Search results for: dumping sites

Authors: Lamis Naddaf, Yuval Tabach

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We identified missense genetic variants with the potential to enhance resistance against cancer. Such a field has not been widely explored as researchers tend to investigate the mutations that cause diseases, in response to the suffering of patients, rather than those mutations that protect from them. In conjunction with the genomic revolution and the advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology, identifying the protective variants will increase the power of genotype-phenotype predictions and have significant implications for improved risk estimation, diagnostics, prognosis, and even personalized therapy and drug discovery. To approach our goal, we systematically investigated the sites of the coding genomes and selected the alleles that showed a correlation with the species’ cancer resistance. Interestingly, we found several amino acids that are more generally preferred (like the Proline) or avoided (like the Cysteine) by the resistant species. Furthermore, Cancer resistance in mammals and reptiles is significantly predicted by the number of the predicted protecting variants (PVs) a species has. Moreover, PVs-enriched-genes are enriched in pathways relevant to tumor suppression. For example, they are enriched in the Hedgehog signaling and silencing pathways, which its improper activation is associated with the most common form of cancer malignancy. We also showed that the PVs are mostly more abundant in healthy people compared to cancer patients within different human races.

Keywords: cancer resistance, protecting variant, naked mole rat, comparative genomics

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Authors: Mahmud Gungor, Ali Aydin, Erdal Akyol, Suat Tasdelen

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The understanding of geotechnical characteristics of near-surface material and the effects of the groundwater is very important problem in such as site studies. For showing the relations between seismic data and groundwater we selected about 25 km2 as the study area. It has been presented which is a detailed work of seismic data and groundwater depths of Gokpinar Damp area. Seismic waves velocity (Vp and Vs) are very important parameters showing the soil properties. The seismic records were used the method of the multichannel analysis of surface waves near area of Gokpinar Damp area. Sixty sites in this area have been investigated with survey lines about 60 m in length. MASW (Multichannel analysis of surface wave) method has been used to generate one-dimensional shear wave velocity profile at locations. These shear wave velocities are used to estimate equivalent shear wave velocity in the study area at every 2 and 5 m intervals up to a depth of 45 m. Levels of equivalent shear wave velocity of soil are used the classified of the study area. After the results of the study, it must be considered as components of urban planning and building design of Gokpinar Damp area, Denizli and the application and use of these results should be required and enforced by municipal authorities.

Keywords: seismic data, Gokpinar Damp, urban planning, Denizli

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Authors: Zahra Tolou-Ghamari

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Objective: Health care associated with multiresistant pathogens is rising globally. It is well known that nosocomial infections increase hospital stay, morbidity, mortality, and disability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to define the occurrence of nosocomial infections in a tertiary hospital in Isfahan/Iran. Materials and Methods: The data were extracted from the official database of hospital nosocomial infections records that included 9152 vertical rows. For each patient, the reported infections were coded by number as UTI-SUTI; Code 55, VAE-PVAP; Code 56, BSI-LCBI Code 19, SSI-DIP; Code 14, and so on. For continuous variables, mean ± standard deviation and for categorical variables, the frequency was used. Results: The study population was 5542 patients, comprised of males (n=3282) and females (n=2260). With a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 99, the mean age in 5313 patients was 58.5 ± 19.1 years old. The highest reported nosocomial infections (n= 77%) were associated with the ages 30-80 years old. Sites of nosocomial infections in 87% were as: VAE-PVAP; 27.3%, VAE-IVAC; 7.7, UTI-SUTI; 29.5%, BSI-LCBI; 12.9%, SSI-DIP; 9.5% and other individual infection (13%) with the main pathogens klebsiella pneumonia, acinetobacter baumannii and staphylococcus. Conclusions: For an efficient surveillance system, adopting pharmacotherapy used antibiotics in terms of monotherapy or polypharmacy control policy, in addition to advanced infection control programs at regional and national levels in Iran recommended.

Keywords: infection, nosocomial, ventilator, blood stream, Isfahan, Iran

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Authors: H. Hammoudi, S. Bendenia, K. Marouf-Khelifa, R. Marouf, J. Schott, A. Khelifa

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The ionic exchange of the NaX zeolite by Cu2+ and/or Zn2+ cations is progressively driven while following the development of some of its characteristic: crystallinity by XR diffraction, profile of isotherms, RI criterion, isosteric adsorption heat and microporous volume using both the Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) equation and the t-plot through the Lippens–de Boer method which also makes it possible to determine the external surface area. Results show that the cationic exchange process, in the case of Cu2+ introduced at higher degree, is accompanied by crystalline degradation for Cu(x)X, in contrast to Zn2+-exchanged zeolite X. This degradation occurs without significant presence of mesopores, because the RI criterion values were found to be much lower than 2.2. A comparison between the binary and ternary exchanges shows that the curves of CuZn(x)X are clearly below those of Zn(x)X and Cu(x)X, whatever the examined parameter. On the other hand, the curves relating to CuZn(x)X tend towards those of Cu(x)X. This would again confirm the sensitivity of the crystalline structure of CuZn(x)X with respect to the introduction of Cu2+ cations. An original result is the distortion of the zeolitic framework of X zeolites at middle exchange degree, when Cu2+ competes with another divalent cation, such as Zn2+, for the occupancy of sites distributed within zeolitic cavities. In other words, the ternary exchange accentuates the crystalline degradation of X zeolites. An unexpected result also is the no correlation between crystal damage and the external surface area.

