight (125.00) and pulp: peel ratio (3.35) of bananas as compared to the other treatments. Quality parameters like total soluble solid (21.78°Brix), ascorbic acid (10.24 mg/100g), total sugar (25.44%), and reducing sugar (15.75%) were higher in fruits grown in poly net house. The study revealed that the poly net house is the best growing environment for bananas in terms of growth, yield, and quality attributes.

Keywords: shed houses, banana, chlorophyll content, fruit yield, quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 88