Keywords: adsorption, crystallinity, ion exchange, zeolite

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Authors: Yao-Te Yen, Chao-Hsin Cheng, Meng-Shun Huang, Shan-Zong Cyue

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'Poppy-seed defense' has been a serious problem all over the world, that is because the opiates metabolites in urine are difficult to distinguish where they come from precisely. In this research, a powerful analytic method has been developed to trace the opiates metabolites in urine by Gas-Chromatography Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-IRMS). In order to eliminate the interference of synthesis to heroin or metabolism through human body, opiates metabolites in urine and sized heroin were hydrolyzed to morphine. Morphine is the key compound for tracing between opiates metabolites and seized heroin in this research. By matching δ13C and δ15N values through morphine, it is successful to distinguish the opiates metabolites coming from heroin or medicine. We tested seven heroin abuser’s metabolites and seized heroin in crime sites, the result showed that opiates metabolites coming from seized heroin, the variation of δ13C and δ15N for morphine are within 0.2 and 2.5‰, respectively. The variation of δ13C and δ15N for morphine are reasonable with the result of matrix match experiments. Above all, the uncertainty of 'Poppy-seed defense' can be solved easily by this analytic method, it provides the direct evidence for judge to make accurate conviction without hesitation.

Keywords: poppy-seed defense, heroin, opiates metabolites, isotope ratio mass spectrometry

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Authors: Esraa Alhadad

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Recently, there has been considerable debate surrounding the definition, conservation, and management of heritage. Over the past few years, there has been a growing call for the inclusion of local communities in heritage management. However, the perspectives on involvement, especially concerning key stakeholders like community members, often diverge significantly. While the theoretical foundation for community involvement is reasonably established, the application of this approach in heritage management has been sluggish. Achieving a balance to fulfill the diverse goals of stakeholders in any involvement project proves challenging in practice. Consequently, there is a dearth of empirical studies exploring the practical implications of effective tools in heritage management, and limited indication exists to persuade current authorities, such as governmental organizations, to share their influence with local community members. This research project delves into community involvement within heritage management as a potent means of constructing a robust management framework. Its objective is to assess both the extent and caliber of involvement within the management of heritage sites overall, utilizing a cultural mapping-centered methodology. The findings of this study underscore the significance of engaging the local community in both heritage management and planning endeavors. Ultimately, this investigation furnishes crucial empirical evidence and extrapolates valuable theoretical and practical insights that advance understanding of cultural mapping in pivotal areas, including the catalysts for involvement and collaborative decision-making processes.

Keywords: community involvement, heritage management, cultural mapping, stakeholder mangement

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Authors: Ng Yen, Shafii Khamis, Rehir Bin Dahalan

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Cyclotrons in the energy range 10-30 MeV are widely used for the production of clincally relevant radiosiotopes used in positron emission tomography (PET) nuclear imaging. Positron emmision tomography is a powerful nuclear imaging tool that produces high quality 3-dimentional images of functional processes of body. The advantage of PET among all other imaging devices is that it allows the study of an impressive array of discrete biochemical and physiologic processes, within a single imaging session. The number of PET scanner increases every year globally due to high clinical demand. However, not all PET centers can afford a cyclotron, due to the expense associated with operation of an in-house cyclotron. Therefore, current research has also focused on the development of parent/daughter generators that can reliably provide PET nuclides. These generators (68Ge/68Ga generator, 62Zn/62Cu, 82Sr/82Rb, etc) can provide even short-lived radionuclides at any time on demand, without the need of an ‘in-house cyclotron’. The parent isotope is produced at a cyclotron/reactor facility, and can be shipped to remote clinical sites (regionally/overseas), where the daughter isotope is eluted, a model similar to the 99Mo/99mTc generator system. The specific aim for this presentation is to talk about the potential for both of the cyclotron and generator-produced PET radiopharmaceuticals used in clinical imaging.

Keywords: positron emission tomography, radiopharmaceutical, cyclotron, generator

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Authors: Raees Khan, Sheikh Z. Ul Abidin, Abdul S. Mumtaz, Jie Liu

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The present study is intended to assess gymnosperms pollen flora of Pakistan using Light Microscope (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for its taxonomic significance in identification of gymnosperms. Pollens of 35 gymnosperm species (12 genera and five families) were collected from its various distributional sites of gymnosperms in Pakistan. LM and SEM were used to investigate different palyno-morphological characteristics. Five pollen types (i.e., Inaperturate, Monolete, Monoporate, Vesiculate-bisaccate, and Polyplicate) were observed. In equatorial view seven types of pollens were observed, in which ten species were sub-angular, nine species were triangular, six species were perprolate, three species were rhomboidal, three species were semi-angular, two species were rectangular and two species were prolate. While five types of pollen were observed in polar view, in which ten species were spheroidal, nine species were angular, eight were interlobate, six species were circular, and two species were elliptic. Eighteen species have rugulate and 17 species has faveolate ornamentation. Eighteen species have verrucate and 17 have gemmate type sculpturing. The data was analysed through cluster analysis. The study showed that these palyno-morphological features have significance value in classification and identification of gymnosperms. Based on these different palyno-morphological features, a taxonomic key was proposed for the accurate and fast identifications of gymnosperms from Pakistan.

Keywords: gymnosperms, palynology, Pakistan, taxonomy

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Authors: Samar F. Elkasrawy

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Museums play a significant role in their communities with respect to culture, history, environment, and social development. They are considered as important sites for families, tourists, school groups, cultural visitors and individuals, looking to enjoy, learn and expand their horizons. Aim of audience development programs is to support individuals and organizations to work together to deliver messages that will raise museums' profile for both existing and potential visitors. They recognize the particular role that museums play for communities, the audiences they seek to reach, the experience they seek to offer and the extent and nature of their collections. This study aims at using both the qualitative and quantitative approach to explore the important role that audience development programs in museums can play in raising awareness in their communities concerning cultural heritage preservation and tourism. The Alexandria National Museum is considered as a valuable case study. In depth interviews with museum managers and staff was conducted as well as an online questionnaire. The study also includes suggestions and guidelines for applying audience development programs in Egyptian museums.

Keywords: Alexandria National Museum, audience development programs, cultural heritage, tourism and preservation awareness

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Authors: Ahmed O. Apampa, Yinusa A. Jimoh

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The paper examines the mechanism of pozzolan-soil reactions, using a recent study on the chemical stabilization of a Class A-2-7 (3) lateritic soil, with corn cob ash (CCA) as case study. The objectives are to establish a nexus between cation exchange capacity of the soil, the alkaline forming compounds in CCA and percentage CCA addition to soil beyond which no more improvement in strength properties can be achieved; and to propose feasible chemical reactions to explain the chemical stabilization of the lateritic soil with CCA alone. The lateritic soil, as well as CCA of pozzolanic quality Class C were separately analysed for their metallic oxide composition using the X-Ray Fluorescence technique. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil and the CCA were computed theoretically using the percentage composition of the base cations Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ K⁺ and Na²⁺ as 1.48 meq/100 g and 61.67 meq/100 g respectively, thus indicating a ratio of 0.024 or 2.4%. This figure, taken as the theoretical amount required to just fill up the exchangeable sites of the clay molecules, compares well with the laboratory observation of 1.5% for the optimum level of CCA addition to lateritic soil. The paper went on to present chemical reaction equations between the alkaline earth metals in the CCA and the silica in the lateritic soil to form silicates, thereby proposing an extension of the theory of mechanism of soil stabilization to cover chemical stabilization with pozzolanic ash only. The paper concluded by recommending further research on the molecular structure of soils stabilized with pozzolanic waste ash alone, with a view to confirming the chemical equations advanced in the study.

Keywords: cation exchange capacity, corn cob ash, lateritic soil, soil stabilization

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Authors: Miao Yang

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PPCPs (pharmaceutical and personal care products) in water, as an environmental pollutant, becomes an issue of increasing concern. Therefore, the techniques for degradation of PPCPs has been a hotspot in water pollution control field. Since there are several disadvantages for common degradation techniques of PPCPs, such as low degradation efficiency for certain PPCPs (ibuprofen and Carbamazepine) this proposal will adopt a combined technique by using CDs (carbon nanodots)/C₃N₄ composite and ultrasonic irradiation to mitigate or overcome these shortages. There is a significant scientific problem that the mechanism including PPCPs, major reactants, and interfacial active sites is not clear yet in the study of PPCPs degradation. This work aims to solve this problem by using both theoretical and experimental methodologies. Firstly, optimized parameters will be obtained by evaluating the kinetics and oxidation efficiency under different conditions. The competition between H₂O₂ and PPCPs with HO• will be elucidated, after which the degradation mechanism of PPCPs by the synergy of CDs/C₃N₄ composite and ultrasonic irradiation will be proposed. Finally, a sonolysis-adsorption-catalysis coupling mechanism will be established which is the theoretical basis and technical support for developing new efficient degradation techniques for PPCPs in the future.

Keywords: carbon nanodots/C₃N₄, pharmaceutical and personal care products, ultrasonic irradiation, hydroxyl radical, heterogeneous catalysis

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Authors: Samuel Olajide Babawale, O. O. Ogunkoya

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The study mapped selected wells in Inisa town, Osun state, in the guinea savanna region of southwest Nigeria, and determined the water quality considering certain elements. It also assessed the variation in the elevation of the water table surface to depth of the wells in the months of August and November. This is with a view to determine the level of contamination of the water with respect to land use and anthropogenic activities, and also to determine the variation that occurs in the quantity of well water in the rainy season and the start of the dry season. Results show a random pattern of the distribution of the mapped wells and shows that there is a shallow water table in the study area. The temporal changes in the elevation show that there are no significant variations in the depth of the water table surface over the period of study implying that there is a sufficient amount of water available to the town all year round. It also shows a high concentration of sodium in the water sample analyzed compared to other elements that were considered, which include iron, copper, calcium, and lead. This is attributed majorly to anthropogenic activities through the disposal of waste in landfill sites. There is a low concentration of lead which is a good indication of a reduced level of pollution.

Keywords: anthropogenic activities, land use, temporal changes, water quality

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Authors: Tawfig Falani, Abdulalaziz Saleh

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Air pollution has become a major environmental issue with definitive repercussions on human health. Global concerns have been raised about the health effects of deteriorating air quality due mainly to widespread industrialization and urbanization. To assess the quality of air in Brega, air quality indicators were calculated using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency procedure. Air quality was monitored from 01/10/2019 to 28/02/2021 with a daily average measuring six pollutants of particulate matter <2.5µm (PM2.5), and <10µm (PM₁₀), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), and carbon monoxide (CO). The result indicated that air pollution at general air quality monitoring sites for sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, PM₁₀ and PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide are always within the permissible limit. Referring to a monthly average of Pollutants in the Brega Industrial area, all months were out of AQG limit for NO₂, and the same with O₃ except for two months. For PM2.5 and PM₁₀ 7, 5 out of 17 months were out of limits, respectively. Relative AQI for ozone is found in the range of moderate category of general air pollution, and the worst month was Nov. 2020, which was marked as Very Unhealthy category, then the next two months (Dec. 2020 and Jan. 2021 ) were Unhealthy categories. It's the first time that we have used the AQI in SOC, and not usually used in Libya to identify the quality of air pollution. So, I think it will be useful if AQI is used as guidance for specified air pollution. That dictate putting monitoring stations beside any industrial activity that has emissions of the six major air pollutants.

Keywords: air quality, air pollutants, air quality index (AQI), particulate matter

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Authors: Leonce Dusengemungu

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Filamentous fungi indigenous to heavy metals (HMs) contaminated environments have a considerable biosorption potential yet are currently under-investigated in developing countries. In the work presented herein, the biosorption potential of three indigenous filamentous fungi (Aspergillus transmontanensis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Geotrichum candidum) isolated from copper and cobalt mining wasteland sites in Zambia's Copperbelt province was investigated. In Cu and Co tolerance tests, all the fungal isolates were shown to be tolerant, with mycelial growth at HMs concentrations of up to 7000 ppm. However, exposure to high Cu and Co concentrations hindered the growth of the three strains to varying degrees, resulting in reduced mycelial biomass (evidenced by loss of the infrared bands at 887 and 930 cm-1 of the 1,3-glucans backbone) as well as morphological alterations, sporulation, and pigment synthesis. In addition, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry characterization of the fungal biomass extracts allowed to detect changes in the chemical constituents upon exposure to HMs, with profiles poorer in maltol, 1,2-cyclopentadione, and n-hexadecanoic acid, and richer in furaldehydes. Biosorption tests showed that A. transmontanensis and G. candidum showed better performance as bioremediators than C. cladosporioides, with biosorption efficiencies of 1645, 1853 and 1253 ppm at pH 3, respectively, and may deserve further research in field conditions.

Keywords: bioremediation, fungi, biosorption, heavy metal

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Authors: Destha Titi Raharjana

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The finding of this research results from three action researches conducted in three rurals, namely Bokoharjo, Sambirejo, and Tirtomartani. Those rurals are close to Prambanan, a well-known cultural heritage site located in Sleman Regency, Indonesia. This action research is conducted using participative method through observation, interview, and focus group discussion with local residents as the subjects. This research aims to (a) present identifications of potencies, obstacles, and opportunities existed in development process, which is able to give more encouragement, involvement and empowerment for local residents in maintaining the cultural heritage area, (b) present participatory empowerment programs which adjust the needs of local residents and human resources, and (c) identify potential stakeholders that can support empowerment programs. Through action research method, this research is able to present (a) potential mapping; difficulties and opportunities in the development process in each rural, (b) empowerment program planning needed by local residents as a follow-up of this action research. Moreover, this research also presents identifications of potential stakeholders who are able to do an empowerment program follow-up. It is expected that, at the end of the programs, the local residents are able to maintain Prambanan, as one of cultural heritage sites that needs to be protected, in a more sustainable way.

Keywords: action research, local resident, empowerment, cultural heritage area, Prambanan, Sleman, Indonesia

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Authors: Supattra Suanlim

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Nonthaburi province is one of the provinces in the central region of Thailand. There is the Chao Phraya River, which is a large and important river of Thailand passing through the province. With the way of life and social changes since the past. There is a digging canal called Lat canal or Om canal, communities along the canal have dense settlements. Important in life and culture. This research has 3 objectives as follows. 1.To explore cultural and ecotourism attractions in the Om Nont canal area. 2.To explore the facilities in the Om Nont canal tourist attraction. To suggest facilities for tourist attractions in the Om Nont canal, Nonthaburi, Thailand. This research is a qualitative research, using research methods by collecting data and surveying tourist attractions by water traffic. The results of the research can be concluded that There are 21 tourist attractions that have the potential to welcome tourists who want to travel cultural. 16 temples or places of worship, 2 government offices, 1 market, 2 landmarks. Each should be improved to increase the potential of the paths. There should be improvements in the road landscape that is a connection to water traffic. Districts should have signage and signage installation within tourist sites and have guidelines for architectural improvements. And the Nodes should improve the public space of the community. Such as the Nonthaburi pier area to have the idea of designing a tourist center Provide information in both Thai and English.

Keywords: Community, Cultural, Ecotourism, Facility

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Authors: T. H. Derdzyan, K. A. Ghazaryan, G. A. Gevorgyan

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Beta-glucosidase, chitinase, leucine-aminopeptidase, acid phosphomonoestearse and acetate-esterase enzyme activities in the soils under the impact of metallurgical industrial activity in Lori marz (district) were investigated. The results of the study showed that the activities of the investigated enzymes in the soils decreased with increasing distance from the Shamlugh copper mine, the Chochkan tailings storage facility and the ore transportation road. Statistical analysis revealed that the activities of the enzymes were positively correlated (significant) to each other according to the observation sites which indicated that enzyme activities were affected by the same anthropogenic factor. The investigations showed that the soils were polluted with heavy metals (Cu, Pb, As, Co, Ni, Zn) due to copper mining activity in this territory. The results of Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between heavy metal pollution degree (Nemerow integrated pollution index) and soil enzyme activity. All of this indicated that copper mining activity in this territory causing the heavy metal pollution of the soils resulted in the inhabitation of the activities of the enzymes which are considered as biological catalysts to decompose organic materials and facilitate the cycling of nutrients.

Keywords: Armenia, metallurgical industrial activity, heavy metal pollutionl, soil enzyme activity

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Authors: M. K. Bin Subhan, P. Cullen, C. Howard

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A recent study by the World Corrosion Organization estimated that corrosion related damage causes $2.5tr worth of damage every year. As such, a low cost easily scalable solution is required to the corrosion problem which is economically viable. Graphene is an ideal anti-corrosion barrier layer material due to its excellent barrier properties and chemical stability, which makes it impermeable to all molecules. However, attempts to employ graphene as a barrier layer has been hampered by the fact that defect sites in graphene accelerate corrosion due to the inert nature of graphene which promotes galvanic corrosion at the expense of the metal. The recent discovery of spontaneous dissolution of charged graphite intercalation compounds in aprotic solvents enables defect free graphene platelets to be employed for anti-corrosion applications. These ‘inks’ of defect-free charged graphene platelets in solution can be coated onto a metallic surfaces via electroplating to form a homogeneous barrier layer. In this paper, initial data showing homogeneous coatings of graphene barrier layers on steel coupons via electroplating will be presented. This easily scalable technique also provides a controllable method for applying different barrier thicknesses from ultra thin layers to thick opaque coatings making it useful for a wide range of applications.

Keywords: anti-corrosion, defect-free, electroplating, graphene

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Authors: Issam Aouari, Abdelmalek Abdelhamid

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For seismologists, the characterization of seismic demand should include the amplitude and duration of strong shaking in the system. The duration of ground shaking is one of the key parameters in earthquake resistant design of structures. This paper proposes a nonlinear statistical model to estimate earthquake ground motion duration in soft soils using multiple seismicity indicators. Three definitions of ground motion duration proposed by literature have been applied. With a comparative study, we select the most significant definition to use for predict the duration. A stochastic model is presented for the McCann and Shah Method using nonlinear regression analysis based on a data set for moment magnitude, source to site distance and site conditions. The data set applied is taken from PEER strong motion databank and contains shallow earthquakes from different regions in the world; America, Turkey, London, China, Italy, Chili, Mexico...etc. Main emphasis is placed on soft site condition. The predictive relationship has been developed based on 600 records and three input indicators. Results have been compared with others published models. It has been found that the proposed model can predict earthquake ground motion duration in soft soils for different regions and sites conditions.

Keywords: duration, earthquake, prediction, regression, soft soil

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Authors: Mezhoud Samy, Toumi Youcef, Boukendekdji Otmane

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Nowadays, industrial by-products and waste are increasing along with public needs increase. The engineering sector has turned to sustainable development by emphasizing the aspects of environmental and life cycle assessment as an important objective. Among this waste, the remains of the red bricks (DBR) may be an alternative worth checking out, given their availability and abundance at the construction sites. In this context, this work aims to valorize DBR in the concrete road (BR). The incorporation of DBR is carried out by the substitution of the granular fractions of mixtures from noble quarry materials. The experimental plan aims to determine the physico-mechanical performance and environmental performance of manufactured BRs from DBR with a cement content (6.5%) and compared with a control BR without DBR. The studied characteristics are proctor, resistance to compression, resistance to flexural tensile at 7 and 28 days, modulus of elasticity, and total shrinkage. The results of this experimental study showed that the characteristics of recycled aggregates (DBR) are lower than those of natural aggregates but remain acceptable with respect to regulations. Results demonstrate the mechanical performance of BR made from less DBR than the control BR without DBR but remains appreciable and encourage their jobs in the road sector. Recycled aggregates can constitute an interesting economic and ecological alternative but require elementary precautions before any use.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, brick waste, road concrete, performance

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Authors: Eman Mohamed Ali Elalwani

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The Libyan heritage buildings are currently facing a number of crises that pose a threat to their structural integrity, functionality, and overall performance. One of the challenges pertains to the loss of community identity, which has arisen due to the lack of awareness and unconscious behavior of the residents. An additional issue arises from inadequate site management practices, including the implementation of modern techniques and innovative building materials that are incompatible with structural elements, resulting in the deformation of certain sections of the buildings. The security concerns of the city, along with the ongoing civil conflict, fostered a conducive environment for violations, resulting in the vandalism of certain monuments in the city. However, the degradation of this valuable heritage is mainly attributed to the city's neglect and pollution. The elevated groundwater level resulting from pollution has led to erosion in the building's foundations. Mitigating these negative consequences through strategic interventions and rehabilitation is required to preserve this treasure. In order to assist the local community in recovering from those crises, this paper stated a viable strategy for promoting preservation efforts that aimed at safeguarding the heritage sites while also providing guidance to decision-makers and the local community on how to avoid these crises, preserve, enhance, and recognize the significance of the Libyan heritage.

Keywords: cultural heritage, historical buildings, Tripoli’s old city, Red Castle, crises, preservation

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Authors: Xudong Guan, Ainong Li, Gaohuan Liu, Chong Huang, Wei Zhao

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Due to the low spatial resolution of MODIS data, the accuracy of small-area plaque extraction with a high degree of landscape fragmentation is greatly limited. To this end, the study combines Landsat data with higher spatial resolution and MODIS data with higher temporal resolution for decision-level fusion. Considering the importance of the land heterogeneity factor in the fusion process, it is superimposed with the weighting factor, which is to linearly weight the Landsat classification result and the MOIDS classification result. Three levels were used to complete the process of data fusion, that is the pixel of MODIS data, the pixel of Landsat data, and objects level that connect between these two levels. The multilevel decision fusion scheme was tested in two sites of the lower Mekong basin. We put forth a comparison test, and it was proved that the classification accuracy was improved compared with the single data source classification results in terms of the overall accuracy. The method was also compared with the two-level combination results and a weighted sum decision rule-based approach. The decision fusion scheme is extensible to other multi-resolution data decision fusion applications.

Keywords: image classification, decision fusion, multi-temporal, remote sensing

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Authors: Nicolae Daniel Stoica, Ion Mierlus Mazilu

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This work is one of numerical research and aims to address the issue of the design of new buildings in a 3D location of existing buildings. In today's continuous development and congestion of urban centers is a big question about the influence of the new buildings on an already existent vicinity site. Thus, in this study, we tried to focus on how existent buildings may be affected by any newly constructed buildings and in how far this influence is really decreased. The problem of modeling the influence of interaction between buildings is not simple in any area in the world, and neither in Romania. Unfortunately, most often the designers not done calculations that can determine how close to reality these 3D influences nor the simplified method and the more superior methods. In the most literature making a "shield" (the pilots or molded walls) is absolutely sufficient to stop the influence between the buildings, and so often the soil under the structure is ignored in the calculation models. The main causes for which the soil is neglected in the analysis are related to the complexity modeling of interaction between soil and structure. In this paper, based on a new simple but efficient methodology we tried to determine for a lot of study cases the influence, in terms of assessing the interaction land structure on the behavior of structures that influence a new building on an existing one. The study covers additional subsidence that may occur during the execution of new works and after its completion. It also highlighted the efforts diagrams and deflections in the soil for both the original case and the final stage. This is necessary to see to what extent the expected impact of the new building on existing areas.

Keywords: soil, structure, interaction, piles, earthquakes

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Authors: D. L. David, J. A. Wahedi, Q. T. Zaku

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A study was conducted at River Mayo Ranewo and River Lau, Taraba State Nigeria. The two rivers empty into the Upper Benue Basin. A visual encounter survey was conducted within the two wetlands from June to August, 2014. The fish record was based entirely on landings of fishermen, number of canoes that land fish was counted, types of nets and baits used on each sampling day. Fish were sorted into taxonomic groups, identified to family/species level, counted and weighed in groups. The relative species abundance was determined by dividing the number of species from a site by the total number of species from all tributaries/sites. Fish was preserved in 2% formaldehyde solution and taken to the laboratory, where they were identified. Shannon-Weiner index of species diversity indicated that the diversity was highest at River Mayo Ranewo than River Lau. In the result showed at River Mayo Ranewo, the family Mochokidae recorded the highest (23.15%), followed by Mormyridae (2.64%) and the least was the family Lepidosirenidae (0.04%). While at River Lau the family Mochokidae recorded the highest occurrence of (24.1%), followed by Bagridae (20.20%), and then Mormyridae, which also was the second highest in River Lau, with 18.46% occurrence. There was no occurrence of Malapteruridae and Osteoglossidae (0%) in River Lau, but the least occurrence was the family Gymnarchidae (0.04%). These results indicated that the fish composition were not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different based on t-test.

Keywords: conservation, diversity index, Lau, Mayo Ranewo, wetlands

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Authors: Joshua N. Edokpayi, John O. Odiyo, Titus A. M. Msagati, Elizabeth O. Popoola

Abstract:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are very toxic and persistent environmental contaminants. This study was undertaken to assess the concentrations and possible sources of 16 PAHs classified by the United State Environmental Protection Agency as priority pollutants in Mvudi and Nzhelele Rivers and sediments. Effluents from Thohoyandou wastewater treatment plant and Siloam waste stabilization ponds were also investigated. Diagnostic ratios were used to evaluate the possible sources of PAHs. PAHs in the water samples were extracted using 1:1 dichloromethane and n-hexane mixtures, while those in the sediment samples were extracted with 1:1 acetone and dichloromethane using ultrasonication method. The extracts were purified using SPE technique and reconstituted in n-hexane before analyses with GC-TOF-MS. The results obtained indicate the prevalence of high molecular weight PAHs in all the samples. PAHs concentrations in water and sediment samples from all the sampling sites were in the range of 13.174-26.382 mg/L and 27.10-55.93 mg/kg, respectively. Combustion of biomass was identified as the major possible source of PAHs. Effluents from wastewater treatment facilities were also considered as major anthropogenic contributions to the levels of PAHs determined in both river waters and sediments. Mvudi and Nzhelele Rivers show moderate to high contamination level of PAHs.

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, rivers, sediments, wastewater effluents

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Authors: Dhruba Khatri

Abstract:

Despite the short history of community based forest management, the community forestry program of Nepal has produced substantial positive effects to organize the local people at a local level institution called Community Forest User Group and manage the local forest resources in the line of poverty reduction since its inception in 1970s. Moreover, each CFUG has collected a community fund from the sale of forest products and non-forestry sources as well and the fund has played a vital role to improve the livelihood of user households living in and around the forests. The specific study sites were selected based on the criteria of i) community forests having dominancy of Sal forests, and ii) forests having 3-5 years experience of community forest management. The price rates of forest products fixed by the CFUGs and the distribution records were collected from the respective community forests. Nonetheless, the relation between pricing strategy and community fund collection revealed that the small change in price of forest products could greatly affect in community fund collection and carry out of forest management, community development, and income generation activities in the line of poverty reduction at local level.

Keywords: benefit sharing, community forest, equitable, Nepal

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Authors: Vincent Schlageter, Maroua Mestiri, Florian Denzinger, Hugo Raetzo, Michel Demierre

Abstract:

Precise landslide monitoring with differential global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is well known, but technical or economic reasons limit its application by geotechnical companies. This study demonstrates the reliability and the usefulness of Geomon (Infrasurvey Sàrl, Switzerland), a stand-alone and cost-effective rover network. The system permits deploying up to 15 rovers, plus one reference station for differential GNSS. A dedicated radio communication links all the modules to a base station, where an embedded computer automatically provides all the relative positions (L1 phase, open-source RTKLib software) and populates an Internet server. Each measure also contains information from an internal inclinometer, battery level, and position quality indices. Contrary to standard GNSS survey systems, which suffer from a limited number of beacons that must be placed in areas with good GSM signal, Geomon offers greater flexibility and permits a real overview of the whole landslide with good spatial resolution. Each module is powered with solar panels, ensuring autonomous long-term recordings. In this study, we have tested the system on several sites in the Swiss mountains, setting up to 7 rovers per site, for an 18 month-long survey. The aim was to assess the robustness and the accuracy of the system in different environmental conditions. In one case, we ran forced blind tests (vertical movements of a given amplitude) and compared various session parameters (duration from 10 to 90 minutes). Then the other cases were a survey of real landslides sites using fixed optimized parameters. Sub centimetric-accuracy with few outliers was obtained using the best parameters (session duration of 60 minutes, baseline 1 km or less), with the noise level on the horizontal component half that of the vertical one. The performance (percent of aborting solutions, outliers) was reduced with sessions shorter than 30 minutes. The environment also had a strong influence on the percent of aborting solutions (ambiguity search problem), due to multiple reflections or satellites obstructed by trees and mountains. The length of the baseline (distance reference-rover, single baseline processing) reduced the accuracy above 1 km but had no significant effect below this limit. In critical weather conditions, the system’s robustness was limited: snow, avalanche, and frost-covered some rovers, including the antenna and vertically oriented solar panels, leading to data interruption; and strong wind damaged a reference station. The possibility of changing the sessions’ parameters remotely was very useful. In conclusion, the rover network tested provided the foreseen sub-centimetric-accuracy while providing a dense spatial resolution landslide survey. The ease of implementation and the fully automatic long-term survey were timesaving. Performance strongly depends on surrounding conditions, but short pre-measures should allow moving a rover to a better final placement. The system offers a promising hazard mitigation technique. Improvements could include data post-processing for alerts and automatic modification of the duration and numbers of sessions based on battery level and rover displacement velocity.

Keywords: GNSS, GSM, landslide, long-term, network, solar, spatial resolution, sub-centimeter.

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Authors: Nuur Ezaini Akmar Ismail, Norbazilah Rahim, Norul Huda Md Rasdi, Maslina Daud

Abstract:

A web application is the most targeted by the attacker because the web application is accessible by the end users. It has become more advantageous to the attacker since not all the end users aware of what kind of sensitive data already leaked by them through the Internet especially via social network in shake on ‘sharing’. The attacker can use this information such as personal details, a favourite of artists, a favourite of actors or actress, music, politics, and medical records to customize phishing attack thus trick the user to click on malware-laced attachments. The Phishing attack is one of the most popular attacks for social engineering technique against web applications. There are several methods to detect phishing websites such as Blacklist/Whitelist based detection, heuristic-based, and visual similarity-based detection. This paper illustrated a comparison between the heuristic-based technique using features of a uniform resource locator (URL) and visual similarity-based detection techniques that compares the content of a suspected phishing page with the legitimate one in order to detect new phishing sites based on the paper reviewed from the past few years. The comparison focuses on three indicators which are false positive and negative, accuracy of the method, and time consumed to detect phishing website.

Keywords: heuristic-based technique, phishing detection, social engineering and visual similarity-based technique

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Authors: Olanrewaju B. Lasisi

Abstract:

The position of Ijebu-Ode, the historical capital of the Ijebu Kingdom, at the center of gravity of Ijebu land is enclosed by the 180-km-long earthwork and suggests a centrally controlled project. This paper reflects on the first stratigraphic drawing of the banks and ditches of this earthwork, and place its construction mechanism in a chronological framework. Nine radiocarbon dates obtained at the site suggest that the earthwork was built in the late 14th or early 15th century. This suggests a relationship with the Ijebu Kingdom, which pre-existed the opening of the Atlantic trade but first became visible only in the Portuguese records in the 1480s. In June 2017, more earthworks were found but within the core of Ijebu Land. This most recent finding points to an extension of territory from the center to the outlying villages. One central question about this discovery of monumental architectures that was functional around the 14th century or before is in its mode of construction. Apparently, iron tools must have been used in the construction of ‘a 20m deep ditch that runs 180km in circumference.’ Thus, the discovery of iron-working sites around the vicinity of the earthwork is a pointer to this building process that is up till now shrouded in mystery. By comparing the chronology of Ijebu earthworks with the evidence of Iron working in south western Nigeria around the first half of the first millennium AD, it can be thought that the rise in polity triggered the knowledge of metallurgy in the region.

Keywords: archaeology, earthworks, Ijebu, metallurgy

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Authors: Linyue Jia, Wenbo Du, Zhaohui Wang, Ke Liu, Shubo Li

Abstract:

Due to the great potential for weight reduction in aerospace and automotive industries, magnesium-rare earth (Mg-RE) based alloys with outstanding mechanical performance have been widely investigated for decades. However, magnesium alloys are still restricted in engineering applications because of their lower strength and ductility. Hence, there are large spaces and challenges in achieving high-performance Mg alloys. This work reports an Mg-Gd-Er-Zn-Zr alloy with ultrahigh strength and good ductility developed via hot extrusion, pre-deformation, and two-stage aging. The extruded alloy comprises fine dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains and coarse worked grains with a large aspect ratio. Pre-deformation has little effect on the microstructure and macro-texture and serves primarily to introduce a large number of dislocations, resulting in strain hardening and higher precipitation strengthening during subsequent aging due to more nucleation sites. As a result, the alloy exhibits a yield strength (YS) of 506 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 549 MPa, and elongation (EL) of 8.2% at room temperature, showing superior strength-ductility balance than the other wrought Mg-RE alloys previously reported. The current study proposes a combination of pre-deformation and two-stage aging to further improve the mechanical properties of wrought Mg alloys for engineering applications.

Keywords: magnesium alloys, mechanical properties, microstructure, pre-deformation, two-stage aging

Procedia PDF Downloads 165